Irreplaceable

slow your horses

                    "Woah... slow your horses. I don't know if it's because of what happened, or if this case is a little touchy for you? But you can't let your anger take over liv, we have a job to do and we can't do it with this attitude. Look, I want the absolute best for you, and you know that... but if you can't handle staying calm, you need to step back and let us take care of this" he lectured her with a stern yet supportive tone.   She looked up at him, more or less speechless, and shook her head, "I'm fine? Okay? Totally fine. I can do my job just fine, jay. I'm not emotional and i can handle the case" She looked him in the eye.  Jays ability to read her like a book shone through and he could see that even she was doubting herself, "liv, you need to take it easy..." he shook his head.  She laughed in disbelief, "I'm. Perfectly. Okay. Can we just get back to working this case now? Please..." she sounded her words out.

~~~~~~~~

"Alright, so what've we got? I checked the address out but it's a fake, so where are we at?" Hank folded his arms and took the false lead off the blackboard. Olivia sighed, "the little girl didn't make it, but she was related to the other victim who's still in a coma. She isn't looking too good either, so if she doesn't make it we have nothing" she shook her head. The team shared a moment of sad silence before Kevin spoke up, "the number we picked up from the burner traced back to a Ray westward, he's a financial advisor at the bank on 98th, he made a cash deposit of 3 g's a month back, where that money came from however, we don't know" he shrugged. Olivia sighed, "so we track his address and bust his ass" she put her hands out.

"No" hank shook his head firmly, the unit shot each other awkward glares, "what do you mean no? If this guy killed or of our men we sure as hell wouldn't be sitting around, so why're we sitting around now?" Olivia shook her head. Jay bit his tongue and shifted his weight uncomfortably, he knows Olivia is spinning out and he wants to help, but he can't.  Hank stopped in his tracks, "I mean no, it's too dangerous. Now if you've got a problem with that I suggest you step back and let us work the case" he shrugged.  Olivia shook her head, "all I'm saying is that we're wasting time" she huffed.  Hank nodded and looked at jay, everyone knows Olivia isn't coping with this case, and she's way too emotional right now. 

                    "You're benched for the rest of the case" the older man walked towards his office.  Olivia stopped still, "Sarge..." she protested, "no buts Olivia, now go home. You're way too emotionally invested in this. So, go home" hank waved her off before closing his door harshly.  Olivia looked around at the unit who were sending her nothing but pity, "liv..." jay sighed as she grabbed her jacket and stormed out of the bullpen, "just let her cool off..." Kim smiled sadly at jay.  He sighed and rubbed his head before his attention was drawn to hank; sure he wanted to tell Olivia to calm down and stop spinning out, but benching her seems a little harsh...

"Sarge, we all know she won't listen either way..." jay strolled into Hanks office. Hank raised his eyebrows, "jay, she wasn't focused and whatever's going on inside her head is clearly clouding her judgement. She's usually on the ball, I had no other choice" he huffed.  Jay sighed and sat down, "her walls have shot right back up again, I can barely get a conversation about what happened to her at home anymore" he rubbed his face.  Hank nodded, "look, I'm more than willing to suspend her until further notice if you think she needs it, but if she can't stay grounded then I'm not left with much choice" he smiled sadly.  Jay nodded, "I get it, I'll try talking to her again" he sighed.  Hank smiled sadly again as his detective left his office, they all want the best for her...

~~~~~~~~~

After cracking the case, jay finally arrived home, "liv?" He called out quietly since it was late and rue was probably asleep. When he got no reply he wandered straight upstairs, figuring that's where she'd be, and strolled down the hall. He slowly pushed the bedroom door open to see Olivia sat on the edge of the bed scrolling through her phone, "hey..." he took his jacket off. She looked up and smiled weakly, "did you get him?" She nodded hopefully. Jay smiled and walked over to her, "yeah, he was in o'hare" he sighed. Olivia nodded, "does that mean I'm allowed back to work tomorrow?" She stood up as jay practically dragged her to her feet. He smiled and nodded, "I assume so" he held her close. She sighed and poked his arm, "I don't know what got into me today" she looked down.

"The case triggered some bad memories liv, that's what had gotten into you. But you need to step back and take a break if things are moving too quickly, you're never gonna get over this if you keep throwing yourself into cases like there's no tomorrow" he forced her to look at him. She sighed, "I need the distractions though..." she shrugged. He frowned slightly, "I know... but that's not really healthy. If it helps, voight forced me to go to group therapy when I spiralled out of control, it helped" he smiled and tilted his head. She nodded slowly, "I'll look into it" she stepped back. He frowned when she backed away from the hug, "is everything alright?" He stood there cluelessly.

"Mmhmm, I just want to sleep" she sighed. He smiled weakly, "then let's go to bed" he shrugged. She laughed slightly and rolled her eyes, "I need to lock up first..." she reasoned, "already done" he smiled. She smiled back and climbed into bed, "now stop stressing" he added. She smiled and sighed heavily, if only it was that easy...