A\N: Hey guys I'm so sorry it's late but I've had awful writers block and been really busy lately. I've got another part to this chapter which I'll probably post up in a few weeks so look out for it. But now it's done I hope you like it . Please leave a review. I do not own these characters.

"I wanted to protect her, and, if I couldn't do that, I'd at least be there for her."
― Shannon A. Thompson

Chapter 7: I Want To Protect You

It was on days like this that Amanda knew she had the best partner, the best girlfriend and overall one of the best friends she'd ever wanted or dreamed of. Having just watched Olivia take down a known and highly dangerous drug dealer without the help of anyone else and cuff him for the rape of his 'so-called' friend, she was very impressed. Olivia may have seemed like a tough cop there on the street but Amanda knew what she was really like, what she was like deep down in those mushy parts of her personality. It was something that Rollins just loved to see.

The team had wandered down to the bar to have a couple of drinks but Cragen had passed up the offer due to paperwork and Amaro had told the team he had some things to do at home. Benson explained he was probably feeling the effects of not seeing his daughter for such a long time. Munch and Fin had bought all of the drinks and John had joked that Benson was now the temporary hero of the precinct.

"You wait Liv, I'll get be it next time," Fin winked and knocked back the remnants of a beer.

Benson laughed and replied with, "Yeh I'll let you take the credit next time." After about an hour of being there Munch got up to leave and Benson followed, she was tired and couldn't drink another drop. Amanda looked up wondering whether to follow and give Olivia a quick goodnight kiss but she hesitated as Fin noticed the two senior members of the one-six precinct leaving.

"Going already? Lightweights, we'll see you Monday." Fin called out to them as he came back from the bar. Munch nodded and walked through the door.

Benson turned around and looked at the pair sat there, smiling just enjoying the time off work. "Yeh see ya Fin, Mand…Amanda." Olivia corrected herself before Fin realised what she'd just said, she only used Amanda's nickname when they were at hers. Amanda let out a small smile and winked at Benson before turning back to her beer.

The next day came pretty quickly; Benson had enjoyed her night of beer with friends and then watching crappy TV. Once she awoken the next morning she clambered out of bed and into the shower, an early morning wakeup call was exactly what she seemed to need. Halfway through and she began to hear noises coming from her kitchen. 'It's probably next door fixing something again' she thought to herself as she let the warm water flow down the center of her back. BANG. It came again.

Pulling back the shower curtain she grabbed for a towel and wandered into her living room, she rounded the corner to find a man, dressed purely in black with a spray can in one hand and a bag in another. Her eyes darted to her paperwork that was splayed across the floor and then to her wall. The man turned around watching as Benson grabbed for her gun and raced for the door before she had time to do anything. "HEY, GET BACK HERE!" Benson shouted to no avail, all that could be heard were the patter of feet as the man fled.

Benson turned back to her apartment and went to inspect the damage on the wall. It was a gang symbol and one that matched that of the drug dealer she'd just taken down, he was out to make her life hell. There was no obvious sign of damage to her door so she guessed the guy had just lock picked his way in and knocked off her paperwork that had been balanced on the table.

Rollins bounced up the steps to her girlfriends apartment block, two coffees in her hands and her smile was the first thing that anyone would notice about her that morning. She rounded the corner to find Benson standing in her home, her door was open, and she was changed and seemed to be staring at something on her wall. Olivia looked up as Amanda walked in the door; she shook her head and pointed to the sprayed symbol.

"Oh my god Liv! They did this! That guy he…when did it happen?" Rollins questioned her partner.

"I was in the shower and they broke in, I just thought that…if I sent him down it would be the end of all this," Benson walked over to her window and began to sob before uttering, "Clearly not." Rollins shut the door behind her, placed the coffees on the table and rushed over to Olivia who stood crying at her window. The younger of the two slid her arms around Benson's waist and pulled her into a hug. Olivia turned to face her blonde haired beauty and said "I don't feel safe anymore Manda, I wish I did but I don't." Tears started to stream down her face and Amanda held her lover closer until she eventually stopped crying. Rollins thought it was more shock than anything else that was making the older detective cry so much.

After a long phone call with Fin, Amanda decided that enough was enough. The gangs of this city could mess with her but they did not mess with her girlfriend. Thankfully Fin had been extremely sympathetic as usual and declared that he was going to find the 'son of a bitch' who did this to Liv. He had called up Amaro and grabbed him for some undercover work; all they had to go on was a gang symbol that Olivia had seen on the man's neck as he fled the crime scene.

Meanwhile in the shady part of town Amaro and Fin sat in a car, baseball caps on and coffees at the ready. They knew it wasn't going to be too hard tracking down the guy they presumed had trespassed and violated Olivia's apartment. They had two suspects, the drug dealer's right hand man or his brother, either would be up for the job.

"Look, over there," Amaro said as he pointed to a man climbing out of a beat up old car, his eyes were covered by a pair of shades and his neck by a hoodie. "I can't see any tattoo though."

"Don't worry we'll see it, even if we have to follow him home and pin him down, we'll see it" Fin replied as he watched the man enter a nearby house.

"What I don't get is how we don't have any pictures of this guy on file. You'd think we'd have at least something." Amaro added.

"He's clever, too clever."

Five minutes passed and the detectives watched from their small cop car as two men came rushing out of the house. One pulled his fists up to protect his face from any flying hits, while the other clenched a shiny pair of knuckledusters. The armed man launched himself at the detectives' perp knocking him to the floor, he sprang back up and attempted to run towards his car. However this did not work, he was pulled backwards by his hood revealing the same insignia that was now etched into Benson's wallpaper. The two detectives looked at each other and jumped into action. They flew from their car directly at the pair fighting in the street, they flashed their badges before pinning their perp to the floor and handcuffing him.

"Look I'll ask you again. Where were you between eight and ten this mornin'?" Rollins paced around the interview room watching as the sun streamed through the windows and landed directly on her perp. His eyes looked at his fidgeting fingers. "Do I really have to ask you again?"

"I ain't got nothing to say." The perp said as Rollins' pacing became faster and her breathing more inconsistent.

"And why's that?"

"Because I don't got an alibi! I didn't do nothing to nobody, I was led in bed asleep. Ain't no one gunna get up that early unless they crazy!" The man spoke again this time his words infuriated her even more. Amanda had been interrogating this man, Tyrese for over three hours now and all she had found out was he didn't have an alibi and that he claimed he never helped out the drug dealer they'd taken down days before. Rollins turned on her heel, about to say another comment to him as she grabbed hold of the collar of his shirt when there came a knock on the door.

"I'm not finished with you." She said bluntly before releasing her grip on his shirt and making her way out of the room.

"Rollins I think we should let Fin interrogate for a while. Give you a rest." Cragen offered. Amanda's face dropped as she tried to contemplate another member of the team cracking Tyrese after she had put the most work in. After all Olivia was her biggest priority and as much as she respected the other members of the squad she believed she was the only one who should do it. She needed to protect Olivia, whether it was now or whether it was on the street.

"But Captain I know I've got him, I just need a little more time."

"I'm sure you do Rollins but I believe it's in the best interests of everyone that you take a break and we let Fin take a shot at it." Cragen replied.

"No disrespect but I've worked my ass off," Amanda took a step towards Cragen before saying, "And I'm not gunna hang around and let this son of bitch get away with what he did to Liv!"

Cragen noticed the small step Rollins had taken and the sudden increase in how threatening her tone was becoming. It seemed odd to him that Amanda had become so 'attached' to Benson after such a short time. He had never realised that she was that close with the woman. However Cragen remained dominant in the situation as he yelled "That's an order!" and watched as Detective Amanda Rollins angrily grabbed her coat and left the precinct.

It was around four in the afternoon when Benson got a knock at her door, she opened it to find a slightly angry and upset Amanda. Her shirt was ruffled, one too many buttons were undone and her hair had transformed into a disheveled mess. She walked through the door and over to Olivia's kitchen work surface, placing her hands down on the cold surface she shook her head.

"Manda? Honey it's okay you know." Benson comforted her girlfriend by pulling her round and into a warming hug. "What's the matter?" She asked after placing a kiss onto the younger woman's plump lips.

Amanda looked up with tears in her eyes before admitting her biggest fears to her partner. "I..I just feel like I can't protect you. Of all the people I want to be able to protect you and I and I can't!"

"Hey Amanda," Olivia stroked the younger woman's arm as the blonde turned away and started to pace the length of her kitchen. "AMANDA! Listen to me!" Benson shouted at the younger woman. Rollins stopped dead and looked across at the brunette who stood with such a presence that Rollins herself wanted to sacrifice all she had to keep her safe. Just her aura made her feel so completely and utterly helplessly in love. "You can protectme Manda but not from everything."

Benson reached out and grazed the side of her partners face with the back of her knuckles. "I love you."

ADA Novak sat with her back to the door on the edge of her desk while she read up on a recent case she had just won. Her legs were crossed, her foot dangled in the air and her hair rested gently on her tailored jacket. Suddenly a bang and a groan of her office door caused her to drop her files and turn around. That and the fact that Detective Rollins was shouting favors at her.

"Whoa slow down detective, I may be a good ADA but I can't say gibberish is my first language."

Amanda caught her breath before replying with "I need a warrant to search Tyrese Alavrez's apartment, it's important."

"And why would you need that? Wait…Alvarez, that's the brother of the drug dealer that just got sent down..."

"That Olivia sent down." Amanda interjected. Casey picked up her files from the floor as she turned to face the detective.

"Ahhh Detective Olivia Benson eh? Now I see why you're so insistent on having this warrant." Casey laughed.

"I don't have time for games Novak." Amanda replied harshly as Casey rolled her eyes, remembering back to the time she had caught the two women in the toilets together.

"I'll have it by the end of the day."

"And where have you been?" Cragen asked while he watched Amanda place her coat on the back of her chair.

"Places. Places that helped me get this." Rollins answered holding up an evidence bag full of spray cans. The Captain's eyes widened. "I take it Fin hasn't gotten anything out of him but then again we don't need it now."

"They're the spray cans he used?" Cragen questioned.

"Yep and they've got his fingerprints on him. Now we can send him down for usin' graffiti as a stupid way to threaten my Olivia." Amanda responded in her rich southern accent.

"My Olivia?" The Captain looked oddly at the blonde detective.

"Sorry I meant to say our Olivia." Cragen nodded, paused for a few seconds and then gestured towards his office.

A/N: So I hope you liked it, it's a bit longer than usual but hopefully that's a good thing. What do you think Cragen's gunna say to Rollins? Has he figured out they're having a relationship? Please leave me a review and tell me what you think. PLUS: Next chapter Olivia is going to reveal a secret about the case that Rollins doesn't know! How's she gunna react?