Chapter Forty Eight – Perils Continue

Suvi whimpered softly and continued pacing back and forth across the bedroom. He knew Olivia was upset, but no matter what he did he couldn't wake her. There had to be another way to help her without doing something drastic (like jumping up onto the bed) and upsetting her further. He whined again as he desperately searched for an answer. Then, unexpectedly, the answer jumped out at him. Or rather rolled over and let his arm flop over the side of the bed. Suvi trotted around the bed and immediately began licking Ben's fingers. Ben groaned and yanked his hand away. When Suvi still persisted Ben finally opened his eyes.

"Ugh. Suvi, go bug Olivia."

The noise Suvi made next was half whine, half growl. It surprised Ben, and he pushed himself up on one elbow to stare down at Olivia's dog. He had never heard Suvi make a noise that remotely sounded like a growl before. Suvi pawed at Ben's arm before racing around to Olivia's side of the bed. Ben frowned and rolled over to look at Olivia. She was breathing heavier than usual, and when he touched her shoulder he could feel the tension there. Pushing himself up further, he glanced down at her face. What he saw squeezed his heart. There were two tear streaks on her cheeks, one with the tear still visible.

"Olivia," Ben called out as he gently shook her shoulder. "Liv, wake up."

She jerked awake and initially pulled away from him, her eyes wide. Slowly her breathing returned to normal and some of the tension left her body. Ben wanted to pull her into his arms but sensed it would unsettle her.

"Are you okay?"

She took a slow, deep breath and didn't answer right away, so Ben pushed a bit harder.

"Nightmare?"

"Yes," she admitted weakly.

"From the movie?"

Olivia nodded, her head barely moving.

"It reminded me of an old case."

It wasn't even the premise of the movie that had triggered the memory; it had been the sound of gunshots. The pattern at one point in the movie had been nearly identical to the pattern from the prophet case, though she hadn't realized it at the time. While the body pile had been adults and not children, her mind had already made the connection. It had been over ten years since the case had been closed, but she would never forget what she had seen and experienced. There were some cases you could never truly forget, closed or not. This one was coming back to haunt her now. She rubbed uneasily at her arms and looked down. Ben rested his hand over hers and smiled softly.

"What can I do? Get you some water? Tea maybe?"

"Water is fine."

Ben nodded and headed for the door. He didn't make it all the way there before Olivia called out softly to him. When he paused and looked back at her he found her watching him with shimmering eyes.

"Come back soon?"

"Five minutes. Maybe less. I promise."

She nodded and reached down to rub Suvi's head. While she wanted to be hopeful that it wouldn't take long to get the memories out of her head, she knew it wouldn't be easy. They were seared into her brain, and pulling a curtain over them wasn't always good enough.

Seeing that Olivia was petting Suvi, Ben knew she was in good hands and vanished out the door. Ben slipping into the kitchen as quietly as he could so he wouldn't wake Ryan who was asleep on the couch in the living room. He did well until he began pouring the water. Ryan stirred and poked his head up over the back of the couch.

"What are you doing up?"

"I was getting some water for Olivia, but I'd be happy to throw it on you instead," Ben retorted with a roll of his eyes. "It won't take long to get another glass."

"What the heck is she doing up?"

"Waking you up apparently."

Ryan chucked a throw pillow at Ben in response. It fell far short of its mark, and Ben was able to return to Cole's guest room where Olivia was waiting. Instead of finding her in bed like he'd expected he found her on the floor on the far side of the bed. Suvi was sitting right next to her. Ben crouched down and handed her the glass.

"You doing okay?"

She nodded, but her hands were shaking so bad he was worried some of the water would spill out of the glass.

"Do you want me to pour some of that out so you don't spill it?"

Olivia shook her head and tried to set the glass on the ground next to her. Ben caught her hand and the glass to help her set it down evenly. Normally Olivia might have protested, but at the moment she was too tired and preoccupied. Ben recognized that and wrapped his arm around her comfortingly. Olivia leaned into him without a word.

"Do you want to talk?"

"Not really," she whispered.

"Okay. I'm here if you change your mind."

O . o . O . o . O

Ben shifted his car into park in Clarissa's driveway and turned to glance at Olivia. Her head was tipped awkwardly to the side and her mouth hung slightly open. She hadn't decided she wanted to talk after her nightmare last night and she hadn't gone back to sleep either. Because of that it really wasn't surprising that she'd fallen asleep halfway into their drive. He really didn't want to wake her up so he simply sat there with the car still running. About five minutes later both of Clarissa's boys came racing out of the house and paused when they spotted Ben's car before sprinting over to him. Ben rolled down the window and held a finger to his lips for quiet.

"Where are you two off to?" he whispered.

"Next door," Tommy replied as he rested his arms on the edge of the open car window.

"Yeah, we're going to have an epic snowball fight in the park!" Chase added.

Ben grinned and tried really hard not to laugh. Based on Chase's level of excitement this snowball fight was going to be so big and amazing the entire neighborhood would be talking about it for months. Maybe even into the summer. Personally Ben didn't think there was enough snow for that, but whatever.

"Have fun, guys. Stay warm."

Tommy pulled away from the window and waved goodbye.

"Bye, Uncle Ben!" they both called out as they raced each other next door.

The cold air that had been drifting through the open window during the conversation had reached Olivia in the far seat, pulling her from her slumber. Her shifting caught Ben's attention, and he looked over to find her blinking blearily.

"Morning, sleeping beauty."

Olivia yawned and rubbed at her eyes. They felt rather gritty. Apparently she'd been asleep for a rather long time. The last thing she actually remembered was Ben getting on the highway.

"How long have we been here?"

"Not too long," he answered as he unbuckled his seatbelt.

"Somehow I doubt that."

"I wanted to let you sleep, and it really hasn't been more than ten minutes."

That hardly made Olivia feel better, and she glared at him before getting out of the car. Suvi was so eager to follow her after the long wait that he jumped up into the front seat and scurried out the door. After all, Olivia's door was open and his wasn't.

"Someone's impatient," Ben laughed.

Olivia smiled softly and nodded. He did seem a bit impatient. Since they would be inside in a moment she decided it wasn't worth taking the time to put his vest and leash on. It wasn't like he wouldn't act like he had both on anyway. Ben knocked on the door, and Clarissa opened it with a wide smile a moment later.

"Hey guys. Come on in."

Once they were all inside and the door was closed behind them Clarissa pulled Ben into a tight hug. She stepped away after she'd released him and called upstairs.

"Kinsey, they're here!" Then she turned back to Ben and Olivia. "Would you two like coffee?"

A smile lit up Olivia's face at the thought of coffee. She could definitely go for a massive cup.

"That would be fantastic."

"She literally woke up a minute ago," Ben teased, and Olivia shot him an annoyed look in return.

"Thanks, Ben," she grumbled.

"You're very welcome."

Again Olivia glared at him. She did not see why it was necessary to tell Clarissa that she'd fallen asleep on the car ride over.

"If I didn't like coffee so much I'd consider throwing it at you."

"No you wouldn't."

"Totally would even if it would mess up Clarissa's entryway. In fact, if it were tea I wouldn't even need to consider it."

Clarissa couldn't help smiling at their bickering. It looked like Ben was rubbing off on Olivia. She was definitely holding her own against Ben's teasing. They actually seemed like a real couple now, relaxed and comfortable in each other's presence. The last time Clarissa had seen Olivia she'd been incredibly nervous around the family, but that definitely wasn't the case now.

"Hey, Uncle Ben," Kinsey greeted as she came down. "Hi, Olivia."

When Kinsey turned her eyes back to Ben she punched him lightly on the arm and grinned.

"So Mom said you were making lunch."

Ben's eyebrows rose in surprise, and Olivia's face split into a wide grin. Seeing him caught so off guard was cute, especially with the way Kinsey had told him.

"I am?"

"That's what Mom said."

"Geez. Some guest I am," Ben grumbled as he moved into the kitchen to check and see what options he had.

"You're not a guest," Clarissa corrected. "You're my brother. Olivia's a guest."

"Gee, good to know."

"And you're a guest we're very happy to have," Clarissa told Olivia as she turned her attention away from her brother and sat down at the table with Olivia.

"Yeah, like, really happy," Kinsey added. "There are way too many guys in this family."

She pushed herself up onto the counter and swung her legs. It didn't last very long though. Clarissa turned a fierce glare on her daughter and made a very clear hand motion to get down. Kinsey rolled her eyes but did as her mother asked and got off the counter. She too sat down at the table.

"Kinsey's right," Ben pointed out. "Only in reverse. I feel incredibly outnumbered."

"You're not that outnumbered. Suvi's here," Olivia said with a grin.

"Yeah, but he's going to agree with you no matter what."

"Because he's smart."

All three women grinned, and their smiles only widened when they saw Ben shaking his head at them and attempting not to roll his eyes. He really wasn't doing a very good job.

"Please tell me your husband will be home at some point today, Ris," Ben almost whined.

"Nope. We'll have to plan that for the next dinner."

"Yeah, at your place!" Kinsey added.

"Kinsey!" Clarissa reprimanded.

"What?"

Olivia was caught completely off guard by Kinsey's sudden request. It wasn't like there was anything special about their place versus this one. There wouldn't be a different person cooking either. Ben noticed her confusion and paused in his cooking to explain.

"Kinsey has a thing for New York."

"Because it's amazing," she interrupted.

"Sounds like that runs in the family," Olivia laughed.

All three of Clarissa's brothers had moved to New York City.

"Yeah, and I've only gotten to visit a few times."

"We've been to all of your uncles' places, Kinsey. Ours just has more room," Clarissa corrected.

From the tone of her voice she'd had this same conversation with her daughter multiple times before. Considering Ben had turned away and returned to opening boxes and working at the stove Olivia figured he'd heard it multiple times before too. There was obviously some underlying tension around the subject that she didn't understand yet. Somehow she had a feeling she was going to be dragged into the debate rather quickly.

"Ours isn't in New York City," Kinsey pressed to support her point.

"We aren't having his discussion right now. Do you hear me? We have guests."

"Yeah, which is pretty much the only time I might have a shot at getting you to see sense."

The growing tension in the room wasn't just noticed by the humans. Suvi could feel it as well, and it was starting to get to him. He whimpered softly and pressed his head against Olivia's lap. When she looked down at him his tail was tucked down, though thankfully not quite between his legs. She rubbed his back in reassurance which seemed to help.

Kinsey looked over at Olivia for a moment and then turned her eyes down to the table. She'd really wanted to get to know Olivia and talk to her about what it was like to live in New York. Instead she'd wound up in the same argument with her mom. It definitely wasn't what she'd wanted.

"I'm sorry, Olivia," she whispered.

Olivia smiled gently and reached out to squeeze Kinsey's hand. Apparently reassurances were in high demand today.

"You aren't the only one that's gotten into an argument with her mother at some point."

Kinsey's eyes fluttered up to Olivia's meekly, and she smiled.

"Now, why don't you tell me how you usually handle dealing with all these guys at your house."

Kinsey didn't need to be told twice before beginning to chatter away. Olivia focused most of her attention on Kinsey but glanced sidelong at Ben. He paused in finishing their meal and offered her an appreciative head nod and smile. Somehow she'd managed to dissipate the tension and turn the afternoon back in the right direction. It looked like Suvi wasn't the only one that could have a calming influence on people.