Never Her

Thirteen

Olivia checked her face a pocket mirror before entering the station. She felt like she had been gone for years but in reality, she had only been gone a few days.

As she walked through the doors, everyone turns towards her to see who was coming in. Fin set down his pen and a big smile spread across his face. "Liv, it is good to see you. How is the hole in your leg?" He asked getting up and crossing the room to hug her. As he hugged her tightly, he bumped the bruises on her jaw and she let out a hiss. He pulled back to look at her but was interrupted by Amaro.

"Benson, I thought you weren't coming back for awhile," He says coming up to the two seasoned detectives. She turned to look at him and she noticed him lose the smile and start scoweling as he was staring at her. He reached out towards her face when they heard the Captain come out of his office.

"Olivia, my office, please." He says gesturing towards the open door. She smiled at the guys before side stepping them and following the Captain into his office where he shut the door and drew the blinds.

"So, uh, what do you know about her old partner?" Nick asks walking back to the desks with Fin.

"There aren't many words to explain what those two had. She was fiercely protective over him and him her if not more. They were partners for the better part of twelve years. They were the best partners I had ever witnessed," Fin explained taking a seat. "But let me tell you, when they fought, it was bad. You never wanted to cross their paths. It was always knock down drag out between them." He laughs as he picks up his pen to get back to work.

Nick stared at Fin for a second more before turning to look at the office Olivia was currently in. He had noticed the giant bruise on her thigh in the hospital and the way Elliot had spoken to her. Today he noticed the almost completely covered bruises on her cheeks. They were well covered but if the light hit her face just right, they were slightly visible. He couldn't help but wonder what was actually going on behind the Stabler household doors.

Olivia took a seat in the chairs by the Captains desk waiting for him to speak. She wasn't even supposed to be there so she was wondering what she could have done to get called into the office in such a manner. She waited until Cragen was done texting on his phone before clearing her throat.

Just then, the door opened and George Huang entered before shutting it lightly behind him. She frowned looking back and forth between the men. "What is going on?" She asks crossing her arms waiting for one of them to speak.

"Olivia, it has been brought to our attention you might be having some problems lately," Cragen says sitting behind his deck. Huang sat down next to her and she looked over at him confused.

"Liv, how badly did this case get to you?" The psychiatrist asks her softly.

Olivia's jaw dropped at the question. Why did they think she was losing her mind? She was fine. She started to think about all the things Elliot had been saying to her. Maybe she was losing it. Maybe everything was her fault and Elliot was fed up with taking care of her.

"I didn't think it did." She admits with a shrug. The two men continue to watch her gaze out the window behind Cragen's head. She looked tired and resigned. "This case didn't bother me any more than any other case has. None of them are easy. I'm recovering well. Is this why you won't let me come back to work?"

As the words come out of her mouth, a confused look comes across Cragen's face. He shares a glance with Huang.

The door swings open and Elliot walks into the squadroom. "Olivia, thank god I found you." He says walking towards her chair. She stands up and takes a few steps backwards.

"What is going on?" She asks looking between all of the three men staring at her.

"Come on, baby. Let's go home." He says reaching out to grab her hand. She pulled back and backed away from the group who was looking at her with concern.

"Somebody tell me what the fuck is going on!" She shouts crossing her arms.

Cragen stepped up between Elliot and Huang to try and get closer to Olivia. "Olivia, we are all worried about you. I feel like this last few cases got to you more than you are letting on. I'm thinking you are going to need psychological help." He says gently to try and keep the woman calm.

"I am fine! I don't understand where this is coming from." She yells trying to back away from them. She was so confused as to what happened to make them think she was having such a hard time.

"Come on, Liv. Let's go home and we can talk about this," Elliot says as he walks towards her. He puts his arm around her back and starts steering her to walk out of the office. She starts walking with him but was still confused as to what the hell was happening.

As they walked out the door, Nick watched them intently as they walked out of the station. The look on Olivia's face told him that something was definitely wrong. Elliot had a look of concern on his face and he was wondering if Olivia was actually losing it like people had made it seem. The Captain did say that she requested weeks off of work and what he had heard from Fin was that she was not like that.

Elliot took a cab to the station as soon as Cragen sent him a message that Olivia had arrived at the station. They conversed a bit as Elliot expressed her concern that Olivia was going through a mental break.

He grabbed the keys from her hand and held onto her tightly as he walked them to the car. He stood next to the car door and waited for her to get in before he walked around to get in the other side of the car.

They drive home completely silent and she just stares out the window trying to process everything that had happened over the last hour. He kept an iron grip on her hand in the car. She tried to pull away but he just pulled her hand back and gripped it harder. He was holding her so hard that she was afraid he was going to injure her hand.

They parked outside the apartment and they walked inside quietly. She walked into the apartment first and he let the door fall shut behind him. He locked the door and she slowly put everything down and turned to look at him and he was staring back at her with an angry look on his face.