Silence filled the room. That was not the big reveal, that Olivia was expecting. She had been thinking that he wanted more kids or marriage, when in actuality, he wanted to be someone else. Then to top it all off, he had already agreed to go undercover. Before even talking to her about it. Of course he didn't need her permission but they were a team now. One of the biggest challenges for them over the past year was, Olivia getting used to the fact, that it wasn't just her anymore. Most of their seldom fights, were due to the fact that she behaved, as if still on her own. That's why she couldn't believe that he'd even agreed on such an important decision, without even so much as a conversation.

Nick finally dared to glance over at Olivia. She was still staring straight ahead. While trying to silence the 'I told you it wouldn't last' inner monologue. He couldn't read her mind but her expression spoke for itself. From what he could gather, she'd been caught completely off guard but not totally surprised. He could sense that she was expecting something but certainly not what she'd just heard. He didn't know if that was a good or bad thing. After waiting for her to respond, Nick couldn't take it anymore. The silence had become too much for the nervous detective.

"Liv?" She didn't respond. Her body was there but her mind was millions of miles away. "Liv, I need you to say something." Silence. The silence was driving him crazy so he started to babble on and on. "Look, I know I should have discussed it with you first. I-it, it all just happened so fast. Van Buren asked then I went to the crime scene and it was Kendall. An-and Rollins was a mess," Olivia looked over to him after that statement. He hadn't even noticed her, he was busy pacing and talking a mile a minute. "I told her we would get whoever did this. Everything just seemed to happen so fast and the next thing that I knew, I had agreed to go under." He'd stopped pacing and turned back to the couch where she was sitting with a blank expression on her face. "Liv…"

"When do you go under?" Her voice was flat, without emotion.

"As soon as they work out the details of my cover. Probably a week or so."

Olivia stood to her feet. She placed her glass down, picked up the wine bottle and headed for the stairs. "Ok."

"Liv, wait—"

"I don't want to talk, Nick."

"But—"

"I said, I don't want to talk."

He definitely knew that tone. Her 'over it' tone was a distinctive one. The detective thought he knew her mood swings when they were partners but now he was a pro at them. They hadn't had many fights over the past year. However, the handful that they did have, taught Nick a lot about how to deal, for the most part. Whether or not, he took the safe and easy route, depended on how stubborn he was going to be. He knew that this situation had completely came out of nowhere, so he chose wisely and let her be. Internally kicking himself for jumping the gun and doing something that would enrage him. It was maddening when Olivia would still behave like a single woman instead of one, in a relationship. Now he'd gone and done the thing that he'd been preaching to her about not doing. Damnit!

Meanwhile, Olivia was upstairs trying to digest the surprising information. Sure, she was a few glasses of wine in but she was positive that conversation had just happened. Not only was he going undercover without talking to her about it. It also seemed that his spontaneous decision was because of Amanda, his ex. Olivia wasn't the jealous kind but, come on. Anyone would be bothered by your partner making a hasty decision based, seemingly on his ex. She didn't know if she was more pissed at the sudden decision. Or because she'd expected the talk to be about him wanting 'more.' How could she have read the signs so wrong? That's when she began to ponder, was she subconsciously hoping for more, also. The exhausted and frustrated woman put the wine bottle down, and went to draw herself a bath. To try and figure out why she had really gotten so upset.

Carisi hadn't left Rollins' side, since learning that the brutalized vic, was a friend of hers. He knew that she wouldn't to talk to the Lieutenant, especially about something so personal. He was well aware of their complicated history. Not just regarding their messy personal entanglements but professionally, as well. So he took it upon himself, to fill his Lieu in on why the case was personal to Amanda. Olivia had listened to the young detective, while he filled in some blanks, others were being omitted due to loyalty. His loyalty and unspoken support had earned him, an after work drink with the blonde detective.

"Thanks for having my back today, Carisi. I know that I was little snappy with you earlier but thanks for not making a big deal and taking it personal."

"Not thanks necessary. Just did what needed to be done. I've got sisters, remember. I learned a long time ago, not to take things personal. Cheers."

Amanda smiled at his candor and accent. "Cheers."

Carisi took a sip of his beer, then looked over at Amanda. Their relationship started out rocky but they had gotten to a much better place. They'd hung out casually, outside of work often. They were definitely friends, good friends. Both secretly wondered if there could be more. He knew that he'd be pushing his luck but he had to ask. This question had been on his mind for a long time. Honestly he didn't have the balls to ask her before because she was just so…her. Outspoken, feisty and not sparing any fools.

"Don't bite my head off, ok? But I've been wanting to ask you this for a while now."

"Carisi…"

Before her warning tone, caused him to just shut the hell up. The detective blurted it out, "Did you really tag the squad room with uh, suggestive pics of Lieu?"

Oh thank, God. I thought he was going to…wait. How the hell did he hear about that? That was not the direction that Amanda thought the talk was going. Now she was scrambling to come up with a response. She would never admit it to him but she cared about what he thought of her. So, she lied. "Carisi, come on. Really? The locker room talk must be slow this week for that ridiculous story to be floating around."

He was visibly relieved, because he respected his Lieu and really liked Rollins. Cops were known to embellish and he was glad that it was just another elaborate story. He knew that there was obvious friction between the women. Given the intersections of their personal lives with Amaro. But he just couldn't imagine things reaching to such an extreme level.

"Wow, yeah. I just heard that out loud. Sorry, Rollins. Next round on me for sure, after that." He was completely mortified. Couldn't believe that he'd actually asked her that. Amanda was just as mortified as Carisi but couldn't let him see it. She had to stick to her lie, even though she was internally cringing. Thinking about her past immature actions, was so embarrassing. Just when those past humiliating moments, were coming back to haunt her, the bartender placed a drink down in front of her.

"From the guy at the end of the bar," said the bartender as he pointed into the direction of the man. Carisi and Amanda both looked down at the end of the bar, curious. The guy nodded and tipped his glass to her, she smiled and mimicked the gesture.

"He's bold. For all he knows, we're together. Like a couple, together," said an irritated and secretly jealous Carisi.

"It's fine, I know him." Rollins had a small smirk on her face and Sonny noticed.

"Oh," He paused to look at her. "You know him, know him?"

"What? Shut up," she elbowed him. "We're friends, that's all."

"Yeah, ok. We are friends," he pointed his beer bottle between them. "That's—"

"Knock it off."

"Alright, alright, I'm done." Carisi threw some bills on the bar, "You ready to get out of here?"

"Uhhhh, I'm going to stick around for a bit. I'll see you tomorrow, bright and early."

It took all of his resolve to not make a snide comment. "Alright, see you tomorrow. Goodnight, Amanda."

"Goodnight, Sonny."

The blonde detective watched as her friend left the bar. She sensed that Carisi had kind of a crush on her. To be honest, he'd grown on her too, a lot. After her miscarriage, he'd been there for here during such a difficult time. He was definitely the most consistent man in her life. They'd become extremely close, over the past year. It was strange to some but they just got each other. The best thing about it was that there wasn't any pressure. After going through the unimaginable, of losing a child, easy was all that she could handle. That's why she was extremely grateful to have someone like Sonny, in her life.

"Amanda."

The sudden yet familiar voice, had gained her attention. The detective turned away from the door to the person now sitting beside her. "Elliot."

The night had been a long one for Nick. He'd stayed downstairs to give Olivia her space. He'd never seen her shut down so completely with him, since they'd been together. He tossed and turned on the sofa, all night long. He was restless. The only thing that would settle him, would be to try and make things right with her. So he made his way up the stairs quietly, checking in on Noah first. The cute toddler was sound asleep in his little bed. After shutting Noah's door, Nick headed to their bedroom. Olivia was lying on her side of the bed, facing the wall away from the door. He stood there in the doorway, just watching. He knew that their fight was totally his fault. Every time he thought about how he handled the situation, he got even more upset about his actions.

"Nick?" Olivia's voice temporarily halted his internal berating.

"Yeah, it's me. I didn't mean to wake you."

"I wasn't sleep." She turned over into a sitting position, so that she could see Nick.

"Olivia, I am so sorry." Nick slid into the bed next to her. Then he took her hand and brought it to his lips. "I messed up, no excuses. I'm sorry."

Olivia knew that he truly regretted his decision but she was still bothered about a few things. She'd remembered the last time when he was undercover before they'd even met. She would never forget the bomb dropped during Cassidy's trial. Nick's secret relationship with his target's sister, came to light. In addition to the relationship, he'd also gotten Cynthia pregnant but she miscarried. All of the dirty details played out publicly, in open court. So to say the least, Olivia had questions. "I need to ask you something."

"Ok, ask."

"What made you agree so quickly?"

"A lot of things. Van Buren asked for me specifically. I fit the profile. We've been after whoever's doing this for a while now. I want to catch the person responsible. And—"

"Amanda."

Nick stopped his rambling at that interruption. "Liv…"

"What? You're going to tell me that she's not a factor?"

"Not the way you're making it sound."

"I'm not making it sound like anything. I'm asking you because if the roles were reversed you'd be pissed and you know it. And let's not even get started on the last time you were undercover."

"Really?! That was different and you know it, Olivia! This is not that. So don't even go there."

"So which is it then? One minute you're talking about you want more, 'so much more.' And now you want to go and be someone else."

"It's my job! And I do want more but you don't!"

"Don't tell me what I don't want!"

"I want to marry you!"

That put a stop to the heated argument. Nick definitely didn't plan for that revelation to come out, like it had but it was the truth. He took some deep breaths, to calm himself. It seemed silly at first when his anger management counselor suggested, silently counting while breathing deeply to keep calm. However, he'd learned that it actually worked. After calming down, his head was clear and he realized what he really wanted.

"Nick—"

"Marry me."

Sorry for the wait. Tweaked the canon storyline about Nick having another kid because, just no. Thanks for reading.