A bit of a post-ep drabble to Pathological, courtesy of my Tumblr friend motherbearof3 with her HEY HERE'S AN AMAZING KEITH URBAN SONG YOU NEED TO TURN INTO A BARSON STORY! Or something like that.

Shatter like glass
Come apart in my hands
Take as long as it takes

-Keith Urban (Break On Me)

"I don't know". He shook his head, looking away from her, dropping his head down. She lost her words. All she could do was stare at him. This man who had been there for her the last few weeks. This man who had dropped everything that day and stayed with her, even though there was nothing he could do. But he stayed. When she broke, he was there to catch her in his hands.

And there he sat, not five feet away from her, in danger of breaking himself. It had been a long time since she had watched a case take a toll on him like this one had. There were no winners. Everyone was a loser here. Regardless of the outcome, no one would feel vindicated. She knew that much. But this was one weighing him down. It was causing his heart pain. She hated that. She wanted to take it away, like he had tried to do for her just a short few weeks ago.

She walked up behind him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, pressing her cheek against his temple, trying to physically take the hurt away from him. To help him not to break in this moment.

"Liv…" he whispered, leaning back into her as much as he could still sitting there.

"Rafa, no. Just…. Shhhh… it's ok." She felt him start to relax. To start to let go just a little bit.

He rested his hands on her forearms, squeezing them gently, pulling her around him as he swiveled in the chair. He grasped her hands lightly as she moved to stand between his legs. He smiled slightly as he stood up, turning to rest his back against the counter, pulling her back into him. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders again and felt him sigh as he looped his arms around her waist, pressing their cheeks together. She lost track of how long they stood there, wrapped up in each other, helping each other to put themselves together again. Soon they were exhausted, but neither wanted to leave each other. Which how they found themselves waking up on the couch, still wrapped up in each other, as the sun started to rise the next day. The smiles they shared with each other in the early morning told them that they had helped each other heal, even just a little bit, and for now, that's what they needed.