I do not own Law and Order: SVU!

About a week after Barba slam dunking Cain, they had a new complaining witness. She was a sports reporter with secrets. Directly after she was finished at the station Olivia texted Barba telling him they have a new high profile case and that they were on their way over. He was just about to leave for an early lunch but already in their new acquaintanceship, he had a hard time telling Olivia no. He texted her back saying he'd be in his office. His stomach growled in protest.

Once they were here, they jumped right into building a case against this sleazy cameraman. Avery had secrets, however. Which didn't surprise Barba but it still slightly irked him. He pushed her to reveal everything she was hiding. She was having an affair with the anchorman. Good. At least this wasn't going to be a boring case.

After about an hour of asking her questions and making sure she wasn't hiding anything else, they got up to leave. As they were on the way out, Barba stopped Olivia.

"Spend some alone time with her. We need everything we can to get the jury to see her as victim. Especially after the revelation of sleeping with the anchorman. Also, could we meet up later so I could get copies of your notes?"

Olivia hesitated before answering. "I know, Barba. I will. And what time were you thinking?"

He narrowed his brow suspiciously. "If you have plans, it's alright. You can just give them to me tomorrow if it's easier for you. I just wanted to get a head start on building this case."

"I was tossing around the possibility of making plans with someone but they haven't given me a concrete answer, so I'll take you up on your offer."

Rafael did his best to ignore the small hint of disappointment in her voice. He just wanted to get his work done. "Meet me here at 7. We'll figure something out."

She nodded before joining Rollins and Avery out in the hallway. Barba promptly shut his door. He buried himself in another case, putting together last minute notes. In an hour he had to be in court. Again, his stomach growled. "Dammit,Olivia." He thought, popping a piece of gum into his mouth to curb the hunger.

Court was a pain in the ass. Not only was he in a particularly hostile mood but the defendant's attorney had an objection every two seconds. It got to the point where even the judge told the attorney to shut up. "Thank you." Barba mouthed at the judge before continuing on with the questions. Finally, after several hours of questioning shitty witnesses the defense had picked and that obnoxious defense attorney himself, the judge called that they end there for the day.

By the time he got back to his office, it was nearly six o'clock. He made another cup of coffee before settling down at his desk. He went over his notes for the case he was just in court for. He going to send the defendant away for a long time for what he did. He was a fairly famous baseball player who had killed his girlfriend in cold blood. Then when Barba got the prick convicted he was going to rub it into his idiotic attorney's face. "I swear to god, if I hear objection more time I'm going to need a lawyer." Barba took a sip of his lukewarm coffee. He grimaced. It was bitter, just like him.

Barba collected all of belongings. Just as he shrugged his coat on, there was a knock at the door. "Come in." He said sharply. Who the hell is it?

Olivia came in cautiously, not going past the threshold.

"Oh, detective. I forgot we were meeting tonight. Shitty day."

"I can go. I can just give you everything I have tomorrow." She turned to go.

"Wait, no. Let's go to the bar down the street." The expression on his face softened.

Olivia smiled as she nodded. He picked up his briefcase, turned off the light, and out they went.

The bar they went to was small but nice. There were no loud, angry drunks. Not many people were in the bar so it was quiet with soft 80's tunes in the background. They sat at the bar. Barba ordered a scotch and Olivia got cabernet. He sucked down his scotch in a few gulps. The bar tender gave him another one quickly. He took their orders while standing there: Barba got salmon and Olivia got a burger and fries. There was no holding back tonight.

"Judging how fast you guzzled down that scotch I would guess that today was pretty shitty." She sipped her wine, watching him take another swig of his scotch.

"I wasn't kidding. I haven't eaten a damn thing today and the lawyer defending that baseball player is a real piece of work. Every time I asked a question, he had some kind of objection." He shook his head. "Did you talk to Avery today?"

"Yes, I did. But we can talk about the case later. Let's just be normal people right now." There was that sincere smile again. Whatever mood he was in before didn't matter now. Though that might be the scotch talking. Either way, it didn't matter.

Barba took his coat off, rolled up his sleeves, and loosened his tie. He began jabbering on about some news story he saw on the news earlier. With two scotches sitting in his empty belly, it was beginning to take its effect. Oliva finished her wine and was drinking her second one. While she didn't have a particularly hard day, she was following Barba's lead. If he was letting his hair down so to speak, then she would too.

Once their food came and Barba had another scotch working its magic, the topic of the squad came up. Olivia told him all she knew about all of them. Where they came from, where they worked before, their relationships, etc.

"You know, you and I are a lot alike. We would rather talk about other people and their problems than talk about ourselves. Does that make us selfless or guarded?" Barba shrugged, as he dug into his food.

"I'm not sure," Olivia began before taking a bite of her burger. "Maybe a little bit of both."

Their conversation quieted down as they ate their food. Olivia finished another glass of wine. They both were working on their fourth. As Barba extended his arm to wave down the bartender, she noticed that his countdown was at zero. It was still fresh too. After six months, countdowns eventually dull in color like an aged tattoo.

"Congratulations, by the way." After she finished her burger, she brought the conversation back up.

Bewilderment flooded his face. "On what? Being drunk and full?"

"No. Finding your soulmate." She said motioning to his wrist.

His smile disappeared and he looked back down at his food. "It's really nothing great. I would rather not know." He shoveled another piece of food into his mouth, hoping she would drop the subject.

"In a way it is nice not knowing. But at the same time, it isn't. I met one person who I thought was my soulmate but I guess I was wrong because they just disappeared without a goodbye." Sadness swept across her face. "Maybe if I had a countdown to tell me who was worth fighting for, I would have not fought so hard for him."

"Soulmate or not, you shouldn't just disappear on someone you care about. While I'm sure that person meant a lot to you, obviously they didn't deserve it. You have plenty of people who care about you. Don't focus on the one person who walked away while you have a mini-army of people who would fight wars for you." He moved closer toward her and placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. "Maybe that's why you don't have a countdown. You were destined to have many people love you." Despite realizing that everything he said was cheesy as all hell, he was thankful he had alcohol in his system to actually say it.

The way she looked at him took his breath away, just for a moment. She was smiling, but she was also incredibly grateful for his words. The urge to kiss her then and there was overwhelming. He quickly moved his hand away from her shoulder and scooted back into his chair.

"Thank you Rafael. I needed that. People usually avoid the subject of Elliot all together. I mean, I do it too but sometimes I think that I'm not completely over it because I haven't talked about it enough." This time it was her who placed her hand on his shoulder. She removed it after a few moments.

Barba had another scotch as Olivia talked about Elliot. She told him everything he needed to know about Elliot: his family, some of their cases together, and even the romantic and sexual feelings she harbored for him in all their years together. He didn't say a thing, he just listened. Which is all Olivia wanted.

By the time 11 rolled around, Barba was completely wasted. He barely remembered Olivia paying for the meal and getting him into the cab. He does however remember Olivia walking him into his condo. She dug the keys out of his pocket and helped him inside. It had been so long since he's been this plastered. She led him to his bedroom. He sat on his bed, attempting to get his suit coat off. Instead of watching him struggle, she helped him out of his coat. She also took off his tie and shoes. Within seconds, he was face down in his pillows with his eyes closed.

"Thank you." He slurred. "I'm glad you're the one." His words trailed off into steady breathes. He was out.

Olivia suddenly felt very sober. What did that mean? "You're welcome. I'll see you tomorrow."

She turned off his bedroom light and left his home. The rest of her ride home was wondering what in the hell he meant by "I'm glad you're the one."

Uhoh! Barba made an oopsie!

Sorry to those hoping for some Barson makeout sessions. ;)
This fic is going to be a slow burn.
But trust me, it will be worth it when the time comes.
I hope you enjoyed ~