Thank you everyone for the comments and for reading! I wanted to send a special shout out to Heart Story & Lyssa813! Both of your reviews cracked me up and I think the next few chapters will involve both of them. :)
Also - I am taking some liberties with the actual SVU story line as well as police work with this story. Please forgive me if i made any mistakes.
Enjoy!
Chapter 8:
Elliot watched as Barba walked away from him and Fin toward the door to Olivia's office. "Who does this guy think he is?" He said to himself not realizing he actually vocalized it until Fin looked at him. "That Stabler would be your worst nightmare."Fin stated bluntly as he looked at his old friend. Elliot watched at Barba and one of the new kids, Caprisi he thought the guys name was, had a few words before he knocked on the door and entered.
Elliot knew him returning out of the blue would not go over well and he had wanted 1PP to at least inform Cragen of what was going on but they wouldn't and instead informed him Cragen had retired and Olivia was now the Lieutenant. Elliot about died laughing when he heard the news but no one else at that meeting laughed along with him. After more briefs and updates on the rest of the changes: Much retiring, Fin being a Sergeant, and the few headlined cases that still had 1PP monitoring the 1-6. He had walked out of the meeting feeling like his world had stopped while everyone else still went about their lives.
"What do we even know about that guy Fin? His suits cost more than our salaries." Elliot stated a bit more annoyed, more at himself than anyone else. Fin looked back at him with a glare and moved closer to him and Elliot felt a little uneasy as he got closer. Much more closer than he wished. "Stabler that man has done more for this unit, for Oliva, for all of us than you have done the last what 7 or so years?" Fin gritted though his teeth as he backed off Elliot and went to sit down. "Well trust me it wasn't by choice." Elliot stated as he sat at the empty desk he had claimed that morning.
As he watched the window to Olivia's office he could barely make out the silhouettes on the other side as he remembered the conversation he had the week prior with his old boss. After he heard that he had returned Elliot pulled a string and was able to find where he was living at now. He wasn't surprised to hear his old Captain had left the big city for the quietness of the Vermont mountains.
"Elliot. What are you doing here?" Cragen asked when he had opened the door that afternoon. "I needed to talk and I looked you up." Elliot answered as Cragen eyed him before letting him into his home. "I'll let Eileen know you are here. She was worried when a random car pulled into the driveway." Cragen stated at he went into the other room, leaving Elliot in his study alone.
Elliot remembered taking those 5 minutes to look at the pictures on the shelves. There were some of the old squad and Elliot smiled at them as he continued to look. His eyes wandered over several from their efforts on 9-11 and somberly remembered working those long days trying to help everyone and everywhere he could. As he continued to look around he saw that Cragen had arranged them by the years as the further he looked the more recent the pictures became. The last few pictures he came across were of a tiny little boy with bright eyes with and without Olivia in them. He never heard of Olivia having children when he would get updates on the team once in a while. As he looked at the last picture he saw just how in love Olivia was with the little boy. It was a black and white picture of the two of them looking at the camera with wide smiles.
"That's Noah. He's 18 months." Cragen stated without giving too much of Noah's past away. Elliot felt like someone had stabbed him when he heard Cragen's words. He was happy that Olivia was finally able to be a mother and he knew she would be amazing at it but it did not let the pain go away.
Cragen and Elliot sat in the study talking for what felt like forever but it had only been 3 or so hours. "Elliot why didn't you tell anyone? You could have told me at least." Cragen asked him as he looked at rough fatherly eyes. "I couldn't Don. We had that case come in then next thing I knew I was being shipped off with Kathy and the kids. I barely had time to get my head around what was happening." Elliot stated as he leaned back in the chair. "The only thing we were told was that a few of the last few cases had put not just me but also my family in danger and that the feds were running the show. A week later I was in Kansas going by Elliot Simpkins. A married, father of 5, who was in the cattle industry." Elliot stated as he rubbed his face.
"Don, I wanted to tell you. Hell I wanted to throw something at those suits the moment they showed up at my house. Kathy and I had already separated and the divorce was in the works but then we get told everything is on stand still and we've got to be this happy family who loves each other?!" Elliot stated at he went to stand and paced the room while Don watched him. "Cap I wanted to call Liv. God I missed her so much the entire time. I never crossed the line Cap…. I promise you that. But.. damn I just wanted to call her. Tell her what was going on and pray she wasn't married or something." Elliot stated as he sat back down. "My kids resent me and Kathy is the same because she still feels her whole life and theirs was ruined because of my career. Thankfully Eli was a little guy when all this went down. He's the only one who actually wants to be around me."
"Why now Elliot? Why after all this time are you back here?" Elliot heard Fin state and it broke him out of the memory. "Because Fin.. Because I have unfinished business and I need Olivia to understand me." Elliot stated as he heard Olivia's door open and she and Barba walk out smiling at each other. The pain in his gut hit when he saw them. "I just hope I'm not too late" He thought to himself as he got up to join the group at the picture boards.
