So after Newsroom, everyone needs a friend who won't take any more BS. I have decided Amanda is that for Olivia. Enjoy.


Even though they had closed the Coyle case and actually been able to make some headway on the mountain of paperwork they were always facing, Olivia still seemed on edge. A little off kilter. She had pretty much been that way since they got word of Barba's suspension. He was back now, but it just felt off. The whole case did. Not sure if it was because Dobbs inserted himself in places that would have normally been Liv and Barba or what. She could feel Carisi's eyes boring into her forehead as she tried to finish this last bit of paperwork.

"Stop it" she growled out.

"Amanda. Come on! You have got to do something."

"Why me?" she said, looking up at him. He just gave her that look… she threw her pen at him. "Fine. But you are finishing my paperwork."

Amanda took a deep breath as she pushed out of her chair. She really tried to keep professional in one lane and friendship in the other. Her and Liv both worked really hard to keep those boundaries so no one could ever accuse Olivia of playing favorites with one of her closest friends. But she knew Carisi was right. Something was building inside Olivia. She looked at her boss and friend staring off into space, holding a pen in her hand.

"Ok. That's it." She watched Liv actually get startled and throw her pen on her desk.

"Rollins. I was…"

"Doing nothing. You haven't been for the last 35 minutes. Carisi has been keeping track. I'm done for the day and now so are you. Go get Noah and I'll get sandwiches and we will meet in the park in an hour."

"Rollins, I…"

"This isn't Rollins asking. This is Amanda telling. So, shake a tail feather Liv. Or I'll eat the brownies without you."

"Hey I don't have any dinner plans" they heard Carisi yell from his desk.

"You aren't invited" Amanda yelled back. Olivia raised her hands in defeat and grabbed her jacket. "I'll see you in an hour".


Olivia looked up at the setting sun and back at Jesse and Noah playing in the sand and let go of the breath she had been holding for what felt like a long time.

"Thanks for forcing this, Amanda."

"Its what friends do, Liv. You needed a break. Honestly, I think you need more than that" she said, smiling over at her friend.

"What does that mean?"

Amanda regarded the question. How much honesty could Olivia take right now? But if someone didn't smack her over the head with a brick, how much longer could the rest of them deal with her?

"Liv, you are a walking, talking ball of stress. You need a hobby."

"Hobbies are boring."

"Then try yoga."

"Even more boring than a hobby."

"Then you need to get laid!" Amanda yelled at her. Olivia's eyes grew wide and her mouth fell open. Amanda saw her opening and she took it.

"And so does Barba." And honest to God, she has known Olivia Benson for a long time and this is the first time in the entirely of their relationship, professional and otherwise, that Amanda Rollins has ever seen Olivia Benson blush.

"Look. Liv. I love you. I really do. And as someone who cares about you and your sanity and also needs to be able to continue working with you, we need to have a real conversation."

"I'm going to need something a lot stronger than this bottle of tea then."

"Perfect. There is wine and Disney Junior at my apartment. Let's go."


The kids were settled and starting to fall asleep to whatever Disney was showing and Olivia was on her second glass of wine. Amanda wasn't going to let up that easily.

"Slow down girl."

"I will give you $1000 to talk about anything else than what you want to talk about."

"No."

"Let's talk about Sonny."

"No."

"Jesse?"

"No."

"Whatever Real Housewives show you are in to?"

"Liv…"

"Amanda."

"Ok. Stop talking. Let me talk. You just listen. And you need to listen. Like really listen. Please. I have just been sitting back for the last 5 years and…

October 2012

She was slightly impressed in the way that ADA had taken the defense attorney to task. May not to waste a bunch of time. She figured based on his suit and swagger he would be kind of an ass and..

"Take your daughters to work day?" She was right. Ass. But she couldn't help notice the look that passed between Olivia and Barba as they shook hands. Like a shock of electricity had just passed between them and it had changed them.

"That's not entirely true. I thought he was an ass too."

"A hot piece of Cuban ass."

"AMANDA!" She buried her face in her hands. "I need more wine" she mumbled.

"In a minute".

Olivia looked at Amanda, sheer terror on her face. "Why are you doing this now?"

"Liv, this needs to be done. Maybe if I had done it a year ago we could have avoided the Tucker fiasco."

"I know Ed wasn't ever your favorite person, but he really wasn't…"

"Stop trying to change the subject. We aren't talking about Ed now. Now it's Rafael" she said with a flair of her hands and a roll of her voice.

"I hate it when you say his name like that."

"No. You love it. I know you do because while you can hide the smile on your face, your eyes always give you away. Always have."

October 2012

The tension between Liv and Barba was mounting as they argued back and forth about Cain and this case and all the BS that had come up during the investigation. And all Amanda could do was sit back and watch them. If she didn't know better, she would think it was some kind of crazy foreplay. The way they stared at each other… maybe it was.

"Shut up!"

"Liv, you and Barba have some of the strongest eye game I have ever seen in my life. Seriously. If a man ever looked at me the way that he looks at you…"

"Speaking of Carisi…"

"Nope. Not tonight."

"Please."

"No. Plus, we haven't even gotten to the good part."

October 2012

He really was masterful, lobbing back and forth with the smarmy Cain. And then the offer of seeing how that whole belt thing works. Amanda had NEVER seen any attorney go that far ever. Everyone in the courtroom had stopped breathing and she slid her eyes over to her friend. Liv could not take her eyes off the man and she would swear on a stack of bibles that Liv flushed a bit when Barba slowly took his belt off right there in the middle of the trial.

"Admit it."

"No."

"You thought that was the sexiest thing you had ever seen."

"No."

"Liv…"

"No."

"You can have more wine." Olivia looked over at her.

"It may have been slightly attractive."

"Liv."

"Ok. The belt thing may have been a little unorthodox…"

"I swear I'm going to finish the bottle and make you watch."

"Fine! God! Fine. I may or may not have had some inappropriate thoughts about him and that belt for a few days after."

"Liv…"

"You are so annoying. Fine! I still think about it now from time to time. Happy?" Amanda just sat back and smiled as Olivia refilled her glass again. "So are you finally ready to admit it to yourself?"

"Admit what?"

"I want to hit you with that bottle girl."

"Amanda. He's…"

"Blah Blah Blah. He's your best friend. He's your most trusted ally in the DA's office. He's the most amazing lawyer you have ever seen. I know Liv. You've basically had that all on repeat for 5 years. Aren't you tired?"

Amanda was gearing up for a fight but in that moment, staring at her friend, Olivia did something she had never done before. She gave in. She gave over. She watched Olivia lean back against her couch, eyes closed. "I'm so tired" she whispered.

"You would have to be! I can't imagine fighting against whatever it is you are feeling for 5 years. It's insane, Liv. And I promise you, he's exhausted too. I could see it on his face every time I saw him since he came back. You would think someone coming off two weeks off would be rested and reenergized. Not looking like they hadn't slept in weeks. Like they still had the weight of the world on their shoulders. Wouldn't it just be better if you two got it out of your system?"

"NO!" Olivia roared back. Amanda was proud of herself, hitting that button right when it needed to be hit. Now just needed to sit back and wait for Liv to connect the words.

"He's not someone I get out of my system. He's more than that. He's… he's… he's everything! Those two weeks without him felt like an eternity to me. I hated working every case we caught because he wasn't there to have my back. Even working this with Dodds and not him felt wrong. I hated it. And now he isn't returning my texts and I…"

"Then go." Amanda just shrugged at her friend. She looked over at the kids. "They are asleep and Noah is welcome here any time. You know that. Come get him in the morning. Go."

Olivia wanted to fight back at her, but damn if Amanda wasn't good. "That was impressive" Olivia shot back as she got off the couch, grabbing her phone and jacket.

"I know. I'm very good." Olivia whipped around and hugged Amanda. "Just so you know he's not my only best friend."

"Yeah, but I'm sure he will be willing to do things to help you relax that I am not. So go." Amanda shoved her out the door, locking it so Olivia couldn't change her mind.