FIC: Saving Casey/Saving Olivia-Conclusion
Author's note: I finally finished it! In this story, Casey was never disbarred, she just left the DA's office. I love taking creative liberties. Also, I haven't had time to figure out how to link previous posts, so if you want to catch up on the story, all parts can be found at my journal and here on the casey_olivia site.
Chapter 14
The Next Morning
Captain Cragen sauntered into the squadroom, one hand in his pocket. “Where are we with the Wallowitz case?”
“The mother seems to be the most obvious suspect but we need a warrant.” Said Olivia, not looking up from her paperwork. “I was just about to go talk to Casey about it.”
“Novak’s gone. Ask Cabot or her minions.”
Olivia’s pen clattered to her desktop, her face deathly pale. “What do you mean Casey’s gone?”
“Yesterday was her last day. The replacement hasn’t come in from D.C. yet.”
“She left us?”
Elliot leaned back in his chair. “Where have you been? Everyone’s been talking about Casey landing that job on Wall Street for weeks.”
“She’s giving up law?”
“No. Seriously Liv, get your head out of your ass every once in awhile. She’s working for the SEC.”
Olivia slumped in her chair. “I don’t understand. I thought…”
Elliot shook his head and stood. “Come on, Benson. Let’s find someone to get us a warrant.”
Later that night
Olivia stood in front of Casey’s apartment door. You can do this, Olivia. If you can face down perps every day, surely you can knock on this door. She raised her fist to knock but flattened her palm on the door and shook her head sadly. So engrossed was she in trying to summon her courage, she didn’t hear the soft clack of Casey’s heels behind her.
Casey pulled her keys from her purse, then stopped abruptly when she noticed her ex-girlfriend. “Liv, what are you doing here?” she asked in surprise.
Olivia turned to face her. “I…ah… I heard about your new job. Kind of took me by surprise.”
“Oh. That. Look, I meant to tell you, but…time just sorta…got away from me.” Casey stumbled over her words. The pair stood in the hallway in awkward silence.
The detective glanced at her watch. “If you’re working on Wall Street now, then why are you just now getting home at 10:30?”
The redhead shrugged carelessly. “I’m a workaholic, chained to the desk.” She gave a playful wink. “I learned from the best.”
“There’s more to life than work, Case.”
“Yeah, there’s softball but that’s still a few months away.”
“Casey, you know what I meant.”
“Hello? Pot? Kettle calling.”
“Ha. Ha.” Olivia rolled her eyes at the lame joke. “Are we going to stand here all night or are we going to go inside and talk?”
“There’s nothing more to talk about, Liv. It’s time for us both to move on and leave the past where it belongs.” Casey whispered gently, leaning against the wall next to the door.
Olivia bit her lip to keep the tears from falling. “Can I be frank with you?” she asked not meeting the attorney’s gaze.
“I wish you would.”
“The thing is…”she stopped then started again. “The thing is I don’t want to move on. I can’t move on. I’ve been trying and at the end of the day when I get home, even though it’s a tiny empty apartment, I still yell out to you that I’m home and fully expect to come around the corner of the hall to see you standing in the kitchen asking about my day.” The detective stepped closer to her former lover. “I need you, Casey. I have tried denying it, I’ve tried moving on, and yet it all comes back to the simple fact that I need you.”
“I thought you were dating men now.”
“It was a bad idea. I couldn’t even feign an interest in other women. Whenever I tried, I felt like I was cheating on you. Dating men was easy to pretend. It was like I was undercover, something that had no bearing on my real life.” She grabbed a hold of Casey’s hand, linking their fingers. “I haven’t seen another woman since I left you, Case.”
Casey rested her head on the wall, chewing her lip thoughtfully. “Do you remember what you told me outside of the juvenile detention center?”
“That you were drowning.” Olivia nodded. “Cabot told me something similar not long afterwards.”
“Maybe we are each other’s life preserver. Separate we flounder, but together we can face everything.”
Olivia mirrored her pose. “All I know is when things are looking bleak, all I need to do is think of you and everything immediately brightens. Everything seems possible with you in the picture.”
“So… what’s the next step?”
“Dinner? Maybe a movie? Say…tomorrow night?” The detective asked hopefully.
Casey smiled timidly. “Ok. I think I can do that. Pick me up at 7?”
Olivia squeezed the lawyer’s hand in enthusiasm. “I’d love to.” She stepped away from the wall, releasing her grasp of the redhead’s hand. “I’ll see you tomorrow, counselor.”
“Goodnight, Liv.” She whispered watching the detective walk down the hall. Before Olivia turned the corner, she called out to the dark haired lady. She met her halfway down the hall, wrapping her arms around Olivia’s shoulders, kissing her deeply. Olivia moaned into Casey’s mouth, their tongues sliding along the others, dueling for control. Casey broke the kiss, resting her forehead on the detective’s. “Don’t go. Please. Don’t go.”
“I won’t sweetheart. I promise.” Olivia whispered, not noticing the tears streaming down her cheeks.
Casey wiped Olivia’s tears with her thumbs. “Wanna come in and talk about it?” Olivia nodded dumbly, allowing herself to be led into Casey’s apartment.
The next morning, when Casey awoke in Olivia’s arms on the couch, both still clad in the previous days clothing, she smiled genuinely for the first time in years. Casey Novak and Olivia Benson had found and saved each other.