Author's Note:

So, we're gonna break it up a bit. Show what happened in and around the moments of the reunion between Stabler and Benson, and also, the aftermath. Hope you enjoy.

Please note that the story below was constructed for entertainment purposes. Cracker Jack makes no attempt to infringe on the copyright or make a profit from this story.

Mount Sinai Hospital, 7:41pm

To say things were awkward at the moment was an understatement. For one, Richard's mother was flitting around him; checking his sutures, touching his face where he had been bruised.

"Mom." Richard said lightly, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible as he attempted to weave his face away from her prodding hands. "I'm fine."

"I'm a nurse." Kathy responded, not even attempting to return eye contact as she continued with the inspection of her son. "You're not fine. You're alive. Not Fine. There's a difference."

Richard's mouth dropped open quickly to refute her statement, but he couldn't even get a word out before his mother interrupted once again.

"… just let me do this."

Richard opted not to respond then, but instead nodded once in affirmation and silent acceptance. It was fruitless. She was going to do what she wanted.

He cast a glance to Jay in the next bed over. She was watching him with a mix of humor and delight. She knew Richard well enough to know that he did not like to be fussed over... so, this whole scene was exceptionally entertaining for her to watch.

He shot his friend a crooked smile. 'Help me.' Richard mouthed silently.

Janie smirked, and with a look of pure wickedness she mouthed back the words 'No' and 'Jerkface' in quick succession.

Richard's eyebrows lifted in amusement.

Without warning, Kathy put her hand to Richard's left cheek, pulling him back to face forward; her piercing blue eyes meeting his. She brought her right index finger into his range of vision and offered a quick. "Follow my finger with your eyes. Don't move your head."

Complying, he followed along as she waved her hand in front of his face... for truly, much longer than he cared for.

"Good. You're tracking well, Rich."

"Mom." He puffed, more loudly then he intended.

"I've been a nurse for over 20 years. I know what I'm doing." She said firmly. Kathy dropped her hand then. "Your doctor is Dr. Nguyen, yeah? I'm gonna check with him about your tests." She began to shift and stand fully then.

"Just let him be." Elliot said from the foot of Richard's hospital bed. He had been watching the entire exchange for several minutes now.

As Kathy moved around the bed and toward the other side of the exam space to access the waiting room, she shot Elliot one quick, but severe look.

"I suggest you stop telling women who are not your wife what they should or should not do." And with that, she walked out the door; the heavy wood frame making a slight thud as the door closed with more force than necessary.

A sharp bark of a laugh sounded in the room at Kathy's exit.

Kathleen.

"... Sorry, dad." She said from the plastic seat next to Jess and Benny.

Richard looked to his sister and his wife. Kathleen, actually, did not look the least bit sorry. And well, his wife, she looked like she wanted to be anywhere but in this room with Rich's family right now.

He understood. Jess had come to know his family. But she had never gotten to see first hand her father in laws temper.

Richard cast a furtive glaze in his father's direction.

Elliot looked down to his chest, placing his large hands across the plastic foot guard at the end of Richard's bed. "No..." He shook his head. "I probably deserved that."

"Ya think." Sounded from the other side of the room.

Richard cast a glance over to Janie, whom had just spoken out of turn.

Wow. Janie and Kathleen were on a roll this evening.

Janie immediately realized her slip. A reaction of contrition followed, "Sorry Mr. Stabler...I'm... I mean... it's not my place." She extended both arms out, palms up in capitulation, despite the sprain to one of her wrists.

The elder man looked at the young officer. As much as he wanted to refute what she had said for speaking to him in such a manner, he knew that he would just be making things worse.

Shit.

He had already done that, for the most part.

"It's fine." Elliot said gruffly. No big deal."

Without another word. Elliot moved to sit next to Kathleen in the modest chair selection next to Richard's bed.

Richard looked to his dad, whom had positioned himself in such a manner that it was clear he was not interested in talking or engaging anyone further. His arms crossed lightly over his chest; he stared at the far wall, away from everyone else.

... If circumstances were different, perhaps Rich would have moved to comfort his father. Said a few words to remove some of the blame that his father was receiving from his friend and his mother for the events of the last hour. But, having watched the exchange in the waiting room from his hospital bed, Richard was at a loss.

He did not feel like defending Elliot Stabler at the moment.

Richard didn't really have any expectations when it came to his family arriving to his hospital bedside...an incident... that he had never imagined becoming a reality in the first place. But... His father's reaction had not been what he expected... Richard didn't really know why his father had unloaded like that... was it because he was scared?

Was he really that pissed at Olivia?

Why?

How had Richard gone from talking to Olivia about the attack in the park, to watching his father and Captain engage in a shouting match in his hospital room.

Mount Sinai Hospital, 7:10pm (30min earlier)

"Shit."

"That's my cue to exit." Jess said with a laugh. She turned to Olivia, "It was nice to meet you."

"Likewise. Hopefully we can meet under better circumstances again soon." Olivia offered with a genuine smile. Taking a moment, Olivia waived to the littlest Stabler in the room, Benny. "Bye, little guy."

"Bu bah." Benny said as he waived his hand to Olivia. A movement which elicited a smile from Jessica as she turned toward the door.

As Jessica Stabler made her way out of room 202, Richard and Janie returned their attention to their Commanding Officer.

"What' up, Captain?" Janie asked, shifting so that her wrapped wrist was resting lightly on her lap.

Olivia walked to the center of the room so that she could look at both of her officers.

"So, I spoke to your TOs; Helms and Christinson. They let me know what happened at the park, and what the official report will say about the patrol and subsequent attack that you two where involved in today."

Richard and Janie looked to one another, concern stretching across both their faces.

Olivia watched them with interest. One eyebrow raising as the quiet exchange took place between the two.

Janie turned back to face Olivia. Her countenance pinched, as if she was bracing for a verbal assault. "And what will it say." she asked, reservation clear in her tone.

Olivia's expression shifted, an uptick of her lips causing a small but evident smile. "According to your TOs, Officer Stabler attempted to fire his weapon, seeing that Stiles was wielding a knife. And, when Stiles moved to attack, Richard's gun jammed. As a result Officer Stabler pushed you, Ramirez, out of the way to shield you from a possible attack. Officer Stabler was injured by the perp as a result."

"That's what Helms and Christinson said happened?" Richard said, almost unbelieving.

"Yes." Olivia nodded once, crossing her arms over her chest in a casual manner.

"And... that is all that is going into the report... about what happened to us today at the park?" Janie asked slowly.

Olivia lips pursed slightly… "Unless, you have something to add." She looked from Richard to Janie then. Waiting for a response.

Richard shook his head. "My gun didn't jam. I uh… forgot to take the safety off." He looked down, ashamed.

…"I didn't even pull my gun." Janie added in a half-whisper, looking straight forward at the wall across from her bed, clearly embarrassed.

"Okay." Olivia stated evenly, arms still crossed over her chest.

"I'm sorry." Richard offered, still looking down.

He added quietly, "I panicked."

"I know." Olivia said easily. "I checked your fire arm."

Richard's head shot up then. "You were at the scene?"

"Within 1 minute of sighting Stiles, your TOs had called for back up. The entire cavalry was coming toward you when you were attacked." Olivia stated by way of explanation. She took a step forward, so that she was more evenly placed between the two Officers, and looked to Richard. ..."Here is the thing. You're not the first officers that this has happened to. And, you certainly won't be the last, either." She shifted her gaze to Janie then. "So… it's not going on the record. This time. You're getting a mulligan. One redo. If I reported it, this would be in the official paperwork and as a result you may have to do and inquiry with IAB. It would go into your files… I'm not gonna do that."

Both Richard and Janie were stunned.

"But…" Richard started, in shock about what Olivia was telling him.

Olivia interrupted quickly, bringing her hands to her pockets. "You both will draw train instead, on your own time, with your service weapons. You can use the precinct range on 17th. I've already arranged a special deal with the clerk there. He will keep a booth open for you every day after shift for one month. He will be tracking your attendance. Neither of you are allowed to miss one session, or you get a rip for insubordination... all of this of course, once you return to active duty."

"Wait. What?!" Richard said, confused.

"You don't think you are coming back tomorrow, do you? Both of you are on paid leave." Olivia added. She pointed to Richard. "You have 20 stitches. You are off for 2 weeks. 3 days for the concussion and a week and a half to get your shoulder healed up enough to walk a beat. You also have to do PT."

She then shifted her gaze to Janie, "And you, Ramirez, you are off for 5 days. I expect you to report next Wednesday." ..."No arguments about the time off duty." Olivia added sternly.

"I'm a… I don't know what to say." Janie said. "...Thank you."

"Think about it this way… you get saved from precinct-wide embarrassment ...And, you will get better at drawing your weapons…and what happened today won't happen again." Olivia offered.

"You'd do that for us… I mean. Why such an accommodation?" Richard followed, his brow lowered in confusion.

Olivia smiled wistfully then, meandering over to sit on the edge of Richard's hospital bed. "I'm affording you both the same option my first Captain offered me."

Janie and Richard remained quiet; waiting for her to continue.

Olivia's expression changed slightly, her cheeks tinging red for a moment.

"My second week in vice at the 2-9, I ran down a drug dealer that my partner and I caught selling weed to some kids. This was the mid-90s, okay. Weed was a much bigger deal back then, because of the post D.A.R.E campaign. Nancy Reagan, blah, blah , blah. Anyway, I was way ahead of my partner, real close to getting the guy, you know… he turned down this ally and jumped the fence. I followed... not realizing it was closed on the other side. I got caught in an ally with the dealer …Long story short, there was another guy in the ally... I got scared. The dealer's "boss" popped me once in the face and ran off. I never even drew my gun. Never even had a chance."

Olivia looked to Janie. "It's not so uncommon. Everyone freezes at some point, especially in the beginning. The key is to try and not let it happen again." Olivia reached up and touched the side of her neck unconsciously then. "Sometimes when you freeze, civilians get hurt... Or you can get killed."

After a moment she continued, using her left hand to brush her long brown bangs from her vision as she moved to finish her story. "My Captain at the time, Jenkins, told me to learn from my mistake, and he gave me a pass on the professional embarrassment. Guess he thought the black eye and the hurt pride were enough. ...Anyway, for the next few months I ran the academy course with my side arm holstered, and trained pulling it after jumps. ... I also never ran ahead of my partner's site line again. Ever."

Olivia let her words sink in for a bit. She watched the young officer's grasp what she was sharing with them fully, before adding a final, "Does that sound doable for you both? Do you agree to my terms?"

"I'll do whatever it takes, Captain." Richard said immediately, a open expression passing his face as he nodded once.

"Yeah, absolutely." Janie added, moving to stand. She took three quick steps to meet Olivia at Richard's bedside, extending her good arm to shake.

Olivia reciprocated, grasping the young woman's hand firmly. "Good- " Olivia started, before a somewhat loud voice sounded from the waiting room.

"What was that?" Janie asked, turning from her position, and looking to the door.

"Not sure." Olivia said, her brown eyes widening in concern.

As the voice got louder Olivia heard a muffled but somewhat audible, "I have a few choice words for Richard's Captain." emanate from just beyond the door.

...That voice sounded familiar.

Olivia, moving to the side of Officer Ramirez, took a step towards the door.

Almost immediately though, she took a step back, as the door swung open and a booming voice shouted, "Who the hell do you think you are? Sending my boy..."

Olivia Benson took in the man standing before her. He was a little older, with light wrinkles touching the corners of his eyes and the spread of his brow. He had a brownish-grey close-cut beard. She almost didn't recognize him.

Almost.

"Olivia?"

"... Elliot."

"I... what are you doing here?" Elliot puffed out harshly. His rage from moments earlier was subsiding, but only just a little. He took a single step forward, but then stopped, taking in his ex-partner for the first time in 6+ years.

Olivia shifted her position, raising her posture. "I was talking with Richard and Officer Ramirez, Elliot."

She was more beautiful then he remembered. Wow. She, of course looked a bit older then the last time he had seen her. Her hair was longer then he remember. She also had a pair of black-rimmed glasses sitting atop her head. When did she start wearing glasses? He looked her up and down quickly. Why was Olivia here... Hadn't Jessica said that Richard was speaking with his Captain?

Elliot's brow crinkled in confusion. "Why?"

Richard sat stone still in his hospital bed. Only taking a moment to hazard a quick glance at Janie... who was watching his Father and their Captain with rapt attention.

He was not sure what was going on... but the energy in the room had turned in an instant. What had been a moment of relief at hearing that his job was still in tact was now a defunct reunion between people that obviously had not seen each other in quite some time. Richard felt as though any movement, any sound, would shatter the very delicate exchange that was happening between his father and the man's ex-partner.

Olivia's eyes narrowed at Elliot's response. Elliot's son had been working for her for several weeks now... wouldn't Elliot know? "I'm... I work with them, Elliot. I was talking with my employees."

Elliot still looked confused.

"I'm the Captain of the 16th now... I'm their boss. I was talking with Richard and Janie about what happened today at the park."

"You." He pointed to her, taking a deep breath. "You're my son's Captain?"

"Uh... Yeah. Didn't you know." She glanced to Richard then. "You didn't tell your father that I'm your boss."

Richard's face shifted to an expression of surprise. "I've been so busy with Jess, Benny, and this job... I hadn't had a chance." He looked to both of them... "What does it matter? What's the big deal?"

Olivia looked from Richard back to Elliot, shrugging her shoulder. "It's not a big deal." She offered.

Elliot shifted on his feet again, as if needing to process something. "You are my son's Captain? You?" He said quickly, his countenance shifting from somewhat placid, back again to anger.

She was not interested in getting into an argument right now. Especially with Elliot. Perhaps now was a good time to leave. "Yes, Elliot. That is correct." Olivia moved forward to access the door. "With that in mind I really should get going. Lots of work to do."

"I don't think so." Elliot shot back, effectively stopping Olivia in her tracks.

"What?"

"I need to speak with you." Elliot said by way of explanation.

"I don't think so, Elliot. Not right now." Olivia said quickly. This was not working they way she wanted it to.

"But I need to say something to you." Elliot responded, gruffly.

Olivia shook her head in the negative. "Schedule a time to speak with me tomorrow. I don't have time for this right now. I'm leaving."

"Are you fucking kidding me, Olivia." Elliot's voice sounded, shattering the reasonable volume that the conversation had been within over the last few minutes.

"Dad. Calm down!" Richard's voice cracked, breaking the haze.

Olivia jerked her head to look at her employee. Her fists tightened at her sides, unconsciously. A very slight kick of adrenaline started to make it's way through her system.

Even with the stress and action of her years on the job, she still had PTSD from her encounters with Lewis years earlier. And, while she was able to control it most times, in this moment she could feel her fight or flight response starting to kick in. She was uncomfortable. Elliot was yelling. Dickie was yelling.

"No, Olivia is not leaving until we talk about what happened to you." Elliot commanded, breaking Olivia from her preoccupation with her own, increasing, stress level.

She took a calming breath.

Then she took another. "Not in front of them." She nodded her head at Richard and Janie before directing her gaze back toward Elliot.

"Bull. Shit. Olivia. You put my son at risk. We are gonna talk about this now." Elliot said harshly, taking one quick step toward her.

Before Olivia could stop herself, she put her hands up, and then pushed forward. Once, very hard.

Elliot, whom had not been expecting such a reaction pitched backwards and stumbled. Before he could right himself, it happened again. This time he went fully through the door and out into the waiting room.

As he caught his footing he saw Olivia walking toward him, fire in her eyes. And, something else... anxiety, or stress, or...

Within seconds he felt a pointed finger pressing hard against his chest.

"DO not speak to me that way again. Do you understand me, Elliot Stabler?" It was a command, not a question.

Wednesday, August 2nd, 2017

16th Precinct, 8:32pm

Olivia sat in her office chair; her head in her hands. She shifted, allowing her palms to push lightly against her eyes. The application of that pressure was enough to stave off what she felt were the beginnings of a world-class migraine.

She had arrived to her office a little over 45 minutes ago. Olivia had done so with the express goal of starting the obscene stack of paperwork that was now part of her workload given today's incident at the park, and her young officer's injuries.

Pulling her hands away from her face, she looked to the form at the top of her stack; an OI-R-28.

She had filled out plenty of Officer Injury Reports since becoming a Captain… Especially the R-28.

When she had first become Captain of the 1-6 a young officer named Batista had been pushed off a stoop while answering a domestic. He broke his arm. She remembered that one, because she insisted that Batista take a week off, but he had insisted that he only needed a day.

And then there was Sonny. Carisi had taken a hard hit to the face a little over two months back from a perp resisting arrest. …He sustained a hairline fracture in his right hand when he responded in kind.

Now she was completing one for Dickie… Richard.

Fuck. She had to stop doing that.

She had blocked out Richard's name on the Form… that was as far as she had gotten on his OI-R-28.

Richard Joseph Stabler.

Olivia had not been able to move herself to add another word.

Instead, she alternated between looking down at the form and then shifting her gaze to her closed blinds. Thank God for those, by the way.

Her office was always a sort of safe zone for her, at least it had become so over the years. And coming to this place after the exchange with Elliot at the hospital was the only thing that she could think to do. She needed a moment to herself. And, this room was the only place where she truly had that luxury.

... It was surprising… how quickly it had all come back.

The rage she felt at Elliot for being closed-minded and loosing his shit so easily.

The irrational fear she felt being yelled at by him. Those triggers that she tried to suppress over the course of the last 4 years, rising to the surface with little to no prompting.

The embarrassment Olivia felt for letting herself fall into an old argument with Elliot in front of people she respected and cared for.

This is what happened with them. When they were at their worst, his very presence in her life was enough to leave her feeling frayed and bare. It brought out old habits of mind that Olivia was more then interested in putting in the past. Like their reactive 'relationship' if you could call it that, and her PTSD.

And then there was something else... When she was around him, she felt selfish. Seeing him again, made her wish that he was sitting in a desk across from her.

What a fucking contradiction.

But he wasn't.

When she was around him, her filter, at least to her, felt as if it evaporated. Like she almost couldn't refrain from pushing him, or worse, revealing something about herself that she would rather be kept hidden.

She had no control around him.

She and Elliot had certainly had good times. Worked together as friends and colleagues in ways and with efficiency that most people dreamed of. At some points in their partnership, they had been so in sync, it was hard to distinguish where Elliot began and she ended.

And that, truly, had been the majority of their partnership.

But when their partnership had been bad… When he pulled away; or worse still, when he had charged at her with anger and blame in his eyes… she could be in the same room, less then 3 feet away from him, and feel as though they were a million miles apart.

It was during those times, that she had to leave, for her own piece of mind. Sometimes it worked… and sometimes it made it worse.

Seeing Elliot today… having him blame her for Richard's injury… Telling her even now, even after years apart, that she could not understand his motivations or feel his fear and pain…

It just felt bad. And it amplified something very clearly for Olivia.

She had caught on to it pretty quickly after the 6th-month mark of his retirement and radio silence.

She did not matter to him; not really.

Olivia shot up in her desk chair.

"Screw this." Olivia said under her breath as she pulled her phone from her pocket. Queuing her home screen she scrolled quickly through her contacts, choosing a familiar number as she brought the phone to her ear.

After a few rings the other line picked up. "Hello?"

"Hey Lucy. I know I said that I was going to stay and do some paperwork… but it can wait. I'll be heading over shortly. …How's my guy?"

Elliot Stabler's Apartment, 1:07 am

Elliot Stabler sat on his couch, staring at the blur of the television in front of him. A beer in one hand, and the remote in the other.

If you asked him what was playing, he wouldn't be able to tell you. He had not been paying attention at all. Not in the slightest.

Elliot had arrived home about an hour ago. After having been at the hospital for the better part of the evening, he had been officially dismissed by the hospital staff. After leaving he had made his way around the area near the park for a while...just walking... not really sure of what to do with himself.

Eventually, he made his way home.

Even now, he could not shake the days events from his mind.

While at the hospital he had spent the remainder of his time sitting, quietly, in Richard's hospital room. He listened while Kathy relayed the Doctor's recommendations. Watched Jess and Richard speak in hushed tones to one another. Observed Kathleen play with Benny to distract the young child from the goings on.

Occasionally, he caught the glance of Richard's friend Janie.

During his random visual assessment of the young officer, he noted on more than once that her expression, when caught, seemed to be that of a disappointed child... and a woman trying hard to hide her disdain for someone or something.

Elliot assumed that was directed at him.

Eventually, Richard's friend, Mike Keating, another officer, had come in, offering Janie a ride home. She had readily accepted.

Elliot didn't know Janie Ramirez very well. Only what Richard had shared with him, really... but from what he knew, she was pretty smart, funny, and idealistic... qualities which, he imagined had been suppressed by the day's events. Hence... the hate stare.

Today had not been... well, good. At all.

Elliot's son had been injured by someone whom was essentially a mad man.

Elliot had let his temper get the best of him, repeatedly.

And, Olivia. He had hurt Olivia...

It wasn't just the yelling. He knew that... had known and worked with her long enough to know how anger or sadness reflected in her features. He knew the difference. Even after all these years of silence between them.

When he had questioned Olivia in front of her colleagues, it had clearly pissed her off, yes...

But the pushing, he had not expected.

... And, then her pained expression when he called her out on not understanding his fears as a parent.

Elliot supposed that it was an affront to her professionalism and qualifications for the leadership position she now found herself in.

... but he was not interested in that.

He had known Olivia for almost half their lives. He knew that she was good at her job.

What he had trouble with at the hospital, and still had trouble with, even now, was the risk.

His son had been placed in a dangerous situation.

She knew who Richard was. Knew the man was Elliot's son.

... Did she not think he would be angry if something like this happened?

... Hell, at one point during their partnership, they argued over the air conditioner in the surveillance sedan. Certainly he was gonna get pissed about something like this. He had a right to for God's sake. Richard was his child.

Even if he was a grown ass man... he was still Elliot's kid.

No.

That had been it. When he had commented that she would not understand. That is when Elliot had seen the sadness creep into Olivia's eyes.

It was a dig.

A low blow.

Elliot leaned forward on the couch and put his head in his hands.

God. He was an idiot.

He knew how much Olivia wanted a family.

It had always been an unspoken aspect of their friendship and partnership. Something that they both quietly acknowledged... Olivia was essentially alone in the world... and any time she went in search of her family, like in the case of Simon, he had backed her play.

... And then, at the hospital... he had exploited that knowledge. Just as he had when they were partners when he thought she was speaking out of turn.

She hated that. And he always hated himself for bringing it up afterwards...

"Fuck." Elliot grunted, as he scrubbed a hand over his face and roughly over his beard.

"I have to fix this."

Thanks for reading.

I hope you enjoyed it. Feel free to let me know what you think, if you feel inclined to do so.