A/N: Here is the first part of a Rollaro two shot, because even though I'm writing an Amanda/Barba fic, I ship almost everything on this damn show. I'll probably post the second part to this tomorrow, and hopefully update my other story, too. Enjoy!

"Amanda," he whispers into her ear, "are you sure you're feeling alright?"

Her pale cheeks flush with a tinge of pink, quickly scanning the squad room to make sure no one can see them. She knows that Olivia is speaking with a witness in her office, and that Fin and Carisi are off interviewing the parents of the suspected perp, but it catches her off guard. Nick is almost inarguably the more obvious of the two of them, but it's still a fairly bold display of affection for being on the job.

She sighs, knowing he must be fairly concerned about her, because every single time he's almost revealed their relationship it's been due to his over protective streak. She promised him she was okay, just tired, when she first walked into work about a half hour prior, but that clearly did not pacify his worries. Perhaps it would be best to just come clean.

"Honesty is the best policy, Rollins," he teases, sensing that she's mulling over her options in her head.

"You're being obvious," she whines, trying to deflect the topic of conversation, but he isn't having any of it."

"And you still haven't answered my question."

"It's just a headache."

He doesn't say anything, just raises an eyebrow and looks pointedly at her.

"A very bad headache," she sighs, hoping he doesn't press her any further.

"Do you need-

"I've already taken some Tylenol. I'll be fine in an hour. It's probably just from stress."

"Amanda."

"Nick, I'm fine. Will you please just go back to your desk and stop fussing over me before Fin and Carisi come back and you get us caught? Because having that conversation with Liv will definitely not help my headache."

"If it gets worse or you feel like you're coming down with something, let me know, alright?"

"Alright. Now get back to work, detective."

Nick clearly doesn't want to leave her alone, but Fin and Carisi come bustling back into the room, and he knows that he has to let it go for the time being. His intuition is telling him that something is not quite right, and his Amanda-radar is usually spot on, but he's aware that if he continues to press her on it in front of their coworkers then she'll get angry with him, which will only compound the problem. Still, he's frustrated, because he has a feeling how this will all play out. Amanda will likely start to feel worse, conveniently ignore the fact that she told him she'd let him know about that, and they'll end up fighting over it after work while simultaneously fighting over him trying to take care of her.

(It's happened once before.)

(Except this time, unbeknownst to Nick, it's going to play out with a bit more theatrics.)

The pounding in Amanda's head obscures the sudden fast talking that is happening around her, and does her best to retain the snippets of the seemingly urgent conversation that she manages to grasp a hold of. She really isn't feeling well, and suspects that she's contracted the flu from the way she woke up feeling that she had been hit by a truck that morning. She briefly considers that the best course of action may very well be to relay this information over to her boyfriend and allow him to take her home.

But she shakes her head in response to that thought, because her resistance to admitting her illness goes deeper than her reservations with vulnerability this time. She's emotionally poisoned by a conversation with her mother from the night before, but she doesn't want to think about that, either. She shivers, possibly from the memory, possibly from the fever that she's running, or possibly from both.

"Rollins, you catch that?"

"Huh?"

"You know; it would really help the team out if you would pay attention."

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"

"I said it would help if you would pay attention," Olivia repeats, but this time devoid of annoyance. She's staring at Amanda quizzically, sensing that something is off about the blonde detective.

"My bad. You have my undivided attention now, Liv."

Amanda senses the concern on her superior's face, and chooses to ignore it, just as she chooses to look at Fin, ignoring the look that Nick is assuredly giving her. But while she can ignore Olivia's face, she apparently cannot ignore her voice, as she hears herself being asked if she is alright.

"I'm here, I'm here. Wait, what's going on with Rollins?" asks Barba, casually entering the shared space that the squad is occupying.

"Nothing, I'm fine. Can we get back to this perp?"

She doesn't know if she's believed or not, but her coworkers go back to discussing all the possible places this guy could be hiding, and she does her best to listen and chime in to avoid becoming the subject of investigation again.

"Nick, Fin, and I will go to his old house. Amanda, Carisi, you take his old high school."

"Got it, Liv."

Everyone is hurriedly putting on their bullet proof vests (just in case) and getting ready to rush out the door when Amanda once again feels Nick's presence right next to her.

"Amanda, are you sure you're up to this? Now is not the time to be stubborn. If you're not on your game you could get hurt."

"How many times do I have to tell you that I'm fine?"

"Until it's true, maybe? I am not letting you-

"You're not letting me do what? You're not Benson."

"You look like you're going to pass out," he growls, struggling to keep his voice down, "I'm just trying to keep you safe."

"Yeah? Well I don't need you to that. I'm a big girl."

"Amaro! Rollins! We don't have all day, let's go!"

Nick rolls his eyes and angrily pushes past Amanda, unbelievably frustrated. All he wants to do is to help. Does she really not understand how dangerous it would be if her and Carisi run into their suspect who very well might be armed when she's obviously unwell? And now he's not going to be able to fully focus on the scene he's being sent to with Olivia and Fin because he's going to be worried about Amanda the whole time. Essentially, if this guy is at either of the places they're checking, they're all screwed.

"On second thought," he hears Olivia interject his train of thought, "I think he's more likely to be at the school and it's a larger area, so we should probably have more of us at that location. Nick, go with Rollins and Carisi."

It's not until he's in the car with Carisi and Amanda, who is aggressively ignoring him from the backseat, that he receives some clarity regarding Olivia's sudden change of heart in the form of a text from Barba.

You're welcome, Amaro.

Nick is confused for a moment before he realizes that Barba was the only one of his coworkers who was not hastily preparing to exit the squad room, and was close enough to hear his conversation with his girlfriend and most likely texted Olivia regarding what he overheard.

Thank you, Barba, but what exactly did you say to Olivia and how much did you overhear?

Enough to know that you two have something to hide and that Rollins needs someone to watch her back on this one. And fret not, all I said to Liv was that Rollins wasn't looking well and suggested she send you with her and Carisi to be on the safe side.

Excellent. Thanks again, Counselor.

Yeah, yeah. Go get the bad guy and look after your girlfriend.