Disclaimer: The characters in this story are the property of Dick Wolfe and NBC.

A/N: I do appreciate constructive feedback if you've got any to offer. If you think it's terrible please feel free to let me know and I'll stop.

Alex, Casey, and Olivia were walking down Atlantic Ave away from the Dragon Lounge where they had just spent the last four hours celebrating. The three friends had just closed the bar down at 3am and were now admittedly a little worse for the wear.

Casey probably being the more vocal of the three reached over and flung an arm around Alex's shoulder as they walked knocking the blonde slightly off balance.

"So Miss Cabot…", Casey began lightly purposely emphasizing the word 'Miss', "What are you going to make this poor new fiancé of yours do to get you to change your name?"

Walking on the other side of Alex, Olivia laughed and threw her arm over Alex's shoulders as well and stumbled slightly.

"Miss Novak, I'd like to introduce you to your new co-council… Mrs. Alexandra Finkel", Olivia teased grinning at her two best friends.

Alex made a poor attempt to feign seriousness.

"There's nothing wrong with the name Finkel", the blonde replied indignantly, "I'm only keeping Cabot to avoid confusion around courthouse."

Casey laughed again and snorted causing Alex to stop short and throw her head back in laughter.

Composing herself, Alex wiped a tear from her eye and put her arms around both women.

"Okay okay", Alex relented as she started walking again pulling the two women along with her. "I'll admit the man DOES have a slightly unfortunate last name! … though I can think of a few other things that he's DEFINITELY fortunate in!"

"ALEX!", Olivia exclaimed incredulously while Casey burst out laughing which caused her to snort again sending all three women into a fit of giggles.

Having managed to compose herself first, Alex took a second to glance over at both women watching Olivia try to reach around her back to try to pinch Casey and watching Casey try to swat her hand out of the way.

Alex grinned as she realized that for one of the first times in her life she was completely content. A year and a half ago she had been hidden away in witness protection working as a librarian in Piedmont, North Dakota wondering if she would ever feel happiness and contentment again. Now here she was back in New York, engaged to a man who she truly believed to be her soul mate, and spending a night out on the town with her two best friends.

"Hey!", Olivia said breaking Alex out of her reverie, "If you grin any wider there babe your face might stay like that."

Pulling both her friends closer, Alex let a solitary tear slide down her cheek.

Her voice cracked slightly as she looked between the two women. "I was just thinking how lucky I am to have two amazing friends like you guys in my life."

Casey reached over and wiped the tear from Alex's cheek with her thumb. "And that's the liquor talking! Come on, Alex, none of this sappy stuff! You'll ruin the FABULOUS job Liv and I did on your makeup!", she said teasingly before leaning in and giving the blonde a sisterly kiss on the side of the head.

"You deserve all the happiness in the world, Al.", the redhead said sincerely.

"And don't you forget it.", Olivia continued squeezing Alex's shoulder.

"Alright now like I said, enough of this sappy stuff!", Casey said lightheartedly. "Hey Liv! Elliot Stabler, Trevor Langon, John Munch.", Casey asked continuing the game they had been playing all night at the bar.

Both Alex and Casey laughed as Olivia's face turned bright red.

"Come on, Liv…", Alex teased, "fuck, chuck, or marry?"

"That's easy.", Olivia said quickly composing herself and then grinning slyly, "marry and fuck Elliot and chuck the other two clowns!"

"Olivia!", Casey cried, "That's cheating! You have to pick one to fuck, one to chuck, and one to marry!"

Olivia was about to protest when a man who seemed to come out of nowhere stepped out in front of the women.

"I'm afraid she's right, baby", the man interrupted, "unless of course you wanna put my name is on that list…"

Annoyed by the stranger's advance and more annoyed by the fact that he had just called her 'baby', Olivia scowled at the man before politely but coldly responding, "I'm sorry but this is a private conversation and whatever you're looking for I'm sure we're not interested."

As the three women began to walk around the stranger he stepped in front of them again with a sick smile on his face.

"Come on, baby, there's no need to be rude. Three sexy ladies all dressed up walking around town in the middle of the night… clearly you're lookin' for SOME action."

Though slightly intoxicated, Olivia's instincts began to kick in as she noticed an all too familiar look in the man's eyes. Looking around quickly, the detective took notice of their surroundings for the first time since they had left the bar. She became somewhat uneasy when she noticed that the street was practically deserted.

Returning her gaze to the man she instinctively began to size him up in case he was foolish enough to try something.

The stranger was about six feet tall, Caucasian, mid-30s… and had the body of a linebacker.

Though unsettled by that last characteristic, Olivia had been trained at the academy to fight men over twice her size and despite the fact that she was a little apprehensive she still had a feeling she could take him if the situation came down to that.

Unfortunately in a matter of seconds the situation changed drastically as the man moved closer and pulled a gun from the back of his pants.

Before Olivia had a chance to react the man reached out and grabbed the closest woman to him and pulled her close to his chest pressing the gun against her temple.

Casey.

"All right ladies, move!", he instructed nodding his head toward the alley to the left.

Olivia hesitated only for a second knowing that once they were no longer in the open the situation would become much worse but then realized she had no choice as the man gripped Casey's arm tighter causing the young red head to whimper.

"Okay okay…", Olivia said calmly gripping Alex's hand and heading for the alley, "just take it easy…"

After gently pulling Alex behind her, Olivia held up both her hands and attempted to take a step closer to the man who was now standing in front of her holding a gun to her best friend's head.

"Take it easy…", she repeated, "look you can take whatever you want just let her go."

"Oh I plan on taking whatever I want.", the man replied in a voice that made the brunette's stomach turn.

Olivia looked up and saw the fear in Casey's green eyes as the man leaned in and slowly licked the side of her face.

With the gun still pointed at the ADA's temple, Olivia was at a loss for what to do but she knew she wasn't going to stand by and let this man hurt her friend.

Cautiously taking another step forward, Olivia spoke again. "Listen, tell me what it is you want. I'll give you whatever you want… just don't hurt her."

Another sickening smile crossed the man's face. "It's Olivia right?"

The detective nodded realizing he must have heard Alex or Casey say her name.

"You seem awfully eager to help, Olivia…", he began in that same nauseating voice, "Are you offering to take red's place? I do prefer my women feisty…"

Casey's eyes immediately snapped up and met Olivia's.

"Liv, no!", Casey exclaimed realizing what her friend was about to do.

Not waiting for a response the man suddenly threw Casey forward into Alex causing both women to fall to the ground.

Casey spun around quickly only to look up and find Olivia in the exact same position she was just in moments ago.

"Liv… no…", Casey whispered as her eyes filled with tears.

Still sitting on the ground, Alex attempted to pull Casey closer and turn the younger woman's head away from the situation that was unfolding in front of them.

"I don't think so!", the man barked, "neither one of you move and if I see either of you look away for a second I'll blow her head off! Got it?"

Olivia tried to remain calm even while looking down into the eyes of her terrified friends. She knew she would never forgive herself if anything happened to either of them.

Though she tried to maintain a calm guarded look on her face her mind was racing while she desperately searched for something in her training to get her out of this situation. Unfortunately not only did she have a weapon pointed directly at her head but she also had her two best friends sitting on the pavement a few yards in front of her. There was no plan of action that Olivia could come up with that didn't pose the serious risk of one of her friends getting shot during a struggle for the weapon.

It was then that Olivia knew there was nothing she could do except remain calm for her friends and steel herself against whatever was about to happen.