The detectives looked up to the clicking of two pairs of heels walking down the hallway toward them the next afternoon. Alex appeared in the doorway with an eager looking redhead.
"Hey Alex," Elliot smiled without looking at the door.
Olivia stood up and walked over to them, "You must be Casey Novak." Olivia extended her hand, "I'm Detective Olivia Benson."
"Nice to meet you, detective" Casey smiled.
"Please call me Olivia," Olivia replied with a charming smile.
Alex raised an eyebrow that didn't get past the detective. Olivia smirked at the twinge of jealousy in her girlfriend's eyes.
The guys go up and walked over to them.
"Hi Alex," Munch nodded.
Alex smiled and nodded politely, "Lamp guy."
Everyone but Casey laughed.
Alex noticed Casey's confusion and explained, "If you ever need help moving lamps, Munch is your guy. Other than that, he's useless."
"Useless?" Munch asked.
"Casey this is Detective John Munch," Alex introduced.
"I'm Elliot Stabler," Elliot introduced himself.
"Fin Tutuola," Fin added.
"It's nice to meet you all," Casey smiled politely.
"Would you like some coffee?" Elliot asked Casey.
Casey glanced at Alex before asking, "Who made it?"
"Alex warned you already?" Fin asked.
"Yes I did because nobody warned me," Alex replied
"I made it," Olivia offered and Elliot poured two cups.
"I'm gonna go sit at my desk until you all decide you're going to start being nice to me," Munch smiled and walked back to his desk.
Elliot handed the attorneys their coffee.
"So what's the new ADA for again?" Elliot asked.
"You didn't tell them?" Alex asked Olivia.
"It's your news to tell," Olivia answered with a smile.
Alex took a deep breath, "I have been promoted to Bureau Chief so Casey if your new ADA."
"Congratulations Alex," Elliot smiled and hugged her.
"Wow," Fin smirked, "Looks like you're next year's DA huh?"
Alex opened her mouth and closed it again, "I'm happy where I am now."
Olivia tilted her head to the side. There was something Alex wasn't saying and the tightness of her smile showed that something was up. Olivia was the only one that seemed to notice so she decided to wait to talk to Alex about it when they were alone.
"We're going to go get ready for trial. Casey's gonna sit first chair for this one and I'm going to sit second so I can watch," Alex replied and looked at Olivia and Elliot, "See you two in an hour?"
They both nodded.
Alex walked off with Casey scrambling behind her.
During the trial, Alex sat next to Casey, who was taking notes.
"Where were you on the night of the alleged rape?" Langon asked the defendant.
"I was at a lady cop's apartment," the defendant smirked, "We were…fooling around."
"What do you mean by fooling around?" Langon asked.
"We had sex," the defendant answered, "Then I left."
"What time did you leave?" Langon, took a few steps toward the jury.
The defendant tilted his head to the side, "About nine."
"Do you know the name of the female officer you had sex with?" Langon asked.
The defendant took a deep breath and smiled an evil smile, "Olivia Benson."
Alex flew out of her chair, "Objection!"
"Overruled," Petrovsky stated.
Petrovsky was right. Alex only did that because they were attacking Olivia. Alex sank back into her chair. She grabbed her notes and started looking to when the rape happened. She sighed. It happened a week after they got together. If this guy was telling the truth, Olivia cheated. Hopefully he was the lying sack of crap Alex thought he was. Their case was shaky to begin with. There was no hard evidence tying him to the scene. Just his confession that was thrown out and the rest was mostly circumstantial.
"The defense calls," Langon stood, "Detective Olivia Benson."
Olivia walked up to the stand and sat down. After she was sworn in, Langon walked over to the jury box.
"Detective Benson," Langon started, "The night the defendant claims you had a sexual encounter with him, where were you?"
"I was at home," Olivia's eyes flickered to Alex then back at Langon.
"All night?" Langon asked.
"Yes," Olivia replied.
"Is there anyone who can verify that?" Langon asked.
Olivia shrugged, "I don't think so."
"So you were at home, all night, by yourself?" Langon put his hands in his pockets, an evil smirk adorning his face.
Olivia nodded, "Right."
"With no witnesses?" Langon tilted his head to the side.
"Objection!" Alex flew out of her seat, "The witness has already answered that question."
"Sustained," Petrovsky stated.
"Thank you detective," Langon smiled before sitting down.
Alex leaned over to Casey and whispered something before Casey got up, "The people request a recess your honor."
Petrovsky nodded, "This court is in recess until tomorrow morning." She banged her gavel.
Alex stood and shoved her files into her attaché while Casey placed hers neatly inside. As they were walking out together, Langon came up behind them.
"Hi Alex," Langon smiled his most charming smile.
"Go to hell," Alex mumbled and strutted off, down the hallway.
Olivia was scrambling to catch up with Alex, but lost her in the sea of people on the courthouse steps. "Shit!" she hissed before taking out her phone.
She snapped her phone closed when it went straight to voicemail. She checked her watch, it was almost five so Alex should be heading home soon. Olivia didn't have anything else to do for the rest of the day so she headed to their apartment to wait for Alex to get home.
"You said you have some questions?" Alex prompted Casey when they walked into her office.
Casey stood next to the guest chairs in Alex's office, "Um…I wasn't going to ask, but I think it might be pertinent to how I handle the case…Is there anything going on between you and Detective Benson."
Alex studied Casey for a moment before answering, "Yes."
Casey paused before nodded, "Okay. Who else knows?"
"The other Manhattan SVU detectives, Serena Southerlyn, and my family," Alex replied, finding no reason not to be honest with Casey, "Besides that, no one else knows."
Casey took a deep breath, processing everything, "Okay." She checked her watch, "Is it okay if I take off now?"
Alex nodded, "Go ahead."
After Casey was gone, Alex leaned back in her chair. She knew exactly why she had reacted the way she had to the defendant saying that Olivia had slept with him. Now it was just facing what made falter and move on.
Alex packed her things and started on her way home with a heavy heart.