At a little after nine, Olivia and Fin left the bar and waited near the door for a minute watching the torrential rain. The weather had been bad when they'd arrived, but now it appeared to be coming down in sheets. Huge bullets of water ricocheted off the road and bounced back as though dancing furiously down the street.

Olivia glanced at Fin and rose her eyebrows just as a loud boom of thunder seemed to shake the sky, followed a few seconds later by glowing illumination from its answering lightning.

"Let's get outta this," Fin said quickly. He rushed onto the sidewalk and hailed a cab, then hunched under the weight of the downpour as he rushed to open the door.

Olivia abandoned trying to open her umbrella in the pouring rain and followed not far behind him. She arrived just as Fin opened the door.

"Take this! I'll get the next!" Fin had to almost shout in order to be heard.

"We could-" Olivia started to contest.

"Argue and we'll both drown!" Fin yelled with a smile. "Can see more comin' behind, just get home!"

Olivia smiled and rolled her eyes. "Thanks, Fin," she responded as she moved to get into the cab ", for everything!"

Fin nodded and slammed the door closed before rushing away.

Olivia gave her home address and the cab started to pull out, then after a moment, she faltered. "Actually, I…" she paused and closed her eyes for a second to gather her thoughts before sighing and concluding, "Hogan Place, please - I need to go to Hogan Place."

The cabby looked back and nodded silently before making a u-turn and driving off.

As the car pulled to a stop several minutes later, Olivia looked out of the window and winced.

"You sure, ma'am?" The driver called back over his shoulder, having to raise his voice a little under the noise of the rain hammering on the vehicle.

Olivia smiled at him and passed over the money for her fare. "Certain," she insisted. Then she opened the door and had to push hard against the driving rain, she eventually propped it open with her foot and then stood a little clumsily as she braced the door open with her shoulder.

She let the door slam closed and tried to force open her umbrella before it suddenly flipped inside out then snapped with a loud crack.

"Fuck!" Olivia hissed frustratedly and noticed the cab brake lights flicker for a second, as though waiting to see if she'd changed her mind. Steeling her resolve, she pushed forward to toss the destroyed umbrella in the trash before turning to cross the street.

Thunder cracked again, quickly followed by a dazzling flash of lightning.

As she pushed forward toward the entrance Olivia was already soaked through to her skin.

Barba had arrived back to the office sooner than expected, so he'd finished his work earlier than anticipated. He'd almost been tempted to ring Olivia but knew he should go home and get some sleep.

Pausing inside the doorway he tightened the scarf around his neck, silently cursing himself for leaving his umbrella at home before what looked to be a severe storm. When he saw the torrential rain he made a last-minute reassessment and began to unbutton his coat, planning to hold it over his head while trying to hail a cab.

He watched a cab pull up on the other side of the street and rued the fact that he would never be able to attract the driver's attention before it pulled away. He watched as a woman climbed out of the vehicle and lost her umbrella, then disposed of it in a nearby trash can before turning in his direction.

She was soaked!

Barba felt genuine compassion for a second, then smiled wryly when he realised that he would probably be in exactly the same condition in less than a minute.

As the woman crossed the street and a flash of lightning illuminated her his mind finally registered what he was seeing.

"Jesus!" Barba hissed and immediately pushed open the heavy door, lifting his coat over his head with both hands as he rushed out toward her.

Olivia flinched as she stepped onto the sidewalk and a person suddenly arrived in her space and almost cocooned them with a large coat above their heads. Then she saw his face and, in spite of the rain, he watched her completely relax. Her hair was plastered to her head and Barba swore she looked like she'd been dunked in the Hudson.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Barba asked loudly.

Olivia smiled and rolled her eyes, then answered, "Looking for you! But I guess you found me!"

The rain had already begun to soak through his coat and drip onto their faces again.

"GOD! Maybe we need an ark?" Olivia laughed and looked down at the water flowing quickly by their feet.

Barba rolled his eyes but joined in her laughter. Then he leaned in a little and spoke closer to her ear so that he didn't have to raise his voice. "We need to get inside!"

She laughed again at his obvious statement and dropped her forehead briefly to his shoulder.

He smiled, then glanced to the left and saw a cab turning into the street. "Quick!" He said and nodded at the vehicle as she looked up. Turning hastily they hailed the cab and then rushed over as it pulled up nearby.

Olivia smiled in amusement when she saw it was the same driver.

"Take it," Barba insisted.

"Come with me?" Olivia asked, looking up at him...and into the rain...as she sat.

He stepped closer in an attempt to block the worst of the downpour and looked uncertain. "I really should go home..." he started to maintain.

"Please?" She asked.

"You two need to make a decision," the driver called back, " you're floodin' my back seat!"

Barba glanced up and down the street as though assessing his options, but then looked down into her eyes again and knew that he had none. He quickly started to get into the cab as Olivia moved to make space for him, shifting across the seat but staying toward the centre and remaining close.

"Change ya mind?" The driver asked Olivia as he pulled out.

"Got what I came for..." Olivia replied simply and smiled at Barba.

"First address?" He asked.

Olivia saw the cabby looking back at her in the mirror and nodded.

Barba looked at her, silently asking about their familiar exchange.

"He dropped me here," she explained.

"So why are you here?" Barba asked.

"Looking for you," Olivia repeated.

"You needed to see me about something?" He asked, really aware of how close they were sitting. They were both soaked through to the skin, but the cab was surprisingly warm and condensation was completely blocking the windows.

"I wanted to see you," Olivia clarified and his breath caught a little at the heated look in her eyes.

Olivia was silent for a moment and traced her hungry gaze over his face, then down over his body. "I'm sorry, you're so unbelievably wet!" She smiled with a mixture of amusement and regret.

"You didn't make it rain..." Barba smiled warmly. "Why did you want to see me?" He asked again when she didn't continue.

Olivia opened her mouth to speak and then glanced toward the driver - she wanted to have this conversation in private. "Can it wait?" She asked and then smiled. "Until we get back to mine?"

He looked into her eyes and almost felt like he had stopped breathing.

After all the time he'd allowed himself to feel unsure about how she felt, right now he was certain. She wanted him. He could see it in her eyes and his heart began to beat heavily in his chest at the thought.

He knew where this evening was going now. What's more, he suddenly knew without a doubt that her feelings for him must run so much deeper than he had even allowed himself to hope...otherwise she never would have risked everything by coming to him like this.

As those realisations became clear in his mind Barba nodded slowly, then he watched her breath catch as he reached over and slipped his cold, damp hand into hers.

TBC…