>>This chapter mentions suicidal behaviour. If that is too much for you, you can easily skip this short story and continue to read the others. Thank you.<<
Her life had been nothing but chaos. She had spent the majority of her life moving around from base to base as her father was in the army. Her mother had dumped her with her father as she did not want the life of a military wife. When he was deployed, which he was a lot, she would stay at her friends place. Amelia was another military child. They were inseparable.
When Olivia was 13 her fathers commander came by one evening, alone. She knew what that meant. He was dead. Her world came crashing down, as she realised that she would be all alone. Or so she thought. Her friends mother promised to take care of her until she was old enough to move out on her own.
At first the other children at the base were nice, but as years went by they showed their true side. They were mean little monsters who knew exactly how to make Olivia's life a living nightmare. Daily bullying and monthly hospital trips for 'being clumsy'. The day she turned 18, she packed her things, thanked her friend and her mother for taking care of her and left. She never looked back. Amelia was her only reminder of the place. They kept in touch even when she enlisted and went overseas to fight just like her father.
Fast forward and Olivia just turned 29. She had already spent a few years as a part of 20-David. "Happy birthday, Liv!" The team yelled as she walked into the locker room. She had gotten up extra early that morning in an attempt to get to work before the others. To avoid celebrating her birthday. "And I thought I was early," she said laughing at how tired Street looked. He had dark circles the size of dinner plates. "We wanted to surprise you! Seeing as we failed last year, we wanted to be extra early!" Luca said over enthusiastic. He pulled her in for a hug. She liked that. Hugs. Especially from the people on her team. They were more like a family than her own ever was.
Later in the day once they got back from another high risk arrest, two soldiers were standing next to Hicks. All three had a sad expression on their faces. Olivia recognised one of the soldiers as one of the boys from the base she lived on the most. "Andrew? What are you..." she asked before realising why they were there. She looked down at the floor and breathed out loudly. "I'm sorry Yates, you can talk in my office as long as you need," Hicks said leading them into his office and closed the door. Hondo looked worried at his boss when he came back. He was standing with his feet apart and hands holding onto the top of his protective vest. "What's going on, Hicks?" He asked worried. Chris was aware of her childhood, but the others did not know more than what her file had contained. Olivia and Chris had become good friends and loved spending time together in their free time. Chris had even invited her over for family dinners with her uncle Sarzo and her niece. "Death notification," Chris said before Hicks had a chance. He just nodded and walked off.
"She told me about when her father had died and they showed up. Same thing, same expression," Chris said and walked away as well. That left Deacon, Luca and Hondo standing in the hall of the headquarters baffled.
An hour later the two soldiers were seen walking out of the building, but no one had seen Olivia. That was until she stormed past Hondo. She was headed for the locker room. "Hicks gave me the day off," she said without looking up. Hondo did not get a chance to share his condolence or tell her that he would be there if she needed anything. Hondo let out a big sigh before joining his team. "We are a man down until Olivia is ready to come back." He informed the others. "Where is she?" Street asked feeling sad that he did not get to talk to his friend. "Going home. I think she just want to be alone for a while," Hondo replied. That did not sit well with Chris or Street as they were planning to stop by her apartment when their shift ended.
It was late when Chris and Street pulled up in front of Olivia's apartment building. She had not replied to any of their texts, which was very unlike her. They slowly made their way up the stairs. The elevator had broken down the month before and it had yet been repaired. Chris knocked on her door and stepped back. She knew that Olivia usually checked the peephole before opening the door. Nothing happened. This time Street knocked. Same result. "Liv, are you in there? We just want to make sure you're okay," Chris said while leaning towards the door. "We know you're hurting and we just want you to know that we are here if you need anything," Street added. No reply. They looked at each other with a worried expression. After a few more minutes of silence they left to go home and catch a few hours of sleep before the next shift.
No one had seen Olivia for days. Hicks was the only one who had gotten any prove that she was still alive. She had called to tell him that she took a few days off and should be back by the weekend. So when Friday came the entire team was on high alert and constantly checked if the random noise was her showing up.
They started training in the gym area as the day was slow. It was always a good day when they weren't needed, but also a boring one. Luca was focused on Hondo and Deacon fighting in the ring. He was always up for learning new tricks and watching the others helped him understand their moves and tactics better.
They had half given up on seeing her that day, when she sneaked into the gym area. "Hey Luca," she said, standing right behind him. He jumped in surprise and turned around to see one of his favourite people. "Liv! You're alive! I mean it's good to see you!" He said pulling her in for a hug. She did not mind the sweat. A hug was just the thing she needed after barricading herself in her bedroom. She leaned into his chest and stayed like that for a minute.
"Hey we have missed you too, you know," Hondo said with a grin leaning on the corner of the fighting ring. "Luca's hugs are the best. Sorry boys," she commented and laughed along with Luca. Deacon and Hondo both made an offended expression before smiling.
The following hours were slow as well. Wendy Hughes had dropped by a few times to keep an eye on Olivia. The two have had million of conversations throughout her career at S.W.A.T. about both of their lives and even had eaten lunch together weekly for a few months. Then the Amelia thing happened and Wendy was worried about her friend and colleague. Knowing some of her deepest secrets were both a burden and a blessing. In this case, a rather heavy burden. Everyone had scars, but they are either from accidents or inflicted by others. Olivia had all and some more. Scars she usually do her best to hide, but Wendy had seen them anyway. After a long talk, millions of tears, a beer and a slice of pizza Olivia had opened up to her. Her childhood wasn't easy, her teenage years were almost worse, but one girl had shown Olivia how beautiful the world could be and she changed her mind about wanting to leave it all behind. She had saved her. Amelia had saved her once again. Wendy knew that the loss of Amelia could set it all back in motion. She never told the others because of confidentiality rules. So instead she told Hondo to keep an extra eye on her and she made sure he knew to never let her be alone in the next few months. The past week Hondo had dropped by Olivia's apartment every single morning and Chris had dropped by after every single shift. Not one of them had gotten anything more than a small letter taped to the door with a time stamp and a message. It usually said 'I am alive. Thank you for caring. I will come out when I am ready. You will be my first call if something is wrong. See you later, love Liv'. It was addressed to 'the best team in the world'.
Just as their shift was about to end a call came in. An event that was happening the next day had received multiple high risk threats and had therefor contacted the police. It was decided that it was best to call in a S.W.A.T. team. The 20-Davids were on shift again the next day and Hicks wanted them to run through the safety plans before so that they would be more prepared.
The next morning Hondo had dropped by Olivia's place to pick her up for their mission. "Morning sleeping beauty," he said with a grin as she sat down in his car looking like she had gotten no sleep. Of course he was worried, but instead of making the situation worse he decided to make it awkward with jokes. "Morning, Beast," she said back. He held his hand to his chest and leaned away from her. "Ouch," he said laughing and she quickly joined in. Good strategy, he thought to himself.
"Chris and Street you are team 2, Luca and Deacon team 4, Liv you're with me on team 1," Hondo said handling out radios. "Who is team 3?" Street asked confused. Hondo pointed to Rockers team as they pulled up next to them. "Team 3, 5 and 6," he added. "Don't argue. Hicks made the team numbers..." Deacon said shaking his head a bit.
The park were slowly filling up with people. It was supposed to be a peaceful demonstration for equal rights, something Chris had close to her heart. Without pointing fingers is was obvious who was most excited to be working that day. They were all wearing their police uniform and not the S.W.A.T.'s. It was to not scare the people at the park. The regular uniform showed that the authorities were there whereas the civilian clothes would had shown no protectors. Both could have worked for the event, but Hicks thought it would be best to show the people that they were there to protect and not do harm. Showing the uniform in public in a good way to help the population of Los Angeles to trust law enforcement instead of taking care of things on their own with a higher risk of casualties and imprisonment.
"How are you doing today?" Hondo asked breaking the silence between him and Olivia. They were slowly walking around the gathering crowd. "Honestly?" she asked looking at him. He just nodded and kept walking beside her. She took in a deep breath and said: "Not so good. She was more than a friend, you know." He looked surprised at her. He had an idea that she had the same sexual preferences as Chris, but he never got it confirmed. "We grew up in the same house, her mother took me in when my father died in combat," she started to explain. "When I turned 18, I left to become a police officer and she joined the military. She invited me to her graduation..." she trailed off as she noticed a suspicious man in the distance. Hondo followed her eyes and called it in on the radio.
"Suspicious man lurking behind the trees on the east side of the park. Team 1 investigating."
As they approached the man it became clear that he was a threat as he had a gun in his hand. "27-David team 1 in need of backup at the east corner of the park. Suspect is armed," Olivia called over the radio. They both pulled their hand guns out and announced that they were there to the man. He did not move, he just kept staring ahead of him. Directly into the most crowded part of the park. Hondo was about to talk the man out of doing something stupid when Olivia patted him on the shoulder. She had tears in her eyes and he did not know why. They shared eye contact for a moment before he stepped back to give her space.
"Dylan, right?" she said loud enough for the man to hear. The man turned his head to look at her. This was the first time they noticed the vest. A bomb vest were peeping out from underneath his jacket. "Olivia, I'm sorry for everything I have done to you," Dylan said with a trembling voice. Hondo took another few steps back and warned the others over the comms. The other teams quickly evacuated the park. Only a few bystanders were left in the suspected radius of the bomb.
"Why are you doing this? I thought you joined the army?" Olivia asked. She tried to connect with him even though every cell in her body told her to leave him to die. He deserved it after what he did to her when growing up, but one thing the S.W.A.T. team had taught her is that you leave no one behind no matter what.
"I left a year ago and joined a private security company alongside four other soldiers. It was a scam and they use us to hurt people," he explained with a shaky voice. His forehead was covered in sweat and he stank miles away of desperation. "Get me out of this, please!" He pleaded. Olivia informed him that she was not a bomb disposal technician and could not do anything but keep him company until that person showed up. It was obvious that he was stressed out and regretted all the things he had done in the past. He kept rambling on about being forced to hurt her and that he would never do anything like that ever again. In order to keep him calm and still she agreed with him. Her heart were beating so fast that she thought she would pass out.
"Bomb guy is here" the radio cracked. She let out a big sigh and informed Dylan. Once the bomb was disarmed he was put into cuffs and she walked away. "I thought you were going to stay!" he yelled at her back. "Never." She yelled back, looking straight ahead instead of back at him.
Hondo kept checking up on Olivia each morning and Chris kept coming by with pizza and movies. The two women had grown closer the past month.
"Seriously Chris, we need something that is not pizza!" Olivia laughed as Chris had suggested another takeout menu. "What about taking over Luca and Streets house and let them cook for us?" Chris asked with a big grin. She was sitting in her pyjamas on Olivia's couch with her legs crossed. Her hair was in her usual style, half up half down. Olivia was dressed in PJ's too, but her hair was in a messy bun. Her go to hairstyle if it wasn't in braids for work. "I don't want to bother them too," Olivia said quietly. Chris completely ignored her and called their friend.
"Luca! We are hungry, can we come by for dinner and a movie?" Chris said into the phone. Her face expression said it all. The boys must had agreed because no longer than 5 minutes after the girls were crammed into Chris' car, still in pyjamas, on their way to the 'get together place'.