"Christ."

"Nobody's forcing you to prosecute," Olivia gently told him. It was heartbreaking for all to witness a couple very much in love on opposite sides of believing what was best for their child.

"If I don't, I'm telling the world that baby Drew has no rights," Barba countered.

"What about his right to die?" Rollins asked.

"Unfortunately, that's not in the Constitution."

"Okay, uh, let's find out if daddy's little excursion yesterday caused the baby any harm."

"So you can let Aaron go with a clear conscience."

"So I can prosecute, and maybe get some sleep in the next decade or so."

Olivia had seen Barba worked up before, but nothing quite like he was right then. She kept herself occupied for an hour, but then she made her way to his office. She entered without requesting permission and closed the door audibly behind her. "Talk to me."

Barba took a deep, shaky breath. "I can't."

"Rafa, please," Olivia begged softly.

"I'm going to offer him probation."

"Okay. That sounds like a good compromise."

"A 'good compromise'? No such thing." Barba slammed back the rest of his drink and couldn't hold the tears back anymore.

"Rafa…" Olivia went to him and hugged him tightly. "You don't have to say anything. Just let me do this."

Barba clung to her tightly, embarrassed that he couldn't stop from sobbing into her shoulder.

Olivia held him as long as he would let her.

"I have to speak to my client."

"Now? You can hardly speak to me." Olivia tenderly wiped a stray tear from his cheek.

"That's different." He choked out, stepping out of her grasp.

"Call me when you're home. Please."

But he didn't.

"Rafa, what the hell?'

"Latte, right?"

"I don't want coffee." Olivia stared him down. "You killed the baby?"

"I expedited his passing."

"That's gonna be a tough hair to split in a courtroom."

'The courtroom's the last thing I was thinking of when I was in that hospital room."

"You could go to prison."

"You don't think I know that?" Barba was starting to choke up again. "Sometimes you have to act without concern for the consequences."

"Not you. You wear suspenders and a belt."

"I had no option."

Olivia blinked. Whatever this was, it wasn't happening. "I gotta fix this." She backed away, watching him before turning and running.

"Liv. Liv!" He called after her. "Liv, you can't help me."

And that was how Olivia Benson found herself with Rafael Barba in court, while he sat in a position she had never before witnessed: as the defendant.

"Have you spoken to Rafael Barba?"

"Actually, the law says I can't," answered Peter Stone.

"Look, forget the law for a minute. Look into his eyes, talk to him. That man lives in a place that the men who wrote the law don't even think about."

He wasn't budging. Every verbal push was met with a verbal shove. Olivia had enough. "That's the thing about you lawyers. You're always talking about the reasonable man. Let me tell you something. You wouldn't know a reasonable man if he fell out of the sky and he landed at your feet."

Every day of the trial, Olivia was there, in the closest seat to Barba as she could get, damn near holding her breath the entire time. But never so much as when the trial was drawing to its conclusion. She leaned forward in her seat, fingers steepled in front of her lips.

"Will the defendant please rise? Have you reached a verdict?'

"Yes, we have, your Honor. On the sole count of the indictment, murder in the second degree, we find the defendant, Rafael Barba: Not guilty."

Olivia let out a huge sigh of relief and sent a smile Barba's way. The tears came later.

"I feel so guilty about this." Olivia moved to stand beside Barba and his box of belongings.

"What did you do?"

"I called you about this case."

"You know, when we first started working together - what was it, five years ago?"

"Six," Olivia gently corrected.

Barba sighed deeply. "The world was an old movie. It was all black and white. And it was high noon. I was Gary Cooper." He chuckled. So did she. "I was absolutely sure absolutely who were the good guys, who were the bad guys. And then you. You started to weasel your way into my world, and the black and white became different shades of gray. Don't say it." More chuckling. "Before I knew it, there were blues and greens and yellows and reds." He was getting emotional and teary again. He sat his box down. "I'm you now, Liv. You opened my heart. And I thank you for it."

Olivia couldn't take her teary eyes off of him. "And?"

Trembling, Barba pulled her close and kissed her forehead. "You tell me."

Olivia took Barba's face in her hands. "Tu eres mi familia," she murmured. "Siempre." She let her forehead touch his. "I'm going to arrange for Auntie Amanda to take Noah tonight, and I'm going to help you get that box home."

Barba nodded slowly, the action causing them to rub noses.

Olivia stepped back to make the call. "Hi, Amanda. I know. Another big adjustment, but listen, I will do this seven times over for you if you do it for me this once. Tonight. Auntie nephew sleepover. I'll let Lucy know."

"Which home?" Barba asked.

"Yours," Olivia answered. "For now."