Chapter Text
Part of Olivia refused to believe what she was seeing that morning in the cemetery. A week prior, she saw the empty hospital bed, and the floor seemed to give way beneath her. As she’d stumbled out of the hospital, shaken and disoriented, she looked up in time to see a flash of blonde hair disappear into a van. She tried to move toward the car, but found herself held firmly in place as the full weight of Kathy’s passing settled on her shoulders. Olivia had blinked, hoping to clear her bleary eyes as she squinted at the jarringly bright fluorescents of the hospital’s exterior. She could’ve sworn that she recognized the woman in the driver’s seat—Alex Cabot? She was still in New York? Olivia felt herself sway to lean on a wall for support as the van pulled away, leaving her behind with more questions than she’d know how to ask.
The question of Kathy’s fate swirled in her mind once more as she turned over her shoulder, watching the earth being unceremoniously moved over the casket. She closed her eyes, and a pair of tears rolled down her cheeks, silently praying that it was an empty box.
In a little house mere miles away, two women sat at a kitchen table littered with documents—a birth certificate, a passport, and a Social Security card sat front and center. “I—I can’t do this,” one said, cradling her head in her hands as she sighed, her shoulders slumping in visible defeat. “It’s too much to remember.”
“You can do this,” the other reassured, “Just one more time. Tell me your name.”
“I’m Mary Jane Banks.” The words sounded hollow as they fell from her lips for the umpteenth time.
“Say it again; you sound fake,” her coach demanded, cocking her head to one side. “Don’t think about it too much.”
The woman who looked like Kathy Stabler sighed. “My name,” she said, taking a breath before continuing, “is Mary Jane Banks.” She’d set her jaw, hoping to convey that she was growing tired of the exercise. “I was, um, a kindergarten teacher.”
The other woman smiled, nodding to encourage her. “That’s better. Mary Jane, where were you born?”
“Um…” Mary Jane fell silent, squeezing her eyes shut with exasperation. “Shit, I forgot. Tell me again, please, Alex?” she asked, massaging her temples. “My concentration isn’t what it used to be.”
Alex reached across the table and gave her hand a supportive squeeze. “Kansas, sweetheart; you’re from Kansas.”
“Right,” Mary Jane said, nodding, “From… Wichita?”
“Yes, now say it like you mean it,” Alex said, her eyes staring in earnest.
“I’m from Wichita,” she repeated, speaking with more confidence.
“Very good. Let’s take a break, okay? You’re getting better.” Alex stood and headed to the kitchen, pausing in the doorway. “You want some tea?”
“Please, I’d love some.” The woman now known as Mary Jane stretched and settled back in her chair in the dining room. She shook her freshly-dyed brunette locks out of her face and leaned onto the table, resting her chin in her hand. “Where will you be taking me?”
“That depends on how quickly I can get a placement for you,” came Alex's voice from the kitchen, soon returning with two steaming mugs of tea. “You’ve been recouping for a week, Kathy; you were a special case.”
Kathy accepted the tea with a warm smile, sipping it slowly. “How’d you get me out?”
“I have my sources, but that’s… unimportant.” Alex shrugged dismissively as she sat back down at the table. “So, tell me more about Rome.”
“Just… like nothing I’d ever seen before,” Kathy sighed, her expression turning wistful as she recalled the memories of a past life. “I’m going to miss all of it. It was so much better than New York ever was. He never told me how bad things were going to get. And I… trusted him,” she shook her head and chuckled bitterly, “Like an idiot. And now I’m never going to see him again.”
Alex gave her a sympathetic look. “You have to leave that all behind, you know—”
“I know; I’m trying. But… last week I was a wife and a mom,” she said, “And now I’m suddenly… Mary Jane Banks from Wichita.”
“You weren’t expecting to become a target, then?” Alex asked, raising an eyebrow.
“No. They just wanted to make him hurt, I think.” She shook her head and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “Hurt me a lot more, though. I’ve got burns; I went into cardiac arrest; my spleen ruptured in surgery—they had to take out my spleen, Alex.”
“And that’s exactly why I’m keeping you here for a while,” Alex said, “you’re too delicate for any extensive travel plans. I want you healed up enough to go the minute I get that call.”
Kathy pursed her lips with a sigh, then lowered her eyes. “I will be.” The reflection in the teacup was a woman she couldn’t recognize.