Disclaimer: Maybe I can barter with Dick to give me partial ownership...

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"You guys," Casey said playfully as she joined Alex and Jess on the couch. "You really didn't have to come over here and do this for me. You probably have much more important things to worry about and –"

"Shush," Jess said as she pushed the play button on the remote. "We have only one rule and that's no talking when Robin's talking. Eat a few Oreos, enjoy the movie, and we'll talk later."

"Jess," Casey tried to argue.

"Shush! It's starting."

Casey looked at Alex, who just smiled and shook her head as she turned her attention to the movie. She decided to just sit back and enjoy the show. As it began, she couldn't help but smile at the two women sitting next to her. I have the best friends in the world, she thought. Once Robin began with his jokes, she knew Jess and Alex had given her exactly what she needed. She relaxed and leaned back into the couch, ready to allow Robin to work the magic Jess and Alex claimed he did.

While Alex and Jess no longer found the movie nearly as funny as when they had first seen it, they still couldn't help laughing at some of the jokes. They were both so glad to see Casey doing the same. She had looked so distraught at first that they weren't sure Robin and Oreos were going to be enough to pull her out of it. Now, they were happy to see their plan working. She was laughing and wiping the tears from her eyes by the time the credits were rolling.

"Robin really does work miracles, doesn't he?" Alex asked once she was sure Casey was done crying. She wrapped her arm around her shoulders and gave a friendly squeeze.

She looked up and wiped the final tears from her eyes. "You two were right. Thank you so much. I really needed this. I think I really, really needed to see you two. I was just…"

"Well we're just glad to see you smiling again," Jess said as Casey's voice drifted off. "You really had us worried for a little while. We weren't liking what we were hearing from Steve."

She nodded and looked away, embarrassed. "I know, and I'm so sorry. I know I should have called or said something, but…I just…I didn't know how to face you, Alex. I was so sure I'd fail you and –"

"Hey," Alex said gently as she grabbed Casey's hands. "You didn't fail me. You did nothing of the sort. You kicked ass in that courtroom, Case. I can't even begin to thank you for that. You objected to nearly every one of Simpkins' questions, and I mean you really objected. It's not everyday I get to hear someone yell 'Objection' with such passion. It meant a lot to me that he was upsetting you that much. You did such a great job in there. Please, please, please believe that."

"She's right you know," Jess said encouragingly. "I've seen my fair share of trials, and you were great. I smiled every single time you yelled 'objection' and I'm pretty sure the jury did, too."

Casey found herself wiping more tears from her eyes as she swallowed in an attempt to keep from breaking down completely. "Thanks you guys. This means so much to me."

"Just promise me something," Alex said.

"What?"

"Don't ever do this to me again! You had us so worried. Please, if you ever, ever need anything, call me. You could never be a disappointment to me, so please, don't ever think that that's what you are. It's not possible. Not after the great job you did with this case."

"Alex –"

"And don't even try to argue with me about this because you'll lose. You did a great job, Casey. Leave it at that."

Casey sighed and finally admitted defeat. "Okay. Thank you."

"Don't thank me. Just keep doing your best. Trust me when I say that your best is damned good."

"Thanks guys."

Jess smiled. "Anytime, Case."

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"Thanks for meeting me for lunch today, Jess," Olivia said as she took a bite of her tuna fish sandwich. They were sitting at Olivia's desk and trying to ignore the chaotic squad room around them. There wasn't anything happening that required Olivia's immediate attention, so she did her best to tune it out.

"Yeah, no problem," Jess said happily. She took a few bites of salad before returning her gaze to Olivia. "You said you needed a favor?"

She looked away and played with her salad. She wasn't sure how to ask this and she hated that it was so hard for her to do. What was so damn hard about asking to borrow money? She took a deep breath and tried to avoid Jess' gaze. "I, um, I was wondering if maybe I could…I need to um…"

"Liv?" Jess asked with a smile. "What is it that you need?"

Olivia took a deep breath and looked up at Jess. "Mine and Alex's one-year anniversary is in just over five months."

Jess put her hand over her mouth and smiled. "Oh my God you're right! I can't believe I've known you guys almost a year now. What are you planning on doing for it?"

Olivia smiled at Jess' excitement. "I was thinking I would take her on a cruise," she said modestly. "I found one that's, well it's all-gay and they have a nine-day cruise from Barcelona to Athens that looks really nice."

"A cruise, huh? Liv, that's awesome. She's going to absolutely love it." Jess smiled happily as she expressed her enthusiasm.

"Yeah," she said as she looked away again.

"What's wrong?"

"It's really expensive."

Jess smiled. "How much do you need, Liv?"

"What? Jess, I –"

"Liv, you invited me to lunch because you said you needed a favor. I'm guessing that, from the way you're acting right now, you need a little help paying for this cruise." She waited until Olivia nodded slightly before continuing. "That's what I thought. How much do you need, Liv?"

"Six thousand. I promise I'll –"

"It's done. I can have it put into your account whenever you need it."

Olivia frowned and licked her lips nervously. "I was actually wondering, and you can totally say no if you don't want to do this, but I was wondering if maybe you could pay for it and I could pay you back. That way she won't know it's happening. We have a joint bank account and if there's suddenly a lot of activity she's going to get suspicious and I want this to be a surprise and –"

"Liv?"

"Yeah?"

"Shut up," she said and smiled. "Just give me the information and I'll put it on my card."

"Thanks, Jess."

Jess looked up hesitantly and gave a slightly mischievous smile. "I, um, I actually had an idea, too. I've been thinking about it for a while now, since I figured you two were staying together anyway. I actually got it from an old friend in high school. She did it for a friend of hers who was going through a really rough time and I thought it was incredible."

"What is it?"

"You mentioned she's been having a hard time lately with believing you and everyone else loves her, right?"

Olivia nodded sadly. "Yeah. She was doing better. She was really starting to believe that she deserved to be loved and everything, but after that day in the courtroom, she's been falling. She's not so sure anymore and it's killing me."

Jess nodded understandingly and sat up straight in her chair to explain her idea. "Add another room off your bedroom – a small one, no bigger than say, eight by nine feet or something." She smiled at Olivia's surprised reaction. "I know, it's crazy, but hear me out. Once you've got the room built, you paste pictures all over the walls. One wall is just one huge, blown-up one of the two of you or something. We'd put a few pillows or beanbags or a couch or something in there and have music playing. Then, if she's ever feeling alone or anything, she can go in the room and be constantly surrounded by everyone who loves her."

Olivia smiled as Jess looked uncomfortably away, afraid her idea was too outrageous. It was the best idea she'd ever heard, and Alex was going to absolutely love it. It was something she'd never think of herself. The only problem was cost. She hated to see Jess pay for everything right now. "Jess, that is by far the most amazing idea I've ever heard. She would absolutely love that. Are you sure you can pay for the cruise and this at the same time?"

"Liv, I've got plenty of money to cover it, don't worry about that."

"You really want to put an addition on our house?"

"On two conditions."

"You're giving me conditions on adding onto my own house?" Olivia joked.

"Yep. One, the addition has to be okay with you."

"Trust me, it's okay."

"Good. Second, you have to give me all the pictures of the two of you that you want on the walls. It's your house, so I wouldn't want to do anything you didn't like. You pick the pictures. I'll put them on the walls." She paused for several seconds, waiting for Olivia to picture in her mind how it would look when it was finished. "What do you think?"

"I think it's going to make her the happiest woman in the world. How do you want to work it?"

"I think we'll build it while you're on your cruise. That way it'll be a surprise."

Olivia laughed. "You're trying to outdo me, aren't you?"

"Absolutely not. This room won't just be from me. It'll be from everyone. I've talked to Casey and Elliot about it, and Elliot talked to the squad. They're all in. Steve and Allen are helping, too."

"Good," she said as she breathed a sigh of relief. "That makes me feel a little better."

"Are you sure it's okay that we'd be doing this while you're gone?"

"Yeah, I trust you enough."

"Do you have any particular pictures you want me to use? I already have some of everyone else with Alex, as well as a lot of shots of her with individual people. Do you have any of just the two of you?"

"I have a few, but I can get some more taken the next few times we go out. I know she's been wanting to get some more to put in a photo album. I'll just tell her that's what I'm doing."

"Great." Jess looked down at her watch. "Well, I'd better get going. I have to finish a pamphlet by tonight and I've still got a lot of work to do on it."

"Okay, well good luck with that."

"Thanks, I'm going to need it."

As Jess made her way to the door, Olivia smiled. "And Jess?"

"Yeah?"

"I'll get you the information for the cruise tomorrow."

"Okay, sounds good."

"Thank you. I'll pay you back as quickly as I can."

Jess shook her head. "Don't worry, there's no rush, and there's no interest. Take as long as you need, Liv. It's okay."

She nodded and tried to smile. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now get back to work. I'm sure you've got plenty of bad guys to put away."

"Unfortunately. I'll call you tomorrow."

"Okay. See you later."

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"Steve, I just got off the phone with Petrovsky," Casey said excitedly at dinner two weeks after the incident in the courtroom. "She told me Simpkins is going to get twenty years in prison for that little stunt he pulled!"

His eyes widened as he dropped his fork in surprise. "Twenty years? How?"

Casey smiled. "Petrovsky's good. She did a hell of a lot of digging." She then frowned and looked down at her dinner. "Apparently the Cabots paid him two hundred and fifty thousand dollars to do this to her."

"WHAT?" he screamed.

She nodded and sighed. "Yeah. They contacted him and offered to pay him if he promised to embarrass her and call her job into question. They wanted her to have to relive all of that in front of everybody, apparently to teach her a lesson or something."

"That's sick."

"Yeah, well, he got caught. He's being charged with accepting a bribe, hindering prosecution, and contempt of court. He won't get out anytime soon."

"Good." He took several bites of his salad before realizing Casey hadn't eaten anything. "Does Alex know?"

She shook her head. "I haven't told her yet."

"You should. You know she'd really appreciate it."

"I know. It's just hard. That woman had been through so much and I hate to have to put her through more."

He smiled and took her hand. "Case, you know that she's going to find out no matter what. Don't you think she'd rather hear it from a friend?"

"I know, you're right. I'll give her a call tomorrow."

"Good. She'll be glad you did, I promise."

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Casey was concentrating so hard on her paperwork that she barely heard the subtle knock on her door. When she heard it again, louder this time, she looked up and rolled her eyes, irritated that someone was interrupting her paperwork time. "Come in," she yelled.

The door opened and Alex hesitantly stuck her head in. "Everything okay? Can I come in?"

Casey shook her head in embarrassment and smiled. "Alex, sorry. I kind of, um…well I kind of forgot I invited you for lunch. Please, come in. Sorry the place is such a mess."

Alex put her purse down on the floor and took a seat at the desk in front of Casey. "No problem. I have clients show up all the time and I'll have absolutely no idea they have an appointment until they're literally sitting at my desk with that expectant look in their eyes."

She laughed as she looked down at the papers in front of her. Unfortunately, that was probably the worst place she could have turned her eyes. The papers listed all the details of Simpkins' charges and everything she had to bring him down. Her face contorted to one of hesitation and fear, but she tried her best to hide it.

Alex, always able to pick up on people's true feelings, wasn't fooled. "Spill, Case. What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she lied.

"Casey, something's wrong. What is it?"

She took a deep breath. "I guess I'll start with the good news. I talked to Petrovsky today. We still have to go to court to finalize a few things, but it looks like I'll be able to get Simpkins sentenced to twenty years."

Alex's eyes widened. She had to put her hands on the desk to keep herself upright. "Did I hear you say what I think you said? Twenty years? How the hell did you manage that?"

Casey looked down in her lap. "That's where the bad news comes in."

"Case, please, just tell me. What's going on?"

"Well, as you know he's being charged with contempt and hindering prosecution. Apparently Petrovsky and the detectives did some digging and found something else." She paused, trying to figure out how best to tell Alex. She bit her lower lip, "He's also being charged with accepting a bribe, and since it was a bribe that was potentially damaging to the investigation and trial, he'll get the maximum penalty."

"Accepting a bribe," she said softly as she tried to let the words sink in. Somebody had paid him to do this to her? He had received money to do this to her. Who on earth hated her that much? Then it hit her. She looked up at Casey in horror as she realized who it was. "My parents."

Casey nodded slowly. "Alex, I'm so sorry."

"You're prosecuting?"

She nodded. "Normally I wouldn't since it's not SVU, but they're giving it to me anyway since I'm already involved with the case."

"Good," she said shakily. "That's good."

"Alex?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you okay?"

She shook her head and wrapped her arms around herself. "You just told me my own parents paid a lawyer to torture me in court. No, I'm not okay. I'm nowhere near okay." She tried her best to be honest while at the same time prevent herself from crying. She could tell Casey she wasn't okay, but she would not let herself cry.

Casey stood up and walked around the table. She pulled Alex out of the chair and led her over to the couch. As they sat down, Alex bit her lower lip in an effort to keep the tears away. "It's okay to cry, Alex," Casey told her. "It's okay."

With those words, and Casey's arm wrapped around her, Alex could no longer hold back the tears. She leaned into Casey and felt Casey's arms wrap around her tightly. Finally, she let the tears fall. She sobbed into Casey's chest as Casey softly ran her fingers through her hair and rubbed her back.

"I'm going to put him away for a long time. I promise."

"I know," Alex said shakily. "Thank you."

Casey smiled as she held Alex. "I just wish there was more that I could do."

"Just nail his ass. That's all you can do."

"Then that's what I'll do."

Alex sat up and smiled as she wiped away a few tears. "And when you're done, you'd better believe I'm taking you out to the best damn celebratory dinner ever."

"I'd like that."

"Good. It's settled."

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Allen was just about to start cooking dinner when Jess walked in with an armload of groceries and take-out Chinese. "What's with the Chinese? I thought we had plenty of food here."

"Oh, we do. I just didn't feel like cooking or cleaning anything tonight."

He could tell by the tone of her voice that something was wrong. He'd spoken with Elliot earlier that day and had heard what was happening with Simpkins. Now, seeing Jess' exhaustion and sadness, he was sure she'd heard as well. "It's not fair, I know."

"How could her parents be so cruel?"

He walked over and put his arms around her. "I don't know. Some people are just plain crazy. All we can do now is support her and pray that she makes it through this."

"I think she will…I hope she will."

"I'm sure she will. She's made it this far all on her own. Now she's got a hell of a lot of people supporting her." He kissed the top of her head and gently rubbed her back. "I think she's going to be just fine."

"Yeah."

"You in the mood to hear some good news?"

"I would kill to hear some good news."

He smiled and lifted her head so their eyes met. "I booked us a spot in Central Park for May 10. It's a Saturday. Our wedding's at five. It's by the water and it's absolutely beautiful. There's a little bridge off to one side, but we probably won't use it. It'll still look pretty, plus we can put flowers on it or something. We have a good-sized field and a lot of trees in the background. I checked it out today and I think it's perfect."

She couldn't help but smile when she heard what he was saying. "You are the most amazing man in the world, do you know that?" she said as she leaned over and kissed him lightly.

"So you keep saying," he laughed. "And I think you're the most amazing woman in the world. Imagine that, the two most amazing people in the world getting married. Who would have guessed?"

"Not me."

He laughed. "Well I bet that Chinese is getting cold. What did you bring?"

"I got myself sweet and sour chicken. I got you beef stir fry."

"Excellent. Lets eat."

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"Liv, let me get this straight," Alex said that night in bed. She laid on her side, facing Olivia, trying to figure out what she had just been told. "You want to take me on an all-gay cruise for our anniversary?"

Olivia brushed the hair out of Alex's face and smiled. "Only if it's okay with you. I looked over the information and it looks like a lot of fun. I figured it would be something we could both enjoy."

She scrunched her face in hesitation. "I wouldn't embarrass you? You'd be okay…being in public with me in a bathing suit?"

Olivia stopped rubbing Alex's face and held her hand on her cheek. "Of course I would be okay with it. I would. I would be honored to be seen with you in public. There's absolutely nothing embarrassing about you." She paused and studied Alex's face. "Would you be okay with it? We could always do something else. It's okay."

Alex thought for a few minutes. She stared into Olivia's eyes and saw more love and compassion than she'd ever seen before. She took a deep breath and smiled. "You know what? I think I'd be okay with it. I really think I would."

Olivia smiled and pulled her close. "I love you so much, Alex. I love you so, so much."

Alex tilted her head up and kissed her. "I love you, too."

"Good night, sweetie. I'll show you the information tomorrow."

"Okay. Good night, and thank you."

"For what?"

"Everything. Especially tonight. Today was hard…hearing about my parents and everything. Just…thank you."

"Well, you're welcome. Now get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning."

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Simpkins' trial came much quicker than anyone had anticipated. As Casey sat at her desk looking over her paperwork, she allowed herself a small sigh of relief. The trial was less than four hours away, and she couldn't wait for it to begin. She was more than ready for it, and everyone had promised to be there to support her. It was the first time since this whole mess had started that she felt prepared and confident that she was going to win. As the time grew closer, she couldn't help but feel a little excited. She couldn't wait to nail him. He was only being charged with accepting a bribe in this proceeding because he had been immediately found guilty of hindering prosecution and contempt.

Steve drove her to the courthouse, and she was happy to see that everyone except Cragen, who had gotten stuck in a meeting and wouldn't be able to attend, had already arrived and taken their seats. She smiled at all of them and took her seat at the desk. This was going to be the easiest case she'd ever fought.

When she finished her opening argument, she was pretty sure everyone behind her would have started cheering had they not been in a courtroom. As she walked back to her desk and saw their smiling faces, her confidence grew even more. This was going to be a piece of cake. She looked over her notes once again as Simpkins was being sworn in, then stood to begin her questioning.

"Mr. Simpkins, will you please explain to the court how you came in contact with the Cabots?"

He smiled. "They contacted me as soon as they found out this case was actually going to trial and that she would be testifying. I told them she would be explaining what had happened, and they got pissed. They told me they would pay me a quarter of a million dollars if I tortured her, so that's exactly what I did."

Casey nodded. "And what, exactly, is it about Ms. Cabot that you hate so much? Why would you want to call her job into question?"

"Because she's a bitch!" he screamed. "That whore actually had the nerve to beat me every single time we were up against each other! I am a man! I should be the one beating her! She never let me win – not once!"

As he was yelling, the courtroom was filled with hushed whispers and Petrovsky banged her gavel in an attempt to control the scene. "Order!" she screamed. "Order in this courtroom!" Simpkins sat back in his seat and tried to compose himself, realizing how much he was probably damaging his case by screaming. "You are to calm down, Mr. Simpkins."

"My apologies, Your Honor."

"Continue, Ms. Novak."

"Why were you so upset with a woman as the Bureau Chief?"

He shook his head and laughed, as if that was the dumbest question he'd ever been asked. "It wasn't so much that she was a woman. It was more that she was an emotionally unbalanced woman. She's crazy. Alexandra Cabot is fucking crazy. She has uncontrolled panic attacks, she cries for no reason, and she wakes up from nightmares nearly every single night. That's not the kind of person I want as my boss."

Casey furrowed her eyebrows as she went to check her notes again. She shook her head, unable to find what she thought would be in there, given what he had just said. She turned around and walked back to the center of the courtroom. "Mr. Simpkins, how do you know about Ms. Cabot's supposed nightmares?"

That question had caught him off guard. He hesitated, trying to think of what to say. "I…um, well, I – I think I maybe found out from her parents."

"You think you maybe found out from her parents?" she said, with obvious doubt in her voice.

"Yeah, I think that's right."

She shook her head. "I would hope you'd know your sources a little better, especially if it was something this important. Besides, how would they know about what she was going through?"

"Because she's their daughter!"

"Yes, yes, right, and she hasn't lived with them in nearly twelve years."

The color literally drained from his face. He'd realized he had stumbled into a lie that he couldn't get out of, and Casey had seen right through it. "She has nightmares nearly every night!" he screamed, his anger getting the best of him once again. "I've seen them! I've seen her wake up screaming from them!"

Casey's jaw tightened and she gave him a questioning glance. "You've seen them?"

He didn't answer. He refused to at that point. Doing so had already gotten him in enough trouble as it was. Maybe if he just kept his mouth shut, he'd be okay.

"Your Honor, please instruct the witness to answer the question," Casey said.

"Mr. Simpkins, please answer Ms. Novak's question."

"Fine," he took a deep breath. He was already in trouble, no use trying to get out of it now. "I saw her on the videos."

Casey froze in horror. "What videos?" she asked, terrified of what she was going to find out.

"The videos I took after her parents paid me to ruin her career."

"You took videos of her without her permission?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I wanted to make sure she was really as crazy as she seemed."

Casey wasn't sure what to do. She hadn't expected this at all. "Your Honor, I wish to bring up a second charge of video voyeurism against Mr. Simpkins."

Petrovsky nodded. "Okay. We'll have a brief recess so I can figure out what the hell to do with you, Mr. Simpkins. Meet back here in three hours."

As the courtroom began emptying, Casey turned her attention to Alex, who was struggling to make sense of what had just happened. She hesitantly made her way towards her, and was surprised when Alex wrapped her arms around her. "Alex, I –"

"Thank you," Alex said.

"What?"

"You found another reason to lock him up. He'll go away for even more time now. Thank you." She pulled out of the hug and forced a small smile. "I know you probably want to start feeling guilty and blame yourself for my finding out about this now, but don't. Don't you dare start blaming yourself. You know evidence pops up all the time during these proceedings. You're doing great so far. Keep it up."

Casey wrapped her arms tightly around Alex and sighed with relief. "Thank you for not getting upset with me." She stood back and smiled. "I have to go talk to Petrovsky. I'm sure Simpkins' lawyer will want to deal but there's no way in hell I'm accepting anything less than twenty-five years at this point. Not with this new information."

Alex smiled. "Simpkins is sixty years old. I doubt he'll even last twenty-five years in prison."

"Yes, well, that's the point."

"Go get him Casey. We'll be going out to dinner before you know it."

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Alex and Casey found themselves at dinner sooner than expected. Only four days after Simpkins' first day in court, he had been found guilty on all charges. He had admitted to everything and refused to put up any more of a fight. Casey, in an attempt to prevent more stress and wasted time, had reluctantly agreed to take a deal with Simpkins' lawyer. Simpkins would be spending a time of no less than twenty-five years in a medium-security prison. Now, as they sat down to eat, she couldn't help smiling and feeling a little bit proud of herself.

"Case, do you have any idea how awesome you were in that courtroom?" Alex asked once they had placed their orders.

She smiled. "I did okay."

"Okay? Okay? Casey, you were great! You nailed Jennings right away, and then you went and nailed Simpkins."

She couldn't keep the proud smile off her face. "I guess I did, didn't I?"

Alex laughed. "Uh, yeah, yeah ya did. Thank you so much."

Casey sighed happily. "I'm just glad I could help. If putting the bad guys away helps, then I'm all for it."

"Yeah, well, you did a hell of a lot more than just sending those two to jail. You helped me, too." She met Casey's eyes and smiled. "You helped me a lot. I never would have been able to get through this without you, Case."

"Alex, stop," Casey said modestly.

"Nope. You have been such a great friend to me, and I thank you. Leave it at that."

Casey nodded. "Okay. You're welcome. Thank you for taking me out to dinner. I really didn't feel like cooking tonight."

"Well, it's for a job very well done." She held up her wine glass. "Cheers. To great friends and putting bad guys away."

Casey clinked her glass against Alex's. "Cheers."

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Yikes, that chapter was a hell of a lot longer than I expected it to be. Sorry guys.

Okay yea, I think the next chapter will be the last one. I'll probably start the sequel soon, though :)