A/N: Hey! Thank you for all the likes/follows! I really, really appreciate them. Without further ado, here comes chapter two! (it rhymes lol). I just wanted to let you know that some of the chapters on this fic are kinda small, but that's because some Olivia/Casey scenes on the episode are quite short, and that's the basis on which this fic is founded.

Please let me know what you're thinking about it so far!

Chapter 2

Not a word was spoken as they left the suspect's apartment and got into the car on their way to the crime scene. The tension in the air would be noticeable even to a stranger - if there were any to observe the lack of interaction between the three people. Casey had stopped feeling uncomfortable about Olivia's judging gaze through the side view mirror a couple of blocks before and now she just watched out the window as the houses and establishments passed her by fast - Elliot was on the verge of getting a speeding ticket, she thought. She observed the two detectives attentively, thinking to herself she had their dynamics all figured out: She liked him as more than a partner, he was the married type that considered himself too righteous to ever cheat on his wife - although he's probably considered it, she added - and she wasn't one to become the other woman (maybe, but not under these conditions, Casey decided), specially when kids were involved. So, she looked at her partner like that and he didn't look at her back the same way. Casey wondered for how long they maintained that relationship and what Olivia expected to get out of it - because by the look in her eyes she sure expected to get something.

"You two have been partners for a long time?", she asked, breaking the silence so abruptly that for a few seconds none of the detectives managed to process what had been asked or elaborate a reply. Elliot's blue eyes rose up a few inches, checking her up from the rearview mirror, finally understanding she had asked them a question and awaited for a reply.

"Yeah", he replied flatly, "Five years".

She nodded softly and flickered her eyes back to the side view mirror, where the reflection of Olivia's chocolate eyes now pierced her, the detective's forehead wrinkled in a slightly enraged wondering frown. A shy smile quickly took over Casey's lips, fading away as fast as it had appeared when the realization dawned on her that the reasons why she had felt so inclined to smile at Olivia's annoyance were unknown to her and seemed to frighten her to the core.

"So, what microscopic piece of evidence do you expect to find at Brianna's apartment that the crime techs didn't turn up?", Elliot said, scratching his head and finally breaking the long silence.

"You never know", she replied casually, ignoring the clear implications behind his speech while watching the crime scene carefully, scanning her eyes through anything that she imagined could be of importance, "Death doesn't stop the mailman. Anyone check her box since she died?", she completed, eyes focused on Olivia, who promptly replied.

"Had it rerouted to the station", the detective stated matter-of-factly, eyes focused on the floor and sarcastic smile on her lips as she paced to the other room.

"Brianna hit the gravy train with this couple. Why would she cut them off?", Casey insisted, her voice now louder, sounding more annoyed.

"Because her maternal instincts finally kicked in", Elliot stated piercingly, his voice now as loud as the counselor's.

"Or she found a higher bidder", she replied incisively, "Let's look for a paper trail to another couple", she completed, making it sound more like a question than a statement.

"We could, but it'd be a waste of time", Olivia declared plainly from where she stood across the room.

"Why? 'Cause I suggested it?", Casey quizzed her cynically, laughing under her own breath and wondering why she was thinking Olivia Benson looked slightly more attractive while getting on her nerves.

"Uh, no. Because she just checked out all these books on child rearing. She was keeping the baby", she answered roughly, her voice a tone louder than before, making her exasperation at the A.D.A. very clear.

"How do you know when she got them?", the redheaded asked daringly as she moved towards the detective.

"Because they were checked out from the library. And I'd say judging from the due date, a couple of days before her death", Olivia answered while showing her the books and staring deep into her sea green eyes, trying to control herself and abstain from saying something she would later regret.

"What a prick", she thought, "She is just relentless. Why doesn't she go back to her office? There's gotta be something else for her to do".

" 'Skin Diseases of the Elderly'?", she inquired, making Olivia roll her eyes at the question, "Now, why would a 22 year-old pregnant woman need this?", her eyes stared fiercely into Olivia's, then turning down to the now opened book.

"Beats me. But we'll be sure to let you know as soon as we find out", Stabler inclined as he entered the room again.

Casey turned her head back to the male detective and before she could notice Olivia grabbed the book from her hands and shut it closed with a thump, the detective's lips pursed together and eyebrows raised as she left a frustrated looking Casey standing alone in the middle of the room.