Broken Lullaby ▷ Tony Stark | ✓

40 - ONLY GET BETTER

BIRDIE WAS JUST TRYING TO CONTINUE LIVING HER LIFE. She couldn't avoid the inevitable, what with her whole family, Jayne included, walking on eggshells around her, but she could only hope for the best and continue to do what she always did; of course, things could never fully go back to the way they were, but things should be better now, and she could only hope that would reach her sooner rather than later.

"Hey, Elizabeth, how's the it coming along?" Captain Stacy asked, poking his head into her office, knocking as he spoke, which defeated the point of knocking, but he tried.

"It's coming along," she replied, and he gave her a short laugh for her troubles. She motioned towards her notes, sighing. "I just talked to her, told her about what she should expect during a cross, how to be prepared, not to get too emotional, but to remind herself that she was the victim and it isn't her fault, the stuff you told me."

He nodded. "Did you talk to SVU, because they're also a part of this investigation, we're just covering the murder connected to this. You know?"

She nodded. "Yes, I do know, and, yes, I am in contact with them and have been talking to them frequently. Let's just hope for the best, I'm doing all that I can. Believe me."

"I don't doubt it," the man said kindly, and she took a deep breath, trying to smile, which only made him frown, "What's wrong?"

She bit her lip, shaking her head. "I just—I think I should probably take it up with SVU, don't worry about."

That only made him more concerned. "Elizabeth, what happened—"

"Please, just drop it," she said, shaking her head, "I don't want to talk about it now, maybe I'll talk about it later, but it's just been all around me, and I just need to stop thinking about it for two seconds, please, I'm sorry for bringing it up."

"Don't apologize," was all he said, because he trusted that she would tell him when she was ready, "But call if you need anything."

She gave him a small smile, nodding, her arms crossed. With that, the conversation was finished and he saw himself out, wishing her a good rest of her day, and her wishing the same to him.

Once he closed the door, she sighed, stretching herself across her desk and sighing heavily. She wanted to stop thinking about it, but it was all she could think about, and all she wanted to do was sleep. But she had work to do, and she wasn't about to shirk her responsibilities because she felt awful.

That probably wasn't the best course of action or mindset, but that wasn't on the forefront of her mind at the moment.

She just threw herself into her work, even though she could barely focus on it, forcing herself to remember that if she didn't make sure this was perfect, a guilty man could walk, and that wasn't an option for her.

She continued to work until she physically couldn't take it, and she needed to take a break if she wanted her headache to leave before her day in court, and actually finish up her planning and do it well.

Groaning, she moved to the small couch she had in the corner, pushing off all the files and books onto the floor and flopping on top of it, rubbing her temples and sighing, already starting to fall asleep. She didn't want to get caught sleeping while she should be working, but considering the circumstances, she deserved some sort of break.

Of course, her nap lasted until the sun was starting to set, which was a true testament to how drained she truly was, though she was panicking far too much to actually think about that at the moment.

"You'll be okay, you have time."

She lifted her head and turned to see Jayne standing in her doorway, looking at her with clear concern, but the kind of generalized concern she always had when looking at Birdie, though Birdie knew that she was thinking of all the things that had happened to her, which didn't make it any better.