She'll kill him.
Well, slap him. Probably yell. But God did she want to kill him.
Somehow the news never reached her. Then again, Olivia figured there was a very specific reason for it. She'd been buried in paperwork all day, locked inside her office to try and finish it. If news reached any of her detectives, they did a damn good job of following orders and not sharing any information. What bothered her the most was that she knew exactly why the news didn't reach her.
So now here she was, hours after Ed Tucker — that bastard — had been released from the hospital, staring at the front door of his apartment. The sun was down and the lights in the hallway felt too bright. Olivia could feel her heart beating and it felt like it was trying to fight out of her ribcage.
This was Olivia's second time being in his building and she was still a bit shocked at how nice it was, even with the anger coursing through her. Before she had a chance to knock the door opened.
The feeling of wanting to slap Ed immediately evaporated. There he was, his bright blue shirt unbuttoned halfway and stained with blood, exposing his white undershirt. It looked bloodier, if that was even possible. His left eye was already black and there was quite the cut across his right cheek — stretching from the bridge of his nose, under his eye, and almost down to his jaw bone — being held together with more stitches than she could briefly count. His right hand held a glass half full of what she could only assume was bourbon.
"You bastard," Olivia said through clinched teeth, taking a step forward and placing both of her hands on his chest. She gave him a strong shove, sending him back a few steps. But Ed was quiet because he knew he deserved the anger.
There was a moment where they both stared at each other. The apartment was quiet except for the hum of his air conditioning and music playing from a record player in the corner of his living room. Ed lifted the glass to his lips and finished the bourbon in one gulp, not even pulling a face as it stung going down his throat. He stood there, in the middle of his living room, with his mouth half open and his blue eyes locked intently on Olivia.
"You almost get killed and you don't bother to have somebody tell me until you're out of the hospital? What the hell, Ed?" Olivia reached back to shut the door to his apartment, only turning away to secure the locks.
"None of the bullets hit me," Ed finally rasped, shrugging like that was the perfect explanation. "And the bad guy is dead." With that he moved into the kitchen and grabbed the open bourbon bottle, pouring more into the glass and immediately drinking it all.
Bad guy is dead. In Ed's line of work Olivia knew that statement meant a bad cop was dead. His move back to IAB was supposed to be the safe one for their family in lieu of him retiring. Apparently they had both been wrong.
Olivia watched him, noting the way he moved a bit slower as he walked. Their relationship wasn't new, exactly. Over a year and not much of a secret anymore. For the entire time, Ed had taken care of her like the man she'd always needed in her life. Olivia had opened up to him, had turned to him for comfort so much that she had lost count. They had filled roles perfectly and, more often than not, Ed was caring for her without a complaint.
And now the man she loved was standing in front of her with a blank stare. It scared her because it was a gaze she hadn't seen in years. The last time she'd been on the receiving end of it, he'd been grilling her as the big, bad IAB Lieutenant. But this gaze from Ed held something different and she could feel it. This was a side of him that he allowed only Olivia to see.
Tonight Olivia knew she needed to flip their roles. She could grill him later, get angry and really slap him after he'd been taken care of. Without a word she moved into the kitchen, making a bit of noise so that Ed could hear her approaching. She was silent as she grabbed the empty glass and set it in the sink before closing the bottle of bourbon. That was where Olivia had expected the fight but Ed was quiet, not even looking at her as she stood off to his left.
"C'mon," Olivia said softly, moving a hand to rest on his lower back. "Let's get you undressed and in the shower." Normally she would have received a witty retort regarding their sex life. Tonight, Ed was quiet. He moved his head to study Olivia, his blue eyes darting between her brown ones before he sighed and let her lead him down the hallway and into his bedroom.
The floor lamp in the corner was on and it was the first time Olivia had really seen Ed's bedroom. Last time it had been dark and she'd left before the sun was up. Not her proudest moment but they'd easily discussed it and moved on. As much as she wanted to look around, Olivia kept her focus completely on Ed. She gently turned him to face her and kept eye contact as she finished unbuttoning his shirt. It was already getting stiff from the amount of blood soaked into the fabric. A pang of worry shot through Olivia as she thought about how it got there and wondered if it as all Ed's.
"Arms up," Olivia murmured. She managed a small smile as he obeyed without question, letting out a small grunt as the fabric of his undershirt rubbed against the stitches on his face. "Sorry," she whispered as she checked to make sure they weren't bleeding. She kept his clothes in a nice pile on the foot of his bed, already planning to start a load of laundry to see if the entire outfit could be salvaged. She'd probably have to hunt down his suit jacket once he got in the shower. Her movements were smooth, like she had practiced for days how to undo his belt and slide it from his waist. She could feel him watching her hands and managed a weak smile.
"Usually I'd have you pinned to the mattress by now," Ed said with the best smirk he could manage. His voice was flat, raspier than normal, and the smirk was gone so fast Olivia was pretty sure she'd imagined it.
"Well maybe you'll get lucky later, Captain," Olivia replied with a wink, trying anything to lift his spirits. It wasn't a shock to her to see more blood splattered across his slacks. All it did was cause her stomach to twist. Why hadn't Ed called her while he was in the hospital? She swallowed hard as she deftly undid the button and zipper of his slacks, letting them drop to his ankles. Without prompting Ed stepped out of them, grunting as he moved to pull off both his socks. "Don't move, I'm going to go start your shower."
There was no argument as she moved into his bathroom. It was clean and put together. Then again, he hadn't been here in nearly a week and had his own items in the bathroom at her place. Hell, it was more like their place at this point. Olivia sighed as she figured out the water and got the temperature she knew Ed liked. As she walked back into the bedroom she found Ed standing in the same spot, his back to her. He'd put his trousers, socks, and underwear in the same pile as the shirts Olivia had removed. Olivia would have taken the time to enjoy her naked boyfriend but instead made a small noise and moved to touch his back. Her hand rested between his shoulders blades. For the first time since she'd entered Ed's apartment she saw his body visibly relax.
"Go get in the shower," Olivia whispered as she moved to grab his right hand, turning it over so she could remove his watch. "I'm going to start some laundry and order some food. I'll set out some clothes for you." Without a thought she moved to playfully smack his ass and that prompted a genuine crooked smile from Ed. They shared a quick kiss before he moved toward the bathroom.
Olivia immediately jumped into action. It wasn't hard to dig through Ed's dresser and find a pair of gray Under Armour sweatpants that she decided were comfortable enough because she knew she'd want to steal them. What really made her laugh was the fact that nearly all of the t-shirts tucked away had NYPD written across them. If she hadn't gotten to know Ed better, she'd think his entire life was the job. Given the circumstances of her arrival at his apartment, she dug through the drawer until she found a black shirt that read ARMY across it in big, yellow letters. It was better than nothing. After picking out a pair of underwear she moved into the bathroom and set the pile of clothes on top of the closed toilet seat.
Before long the washing machine was going, food was ordered, and she got a glass of water set out on the coffee table in his living room. The music was still going so she paused to listen. If Olivia had learned anything about Ed Tucker, it was that his love of music was beyond that of any normal human being. Even better? The man was in love with anything he could listen to on vinyl. But when she walked over to lift the needle off the record, she couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. Mumford and Sons was not at all what she had expected but she had just cut off "Little Lion Man" so she could turn on the television. As she slid the record into its protective sleeve she heard the shower turn off.
This was where Olivia debated exactly where she needed to be. When she was having a rough time, Ed tended to be right there unless told otherwise. Except this was the first time she was taking care of him, she had never been in this role during their relationship. For a moment she felt guilty. How had Ed always known exactly what to do? How had she never been in this role for him? Ed was standing in front of the sink, a towel wrapped loosely around his hips as he stared at his reflection in the mirror. Ed's gaze moved to meet Olivia's in the mirror and in a situation where she'd normally receive a smile, all she got was a blank stare.
"Mumford and Sons, huh?" Olivia tilted her head as she moved to stand next to him.
"Not usually my type of music," Ed muttered, raising an eyebrow as he turned to face her. "But it sounds great on vinyl." He paused to reach out and rest a hand on the juncture of Olivia's neck and shoulder, his thumb gently running across her jaw. "Little Lion Man is one of my favorites but I missed it after my girlfriend forced me into a shower." He followed the statement with a wink to let her know he was joking. Olivia wouldn't have picked up on it considering how flat his voice was.
"I ordered from that diner you like and got you extra fries," Olivia explained. Her eyes were now downcast, studying Ed's lean torso. She hadn't seen any of the injuries earlier but, thankfully, none of them looked as bad as his face. A small bruise on his right hip, one she recognized from the holster Ed wore. It cut off where she knew his ballistic vest started. A few small cuts across his right and left forearms, definitely defensive wounds. And a small bruise just below his right collarbone, just outside where his vest was. There was no hesitation as Olivia leaned forward and placed a kiss against the bruise. She felt Ed suck in a sharp breath, exhaling shakily as he dropped his head to press his nose against her temple.
"I'm sorry I didn't call you," he practically growled, clearing his throat as she lifted her head to look at him. "The whole thing went down so fast, I was out when they got me to Mercy. I knew you were busy today, I didn't want you to miss any time with Noah." It sounded like a bunch of excuses, even to him, but each statement was completely true. "I didn't mean to worry you, Liv."
"Ed, what happened?"