JFC, it's been a long time since I updated. I apologize about that. This is a little short chapter just to hold you over. Enjoy!


After spending another week in the hospital, Olivia was finally discharged, and she couldn't have been any happier. Both her infection and actual bullet wounds were in the last stages of healing, but she still needed to take it easy. She was going to have to do rehab for the collapsed lung for the next couple of months to get back in shape.

The real torture of healing was starting now, though. Even though she was out of the hospital, she was far from being cleared to work again, even if she was sitting behind her desk most of the time. Because of the extent of her injury, 1PP sent in a replacement for her for the time being. She could hear the sigh of relief Fin had taken when he told her about the replacement.

"How you doing, baby?" Brian asked walking in the bedroom with her dinner and a water bottle.

"Just still sore and bored."

He chuckled a little. "You'll be back to work in no time. I'm sure the squad will be giving the replacement hell, and they will be begging you to come back no matter how you're feeling."

"I hope so." She said grabbing the takeout box from him. "When are you going back to work?"

"Tucker told me to stay away until you're better."

Olivia raised a brow. "When did he get a heart?" When Brian had first started working with Tucker, it felt like Tucker was doing everything in his power to keep them two apart, and now he was ordering Brian to stay home with her until she felt better.

Brian smiled. "He's dating someone now, so I guess that has a lot to do with it. Blue balls can really affect a man more than people think." He said laughing at himself.

"Ed Tucker has a girlfriend? I never thought I would see the day." Olivia said taking a bite into her food.

"I didn't either, but she's softening him up, so I'm not complaining." He said with a shrug of the shoulders.

"How are you?" She asked him seriously. So much had happened over the last couple of weeks, and if they were going to do this relationship thing right this time, they needed to communicate with each other.

"I'm good, Liv." He said with a convincing smile on his face. Was he really okay? No, but he would be. Right now he was more focused on Olivia getting better. He could worry about himself later.

"No, you're not. Brian, talk to me. I promise I can handle it."

This wasn't their first rodeo, and after knowing each other for so long, they were pretty transparent at this point. "Reality really hit me. I could've lost you. I just feel like nothing bad happens to you until I come around, and then I can't even protect you when you are in danger."

She placed her carton of food on the nightstand before she turned to talk to him. "Hey, I walked into that bullet. You can't blame yourself for any of this, including Lewis. I made it out, and when you were around, you were being a pain in the ass to the squad to find me. I feel more than safe with you."

"Do you really?"

"Yes, Brian. Right now, I feel like nothing can happen to me with you by my side." She could understand why his "manly pride" was low on the scale. She was a very independent woman, and Brian let her control the relationship. "You will always be my knight in shining armor, even if I don't need to be saved. Your arms are the safest place in the world to me."

"You overdid it, Liv." He said with a smile on his face, but he was glad that she was willing to do anything that would make him feel better.

She softly chuckled, not too much because she still runs out of breath quickly these days. "But did you get the point?"

He leaned over and kiss her forehead. "Yes. I love you."

"I love you, too."


"You're supposed to be in bed." Jenna said answering the door.

"I needed to come see you." Olivia said walking in. "Are your parents home?"

"Yes. Follow me." Jenna said walking down the hallway towards the living room.

Olivia followed her down the hall and prepared herself for whatever her parents were going to say to her. She had blamed herself for everything that happened one hundred percent, and would understand if they never wanted her to be around anymore.

"Hello, Olivia." Rich said in a cold voice.

She sighed. They weren't hiding their true feelings at all, and she honestly couldn't blame them. She decided to just be completely straightforward with them about her thoughts instead of beating around the bush, and possibly making things worse. "I want to say that I'm sorry for everything that has happened lately. I shouldn't have given Jenna the job. I completely understand if you don't want her to see me again. There was a line drawn, and I crossed it. I just hope that you guys, including Jenna, will be able to forgive me."

"We appreciate you coming over to apologize, but we do think it would be better if you cut all contact with Jenna. Everything was going fine until you came around."

Jenna whipped her head to look at her mom and had tears already welling up in her eyes. "Mom! That's not fair. I'm an adult! You can't make those decisions for me."

Olivia felt like she was punched in the stomach, but she expected it. If the shoe was on the other foot, she would do the same thing. It wasn't safe for Jenna to be around her, and she knew that. "Jenna, it's okay. They are just doing what's best for you." Olivia said trying to hide the pain in her voice. Of course it hurt, but she could only blame herself. When she first realized that Jenna was hers, she should have fired her. Olivia was the one to cross the line and this was all her fault.

"No, it's not okay! How is not letting me see her going to help me? These have been the happiest months of my life because I found out who my birth mom was. I'm not going to stop talking to her, and I'm not going to stop working for her. This is my life, and I can decide what I want to do with it." She said before she stormed out of the room.

Olivia sat there awkwardly as Karen and Rich had stunned looks on their faces. Jenna was an adult, but these were her parents, and if they didn't want Olivia around her it was something she would have to respect. Regardless of what Jenna thought, Olivia was going to be the mature one and make sure that all communication was cut between her and Jenna. "I've already been looking for a new nanny and I will make sure we don't talk. If this is what you guys want, I can only fulfill your wishes. I'm sorry for the strain I've put on your family." She got up from the couch. "I'll get going. Tell Jenna that I love her and that I'm sorry for everything that I've done to her."


"I mean can they do that? They can stop you from communicating with her?" Brian asked.

"Just because I gave birth to her doesn't mean that I have any rights to her. I lost that ability when I signed the adoption papers." She bit down on her bottom lip to stop the tears. As much as she understood why Karen and Rich made the decision that they did, it still hurt her.

Brian genuinely felt bad for her. She had finally told everyone about her past and as soon as it came to light, Jenna was snatched away from her. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

She shook her head. She hated that she allowed herself to get close to Jenna. She knew it was a bad mistake from the start but she couldn't help herself. "I just have to get over it. I still have Noah and that's all that matters right now." As much as it killed her to have to step away from Jenna again, she had another child to focus on, and she couldn't forget that.

Brian softly sighed as he realized that she was putting her walls up. It seemed like anytime they were with each other, they had a traumatic event to try to work through and never got to just enjoy being with each other without trying to heal from something else. "Okay." He kissed her forehead and wrapped his arms around her tighter. He knew that if he said anything else, it would lead to an argument and that's the last thing she needed on her plate right now.

"I'm sorry." She said feeling herself already start to become distant. She knew she could be too independent at times, and now that she had Brian supporting her, she didn't need to be so damn independent. She had someone that was willing to share the burden with her sometimes. It was just something that she was going to have to get used to.

He was actually glad that she noticed that she was pulling away from him. It showed that she really was trying to change and that's all that mattered to him. "Liv, I can't even imagine what you're going through right now, and I'm not going to pretend that I do. I just want you to know that you don't have to hold this all in and deal with it yourself. I love you."

Olivia looked up at him and smiled softly. She was happy that she decided to give them another go, and this time around, she wasn't going to let him go. "I love you, too."


"Thanks for meeting me." Jenna said as she slid in the booth across from Fin. It had been two days since her parents said that she couldn't see Olivia, and she had locked herself in her room. Olivia hadn't even tried to contact her and that's what hurt the most.

"You're my family. Anything you need, I got you."

"Thank you. I can see why Liv depends on you so much." She said with a soft smile on her face.

"Everyone could use a Fin in their life." He smiled. "So, what's going on?"

Jenna sighed. "My parents do not want Olivia in my life anymore, and they told this to her. Of course, her being Olivia, she listened. I don't know why my parents think this is any of her fault, and separating us is just going to make my situation worse. That's why I called you. I felt like I was going to do something stupid, and I needed to get out of the house."

"That's dumb. You're an adult. You can do whatever you want." He knew the two of them had just recently re-entered each other's lives, but Olivia was her mom just as much as her other parents. Now it made sense why Olivia had been ignoring him the last couple of days.

"Their house, their rules." She said with an eyeroll. Not only did they pull her away from Olivia, but they also got her fired from her job.

"Then come move in with me until you can get on your own feet. You have the right to do whatever you want, and if they can't understand that, you shouldn't be around them in the first place. I know they're your parents and all, but all parents aren't good parents."

"No way. I couldn't ask you to do that for me." It was a good offer, she had to admit. She would finally be out of her parents' house and she could be able to build a relationship with Olivia.

"That's why you didn't ask, I offered. Listen, I know this is affecting Liv just as much as it's messing with you. Just think about it."


I think it's kinda funny that I wrote the lines about Tucker before Tuckson was a thing and now I'm puking bc it's a thing. Anywaysssss, reviews are nice on here or twitter (queenimance)