Disclaimer: I'm serious…I don't own L&O: SVU…

Author's Note: Thank you to lovely reviewers, especially VampirePrincess86...you ROCK! I hope you guys like this chapter as much as I do, so just read and review and I will love you forever!

Time and Secrets

Chapter 6: Why Didn't You Say Something?

By: Nimmireth

Courtroom

"Would you state your name for the court?" Michelle asked her client.

"Ross Delani," he said.

"Mr. Delani, could you tell us where you were the morning of June 17th?"

"I was at work, just like my boss said, but I had to go to the hospital for a little while because my eye got injured in a small car accident," he told her.

"Now in September of 2002 your sister, Kristen, was sexually assaulted, is that correct?"

"Yes, that is correct," he responded.

"How did you take that?" she wondered.

"I was so pissed. I hated the guy who did that to her. When he was arrested I wanted to beat the crap out of him for what he had done to my sister. What he did to her was so stupid and it was terrible the way she was after it happened. She was always so scared and helpless. I would've killed Justin if I had the chance," he said.

"Mr. Delani, do you think that you are able to commit such a crime?"

"No," he told her.

"Did you rape Melissa Albert?" she asked slowly.

"No," he said.

That bastard is lying under oath, Casey thought, I can't believe it! And he knows he's guilty. He knows damn well that he did it! Oh, he is toast.

"Thank you, Mr. Delani. I have no more questions," Michelle said and walked back to her seat.

"Your witness, Ms. Novak," the judge told her.

Crap, I really don't think that I can talk to him. I don't want to talk to him. I can't. I can't. I can't do it. She looked directly into his eyes; an overwhelming amount of power and confidence spread everywhere throughout her body. She knew she could do it. She knew that she could grill him on the stand. She needed to see him go down for what he did. He was going to fry. You are SO mine…

Casey stood up with more confidence than she felt ever since she had been raped. "If you didn't rape her than what about Amelia Robbins?"

"Objection," Michelle said.

"Sustained. Ms. Novak," the judge said, looking at her as if she was a little kid giving the excuse "my dog ate it" for not having her homework.

"Withdrawn. Mr. Delani, what happened to your car?"

"What are you talking about Ms. Novak?" he asked.

"Let me rephrase that; was there any broken glass from the windshield of your car after your supposed small car accident?"

"A little, why do you ask?" he questioned.

"Well, is it possible that you could've gotten more than one scratch after this 'car accident'?" she asked, making the finger motion for quotes around the words 'car accident.'

"Objection. Relevance?" Michelle Landenberg said.

"Ms. Novak," the judge said.

"Withdrawn. Mr. Delani, why is your boss covering for you?"

"Ms. Novak, I'm afraid I have no idea of what you're talking about," he told her, his voice firm.

"Sure you do, now tell us why your boss is covering for you," she said her voice also rising in volume.

"Objection. You're honor, his boss clearly stated that my client was on time for his work and was there the entire time. So unless Ms. Novak is suggesting that she knows something about my client then maybe she should get to the point."

"Sustained. Ms. Novak, you heard Ms. Landenberg," the judge told her.

Casey took a deep breath, this was going no where. She turned to the defendant. "I'm not afraid of you," she told him, her voice solid.

He raised an eyebrow. "Should you be, Ms. Novak?"

"Not anymore," she told him.

"Good," he said.

"Do you even know what I'm talking about, Mr. Delani?" she wondered.

There was a slight pause. "Oh, we're talking about that now, are we?"

"Oh yeah, we're talking about that now," she snapped.

He paused for a moment. "What do you want to say to me, Ms. Novak? Huh? What do you want to say to me?"

"You're Honor, permission to approach?" Ms. Landenberg stood up and questioned the judge.

Judge Lawrence motioned for the two counselors to come up to his bench. He covered the microphone.

"You're Honor, my client and Ms. Novak are apparently having a private conversation amongst an open court. I suggest either she get to the point or withdraw the last few comments."

"I agree. Ms. Novak is there a reason as to why you keep asking questions that have nothing to do with the case?"

"The questions have everything to do with the case," she told them.

"Then get to the point."

The attorneys both walked away and resumed their previous positions, Michelle at the defense table and Casey in the middle of the courtroom beginning to pace.

She gave him a look of pure hatred. "You remember, don't you? 'Excuse me, do you have the time.' 'Yeah, it's 9:45.' 'You're late.'"

The courtroom became awkwardly silent. Everyone was staring at her with confusion in their eyes. "That knife, where do you have it? Where is it?"

"I don't know—"

"You don't know? How could you not know? You're the one who used it!"

"Objection! You're Honor—"

"Ms. Novak, what did I just tell you!" the judge asked her.

She ignored him. "Mr. Delani, how could you possibly think that you could get away with something like this? The victims know exactly what you look like, you have no proof of the car accident, and you don't have an alibi because your boss is covering for you! Why?"

Michelle spoke. "You're Honor, this is absurd. How could she possibly know if—"

"Absurd?" she shouted and turned to the defense attorney. "Absurd? You think that it's absurd that I happen to know that his boss is covering for him? You think that it's absurd that I happen to know that there was no car accident? Well, you know what?" She walked over to her brief case and pulled out the semen-covered woodchip in the plastic bag. "If you would allow it, you're Honor, I would like to submit this woodchip for testing and compare it to the DNA of Mr. Delani."

"Objection, you're Honor! How could she possibly know that that is the DNA from my client if she—"

"What the hell is that?" Ross asked Casey.

"Oh, you're scared now, are you?" she shouted. "You decided to leave me a little present afterward, didn't you?"

"What the hell is that?" he asked again in a stronger voice.

"It's a woodchip covered in you're semen, Mr. Delani!" she told him. "Now, like I said, to prove that you are guilty of this crime I would like to compare it with your DNA!"

"Objection! You're Honor—"

"Michelle, obviously you don't get it. You're Honor, I would like to make another indictment against the defendant."

"You're Honor—"

"What is it, Ms. Novak?" the judge wondered.

"The rape of Assistant District Attorney Casey Novak."