A/N: To be honest: I have no idea whether this story matches the timeline on the show. For all intents and purposes, let's just pretend it does and assume the following parameters: Set after the whole Lewis thing, Liv and Cassidy are still an item, pre-Patton and everything gambling-related.

Chapter 1

A sharp knock on her door tore Olivia Benson out of her thoughts and before she had any chance to pull herself together, Amanda's blonde head appeared in the doorframe. "Hi Serge. I'd head home soon if that's okay with you. The DD-5s are filed and everything's done for tonight and…" The detective now glanced towards her boss for the first time and immediately paused when she noticed her slumped posture. She furrowed her brows. "You ok?"

Olivia gulped. No, she wasn't okay but that was none on anyone's business. She tried to regain composure but just couldn't seem to not look miserable. Before she knew what was happening, Amanda had stepped into her office and gently closed the door behind her. Even though the blonde had just casually sat down on the visitor chair, Liv couldn't help but feel her personal space had been invaded.

"You look stressed" Amanda said lowly, fully aware that it was a lie. Even though there were many things one could read from Olivia's posture and facial impressions right now, stress wasn't one of them. Exhaustion, sure. But also something unsettling she couldn't quite put her finger on.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" She was being purposely vague, allowing Liv to interpret her question as work-related if she needed to. "I mean, you probably wanna get home, too, right?" It was supposed to be a light-hearted remark. Amanda had expected a nod in response. Maybe a sigh. But certainly not the brief flicker of panic in Olivia's eyes.

"You do want to go home, right?" Amanda asked lowly, carefully studying her boss's face for any clues. Olivia inhaled deeply, knowing her body language was already answering for her. She had to snap out of it before Amanda would ask questions she couldn't afford to answer. Why couldn't she?

"Liv? You're scaring me a bit right now… Can you tell me what's going on?" The brunette didn't move, didn't speak, and Amanda bit her lip, unsure what to do. She had never seen Olivia like this and even though she worked with severely traumatized women on a daily basis, there was something in her sergeant's empty gaze that gave her the shivers. Having just returned from a case a few hours ago, Amanda and Fin had spent the whole day outside the precinct which was why Amanda hadn't seen her sergeant since Friday – a fact that she was now deeply concerned by. Had Olivia been like this all day? Had anything happened during the weekend?

"Why don't you wanna go home, Liv?" Amanda asked bluntly and Olivia's immediate answer - "Because I don't feel safe there!" – made sense… until Amanda realized Olivia had already moved out of her Lewis-infested apartment to live with Cassidy. Genuinely surprised by her sergeant's confession, Amanda was unable to hide the concerned look on her face. "What do you mean, Liv? Why don't you feel safe in your home?" She asked lowly, deeply worried by how Olivia was completely avoiding her gaze now.

"This isn't because of what Lewis did to you, is it?" Amanda waited for Olivia's head-shaking before she could bring up the courage to ask the question she dreaded the answer to: "Olivia… Do you feel unsafe because of Brian?" The brunette gulped and Amanda inhaled deeply, bracing herself for yet another difficult question: "I don't know how to ask this but… did he hurt you?"

Olivia was inclined to shake her head but realized she couldn't. She sat there, frozen in place, shocked at her own reluctance. "Liv?" Amanda paused, not really knowing what to say or how to say it. "Look… I know this must be hard for you, and to be honest: I feel like you don't really like me - so if you're uncomfortable talking to me about this…" Amanda trailed off, not knowing how to interpret her superior's absentminded shrug. "Do you want me to go get someone? Someone else?" She asked but Olivia shook her head. "I'm okay", she whispered but the shakiness of her voice made it evident that she wasn't.

"No, you're not. I can't just ignore what you just told me, Liv!"
"I didn't tell you anything!" Olivia exclaimed stubbornly, and Amanda hated to admit she was right. Technically, Liv hadn't even verbally confirmed her disturbing assumption, let alone told her anything. After a few moments of silence, Amanda was so caught up in her thoughts she barely registered Olivia's timid voice at first. By the time she had, the brunette had already fallen silent again. "Huh?" Against all odds, Olivia repeated what she had just said, her voice so low and hesitant it broke Amanda's heart:

"He didn't mean to"

Amanda suddenly felt sick to her stomach. It was Cassidy they were talking about, after all! How dare he touch her?

"Didn't mean to do what, Liv?"
No reaction.
"Did he hit you?"
Head-shaking.

Amanda knew there was no point in asking as long as Olivia wasn't ready to talk, so she just waited.
"He…" Olivia gulped, hating herself for the shakiness in her voice. "He had sex with me last night" Amanda froze. He had sex with me. Not we had sex. "We hadn't… I mean… not since Lewis" Olivia blinked rapidly, trying not to let the tears clouding her eyes showShe sighed deeply, then continued: "Lewis never touched me – not like that. But…" Liv suddenly pressed her lips together, as if she had only just realized she was actually opening up to Amanda about this. The blonde sensed her sergeant was fractions of a second away from clasping a hand over her mouth to keep her confessions from pouring out, so she intervened: "It's okay, Liv. You're okay." The brunette seemed to be eyeing her suspiciously, as if she were afraid Amanda was going to – ironically, she wasn't even sure what she was afraid of…

"I'm here, Liv. An' I'm not going anywhere unless you tell me to" Amanda paused, contemplating whether it was appropriate to say out aloud what was on her mind. When she glanced towards her boss, though, she recognized the sheer terror in Olivia's gaze and realized that professional boundaries were the least of their problems right now. Olivia was clearly upset. It didn't matter that she was her superior, didn't matter that she had treated her poorly during Amanda's first few months in the squad. What did matter were the violent shivers cursing through Olivia's body, and the shameful look in her eyes. There was no way in hell Amanda was not going to say it:

"You're safe right now, Liv. You're safe with me. I promise"

A/N 2: As always, this was only supposed to be a oneshot but I might write another chapter or two "on public demand" xD