Chapter 2
Casey Novak walked into the squad room of the Special Victims Unit for the first time in seven long years, she took notice of all the changes to the precinct that have been made in her absence and Casey smiled, liking what she sees.
"Excuse me Ma'am, but can I help you?" Amanda asked gently as she came up behind the redhead and lightly touched Casey on her left shoulder,
Casey jumped a little from the contact before taking a calming breath and turning around, a friendly smile on her face.
"Hi, I'm Casey Novak, I used to work here," the redhead said to Amanda.
"All right, Miss Novak, what can I do for you?"
"Is Donald Cragen, John Munch, or Olivia Benson here?" Casey asks.
"I'm sorry, but both John Munch and Donald Cragen have both retired, but Olivia Benson is here, she's the boss around here now."
Casey's jaw dropped, she never would have never guessed Olivia would be in charge of SVU as the Lieutenant,
"Can I speak to her...uh?" Casey said.
"Oh, sorry, Detective Amanda Rollins, nice to meet you, Miss Novak." the blonde said offering Casey her left hand.
"The pleasure is mine, Detective Rollins," Casey says before grasping Amanda's hand and shaking it firmly.
"Follow me please," Amanda says to Casey before leading the redhead into the bullpen and over to the door to Liv's office, along the way Casey saw Fin and waved hello to him. Amanda gently knocks on Olivia's door.
"Who is it?" Olivia asked,
"Amanda, there's a Casey Novak here to see you," the blonde says.
"Send her in." came Olivia's reply.
Amanda opened the door for Casey and allowed the redhead to enter the office before sticking her head inside.
"I'll be at my desk if you need me, Liv," Amanda says before closing the door.
"So, Casey, how have you been?" Olivia inquired,
"Just great, Olivia, congratulations on your promotion to Lieutenant, if anyone deserves it, you do," Casey said,
"Thanks, Casey, so are you and Alex still a couple?" the brunette asked gently, still knowing that Casey and Alex's tumultuous relationship was still a sore spot for the redhead.
"No, Olivia, Alex cheated on me with an intern named Jacqueline Austin when I was censured, then she broke up with me two weeks later," Casey said as she fought back the tears she knew were coming,
"Oh, Casey, I'm so sorry about that and I wish that I could've been there for you," Olivia said, standing up and walking around her desk over to where Casey was standing and hugged her gently.
Overwhelmed by her emotional rollercoaster, Casey broke down and sobbed in Olivia's arms, the emerald-eyed attorney was inconsolable as she cried her eyes out, burying her face into Liv's right shoulder.
Olivia's heart ached for Casey, Olivia knew that she had always loved the gorgeous redhead and she felt nothing but contempt for Alex Cabot for hurting Casey the way that she had,
As Casey wiped her eyes, she spotted a picture of Olivia holding an adorable little boy, she smiles at the heart-warming photo.
"Who is this little guy, Olivia?" Casey inquired after picking up the frame,
"That is Noah, my Son, Casey," Olivia said proudly.
Casey's smile faded, as she assumed that Olivia had a man in her life to go along with the child.
As if sensing her friend's thoughts Olivia she grabs both of Casey's hands and looked into the redhead's shimmering jade orbs,
"Casey...I adopted Noah because he needed me and I needed him, I love him more than anything in this world."
Casey realized what Olivia's words were implying, she gave the brunette a relieved smile. Just then Amanda opened the door,
"Liv, a rape victim was poisoned at Mercy Hospital."
"You and Fin go, Carisi still has court, report to me as soon as you Fin get back," she said in an authoritative tone that Casey hadn't heard in years and it was turning the redhead on, unbeknownst to Olivia,
"Roger that, Lieutenant," Amanda said before shutting the door again,
Once they were alone again, Casey looked at Olivia with pure are and admiration in her eyes.
"Wow, Liv, you really know how to take charge," the redhead compliments.
Amanda and Fin arrive at Mercy Hospital where they are greeted by Nancy Mitchell and the new Owner of the hospital, Monique Duchamp.
"Bonjour detectives, I am Monique Duchamp, the proud new Owner of this fine medical center, how can I assist you today?"
"Well, Miss Duchamp, I'm Detective Amanda Rollins and this is my partner, Detective Tutuola and we're from the NYPD's Special Victims Unit." Amanda explains.
"I do not understand what that means, Detective." Monique says,
"We investigate sexually based crime, Miss Duchamp." Fin says.
A horrified expression crossed the half-French, half-American woman's angelic features.
Fin sees the pain in Monique's blue eyes, he leans over to Amanda and whispered in her right ear,
"You take Duchamp somewhere and calm her down, I'll stay here and talk to the nurse about our victim," Fin says , Amanda nods in agreement.
Amanda and Monique Duchamp head over to the hospital's empty break room, Monique is still visibly upset upon learning that a patient at this hospital was raped and murdered on her watch.
Fin and Nancy go to the Nurse's station,
"So, Miss Mitchell, what can you recall about what you saw?" Fin asked.
Nancy recounted the night's event and described the man who she'd seen come out of Jill Montoya's hospital room.
"The man I saw was about 6'2" , white, blonde hair and blue eyes. He was wearing a white lab coat. "
Fin wrote down the description on his notepad.
In the break room, Amanda did her best to calm Monique down,
"Miss Duchamp, please try to calm down, I promise you that we're not going to stop until we catch this monster." Amanda says before gently touching Monique's right shoulder to reassure her.