Valley of Tomorrows

Summary: Follows the storyline of Townhouse Incident and beyond through the eyes of Rafael Barba. How will healing take place? Will they be able to work through whatever demons resurface? And what happens when Noah's health is compromised in ways neither of them saw coming? Established Barson.

Disclaimer: I don't own Law & Order: SVU, any of the characters, or any of the storylines referenced from the television show. I am making no profit off of this work of fiction. Any names, places, or events having similarity to real life occurrences are simply coincidence. Title comes from the song Valley of Tomorrow by Needtobreathe.

A/N: Short chapter... Roxie's back. Hah. I was on vacation last weekend and then life has been crazy. This is not abandoned, though! Promise! Just had to find time to write it. Review if you get a chance, because I appreciate them and love them! Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 6

Barba stood in Olivia's office. Noah was being kept company by his mother until Lucy arrived at the hospital mid-morning. Olivia had her first day back at work, and they'd met Dodds bright and early so she could receive her gun and badge back, being deemed competent to hold a weapon and not be at risk to harm herself or others with it. He was leaning haphazardly against her desk, listening to her sift through paperwork that was awaiting her.

Their weekend had been spent watching Noah improve at the hospital with no real answers. His fever had lowered with antibiotics, but his test results seemed to come back mostly normal. Nonetheless, but last night he had returned to his normal self, playing with blocks in his hospital crib and carrying on conversations with Rafael and Olivia about whatever popped into his three-year-old mind. He had even started eating again.

Once his finished his new round of antibiotics, Noah would go to his pediatrician for a follow-up. Olivia had insisted she would look for more answers and fought the longer course of medication, but in the end the doctors won out.

Rafael had mostly kept quiet. He had limited parenting experience. Olivia hadn't hesitated to remind him in the hospital of some of his earliest interactions with their son. They were both getting used to the feeling of combining their lives into one. So much so, that talks escalated quickly in terms of talking about Rafael adopting Noah, too. Yet, they had other steps to take first and speaking through the logistics had been too much in hushed tones in the corner of a hospital room while they let Noah rest. Too many steps had to be taken – steps that needed to happen in the right order and at the right times.

Rafael sat next to the crib-turned-bed in Noah's hospital room, his finger held tightly in the young boy's fist. He heard Noah's monitors beeping steadily and watched the IV drip slowly, medicine that was supposed to heal the illness causing pain and discomfort. In the background, Olivia's breathing was steady. He glanced over his shoulder, smiling to himself as he took her in. She was beautiful – even in exhaustion. She'd insisted on staying awake with Noah that first night in the hospital and Rafael had gone home to sleep before returning first thing in the morning, taking the next shift.

Yet, upon his arrival, complete with freshly washed hair and stubble from not wanting to waste the time on a clean shave, Olivia refused to leave. Which was exactly why he had come with a bagel and clean clothing for her. He'd managed to finagle an extra warm blanket from Noah's nurse and got Olivia comfortable and covered in a chair before returning his attention to Noah, who was also sleeping.

They remained mostly interrupted, Noah's fussing easily abated by Rafael's soothing voice, humming lullabies he remembered his abuelita singing to him on sleepless nights. It seemed to work, and he was thankful. The only other invasion into their too-sterile room was the occasional nurse checking vitals and one visit from a hospital doctor, who insisted that the fever was dropping and that it was a good sign, but they had no other news.

His own eyes drifted shut as he held his watch. Rafael didn't know how long he had been resting when Olivia's voice pulled him out of his semi-conscious state.

"Do you remember the first time you held him?" she asked, her voice filled with the laziness that came from trying to fight the hold slumber could have. "You made fun of how messy my apartment was and then held him like he had just had an explosive diaper and you didn't want it on your precious three-piece suit."

Rafael laughed quietly, his own tired mind reaching back to the memory. That day had been the first time he realized what the world might be like if Olivia lost her son. If Johnny D got to take away the person who had come to matter most to her. The fear in her voice and the hollow look in her eyes as she hugged her son close, her cheek pressed to his hair, was forever imprinted in his memory. Rafael would never intentionally

"It didn't take long for me to fall in love with him, though. Or you," he said quietly, eyes trained on the small child in front of him. "Nor did it take long to get used to holding him. I'm sure he appreciated the development in that skill set as well."

"He loves you, you know," she stated, her voice insistent as she walked across the room. He listened to her footsteps and relaxed into the hand that she placed on his shoulder.

"This is my family," he agreed gently. "No changing that. The good news, though, is that his fever is down."

He felt her lips press against his cheek, though Rafael didn't move any further and allowed the moment to simply be. Sometimes, sitting in the silence – even when it was infiltrated by the beeps of machines and monitors – was more than enough comfort for both of them.

Fin knocked on the door to Olivia's office and Rafael quickly stood from the spot he was perched at, reaching for his jacket as though to signal that he was leaving. Olivia motioned for her detective to enter and instead stood to the opposite side of her desk, placing a hand on his forearm. His eyes locked with hers and he nodded once, leaning against the desk again.

His eyes trailed over to Fin's face, taking in his reaction. He smirked. It was smug, and almost made Rafael feel angry, but to his surprise, relief flooded his body. Fin knew. It was obvious. Of course he did, though. He had worked with Olivia longer than anyone else in that precinct. He knew her almost as well as Rafael did. In the times of talking through secrets, he knew that Fin held some of Olivia's and he held them close. He had helped her – saved her, even – when things seemed impossible.

"Welcome back," he smiled, holding out his hand in an offering for Olivia. She easily slipped her hand into his before pulling him close and embracing him in a firm, but completely platonic embrace. "I thought I'd catch you up before we found ourselves in full-force. It's been a crazy few weeks."

Olivia nodded, quickly stepping back and sitting behind her desk again, motioning to the chairs across from her for both men to sit.

It was Fin's next comment that seemed to catch them both off guard, however.

"Although, I'm going to bet that the counselor here has taken care of that for me. That's what the early morning visit was for, right?"

Rafael glanced between Olivia and Fin, letting her control the moment. She's the one that didn't want to drop anything on the squad yet. She's the one who wanted to take disclosure slow. Yet, he knew that wasn't how things worked in SVU. Even personal lives seemed to become the business of everyone around them.

Olivia pushed a stray hair behind her ear, folding her hands in front of her on her desk and leaning forward slightly. She smiled as she caught Rafael's eye and he knew what was happening. The twinkle was mischievous, but full of love.

"You know, fill me in on cases, bring me a cup of coffee, give me a kiss before he left for his own office," she offered playfully, waiting for Fin's reaction. She was testing the waters. Rafael could see it. If Fin reacted well, she might be ready to let her entire team know.

And did he ever want the team to know. If the team knew, he could shout it from the mountaintops.

Or grab her ass whenever he wanted.

Rafael shook his own head, catching the attention of the others as his lips turned upward in a small, but definite, smile. No, he would never be allowed to grab her ass at work. Yet, a man could dream.

"'Bout damn time," Fin smiled with a nod. "How long?"

"Since the day after Noah's adoption was finalized," Olivia admitted without missing a beat. "Officially, at least."

Rafael heard his phone ding with a text message and pulled it out, frowning. "I'm needed at my office," he breathed, voice filled with more tension than he wanted to let on. "I'll text you about lunch. I don't know how long this meeting will take, but I'll let you know."

He stood up, each action hurried as he walked around Olivia's desk, kissing her cheek.

Olivia nodded as she watched him approach the door, pausing only to turn and make eye contact with Fin. "I expect you toe be discreet, Tutuola. We've kept this a secret for some time and the last thing we need is all of New York's finest murmuring about it at the water cooler."

The prosecutor didn't even wait for an answer as he let himself out of the precinct. He knew he would have to explain himself to Olivia later, but didn't also didn't feel the need to worry her. Noah coming home was a big enough event for the afternoon. His meeting did not need to be on his radar.

He successfully avoided conversation with Carisi as he slipped on a coat and left the precinct.

Walking into the small conference room afforded his guests at Hogan Place – having insisted they not enter his office without his presence – he dropped his briefcase on the chair next to where he would be sitting, facing down both an attorney and her client – one whom he was surprised to see wearing something other than an orange jumpsuit.

"Ms. Volkov," he nodded at the suspect. "Mr. Shankman, your client surrendered. I'm not sure what you're expecting from this meeting."

"We have something you may be interested in," the legal aid attorney offered. Rafael frowned. He didn't like where this was going, and he was barely willing to hear it out. Barely. "Roxie, would you care to share or should I?"

The redhead bit her lower lip, nodding slowly. "It would be my pleasure."