It was the worst two weeks of her life.
Trying to keep it together for her son, when all the time she was torn between collapsing into sobs on the floor and hunting down the bastards that shot him.
She didn't really sleep much anymore, so she thought she was hallucinating or maybe day dreaming when he walked through the squad room into her office late on a Sunday night.
Only in her dreams he wasn't flanked by two men that looked like FBI.
The suits positioned themselves outside her office door and he stopped on the threshold, apprehensive.
She was frozen in her chair, so shocked she didn't know what to say or do. Their gazes locked, unable to look away.
Finally he broke the silence. "I'm so sorry." He sounded so tired, so broken.
His words seemed to light a fire within her, and she rushes across the room, stopping inches from him.
"Why?"
He breaks from the emotion contained in her one word. All of the pain of the last weeks- thinking he was dead and she'd never see him again.
"I- the Feds tried to take me away. I refused at first- but the threat wasn't over. It was extended to you and Noah. I won't let anything happen to you!" He wipes the tears from his face with one hand- the other arm in a sling to help him recover from the gunshot wound she knows is on his left shoulder. So close to his heart.
"I felt your heart stop. I felt it. I have nightmares about your blood staining my hands."
"I'm sorry, Liv."
They are still standing in the doorway, so she grabs his hand and pulls him over to the couch. They sit, and he uses his good arm to pull her close.
"Can you stay?"
"Not yet. The case is still open. I'm in protective custody for now. I don't even know where, I keep getting moved but it's never far. I won't go into Witsec."
"I want you safe. If you need Witsec to stay alive-"
"And never see you again? Abandon Noah? Liv..." his voice cracks under the strain and a few more tears fall down his face.
"How long are you here?" Olivia murmurs into his chest, breathing in deeply and trying to memorize his scent.
He sighs, burying his face in her hair and answering, "I convinced them to give us as long as possible."
Just then, a knock on the doorframe breaks the silence. "Mr Barba, we need to go."
Olivia whines a protest but follows his lead and stands, tears steadily falling down her cheeks.
"I'm so sorry, Liv. I..." He chokes up, unable to find the words to tell her what he's feeling. So he shows her instead. Wrapping his good hand around the back of her neck, he gently guides her closer. He starts the kiss gently, but the urgency of the situation takes over and suddenly he's kissing her so deeply she can feel it in her toes. He pulls away from her lips to trail kisses across her jaw then one below her ear before whispering, "I love you."
He hesitates a moment then untangles himself from her and walks out the door, refusing to let himself look back.
She can barely see for the tears falling, but she watches his blurry form flanked by the agents head for the back stairwell.
She knows there is a long road to travel from here, but as she wipes her tears and pulls herself together, she is overjoyed that he's alive. She can make it through weeks, months, God forbid even years- as long as she knows he's out there safe somewhere, waiting to come back to her.