Casey woke up with her face on Abbie's breast. She kissed it and said, "Good morning."
Abbie greeted her with a kiss and a wink. Casey dove on top of her, and they sank right under the sheets.
When they emerged, Abbie teased, "You pounce like a tiger."
"I'm normally not so forward. You make me this way."
Abbie grinned. "I'm glad I do."
Casey wrapped her legs around Abbie, and they went back under the covers.
Olivia woke up and realized that she was still inside of Alex. The blonde was little spoon and somehow, she had managed to sleep all night with a cock inside of her. Olivia tried to get out. She was sure Alex must be really sore. Olivia tried to free Alex of the intrusion, but her wriggling from beneath only caused Alex to buck her hips.
How could she possibly want to fuck right now?
Olivia slowly raised her hips again just to get another thrust back from Alex.
"Baby, do you want to?"
Alex didn't speak. Instead she grabbed onto Olivia's thighs and began raising and lowering herself on the cock, moans escaping her mouth as she moved.
Olivia held onto Alex's hips, started to move against them, and they started to make love.
"LIVVY!" Alex cried as she felt herself getting close.
How did I go so long without my nympho?
Olivia swore she could get off just by watching Alex's perfect bubble butt bounce up and down as she rode. To help things along, the cock was grinding into Olivia's clit.
"Fuck!"
Olivia came right after Alex and both women slumped onto the bed.
"I kept dreaming that you kept filling me, but you wouldn't bring me over the edge."
"That wasn't a dream. I fell asleep inside you."
"Oh, no wonder I was so horny this morning."
"You're horny every morning."
Before they could have a round 2, Liz called them to say, "I'm bringing Cassie home in a half hour. Try to make yourself look decent."
"Why wouldn't I look decent?"
"I wasn't born yesterday. A deaf man could tell you just got fucked."
"Aunt Liz!"
"And don't you Aunt Liz me, Honey."
They took a quick shower and got changed before Liz came over with Cassie.
"How was your sleepover?" Alex asked as she hugged her little girl.
"It was fun Mama. We made cookies and puppets and watched movies."
"What do you have to say to Aunt Liz?"
"Thank you Aunt Liz!" She gave her a big hug.
"Aw, I swear she's your clone," Liz told her.
"Thanks for watching her Liz."
"Anytime. I mean that figuratively. I do have a life!"
Liz headed home and Cassie jumped on Olivia. "Hi Livia!"
"Hi Cassie. Did you have breakfast already?"
"I had fruit, but I could always go for pancakes."
"How about we make pancakes?"
"Yay!"
Alex's family was complete. All she needed was to get through this horrid trial.
Abbie spent as much time with Casey as she could before she had to go.
"I'll come down to DC on Friday after work," Casey told her between kisses.
"And I'll come up to New York the weekend after that."
Abbie had an unshakable good feeling about this. "I miss you already."
"Stop talking with that sexy drawl, or I won't let you leave."
"Oh no," she teased.
One more kiss and then Abbie had to go get her stuff.
Casey couldn't help but smile. Abbie was really charming and the more she thought of her, the less she thought of Olivia.
She had loved the detective; it was impossible not to, but she knew she didn't have her whole heart. It was the little things that told her. Her reluctance to have fun in her (aka Alex's old) office, the way she'd blush when people made reference to their past relationship, and her libido seemed to wane upon Alex's return.
Casey had kept fighting it, but it was like trying to go upstream without a paddle. With Abbie, it seemed way too fast, but just right at the same time. Abbie made her feel confident and wanted, sexy even. Oh it was a good feeling!
"So when do you think we should tell people?"
"Tell people what?" Olivia wondered as they watched baseball.
"That we're back together."
"Oh that. I thought you wanted to wait until after the trial."
The trial … shit! "I'll have to tell Jim."
"Steele, why?"
"He's prosecuting the case. He needs to know anything that the defense may try to dig up."
"How is the case going?"
"Last I heard, Walsh and Stuckey both made plea deals, and they were working on one for Marsh."
"Marsh won't face trial?"
"If we could stick a needle in his arm, I'd say go for it, but we can't, and I'd rather spare Cassie having to go through a trial if we can."
"What about her aunt's trial?"
"She might have to testify, but she's never seen her before. I don't think that will be as traumatic."
"Has she been back to the psychologist?"
Alex shook her head. "We both have appointments tomorrow. She's seeing Dr. Fisher and I'm seeing Dr. Olivet."
"The name sounds familiar."
"She used to work with the police on cases. Jack worked with her a lot in the 90s."
"Worked?"
Alex raised a brow. "Not like that."
"I tease."
"I know, he has a reputation, one that's mostly earned, but he's still family."
"How did your parents meet Jack and Liz?"
"My mom and Liz went to Wellesley together and became roommates their junior year. My mom met my dad at a joint Wellesley/Harvard party and Liz met Jack at an anti-war protest during Vietnam."
"Jack was a protester?"
"He was a teenage hippie. He eventually became a lawyer, but he still rides his motorcycle and listens to punk music."
"No fucking way!"
"I can still see it in the way he litigates," charging innocent people to get them to testify, using novel legal theories to make up new charges when the original ones don't stick.
"You always were able to read so much into people."
"From a detective, that is a mighty complement."
They never did talk about when they'd tell people. Perhaps, they should let it come out naturally.
Monday was a busy day for the ADA. She had to get to work early to make sure that everything was in order.
"I won't be available from 11AM until 1AM," she told her secretary. She had an appointment at the same time as Cassie's, and then they'd be getting lunch. "If something needs urgent attention, direct people to Jim, and if Jim needs my attention tell him he has the authority to act as he sees fit, and if he's really unsure to ask McCoy."
"Got it Boss."
She reviewed the work of her current ADAs. Peluso's case file was rather sloppy. She was worried. His work had been steadily declining over the past few months.
She went to find her secretary again. "Tell Peluso that he needs to schedule a meeting with me this week to discuss his work performance. Use any space in my schedule you can find."
Her secretary cringed. Alex is already double booked as it is. As soon as one source of stress left the bureau chief two more cropped up.
Cassie didn't want to talk to Dr. Fisher without Alex.
"I don't want to go."
"I know," Alex held her daughter, "but I need you to be brave and talk to her. I want you to be able to say whatever you want, even if it's about me."
"Can Livia come with me?"
"She's at work honey."
Cassie folded her arms.
"I'll call her."
Olivia was just coming out a team meeting when Alex called.
"Hey what's going on?"
"Cassie has her doctor's appointment at 11, but she won't go alone. I'd go with her, but I have an appointment at the same time, and she might need to talk about me in her …"
"I'll be there."
"You're not too busy?"
"For you and Cassie, never."
"Thanks Love."
"Any time."
Elliot gave her a knowing look.
"Shut up and I need to take lunch early today."
"Damsel in distress."
"Yes and her name is Elle Stabler. She was Elliot before I took his manhood."
"Whoa! The fangs are coming out."
"Alex needs me to go to Cassie's shrink appointment with her. She won't go alone."
"Has she been talking about the …"
"She gets nightmares, but she doesn't like to say what happens in them."
"I got your back."
"Thanks, El."
Two hours later, Olivia met Alex and Cassie at the doctor's office.
"Livia!" Cassie ran to her.
"Hey Cassie. We're going to talk to the doctor together, okay."
She nodded.
"Give Mama a kiss."
Cassie kissed her cheek.
"Good girl."
Alex gave Olivia a silent thank you and a smile.
They squeezed hands before they went their separate ways.
Dr. Olivet had been talking to people with trauma for decades. After facing her own demons long ago, she decided to spend her life helping others.
She had met Alex Cabot when the ADA was still with SVU, but they had not seen each other in quite some time.
"Hello Doctor."
"Alex, it's good to see you home."
After short pleasantries, they sat down to get to the heart of the matter.
"I have been experiencing night terrors. They don't always happen, but when they do, they are quite dreadful. Sometimes, my daughter sleeps in my room and they scare her."
"How long have you been having them?"
Alex explained how she started getting them in the program, then they stopped, then they came back again.
"Do you remember when they stopped?"
"When I came back to New York."
"And do you remember when they came back?"
"After I had been taken hostage."
"Tell me about your return to New York."
Alex talked for a long time explaining her reunion with Olivia, the break up, the loss of her mother, the fall out with her family, her trip to DC, her second return to New York, the new job, Cassie, the hostage situation, and her second reunion with Olivia.
There was a lot of trauma and stress in Alex's life. It was no wonder that she had night terrors, but it was unclear what was the source.
"Tell me more about your return to the DA's office. How did it feel working there again after you were shot?"
"It was pretty difficult. I didn't know how to be the prosecutor I had once been. The old Alex Cabot had been fearless, but that fearlessness almost got me killed and two more like-minded ADAs had been murdered since then.
I didn't know how to balance self-preservation with my commitment to justice. I couldn't see myself telling a victim's family: sorry, the people who killed your daughter are too dangerous. I'm scared to prosecute them."
"You felt yourself at a cross roads. What did you do?"
"At first, I just did my job. I wasn't facing any cartels at the moment, so I didn't need to change my working style, but I did think about it a lot. A few weeks later, I saw a video my mother had made for me before she died.
She told me that taking down people like Velez was in my blood. It was what made me a Cabot and if I came across the same situation, I needed to lower my head and charge. She didn't want me to lose myself out of fear. She forgave me for all of the pain my choices had caused her."
"And how did her forgiveness feel?"
"Really good."
"And what did you think about your job?"
"I thought it's job to take down bad guys and that's what I do. I'm more conscious of the dangers, but I don't let them dictate whom I prosecute. I won't back down to the likes of Velez, not now, not ever."
They were out of time.
"You have been through a lot in the past three and a half years, more so than many people face in a lifetime. As you learn to unpack your past and build your own future, I think your symptoms will ease. It could be trauma-induced, but it's probably stress. I don't know how you function with all that stress."
While Alex told her story, Cassie resisted telling hers.
"I don't like talking about them," she said when her doctor asked about her nightmares.
Olivia tried to reason with her. "I know it's scary, but your Mama and I brought you here to see if we can help stop the nightmares. I think it will help if you tell us what happens."
Cassie frowned but she started to talk. "The mean man finds us. Mama tries to get away, but she can't. What if he gets out of jail and takes her too?"
She was afraid of losing Alex.
"Baby, nothing's going to happen to your Mama."
"But we don't have a Papa to keep her safe."
"I promise you, I will keep you and your Mama safe."
Cassie hugged her tightly. "Will you stay with us tonight Livia?"
"Of course."
The detective had to go to work after the appointment, but she told Alex she'd be over tonight. "We should talk about Cassie's appointment"
Alex nodded.
The courts moved swiftly on the upcoming murder charges. Margaret Greenfield invoked her right to a speedy trial, which put pressure on the DA's office to reach a deal with Marsh if they wanted him to testify.
He wanted a 25-year sentence, which they refused to grant him.
"25 years or you don't have me for the Greenfield trial. I would hate to see her walk and then try to get Cassie."
Steele stared him down viciously. "If you think you'll ever be a free man, you've lost your mind. We don't need you and if you're just going to waste my time, then I'll leave."
"Who cares if you leave? You'll be back."
Steele walked out of the room. He had other work to do. He came back to the office on Wednesday to see Peluso arguing with Cabot's secretary.
"What's going on here?"
"Chief Cabot wants to meet with me to discuss my job performance. I'm already behind on the Freeman case. I don't have time for this."
Peluso was getting antsy. He looked like he was tweaking. Steele knew this was bad.
"Calm down Brian. I'll find out what this is about."
Peluso went to work.
"Did the Chief say specifically why she needed to meet with him?"
"No, but she had that look."
Steele dreaded that look.
When Alex did come back to the office, she had a sleeping Cassie in tow. She also had a queue of ADAs waiting to speak with her. Of course, none of them were Brian.
She tucked Cassie in on the couch before coming outside.
"Who just needs me to sign off on things?"
Three of the five ADAs raised their hands.
"You first."
They came in. She skimmed, signed, and sent them on their way.
"Finn, you next. I have a feeling Jim will take the longest."
They went over her theory of the case. She thought the murder had been spurned by jealousy. "If you're right, then the defendant likely talked about his marital problems with someone. See if you can talk to his coworkers or neighbors."
Jim was used to setting his own agendas, so was Alex.
"What do we have on the Walter murders?"
"Marsh wanted a 25 year deal. I walked out of the room. The Greenfield's invoked their right to a speedy trial. I assume Marsh is trying to leverage a deal because of that."
"Are they in communication?"
"Their lawyers could be, why?"
"Get his phone calls from Rikers. If they are in cahoots, then we need to be wary of any deal that we give him. For all we know, he's going to offer to testify against her, just to renege on the deal and try and screw us during her trial."
He knew Marsh was stubborn, but he assumed that stubbornness was stupidity. It hadn't occurred to him that Marsh actually had a game to play.
"I'll get them."
She looked at him as if the meeting was over, but he had more to say.
"What's going on with Peluso?"
"He's been showing up late, looking disheveled, and his work quality has plummeted over the last four months," missing forms, forms filled out twice with inconsistent information. He better have a good explanation for it.
"Maybe he needs more time to …"
"I don't need you making excuses for him. I need him to do his job if he wants to have a job. If he doesn't clean up his act, then he's out of here. I will not let him jeopardize this office."
Steele knew Brian was in over his head; the question was how to stop him from drowning?
After work, Olivia came to Alex's apartment. The detective had an overnight bag with her.
"I promised Cassie I'd stay."
"You don't need to ask, "Alex told her. She and Cassie had already eaten dinner, but she saved a plate for Olivia. "We had bratwurst and roasted vegetables for dinner."
"What's wrong with hotdogs?" Olivia teased knowing Alex would go onto a rant.
"Ugh, who knows what's in them?"
"I love ball park hotdogs."
"Those are the worst, the bacteria from that dirty hotdog water …"
Olivia started to laugh.
"You little witch, you were teasing me."
"I was. This is a very German meal," Olivia said as she had a beer with her bratwurst, which was inside a pretzel roll with mustard on top. "It's good."
"See, no need for a 'ballpark hotdog.'"
Olivia stuck her tongue out at Alex, but then she smiled.
Cassie wanted Olivia to read her a bedtime story.
"What do you want to hear?"
Cassie went and got Goodnight Moon. Olivia took her to her room and held her in her lap as she read the story.
Alex couldn't help but smile as she watched her two favorite girls.
"Good night Cassie," Olivia kissed her forehead. The little blonde was already drifting to sleep.
Olivia was a sucker for blondes. This was evident in the kitchen. Alex was happily sitting on her lover's lap. Olivia had her arms wrapped around her.
"Do you want to talk about your appointment first or Cassie's?"
"Cassie's."
Olivia explained Cassie's dreams.
Alex heart panged. "She's afraid of losing me."
"She's not going to, not while I'm around."
"Did the doctor have any recommendation?"
"Just to be as reassuring as we can and to pay close attention in case she develops any more symptoms. She wants to see Cassie once a month."
"Okay. Let's go to bed."
"What about your appointment?"
"I had so much baggage that I ran out of time in my session and have to go back next week."
Olivia kissed her neck. "You're the strongest woman I know."
"Have you ever looked in the mirror?"
"I mean it. I'd rather fight thugs in the street than try to walk a mile in your shoes, mainly because I'd trip in your ridiculous heels, but …"
"Ever the charmer, Olivia."
"You are a survivor, and you are a fighter, and you are beautiful, passionate, tender, and amazing."
Alex needed Olivia to hold her. "Can we get in bed and spoon?"
"Absolutely."