Greg Woods' parents were divorced. Olivia had discovered that when they had split his mother, Christine, had reverted to her maiden name, Thompson. Using this information she had found there was an apartment in his mother's name that they hadn't previously been aware of, and she thought it likely that he was hiding out there. She had contacted Barba, and he had secured a warrant for them to search the place.

"We know he's armed so I want vests on," Liv called to the team as they arrived at the address. "Carisi, take these two officers and cover the alley, he may try the fire escape." Carisi nodded and motioned to the uniforms to follow him as he rounded the corner into the alley. "Fin, Rollins, you're with me. Let's go." Liv finished. She had wanted to keep Amanda out of this, given what she now knew, or at least suspected, about her. She couldn't think of an excuse to leave the blonde behind though, so she just resolved to stay close and protect her as much as she could.

The three of them made their way to the third-floor apartment quickly and quietly. With a nod to her two detectives they all drew their weapons and stood ready as Liv hammered on the door. "Gregory Woods," She shouted through the door, "NYPD we have a warrant to search the premises." There was no answer but they heard scuffling from inside. Liv stood back, allowing Fin to kick the door open, then she entered first, quickly followed by Fin then Amanda. While the other two cleared rooms left and right, Liv moved straight forward to where she thought she had caught a flash of movement.

Sure enough as she rounded the corner, she glimpsed the butt of a pistol descending quickly towards her head. "GUN!" She shouted as she dodged the blow, grabbing the wrist of the hand holding the gun pushing the muzzle away from her colleagues as it fired. The bullet embedded itself harmlessly in the headboard of the bed. She slammed the wrist she held into the nearby wall, hard, causing Woods to release a pained roar and drop the weapon. By now Amanda had joined the tussle and had hold of his other arm and the back of his neck, forcing his face against the wall as Liv managed to get a handcuff around his wrist. Between the two women they managed to get the other cuff on and Fin secured the gun.

Amanda grinned at Liv, "your collar."

Olivia nodded and began reading Woods his Miranda rights. Fin radioed Carisi to tell him they had him in custody. The small group made their way down to the squad cars, all the while Gregory Woods shouted about how 'the bitch got what she deserved' and 'nobody dumps me and gets away with it'. That's it, Liv thought to herself, keep talking, go on, hang yourself with a confession.

-x-

By 6.30pm the precinct was deserted. Fin and Carisi had taken Woods down to central booking to await his arraignment on Monday. The idiot had been more than willing to confess, the asshole liked the sound of his own voice too much for his own good. By the time he had thought to ask for a lawyer, it was already too late.

The only two people left in the 1-6 now were Lieutenant Benson and Detective Rollins. "Nice work today Rollins," Liv said as she passed the younger woman's desk on the way to the printer. "Thanks for the assist with Woods."

"Anytime Liv," Amanda said without looking up from the report she was writing. "Smug bastard had it comin'."

Liv checked her watch and seeing the time she said, "go home Amanda, make the most of your weekend. There's nothing here that can't wait until Monday."

Amanda motioned to the paper she was working on, "I've almost finished this, I'll call it a night then." She smiled at the brunette. "What about you anyway? Shouldn't you be getting home to Noah?"

Liv grimaced, brandishing the papers she had just retrieved from the printer. "Deadlines." She said, "Got to get this done and faxed today. Should only take me a half hour though." With that, she went back to her office to get started. After a few minutes she heard Amanda calling goodnight to her. "Goodnight Rollins, have a nice weekend." She responded and watched the blonde round the corner towards the exit. Twenty minutes later, she set the fax machine going and started gathering her things. Once she was sure the document had been sent, she shut off the lights in her office and headed home.

She had walked the length of the block to where she had parked her car that morning and was just putting her bags in the trunk when she remembered the folder she had meant to pick up to review over the weekend. She hesitated a moment, but guilt won out and she turned with a sigh, locking her car and trudged back towards the station to pick up the file. As she neared the building she glanced up, spotting a familiar figure heading to the precinct about fifty yards ahead of her.

Olivia stopped in the shadows of a closed shop doorway, hidden between two pools of light cast by the street lamps. She watched as Amanda glanced around before entering the building carrying a large duffel bag and with Frannie-Mae in tow. What the hell…? Olivia was very confused.

After a minute she pulled her phone out of her pocket and sent a quick text message.

Hey Manda, did you get home okay? Liv x

She watched the screen and saw the little speech bubble with three dots, indicating Amanda was typing a response. A moment later it appeared.

Yep, just got in. Gonna make some dinner and settle in for an Orange is the New Black marathon. A x

Liv sighed. Oh Manda, she thought, what's going on with you? She continued towards the precinct, but as she passed the lit window of a small café she paused. Ducking inside, she ordered two hot chocolates to go and then carried on to the station.

Up in the squad room she looked around, but it was all still in darkness, just as she had left it. Wondering if maybe Amanda was in the bathroom, she headed quietly in that direction, when she heard a door close upstairs. The cribs.

On soundless feet, she changed direction and made her way upstairs to the cribs. With a cup in each hand, she used her elbow to press down the handle and shoved the door open with her hip. As she entered the room, she heard a loud bark.

"Who's there," someone called. Olivia turned to find Amanda pointing her gun at her.

"Woah, don't shoot!" Olivia cried, holding up her hands, still holding the drinks she had bought. "It's just me."

"Liv?!" Amanda lowered her weapon, flicked the safety on and tossed it onto the bunk next to her. A look of shock and dismay on her face, combined with an embarrassed blush. "Jeez you almost gave me a heart attack. What are you doing here?"

Olivia raised an eyebrow at the detective, "I could ask you the same thing." She held out one of the cups to the blonde, who took it automatically. Liv steered her to sit down on the bunk, then sat herself down on the one opposite. "Manda what's going on? Are you living here?"

Knowing she was caught, Amanda's shoulders slumped. "Uh… sort of," she mumbled, "i-it's just temporary."

"But why?" Liv pressed, absentmindedly stroking Frannie's ears as the dog laid her head in the older woman's lap.

"I kinda… gotkickedoutofmyapartmentlastweekend." Amanda admitted in a rush, not meeting Liv's eyes.

Liv's eyes widened in disbelief. "What? Why? What happened?"

The blonde sighed and launched into her story. "When I moved in it was fully furnished. So I didn't have to worry about luggin' my crap halfway across the country. Well as you know my dear lil sister," her voice dripped sarcasm here, "cleared me out last year. Took everythin' except a few clothes. Basically anything she thought she could sell, she took." Olivia nodded, indicating that she was following the story so far, but didn't pass comment.

"Well," Amanda continued, "you know I told you the other day that I got a letter from the landlord about the rent going up?" Liv nodded again. "It's true, I did get a letter. But what I didn't mention is that he hand-delivered it to me and when he did, he noticed that most of the furniture in my apartment was missing." She ran her fingers agitatedly through her hair. "Needless to say, he was pissed. He told me I had to be out by the end of the weekend, and I could kiss my security deposit goodbye."

"Shit." Liv said in a low voice. "Can we fight it? If we replace the furniture, will he let you back in?"

Amanda shrugged, "I don't think there's much point, Liv. I can't afford to replace the furniture, and it would cost more than my deposit is worth. There's not much point me trying to get back in because I'm not going to be able to afford the rent once it increases anyway. Not now," she added under her breath. Liv caught the aside, but acted as though she hadn't heard. "I'm looking for a new place, I'll just have to stay here until I find one."

"You will do no such thing," Liv said forcefully, "you will come stay with me."

"Liv, I can't ask that of you," Amanda protested. "It's too much."

"You aren't asking, I'm offering." Liv countered, "you already spend too much time here, without sleeping here too. I know from experience that it's impossible to get a good night's sleep on these cots. Besides," Liv looked down at the pit bull's head, still in her lap, "this is no place for Frannie to live."

Amanda still looked unconvinced. "I can't expect you to put up with me and my dog, Liv."

"Come on Manda, this is ridiculous. I have a spare room, and Noah would get a kick out of having his 'Manna and Fwannie' around." She smiled as she mimicked her son's childish nicknames, neglecting to mention that she would also love to see more of the blonde outside of work.

"I don't know," Amanda said, "won't you get sick of seeing me?"

"You're my best friend, how can you even ask me that?" Liv laughed. "Tell you what, why don't you just come stay the weekend, and if you really can't stand it, then we will look at alternatives. But you can't stay here honey, it's not a long-term solution."

The blonde smiled, grudgingly, "alright. Just the weekend, and I'm buying dinner."

"Deal," Liv grinned as she stood and picked up Amanda's duffel bag. "Let's go, I'm starving."

As they made their way downstairs, Liv remembered to pick up her file, then the left the precinct. "Do you need anything out of your truck?" Olivia asked the younger woman, who shook her head. "Shall we just go in my car then?"

"Sure," Amanda replied, "Should we stop for take out on the way?"

"Yeah, okay," Liv replied, "What do you feel like?"

"How 'bout Chinese?" The blonde suggested.

"Great, there's a really nice one a couple of blocks from mine. They do amazing spring rolls." Liv said enthusiastically.

Amanda laughed at the excitement in Liv's voice over spring rolls. "Alright. Spring rolls it is!"