I do not own Law and Order: SVU.

Writing this chapter was so much fun.
Oh, Barson. What a treat you are :-)

A little over a month had passed since he told his mom about Olivia. Much to his surprise, she hasn't brought it up again since that day at lunch. In fact, it seems like she is avoiding the subject all together. Despite the time that has passed, he won't forget the pity and sadness glowing in her eyes that day. She had rambled on for a while about how love is messy and that that sometimes the counters don't always match you up correctly. He knew her intentions were pure. All she wanted was from him to have a family before she died. The concern she was showing for him being alone was a nice sentiment but being "alone" didn't bother him by any means. The conversation changed to other topics after their food came. Arturo kept dropping small hints that he was interested in Barba but he let him down lightly by pretending not to pick up on any of his flirting. He and his mother's conversations went back to normal after that day at lunch. Everything was going back to normal. The way he wanted it. But that's the thing about soulmates. They tend to take what you once knew, throw it all out the window, and catch it on fire.

The night before Barba was due to finally question Mr. Cain in open court, Olivia had decided to come into his office late that night. He was up putting questions and more evidence together. Time seemed to slip through the cracks while he was in his Last Minute Lawyer mode. In fact, so entrapped in his work that he didn't even hear Olivia open the door and stand in his doorway. It took her loudly clearing her throat to get his attention. Startled, he quickly looked up. As his brow furrowed, a frown formed. "The last time I checked the polite thing to do is to knock on someone's door and wait for the invitation. I mean, even vampires get that concept."

Olivia came into his office, plopping down into a chair. "In my defense, the door to your office was already open and I have been previously invited in. So, in vampire terms I think I'm on the VIP list."

"Hm. Fine. Just don't get too comfy. And don't even think about propping your feet up on my desk." He narrowed his eyes but with the smile growing on his face it made it hard to take him seriously.

She held her hands up in mock-surrender. "I might be a cop but I do have manners, Barba. Not sure the same could be said about ADAs."

"Haha, like I haven't been told I don't soul before. You gotta do better than that, Benson. While this surprise visit isn't being totally opposed, what is it that you need at 11:30 at night?" The guard he usually had up had come down slightly during their banter. But he knew he had to put the brakes on it quickly, while he still had some control of the situation.

"I'm just…worried about tomorrow. Everything is coming down to how the jury is going to perceive Cain. What if they don't take off their rose tinted glasses because he's a celebrity? Slimy yet powerful men like him have such an easy time slipping through the cracks in the justice system. Especially when it comes to rape charges. And with things now just settling down at SVU, a win would look great for us." The expression on her face was neutral. But her brown eyes told another story. She was very concerned about this. Probably more than she should be.

"If I already wasn't overly confident in myself and my abilities to wrangle in convictions like it's nobody's business, I would be offended. However, that is not the case. I know you are a protective mother bear and SVU is your cub. You would do anything to get justice for a case that comes through your department. That being said, I am the shark that needs its fill. Only in my case its sending scumbags like Cain to the depths of Riker's with no hope of getting out is how I get my fill. You protect, I defeat. So no need to nicely say that you're worried that I will fuck up. I won't. Cain will be a piece of cake." Barba flashed a vibrant full-toothed smile. Which, thankfully, also made Olivia smile back.

"Okay, I wouldn't have said 'You're gonna fuck up.' It would have been more along the lines of…"
She paused. "Actually yeah. I was worried that you were going to fuck up a very high-profile case for us. You're new to the department. We don't take kindly to strangers."

"So I've noticed." He rolled his eyes but there was still a smile playing on his lips.

Olivia had gotten up out of her chair. "Go home counselor. You aren't going to mess up this case just because you overslept."

"Hey! This is my office. In here, I get to be mom." He stood up, gathering up his belongings and notes. "You need to go home to get some rest because you'll have front row seats of me exposing Cain for the monster that he really is. You'll need at least 7 hours to deal with the sheer badassery of it all." Barba shrugged as if to state: "What can I say? I'm great."

"Badassery? If you use words like that it seems like you're spending too much time on social media trying to keep up with the lingo of the cool kids instead of putting together a credible, strong case. Now I'm worried about tomorrow again." Olivia frowned but her eyes remained playful.

"Now, C'mon. There's nothing wrong with keeping up with the ever-changing linguistics of human beings. If I want to be a good lawyer, I need to be able grasp onto little things like language patterns. Trust me, badassery is a valid, crime-solving word." During their teasing, he had gathered up all his things and headed toward the door. "Vampires first." Gesturing toward the door as he shrugged his over-coat on.

They walked out together. Barba was surprised by the easiness of it all. He had only known her for a month. Her personal life was a complete mystery to him. Despite being nothing more than acquaintances, he felt comfortable around her. This is what probably made her so great with witnesses. She had this way of making you feel like you were in a safe place and you were allowed to let your walls down. This quality was something he valued in her as her co-worker in bringing down the vile scumbags of the world. But when it came to his own personal feelings, this quality scared him.

They ended up sharing a cab. They made jokes along the lines of: "Oh, if you wanted to see my apartment that badly, you could have just asked." He had made it a point of making sure the driver dropped her off before himself. He wanted to pay the fare. Of course, she fought him on it when they got to her apartment. Eventually he won by convincing her that she could buy him a drink next time the gang needed to let lose. Reluctantly, she agreed. Barba made it to his apartment safe and sound, going to bed almost directly after getting home.

/ / /

Questioning Cain was going to be a trip. But a helluva fun trip. He carefully baited the creep and backed him into a corner. Cain, just as Barba planned, fell into the belt trap with ease. Barba removed his belt, as he continued to taunt the sexual sadist. He knew that if he could get Cain to lose his cool in front of the jury, they would find him guilty. Cain fell into the trap with ease. As Cain gripped the belt tightly and pulled, a flash of a smirk crossed his face before he had to fight for air. Cain was going down.

After the jury took their time on deciding, the verdict came back as guilty. After they delivered the guilty sentence, he turned to look behind him at Olivia. Both of their faces were neutral. Barba nodded and received one back. In that moment he knew that Olivia had accepted him as one of their own. The moment where she knew she could count on him and vice versa.

I think that makes up for the sadness of the last chapter!
I hope you all enjoy ~