Celebration

by Dani-Ellie03

Playing hard to get had never been her thing. Then again, flirting with a woman had never been her thing, either, before tonight. CO flirtation, completed.

1. Chapter 1

Title: Celebration
Summary: Playing hard to get had never been her thing. Then again, flirting with a woman had never been her thing, either, before tonight.
Disclaimer: Olivia Benson, Casey Novak, and Elliot Stabler belong to Dick Wolf and NBC. I'm just playing with them.
Author's Note: The following is my first attempt at slash because a friend of mine issued me a challenge and I was all, "Okay, sure!". Just don't expect smut because that kind of writing is so far out of my comfort zone that it's ridiculous. Feedback is much appreciated!

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Elliot Stabler watched with both amusement and a tinge of concern as Casey Novak poured herself another glass of wine. "Just how many glasses have you had?"

"Um," Casey raised her eyes to the ceiling, trying to remember back to the beginning of the night. "Four."

"You're on your sixth, Counselor," Olivia Benson said with a chuckle.

"Oh." She frowned. She honestly didn't remember drinking five glasses of wine prior to the one she had in her hand, but then again, she didn't remember much about the beginning of the evening. "Four, six, what's the difference?"

Elliot laughed. "I suppose there isn't much of one." He raised his own glass in a mock toast. Casey giggled and clinked her glass against his, then took another large gulp of the dark liquid.

The two detectives and the ADA were in Casey's office, celebrating their most recent triumph. Casey had successfully sent a forty-nine-year-old man who had a thing for girls just barely into their teens to prison for what was sure to be the rest of his life. Ten counts of rape and aggravated sexual assault, all against minors, and a defense that claimed he was genetically inclined to rape did not make for a jury sympathetic to the defendant. When the verdict was read, no one was surprised by the jury's findings, not even the defendant.

But victories were always bittersweet for Elliot. For every criminal they put away, there was always at least one victim whose life was changed forever. In this case, there were ten little girls who had had their innocence stolen from them in the worst possible way. The notion of justice for the victims only went so far to comfort Elliot; if he had his way, the victims wouldn't have been victims in the first place.

"What are you thinking about?" Casey asked him, her voice startling him out of his reverie.

Spying the sparkle in her green eyes, alcohol-induced though it was, he knew he couldn't let the celebratory conversation turn into griping about not being able to do enough. "Nothing," he answered with a smile.

"Good, because I will not allow thinking at this party." She paused. "Wait, that came out wrong. I need another word in there … somewhere. I don't know where, though."

"Hey, Casey?" Elliot asked.

"Yeah?"

"Did anyone ever tell you that you ramble when you're drunk?"

"I am not drunk," she insisted. "I've only had four glasses of wine--"

"Six," Olivia interrupted, grinning.

"Whatever! The point is, I'm not drunk. Tipsy, sure, but drunk? No way."

"Uh huh." Elliot exchanged an amused glance with Olivia. "You know, I never would have pegged her for a giggly drunk."

"I'm not drunk!" Casey stood up from her seat to emphasize her point, a little bit of the wine sloshing over the edge of the glass and onto both her hand and the briefs on her desk. "Oh, damn it. That's going to be really impressive. 'Here's my motion. Don't mind the wine stain!'"

Olivia laughed, then guided Casey over to the small couch next to her office door. "Sit here, away from your work and important papers." Once Casey was settled on the sofa next to Elliot, she then handed the ADA a cocktail napkin. "You might want to wipe your hand."

"Yeah, yeah." She smiled as she accepted the napkin and quickly ran it over her hand. "Now my hand's going to be all sticky."

Elliot snickered. "That sounds like a personal problem."

Casey blushed and, unable to think of a proper retort, took another gulp of wine.

"Oh, did I embarrass you, Counselor?" Elliot teased, nudging her gently with his elbow.

"Not in the slightest," Casey replied. It was a lie. She stood, wandering over to her desk. Grabbing the bottle, she topped off her glass, then did the same for Elliot and Olivia. Then, she plopped down on the couch between the two detectives, setting the bottle down at her feet and letting the soft leather envelop her aching, tired muscles. She kicked off her shoes, not caring if it was unprofessional. It was after hours, her feet hurt, it was her own office, and the alcohol buzzing around in her system made it that much easier for her to not care. "Oh, I love taking my shoes off at the end of the day. It's relaxing, in its own weird little way. You know what I mean? It's just … I don't know, like a sign that the day is over and--"

"Casey, you're rambling again," Olivia laughed. "And you're not making a whole lot of sense, either."

"Oh. I'll shut up now." But Casey couldn't keep still or quiet. She was too hyper, excited from her win, thrilled that the detectives wanted to celebrate with her, and, not to mention, buzzed. She quickly finished off the rest of her drink and bent down. Picking up the bottle, she frowned. "It's almost empty."

Elliot smirked, took the bottle from her, and poured the rest of the wine in her glass. "Finish it off."

"Are you sure you don't want some?"

"I've had enough," Elliot assured her, smiling. "Go on."

"You want some, Olivia?" Casey asked, turning her attention to the detective on her other side. "We can share it."

"Yeah, sure. Maybe a sip or two." Casey went to pour some of the wine in her own glass into Olivia's, but Olivia stopped her, took the glass from her hand, and poured it off herself. "Don't take this the wrong way, Casey, but your hands are not exactly steady right now."

Casey giggled. "Okay, maybe I have had a little too much, but I don't do this very often, so even a little gets to be too much."

"Sadly? I actually followed that one." Olivia laughed. "I don't know whether that's good for you or bad for me."

"Perhaps a little bit of both?" Casey shot Olivia a smile as she accepted her wine glass. "You know, like I'm making more sense than--"

"I get it," Olivia interrupted.

Casey pouted. "You just cut me off."

"You ramble. A lot. I'm just trying to save all of us some pain."

"Pain?" Casey glared at Olivia teasingly, turning around on the sofa to face the detective. "Just what are you implying, Benson?"

"That not only are you a giggly drunk, you're a rambly drunk."

"Is rambly even a word?"

"Okay, so you're too buzzed to make sense, but you're still correcting my vocabulary." Olivia shook her head, chuckling. "You are way too funny."

Casey sidled up closer to Olivia, grinning. "You think so?"

Olivia leaned forward and smiled. "I know so."

Elliot watched the two of them with raised eyebrows, both bewildered and amused. It didn't take a genius to pick up on the dynamic that was forming between them, but he wasn't sure whether the dynamic was real or merely a product of the alcohol. He knew Casey was flat-out drunk--she'd said herself as she was opening the bottle that her tolerance was embarrassingly low--but Olivia's tolerance was a lot higher and she'd only had about half as much as Casey had. He was torn between saying something to stop them and sitting there quietly to see how far they'd go. In the end, his rationality won out. "So, Casey--"

Casey jumped a mile at the sound of her name, startled. "Huh?"

He smirked at the pink color of her cheeks and the guilty glint in her eyes. She looked more like a child who'd gotten caught with her hand in the cookie jar than an attorney who'd just sent a perverted, pathetic excuse for a human being to jail for a couple decades. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Wh-what?"

"Never mind." He smiled to calm her a little, then looked over Casey's head to Olivia and raised his eyebrows at her, as if to ask her what the hell she thought she was doing. She gave him an equally nonchalant and noncommittal look in return. They had been working together long enough that communicating without words was second nature to them, and he could tell that she was having fun. What he couldn't tell, however, was whether she knew exactly what she was doing.

Casey moved away from Olivia and once again settled back in the cushions. Her mind was moving a mile a minute and she couldn't seem to grasp onto any thought long enough for her to really process it. She felt relaxed but extremely confused, and that perplexed feeling was the reason she didn't drink very often. "We need music," she said after a minute of silence. She knew it seemed random, but she couldn't think of anything else to say.

"What do you have?" Elliot asked.

"Good question." She tried to remember which CDs she'd brought in from home that morning, but just as the beginning of the evening was a blur, the small details of the morning were gone as well. "I think I might have some oldies compilations or something," she said with a shrug.

"Oldies, Casey?" Olivia clucked her tongue in disapproval. She stood and wandered over to Casey's desk, going through the drawers for the CDs.

"Well, you know, not cheesy stuff. Stuff like the Beatles, the Stones …"

"The Monkees," Olivia grinned, holding up a jewel case. She rifled through the rest of them. "Sinatra, Bobby Darin--"

"Hey, don't knock Bobby Darin." Casey got up and rushed over to Olivia, trying to snatch the jewel cases out of her hand.

Olivia turned to the side, blocking both Casey's grasp and the drawer. "The Four Seasons, Tears for Fears." She paused to shoot Casey an amused smile. "Shania Twain, Savage Garden, Linkin Park, and Trapt. Holy eclectic musical taste. Though, I never would have guessed you were a closet country fan."

"All right, get out of my stuff." Casey reached around Olivia and slammed the drawer closed. "I am not a closet country fan."

"You have Shania Twain, Casey!"

"One CD hardly makes me a country fan. And besides, this is the CD that came out after she crossed into pop."

Olivia smirked. "You know the timeline of Shania's career?"

"No! I just--ugh, forget it!" Her mind was swimming again, though this time the thoughts were a little frightening to her. Why was Olivia looking at her like that, like she enjoyed teasing her just a little too much? Was that even what the small gleam in her eyes meant or was Casey just misinterpreting everything? But the most startling thing of all was that Casey liked it, both the attention and the implications of her feelings being correct.

"I'm sorry, Casey," Olivia said softly. "I was just teasing you."

Casey opened her mouth to assure Olivia that it was okay, but instead, before she even thought about what she was doing, something else entirely slipped out. "Yeah, whatever." Playing hard to get had never been her thing. Then again, flirting with a woman had never been her thing, either, before tonight.

"How can I make it up to you?" Olivia moved a little closer to her, looking intently into her eyes.

Oh, she's good, Casey thought. She quickly tried to think of something to say in return that wouldn't sound ridiculous. "I have a couple of ideas." Groaning inwardly at the cheesiness of that retort, she tore her eyes away from Olivia's.

Olivia giggled and wrapped her arm around the ADA's shoulders. She leaned in closely, whispering into Casey's ear. "Like what?"

Casey blushed and pulled away, refusing to meet Olivia's eyes. This was crazy; Olivia had to be playing with her. She was a little surprised by how much the thought of Olivia not meaning any of the flirtation hurt. "I-I need more wine."

"That's all you want?" Olivia asked, smiling. "I was sure you were going to ask me to take it out in trade or something."

"N-no. I mean, yes. I mean … never mind." Just what was happening? Trying to focus on something else, anything else, she took the jewel cases from Olivia's hands, put them back in her desk drawer, slammed it shut, and walked back over to the couch. She avoided Elliot's amused gaze as she plopped down on the opposite end of the sofa and tucked her feet up underneath herself. Great, she thought, just great. Not only had she made a fool of herself in front of Olivia, she had also done so in front of her partner. Picking up her wine glass from where she had left it on the floor in front of the sofa, she quickly downed the rest of the dark liquid, hoping against hope that the alcohol would calm her down. Or at least get her back to the point where she didn't care about anything.

Within a couple minutes, the alcohol had worked its magic. As Olivia went to sit back down on the couch, Casey stretched her legs out, blocking the middle seat. "What's the password?"

"Let me sit down now?" Olivia asked.

"Nope!"

"Please let me sit down now?"

Casey pretended to think about that for a moment, then shook her head, grinning. "One more guess."

Olivia smirked and bent down to whisper in Casey's ear. "If you let me sit down now, I'll give you a back rub later."

Immediately, Casey moved her feet, allowing Olivia to sit. "I'm holding you to that, Detective." Her cheeks were a pale shade of pink, flushed from both the wine and the flirtation.

"You do just that."

"I'm going to go wash out the wine glasses in the bathroom," Elliot said, taking his glass and Olivia's in hand. He stood up and motioned for Olivia to follow him. She shot him a perplexed look but did as he asked. Once out in the hallway and out of earshot of Casey's office, he turned and fixed a knowing stare on Olivia. "What do you think you're doing?"

"What do you mean?" she asked him, feigning innocence.

"Don't give me that, Olivia. She's completely gone, but you're not. It's one thing to play along with her, but you're really flirting with her, and on some level, she knows it."

"I most certainly am not."

"You are. And she's flirting back. The only difference is you're the one who's more aware of what's going on."

Olivia, realizing she was caught, decided on another tactic. "And what does it matter to you if I am or not?"

"I suppose, in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't because it's none of my business. But I care about the both of you, and I have to tell you, what's going on in there is confusing the hell out of her, whether she's consciously aware of it or not. And I'd hate to think that you're having fun at her expense."

"You don't think this is confusing the hell out of me, too? I mean, my God, I'm not exactly flirting with women all the time, Elliot."

"So why are you?"

"I-I don't know," she cried helplessly. "She was flirting with me, and I found myself … liking it. I know she's drunk and she doesn't really know what she's doing, but Gold help me, I liked it. So I started flirting back to humor her."

Elliot sighed. What he saw in that office was much more than his partner humoring the drunk ADA. But he wasn't sure if Olivia even realized that herself. "Look, all I'm saying is, be careful. You have rules, remember?"

Leave it to Elliot to throw her rules back in her face. "I know what I'm doing." Sort of, she added silently.

After looking her over for a moment, he decided to back off and let her do whatever she wanted. "Fine. Just … be careful."

She nodded curtly, then walked back into Casey's office with Elliot on her heels. The ADA had gotten up from the couch and was wandering around her office, obviously looking for something. "Casey, what are you doing?"

"Looking for--" Casey stopped speaking abruptly as she stumbled over something on the ground. After regaining her balance, she bent down and picked up one of her shoes. "--these!"

"You didn't see that your shoes were in the middle of the floor?" Olivia asked. Her dark eyes reflected both concern and amusement.

"No, I really didn't. I couldn't remember where I'd kicked them." She stood on one foot and tried to slip the other into one of the shoes. Suddenly losing her balance, she reached out and grabbed onto Olivia's arm for support. "Whoa!"

"You all right?" the detective asked, holding onto Casey's arm.

"Yeah. I should not try to stand on one foot when I've had … however the hell many glasses of wine I've had."

"Seven, maybe seven and a half, but who's counting," Olivia grinned. "The buzz is wearing off, isn't it?"

Casey nodded wearily. "And now I'm just sleepy."

"Come on." Olivia allowed Casey to lean on her as she slipped on her other shoe. "I'll give you a ride home."

"Olivia …" Elliot said, a warning tone in his voice.

"I can't very well let her drive herself home, can I?" she hissed under her breath.

"I can hear you two, you know," Casey spoke up through a yawn. "I'm not that out of it."

"I'm sorry," Olivia said, smiling. "Get your jacket and I'll get you home."

Casey snatched her jacket off the coat hook and shrugged it on, then started walking towards her office door. "We have to do this more often, you guys. I had a lot of fun."

"Next time you win, Casey," Elliot assured her with a wink. "And we'll go out somewhere and have something stronger than wine."

Casey smirked, turned off her office light, and once the detectives were out in the hall with her, closed the door behind herself. Elliot had half a mind to follow Olivia and Casey out of both curiosity and concern, but after mentally considering the screaming match that would most certainly occur if either woman were to spot him, he decided to let it go. He'd just have to question Olivia extensively the next morning. The threesome separated in the parking lot, Elliot running in the rain to his car and Casey and Olivia making their way to Casey's.

Olivia took the keys from Casey's hand and unlocked the driver's side door. Wrinkling her nose at the dust on the dashboard, she leaned over and opened the passenger door for the ADA. "God, Counselor, don't you ever clean your car out?"

"I'm only in it when it rains or snows and I never think to bring a dustcloth with me," Casey replied, plopping down on the seat. "Oh God I am so drunk."

"I thought you weren't drunk, just tipsy."

"Olivia, I had like, six glasses of wine and I have an ant-sized tolerance. Of course I'm drunk." She leaned her head back against the seat and closed her eyes. "I'm dizzy."

"And you still don't know how much you had." Olivia started the car and shook her head. She didn't say another word until they were out of the parking garage. "Casey, I think I know the way back to your apartment, but I might need a little direction."

"Mm-hmm."

Olivia glanced over the Casey and frowned. She took her hand off the wheel long enough to give Casey's knee a gentle shake. "Casey, stay awake for me."

"I am awake," she mumbled sleepily.

"Not for long," Olivia muttered. Luckily, she remembered how to get to Casey's apartment without having to ask for help. Once there, she parked the car in Casey's spot in the garage, turned the car off, and sighed. The ADA was out cold. Gently, she roused Casey. "Come on, hon, you're home."

"Ugh," Casey groaned. "I'm getting a headache."

"I know," Olivia whispered. "Just a little bit longer and then I can get you into bed."

Casey smirked. "You might want to reword that, Detective."

"Just get out of the car, Novak," Olivia said with a small, embarrassed chuckle.

"Oh, last names, huh?" Casey got out of the car and slammed her door shut, then leaned against the car wearily. "I'm so not going to make it all the way upstairs."

"You can't very well stay out here all night, Casey," Olivia said softly. She rounded the car and wrapped her arm around Casey's shoulders. "Come on, I'll help you get upstairs."

Navigating the stairs was a bit more problematic than Olivia had anticipated, and as such, it took a few minutes longer than Olivia had expected to get Casey safely up to her apartment. Since she was still holding the keys, she opened the door rather than stand there while Casey tried to fiddle with the lock. Once the door was opened, Casey walked in, kicked off her shoes, and dropped her jacket in the corner. "Oh, it's so good to be home."

She made a move for the sofa, but Olivia grabbed her hand. "Oh no, you don't. You're going to bed."

"You coming with me?" Casey asked, grinning.

Olivia gasped audibly. That question definitely took their flirtation up to the next level. "Casey--"

"It was a joke, Detective. Lighten up." Casey wandered into her bedroom and unmade her bed. "You still owe me a back rub, you know."

"Are you going to remember that in the morning?" Olivia asked, smirking as she followed Casey.

"Probably not. Which means you should give it to me now."

"I think you should go to sleep," Olivia said quietly.

Casey nodded, stifling a yawn. "It's late, Liv. Stay here tonight and we can drive in together tomorrow."

Olivia hesitated. "Casey, I don't think that's such a good idea, not after what's been going on tonight …"

"Olivia, it's not like we're going to wind up in bed together. Go stay on my couch; I'll even close the door to my room." She crawled into bed, not bothering to change out of her clothes.

Olivia nodded and started to leave, then turned back to the ADA, who had laid down and closed her eyes. There was one question she had to ask. "Casey, did you mean anything tonight?"

Unfortunately for Olivia, Casey had already fallen asleep. Olivia sighed, turned out the light in Casey's room, and closed the door as she exited. She had no idea if the ADA would remember anything about the night when she awoke in the morning, but Olivia would not likely forget it and she was more confused than ever. On the one hand, she hoped Casey remembered absolutely nothing; that way they wouldn't have to face the fact that they were both seriously flirting with each other. But on the other hand, Olivia wasn't sure how she felt about never talking to Casey about what had gone on and whether it meant anything to her. She hated that there was no way to find out just what the next step was until the morning. Regardless of what happened, Olivia had had fun. And she supposed that was going to have to be enough.