OK so firstly I feel a little guilty calling this chapter at least fanfiction, it is very much what you have all already seen and heard...however there is of course a little more to the story than that. For now it has a very easy T rating, think that is probably stretching it, but that will change for the next chapter...tastefully so I hasten to add, these two demand respect, well mine anyway. Apologies as ever for any faux pas of any kind...sometimes I just get carried away.

I hope you enjoy this, lets just call it a re-summation in my own words...and from someone else's perspective...please let me know your thoughts...

"She knows what she's doing."

ADA Rafael Barba said almost dismissively , giving Fin Tutuola a brief sidelong glance, as they watched Lieutenant Olivia Benson through the toughened glass of the interview room.

The hard-nosed Assistant District Attorney for Manhattan Special Victims, hoped his words sounded more convincing to the seasoned detective's ears than they did to his own.

Laurel Linwood had gone from potential rape victim to murder suspect in a very short space of time, and in that same, equally short space of time that Barba had been watching, first with Carisi and now with Fin, he had seen Olivia Benson become personally invested with this woman. Not that she didn't always, every time she gave it 100%, but he could see from their interactions and revelations, something resonated deeply with her, and the victim, now suspect seemed to be playing on that and knew precisely how to press Liv's buttons.

The two men continued to watch and listen, Barba had all but shut everything around him out, concentrating solely on the composed, coaxing voice he knew so well and that of the other woman as it became, quiet and then loud, pleasant and then hostile, it was a relentless rollercoaster ride of emotions…...for both women.

Clearly Barba's assertions that Liv knew what she was doing had either sounded as unconvincing to Fin's ears as they had his own, or the man who had known her the longest, and perhaps knew her the best had drawn his own conclusions as to how this interview was going, the turns it was taking, and clearly, he didn't like it.

Barba looked on as he quietly, but determinedly opened the door, halting the exchange between his long-time colleague and Laurel Linwood, suggesting that they needed to talk. Even though her face was turned away from him and partially obscured by her long dark hair, the ADA could imagine the look on her face at his words, at his interruption. Compounded even more so by her harsh tone when she cut him short, arms folded as told him once more.

"I said not now."

Fin closed the door, saying nothing as he once again resumed his position at Barba's side to watch and listen. For a few moments anyhow until Olivia Benson walked across the small room; cast almost in darkness now as the storm which had been rumbling around for most of the afternoon closed in on them, the rain lashing against the windows shrouded them in an almost night like darkness, and she dropped the privacy blind and silenced the audio.

Barba straightened, in irritation, if not entirely in surprise, throwing an angry, and frustrated look at the other man. The "I told you" remained unsaid but hung in the crackling air between the two of them.

Rafael Barba's own heightened emotions were riding an equally fast and uneven path, as the professional, detached attorney vied with Liv's incredibly concerned friend. In the silence of the observation area, he found his mind wandering back to an earlier exchange between the two women. Laurel Linwood had been talking about hate, pure and simple, she had called it, describing how it bubbled away inside of you, spreading until you had to do something, or it will eat you alive. Empathising with the woman Liv asked her what she'd done? Screeching, exasperated and angry, Laurel Linwood had thrown the words back at Olivia, asking what she had done. His friend, with her usual calmness, had candidly admitted to, "beating him with a metal rod". Barba's own fears had intensified, his mouth parching as his heart lurched, knowing how painful dredging up those memories would have been for Liv.

When she'd told Laurel Linwood that she'd been doing this for a long time, not for the first time Barba found himself wondering, not so much if it had been too long, but just what the real toll and personal sacrifice had been for Olivia. In his heart of hearts, as the concerned friend, he didn't blame Fin for his earlier actions.

Finally, after what they could only assume was another volatile and emotional exchange between cop and suspect, Olivia she came out for some water. It was just a brief respite;

Fin tried to tell her once more she was done, his words once more fell on deaf ears.

Rollins offered to take over for her.

"You couldn't get her to say word one." Olivia responded crossly.

Carisi tried with his ten cents worth. Assuring Olivia that she had gotten as close as she would to a confession. Olivia rounded on him to.

"Do you know what happened in that apartment?" She snapped with the same anger she had directed at Rollins.

Without giving him a chance to respond she continued. "Cos, I don't"

Water bottle in hand, she strode purposefully back towards the interview room.

Barba attempted to put himself between her and door, head bowed, he spoke.

"It's not worth it Liv." His voice was soft and gentle, his green eyes all but avoiding her angry brown.

"It's just another case." She assured him in a tone that would tolerate no further discussion or reasoning, moving decisively through the door, she went back into the interview room.

Barba exchanged a look or resignation and anguish with Fin, they had all tried their best, they had all failed, and they all knew better than to argue with Olivia Benson, when she was in this frame of mind. Now all any of them could do was stand at the window, watch and listen.

Barba found himself thrown straight back on that same unremitting rollercoaster of emotions, torn between detached professional and concerned friend, it wasn't a position he like to be in. This time there was no competition, the concerned friend was winning hands down, he wanted Olivia Benson out of that room, and sooner rather than later. However professional she was, no matter how long she had been doing this, today was definitely taking its toll and he could see just how much with his own anxious eyes.

The moment the ADA heard Laurel Linwood admit that she had waited until Greg Harvey was asleep before she stabbed him, he instructed the SVU detectives.

"Do it" He said firmly, his arms folded, his penetrative green gaze unwavering from the scene before him.

He watched in that self-same way as Carisi and Rollins entered the room, escorting Laurel Linwood away. Fin went back to the squad room, leaving Rafael Barba voyeuristically watching an emotionally drained Olivia Benson sitting at the small, stark table.

For a few moments he simply stood there, unmoving, not having the faintest idea what the hell he was going to say, let alone do. He'd seen the SVU detective at some of her lowest points, both physically and mentally shattered, each time his heart ached for her a little bit more. Everything he wanted to do as her friend, as man, prohibited by the professionalism of a colleague.

He slipped quietly into the room; Barba had broad shoulders, so she could shout at him, scream at him, possibly even lash out if she felt the need. He could take it, she was his friend, seeing her like this hurt him more than he could ever put into words, he had to be there for her, for whatever she needed. If she shouted at him, screamed at him and even lashed out at him, then maybe at this moment it was exactly what she needed. His large, soothing hand came to rest gently and reassuringly on her hunched shoulder, beneath his light touch, he could feel her trembling, from a vast array of emotions he knew.

She didn't shout, she didn't scream, she didn't lash out or even pull away from his touch, she just seemed to absorb his presence, his strength and his comfort. Barba felt her take a long, deep steadying breath before she finally spoke. Her voice quivered just as her body did.

"Raffa" Her voice was barely audible over the still raging storm outside.

It drifted to his ears in the dimness of the room, brightly lit intermittently by flashes of forked lightening. Her use of his given name had taken some getting used to, he'd been Barba or councillor for so long. After that it hadn't taken very long for it to take on it's abbreviated form, and even now when it really shouldn't, the sound sent an odd little frisson of searing warmth through him. Barba didn't speak in response his fingers simply tightened against her shoulder.

"Get me out of here, please…"