When Liv faced a loss that would rewrite her entire life, she stepped away from her work. A year and a half later, she returns to the BAU in search of normalcy; so she can finally move on. On a new team, Liv is immediately thrown into the game of ca...
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Every time the sky fell, rippling thunder and drenches of rain, wind ready to sweep up the whole city, you knew that Olivia Tate was angry. Her fury was the worst kind too; it wasn't rioting and childish, it was quiet. It was the moment that you could see all thought of compassion leave her eyes, draining her face of it's usually light. The moment you knew Liv was really mad was like looking down a far stretching hallway, door after door slamming shut like dominos until every last one was sealed, and the woman before you was merely stone. No, she wasn't foolish in her anger at all. She was calculated. Precise. Determined. She had tunnel vision in any means of vengeance, of justice.
While to some it seemed like a character flaw, there was one thing Liv knew. Sure, that side of her could suck the life right out of every sea, but more importantly, it made her really good at her job.
But it had been awhile since the FBI had seen Liv's face, let alone heard the whisper of her name. She hadn't worked in over a year and a half. "I'm just worried about you sweetie, that's it." Her mom said through the phone, voice laced with it's usual concern. "This is your first time going back since the incident-"
"Mom, please, stop calling it an incident." Liv sighed, sitting in the living room of her home. She had spent so much time there in the past year and a half, secluded and isolated, she didn't mind the thought of going back into the field that would keep her away most nights. Those walls felt more haunting than homely.
"You know what I mean, honey. How do you know your ready to go back?"
"Considering the fact I'm paying my therapist a lot of money per hour, I would hope I can trust her when she says she thinks I've processed enough to go back to work. I just want things to be normal again." Liv explained, ignoring the way she may have been stretching the truth a little bit.
"What happened has numbed you, Liv. And this job, it's gonna numb you too. You used to be so happy, and now you're so serious and-"
"Serious is what they need in the field, Mom." She said quickly, before closing her eyes and letting out a breath. She couldn't blame her, she was right to worry. "Look, I miss work. You know I love what I do. Don't you think that maybe going back to the only aspect of my life that feels normal might help make me happy again?"
"I suppose so..." Her mother trailed off. Liv could try all she wanted too, but she knew there was no amount of explaining that could crush a mothers anxiety for her child.
Liv had tried so hard to reassure her mother that she was completely certain about returning to work, but the day she arrived back, she felt like she had no one to tell that, secretly, being back in this place felt like a whole new universe. It was familiar, which felt good, but also, felt empty. Because things were different now, and walking in to this place, and going home from here would forever feel different. And now, she was on a different team. That would be good for her too, but it didn't help the nerves. Her fingers swirled around the small chain around her neck as she walked to the Chiefs office.
