A/N: This is a 3-part darker type deal than what I've written for this fandom so far, but I'm loving the idea. Plus, I love putting my favorites into perilous situations and trust me...I've got some perilous things planned. Enjoy! :D

"Blanket hog."

Liv rolled her eyes and cuddled further down into her side of the bed, choosing to ignore the annoyed, sleepy voice next to her trying to steal some of the fabric away from her. It was cold in the apartment, even colder outside and she should have felt sympathy towards her freezing (his feet were like icicles) boyfriend but she didn't.

Survival of the fittest.

Plus, it was his punishment for not going to bed early the night before like she wanted him to; like he needed to. He was scheduled for court in four hours, she was the lead detective, and this case was so damn complicated it was making everyone's head spin. Not to mention the fact that the media was all over it from the get-go and everyone involved was under strict orders not to talk to any reporters.

They both had been dodging news crews for the past week and after today, it would be all over thankfully. She was confident her man could nail him because this guy was a real piece of shit who did some really fucked up things. No jury in the world was going to let him walk out of that courtroom a free man, no matter how Buchanan swings it.

Liv groaned as the fleece blanket she was wrapped up in was snatched away in a violent fury, forcing her to roll and face Rafael, who smiled in a sleepy victory before slamming his head back down into his pillow, intent on getting at least another hour of sleep. The Lieutenant contemplated making that extremely difficult for him but took mercy. She felt like taking advantage of the early hour anyway. Noah didn't wake up until 7 a.m. most mornings and a nice, long, hot shower was in order.

She needed to wash some stress away…and another strange feeling that cropped up before bed last night.

They were lounging on the couch, Rafael hunched over the coffee table making last minute notes to his closing statement when she felt it. A sudden jolt to her system and she felt suddenly nauseous, mind moving rapidly through a flurry of negative thoughts and scenarios that seemingly came from nowhere. She couldn't explain it, but something made her stop her mindless hair twirling and channel surfing so she could wrap her arms around the stressed out lawyer.

"You ok?"

Liv nodded, pressing her mouth to his neck and breathing in the scent of his shampoo and cologne mixed in with the faint smell of the scotch he had during their take-out dinner earlier. It was a smell that never failed to comfort her when she needed it, although it concerned her as to why she felt the need to commit it memory.

Something was nagging her in the pit of her stomach and all she wanted to do was touch him. She needed to be close to him.

"I love you," she whispered, kissing his neck. She felt him stop his frantic writing and set his pen and pad down on the coffee table to circle his arms around her. He whispered the words back, running his fingers through her hair and reveling in the silence of their apartment.

"You're going to win tomorrow," she after a few moments to themselves.

He glanced down at her and kissed her forehead, voice muffled against her skin, "How can you be so sure?"

She pulled away from his neck and looked him square in the eye, positive she held his attention before she spoke, "Because you're an amazing lawyer."

"You're biased," he countered.

"Only just a little."

She leaned over a kissed his forehead before she slipped out of the bed and immediately grabbed for her robe and hurried to the bathroom, shivering as the cold air in the room hit her legs.

Not five minutes into her shower she heard the door creak open and Rafael's sleepy voice echo in the room, "You're taking a shower without me?"

"You only got three hours of sleep. Go lay back down," she demanded, reaching for her shampoo and prepared to wash her hair. She didn't even jump when the shower curtain was pulled back to reveal her half naked boyfriend, rubbing one eye while trying to remove the boxers he wore to bed with the other. She gave him a half-hearted glare but her body betrayed her thoughts, working against the fact that she wanted him now but also wanted him to get some much needed sleep.

Sex, though, almost always won out in the end.

"You worry too much," he waved off her concern and stepped into the shower, much more awake now as he reached for her body and lips licking and nipping at her neck while his hands traveled along her skin, shamelessly groping whatever was in his reach.

She let him, knowing there was no use in arguing with him about his terrible sleep habits and decided to enjoy this early morning treat, wanting to feel close to him and relieve some of both of the stress riding their shoulders before their day could fully begin.

An hour and a half later, Noah came shuffling out of his room looking for his granola bar and sippy cup and ended up cuddling with Rafael on couch, switching between watching his cartoons and watching the lawyer scribbling furiously on the legal pad he left out on the coffee table the night before.

"Can you even read your own writing," she asked as she came around the couch and handed him his first cup of coffee before curling up next to Noah and fixing his mused hair with her fingers.

"Hardly. It's all up here," he said and Liv had no doubt in her mind that he did. He had a habit of memorizing his closing arguments and practicing them in the mirror. It was key (or so he says) to have a firm, confident closing speech to reel in the jurors. He spent probably more time on them than the actual arguments and questions during the speech, but that came natural to him.

Needless to say, when verdicts came back not guilty, it really pulled a number on his confidence.

"I can't wait till this trial is over with today," she sighed and leaned back, grabbing for the remote as Noah's attention was lost on the TV in favor of his Legos and action figures. She flipped silently through the channels, stretching her legs out and resting her feet on Rafael's lap, until she reached the news.

The mugshot that greeted her made her cringe, not being able to look long at the man on screen. Blake Bernaky had a stare that just made your skin crawl. Or at least that's the only way she could describe it. From the moment she first cuffed him, to the interrogation and even during trial, she could feel his cold glare looking at everything on her but her face.

What's worse…he'd done the same thing to each of her detectives and Rafael, who'd expressed only to her that it made him feel incredibly unsettled and uncomfortable when he did that. Not to mention, he was a total people person. The man had knack for drawing people in and twisting their words, manipulating them into thinking and feeling emotions they weren't before. He was a master at it and he'd pulled those tactics on them and in the court room as much as possible.

He was dangerous, mentally and physically to both men and women.

She supposed that's what made Bernaky stand out. He didn't have a set type and he didn't have a specific gender. Never before had she encountered such a violent rapist that targeted both men and women of various different looks and ages. It was that that made him scarier than any other criminal they've faced down before.

Liv just flipped to a different channel, settling on some infomercial before putting together a quick breakfast. She practically had to drag Raf away from the couch to get him to eat, but he attributed his actually listening to Noah, who turned on the puppy dog eyes and asked nicely.

If anyone was wrapped around that little boy's finger, it was Rafael Barba.

Time flew by after breakfast and soon they were fully dressed and headed out the door, waving goodbye to the toddler and Lucy and promising to be back before bedtime. They decided to walk, having enough time to stop for another cup of coffee and take the scenic route. Liv laced their fingers as they got closer to the courthouse, trying to calm her boyfriend down before he stepped foot inside. From their view down the street, they could see the media already lined up along the steps, milling about and preparing their cameras and microphones.

"Does my hair look ok?"

"It looks fine, babe, stop worrying," she reassured him, shaking their entwined hands as she spotted Rollins, Carisi and Fin up ahead, keeping their distance from the circus going on in front of them. They were smart, making sure they weren't being recognized and accidentally falling into the line of sight by any reporter. She knew that not only her and Raf were ready for this thing to end, but so were her detectives. They worked tirelessly alongside them to bring this guy in and they all deserved a round of drinks. She planned on treating them as soon as court was done.

"I'm trying," he grumbled, readjusting the grip on his briefcase as they got closer. Rollins was the first to spot them and simply nodded at them by way of greeting. Fin and Carisi were deep in conversation, eyes on the crowd to monitor anything going on like they usually did when there were large gatherings in the area. Too many opportunities and not enough back-up.

"Bernaky and Buchanan should be pulling up any moment now. Charlie, Becca and Andy are already inside. We tried to tell them it might not be the best idea but they wanted to be here for Emily today. They're in your office, counselor. I didn't want them to see Bernaky if that's ok."

Liv and Rafael nodded but neither said anything as a black SUV pulled up along the sidewalk and was immediately ambushed by the reporters, cameras flashing and questions being yelled out from every which way. The crowd was so thick, they could only see the tops of Buchanan and Bernaky's heads, as they stopped to answer a few questions and pushed their way into the building.

They waited a good three minutes after the two men had disappeared into the building before Rafael decided he was ready to head in. Liv and Carisi brought up the front, making sure he was able to move through while Rollins and Fin brought up the back. Liv had to, more than once, get pushy, reminding the reporters to keep their distance and hands to themselves. It had been like this all week and probably was one of the more stressful reminders that the public was watching every move in this case.

That was scary considering there was 50/50 chance Bernaky could go free.

When they made it inside, Rafael wasted no time in going to the witness room, Carisi following as the ADA reminded him to stick to the facts while he was on the stand. Liv watched them go before she, Fin and Rollins decided to double check on their victims hanging out in the office upstairs.

"Counselor…I got it," Carisi said for what felt like the millionth time in the past ten minutes. Barba hadn't stopped pacing the length of the hallway outside of the witness room and thankfully, Emily was more calm than any of them, ready to testify and get things over with.

Carisi didn't blame her. This week was the busiest of his life thus far and he was eager to see Bernaky get the book thrown at him. Honestly, he couldn't believe the guy even made bail and was still roaming the streets, but that would change.

Barba was being way too hard on himself and he could understand why. Bernaky was showing himself to be quite the speaker and the volley of remarks he and the ADA were throwing at each other all week attested to that. Not often was a serial rapist able to throw Barba off his game and it happened more than once.

Hence the reason the man looked ready to snap. The sad part was that Carisi knew Liv tried everything in the book to get him to calm down and that probably didn't work either.

"Repeat what I told you," the shorter man demanded, crossing his arms and staring the detective straight in the eye. Carisi stifled his exasperated sigh and obediently repeated his directions, feeling like Barba was his teacher more than anything in that moment.

"Good. I'm going to grab a coffee and I'll be back to talk to Emily," Barba said, fidgeting with his tie as he began to walk away and stopped only a few steps from where he was before. Carisi furrowed his brow but looked just past the lawyer's head to see Blake Bernaky leaning against the wall by the elevator, a court bailiff standing next to him looking around uninterested.

The man was looking straight at the two of them, a smug smile on his face as he winked and turned to the bailiff, saying something as he went to walk away. Carisi actually squirmed, feeling an uncomfortable shiver roll up his spine and his mouth go dry. He wondered if Bernaky had that effect on everyone.

Barba turned on his heel and headed straight for the witness room door and muttered on his way past him, "Fuck the coffee."

Carisi didn't know what was worse: the fact that Bernaky's presence was strong enough to keep Barba away from his coffee or that Carisi had a feeling the rapist was making plans he intended to keep.

The detective sighed and followed Barba into the room, watching the minute hand on the clock inch closer and closer to 9 a.m. The sooner this was over, the better it would be for everyone.

When Blake Bernaky wanted something, he went for it and went for it until he got it.

He wanted those men and women, so he got those men and women, whether or not they wanted him back or not. That didn't matter to him. He liked submissive, willing people but he also thrived on the hunt. That made him a little sick in the head and he absolutely loved the hell out of it.

Unfortunately, that's what was going to sway those jurors' minds and he knew it. However, he had absolutely no intention of going to jail and had all the intention in the world of going after the man currently staring him down across the hall.

Bernaky couldn't help but be attracted to him. He was handsome and dressed sharper than a tac and his colleagues weren't half bad either. The sick ideas he had planned for him were what was driving him to go on this suicide mission. What was sicker was that he knew this was going to end in a barrage of bullets and death for him, but that wasn't going to deter him.

His chances were even better with the help of his little bailiff friend standing next to him. Blake Bernaky wasn't just crazy, he was excellent with computers and when he did his research and found out bailiff Murphy had some not so pleasant images on his home computer, blackmail was handed down and a plan was brought into fruition.

It was amazing his ability to manipulate people and he worked it in his favor every single day. He even had his lawyer wrapped around his finger, but that guy seemed like he would do anything for top dollar. Bernaky cleared his throat and winked at both the ADA and the detective standing behind him.

"Don't let me down, Murph," he whispered to the bailiff, who only glanced worriedly at him as he walked away. He leisurely strolled into the bathroom at the other end of the hall and locked himself up in a stall, pulling out a burner cell phone he was able to sneak past security in Buchanan's briefcase from his pocket.

He quickly sent a text, confirming his outside sources that the plan was still underway and smiled evilly as the reply came fast. Gang members. You had to love them. They were done for anything as long as the payment was nice and there were drugs involved.

Bernaky was lucky dear old daddy was a millionaire that didn't give a damn about him, living it up on his private island and leaving his only son to his penthouse apartment in the city. The life he was able to lead on his money that wasn't his was the cherry on top of his experience there in the city.

And it was only about to get better.