No Strings

Chapter 10

It was just after lunch and to say it had been a pretty shitty day was to say the least. You were trapped at your desk, attempting to work out a new case as Carisi worked the same one across from you, the pain in your side subsiding slowly as the Tylenol made its way into your system. It’d only been a few weeks since the Olivia’s birthday. When the day started off, you’d been heading to talk to a suspect with Sonny, and then make a beeline for the D.A’s office with substantial evidence to grant a warrant. That had been almost 5 hours ago, and when Rafael got impatient, it was only natural he would show up at he precinct, annoyed at the incompetency of the NYPD yet again.

You and Sonny were heavily buried in paperwork, case files spread across your desks, frequently passed back and fourth with notes attached as you would move onto a different piece of evidence, neither of you noticed your guest in the squad room.

“I believe I was supposed to have a detective at my office by now?” His voice caused you to jump, then wince lightly, looking up, the man was not happy, and even less so now that he’d had to waste his time coming down to the squad. Carisi, fired up and not impressed either, shot back before you had a chance to even open your mouth.

“We’re all a little busy counsellor.”  He gestured to the covered desks in front of him, Barba scoffed, rolling his eyes before glancing at you.

“Y/L/N, you’re coming with me.” He turned, starting to leave the squad room,

“Nope.” You proclaimed, watching Raf come to a harsh halt, stalking back towards you while you gestured in front of you “….Desk duty…”

“What have you done this time?” You scoffed, more than offended with his harsh attitude, before you could call him on it, Fin called out from across the room.

“She got shot.”

“Excuse me?!” The Cuban in front of you was clearly not okay with this, his heart jumping into his chest, you’d been hurt, and he didn’t know how badly, it nearly felt like he could throw up,  you, however, rolled your eyes.

“Barba, calm down.” 

“You expect me to calm down?” He nearly shouted, Carisi immediately jumped into action across from you.

“Hey! Leave her alone!”

“Why do you care so much?!” You retorted.

“I think the A.D.A. deserves to know if an NYPD officer gets shot by a perp, kind of important to the case detective!” His voice was stern, he wasn’t happy. Sonny sighed heavily from across from you, speaking before you had a chance,

“It wasn’t a perp…”He was quiet, he may not have known your history with Barba but he was already admitting defeat, “She’s not the only one on desk duty,”

“You’re telling me you’re that bad of a shot?” Barba looked like he might kill your partner, you gave his hip a swift hit, 

“HEY!” Rafael looked down at you, “The bullet ricocheted, and I was in the line of fire. It wasn’t his fault.” You took a breath, glancing at the way Rafael looked down at you, “It just grazed me, paramedics treated me at the scene.”

“You didn’t bother to call?” He was always so quick witted it felt like the entire conversation was on fast forward.

“And this matters why?” Fin cut in again, as Barba exploded,

“Because I think if my girlfriend gets shot I think I deserve the right to know!”

The squad room fell silent, you could feel Olivia’s sly smile from across the room, you glanced up at Rafael, eyebrow cocked.

“Girlfriend?” You mouthed, not even needing to look across at Sonny before you chucked a paperweight at him.

“Personal relations aside…”Benson glanced in your direction, “We need everyone on this case…” Before she headed into a conference room, the squad slowly following her.

“I swear to god Sonny….” You could feel his eyes burning into you with that dopey smile on his lips as he followed Olivia as you pushed your chair back, wincing in pain as you stood up, Rafael’s hands were floating around your sides before you could even imagine, wanting to caress you without causing you any pain. You leaned back against your desk as you looked at him, smiling gently.

“Are you sure you’re okay mi amor?” He gently asked, you smiled back at him.

“Yes…do you really feel that way?” You gaze was hesitant, you knew he cared about you, but you weren’t sure where you stood. Rafael’s hand floated up, stroking your cheek.

“Of course.” He smiled at you kissing you gently, you smiled back at him, incredibly happy. You didn’t notice Fin’s head pop around the corner,

“Hey! Lovebirds, Liv still needs you in here!” He called from the conference room, you both laughed gently before joining them, Rafaela hand guiding your lower back the entire way.