Disclaimer: The characters do not belong to me, but I'm sure Mr Wolf won't mind.

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The following afternoon, Elliot was in the yard playing with Molly, Maureen was in her room working, Liz and Rick were both in the sitting room, she was listening to her Ipod and he was playing PS3. Olivia was in her room feeling a little off colour, she couldn't pinpoint the cause of it. She knew it was probably a bit to do with the baby, something to do with her injury and a lot to do with the pain she felt at Fin's death. She lay on her bed, one hundred and one thoughts racing around her addled brain.

Soon she heard raised voices from the sitting room below. She tried to ignore it but when she heard glass break she was off the bed and down the stairs, Maureen just two steps behind her.

"Look what you've done, you ass," Liz screeched, waving at the broken vase.

"Shut up," Rick yelled back.

"You don't give a shit about mom, do you? Can't you give her a break?" she spat, throwing her Ipod onto the sofa.

"Oh, she'll get over it, idiot, she did last time," he growled, returning his attention to his game controller.

"You're such an asshole, she's really upset about the shooting, you know dad and Fin…" Lizzie yelled, completely frustrated by her brother and his recent antics.

"That's not my fault, she's the one who shot him …" He turned around at the sound of Olivia's gasp.

Olivia looked from one twin to the other, her colour draining completely and hands trembling, they were both too stunned to talk.

"Mom," Maureen said coming to her and putting an arm around her shoulder. "It's okay."

Olivia shook her head. "No … no, it's not … it's not." She shrugged free and picked up Elliot's discarded jacket from the back of the sofa.

"Where are you going?" Maureen asked as Olivia almost ran to the front door.

"Out!" she called, having no idea as to where she was headed.

"I'll come with you," Maureen offered, moving towards Olivia, knowing she was in no state to leave the house alone.

"No, don't." Olivia slammed the door behind her and took off quickly down the street.

"Who slammed the door?" Elliot asked, walking into the sitting room with Molly on his hip.

"Mom," Maureen replied, staring at the twins.

"Why?" he asked, looking at the twins.

"Rick just told her she shot you …" Liz offered.

"Fuck!" muttered Elliot.

"Fuck!" mimicked Molly.

Elliot looked at his youngest daughter. "Don't say that, pumpkin," he cautioned.

"You sayed it," she replied.

"And your mommy's gonna kill …" his voice trailed. They had stopped using that expression eight months ago. "Which way did she go?"

"South," Maureen answered taking her sister as he moved past her.

Elliot was gone.

He ran down the street looking in all directions, praying she hadn't gone far. She hadn't left the house since her return from the hospital and he knew she'd have no idea where she was. As the time ticked by he became more anxious about finding her … he grabbed his cell and called home to see if she had returned. She hadn't. He continued to search the streets and as darkness began to fall he returned home to get his car. As he flicked on the headlights his heart stopped, there huddled in the corner of their garage was Olivia.

"Olivia," he yelled, jumping back out the car. He ran to her then dropped down beside her, pulling her to him. She went willingly, throwing her arms around his neck and holding onto him tightly. "Baby, you scared me," he whispered, kissing her head repeatedly.

"Sorry," she mumbled, holding tighter.

"It's okay," he soothed, his hands running circles on her back trying to warm her.

"It's not okay," she said, looking up at him tearfully. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want to upset you," he replied, his lips never far from her head.

"That plan worked," she said as the tears cascaded down her cheek. He tried to kiss them away but she pulled back. "Is that why I'm no longer a cop? Did I get kicked out of the department?"

"No, baby, I told you we made that decision for the sake of the kids, it had nothing to do with the shooting itself," he reiterated, desperate to hold her tighter than she was allowing.

"So what did IAB say?" she asked, needing to know and needing to know now.

"Nothing … it was a ricochet … you couldn't control it … it was accidental …" he offered, desperately trying to stop her trembling.

"Accidental maybe but I still killed him," she said breathlessly.

"You what?" Elliot asked, pulling back to look at her.

"Fin, I killed Fin …" she sobbed.

"NO!" yelled Elliot causing her to jump in fright. "No, Livvy, oh, baby, no … you didn't kill Fin, Forrester did …"

"Then who did I shoot?" she asked, her eyes widening in fright as the pieces fell into place. "NO!" she screamed.

He pulled her tighter to him as she struggled to free herself. "Liv, Liv, sssh," he soothed. "Listen to me, baby," he pleaded, pulling her hand and placing it under his shirt and on top of his heart. "Feel … I'm okay … honestly, I'm okay. It was only when Ballistics came back we realised this …" he touched the site of the wound, "was from your gun."

"I could have killed you!"

"But you didn't!"

"But I could have."

"But you didn't."

Her gaze locked onto his. "I would never have meant to hurt you," she whispered, the pain in her eyes all too clear.

"I know, baby. I never thought you did," he whispered in reply.

"But I put you in the hospital…" she sobbed.

He lifted his fingers to her right temple and rubbed gently. "And I did the same to you."

"But that was an accident," Olivia said.

"And so was this." He took her hand and gently pressed her fingers to the scar.

"No wonder Dickie … Rick hates me," she mumbled pulling closer to him. "I nearly killed his dad."

"He's alright with it, Liv … we had lots of long conversations about it … we talked through it," he soothed, stroking her head.

"We? As in you and Rick?" she asked, her head still swirling in disbelief.

"As in me and you, baby," he answered.

As Elliot's cell rang, Olivia dropped her head onto his shoulder and clung tighter.

"Mom's fine, Mo … we're just sitting in the garage…is that mess cleaned up? … Where is he? … No, he can stay in his room … give us another ten minutes …" he said.

"Twenty" mumbled Olivia into his neck.

"Make that thirty, Mo," he said and pocketed the cell.

"I'm so sorry, babe," she said, nuzzling into the crook in his neck.

"I know, Liv, I know." He kissed her head.

"And I'm sorry about all this … this running away … my head's all over the place," she apologised, lacing her fingers through his.

"It's okay; I can handle you running away as long as it's only to the garage." His gentle words caused her tears to trickle over once more. "What is it, Liv?"

"I'm only here because I had no where else to go. I got to the end of the street and I realised I didn't know where I was … fifty feet from my doorstep and I haven't got a fucking clue," she sobbed, distraught by her own inability to function independently.

"So you came back?" He kissed her head.

"I walked around the block and then came back but I couldn't handle going inside so I tried the side door and it was open," she said wearily.

"Olivia," he said, pulling back from her. "Please don't run from me again. I know this must all be a struggle but you've got to remember we got through it the first time we can do it again." She nodded. "Promise, me," he said, needing to hear her verbalise it.

She looked up at him and brushed away the tears sitting on his cheeks. "Can you promise me something first?"

"Of course!"

"Promise me that you still love me and despite this … " she traced over the site of his wound, "…you love me just the same."

Elliot shook his head. "Can't make that promise, baby." He kissed her lips. "I love you so much more than I did back then."

...

They sat down at the dinner table for the meal Maureen had prepared for them all. But it was a quiet and stilted affair; the only one oblivious to the tension was Molly and she only cared about making happy faces with the peas and carrots in her mashed potato.

Olivia barely ate, exhaustion kicking in. She stood up halfway through the meal, kissed Elliot's head and walked into the sitting room before lying on the sofa and closing her eyes. Her head was throbbing and even though her eyelids were down, her eyes didn't seem to settle. She took in a few deep breaths and listened to the relative silence of the house, a silence only broken by the occasional sound of cutlery and crockery in the kitchen and Molly's chatter.

She knew Rick was remorseful, and she knew Elliot was trying to keep his anger at his son in check – something Olivia had made him promise to do before they left the garage. She didn't think alienating him further was in anyone's interest, especially hers.

When she heard footsteps coming in she opened her eyes and smiled at Maureen who was bringing in a cup of tea for her.

"Did I wake you?" she asked quietly.

"No, I wasn't asleep," replied Olivia as she sat up and took the cup from her. "Thanks."

"Can I get you something to eat?"

Olivia shook her head. "No thanks, honey, I'll get something later on."

Maureen sat down beside her. "How are you doing, mom?" she asked.

"Exhausted," she sighed. "Mo, can you tell me something?" Maureen nodded. "Rick … has he been this way since I … since your dad …"

"Since dad's shooting?" Olivia nodded. "We were all pretty shaken up at the time, Kathleen came home from UCLA for a week but he was fine – it was the day after he got home the ballistics report came back and identified it as your bullet. You were pretty devastated by it but you and dad talked it through, then you spoke to us and it was a bit to get our heads around but none of us ever blamed you."

"But Rick …" she prompted, tears filling her eyes.

"He's been in a mood for a while … don't know what it's about but it got a whole lot worse when you were injured…" Maureen began to explain.

"Why?" she interrupted.

"No idea." Olivia sighed deeply and rubbed her head. "You in pain, mom?"

"A bit – it just won't ease up," she said, breathing deeply.

"Do you want me to get you something for it?" Maureen offered, standing up.

"No, I don't want to take anything with the baby … it'll be fine," she replied, finding it easier to remember the baby these days.

"What about a cold compress? Or a massage?" Olivia nodded and Maureen departed.

Resting her head on the back of the sofa, Olivia closed her eyes. When she felt the damp cloth fall across her forehead and strong yet gentle fingers begin to caress her head she smiled.

"You okay, baby?" he asked, leaning down to kiss her head.

"Mmmm," she murmured.

He continued to massage her head before moving down to her neck and shoulders. He said nothing but took the opportunity every now and then just to lean down and kiss her. Just as she was drifting off in a wonderful relaxed state, Molly came running in excited and despite Elliot's best efforts to calm her and keep her quiet, Olivia was awake.

"Daddy, want mommy," she whined, struggling to get away from her father.

"Shhh," he said, "Mommy's resting."

"Want mommy now!' she demanded, tired and frustrated with her lack of mommy time recently.

"It's ok, El," Olivia said, raising her arms to take the child as Elliot put her over the back of the sofa. "Come to mommy, Molly," Olivia soothed as she rested the child in her lap. Molly lay her head on Olivia's breast and tried to wrap her arms around her. Elliot came around and sat between Olivia and the arm of the sofa and eased Olivia back into him. He reached across to stroke his daughter's head but she wasn't impressed. When Elliot turned his attention to Olivia, she vocalised her disapproval.

"Go 'way, daddy," she said trying to brush his hand away.

"I can stay here with mommy too," he said gently.

"My mommy!" she said pushing on his leg.

"Can't daddy stay too?" Olivia asked quietly. From the day Molly was born and Olivia looked at her darling daughter and saw her husband's azure eyes looking back, she knew they'd be a fine pair together.

"Me want mommy," she cried, big tears trickling down her cheeks. "Miss mommy."

"Okay, baby," Elliot conceded getting up.

"Me punkin not baby," Molly corrected. Olivia couldn't help but laugh.

"Sorry, pumpkin," he replied, kissing Olivia's head.

"Fuck," Molly said and Olivia looked straight at Elliot before looking at her daughter.

"Molly!" she chastised. "We don't say that."

"Daddy sayed it," Molly explained pointing her finger at Elliot.

"Daddy is very naughty," Olivia replied.

"Daddy, go Time Out," Molly commanded, pointing to the little yellow plastic chair in the corner of the room, the same one Molly had to go to when she didn't do the right thing.

Elliot looked at his daughter then at his wife, hoping for some support but none came.

"Go daddy," Molly said again.

"Go daddy," Olivia said, and although she was keeping her expression as serious as possible, Elliot saw the smile in her eyes, something he hadn't seen all week. He went willingly and sat on the little chair – as uncomfortable as it was - and grinned widely … he would do anything to keep that twinkle in her eyes.

It wasn't too long after, Olivia called him back, she was laying down and Molly was asleep, one hand up at her face, her thumb in her mouth and the other one gripping onto Olivia's bra strap, the little girl in no hurry to let go of her mother.

"I'll put her to bed," Elliot said, bending down to his wife and daughter.

"No, don't … not yet," Olivia whispered, not quite ready to lose her little girl. "Can you squeeze in here with us?" she asked trying to shift to give him room without waking Molly.

"Sure," he replied, easing himself down and cuddling into his wife.

Olivia smiled and kissed his cheek. "You learn your lesson from being in Time Out?" she asked, gazing up at him.

"Yes, mommy," he grinned.

She smiled back. "If Don had have had one of those chairs in his office, I don't think we'd have ever gotten any work done."

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