A/N: So another long awaited chapter. I was debating whether or not I was going to finish this story, but I think I will, its my first baby. Anyway, for those who are still reading this chapter takes off directly from the last one. More revelations, more dramatic moments. Enjoy.
Olivia was silent for a moment. Truth be told, Chester had just voiced an idea that she already had. She had definitely noticed certain, telling changes in her friend's demeanor. In the time that Olivia had spent with her, the normally fearless Casey had been jumpy, anxious and tearful at the drop of a hat. Her normal fun and playful personality had flat lined and her smile had disappeared. Olivia vividly remembered the day she had met Casey's twin sister, and she remembered the look on Casey's face when her brother-in-law had entered the room. She knew instantly that Casey was afraid of him.
"I hope I'm wrong, "Chester continued, "I hope to God I'm wrong, but she's been acting so different... and what her sister said...just can't be true.
"What did her sister say?"
Chester looked at Liv for a moment before deciding to tell her. "We went to her parents house last night. Sarah and...that asshole...were there. We didn't know they were coming. We had this big argument over dinner and Sarah said that...that Casey seduced him, that she got him drunk and wanted to have sex with him and he somehow...didn't."
Olivia was shaking her head in disbelief. "But she wouldn't..."
"I know she wouldn't. My Casey would never do something like that. If her sister really thinks that, then he must have told her that which means..."
"He lied to her about what happened that night," Olivia finished. She knew from experience that lying usually came from a guilty conscience.
He put his face in his hands and Olivia could have sworn he was fighting back tears. "He hurt her Liv, he hurt my Casey, I know he did. She had a nightmare last night, about him, she kept saying things, like...like someone was attacking her. I-I tried to ask her about it when she woke up but she wouldn't stop crying!"
He paused and took a breath, trying hard to calm down. "It's like she's scared of me now, she won't even talk to me anymore. I think she's scared of her doctor too, I don't know why. That's why I need you to talk to her. You can get her to open up, you-you know...h-how talk to..." He almost said "victims" but he couldn't bring himself to talk about his wife like that, not yet. Just thinking the word killed him inside.
Liv nodded solemnly. She did know how to talk to victims but this was her friend, this was Casey, it would be so much harder.
"Okay, I'll talk to her but I can't promise you she'll tell me."
"Thank you so much, " Chester said, "And tell her if...she wants to see me, I'll be right here."
Olivia nodded and allowed Chester to help her out of her chair. She made her way to Casey's room apprehensive, but determined.
Alex walked into the 16th Precinct with an odd sense of déjà vu. The looks she was getting, the whispering, it reminded her of a time when everyone in this building thought she was dead.
Eli was firmly attached to her hip as he had been all morning and Elliot was holding her hand tightly as he walked them through the lobby and straight towards the elevators. When they got into the elevator he noticed the anxiety on her face and put his arm around her shoulders, planted a kiss to her temple and let her know that everything was going to be fine. He tried to take Eli from her but the little boy wouldn't let her go. He tucked his little head under Alex's chin and locked his legs around her waist.
"It's okay El, " Alex said, "I got him. I think he needs me right now."
Elliot frowned. "I know but he's really heavy and...and I don't want him to hurt you," he said awkwardly, he didn't know how to say what he was really thinking.
Alex gave him a knowing smile. "Elliot I don't mind if he calls me mama, "she replied softly, "It's really okay, actually...I love it and I love him."
"I love you"Elliot replied and he leaned down and gently kissed her lips, " you are so amazing."
The elevator dinged just then as they arrived on the floor of the Special Victims Unit. Detective Odafin Tutuola was standing there waiting to go down and he smirked as the two lovers kissed again without noticing him.
Fin cleared his throat loudly, startling the couple who broke apart instantly. Alex's cheeks pinked with embarrassment but she put on a smile. "Hey Fin, um...how are you."
"I'm doin' all right," Fin answered, " How are you little man?" He gave Eli a smile and a little tickle under the chin but the little boy hid his face in Alex's shoulder.
"He's having a rough morning, " Elliot commented. Alex shifted Eli a little on her hip and he tightened his grip on her.
"Well I gotta get goin'," Fin said, walking past them into the elevator, "You guys better get in there, the captains waiting for you. He wants you to meet the new kids."
The elevator closed before they could say another word but Elliot and Alex were both thinking the same thing. The new kids?
Elliot took Alex's free hand and walked with her into the squad room. The first thing they noticed was Captain Cragen pacing in front of his office. When he saw them he walked straight toward them.
"Hey, I'm glad you guys are here, we need to talk." He then turned and walked into his office. When Elliot and Alex followed, he closed the door behind them.
"So first of all," He took a steadying breath and motioned for them to sit down, "Alex, how are you feeling?"
"I'm fine, we went to the doctor, everything is okay."
"What's the matter with Eli?"
"He's...clingy today, he woke up sad and he just wants to be with me."
"Are you okay talking with him in the room? We have some important things to discuss."
Alex nodded. "I'm gonna have to be, he needs me."
"Okay then, well the first thing you should know is CSU finished going over your apartment and unfortunately we didn't find very much evidence. There no prints anywhere, we think he was wearing gloves-"
"He was."
"And the only thing that seemed to not belong there was a lighter they found in the bedroom. No prints. I'm assuming neither of you guys smoke?"
Alex shook her head, answering the question unnecessarily. She had hoped they would find something important and was feeling disappointed.
"There's something else," Cragen continued, "We received a package this morning addressed to Elliot. I think it may have something to do with all this, there was no return address."
The captain reached down behind his desk and produced a nondescript brown box; he pushed it across the table. Alex glanced at Elliot apprehensively before reaching for the box and opening in gingerly. Inside were dozens of photos of Alex, taken from various vantage points.
Alex suddenly flushed beet red and slammed the box shut. She took a shaky breath and closed her eyes as if trying not to freak out. Elliot took the box from her and looked inside himself. His jaw set and his temperature rose dramatically as he discovered that in at least half of the photos in there Alex was not fully clothed. There were some of her in the shower, getting dressed, the two of them in bed together.
Alex looked at him imploringly, Elliot understood her silent plea and closed the box. He then directed his gaze at Cragen. "We don't need this,"he said resolutely.
"Well, what is it?" Cragen questioned.
"Doesn't matter, we're not using it."
"Elliot if it's material to the case-" Just then there was a knock at the door and Cragen didn't finish his statement. In walked Dr. George Huang, he had a pleasant smile on his face that dropped as soon as he sensed the tension in the air.
"Sorry, am I interrupting?"
"Not at all," Elliot answered, "We actually came here to see you".
Alex gave George a tiny smile and then looked back at Elliot. He could tell she was trying not to cry.
"Sweetie, don't worry about this," he motioned to the box, "I want you to tell George everything you told me, okay? It'll really help if we can get inside this guys head."
Alex nodded, though she still looked upset, and followed George out of the office with Eli in her arms.
Elliot waited until they were fully out of earshot before turning back to Cragen. "Look, I know what you're going to say but I really can't show you what this is, it'll be really humiliating for her if anybody sees this and if I don't tell you then its not evidence and nobody's withholding anything." He said quickly, hoping to forestall an argument.
Fortunately Cragen wasn't in the mood to push it. "Okay, all right, fine,"he said defeated, "is there anything we should do about whatever's not in there?"
"Yeah, have CSU comb my apartment for cameras or bugs, let's just say this guys been watching her very closely."
Cragen nodded his assent just as there was another knock at the door. This time Cragen said 'come in' and two people entered who Elliot did not recognise.
One was a woman with blue eyes and blonde hair pulled into a ponytail,she was shorter than Olivia but looked just as tough and almost as pretty. The other was a man with dark hair and dark eyes, ruggedly unshaven and wearing a leather jacket. Elliot regarded them with bewilderment before Cragen stood up to introduce them.
"Elliot these are our two new detectives Amanda Rollins and Nick Amaro. Amaro, Rollins, this is Elliot Stabler."
Ellot stood up and Amanda shot her hand out first to shake his. "Call me Amanda, I've heard so much about you." Elliot smiled at her enthusiasm and shook Nick's hand as well.
"We got 'em in fresh this morning and their first assignment is going to be Alex." Cragen commented.
Elliot whirled around and gave Cragen a look of disbelief. "What!? Your trusting Alex's safety to a couple of rookies? Are you crazy?"
"We're not rookies," Amanda piped up. Cragen put his hand up to silence her.
"Elliot, I don't know if you've noticed but half my squad is either pregnant or taking care of someone who is. Somebody has to work here and these two are extremely capable detectives with recommendations from their previous captains. Now you either work with 'em or stay outta their way." Cragen had reached the end of his patience, and Elliot had spent enough time away from Alex; both men exited the office in a huff leaving Amaro and Rollins standing there staring at each other.
Olivia took a deep breath and knocked softly on Casey's door. "Casey, it's Olivia, can I come in?" There was no response so Olivia walked in anyway. She was surprised to find that Casey was not in the room. After a few seconds of panicking, she heard the sound of water running and realized that Casey must be in the attached bathroom. She came out a moment later drying her wet hands with a paper towel. She had gotten back into her clothes from the night before and pulled her hair back into a neat ponytail.
When Casey noticed Olivia she started and gasped in surprise but quickly put on a smile. "Oh hi Olivia, didn't see you there."
"Sorry, I knocked but I guess you didn't hear me. Um, what're you doing?"
"Getting the hell out of here. Do you see my shoes?" She walked around the bed looking for them and even attempted to bend down to see under the bed.
"Don't hurt yourself Case," Olivia said, reaching out to spot her. As soon as Liv's hand touched her back, Casey tensed up and shouted "Dont!" Olivia pulled back immediately. That was PTSD if I've ever seen it. "Sorry, I didn't mean to-"
Casey turned around and waved her off dismissively. "It's okay, I'm fine, I just...I'm fine."
"You don't look fine."
"I just want to go home. Where's Chester? Did he leave?"
"No, he's outside. He's worried about you. He says you're not talking to him."
Casey swayed a little on her feet and sat back down on her bed. Olivia saw the beads of sweat forming on her forehead. "Casey are you okay?" she asked.
Casey nodded and rubbed her eyes. "It wouldn't matter if I talked to him. He won't listen, he never listens to me; nobody ever listens to me."
Olivia sighed, the sadness in her friend's voice made her want to cry. She sat down next to Casey, being careful not to touch her and decided to go for it.
"I'll listen to you Case, I'll listen to whatever you want to say; if you want to talk."
Casey was silent a moment. She looked as if she was thinking something over and Olivia waited patiently for her to say something. When she finally did, her voice came out very small. "I-I can't. It's so shameful."
Olivia saw the tears leaking down her friends face, it made her heart feel heavy. "Casey, whatever it is, I'm sure it wasn't your fault," she said gently.
"Yes it was! It was my fault!" Casey's voice cracked and she put her hand over her mouth, trying unsuccessfully to suppress a sob. "Chester would never forgive me if he knew...if he knew what I let...Danny do to me!"
Casey wrapped her arms around herself and started to rock back and forth. She was crying hard and Olivia started to feel guilty.
"Casey, Casey please calm down. It's okay honey." Olivia said softly. Part of her wished she hadn't started this conversation but she was positive now that her and Chester's instincts had been correct and Casey needed to talk about it.
"I didn't want him to...I didn't want him to...He wouldn't stop..." Casey was quickly becoming hysterical. Her whole body was wracked with sobs and shaking uncontrollably.
Olivia was thinking fast. I have to do something, having a panic attack could be dangerous for her. She decided to take a risk and reached out to put her arms around Casey. Casey tensed up at first but then she crumbled into Olivia's arms. Olivia rubbed her back soothingly and let her friend cry on her shoulder. "It's okay Case, it's okay, you can tell me."
After a minute, Casey's breath hitched and she spoke in a voice so soft Olivia almost didn't hear it. "He raped me."
A/N: Alright, that killed me to write but there it is! Will Casey finally tell Chester? Will her sister ever know the truth? And how will Alex cope with being a mommy and dealing with an escalating predator? Find out next!