A/N: Crosspost from my tumblr and AO3.
Prompt: Barba is injected with something dangerous.
There was a sort of tranquil beauty to upstate New York as it flew by in the rearview mirror, and Olivia had the bizarre thought that they should stop, get out of the car so that they could really appreciate nature in its full glory. She ruthlessly shoved the thought back, tightening her grip on the steering wheel.
"If you don't slow down, we're probably both going to die." Barba said as he shifted his position in the passenger seat. Olivia didn't look over.
"I'm a good driver." She replied instead, not taking her eyes off the road. "We're not going to die."
Barba laughed, and it sounded a little nervous to both of them. "While I don't doubt your skill behind the wheel, Detective, it's hard to promise safety when you're going almost twice the speed limit on a one lane road in the middle of nowhere. You can slow down some." There was a pause, and when there was no discernible change in speed, "Olivia, seriously. Slow down."
Olivia glanced over at the sound of her name. Barba had an eyebrow raised at her as if she were a particularly stubborn witness in court, and she almost wanted to smile at him. She didn't, though, because try as she might to ignore it, she could see the sweat gathering around his temples, the slight pallor to his face, and the way his hands shook minutely before he tucked them away and out of sight.
"I'm not slowing down." She said, and it was final.
"Try not to scare her off, alright?" Olivia said, and Barba rolled his eyes.
"I do know how to treat witnesses, thank you." He replied, idly playing with his phone as they made their way into what could charitably be called a town. "Although, again, I fail to see why we had to drive five hours just for this. You're sure she couldn't have come in herself?"
Olivia checked her directions one last time, shifting her hands on the steering wheel. "Couldn't leave the animals." She said absently. "Works as a vet or something, and you know as well as I do we need to talk to her. If she saw something…"
"It would be nice to have some testimonial support other than a victim with absolutely no memory of what happened." Barba agreed dryly. They were pulling up in front of what Olivia's phone assured them was the animal hospital. "Still, five hours is a long way."
Olivia just turned the car off and reached into the back seat for Barba's briefcase. "You'll survive, I'm sure." She intoned, passing it off to him. "Let's just get this over with."
The animal 'hospital' was, in fact, just a two room building with a rickety old stairwell leading to the front door. A bell tinkled lightly as they entered, and Olivia couldn't help sending an amused glance at Barba. With his snappy suspenders and color-coded tie and pocket square, he looked incredibly out of place in the homey old room.
"Can I help you?" Came a voice, and Olivia smiled at the aging woman that had appeared in the opposite doorway.
"Mrs. Downey." She said. "Would you mind if we took a few minutes of your time?"
"Olivia, I-" Barba swallowed. "I, uh, this may not be the best time, but I don't- I don't feel so good."
Olivia didn't answer right away. When she did, her voice was surprisingly steady. "You're okay, Barba." She said, as if saying it would make it true. "We've got less than an hour until we get there, I'm sure you can avoid throwing up in my car for that long."
"That's- ha- that's not exactly what I meant." He said, and they both knew what he had meant. "I won't throw up in your car. I just want to… um, I just think…" There was a long pause where Olivia suspected he was reconsidering his next words. "Would you mind talking to me?" He eventually finished.
Olivia made the mistake of looking at him again, couldn't help but file away exactly how much paler he'd gotten and exactly how much faster his breathing was. "Sure." She said, forcing herself to make it sound casual. "What do you want to talk about?"
"Tell me about Noah." Barba said. His voice, too, sounded softer than it had just minutes ago, and Olivia spared one more glance at him, careful to keep the concern out of her eyes.
"Alright, but if you fall asleep while I'm talking, I'm taking it as a personal slight." That, at least, got a faint smile out of him, and she returned it as best she could before she turned her attention back to the road. "Have you seen him in the last few weeks? I know it's a cliché, but I swear to god, every day he seems to get bigger…"
"You really didn't have to come all the way out here, you know." Mrs. Downey twittered, still fluttering around the waiting room cum parlor after her third attempt to offer them tea. Barba looked ready to snap at her to sit down, and Olivia put a surreptitious hand on his elbow to soothe him.
"We don't mind." She said before he could open his mouth. "We understand it's hard to make it down to the city, and we're perfectly happy to talk to you here." There was a polite pause before she continued. "Can we go over what you told the police? Mr. Barba here has a few questions he'd like to ask you."
"It is very hard to make it down to the city." The old lady said, sitting down gingerly across from them and ignoring the second half of the statement. "It's the animals, you see, there's always so much to do. And of course, I do so hate to leave George alone for any period of time…"
"George? Is that a pet?" Olivia asked quickly, seeing Barba's frustration levels rise even higher.
"Oh, no." Mrs. Downey laughed nervously. "George is my son. Such a nice boy, and he helps me out around here whenever he can. I don't know what I'd do without him." She paused. "I'm sorry, you asked me a question. What were we talking about?"
"The day of the rape, Mrs. Downey." Barba said impatiently, pen tapping against the side of his notepad. "Can you walk us through what you saw?"
The old woman looked like she wanted to get up again, but Barba's glare kept her in her seat. "Oh," another nervous laugh, "I'm not sure I'll be much help. I didn't see much of anything, you see, I was just on my way to pick up George from his doctor's appointment..."
"Your original call to the police said you saw a middle aged man pinning someone to a wall in an alley." Barba snapped, raising an eyebrow. "That sounds like something to me-"
"Barba." Interrupted Olivia firmly. "Mrs. Downey, we appreciate your cooperation in this, it's very important. The man, the one you saw in the alley- you told the police he had blonde hair and broad shoulders before you hung up." It had been a matter of discussion in the precinct over just why she had hung up in the first place, but Olivia decided not to press the issue. "Do you think you can add anything to that description for us?" She asked instead.
The other woman just tittered for a few seconds, and Olivia and Barba exchanged glances. "I'm really- I'm so sorry, but I'm afraid I can't help you." She pushed away from the table abruptly, standing up. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have so much to do…" and she was gone, disappearing into the back room before either of them could say a word.
"Do you think…" Olivia murmured to Barba after a second, and he nodded grimly.
"Definitely. Something to do with her son, I'd bet any money. Come on, let's try one more time- I'd prefer to hold off on the subpoena unless I absolutely have to."
Olivia had finally run out of things to say about Noah. A heavy silence was settling over the car, and she checked the clock before turning to make sure Barba was still awake. For a second, it wasn't clear he was, and she was surprised by the sharp jolt of fear that lanced through her. "Rafael?" She asked too loudly, and to her immense relief, he slowly turned his head, blinking over at her from his position slumped against the window.
"Hi." He said softly, and Olivia's chest tightened at the sight of him. Sweat had plastered his normally perfect hair to his forehead, and when he reached a hand up to brush it away, it was trembling so badly she was afraid he was going to take his own eye out. He was still looking at her, though, and despite everything, the corners of his lips were turned up in a weak imitation of a smile.
"Liv." He murmured. "You look… tense." He reached out, and with visible effort, put his hand on her arm. "It's… gonna be okay. Yeah?"
She checked the clock again- still at least half an hour to go. "Yeah. Of course." She said, but it was a half-second too late, and Barba was many things, but he wasn't stupid. Still, though, that little smile didn't fade, and Olivia had the thought that of course he'd be trying to reassure her, when he was the one that- the one that…
She moved her own hand down to the seat divider between them, guiding his fingers over hers.
Olivia was two steps behind Barba, about to push through the door to the back room after him, when she saw a framed picture on a small table in the corner of the room. She stopped, unable to say why it had caught her eye, and moved closer to investigate. It was a portrait of Mrs. Downey and a young man who must have been George, and Olivia narrowed her eyes. Blond hair, broad shoulders…
"Barba!" She called, spinning around and jogging to the door leading to the back room. "I need to talk with you for a second-"
As she pushed open the door, she froze for less than a second before her hand went to her gun, raising it quickly and smoothly. "Step away from him." She said calmly. "Mrs. Downey, there's no need for this, just lower your arm and step away."
The woman in question had an arm around Barba's neck and was on her tiptoes behind him to see over his shoulder. She was holding what looked like a syringe up to his carotid artery, and Barba was holding very, very still.
"Liv," he said quietly, and Olivia couldn't help but notice how wide his eyes were, even as he remained perfectly motionless, "it's euthanasia, for the animals, euthanasia-"
The old woman was crying, sniffling noisily even as Barba talked. "I'm sorry," she was whimpering, "I'm sorry, but I just can't let you take my George- I never would have made that call, but it was so dark, and I didn't recognize him until it was too late, and I'm sorry-"
Olivia pulled the trigger at the exact same time as the syringe was depressed, and Mrs. Downey went down with a hole right between her eyes. Barba went stumbling to the side, slapping a hand to his neck, and Olivia barely checked to make sure the woman was dead before she was in front of him, peeling the hand away and holding his head still while she looked for a puncture wound.
"Did she get you?" She asked, at the same as Barba started mumbling in Spanish under his breath. His eyes were still blown wide, and he nodded dumbly at her.
"Sí. Uh, yeah, I mean, she did, fuck, oh my god-" He took a deep breath, and then another, visibly calming himself-
Olivia ignored the way her own breath stuttered in her chest and pulled her phone from her pocket. "Rafael, everything's going to be fine. You're okay, it's okay, but here's what you need to do-" she turned his head forcefully and made him look at her, not even glancing at her keypad as she dialed 911. "Go pick up the syringe, see if there's anything on it- name of a drug, dosage, anything- right now." She waited until he nodded before she let him go, lifting the phone to her ear. "Hello, yes, we have a medical emergency…"
Olivia could tell he was holding on to the last threads of consciousness by the way his eyelids fluttered, by the way his hand had gone almost entirely lax over hers. "I need you to stay awake a little longer, okay?" She said to him, ignoring the sharp note of what might have been panic in her voice. Turning her hand palm-up, she interlaced their fingers and squeezed gently. "We're almost there, Rafael, and you better not choose now to stop being a stubborn asshole. Come on."
Barba's shoulders shook in what might have been an incredibly weak laugh, but what also might have been an extension of the tremors currently wracking his body. "Liv…" He whispered, and it was so quiet she wasn't even sure he had spoken. But no, there it was again, and she leaned closer to listen, barely paying attention to the road at all now.
"Liv… I just want you to know… how much I respect you. Admire you." And her stomach dropped, this wasn't what she wanted to be hearing, and she thought about yelling at him, screaming, but he was still talking and her mouth was glued shut- "You've saved… so many people. And I want you… to remember that." A light pressure on her hand, so soft she could barely feel it- "Remember… them. Not… this."
"There is no 'this', Rafael." Her voice was rough and had definitely shaken a little bit, but she was beyond caring. "You're being an over-dramatic ass. After watching you in the courtroom, I shouldn't expect anything different, but still, the point stands." Another weak tremor through his shoulders, and she squeezed his hand a little harder. "Don't you laugh at me. We're fifteen minutes away, and I expect you to stay awake at least seven of those, okay?"
She looked over at him to see his eyes on hers and that same tiny smile on his face. It seemed violently at odds with how awful he looked (he was breathing much too shallowly, and human beings shouldn't be that pale, Olivia thought, oh god), and for some reason, it made her stomach knot up even harder. "Kay." He whispered. "You're…" He stopped for a long beat, and Olivia had to check to make sure his eyes were open. "Thank you, Liv."
She wanted to make some quip, defuse the mood, but something stopped her. She blinked hard and tightened her grip on the steering wheel instead, and when she looked back over a few seconds later, Barba was unconscious, mouth slack and hair leaving sweaty tracks on the window with every bump in the road.
"We're going to have to drive down to the hospital ourselves." Olivia informed him as she hung up on the EMTs. "Nearest one's an hour and a half away, and we can't afford to wait for an ambulance." She was already starting to lead Barba swiftly back to the car, reciting newly acquired information as they went. "They told me phenobarbital is slow-acting, as barbiturates go, so we've got a bigger window than we might have otherwise, but clearly we've still got to hurry or-"
She was cut off by Barba's hand on her wrist. "Liv," he said, almost gentle, and she realized she'd been babbling. "It's okay." He tried to smile, and for a fraction of a second she wondered at how composed he was. "Let's just get in the car and do this, okay? I trust you."
Olivia nodded, and he reached up very briefly to brush some of her hair behind her ear. "Ladies first." He murmured, gesturing to the driver's side door, and she shot him one last look before opening it and sliding in, taking a deep breath.
"One thing." She said as he closed the passenger door behind him, and he looked over at her. "Don't fall asleep."
"We need 100ccs of Bemegride, stat-"
"Someone start intubation and get a ventilator-"
"Prepping room three-"
"How long ago did he stop breathing, ma'am?"
It took Olivia longer than it should have to realize the last question was directed at her. "B-between two and four minutes before we got here." She said to the doctor on her left without looking at him. "He was unconscious but breathing for about ten minutes before that, and decreasing lucidity up until that point. Is- is he going to…"
The doctor made a noise she couldn't quite decipher without seeing his face. "We'll do everything we can for him, ma'am. It's all just a matter of timing now, and…" He kept talking, telling her things he thought she'd want to hear, but she had tuned him out. She couldn't tear her eyes away from Barba.
He was laid out on a stretcher as they hurried through the bleached-white halls of the hospital, shirt ripped open to expose an unmoving chest. His head lolled slightly, like a doll's, with every move the doctors took, and Olivia had the sickening feeling that he looked… dead.
Suddenly, she felt as if she were going to throw up. They were going through a doorway, and then there was a man in front of her, blocking her way, telling her she couldn't come through, ma'am, and all she could do was stare blankly at him. "I need to…" She began, not even sure what she was trying to say. "I need-"
But she was being led back to the waiting room, gently pushed along without making the movement seem coerced, and she recognized the technique from her own treatment of victims. She looked over at the doctor, ready to snap, and he smiled sympathetically at her. "We'll let you know as soon as we do." He said. "Bathroom is second door to the right."
She barely made it.
When he woke up next, it was three days later.
Olivia had been expecting it, and was prepared for the way his eyes widened, the initial almost panicked burst of coughing. She slid closer to him on the edge of the bed and put her hand over his, murmuring to him, exhausted but so relieved she could cry.
He eventually settled, eyes tracking over her face with something like concern, and it took her a moment to realize she was crying. "I'm okay." She whispered, and almost laughed at the symmetry of it. Squeezing his hand harder, she moved so that they were shoulder to shoulder and felt him relax into the contact. "You're okay." She repeated. "We're okay."
A/N: Thanks for reading, everybody! Wrote this in a few hours, and it's unedited, so I apologize for any mistakes. I'm not a doctor, but the medical stuff is as accurate as I could get it- phenobarbital, with can act as a euthanizing agent and is sometimes used by vets, really does take an hour to two hours to take effect, and is treated by Bemigrade, etc. Let me know if anyone has any questions or comments, and feel free to drop by my tumblr (pyrrhicvic) anytime!