Thanks to all who reviewed, and all you lurkers too. Final chapter!

Chapter 9

Somewhere on the streets of New York

September 18th

1: 30am

Olivia knew she should be blissfully happy right now, but she wasn't.

It was weird- Casey was sitting on her lap, Olivia's arms wrapped firmly around her, but Casey wasn't relaxing back into her embrace; she hadn't even kissed her once. Plus she kept shooting furtive glances at Elliot, who was driving them back to Olivia's apartment, like he knew something the his partner didn't.

Finally, Olivia exclaimed, "Okay, am I not getting something here? Elliot? Casey?" She smiled involuntarily when she said her lover's name, but Casey and Elliot just stared at each other before Elliot nodded.

"Okay, Casey, I'll tell her, if that's okay with you?" Casey hesitated, then nodded quickly before burying her head in Olivia's neck in shame, her face red with embarrassment.

"Casey?" Olivia asked slowly, trying to brush the hair out of her eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Olivia..." Elliot interceded quickly, pulling over onto the side of the road so he could actually look at her. "Look, the car bomb that we all thought killed Casey? Well, that's not why..." Casey listened as Elliot told Olivia, in paraphrased form, everything she had told him. He told Olivia that Taylor Smith had raped her, he told her that she had gotten pregnant from it but had terminated the pregnancy, which was not strictly speaking true, and Casey, fearful that Olivia would turn away from her in disgust if she thought the ADA had gotten an abortion, was forced to tell them the truth of how she really lost the baby. By the end of her story, she was sobbing so hard she could barely speak. Olivia's arms were still wrapped around her tightly, and Casey was thoroughly shocked when she felt Olivia's hand run through her hair and cradle her gently... why wasn't she angry? God, she should be furious!

But Olivia only seemed to be heartbroken by everything she had gone through, not the choices she had made. Maybe... just maybe... Olivia could forgive her? But Casey didn't want to think about that now, to think about the terrifying possibility that Olivia might leave her all alone.

Elliot dropped them off at Olivia's apartment building, gave them both a smile, then left the women alone. Olivia kept her hand wrapped firmly around Casey's as they walked towards the elevator, Casey in somewhat of a daze, leaning on Olivia more then her crutches for support. When they were finally alone in her apartment, they both stared at each other on opposite sides of the bed, unsure of what to do.

Finally, Casey stammered, "'Livia... can I... can you please ho... hold me... tonight? Please?" She looked up at Olivia hopefully, her green eyes clouded with tears, and there was all it took. Olivia immediately pulled her into a tight embrace as she lay down the bed, nuzzling her head into Casey's neck and refusing to let go, scared that if she did, she would never see her lover again.

"I love you, Casey," she whispered, pressing a kiss to her hot and sweaty forehead. "I love you... I'm so sorry."

Casey relaxed slowly into Olivia's arms, the place she had dreamed about hopelessly for months, leaning her head into her chest with a soft sigh. Today had been an emotional rollercoaster for her, and she was exhausted, but she was scared to go to sleep- because then, she would wake up and find out this had all been a dream. God, she was probably still in the hospital, in a coma and imagining all this.

But still, no matter how much she wanted to stay awake, her body needed sleep, and she soon found her eyes closing against her will.

Several hours later, Olivia woke up to find her girlfriend trembling in her arms, mumbling something over and over. Olivia was momentarily thrilled when she realized the whole thing hadn't been a dream, that Casey was really back here with her, but her happiness faded when she tried and failed to wake Casey up from the nightmare. She whimpered and continued mumbling, getting louder until Olivia could here what she was saying. It was her name, over and over and over, like a mantra. "Olivia, Olivia, Olivia," she gasped, calling for her girlfriend desperately even though she was safely cocooned in Olivia's arms.

"Its okay, Casey, I'm here, I'm here," Olivia murmured in her ear, squeezing her tight and kissing her cheeks and forehead, doing anything she could to make Casey feel her presence. "I'm here, Case, please, wake up, please!"

Casey moaned her name again, struggling to escape her arms. Olivia grabbed her by the shoulders and demanded, "Casey, wake up! Now!"

The ADA jolted awake in her arms, still gasping her girlfriend's name and still fighting to get out of her embrace. Olivia released her and scooted back a bit, watching her in concern. "Case, it's okay. I'm right here, everything's fine."

"Olivia?" Casey gasped tearfully as she cautiously looked up at her. "It was... I woke up and you weren't... I thought-"

Olivia immediately moved closer and threw her arms around, kissing her cheek. She knew what Casey was talking about. Olivia, too, had had many nightmares these past few months, always starring Casey. And, always, Olivia woke up screaming when she remembered that Casey was dead.. but now, she knew the truth- that Casey wasn't dead. "It's fine, Casey," she assured her girlfriend as she kissed her forehead. "I understand."

Casey relaxed slightly against her, leaning her head on her shoulder before cupping Olivia's face in her hands and turning the detective to face her before kissing her. It was their first real kiss since Casey had 'died', and it was fantastic. Soft, hesitant, but fantastic. After a moment, they pulled away and smiled awkwardly at each other. Olivia brushed the rest of Casey's tears away before hugging her again. "God, Case... I can't believe you're really back."

"I know," Casey said with a soft smile. "Neither can I."

After a moment, Olivia pulled back slightly, though she still kept her arms around Casey. "Case, I... I really wish I didn't, but I have to get ready for work. Do you know... I mean, are you getting your job back at the DA's office or-?"

Casey nodded and smiled again. "Yeah. The FBI guy said I'm supposed to call my boss tonight, but yeah, I'm going to be your ADA again."

Olivia was barely able to contain her excitement now. "That's absolutely great, Casey! The new ADA... she... well, I'm sure the guys will tell you more then enough stories about her for you to get the picture. Um, Case... I don't feel right asking you this, but... can you come with me to work today? Munch and Fin are catching today, this is my paperwork day, and I don't want... I mean, I-"

"I know, Liv," Casey said, silencing her. She didn't want to be apart from her either. "Of course I'll come. Plus only El and you know I'm back... I've missed the other guys, too."

"And they've missed you," Olivia told her before kissing her lightly again. "Come on, let's get ready. After work, the guys are probably going to want to celebrate... so, tomorrow, that's just you and me, baby. Just you and me."

Casey's eyes narrowed slightly, and she looked away apprehensively. Olivia realized she had jumped to conclusions and said quickly, "I don't mean sex, but if you're ready for that and you want to, then we can. But we don't have to, I promise." Casey sighed in relief, then went off to go get dressed.

SVU squad room

September 18th

8:30am

"Casey?" Olivia asked as they approached the squad room. "I've got a question for you... what's with the blond hair?"

"Huh?" the ADA asked, then groaned theatrically and shook her head. "Oh, yeah, that! The FBI dyed my hair blonde! They said redheads were too easily recognizable and that I had been in the news alot, so they had to make me blend in. You know they tried to make me wear glasses, too?"

Olivia burst out laughing. "I can't imagine that went over well," she said as took Casey's hand, the two heading towards the door. "Well, you better dye your hair back to red soon, Case. I miss it."

Casey nodded quickly and said, "So do I." Then she looked up and saw that they were Munch, Fin, and Cragen were already in the squad room. Luckily for her, so were Melinda and Huang, so she'd only have to tell her story one more time, hopefully.

Olivia caught her nervous look and squeezed her hand before asking, "You ready for this, Case?"

Taking a deep breath, Casey nodded, then pushed open the door to the squad and stepped firmly inside. No one looked up; not that she had expected them to. Casey cleared her throat, smiling broadly as she looked down at Munch and Fin at their desks, Cragen in his office, Melinda and Huang discussing something in the corner... it was like nothing had changed.

But god, she had missed them so much.

Olivia prodded her forward with a shit-eating grin plastered all over her face, and Casey swallowed back her nerves before announcing nervously, "Hi." All in all, not a very dramatic entrance, especially for a ghost back from the dead, but it at least attracted the attention of Munch and Fin.

The two just sat there staring at her for a full five seconds, then Munch threw his hands up in the air and said, "Okay, I've officially gone insane. Either that, or I'm drunk and hallucinating."

Fin, who was still staring at Casey, said slowly, "Well then I'm drunk too... it's her twin sister, right? Casey had a twin sister. Yeah, that makes sense. Perfect sense. Explains the blonde hair and everything."

Casey and Olivia glanced at each other in surprise before Casey said slowly, "Um... no, Fin, I don't have a twin sister. I'm an only child. And Munch, I'm surprised at you, I come back from the dead and you don't scream conspiracy? Wow, you really have changed!"

Munch and Fin just stared at her, open-mouthed, and Olivia called Huang and Warner over to them as well. The two headed over to them, freezing when they saw Casey. They, too, just stared at her, as Olivia called for Cragen to come out of this office. "If you're gonna tell this story, Case, you might as well tell it to everybody." Cragen came out of his office then stood rooted to the spot when he caught sight of Casey.

Casey cleared her throat anxiously as she felt five pairs of very shocked eyes on her. "Um... yeah. I know you all thought I was dead, but... well, I'm not. I'm very much alive and very happy to be back." As they continued to stare at her, she explained quickly, "Witness protection. That's where I was. They faked my death, but Taylor Smith is dead, so... I'm back."

Once the others had processed the news and realized that yes, this wasn't some big joke, Casey really was alive and back, for good, the ADA found herself pulled into many hugs as the squad welcomed her back. "Oh, thank god you're back, Casey," Munch exclaimed as he embraced her. "God, this new ADA... she's crazy! Please tell me you're taking you job back, Case," he pleaded as he sat down on the edge of his desk.

Casey nodded firmly. "Oh, hell yes. She's willing to transfer back to white collar so I'm getting my old job back. Everything's back to normal." No need for them to know about the rape or my baby yet. Or ever, for that matter.

"What's with the crutches, Novak?" Fin asked her as he clapped her on the back and looked her up and down. "And please tell me the blonde hair is just a phase."

Casey hesitated a fraction of a second before telling them a half-truth. "I just hurt my leg in a car crash, that's all, I'll be fine." Then she decided to have a little fun with Fin as she twirled a strand of hair in her fingers and asked innocently, "What, don't you like it? I thought it looked good!"

Fin immediately backpedalled and said, "No, no, it does, I was just surprised, that's all, it's really quite... um... uh, nice. Yeah, nice!"

Casey and Olivia both scoffed at his ridiculous attempt to save himself before the ADA said, "Oh, relax, Fin, I know it looks horrible. The FBI took the liberty of dying it to make me 'less recognizable'. You're lucky I convinced them out of the glasses."

Fin started laughing at the thought of her in glasses. "Wow, Casey. God, I can't believe you're really alive!"

Cragen nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Wow, Casey, six months... what've you been doing all this time?"

Chuckling under her breath, Casey said, "Well, you'll never believe this, but the FBI set me up as a high school English teacher. I almost went crazy with those kids, I swear, they're the most annoying little brats I've ever met. And I've prosecuted rapists with better personalities than some of them!"

All the detectives laughed as they gathered around her, eager to hear stories of what she'd been doing for the past six months. "You, as a school teacher?" Fin shook his head. "Nope, I'm not seeing it. Did you ever go into your famous rants at them?"

Casey chuckled and blushed, rolling her eyes. "Well, as a matter of fact, I did, several times. They just stared at me blankly. God, kids are hopeless. Munch, I see why you hate them so much."

Munch laughed, then shrugged. "Well, what can I say? Personally, I believe they're a government conspiracy created to-"

"Its not a conspiracy!" Fin, Cragen, and Olivia yelled together while Casey smiled again- seems like not many things had changed around here.

"Hey, Casey!" A new voice said from the doorway as Elliot entered the squad room. He nodded at her and everybody else gathered around the ADA as he said, "Well, I guess they know you're alive now, huh?" he asked as he sat down next to her on the edge of his desk.

Casey nodded happily as the others turned to stare at Elliot in surprise. "Elliot?" Munch asked. "You knew about this?"

"Yeah. Well, since this morning- Casey came to the squad room and I was the only one here," he said, shrugging. Casey sighed, relieved that he neglected to mention what she'd begged him to do before breaking down. She'd rather not the rest of SVU find out about that. "I knew if I told you guys without proof, you'd think I was crazy."

The rest of the morning passed by without any work getting done whatsoever, SVU finding Casey far more interesting then boring, repetitive paperwork. But when Fin and Munch were called out on a case, they had to break up the reunion. "But you, don't go anywhere," Munch directed at Casey with a mischievous grin. "After work tonight, we are all going out for drinks. So don't think of running off again."

Casey shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Wouldn't dream of it, Munch."

Once the others had left, Elliot looked at the ADA cautiously and asked, "Case? How much did you tell them?"

She swallowed and looked away. "Just... just that I was in witness protection. Not any of the other stuff."

"Do you want me to tell them for you, or-"

"No!" she exclaimed quickly, looking back up at them. "No, I... can we just not tell them? I mean, they don't really have to know the entire truth, do they? I'd just... rather keep this quiet; for now."

Elliot and Olivia exchanged a nervous glance before the latter said, "Case, they don't have to know if you don't want them to, but you know there's always a chance of them finding out, right?" Casey nodded sadly, fiddling with some lint on her jacket. In an attempt to cheer her up, Olivia beckoned her over to her desk and said, "Come on, help us do paperwork. If you're gonna be a lawyer again you have to get used to paperwork."

Casey chuckled as she down next to Olivia and shook her head. "Well, now my life is complete. Paperwork. Woo," she said unenthusiastically as she started looking over the forms on the detective's desks.

Both Olivia and Casey- Elliot having left to get lunch sometime ago- were bored out of their minds when Olivia got a text message, from Elliot. It read, 'Meet me outside dont bring Casey'. Olivia frowned, wondering what he had to tell her that he couldn't tell Casey, then said quickly, "Hey Case, I'm going to go get a drink from the vending machine, you want anything?" Casey just shook her head and leaned back in her chair, rubbing her temples. Olivia nodded and headed out to meet Elliot.

"El!" Olivia called once she'd spotted him and hurried over. "What's up?"

Elliot glanced around surreptitiously , then said, "It's Casey. Last night, in the squad room... well, she didn't tell me this, but I think you should know- she's not eating or sleeping, and I'm reasonably sure she's cutting herself. Also... look, don't let this come between you two, I don't think she was actually attracted to me- but when she first showed up, she was begging to have sex with me."

Olivia blinked, staring at him. "Um... what?" she said after a moment, completely confused. "Casey? My Casey? ...I repeat, what?"

"I don't think it had anything to do with her wanting to cheat on you or something, Liv," Elliot said quickly. "I've been thinking about it and... well, you know how rape victims feel dirty, that they can't be loved? I think that's what was wrong with Casey... I just thought you should know. Just don't let it come between you two... she was hiding it pretty well this morning, but she's hurting, Liv, don't let her push you away."

Olivia swallowed, then glanced back at Casey. She had kicked her feet up on Olivia's desk and was still studying her paperwork, chewing on a pen. She had to admit, Elliot was right- Casey looked alot thinner then before she had left, and though she was too far away to see any scars, Olivia could of sworn she'd seem some last night, when Casey was asleep. As for wanting to sleep with Elliot... well, Casey was gay, through and through. In all the years Olivia had known her, she never once seen her on a date with a guy. Elliot was probably right about that, too. Still, it hurt a little.

Olivia sighed sadly, then gestured for Elliot to follow as she walked back into the squad room. "Ooh, food!" Casey exclaimed happily when she saw Elliot approaching with Chinese takeout. "Give me some! Doing Olivia's paperwork always makes me hungry."

"Oh, shut up, you know you like it," Olivia said playfully, kissing her before sitting back down. "Feet off desk," she ordered. Casey groaned theatrically before sweeping her feet off Olivia's desk, and the detective promptly kicked her own feet up. She answered Casey's incredulous look with a smirk before passing her some of the food.

Sequel= not written yet. But don't worry, I'll get it up eventually. Until then, adios!