Her hand was steady. She still held the gun, pointed straight forward. She cautiously removed her index finger from the trigger and rested it against the barrel of the gun. She released an even breath from her lungs. Time was standing still. Then, everything happened at once. Emily Prentiss took her gun from her – that was alright, it was protocol after all. But it didn't matter. She had shot Gabriel. Any second now, she would be back to walking into his interrogation room, playing the same ten minutes again – the only variables: him - Gabriel, the one who had just been shot - and herself - Olivia Benson, the one who had just shot. Prentiss was talking to her, Olivia wasn't listening, just nodding along. Her eyes swept the room. The FBI agents had started to administer first aid. Was that Carisi's jacket covering the holes in Gabriel's chest? She had just shot an angel – an archangel at that – she would have to reevaluate her religious beliefs at some point in time. Carisi and Rollins both screamed for a doctor to come. Her team and the FBI agents looked, underneath the professional mask, very upset. Luckily, they would not have to emotionally deal with this for much longer. She found Sam Winchester's eyes; they were filled with empathy and pity. Why? He did after all understand what being stuck in a time loop feels like. That had to be it. She felt Agent Morgan's guiding hand on her back and together they left the interrogation room. She took one last look at the lifeless corpse of Gabriel. Why was he still there? Why was she still here? Why was she still now? With every step she took she expected to be catapulted back to ten minutes ago, again, but instead, she was just one step closer to her office. Time had to loop any second now. It always did. There were only two variables: Gabriel and herself. But still, no restart. She was almost at her office. Ever so slowly the thought that at first had festered at the back of her head had come to the forefront: There would be no restart this time. This was real.

Olivia needed to take inventory; be really sure of all the different options, for what had just happened. First, the loop was just another moment away – this option seemed less and less likely with every passing second. Second, Gabriel, who was powerful enough to have put her in a time loop, was playing a completely different game with her now - rules and premisses completely unknown to her. Third, Gabriel was dead. Liv decided to split the third point into 'three a' and 'three b'. Three a): Gabriel used to be an archangel that she had just killed. Three b): Gabriel had been a normal human being who she had killed and the time loop had never been real. When it came to option three, Olivia didn't know, which of the two she preferred. Option a) implied she had killed a heavenly being – that couldn't be good for her points up there, if anyone kept tally, that is. Option b) implied that she had gone insane. Neither seemed particularly appealing. Her hopes for Option number one dwindled by the second. Option two and three were still on the table.

Her running thoughts were interrupted by Agent Morgan opening the door to her office. She entered and immediately went for the couch. She needed to sit down. Agent Morgan had entered after her. He didn't look like he was going to leave any time soon. Of course he wouldn't. He had seen her kill a man – a detainee at that – he had to keep an eye on her.

"How are you feeling, Sergeant Benson?"

"I'm okay. Thank you." No need for hostility. Morgan was just doing his job.

The FBI agent took a seat as well. "Why did you shoot Gabriel?"

Olivia didn't know how to answer that: the truth? A half-truth? Requesting a legal counsel? She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"He was about to kill Hotch", she whispered, "I had to stop him." Just this once, she thought, just this once. But she couldn't say that part out loud. He wouldn't understand, none of them would. Sam and Dean Winchester would. They were possibly the only human beings she could have an honest conversation with about what just happened. They – the FBI – would never let her talk to them, now, though. Protocol. However, she had to talk to somebody she trusted. "Would you do me a favor, Agent? Can I talk to Barba?"