Authors Notes - Thanks to all who have responded to this. I know it's a huge leap, and my little writers brain is toying with various reasons as to how the crew have reached this point, but I promise all will be revealed if you stick with me.
On a separate note, writing the first section of this chapter offended me chronically. My E/O shipper sensibilities didn't appreciate in the slightest - but needed musted!
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One Hour Earlier
"Happy Anniversary babe." Kathy kissed Elliot softly, running her hand down his chest, toying with his chest hair. Elliot smiled, kissing her back, "Happy Anniversary to you too darling."
Kathy grinned, "And what a way to celebrate eh?"
Elliot nodded in agreement, not about to argue that the two hours they'd just spent making love was anything other than an utterly spectacular way to commemorate their anniversary. Although, that said, there was something else he knew he ought to be doing. He glanced at his guiltily at his mobile phone, which had been tossed across the room after it had started ringing at a crucial point in the proceedings, wondering how he could retrieve it and check his messages without Kathy throwing a complete fit.
Kathy must have followed his gaze because she pulled away from him suddenly, groaning as she did so.
"For crying out loud Elliot. Its our wedding anniversary, the kids are at my mothers, please, just for one night could you stop being a cop and be my husband."
He got out of bed, figuring that the passion was well and truly killed already by her rant so he might as well be blatant about the phone retrieval. He reached for it and glanced at the screen.
3 missed calls.
He looked at Kathy, "3 missed calls. From Olivia. I should probably call her back, we've probably caught a case."
She rolled her eyes, clearly getting unhappier by the minute, but then he'd known from the get go that mentioning Olivia was a bad idea. He returned to the bed and sat beside her, putting his arm around her, hoping that it might help.
"I'm sorry Kathy. My works important."
Wrong thing to say.
"I'm important. Look, she's stopped ringing. If you were needed that badly she'd be knocking on the-" She was cut off mid sentence by a loud and persistent banging on the front door. She looked at Elliot and laughed slightly, "Famous last words eh?" She got up from the bed, threw on her robe. "You get dressed, I'll let madam in."
As she left the room Elliot got up also, grabbing his clothes from the day before, and hastily throwing them on. He'd got as far as buttoning his shirt when Kathy reappeared, confusion written all over her suddenly deathly pale face.
Elliot felt his heart sink, convinced by the look on her face that it hadn't been Olivia at all, but her mother, or other person, with bad news about one of their kids. He looked at her questioningly, trying to keep his rising panic under control, "Kathy, what the hell is it?"
"You should come out here." She said, her voice trembling as she spoke, "There's something you need to see."
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"Liv?"
She was stood in the doorway to their home, just where Kathy had left her. Just looking at her, he knew instantly what had happened. He'd seen too many women looking like she did over the years to be able to kid himself it was anything else but. He looked her up and down taking in every last inch of her, the laddered tights, the dirty ripped shirt that had been so white, crisp and pristine when he'd last seen her just a few hours previously in the squad room, bruises that could only be finger marks on her neck and tear tracks in the mascara underneath her bloodshot eyes.
When she didn't answer him, he moved closer to her, but slowly, cautiously, knowing from experience that being crowded might be the last thing she wanted, or needed. She didn't react so he tried again, gently, non threateningly, as he had done so many times, with so many vics over the years.
"Liv? Talk to me?"
Again, she gave no verbal response but she did move past him, into the house, going into the living room and sitting down on the sofa. She was staring numbly at the anniversary cards that sat on the mantelpiece and as he joined her she smiled apologetically,
"Its your anniversary. I'm sorry. I should go."
She seemed so calm, distant, almost on another planet and he wondered if she was disassociating or in shock. It was only as he sat beside her, and suddenly smelt the distinctive smell of marijuana smoke on her clothes and hair, that he realised that actually, his partner was stoned. He reached out and took her hand, "Its ok." He said softly - although clearly nothing about what was happening was ok, but he just didn't want her trying to leave, "You just need to tell me what happened Liv. Please?"
"I can't." she pulled her legs up so her knees were tucked under her chin, and wrapped her arms around them so she was virtually wrapped in a ball. "I can't tell you."
He looked from Olivia, to Kathy, who had appeared in the doorway and was watching the scenario unfold, her expression full of concern, and asked her to make some sweet tea, before turning his attention back to his partner who was staring down at his hand wrapped around hers like it was an alien object. Not wanting to make her uncomfortable he went to let go but as he did so she tightened her grip on it, squeezing his hand tightly.
He smiled weakly, "You like holding my hand huh?" He knew he was talking to her like she was a child and he also knew that under any other circumstances she would hate it, but with the state she was in he didn't see how the conversation could go any other way. "Well," he stroked her fingers slowly with his own, wanting to get her comfortable with physical contact so he could eventually do what he'd been longing to do since he'd first set eyes on her and realised what had happened - wrap his arms around her and hold her, "you can hold my hand for as long as you like, but please Liv, I need to know how this happened? I need to know who did this to you?"
She said nothing for a long time. Just sat there, watching his fingers tracing patterns on her hand, leaving the two of them in silence until Kathy had returned with the tea, she'd taken it, drank a little and then finally she answered his question.
"It was Finn, Elliot, Finn did this to me."
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