Disclaimer: All Law And Order: Special Victims Unit characters and namesakes are the property of Dick Wolf / NBC.

Author's Note / Warning: This story contains an original character that plays the love interest of Casey Novak. The story deals with the relationship between Casey and my original character, and it is told from both of their perspectives. I had a very specific storyline in mind that I felt could not be realized by pairing Casey with an existing SVU character, thus the creation of Det. Seth Bauer. This is not intended to be a Mary Sue story, and I can only hope that from the writing and characterization, this proves to be true.

Chapter 3: Fall Out
September 2nd, 9:47 AM

Seth stood in the corner of Casey's office, looking down at the floor. He wished desperately that he could turn invisible. Oh boy, here we go. I knew I should've stayed in the car.

"What do you mean you can't get us the warrant?" Elliot nearly screamed at Casey. His face was already flushed and he was breathing heavy again. His eyes blazed in their sockets.

"Elliot, there's NO WAY I can get a judge to sign off on this!" Casey yelled back. "Do you know what you're asking me to do? You're taking evidence from one case and a partial statement from another, and together they don't add up to SQUAT!"

Seth shifted his position uncomfortably. He had seen Casey like this before, in the courtroom. In situations such as these, she demonstrated a real fiery essence that he found oddly attractive. She was a tough gal and she didn't take crap from anyone. Seth tilted his head towards the floor again, concealing a thin smile.

"Oh, come on Casey! You can FIND a way to make this work! You've done it before!"

"But not in a case like this! You've got TWO separate rapes and ONE rape / homicide! All the evidence you have is circumstantial at best! Getting the warrant for the phone dump was hard enough - I can't go to a judge with this, I'll get laughed right out of chambers! Seth, will you tell him I'm not crazy?"

A surprised look jumped across Seth's face. He agreed with Casey, but he felt obligated to back his partner up. "I don't know, Casey. Maybe it's worth a shot," Seth said half-heartedly. "Look, you two...I think this is getting out of hand..."

Elliot took a step forward, pointing a finger in Casey's face. "That's crap and you KNOW it! You're just trying to cover your own ass so you won't look stupid! You're just tired of dealing with this case and you want out! Well, I'M not giving up!"

"Oh please!" Casey sneered back at Stabler. "That's as weak as you coming in here and asking for a warrant in the first place! You're taking this out on ME because YOU can't get a confession out of the guy!"

Elliot put his hand down and clenched his fists. His lips curled back from his teeth and his nostrils flared wildly. "Yeah? Well, if you CARED at ALL about these victims, YOU'D do something about this," Elliot said through gritted teeth. "You just don't WANT to. So when that son of a bitch rapes and kills again, that's on YOUR conscience, not mine."

A pained expression struck Casey's face as Stabler stormed out of her office, flinging the door wide open. "I'll be in the car," Elliot spat at Seth as he brushed past him into the hallway.

Casey folded her arms across her chest, leaning back against the edge of her desk. She was both hurt and infuriated by Elliot's wild accusations. Seth gave Casey a worried glance and said with his crooked smile, "Okay...that didn't go very well. I guess we'll be heading out to re-canvas. Again."

Casey suddenly turned her heated glare towards Seth, staring him down with her wounded eyes. "Oh, aren't you ALSO going to berate me and tell me I don't care about doing my job? That it's up to ME to solve all your cases for you? Or, better yet! Maybe you'll just stand there and say NOTHING again!" Casey's brow furrowed and she gave Seth a disgusted look. "You know, you guys come RUNNING in here every time you need something, expecting ME to do YOUR job for you. Then after you're done trampling all over the legal system, you expect me to FIX everything up in a nice, neat little package so YOU can come out looking like heroes and I come out looking like a cold-hearted BITCH!"

Casey cursed herself the moment the words escaped her mouth. Her cheeks were completely flushed, a look of angered exasperation settling across her face. She felt humiliated by the wicked verbal thrashing Elliot had just given her, and she couldn't believe she had allowed herself to take it out on Seth. As her breath began slowing to a normal pace, Casey scorned herself for having lost control so easily. Way to go Casey, she thought. Way to go.

An intense look of hurt immediately washed over Seth's face, his smile fading completely. Casey's harsh words had cut him deeply, and it showed. He looked down at the floor, shocked and embarrassed. "No," he said quietly, answering her initial question. "I'm not going to accuse you of not caring about your job. I...I understand Elliot's frustration...but he didn't mean those things he said." Seth paused, now looking her in the eyes. "And I for one certainly don't think those things about you, Casey. If you say you can't help us out, then I believe you. I don't need an explanation. I mean, we all play for the same team and I know that you care about these victims as much as we do. I don't think you'd ever put yourself or your career before something like that."

Tears began to well up in Casey eyes. She felt awful. Her guard dropped, and she uncrossed her arms. "Seth, I..." she started, but the words failed her.

"You know I don't think that about you, Casey...right?" Seth continued, his sad brown eyes looking at hers. "You know that...right?"

"Of course, Seth. Of course I know that," Casey said in a calm voice. She had found her footing and slowly walked a few paces towards Seth. What have you done? Casey thought to herself. You've totally screwed things up with him now. How could you let this happen?

Casey motioned towards Seth with one hand. "I'm sorry, Seth. I – I didn't mean what I said. I was just angry with Elliot, that's all. That was so insensitive of me and I don't know why I said it." Casey searched Seth's dark eyes, looking for some sign of understanding.

"It's okay," Seth said in a more formal tone, straightening up and looking away. "I understand."

But Casey knew better. She had really hurt him and she didn't even know why she'd done it.

Seth took a deep breath, forcing a phony smile. "Well, I better get going or I'll be walking back to the precinct."

"Seth, I really am sorry," Casey stared again. Before she could finish, Seth began backing out of the doorway to her office.

"Hey, it's no big deal. Just a normal bump in the road to justice," Seth joked unenthusiastically. "We'll give you a call if anything else turns up..."

Casey stood in the middle of her office looking at Seth, her mouth slightly hanging open. She wanted to say more, but couldn't find the right words. Instead, she shut her mouth and folded her arms across her chest again. She gave Seth a small, sad smile, fighting back the tears forming in her eyes. He nodded and ducked out of her office, heading for the car where Elliot would be waiting.

Casey stepped back and leaned against her desk again, looking up at the ceiling. She sighed deeply, realizing she had just completely alienated one of the only people she had actually grown to trust on a personal level in the Special Victims Unit. The guilt swept over Casey in a violent cascade, making her stomach feel twisted and empty. Imagine how HE must be feeling right now, she thought. Regardless of this silly crush you've had on him, he was actually becoming a good friend to you.

Casey stood against her desk for some time, wondering how on earth she would ever smooth over what had just happened. Seth had said it wasn't a big deal, but she knew him better than that. She had outright attacked him with absolutely no provocation whatsoever, and there was no reason he should forgive her. She had burned bridges like this before and knew what was coming. Seth would simply be polite with her from this point on. There'd be no official record of the incident between them, and life would go on. Like most uncomfortable situations that get buried between colleagues, the days would roll forward and after awhile, she'd probably forget all about her feelings for him. She'd forget all about how she had destroyed their entire relationship with her stupid, thoughtless words. Things would go back to the way they had been before she had ever met Seth, and she'd probably be better off because of it.

Yeah, right, the cynical voice in Casey's head scoffed.

Casey unfolded her arms, placing the palms of her hands on the edge of her desk. This is exactly why I don't allow myself to get involved with people at work in the first place. Things get so...complicated. Casey paused, pondering the thought. I don't know, maybe I'm being overly dramatic. It's not like we were actually seeing each other or anything. Besides, maybe he really isn't too upset and this will all blow over. I'll just wait it out and see what happens...give him his space and not make a big deal out of it. I'm sure everything will turn out okay in time.

If only you really believed that, the doubting voice in her head quietly reminded her.

A single shiny tear rolled slowly down Casey's right cheek. She brushed it away with the back of her hand, giving a little sniffle. Casey stared at the open doorway to her office. Her head was spinning, as her brain tried to absorb everything that had just transpired. She hugged her arms to her body, feeling very small and very alone.