AN: Ok, so there is kind of a line in there from Missy Higgins "Where I stood", and if you know the song you may recognize it. Unfortunately though, I so don't own that. It just kinda came out when I was in the middle of writing this, and it seemed to fit. I didn't even realize that's what line it was until I had already typed it out. My bad. But anyway….. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: I so don't own the genius that is SVU, that one goes to Dick Wolf. And I so don't own the genius that is that one line that is kind of from "Where I stood". That one goes to Missy Higgins and her wonderful self. The only thing I do own is the computer I'm writing this on, and the half eaten burrito that is currently sitting next to me.
Ch. 2
Standing there, staring at him, standing there right in front of her seem to sober her up. She wanted so badly to hate him, so badly to be so beyond pissed that she couldn't even speak to him. But all the sudden, she wasn't. Not anymore. Because now, she didn't see the man that up and walked away from her, the one man who was never supposed to abandon her, but did. Now she saw a man who was hurting beyond belief. She saw a man who just wasn't someone she could hate. She saw something familiar…. She saw her partner. She saw El, the man that had meant more to her than anyone she had ever loved at all. The man that had never ceased to be there for her when she needed him. The man that she felt so incredibly attached to she thought she would never break away from him. And now, all she wanted was to be able to look into those familiar blue eyes and not see so much pain. And she wanted him to be able to do the same; and she wanted to not hurt so much anymore.
She saw him swallow, attempt to take a depth breath, and fail. She could see even more hurt creeping in, and she knew that things had just changed. The winds had shifted. He looked at her then, straight into her eyes for the first time since that fateful day, so long ago, in that squad room when everything changed. She could see his face changed, he saw something in her he hadn't seen before, and she could see that. She thought maybe she could describe the look in his eyes, but there just weren't words. He steps closer to her and she can feel her heart fall right out of her chest, again. She knows they aren't alone, that there are plenty of people around them. Hustling and bustling, and hurrying just to get to one place, then have to move onto the next. She knew lives were happening all around them, but just like that day in the squad room, everything and everyone else around them seem to disappear. It was just them, she and him, and that look in his eyes.
She gives a nod and she's gone. But he's right behind her, never far from her. She knows what he's doing; she can feel it in her bones. He's following her, and she knows she'll have to turn around, soon. She makes it five blocks from the station and she finally turns around. He seems out of breath, and she knows it's not physical, but emotional. He looks so broken then, and suddenly she doesn't know what to do. She's seen him broken before; she's even seen him break, but never like this. She tries to take a deep breath, that doesn't turn out so deep, and bows her head. Not for long, just for a second. Just to breathe. Then, she smiles slightly, enough to convince him she's not going to break into tiny little pieces right there in front of him, and tells him "Eight o'clock, door will be unlocked" And walks away. As does he.
Making her way back into the One Six, she tries to set her mind back into work. She fails, miserably. She smiles lightly at the Uni passing her as she enters the elevator and tells herself to snap the fuck out of it. It doesn't work. She's not surprised. Stepping off the elevator she vaguely registers Nick seemingly running toward her. As she looks up, his eyes meet hers, and she's partially broken from her trance, but only partially. "Liv," he starts, clearly out of breath "The hell you been?" he spats. "I tried calling you 3 times." Looking down at the phone in her hand, she notices the flashing notifications. She hadn't even felt it vibrate.
Clearing the notifications, and turning the volume back up, she turns her attention back to Nick. "Sorry, ran into an old uh…. Friend. Got a little distracted. What's up?"
"We found Kaitlyn! We know where she is!" He practically screams, and then, just like that, her trance is completely gone. All thoughts of anything else slipping away.
"Let's go" She tells him, and 2 seconds later, they're both on the elevator and on their way to save a little girl that almost everyone else had given up all hope on.