Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Dick Wolf, except the plot and Cassie.
Chapter Two: False Accusations
EPOV
When we got into the parking garage we got into the car and drove off. "I just wait out in the car. I don't want Kathy to think there something going on between us." she suddenly said, while she was looking at her hands. Soon enough we reached the building where Kathy worked and I looked at her. I noticed the bruise on her wrist already started to show, and I figured she only said what she said as a pretext. "You sure you want to wait here?" I asked her, while she looked at me. "You noticed too, huh?" she asked pointing at her wrist, and I nodded. "I just don't want Kathy to notice. I don't need an interrogation from her." she explained, while I nodded. "Wait a second, I think I have something to cover that up. Check the glove box, please." I said, while she opened it and rummaged through it. "What am I looking for, anyway?" she asked, while looked up. "Oh right, Um, let me have a look." I said, and started searching through it until I figured out what I was looking for wasn't there anymore. "Damn it. I think you need to cover it up with your hand." I said, while she nodded and did what I asked. I got out of the car and walked over to her side and helped her out. Together we walked into the building and got to the floor where Kathy worked. "Hi, Kathy. I have something you need to read, sign and send back to my lawyer." I said and held out the divorce papers. "Elliot, Cassidy, what a lovely surprise." she said happily, while I tried not to roll my eyes. "Hi Kathy." Cassie said, the hostility thick in her voice. I noticed she held her left hand on her right wrist and I knew she tried her best to cover it up. "How are you doing, Cassidy. You look awful did you get some sleep the last couple of nights?" Kathy asked, she hadn't noticed or just ignored the hostility Cassidy showed. "I'm fine, Kathy." she said, while she turned around to walk away.
Kathy narrowed her eyes at me. "What?" I said, looking at her. "You were supposed to keep an eye on her. She looks like hell, Elliot!" she said with venom rolling through her voice. "I'm right here, you know. And for your information, Elliot is keeping an eye on me. Actually, he's taking care of me for the last couple of days. Helping me to get used to being at home longer than one night at a time!" Cassidy replied, before I could answer. "And you know what, he's staying over at my place for the last two nights after he caught you cheating on him AGAIN!" she hissed venomously at Kathy while coming face to face with her. "Besides, he actually does try to keep me safe, and talk to me when I feel like shit. Something you never did, since it happened. You only offered me a place to stay after it happened, but you never even tried to comfort me or to talk to me about it!" she hissed once more before turning around and walk away. "I'll make sure the papers get to your lawyer. Signed and sealed." Kathy said softly, with tears in her eyes knowing Cassidy told the truth. "Thank you." I said and turned around to find Cassidy. When I got outside, I felt in my pockets for my car keys, only to realize I lost them. To be sure I didn't forget my keys in the car I walked to the car, only to find Cassidy sitting inside snapping her phone shut. I got in and saw how furious she looked. She gave me the keys and I put on the engine. I had never seen her this way and it was quite scary. "Take me home!" was the only thing she said the entire ride home. When we arrived, we got out of the car and I carried her up stairs only to put her down on her feet once we arrived at her floor. I quickly made my way to her door, opened it and got in. She slammed the door shut and locked it instantly, before she walked into the living room and sat down on the couch. When I made it into the living room I found her sleeping on the couch. I carefully sat down on it and looked at her. I felt bad for her, but I had to wake her up, otherwise she wouldn't sleep through the night. "Wake up, shorty." I said, while I stroked her cheek softly. "hmpf." Was her only reply, but she opened her eyes slowly and sat up.
"I'm sorry for what I said, at Kathy's office." she said softly, while I gave her a smile. "You just told her the truth and with how she was talking to me like you weren't there, I can't blame you for getting angry with her. But you got through to her she seemed to know you're right." I said, while I smiled at her. She scooted over and gave me a hug, which I returned before I carefully took her right hand. "Let me see your wrist." I said, and to say I was shocked was an understatement. "Did Olivia do this to you?!" I exclaimed, while she took a look at it herself and I saw her eyes widened. She quickly pulled her hand out of mine and hid the bruise with a sigh and tears rolling down her face. Before I knew it she hid her face in my shirt crying. "What's wrong? Why are you crying?" I asked while I pulled my fingers through her hair. "I hate that I bruise that easily." she cried, while I tried to comfort her, by whispering soothing words. "I know, but it's not your fault you bruise that easily. I've told you that before, remember? When you had that meltdown after you fell at the ice ring, when you were babysitting Kathleen?" I recalled, and I felt her nod. "Now, why don't we get out of the house for a while. Heading out to the park, catch a movie, go out to dinner?" I suggested while I took her chin so she would look at me. "I don't feel like going out for a movie. Have you noticed what I look like?" she exclaimed, and I understood what she meant. "You're afraid of what people will think when they notice your wrist and appearance. But we can cover up that bruise, and the bags under your eyes. But it's up to you." I said, while she looked at me like I was crazy. "Why didn't I think of that! I think I need your help finding a bracelet that's big enough to cover up that bruise. Oh, by the way I have an appointment tomorrow to check out the place. I need to be there at noon." she said and jumped up from the couch, while I nodded smiling and just followed her into the bedroom. She rummaged through her beauty case, which she obviously didn't use often, to find something to conceal the purple bags under her eyes. "Ha! Got it!" she exclaimed and got into the bathroom to apply the foundation to conceal the purple bags. When she was done she came back into the bedroom and took some other things out of her beauty case and got into the bathroom again.
While she was applying her make-up I opened her jewelry box that was on the dresser and started searching for a bracelet that was big enough to conceal the bruise, but didn't put too much pressure on it. "All done." she said, while she came back into the room and I looked up at her. I couldn't recall seeing her like this before, but I was stunned. She looked so different with make-up on, that I almost didn't recognize her. "You look beautiful, Cassie." I breathed, while I found myself staring at her. "If I was just walking down the street and you came by, I'm sure I wouldn't recognize you." I said, and she let out a giggle, one I never heard before. "You found a bracelet to conceal the bruise?" she asked, while I shook my head. "Hmm, let me have a look. I know I have a big bracelet. But maybe I misplaced it." she said, while she rummaged through the jewelry box but huffed in annoyance. "Damn it! Where did I put that darn bracelet." she grumbled, while she opened one drawer after another. "You know what, why don't we go out and look for a new one." I suggested and she nodded. "I think that's a good idea. Let me clean up this mess. The room looks like someone just burglarized it." she stated, but I stopped her. "Let me. You need to sit down for a second and think about that bruise on your waist. You can barely climb the stairs, let alone walk normally. You shouldn't be doing the cleaning right now." I said, and she nodded while she sat down on her bed. I cleaned her bedroom quickly, so we could go. "You ready to go?" I asked, when I was done cleaning up and she nodded. When I looked at her for a second time I noticed she had changed her clothes. I didn't notice her changing clothes. "When did you change your clothes?" I asked stunned by her new look. "When you were cleaning up, and too busy to notice I was changing." she said smiling at me, while my jaw dropped. "You did what? When I was here?! Are you out of your mind! What if I saw you changing?" I started panicking, while the only thing she did was laughing, and hard. "Relax, El. How many times I bumped into you in only a boxer short?" she said laughing, while I just stared at her in utter shock. "Let's go, El. And Um… you'll catch flies if you don't close your mouth." she said, while she put a finger under my chin and pushed it upwards to close my mouth. I quickly recovered myself and led her out of the room.
CPOV
I was still chuckling about his almost panic attack when he led me out of the room. But I was wondering why he actually started panicking when I admitted I just changed when he was still in the room. "El, why were you panicking when I told you I changed while you were still in the room? It's not like you would jump me if you saw it, right?" I asked carefully when we were driving towards the mall to get me another big bracelet. I didn't get an answer, so I decided to be patient. We drove the rest of the way in silence, and before we knew we arrived at the mall parking lot. We got out of the car and I grabbed Elliot by his arm, to stop him. "El, you didn't answer my question, yet." I asked, and I looked at him only to find him looking away from me. "It's just…" he started with a sigh. "It's inappropriate to see your best friend in only her underwear." he said, without looking at me and started walking again. I raised my eyebrow, but followed him inside. When we got into the jewelry shop we browsed around, until I found a beautiful bracelet that was able to conceal the bruise, but when I saw the price tag I just sighed and turned around. I was walking out of the jewelry shop and looked over my shoulder only to discover Elliot hadn't followed me out. I just shrugged and decided to look at the jewelry that was stalled out at the window, until Elliot would join me. I was engrossed in my own thoughts when I suddenly felt something on my right wrist and was pulled back to the present time. "See it as an apology. For what I did to you last night." he said, with a small smile on his face. "El, you didn't have to. I would have found something that was less expensive." I said softly, still admiring the beautiful bracelet. "I saw you looking at it, and I just knew you were disappointed because it was so expensive. By the look on your face I just knew you wanted to have it, so I decided to buy it as a gift to apologize for the last time." he explained, and then it hit me why he panicked after I admitted I changed when he was there.
"It kills you from the inside out, doesn't it. Ever since you saw that bruise last night. That's why you panicked after I admitted that." I whispered, while he just nodded. "El, how many times I have to tell you. I'm not mad at you, nor do I blame you for hurting me. It was just an accident, you didn't mean to and you know as well as I do that I know you didn't want or meant to hurt me." I whispered once more, while I gave him a hug and a kiss on his cheek. I looked once more at my new bracelet that concealed the bruise perfectly. "Thank you for this beautiful gift, El. I owe you." I whispered softly in his ear before letting him go. He smiled brightly at me, while he put his hand on the small of my back and led me back to the car. We got in the car and decided to enjoy the nice weather at the park that was close to my apartment, we drove into the parking garage at my building, and walked out of it heading to the park. We took a walk through the park until we found a nice spot to sit down and relax for a while. "It's beautiful out here, I never went here before to be honest. Of course I went to the park a lot of times, but just not at this spot." I admitted, while I just stared out over the pond. "You know I found this place shortly after what happened to you? I wasn't allowed to join the investigation, since I was a victim too. So when visitation hours were over at the hospital I took a walk through the park and stumbled onto this place. I come here ever since, when we closed a tough case even Kathy doesn't know about it. Just wanted to keep it to myself, to share it later with you, when you were ready to go outside again without being scared all the time." he admitted, while I nodded. "I never had a special or secret place anywhere. But I have to admit, it's nice to have one even though it's a shared one." I said chuckling, while I watched him for a while, and I noticed he was completely relaxed. "This is my first too. I had one with Kathy, but it wasn't that special though, it was just some shady bar where we were going during college." he said chuckling, while I joined him. "Is there a reason you only want to share this spot with me?" I asked curious, not that I was thinking something of it but I was just a curious person. "You're a curious one, aren't you?" he answered while I laughed softly. "I just wanted to have a place, where we could go when you're not feeling well. To get you out of the house a little bit more, and to seek refuge after a tough case or just to hide from our colleagues, who can be annoying, like this morning for example." he told me, while I raised an eyebrow at him. "I don't think I'm able to find this on my own." I said smiling. "Who said I would let you come here on your own? I found this spot, so it's basically mine." he teased, while I laughed. "Okay, I get it. I'm not allowed to come here without your permission." I teased him back.
I slowly started to regret my choice of clothing, when the temperature dropped. "You cold?" he asked, when I noticed I had started to shiver. "Yeah, kind of. I should have known these clothes were too thin for this weather." I said, while I gave him a small smile. "How about grabbing a bite to eat at the diner on the corner of the street and head home after?" he suggested with a smile. "Sounds great. Just so you know, I liked hanging out with you today, I really enjoyed being out of my apartment for once without it being work related." I told him smiling, while we walked to the diner. "Me too. It's good to get out of the house every once in a while, without being out of the house for work related things. And it's a lot more enjoyable if you can share those days with a friend." he said with a smile, while we entered the diner and took our seats. We both ordered a burger and a coke, while we talked small talk. Soon our food was served and ate in silence, just enjoying each others company. When we were done we both paid for our food and drinks and headed home. "We have another couple of days off, any idea what to do with those?" I asked him, while we slowly walked back to my apartment. Halfway our walk it started to snow lightly and I shivered once more. "I don't know, but we'll figure it out. Let's hurry to get you inside, you're freezing." he replied, while we picked up our pace and got into my apartment. "You should take a shower to warm up a little." he said while I nodded and got into my bedroom.
EPOV
I waited until I heard the shower running and got into the bedroom to get some blankets for when she was finished with her shower. I turned on the television and flipped to the channel that hosted one of my favorite programs, while I waited for Cassidy to come back into the room. A while ago I noticed that the shower had stopped running, but I hadn't heard her come out of the bathroom. I decided to wait for another while, before I started to worry and just watched the show which was still on for another thirty minutes. When the show was over I got up to check up on her, only to find the bathroom door ajar. I gave it a knock but got no answer and walked in carefully to find her sitting on the floor. Panic washed over me when I saw her eyes were closed, so the first thing I did was check for a pulse, which was a bad decision when she opened her eyes screaming at the top of her lungs. "Sshh, sshh, sweetie, it's okay, it's just me Elliot." I said softly and kept repeating that, until she calmed down. "What happened?" I asked when she finally calmed down. "I don't know. I was wrapping myself in the towel and when I came to I was on the ground." she replied, while looking around. "Let's get you dressed. I feel more relieved if you let me take you to the hospital, just a check up so we know there's nothing serious going on, okay?" I stated, and she nodded while I helped her up. "I'll just be around the corner if you need any help." I said and walked into her living room, while she started to dress. Slowly she came out of the bedroom and looked up at me. "Ready to go." she said, while I looked at her only to find out she looked exhausted. "Let's go." I said, while we started to walk out of the room and out of the house after I unlocked the door. I kept an eye on her while we walked out of the building into the parking garage and got in the car. While we were driving to the hospital I took a couple of glances just to be sure she was still conscious. After a short drive we arrived at the hospital and got out of the car, and got inside. I filled in the papers, and explained the doctor who got to check up on her what happened, and he started the check up.
"Sir, how did miss Sullivan get those bruises?" the doctor asked me. "He didn't meant to hurt me, doctor. He just held me too tight when I was on his lap after I needed some comfort and when I wanted to get up to sit down next to him his grip tightened which caused the bruise. The bruise on my wrist happened when a colleague caught up with me and held me to tight. I just bruise extremely fast. I get bruises all the time while being on the job." she piped up, before I could say anything. "Okay, miss can you tell me what happened before you got here?" he asked her, while she briefly looked at me. "I was in the shower, and when I got out I wrapped myself in a towel then everything went black, I think. I don't know what happened exactly, only that I gained consciousness or woke up, when Elliot touched me in my neck to check if I had a pulse." she told him, while I nodded. I gave her a worried look and I walked over to her head. She reached out to me with her hand, which I took. "I'll need to take some blood samples, to rule out certain serious deceases." the doctor said, while he got the supplies he needed. "You have to take blood?!" she started panicking, while she squeezed my hand. "Relax, sweetie. It's just to make sure you're not sick. You'll be okay." I tried to comfort her, while stroking her hair. "I don't like needles." she said so softly I almost missed it. I moved to her side and whispered softly to her and told her to just squeeze my hand and look at me, while the doctor did his job. He took a couple of tubes of her blood, and gave me a small nod. "He's ready. You can let go of my hand now or at least loosen your grip." I said softly, while she gave me a little smile. "I'll take this to the lab immediately and make sure they work as quick as possible. But in the mean time I want her to stay for a couple of hours, just for observation." the doctor said and I nodded while I picked up a chair and sat down next to her bed. I talked softly to her and tried to keep her calm until the results came in.
Cassidy fell asleep after a while, and I just stayed at her side waiting for the doctor to come in with the results. I must have dozed off because I jumped when someone touched my shoulder. "Her blood results came out clean. It's nothing serious. Do you know if she had a good night's rest over the last couple of days?" he asked me, while I looked at her and then back to him. "Actually I do know. I crashed at her couch for the last couple of days due to private issues. The first nights she slept through the night, but last night she woke up screaming after having a nightmare. As far as I know that's the only night she didn't get much sleep. A couple of days back, she slept a couple of nights at the precinct but I don't know if she had good nights of sleep over there." I explained to him, while he nodded. "Did she suffer any stress lately, due to a traumatic event?" he asked, and I nodded. "She did, the last six weeks or so. I take it you read her file and read about the attack she suffered three years ago? Her attacker is coming out of jail in a couple of months. She's worrying about it, and pretty scared too." I explained, while I started to worry more about her. "She's just extremely exhausted. She'll be discharged in a couple of hours, I would send you home, but I think it's for her own good if you just stayed with her, she seems to feel safe when you're around." he said, and I nodded. "Thank you doctor." I said with a smile and sat down again. After a while she started tossing and turning and shaking her head heavily before she shot up with a scream. "I'm here, you're fine. It was just a nightmare, sweetie. Do you know where we are?" I asked,while she looked at me and nodded. "At the hospital, you took me here, after I blacked out. Just to check if there was anything wrong." she replied, while I nodded. "The doctor came in a while ago. He said you're just extremely exhausted, due to all the stress you've been through, you'll be discharged in a few hours." I said, and she nodded, and I noticed the tears rolling down her cheeks. "You had the same nightmare as last night, didn't you?" I asked and she nodded crying. I walked around the bed and put down the sidebar from the bed and climbed in next to her. I took her in my arms to calm her down and noticed she had fallen asleep, I kissed her hair and held her close.
I had fallen asleep only to be woken up by a shocked statement. "Elliot! What's going on?" a male voice said, while I tried to recognize it and to find the person who belonged to it, only to find captain Cragen at the foot of the bed. "Captain." I said, while I carefully got of the bed in slight embarrassment. "What happened, they called me as soon as she got in. Did you know she wrote me down as her next of kin?" he asked, and I nodded. "It was Kathy and me at first, but since everything Kathy and I are going through she decided it was for the best to put down someone else, when we got in earlier. After we got home, from a day out she went to shower and shortly after she wrapped herself in a towel she just blacked out. I decided to check up on her, when she didn't get out of the shower after an hour. I found her unconscious at the bathroom floor, instinctively I checked for a pulse and that was when she gained consciousness again, screaming." I explained and he nodded. "What's the verdict?" he asked, and I gave a small smile. "It's nothing serious, she's just extremely exhausted due to a lack of sleep and the stress she's going through. But she can go home in an hour or so." I said, and he nodded. "Just one more question, what were you doing sleeping in the same bed?" he asked me, and I sighed. "She woke up after a nightmare, so I got in next to her to calm her down and soon after she fell asleep. By the time I normally would be sure she was sleeping I had fallen asleep too. I'm just trying to get her through all of this as safe as possible, I promised her I would be there for her, even though I'm going through a tough time myself." I explained and he nodded and I knew he understood there was nothing between the two of us. "To explain why I'm here this late. We just closed a tough case, so I couldn't leave immediately, without having the others think there was something wrong with one of our squad. And just so you know… I never thought there was more going on between you and Cassidy than just partnership and a close friendship. I'm glad she has a friend like you, Elliot. She's like a daughter to me just like you are as a son to me." he said with a smile and I nodded.
"Why did she change her next of kin from Kathy to me?" he asked, and I shrugged. "She didn't tell me why. But I think I know why she did it. After we got back from the precinct I got the divorce papers in, I signed them and had to bring them to Kathy. Since Cassidy still doesn't like to be alone in her apartment, even during daytime she came with me when I headed to Kathy's work to drop of the papers. As usual, Kathy acted like nothing happened between us, but Cassidy was hostile to her and well you saw her this morning and she looked like hell. When Cassidy had turned away, Kathy started talking about her as if she wasn't there and that set her off. Cassidy told her off about her cheating on me and confronted her about the fact that Kathy never tried to talk with her about what happened to her three years ago. She kind of defended me, since Kathy was blaming me for how Cassidy looked." I explained to him, while he just listened. "It's true, captain." Cassidy said softly. "I see why you changed your next of kin. But can you tell me, why you chose me as your next of kin?" the captain asked her, and she nodded. "Since I got out of my childhood home, to live by myself I never heard from my parents again. After what happened to me, the hospital called them, and they just told the nurse to leave them alone and never call them again if I was brought in again and that it was my own fault. So I put down Kathy and Elliot as my next of kin after that. And well after what happened earlier today, I didn't want Kathy as my next of kin, and since Elliot was with me when I got here I thought it was weird to put him down as my next of kin. You're like a father to me, a father I never had at home even though my father was there he didn't treat me as his own. That's why I chose to put you down as my next of kin." she explained and I could see captain Cragen was touched by what she told him. We both sat down on one side of the bed and just talked to her. "I'll go and get us some coffee captain." I said, and got up and walked out of the room to get us coffee.
CPOV
"You know what I confessed to Elliot, before you woke up?" captain Cragen asked, while I shook my head. "I told him you're as much as a daughter to me, as he is a son." he said with a smile on his face. "You know about our childhood. I'm glad you know about that." I said with a smile, while Elliot was still out to get coffee. "You told me about yours, yes. I was touched by your confession, Cassidy." the captain said, while I nodded and started wondering how long it took to get some coffee, until I heard loud voices coming closer. "What the hell are you doing to her, Elliot!" a familiar female voice shouted and I flinched as I recognized Kathy's voice. "God no. Not her." I grumbled. "I don't know who informed you of Cassidy's stay here, but I do know she doesn't want to see you, just get out of here." I heard Elliot yell. "I saw the bruise on her waist Elliot, and she just lied about it in my face." Olivia's voice sounded through the hallway and I rolled my eyes. "Did you tell anyone at the precinct I was here? Or did you let them know you came in here to visit me?" I asked the captain, while he shook his head. "How could Olivia possible know I'm here?" I wondered out loud, while I saw how the captain's eyes widened. "I know it was your doing Elliot! You caused that bruise on her waist!" Olivia shouted, and I flinched. "I now for a fact, you never left her apartment, since you got there Sunday morning. It wasn't a coincidence the two of you came in together this morning to see Cragen." she rambled on and the door flew open. "You did what!" Kathy came in screaming at him, while I watched them. Elliot stayed quiet and didn't reply and I knew why. Both of them kept screaming and yelling at him, until I had enough. "ENOUGH! SHUT UP, BOTH OF YOU!" I screeched, and they finally fell silent. "I don't appreciate that you're talking about me if I'm not here, let alone your attacks at Elliot. I want you out. Both of you!" I said angry, while Kathy huffed and stalked out of the room. "You're protecting him, after he hurt you? How could you! You deal with victims like you every single day, and you're protecting the man who hurt you?" Olivia ranted at me, while I glared at her. "You don't know anything about me! If Elliot really had done this to me, I didn't let him near me. And for your information, three years ago that anonymous case you worked on? That was me! I personally requested to list me as anonymous, and requested for anonymity, that's why there weren't any pictures of the raped and beat up victims face. And believe me, it was worse than this. There is a reason that Elliot's never leaving my side, there's a reason for me only confiding in captain Cragen, Fin, Brian and Elliot. I knew Elliot before I started at SVU, we are friends for a long time, why do you think Cragen didn't give me another partner? Do you want to know why Elliot wasn't working after I was attacked? Since he was a victim too! He got smacked in the head by the person who did that to me. He was just dropping me off after work, and it was the night we had movie night, like we still have once a week. But my ex-boyfriend got into my house, knocked out Elliot before he attacked me. And you know why? Because I broke up with him!" I ranted, while crying only to feel Elliot's hand on my shoulder. "Olivia, leave now! I'll see you tomorrow in my office!" the captain said, Olivia huffed and stormed out of the room.
By the time she was out of the room I was still panting heavily. "How did Olivia and Kathy know Cassie is here?" Elliot asked, while I just shrugged, the only thing I wanted now, was going home, I didn't feel comfortable here anymore. "Olivia must have followed me here and inside and hear me asking for your room. And I guess, Olivia called Kathy, since beside you, Cassidy and me no one knows about your situation with Kathy." the captain answered while I gasped. "Okay, I'm done. I want to go home, now!" I stated, while Elliot had a troubled look at his face. "I'm afraid I can't do that, miss Sullivan. After what happened a couple of minutes ago, I rather keep you here until morning." the doctor said, who just came in and had apparently heard what just happened. "Sir, are you okay?" he asked Elliot, while he nodded. "A little shaky, but nothing I can't handle." he answered with a smile. "I'll let you rest. I'll stop by later tomorrow at your place." the captain said and got up while I nodded. "Thank you for coming, captain." I said with a small smile, and he walked out of the room. "I don't feel comfortable anymore, El." I whispered. "Not now Olivia and Kathy both know I'm here." I kept going on whispering, while he nodded. "How about I call Fin, and ask him to come over to keep an eye at your door." he suggested, and I nodded. Elliot called Fin and he agreed to come over. "I don't want to bad mouth anybody, but what was Olivia thinking? That I would press charges on you for hurting me unintentionally? She's crazy!" I stated, while I shook my head. "If she's bothering you again, just file a complaint with Cragen. You actually should have filed a complaint with him this morning, after how she treated you at the precinct." Elliot said, while I just shrugged. "I know Cragen saw the bruise on your wrist and I know he knows Olivia caused that one. I bet that's one of the things he wants to talk to her about tomorrow morning." he said, and I heard a knock on the door. "Can I come in? It's Fin." Fin said. "Sure come in." I replied, with a small smile. "You don't have to stand outside the door." I said, while he nodded. He sat down on the chair that Cragen had sat on earlier and looked at my wrist. "Olivia caused that one this morning?" he asked, while he pointed at my bruise and I nodded. "She followed Cragen up here, and called Elliot's soon to be ex. They both came in screaming at Elliot, when he was going for some coffee. When Kathy left, Olivia stayed, and tried to accuse Elliot for abusing me." I started, and his eyes widened. "Why would she do that?" he asked. "Remember this morning? When I said I had a stomach ache? When I showed the bruise on my waist to Cragen she came barging in and saw it. She obviously heard what I said to Cragen about what had happened." I told, while he nodded. "So when Kathy was out of the room, she started ranting about it to me, and told me bluntly I was protecting the man who had purposely hurt me. I got angry again so I blurted out what happened to me three years ago and after that the captain ordered her to leave and to come to his office first thing in the morning. But know she knows I'm here I'm scared she will come back, now the captain's gone." I explained and he nodded once more.
EPOV
"She came storming into the squad room a couple of minutes before Elliot called me. She didn't seem to notice me, so I got out without saying anything." Fin told us and I sighed. I got the feeling she was going to dig up the files from Cassidy's case and I didn't want her to go through that again. "I bet she's digging up those case files right now. Was there beside you anyone else still at the precinct? Munch or Cassidy?" I asked, and Fin shook his head, soon after my phone rang. "Captain, what's going on?" I asked and Cragen told me what was wrong. "Are you sure?" I asked, while the captain confirmed it. "Damn it! I won't let her go through all of that again. We need to stop her right now." I almost yelled into my phone, while Cassie and Fin had a puzzled look on their faces. "So she called in Munch and Cassidy? What is she up to? Munch doesn't even know that the anonymous file is about Cassie. Only Cassie, Fin, you, Cassidy and I know. And Olivia now obviously since she angered Cassidy so much she just blurted it out." I answered once more, while the captain got on with his story. "Cassidy and Olivia are way too close for my liking the past couple of months. Before they started dating in public I knew for sure I could trust him, but now I don't know. Yeah, Fin's with us right now. Yeah I'll give him." I answered and handed the phone to Fin. After a short talk he handed the phone back to me. "Yeah, I'll go and try to get her out of here so we can come in. Okay, thanks for the heads up." I said and hung up the phone. "I need to find the doctor, we need to get you home. Cragen asked Fin and me to come in." I said and walked out of the room only to walk into the doctor a couple of minutes later. "Doctor, there is an emergency at the precinct and our captain needs all of us in, including Cassidy." I said, while the man nodded understanding. "I do a last check up and if she looks fine, she can go." he said with a sigh, while we walked back to her room together and he did the last check up and cleared her. I helped her getting dressed and we got out of the hospital.
We drove in silence with Fin following in his own car. We made our way through the traffic quickly and were at her building in record time. "I'm not going home, I'm coming with you!" she stated and I sighed. "I rather have you at home, just in case." I said, but I knew I wasn't going to get it my way with this. "I'm coming with you!" she said and I sighed once more before starting the car again and drove the rest of the way to the precinct in silence. Much to our surprise Munch and Cassidy were outside. "She called you in too?" Cassidy asked, while we shook our heads. "The captain did. Olivia is up to something, and it's not going to be pretty. She's digging around for that anonymous case file from three years ago." I explained and saw how Cassidy's eyes widened. "The hell she isn't! We can't put that girl through all of that again!" he exclaimed, and I knew he didn't know a damn thing about what Olivia was planning to do. "We need to bring Munch up to speed about this." Fin whispered, and I nodded. "There's something you need to know about that file, John. And it's for the best you hear that from us, rather than your partner." I said, while I poked Cassie softly in her ribs. "That case file is about me. When I made the 911 call I especially requested for Fin and Brian and I put in the request to keep it as anonymous as possible, that's why there aren't any photo's of the victims face in that file. There's a full copy of it at Cragen's office. It's not that I didn't trust you, John. But I didn't and still don't trust Olivia. So I couldn't take the risk, she figured it out." Cassie explained, and Munch's jaw dropped. "You're telling me, we investigated your attack three years ago?! I knew there was something familiar about it, when I read the statements from the victims involved. The male victims testimony sounded way too much like Elliot." Munch said with a smirk. "But how did Olivia find out about it?" he asked, while I sighed. "Olivia followed the captain to the hospital earlier tonight, and found out he was visiting Cassidy. She called Kathy and together they came barging in accusing me of things. Eventually we got into the room and Cassie managed to get Kathy out, but Olivia stayed behind and enraged Cassie so much, she just blurted out. That's why the captain called us in." I explained while they nodded. "The captain is talking to her now, but I think we can go in." Munch said and together we walked into the precinct to our squad room. When we reached the floor of our squad room and got out of the elevator I instantly felt the tension. I felt Cassie flinch when the yelling became louder.
"It's okay, you're safe. We won't let happen anything to you." I comforted her, and she seemed to relax a little. When we reached the door, Cassie stopped walking, refusing to go in. "I know you have a copy, captain! And I want to see it right now!" Olivia yelled, while I shook my head and barged into the squad room. "Never going to happen, Benson! Just drop it!" I yelled, while I walked toward her until we were head to head. "You're making it your life goal to harass one of our own, don't you?" I dared her, while I heard Fin, Cassidy, Munch and Cassie walk in. How they convinced her to come in to the squad room with them I didn't know, but I was glad they did. "I know what you did, Stabler. And I'm not going to rest until she's going to tell the truth! It was you who attacked her three years ago, I'm sure of that." she accused me once more of something I didn't do. "You don't know anything about me or Cassie, Benson!" I replied, shaking with anger. "Stop it! Just stop it, Benson!" Cassie yelled. "I don't care what you think, but I want you to stop accusing Elliot of things he never did!" she screeched, while she was head to head with Olivia just like me. "What is that between the two of you. You're glued to each others hips all the time. He never leaves you alone, he even stays the night!" Olivia started, and I heard Cassie panting heavily. Now you're going to get it, Benson I thought. "What is or what isn't going on between Elliot and me, is none of you business. Elliot is my friend, who's going through a tough time. I offered him a place to stay he accepted that offer, the reason why he's staying at my place is also none of your business." she yelled and raised her hand, ready to slap Olivia. I quickly shot up my hand to put hers down. "Stop digging, Benson!" I yelled and stepped back.
BPOV
My jaw dropped when Olivia accused Elliot for the attack on Cassidy three years ago. But before I could say anything, Cassidy started to defend her partner and long time friend. After Elliot had stepped back, I took a step forward. "I don't know what you're up to, but you need to stop it. I know for a fact it wasn't Elliot, since I was one of the SVU detectives called to the scene on a special request from Cassidy. When we arrived, Elliot was still unconscious, he gained consciousness when the paramedics arrived. This was the reason Cassidy wanted the anonymity. And that's why there are two files of this case. Since the original file with all of the pictures was necessary to send higher up. They agreed to the anonymous file that would be kept in our own solved cases files." I explained, but I should have known she wouldn't accept it. "You're protecting him too? Fine do what you want, Brian! But I'm telling you, it's false! We've put away the wrong person!" she exploded, and I heard Cassidy growl. "Besides, can't Elliot defend himself? I only hear her blabbing crap and you defending him." she ranted on and on and I just shook my head. "You think I can't defend myself? I can, but I don't think it's necessary to defend myself from your bull shit, Benson! And for your information, Cassie isn't just defending me, but herself too." Elliot exploded, and my eyes fell on a trembling Cassie.
CPOV
"I can see why you filed for divorce! Oh yeah, Kathy told me all about it. She even told me you left her claiming you caught her cheating on you. So tell me, Stabler. What were you and Sullivan doing at your house, when you left the day after with your suitcase? I bet you had sex with her." I was shocked, that was a low blow even for her and I knew for sure Kathy wouldn't lie about it. "That's low, Benson. Even for you! I know you seem to have some vendetta against me, but leave Kathy and Elliot out of this. And don't even think about digging into my background, since that's none of your business!" I yelled at her, while she just glared at me, and I thought about something. "You see this bruise?" I started, while pointing at my wrist. "You caused that this morning, when you grabbed my wrist while you attacked me about lying about my stomach ache, before you started accusing Elliot!" I yelled, and held up my right hand and pushed it in front her eyes. "Stop digging, and I won't put in a complaint about what happened this morning. Go on with the digging, and you will have a complaint or two on your ass, Benson." I said dangerously calm and stepped back, still trembling with anger. "So you think that empty threat will stop me from figuring out the truth? Think twice, scaredy-cat." she dared me, and I just smirked at her with a dangerous twinkle in my eyes. "Captain, I want to file two complaints about detective Benson. One for assaulting me, and one for harassment." I said with a sickly sweet voice to the captain, while I glared at Olivia only to see that her jaw had dropped to the floor. "Empty threat huh. I don't make empty threats, lady." I said, before I turned around and walked away, but then everything changed quickly and was a blur, before I hit the ground because someone pushed me out of the way but got knocked out by a desk.
"You okay?" someone asked, while I nodded and tried to open my eyes since I just gained consciousness again. Confused I took a look around the squad room only to find Olivia in handcuffs and Cassidy and Elliot knocked out on the floor. "Get Cassidy out of here, now!" the captain ordered, while someone picked me up to take me out of the squad room. "No, El! He is hurt, I need to get back in." I panicked, while one of the men held me tight in his arms. "Calm down, Cassie. He's going to be fine. It's for your own safety, Olivia was about to lunge at you again." a familiar voice told me, and I looked up to see Fin's face. "I can defend myself perfectly well!" I exclaimed while they just shook their heads and restrained me from running back in. "What the hell happened? One moment I was just walking away and the next I was thrown onto the floor and out cold?" I asked in confusion. "Benson was about to attack you from behind, and Elliot pushed you out of the way and you hit your head on a desk which knocked you out, Elliot took the blow to the head and was out cold instantly. Cassidy managed to cuff her before she hit him and knocked him out too." Fin told me, while I nodded. "You can come in now. I took Olivia to the tombs." the captain called us back in and even though the bruise on my waist hurt, I ran toward Elliot and got down on my knees next to him. "Welcome back, Brian." Fin said, and I felt a hand on my shoulder. "He'll be fine, Cassie." Brian said, while I nodded. I stayed on the floor until Elliot gained consciousness again. "What the hell?!" was the first thing he said and I smiled through my tears before I flung my arms around his neck to hug him. "Munch, come with me. I want to talk to Olivia, and since she's your partner I want you there." the captain ordered. Elliot struggled to get up, so I helped him to sit up. "Olivia knocked you out, while you pushed Cassie out of the way to protect her from the blow, which made her hit her head too only to be out cold for a moment." Fin told him, and he nodded. "You okay?" Elliot asked immediately. "I'm fine, just worried about you." I replied with a small smile. "Cragen and Munch are talking to Liv. I'm wondering why she's acting like that. It's not like her." Fin said, and I nodded. "She can't stand to see Elliot so close with Cassidy. Olivia and John aren't that close to one another. At least, that's what she told me a while ago, but I didn't think much of it." Brian said, and I nodded. "But she started acting like this, this morning. I just don't get it. I never did anything wrong to her. Besides, I knew Elliot before I got here, we were friends already." I said, shaking my head.
"Brian, Fin. Go home." the captain ordered and they left. "Are you okay?" he asked Elliot and me, and we nodded. "Munch is taking Olivia home. She explained to us what's going on and wanted me to tell you." he added, and I nodded. "Okay, what's going on?" I asked, while I watched Olivia being escorted out of the room by Munch. "Before you got here, she requested to change partners. I declined that request, not knowing there was coming a new detective to SVU until three weeks later. When I just got the news, Elliot came in to my office and requested to be partners with the new detective, telling me he knew the new detective, I accepted that request, and you came around. When you got partnered up with Elliot, Olivia got mad and became distant and hostile to John. Although she was mad at me at first, she changed her direction of anger toward you, the last couple of weeks." he explained and I nodded, remembering telling Kathy and Elliot about my transfer to SVU. "Why did you decline Olivia's request, to be partnered with Elliot?" I asked with a curious look on my face. "She didn't give up a reason to have a change of partner. So I called her in and asked her why, and she told me she just wanted to work with Elliot. I told her that wasn't a reason to get another partner, so I asked her again and she said she liked Elliot more than John. When I looked at her face I could see in her eyes she was hiding something from me, but eventually she admitted she had feelings for him, that was reason enough for me to decline the request." he told us, and then it hit me. "She still has feelings for him, hasn't she?" I asked, while the captain nodded. "But if she still has feelings for me, why is she dating Brian?" Elliot wondered out loud, and I nodded. "She admitted to be happy with Brian, and that she started to realize she needed to get over Elliot. She's still in that process, but she got jealous when she observed the close relationship you and Elliot share, and when she found out through Kathy that Elliot filed for divorce she started blaming you. Although Kathy told her what was going on, and that it had nothing to do with you. But she will get over it she's on leave for now." he told us and I nodded. "Let's go home." Elliot said, and I smirked. "Don't even think about driving. I'll drive, I promise I won't hurt the car." I said jokingly and we walked out of the building laughing, while he gave me the keys of the car.
EPOV
I was glad we finally could go home. My head was throbbing since I gained consciousness again. "You have some painkillers at home, right? Aspirin or Ibuprofen or something like that?" I asked Cassie, and she nodded while she drove us home. She made the last turn and drove into the parking garage and parked the car at the usual spot. We got out of the car, and walked into the building. We started climbing the stairs and finally reached her floor and walked to her door. She unlocked and opened it, before letting me in to come in herself and locking the door. "Let me get you some painkillers. Your head must be hurting like hell. Mine hurts like hell anyways." she said with a small smile and walked through the bedroom into the bathroom, only to reappear a moment later with two aspirins. I walked into the kitchen to get a glass of water for both of us. "How are you holding up?" I asked when I noticed she had followed me into the kitchen. "Fine I guess. You, after everything what happened and we found out tonight?" she returned the question, while I smiled. "I can handle it." I replied, only to find her in front of me with tears in her eyes. I pulled her into my arms and kissed her hair. "I'm fine, don't worry about me." I whispered, and held her close. "That blow that knocked you out, was meant for me. You didn't have to push me out of the way, only to knock me out too. When they took me out of the room and I saw you laying there… I was just so worried and scared. I thought for a minute I lost you." she admitted sniffling, while she held me tight. "I told you, you wouldn't get rid of me until you're tired of me being your friend." I said laughing and leaned onto the countertop. "It's late, let's get some sleep." I suggested and I felt her nod against my chest. I led her out of the kitchen into the living room and started getting off my clothes, to slump down on the couch. When I looked up, I saw her looking at me and I raised an eyebrow. "Actually... I'm not that tired." she admitted and I started laughing. "Yeah right. I saw you staring at me. Just admit it, you like what you see." I joked, and saw her cheeks glowing bright red instantly. "I'm not tired, really. But I have to admit that I'm getting used to seeing you like that." she said smiling, while she turned around and walked into her bedroom. Just for a little bit of fun of my own, I decided to sneak up on her for the last time, but I instantly regretted my action when I was confronted with the bruise on her waist again, that was slowly fading into yellow by now.
When she was in a tank top I decided to go on with my plan to sneak up on her and put my arms around her waist. She squealed when my arms touched her skin. "El, you really need to stop sneaking up on me. What if you scare me so much that I elbow you in the stomach?" she asked, and I couldn't more than agree with her. I gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and gave her the space to get into her sweatpants before slipping my arms around her waist again. "El, what are you doing?" she asked while she turned around to face me. She got me right there, what was I actually doing. I knew I liked to have her close. I felt extremely protective about her, and I just liked having her around to talk to and have fun with. She looked at me intently, before putting her arms around my neck to give me a hug. "I don't know for sure. But I do know I like it." I admitted, while she let out a giggle. "Yeah right. Do you know I felt your presence when you sneaked into my room?" she asked me, while I raised an eyebrow. "Why do you think I didn't jump, when you put your arms around my waist the first time?" she asked, while my eyes widened. "I need to come up with some new ideas to make you jump." I teased, while she grinned. "I felt safe, when you held me like that." she whispered out of the blue, and I just stared at her while she traced one of my tattoos with her finger. I took her hand to stop her and put it back where it was before, while she smirked at me. She let go of me but kept looking me in the eye, I kissed her on her forehead and let go of her. I watched her as she walked out of the room, probably to get something to drink, as I plopped down on the bed.
This wasn't supposed to happen, we got more and more intimate and I wondered what the hell I was doing. Maybe the intimacy would cool down, when I got back to my own home after the weekend. Of course it won't cool down an annoying voice in my head told me. I was startled out of my musings when I felt something on top of me when I looked up I saw it was her. Of course my body found it necessary to betray me when I saw her like that and her eyes widened when she noticed the betrayal of my body. Before I knew it she was off me and sat down a little further away from me. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to tickle you actually." she whispered quietly. "But you looked so peacefull I decided against it, I was just about to get up when you know looked at me and well… you know what I mean. It wasn't my intention to let that happen." she whispered so soft I barely heard her. I decided to sit up and scooted over to her. "Don't worry about it." I said with I smile, while I started to tickle her to get her to laugh a little. Of course she started laughing and tried to reach my sides to tickle me, even though I could handle it, I let her be. I hovered above her while she tried to stop laughing, and I just looked at her. "What?" she asked chuckling, while she looked at me. "Um…" I started, while she kept looking at me I locked my eyes with hers. "Just enjoyed watching you laugh." I waved it off quickly, while I stopped hovering above her and slumped back on the bed. I heard a sigh, and looked up. "El, just tell me the truth. I know it wasn't just watching me laugh." she said while she turned her head toward me. "Okay, okay I give up. I was taking in your beauty." I admitted, while her eyes widened. "Well, if we're going to honest to each other, there's something I have to admit too. I wasn't planning on tickling you when I was on top of you. But I still had no intention to give your body the reaction it gave." she admitted, while my jaw dropped and I started wondering why she got on top of me. "I just wanted to admire your torso from another angle." she suddenly whispered in my ear and gave me a small kiss on my cheek.
CPOV
What the hell am I doing? I thought, while I looked at my long time best friend and partner at work. "You liked what you saw from that angle?" he teased me, while I felt my cheeks turning red and I nodded, but immediately smacked myself on the forehead mentally. I suddenly felt his index finger under my chin and pushing it up softly so I would look him in the eye. And before I knew it he kissed me softly on the lips a kiss that deepened into a passionate one. When we both realized what was happening we both pulled back, and just looked at each other. Now I knew for sure it wasn't just due to the fact we spend so much time together just the two of us it was more than that, and for the moment I couldn't care less if it was wrong or not. I kissed him once more, while he pulled me on top of him while his hands were all over my body. Our actions became more passionate and before we both knew it we were naked and pleasured each other before we got hot and heavy, multiple times that night. After a couple of hours of pleasure we fell asleep in each others arms satisfied.
I woke up early, remembering last night and just couldn't stop smiling. When I looked up he was smiling at me. "Good morning sunshine, did you sleep well?" he asked, and I nodded. "Good morning, Tiger. How did you sleep?" I asked, and kissed the tattoo on his chest. "I finally slept fine, for once. That couch, is hell for your back, you know." he replied, and rolled us over so he was hovering over me, I put my arms around his neck and smiled at him, before he crashed his lips into mine, kissing me passionately which I of course returned equally automatically I put my legs around his waist and we got another round of passion and pleasure. Panting we slumped back onto the bed and just laid like that for a while. "I need a shower, to wake up a little bit more. Want to join me?" I asked, and he just followed me into the bathroom where we enjoyed each others company and showered. When we were done showering we dried and got dressed. Before I got into the kitchen Elliot had already started breakfast. "Smells good, what are you making?" I asked, while I sat down at the kitchen bar. "Pancakes." he replied, and turned around with a smile. I could see in his eyes he wanted me to come closer so I got up of my stool and walked over and hopped on the countertop. "Close enough?" I asked smirking while he had a puzzled look on his face. "I could see it in your eyes." I shrugged, while he smiled and came over to me to give me a kiss. "You know, as much as I like you kissing me, I think you should keep your mind at your pancakes before they burn." I said with a chuckle, and he seemed to get out of his trance and turned back to the pancakes. When the pancakes were ready he set the kitchen bar before picking me up and carrying me to the kitchen bar. "El, I can walk by myself you know." I giggled, while he nodded. "I know, but it I wanted to." he replied shrugging before he put me down on the stool and sat down next to me and started eating our breakfast in silence. When we were done I picked up the dishes and filled the sink with water to do the dishes. "You're awfully quiet El. Something wrong?" I asked, not noticing he was right behind me until he slipped his arms around my waist and kissed my neck. "I could ask you the same, you're pretty quiet yourself." he returned my question. "Just thinking about what's happening right now and last night." I answered, with a smile while I was finishing up the dishes. I turned around in his arms and smiled up at him. "What do you mean, thinking about what's happening now and last night?" he asked and I sighed.
"I'm just trying to figure out what it was, that made all of this happen. Don't get me wrong I don't regret anything." I assured him with a smile and he nodded. "I think we're on the same page with our thoughts." he replied and gave me a kiss. "Just so you know, I have no regrets about last night and earlier this morning." he whispered in my ear and I shivered. I was still trying to figure out what had changed between us, but I couldn't think of anything except for the fact he was staying here for a couple of days in a row, and that the tension between us got higher which made us become more intimate which each other, but a small voice in my head told me that wasn't the case here. I turned away and started to walk into the living room, and plopped down on the couch, still thinking.
N/A: I hope you like the first chapter! Let me know what you think by using that beautiful review button, thanks.