Title: Just Like Family
Summary: A day off with Olivia, Elliot, and Casey.
Disclaimer: Casey Novak, Olivia Benson, and Elliot Stabler belong to Dick Wolf and NBC. I'm just borrowing and I'll return then when I'm done!
Author's Note: A fluffy mini-fic (longer than a ficlet, but not long enough to really be considered a full fic) for no real reason other than for the sake of fluff. Enjoy!

Just when Casey Novak was sure that her morning could not possibly get any more annoying, she heard thunder rumble, low and ominous, through the sky. Oh, of course, she silently grumbled with a roll of her eyes and a resigned sigh. She would have bet money this morning that the entire universe was conspiring against her.

It had been months since she and Elliot Stabler and Olivia Benson all had the same day off together. It had been so long in fact that she had sort of forgotten that when the three of them did get a chance to spend time together outside the office, the two detectives tended to gang up on her as if she were their whiny kid sister.

And today was no exception. In the hour that the trio had been together, Casey had already been taunted, teased, mocked, and given a flick or two. Now it was thundering, which meant that the lightning and the rain and the wind were not all that far behind.

Not that she cared about the storm. The storm was going to do whatever it was storms did, and that was just fine with her. It was just that she now knew what genre of movie the detectives were going to choose to fill their junk-food-and-movie day.

She wandered over to one of the floor-to-ceiling window panels at the front of the video store and stared out at the dark clouds that were rushing towards her. The storm was indeed rolling in and when it hit, it was going to be enormous.

"Oh, come on, Novak," a harsh voice whispered in her ear.

Casey gasped out loud and spun around to face Elliot Stabler, who was grinning widely at her. She placed one hand over her pounding heart and smacked the detective's shoulder with the other. "You suck," she muttered as she tried to catch her breath.

Elliot's teasing grin grew wider. "You're not afraid of a little thunder and lightning, are you?"

Before Casey could respond, Olivia stepped up to the pair with a kind smile on her face. "Nah, Casey's not afraid of storms."

Casey thanked the detective for sticking up for her, but she spoke too soon.

"She is, however, afraid of scary movies," Olivia continued, holding up the DVD she had chosen. "And I can't think of anything better on a dark and stormy … well, morning than a scary movie."

Casey groaned inwardly when she realized that the detective had selected a slasher flick. She swallowed hard and attempted to stammer a denial. "I'm not … I mean, I don't--"

Elliot laughed before raising his eyebrows at Olivia. "Oh, I'm so getting in on this," he said as he began to make his way back over to the horror section. Casey shot Olivia a murderous glare, but the detective just smiled sweetly before joining her partner.

Casey sighed. Yes, just as she had expected: the detectives were going to force horror movies on her. Though she had expected Elliot to choose a scary movie simply because of the atmosphere outside, she had not in any way been prepared for Olivia to sell her out to her partner.

And besides, Olivia had it wrong. Casey wasn't exactly afraid of horror movies, per se. She just didn't like how she felt after she watched one: how all her senses were heightened, how she was more in tune with every single sound around her, the way the shadows and the light played tricks with her eyes. It simply wasn't her idea of fun. But she had a funny feeling that attempting to get the detectives to understand the difference between not thinking something was fun and being afraid of it would be pointless, especially at this juncture. So she didn't even bother.

Casey had already chosen her movie: Clue. One day while discussing movies, Casey had come to discover that Olivia had never seen Clue, a fact which Casey proclaimed "a travesty that needs to be rectified." Today was the perfect day to rectify it, Casey had decided. Now she was just waiting for Elliot to make his choice and for Olivia to make her other one. Olivia had been given the privilege of choosing two movies since she had offered up her apartment to host the small get-together.

Knowing now that the detectives were choosing horror movies, she felt a little silly for hanging onto her cheesy mid-'80s comedy, but she was determined to stand her ground. She really thought Olivia would appreciate the humor and if she was going to be forced to watch the detectives' three horror movies, they could surely sit through her comedy for an hour and a half. She even nodded slightly to herself, affirming her resolution to stick to lighthearted fare.

After standing at the window for another long moment, she supposed that it was time to track down the detectives. Slowly she headed over to the horror section. She found them huddled close together reading the back of the one of the DVDs and engaged in deep conversation. Upon looking up and locking eyes with the approaching Casey, Olivia elbowed Elliot in the ribs, cutting their conversation short.

In an instant Casey was mentally thrown back to seventh grade. She stopped walking, her breath catching in her throat, but the memory passed just as suddenly as it attacked. It was another second or so before Casey was able continue forward with a smile on her face. Hopefully her pause had come and gone fast enough for the detectives not to have noticed. "All right, what the hell are you two planning on subjecting me to?"

Elliot shot her a faux-sweet smile and held out his choice for her inspection. Event Horizon, which she'd already seen. She let out a small breath of relief through her nose and was about to mention that she'd seen it before but then stopped herself. Why should she give Elliot not only a reason but also a chance to find a movie she hadn't seen? Instead she nodded without saying a word before turning to Olivia.

To Casey's immense relief the detective had put back the slasher flick she'd chosen before but to her disappointment she had instead picked two ghost stories: What Lies Beneath and The Frighteners. Casey hadn't seen either of them and her concern must have shown in her eyes because Olivia gave her a barely noticeable but comforting smile. She relaxed slightly with the knowledge that Olivia wasn't planning on forcing something on her that would completely weird her out.

"The more important question, Counselor, is what you're planning to subject us to," Elliot said, reaching out to snatch the DVD from Casey's hand before she had a chance to react. He glanced at the cover and rolled his eyes, snickering, before handing the plastic case back to her. "Clue? Our day is going to consist of three horror movies and Clue?"

"Well, Olivia's never seen it and--" She stopped mid-sentence and frowned. Why the hell was she attempting to justify herself to Elliot? "Yes, our day is going to consist of three horror movies and Clue," she said instead, setting her jaw. "You have a problem with that, Detective?"

"No problem," Elliot answered, holding up his hands in surrender. He caught his partner's eye before turning a smile on the ADA. "I respect the fact that you're too much of a baby to pick out a scary movie of your own."

"I'm not afraid of scary movies," Casey said through gritted teeth. Unfortunately a loud clap of thunder chose that moment to boom overhead and poor Casey jumped a mile at the sudden sound. Elliot snorted in amusement and Olivia had to bite her lower lip to keep from laughing out loud. Groaning and suddenly annoyed, Casey turned her back on the detectives and began heading for the front of the store.

Why on earth was she being so sensitive to the detectives' teasing? It wasn't as if they were being overly mean today; in fact, the ribbing they'd been giving her all morning was much milder than usual. As the seconds passed, she started to feel a teensy bit guilty for getting huffy with them.

Just as she was about to step up to the register to pay for her movie, Elliot sidled up beside her and dropped a large box of Whoppers on top of the DVD in her hands. "Malted milk balls are your favorite, right? My treat."

"Yes," Casey answered, smiling at the detective. "You remembered."

He gave her a slight nod. "I'm sorry for giving you a hard time."

"No, you were fine," Casey assured him. "I'm sorry. For being oversensitive."

"Oh my God," Olivia spoke up from behind the two of them. They both turned to face her. "Now that you two have hugged and had your Dr. Phil moment, could we just pay for this stuff and move the day along a little, please?"

Casey snickered. Leave it to Olivia to inject humor into the situation. "Sounds like a plan to me." To be honest she just wanted to get back to Olivia's before the three of them got caught in the storm. By all appearances the skies were going to open up any moment now.

With a wide smile, Casey dropped both her DVD and the box of candy into Elliot's hands. "Since you're already buying me candy, you can pay for my movie, too."

Olivia raised her eyebrows and grinned as Casey stepped forward, leaving Elliot frozen in surprise for a split-second. After shaking off the initial shock, he smiled his approval at the ADA. "Well played, Counselor."

Casey simply grinned at him. She figured, what the hell? If they were going to treat her like a bratty little sister, she might as well act like one.