A/N: I truly don't think I've ever written a story so fast. It seemed to just write itself! Again, thank you for your reading and for your reviews. I am often humbled by your words.

Inspired by "Night," season 6, episode 20.

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Law & Order: SVU, its characters, or storylines. I make no money from this work of fiction, that is inspired by an episode, but otherwise created from my own mind. Any relation or resemblance to another story or a real life instance is purely coincidence.

Recovery

Chapter 6

kateandharvey

After their rather heavy conversation, the two women decided, silently, to sit in companionable quiet. It was after Olivia had flipped channels more than 30 times through and still found nothing on that she noticed Casey nodding off, but she said nothing. Another 10 minutes later, and Casey asked Olivia to help her to bed.

"I don't want to sleep on this couch all night," she said.

It was a rather easy process getting Casey to her bed, and soon after Olivia took a shower and lay down in her own. Respectively across the hall from her injured friend, Olivia wondered if she would get any sleep, or if her senses would keep her up, listening to make sure that Casey was alright.

Truth be told, she was already worried about her friendship with the lawyer. Olivia knew she had issues letting anyone else in, and it was probably part of the reason that she struggled with dating. She didn't have much outside of the precinct. A family was rather comical, and her friends were all co-workers. She knew there wasn't anything Fin, Munch, Elliot, or even the Captain wouldn't do for her, but it didn't make life any easier when it came to her existence outside of her work.

Even when things were going well with someone romantically, as soon as a commitment seemed to be coming, she would run the other way. On one hand, she wanted someone to come home to, someone to trust, let in, and build a life with. On the other, she enjoyed her solitude. What she had said to Casey earlier had been true: she was starting to wonder if being alone was better for everyone involved.

The ease she had at opening up with Casey had definitely jarred her. She'd never before felt so comfortable, so calm, and so… content wasn't the right word, because she wasn't just content, she was happy. Olivia always suspected that Casey had felt the same way, and tonight seemed to confirm that theory. Even though it was clearly difficult for the lawyer to open up to her, and she had withheld the information for some time, Olivia felt blessed to be chosen as someone let into Casey's world.

Truthfully, while she had always felt like Casey understood her, Olivia also viewed the ADA as a bit of an enigma. As soon as she thought she had her figured out, it seemed that she was wrong. The difference between Casey Novak, ADA, and the Casey that she would grab dinner with and text late into the night seemed to be two completely different people. It was another thing they seemed to have in common: they had a role to play, and they played it well. In the courtroom, Casey was strong-willed and bull-headed, a trait that often left the two women arguing. She was feisty, and smart, snarky with a refusal to be complacent. As the sex crimes ADA, she walked with an air of confidence, silently begging everyone around her to call her to a fight simply because she knew she would win.

After hours, though, Casey was quiet. She was a bit socially awkward, and could even be timid. She was reluctant to share, but when she did, it always seemed to have a humorous undertone for her use of breaking the ice. Casey outside of the office was a woman you would expect to find in fluffy pajamas, half-asleep on the couch with a remote in her hand. She was a person you would find dancing in her kitchen barefoot while cooking herself breakfast on a Saturday morning. She was someone that found it easier to be at home-whether because of her shyness or social difficulty-than out trying to meet people.

With all of that understanding of Casey, and even after all of their years working together, Olivia could still find herself baffled by the woman in front of her. Tonight just continued to prove that feeling.

So much had happened within the last 24 hours, and Olivia had spent that time pushing everything down so that she was able to be a good support, a good detective, and a good friend.

Now, alone in her respective room, the detective was able to break everything down for her examination. Casey had been attacked. She had some serious medical injuries. She was struggling emotionally, along with physically. They were still looking for the bastard that hurt her. She and Casey were stuck in this place until he was found. Casey had just come out to her.

The entire string of events had been a complete rollercoaster and whirlwind, and if she admitted it to herself, Olivia would say that she did feel a little overwhelmed. That's not to say she was bothered by what was required of her- not at all. She enjoyed being there for others, working hard, and being a listener. Right now, Casey needed all of those things from her. While Olivia was worried about Casey, and how the case would pan-out, there was a part of her that was stuck on the information the ADA had revealed.

The detective had been being truthful when telling the redhead that she wasn't shocked by the information surrounding her sexuality, but if Olivia admitted it to herself, her suspicion was based less on pronoun usage and Casey, and more on the relationship the two women had.

Olivia would never consider herself someone that is hateful, and would certainly not say she thought stereotypes were true. But try as she might, she couldn't shake the belief that she thought Casey might be interested in women because it felt like Casey was interested in her.

"Goodness." The brunette breathed, laying in her bed, ran her hand down her face. She felt like such an idiot. Thinking that her friend liked her was such a juvenile and small-minded way to feel, but in her defense, she felt it long before Casey confirmed her interests.

There was something about the way it seemed they had always known each other, for sure, but it was more than just that. Olivia's relationship with the ADA always seemed to be so passionate with such a level of intimacy.

It was the feeling similar to a first date—you always walk away with some sort of an idea, and if you feel it, you feel it. Whether they were sharing small bits of themselves while going over casefiles late into the night, laughing over a drink, or even toe-to-toe arguing, the air was always charged with some sort of energy. It felt like tension. It was the feeling of a fire starting, of it burning far too long without flames being put out. It had the clear undertone of sex, and if Olivia was feeling risky, she might even call it erotic.

Her friendship with the young ADA was something that the detective truly did appreciate, but the feeling of electrically charged air seemed to follow them around. It happened when they first met, and it never seemed to go away. She never thought too much of it, and brushed it off as a good platonic connection. As time went on, however, the touching started.

The emotional intimacy had presented itself rather quickly, but it took a couple of years before the physical aspect of their relationship seemed to change. Casey always seemed to find a way to touch Olivia, and never pulled away. Whether they were in the same side of the booth with thighs pressed against each other, a supportive hand was placed on her shoulder and left for just a little too long, or a hug was just a little too tight, Olivia was starting to realize that she and Casey touched a lot.

Elliot had once made a crack at her, after watching the detective and the ADA hug goodbye after a long day at the station.

"Are you joining Casey in softball?"

"No, why?" She slid into the car with him, totally exhausted and simply ready to go home.

He shrugged, pulling away from the curb. "Just seems like you two are playing on a team together."

She glared at him. "What does that mean?"

Her partner could sense she was getting irritated with him. "I'm just saying… the two of you touch an awful lot."

That night, Olivia thought Elliot was just being an ass. But after he mentioned it, she paid more attention and found that he was right. They did touch a lot. Even more, a lot of that touching seemed to be initiated by the redhead.

Still, now in a bed and home that weren't hers, with the woman in question asleep across the hall, Olivia knew she sounded like an ass. She honestly didn't think Casey suddenly was interested in her just because she now knew Casey liked women. She just thought Casey was interested in her before, and now knew that Casey liked women.

Olivia knew she could spend the rest of eternity trying to figure it out, but it really didn't matter. All she knew for sure was that her friend, Casey Novak, was in pain and potential danger. Casey needed her, and she would be there. Whatever it was that was maybe, possibly, going on or whatever it was that was simply being made up in Olivia's own head would have to wait.

Besides, at the end of the day, Olivia wasn't attracted to women, so what did it matter?

The detective rose from her bed and headed for the bathroom. Passing by Casey's bedroom, and pausing only for a moment, she continued on when she heard nothing of alarm on the other side of the door.

The patter of the brunette's bare feet was all that could be heard, as she flipped the light on and looked at herself in the mirror. She turned on the warm water, and splashed some on her face. Rubbing her eyes, she thought she heard the slightest sound of a whimper, and immediately turned the faucet off.

She waited, listening for the sound to come again.

Nothing.

She turned the light off, pattering out of the bathroom. She had almost made it to the ADA's bedroom door when she heard her shout, "No!"

Olivia ran to her bedroom, grabbing her gun off of the nightstand. She had her weapon drawn and was flinging the lawyer's door open in seconds. If Anderson was here, he was going to regret it.