A/N: Sorry this is so late. I hope to make up for it later this week. ;)

A/N2: Shout out to inescapela2001. Thanks for the review! Hope this chapter is something you like. :)


Chapter 9

"You have a lot of balls showing yourself around here again," Fin said upon seeing the new arrival at the precinct as the three detectives entered the bull pen.

"I…" Elliot started but he never got the chance to finish as Fin continued,

"You want me to get his punk ass out of here Liv?" She put a hand on his shoulder. Elliot was the last thing she needed right now. All the anger and hurt of him leaving was flooding back and she wasn't sure she could handle it. However, she felt she needed to be strong in front of the team.

"You have two minutes Stabler, in my office," Benson pointed to what used to be the Captain's office before walking past him and into the room. Elliot followed and Rollins gave Fin a questioning look.

"So to what honor do we owe this appearance to?" Olivia asked, sitting behind her desk. Her tone told him that despite the time apart, her anger had not dissipated.

"It's part of the program. I'm trying to make amends," his tone was strange to her and she raised an eyebrow, as he sat across from her. He had a lot of questions as to what exactly had changed around the precinct but that would have to wait.

"Elliot Stabler does a lot of things but make amends is not one of them. At this point, we're way past that anyway," she pointed out.

"That was the old me," he nodded, admitting that his hard head rarely ever gave into the notion that he had been wrong.

"Yeah? Am I just supposed to take in the new you? What about the old you? How can I trust anything you say to me?" She demanded to know.

"I don't expect you to just take it all in at once. I filed my papers, Kathy filed hers, and from then on out I was doing all my filing at the bar. Falling off every barstool I could find. Everything stopped for me. I stopped paying the rent on the apartment, I moved into. I stopped caring what I looked like or smelled like or whether or not I bathed at least once in a while. It got so bad that it only hit me when I was living in a storage unit with every possession I owned and Kathy refused to let me see Eli. At that moment, I checked into rehab," Elliot admitted. It was hard to admit, especially to the woman who had been his partner for so many years and the woman he knew he loved more than any other woman on the planet.

The tough façade that Olivia had been putting up started to crumble but only for an instant. Then the walls that she had put up to protect herself from him, sealed back up the cracks that had started to show.

"Yes well we all have our little problems don't we?" The acid in her tone was undeniable. This side of Olivia was not one you wanted to be on the wrong side of.

"There is no way to go back and change what happened. I only want to make what time we do have working our way back to some semblance of the friendship we once had," Elliot told her.

"We can't ever have that again Stabler. While you were off having your little pity party, I was here, trying to keep things together, trying to make myself get out of bed every morning, trying to still do the job that I loved. All that changed when you weren't there for me when I needed you and I got raped!" That shout did it. Fin came busting in through the office door, grabbed Elliot by the collar and hauled him out of the chair he'd been sitting in.

"Time's up asshole," he said as he pushed him through the doorway. Nick and Amanda watched as the elder detective dragged Elliot out to the hallway and shoved him toward the elevator. Nick decided at that moment, he'd better assist Fin. Elliot had seemingly woken out of his stupor from whatever Olivia had yelled at him the two of them were going at it. Amanda however was rooted to her spot until she heard what she thought was crying. She quickly headed for Olivia's office. The blonde didn't knock, she just moved into the room.

"Sergeant?" She asked, half terrified that Olivia's wrath would extend to her. They had grown close but when the incident with Amanda's gambling had almost ruined the squad, what bond they had, they lost.

"Is he gone?" Olivia wiped her eyes. It was obvious that the tears that made her makeup run were not done and she was barely keeping it together.

"Fin and Nick are handling it. You need me to do anything? Can I get you anything?" Amanda wanted to know as she picked up the chair that Fin had knocked over on the way out.

"I just need a few minutes to myself," she admitted.

"Yes ma'am," Rollins nodded and headed for the door. However, something made her stop in the doorway. Fin and Nick were walking back into the room; Elliot was being handcuffed and led away by some uniforms.

"What did you guys do?" She asked, concerned that Nick was now bleeding from his nose and Fin had a bit of a limp. Those words made Olivia get out of her chair and come up from behind the young detective.

"We got him. Had the Officer Johnson collar him for assaulting a police officer," Fin said.

"I think he broke my nose," Nick admitted as Amanda finally moved from her spot and headed for the first aid kit.

"I want you both checked out by your own private doctors. Where are they taking Elliot?" Olivia asked.

"To holding downstairs. It's too late to be arraigned tonight," Fin said. Olivia just nodded and headed back inside her office. The Sergeant picked up her desk phone and called downstairs. She gave the orders to the officers down there not to send the prisoner for arraignment in the morning, no charges would be filed, and that she would handle his release. The officer on duty said that the former detective was asking for her. Olivia heaved a sigh before telling him she'd be down as soon as she could. Hanging up her phone, she headed back out to the bull pen.

"Go get yourselves checked out and I'll see you all in the morning," she said.

"Liv, I…" Fin started.

"You did what you had to do and I'm going to do what I have to do. There won't be any charges filed against Elliot and I'll make sure that no one here gets in trouble. It's a misunderstanding. I appreciate you all jumping to my defense," Olivia smiled slightly. Fin stood up and walked over to her. Before she knew it, he had pulled her into a hug.

"You take care of yourself baby girl," he whispered, knowing that round two with Stabler would be once they'd all left.

"I will," she promised.

To Be Continued…


I will be deviating from the show just a smidge here, in regards to what exactly happened to Olivia. Not sure how much just yet, but I hope you like it. :)