“I take it back,” Barba says, a few lines in. “I thought we were past you trying to tell me how to do my job.”
Carisi springs into action. “Oh, that’s just… That’s not supposed to be in there.” He tries to snatch the paper away, but Barba pulls it out of reach just in time.
“Ah, no. I’m reading this, if you hadn’t noticed.” Sue him, he’s curious now.

Carisi's evening runs the gamut: he gets a word of warning, an invitation, and a word of praise.

Post-episode 18.11, Great Expectations.

It’s not often Barba has a reason to exercise a set of skills separate from those as a prosecutor. While sat in a holding cell nursing a broken nose, Carisi learns he’s as sharp as ever.

(A missing-scene fic from 16x15 “Undercover Mother.”)

“You’re a good detective, Carisi.” Barba slips off the table gracefully, gathering all the cards up. “Do what you’re sure of.”

Sonny considers this for a moment, and then flips his note-pad shut, helping to stack everything back in order. “Thanks,” he repeats, and they get their coats, ready to call it a day. Sonny opens the door, and ushers them out. “I’ll review the confession tonight.”

“Do that.” Barba pats him on the shoulder, just a light touch, before they part ways on the steps. The feeling lingers, even as Sonny steps into the light of day. “Good day, Carisi.”

“See you, Barba.”

-

Set during S17xE09. Moments during, before and after. Basically canon-compliant.

Sonny was alone.

The room was empty and his mind was full and he had never felt so alone in his entire life as he did just then, coat folded over his legs and eyes trained on the state seal at the front of the room. Blue and gold, dulled in the low light and unflinching in the face of Sonny’s scrutiny.

He’d been there half an hour now, just staring.

It was all he could do, all he could process after weeks of sitting in a sanctuary and agonizing. Punishing himself, punishing everyone else. Asking for forgiveness only to later stubbornly deny that it was needed. Whatever peace the walls of his church had once offered was gone now, deserted in the face of sins Sonny was unable to contemplate or comprehend or carry for himself. It seemed fitting, then, that he’d left his own church and found himself here, in Barba’s.

This is where they began.

“Love is a sacrament that should be taken kneeling, and domine non sum dignus should be on the lips and in the hearts of those who receive it.” - Oscar Wilde, De Profundis

Sonny returns home from a long, difficult deep undercover mission with his faith shaken.