A/N: Shoutout to my awesome friend Alicia (Lightupthesky) for this idea. Love you and thankful to call you my friend! You rock!

8 years

She didn't really know why he came to her mind today. He was always there but today for some reason she couldn't stop thinking about him. Maybe it was the case, watching her two detectives in the interrogation room breaking down their suspect in a way that reminded her of herself and her old partner. She glanced at the calendar.

Today would have been his 57th birthday, and her heart aches to call him and tease him about how old he's getting. She orders Chinese from 'their' place for herself and Noah together and relaxes on the couch in his old grey hoodie.

She took out the box today that she hasn't opened in a few years. In it is a picture of them and the Semper Fi necklace he had sent her. She had lost the medallion that was on her gun after her ordeal with Lewis. The gun had been confiscated for evidence and she had to get a new one.

"Mommy who's that man?"

She looks at Noah and realizes he's pointing at the picture.

"Just an old friend." Her voice cracks and she swallows the lump in her throat. Man how she misses him.

As far as everyone except her, Kathy, and his kids know, Elliot Stabler died on May 12, 2011. 2 days after the shooting in the precinct. A bomb that was rigged to his car exploded while he was driving home and it was assumed that he was dead. In reality, Elliot Stabler was alive, but he was no longer Elliot Stabler. He was Chris Miller of Denver, Colorado. She had been in his hospital room helping him into a wheelchair after he signed his discharge papers when officials from the Witness Protection program took him away from her. It was devastating. She wanted him safe but her heart shattered knowing that meant they had to be away from each other and she had to fake his death to everyone else. He took her in his arms one last time and kissed her, telling her he loved her and that this wasn't goodbye. She sobbed for hours, harder than she ever had before because she knew there was a possibility she'd never see him again. It sure felt like that now. The last sign of life from the man who was her other half was this box that was shipped to her. In it, along with the semper fi medal and picture was a note with his WITSEC identity so she knew he was somewhere safe. Still, her heart had shattered that day and had never healed completely so he might as well have died.

"Is he in heaven? Like Ellie?" She realizes her son had picked up on the sad look in her eyes and that there were a couple tears that had rolled down her cheeks.

"No he uh...he just had to go away for a while that's all."

"Do you miss him?"

"I do."

"Will I get to meet him someday?" Probably not. She thought sadly.

"I don't know sweet boy but I think he'd be very excited to meet you if he could." He had always told her how much she deserved to be a mother and that he'd support her. She knew he'd be proud of her and Noah. She had to hold onto that.

"What was his name?"

"Elliot."

"That sounds like Ellie. Did they know each other?" She allows herself to smile at her son's bubbly curiosity.

"No. Elliot's been gone a long time, since before you were born." Noah snuggles on his mother's lap and the pair is silent for a couple minutes before he speaks again.

"Will, I ever have a dad?" It wasn't a question she was expecting and it caught her off guard.

"I don't know honey. But I think we make a pretty good team don't you?"

"Yeah, we do. Mom?"

"Yes, son?"

"Do we have ice cream?" This makes her laugh and picks her up from the sorrowful mood.

"You know what I bet we do! I'll go look!" They get off the couch and there's a knock on the door as she opens the fridge. "Did you invite someone over?" She teased but he had already gone in the direction of the door and opened it.

"Noah! How many times have I told you to never open the door by yourself unless you know who it is-" She stops in her tracks when she hears a voice that makes her heart flutter talking to her son.

"You're Mr. Elliot!"

"Yes, I am! Who are you?" He replies in the playful tone he always had with kids. She couldn't believe it and she nearly sobbed out of happiness, but stayed in the kitchen, wondering if it was too good to be true.

"I'm Noah. My mommy really misses you. She said you guys were friends."

"Yeah, we were. I miss her too. Nice to meet you, Noah. Are your parents home?

"It's just my mom and me. I don't have a daddy but my mommy's pretty good at both."

"I bet she is."

"We were gonna have ice cream, do you want some Mr. Elliot."

"That sounds delicious. But I'm sure your mommy has told you not to let a stranger in the house so you should ask her first."

"But you're not a stranger you're mommy's friend! She said you had to go away for a while and she was looking at a picture of you and she was really really sad because she missed you so much. She was crying, Mr. Elliot. You've gotta make her feel better! Please. I don't like it when mommy's sad."

"I don't either son. Why don't you go find her for me ok? I'd love to see her and cheer her up.

"Ok." He runs back towards the kitchen and Olivia is leaning against the fridge. Smiling bigger than she had in years with tears running down her face.

"MOMMY MOMMY MR. ELLIOT'S HERE! But he said I have to ask you before I let him in. He says he misses you too and seems really nice and he said he wants to have ice cream with us." She half sobs and half laughs and kneels down to her son's level.

"Well, you tell him that...I bought his favorite." It was almost too good to be true. Elliot's favorite ice cream flavor was raspberry, and every year on this day she bought some and ate it as a way to celebrate the years they had together. It warmed her heart that it had become Noah's favorite flavor too. She could hear her son and beloved ex-partner's voices again in the other room.

"Mommy said you can come in and that she bought your favorite ice cream."

"Did she? Well, I think I have to come in then. I can't say no to that."

"That's not true, mommy tells me that anyone can say no to anything and that we have to respect that because no is a very important word. Forcing someone to do something they might not want to do is inpriate." She laughs at her Noah's mispronunciation of 'inappropriate' but is proud of him for remembering. Elliot takes it in stride.

"Your mommy's taught you very well and you're so smart but this is something I want to do. I don't want to say no so you don't have to worry about that ok."

"Ok." She hears footsteps in the kitchen and doesn't realize she's still standing with the fridge wide open until a familiar calloused hand takes hold of the door and a voice says,

"I hear that someone discovered there's such a thing as grocery stores and there's ice cream in the house." She laughs through her tears and closes the fridge door, the final barrier between her and the man who held the missing piece of her heart for the first time in nearly a decade.

"It was on sale. Buy one carton get two free." She choked out.

"What happened to my 'there's this thing called delivery' Liv?" His smile makes her feel like she could melt and the tears are blurring her vision.

"Oh, there's a...leftover Chinese too." She's smiling so big it feels like her face could burst and he's so close she can feel his breath and it's the most soothing feeling in years. His chuckle is warm and loving. "El?"

"Yes, my Livvie love?" She laughs again and it's cheesy but it's him and god she's missed him more than she had even realized.

"Are you real?" He takes his arm off the fridge and outstretches them towards her.

"I'm real baby. I'm home." She sobs out of happiness, out of relief and longing.

"My-my legs feel like jelly. I don't think I can move so you'll have to-" The next thing she knows she's pulled into a strong, warm, loving embrace that makes her feel whole and she clings to him tightly.

"How?"

"Well about 12 hours and 57 years ago my mom woke my dad up and told him her water broke-" she laughs again and snuggles deeper into his chest, breathing in his scent and feeling his heartbeat. He was home. Her Elliot was really home.

"If this is a dream I don't ever want to wake up."

"It's not sweetheart. I missed you so much. Feds came and got me Wednesday and said they caught the guy responsible for the bomb and shot him. They said it was safe for me to come home."

"Do the kids know?"

"Saw the 4 oldest ones yesterday but haven't seen Eli yet. Kathy remarried and moved to Virginia. Eli's with her." She lifts her head to look at him, really looks at him for the first time in 8 years. She doesn't leave his arms though. She never wants to be out of his arms again.

"I missed you so much." She puts a hand on his cheek to remind herself that he's real. He's here. "God Elliot I missed you." His hair was graying and he had a bit of a goatee. He was thinner but still muscular. He was older, but he was Elliot. Her partner, her best friend, her other half.

"I missed you too baby. Every single day. I never stopped thinking about you."

"Now you're gonna make me cry in the ice cream." She teased as more tears rolled down her cheeks and he leaned in and kissed them away.

"I love you, Olivia, I did then, I still do and I always will."

"I love you too." Before she can say anything else he leans in and kisses her and it's slow and gentle and loving and passionate and deep and Elliot and she thinks she could melt and she wouldn't even care because his strong arms were around her and he would catch her if she fell. They almost forget Noah is in the room until,

"Mommy, can we have ice cream yet pleeeease?" Elliot chuckles and Olivia laughs through her tears.

"Well, I think this calls for a celebration and we should definitely have some." She makes no move out of Elliot's arms, however.

"Is this your way of telling me to get the ice cream?" Elliot teased.

"I'm not ready to let you go yet." He smiles and presses a lingering kiss to her forehead.

"Me neither. I'll tell you what let's get the kid some ice cream and some for ourselves and we can snuggle on your couch."

"That sounds perfect."

So the trio spent the evening snuggled up on the couch watching cartoons and eating Elliot (and Noah's) favorite ice cream. It was the closest thing to being part of a family Olivia had ever felt. Her son sat in between her and Elliot on her lap and Elliot's arm was wrapped around her shoulders as she cuddled into his side.

He stayed on the couch while she tucked Noah in and when she went back into the living room she just stared at him for a moment. He was here. He was really here. He smiled and held his arm out for her, inviting her to sit back on the couch with him and she happily obliged and snuggled into his arms again.

"Noah's a good kid."

"He is. He's my world."

"I'm glad, you deserve it Liv. All I've ever wanted was for you to be happy and safe you know that right? I may have been an ass to your dates and overprotective with you but-"

"I know El. I know."

"Speaking of your dates." She rolls her eyes at his comment. "Who's the jerk that left you to do this all by yourself?

"Noah's adopted. I found him on a case we were working."

"You two got anyone helping you? Taking care of you? You're doing an amazing job I just hate that you are alone in this."

"Well unless you're planning on going somewhere I guess I'm not anymore." She smiled at him warmly.

"Well, I was hoping you wouldn't kick me out." He smirked.

"Wouldn't dream of it." They talked for a while longer until she yawned.

"I should let you get some sleep."

"Will you come to bed with me."

"I would love to but you have a kid in the house-" She laughs.

"Not that I just...I've missed you and I wanna be close to you tonight."

"Ok, but just to warn you, Kathy always said I snore." She laughs again and heads to make sure the door is locked.

"Oh I remember, I was never able to sleep in the cribs if you were there." He chuckles. "But I won't mind it tonight."

Elliot's smile drops when he notices the way she relocks the door 3 times just to be sure, a habit she no doubt picked up after her abduction 5 years ago.

"I'm sorry I know I'm being paranoid it's just...especially now that I have Noah-"

"It's alright honey. Come here." He pulls her into his arms, holding her in a protective embrace. "You've got me now too. I won't let anyone hurt you. Either of you."

"I know you won't. Did you uh, see the news coverage?" He nods grimly.

"I was so scared and they wouldn't let me even call the Captain to see how close they were to finding you or anything. Did he-" He swallows hard.

"No, he didn't" She replied quickly knowing he had likely been thinking the worst for the past 5 years.

"Thank god."

"I'll tell you sometime, I will I just-"

"It's alright. Let's go to bed baby. You look exhausted."

"I'm getting old El, I'm not the skinny, young, tough brunette you used to know."

"Hey hey hey. You're beautiful." She scoffed.

"I'm serious. You're not fat, your curvy. You barely have any wrinkles and even if you did you'd still be gorgeous. And you're the toughest person I know. You're as perfect to me as you were the day I met you."

"You take romance classes in Colorado Stabler?" She teased tearfully.

"I spent every moment I had to myself thinking about the woman I loved back home. If she had found happiness if she was taking care of herself, all that stuff. You never really left my mind Liv. In fact, my first protective detail quit and traded with another team because they got sick of me talking about you." She giggled...Olivia Benson giggled like a teenager.

"I love you."

"110% sure I love you more."

"Yeah. well, I'm 1,010% sure I love you more so...guess I win." She smirked and he laughed before kissing her.

"I'm so glad you're home."

"I wish I had been home sooner."

"You're here now, and I'm never letting you go." She kissed him and they walk back to the bedroom in each other's arms and after 8 years their hearts are whole again.

She was his home and it had been a long journey for both of them but now they were reunited.

In each other's arms was where they belonged.

They were home at last.