Olivia thought to herself.
She's worth way more than that.
After a particularly grueling court case, about which each and every squad member argued fiercely to what the outcome should be, everyone was in dire need of a night out. It was Fin who had suggested going out and getting a few drinks to lighten the mood (as hard as he played sometimes, he hated seeing his team members argue the way they had). Carisi had agreed immediately, needing to drown out his Catholic guilt, and Amanda just needed a distraction. Olivia had at first hesitated. She had to admit, some of the arguing between Amanda and herself had gotten quite emotional, the two of them coming close to a knock down drag out, although there was compassion there that a bystander might not have seen between the two women. But in the end, it hadn't taken much begging to get her to relent.
So there they were, sitting in the closest bar they could find to the courthouse, drowning sorrows and lightening the mood some with some typical banter seen amongst the 1-6. It was Amanda's turn to buy rounds, so she was the only one not seated, but instead standing at the bar waiting for a pitcher of beer and four shots (that girl loved her shots).
Olivia was not proud of herself in the least for the amount of staring (ogling, rather) she had been doing in the blondes direction that night, but something had happened. She opened up more to Amanda in that holding room then she had to anyone, and Amanda had done the same. Something had shifted between the two.
As she watched Amanda at the bar, intent on making her way over to the blonde to assist her with the drinks, she saw a man staring. Not at her, but at Amanda. She knew that stare. It was a hungry stare, one she had felt lingering on herself more times than not. She watched as he made his way over to where Amanda had been standing and stood just behind the small blonde, hiding his face from Olivia, by leaning forward to whisper something. The look on Amanda's face told her all she needed to know about what he might've said but before she could make her way to the bar and intervene, the man put both hands on the slender hips trapped between him and the wooden bar and pulled her against him.
"Back off! I'm not going to say it again!" she heard Amanda shout, anger evident in her voice, but also a bit of fear. Olivia grabbed the man by the shoulders and pulled him away from her detective, her hands we're shaking so badly, she was surprised she was able to hang on long enough to actually separate him from the blonde. She looked at Amanda for brief confirmation that she was okay, and then turned her attention back to the man who had tripped into a neighboring table, knocking over several beers, and pissing off several patrons in the process.
Watching the scene unfold, Olivia decided to let the men encroaching on the jerk do what she wanted so badly to and just pull Amanda away from the scene.
By the time she had pulled a silent Amanda to the front of the bar where she could really check on her, Fin and Carisi were on their heels asking questions.
"What just happened?"
"Are you two okay?"
"Did he hurt you?"
Amanda, not being able to get a word in edgewise just looked to Olivia. Her eyes pleading with her to shut them up and make them go away.
"Hey, hey tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum shut up will you? I think it's about time to shut down our party anyway, could you guys close out the bill for Amanda? I think I'm going to get her home." She looked to Amanda then and received a small nod off assent. Grabbing their jackets and bags she turned to look at Fin who gave her a nod, letting her know he'd check in later.
As the two women stepped out of the bar Olivia finally got a good look at her blonde counterpart. She was ashen, her skin taking on a much more pale appearance then usual. Her arms were crossed over her chest and she had a glassy look in her eyes. For a moment they just walked in silence, Olivia who would've preferred to get a taxi resigned herself to walking for a while, assuming Amanda needed it. Neither of them had drank particularly much that evening, but emotions were high and now they are both full of anxious adrenaline.
*
After several blocks of silence and side ways looks from Olivia, she finally spoke.
"Do you want to share a cab?" Amanda asked tentatively, chancing a glance at her boss who had been silent since they left the bar she didn't know how long ago.
"Well, actually I was going to ask if you wanted to come to my apartment." She replied, looking to the blonde before continuing. "I have to admit, I'm feeling a little overprotective at the moment. After everything that happened today between us and then that man at the bar tonight…" she shuddered thinking about watching him put his hands on Amanda as if she was some kind of object he could claim if he wanted. And he wanted. "It was just a suggestion, I know you probably just want to go home. If you want to share a cab, we will do that."
"Wait Liv." Amanda said reaching out to grab ahold of Olivia's arm.