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novaksupremacy · 7 months ago

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The Veiled Law of Affection-Chapter 7

hey my lovelies, sorry this has taken me so long! I proofread but my brain is also mush post Calculus final. Chapter takes place surrounding the events of S6E1 "Birthright" It's probably also my longest chapter to date 😅😅 angst, cute fluff, svu case talk, and of course your precious smut 😜I promise your next fix (and some one shot Calex stuff) won't take as long.❤️

Pairing: Casey Novak x Olivia Benson

Word Count: 8955

by PKJ @novaksupremacy

Read Part 6

“Patricia Branson, 6 years old, guy tried kidnapping her in a park full of people.” The uniform on scene told Liv and Elliot as they followed him to the victim and her father.

“Anybody see anything? Stabler asked.

“Only description we got was a white guy in a baseball cap, bystander chased him, but he got away.” The Uni continued.

Liv scribbled notes down furiously as they walked.

Elliot pulled the dad off to the side so that Liv could talk to Patty. She sat down in the ambulance using a soft voice to question the little girl. She quickly realized this was not the first time the child had encountered her would-be abductor. The little girl had originally seen who Liv had deduced to be a young adult/ older teenager for the first time outside the grocery store when he offered to let her play with his puppy.

******

Fin and Munch stood outside the sliding glass doors next to the electronic kiddie ride Patty had described and showed her picture to the grocery store manager.

“Anybody every use that thing?” Finn asked.

“Sure,” the manager said with a thick NY accent, “kids ride that thing all the time. You’ll have to ask my employees if they’ve seen the girl though.”

“What about anyone strange hanging around?” Finn continued to question.

The manager crinkled his mustache, “Does that include two guys in a blue van?”

John shot a glance at his partner then back at the manager, “What’d they look like?”

“Both white, middle aged guy and some teenager with a mutt in his lap. Last week, right by the front door, blocking all my deliveries. Called the cops, Arizona plates and the number. Nobody showed up.”

“We’ve got a pair of pedophiles,” Finn lamented as they left the grocery store and crossed the street.

“With their very own perv mobile.” Munch added as they opened the doors to the sedan.

“SVU Portable I have your plate.” Dispatch said over the radio and proceeded to give information about a complaint made outside Patty Branson’s school.

“Alright we’re on it,” Detective Tutuola radioed back and hopped into the car.

As they drove to their next destination John turned to Finn, “Hey you think Liv and Casey joined one of those women’s safety boxing classes or something.”

Finn contorted his face, “Man where do you come up with this stuff. What makes you think that?”

Munch shrugged, “I don’t know they’re just always showing up at work with bruises lately. I thought maybe they took up boxing or something. Or maybe they’re going to the bar after work and not inviting us, hanging out with their secret boyfriends while we hang behind and do all the paperwork.”

Fin did his best to stifle his laughter, “Look man, I will tell you both Benson AND Novak are both seeing someone. But unless they come in with a black eye one day, I’ll let you do your own detective work on the rest of it.”

******

“Why Patty?” Elliot asked when they realized their mystery men have Patty’s routine down. The park she visits, her school, when she’ll be alone.

“They’re obsessed.” Liv offered.

Elliot looked up to see the van parked not far from them, “They’re here. Circle around and call for backup.”

Fin and Munch pulled up alongside Benson and Stabler’s sedan and rolled down their window to get the briefing.

“Watch the back of that van,” John said as one of the suspects jumped out, “The big boy, complete with red baseball cap.”

Cragen and Fin approached the van and banged on the window.

“It’s an IAB caper Captain” the suspect said to Cragen flashing his shield.

“What’s todays color then,” Fin questioned.

“Purple.”

Fin cocked his gun aiming it at the suspect, “Wrong. Take the keys out the ignition and step out of the vehicle.”

The man behind the wheel hit the gas rather than comply. Fin and Cragen turned their attention to the second suspect in the ball cap, while Liv and Elliot took off after the van. After a brief chase Elliot managed to overtake the van by rear ending it, they drew down as the driver stepped out and then apprehended him. Munch managed to cut off the second suspect in the other squad car just in time for Cragen and Fin to apprehend him as well.

******

“Three THOUSAND dollars’ worth of damage to the car?” Cragen exclaimed.

“What can I say boss, I zigged when I should’ve zagged.” Elliot shrugged.

“Let’s find a way to send these guys the bill, I already don’t like them. They made me run.” Cragen threw the invoice on his desk. “What do we know about them so far.”

“PI ticket pretty well known for reuniting kidnapped kids with their parents. The kids ticket is legit too.” Liv rattled off from her notes.

“So, someone hired them to snatch Patty.” The captain queried.

“Seems that way Cap. No one’s talking.”

“Let’s find out who and why.”

******

“Can my Mommy come in too?” Patty had tears coming down her face.

“No honey it’s very important that you do this by yourself so we can get the bad guy.” Liv said sweetly to the little girl.

Elliot bent down next to her, “Hey Patty is it okay if I pick you up.” She sniffled and nodded. Elliot scooped her up. “I want to show you something special. See this glass?” He walked around to the other side. “No one on this side can see you, its magic, protects you from the bad guys and then we can take care of the rest.”

The perps made their way into the lineup room.

“I’m scared of the boy with the four. He pulled my hair at the park.”

******

After a positive ID on the younger perp and a few hours of grilling them, the older PI told them that Patty’s biological mother hired them to find her daughter. The detectives took a ride to the address that the suspects gave up and went to investigate. Michelle Osborn answered the door and weaved them a tale about how her daughter had been abducted from a car accident that caused the death of her husband. She showed them a facial aging print out that showed what her daughter might look like now, remarkably similar to Patty, along with the addition of the diabetes diagnoses. She also led them into her daughters room which she had updated to welcome home a now 6 year old little girl.

Elliot placed cuffs on her as Liv spoke. “Michelle Osborne you’re under arrest for conspiracy to commit kidnapping.”

On the way out of arraignment Casey ran to catch up with Liv, “Hey they said you were in a car accident. Why didn’t you call me? Are you okay?” the redhead said frantically scanning her girlfriend for any sign of bodily injury.

“Baby I’m fine. I promise. It was barely a fender bender. We hit the back of the van chasing the PI’s. If anything, I’ll be a little sore tomorrow.”

“Well, you’re definitely in for a massage later, but are you sure you’re alright?” There they were: the puppy dog eyes that melted any worry Liv ever had.

“I promise, I gotta catch up with Huang, but hey.” She grabbed Casey’s hand. “Case, if something did happen, I have I card in my wallet saying you’re my emergency contact, and have you saved in my phone that way too.” She tugged on her girlfriends arm a bit before walking away. “I’ll see you later okay?” Casey watched until Liv disappeared into the crowd after catching up with Huang and getting on the elevator.

******

It didn’t take Michelle Osborne more than a few hours to violate her order of protection.

“You’re making a mistake!” Michelle shouted at Liv.

“No Michelle, you are. I read the police report, you’re daughter died in that accident with your husband and now you’ve violated the order of protection and I have to take you to jail, and the judge is going to revoke your bond.”

“She’s my daughter!”

“We know everything Michelle, we saw the police report,” Liv shouted as she put the cuffs on, “We know Anna Osborn died with your husband in that accident.”

“Hey look who I found,” the brunette heard her partner yell out from behind her, she turned to see Elliot standing next to a squad car with their new favorite PI in the backseat.

“You guys just can’t take a hint,” Liv scoffed walking up to the window.

“There’s a piece of paper in my breast pocket. Read and weep.” The perp retorted.

Elliot reached in through the window and removed the piece of paper. “It’s a lab order with the DNA sample from Patty’s hair that they snatched at the park. Patty Branson is Michelle Osborne’s biological daughter.”

The brunette looked at Elliot in shock, not sure that she heard him correctly.

“Patty and Anna are not the same child,” Melinda explained to the detectives when they got back to the precinct, “I ran another test, and they are definitely siblings but not identical. I saw that Anna was conceived through in vitro. The only way this incident could’ve happened is if both women underwent in vitro with the same doctor at the same time and I’m gonna need that doctors name.”

******

Casey walked into the stationhouse with two large cups of coffee. She placed one down on the desk next to Elliot, “Hey, where’s our girl.”

“Thanks Novak,” he mock-groaned in appreciation and took a sip. “I don’t care what Liv says, you’re alright.” He smirked. “She’s in the crib.”

The redhead walked in quietly, she saw Liv’s eyes closed but knew by her breathing she wasn’t asleep.

“Casey when I open my eyes you better either be naked or have a very large cup of coffee.”

Casey laughed, “How did you know it was me? And how did you know I was alone?”

The brunette smiled, her eyes still closed. “I can smell your perfume, and because I’m a cop.”

The ADA walked over and sat on the edge of the cot. “Did you get any sleep baby?” She kissed her head and brushed her hair away from her face.

“No,” Liv pried her eyes open. “I’m too wound up.” She sat up on the edge of the bed next to her girlfriend and leaned her head on her shoulder as Casey handed her the cup of coffee. “You’re the best.”

“Oh yeah? That’s not what Stabler said you’ve been saying.” The redhead giggled.

“Stabler’s a gossip queen.”

Munch walked passed the doorway and stopped, “You two tired from all those late nights of bar hopping with your secret boyfriends?”

Liv picked her head up, “Our what?”

“Have you been talking to Elliot,” Casey asked him. Liv turned her head towards her girlfriend in confusion, who shook her head. “I’ll explain later.” she sighed.

“No, Fin said both of you were dating someone and I just wanted to say that I’m a little hurt that I’ve never been asked to hang out with the cool kids. I did used to own a bar in Baltimore. I’m a pretty fun guy.”

Casey tilted her head as Liv buried her face in the redhead’s shoulder to stifle her laughter, “You’re right John, next time we go out with our secret boyfriends we’ll make sure to invite you.”

“Thank you, that’s all I ask.” Munch said in complete sincerity. “All the involved parties are here by the way. Time to get to it.”

******

Casey and Liv walked into the conference room where they sat Michelle and the Branson’s on opposite ends of the table. Liv sat down between them in an attempt to mediate with them.

“It’s come to our attention,” the detective spoke softly “that both of you conceived by way of invitro fertilization. We’re going to need you to tell us the names of the doctors you used.”

“Dr. Stanley Norton.” Mrs. Branson sniffled, choking back a small sob.

“He was my doctor too.” Michelle admitted and hung her head.

Michelle’s lawyer, Counselor Emmett, added, “Both girls born at the same hospital, within weeks of each other”

Casey paced across the room “Somehow, Sarah got Michelle’s embryos.”

“How could this happen” Mr. Branson asked, the look on his face showing he still felt like all of this was surreal.

“Dr. Warner said it could be as simple as a mislabeled petri dish.” Liv offered.

Both mothers exchanged heartbreaking looks as Michelle began to break down in tears. “I’m so sorry for what I did. I’m so sorry.”

Sarah Branson turned to Casey “is it possible to have the order of protection removed?”

Casey shrugged, “You can petition the judge if that’s what you want.” It was clear in her expression she didn’t agree but she wasn’t allowed to just blurt that out.

Michelle’s lawyer spoke up, “I’d like you to reconsider the attempted kidnapping charge.”

“Your client was ordered to stay away from Patty Branson, and she ignored that order. She broke the law. I have to take her to trial.” The redhead stated flatly. Liv jerked her head and looked at her in shock as if she couldn’t believe what she had just said.

Casey heard her girlfriend call to her as she left the conference room. “Casey, you gotta plead her out.” Liv emoted as she closed the conference room door behind her.

The ADA furrowed her brow, “Why would I do that?” She turned and gave the detective time to catch up.

“Because what happened was a mistake,” Liv argued.

“Michelle was uncontrollably driven to kidnap someone else’s little girl.” She continued walking down the hall, the detective walking along side.

“Her little girl biologically.” Liv’s tone escalated as she stopped at the corner of the hallway.

Casey turned on her heel, “but not legally,” she spoke lower trying to stay calm and show Liv she cared. “I can’t let Michelle off the hook just because you feel guilty you didn’t believe her.” She turned back and continued to walk.

The detective’s face dropped as she wasn’t used to going toe to toe with Casey over a case since that first day. She took a breath and then followed behind, “well then give her a break cause she’s also a victim.” Casey stopped at her door and turned to face Liv while leaning against it. Liv crossed her arms and continued, “What that fertility doctor did to those two women is genetic rape.” Casey cast her eyes to the side afraid she’d cry if she continued to confront her girlfriend. “And don’t tell me that that doesn’t bother you on some level.”

The redhead turned her head and stared into Liv’s eyes, her own starting to water. She wanted to clap back at the cheap shot, but she was already lost in her girlfriend’s charm. Her face softened.

“Talk to the doctor,” she looked down at Liv’s lips longing to kiss her, “confirm what Michelle and the Branson’s say, and I’ll consider a deal.” She stared at the brunette for a minute.

The Detective looked back at Casey’s lips just as hungrily and then nodded.

The redheaded started to head into her office but looked back as Liv was walking away. “Hey.”

The brunette spun around, “Hey.”

“I’ll see you for dinner later, okay?” She gave Liv the puppy dog eyes.

“You got it.” The detective smiled softly and then turned the corner.

******

Shortly after a visit to the good doctor’s office, the detectives were in Casey’s office giving her the run down. Michelle had insisted she never signed the form consenting to egg donation. The doctor was insisting she did and probably just didn’t remember because seven years ago is a long time to remember such a minute detail. Liv could feel it in her bones that the evidence was pointing towards fraud on the doctor’s part. She just needed some help from the DA’s office to prove it.

Both X’s look the same to me.” Casey examined the photocopied paper her girlfriend handed her.

The brunette looked at her determined, “It’s a legal document, forgery is a crime.”

“You don’t know that doctor forged anything.” The redhead sat, leaning back in her chair. Her face contorted in contest.

Elliot chimed in to play devil’s advocate, “Look, maybe its buyer’s remorse. Michelle did consent to donate her embryos, and now she’s sorry she did?” He turned his eyes towards Liv.

“That doctor pulled that story out of his ass!” She came around him to stand between him and Casey, “Come on Elliot!” she scolded, “He was making it up as he was telling it to us!” She shook her head in disgust.

“So, you think he’s lying. Michelle Osborne hired private detectives to kidnap a child. Why do you believe her?” The ADA squinted, tilting her head.

“Because Michelle Osborn has never lied to us about anything. Patty is her biological daughter.” The volume of Liv’s voice started to escalate as she spoke passionately.

Casey crinkled her nose G-d damn she’s so sexy when she gets herself all worked up. Pull it together Novak, cold thoughts, you still have a job to do.

Elliot piped up interrupting Casey’s mental undressing of Liv, “So let Michelle and the Branson’s sue Norton for malpractice,” he suggested bluntly.

Liv sighed, getting exhausted of trying to explain her point, “But if he intentionally put one woman’s eggs into another without consent, we can’t just let him get away with it.”

“There’s no law against that in New York State,” Casey tried to iterate that despite what they were all feeling for both defendants and victims, she still had to prosecute by the letter of the law. “And we can’t charge him with larceny because stolen property has to have value, and body parts don’t.” she said pointedly.

The brunette argued back as the redhead let out an exasperated sigh knowing her girlfriend wasn’t going to let this go. “In vitro costs tens of thousands of dollars a pop. If Norton misrepresented what he did and put that X on this form, then we have him on fraud and forgery. If he did it once before, you can bet that he’s done the same thing to other women.” Her jaw was starting to get tight.

Casey looked up at her girlfriend, she knew when Olivia had a gut feeling like this, she was usually on to something, and she definitely wasn’t letting it go. She pulled Liv down onto her lap and wrapped her arms around her waist. “Okay,” she kissed her shoulder. She had no qualms about Elliot being in the room, she knew he was a safe person for them. “Now all we have to do is prove it.”

“Right,” Liv turned her head, to look at Casey, her body still facing Elliot. Casey’s touch brought her back down to a calmer state. “This consent form is a copy; you get us a warrant for the real one and we will.”

The ADA smirked, “You know you’re very sexy when you have your investigation pants on.” She leaned her forehead against the brunette’s, rubbing her nose against her girlfriend’s.

“Oh yeah, that working for you?” She nuzzled back.

“Mhmm,” Casey blushed and bit her lip.

Elliot cleared his throat loudly, “Still here ladies.”

The two moved their faces away from each other and turned back towards him, “Ahem, sorry.” Casey nodded trying to put her serious voice on.

******

Norton scoffed as he sat in interrogation “I did nothing wrong.”

Kessler waved his hand towards his client “Say nothing else Stanley. My client made an error in judgement.”

“That’s an understatement,” Casey’s voice was dripping with sarcasm as Liv paced behind her.

“Michelle Osborne gave my client verbal permission to donate her embryos seven years ago. Dr Norton wrote the “X” on the form because he thought it would help her remember.” The litigator retorted, an ever-present smug tone in his voice.

The brunette detective was getting worked up “Oh she remembers alright; she remembers that she never consented.” She barked.

Kessler laughed incredulously, “And you believe her, after she tried to have a little girl kidnapped?”

Casey looked at him with a know-it-all grin, “Because of what Dr. Norton did to her, so we’re dropping those charges.”

“Still her word against my client’s”

“And his employees.” The redhead countered, “We have signed, sworn statements that you routinely implant one woman’s genetic material into another.”

Doctor Norton looked Casey square in the eye and straightened his cufflinks. “All I’ve ever done is help infertile couples have children.”

Olivia curled her lip, glaring with abhorrence at the doctor. “All you’ve ever done is pad your bank account” she leaned over the table towards him.

Casey looked directly at the Doctors attorney, “You can be sure we’ll find out how many other women he’s victimized.”

Kessler scoffed, closing his briefcase. “How? You can’t subpoena privileged patient records.”

The ADA grinned, “Unless,” she placed the pads of her fingers down on the desk pointedly, “there’s evidence of an ongoing criminal conspiracy. That forged “x” on the consent form is all the ammunition I need to go before a judge.”

******

Casey was beaming, “We scored a clean sweep.” She said proudly walking into the squad room. Her eyes locked on Liv.

“Oh yeah what’d we get?” The brunette joked as she fixed her coffee.

“Warrants and subpoenas for all of Dr. Norton’s in vitro patients, plus all surgical and cryopreservation logs.” The redhead smiled, dropping some files on the desk, and facing Liv and Elliott.

“Cryo what?” Stabler asked as if Casey was speaking a foreign language.

Casey chuckled, “Where egg, sperm, and embryos are frozen and stored,” she schooled him.

“Any of this make an impression on Dr Norton?” He grabbed one of the files Casey dropped off and thumbed through it.

“Nope guy still thinks he did a favor for the Branson’s.” The counselor sat down on the edge of Liv’s desk placing her hands on her knee, “Anyway, Sarah’s medical records have a notation that none of her eggs fertilized.” She discretely caressed her girlfriend's knee with her thumb. The brunette felt it between her legs.

“So, Norton just slipped her one of Michelle’s.” Elliot shrugged.

Casey nodded, mindless tracing little circles on Liv’s knee, just brushing against the start of her thigh.

Liv popped up off the desk as the redhead’s followed her, “Okay so we get him on a couple of counts of fraud, he loses his license and does some time.” It was taking all of her willpower not so slam herself up against Casey right there in the squad room. The way the ADA’s eyes glistened as she smoothly negotiated subpoenas and plea deals just did something for Liv that she never expected.

“Yeah, and all thanks to the persistence of a beautiful brunette detective from the one six.” Casey bit her lip, subtly linking the tips of her fingers with Liv’s. “Damn I need to get you home.”

Liv blushed; desire written all over her face.

Cragen walked up next to them with a distraught look on his face, “Two-two just called. They’re mobilized.”

“For What?” the brunette looked at him confused.

The captain put his hands in his pockets, “Patty.”

******

Thankfully with the quick work of the SVU detectives they were able to find Patty pretty quickly with a sweep of Michelle Osborn’s house for some semblance of clues. The time and place on the back of a family photo indicated a beach house that Michelle owned. The detectives swiftly mobilized there to find Michelle and Patty. Liv was heartbroken when she learned that Michelle misled Patty by saying her parents didn’t want her.

*****

“You have to do something, babe.” Olivia took a sip of her wine leaning over the island at Casey’s.

The redhead scoffed, “I thought you wanted me to plead her out? I can’t keep changing course based on your emotions.” She stared at Liv in disbelief.

The brunette sighed and placed her glass down, “I know what I said earlier but Michelle is terrorizing this little girl. Patty Branson is a distraught six-year-old who doesn’t understand why this woman is trying to rip her away from her family and I feel for Michelle but she’s making it so much worse.”

The ADA took her hand across the counter and ran the pad of her thumb across it, “You know that your huge heart is one of the things I find most attractive about you, right? I just have to make sure I don’t get my ass chewed out by Branch for letting that beautiful heart cloud my judgement.” She brought her girlfriends hand up to her lips and kissed across the detective’s knuckles. She glanced up at Liv, cocking her eyebrow, “is this helping make up for the fact that we argued earlier?”

“Casey,” Olivia sighed.

The redhead frowned, “Hey I’m sorry, I was just trying to do my job.”

Olivia smiled and held Casey’s hand between her own, “No that’s not what I was getting at.” she chuckled. “What I was going to say,” she rubbed her girlfriend's hand soothingly, “is we’re not always going to agree on work. We may even shout out each other from time to time, but I promise never to go to bed angry at you as long as you’ll have me.”

She stood up and leaned in to delicately kiss the ADA, “and I promise to always have dinner waiting for you, even if its leftovers in the microwave.”

The redhead giggled into the kiss and draped her arms around Liv’s neck. “And I will always be grateful for that, Detective.” Liv stood up straight pulling Casey out of her chair and grabbing her legs, wrapping them around her waist, and placing her on the counter. The brunette started nibbling and kissing down her lover's jaw and then her neck. “Mmm,” the redhead sighed, “you are so wonderful.” She ran her hands through Liv’s hair.

The detective chuckled, “Mmm, I’ll remember that next time we fight.” Casey laughed and pressed her palm against the brunette’s cheek, nipping at her lower lip and then kissing her. Liv raised her eyebrow and flashed a grin, “thanks for making this easy for me.” She ran her fingers up Casey’s bare thighs and up under the skirt she was wearing. She pushed it up and pulled the redhead to the edge of the counter, sliding her hand up the attorney’s inner thigh. She gasped as she made her way to Casey’s center, she leaned in to kiss her neck. “Assistant District Attorney Casey Novak, have you not been wearing any underwear all day?”

The redhead smiled deviously, her hand on the back of Liv’s head holding her to her neck, “Mmmm, well, Detective, if we hadn’t argued, I had planned on pulling you into the bathroom of the courthouse, or my office, or the backseat of a taxi.” She giggled.

“Babe!” Liv looked at the younger woman in shock. “Getting adventurous?”

“Mmm maybe a little bit. It’s hard to control myself around you. Do you know how many times when you’re getting heated about a case, I just want to bend you over your own desk?”

The brunette pulled back and looked Casey in the eyes, her own glossed over, pupils dilated. “I really do that much to you?”

The redhead bit her lip and then nodded. “You, Olivia Benson, make me crazy.”

Liv took this opportunity to slide her middle finger into Casey’s heat causing her breath to hitch.

“Fuck.” The ADA exhaled. She spread her legs slightly allowing her girlfriend more access, who then slipped another finger in. Casey gasped again, “Liv.”

The detective toyed with her lover, slowly playing with her arousal, watching Casey whimper with each movement. “Feels good, Daddy?”

Casey let out a moan, “Ohhhh, feels really good baby.”

Liv pushed the redhead’s skirt up further and laid her back across the counter. She brought her mouth down to Casey’s heat, lapping up everything she’d already spilled from her lover, and then brought her tongue up to her clit. When she did this, Casey’s head shot up as heavy sighs fell from her lips. The ADA tangling her fingers in Liv’s hair pulling her tighter to her body. “Hey baby I need you to do me a favor,” the brunette whispered, “can you spell my name for me?” She kissed down on her clit, a few quick swipes of the tongue.

Casey was panting hard, but what Liv asked of her caught her off guard. “What?”

Liv kissed her clit again and continued to do so between each word. “Spell. My. Name. Please. Humor me Casey.”

The redhead quirked her brow, still confused about why they were having a strange conversation right this minute. She decided to oblige. “O—”

As she did Liv pressed down on her girlfriend's clit, tracing the letter “O” across it with the tip of her tongue.

“Mmmm,” Casey inhaled sharply as she caught on. “L—” she whispered. “I—” she was whimpering and panting softly trying hard to concentrate “V—.” “I—oh god baby I, I’m gonna.” Her breathing was getting shallow, “A—” she could barely keep still, she was almost there, she tangled her fingers tighter in her lover's hair pulling her closer as she started over. “O—” that was all it took, “Oh, Oh, Ohhhh!” Casey let go, an orgasm surging through her body, coming hard as Liv lapped it up, humming and moaning with delight.

“Mmm, Casey do you know how fucking good you taste?” The brunette wiped the corners of her mouth and licked her fingers.

Casey sat up trying to catch her breath. “Detective if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were trying keep me around for a while,” she chuckled.

“Mmm maybe just for a little while,” Liv grinned as she kissed the redhead sultrily.

“That’s it, you’re in for it. Bedroom, now.” She hopped down off the counter and took the brunette by the hand leading her to the bed, pushing her back onto the mattress. Casey was in nothing but her bra before Liv could blink. She straddled the brunette and unbuckled Liv’s belt. “Wanna see a new trick I learned?” She bit her lip, smiling mischievously.

Liv looked at her lover surprised, “You have tricks I don’t know yet Counselor?”

The redhead giggled, “I got bored in my office the other day.” She pulled Liv’s belt off her pants and began to loop it around itself a few times and then held out a hand reaching for Liv’s. Liv furrowed her brow but cautiously gave the ADA her hands. Casey slipped the belt over the detective's hands and then pulled the end of the strap tight with her teeth.

“Is, is that okay?” Casey asked to check in, making sure Liv was good with what she was doing since it was new for them.

“Oh, that was,” Liv gasped with surprise, “impressive.” If she wasn’t soaked in arousal before she was now.

“You like that?” Casey asked with her eyebrow raised and her troublemaker grin. She brought Liv’s arms over her head and hooked the belt to the headboard. “Don’t move,” she scolded and brought her mouth down to her girlfriend's ear. “Be a good girl for Daddy.” She whispered and bit down into the side of the brunette’s neck.

“Oh, Casey,” Liv mewled, “Oh, baby mmm” She wanted to feel Casey’s skin, dig her nails into her back. Each struggle against her restraints made her throb, the leather rubbing against her wrists driving her wild.

The ADA was taking her time, sucking deep bruises into her lover’s neck. “Keep still baby,” she cooed, “I’m just getting started.” After she finished marking up Liv’s neck, she turned her attention downward. She unbuttoned Liv’s shirt one button at a time and threw it open, bringing her mouth down to tease the brunette’s nipples. She pulled each one into her mouth, wrapping her tongue around it and grazing it softly with her teeth, letting them go with a pop. She continued to roll and pinch them between her fingers as she kissed down the detective’s stomach.

“Fuck Casey,” Liv’s soft pants made the redhead simper. She tried to wriggle against the restraints again causing her to moan loudly. “Don’t tease.”

“Detective, you better stop resisting.” Casey joked as she shimmied her girlfriend’s pants down and then tossed them to the floor and then settled between her legs. “Mmm, baby you are so fucking wet. It might take me hours to clean all this up.” She taunted as she ran her tongue through the brunette’s folds. “Olivia,” the ADA whimpered, “G-d you taste so amazing.” She plunged her tongue into Liv’s core, gently fucking her, moaning as Liv’s nectars dripped down her chin.

“Oh Fuck!” the brunette cried out, pulling against her cuffs, her hips bucking towards the redhead's face.

Casey pulled her tighter, the tip of her tongue brushing against Liv’s g-spot driving her wild. She moaned against the brunette’s center, sending vibrations up her body.

“Mmmm Casey,” Liv whined, “Mmm Daddy, don’t stop.” her breath ragged. “Oh G-d, Oh G-d.” Her eyes rolled back as she pulled against the restraints, her body tightened as her walls contracted and she came on Casey’s tongue.

The ADA moaned loudly into Liv as she felt her let go, her mouth filling with her girlfriend's sweet juices. She pumped her tongue slowly as the brunette came down and then licked her clean. She ran her tongue across her lips as she looked up at her girlfriend smiling, kissing her thighs, and resting her head against one for a moment. The redhead brought herself back up and kissed Liv, sliding her tongue into her mouth, savoring the moment, and holding her thumb and fingers to the brunette's chin.

“You are such a good, good girl.” Casey kissed her again lightly and nibbled down her neck as she undid the restraints. She kissed Liv’s wrists and then laid against her as Liv wrapped her arms around the attorney.

“God, you are so fucking sexy.” Liv kissed Casey on her temple and then traced soft circles across her smooth skin.

******

Casey headed down to the jail to confront Michelle Osborne about her most recent kidnapping attempt.

“You can’t kidnap your own daughter.” Hissed as she was led towards the interrogation cell by one of the Riker’s guards. Struggling to turn her head to look Casey in the eyes.

“The law says she isn’t yours.” The redhead argued, her patience with Michelle had long run out.

“Well, the law is wrong.” Michelle sat down on the bench in the cell, as everyone filed in and followed suit.

Emmett tossed her briefcase on to the table, “We should just forget about the law and focus on what’s right.”

Casey couldn’t help but laugh, “What’s right is for your client to accept that she has no claim to patty. You’re a victim Michelle we can take that into consideration.”

“How much consideration?” her lawyer queried.

“We’re still willing to make an offer, Michelle will have to serve three to five and get counseling.” The redhead stated, staring blankly waiting for a response.

“No thank you.” Michelle shook her head in protest.

“If you go to trial and get convicted. You’re looking at fifteen years in prison.” Casey was in disbelief.

“I’ll be acquitted, then I’ll sue for custody.” Michelle stated haughtily.

“Are you kidding me?” the ADA turned to the counselor, “This isn’t your idea, is it? It’ll never work.”

“I have to try.” The defendant whispered with determination.

“You can’t!” Michelle turned to see this exclaim come from Sarah Branson who was standing a few feet away from the cell with Olivia in tow.

Casey stood up in shock and looked towards Sarah Branson who had just walked in, and then to Olivia who had clearly brought her. “Why did you bring her here?”

Liv looked at Casey reassuringly, “Because she wanted to come.”

Sarah Branson was sobbing “I know you lost your daughter, but can’t you see what you’re doing to Patty? Please, a mother wouldn’t do this to any child.” She pleaded with tears in her eyes.

******

“Look I’m not mad babe, I’m just saying a little heads up with you were bringing her to the jail would’ve been nice.” Casey said as the two women stepped on the train. They both reached for the center pole, opting to stand. Liv wrapped her arm around the redhead’s waist holding her tight to her as the train started.

“You’re right Case, I’m sorry.” Liv frowned, “I promise to work on communicating.”

“Just pretend we’re in bed, you communicate great there.” Casey teased, smirking, eyeing her girlfriend up and down until she realized an old man glaring at her from one of the nearby seats. “Sorry.” She cleared her throat.

The brunette giggled. “I’ll take that into consideration.”

The got off at their stop and walked down off the platform, “Coffee?” Liv grabbed the ADAs hand and laced their fingers together. The redhead blushed a little, the feeling that Liv wasn’t afraid to be seen with her filling her with butterflies.

“Maybe on the way back?” Casey mused, “I just want to be able to think straight again.” She shook her head realizing her phrasing, “I mean, I need to concentrate.”

Liv reached around the redhead to ring the doorbell of the Stabler house. The door opened and the two women were greeted by a very confused Kathy Stabler.

“Liv! Hi. and—” she scrunched up her face trying to figure out who Casey was and what she and Oliva were doing there. She looked familiar but they had never been properly introduced.

“Oh, hey Kathy, it’s nice to meet you, I’m the SVU ADA Casey Novak.” She let go of Liv’s hand to extend it to the blonde in the doorway.

Kathy’s eyes followed her hand and shook it, still looking puzzled until she glanced at Liv and then back at Casey and it clicked. “Oh, OH right hi! Genuinely nice to meet you! You need to talk to Elliot? He’s at the park with the twins. It’s three blocks that way and two blocks right.” she pointed down the street.

“Not me, just Casey here.” The brunette stated and placed her hand on the small of her girlfriend’s back.

“Ah well in that case, Liv why don’t you come in for a cup of coffee.” Kathy motioned towards herself. “Seems like we have some catching up to do.”

The detective glanced at her lover, “You gonna be okay on your own?”

“Yeah babe, stay, have coffee. I think we all know I can handle Elliot.” She chuckled nervously. She gave Liv a quick kiss and headed off down the block.

Liv and Kathy moved to the kitchen as Elliot’s wife poured them both a cup of coffee. “So,” Kathy looked at Liv, “I’m guessing that’s my husband’s new softball friend and the reason you’re wearing a turtleneck?”

The brunette snorted into her coffee and her face went flush. “Yeah, that’s Casey. She’s the best thing that could’ve happened to me.”

“I’ve gotta say I’ve never seen you so— open, with anyone before. It’s refreshing. Do you love her?” the blonde asked sitting down at the table.

Liv followed suit and took a sip of her coffee, “I want to. I just don’t know if I’m ready to say it yet.”

“Boy, you and Elliot really are two sides of the same coin,” Kathy laughed, “took him forever to say it, even though now he’ll admit he always knew. You know, I used to worry about you two. He’d confide in my why I didn’t need to and how he was the only one who knew about it so of course I just thought it was an excuse” she rambled as she took another sip, “but,” she paused. “I’ve never seen you look at my husband the way you looked at her on my porch.”

*****

“Hey Dad, who’s that lady staring at us?” Lizzie asked as Elliot picked up the basketball, trying to explain to Dickie why hogging the ball would end up hurting his game eventually.

Casey was leaned up against the chain link fence at the park entrance. Her thumbs hooked through the belt loops on her jeans.

“Afternoon” Elliot smiled, confused.

“Yeah, your wife said I could find you here.” The redhead smiled.

“Dickie, Elizabeth, this is Ms. Novak. We work together.” He tussled his children’s hair and introduced them to his friend.

“You guys look like a couple of pros out there,” she approached the detective and the twins on the blacktop.

“Yeah, so go practice, and no hogging the ball.” He tossed them the ball as he and Casey stepped off to the side, “Let me guess, you just happened to find yourself on the ass end of Queens?”

“Michelle Osborne trial prep. I need a reality check.” She nodded, looking for some time of reassurance.

“Okay for what? Wait, Kathy told you I was here? You got Kathy to tell you a female she’s never met, my location?”

She shot him a look of c’mon Elliot, I radiate non-threatening LGBT energy.

A light bulb went off in his head, “You brought Liv, didn’t you? And she’s uhm.” He motioned his finger up and down his neck.

“See I knew you’d get there.” She crinkled her nose teasingly.

“Okay so about what?” Elliot asked jumping back to the original topic.

“There’s no way to win it.” The redhead stated, hoping Elliot would either bluntly tell her she was right or help her find a work around.

“You got her cold on the evidence.” Stabler shrugged as he headed towards the fence.

Casey shook her head, “Defense has already won the jury. Once they hear about what happened to Michelle, no one’s gonna care about evidence.”

“Are you worried about losing this case?” Elliot bent down by the fence to pick up his towel. “Or are you having second thoughts.”

The ADA stopped, turning to face him. “I don’t think the law can do anyone justice in this case.”

Elliot mopped his brow, “Are you just figuring that out now?” He sat down with his back against the fence.

“Michelle gets convicted; she goes to prison.” She tried to work out the conundrum out loud, “If Michelle gets acquitted, she’ll never let go of Patty and there will be no end to this.” Her voice got somber, “Either way, somebody loses.”

“Right.” Elliot looked up at her, his voice softer than usual, “What’s the question?”

Casey thought hard, finding it hard to articulate what she was thinking. She chewed on her lip, sighed, and sat down on the ground next to him. “If you found out you had another kid out there, would you want it?” She asked Elliot with genuine curiosity.

“Damn right I would.” The detective nodded.

“So, you know why she’s obsessed.”

“It’s not an obsession,” he shook his head, “it’s a love. It’s a connection that transcends everything and anything.”

Casey studied his face, now she realized how he could be so gruff but also so good with children. He was a good father, a good man. She smiled, thankful for his friendship as she continued to listen.

“I would die for my children and nothin’ in this world that would ever change that. Ever.” Elliot beamed with pride as he spoke.

The young ADA furrowed her brow in concern, “So Michelle and Sarah will never stop fighting over Patty.” She smiled but it was a sullen smile, full of sadness.

Elliot looked down thoughtfully, took a breath and began to recite from the bible, “And King Solomon said, “Bring me a sword. Divide the living child in two. Give half to one and half to the other.”

“Except I can’t split the baby.” The redhead said, her voice low, melancholy.

Stabler grinned, imparting a small modicum of wisdom on his friend, “Solomon didn’t have to.”

Casey looked at him puzzled and then it clicked, she grinned. “Thanks Elliot, I’m gonna go get Liv and make sure she hasn’t told your wife anything embarrassing about me yet.” She blushed and headed back down the street. Elliot took a sip of water and waved her off and then headed back to the twins.

*****

The redhead stood in front of her dresser, taking her watch off and placing it in her jewelry box, “I don’t think I can do this.” She sighed.

Liv could hear the stress in her voice, “What do you mean, honey? I thought you and Elliot came up with a plan. He had “sage advice” you said, which I gotta say I wouldn’t expect someone to say about Elliot as much as I love him.”

Casey gave her a look, “Normally I would agree with you but in this case he was right. However, that also means I essentially have to bully a child on the witness stand. Sure, it’s for the greater good, but hasn’t she been through enough? I mean people already think I’m a bitch, I’m going to look exceptionally cruel tomorrow.”

“Hey,” Liv ran her hands down her girlfriend's arms and took her by the hands. “you’re doing what’s best for that little girl. She’ll understand one day and anyone worth their smarts will see what you’re doing. You’re going to be brilliant; you always are.” She tugged Casey closer and kissed her, “Come to bed baby, you need to rest.”

The redhead threw on one of Liv’s old PD shirts and some sleep shorts. “I hate this,” she mumbled as she turned down her side of the bed. “I feel sick.” She rubbed the moisturizer on the nightstand onto her hands and neck before climbing into bed.

Liv held out her arm for Casey to cuddle up against her, who happily snuggled in, “What if I wanted to hold you tonight?” she joked.

“Tough, come here.” The brunette kissed her girlfriends head and held her close. She ran her fingertips slowly up and down Casey’s arm and closed her eyes.

Casey couldn’t sleep. She stared at the ceiling fan for hours, her only comfort was the sound of Liv’s heartbeat and the rise and fall of her chest as she slept peacefully. She had no idea how she was going to make it through tomorrow. Before she knew it there was daylight peeking through the window.

*******

Casey looked down at the little girl in the witness box, “Patty do you see the person who took you from the museum?

“Yes” the small child pointed to Michelle, “she’s over there.”

The ADA turned to the court stenographer, “Let the record show that she’s indicated defendant Michelle Osborne.” She turned back towards Patty, “So why did you go with her, Patty?”

“She said she had to take me to my mommy.” The child fidgeted with her hands.

“Where did she take you?” The redhead asked flatly trying to keep her tone easy for Patty to understand.

“To her house. Mommy wasn’t there.” Patty said sadly.

Casey turned back towards Michelle, “Did you ask her where Mommy was?”

“Yes Michelle said she’s my real mommy. My egg mommy.” The little girl was physically upset.

“Did she tell you what that means?” The ADA continued her questioning even though she could feel the knot building in her stomach.

“She said I came out of mommy’s tummy but the egg that I came from came from her tummy.” Even though Patty was distraught it was still clear she was extremely intelligent for a six-year-old.

Casey stammered silently for a moment trying to prepare herself for what she needed to do. Her insides were twisted, she wished she had a moment to glance at Liv. She knew if she could just see her, she’d feel better and know she was doing the right thing. “What did you do while at Michelles house, Patty?

Patty shrugged, “Watched TV, played with toys.”

“Do you think Michelle is nice?” The counselor inquired.

Patty shrugged again, “She’s okay.”

The redhead leaned down to get eye level, “You know what Michelle said about being your egg mommy is true right?” Casey took a deep breath, “Your Honor?”

Judge Bradley looked at the small child sympathetically, “Please answer the question, Patty.”

“No! It’s not true.” The little girl began to sob.

“Yes, it is Patty.” Casey’s voice had now become stern, confrontational. Come on Novak, don’t lose it, DO NOT throw up.

“Michelle’s not my mommy!” Patty sobbed, sweet innocent tears, breaking Casey’s heart.

“You came from her egg, that is true.” The ADA corrected, almost fussing.

Michelle looked towards Sarah Branson, tears welling in her eyes.

“I want to go now.” Patty cried, big tears rolling down her face.

“No, you can’t until we’re finished!” Casey scolded. She needed this to be over before she tossed her cookies. Sarah Branson began weeping from the gallery.

“I don’t want to go with Michelle.” The little girl continued to sob.

Emmet slammed her hand on the defense table. “Your honor she’s just a little girl!”

“Is this line of questioning really necessary?” Judge Bradley empathized.

“Patty, do you understand?” Casey pushed, she hated herself for this.

Patty was in hysterics at this point, “I don’t want to go with Michelle!”

“You don’t have to Patty—Not yet.” The redhead’s volume was elevated, her voice echoing throughout the courtroom.

“I want my mommy and daddy!” Patty shouted.

“No, you have to stay here!” The ADA remained stern.

Patty turned towards Michelle, “Please! Don’t take me away, please!”

Michelle stood up and shouted, “Stop! Just stop it.”

“Sit down!” The judge ordered Michelle.

“Patty I’m sorry,” Michelle wept, struggling to get words out, “I won’t ever bother you again.”

Patty ran to her parents, Casey stayed facing the witness stand breathing a silent sigh of relief that her and Elliot’s plan worked.

Michelle pleaded with the judge, “Ill please guilty if that’s what it takes. Just leave Patty alone.”

Casey closed her eyes, trying not to let the emotion leak out of her face till she got out of the courtroom. As soon as everyone one was adjourned the ADA made a dash for the bathroom. The room was spinning but she tried to splash some water on her face and take some deep breaths. She heard the door creak open, but she couldn’t even look up from the sink to see it was Liv. The brunette rushed and grabbed her from the side, she turned into her.

“Hey, hey baby I got you. It’s okay, you did great. Patty gets to go home with her parents. You did it babe. Shhh, shhh” Liv cooed softly trying to calm Casey down who was actively hyperventilating. “Hey Case, Case listen, match my breathing. Deep breaths.”

The redhead did her best to time her breathing to match Olivia’s until she was calm again. She squeezed herself tight against Liv. “Thank you for being here.”

“I’ll be here for you whenever you need me.” The detective held Casey’s head tight against her chest.

“Well then you’ll just have to always be here.” The ADA chuckled.

They walked to the squad room, Casey putting her briefcase down and handing a file to Elliot. “Michelle plead out to custodial interference. Her sentence was set aside, and she said she was going to move out of state because it was too hard to be around Patty.”

Elliot gave Casey a half smile and a knowing nod, “She did the right thing, loving her enough to let her go. I knew you’d figure it out.”

Casey nudged Elliot.

�� Cragen shook his head, “The damage is already done. That little girl's relationship with her parents will never be the same now that everyone knows the truth.”

Casey sighed in agreement, “Law has to catch up with technology. When Patty’s 18 she has the right to make her own choice on whether or not she wants to contact Michelle, like in an open adoption.”

Liv came around to meet everyone, “I finished the audit on Dr Norton’s clinic, turns out Michelle had sixteen embryos, ten of which were implanted in other women.”

“How many live births?” Elliot asked quietly.

“Besides Patty, Michelle has two daughters and a son out there.”

Casey hung her head, they may have put a band aid over this, but it was far from solved. She stretched her neck to the side, Liv was quiet.

Casey walked up and leaned against her side, looping her arm through her girlfriends, while the squad knew they still had to be careful about holding hands at the precinct. “Hey, what do you say we get a big bottle of wine and go back to my place. It’s been a day.”

Liv looked up “That sounds perfect.”

They started for the exit, “I still owe you that massage.” Casey smirked.

“You can give it to me while your body’s wrapped around me in that big bathtub you’re always bragging about.” Liv lightly hip checked her girlfriend.

Cragen looked at Elliot, “Do…do they think we can’t hear them?” he raised his brows.

“Captain, I think,” he paused, “when those two look at each other, they forget we exist.” Stabler folded his arms as he and Cragen watched them walk out the door.

#casey novak #olivia benson #casey novak x olivia benson #casey novak smut #olivia benson smut #casey novak angst #olivia benson angst #svu #casey novak fanfic #law and order svu #lgbtqia #wlw fanfic #wlw smut

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storiesofsvu · 4 years ago

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5,9,32!

5. What fanfic of yours should everyone have read?

CENSURED! (Casey x reader). It’s like my lil baby. I don’t know why i love it so much, it’s got such a good balance of smut, fluff, a bff/work partner of Carisi who’s obvi the most supporting friend ever, a CHAOTIC relationship with Aunt/(low key step mom) Rita, a teeny bit of angst and surprisingly a lot of my personal life?? Like, some of it was planned and some of it snuck its way in there without me even realizing it.

Otherwise I’d say Hidden Desires, cause it covers questioning sexuality, suuuuuper smutty scenes, absolute fucking heartbreak, trying to get over it, getting over it and then the conclusion when Alex “comes back from the dead”.

And Her Everything series, again, it covers a lot, I mean, it literally spans 10 years, but it has some smut, some adorable fluff, a lot of episode related shit, and then the angst of Barba leaving and him returning 4 years later to find out he has a kid. Barba’s such a complex character already that I do love writing more series style stuff for him and this gave me that opportunity.

9. What are your favourite fanfics?

Aw man. There’s SO MANY that I’ve read that are absolutely amazing that I don’t have bookmarked/couldn’t even tell you the usernames. @ghostwritingcabenson has some INCREDIBLE stuff that I absolutely adore, @aries-rising-on-an-aquarius-tide series Evocations is BEAUTIFULLY written and delves into Cabenson so amazingly well. @littlelemonkey has a Calex fic that I am OBSESSED with, like the slow burn??? The power they hold to be able to do it so well, like, holy hell i can make it like, 3 chapters before the slow burn is over lol. There’s another ao3 author who I can’t remember the name of who writes a lot of Rita/Amanda and it’s a ship i wasn’t into at first, but like, damn. And of course there’s a million other one shots/fics out there that I just can’t fucking remember, or remember exactly who wrote them cause it was a time when I’d first gotten back into tumblr and into the fandom and wasn’t mutuals with people yet. I legit have so many Masterlists bookmarked to re-read stuff now lolol

32. Past or present tense?

Present? (How bad is it that i had to google that to double check lolololol. To think i was once in IB English....) 😂

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jflashandclash · 7 years ago

Text

Uncomfortable Crossings

Author’s Note:

I had a request over half a year ago for Calex to interact with a certain goddess. It is shameful that it took me so long to write this! I hope you enjoy despite the wait!

This takes place a year after the series’ last book, Fall of the Sun. This is based off the original ending, which has—since then—mostly changed. Mostly XD So… sort of spoilers?

Book IV’s chapter one (Will: A Stroll Through the Dark) should be released in the next week or two!) In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this short story about Calex :D

Each time Calex kicked, the football slammed directly into the goal post.

Fortunately, there was no one occupying the field to see it. That’s why he preferred the field behind the Roman hypocaust. There was a car park for tourists on holiday and for the few museum staff with cars. But most locals preferred the scenic view by the lake or the fields by the ruins of the wall around the ancient Roman city of Verulamium. The hypocaust could seem a bit dull compared to the lovely sprawl around the rest of the park.

Most of the emptiness was due to the weather. The temperature reached a record high of 31 degrees with 100% humidity. For most of Calex’s mates, this was enough to turn them into jelly puddles inside their flats, but Calex used to holiday in Liberia and had spent the last year in New York. Normally, he’d drag them out, whining and acting like babies, but he wanted to be alone today.

That’s why he was utterly shocked when his ball bounced off the goal post, popped over his shoulder, then shot straight back towards the goal from behind him.

And missed wildly.

Calex watched his ball fly into the field at least fifty meters away. Calex blinked, wondering if a professional footballer had been airlifted into the field without him hearing the helicopter and if that professional was bolluxed out of their mind.

“Oh! Sorry! Here, use my ball while I go grab that,” someone said behind him.

“Um, it’s alright—” Calex turned to see the blur go past. He doubted the girl was as fast as he was, but she was certainly fast. As she darted after the ball, he saw her beautiful locks trail behind her. Something felt off about her gait—like her steps took too long to land on the ground.

Odd, but, after learning he was a demigod, his life had been nothing but odd.

She wore a blue and white jersey, one he should recognize. The name across the back said Karagounis in what Calex quickly recognized as Greek.

He jogged after.

Calex was in no mood to be polite or have a chat. At least she wasn’t attracted to him. The knowledge wasn’t anything self-degrading—Calex knew lots of girls fancied his looks. He was a son of Eros and knowing people’s desires came with the territory.

When she reached the ball and turned to dribble back—long dribbles with little control—Calex felt himself gasp and stagger to a stop, feeling both shallow and self-centered about the previous thought.

The woman was lovelier than anyone he had ever seen. That was a grand thing, considering his grandmother was Aphrodite and he stayed with her children, his aunts and uncles, last year. He knew lovely.

She was maybe ten years older than him, in her mid-twenties, but the age made her more brilliant, like she’d suffered and aged but managed to retain her youth and merriment.

Her hair was long and waved loosely from a mix of plaits in her ponytail. The color was indescribable. At first, he thought it was like his mate, Kally, a strawberry blonde. This was darker, a subtlest cross between red, blonde, brunette, with natural highlights and lowlights from all three. Her skin had a gorgeous glow to it, not quite UK pale, but pale with a hue that cued Calex to her ability to tan.

Her face was perfect.

He didn’t think that with any exaggeration. It was perfect.

If Calex was at Camp Half-Blood, or by Mt. Olympus, he would have dropped right there to genuflect to a goddess. However, in the middle of St. Albans on a Tuesday, she might think it a bit odd or mental if he gave her the “all powerful” treatment in a football field, especially if she was just some poor women off the street who happened to practice beside a crazy demigod.

“Sorry. It has been a long time since I played soccer,” she said as she evened with him. Her English was perfect with the slightest hint of a Greek accent.

“Not a problem,” Calex said.

She smiled in relief.

He recognized that glint of relief and knew it was good he hadn’t dropped into an old fashioned grovel.

There were times he had felt insecure when he entered a room, knowing everyone’s eyes were on him, and expecting him to be perfect because his father’s DNA made him look like he should be. Most of his mates in Britain could make jokes out of it, but, in America, he was uncomfortable when someone asked if he’d been in a magazine or some obscure BBC show, or when someone would point out, “Oh… you’re African American—”

“British, actually”

“—well, yea, but you’re black and you have light eyes.”

Something about her look told him she felt something similar, a sense of humiliation due to the inability to avoid unwanted attention.[1]

Calex swore, regardless of whether or not this woman was a goddess, that he’d treat her like a normal mortal.

“That was an alright kick, Greece,” he said, “You’re sure to nail the net next time.”

Her eyes were amber with flecks of blue and green. They were vibrant, like the rest of her. “I don’t mind failing…” She glanced at the jersey his cousin had bought for him. “Arsenal. Failing is half the reward of trying. How fulfilling would life be if you attained things instantly?”

Calex thought about how he had failed to save his mum and brother from Thanatos, how Joey had died, and what had happened to Axel, Pax, and Euna after everything they’d gone through. “Reward” was an odd little word for it. His fist shook. He remembered the anger and dreariness that he’d come out here to ignore and that her beauty had temporarily disrupted.

This woman definitely couldn’t be from around here if she was that much of an optimist. One look at Israel and you wouldn’t hear their prime minister saying, “Oooo! Sorry about that. Let’s try that again!”

“Some things you can only fail once,” he said.

His ball thumped gently into his foot.

His head was light and ached. He felt like such rubbish that he didn’t want to look at her again.

“Pass the ball with me,” she said. “We’ll make a wager. If I lose, then I’ll concede that you’re right. If I win, then you’ll show me around St. Albans.”

Calex had too many wagers in his life already, particularly ones involving a lot of death or undeath situations. While, in technical terms, his friends from Camp Half-Blood would call him a “lucky son of a respectable man since we would never say anything to upset Calex’s papi,” he wasn’t sure he wanted to bet his luck any further.

“What’s the wager?” he asked.

“I need to get the ball from you,” she said.

Calex felt himself give a heartfelt laugh. “Not bloody likely.”

“Then you have nothing to lose,” she said. “You’re already practicing, foolishly suffering from dehydration, and determined to hit the goal post instead of the net. So you might be better off reminding someone who is rusty how it’s done.”

Calex wouldn’t admit it if asked, but he had fun. This woman—Greece as he’d taken to calling her—had a contagious laugh, had no problem giggling over her own mistakes and making him chuckle at his own, was curious about every aspect of the game, listened to him talk about Arsenal for longer than the Queen could sit at a ceremony, and would excitedly interject with stories of her own. It was like everything was an adventure to her, every experience was fun.

Calex felt like he’d lost that since he’d come back to Hertfordshire and left his friends in New York.

She’d chided him into drinking some water. Like her beauty, her vivacity had shaken him out of his angst. Something about her put him at ease and felt familiar, like the coolest aunt he’d forgotten from childhood. Enough so that, when he was dribbling to their stuff to get another sip of water, he didn’t register what she was doing when she jumped in front of him, forcing him to stop short or knock her over.

Calex stumbled to a stop.

She turned and gave him a huge grin. “I got the ball from you.”

“That doesn’t’ count,” he said.

“It does.” She crunched her face up playfully. The more they interacted and the more he treated her like a typical bloke off the trolley, the more she’d relaxed into this playful, excited demeanor. “It does because you want to show me around. Come along. I’ll treat you to lunch.”

They walked around the town. Calex showed her the stuff tourists usually hyped over: the Cathedral—at which she demanded they make a quick sacrifice to honor the cathedral’s god, something Calex found profoundly baffling[2]—the rest of the park, the clock tower, and some of the nurseries. He was relieved she didn’t ask to go into Verulamium’s museum, the place he felt like he knew better than his own home and whose staff he wanted to punch at that moment.

After winding through the streets full of people exhausted from the heat, they ended up in Café Rouge, a posh French restaurant that Tiwa had liked. When he stepped in, looking at the checkered red-and-clear stained windows, his stomach dropped.

When his mum was exhausted after a shift at the hospital, he remembered her coming here, sitting in the corner booth with the red velvet cloth, and ordering a tea and a chicken club croque. During summer holiday, when they weren’t at her clinic in Kakata, he would come here to meet up with her, Tom, Gretchen, and Winston when he could.

The glass paneled roof made this place look and feel like a botanical garden, too hot, too humid, and on display for the gods to watch.

Calex wished he hadn’t come here.

Their usual waitress, Amelia, immediately recognized him and gave him a shy smile. He hadn’t seen her in almost a year.

Although Calex had led them here without thinking, he turned to leave with a cough and a wave of parting.

“There’s a good table in the center,” Greece suggested. She took Calex’s arm, like he was the one escorting her, and led him over to the table. She gestured at one of the two-seaters that was in a line of empty two-seaters and Amelia nodded.

“Um—” Calex started.

She sat down and Amelia hopped over faster than he could whisper, “I’ve been abducted by a beautiful woman, help!”

“What would you like to drink?” Amelia asked.

“Surprise me,” Greece said. She clasped her hands together, smiling at the tiny brunette. “And I mean it. Any price, any style, form mocktails to fiz. If you want, flip a coin between you and the other waitress and bring me out the favorite drink of whoever gets heads.”

Amelia paused in writing something down to blink at Greece. Normally, he guessed Amelia would think Greece mental, but Calex assumed Amelia struggled with the same problem that he was: Greece’s contagious smile, her natural confidence, and startlingly genuine excitement that made him want to trust her. Normally, such cheer would make him think she was mad and here to rob him, the restaurant, the city, and likely the country of all of her goods. But, for some inexplicable reason, Greece’s demeanor kept putting him at ease and made him feel like this was the right time and place for all things to exist.

“The usual for you then?” Amelia asked Calex.

He nodded and smiled. “Thanks, Amelia.”

She blushed. “It’s good to have you back,” she said. For a split second, Calex realized she’d thought about him without his trousers on.

He cleared his throat, something he hoped she mistook for embarrassment at the comment.

Amelia walked away.

Greece watched their interaction with amusement. “So, is it romantic love or familial that’s the problem?” she asked, leaning forward a little.

Calex must have heard her wrong. “Excuse me?”

“Something has been bothering you all day,” she said.

They went silent for a moment when Amelia brought them their drinks and took their orders.

“Same? Surprise and usual?” Amelia asked, pointing her pen to each of them in turn.

Both nodded.

Calex tried to ignore that Amelia was systematically undressing him in her mind. Some days, he could ignore things like that. Today, he was struggling not to “listen in” on other people’s wants.

She walked away and Calex tucked his scarf against his neck.

“You’re quite presumptuous, aren’t you?” he asked while he sipped his tomato juice. He didn’t like the drink anymore and would have rather a Hoegaarden, but he hadn’t the heart to change things up on Amelia or find out what article of clothing would come off next time in her mind cinema. He would order it when she brought the food and would hope that each of his socks counted as separate pieces of clothing in her game.

“You’re seventeen.” Greece shrugged.

Calex frowned. He had to wonder if she knew it was his birthday or if she’d gotten a lucky guess on his age. Her question made his mind wander to what had upset him that morning.

She shrugged. “And, it’s summer break, so you’re not worried about revision for A levels or entering sixth form.”

Calex examined her wearily. Out of his new friends, only Axel and—dare he call him a friend?—Pax had known anything about his school system. Apparently the structure was similar in Belize. But was it in Greece? Was she actually from Greece?

“Who am I going to tell?” she asked, mistaking the source of his growing suspicion.

Typically, an innate sense of trust made him want to distrust people more, like they were looking to gain something. He felt a part of his heart give though. This woman gave him such an irrational sense of livelihood, of wanting to experience the world, and chat about the things he loved and scream about the things he hated, it made him lightheaded. And, had she not come by that morning, he’d have likely finished at the fields, and then locked himself in his room all day.

“There is a girl,” he found himself saying.

Greece gave him a lovely smile. “What is she like?”

“She’s…” He thought about the times Merry had publically humiliated him. “Merciless. Yea, merciless. That one is.”

Greece laughed, a fantastic sound. “And here I was, expecting ‘beautiful’ or ‘intelligent.’”

“Oh, she is. Quite good at making me laugh too.” He marveled over how well Merry could store information in her head and use it to outwit others—whether monsters or crude blokes—and, how she could make guesses about future events in Camp Half-Blood, mostly involving people’s dating lives. He pictured Merry’s dark eyes contrasted with her honey skin and the curves of her body. She looked like a Victoria Secret model with a hardy appetite, and Calex wouldn’t change a single thing about her brain or her physique. Well… except…

“She’s quite alright,” he said.

“And..?” Greece asked.

Calex sighed. He lifted up his drink and set it on the table. What he would change…

“She isn’t attracted to me. At all. She isn’t attracted to anyone.”

He waited for Greece to say he couldn’t know that, a completely reasonable response for someone who didn’t know he was a son of Eros and that he could tell when shy waitresses had him on their mental tele with much less clothing, much more interest in public displays of affection, and much less respect for restaurant sanitation. Instead, Greece frowned thoughtfully, waiting for him to continue.

“I’m not sure she’ll ever find any bloke physically attractive.” Calex remembered all the times she’d make flirtatious comments about people’s bodies, like empty reverberations of gossip she’d heard. She never felt it. She would just say it to make people laugh or to contribute to a conversation. And, Calex feared, to feel normal.

This is where he should stop, but the words slipped out. “She said she loves me.” He remembered how she had snuggled into his chest, calling him her sweet, sexy teddy bear. But, he couldn’t read emotional love. That was Piper’s, his aunt’s, territory. Merry’s confession had taken him by dumbfounded surprise, since those words were typically preluded by some sort of physical attraction.

“That made it worse. I want… I want an all-inclusive relationship. It wouldn’t need to be immediate. I would wait however long she wanted and we could talk through everything. But that’s assuming Merry would ever want that. What if she never wants it? Nothing says she needs to nor should she ever feel pressured if it’s not something she’s interested in…”

There was no better way for him to explain it. He knew, physically, how to properly take care of everyone he got close to. That’s why people would come to him for advice, like the time Axel had, shaking with embarrassment, asked about one of his dates with Reyna, and the time Kally had timidly asked some generic questions on how things worked when you’re copping off.[3]

Even if Calex didn’t want to know, the sense of what everyone wanted was in a neat queue, waiting for use by him or as advice for others. He knew what to do at any time to really get their engines roaring. But, he didn’t with Merry. It was a blank slate. Everyone else had a rolling instruction manual that he could access in a split second. But, he didn’t want them. He didn’t care about those instruction manuals. He wanted to show Merry how much he appreciated her in the way his godly heritage had given him the unquestionable advantage, but… he couldn’t. She was the only reason he could guess why other blokes were so nervous interacting sexually. Typically, he was full of the confidence of knowing. Not with Merry. Not when she didn’t want to get physically intimate with anyone and nothing he knew of could spike any sense of desire.

He didn’t know how to explain any of that without coming across as a total creep.

“I know that’s selfish,” he said instead. “It’s not that I wouldn’t mind waiting. If I knew, in a few years…” There was no acceptable way to end that line of dialogue with a stranger, or—really—with anyone.

“No…” Greece frowned and Calex was ready for a proper (and well earned with how much of a dodgy perv he sounded) feminist lashing. “Calex, that isn’t selfish.”

Calex blinked. “Yes, it is.”

She laughed. “No, it isn’t. That’s a compatibility conflict. And, for someone like you, that is a serious compatibility conflict. From the way you’re talking and the way you are, I know you’re not seeking your own sexual gratification. How many times would you pleasure Merry without getting any reciprocation and even noticing or caring that you hadn’t?”

“Hundreds, if not thousands,” he said reflexively.

When he realized that those were real words that came out of his mouth, he glanced around, to make sure Amelia hadn’t heard to use that for her mental tele. Calex took a long sip of tomato juice, desperately wishing he had Merry’s power to turn it into something a bit stronger. His mind sprinted through excuses as to why he would need to leave this table in a hurry, and wondered if this woman would believe him if he said he had an appointment to slog Boris Johnson in the face.[4]

Greece, however, acted like this question was a typical Tuesday question. “Probably the same number of times Merry would help you study for an exam without ever feeling like you owed her a favor.”

Calex felt like they’d just been chatting about a meat eater repeatedly offering a vegetarian an endless chicken supply, and that Greece had brought up the time the vegetarian offered the meat eater an endless supply of slinkies. Calex wasn’t sure if Greece just had a time lapse or if she was just stark raving mad.

She confused Calex enough to make him say, “But, I don’t care about revision for my exams.”

“That’s my point. You express your love differently, in different languages, and don’t have any common communication ground, beyond the enjoyment of each other’s presence.” She sipped her sparkling drink and grinned. “Ah! Fizz la Poire! What a nice combo.”

Calex wished it would be as simple as she’d suggested. “So, you’re telling me to pull a girl by studying with her? That’s the secret to the Merry Snog: a good math textbook.”

Merry, he realized, would fancy that official title quite a bit.

Greece shook her head. “You’re missing the point. The studying is the snog to her.”

“I’m not sure I follow you.”

Greece laughed lightly. “You’re just like your father.”

Calex almost choked on his next sip of the thick juice. “Excuse me?” His suspicion came back to hit him like a power kick from Alexis Sanchez.[5]

She shook her head in pleasant amusement. “You need to consider what is important to the two of you and where you can both compromise. Can you be in a relationship where you both feel unloved because you don’t understand each other’s methods of expressing love? You both might feel more fulfilled with someone who naturally expresses their affection in a way you appreciate and understand. Then you both won’t feel guilty for expecting something that isn’t there or holding the other back. The guilt you’re feeling about wanting to spend time with Merry in a particular way and knowing she wouldn’t want that—have you considered that she feels the same guilt for a different unfulfilled want?”

“I hardly think that’s an appropriate comparison,” Calex said. He mentally toured through the various times Merry had offered to study with him, help him with his homework, or look through summer job applications. Kally, Merry’s best friend, had explained that Merry was mental over keeping a 4.0. The queasiness in Calex’s stomach told him Greece was right. Merry showed her affection to her mum and brother, Nikhil, by helping them with school and work. Had he been a total idiot? But having someone study with you when they were bored of it and having them snog you when they were bored of it were two very different things.

Greece smiled. “It’s closer than you’re allowing yourself to think. You two might be better off with someone more compatible. Couples can make it work when they don’t express love the same way or click immediately. I wasn’t enthralled with my husband when we first met, but, in no time, I want to Tartarus and back again for him.”

She touched her shoulder, her eyes glassy with a memory. They warmed back to the present. “Times are different now. You can’t start your relationship by kidnapping your princess. Back to your modern scenario, you could sit there and study with her, despite not caring about the studying at all, and she could—”

“No,” Calex said firmly, checking goddess on his internal description of this woman. “She’s… she’s offered to try. But, I can’t even kiss her when I know she’s not interested in kissing. Even if her reaction is disinterest instead of dislike, what’s the point if she’s not enjoying herself?”

“And that, ‘What’s the point?’ is how she feels about any of the ways she wants to express her emotion. That’s why I was going to say, you could push through it, but I’m not sure it would be healthy for either of you right now. Maybe later, but not now. And I certainly don’t think either of you will be able to happily live life, enjoy it, and experience it, and potentially other people, if you leave the situation in limbo.”

Calex frowned. He thought about Merry’s smile when she knew she’d cornered someone with blackmail or the way she’d tease him by bumping against him on “accident.”

“That’s not the uplifting, encouraging speech I was expecting,” he admitted.

She shrugged. “I’m not going to encourage you to do something that will hold you back from expressing yourself the way you most enjoy. And I won’t say you should do something that will prevent you from living life in a way that’s important to you. If you’re anything like your father, you’ve quite an appetite, and it would make you miserable to suppress it.”

Calex sat there, stunned.

No one would ever say that about Winston.

Had she really—? There was no way. No one in their polite, right mind—

“Oh gods, you’re Psyche,” he said. He had to set his tomato juice down to balance himself against the table. “Oh gods. You just said that about my dad. Please don’t ever, ever, EVER refer to his appetite—or—or refer to you two—augh—shagging ever again.”

Psyche released a beautiful, heartfelt laugh. “For being a son of Eros, you’re incredibly uncomfortable with these discussions. Your sister, Hedone, is very forward about this type of thing.”

“I’m awkward and British!” Calex cried. “I’m not absolutely mental like you Greek gods!”

Maybe Calex shouldn’t have been mouthing off to a goddess, specifically not his step-mother, but this was a bit to take in.

“And—and why are you even here? Aren’t you supposed to think… rather unpleasantly of me?” All the stories he’d heard of gods meeting their step children didn’t end with fairies and sunshine and the god or goddess crying, “There’s my favorite proof of adultery!”

Her smile softened. “Calex, Eros and I have been together for thousands of years. Every couple hundred years, one of us will meet someone as remarkable as your mother. Then, we discuss it and have our agreements. It would be ridiculous for me to hate someone Eros loves so much, especially someone who has grown into an impressive young man. I’ve wanted to meet you, but this is the first birthday you really knew who you were.”

A sick taste hit his mouth. The hopelessness and dreariness of the morning threatened to overtake him again. A lot had changed since his last birthday.

“Your father is going to drop by later today,” she said. “He had to do a favor for your grandmother so she doesn’t notice the two of us here with you.”

Calex wasn’t worried about his father. Compared to other half-bloods, he saw his dad a lot. Over the last year, Eros had not been shy with gifts or advice.

That wasn’t what was unsettling Calex. “Did you know Tiwa?” he asked quietly.

Tiwa didn’t strike Calex as someone capable of being a mistress. He could imagine his mum marching up to Psyche as soon as she discovered Eros was married. And he certainly couldn’t think she would be like Mrs. Blythe, Merry’s mother who was… intimate with both Ariadne and Dionysus. Definitely filing that into Things He Never Wanted to Know.[6]

“I mostly knew of her,” Psyche said. She leaned back into her chair. The sunrays beaming through the glass ceiling hit her back; Calex’s eyes widened when he saw an array of color flowering around her chair and sweeping by her feet: wings. Butterfly wings. The Mist must have coated them before, but the brilliant colors shimmered like a stained glass frame for her hair. Like everything else about her, they were vibrant to the point of breathtaking. “We met over tea a few times. She was… fearless despite the fact that she knew I was a goddess. She wanted to make sure everyone knew exactly what was happening between the three of us. She didn’t trust Eros acting as a messenger.”

“She always liked to make sure things were done correctly,” Calex said.

Psyche laughed. “That’s a generous understatement.”

Staring at the colors of Psyche’s wings, he could picture his mum’s soft face, whether in a smile to appreciate a witty joke or a terrifying scowl to ridicule Calex for some act of stupidity. Calex swallowed. That horrible emptiness from this morning seeped into his system.

He told himself not to—that he didn’t want to talk about it. Still, the words came out of his mouth. “I used to resent going to mum’s clinic in Kakata every holiday. I often had to spend my birthday there, with Tom and Mum, while my mates were off in Playa Del Ingles, Saint-Tropez, or some other posh beach.”

Now, Calex wished he could be there. He wished he could have woken up this morning to his great granddad poking him and his brother with a walking cane while muttering a cryptic, Liberian aphorism. Then he and Tom, whining and complaining about the heat, would escort Mum to her clinic for a day of hard labor.

Now, when it came to his mum and brother, some days were better than others. He could sometimes laugh with Winston about something Tom used to do, or how hopeless they both were in the kitchen without Tiwa around. Other days, the house was quiet and cold without the buoyant conversation about Tiwa’s nightshift or Tom’s football match. Most of the time, Gretchen ran out with her mates, and Calex and Winston were working.

Today, Calex felt numb.

“Chiron said I could stay at Camp Half-Blood this summer, but Winston needs me here. He can barely afford the flat’s rent without Tiwa’s helping to pay. We might need to move. That’s one of the reasons I was so mad at Marie—the museum head—for forcing me to take the day off. I don’t care that it’s my birthday. They never cared about stuff like that before.”

He shrugged. “But… but this is my first birthday without my mum or brother. Gretchen won’t talk to me much. She hasn’t since… since I survived and the others didn’t.”

His little sister worried him and Winston, but he didn’t feel like there was much he could do. It felt like… felt like she blamed him for living, like it was his fault that their home had fallen apart.

Psyche didn’t say anything. She reached across the table and gently set a hand atop his. Over the last year, he’d become more accustomed to brash touching—Pax and Kally made sure to that. This was different. Something about her touch—she understood loss. Calex wondered how many lovers and children Psyche watched succumb to old age or sudden tragedy.

They sat in silence for a moment.

“Mum would scold me for dwelling on it so much. Tom would have hit me and told me I was being a twat. Especially on my birthday…” Calex laughed softly.

“Calex, you need to let yourself feel without getting mad about the feelings.” She squeezed his hand.

Calex glanced at her blue and white jersey, now shimmering into a sleeveless, short chiton, her glossy wings and hair, her sweet face and warm eyes. If she hadn’t met him at the football field, he would have kept to himself all day, with his phone off to ignore any contact with his mates. Gretchen would have stormed into the house without a word to him and Winston would have come home from work and collapsed in front of the tele without Tiwa to remind him of their birthdays.

Here, he was out of the flat, chatting with a goddess about his lunatic love prospects and his family. Insane, but much less bleak than he’d expected the day to go.

Calex didn’t know how to show his gratitude to Psyche.

The sadness in Psyche’s eyes made Calex squeeze her hand back. She raised her Fizz la Poir. “To living life in honor of those we miss,” she suggested.

He tilted his glass to hers. “I really need to get a different drink for toasting. I think Tom might be offended,” he said, taking a sip of his tomato juice.

They smiled.

The restaurant door opened and closed. Calex didn’t look over, but could hear some female giggles.

Now that he’d mentioned changing out his drink, Calex had to wonder where Amelia went. Normally, she was—

“There’s my favorite Teddy Bear.”

For a split second, he could see Psyche’s smile tweak with amusement. Then, the world vanished behind two perfect breasts as someone wrapped him in huge hug.

When the person withdrew, Calex found Merry beaming down at him. That green and gold, low-cut sundress wouldn’t have looked half as good on anyone other than her. Her hair was curled and Calex ached to realize this was the first time he’d seen Merry in smart dress for a party.

Glancing around Merry, he saw this was, indeed, a party. Kally gave him a huge grin and wave. She had her—and presumably Merry’s—birthday gifts under one arm. Her other arm held the unmistakable colors of her Manchester United jacket. Calex was happy the weather was too hot for her to get mugged for putting it on in the wrong town. Behind Kally, Piper and Jason entered the restaurant, glancing around the glass ceiling.

Paul, his crazy cousin, and one of their Arsenal hooligan mates stepped in after, noticed how Merry kept snug against Calex’s side and how Psyche sat across from him and gave Calex a subtle thumbs up.

“When did all of you get here?” Calex asked, baffled. He glanced at Psyche who was innocently sipping at her drink. “Did you do this?”

She shook her head. “Oh, no. I offered to get you here for lunch. That is the extent of my foreplanning.”

“This did this,” Merry said and pointed to herself. “You have a child of parties and revelry before you and you accuse someone else of orchestrating a shindig. I’m personally offended, birthday boy.”

A wave of euphoria struck Calex, and he didn’t think it was from Merry’s powers. He hadn’t seen any of them since he left America, at least a month ago. Electronics never agreed with demigods, so he struggled to properly keep in touch. Talking to his mates at home was uncomfortable. Everyone treated him different since he got back. Until Calex saw their smiling faces, he hadn’t known how much he’d missed them.

“Hi Calex!” Piper cheered. “Lacy had to pick up someone else, but she and Mitchell are looking for parking right now.”

Jason nodded. “Percy and Annabeth send their best, but they had some college-level monsters pop up.”

“We had a few ‘maybe’ responses, but the important people are here,” Kally said and punched his arm.

Out of his peripheral, he could see Amelia rush out with a pre-prepared tray of sparkling beverages. Paul and his mate, Oliver, helped her to set up some space for them.

“The most important people, Cyclops?”

Calex, Merry, Kally, Piper, Jason, and—to Calex’s alarm—Psyche, all jumped at the couple that entered the restaurant.

For a split second, Calex dropped his hand to his pencil pouch, containing Soul Pain, his bow. After a breath, he recognized the new occupant. It was someone younger and much more annoying than the person Calex had mistook the boy for. Beside the boy was someone else that Calex thought he may never ever see again.

Pax wore a familiar burgundy button-down and dress pants. His wild raven hair was combed back into a sloppy ponytail that curled and twisted. He wore his fully loaded utility belt with poisons and serums. Two revolvers hung out of his shoulder holsters and atop suspenders that were lined with darts. He winked his golden eye at Kally.

Calex had to wonder what the Mist turned all those weapons into when Pax was on the street.

Pax held his automaton hand out to escort a young woman Calex also didn’t recognize initially.

Upon examining her, Calex could tell she wasn’t wearing real clothing. The… dress? Or sometimes body suit..? The clothing she wore trembled and altered as they walked closer. The mesh itself came from intertwining leaves, vines, and flowers. Petals fell from it as she walked, leaving a trail of colors. Her feet were bare. The only solid thing that she wore was a sickle strapped across her back with a vine. Her unkempt hair was enlaced with more beautiful flowers, ones—Calex thought—he remembered being poisonous.

Her dark gaze was turned upward so she could grin at the glass ceiling.

When she met his stare, she smiled like they’d seen each other yesterday. “Hey. Nice choice in restaurant. What’s their best meal?”

“Euna?” Kally asked, covering her mouth with one hand.

Like Calex, her fingers had dropped into her messenger bag in a reflexive search for a weapon.

“Yes, a happy Euna, that looks completely normal and you should compliment her on realizing floral was in this summer,” Pax said.

Jason opened and closed his mouth, glaring at Pax suspiciously. Everyone knew the Romans had been searching for these two. Piper tugged on Jason’s hand. “It’s nice to have everyone together for Calex’s birthday, isn’t it?” she asked.

Calex could feel the calm of Piper’s tone.

“Yep,” Merry piped in. “All here to relax and party.”

Between the two of them, the tension in Jason’s arm muscles eased. Calex and Kally released their weapons. Piper tugged Jason to the side to look at a menu.

A bee flew off one of Euna’s shoulder plants as she and Pax approached Calex. She held out a hand and a root twisted down her arm to her palm. Upon resting there, something sprouted, in fast motion, and a beautiful grey and purple flower appeared. “I made you a flower,” she said. “It will alternate blooming from mid-spring to late autumn. And, as Axel would have recommended, you can use its leaves to kill your enemies. But, for real, what is the best thing on this menu?”

She set the flower into the vase on the table. All the other plants in the vase rose up to her hand, coming to full bloom.

“Lovely,” Calex said, staring at the beautiful, deadly plant, so close to where they were going to eat. “And—um—for you? Probably the Boeuf Bourguignon.” He said, fumbling to think of the most filling thing on the menu. He was so taken aback by her appearance—someone he thought he’d never see again, he felt silly giving lunch recommendations instead of giving her a hug.

She nodded, took a table, and was immediately set upon by Paul. Kally rushed over to make sure Paul didn’t unsettle the volatile daughter of Demeter. Calex had to wonder what Paul saw when he looked at Euna—a cute Korean girl in a floral dress? Someone nearly naked with… what would he think the sickle was?

Psyche’s eyes trailed Euna’s movements, proving not everyone invited knew about everyone else that could be coming. He imagined Merry “forgetting” that she’d be inviting Euna and a goddess and—if his dad showed up—a god. At least Euna either didn’t recognize Psyche or didn’t care. From their conversations that morning, Calex could also imagine Psyche coming regardless.

Pax withdrew something from a pouch on his utility belt. “She brought you a birthday gift. I bring you bribery.”

He handed Calex an envelope.

“The closest thing to a gift that a Pax boy can give when he doesn’t want to sleep with the receiver,” Merry said.

Pax tsked. “Merry, don’t jump to conclusions. I could have great interest in Calex.”

“Don’t even joke,” Calex hissed. He broke the seal. “I ought to open this now, oughtn’t I? In case there’s some sort of Morpheus powder?”

He expected it to be a drawing of weasels devouring him, as Pax had promised to make in the past.

Instead, there was a check.

For a moment of stupid belief, Calex felt his jaw drop. With as much firm denial as he’d previously felt awe, he said, “This is fake.”

Pax gave him that half-grin. “Now, really, you can’t know that until it bounces and you look like an idiot at the bank.”

Calex glared. He leaned forward. Short of excusing themselves, there was no way to keep Merry and Psyche from listening, but he had to put up the illusion of privacy. Judging from their overtly feigned ignorance and they way they lunged into a seeming personal conversation for supposed strangers, he suspected they knew exactly what was in this envelope before he’d opened it. “Pax, what dodgy thing did you do to get it and what are you getting at by pretending to offer this to me?”

“I haven’t done anything dodgy to get this,” Pax said. His fingers made a metallic clacking noise as they shuffled along his utility belt. “I was talking to your step-mom—”

“Aunt,” Psyche interrupted both their and her and Merry’s conversation. “Step-mom feels weird.”

“Auntie,” Pax corrected. “About your situation—”

Betrayal twisted Calex’s stomach. He hadn’t felt comfortable telling anyone, including Psyche, about his family’s financial situation. Now she was yapping to others? But… there was no way. He just spoke of it a few minutes ago…

“—with the whole Pax Pharmaceutical Company drugging and kidnapping you and causing you all that trauma,” Pax said flippantly.

Calex stared. “Pardon?”

“Pax Pharmaceuticals is currently going through a rebranding, but it would really hurt our image if word got out that members of the organization had done some nasty things.”

“Wait—” Calex could never forget the horrible events Pax was referencing—a year ago when Santiago Pax kidnapped all of them, drugged he and Merry, and killed Joey Song, Euna’s sister. That wasn’t where his confusion lay. “You’re actually bribing me?” he asked. Pax had been as much a traumatized victim as the rest of them.

In the bluntest answer Pax had ever said to him, the young Mayan gave him a sly smile. “Yes. Happy Bribe Day.”

“I put my hush money into a fund for Nikhil to go to university,” Merry said cheerily. “And he thought it was for us to go to Disney.”

“How cruel,” Psyche said.

Calex swallowed, staring at the check. “Psyche… you threatened to sue him?”

“Threatened is a strong word,” Pax said.

Psyche took a sip from her drink and gave him one of those dazzling smiles. Her wings fluttered.

Calex didn’t like the idea of owing this dodgy bloke a favor, even if the favor was silence. As he stared at the digits, he thought about how long this check would last them if Winston downsized their housing and they were careful. The money he made from his summer job could go towards plane tickets to visit his mates in America and, like how Merry was using hers, maybe go into a college fund for Gretchen. And, if they accepted it, at least then he’d know any money Gretchen made would go towards new clothing instead of rent.

“I’m thinking about using Kally’s money to take her on some surprise vacations,” Pax said.

Merry clucked her tongue. “Using hush money from a kidnapping to fund further kidnappings. Pax, you naughty one.”

“Oh!” He snapped his fingers, fishing out another envelope. “Wait—Calex, this is more important. Here is your birthday gift.”

After the first envelope’s content, Calex was worried. He tore it open to look inside, wondering if he should wait until later—

And found a depiction of a colossal weasel attacking Big Ben with what Calex could only assume was a stick-figure version of himself hanging out of the animal’s mouth.

He wanted to express to Pax how much he hated him, but couldn’t rectify that with the weird need to give the boy a hug.

Instead, Calex took something out of Axel’s old book of Etiquette in the Face of Pax and simply sighed, deciding to worry over the check later and enjoy the party.

Although the odd intermixing of groups was a right mess, Calex had a fantastic time. He enjoyed watching Paul and Oliver fawn hopelessly over Euna, Psyche, and Kally, watching Kally and Paul argue over football, and watching Psyche awkwardly dodge around Pax’s audacious humor. Poor Kally didn’t know what to do when Pax turned on his charm full blast.

Calex had to wonder what his mates would say if Eros really did show up. Others had said they could see the resemblance between the two of them. Would Paul and Oliver lose their minds to hear about Calex’s biological dad?

All that faded away though when the best birthday present possible walked into the restaurant. Calex was in mid-laugh, watching Pax snark one of the fizzy drinks up his nose when he saw Lacy and Mitchell—children of Aphrodite that he’d shared a cabin with last year—step inside. Behind them, the lanky, nervous figure of Winston came through, babbling about being late. Lastly, there were four teenage girls.

Three of them were people he hadn’t really seen much since they moved to St. Albans from their tiny flat in London when Calex was very young. One, a teenage girl with black-streaked blonde hair and punk clothing, winked at him, and he knew he would have to pretend he hadn’t seen her within the last year.

Lastly, came a beautiful girl with frizzy black hair, caramel eyes, and a deep tan. She wore punk clothing that ought to have died a decade earlier, though Calex was certain she’d gotten them from the blonde. Calex had to marvel over how the fierceness in Gretchen’s eyes reminded him of Tiwa’s.

They roamed inside as though their presence had nothing to do with the party—except that two of the girls, Liz and Emma if he remembered properly, where giggling and gasping at Calex’s presence. Gretchen always hated it when her friends got crushes on him.

On their way to a booth in the corner, the blonde nudged Gretchen’s arm and whispered to her. “Come onnn, Gretch. Your brother isn’t half as annoying as mine.”

Gretchen sighed, jammed her hands into her pockets, and glared at Calex. “Happy birthday or whatever,” she said.

Those were the first words she had said to him in weeks.

Calex knew she’d be furious if made a deal out of it.

Before he could bollocks the situation, she and her friends continued to the booth, away from the rest of them. Calex smiled after them, tuning out the noise from the other party guests. Although he still missed his mum and brother, everything felt… lighter…

When Calex brought his attention back to Pax’s antics, Psyche caught his eye and tilted her glass towards him.

Calex tilted his—now a proper pint—back towards her. She was right. He still needed to find a way to thank her, Merry, and Gretchen for making this day a brilliant one. For now, he decided he would keep true to their toasting, and live life to the fullest in honor of those he missed.

Footnotes:

[1] Calex would CRINGE at how full of himself this makes him sound. He would like to apologize and offer Pax shirts to all.

[2] Pike’s betaediting comment: “We slaughtered an ox right quick to honor God, no big deal, a little off, I suppose, but not any weirder than anything those hooligans get to after the World Cup.”

[3] Much to Calex’s irritation and frustration at which people she looks at as love interests.

[4] British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs

[5] Forward for Arsenal. Ehem. Until Manchester United, Kally’s favorite team, swiped him in 2018. However, in this book series’ timeline, Alexis would have just started his Arsenal career. Can you imagine the look of horror on Calex’s face when he found out one of Arsenal’s best players was being transferred to Kally’s team?

[6] Mel suggests a quick dip in the River Lithe. Supposedly cures that RIGHT up.

Thank you for the read! And thanks for the request from anon!

#Traitors of Olympus #Short story #PJO #Percy Jackson and the Olympians #Heroes of Olympus #HOO #fanfiction #OC #Calex Rupin McKenzie #Psyche #Jason #Piper #Pax #Euna #Kally #Merry #Sadie (spot the sadie!)#Sorry I disappeared for so long!#Should be back to full gear in about a week or two!

5 notes · View notes

maximoffcarter · 6 months ago

Text

We can't be friends.

Pairings: Casey Novak x reader.

Summary: Casey Novak's girlfriend seemed to be the perfect one after college, but focusing fully on her job was not exactly helpful to her love life. After years, she comes to find her past lover again, only this time...things had changed.

A/n: Surpriiiiise✨ This was requested by an anon a looong time ago when I said you guys could request song fics, and I am truly sorry haha🥴 Most of the requests I have are old, so bear with me, promise I'm getting all requests. And yes...this is angst. No second part I'm afraid🥲 But fluff will come...eventually. And I promise that more Calex, more Alex, and more Casey are coming soon. I'll try to finish the requests I have, and hopefully there will be more to come. Hope you guys enjoy this, leave comments, hearts, whatever you like and reblog so this gets some love🫶🏻

*not my gif*

It all started like the perfect love story; Casey and y/n met at the coffee shop where Casey was working at the time. It had been an accident, Casey running into y/n and almost throwing the coffee she had in hands, and to apologize, Casey invited her a coffee and that’s where the spark began. Y/n thought it was cute how Casey had done everything to apologize even if she had done nothing, after all and after rethinking of their incident, y/n figured out it had actually been her fault, but neither said a thing, because both of them actually enjoyed talking toe ach other, and that’s where it all began. Weeks later, they had created a routine where y/n would show up and study while she waited for Casey to finish her shift, then both of them would spend the whole afternoon together until it was time to go separate ways. In y/n’s mind, Casey was the perfect person, the girl of her dreams; she was sweet, she was cute, she was kind, she was beautiful, she was smart, she was not afraid to be who she was.

Their relationship started after a few dates and a night of drinks where both of them confessed their love for each other, and y/n thought she was living the best love story she had ever seen or heard of. They both understood their careers, having some hectic hours at times, having to focus on finals or projects, at times they barely had time to see each other but they both knew they would be waiting for one another. And then, Casey asked her to move in with her, and things couldn’t have been more perfect. Mornings and nights together, every now and then their afternoons were also spent together, the whole living room floor full of papers, books, and notebooks, but they couldn’t have it any other way, not when they were together. They were both soon to graduate, and they were already looking at their professional lives, but something they had never mentioned was their future. It was something neither of them had thought about. They had already been dating for the last two years, the conversation didn’t seem important, and yet, y/n couldn’t help but keep it in mind.

“Case…I gotta ask you something.” Y/n bit her lip nervously as she stared at Casey.

Casey raised her brow curiously as she smiled. “Alright…what is it?”

Y/n sighed softly as she smiled. “I know we both agreed that we want to stay here in New York, that’s decided…but…do you really see a future…with me?”

“Oh, baby.” Casey chuckled softly as she moved close to y/n, wrapping her arms around her, kissing her forehead softly. “Do you really believe that I’d want anything else? Why wouldn’t I see it?” She smiled softly, her fingers running through y/n’s hair. “I’m not sure what the future holds for us but…I want you in it.”

Y/n smiled softly as she nodded. “I do too.” She huffed a chuckle as she shrugged. “I just…I don’t know. I guess I just…we’ve been so focused with school and graduation.”

Casey tilted her head as she grinned. “And you’re afraid that we will part ways. We still have a whole year for graduation.”

Y/n nodded. “I know.” She smiled. “I just…” she sighed as she placed her hand on Casey’s chest, playing with her necklace. “I don’t think I see myself with anyone else but you.”

Casey smiled as she leaned in and kissed her lips softly. “Neither do I. We’ve made our relationship work so far, we’ll make it work after we graduate.”

Y/n smiled as she leaned in to kiss her lips softly. “You right. We’ll make it work.”

Casey nodded as she wrapped her arms around y/n’s legs to move her to her lap. “Now, what do you say we take a break, hmm?” She grinned as she kissed her neck softly. “Just to relax a bit.”

“Of course you’d suggest that Ms. Novak.” Y/n chuckled softly as she wrapped her arms around Casey’s neck and kissed her lips.

********************

Y/n should’ve seen it coming. After graduation, everything had been good, everything was still perfect. They both went to each other’s graduation, they even made a trip together to celebrate, things still seemed perfect. But they had different careers, they had different thoughts about what they wanted to do, and to be honest, she didn’t expect to have such an amazing offer so quickly, the chance to have an amazing future ahead of her, but her future also included Casey. She wanted it to include Casey, but again…Casey had also her plans, she also had in mind what she wanted to do with her life, not only professionally but also personally. Yes, they both had agreed to stay in New York, they both had made it clear that they wanted each other in their lives, but that was until Casey started to figure out that it wasn’t just about their relationship, it was about their professional lives too. Before y/n knew it, Casey was distant, she had started working at a bureau that was a big deal, she had a mentor that saw a great future for her. She had a chance to do what she wanted to do, and y/n couldn’t stop her from it.

But then, the lonely nights started, barely talking to each other, barely seeing each other because Casey was busy, she had stuff to do, and y/n only found out because she heard Casey talking on the phone. When y/n got her offer, she couldn’t even tell Casey because she was busy, and she barely made it home for dinner. Most of the nights, Casey only came home to sleep and before y/n could wake up, she was gone. Not that y/n wasn’t busy with her own life too, working at a hospital was not exactly the easiest, and it wasn’t exactly what she had expected. Y/n pushed the offer for a few weeks, waiting to talk to Casey about it, but Casey was only focused on her stuff. And when the time to talk about it finally showed up, it wasn’t exactly what y/n had expected.

“Wait…you’re upset?”

Casey shrugged as she looked at y/n. “I thought we had agreed we would stay here in New York.”

Y/n raised her brows, a little surprised. “Oh…I mean. Yeah, sure but…I mean, we had agreed we would stay in Boston, and now we’re here in Manhattan. I had to transfer.” She tilted her head. “I transferred so you could accept your offer.”

“And you hid your offer for weeks.” Casey snapped.

Y/n scoffed as she nodded. “You know why I did it? Because all you’ve done has been work. You spend more time with Mary than you spend time with me. And that’s hypocritical of me, because I’m at the hospital most of the time, but I try to make time for you, and then, you don’t even come home.”

“You knew that out first year was everything about adjusting. I’m sorry I spend so much time at the office, I cannot help it.”

Y/n nodded. “And I know that, Casey. Trust me. I am not asking you to drop everything for me. But if I hid the offer, was because I was not sure what to do. I was not sure what I wanted, because I want you in my life. We agreed to that.”

“And you’re rubbing it in my face that I made you transfer to a place you didn’t even want to be in. And I’m sorry about that, but you made that choice. I didn’t force you.”

“I never said you did! God, Casey. Are you really trying to pick up a fight right now? I was honest. I wanted you to know about the offer, I wanted you to be aware of what’s happening in my life. But…” she shrugged. “Here I am. Waiting for you to notice me. You cling to your papers and pens, and I’m just here waiting for you.” Y/n felt tears in her eyes as she stared at Casey. “I did what I said I’d never do. And I did it because I wanted to, and you’re upset because I got an offer? Or why are you trying to pick up a fight? I never said I’d accept it.”

“Then maybe I should make the choice for you.” Casey crossed her arms as she stared at y/n. “You should go to California.”

Y/n furrowed her brows. “What?”

“You heard me. This…us? “We’re not working anymore, y/n.” Casey shook her head as she looked away. “I don’t…” She sighed softly as she nibbled on her lip. “It’s better this way.”

Y/n stared at her as tears rolled down her cheeks. “For me or for you?”

Casey looked back at her, tears in her eyes too. “Y/n…”

“Save it.” Y/n scoffed. “You’ve been thinking about this for so long. You were just waiting for the perfect moment. What happened to…it’s just me and you? It was us against anything…but I get it. You don’t see me in your future anymore.” She said quietly as she nodded. “If this is how you want to leave me, fine. I was not going to accept the offer.”

Casey tilted her head as she walked to y/n. “Y/n, wait-“

“Hope you get what you want in life.” Y/n simply said as she walked to their room, locking the door behind her to start packing her things.

Y/n didn’t want to push this, she didn’t want to beg for Casey to not leave her, to ask her to stay, she loved Casey, but if it meant to ask for her love, to wait for her love…she didn’t want this. Any of this.

********************

“Wait, what about Huang?” Elliot asked as he looked at Olivia.

Olivia shrugged. “He’s somewhere in California, doing some TED talks or something.”

“So, we getting a new one for now or what?” Munch raised his hands as she stared at them. “Novak said we needed Huang to confirm if he’s capable of talking in court or the case can go to the trash.”

“Guys, I want you to meet Dr. y/n y/l/n. Huang’s good friend, and the person who will be helping us in the next few cases if we need her.” Cragen smiled as he introduced her.

Y/n smiled softly as she nodded. “Sorry Huang is not here, but it’s nice to meet you guys, I’ve heard great things about you all.”

Olivia smiled as she nodded. “We’re sure that if Huang sent you, it’s because you’re good. I’ll show you the interrogation room.” She then walked with y/n, leaving behind the boys.

Elliot looked at Cragen. “I take it she’s good?”

“I trust Huang, and right now, we need all the possible help, so we get these girls some justice.” Cragen nodded as he walked back to his office.

“He’s right. As long as we get a confirmation that he’s sane enough, we’re good to go, Huang or not.” Munch said as he stood up.

Casey walked into the squad room and smiled at Elliot, walking to him. “Huang’s in there?”

Elliot shook his head. “Nope, he’s not in New York. Sent a friend of his, but Liv already took her in, so we should have an answer soon.”

Casey nodded. “Good, wanna come?”

Elliot nodded as he followed Casey, He furrowed his brows as he stared at Casey. “You okay?”

Casey sighed as she shook her head. “The DA’s office is right on my back with this case. I need a psych evaluation or he’s out before we can even blink.”

“Casey, you got this. We have enough evidence.” Elliot stopped Casey for a moment as he looked at her. “Is there something else going on in that head of yours?”

Casey looked back at him as she shook her head, sighing softly. “No. Everything is okay.” She offered a small smile before she walked in with Elliot. But just as she walked in, the voice on the other side of the room made her stop in her tracks, her heart dropping and her eyes widening.

Elliot noticed the reaction, and just in time, Olivia turned to look at them, furrowing her brows. She looked at Elliot for a moment before she returned her attention to Casey. “Case?”

Casey’s lips parted in surprise, but no words could come out. She cleared her throat softly, as she looked at Olivia. “Y-Yeah?”

“What happened? You completely froze there.” Olivia said a little concerned, walking to Casey.

Casey snapped out of her trance and shook her head. “No uh…nothing. Sorry, I just…I guess I’m too stressed right now.”

Olivia nodded, looking at Elliot for a moment and then back at Casey. “Alright…she’s…the psychiatrist is talking to him right now. She’s on his good side right now.”

Casey nodded. “Right, I need to go talk to Cragen but…let me know when she’s done.” Before anyone could say anything, Casey was out of the room.

It had been around two years or so since they had seen each other. The last time they had seen each other was the day y/n moved out of their apartment. Casey had tried everything to stop her, but it was too late. After that, they never talked to each other, didn’t even try to contact each other, they had entirely erased each other from their lives. And now, it was like destiny wanted them to find each other again, but Casey was not ready for it. She knew the damage she had caused, she knew how much she had hurt y/n, and herself…and she knew that y/n hated her for what she did, she knew that she’d probably freak out once she figured out that Casey was here, and Casey was definitely not ready to tell the whole squad their story, she had never talked about her, she couldn’t…it had been too painful. She had tried to stay as long as possible with Cragen in his office, coming up with excuses to not leave, or simply talking about where they were with the case, and just as she was about to leave, she ran into the one person she had been trying to avoid, and oh, her heart hadn’t beaten like this in so long.

Casey’s eyes widened slightly as she stared at y/n, licking her lips nervously. “H-Hey.”

Y/n furrowed her brows, offering a small smile. “Hi. I’m y/n.” She extended her hand. “You must be…the attorney? Olivia told me some blonde girl was in charge of this case.” She chuckled softly.

Casey furrowed her brows, staring at her with a confused look. “Uh…yes. Novak.” She grabbed y/n’s hand in hers and she felt a shiver run down her spine. “You don’t…you don’t know who I am?” She asked softly, almost quietly.

Y/n raised her brow as she let go of Casey’s hand. “Should I…know who you are?”

“Uh…” Casey shook her head. “No. Sorry, I’m not exactly in my right mind today.”

“Got it. This heat doesn’t help anyone, does it?” Y/n chuckled softly. “Olivia gave me your email, I’ll be sending you the evaluation, and if you have any questions, my number will be in the email.”

Casey nodded. “Great, thanks.”

Y/n nodded softly as she offered a small smile. “Nice to meet you, Novak.” She then walked away, leaving Casey speechless. What had just happened?

********************

Olivia knocked on Casey’s door softly, smiling as Casey looked up at her. “Hey there.”

Casey offered a smile. “Hi.”

Olivia walked into the office and raised her brow. “So…are you gonna tell me what’s going on?”

Casey furrowed her brows and shook her head. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“C’mon, Casey. You know better than to lie to me.” Olivia sat down and crossed her arms as she looked at Casey.

“I don’t…” Casey sighed softly as she dropped her pen and rubbed her temple. “What do you know about y/n?”

“Well…she’s great. I mean…she has helped us so much with everything. She’s at Huang’s level.” Olivia nodded as she offered a smile. “And uh…Huang told us a little bit of background. She studied here, but after graduating she moved to California for an offer.”

Casey nodded softly. “Anything else?”

Olivia tilted her head as she thought. She then nodded as she sighed. “I heard that she got into an accident. Like a year or so ago. She mentioned that she had been in a coma for a while, she still doesn’t remember much. But recently, she was allowed to go back to work.”

Casey then understood, and her heart dropped at the idea of y/n being in an accident, and she wasn’t there for her. She sighed softly as she nodded. “Must’ve been hard.”

“Seems so.” Olivia raised her brows. “Now…are you gonna tell me why you’re acting so weird? Is this about y/n?”

Casey groaned softly as she covered her face, sighing afterwards. “I know y/n.” She mumbled.

Olivia nodded. “Alright…and?” She then gasped softly. “Oh…she didn’t recognize you.”

“She has no idea who I am.” Casey shook her head as she dropped her hands, looking at Olivia. “She had no idea who I was and I…I don’t know how to treat her, or what to say.”

“Was she…more than a friend?”

Casey nodded. “Yeah…she was.” She said softly, still feeling guilty about how it all ended.

“Maybe this is your second chance.” Olivia shrugged. “You can try to be her friend, you know? This is literally a start over, Case.”

Casey looked at Olivia and shrugged. “You think it’s a good idea?”

Olivia shrugged. “Well…why not? Maybe this could turn out better than you think.”

Casey nodded softly as she stared at Olivia, smiling softly. “Maybe so…”

“I’m…not sure what happened between you two, but all I know is that this could be your chance to make things better. Maybe be her friend first, and if things go well then…if you want, you can try again.” Olivia offered a smile.

Casey looked back at Olivia and smiled softly, nodding her head, and thanking her. The conversation kept going after that, y/n no longer in it. Casey hated the fact that it had been her fault for letting her go, she was happy to know the person she had become, maybe Casey would have stopped her from growing, but the fact that she had been in an accident and Casey had not been there…it broke her heart into a million of pieces. She wanted to make it up. She wanted to make things better.

********************

Y/n looked up as she heard a pair of heels approaching her, smiling as she saw Casey walking to her. “Ms. Novak. What do I owe the pleasure of your presence?”

Casey felt her heart fluttering as she stood in front of y/n, smiling softly. “I heard you were covering Huang here too. Thought I’d pay you a visit, and thank you for your help. We won the case.”

Y/n raised her brows and smiled widely. “Oh, Casey! That’s amazing. I’m sure it was all because of you. I’ve heard how amazing you are in court.” She chuckled softly as she closed the file she had in hands.

“Well…I still wanted to thank you. And…wonder if you’d like to take a coffee.” Casey nibbled on her lip nervously, hoping that she’d get a positive answer.

Y/n stared at Casey and smiled softly. “I don’t see why not. Are you free right now? I was about to leave.”

“Sounds good to me.” Casey smiled softly.

They decided to walk for a while before they actually found a coffee shop where they could sit and grab a coffee. It amazed Casey how little she remembered before the accident, admitting that she didn’t even remember much about her college years or even after, just a few memories popping up every now and then, and people? That was the most difficult to remember. Casey felt guilty, knowing how they had ended and now taking advantage of her not remembering to get to talk to her, but she couldn’t help it. Olivia’s words kept playing in her mind, wanting to believe that maybe this truly was a second chance that the universe decided to give them; not in the best way, but she could either waste it or take it. She couldn’t help the way her eyes stayed glued to y/n the whole time, loving the fact that she looked the same, as beautiful as she has always been, and she couldn’t help the way her heart beat fast for her.

Casey talked a little about her own life, there wasn’t much to say about it, since her whole life was dedicated to her job. After y/n, she had really out her entire focus on it, wanting to get more offers or chances to work in something better, to be able to grow, and she had gotten her place in Sex Crimes even if she hadn’t wanted that at first. She couldn’t help but wonder what it’d be like if she had another chance with y/n…if fate was nice enough to let her have that second chance and get back the life she wished she hadn’t thrown away back then, but she needed to take it step by step, not wanting to rush things. She was really willing to win her back.

Y/n stopped in front of the doors of the hotel and turned to look at Casey. “Thank you for the coffee, and…the dinner that came after.” She chuckled softly.

Casey chuckled as she nodded. “You’re welcome.” She said softly as she smiled. “When are you going back to California?”

Y/n sighed as she shrugged. “I have a few more things to do here. Huang is taking a bit of time over in California, so. I might stay for a little longer.”

“Good.” Casey smiled softly. “Will I be able to see you again?”

Y/n smiled widely as she nodded. “I don’t see why not.” She chuckled. “See you around, Casey.”

“Goodnight.” Casey nodded as she watched her walking into the hotel.

Was it wrong? Was this selfish? She felt guilty, she felt bad, but could anyone really blame her? She couldn’t just waste this chance, as guilty as she felt.

********************

“Who would’ve thought that Ms. Novak was a charmer?” Olivia said as she walked into Casey’s office, a playful smile on her face.

Casey looked up and furrowed her brows. “Where did that come from?”

Olivia grinned. “Y/n stopped by the squad room earlier. She was talking about how Ms. Novak took her to a nice restaurant.” She said in a playful tone.

Casey laughed softly as she looked down at her notebook and placed her pen down as she looked back at Olivia. “It was just dinner.”

“For what…like the third time in almost two weeks? Olivia raised her brow.

Casey rolled her eyes playfully. “Yeah, well…she has free time. I didn’t see why J couldn’t.”

“Oh, Case. You’re really taking this chance, and I love that for you.” Olivia smiled softly. “She said she loves the restaurant, gave her a sense of comfort.”

Casey smiled softly as she nodded. “She used to love that restaurant when we had just moved here. I…couldn’t help it.”

Olivia smiled. “What happened, Casey?”

Casey took a deep breath and then she sighed heavily. “I had gotten an offer here, after we had promised that we would both stay in Boston. I made her transfer and…then she had an offer in California.” She nodded sadly. “She was not going to take it. But we were drifting apart…I was stuck in work, always work…”

“She felt forgotten.” Olivia said softly as she sat down in one of the chairs.

“I made her feel that way. Because it was true. I was so focused on work that I just stopped putting her as my priority. And then I told her to go to California.” Casey shrugged. “And she did.” She smiled sadly at Olivia. “Now you see why I was thinking if it was a good or bad idea to try to befriend her again.”

“I know it sounds…bad. But it’s a second chance. And maybe, when she remembers, she’ll forgive you.”

“Is it bad that I don’t want her to remember? I mean…fuck, I’m so selfish.” Casey chuckled as she ran her fingers through her hair. “It hurt to think at first that she couldn’t remember me, that she had forgotten about us…and now I’m taking advantage of it.”

“I wouldn’t say you’re taking advantage. It’s like you two are getting to know each other again. Not like you just jumped into her bed, you know?”

Casey nodded. “Yeah, I guess so.”

“Just…don’t overthink too much about it.” Olivia offered a small smile.

Casey raised her brow. “You’re as bad as me, supporting me into this.” She chuckled softly.

“Is it selfish to want to see you happy?” Olivia grinned as she teased.

********************

“Wait…they offered you a job here?” Casey smiled softly.

Y/n nodded as she set her drink on the table, looking at Casey. “Mercy hospital. Huang wanted to try to get me a spot with him, but…Mercy hospital sounds nice.” She smiled softly.

Casey nodded softly as she smiled, getting up from her desk and then walking to the table, sitting down beside y/n. “Have you thought about it?”

“I mean…” y/n sighed. “I need to get some things in order in California. I can’t just accept and move. There are a lot of things I need to think about.”

Casey nodded again. “You’re right.”

“What do you think?” Y/n smiled, a hint of hope in her eyes.

“What do I…” Casey furrowed her brows. “…why do you care what I think?”

Y/n shrugged softly as she smiled. “I’m just asking for an opinion, you know?”

Casey nibbled on her lip as she stared at y/n. It could be her opportunity to have another chance with her, it could be that chance she had wanted to have all this time after she screwed up. But it’d be selfish. It would be too selfish to ask her to stay. She couldn’t possibly tell her what she really thought.

“I…I think you should do what you think it’s best for you.” Casey said softly.

“Will you want to deal with me once I move here?”

Casey chuckled softly. “I’d love that.”

Y/n smiled softly as she nodded. “I’ll let you know my decision when I have it then. I’ll uh…I need to do some stuff but…dinner on me?”

Casey smiled as she stood up. “Sounds perfect.”

Y/n smiled as she grabbed her coffee and stood up. She stood in front of Casey for a moment before she leaned up and pressed her lips against Casey’s in a gentle kiss. Casey’s breath hitched for a moment but couldn’t help kissing her back softly, placing her hands on her waist to pull her closer. The moment was broken when Casey’s phone went off, making them pull apart.

Y/n smiled softly as she pecked Casey’s lips. “See you later, Case.” She said before she walked away.

Casey swallowed, trying to catch her breath, and then moving to her desk to grab her phone. Throughout the whole day, she was in court, arraignment after arraignment plus a trial. She had tried so hard to focus but her mind kept going back to their kiss, and how good it had felt to kiss her after all this time. She had missed the feeling of y/n close to her, her lips, her taste…and yet, she felt nothing but guilt. She kept overthinking over and over again. She tried to think what Olivia had told her, she tried so hard to be positive about it and to try and just live in the moment, but she couldn’t.

She was about to text y/n that she was on her way out her office when suddenly she felt someone at the door. She turned to the door and found y/n standing there, a serious look on her face as she stared at Casey.

“Y/n. I was about to text you that I was on my way out.” Casey smiled softly. But then she looked down at her watch. “Shit, did I say earlier? I’m sorry. I…”

“No. It’s not that.” Y/n bit her lip softly as she walked into Casey’s office and closed the door behind her. “We need to talk.”

Casey furrowed her brows as she stared at y/n. “Something happened?”

Y/n looked up at Casey, tears welling up in her eyes. “I never actually thought I’d see you again.” She said in a whisper, her voice cracking up with emotion.

Casey’s heart ached as she spoke, her eyes locking with y/n’s. “You…you remember me?”

Y/n nodded softly as she huffed a chuckle. “I uh…I was just talking to Huang and then he was asking me about you, how things were going, and it was like uh…wave that hit me and all of the sudden I remembered that…I knew you. You used to be my Casey.” She felt tears in her eyes as she shook her head, licking her lips nervously.

Casey felt a pang of guilt as she stared at y/n, walking to her. “Y/n…I-I wanted to tell you, I didn’t-“

“Is this how you planned on getting back with me? You were hoping that I wouldn’t remember, didn’t you?” Y/n asked softly as she felt tears in her eyes.

“No! I mean…” Casey groaned as she nibbled on her lip. “I did want to tell you. I felt…I felt guilty. But I couldn’t help it. I just wanted to start over.”

“And what a better way to start over than taking advantage of me having amnesia.” Y/n chuckled sarcastically. “You know I…I don’t blame you. But you know we didn’t end well, did you just forget about all that?”

“No…” Casey shook her head. “But I regret everything. I regret letting you go. I wanted to see you again. You changed your number, and I just…”

“You made your choice, Casey. You even made my choice.” Y/n scoffed. She shook her head. “I truly did want to start over.”

“And what about your accident? Why did you never call me?”

“I didn’t remember your phone number.” Y/n chuckled softly as she wiped her tears. “I’m sure my mom wanted to. Something might’ve stopped her.”

Casey nodded as she looked down at her hands. “I’m sorry…for everything. I just thought it could be that chance I lost…”

Y/n took a deep breath and then sighed as she tried to avoid more tears falling from her eyes. “That’s not fair, Casey. You make it seem like I was the one who broke your heart, when it was the other way around.”

Casey looked back up at her. “And that’s why I wanted to make things right. I wanted another chance, and I was not going to take advantage of you. I was going to tell you all about it, I just didn’t know how. I didn’t want you to hate me.”

“I don’t hate you, Casey.” Y/n said in a whisper as she stared into her eyes. “But I can’t do this again. I…I don’t even know why I considered accepting the offer here, when I have everything I need in California. And being here now…reminds me of what I lost.”

Casey felt her heart drop at her words, tears welling up in her eyes. “Y/n…” She took a step closer and grabbed her hands, bringing them to her lips. “Please I’m…I’m so sorry. I really am. You don’t know how much I regret what happened and how things went down. Please.”

Y/n stared into her eyes as she shook her head. “How do I know that you won’t cling to your paper and pen again, huh?”

“We start over then. We just leave it at friends. Accept the offer, move back here. We can make it work this time, baby. I’m just asking for one more chance.” Casey looked at her with pleading eyes, her voice low and quiet.

“We can’t be friends, not even that.” Y/n whispered softly. “Casey…I loved you. So much…but I just…I can’t do this. Not again. Look where you are.” She smiled sadly. “You have a conviction rate of 71%, you’re a recognized ADA.” She chuckled sadly. “Sort of…did some research.”

Casey chuckled a little as she nodded. “And you’re recognized in California…and have a new life now.”

Y/n nodded. “We have different lives. And it should stay that way.”

Casey tilted her head as she felt tears rolling down her eyes. “I love you…” she whispered softly.

Y/n nodded. “I loved you.”

Casey closed her eyes as she felt a weight on her chest at the words. Y/n sighed softly as she placed her hand on Casey’s cheek, stroking it softly. She leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on her lips, resting her forehead against hers for a moment.

“I’m glad I got to see you again. I’m sir proud of you.” Casey whispered softly as she looked into her eyes.

Y/n smiled sadly. “I’m so proud of you too.”

Y/n offered one last smile before she walked out of Casey’s office, leaving her just standing there in the middle of her office as she stared at the door, tears rolling down her cheeks. She had made a mistake, a terrible mistake. And maybe after all, her life would be dedicated to her job. That’s what she chose. And she’d regret it for the rest of her life.

#casey novak x reader #casey novak #casey novak fic #law and order svu #svu fic #svu

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