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Munch practically had to run to keep up with the blonde's brisk pace. Even with heels, Alex could sure as hell book it when needed.
"Alex, wait up!" Munch yelled to no avail. He realized he was going to have to physically catch her if he had any hope of a chat. Finally, he got close enough to grab her gently by the wrist and turn her to face him.
"What?" Alex spit, "If you expect me to be happy that I'm working with Casey, you can forg –"
"Alex, you know I love you," Munch began, "But you can be a stubborn bitch sometimes. Hell, it's part of your ineffable charm, but –"
"Aw, thanks," Alex spit back sardonically.
"My point is, give Casey a chance," he gently counseled, "Try losing the 'ice-queen' façade and see what happens. I've seen my share of partners, and you and Casey might work well together if you let her."
"Right," Alex scoffed, "She can continue to be inept, and I'll cover her slack. Sounds like a great partnership!"
"Alex, you and I both know Casey is far from inept," Munch tried to reason with her, "That's why this scares you so much…"
"Well, John, how would you feel if you were being replaced?" Alex could feel the angry tears coming, so she ran away as fast as her pumps would allow her.
"Hey, hey, hey," Munch gently grabbed her to stop her get-away, "No one is being replaced here, especially not you!"
"Well, she did before," Alex continued, "I mean, you guys all just love Casey Novak!"
With that, Alex finally shed a few tears. Most people wouldn't even realize she was crying, but Munch knew her well enough and pulled her into a hug.
"Hey, Ace, no one could ever replace you," Munch consoled, "If it's any consolation, we all hated Casey for almost six months after you…left. Her nickname was 'not Alex;' though if you tell her that I'll vehemently deny it!"
"Thanks, I guess that makes it a bit better," Alex gave a weak smile, "Sorry I'm such a mess – I think jet-lag and sleep-deprivation's making me a little melodramatic…"
"I don't think you need sleep-deprivation and jet-lag for that," Munch teased, earning him a swat on the arm, then gently implored, "Seriously though, try and be civil to Casey. You two could really hit it off."
"Alright, fine, I'll be civil," Alex agreed, "She's not getting cordial or warm from me, though!"
Meanwhile, Casey Novak was back in her office, still reeling. She had absolutely no idea why Liz insisted on this insane partnership, but she supposed there was nothing to do but make the most of it. For now, she was going to bury herself in paperwork and try and distract herself. Luckily, it was still morning, so she had the whole day to eradicate the enormous amount of paperwork she still had left. However, after only twenty minutes a knock on her door interrupted her.
"Come in," Casey replied, still half-concentrating on the pages before her.
Olivia and Elliot came in and sat quietly, clearly meaning business. Casey was rather nervous about this impromptu visit, but she put on a nonchalant façade.
"Hey guys, what's going on?" Casey asked more curiously than usual.
"What's going on is, you need to be nicer to Alex," Olivia began.
"Oh yes, I'm so sorry for rejecting her warm welcome," Casey deadpanned with her best 'are you serious' look.
"Munch is talking to Alex, too," Elliot assured her, "But we're talking to you. And if the both of you can't get along you're going to lose a hell of a lot of cases and miss out on what could be a good partnership."
"Oh yeah, great partnership," Casey mused more to herself, "I get to be the 'Great Alexandra Cabot's' sidekick. Yippee…"
"Casey, you know that's not how it is –" Olivia began.
"Oh please," Casey countered, "I appreciate the sentiment, but my nickname was 'not Alex' for God's sake."
Elliot and Olivia exchanged terribly guilty looks. No one thought Casey knew about her less-than-flattering nickname. Granted, it only lasted a few months until the squad got to know and love Casey in her own right, but still…
"Look, maybe at first we didn't handle the transition as well as we could've," Olivia admitted, "Alright – we kind of handled it really, really horribly. But, I think I speak for the entire squad when I say we couldn't choose between you and Alex today if we tried. She's as much 'not Casey' as you are 'not Alex.'"
"Thanks. And I'll try and be civil to Alex," Casey agreed with a soft smile. With that, the two detectives said their goodbyes and headed for the door.
"Though, I won't be nice unless she is," Casey qualified, "Civil, I can do."
"That's all we ask," Elliot said with a slight chuckle as he and Olivia exited the office.
"So, how long do you think it'll take before they murder each other?" Elliot asked as soon as they were out of earshot, "I'll guess a week."
"I don't know, I think they can at least be civil," Olivia disagreed, "Alex and Casey always had self-control."
"I think eventually they'll be able to work together," Elliot assessed, "But not before major fireworks go off."
Casey continued immersing herself in paperwork, so surprisingly she was nearly finished when afternoon came around. However, when Liz came to her door, she knew the visit wouldn't mean anything great.
"Hi, Casey," Liz began, "Where's Alex?"
"I think she's at home," Casey answered, "She's not supposed to return to work until tomorrow, right?"
"Right, so the two of you need to get together before then so she's updated on our open cases," Liz said as if it were obvious.
"Alright, I'll set something up for this afternoon," Casey feigned a smile. She grabbed her phone and dialed Alex's number, not looking forward to this at all.
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