After a case, Olivia, Barba, Nick and Amanda go out to a bar together. When a man comes onto Amanda and won't take no for an answer, he's gotta deal with a very pissed off Nick Amaro.
"Amanda, you were fantastic! That guy never saw it coming!" Olivia laughs, referring to earlier, when Amanda clocked their suspect, rendering him unconscious so Fin could make the arrest.
"Yeah, Liv told me about it earlier. You were totally badass, Rollins!" Barba laughs, pulling Olivia against him and pressing a kiss to her temple.
"It was nothing, really. I just did what I had to do." Amanda blushes and shakes her head.
Nick smiles, throwing an arm around the blonde detective. His dark eyes twinkle, and Amanda snuggles against him. The case was open and shut, and the guy was taking a plea deal so Barba wouldn't spend any time at all in court. Even with the plea deal, the rapist would still get 20 years in prison and be on the sex offender's registry for the rest of his life. It was a good day for the Special Victims Unit.
After a few minutes of chatter, Amanda clears her throat. "Alright, guys, I'll be back in a sec, gotta go to the bathroom." She untangles herself from Nick and stands, walking off.
The chatter continues, switching from the case today to little Noah Benson. "So how's the little guy doing?" Nick asks, and Barba and Olivia both smile.
"Well, he said his first word today!" Olivia exclaims, and Nick grins.
"Really? What was it?" Nick inquires, and he could swear he's never seen Barba smile harder than in that minute. Liv notices the glowing grin on the ADA, and simply rolls her eyes at her boyfriend.
"He said Dada!" Barba crows, clearly happy that Noah considers him his father. He hasn't officially adopted the boy yet, but he sure will if and when he and Olivia get married.
Nick checks his watch after a little more conversation. Amanda has been gone a long time, Nick thinks. And she has, it's been nearly 15 minutes.
"I'm going to go see what's holding Amanda up," Nick says. He walks towards the bathroom, and as he's passing the back exit he can hear shouting. He pauses.
"GET OFF ME!" someone shouts, and in his very soul Nick knows that it's Amanda.
"Olivia! Barba!" Nick shouts, and when they look over they see Nick frantically waving them over.
With them signalled, Nick makes a break for the door, desperate to get to Amanda. As he's running out, he hears her scream again, and this time, he can feel his heart shatter in chest. "NICK! NICK, HELP ME!" Amanda screams, and she can't even see him yet. She doesn't even know he's coming yet, and still she's screaming for him.
It breaks his heart and also angers Nick. Whoever is hurting Amanda is going to pay, that's for sure.
He rushes out, just in time to see a large, burly guy hit Amanda, hard. "Shut up, bitch!" he growls, and slams Amanda against the brick wall. Nick runs up and slams the guy hard in the ribcage. The guy stumbles and nearly falls, only to catch his balance and swing at Nick, which the detective easily ducks, and hits the man in the face, knocking him down.
"You don't touch her," Nick states simply, punching the man again when he rises. This time, he is knocked unconscious, and Nick immediately turns to face Amanda, who is being cared for by Olivia and Barba. There's a scratch underneath her collarbone, her shirt is ripped to shreds, and an already forming bruise or two on her face, an especially nasty one underneath and around her eye. As soon as Nick starts heading for Amanda, Olivia goes to her attacker, pulling out the pair of handcuffs that she always has on her.
Nick approaches Amanda slowly, unsure of how she's going to react.
She suddenly takes two large steps forward, and throws herself into Nick's arms. Surprised by the sudden action, Nick has to take a step back to brace himself. He wraps his arms around Amanda and holds her tightly to his chest as she begins to cry.
"Thank you," she whispers into his shirt. "I-I was walking back from the bathroom, and all of a sudden he just grabbed me and pushed me outside. I tried to fight him off, I really tried, but he was so huge, I couldn't get a good hit in. I just... I started screaming, and I was just praying that you would come and save me. Thank you, Nick. Thank you for saving me,"
"You know you don't have to thank me, I'm never going to let anything happen to you." Nick tells her.
"I hate to break this up, but Olivia and I are going to take this dirtbag to the precinct, and you should probably take Amanda to the hospital, it looks like he hit her pretty hard." Barba says, and when Amanda begins to protest, he tells her that she needs to get checked for a concussion. When Olivia and Nick both agree, she finally gives in.
"You guys go, I'll get your stuff and bring it to Rollins' apartment in the morning, call me if you end up staying the night at the hospital." Olivia tells them, hauling up the now-awakening asshole that had attacked Amanda.
Barba takes off his coat and wraps Amanda in it, to cover what's left of the shreds of her shirt.
As they walk to the car, Nick hears Amanda thank him again, quietly this time, and stops to turn to look her in the eye. "Amanda, you don't ever have to thank me for saving you. I love you, and I can't imagine my life without you. I have no idea how I would survive if anything happened to you. I saved myself back there just as much as I saved you. I won't ever let anyone lay a finger on you again, I promise. I'm just sorry I couldn't there sooner. I love you, Amanda Rollins, more than you will ever know."
"I love you too, Nick Amaro."