Carisi's voice boomed through the precinct as he stormed into the building. "Where is she? Where is she?" he shouted at everybody he passed, tossing his bag onto his desk and rushing toward Olivia's office where he was met with a flustered Rollins holding her hands up. "Rollins, I swear ta God let me go in there. I'm going to kill whoever did this to her. Let me through!" He tried to shoulder past Amanda but Fin got in the way.

"Carisi, calm down. You're making a fool out of yourself. Liv isn't letting anybody in there right now besides herself and Ken. Just sit down and collect yourself. It won't do her any good if you're freaking out too." Fin's gentle but stoic demeanor stopped Carisi in his tracks and he took a moment to breathe before turning to sit at his desk. Before he got there he turned back around.

"Rollins? Where's Dodds?"

"Not here yet."

"Liv didn't tell him what was going on?"

"Nobody knew until we got here."

"Quinn texted me…" he said, leaning back against the chair and fishing his phone out of his pocket. "Right here, she said she was at the station and that something happened on her way home and that someone called Liv… but I was knocked out in bed… Olivia texted me too. God, if I had been up a little longer maybe I could have come down faster…" He dragged his hand down his face, dropping his phone on his desk and pacing around the station. Rollins shrugged and sat down at her desk, fiddling with folder and files.

"Wonder what happened. Did she say where she was going last night?"

"Some doctor from the ER asked her out to dinner. I didn't hear from her until that text she sent me… What if he did something to her? I'm going to murder him." Carisi looked at the door and Fin stood up, ready to intercept the reacting detective. Instead, Sonny sat down at his desk, phoning Barba. The ADA emerged from a corridor, waving his phone in Sonny's direction.

"I'm already here. Olivia called me when she didn't hear back from you. I was on the phone with her supervisor."

"What did you say? Did Olivia tell you what happened?"

"No, just to make up some story that we needed Quinn for the rest of the week to work on the case. There is no shortage of social workers in that hospital; they can let her go for a bit to recuperate while we figure this out."

Suddenly the door to Olivia's office swung open and Ken emerged, causing the other detectives to get up again and crowd around him. "Olivia is finishing up with her statement. Quinn doesn't want to retell the story again but said you can read it. She's not sure if she wants to press any charges or file a restraining order, but agreed to do a buccal swab to get his DNA just in case. She's considering filing a complaint with HR at the hospital to at the very least get him removed from the emergency room. The DNA test will be some kind of evidence - she said she broke the skin." Ken took a breath before continuing. "She's a little shaken up by the whole ordeal, to say the least."

Carisi made a move for the door and Ken moved aside to let him in. He made eye contact with Olivia, who let Quinn know he had walked in. She looked up, eyes rimmed with red, at him as he strode over, stopping awkwardly at the back window.

"Quinn…" he started.

"It all just happened so fast… you know?" Her voice was hollow and raspy as she stretched her arms out on the table. The beginnings of a bruise were forming around her wrist. "I've seen this process a million times, but I never thought I'd be the one on the patient's side." Carisi squatted down beside her, bringing himself to her eye level as she stared blankly ahead of her. Olivia got up to leave when she saw Mike standing in the station talking to Rollins and Fin.

Ken had explained the bare outline of the situation and something snapped in Mike's brain. He rushed into Olivia's office, reaching out to put his hand on her shoulder. "Quinn? Are you -"

"Don't TOUCH ME!" she shrieked, recoiling as his hand made contact with her shirt. Mike drew his hand back as she rocked back in the chair, wrapping her arms around her knees and drawing them to her chest. "Don't touch me. Don't ever touch me. Just leave me alone."

"Quinn? I just wanted to make sure -"

"Make sure what, Mike? Make sure I was okay? I'd be okay, this wouldn't have happened if you would have just picked me up from work like you used to. But we're 'not together' anymore, right Mike?" She made dramatic air quotes as she snapped at him. "So take your concern and shove it up your -"

"Quinn, Mike, that's enough," Olivia butted in. "There's a lot to process right now. Mike, maybe it would be easier if you just left the room for now." Mike nodded and turned to leave, giving Quinn one last reproachful look. "Carisi," Olivia started.

"I got it, Lieu. I'll leave too."

"Actually, Carisi, I was going to ask if you could stay here with Quinn for a little while until she feels well enough to head home and rest." Carisi perked up and he got up from his squatting position. He walked back around Quinn and held his hand out.

"If you're ready, we can go somewhere out of the way."

"I can walk on my own, you know," she mumbled. He withdrew his hand and smiled.

"I know, CPEP. I know. Just let me know when you're ready to go." She looked back up at him, his endearing smile flashing back at her. Slowly, Quinn got up and crossed her arms and headed towards the door. Before the she left the office, she looked back at Sonny and slowly held her hand out. He grinned and grabbed it, walking with her pressed tightly against his side to one of the unused meeting rooms. She sat down with a thud in one of the chairs and Sonny pulled another one to sit across from her.

"I feel bad for snapping at Mike…"

"I think it was an unconscious reaction to what you've been through. Mike gets that. He works here, after all. Don't worry about him though, CPEP. How are you doing?" Carisi asked, leaning forward and propping his elbows on his knees. He observed her as she stared back at him, chewed on her cuticles, and tried to steady her breathing.

"Would you call me a liar if I said I was fine?"

"Probably," he said, the corner of his mouth turning up into a half-smile. "But I'd also say it's okay if you were. You know yourself better than anyone."

Quinn was startled by his validations. "Somebody went to sensitivity training." She barked out a laugh and covered her mouth, trying to stifle the rest of the laughter. "Laughing feels wrong, but I want to laugh." Carisi chuckled and reached out to grab her by the hand, hovering over it until she stretched out her fingers to let him.

"I may have taken a refresher course recently." They sat quietly for a while until Sonny spoke again. "I'm sorry I wasn't awake when you texted me. I should have been awake so I could come to you when you needed me." Quinn held up her free hand.

"There was no reason for me to expect you to be awake at that hour. I just wanted to let you know so you weren't surprised when you showed up."

Carisi kept holding her hand while they sat in the room, occasionally running his thumb over her knuckles as she sniffed back tears. "Not really how I envisioned 'doing something' with you today, but I'll take it," he said, causing her to giggle again.

"You know, we can still go do something later once you're allowed to clock out, right? I can stop wallowing for an evening if you wanted to have some fun." Carisi felt something jump in his chest - maybe his heart, or one of his lungs - and tried not to let his face betray just how excited he was to hear her say that. "But only if you promise to take me home afterwards… I don't think I'm ready to go on my own yet."

"You'll have your very own NYPD escort every day until the end of time if that's what you need, CPEP."

The two of them sat in the room, Carisi occasionally popping out to do some paperwork or assist on a case, while Quinn got up every so often to stretch her legs and wander around the station. At around 4:30pm, Olivia poked her head out of her office and let Carisi know he was free to leave early if he was so inclined. Jumping up at the chance, he packed his bag and left the precinct with Quinn at his side. Amanda rolled back in her chair Dodds' desk, where he was talking with Olivia about Quinn's case.

"Is it out of line to say I hope they finally address the elephant in the room tonight." She looked directly at Mike when she asked her question.

"Look, leave me out of this. All I want is for her to be okay. We made up after the wedding and I know she was just reacting from trauma. I fucked up by rushing her like that. Whatever's going on with her and Carisi is their business." Mike shrugged off Amanda's stare and looked back at his notes.

"You got it Sarge. But you've gotta admit - they're pretty cute together."

"I guess. I just hope he knows what he's getting into."

Amanda narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Maybe I'm just not cut out for someone like her. Maybe he'll do a better job. But the smallest emotion is amplified, like, to the max with her. When she's angry she's explosive, when she's sad it's impossible to get her out of bed in the morning. Not all the time, but a solid majority. It's like PMS to the millionth power." He put the papers down on his desk. "And I know she's got a disorder or whatever. It wasn't working out for me and maybe I'm the asshole for not working through my issues, but I just hope she's happy with whatever she chooses to do."

Olivia clapped him on the shoulder. "That's big of you, Dodds. Maybe we can return to some workplace homeostasis now that you two seem to have resolved your troubles."

Quinn led Carisi towards her house, stopping off at a bar not too far away. Settling for a seat at the bar, Quinn waved down the bartender and ordered a beer. Sonny asked for a Whatever She's Having and turned on the barstool to look at Quinn. She was drumming her fingers on the countertop, watching the bartender fill the two pint glasses with frothy brown liquid from the tap. She took her glass and lifted it towards Sonny.

"Cheers, Fordham."

"Cheers."

They clinked the glasses and took a swig - Quinn's much longer than Sonny's. He raised an eyebrow as she put down a half full glass, wiping her mouth on the back of her hand. "Take it easy there, CPEP. There's no rush." She looked him in the eye, downing the rest of her beer before putting the glass back on the coaster and sliding it towards the bartender. Leaning towards Sonny, she hissed in his ear: "I don't want to feel anything anymore."

He swallowed hard as she sat back up straight, the cloudy look from her face suddenly disappearing as the bartender refilled her glass. As she took a smaller sip from this glass, she studied Carisi's face over the rim. He was staring off into space as she watched him, fiddling with his watch and rubbing his chin. Quinn put her glass down, kicking her foot against the barstool. "I shouldn't have gone out with him at all," she suddenly said.

"CPEP, you can't blame yourself for this. You know a lot better than to victim blame, even if it's yourself."

"Doesn't mean there's not something digging at the back of my mind asking what I could have done differently." She clenched the glass so tightly her knuckles were turning white. She took a deep sip and continued. "I could have said no. I could have called a cab to take me home without him. I could have called somebody in general to pick me up. Anything that could have stopped him from cornering me."

"If he didn't get you tonight, what was going to stop him from trying to lure you out again next time?"

"I wouldn't have gone next time."

"Okay, that's fair, but it's not your fault the guy's a sleazeball."

They went back and forth between validating her feelings and rational discussion until Carisi looked down and realized they had six empty pints and four shot glasses sitting on the bar between them. He struggled to keep Quinn in focus as he blinked a few times to clear the fog. She had asked for some water and Carisi inhaled it as if he hadn't drank for days.

"So, you promised you'd take me home," she said, sliding off the barstool and taking her credit card back from the bartender. Carisi nodded, tucking her back against his side as they left the bar. Whether it was to hold her up, or himself, Carisi didn't know, but he stopped on the corner to check his watch. The hands read 10:30 and he was amazed they had managed to sit there for upwards of four hours arguing about the mindset of some douchebag.

"You hungry, CPEP? I'm starving." He caught sight of a late-night pizza stop, and without waiting for he response, he pulled her across the street with him. "You got the drinks, let me at least buy you some food."

"I'm not hungry, Fordham."

"You will be. You'll feel better in the morning if you eat."

She sighed and let him buy her exactly one slice of pizza while he left with three slices in a box. Quinn managed to coax him into relinquishing one of those slices as they were almost on her block, which she devoured in the time it took for them to get to her door. Carisi tossed the box out in the trans can outside her door and stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"You gonna be okay getting upstairs, CPEP?"

Quinn, surprised, left her keys stuck in the keyhole as she turned to look at him. "Could you… Could you maybe walk me up?" Sonny felt his heart start hammering in his chest as he nodded, stepping closer to her. She turned the key and pushed the door open, heading for the second lobby door and finally up the stairs to her apartment, making sure Sonny was following close behind. As they reached her apartment door, she struggled to put the key in the lock. When she finally aimed right, the lock turned with a scratch that echoed in the staircase. Stuffing her keys in her purse, she turned to look at Sonny, leaning back against the doorframe.

"So this is your place, huh?" he asked quietly, rocking back on his heels as she looked up at him.

"Yep."

"You gonna be alright?"

"Yep."

"Guess I'll be off then. You've got my number if you need anything. Goodnight, CPEP."

He gave her a quick hug, lingering slightly before he pulled away and turned to go down the stairs. Quinn watched him as he descended. Oh my god, what am I doing…

"Fordham!" she called after him. He turned around, looking up at her from the lower landing.

"Yeah, CPEP?"

"Could you… stay over tonight?"

Carisi didn't need another moment to think or be asked again. He leaped up the stairs two at a time until he reached Quinn's door, following her inside and turning the lock on the door. He slid the chain on for good measure, earning a soft smile from her as she turned to see what he was doing. "I'm sorry, Fordham. I'm just feeling so paranoid that I don't want to be home alone tonight." Quinn turned on a table lamp as they walked into the living room.

"You don't have to explain yourself to me, CPEP. I got it. I'll crash on the couch and protect you from anything that goes bump in the night, or my name ain't Detective Dominick Carisi Jr."

"I thought your name was Sonny?"

"What? No. That's just a nickname! You didn't think that was my - ah… That was another joke, wasn't it, CPEP? I got it. Very funny." She smirked and went into her room to change into her pajamas.

"I don't particularly have anything for you to change into, sorry," she said as he pulled off his tie and started unbuttoning his work shirt.

"'S alright. I've got a shirt on under. I'll figure it out."

"Let me get you a blanket or something."

Carisi unclipped his gun from his belt and placed it on the coffee table by the couch. His tie ended up on a nearby armchair and Quinn came back with a blanket and a coat hanger for the rest of his clothes. Carisi started unbuckling his belt and Quinn flushed red, turning away and hanging the hanger on the back of the bathroom door. "I'm just taking my belt off. I can keep the pants on if you're more comfortable that way." She squeaked and shook her head, turning around to give Carisi a hug.

"Sorry. I don't know why I'm like this. It'll be better to sleep with them off. I'm going to go to bed. Thank you for this Fordham. I really appreciated it." She was speaking quickly, stumbling over her words and trying to get out of there as fast as possible. She was sure he could probably hear her heart pounding out SOS in Morse Code. He kissed the top of her head and rubbed her arms, holding her out in front of him.

"It's alright, CPEP. Go to bed. I'll see you in the morning."

She turned quickly and disappeared into her bedroom, leaving the door slightly cracked before collapsing in her bed. Sonny took his pants off and hung them over the armchair, turning the table lamp off before settling into the couch and covering himself with the blanket she gave him.

He wasn't sure when he fell asleep or how long it had been, but Carisi woke with a start when he heard a crash. Grabbing his gun off the table, he leapt out of bed, pointing the weapon in the general direction of the noise.

"Jesus Christ, don't shoot, I'm sorry!" He heard Quinn's voice and struggled to adjust to the light coming from the fridge. A jar of pickles lay on the tile floor, broken and oozing. He rubbed his eyes, placing the gun back down on the table before walking over to help Quinn clean up the mess. "I'm so sorry, Fordham. I just woke up and wanted a pickle. I didn't mean to wake you up, I'm such an asshole," she lamented as she picked up the pickle spears and he mopped up the brine with a paper towel.

"It's okay, CPEP. I just got startled. Thought someone broke in."

"Yeah, you were ready to kill someone…"

"I'm sorry if I scared you."

"You did, but it's fine. Makes me feel safe that Detective Fordham Law is protecting me." He smiled weakly at her and tossed the wet paper towels in the trash before vigorously scrubbing his hands in the sink. "Hey, can we sit for a while or do you wanna go to bed? I know you probably have work tomorrow."

Carisi paused. He had texted Olivia some time before asking if he could use one of his built up vacation days and she responded immediately with a positive answer. "I'll sit with you as long as you want, CPEP." They sat down on the couch and Quinn turned on the tv, using a separate remote to click through to Netflix. Turning on whatever show she was watching last, Quinn snuggled up under Carisi's arm, pressing her body against his. His hand found her shoulder and he dragged his fingers up and down slowly as she leaned her head against his chest.

As she kept adjusting her position to maximize contact with him, he dropped his arm around her waist and held her tightly, turning himself so she could curl into the curve of his body. "You comfy?" She nodded into his shirt, eyes trained on the TV. His hand was right at the hem of her shirt, right where there was a tiny sliver of exposed skin between shirt and shorts, and his occasional finger twitch against her skin sent shivers up her spine.

"Thanks for doing all of this for me," she choked out, trying to hold back the moan daring to escape as he kept running his fingers over the small of her back.

"Not a problem."

She moved her hand to his stomach, feeling the tight muscle beneath his tee shirt. She rationalized it as not being able to think clearly, though the effects of the alcohol had worn off while she slept, and ran her hand from his abdomen to his chest and back, catching on the hem of his shirt where a small patch of hair was poking out above the waistband of his boxers. She felt him stiffen and try to sit up while he gently placed his hand over hers, bringing an end to her attempt to torment him just as he was her.

"Hey…" He started to speak but was cut off by Quinn reaching up to kiss him. She prayed to whatever god would listen to her that he wouldn't throw her off as she pushed herself up higher to wrap her arms around his neck. At first he was so shocked he couldn't move, but after a moment he leaned into her, gripping her tightly as he pulled her even closer than they were before. A quiet groan escaped his lips and Quinn's stomach did a somersault as she ran her fingers through his hair.

But as soon as it started, it was done. Carisi pulled away and shook his head, hugging her to his chest. "I'm so sorry," he gasped, trying to steady his breathing. "I can't do this."

"What… what do you mean?" She was taken aback, trapped against his chest. "You don't want this?"

"Oh, no, CPEP, no. I do. I want this so badly but I can't. Not like this." She pried herself from his grip and looked up at him. "Let's get some sleep, okay?"

Defeated, Quinn got up off the couch and adjusted her pajamas, turned off the TV and headed back to her room. As she stood at the door, she turned back to him. "Can you at least be in here with me then? So you don't accidentally try to shoot me again?" Carisi jumped off the couch, following her into the bedroom. She didn't know what she was expecting after this, but she crawled into bed and got under the covers, holding them out for Carisi to get in. She rolled onto her side away from him, surprised when she felt Carisi's arm snake around her waist and his chest against her back.

"Fordham?" she asked in the darkness.

"Hmm."

"What did you mean 'not like this'?"

He sighed deeply, pushing his chest into her. "You said the first time you brought Dodds up here, you were both plastered and ended up sleeping together." She held her breath as he brought up the sergeant. Time and place… time and place she thought. "I don't want us to end up like you and him. I wanna do this right." He mumbled sleepily in her ear and she let out the breath she was holding, settling herself against him. He had a point. Slightly misguided in her humble opinion, but still a point. He pressed his lips behind her ear and pulled back, dropping his head back down on the pillow.

"Goodnight Fordham."

"Night CPEP."