Fake Love Turned Real [ A Barson Fanfic]

16

Olivia's POV

I wasn't allowed to go back to work until I had six weeks of recovery under my belt. But even six weeks after Javier was taken from us, I was still in a lot of pain, mentally and physically. My right arm was still sore and in a cast, but most of the pain was in my heart and mind.

"Are you certain that you are ready to go back to work?" Rafael asked, as we sat together in our car. He insisted on driving me to work, even if I promised him I was good to drive.

"If I don't go back now, I never will." I admitted softly, as I kept my eyes focused on my cast.

"You don't have to go back if you didn't want to. Every day, you face things that may push you back instead of helping you move forward." Rafael breathed as he reached out and gently touched my knee. 

I hesitantly turned to look at my husband before leaning in and kissing him softly.

"I love you, Rafa. No matter how scared I am to face everyone, I must do this. You told me we need to do things that make Javier proud... and going back to work would make him proud." I replied. Rafael nodded before he leaned over and kissed me several more times. 

"Go kick some ass, baby." Rafael grinned.

"I plan on it."

/// 

When I got to my floor, Fin was waiting outside of the elevator for me. He looked pretty nervous to see me, and I hated he felt that way.

"Hey there, stranger." I said with a brave smile.

"Hey, baby girl. Uh, how are you?"

"I'm okay, Fin. If talking about what happened makes you uncomfortable, we don't need to discuss it. It's hard for me too." I admitted.

"I just don't know what to say..." He whispered.

"Fin, you don't have to say anything. If it makes it easier, we can just talk like I hadn't even been pregnant to start. We don't need to discuss Javier or the fall."

"Javier?" Fin questioned, and I nodded slowly.

"It's Rafael's father's name. We decided to honor our son by naming him that..."

"It's a very solid name, Liv. Perfect for your little guy." Fin smiled, but I could still see the sadness in his eyes. I stepped forward and hugged him tightly before we parted.

"Thanks for that." Fin whispered, and I nodded.

"I needed it too."

Everyone was very careful with what they said around me. Amanda had already seen me at my lowest, so she knew how to approach things. Cragen and Munch were very awkward around me, but they tried their hardest to act normal. It didn't work, but it was nice for them to at least try.

About an hour before the end of my shift, we got a call about an abusive situation. Fin and I were sent, but only after I promised Cragen that I was good to go.

"Why is CPS here?" I questioned, as Fin and I approached the home. One of the head CPS officers was standing on the front porch with an uniformed officer.

"This was supposed to just be a DV call, but maybe it is about child abuse, too." Fin spoke, and I nodded nervously.

We walked up the path together before stopping at the bottom of the stairs.

"Ms. Chang." Fin spoke, and the older woman sighed as she looked at us.

"Great, I need your help." She spoke before leading us into the house.

"You need our help? When have you ever admitted to that?" I mumbled.

"Detective Benson-"

"Detective Barba." I corrected.

"Great, you got married. Congrats. But anyway, you two deal with special victims, and I have two kids that need to be taken back to your precinct and questioned."

"You want us to do that?" I asked, and she nodded.

"You are one of the best, I guess. Do what they trained you to do."

///

Back at the precinct, I sat in an interview room with a set of very dirty little girls. The DV seemed to flow into a child abuse case. The two little girls that we had pulled in were both dirty, bruised, and underweight. Neither talked, and they just sat at the table and stared at me.

"Annie and Morgan, can you tell me what was happening at home? Like what you may have seen your daddy do to your Mommy?" I asked softly. Being around these two made me nervous, and I realized that I wasn't as ready as I thought I was.

"Do you have food?" Annie whispered, as she lowered her eyes to look at the table.

"What are you hungry for?" I replied back. I was excited that somehow they trusted me enough to ask for food.

"Anything." Annie whispered. I smiled and nodded.

"I'm going to grab you each a few things, and then when I get back we can talk again. Okay?"

I asked Amanda to keep any eye on the girls just in case they decided to flee, before going into the break room and grabbing them food. When I returned, Morgan and Annie were huddled together and whispering. 

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Can we-"

"Annie. Morgan... I'm trying to help you. I know that you are scared, but whatever you are whispering about it is important to me. So please, tell me." I urged. We need some sort of information to tell Alex and Ms. Chang, but I was unsure if we'd get that.

The girls hesitantly walked back to the table and sat down, as I passed them each a bottle of water and packs of crackers.

"Are we going home?" Morgan asked, her voice shaking.

"Not tonight... do you want to go home?" I asked, and both girls shook their heads.

"I don't wanna go back to them! Daddy and Mommy are mean!" Annie sobbed. I swallowed hard before standing and walking around the table. I reached out and gently touched Annie's shoulder, before she attacked me with a hug. She clung to me, and not long after Morgan did too.

These two little girls were broken, and I'm praying my first week back I'd be able to help them out... then maybe it would help me too.