Chapter Forty – Won't Let You Go

"It's super dog!" Ben cried out as he held up Suvi's ears and rocked the dog's head back and forth like he was flying.

Olivia and Sheila both looked over to find matching amused smiles on Ben and Suvi's faces. The sight was enough to make Olivia burst out laughing. While she and Ben's mom had sat and talked in an attempt to actually get to know each other, Ben had been entertaining Suvi. At times Olivia had looked over and wondered if it wasn't the other way around. At one point she thought Suvi would have been perfectly happy curled up on the floor at her feet instead of wrestling. Ben was the one that needed entertaining, and Suvi was more than willing to provide. Together he and Ben were complete knuckleheads, as was obvious considering their most recent antics.

"Ben…" Sheila sighed in exasperation.

"What?"

"Can't you behave yourself for once?"

"Where's the fun in that?"

Sheila dropped her head into her hands, but Olivia only laughed again. She'd become so used to Ben's craziness that whenever he came up with something new she was hardly surprised. It was a reason to laugh even more than anything else.

"I'm sorry, Olivia," Sheila told her. "I didn't realize I raised a son that was quite this…" She waved her hand to indicate Ben since there wasn't really an appropriate word for him. "He must drive you nuts."

"At first he did, but I've gotten used to him. I'm actually really glad he's the way he is."

She smiled over at Ben, and he returned it with his own dancing, childish grin. It was a smile she'd become all too used to in her life. Olivia didn't think she could handle ever losing that smile or the person it belonged to. Ben had somehow managed to sneak in and squirm his way into her heart. He'd gotten his hooks so deep into her that there was no real way for them to ever come out, at least not without serious pain. Ben was becoming just as much a part of her as Suvi had become soon after she'd gotten him, a part of her she honestly didn't think she could give up.

"Because you love me in all my goofiness," Ben replied.

"So you think," Olivia shot back as she threw a pillow at his face.

In the end it didn't wind up hitting him. Suvi had seen the pillow coming and decided it was the perfect opportunity to start play time again. He launched himself at the flying pillow, but there wasn't quite enough room. When he wound up running into Ben it didn't stop him. The two of them ended up in a tangled pile of limbs on the ground with the pillow stuffed between Suvi's mouth and Ben's face. Olivia thought the new situation did the job she'd hoped the pillow would even better than the pillow would have on its own.

"Suvi, drop it," she ordered before he accidentally tore her throw pillow.

He dropped the pillow right onto Ben's face, leapt off Ben, and jogged over to Olivia's side. Once he'd plopped down at her feet he stared up at her with his tongue hanging out of the side of his mouth.

Look, Mom! I did good, didn't I?

Olivia laughed and leaned down to rest her forehead onto his for a moment. When she looked back up Ben was ready and waiting. He tossed the pillow at her face, and with her unsuspecting, it hit dead on. The fact that it was slobbery only made his return strike sweeter.

"Hey! I get him off of you, and you decide to hit me in return?"

"Fair is fair."

Sheila smiled softly as she watched both of them interact. It had been a long time since she'd seen her son look so happy and content. She had been incredibly wrong about Olivia. To think that she'd almost cost Ben this happiness. The problem was she wasn't sure the happiness would last or what the happiness would cost. Despite everything she was seeing, they were still major concerns. She couldn't help being wary of Olivia because of it.

"Don't think Liv's the only one that has to deal with ridiculousness, Mom. She gives as good as she gets. Better sometimes."

Olivia was about to swat him when her phone rang. She got up to get it. While Ben couldn't hear what was happening on the other end, he could see the expression on Olivia's face change. The happiness had quickly faded away. When she hung up and turned back toward them Ben became even more concerned. Olivia's mind was no longer focused on getting to know his mother. It was somewhere else entirely.

"Liv?"

"I'm sorry, but I have to go."

"Getting called in?" he asked as Olivia started putting Suvi's equipment on.

"Yeah. This is a special case. I can't miss it."

"What's going on?"

Again Olivia didn't stop getting ready to leave to answer Ben's question. He actually ended up following her as she moved around the apartment. Sheila didn't like it at all. Olivia was simply walking out in the middle of an engagement for work? That didn't bode well for later. Ben should come first and foremost, yet Olivia wasn't even pausing to talk to him.

"The woman from one of my last cases before my injury was just raped again," Olivia explained. "They don't know if it's the same guy, but it doesn't matter. I can't let her go through this alone."

"You'll be back late?"

"Probably."

"We'll let ourselves out." He nodded toward the door. "Go."

"Thank you."

Olivia gave him a quick kiss and led Suvi toward the door. She'd given Ben a key already and trusted him enough to leave him alone in her apartment. A lot had changed in the time they'd known each other. Not too long ago Olivia had been worried about simply letting Ben into her apartment. She'd come a long way with trusting him since then.

Ben watched her go and couldn't stop the worry that was racing through him. The set look on her face when she left made him concerned. If she had trouble dealing with this case he didn't want her coming home to an empty apartment after hours of heartrending work. He chewed the inside of his lip briefly before making up his mind.

"Mom?"

Sheila knew exactly what Ben was going to ask, and even though she didn't like the thought of it, she couldn't prevent him from doing what he wanted. It would be her apology gift to him.

"I can get myself home, Ben."

"Are you sure?"

"You're worried about her, aren't you?"

"Yeah."

"Then focus on her. I can handle myself." She hesitated for a second before deciding to give him a small warning as well. "Just be careful that you don't get too close."

Her last words fell on mostly deaf ears. Ben smiled as relief rushed through him. With permission to stay instead of taking his mother back home to New Jersey, he could remain at Olivia's apartment until she came home. That way if Olivia needed emotional support that night he would be there.

When Olivia finally got back after the case it really didn't count as "that night" anymore. It was three in the morning, and as hard as Ben had tried to stay awake he'd drifted off on the couch a half hour ago. Olivia had found him there, neck cocked at an odd angle against the couch, when she finally got home. It brought a small smile to her face despite how exhausted she was. Finding him waiting for her was about the last thing she'd expected, and she was incredibly grateful he was there (even if he was asleep). After unclipping Suvi's leash and vest so he could relax and go to sleep Olivia knelt down in front of Ben and touched his knee.

"Ben," she called as she shook his knee gently.

He jerked awake and blinked blurry eyed at her. It took a couple seconds for him to wake up enough to process what he was seeing. What he'd been waiting for had finally arrived.

"Hey, you're home," he said around a yawn.

"Yeah. It's been a long day. Night. Morning," she corrected again. "Whatever."

Ben smiled softly and reached out a hand for her to come join him. She was more than willing to do that and curled up next to him, snuggling into his chest. With her settled he wrapped his arms around her and gently kissed her forehead.

"I'm really glad you're here," she whispered as she nestled closer into him.

"Happy to be here."

And he was. It had definitely been the right decision to stay. While she hadn't said anything specific, he could tell that she needed a little bit of comforting. He was more than happy to provide exactly what she needed, even if it had meant staying up until almost three AM to do it.

Author's Note: That's it for this round! More to come later, though again it could be a while. I'm pretty sure the next grouping is going to need to be written as more than just 5 chapters... and I haven't started any of them yet. Okay, so I started one but it's not even part of that grouping.