A/N: I'm not sure if anybody remembers the episode "Families." But this is my take on what happened. I'll give a synopsis of what happened after:
Synopsis (must read): If you do remember the "Families" episode, you know that Aiden was left alone after his father was killed and his mothers (yes, I said mothers) were put in prison. tear So sad. Anyways, in the end he was left with his brother. (Now for my twist on things) After all that other stuff, the brother ends up being taken in by his mom's sister, leaving Aidan, once again, alone. He explains his tragic tale to Elliot and, because he and Aidan had gotten along so finely, Elliot decides to adopt him. It wasn't the "I'm alone." "I'll adopt ya." type thing. It was much less cheesy and "spur-of-the moment." It's been three months and Elliot is officially allowed to take Aidan home. Yay. On with the story, taking off right from where I said.
Disclaimer: I think it's a good idea that I don't own this show. Yes. I did say that.
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Elliot finished packing the last of Aidan's things in the back of his sedan. He closed the trunks with a thud and slid into the front seat where Aidan sat beside him. He started the engine and pulled out of the Child Services Agency where Aidan had been residing for the past three months.
"That's where I'll be dropping you off tomorrow," Elliot said, pointing at the large school with the words "Madison High School" printed on the front in gold letters.
Aidan nodded at it and continued to sit quietly.
Elliot glanced at the young man beside him. He wasn't usually this timid. Elliot had spent quite a lot of time with Aidan the past two months. He learned a lot of his favorite things and a few of personality mannerisms. He was really only quiet around new people, but even then, it wasn't for very long.
"Is something wrong?" Elliot asked, glancing over at the young man who sat staring out the window.
Aiden's head jerked back quickly.
"Yeah, of course," Aidan said quickly.
Elliot hadn't exactly been in the parenting business a long time, not since the divorce at least, but he did know when a person was lying.
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Elliot asked.
Aidan gave him a quizzical look.
"What?" he asked.
"I'm a cop." Elliot said. Aidan continued to stare at him confused. "This means I know when someone is lying to me."
A look of understanding then embarrassment spread across Aidan's face.
"I-I'm not lying to you, everything's really fine." Aidan stuttered.
Elliot smiled and glanced at the young man.
"Now you're making it too easy." He said. Aidan gave a smile in reply and surrendered.
"I was just thinking about my mom…" he trailed off.
Oh, the "mom subject." The topic had come up once before, leaving behind a tear-stained Aidan and a helpless Elliot. God, if only he could evaporate into his seat. The big, tough Elliot couldn't handle the subject of a simple woman.
"W-what were you thinking about?" Elliot asked reluctantly, he had to be there for Aidan. "Being there" didn't entail clamming up every time the subject of his mother came up.
"I don't know, just 'stuff' about her, memories, I guess." Aidan said, biting his lip. "She wasn't a horrible person, Elliot."
"I know," Elliot reassured. "She did what she did to protect you, but nonetheless…"
"Yeah, I know…" There was a brief silence. "I was actually wondering…"
This couldn't be good.
"…Maybe I could visit her?" Aidan gave Elliot a hopeful gaze. Ugh, the kid knew that was his weakness.
"Okay, I'll arrange it sometime this week," Elliot said, trying not to show his lack of enthusiasm.
Aidan smiled contentedly as Elliot pulled into the New York apartment complex.
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Aidan scanned the apartment with intense interest. He had never been in it before. Elliot usually made him wait in the car when they actually came here, so he was understandably curious about where he would be living for the next few years.
The apartment was reasonably large for a detective's salary, Aidan observed. It had simple decorating, which was typical for a "guy pad." What wasn't typical about it was the cleanliness of it. But that was explicable since Elliot was so busy with his work.
Elliot came through the door carrying four large bags.
"Man, that guy is strong," Aidan thought to himself as he watched Elliot drop the bags loudly at the entrance.
Elliot looked up at the young man and smiled.
"What do you think?" Elliot said, motioning a little at the room.
"It's clean," Aidan commented.
"Yeah, I don't really hang out here much," Elliot said, looking around. "Here, I'll show you your room."
Aidan followed Elliot to a room on the right. It was a pretty big room, empty, but big.
"Of course, you're going to have to put some stuff in it, but for now, you can just unpack." Elliot exclaimed. With that, he left to retrieve Aidan's bags.
Aidan looked around the room. The walls were painted white and the furniture in the room was white wood. He sat on the bed and examined himself in the mirror on the side.
Aidan had gone through many mood swings when he had lost his family. When he lost his dad, he went into a deep state of depression. When his mom was arrested, he went even deeper. The losses had happened so fast, Aidan barely knew what was happening most of the time.
Losing his half-brother just put the icing on the cake for Aidan. He sat in the cold waiting room of Child Services, trying to think of a place he could go besides an orphanage. This last year alone had changed Aidan's perception of life in so many ways.
Aidan pondered more about the past month while staring at his reflection in the mirror to his side. He had gotten skinnier in the past months, mostly from being too depressed to eat, and had little dark circles under his eyes from lack of sleep. Elliot would pretend not to notice the changes in Aidan's appearance, but his constant nagging (as Aidan would put it) for him to eat more or to go to bed earlier were definite giveaways.
Aidan sighed, rubbing his hand over his face and flopping back into his bed. He opened his eyes to see Elliot entering in with his luggage.
"Tired?" he said, spotting Aidan lying on the bed.
"Not really," Aidan lied.
Elliot set the bags down with a heavy thud and then looked up.
"Okay, well, I'm going to leave you to unpack and then we-" Elliot stopped.
A familiar ring interrupted him.
Elliot swiftly flipped open his cell phone and pressed a small button.
"Stabler. Really? Okay, I'll be there in a minute." Elliot flipped it close and went to walk out the door then halted. He looked back at Aidan who was sitting on his bed with an expectant look on his face.
"Oh, uh, I'm going to the station tonight. You can order some pizza." Elliot said, feeling guilty about almost forgetting about the young man.
Aidan nodded.
Elliot pulled out his wallet, handed Aidan a twenty, gave him a small hug, and then left the room.
"Call me I you need anything" he called out after him. "Be in bed by ten, not a minute more."
Aidan blinked at the money in his hand, realizing he didn't know the number to any pizza places. He sighed and exited his room in search of a phone book.
Aidan fingered various papers on the desk in Elliot's office. Most of them were case files, notes, basically, stuff that he shouldn't be looking at. He examined pictures of his daughters and his ex. He had been curious about them, for, once again, Elliot had disregarded to tell him.
Aidan flipped though the phone book and dialed the number to Dino's Pizza. He had the pizza on the marble counter forty-five minutes later.
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"So, how's it going with Aidan?" Olivia asked from the passenger side of the black sedan. The partners were yet again staked out a said-to-be rapist's house. It had been two hours and it didn't look like anything would be happening tonight.
"Pretty good," Elliot replied, shrugging.
"What's wrong?" Olivia asked with a smile. "I know what that shrug means, Elliot."
"What shrug?" Elliot said innocently. Olivia gave him a look. "Fine. He, he wants to see his mom."
"Oh," Olivia said shrewdly. "What did you say?"
"I said I would arrange it," Elliot said simply.
"You would arrange it?" Olivia said incredulously. "But, don't you think she might be a little mad when she sees you with her son?"
"Well…. She does know I adopted him." Elliot said.
"Yes, but I mean, to actually see you with Aidan might be a bit of a shock," Olivia explained.
"I don't see what's so shocking," Elliot said, shrugging.
"Ah, there's the shrug. That means you are a little worried." Olivia said, grinning.
"You read people too well, Olivia," Elliot said, shaking his head, inwardly cursing his "shrug."
"Well, I am a cop," Olivia explained.
"Yes, and I'm stating to regret being one, this stake out isn't going anywhere." Elliot said, rubbing his tired eyes.
A buzz came from the little radio in Olivia's coat. She took it out and pressed the button on the side.
"Benson." Olivia said through the walkie-talkie.
"Patrol unit requesting permission to switch off." A voice said fuzzily through the other side.
"By all means." Elliot mumbled, starting the engine. Olivia smiled and pressed the button again.
"Sure, we're heading out." She said.
"Roger that."
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Elliot opened the door to his apartment and set his large coat on a nearby stand. He walked over to the living room to find the TV on and Aidan sleeping on the couch. A light above him was dimly shining and a pizza box lay open on the table.
"I think I'm going to have to tell him a few rules," Elliot said.
Stabler walked over to the couch and switched off the TV with the remote control. He started to wake Aidan but decided against it. One, because he really wanted Aidan to get some rest and, two, because he knew it would be close to impossible to get the teen up.
He went to turn off the lamp above the young man, but decided against that too. Aidan was particularly afraid o the dark, he said he just found the light soothing. Elliot sighed. Aidan and his weird sleeping habits…
He settled himself on the large couch, took out a pizza, and watched the local New York news.
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Okay, well, that's the first chapter. REMEMBER: no matter how fun this story is to write, I will not continue without some feedback. Please review!