Chapter 6

Olivia stormed back into Rafael's room, angrily slamming the door behind her.

"The NERVE on that son of a bitch…" She muttered under her breath, staring out the window. If he knew what was good for him he would NOT push this right now, she was a woman on the edge.

"Whoa whoa, I wouldn't wanna be on the end of that Olivia rage….what happened?" Rafa said half laughing, half concerned.

She took a breath and walked back over to his bed, returning to his embrace. Here she felt safe, she felt loved. There was no way Dodds was taking this from her.

"Dodds; he….he said I needed to end it with you," She said softly, playing with his arm hair nonchalantly.

"And…?" She felt him tense up, waiting for the other shoe to drop. She turned her face up to look him in the eyes.

"And I told him to go to hell," She smiled, kissing him again. His lips on hers, it's like they were made to fit together. She wondered how it had taken her so long to get here; too long.

"Did you really though, Liv? That memo was pretty harsh, I don't want you to actually lose your job, especially over me," He ran his hands through her hair, clearly concerned about her.

"Rafael, I have fought too long and too hard for some asshole to just come in and dictate my life. If he REALLY wants my head on a plate, he'll have to strike me down pretty damn hard. And he can take my job, but I'll be DAMNED if he takes you away from me. I…." She had never fully said the words out loud to a man before. Well, she had to Brian, but it was right after breaking up with him so she wasn't sure that really counted.

"...I know. Me too," Barba gave her a knowing smile; he truly did know her.

"Well, why don't we watch some TV? Forget about the real world for a while?" She asked, grabbing the remote.

"Sounds lovely," He smiled, and she snuggled closer into him, just as they had the night before. And before they knew it, they had fallen asleep in each other's arms once again.

"Ahem….ma'am? Ma'am?" Olivia felt someone shaking her awake. She turned to see a nurse, smiling nervously at her.

"Oh! Um, sorry are visiting hours over?" She apologized getting out of the bed. As she did so, it stirred Rafael awake.

"No um, actually we thought you two looked so adorable we let you sleep through the night, I'm here to take Mr. Barba's vitals," She said apologetically, like she hated to bother them.

"Oh….OH. Oh my god, what time is it?" Olivia suddenly realized what she had done.

"5 am ma'am,"

SHIT.

"Oh my, oh my god…..Rafa I-"

"I'm so sorry Liv I should've set an alarm. Go, go to Noah. I'll be fine,"

"Okay, Okay I'm going! I'm gone!" she dashed around the room grabbing her coat and her phone- 25 missed calls. SHIT.

"Okay, I'm….I'm going now, I'll be back later, I promise," She ran back over to his bedside and gave him a quick kiss on the lips.

"Okay, love you," Rafael quickly let the words catch in his mouth; he hadn't meant to say it, it just came out like a reflex. He waited for her to freak out, or frown, or run away screaming- but she didn't. She just smiled sweetly back and replied:

"Love you too Rafa,"

And with that she was gone out the door, dialing Lucy as she ran. But in her mind, she was thinking:

"Did that really just happen?!"

-Olivia's Apartment-

Olivia ran up the stairs, throwing her front door open where Lucy and Noah were waiting.

"Mommy! You're okay!" Noah threw his arms around her.

"I'm sorry, I tried to keep him calm but I-I didn't know where you were, or if something happened I-"

"No, no it's fine. I'M sorry, Rafael got shot, and I went to the hospital and we just….I fell asleep up there and-"

"Seriously? Olivia, listen it's fine if I have to stay with Noah overnight, but I'd like to know beforehand if possible, i slept in my clothes on your couch!" Lucy sighed, clearly annoyed.

"I know, I know I am so sorry! Listen you can take off, and I'll double your salary for last night for the inconvenience, okay?" Liv asked, grabbing Noah's school stuff so they could head out the door.

"Yeah, that's...that's really nice of you, Olivia. Thank you. And it wasn't a HUGE deal...just don't make it a regular thing, cool?" Lucy smiled grabbing her own jacket and purse to leave.

"Yeah, no no it won't happen again!" Olivia assured her as they all walked down the stairs and back out into the street. Olivia and Noah turned one way, while Lucy headed in the other direction.

"Oh hey, Olivia!" Lucy called to her, Olivia turned to face her:

"Yeah?"

"For the record, I'm glad Rafael finally told you, he's been in love with you forever!" She giggled, heading back towards her car.

"So I've heard!" Olivia shook her head, walking to keep up with Noah.

So I've heard….

-The Office-

After taking Noah to school, Olivia had gone home to shower so she was a little later to than the office than she normally was, and needless to say people noticed.

"Oliva Benson! Don't you know that when you don't answer your phone, you don't check in, we have reason to think something bad has happened to you?!" Fin almost screamed, throwing his arms around her tightly.

"Oof! Fin! I'm sorry, I'm sorry I-I went to the hospital and then I….fell asleep, with Rafael," She sighed, Carisi and Amanda approaching the conversation.

"Two nights in a row, eh captain? Barba must be quite the snuggler!" Carisi laughed, and Olivia shot daggers at Fin.

"You TOLD them?!" She hissed, her face turning flush.

"Hey! I was trying to keep morale up with some juicy gossip, while you were MIA with your boy toy!" Fin defended, Carisi and Rollins laughing.

"Shut up! He is NOT…." She noticed Dodds, along with a pack of suits heading into the squad room.

"...My boy toy," She finished in a hushed tone, nodding towards the group. All of their faces fell.

Well, it was never a boring day at SVU….

They just sat in the interrogation room, for hours that day. Just sat in there, discussing god knows what. Or maybe they were just observing, just waiting for her to screw up. The entire idea of it all made her that much more uneasy, unfocused on their case at hand.

"Hey, Sergeant," Carisi called, knocking her from her death stare towards the room.

"Yeah, Carisi what's up?"

"You know, we've got this handled right now, why don't you head over to the hospital? I'm sure Barba could use some real food for lunch," He smiled.

"I…I don't know if that's such a great idea, with 'big brother' hanging around here,"

"Look, we've actually got all of this handled Liv, we don't need you to sit here and hover like a helicopter mom. It makes us uneasy; so WE are asking you to leave. And if anyone asks, that's exactly what we'll say," Fin said emphatically, Rollins and Carisi nodded in agreement.

"Well, I guess—if you guys really don't want me around….lunch would be good," Olivia smiled, shooting them all a thankful smile.

"Call me if the Calvary starts marching for my head," She chortled, nodding to the still closed door meeting.

"Don't worry, I'll be sure to accept the position with as much humility as possible," Fin teased. She laughed, but a knot twisted in her stomach.

She really hoped that was a joke.