Work Text:
SHIP: Barson
Request: Soulmate AU
Rafael Barba’s daemon settled on a Tiger out of the blue when he was thirteen. Luna had never turned into an animal bigger than a husky her entire life until one morning Rafael woke up with a tiger trying to curl up on his chest. To say he had nearly screamed the house down would be the understatement of the year. Rafael expected her to change back into something smaller, but she never did, his father had been proud for the first time in Rafael’s life; telling Rafael that at least his daemon wasn’t such a softie like him.
At first, Rafael couldn’t figure out why the perfect representation of his should was a tiger but as he got older, he began to understand. He found himself almost fearless in the eye of danger and although he never had to fight physically (he had Eddie to protect him) he did learn to challenge those bigger than him and be able to win. He learned to remain calm and pounce at the right moment when to turn away and lick his wounds until he rose through the ranks and became the man his grandmother always knew he could be.
Luna bickered with him all the time, sometimes he swore he looked mad if everyone else around him wasn’t doing the exact same thing. The thing with daemons was everyone could see them but only you and your soulmate could speak to them. No one had ever spoken with Luna but him, sometimes he thinks that’s for the best when she tells him off for acting to rashly or being too rude, or for letting someone hurt him she never trusted.
Luna understood his distaste for soulmates, his mother and father were soulmates and all that man ever did was hurt her. But even still, she always told him not to give up, that he would find someone someday that would treat him right. But as he got older and Luna had still never been able to have a conversation with anyone but him, even she was beginning to doubt the whole thing.
Until one day, Captain Harris introduced Rafael to Olivia Benson. Luna was standing by Rafael’s side, remaining quiet, watching as Rafael flirted with the two women he was introduced to before he was then rude to them both, interrupting them, acting cocky as he always defaulted to when meeting new people. But Luna was Rafael’s soul, and she could see that flare of something when he looked at Olivia Benson.
Luna had a feeling she knew what this meant, but she also knew that if she told Rafael he would run as far as possible in the other direction. So, she said nothing, the lion by Olivia’s side circled Luna their feline eyes meeting, and Luna felt like the lion knew what she was thinking because the lion did the same and stayed completely silent during the exchange. So, Rafael’s soulmate was as skittish as he was, no wonder they were meant to be.
--
Luna and Althea wait for their humans to bond, remaining silent around the other, allowing them to grow closer and closer until regardless of soulmates, Olivia and Rafael begin to fall for each other. Once it starts though, the two are like a snowball on a hill, their falling in love, that love growing every moment until it's undeniable to everyone around them.
Except them of course.
Rafael and Olivia are in love with each other and neither of them knows it and if their daemons weren’t so invested on letting them find out on their own, they would just scream at their humans to open their eyes.
--
Rafael got shot on a Tuesday, a fairly ordinary Tuesday, he woke up to a text from Liv wishing him luck in court, he got coffee at the little café around the corner that knew his order and had it ready for him when he came in. Carmen sent him his schedule for the day, and he went to court. He won the trial, sent a rapist to jail and was on his way out the courthouse to meet Liv for a celebratory lunch.
And then there was pain, then he felt cold, people were standing over him and then there was darkness.
Before he passed out, only one thing was on his mind, a regret… he should have told her.
--
Liv hears the gunshot, but couldn’t tell which direction it came from, the sound bouncing off the buildings until it could have come from anywhere. Her first thought is Rafael, she calls him, but he doesn’t answer, she tries not to worry, he always forgets to turn his phone back on after court.
“Courthouse,” Althea tells her and Liv feels her heart lurch.
They run to the courthouse, a few blocks away just in time to see an ambulance race away in the direction of the nearest hospital. There is blood on the steps, and Liv looks for his face in the crowd but doesn’t find it.
Olivia runs to the top of the steps and asks a security guard what happened.
“Gunman came out of nowhere and just shot this guy on his way down the steps,” the guard responds, his face pale and she can see clear as day that he is shaken by the whole ordeal, Althea not doing much to put him at ease, his own dog cowering away from the big cat.
“Do you know who was shot?” She asks praying that it’s not Rafael, she feels guilty for saying it, but she couldn’t bear to lose him without telling him how she feels.
She’s wasted so much time.
“It was of the ADA’s; you know the one in the snappy suits.”
Liv almost collapses there and then; her knees struggling to hold her up but somehow, she remains standing. She asks him which hospital he was taken to and before he can even finish his sentence she and Althea are rushing back to her car and driving to the hospital.
Liv lies to the receptionist, telling her that Rafael is her unbonded soulmate, she doesn’t believe it will work but after a few moments, the receptionist shows her through to the waiting room. She’s told Rafael is in surgery and they don’t know if he will make it but she sits there and waits.
Althea reminds her to text Lucy to hold on to Noah, explaining that she doesn’t know when she will get home. Lucy understands and tells her not to worry about Noah and focus on Rafael.
The second's tick by, every minute feeling like an hour until the worry made her fall asleep, Althea staying awake sitting in front of her human. Eventually, Liv is woken by Althea as a doctor walks into the waiting room, she can’t see his expression behind the mask, and she walks over to meet him.
“How is he?”
“Resting, the surgery went well, he lost a lot of blood, but he will pull through. You can go through to see him shortly.”
Olivia almost collapsed in relief; he was ok. When Rafael was settled in his room, Olivia was shown through by a nurse, he looked so small lying in the bed, Luna lying at the foot of the bed, her head raising but when she sees Liv and Althea she lowers is back on to her paws.
Liv takes the seat beside Rafael and finds herself taking his hand between her own, when he wakes an hour or so later, he’s groggy and in pain so she gets the nurse to help ease his discomfort. Luna places a paw on his thigh, and he reaches down trying not to pull his stitches to stroke softly along her paw, the tiger purring softly.
“How are you feeling?” Rafael tilts his head towards where she is sitting, the medication making his expression so much softer and carefree.
“Like I’ve been shot,” the snark was still there at least, and she finds herself smiling despite her worry.
“I thought I was going to lose you,” she confides, her hands gripping his tighter.
He smiles, looking at her with tired green eyes that still manage to sparkle like emeralds in the harsh hospital light.
“I’m not going anywhere, Liv. I’m afraid you’re stuck with me…” she doesn’t respond verbally, instead of standing and cupping his jaw to him softly.
She breaks away long enough to see the expression of happiness on his face before kissing him again.
“I love you, Rafael Barba, don’t ever do this to me again.”
“She says that like it’s his fault he got shot,” Luna can’t help herself and doesn’t realise what she’s done until Althea nudges her paw with her head.
“Well done, genius,” Althea scolds, Luna looks confused before looking back to the two humans who are staring at them, before looking back at each other.
“Did you-” They said at the same time, cutting each other off.
“Soulmates?” Rafael asks, struggling to come up with any more words than that.
“Soulmates.” Olivia nods, grin matching his before kissing him again.