Two days passed since Olivia's emotional breakdown in the bunkroom. Elliot never called, and Brian never called, and her world felt oddly silent, a weird juxtaposition to the mess it had been only days ago. She resisted the urge to text Elliot again, knowing he probably made it home already, and couldn't or wouldn't reach out to her again. She tried to be okay with that. She told him to go. She told him to put his marriage and family first. While that was the right thing, it still hurt. She still missed him.

But it was time to work. She couldn't float around anymore, she needed the solid grounding and purpose her job provided, even if she got stuck with desk duty for at least a week. Normally that would frustrate her, but she needed a little time before reentering the field. She had a therapy appointment scheduled for the next day, and she hoped Dr. Lindstrom could help sort out the shit show that her life had become in the last week.

She entered the precinct, and took a deep breath before diving into the squad room. All eyes glanced up as she walked in, but they knew better than to coddle her. She couldn't handle being held with kid gloves right now. She just needed something real, and her work was depressingly real.

She sat at her desk, and began yanking a couple files from her bag. Fin dropped a coffee on her desk, but continued to his desk without saying anything. She smiled at him in gratitude for his silent support.

Amanda brought over the file she had tried to give her a couple days prior. "We're still working on this one." She headed back to her desk before turning. "Glad you're back Liv."

Oliva tried not to cry over the sincerity, and honestly she was glad she was back too. This entire experience weighed her down so much, and now with the conclusion of the trial she felt like she could finally breathe. That is, until her phone started buzzing, and an unknown number popped up on her screen. She was used to getting calls from unknown numbers, but something about this felt ominous.

"Benson," she answered.

"Olivia?" The voice was one she hadn't heard for years. Visions of a little blonde girl, turned defiant teen, and now a beautiful adult crossed her mind.

"Kathleen?" she questioned, just to be sure. She hadn't talked to Kathleen for as long as Elliot had been gone. When he left, it was as if his entire family disappeared with him. Even though she knew they lived in the same city their silence made them feel a world away.

"Yeah, it's me." She could almost hear the sad smile in Kathleen's voice. "Um. I know this is weird, but I haven't heard from my dad in a couple days." She hurried on, "He said he was flying out a couple days ago, but he never called me to take him to the airport and I know he wouldn't have left without at least talking to me." She heard the worry creeping into the conversation, "I can't call my mom," she hesitated, "because she doesn't know why he's here, and neither do any of my sisters or Dickie." She let out a nervous breath, "I hoped he was with you and that's why he wasn't answering."

Olivia's heart dropped into her stomach. Could she go at least one day without some level of drama? "I haven't seen him in a couple days either. He said he was going home, and I thought…"

"You thought he just left again? Right?" Kathleen finished for her.

"Yeah," Olivia admitted.

"I'm getting worried. Do you know where he was staying? He stayed with me for a couple days, but things got crazy, and I didn't think to ask where he found to stay."

Olivia bit her lip, knowing perfectly well where he stayed. "Let me look into a couple things, okay? You might need to call your mom, but wait until I get back to you."

"You don't want him to get into trouble either." Kathleen answered. "If anything happened to him I'll feel so bad. I was the one who told him to come, and now I'm worried that was the wrong thing." Kathleen started rambling.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. Thank you. I really needed him here. For all of this. Thank you for helping him be here. For me." Olivia tried not to cry. It meant a lot that Kathleen had been the one to call him, to tell him to come. She did that for her, and for him, and in spite of the subsequent drama it was the right thing for her to do.

"Just find him, Olivia. I'm worried everyone is already going to kill me for telling him to come."

"I'll find him," She reassured her, "I'll call you soon, okay?"

"Okay." She seemed to be calming. "Thanks."

Olivia smiled, "I'll call soon." Then Olivia ended the call. Damn it Elliot, she thought. Where the hell was he, and why was he ghosting EVERYONE, not just her. It felt weird, and unsettling, because she knew he would never do that to his kids.

Olivia stared at her phone for a moment before tossing it into her bag. She pushed her chair back, causing a grinding sound against the floor, inadvertently causing all eyes to look up to her. Her eyes darted down, and she picked up her purse, and hurried out of the squad room. She didn't hear Amanda trailing her, until she asked, "Everything okay?"

Liv didn't even turn around before saying, "Probably not." Then under her breath, "I'm so tired of this shit." She hit the elevator button probably twenty times before the door finally opened and she stepped inside. She turned as the doors closed. Amanda looked concerned, but as always, gave her the space she needed to get done what needed to be done.

She sighed into the empty elevator. He better be okay. Hell, he better be alive. She hated him for scaring the crap out of everyone. She could survive him leaving her again, she knew that. But she knew she couldn't live in a world where he didn't exist. A world where he wasn't alive somewhere, breathing, happy. As the elevator doors opened to the main floor of the building she readied herself for another day in the emotional trenches, hoping she would survive this day.