Ok took a lot longer then I thought to type this, I have a massive case of writers block and I've been doing everything I can to get rid of it, I had a bit of inspiration today and decided to try and finish this chapter, The inspiration didn't last to long but I told myself i would finish this before i went to bed. I hope you all like It and if not let me know and I shall redo it :).

The trial, an inevitable part of any successful case, and one part Ilsa hated the most, It wasn't showing up and being put on the stand, It wasn't trying to make sure the victims could testify, If Ilsa thought about it, there were three reasons she hated going to court, she disliked lawyers immensely and didn't like to be in a room with them for too long, although since meeting and working with Casey she was hating them less and less, It was sitting there and listening to people come in and try to justify the crimes that the defendants had committed, how anyone could try and justify raping someone was beyond her…That and getting distracted by Casey every time she asked her a question, every time the young attorney would walk around the desk, or lean against it, several times she wanted to close her eyes, but people would think it weird if the Detective kept her eyes closed and did everything not to look at the prosecutor.

It hadn't gotten any easier as she hoped it would, time just seem to make it worse, it confused her to no end as to why she was so attracted to the young attorney, sure it wasn't the first time Ilsa had had feelings for someone, but after her last girlfriend she had given up on finding anyone, It wasn't an instant thing, sure the first time Ilsa saw Casey she thought the young woman was very attractive, but it wasn't anything more it wasn't physical or lustful, Ilsa was an admirer of beauty ,she knew a beautiful woman when she saw one and she saw that in Casey, Ilsa preferred to get to know people before deciding if she liked them enough to date them, personality meant more to her then what a person looked like.

She hadn't intended to get to know Casey, but after working her first case with the lawyer and getting to know her better she knew she was in trouble, Casey was kind and caring but also strong and sometimes a major bitch but in a good way, what surprised Ilsa the most was she found she could trust Casey, and trust didn't come easy to her, Ilsa had found she liked all of these qualities and that's why she wasn't happy, Casey was well out of her league and if that didn't make a difference the fact that she was straight did, Ilsa knew that if she wanted Casey in her life, it would have to be as a friend, maybe even a great friend, but that's all, so Ilsa decided she would fight her feelings, it's not like she hadn't done it in the past, she had done it many times…

"This won't be so bad" She said to herself as she finished getting dressed.

Casey was putting her arms through the sleeves of her jacket, getting ready for another long day at work. It was trial time, Casey has gone over every piece of evidence, over everyone's testimony and she was sure she had a strong case that she could win, she had practiced her opening argument several times still she had it perfect.

Casey always enjoyed her job; she loved the look on the defence attorney's face and that of their clients when they got told a guilty verdict and they realised they were going away for their terrible crimes. But lately she had been distracted, though her thoughts were still in the case; she found her mind wondering, mostly to that of a certain detective.

Casey didn't want to keep thinking about Ilsa, but she couldn't help it, no matter how much she concentrated she found herself thinking of Ilsa, what she was up to, how she was reacting to the case she was working, Casey knew she liked Ilsa as a friend, it had started soon after the first case Ilsa had worked, Casey had gotten to know her a bit more, even though the other woman was still very much an enigma to her, she was getting closer, and though Ilsa had odd mood swings and seemed odd at times, Casey saw the good, kind side of Ilsa.

Even though she wouldn't admit it out loud, Casey liked watching Ilsa around the precinct, the way she could be in the face of a perp one minute, ready to rip someone's head off and the second she needs to talk to a victim or a child she changes, and the kind and tender Ilsa comes out.

One of the things that bothered Casey the most was thinking about Ilsa in a less then friendly way. Ever since Ilsa had taken it upon herself to kiss her so long ago she hadn't really been able to stop thinking about the detectives lips on hers and each time she did she mentally kicked herself, trying to remind herself that it wasn't right to think about her in that way. They we're just friend after all right? Of course that's all they were, Ilsa hadn't really shown more than a friendly interest in her…had she? Ilsa flirted with practically everyone so that wasn't new. Casey felt particularly bad when she thought about Ilsa late at night, wondering what it would be like to get closer to her, thinking of her lips on hers, her hands running over her, The feelings would sometimes get to be a little too much for her, she would have to take care of it, that's when she felt the worst, Casey had never experimented with a woman before, the thought had never crossed her mind but Ilsa was different, Sure she was a woman but there was something about her, Ilsa was able to put a smile on Casey's face, and when Casey was feeling down Ilsa was able to make her laugh, she was comfortable around the other woman, in a way she hadn't felt since Charlie…That was one of the confusing parts, she had never felt for someone since her ex-fiancé and here she was pining over another woman.

Casey sighed, the more she thought about it the more pathetic it all seemed, Ilsa was unreadable, Casey couldn't tell if the woman reciprocated the feelings or not, it's why she was so reluctant to make a move, she didn't want to ruin such a good friendship, when she first joined SVU everyone else was so reluctant to trust her, she was followed by the ghost of Alexandra Cabot, every time something went wrong, she heard the whispers 'If Alex were still here she'd have done it right' and so on, but Ilsa didn't do that, sure she was mean towards her at first but she didn't see the former ADA, maybe that was one reason for her feelings, Ilsa treated her like her own person, and not the woman who took over for ADA Cabot.

Finishing putting on her outfit she left her apartment, It was time to start the trial against Asael Garcia.

***
Casey was standing outside the courtroom, they were scheduled very soon. Ilsa was with her leaning against a wall and Casey could stop herself from thinking Ilsa cleaned up nicely, she had her hair hanging around her shoulders and she had some make up on, something the detective didn't do much.
Casey was most surprised when Ilsa had shown up in a skirt, something she didn't think she detective would ever do, seeming far to butch for such a thing.

Ilsa was doing her best to remain nonchalant, keeping her head down as she waited for Emily to arrive, trying to think of anything to stop her form looking over at the young attorney. She was dressed in what Ilsa thought of as her 'lawyer outfit', today she was wearing a blouse that seemed a little tight across the chest, or maybe that was just wishful thinking on Ilsa's part, and her skirt seemed a little shorter, and it was taking all her will power not to stare at her legs. 'Legs that go on for ever'

"I've never seen you in a skirt before" Casey said, breaking the awkward silence that hung between the two.

Ilsa was snapped out of her day dreaming but Casey's soft voice "I thought I'd try and look nice today" she said with a small smirk.

"You told them were to meet us right?" Casey asked checking her watch, watching as the hands moved to single another minuted had gone by.

Ilsa nodded "Yeah" She pushed herself off the wall and moved over to the attorney, putting her hand on her shoulder and giving a slight squeeze "Just relax Casey, you've never been this nervous over a case before"

'I know' she thought 'it's not the case making me nervous' "I just want this case to go smoothly you know, I don't want him getting off and finding more people to hurt"

Ilsa gave her a reassuring smile "There is no chance of that with you prosecuting"

Casey swallowed and kept looking into Ilsa's eyes, Ilsa didn't turn away or take her hands off her friends shoulders, she just kept smiling her reassuring smile. After a moment Casey looked away, clearing her throat and look anywhere but at the detective.

After a somewhat uncomfortable moment, Samantha arrived with Emily in tow; they both had sullen looks on their faces with good reason too. Emily had been doing well since the incident earlier where she had wanted to take her own life, finding it too hard to deal with the pain. She had taken Ilsa's advice and start talking to a therapist.

"Hi" The detective said kindly as the two young women approached.
"We might have a bit of a problem" Samantha said once they were close enough
"What is it?" Asked Casey concerned

"Emily is nervous about testify" she replied, grabbing onto her girlfriends hand and squeezing in a reassuring way.

Ilsa walked closer to Emily and put a comforting hand on her shoulder "Hey" she said "It's ok to be nervous and even scared, but no one I know had regretted facing their attacker."

Emily looked into the woman's eyes "Will he go to jail? If I testify"

Ilsa took a deep breath and licked her dry lips "I think he will, once they head what he did, don't worry with Casey prosecuting I have faith he'll end up where he deserves"

Emily smiled at the woman, and Ilsa could see there was something missing, something that was their before her unfortunate attack and something that couldn't be replaced, but Ilsa had faith that maybe one day a bit of her old self would come back, or maybe something better might replace it.

"So…are we ready?" Casey asked, she didn't want to rush but they were due in court in a few moments. Emily and Samantha walked away as Casey went to move too when she felt a warm hand gently grasp her wrist.

"I've been following this case closely you know but after everything that happened with Emily I've forgotten something, what is Asael's reason for doing this, I know he claims 'not guilty'" Ilsa whispered

"he claims his religion made him do it, that and the way he was raised…"

"Emily" Casey asked as she stepped around from behind the table "Can you tell us what you were doing in that alley so early in the morning?"

Emily swallowed before answering "I was sent a note, by Asael, to meet him there"

Casey stood in front of the witness stand "And what happened when you got there?"

Emily closed her eyes, clasping her hands together, the memory of the event burning fresh on her mind, she opened her eyes and look out, searching the faces for the one she wanted, her eyed fell on Samantha and next to her detective Couri. She took a deep breath before she spoke.

"I walked down the alley and saw Asael there, I thought we were just going to talk, but…he said some mean things to me, and he hit me, broke my arm and when I was down on the ground he…he"

"He what" Casey prompted

"He raped me…" she said just loud enough for people to hear.

Some people murmured when they heard what she said. The judge banged the gavel to get their attention back on the case at hand.

"Why did he want to meet you?" she asked

"He said he had some photos and other things and wanted to talk about it…"

"What do did he want to talk about?"

Emily sighed, now or never "Talk about me…being gay…"

After more witnesses and the presentation of evidence, it was time for Asael to be called to the stand. He was seated and sworn in, he was dressed nicely, in a dark suit, his hair neatly put in place and a charming smile on his face, a smile that made Casey sick. She sat at her table waiting for her turn to question him, to show the jury what kind of a man he was, she tried not to show how bored she was listening to the defence's questions, she turned her head to see who was sitting behind her and was greeted by the reassuring smile of Ilsa.

The jury knew that Emily was gay and it didn't seem to bother them too much, Casey only hoped they weren't stupid enough to believe that Asael raped the poor girl to help her.

His lawyer, a high priced man in an expensive suit slowly walked over to his client, he was a rather handsome looking man with a bright white smile, no doubt someone with a lot of money who liked Asael had paid for him.

"Tell me Mr Garcia, how do you know young miss Emily?" he asked in a smooth voice.

"We go to church together, I thought she was a good god fearing woman not a" he paused

"A what?" his lawyer asked.

"A sinner, the depraved things she was doing, I was trying to save her immortal soul" he said in a dramatic way.

"So you only did what you did to try and save the young woman from a life of evil?"

"Of course, I'm not a bad man" he said putting on a sad remorseful face "I was just trying to save her, I was raised to believe that being a queer was wrong and that you had to do whatever you could to save someone from that life" He took a breath and looked out to the jury "My farther told he how when he was my age they used to beat them, I didn't want to have to do that, I thought if I showed her the love of a man she would stop it"

It went on like that, Asael claiming her was just trying to help, and it was the way he was taught to deal with the situation. And his lawyer kept finding more and more ways to word it but it was all a bunch of crap to Casey and once she got her chance she was going to prove it.

After sitting through the defences questioning it was her turn, she looked up and smiled at Asael.
"So you never meant to hurt her?" she asked

Asael shook his head "No ma'am I was only trying to save her"

"How were you trying to save her when you broke her arm?"

Asael stiffened in his seat "That was an accident; if she hadn't been fighting it wouldn't have happened"

"What did you expect her to do?" Casey asked quickly "You were trying to force yourself on her".

Asael looked down and didn't answer her

"Is it true that you found and then stole pictures of Emily with her girlfriend?"

"No I-"

"But the police found them in your room, along with a video tape of them you deny having them?" Casey was leaving no room for him to weasel his way out of the situation. His lawyer jumped up from his table
"Objection!"

"over ruled" the judge said, waiting for Casey to continue.

"OK yes I found the tape and the photos, that how I knew what she was and got the idea to save her."

"Why don't you just tell the truth Mr Garcia, You wanted Emily but she kept refusing you, then you found out she was with another woman, a woman instead of a man like you and it made you mad and you had to teach her a lesson, so you sent her the letter to meet you knowing full well you we're going to rape her" Casey turned to walk back to her seat when Asael jumped up from his seat and started to yell at her.

"She's a whore, she chooses to lay with women knowing that it's a sin, I had to show her she was wrong. And she knows as well as I do she loved being with a real man, I was the only one willing to save her! The pictures and movies she had were disgusting! She is disgusting!"

"Order, Order!" the judge yelled slamming the gavel down, When Asael refused to sit back down and kept on screaming at Casey and whoever else he could think of the judge ordered the court officers to remove him.

With his temper past boiling point he let it out.

"You can't do this! I was trying to save her, how can you sit there and defend her you bitch! He called out before using all of his strength to push off the officers, as quick as he could managed he had grabbed one of their guns, levelling it he pointed it at Casey.

"Emily is going to hell for her sins but she won't be alone" he snarled before pulling the trigger.

The colour drained from Casey's face when she saw the gun, her heart sped up when she heard the piercing bang, she closed her eyes, waiting for the impact of the bullet, waiting…waiting…Instead she felt herself being pushed and falling down when she couldn't keep her footing, pain rang through her head as it hit the corner of the table and a small gash cut into the skin. Another bang and Asael was down on the ground. Another court officer had managed to get a shot off into him, Casey didn't know if he was going to be ok but she didn't care, her ears we're ringing and her head was throbbing.

She sat up quickly and saw exactly who had pushed her into the table moment before the bullet could hit her, a scream escaped her throat, Ilsa was laying limp on the ground, blood was seeping through her shirt
"Oh god" Casey quickly scrambled over to her friend and put her hands over the bullet wound, pushing down trying to stop the bleeding, she whimpered when blood began to coat her hands.

"Someone call an ambulance!" she yelled looking down at the pale face of her detective and the blood covering her hands and most of the bleeding woman's chest.
"Hang on Ilsa please…" she begged

Hope you enjoyed this Chapter, Will hopefully get rid of this writers block and have the next chapter up soon. Please R&R :)