Hello lovelies, here is the next installment of No Regrets. I'm really liking experimenting with sex scenes, though they do feel a bit awkward to write. Haha. Let me know what you think of the chapter? Enjoy, N

Arguments & Terrorists

Annabelle laughed as she watched Olivia spin Noah around, as if he was a plane, until the little boy became bored and Olivia finished her coffee and walked towards the bench she had been sitting on. Giving the younger woman an apologetic look when her phone rang. "Benson…Hey, Carisi. What's up?" Annabelle helped put the previously freed items back into Noah's bag as the lieutenant continued with her conversation, "you know what, I'll take care of it. I'm actually in the park right now…with Noah." Wordlessly handing the mom her bag, which she was quick to shoulder, "Uh, playground at 84th street, Officer Nolan? Got it. Alright," she looked up from the phone call to where the boy had found his way to the slide once more, "come on, sweetie." Annabelle gave a smile to her husband's co-worker and walked along side her, as they made their way to the other side of the park, where she instantly began playing in the sandbox with Noah, while Olivia met up with the officer, keeping an eye on the other boy in the sandbox, as he played by himself. Less than five minutes later, Olivia was walking over, taking Noah's hand, "Hey, there. I'm Olivia. This is Noah. Where's your mommy? Did she come to the park with you? Or maybe your daddy? Or your grandma? Or your nanny?"

The little boy replied in a foreign language, before shouting "boom," while destroyed the castle he had began making.

"Boom," Olivia laughed along, before crouching down to the child's level, "Is your mama or dada around here? Somewhere in the park?" Silence was her only reply as the boy looked at her, Noah starting to curl closer to him momma, "You know what, come with me," she reached a hand out, "and we'll find your mama and dada, okay? Come here." He started backing away, getting closer to his red backpack, closer to where Annabelle was still sitting on her knees. "It's okay." He reached into his backpack, pulling out a handgun and pointing it towards the lieutenant, "Oh god," she muttered as she situated Noah to be behind her body. "Noah, get down, honey." Annabelle froze, watching, as the other people started moving further away, their voices filling the air. "Sweetie let's put that down, okay?"

The little boy kept moving the gun away, Annabelle slowing stood up as a uniformed officer came up, gun out, "Lieutenant?"

Olivia waved him off, standing up herself, "It's okay, Officer Nolan, I've got this." She revealed her badge to the crowd, watching and in some cases taking photos on their phones, "Okay, everyone, I'm gonna ask you to step back," she raised her badge higher so that they could see it, before addressing the boy again, "It's okay, look. Look," she dropped her badge, allowing him to see her hands were empty, "I'm not going to hurt ya. Can you put that down, honey? Just put that down."

Annabelle had slowly made her way to Officer Nolan, shifting closer to her friend, eyes not leaving the gun as she lower herself closer to the ground as she whispered, "Noah. Noah," once his attention was on her, she took a couple of small steps forward, alternating looking between the two little boys, "come here. Quickly." She caught Liv's eyes shifting to her slightly, before focusing back on the problem at hand. Noah took a few small, quick steps, before the redhead swept him up into her arms, backing away from the scene, keeping his head covered just in case, as Olivia continued reassuring the boy that she wouldn't hurt him, before pouncing and removing the gun from his grasp. She was soon reunited with Noah, who she quickly began to comfort, her eyes finding Annabelle's green ones in silent gratitude.

-xXx-

Once Annabelle made it to her new home, she changed out of her shorts and t-shirt, opting for a pair of soft pink pajama bottoms and a loose grey tank top, before pulling out the stuff to make grilled cheese sandwiches, giving the toddler a late lunch, as he occupied himself with watching Paw Patrol. About two hours later, they two were playing tag in the playroom on the sixth floor, when Rafael found them. "Having fun?"

She stopped, face flushed from their laughter, "Always."

"Wanna play, Rafi?"

Annabelle looked at her husband, smile playing on her pale lips, challenge in her eyes. He smiled at the adopted boy, before slipping his suit jacket from her shoulders, "I can't think of anything else I'd rather do, Noah."

When Olivia came around to pick her son up, an hour later, he was passed out on the living room couch, body covered by a colorful fleece blanket, Annabelle's arms wrapped around him as she snoozed.

-xXx-

Thursday morning brought Annabelle sitting in a booth inside the Parthenon Diner in Queens, dressed in a pair of dark blue straight legged jeans, a white scoop neck tank top, a black short sleeved blazer, and black heels, as she met with two officers in case of a domestic abuse case in the Queens district. After ordering her desired meal of homemade French toast with a side of fresh fruit, she gave a few longing looks towards the two coffees that sit half empty across the table from her, before giving a small sigh and picking up her apple juice, sipping from the straw.

"I heard you drank more coffee that most cops?"

She gave a tiny smile towards Officer Lee, picking at her discarded straw wrapper, "I'm trying to cut back. Doctor's orders. It's a lot more difficult than I thought it would be." The female officer gave a short laugh, before moving back slightly as their orders were being brought towards the table, which led them to becoming silent again as they took a few minutes to just eat their breakfasts. "What've you got for me?"

"They told me you were no non-sense," the male officer drew the manila folder from its former place out of the redhead's sight, which she opened almost immediately after she took another bite of her crispy breakfast, almost moaning in delight as the syrupy goodness hit her taste buds. Her eyes didn't leave the documents as he continued to explain what they knew, "She came into work with a black eye about a week ago, and her boss called us when he noticed that she had limited mobility in her right arm," her eyes focused in on the x-rays showcasing a badly fractured forearm, nodding along as she kept going, "she originally denied it, but disclosed two days later after she had a bad spill down the front steps of her house."

"He said, she said?" Officer Lee gave a sound of confirmation, as she chewed a mouthful of fried egg. "I'm guessing you want any viable proof I can give you? Including if I can somehow get evidence of the abuse occurring." Spearing a dark, round grape with her fork, she stared at it momentarily, "when do you need it?" Popping the fruit into her mouth, she waited for an answer.

"Within a week. She's afraid it'll escalade when we question him, so we want everything we can get our hands on before we make an official arrest."

Slipping the folder into her oversized purse, she took her last couple bites of French toast, "I'll get to work on this as soon as I get into the office." Puling out her work card, she handed it to the waitress the moment she dropped the check off at the table, smiling at the two officers, "It's on the boss. Business meeting and such."

-xXx-

Annabelle jumped when the light background music she was playing ended abruptly as her phone began to ring in a blaring tone. "Barba."

"Hey, Anna. Are you busy today?"

"I'm at work, but nothing too important that I can't take a break. What's up?"

"Lucy had to go to class, and I now have Noah, but if you're busy, I can just call someone else."

"Not at all. I can work from home. When and where do you want me to get him?"

"Whenever you can would be wonderful. He's in my office right now, and I'm not sure when I'll have to run out of here."

She began closing down the windows she had opened, saving whatever data she was working on, "Okay. I'm on my way. I'm taking you still haven't found anything out about gun boy?"

Olivia sighed across the line, "unfortunately, we've found so much more than we expected. That's why I need to make sure Noah is taken care of."

"Leaving right now. I'll see you in twenty," she flipped the light off in her office, as she hung up the phone, before walking towards David's office, where the blue jean clad man was lounging with his feet on his desk, tossing a small rubber ball into the air. "Hey, David. I just wanted to let you know I'm gonna work from home for the rest of the day."

His feet get the ground with a small sound, "everything okay?"

"Yeah. I'm just not feeling too great, and I've gotta run by the SVU precinct, so I figured it'd be easier if I just worked from home."

"Okay," he ran one of his hands up and down her arm, "Call me if you need anything, alright?" She nodded and turned to leave after giving him a small smile. "Feel better, Annabelle."

The redhead typed a quick email out to her team while she rode the elevator down to the lobby, letting them know that they should call her if they had any breakthroughs, before slipping the band from around her wrist and tossing her hair into a messy bun on the top of her head, as she stepped out into the windy day, quickly hailing a taxi.

She unbuttoned her blazer the moment she closed the door to the yellow car, making her way into the familiar precinct, smiling at the officer stationed at the front desk when she passed. Her feet felt swollen from her heels, but she couldn't ignore the fact that Chief Dodds was standing in the middle of the room, surrounded by a couple of officers that looked like rookies, extremely annoyed if his facial expression was anything to go by. "William," he looked up as she came closer, they pair sharing a brief embrace, "how are you doing?" Her question was quiet, knowing that he probably didn't want anyone to really know if he was still grieving or not.

"I've been better," his hands braced her shoulders, "What are you doing here?"

She smiled, glancing towards Olivia's office, seeing only the little boy on his tablet, "Noah pick up."

"Ah, yes. Lieutenant Benson went out with the remaining members of her team to check on a lead. I'd love to chat, but I've got a meeting with the board, but make yourself comfortable in her office." She nodded, giving him another smile before she gave a gentle squeeze to his hand, and making her way to the toddler.

"Hello, darling."

"Anna!" She grinned, accepting the little boy as he flew into her arms, tablet lay forgotten on the couch. "I missed you," his words were slightly muffled due to his face being against her neck.

"I miss you, too, angel." She released him, allowing the child to move back to his previous seat, "What are we doing?"

"Paw Parol."

"Oh, really?" She settled herself next to him on the cushion, "I love Paw Patrol!"

"I know," he answered, matter of factly, before pressing play and allowing the show to continue where it had left off.

-xXx-

"Mass casualty event." She froze momentarily, as she heard those words echo from the full squad room, before standing up and opening the door wide enough for her to exit, her body blending in with those of the other forces on hand for the search.

"NYPD will coordinate with JTTF, state police, and of course, the FBI. We're all in on this. Round the clock shifts, until this crisis is resolved." When Olivia finished speaking, Annabelle investigated the other room, to check on Noah, before walking towards the woman and William Dodds, who were having a private conversation.

She held back, as the squad approached before being sent away, allowing her to move forward again, "Hey."

"Anna. Thank you so much for taking him for a bit."

"That's what I was coming to talk to you about. I know that you're going to be busy until this is handled, so if you want, he can stay with us? I can work from home, and he'll be good to go."

"I can't ask that of you."

"I'm offering."

"Thank you," she motioned for the officer who called her name to wait a minute before leading the redhead back to the almost vacant office, where she told her son goodbye and that she'd call him before bedtime.

-xXx-

"Barba."

"You sound way too much like your husband."

"Shut up, Sonny. What do ya want?"

"I need you to unlock a phone. It's got a cracked screen, and no one can get into it."

"Sure, gimme the number." She kept him on speaker, grabbing her laptop from its bag, and taking it into the den, where she set it upon the glass table top, typing the moment he rattled off the number. It took less that two minutes for her desired results to appear, "the phone belongs to Armin Sidran, who also," she trailed off as she typed in a few more words, "Pays rent to two places in New York, one of which is rented to Luka Terzik. Terzik apparently, has no money and very little history, although he is an American citizen. I have no educational history or job background. Nothing."

"Okay, keep digging, if you can."

"Will do. Be careful." The phone clicked off, leaving her in silence once more. Checking on Noah once more, she went up to the third floor of their house, changing out of her work clothing and into another set of pajamas, knowing that she wouldn't be leaving again until tomorrow, before going back to her computer, this time in one of the over sized chairs inside the living room. "Oh crap." She dialed Sonny's number back as quickly as she could, standing up and walking towards the den.

He answered after four rings, "It's been forty-five minutes. What've you got?"

"I think he's a terrorist. But, I can't find him. Like, he's hidden. He's hidden really well."

"Okay. We assumed that when we found the stash of weapons inside his apartment. I need something that'll help us stop him."

She bit her lip, questioning herself, "Alright. I'm going to call Rafael and see if he can get a warrant. I can't hack this…even with my work access. I'm at a dead end." She sighed, "I'll call you back in a few minutes." She hung up before he replied. Dialing her husband's number, she didn't even wait for him to say hello before she started off, "I need you to get a warrant."

"Why?"

"Because whoever this Luka guy is smarter than me. I can't find him, and I can't hack into his phone. It's locked good enough that I can't break it."

"How exactly do you think I'm going to convince a judge to give an order for a phone hack? There are cases where there are actual victims where judges hesitate to provide warrants."

"This isn't a case where there is a victim. This is something that can be prevented, if, and only if, we can find this asshole." She ran a frustrated hand through her hair, fingers tangling in the strands, "This guy didn't back up anything, okay? His cloud is completely empty."

"I thought everything automatically went into the cloud?"

"Yeah, unless you make it, so they don't." Giving a sigh, she looked over at a still sleeping Noah, "Nothing has ever blocked me like this. I feel like this guy is really bad news."

"Okay, cariño, I'll get it done."

"Thank you. Te quiero."

"I love you, too."

-xXx-

It took three hours, and an overly energetic Noah being sent to the playroom before she smirked in satisfaction, as the cameras gave her what she wanted.

She was quick to dial Carisi's number, who sounded as if he was back at the precinct when he answered, "Carisi."

"Hey, I got him."

"What?"

"I hacked the traffic cams around the city, and put in filters for Luka and or Ana, based on the two photographs you get me. They entered into Central Park from West 72nd street about twenty minutes ago. Both of them are carrying shoulder bags, she's keeping her head down, like she's trying to avoid the cameras."

"Are you sure?"

"97.6 percent."

"Thanks, Belle." He hung up the phone, but not before she heard him calling out the lieutenant's name.

Shots were fired in Central Park today, around 4:30 this afternoon. Shots fired in Central Park. One has been declared deceased upon arrival at a New York hospital. Four others were wounded during the shooting, two are currently in critical condition.

"Oh my gosh," Annabelle's eyes widened as she listened to the reporter discuss the attack, along with blurry phone videos to back up what occurred in the aftermath of the shooting.

Raf: You hungry?

Annabelle Stevens: What did you have in mind?

Raf: You, me, my office.

Annabelle Stevens: I have a three-year-old.

Raf: For lunch. We just indicted the female on murder and terrorism. I have a feeling I'm going to be too busy to sleep soon.

Annabelle Stevens: I'll see you in thirty.

Taking the elevator up, she quickly through on a pair of skinny jeans and a light blue button up shirt, along with her white converse. After tossing a grey knit beanie atop her curls, she found Noah still happily playing three floors up, so thankful that she had installed cameras on the main floors of the house, knowing that she wouldn't have be able to let him play on his own otherwise. "Hey, sweetheart. Wanna go have lunch with Raf?"

"Yeah!" Taking note of how his jeans and t-shirt still being clean, she grabbed his little green hoodie from his bag, zipping it up part of the way, as it was still a pretty windy day. Less than twenty minutes later, the pair was meeting Rafael outside of One Hogan Place, "Rafi!" The dark-haired boy released his grip on the woman's hand, and ran towards the ADA, who easily picked him up under the arms and settled him on his suit clad hip.

"Mr. Barba! Can you tell us if the defendant is part of an organized terrorist group?" Annabelle placed a comforting hand on the toddler's back as he burrowed his head deeper into Rafael's neck, as the reporters surrounded the trio.

Instead of stopping like usual, the ADA spoke as he walked, refusing to give into their pleas today, "The investigation is ongoing. The NYPD, the FBI, and JTTF are working together to collect all pertinent information. Look," he turned to face the vultures, handing Noah off to his wife, as the small Benson reached for her, "right now all we know is that a decorated New York City Police Officer with three children was killed, and four other citizens were shot and critically wounded. Regardless of the defendant's motivation or affiliations, what this woman did is called murder in the state of New York. Thank you." He turned, leaving the group behind as he placed a gentle hand on his wife's lower back, helping to guild her towards their destination. "Want to text Liv and see if she wants to join us?"

"My phone is in my bag." He nodded pulling his out from his pocket, her eyes catching on of the most recent texts, "You still have me in your phone as Stevens?"

"What?" He looked at her, before looking back down at the screen, "Oh, I guess I do." She merely raised an eyebrow, giving him a small smirk, "I should probably change that."

Olivia showed up not too long after they ordered their food, prompting a loud mama from Noah and a huge smile making an appearance on Olivia's face at the sight of her adopted son. "I ordered you a BLT and fries. I hope that's okay?"

"Sounds perfect. I wish I could stay longer." Annabelle watched as the mother and child sat close together, obviously having missed each other over the past two days. When their meals arrived, Noah was quick to reach his paws towards the macaroni and cheese, only to be intercepted by his mother with a spoon, who expertly stuck a fry into her mouth at the same time. The redhead could only wrinkle her nose in disgust as she watched a bit of blood leak out when her husband cut into his steak, turning her head to instead stare at her sweet corn and truffle ravioli. She forced herself to hold back a moan of delight when she bit into the first wonderfully delicious square, the pecorino cheese coating her tongue.

-xXx-

October 17th brought sunny skies and an ADA who had drank three cups of coffee before he had even left the new townhouse. A couple hours later, Annabelle appeared in the same office wearing a pair of black tights underneath a flowing, thigh high dark grey skirt, a dark purple, silky button up shirt, and a pair of shiny black heels from the same designer that created the purse she was carrying. A pair of simple black hoops decorated her ears "Coffee?"

"No, thanks." She watched as he polished off another cup, "how many have you had?"

"I lost count an hour ago."

"Rafael. Enough with the coffee. You've got this. Stop worrying, babe."

"I'm not worried."

She raised a single eyebrow, "you stayed up half the night reviewing your notes," she gave him a smile, caressing the part of his forearm revealed by his currently rolled up sleeves, "you only do that when you're nervous about a case. Do I need to distract you?"

"I'd like nothing more than for you to do that, but, I have to be in court in fifteen minutes." He ran a tanned hand over her knee and slightly up her skirt to grasp her thigh, "I'd rather take my time with you, tonight." She shuddered as his finger skimmed her underwear, frowning when he pulled away, "Let's get this over with."

She groaned in frustration, "I hate you. So much."

He brought her in for a kiss, "I love you, too. Now, come be my good luck charm."

She settled onto one of the dark wooden benches in the gallery of the courtroom as the trial officially began, "People versus Ana Kapic. One count murder in the first degree, four counts attempted murder. How does the defendant plead?"

"Not guilty, Your Honor," the only other redhead in the room spoke.

"Mr. Barba, bail?"

"Given the gravity of the charges and her possible connections to organized terrorists' groups, we request remand." She pinched herself in the arm, feeling a blush draw onto her cheeks as she realized how turned on she was, just by hearing him speak. "She's a Bosnian national here on a student visa. She has no significant ties to the community and represents a major flight risk."

"Ms. Calhoun?"

"Despite Mr. Barba's impassioned, patriotic, and xenophobic speech…"

"Get to it." Annabelle smirked at the judge's words.

"We believe the defendant should be released on her own recognizance."

"For free?" Calhoun's silence created a gallery full of murmurs. "May I ask why you believe that would be appropriate?"

"Because Ana Kapic is a victim. She was raped and tortured hours before the homicide by her fiancée and his brother. She may have been present at the crime scene, but she was not there under her own free will. If she didn't cooperate, she herself would have been murdered."

During Rita's speech, Rafael shared looks with both her and Olivia, before the younger woman leaned in to the lieutenant, "what the hell does that mean?" Olivia merely shrugged.

-xXx-

Annabelle sat on one of white barstools, a country song gracing her ears, as she alternated between typing away at her laptop and jotting notes down in the spiral notebook that sat atop the white and grey marble of kitchen island. Standing up, she stretched, popping her back, before tugging on the yellow tank top to prevent it from riding up anymore than it had during her small stretch. Walking to the blacktopped stove, she did a quick stir to the bowtie pasta, before lifting it to drain and mixing in the Cajun spices and diced up chicken. "Siri set time for ten minutes." Grabbing a bottle of water from the refrigerator, she plopped her black and yellow Batman clad backside into its previous seat.

"Do you really not have pants on?"

She looked towards the front hallway at the voice, giving her husband a smile as he sat his briefcase down on the light wooden floor. "You look incredibly handsome today," and he did in his tan suit. He had paired it with a white, blue, and tan pin striped shirt and a dark blue tie, allowing her eyes to roam over his cloth covered chest, she knew that his suspenders most likely matched as well. He didn't respond, instead choosing to make his way to the closest cabinet. "Tough day?" He merely shot her a look, his lips pressed together thinly as his whiskey filled tumbler rose towards his mouth. "Okay, then." Silencing her alarm, she approached the stove, her bare hip grazing his, as she reached to drop the cut-up broccoli into the creamy white pasta. "It'll be ready in about five minutes," she stirred the Cajun alfredo once more before replacing the lid and allowing it to simmer, going back to the island and setting the timer manually.

"Why didn't you already have it ready?" She turned her head, not changing her body's position, bent over the island, to look at him in slight confusion. "Dinner. Why didn't you have it ready?"

Sliding her notebook to lay in front of her, she scribbled a few words down for her current case, not looking up, "Maybe because it's 6 o'clock. You haven't been getting home til 8. Or even 9. This case is dragging you through the ground."

"You know nothing about this case."

The anger in his word made her pause, before she turned to face him, "I know nothing? I knew about it before you did, Rafael. They called me first, remember?"

"A lot of good that did," he scoffed.

"Excuse me?" He opened his mouth to reply, but she continued, eyes blazing, "I help when I'm asked. Maybe if you would have worked harder against the phone company, the case would already be over." Biting her lip in frustration, she jammed her finger against the glass of her phone when the beeps started, "Your dinner's ready. Enjoy."

As she began stalking from the room, his eyes narrowed, "Where are you going, Annabelle?"

"Away from you." Slamming his now only ice filled glass onto the counter top, he turned, reaching out for her. "Let me go." His tan hand encircled her wrist in a semi loose grip, glaring into his hazel green eyes, "Rafael Barba," her next words were cut off as his lips descended onto hers in a harsh kiss. She knew she shouldn't give in so easily, but couldn't resist wrapping her arms about him, her fingers grazing the little dark brown hairs at the back of his neck.

His left hand snaked his way into her boy shorts, fingers quickly finding her clit and rubbing it fast and hard. Shudders ran up her spine, and she couldn't stop her body from arching into his hand. "Tell me to stop." She knew it was a request that she couldn't agree to, her lips biting down on the exposed skin of his neck. Letting out a deep chuckle, his finger slipped down before plunging into her soaked entrance.

"Fuck!" As his lips found a weak spot on her shoulder, her legs gave out, only his bruising grip keeping her upright. A load moan escaped her pale lips as the coil in her stomach burst and she ground down against his hand the best she could, causing Rafael to moan against her skin. Yanking his fingers out, he shoved her underwear down to the wooden floor. The sound of his belt being unbuckled met her ears as they unconsciously moved closer to the island, only stopping when her back hit the marble, so hard that she cringed, before dropping to her knees in front of her husband of five months. Her hand pulled at his tight underwear, allowing his cock to be revealed, slightly bobbing in her face, pre-cum already dripping from the little slit at the top. Licking her lips, she swirled her tongue over the tip, as her hand moved.

Gaining confidence in the thrusts that Rafael was trying to stop from occurring, she sunk down deeper on his large member, going until he hit the back of her throat, causing her to gag slightly, his moan pairing with his hand tangling into the strands at the top of her head. Her heart was pounding as his heavy pants reaching her ears, even over the music still playing in the background. With a load moan, he pulled on her hair, "Stop," she pulled away, looking between the hardened member and his face in slight confusion, "I want to be inside you when I come." She rose from her knees, gasping when he roughly turned her around and pressing on her back. She moaned as her hardened nipples met the cold island top, through her thin top combined with his cock pressing lightly on her slick folds. "Mierda. Condom."

She reached behind her, grasping his hand, "We're good. Please," she was breathless, pleading with her body. A loud whimper escaped her swollen lips when he thrust in deeply and began hammering into her body so powerfully that her nipples were aching from the friction created on the marble. "Oh, Raf. Fuck."

"You're so wet, I'd probably drown if I ate you out right now." The mental image of him planting her on top of the island and using his talented tongue, had her moaning even louder than before. "You'd like that, huh? My tongue licking your clit and fingering you until you can't come anymore." His voice wavered, as if he was just as close to coming as she was. His breath catching as he pounded into her tightness relentlessly.

"Oh, God." She did her best to move with him, feeling her walls tightening up, but he wouldn't allow her much freedom, his fingers holding her hips demandingly as he pounded into her. She snapped, coming so hard and fast that she felt as if she couldn't breathe as her senses went into overdrive. Rafael moaned, his stubble burning her skin as his teeth buried into her shoulder as his come flooded into her core. Their bodies stilled and went silent, the only sound coming from Annabelle's laptop as Jason Aldean crooned a love song.

She shuddered, whimpering at the feeling, when he slowly pulled his softening member from her body, their mixed fluids slowly leaking out. "I love you."

She laughed, breathlessly, "I love you, too, Rafael." She cringed when she felt the slickness on her thighs as she accepted her underwear from its place dangling from his fingertips. "I'm going to get cleaned up."

The Cuban smirked, eyes slowly locking onto her thighs, "I'll get our plates ready. Wine?"

She shook her head slightly, "I've got my water still." She leaned into his chest as his hand reached out to caress her backside before he moved away to grab their plates, his pants already back in their proper place.

-xXx-

"Olivia? Hey, you know that information you wanted me to find you?" She took a drink of her Pepsi as the lieutenant replied in her ear, "Yeah, well I found something. It isn't much, but I'd rather not send it through anything that could corrupt it." Sitting the laptop gently on Rafael's side of the bed, she left the warmth of her comforter, "Yeah, I'm home all day." After hanging up with the officer, she threw on a pair of soft grey, knit shorts and a light pink shirt, before grabbing her laptop, afraid of her evidence disappearing if she even closed the lid.

Once she exited the elevator, she sat the laptop on the counter, blushing as she thought of what occurred on it two days previously, before grabbing three containers from the refrigerator. Once she had made half a dozen waffles, she sliced up the strawberries and kiwis before covering her waffles with the two fruits, as well as the blackberries and adding powered sugar to the concoction. Grabbing the store-bought syrup, she drizzled in over the plate before parking herself at the counter to eat her brunch. She was finishing up, just as the doorbell rang, announcing the presence of the SVU lieutenant. "Hey, Liv. Want some waffles?"

"You cooked for me?"

Noting the older woman's smile, she explained, "When you want waffles, you want waffles," laughter followed, "I always make too much batter, so there are always a ton left over. Plus, I have fruit. So, it's totally healthy."

They entered the kitchen and Olivia laughed, "Yeah. Powered sugar and syrup just scream healthy."

"Bite me," she grabbed her plate and sat it in the sink before reaching up to open the cabinet door, "Here's a plate…there is more fru—"

"What happened to you?"

She turned to look at her friend in confusion, "Huh?"

"You have bruises on your waist." Annabelle flushed, yanking her shirt down to cover the finger shaped marks, only to reveal the bruising bite mark. "Did Barba do that?"

Realizing the tone being used, Annabelle took a deep breath before smiling, "calm down. It was…consensual."

"Annabelle. Do not cover for him, if he -"

"I'm not. Liv, he wouldn't hurt me, and I'm kinda shocked that you would even think that was a possibility."

"I wouldn't have, but…" she gestured to the blackened skin on the college graduate, but accepting the waffle covered plate.

"We're good. I get it, but that is definitely something you'll never have to worry about, okay?" Shaking her head, her ponytail trailing slightly she popped another slice of strawberry into her already red tinted lips. "Okay, so I found this video. I went deeper into the crevices of the cloud, and found…well, it's only about 15 seconds, so it isn't enough to absolutely prove rape, but it definitely hints at it."

Twenty minutes later, the lieutenant was leaving the building, stomach full and mind swirling after watching the corrupted video clip, "Hey, Liv?" The older brunette stopped as she was going down the steps to look back at the woman standing in the doorway, "Can you not tell Rafael until you absolutely have to?" At the confusion entering Olivia's eyes she elaborated, "I know the DA and William both want Ana to be seen as nothing more than a murderer and terrorist, but she is a victim. I just don't want him to know that I kept looking into things about the situation…I kind of told him I stopped once the arrest was made."

Five hours later, she was in the gym, doing a light workout on the treadmill when she heard a door slam. "Annabelle!" Sighing at whatever put her husband in a bad mood, she flipped the machine off and walked from the room, using a small white hand towel to wipe her face as she made the trek down the stairs towards the bedroom, knowing that he would be getting out of his work clothing.

"Hi, Raf."

"Hi? Is that all you have to say to me?" He was standing in front of the bed, his jacket and tie discarded, arms crossed as he stared at his wife. She didn't answer. "You don't have anything to tell me? At all?" She shrugged but gave a little shake of her head. "Okay, how about the fact that you promised me that you were done with this terroristic case? And that you said you weren't going to dig anymore into anything?"

"Oh."

"Oh?" He took a deep breath before ripping his suspenders from his body and starting the process to unbutton his dress shirt, no longer looking in her direction, "Why do you continue to work against me? I get that your job includes helping the NYPD, but when we make a decision about your involvement in something that is not," he released a breath, "something that could cause harm to come to you. I expect you to stick with what we agree on. Not to go behind my back and work with Benson to find out if a possible terrorist raped another terrorist. Did you ever stop to think that if you were tracking them, that they could just as easily be tracking you?" His shirt was thrown onto the bed in a huff, his bare back greeting her eyes as he began to roughly yank at his belt, the movement in his shoulder signifying that he was about to begin speaking again.

She stepped forward, pressing a brief kiss against his tightened shoulder blade, "I'm sorry." Grasping his hand, she brought it to her mouth, lips softly grazing his palm, "she asked me to check if anything new came up, only if I had time. I was giving it a final look through, before considering it closed when I found the video." She removed the belt from his pants, laying it on top of the jacket, but sliding the dark blue material down his legs and crouching down to take off his shoes. She patted his leg, and he stepped from the dress pants, before dropping to the king-sized bed in just his underwear. She plopped down next to him, hand resting on his dark thigh, "The video was corrupted, so I didn't think it would hold u in court. So, I didn't call you. I asked her not to mention me helping, because I knew you were worried. I'm sorry," her lips nipped at his neck, and she could tell he was struggling to stay angry.

Teeth tugged on an ear lobe, before she felt the heat of his breath rush against the cotton of her pink shirt, "It's okay. I know you're trying to help." She planted herself back onto the bed, his hand entwined in hers, "It got me a court date against the company to unlock the phone. If we win, they'll appeal, but I'll do my best."

"You're best is phenomenal. You fight for what you believe in, and you're an amazing lawyer. Not to mention, incredibly sexy."

His laughter met her ears, because he pulled her from the bed, "get dressed. I'm taking you out."