Olivia winced at the punch landing against the man's jaw. "Rafa."

But for once the man didn't budge to her pleas. "Again."

She turned away as another punch was thrown. After Barba made sure Allison nor her were harmed, they drove to the alleyway Jesus had caught one of the shooters. For the past 20 minutes or so, Jesus and Javier had been going rounds on their capture.

"Who ordered the hit?" Javier crouched down to the kneeled man. Grabbing his bloody face, he forced him to look up. "Give me a name and you might just come out of here alive."

"I say anything and they will kill me and my family." Blood splattered out as he tried to speak. His face was swollen from the constant beating.

"You dug your own grave the moment you shot at my daughter and girl." Letting his head drop he leaned in closer. "Tell me what I want to know and I'll make sure your family is taken care of."

Olivia watched as the man's body gave into defeat. Crying as he shook his head in agreement. "Rafael, that's enough."

Without acknowledging her, he listened to the words whispered by the dead man. "You have my word, your wife and kids will be safe."

"Th-thank you." Falling to the ground he shivered against the dirty alley. "Perdoname señor."

Walking over to Javier, he placed a hand on his shoulder. "Make it quick and as painless as you can."

"What about the body?" Javier asked.

"Have the boys clean it up and cover him up." Barba ordered. "Get Emily and pick up his family. After the burial, bring them to me."

"Alright carnal."

Stopping just in front of Olivia he motioned for her to walk ahead of him. Getting a glare from her as she turned to leave, he was slightly confused. As they stepped into the SUV, a shot rang out. Olivia looked over his shoulder catching a glimpse of the body falling as the door was shut.

"You didn't have to kill him." She spoke after a few minutes of silence.

"I did."

"Why?"

He kept his gaze out the window. "Why what?"

"Why did you have to kill him?" She turned to face him. "He gave you what you wanted. Pleaded for his life. He explained why he did it! You could have let him go. Allowed him to return to his family!"

"After he nearly took mine!" Barba turned towards her, slamming his fist on the window. "Just a few moments ago he shot at you and Allison! He nearly killed the both of you! You expected me to just let him go?"

"But he didn't harm us." Olivia whispered. "His children will grow up without a father from now on."

"His children will have the chance to grow up because of what he did." Barba growled. "They will be under our care. Olivia, you need to understand this. He attempted against my family. Doesn't matter if he was ordered or threatened to do so, it was his finger on the trigger. I couldn't let him live. In this world that would have just been a sign of weakness. An open door for anyone to come and try the same bullshit. Family is-"

"The most important thing, I know."

"Then, please let this go." Barba pleaded with her. "What's done is done. I can't go back now." Reaching for her hand, he sighed at the slight flinch she gave. Her hand retracted away from him. "Jesus?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Stop the car." Waiting for the car to pull to the curb, he jumped out. "Take Olivia home. Make sure patrol has doubled up. Have Alma call Alison's school and excuse her from school for the week."

Olivia was confused at the moment. "What are you doing? Where are you-"

"It's clear you need space." Barba offered her a soft smile. His eyes slowly built that wall from before back up. "I will be in the car behind."

Twisting in the seat she glanced back to see him climb into the truck behind them. Turning back around she slumped against the seat. This was a whole new thing for her. There was no need to kill the man, but a part of her understood why she did it. If that had happened with Noah in the room, she would have done the same. But it made her feel horrible as well. Spending so much time with him was forcing her to view things his way.

Noah.

She missed her son. The urge to contact him got worse as the days went by. After that night he hadn't contacted her either. She wondered how things were going for him. How school was going? Feeling the car slow to a stop, she looked out the window gasping out loud. Unlocking the door, she jumped out of the car and ran towards the group of men surrounding a young boy.

"Noah?!" Shoving the men apart, she pulled her son into her arms. "What are you doing here?!"

"So you this kid's mama?" The oldest of the group sucked his lower lip. "You looking too fine."

"Back off." Her hand reached to her side only to remember her reality.

"Back off?" He laughed. "You see this brat here stepped on my shoes. So, either he cleans them, or how about you and I come to an agreement?"

"How about neither." Keeping Noah close to her side, she tried pushing past the group. "Move."

One of the men placed a hand on her shoulder, pulling her back to the middle of the group. "Who you think you talking to bi-augh!"

Olivia had grabbed the man's arm, twisting it around his back and kicking him in the back of the knee. "I told you to move."

"Mom!" Noah yelled at seeing the guy pull a gun.

"You fucked with the wrong one." All eyes turned to Barba holding a gun against the guy's head. Jesus and Javier had the rest of the group surrounded.

"Rafael Barba." The man's voice trembled. "Wha-"

"That's my girl you just threaten." His eyes fell on Noah. "And that's her son."

"I-I didn't know." He stuttered. "I-we was just playing around."

"Since when do Lords play around on my turf?" Barba asked.

Javier stood to the side with the barrel of his gun pointed down to the ground. "What are we doing with them?"

"Sh-send them home." Barba lowered his gun and holstered it in his back. Picking up the boy's discarded bag, he motioned toward the duo. "Liv, let's go."

"Come one baby." Holding him by his shoulders, she leads him towards the waiting truck. "Hop in." Grabbing the bag Barba handed her, he made his way over to the other truck once more. "Stubborn man."

"Who is that?" Noah asked.

"That can wait, first I want to know what the hell are you doing here?!" Opening his bag she pulled out a notebook and pen. Writing quickly she glanced at Jesus. "How did you get here?" Handing him the paper, she placed her finger against her lips.

*Don't mention anything about me. Don't mention my job or any of your uncles. I will explain everything later.*

"I came looking for you?" Noah scrunched the paper up and shoved it into his pocket.

"How did you get here?" Her heart was still pounding against her chest. "Do you understand the danger you are in? If I hadn't seen you, who knows what would have happened!"

"I'm sorry, but they wouldn't let me call you." Noah felt as if he was a toddler once more, being scolded for his bad behavior. "I was worried."

Pulling him into a tight hug, she let out a shaky breath. "I'm just glad you're safe."

"Ma'am, we are here." Jesus jumped out of the car, jogging to her side and opening the door. "Boss wanted me to let you know he won't be here for dinner."

"Did he say where he was going?" Grabbing Noah's backpack, she ushered him up the steps. "Or when he would be back?"

Jesus shook his head. "He didn't say and I didn't ask."

"Alright, thank you, Jesus. Go home." Olivia bid him a good night, steering her son into her bedroom. Scanning the hallways once more before shutting the door, she quickly turned the tv on. "You shouldn't have come here."

"Wh-"

"I am working undercover Noah." Olivia snapped. "This is my target and you walked right in front of it. I'm sending you back tonight."

"Or I can stay here with you." He grinned, dropping it as soon as he saw her face. "They didn't even notice I was gone. This is day three since I left." Noah sat on the bed, falling backward. "They refused to let me call you. It was Brian that got me the ticket to come here."

"Brian?!" Olivia growled.

"No one else would."

"Because they knew it was a stupid idea." Seeing Noah begin to shut down at her voice raising, she calmed herself. "We can deal with this later. Right now there are rules you must follow until we can get you home."

"Okay."

"We need to make up a backstory as to why you are here." Olivia sighed. "You cannot say anything about our lives. Nothing about my job or any of your uncles. You might see Stabler and Rollins, you must act as if you don't know them."

"Understood."

"To them, I am not a cop. I am an ex-marine." Opening her drawer, you pulled the file out. "Read this and memorize it. That is who I am here. If they ask you anything go based on that. When I was away you stayed with a family friend and so on."

Scanning over the file he nodded numbly. "I'm sorry, I didn't know it would cause so much trouble."

"Don't worry about that now." Running her hand down his head, she couldn't deny the fact that she was happy to have him in her arms once again. "Until we can decide on how to get you back without rising any suspicious, you will stay here."

"Okay, but whose place is this?" Noah had caught a glimpse of the large house when being rushed in.

"It be-" She was interrupted by a loud knock. "Not a word." Opening it slowly, she found Allison and Jack on the other side. "Hey."

"I heard we have a guest." Allison attempted to look past the woman to no avail. "Well?"

Rolling her eyes, she stepped to the side. "This is my son Noah. Noah these are Jack and Allison Barba."

"Hi." The teen boy gave them an awkward wave.

"Allison, why don't you take Noah out to the pool?" Jack gave his sister a look to not question him. "Alma should have dinner ready in a bit."

Noah turned to his mom, only following the girl after he was given the clear. "I'll be back."

"Dad told me what happened." Jack stated. "Was he hurt?"

"No, it was just the scare." Olivia grabbed her phone dialing the one number she vowed never to dial again. It was no surprise she got the voicemail. "You son of a bitch. When I get my hands on you, you will never have the ability to piss standing up again!"

Jack's eyes widen, taking a step back. "Damn you're scarier than when dads mad. What was that about?"

"My ex." Olivia sighed. "Noah said he was the one that got him the ticket here."

"And he just left the kid on his own?" Jack scoffed. "Wanna sic dad on him?"

She laughed loudly, shaking her head. "I hate the man, but not enough to see him dead. He helped raise Noah. And Noah loves him."

"He's not Noah's biological dad?"

"No."

Jack was becoming more curious about the woman. "If you don't mind, can I ask who is?" His eyes widen once more. "Elliot!"

"God no!" Why must they always assume she slept with her partner? "Noah is adopted. I don't know who his biological parents are." That was a lie, but they didn't need to know that.

"Oh."

"Do you know where your dad is?"

Jack nodded, gesturing out the door. "He's in the kitchen. Alma's helping wrap his bruised hand."

Following the oldest Barba out into the hallway, she picked up on his wording. "What happened to his hand?"

He paused for a moment with a look as to say 'must you ask?'. "You truly believed he'd let them get away with what happened?" Seeing the look of panic cross her face, he quickly clarified. "They are alive. He made sure they were still able to walk away."

"Why must they always resort to violence?" Closing her bedroom door, she headed for the kitchen.

When she walked in she found the kitchen turned into an ER room. Javier and Jesus were sitting by the counter, both with bloody noses and bruised eyes. Micheal and Hector sat across from them with same injuries, although Hector looked like he swam in the blood of his enemies. Looking towards the table on her right side, Barba sat completely still. His shirt was stained crimson red, with a few tears in them. Trailing her eyes up his chest, she clenched her jaw at seeing the bloody lip.

Waking over to him Olivia took the gauge from Alma. "Here, I got him." Taking the seat Alma vacant, Olivia pointed to Javier. "Take care of them. Javier looks like he's about to faint from blood loss."

"I have never fainted in my life." The older man grumbled.

Barba scoffed. "I have a handful of nurses and doctors that would say otherwise."

"Hey man, that shouldn't be natural." Javier argued. "A baby with that size of a head, should not have fit through a hole that size."

"What?" Olivia turned around to face the brother. "You fainted at a child's birth? You? Javier Barba? The same Javier Barba that cut the arm off a dead man and proceeded to play thumb war it."

"It's not natural."

"Thumb War?" Barba was so confused at the moment. "Whose hand?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Javier turned his attention to Alma, wincing at every touch she gave him. "Easy woman."

"I have not added anything to the towel." Alma held up the dry towel with a raised brow. "Men, they will always be children."

Snickering at the grumbling coming from Javier, Olivia focused on Barba's hand. "What happened?"

"I am going to assume Jack told you." Getting a nod, he leaned his head back. "They fought back."

"Clearly." Grabbing the gauge she cleaned his busted knuckles before wrapping them up. "Who hit you?"

"Sucker punched when I wasn't looking." Barba flinched back the second she touched his lip. "Courtesy of my dear brother."

"Javier hit you?" Olivia fought back the chuckle wanting out.

"In my defense, I thought he was one of them." Javier yelped out. "We were all wearing black."

Barba gestured to himself. "I wasn't."

Grabbing the hand that wasn't banded up, he pulled him out of the chair. "Come on, we need to fix that lip." Leading him up the stairs and into his room, she sat him down on the toilet cover. "Where's the-Ah! Found it."

"How's the boy? Noah was it?" Javier asked.

Grabbing his chin Olivia tilted his head back. "He's fine, it was just the scare for him and surprise for me. Turns out my ex bought him the ticket to get here."

Barba narrowed his eyes. "Alone? How old is he is 13?"

"12." Wiping the blood off, she ran her thumb softly across his lip. "You didn't need to go after them. He wasn't harmed."

Raising his hands to her waist Barba pulled her between his legs. "I saw the look of fear in your eyes. I wasn't going to let that go so easily. I understand you don't like this side of me, but it's what makes me."

"You're wrong. There are many sides of you, this is only a pinch of that." Leaning down she kissed him gently, mindful of his cut. "Either way, thank you."

"No need." Making a move to stand up, he was pushed back down. "What is it?"

"Back then in the car, don't do that again." Wrapping her hands around his neck, she played with his hair. "You once told me never to run from you. That goes both ways. I was upset yeah, but that didn't mean I wanted you gone."

"Okay." Cupping her jaw he pulled her down for another kiss. "Alright, no more running away."

"Speaking of runaways, I need to check on Noah." Tossing the bloody towels into the trash. She paused for a moment. "Wanna meet him?"

Barba knew it was inevitable but to be asked was unexpected. "Sure."