A/N: So, yeah. Once more, Bored, LSM, this is for you...and seeing as you turned me into a J/O shipper, it's gonna be hell trying to finish Made to Be Broken now...:rolleyes:


She hadn't expected Casey to ask her out to lunch, but it had happened. And now she finds herself sitting at a table in a café near the precinct, right across from the ADA.

"Cragen tells me the squad seems to be out of whack lately," Casey remarks, sipping from the Coke in front of her.

"Did he?" Olivia asks in reply. Casey nods.

"He seems pretty sure things will work themselves out," she says. "Hopefully sooner than later."

"Yeah," says Olivia, "That would be good. She fiddles with the napkin she has in front of her before continuing. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," says Casey, suddenly looking concerned, "What's up?"

Olivia sighs. "What would you do if you were with someone, but you started falling in love with someone else?"

"Oh. Wow." Casey leans back in her chair and takes another sip of her soda. "That's a hard one."

"Yeah, I know." Olivia runs a hand through her hair, sighing again. "That's why I'm asking."

"Well…." Casey sighs and sips again as she thinks. "Have you thought about it?"

"I've thought about it for nearly three months, Casey," says Olivia. She picks up a French fry, dips it in ketchup and sticks it into her mouth, waiting.

"So you really think it might be over between you and Elliot?" Casey asks finally.

"I don't know," Olivia admits. "Sometimes I think it is and I want to tell him, but then the next thing I know, he's gone and done something sweet or thoughtful, and I'm in love with him again."

"Well, you know, that…that's the problem," Casey tells her. "You'd have to decide which guy you love more."

"Even if it means screwing everything over?" Startled by the question, Casey stares for a moment at the older woman before it dawns on her.

"Should've known," she comments, fighting the desire to smirk. "This other guy you're talking about….it's Munch, isn't it?"

Olivia nods without speaking and looks away; Casey laughs.

"What are you ashamed for?" she asks. "There's nothing wrong with that."

" I didn't say there was. It's just…it's awkward." Olivia says finally. Casey sighs.

"Yeah, it would be," she says. "I don't know what to tell you, though. All I can really say is that it's best you make up your mind now before all three of you get hurt." She looks at her watch and frowns. "And I hate to cut things short, but I should really get going."
"Same here." says Olivia. Casey pulls her wallet out and leaves money on the table, and they rise to their feet to leave.

Once they're outside, Olivia looks in the direction of the precinct and runs a second hand through her hair.

"I think things just suddenly got harder," she says quietly. Casey shakes her head.

"It's your decision," she tells her. "It might hurt someone for a little while, but whoever it is, they'll get over it."

"That's the problem, Casey," says Olivia, "What if they don't?" Casey shrugs.

"You'll just have to see," she replies. "It's more than likely that they will, so I wouldn't worry about it too much if I were you." She looks at her watch again and continues. "I'm due back in court. See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah," says Olivia. Casey casts a faint smile in her direction before hailing a cab and disappearing; she watches her go before heading back towards the precinct, just in time to see Munch walking out.

" I was just about to come looking for you," he says, pretending to be annoyed. "Let's go, we've got a case."

"What happened to our partners?" she asks. He rolls his eyes and motions back inside, handing her the keys as he does.

"They didn't answer the phone, so they don't get to come," he tells her. "Besides, they've got paperwork to finish."
"Paperwork, huh?" Olivia asks, pulling the driver's side door to one of the cars open and shaking her head. "You do realize that when we get back they'll probably be screwing around."

"Well, if they want all the sex crimes in this city to go on unsolved, they can do that," Munch replies, sliding in beside her. "You know where we're going?"

"No." comes the reply. He laughs and hands her the slip of paper he's holding; she eyes it and sighs. "I was just over there a few days ago."

"That same address?" he asks, startled. She shakes her head.

"No," she says, "Same neighborhood. Elliot and I caught a case over there…open and shut, really. The guy's trial starts tomorrow."

"Oh." Munch falls silent for a few seconds before going on as he looks at her. "Is Casey going to need you for court?"

"Probably not," Olivia replies absently, "I think she was leaning towards using Elliot this time around."

"He's gonna love that," Munch remarks dryly, "Having to sit in court all day….it'll drive him up the wall."

"Well, don't sound so happy about it," says Olivia, turning abruptly as the light turns green. "He gets pissed off in court, we're all gonna hear it when he gets back."
"One of the lovelier aspects of your partner," Munch says sarcastically. "Don't you hate how he can get pissed off about one thing and then take it out on us the next day?"

"No," says Olivia, "Not really. He's lucky I don't beat it out of him one of these days."

"That's probably not advisable, with him looking like he's ready to kill someone every morning," says Munch. She laughs.

"I told him that a few days ago," she replies. "He didn't want to hear it. I don't think he wants to admit that he's got anger issues."

"I don't think anyone would be willing to admit they have anger issues." Munch falls silent again for a few seconds before deciding to change the subject. "What would you be if you weren't a cop?"

Startled, Olivia looks at him as she comes to yet another red light. "If I weren't a cop?" she asks in reply, and he nods.

"Yeah," he says, "What would you be doing?" She shrugs.

"I don't know," she replies. "I might've ended up an ADA."

"Not a defense attorney?"

"Hell no. I wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing what I know and yet helping keep those bastards on the streets."

"But what if you didn't know what we know now? Then would you?"

"No. I still wouldn't be able to live with myself."

"Why?"

"Attorney-client privilege states that if your client tells you something, you can't say anything, no matter what it is, right?"

"Yes."

"Then what if your client decided, in the middle of trial, to tell you after court's adjourned that he really is guilty? Then what?"

"I think there's a certain clause for that, Liv." The car stops again, but this time, they have reached their destination. Olivia turns to look at Munch as they get out of the car, shaking her head.

"Well, if they have, I've never heard it," she says. "Most lawyers I know wouldn't tell for fear of ruining their reputations."

"Why are jobs like that based on reputation?" Munch asks, changing the subject again. "It almost defeats the purpose of telling a kid that they can be whatever they want to be, but a kid that was a screw up all through grade school is probably going to be known as a screw up no matter what he or she does."

"That's not true," Olivia says as they walk into the apartment building before them. "Everyone has the potential to change, Munch."

"And yet people still insist that once you've learned to be a certain way, you can't change. Take you and me for instance. Everyone wants to talk to you because you look like someone they'd want to talk to, and I don't, so no one does."

"That has nothing to do with reputation." They cross the tape and flash their shields towards a different set of uniforms than the ones that had been at the door; Munch glances at her and shakes his head.

"It has everything to do with it," he says. "Reputation is supposed to precede you, right? So, according to that theory, before they even meet us, I'm the cold-hearted jerk, and you're the compassionate one."

"You're not a jerk," says Olivia, "Well, what I mean to say is that you can be, but you choose not to be."

"Thanks, Liv," Munch replies, pretending to be hurt. "I'll keep that in mind." They walk into the back room to find Melinda bent over yet another body and shaking her head.

"I can't even make out her face," she says upon noticing the two detectives. Munch and Olivia exchange glances before peering over her shoulders at the body.

"This is definitely someone with anger issues," says Munch. Olivia casts him a look of mock annoyance and sighs.

"Cause of death?" she asks.

"Someone cut her throat," says Melinda. "That's where most of this blood came from, but there are other wounds. I'd say it took her a while to die."

"Whatever happened to people who just killed their victims without leaving them to suffer?" Munch asks sarcastically. "What time do you think she died?" Melinda shrugs.

"Probably around seven o'clock this morning." she replies. "Her sister found her…the uniforms took into the front room if you didn't already see her."

"We saw her." Olivia closes her eyes and sighs. "You want to take it, or should I?" she says to Munch. He smirks.

"I'm the cold one, remember?" he says. She opens her eyes and makes a face at him.

"Fine, if you're going to be that way about it," she says, trying and failing to sound annoyed. She leaves the room to go talk to their latest victim's sister; he glances towards the CSU tech standing nearby.

"Anything that might help us find this guy before he kills someone else?" he asks. The technician shakes her head.

"Nothing yet," she says. "We've found prints, but your victim just moved in, so they could be from anyone."

"Well, when you rum them through the system, let us know if you get a hit," says Munch. "Anything else?" Again, the technician shakes her head.

"We'll let you know," she says. He nods absently and follows Melinda and her assistants out of the room, stopping in the front room where Olivia is, directing the same two uniforms who tried to keep them from coming in to take their victim's so-far only living relative home.

"You're not going to talk to her?" he asks. Olivia shakes her head and rises to her feet so they can leave.

"She's too traumatized," she says. "Wouldn't you be if you'd just walked in on someone you loved like that?"

Suddenly strongly reminded of an occurrence from his childhood, Munch shakes his head, even though he knows he's lying. "No," he says, "I haven't. You want to head back to the precinct?"

Olivia nods. "She'll be better in the morning, I think," she replies as they walk into the building's main hallway. "We'll talk to her then."