Olivia breathed a small sigh of relief when David pulled up to her apartment. It had been a long, awkwardly silent ride back to her building and she was glad beyond any and all repair that it was over.

David shut off the car and looked over at her. She swallowed hard as she glanced down at the floor. "You want me to walk you up?"

Normally he would have done this without any question, never daring to dream of not being chivalrous to her but there was something different about her tonight…

Olivia shook her head slightly, still not looking at him. She opened her mouth to tell him that she knew how to protect herself but the living nightmare from a mere hour ago replayed heavily inside her mind and she knew it would have been a lie if she gave him that excuse.

She didn't want his protection. She didn't want to be around anybody right now. She just wanted to close her eyes and forget anything that had happened.

Olivia cleared her throat as she turned towards him and offered him a clearly forced smile she was only able to hold for less than a moment. "I'm fine."

David looked as if he was about to protest before he gave a soft smile. "Okay."

He reached over to kiss her and she turned her head to the side, letting out a shuddering breath. David paused as he pulled away from her. "I'm sorry," she whispered, barely loud enough for him to hear her.

Without another word she opened the car door and shut it behind her.

Olivia shuddered against the chilly air that bit at her and she hurried into the building to escape the ice cold elements.

She leaned up against the wall for a moment as she struggled to gain her bearings before she made her way up the four flights of stairs, wincing at every painful step. When she finally reached her landing she eyed her door and her heart began pounding harsh against her chest.

He had her license. He knew where she lived…

Olivia began to tremble as she took slow unsteady steps towards her door, blood pounding in her ears. As her head reached for the doorknob she was shaking so bad she could barely move much less breathe.

"You okay?" David's sweet soft voice rang in her ear. Olivia let out a sob as she leaned against the door, tears leaking out against her closed eyes.

"What do you want?" she spoke through her tears, still not turning towards him.

David swallowed hard as he held out her purse. "You left your purse in the car."

Olivia took several deep breaths that did nothing for her composure as he reached in her purse and got out her keys and unlocked the door for her, pushing it open.

Olivia swallowed hard as he spoke, realization dawning on him... "What did they do to you?"

Olivia shook her head as she finally turned towards him, tears. "I can't."

"Olivia, please. I told you before; no matter what it is I can handle it. I'm not going anywhere."

Olivia shook her head once more. "Not this."

He reached out to wrap his arms around her and she took a step away from what she knew to be a warm embrace.

David swallowed hard as he handed her her purse. "Lemme come in and make you something to eat."

"I'm fine."

"A drink?"

As tempting as it sounded, Olivia knew the last thing she needed right now was alcohol. "David-," she began with an annoyed groan.

"Olivia, come on," he interrupted with a heavy plea. "I'm worried about you."

"Well I'm fine."

"Oh obviously," he answered with a heavy air of sarcasm.

She glared at him for a moment before she sighed, rubbing her temples. "Fine, you can come in. Just…" Olivia looked towards the inside of her apartment before she turned back towards him, any fight she had left diminishing. "Can you stay on the couch?"

David nodded wordlessly and without a moment's hesitation. While questions brewed heavily in his mind about her request, he wouldn't try for anything more than that.

Without another word Olivia turned and headed into her apartment with David following. He closed the door behind them. She grabbed some spare sheets, a blanket, and pillow and quickly made up the couch, all without speaking to David who stood watching her.

When she was done she turned to him and rubbed the back of her neck. "I… I get it, if you don't wanna stay," she told him, half of her hoping he would take the invitation to bolt.

David shook his head. "I'm not leaving you."

Olivia sighed and nodded, running a hand through her disheveled hair. "Fine Just… um… Goodnight."

She turned and began to head for her bedroom when he called out to her again. Olivia looked back towards him and he gave her a clearly forced smile. "I love you."

Olivia swallowed and gave a curt nod. "Good night, David."

Leaving him more confused than ever, she headed into her room. He could hear her sobs through the door, as much as she tried to hide them and it took every single ounce of restraint he had not to go running in her room and comforting her.

Holding onto that same self-control that he was barely able to hang onto, he kicked off his shoes and socks then stripped himself of his shirt and jeans. Lying down on the couch, his heart broke a little more every moment that he heard her cry

Eventually Olivia's tears ceased or at least she had quieted them down some so David couldn't hear them anymore, and David didn't feel as bad falling asleep as he did when he heard her sobs.

With a muttered 'love you' directed at the pained woman, his eyes closed and sleep took over.

XxXxX

David groaned as he heard a frantic knocking on the front door. He slowly opened his eyes and glanced at his watch. It was a little after five thirty in the morning. He had gotten just a little over an hour of sleep.

Not wanting to wake Olivia, David groaned as he sat up on the couch and shuffled over towards the door, opening it without bothering to check the peephole.

"Can I help you?" he grumbled sleepily, his eyes half closed and clouded with sleep.

"What the hell are you doing here?" came Cragen's demanding voice. David's eyes shot open as he looked upon the Captain who appeared more frantic and worried then he did angry.

"Cap- Captain Cragen." David cleared his throat and stood up as straight as he could, trying to ignore the fact he was only wearing a pair of boxer shorts. "Wha- what are you doing here so early?"

Cragen looked him over and shook his head as he pushed past him into the apartment. "I'll be angry about this later. Where's Olivia?"

David rubbed the back of his neck. "She's sleeping right now. She had a long night and I really don't think you should wake her."

"No I need to talk to her now. Did she tell you anything about this carjacking?"

David shook his head. "Just that they roughed her up a little bit."

"A little bit is an understatement," Cragen muttered. "What else?" he asked, his voice rising.

"Nothing."

"Were you with her when she went to the hospital?"

"Yeah, I dropped her off. She was only in there for a few minutes."

"Did she have a victim with her?"

Another shake of the nod was the Lawyers answer. "No, Sir, it was just us two."

Cragen ran a hand over his bald head before he looked at David more heartbroken and devastated then David had ever seen the older man.

"Go wake her up." Cragen's voice stunned him. It was broken and defeated, like he had just gotten conformation of the worst news he had ever heard.

"Sir-."

His words left no room for argument. "Now, Haden."

With a sigh, David nodded and he headed into Olivia's room. He winced as he opened the door and saw her. Usually when she was sleeping she looked peaceful and content. Not now. Her eyes were shut tight and her hand was clutching the sheet and a look of unmistakable fright and horror was embedded on her face. Low, frightened whimpers flew past her lips.

He walked up to the bed and kneeled down beside it. "Liv," he whispered softly, giving her shoulder a gentle shake. "Olivia, wake up."

Never being a light sleeper, Olivia's eyes flew open and she gasped for air, her eyes wide and frightened.

She quickly sat up in bed and scampered towards the opposite edge of the bed.

"Olivia, relax," he told her. "It's just me…"

Tears filled her brown eyes as she swiped a hand through her hair. David frowned when he saw that she was still dressed in the previous night's clothes.

"What are you doing in here?" she demanded, her voice hitched in fright.

"Cragen's here," he explained, "he wants to talk to you."

Olivia swallowed hard and nodded as she threw off the blanket and stood up, slowly walking out of the bedroom.

The moment Cragen saw her, she knew. His eyes held the one thing she wanted from no one. Pity…

The Captain walked up to her and swallowed hard when he met her eyes. "A nurse from Sacred Rose called," he explained softly.

Olivia swallowed and nodded. "Ho- how much did she tell you?"

"Enough."

Olivia covered her lips with a trembling hand as she sniffed her tears away. "How- how many pe- people know?"

"Just me," he assured her. "She… she also said you left without having an exam done."

Olivia turned towards David whose face fell as realization dawned on him. His eyes widened as his mouth fell open. "Oh my God…"

Olivia felt the tears she had been struggling against win over. David ran a hand through his crop of hair. "You… you were…?"

Olivia nodded as more tears ran down her face. David never felt such a surge of anger course through him as he did right then.

Cragen walked up and stood beside her. "Liv, we need to get you to a hospital."

"Captain, I can't. Everyone would know."

"You need to get the examination done."

Olivia shook her head as she walked away from the two of them. "I… I know I need to but I… I can't."

Cragen opened his mouth to speak but David interrupted him as he walked up to her. "Olivia, you have to. This... this demon deserves to rot in jail for what he did to you."

"David, you don't understand." She turned to look at him. "I can't deal with the stares again. I can't deal with the little whispers that I can't do my job or that I'm… that I'm weak. I know you're going to think that and that's bad enough."

David's face fell. He walked up to her and stood in front of her, placing a finger under his chin so that she was looking at him. She flinched at the light contact but nevertheless met his eyes. "Olivia, listen to me. I would NEVER think of you as weak. Ever."

"David-."

"No. I don't care what anyone else thinks. You're not weak and I swear on my life I would never think of you like that."

For what felt like the millionth time that night tears flooded her eyes. David reached up and gently wiped them away. Cragen cleared his throat and both turned to look at him, neither Olivia nor David seeming to care that their secret had just been revealed.

"Olivia, I swear this won't get spread around," promised Cragen. "You have my word. But you know what'll happen if you don't report this or don't go to the hospital. He WILL strike again and some other innocent woman will have to suffer through this."

Olivia swallowed hard as she let his words swim around in her head. She knew, both in her heart and mind that he was right. She would rather go through the pain of her attack again then have another woman suffer what she had gone through.

Olivia closed her eyes as she nodded.

Cragen gave a curt nod as he walked up to her. "Grab your coat and shoes. We'll take my car."

Without another word Olivia walked into her bedroom. David went to follow but Cragen reached out to stop him. "You're not off the hook, Haden," Cragen reminded him, though his voice was far less stern then what it would have been under normal circumstances. "I'm willing to let this go until she recovers enough to deal with the repercussions."

David looked at him as if he had grown three heads. "You can't be serious."

"But for now," Cragen continued, acting as if he had never heard him. "You two still have to pull the cloak and dagger routine you've been pulling. I don't know how I missed it and I don't wanna know specifics or details, but know this; IAB won't care she's been attacked. They will pull her job out from under her. I saw the way you looked at her, Haden, and if you really care for her, you'll continue to do what you've been doing and keep it secret."

David sighed as he nodded. "Fine. I just… I don't want her to be alone during this."

"She won't be. She'll have you, just… just not in public."

"If that's what she wants, then okay, but if she wants me with her, then I will be there with her every step of the way, my job be damned."

The two men stared at one another for a moment before Olivia emerged from her room now with shoes on with her white coat over her.

David walked over to her and swallowed hard as he forced himself to remain several steps away. "Do you want me to come with you?"

Olivia shook her head. He already knew enough, he didn't need to be there when she was violated a second time.

David nodded. He wasn't going to push her. "Okay. I'll be here when you get back, alright?" He flashed Olivia her favorite crooked smile. "Maybe I'll even make you a homemade lunch. I'll call the Chinese place from your home and everything."

Olivia could only manage a weak chuckle but it was enough for David. His smile grew larger as he stepped out of the way to let her pass.

"Ready?" asked Cragen.

Olivia nodded again and took a deep breath as she walked towards Cragen. The two began to walk out together but just as Cragen opened the door for her Olivia turned back around. "David?"

He looked towards her and she managed a miniscule barely noticeable smile. "I love you too."

With that, she walked out of the house with Cragen beside her…

XxXxX

Once again, a loud frenzied knock on the door was David's alarm clock.

"Can't a guy get any sleep around here?" he grumbled as he rolled out off Olivia's couch for the second time in a three hour period. Once again he slowly shuffled towards the door and opened it without a second glance.

"What?" he muttered, not even attempting to be polite.

"Well fuck me three ways from sideways," came another, extremely familiar voice full to bursting with excitement. "David Haden?"

David's eyes shot open and despite his tiredness, he beamed at the person who had interrupted his sleep before he reached out and two embraced like brothers. For he hadn't seen this man, his best friend and the closest family member David had, in nearly a year and a half...

The man who stood on Olivia's doorstep, who David would, and almost did once, lay down his life for, was none other than Ian McNulty. Highly decorated NYPD Street Cop, and David's first and only cousin…

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