Sorry for the ridiculously long wait for this chapter! Just got a new job, and it's kind of sucky :P
Thanks for reading!
"Please try to understand, Dr. Rosen. I'm very new to this whole concept of psychotherapy. Asking for help was never my strong suit."
"You're not my first therapy virgin, Alex," the doctor laughed heartily. Alex smiled; she thought she could like this woman. "I fully understand that blabbing your life story to a virtual stranger is going to be odd. But if you'll let me, I do hope and believe that I can help you."
"I'm not really sure where I should begin," Alex admitted.
"Well, the first thing you told the intake counselor was that your girlfriend was the one to suggest therapy. Why don't you start off easy by telling me about her?"
"Alright…well her name is Olivia. She's an NYPD detective with the Manhattan Special Victims Unit—that's the squad I work with."
Dr. Rosen smiled. "What attracted you about her?"
"You're right, this is strange," Alex breathed out, blushing. "I suppose to start, she's always had this fearless protector thing about her, always putting others before herself…"
The detectives sighed. Another one, dead? Finally Elliot piped up. "Who?"
"Homicide's own Garret Frazier," the Homicide captain responded gravely. "Found three blocks from his home in the West Village. The medical examiner hasn't seen him yet, but from the reports, he was killed in the exact same manner as Gillian Hardwicke." He turned to Cragen. "I think we need to consider this a serious threat against the district attorneys."
"We don't have enough uniforms to put a protective detail on everyone in the DA's office, Nick," Cragen replied.
"Shouldn't be a need," Olivia announced, finally regaining her voice. "This death was no coincidence. Frazier was the other ADA prosecuting the Morrison trial alongside Hardwicke. Out of any ADA that could've been killed, he turns up dead—it has to be connected."
"We can't take that risk, Liv, what if tomorrow it's Cabot or Novak?" Elliot said gently.
"Don't even fucking say that, Stabler. I'm telling you, Morrison has something to do with this, and once Munch and Fin question him we will have a lead and we will catch the dirtbag who killed Hardwicke and Frazier."
"I'm sure that'll be real comforting to the next ADA to fall down with a bullet in their brain," Captain Nick said snidely. "I'll be back later, Don." He left the precinct then, Olivia staring daggers into his back.
"Yeah, ah, I think we'll get going," Munch announced to the air, jabbing Fin in the ribs.
"I think that would be a very good idea," Olivia replied angrily. The two quickly walked out with Andrew Morrison's last known address in hand.
"Olivia." Elliot knew his partner was worked up beyond rhyme or reason over this, and assumed it was because of who the targets had been. "You do know that this is serious, right?"
"Believe me, I know," Olivia sighed. "I'm going to do some more digging on the Morrison trial," she continued, standing and grabbing a folder off her desk to walk towards an empty interrogation room. "Hey, could you do me a favor?" she asked suddenly, turning her head towards Elliot.
"Of course."
"I'll have my eye on Alex, obviously, but could you keep an eye on Casey?"
"They'll need to know why, Liv."
"We'll tell them. But they don't need to be worried just yet. Right?"
Elliot ran a hand over his head. "I don't know. Maybe they do."
"Thank God that's over," Casey said and heaved a sigh.
"You can say that again. I was wondering how many pretty pictures they were gonna get those doctors to show us before they realized they couldn't convince a sane jury that this was just a case of a heartless bitch," Alex scoffed.
It had been business as usual today for Casey and Alex. The SVU cases didn't go on hold just because their former ADA turned up dead, and they still had a kiddie killer to prosecute. Successfully, as they would be quick to add, though it hadn't been easy. Alex absolutely despised when some sort of psychological defense came into play, and it always made Casey think about her ex-fiancé. Luckily, both of them learned to keep a level head in such situations, and they squeezed out a guilty verdict after several hours and arguments.
"I enjoyed your 'color-by-numbers' comment very much by the way. Was that planned or improv?"
"Completely spur of the moment," the blonde laughed. "I specialize in offhand insults."
"Well it's extremely entertaining. I think you even got a laugh out of the judge."
"Perhaps I should switch careers. Standup comedy could be fun."
Casey laughed. "That's not something I'm sure I could see."
"I can be anything I want to be," Alex huffed as the two of them reached their shared office. "On a completely unrelated subject, distract me from all the mess around us and tell me about your wedding plans."
"Let's see," the redhead mused. "I plan to get married."
"That was a terrible distraction. Hello? Dress? Location? Date? You haven't thought about any of that?"
"Unlike some people, I haven't been planning my wedding since I was six," Casey replied winking at Alex and pulling out a granola bar, taking a bite and half-swallowing before continuing. "For the longest time I didn't think I'd ever get married."
"Really? It's like an unspoken rule in my family. I don't have any siblings, but all but one of my cousins is married. And that's only because she's still in high school. Hey, give me some of that."
"No way, I'm starving, Cabot! And if they found someone they actually did want to spend the rest of their life with, then that's great. But I wasn't sure there was anyone out there like that for me. I guess I was wrong," Casey smiled.
"You guys do seem really happy," Alex said. "You almost make the concept of marriage appealing to me."
"You don't think you'll get married?"
"I'm like you thought you were. Not really the marrying type."
"Even to Olivia?" Casey tilted her head.
"God, Novak! That's not even close to appropriate to be thinking about now."
"Why not? You've known each other for years."
"Yes, but we've only been dating for weeks. Listen, just cause you're all giddy with wedding bells doesn't mean everyone has to be," Alex rolled her eyes.
"Sorry. I've just never seen Olivia happier than when you've been with her. It just makes sense to me."
"We'll have this conversation later, after we get you a proper wedding consultant. Honestly, Novak, no plans at all…"
Casey's phone rang out as its owner groaned. She sat up in her chair and reached for the offending contraption. "Novak."
"Hey, Case, it's Elliot. I know you just got out of court and I was wondering if you'd like to grab some lunch?"
Casey laughed. "You do know I'm taken, right Stabler?"
"Very funny. I'm just hungry and I bet you are too. Bring Cabot if she's there."
"Fine, it'll get her to stop stealing my snacks."
"What?"
"Never mind. Where should we meet you?"
"I'll come get you guys at your office, if that's alright."
"Why?"
"I have to drop something off there anyway. See you in fifteen." Elliot hung up.
Casey looked at her phone questioningly, then shrugged. "Elliot's going to come get us and take us to lunch," she told Alex.
"And Olivia?"
"Didn't mention her."
"Oh," Alex said. "Alright." Truthfully, something seemed a little off to Alex. Elliot had always been a friend, and certainly a good coworker, but he had never really shown any interest in spending time with her outside of work without his partner. She knew he had played softball with Casey, but that was only because they both just happened to play. Why the sudden interest?
"Don't think about it too much, Al. We're getting food and you can stop trying to eat my granola bar."
Alex laughed lightly.
"We're not getting jack shit out of Morrison until we have some grounds to arrest him," Fin said shaking his head.
"And we don't have any," Olivia sighed. "Just theories. You didn't find out anything at all?"
"Not really. Morrison doesn't even seem like such a bad guy on the outside. He lives in a one bedroom with his girlfriend and has art on his walls. But all he had to say was that he wanted nothing to do with this case anymore and refused to talk about it."
"Hold up, hold up. There was one thing that may interest you. He smirked and asked how 'Cousin Jill" was doing," Munch relayed, raising his eyebrows.
"Jill? As in Gillian?" Olivia asked.
"He didn't specify, but if that's what it means, that would answer our question about why Hardwicke insisted on prosecuting this case."
"I'm on it right now," Fin said, pulling a database up on his computer. "Okay, Jacqueline Stern, née Harrington. Parents are…" he clicked around a bit, "Steven Harrington and Mary Harrington, née Leonard. Steven has no siblings, Mary has a brother, Richard Leonard, and a deceased sister, Susan Leonard. No Hardwicke."
"Doesn't mean anything," Olivia said. "Check Susan Leonard's children, she might be divorced."
"Okay…well there you go. Susan Leonard, mother to Bradley, Allison, and Gillian Hardwicke. I'll be damned."
"They were cousins," Olivia mused. "Why haven't we heard from any of these relatives?"
"Well, Susan Leonard died in 2005, Bradley Hardwicke lives in Ohio, and Allison Hardwicke lives in Arizona."
"What about the aunt and uncle? Mary and Steven?"
"Probably too scared to say anything if they were threatened too," Munch said.
"You think they know anything about what happened in this case? If Brett Stern might have told them anything?" Olivia asked.
"Hard to tell."
"Everyone associated with this case is dead," Olivia said stoically, biting down on her lip. "Put a protective detail on Steven and Mary Harrington, and then we're going to talk to them."
"Liv, you do realize you're not the captain here, right?" Munch quipped.
"Fine, tell Cragen first. But if he says no, do it anyway. We're not letting this get out of our hands."
Fin looked over at Munch with a worried expression, and the older man nodded to his partner.
"Olivia." Fin walked over beside the harried detective and put his hand on her shoulder. "We need to be careful here. You just told us that everyone associated with this case is dead."
"I'm quicker and smarter than a stupid killer, Fin. It's my job to be two steps ahead all the time. Don't worry about me."
"You know best," he said, defeated. He returned to his seat and slumped down in it. "Just remember that there's no reason for you to die for this case."
Olivia turned to him, stone-faced as her own words to Alex were thrown back at her.
"I'll get on that detail," she replied coldly.