Takes place immediately after Sanctuary. Mild spoilers as a result. Enjoy!
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When Dodd's leaves, Rafael stays in Olivia's office, watching her gather up her things. You should leave work here tonight, he thinks, but doesn't say. Instead, he leans back in the chair he's found himself in, feigning some level of comfort, when in fact, he's nervous as hell. "Liv," he says, matter-of-factly, desperate to get her to stop what she's doing and pay attention to him. He wants to talk about the case, talk about what he meant when he said that she could corroborate the story without lying.
People have done that for you before, Liv. And this, this is hardly the same.
"Barba," she finally responds, her voice forceful, teetering on angry. "What? What do you want from me?"
Taken aback, he says nothing. The question is loaded and he's not sure any of his answers are going to be good ones. They've just heard about the bombing in East Harlem. Their nerves are frayed after the Samra case. Still: what does he want? After a silence that's gone on too long, he manages to get out, "I want you to not be angry with me."
Olivia tosses her phone, keys, and a notebook into her briefcase, before becoming still enough to look him in the eyes, "I'm not mad. I told you I wasn't upset and I meant it. That's becoming increasingly less true the longer we have this conversation." She sighs and stares at her desk. "It's been a really long week. I'm exhausted. My son will probably be asleep when I get home, which means I haven't put him to bed in 3 days," at this, she looks at him and he's alarmed to see that her eyes are brimming over with tears. "I just can't do this. Not tonight."
"Liv, I—"
"We can talk tomorrow, okay?"
Rafael nods, but it's reluctant. "I'm holding you to that," he says, as she picks up her bag and coat. He realizes this is his cue and he stands. "Have a good night, Lieutenant," he tells her pointedly, as he walks out.
