A/N: So excited Barba is back in a January episode!!!

*Olivia*

Patience is a virtue, that's how the old saying went, and after so many years on the job, Olivia stood by its truth. There was no forcing a victim to open up and spill the details of their assault. She'd tried such tactics, yes, and yes, she wasn't ashamed to admit it, but over the course of her career she'd learned many, most often better ways, to handle situations like this one. So Olivia waited, offering her support by way of her quiet presence.

Eventually Carisi's sobs stopped and Barba was able to coax him out to the open living space where the two settled on the couch. Olivia followed, suppressing the urge to start throwing her position around to hunt down the person responsible for leaving her friend, a man she'd come to love and respect, broken. Carisi was a fighter, and one of the best in her squad, to see him in this state…

He's not broken. Carisi is as strong as any of us. Right now he's just lost, hurt. We'll help him find his way back. We'll be with him every step of the way.

"How about I get you guys some water?"

"I'd certainly prefer something stronger given the circumstances, but water will be fine," Barba said.

As if she had been to his apartment before, Olivia made her way to the kitchen. Glasses in a dry rack beside the sink saved her the trouble of having to law through cabinets. She quickly filled them with water from the tap and returned to her friends, setting the glasses on the coffee table beside a law journal. The sight of it brought a rush of warmth to her heart as she incisions her friends bonding over their mutual admiration for the justice system.

Maybe admiration is the wrong word, or at least in connection with the system.

There were times when Barba pushed the boundaries, even crossing them in order to do what was right. Olivia recalled the first time he went to bat for them, how he nearly got himself strangled by a TV personality just to prove a point. That was the moment she knew he was good fit for SVU.

Her phone vibrated again. Olivia ignored it. Right now she had more pressing matters.

"We don't have to do this now," she said, directing the statement at Carisi. A quick once over revealed the extent of his ordeal. A purple-blue bruise colored the right side of his face, tracing from his eye to his jaw. There was an angry red cousin to it evident underneath his collar; Olivia couldn't tell if it had been made by a pair of hands or a rope. His clothes were dirty, marked with grime and blood. At the detection of the red splotches her heart rate spiked, was it Carisi's? He showed no visible wounds.

"Are you able to talk?"

Carisi finally raised his head, his gaze meeting hers before shifting to Barba and back again. "You know?" he whispered, his voice rough.

"Yes," Barba answered for her. He placed a hand on Carisi's knee. "I'm sorry to have gone again At our promise, mi amor, but I didn't know what else to do."

"If it matters in the least I think it's wonderful," Olivia said. "You two, now that I think about it, are perfect for each other. I'm happy you've found one another."

A moment passed, silence threatening to derail the premature conversation.

Barba forged ahead. "If it makes things easier I can excuse myself."

Carisi, who had kept his hands clasped firmly in his lap until this point, grabbed Barba's arm, his eyes wide. "No."

Effortlessly, Barba moved the hold, entailing his fingers with Carisi's.

"Whenever you're ready," Olivia prompted. Normally she liked to keep notes during her interviews, get down as much information as she could, but lacking her usual resources, Olivia resorted to her cellphone—the earlier text from Finn—and hit record. To keep from spooking Carisi, his gaze yet again downcast, she kept her phone in hand.

"It…it was Joe," Carisi blurted.

"Joe did this?"

"Yes…he…" Whatever he planned to say next refused to come out. Fresh tears glistened.

The department's current big case revolved around a man who considered himself a vessel of God, claiming the All Mighty spoke to and through him. Cults weren't normally their area of concern, but with rumors of rape, child abuse, and what seemed like terrifying support from a number of rapists and predators, there was no way Olivia could turn away. But getting a foot in the compound—which amounted to a rundown formerly abandoned apartment building—turned out to be easier said than done. Carisi wanted to go undercover, something he had a knack for, Olivia resisted. Finn backed Carisi. Olivia still refused to commit, afraid, having heard a number of horror stories.

Then Cassidy arrived at her office.

Should have stuck to my guns. Should have listened to my gut.

"I thought we were in good with him?" Barba asked, brow furrowed.

"No," Carisi said, yet again meeting her gaze. "He found out. He knows, someone told him."

The weight of his words hung in the air between them.

"You heard from Cassidy? Did he give any indication of things being amiss?"

"Olivia shook her head. "No, but I got a text from Finn-"

"Cassidy wasn't there," Carisi said, dropping another bomb. "He was out with Joe's second in command."

Olivia ended the recording, bringing up the text from Finn.

'Haven't checked in. Neither one is answering.'

'We have Carisi,' she quickly shot back, fingers flying over the keypad. 'Nothing on Cassidy?'

'Affirmative.'

'Cover may be blown.'

'Shit.'

"Sonny?"

Carisi's eyelids drooped, his body going slack. Olivia barely heard him whisper I don't feel so good before he lost consciousness.

Barba patted him on the cheek. "Sonny? Hey, wake up."

Shoving her phone back in her pocket, Olivia shot off the chair to offer assistance. Had her earlier assumption about him being wounded been wrong? As a questioning, growing more panicked Barba watched, Olivia yanked up Carisi's shirt in search of the. Source of blood. How foolish of them to think him okay.

"Crap," Barba hissed.

Olivia gently prodded the giant bruise on Carisi's side, detecting at least one broken rib. "We need to get him to the hospital."