Disclaimers: None of the SVU characters of mine, axcept for Michelle Mendicez. References to other shows are meant as a crossover, but nothing heavy. All songs used in this chapter are property of their owners, not me.
Author's Note: Thanks for all of your kind reviews! Many, many thanks! Of course, this means that I will keep going with posting this story. I refuse to stop, now! As I promised, I don't go overboard with OFCs. Anyway, I'm still looking forward to reviews, (kind ones, not rude ones, but I haven't gotten any rude ones yet, so I am not worried). Enjoy the chapter!
The dinner hall was packed to the rafters with people, all dressed up, ready to party. Everyone from the SVU was crowded in a small corner of the building, talking, laughing, and exchanging gifts for the holiday season. The only ones who hadn't shown up yet were Elliot, his family, and George Huang. Olivia was growing impatient at the fact that her partner was late tonight, of all nights.
"Probably having trouble getting Dickie ready," she thought to herself. Dickie hadn't liked the idea of a big party from the start; all he wanted to do was stay home, and open gifts. Typical kids, still not grasping what Christmas was meant to be all about.
Alex sighed, looking at her watch. "I'm tired of waiting," she laughed, grabbing Olivia by the wrist. "You wanna' go now?" Olivia just nodded, and stood up.
"Where are you guys going?" Cragen asked. "You're not leaving already, are you?" Alex shook her head.
"No, Captain. We're just going to go dance." She listened for a minute, and recognized the song starting up. It was "Dance Hall Days" by Wang Chung, a song that she hadn't heard in a long, long time. "If anyone wants to join us, feel free," she smiled.
Everyone was stunned; none of them had figured Alex for a dancing person, Olivia either, really. By looking at them, now out on the dance floor, you never would have guessed that one was a cop, and the other an ADA, but rather just two women who were out to have a little fun. Alex's floor length, golden coloured evening gown was gliding across the floor with her movements. Olivia's short hemmed black dress looked extremely difficult to maneuver in, but she managed to do so with minimal problems.
With just the three guys left at the table, Cragen looked at his two detectives. "Either of you gonna' dance?" he asked, with a huge grin. Fin gave him an "I don't think so," look, and John gave his best "When Hell freezes over, pal," glance. Cragen burst into laughter at the expressions that lined their faces. Fin and John looked at each other, rolled their eyes, and sighed in unison. Dancing just wasn't John's thing, and Fin wasn't up to it tonight.
Cragen continued to scan the dance floor, and stopped back at Olivia and Alex, who had picked up two more people. He knew that one of them was Mendicez, but the young man dancing with them was still a mystery; the back of his head was not helping to solve the mystery very much.
"Who's that dancing with them?" Cragen asked, nodding the direction of the floor. The guys perked up; the party was getting kind of dull, and this sounded interesting.
"No idea," said Fin, curiously. "I've never seen the guy before." He shrugged it off, but continued to watch.
"Me either," John agreed. He studied the figure carefully; the guy was young, late twenties, early thirties. His hair was dark, cut short and pushed back with some kind of styling gel. The vest he had on appeared to be black, but had a dark red shine when it hit the light. Finally, the man stopped dancing, and turned around. "Holy God!" John breathed, startling Cragen and Fin.
"What?" Cragen asked, worried that maybe John was having some sort of attack. "Are you alright, John?" John didn't speak, and just pointed out toward the mystery man.
"That's Brian Cassidy," John choked, shocked beyond compare to see the man there in the first place. He hadn't seen Brian in what seemed like forever, almost four years, to be more precise. "God, it's been a while."
"Are you shittin' me, John?" Cragen inquired, almost in a state of disbelief toward John's comment. He hadn't seen Cassidy in four years, either, since he went into Narcotics. "I didn't expect to see him here."
"Why are you all so surprised?" Fin asked, confused. "Just because he isn't part of SVU anymore doesn't mean he isn't a cop still," he reminded them. "This is a cop-and-family party, or, did some of us miss that?" With no responses, he waved his hands in the middle of the table. "Hello? Earth to Missing Links!" He got nothing. Fin shrugged, and stood up. "I'm gonna' go get a drink," he yelled, waiting for one of the two to look up. However, there was no such luck. Sighing, he turned, and headed for the bar.
John continued to watch Cassidy, excited by the fact that he might finally be able to talk to his old partner again, after all this time. There were so many things that had never been said between them, and John wished every day for the chance to go back in time to say some of those things. He knew it sounded pathetic, but that was just how he felt, and that was something that he would keep inside of himself. No one needed to know about any of it; no one except for Brian Cassidy.
After almost five more minutes of keeping a close eye on Cassidy, Cragen finally blinked. "Well, that was interesting," he said, reaching across the table for his soda. There were some moments when he wished for a nice, stiff drink, but this wasn't one of them. He was just as happy, if not happier, to be sipping on a cold cola, rather than a beer. "I think I'll go look for Elliot and Huang." He looked back at John. "You alright here by yourself?" John just continued to stare out at the floor. "John?" Cragen called, snapping his fingers in John's face.
"What?" John asked, as if suddenly snapped out of a trance. "Sorry, Captain," he muttered. "What was that?"
"I asked if you would be alright here alone, while I go look for some people, but, now, I don't know..." Cragen trailed. John waved his hand.
"Go. Mingle. Meander." He smiled at Cragen. "I'm fine." Cragen stood, straightened his suit, and sauntered off.
John laughed to himself, as he picked up his drink. Taking a sip, he returned his gaze to the dance floor. It took about twenty seconds to locate Olivia, and then Alex, both of whom had disappeared into the crowd of people, also dancing. However, he could no longer see Brian, nor Michelle. John began to scan the rest of the hall, looking for any sign of Brian; he didn't want to lose him, so soon after finding him.
"Hey, John!" John whipped his head to the right, so fast that he could have gotten whiplash. What he saw almost made him laugh; Elliot Stabler, the detective that he had come to know as a laid back kind of guy in the clothing department, stood before him now, in a full-blown tuxedo.
John wanted to ask "Elliot, what in the hell is that?" He backed away from that question, and came up with something a bit more adult. "Don't you look snazzy?" Elliot smiled, and nodded.
"Eh, just something the wife picked up for me." He continued to nod, then stopped, and grabbed a chair. He sat down, and looked around the room.
"Where is the Brady Bunch?" John asked, playfully, at the prospect that Elliot had come alone.
"My mother-in-law showed up," Elliot explained, looking back at John. "Kathy wanted me to stay, and I would have, except for the fact that there would have been an arguement between myself and her mother." He shook his head; the last thing that he had wanted to do that night was hang around with Kathy's mother. Basically, the night had gone to hell in a hand basket the minute his mother-in-law had walked through the door.
"Sounds like fun," John said, sarcastically, remembering all too well the pains of the in-laws. He had gone through four sets of them, himself, and had hated every single minute of it.
"Yeah, right," Elliot chuckled. "Loads of fun for everyone." He went back to looking at the dance floor. "Olivia here yet?" Elliot asked, wondering where she would be if not right next to John at the table. He heard John clear his throat, and looked back at him. John was pointing to somewhere out in front of them, and Elliot followed the direction of John's finger out onto the dance floor. His jaw almost dropped at the sight of Olivia; she was dancing. She was actually dancing. "How much has she had to drink?" He knew it would take quite a bit to get his partner out onto the floor, and to be doing what she was doing... Well, that would mean at least a few beers.
"As far as I know, nothing," John said, honestly. He watched Elliot, as he turned back with an "Are you sure?" expression. "I know. Surprising, isn't it?" Elliot just twisted his face.
"You have no idea." He went back to looking at Olivia, realizing for the first time that Alex was out there with her. He had never seen Olivia like she was tonight, and wondered just what it was that had put her into such a wild mood.
"Hey, Elliot," John began, grasping the other man's attention. "You didn't happen to see Brian anywhere on your way in, did you?"
"Cassidy?" Elliot asked, shocked. "I saw someone that I thought looked like him when I parked my car, but I don't think it was him."
"Why not?" John felt a little out of the loop, not knowing who was where, and wanting to know who else at the party would look like his old partner.
Elliot shrugged. "The guy I saw was holding hands with Michelle, and they looked like they were going somewhere."
"You sure?" John continued his banter of questions. "With Michelle?" he thought. "What in the hell would he be doing with her?"
"Yeah," Elliot nodded. "Why? Time to play the over protective father figure, is it, John?" he joked, knowing about the closeness that had once existed between John and Cassidy. "If it was Brian, he can hold his own with Michelle. He's a big boy, John. Let him out of the cage." Elliot grinned at John, who had his face twisted into a thoughtful expression. "John, you okay?" Elliot asked, concerned. John looked up at him.
"Fine," he stammered. "Just trying to..." he trailed, trying desperately hard to come up with something. "Just trying to figure out the name of this song." John listened to the tune carefully, trying to be convincing. He really could care less what the song was; he had never heard it before.
"Don't strain yourself," Elliot suggested. "It's called 'Adrienne', by some newer group called 'The Calling'."
"How in the hell do you know that?" John asked, not understanding how someone of Elliot's years could know of a song like this.
"Kathleen blares them in her room," Elliot explained. "You like it? I could get her to make you a copy."
"No, thanks," John smiled. He didn't want a copy of some song he didn't like. He wanted to know what had become of his friends, and why Brian was last seen clasping the hand of the new detective. Something just wasn't falling into place with John, and he didn't know what it was. The only thing that he could think of was that the two had met tonight, and become attracted to one another, but even that didn't settle well.
John was about to go outside, hopefully running into one of the two on the way, saving him the trouble of having to hunt them down, when he looked toward the door. Walking in, hand in hand, were the two detectives that he had wanted to see.
"Dammit," he breathed. "What in the hell is going on tonight?"
Author's Note: Where do you want to see the story go? Do you think they are involved? Do you think Olivia is drunk? (Hahahah). Include whatever questions, comments, and ideas you like into your review(s)! Thanks! Untile the next chapter...