AN- Thank you for continuing to read this story. I'm super excited for the future of this story. Main inspirations come from Barba's first appearance in Twenty Five Acts.

He opened the door fully, immediately turning and walking further into his apartment. It was a silent invitation for her to come inside. He was trying to wrap his brain around the news he was told. He felt sick to his stomach, knowing who had possession of that list. It couldn't be.

Olivia made sure she closed the door in back of her, keeping the evidence bag at her side. The ride here she was filled with uncertainty. When she found his name on a list it truly stunned her. She didn't know why his name was there. Knocking on his door was nerve-racking. She wasn't sure if she was going to walk into another crime scene. Thankfully he had answered. A small victory in a gruesome case.

"Annie? Is she?" He couldn't even muster the words into a complete sentence. He tried to hold on to the hope that Annie had survived and it was someone else. That maybe she got away, maybe it was someone else who laid in the morgue right now. When given the most terrible news, one tries to create an alternate scenario where things turn out okay.

She could see in his eyes, the emotion. He knew if she came in person that it had to be bad. If not she would have just called or texted him.

"Barba, I'm so sorry." She attempted to comfort him in some way. Olivia approached towards him. He turned away from her, not wanting her to see his face.

She didn't know the extent of his involvement with the victim but by the way he was taking the news she could only assume that they were close.

"How?" He still had his back to her.

The question throwing her off guard for a second.

"I don't think that-" She tried urging him to not ask. It wouldn't help.

Detective Benson deterring him away from Annie's death was telling enough that it was unpleasant.

He had already been ruled out as a suspect. She had confirmed it with his door man that he had been there all night which would all be checked with security cam footage. Before that he had been at the precinct all day, practically breathing down their necks making sure that his case had no hidden surprises. He had even had lunch with them. It was out of instinct to check his alibi. It wouldn't be the first time that one of the "good guys" end up being the "bad guy", thinking of Chester Lake, Stuckey, and Agent Cooper. The Captain would want Barba's whereabouts checked out as soon as possible, so she was already ahead of the curve. She didn't know if it was right to tell him. Clearly there was some sort of friendship or relationship there. Telling him right now could be detrimental to him.

"Please."

That word sounding odd coming from him. She had never heard him say it before. His voice was hurt, desperate.

"She was strangled in her apartment." Caving in and telling him the immediate cause that Melinda had given at the scene. If it was someone close to her, she would want to know the truth. Going over her mother's rape case for weeks just trying to figure it out.

What she didn't admit was the torture that happened when she was alive. The array of cuts, carvings. The shedding of auburn hair that were tracked throughout rooms. The assumption that her killer had dragged her by a fistful of her hair. The nail marks on the wood floor of a person trying to flee. It was the victims her bloodied fingertips was the proof.

Those splint seconds he envisioned Annie's life being taken. The fear that the life was being choked from her. That someone so cruel would do this to her, to take her away from the world, from him.

"Was she?"

This question was the one she dreaded and wished he hadn't asked. Barba was smart. He was able to connect the dots. Normal strangling went to homicide. If she was there to tell him, then her attack must have been in a certain nature.

"Don't make me answer that." Olivia pleaded. How would answering that make any of it better? Of course making that remark had answered it all by itself. Just avoiding saying the word, she hoped that it could spare him the thought of her suffering more before her murder.

He had to sit down. The room felt off, almost spinning. He thought he was going to be sick. He was just a few more steps away from the couch. Though it was only a few feet away, it had felt more like a mile away. Rafael felt Sergeant Benson's hand on top of his shoulder. He turned his head to her. Her expression was filled with condolence. This was the first time he had lost someone so suddenly, so violently. When his own father die it was slow, it took years to see him wither away. He had thought about receiving news like this, thinking it was going to be someone he grew up close with in the Bronx. He never thought it was going to be Annie. Not in a million years. Why would anyone want to hurt her? She was so kind to everyone, there wasn't a mean streak in that girl's body. It didn't make sense. None of it.

Olivia guided him to the sofa, putting slight more pressure on his shoulder directing him to sit down. He let her do it, there was no use resisting at this point. The leather felt cold against him, different. As the nausea subsided and the numbness started to set in.

"Barba. I'm so sorry." She sat next to him, trying to be supportive. Her condolence was genuine. He thought about how many times she must have had to give this type of news to people. Probably dozens of times in the last decade. So many people told that their loved ones weren't coming back. His mind flooded with memories of Annie. Her laugh and contagious smile that lit up an entire room. The memories they had playing through his head like a film reel. She just sat there with him in silence. No words, only the ceiling fan turning almost as white noise. He would never see her again. The realization of that was devastating. The next questions the detective would ask could destroy him. He didn't want to wait for her to find out.

"I'll tell you about the list."

AN- Thanks for reading this current chapter. I do have more coming soon. Can't wait to pull you all into this little world.