And finally we step to leave

to the departure lounge of disbelief

.x.

Within a time frame of 30 minutes, the two ladies of SVU decided that Amanda would be coming along, only for her safety of course. At least that's what Olivia wanted to tell Cragen. But she was not going to, or else Amanda would be pissed off. Amanda didn't like lying to Cragen and Fin, although she had no problem lying to Nick, mainly because she wasn't a big fan of the Latino detective. Amanda sighed as she zipped her duffle bag shut. Her main concern however, was getting in trouble with the Police Commissioner and Cragen for doing this, but her other concern was Olivia, so Cragen and the Police Commissioner would just have to deal with it. Olivia checked once more with her girlfriend to make sure she was okay. The blonde reassured Olivia she was fine, just worried. And with that, the two exited the blonde's apartment into the cool September air.

"Detective Rollins, I assure you I'll get Detective Benson to the safe house, swiftly and safely." was the first thing Bella said with a small smile as the two detectives climbed into the back seat of the SUV. The light brunette looked at the pair through her rearview mirror.

"Detective…?" Amanda asked, not remembering the young woman's name.

"Sterling." She replied letting her grip relax on the steering wheel. "But you are more than welcome to call me Bella." She once again looked at Rollins through the rearview mirror, and unknown to Benson and Sterling, Amanda unexpectedly blushed.

Amanda cleared her throat. "Right, Bella." She made sure Bella was looking at the pair through the mirror again and then intertwined her fingers with Olivia's. The New Jerseyan detective let a soft 'oh' out her mouth.

"I'm sure your boss, mine nor the Police Commissioner should have a problem with it." Bella replied, although she did sigh again.

"That's good to here." Olivia spoke up, sensing some type of vibe coming from Bella.

Olivia found herself searching for a ring on Bella's hands as the brunette pulled off. Benson noticed a pinkish-gold halo band with a small silver piece on Bella's left hand. It raised a question if Bella was homophobic or not, but Olivia was afraid to ask. And if the ring was just a part of this operation. The senior detective was yet to have to face any discrimination about her orientation, but of course, with Amanda being from rural Georgia, where people are less accepting, Amanda has had to deal with on more than one occasion. Which is what led the blonde at first to keep her sexuality to herself in New York, she was afraid.

Sterling appeared very uncomfortable and worried. So after almost 30 minutes of a silent drive out of the city, Amanda grasped the confidence to ask what was wrong. The tinted-windowed car stopped at a gas station, and that's when Amanda leaned forward in the backseat.

"Hey, you okay Sterling?" Amanda asked softly.

Bella's green eyes looked down at Amanda. "I'm fine. Just trying to think of how this is going to work now."

Amanda raised her eyebrows. "How is what going to work?"

"The original plan was for Olivia pretend to be Calvin and I's mother. Although I am sure it will still be believable with you acting as her domestic partner, I have a feeling my captain might say otherwise." Bella explained. "Don't worry, my sister is gay. I'm totally fine with it." Bella left the two detectives to their thoughts by exiting the car to fill it up with gas.

Olivia let out a silent sigh of relief; she no longer had anything to be worried about. Except for the fact there's a drug ring out looking to kill her and Calvin and they could have eyes on her right now. And who knows? They could go after Nick, Fin, Cragen even Alex.

"Liv..? You okay?" The blonde reached out and placed her hand on Olivia's knee. Seeing sadness flash across the older woman's face wasn't a pretty sight to see. When Olivia didn't respond, Amanda tried again. "Liv, baby? I need you to answer me."

"I'm okay…scared." Olivia confessed.

"Hey. You don't have to be scared when I'm around, okay?" Amanda comforted.

Benson loved that. She loved that protectiveness Amanda carried around with her, that feeling she brings whenever she walked into the room. Amanda always seemed carefree to Benson, because she always knew what to do in difficult situations. Maybe it was the cop in her; the already born mindset of heroism. The protect and serve already in her DNA. Olivia couldn't remember the last time she felt worried, scared or helpless around Amanda.

Bella reentered the car, and the two women broke apart. This was going to be a long day.

.x.

Arriving at the safe house somewhere between Jersey City and Newark was hard for Olivia. She was distressed over whether or not Calvin would even remember her. Olivia had loved Calvin as if he was her own son.

"Liv, calm down." Amanda said squeezing Olivia's palm with her right hand and holding her duffle bag with her left.

The safe house looked like any other house in Stonebridge Valley. The modern townhouses were placed side by side down streets, but then turned into one-story houses as the straight rode turned into a circle. For it being a Sunday afternoon, a few children rode their bikes around the circle and parents watched protectively. The house where Amanda, Olivia and Calvin would be staying was the 5th house on, ironically, Amanda Avenue. The house's exterior was black siding, two car door garage, brown framed windows and a small portion of grass in front. Amanda managed to count two stories.

Bella exited the SUV, tucked her badge in her shirt and walked up in front of Amanda. "As a part of the whole 'protective detail' thing, my partner and I will be living directly adjacent to you, but for tonight, I will staying with you just in case." She explained. Olivia nodded, but it didn't stop her worry.

Walking into the house seemed to talk an eternity, however as soon as she did, Olivia felt someone hugging her. Her heart warmed as Calvin hugged her tightly. The sight even brought a smile to Amanda's face.

"Olivia!" Calvin squealed with joy, not letting her go. The whole 3 years he had been living with his grandparents, he never forgot about her. He referred to her as 'Aunty Liv' to his friends, and from the way he talked about her, even at the age of 12, they thought she was some type of superwoman.

Amanda's vision landed on a tall man with pitch black hair standing next to Bella. She was only left to assume this was her partner. Deciding it was best to let Olivia and Calvin converse in private, Amanda asked Bella to show her the rest of the house.

Sterling led the blonde up the stairs, taking the lead of standing ahead of Amanda. Bella was talking, but Amanda wasn't listening. Rollins found herself unintentionally studying the younger woman. The younger woman's hair stopped just 2 or 3 inches from her rear, which were covered by tight blue jeans. Noticing Amanda wasn't listening, Bella turned around, causing Amanda to once again blush in her presence.

"You okay, Amanda?" Bella decided to the detective's first name, hoping it would show she wasn't just here to do a job, but to also be a friend. Amanda was miles away, staring at Bella's face. Amanda couldn't grasp why she acting like this, and she wanted it to stop. The blonde reassured herself she was just getting used to Sterling.

"I'm fine." She lied.

.x.

Later on that day, Bella and her partner, Alexander, explained how they were going have to stay below the radar.

"Amanda is going to be working as a singer in a bar just 20 minutes from here. Olivia, you'll be a stay at home mom." Sterling said. Yet, once again, although Bella was talking, Amanda wasn't listening. The blonde was just staring at Bella's face. Benson, who was still happy about having Calvin back didn't notice her girlfriend's strange behavior.

"And let me guess, you two are going to be acting as a married couple?" Olivia concluded readjusting herself on the comfortable brown couch.

"Precisely." Alex answered.

Amanda stood quickly and exited the living room, and Olivia guessed Amanda was still a little worried about the Police Commissioner. The three detectives continued going over the basis, and mentioned they should only be in WPP for little than 6 months. Olivia hoped that was true.

Sterling headed back upstairs to retrieve her phone. Knocking on one of the bedrooms to make sure it was empty; she entered when she received no response. Opening the door, she found Amanda standing in front of the window, looking out at the dark sky.

"Sorry, forgot my phone." Bella explained and swiftly grabbed her phone of the desk. However, she stood there a moment, contemplating whether or not she should confront Amanda.

"If you're worried about how long you'll be here, it should take no more than 6 months to find out who's behind all this." Bella said in a soft tone. This grasped the blonde's attention and she turned to face Bella.

"That's not what I'm worried about, but thanks." Amanda sent the brunette a small smile. It wasn't genuine. She didn't know why, but she didn't like the idea of being in a room alone with Bella. So with that she walked past her to exit, but Bella placed a warm hand on her forearm. Amanda's breath caught in the back of her throat.

"I don't know why you're so uncomfortable around me." She said her tone dropping to a whisper. Bella was just as tall as Amanda, so her words went directly into Amanda's ear. "But whatever it is, I hope you can work it out."

Amanda swallowed hard. I should go. I should go be with Liv. "Who said I was uncomfortable?"

"I'm a cop, Amanda. I can sense it." Bella's tone stayed the same. Amanda didn't know why this was going on, she didn't why she was feeling like this. But she did know this;

That Bella Sterling would be the death of her.

A/N: I know, I know...kinda cliffhanger. Okay, I do like to torture the hell out of my characters, so at one point in this thing, you are going to want to shoot me. I'm just saying sorry in advance :) Oh, and also, I hadn't planned on Bella being this type of woman...(and she isn't going to be for long)

Feel free to PM me about what you think'll happen.