What would January be without a visit from Abbie and Serena? The two lesbian lover lawyers came to visit their favorite trio. Abbie was brave enough to accept their offer to stay in the guest room down the hall, but Serena said no way.

"This girl is enough of a pervert on her own," Serena commented about her partner. "I don't need her getting any ideas from you three."

"Well we were going to install that sex swing," Alex joked.

Serena covered her ears. "EW! Nasty!"

"Oh come on, like I haven't seen you two doing it on the living room floor."

"You should have knocked first," Abbie retorted.

"It was my living room!"

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that detail."

Instead of staying with them, they decided to get a hotel room.

"We'll see you Friday."

"What time is your train getting in?"

"4:30." Abbie was working a half-day, so she didn't have to use a vacation day.

Elliot and Kathy were in their fourth counseling session. They had spent the first three talking about Elliot's work/life balance or lack there of. The detective realized he had missed out on a lot, but he hadn't realized that his family stopped expecting him to show up anymore. His presence became the exception and not the rule.

Elliot promised to be better and so far he had. He made it to Richard's first two basketball games, and he saw Lizzie's play, MacBeth.

Now, however, the attention shifted towards their extended family.

"It's been almost 20 years since we got married, but I still feel like an outsider when it comes to Kathy's family. They hate me."

"They don't hate you," Kathy insisted. Well, her sister didn't hate him.

"But they don't like him very much," the doctor gleamed.

Kathy frowned. "They're still mad that Elliot got me pregnant when I was 17."

Elliot suspected as much, but Kathy had never acknowledged it before.

"And why are they mad about that?"

"They think if it hadn't been for him, then I would have to med school and become a doctor."

Elliot still remembered how outraged Kathy's parents had been when they confessed the pregnancy, but he hoped it was water under the bridge by now.

"Something you want to say Elliot?" The doctor tried to encourage him to talk more. He tended to get stuck in his head.

"I … just wonder when it will be enough." He's been steadily employed since they got married. He's always had a roof over their head and food on the table. They have four gorgeous kids, and yet, he's still the screw up. "What do they want from me?"

"That's an important question, but it's not the ultimate question. This is your marriage. The main question is what do you two want from each other and then we can start with how do Kathy's parents fit in. In an ideal world, what would you want?"

Elliot hated these kinds of questions. It was easier to go along with what Kathy wanted than to decide for himself. "In an ideal world, our families would all get along. The kids would be excited when their grandparents came over. They would have a good relationship with their cousins. It wouldn't feel like it is World War 3 each time her parents come over."

"And what do you say to that?" the doctor asked Kathy.

"I would like that too, but this goes both ways. His family is just as unbearable as mine."

"We'll get to them next, I promise."

They went back to discussing Kathy's parents.

"What is it about her parents' behavior that irks you?"

"They're always glaring at me or they end the conversation as soon as I enter the room. They're usually picking at the house too. Those shingles look loose. Why haven't you gotten them into a bigger house already? When are you going to get fixed?"

"And how do you respond?"

"I try to ignore them, but … sometimes I lose my temper."

Kathy glared. "You challenged my father to take it outside and raised your fists the last time he was here."

"After 20 years of his bullshit, I got tired!"

"Yet you expect me to put up with the wicked witch of the west like she's my best friend!"

The therapist let them duke it out for a minute or two before she interrupted.

"You can't control how people think or feel … but you can control how you respond to their actions. It's important that you and Kathy have a united front when dealing with her parents … and when dealing with yours."

They aired out all of their grievances this week. Next week, they would go over what to do about them.

Friday

Casey was looking forward to having friends over tonight. Once Serena stopped trying to kill the redhead with her glares, the two became rather friendly.

She was just about to go home when her work phone rang. If it's Cutter, I'll kill him.

"Novak."

"Casey?"

"Tim?" She hadn't heard from him since … "What's going on?"

"I need help," he sounded frantic. "I got myself into some trouble."

"Where are you?"

"In my car." He was on I-95 headed for New York.

"What happened?"

"I'd rather not say it on the phone."

"Whom are you talking to?" a girl called at him.

"Who is that?" Casey questioned.

"She's well … the reason I'm in trouble. Are you still in the same apartment?"

"No, I moved uptown."

"Can you text me the address?"

Casey agreed but "I hope you're not bringing violence to my apartment. Olivia won't take kindly to that."

"We just need somewhere to hide for the night … two nights tops."

"Okay." Casey knew she would regret this, but he was her brother. What was she going to do?

"We'll be in New York in about two hours." The traffic was a killer right now.

It wasn't until Casey got off the phone that she remembered they were having company over.

She called Alex who was already on her way home.

"Cabot!"

"Novak!"

"Case, what's going on?"

"My brother and some girl need to crash with us."

"You don't mean the one who made you mad last month?"

"Not Jamie … Tim."

"What happened?"

"He wouldn't say, but he is in some kind of trouble. He's driving here with some woman."

"If this is some drug shit …" Alex was never dealing with a cartel again.

"I doubt that. I just don't know what he did or how he's going to react to …"

Alex knew exactly why Casey was worried. "He's your brother. We'll give him a chance and somewhere to stay, but if this is deeper than we can handle, we might need to help him seek real protection."

"Should I have called you first?"

Alex cut her off. "Casey, it's your home too, and your family is my family. We're all in this together."

"What about our dinner party?"

"If anything Abbie and Serena will help ease the tension." Knowing them, they'll start shit, but we can worry about that later.

"Do you want me to get anything from the store?"

More alcohol? "What does your brother drink?"

"Beer."

"We have plenty of that, maybe some whiskey?" That should get people in a good mood.

"I'll pick up a bottle on my way home."

Olivia was relieved to be off work. She was glad that Elliot and Kathy were talking again, but she didn't need a play by play of their therapy sessions. Now that the good doctor got Elliot to open up … he can't seem to shut up.

"We're going over strategies to deal with in-laws next week."

"That's great El."

"I can always give you some tips if …"

"Luckily, Alex's father spoils us. We're good."

He rolled his eyes. "How did you get the easy going in laws too? You got all the luck."

Olivia shrugged. "If it makes you feel any better, Casey's parents won't talk to us."

"I wish Kathy's parents didn't talk to us. That would be easier than dealing with them."

"Maybe if you're rude enough to them, they'll give up and stop coming over."

"You think that'll work?"

"Good bye Elliot!"

"Tell your girlfriends I said hi."

Olivia rolled her eyes. Seriously?

She got home and could smell something delicious.

"What is that?"

"I'm making a thyme butter sauce to cook the mussels in." Alex was making moules frites for dinner.

"It smells perfect."

Olivia greeted her chef with a kiss.

"How was work?"

"It was Friday," Olivia rolled her eyes.

"More Kathy/Elliot play by plays."

"Seriously, I need therapy now."

"You know you can blackmail him with all of this once he's back home."

Olivia grinned. "I like the way you think." The detective looked around. Alex had the mussels in ice water to get the dirt/sand off. The potatoes had already been cut and were now drying. "Anything I can do to help?"

"Can you wash the salad greens?" Abbie and Serena were bringing dessert.

Olivia was on her task when Casey came home. "I got a bottle of bourbon."

Olivia kissed her. "How was work?"

"It was fine. Did Alex tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

Alex shook her head. "I didn't say anything."

"Tim and some girl are coming her to hide."

"Your brother, why?"

"He wouldn't say."

"I hope he didn't do something criminal."

"I want to say he didn't, but who knows."

When the doorbell rang, Olivia called out that the door was open.

Abbie threw the door open; she and Serena tumbled inside.

"Y'all are dressed. Imagine that," Abbie teased.

"Nothing stops us from having sex with clothes on," Alex retorted.

Serena shook her head, and Abbie guffawed.

"Strawberry shortcake, how's it going?" Abbie asked Casey.

"Strawberry shortcake?"

"Well you're short and you got strawberry red hair."

"I'm not short! You're freakishly tall!"

"Freak?" Abbie made an exaggerated voice.

"We brought donuts," Serena spoke over their ridiculousness.

"We have two more guests coming," Alex told her friend before putting down the donuts. "Once they arrive, I'll start frying away."

Alex just put the mussels on. They didn't take long to cook.

"Whom are we waiting on?"

"Casey's brother and his … well I don't know what she is to him."

While they waited, Olivia started making drinks for everyone.

"I want my bourbon neat," Abbie called out.

"On the rocks," Serena corrected. "I don't want you getting that much booze before we eat."

"But ice will dilute it!"

"That's the point."

"On the rocks," Abbie grumbled.

"Can you say (pussy) whipped?" Casey teased.

"Shut up!"

Abbie drank her bourbon quickly enough as it was. She didn't need to worry about dilution.

She was about to ask where the hell Casey's brother was when they heard a pounding on the door. Olivia checked the peephole, and when she saw a tall red haired man and a disheveled blonde, she knew it was Tim and …

Olivia opened the door.

Tim cautiously looked around. He let out a breath once he saw Casey. "I found it."

"About time … we want to eat," Abbie growled.

"Hush," Serena scolded.

"I didn't realize you were having a party."

Tim and the unidentified woman each had a bag that had been strewn together at the last minute.

Casey showed them the guest room, so they could put down their stuff and she asked, "who is she?"

"Oh right. This is Sarah."

Sarah was about 5'4, blonde hair and brown eyes. She looked maybe 100lbs soaking wet, and she looked 17.

"How old are you?"

"I'm 23," she said with a small squeaky voice.

"Her father kept her locked in the attic."

Casey's eyes bugged out of her head. "Why?"

"He wants me to marry Jamie," her father was a business associate of Casey and Tim's father.

"Our Jamie?" Casey questioned, not that she thought much of him.

Tim nodded.

"When I said no, my father beat me up and locked me in the attic."

The impending marriage was the center of a business alliance between the two fathers. Sarah's refusal would cost her father a lot of money.

"How did you get here?"

Before she could answer, Alex called that dinner was ready.

We'll talk after, Tim said with his eyes.

They headed out to see a big bowl of salad, smaller bowls of mussels, plates of fries, little cups of dipping sauces and two large baguettes on the table.

"Dig in everyone."

Alex had a system. Get the mussel out the shell, discard the shell, eat the mussel, dip the bread in the bowl to get some mussel broth and then eat some fries.

Sarah had never had mussels before. She was fumbling, trying to get them out of the shell.

Tim offered his assistance. "If you stab here, near this white part, it's easier to pop them out."

Alex and Olivia looked at each other. Clearly this girl had been starved wherever she came from.

Abbie and Serena gave each other a look as well. They knew Alex well enough to know when something was wrong. This wasn't an ordinary visit.

"Alex," Serena offered. "How is your case coming along?"

"As well as it can. We've won most of our pre-trial motions." The media had been all over this case, not because of the defendant or even the victim, but because this was Prada wearing Alex Cabot.

"Please tell me you're wearing that Prada suit on opening day."

"Which one," Casey teased.

"The one from the ad," Abbie clarified. "It was hot!"

Alex rolled her eyes. "I'm never going to live that down, am I?"

"Live what down?" Sarah asked.

"You haven't seen it," Serena squealed. "We'll show you after dinner."

"Alex is a celebrity," Abbie boasted.

"I insulted opposing counsel and unbeknownst to me it was recorded, and the video went viral," Alex said with a dry tone.

"It did more than just go viral," Olivia added. "It was on the Daily Show. Alex was in a Prada campaign. I was in the JC Penney campaign."

Alex rolled her eyes. "No she wasn't."

"Nah, they should have had opposing counsel in it."

Alex served the dessert before they pulled up the video on her laptop.

"This is Prada! That's JC Penny Bitch!"

Tim was in stitches. "And I thought lawyers were boring."

"You're in a room full of lawyers Tim," Casey warned him.

Serena went on to the Prada campaign. "The coat she modeled sold out on like the first day."

Every woman in Manhattan who could drop $700 on a trench coat did so. The stores were packed.

"The evening dress is my favorite," Olivia told them. "She's so elegant."

Alex kissed Olivia's forehead.

No one thought it odd but Tim.

"Wait, I thought you were Casey's girlfriend?"

Of course, he didn't know.

Casey had the honors of telling him. "The three of us are together."

"Together for what."

"We're a couple."

"But couples have two people, hence the word, couple."

Casey shook her head. "Fine, we're a trio."

"Seriously?"

Casey slipped her arms around Alex and kissed her neck. "Serious as a heart attack."

"If you ever tell Dad, can I be in the room … provided he doesn't kill me first?"

It was time to get to the truth. "What happened to make you flee to New York?"

Tim was concerned about telling everyone. "Do we have to do this now?"

"I don't keep anything from Alex or Olivia."

Serena cut to the chase. "In this room, you have four prosecutors and a cop. It couldn't be any safer."

Tim relented. "On Christmas Eve, Dad announced that Jamie and Sarah would be getting married. He said something about a business deal, and how they would make lots of money.

Jamie got a ring. He asked Sarah and she said 'hell no.'

Dad started shouting. Her father said he'd talk to her and he dragged her into the next room. They were shouting at each other. I heard what sounded like punches and the next thing I know, he dragged her by the arm out of the house.

Eventually, her father came back and said that the deal was still on and to proceed with the normal plans.

I thought the whole thing seemed shady, so I came back on the weekend to try and find Sarah and I couldn't. I'd visit the house, but they'd say she was out with a friend or unavailable.

I tried every weekend until I finally climbed a tree to look inside. I saw her in her room and I knocked on the window. She tried to push me out of the window, but I convinced her to let me in. That's when I found out they were keeping her in her room."

He turned to Sarah.

"They wouldn't let me out without a 'bodyguard' to make sure I didn't run away. I tried to escape twice, but I always got caught. When Tim came, I didn't know if I could trust him, but I didn't have much choice. He said he'd come back the following weekend."

"I decided to wait until today because I knew Dad had a business conference and I figured her dad would be there too.

Once I got her out of the house, we got in the car and drove straight here. No one else knows we're here."

"Unless he's tracing your phones," Olivia commented.

"What?"

Olivia took his phones, turned it off and took out the battery. "If your father have this phone on his account, then he can access your call history and use the GPS to track you."

"Even if he doesn't, all he needs is a contact with the phone company or with the police to track you," Alex added. "I had to get new phones all the time when I was in the program."

"The what?" Tim asked her.

"I spent three years in Witness Protection after I got shot by a Colombian drug cartel."

"That was you?" Tim frowned in confusion. "It was all over the papers. I thought you were dead."

"That was the idea. I had to hide until their boss was killed."

"We need to get you guys new phones," Casey told them, "Disposable ones."

"And they shouldn't call you," Alex told Casey. "If anything happens, they should call me."

"Why you?" Sarah questioned.

"Because Casey's father won't think to check my phone records. He would think to check Casey's or Olivia's if he can access them."

Abbie found the whole thing peculiar. "Why do your fathers need you and Jamie to get married to forge a business deal?"

Sarah really had no idea. "They never said why. They just told me to do it."

"Did you ever get an inheritance?" Serena asked, that would be a reason.

Sarah wasn't sure on that either. "My grandfather always said I'd get some money when he died, but I was only 16 at the time. I don't know what the will said."

Serena and Alex gave each other knowing looks. They were both society girls, and this was starting to make sense.

Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

Trust fund that matures at 25.

Or whenever she's emancipated.

Like getting married.

"What are you two talking about?" Olivia questioned.

"They didn't say anything," Tim commented.

"They were talking with their eyes. I know that look."

"You and Elliot do the same thing," Alex told her. "Anyway, we were thinking that Sarah's grandfather might have made a trust fund for her, one that she would get when she was 25 or if she got married whatever happens first."

"If that's the case," Serena added, "then they want you to marry Jamie, so they can loot your trust fund and use it to run this business … whatever it is."

"If you don't say I do, then they don't get the money. Hence, they locked you in the attic.

"What do we do?" Tim wanted to know.

"We have to get a copy of her grandfather's will and figure out what exactly is going on with the money," Serena told him. "Then we can find out how to protect it from them."

"Can we do that without tipping them off?" Casey questioned.

"If we use unofficial channels," Alex told her. Her family had a lot of connections. They should be able to find a way.

Once they had an action plan for the next day, Alex suggested they try to enjoy the rest of the evening.

"Drinking game or movie?"

"Drinking game during the movie," Serena and Abbie both declared.

After a heated debate, they decided on Showgirls. You had to drink, each time there was nudity, each time Elizabeth Berkley overacts, and at any suggestion of lesbianism.

"This movie is so bad," Olivia complained.

"Bad movies are the best for drinking," Serena told her. "When the movie's good, people don't drink as much."

Everyone got his or her poison of choice, and it was time to put the movie on play.