A/N: This is for the guest reviewer and Lindsay1993 who asked for a follow-up chapter written from Elliot's point of view. Thank you to everyone who was kind enough to leave a review to the first one.
Elliot cut across Foley Square and hurried past the courthouse. How many times had he run up and down those steps chasing justice during his years at SVU? He hated to think about it. Courts made him uncomfortable, made him think of neckties that tightened like they wanted to choke you. Courts also meant lawyers, and lawyers gave him acid reflux. Yet here he was headed down Baxter Street to some old-school Italian joint that was most likely thronging with ambulance-chasing pricks.
What was the collective noun for a group of lawyers, he wondered, one block out. A deceit of lawyers. That was the answer that came to him like a lightning bolt. Yeah, that made him smile. Speaking of lightning bolts, he'd had a few of those lately. His life was pretty settled – as happily divorced from Cathy as he could ever have hoped to be, kids were good, none of them in jail at least, and he had a well-paid job as a security consultant for a big New Jersey trucking company.
Years passed, he missed the job less and less, and then he'd walked into a bar one night three weeks ago and run headlong into Fin Tutuola. The guy looked great, he'd stepped up the tree, and naturally, they got to talking about old times. After a few beers and a couple of hours, inevitably, the subject of Olivia had come up. Elliot Stabler's Achilles heel.
The awning of Forlini's came into view. Elliot walked a little slower, took some time to square his shoulders, roll his neck. He'd psyched himself up to go to the precinct, wanted to see her there. But when he gathered the courage to go inside, her office was empty. He still couldn't get over the fact of her being the boss if he was honest. Anyway, Fin had told him where he could find her. Granted, after he'd pressed. It had taken him a little longer to tell him who she was with, and that pause had told him all he needed to know.
He grabbed the door handle and yanked, a gaudy smile plastered on his face. Fuck if he was going to be cowed into walking away by some cocky ADA.
The place was as cliché as he'd expected: dark wood paneling, framed black and whites on the walls, red booths with white tablecloths. The air stank of Parmesan and leather. He didn't even have to look around to find her because he heard her first. God, how he'd missed that sound. He turned towards it, and there she was, her head thrown back, beautiful neck exposed as she laughed at something she clearly found hilarious. When she straightened up, there were tears in her eyes from laughing so hard. He saw her glance at her phone and shrug as she lifted her glass of wine and took another sip. He couldn't see the face of the guy she was with. He had had his back to the door. Figured this guy was a lawyer douchebag; cops never sat with their backs to the door, even retired ones.
Before he could move his feet, the ADA must have said something else and Olivia was off and laughing again. She touched the guy's hand, her eyes shining and laughter just bubbling out of her like pure joy. Had he ever made her laugh like that, Elliot wondered. Or had he just made her sad?
He was on the verge of turning around and leaving before she could see him when her phone vibrated again, and this time she picked it up. He watched her read whatever message was on the screen and frown a second before her head shot up.
He had no time to prepare; she was looking right at him.
Over the seven years since he'd walked away from everything he thought was important in his life, outside of his family – the job, SVU, Olivia Benson, his partner and best friend – he had fantasized about this moment. So many late nights, lying alone in bed, playing around with the circumstances that would bring them together again; for he was never in any doubt that they would meet. He just never thought that he would be the one making it happen.
For a long time, he thought maybe fate would intervene, and they'd bump into one another like he'd run into Fin: in the street or a bar, maybe on the subway. But seeing Fin had lit something up inside of him, and that flame would not go out.
The ADA was reaching for her, his hand on hers, his tone one of concern. Her face stayed fixed on Elliot's, but there was a connection between Olivia and this guy despite that. He called her "Liv," asked if something was wrong with her son. It looked like they leaned on one another a lot.
To walk out now meant there would be no coming back, ever. So Elliot straightened his spine and headed towards them. The lawyer finally cottoned on that all the action was behind him, and he turned to stare in Elliot's direction.
He was wearing a sharp navy suit over a powder blue shirt with a matching pocket square and an orange silk tie. His hair looked like it took effort, some expensive product to create the trendy quiff in front. He looked neat, smart and expensive. Elliot hated him on sight.
Olivia's face betrayed her shock. Elliot decided to use this to his advantage, casually asking for an introduction to her little Cuban dandy. The second she introduced Elliot as her old partner, the lawyer began to withdraw. Like a switch had been flipped. His stopped touching her in favor of throwing money on the bar and grabbing for his coat. Elliot had to stop himself from pounding his chest like an old silverback. That's right, get off my patch and go home. At least the guy seemed to know when he was beat.
He had a firm handshake, Elliot had to give him that. But the flash of suspenders he caught when the ADA shrugged into his coat was just too much. What was Liv doing with this douche?
But then he saw the look on Olivia's face. She seemed more shocked and upset that the ADA was leaving than that Elliot had turned up out of the blue after a seven-year absence. He watched her try to hang onto the guy, going after him, practically pleading with him to stay. This wasn't the reunion he'd been hoping for, but by now he was in too deep to walk away. So he took a seat at the bar, ordered a beer and another glass of wine for her, and turned to watch the floor show.
The lawyer was cool with her, and firm. When he finally walked out the door, the hurt on Olivia's face nearly destroyed him.
He beckoned her over, determined to see it through. They'd had more going on back in the day than she had with this Barba guy, and for a lot longer. They'd been to hell and back together. Until he betrayed everything that partnership meant to her and he left her high and dry.
"What are you doing here?" The first words out of her mouth in seven years and they hit him like a slap.
He tried to keep things jovial, cocky. She always liked his ego and his sense of humor. "What kind of welcome is that?"
She looked good. Really good. Some people improved with age, and Olivia Benson was obviously one of them. Her skin was radiant and soft as ever, and those eyes.
He watched anger flare in her pupils when she shot back, "The kind you get when you leave without saying goodbye." And then he saw tears gathering and he thought to himself, it's not game over yet, El. She still cares about you.
If he'd been naïve enough to think that a mea culpa would bring her running back to him, reality dawned as he watched her follow the lawyer's Scotch glass off the bar and into the dishwasher. His apology wasn't worth Jack shit. When she demanded to know what he was doing there, it took him a moment to come up with anything.
Truth was, she was in his veins, still wound around his heart just as much as his love for his kids was in there, fierce and undying. But how to say that now, after all this time?
"That Barba guy?" She eyed him cautiously like he wasn't already on thin ice and she was armed with a chainsaw. "You two involved?"
She looked down as she shook her head. His stomach dropped. Wasn't a lie if she didn't look him in the eye, right?
He went for broke. "But you're in love with him if I'm not mistaken?"
When she looked up, her eyes were blazing fury and her cheeks were hot. "What the hell business is it of yours?" she demanded and her voice cracked.
Elliot sipped his beer, clinging to the last shreds of dignity. He shrugged. "Just asking."
"Well, don't," she snapped.
Evidently, on a suicide mission, Elliot said, "Sore point?"
"How about none of your damn business." She sighed in frustration and took a swig of wine. "Just…why are you here, Elliot? Did you need help with something? A DUI? Parking ticket? Spit it out so we can get on with our lives."
Finally, he knew when he was beat. "I'm sorry. This was a mistake. I shouldn't have come." The words poured out of his mouth, and he found himself in ADA Barba's expensive leather shoes, pulling notes out of his wallet to throw down on the bar so he could get out of there as fast a possible, go home and lick his wounds.
"That's it?" Olivia demanded. "Elliot, what the hell?"
He sighed when she put her hand on his arm and sank back down onto the stool.
"Talk to me?" she said, more softly this time.
"I ran into Fin at a bar a few weeks back. We caught up, talked about the old days. You came up. Ever since then I couldn't get you out of my head. The way things ended with us…" He held up his hand before she could say anything. "And that's all on me. But tonight, I can see I left it too late. You look great, Liv. Really great. And Captain now? Wow! Always said you were the smart one of this outfit."
She smiled, amused by his sudden nervous rambling. "Thanks. How're the kids? And Cathy?"
"All good. We finally got divorced three years ago." He shrugged. "It was for the best."
"Yeah, I think I heard."
"And Fin said you have a little boy now? That's great. I always knew you'd be a wonderful mother."
Regret swirled between them, and it was painfully awkward, like watching so much sadness circling the drain.
Olivia was the one to end it. "Yeah," she said quietly, that sad smile he'd never seen anyone else pull off. "Well, I should go home to my son. It was good seeing you, Elliot. I'm glad you're doing well."
The polite strain of it all was too much. He stood up. "Yeah. Be well, Liv. And be happy. If that means going over to the dark side…" He winked at her. "You should do it."
"Oh, I have your blessing now?" she said sarcastically. But she was smiling.
"If he can hold his own with you, and clearly he can, call him. Don't waste any more time. If the last seven years have taught me anything, it's that."
And then he left.
Six weeks later, Elliot was walking through Union Square on his way to meet his daughter, Kathleen, at the Strand Bookstore. She needed textbooks for medical school and he'd offered to pay for them.
The Greenmarket was in full flow, stalls heaped with fruit and veg now the weather was getting a little warmer. A few yards ahead he noticed a dark-haired little boy dart out from behind a flower stand. The boy was giggling as a man chased after him. Elliot continued to walk in their direction, and the man caught up with boy. He wrapped him in a bear hug and then swung him up onto his shoulders. A woman in a leather jacket appeared alongside them. She had an armful of flowers, and she was laughing at something the little boy had just said. As they turned to cross the square, heading towards Barnes & Noble, she took the man's hand. It was only then that Elliot saw their faces.
"Why is that man staring?" the little boy asked Olivia.
At the exact same moment, the smile slipped from Olivia and Rafael's faces, and they turned as one to see which man Noah was talking about.
Embarrassed at being caught, Elliot smiled and raised his hand in greeting.
"Mommy, do you know that man?" Noah said.
Olivia smiled and nodded. She reached up and tugged her little boy's foot. "Yes, sweet boy. I know him. That's your Uncle Elliot. Give him a wave."
Unquestioningly, Noah waved to Elliot and Elliot waved back. He watched the ADA slip his arm around Olivia's shoulders, and she leaned into his side. The adults nodded civilly to one another, in recognition and in truce, and then they went their separate ways.
"Okay. Bookstore first then ice cream," Olivia said brightly, tugging on Rafael's hand.
When she looked back over her shoulder, Elliot had already disappeared into the crowd.
"You okay?" Rafa whispered into her hair as they stood in the children's section surrounded by busy little people and colorful stacks of books.
She turned her body into him. "I'm more than okay." She kissed him softly. "I am the happiest I can ever remember being all thanks to you."
Rafa pulled her into his chest and wrapped his arms around her. They stayed that way until Noah started tugging on the lawyer's leg, demanding a story. Olivia watched her son scramble into Rafael's lap, and she smiled to herself.
Elliot might have abandoned her all those years ago, but he had nudged her in the right direction when it really mattered, and for that, she would always be grateful.
The VERY End
Thank you for reading. Please leave a review if you're so inclined. Liv x