After All This Time

Facing The Truth

"Denial is the shock absorber for the soul. It protects us until we are equipped to deal with reality."

C. S. Lewis

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Waking up the next morning, Olivia was still in utter shock. She couldn't believe that Kathy was dead. She had known this woman for over twenty years and suddenly, she was gone forever. As she took a shower and got ready for the day, her heart broke all over again as she remembered how Elliot and the kids reacted to the devastating and life-altering news. She quickly shook the thoughts away, not wanting Noah to see her upset as she got him ready for school.

After dropping Noah off, Olivia made her way to the safe house that the Stabler's would be occupying for the next one to two months. She checked to make sure that the surveillance cameras were set up and working properly and made her way to the precinct. "Fin, can I see you for a second?" She asked, not waiting for an answer as she went into her office, hung up her jacket and put her bag down. After he entered, she closed the door and the shades then took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

Fin looked at her, confused and concerned. "Everything all right, Cap?" He asked.

She shook her head slowly as her lip trembled, trying to find the words to say. She cleared her throat and paused for a moment before she spoke. "When I went to the hospital last night, I saw the kids sitting in the waiting room. Maureen said she had a bad feeling that something was wrong so I sent them down to the chapel while I checked to see if Elliot and Kathy were okay. I found them in Kathy's hospital room, talking and smiling. Everything was fine. We talked for a little while and as Elliot and I were about to join the kids in the chapel, a Code Blue came over the intercom." Her voice cracked at the end as tears pooled in her eyes.

"No," Fin whispered, his eyes widening.

Olivia nodded her head slowly. "Her injuries were just too severe and they tried to save her but...she died. Kathy's d-dead, Fin." She whispered as tears ran down her cheeks. Fin ran to her just as her knees gave out and he held her in his arms as she cried. He was in complete shock as tears formed in his own eyes.

"Let it out, Liv. I'm right here." He whispered, holding his boss as she tried to stop her tears. Even though she was now his superior, that didn't matter in this moment. This was one of his closest friends grieving over the loss of yet another person that was ripped away from them in one of the worst ways imaginable.

"I'm okay." Olivia choked out, finally stopping her tears. She sniffled as she dabbed lightly at her eyes with a tissue and took another deep breath, letting it out slowly. "I'm sorry." She whispered.

"Nothin' to be sorry about, Liv. You have every right to grieve." Fin reassured her.

"I just...I still can't believe it. One minute, we were talking and everything was fine and then the next minute, she was gone." Olivia replied softly, shaking her head.

"I'm so sorry, Liv." Fin whispered. "So...what happens now?" He asked.

"I, uh, I stopped by the safe house this morning to make sure it was ready to go so I'm gonna stop by Elliot's old house to pick them all up and bring them there. There's a lot of back roads we have to take and I made sure of that so it's not easy to find in case someone tries to follow us." Olivia explained, trying to get back to business.