Title: Hello, Goodbye
Author: ZombieJazz
Fandom: Law & Order: SVU
Disclaimer: I don't own them. Law and Order SVU and its characters belong to Dick Wolf. The characters of Jack (and his family) have been created and developed for the sake of this AU series.
Summary: A shadow from Olivia's past shows up on her doorstep and offers the opportunity for her to take a very different direction in her life. This story exists outside of the universe that my other stories are happening in.
Author's Notes: This AU series is for SVU fans and readers who want Olivia to have something that resembles a more normal life outside of work and a family of her own - hopefully somewhat realistically within the canon of SVU. Most of the chapters will ultimately take place outside of the work environment, so there aren't going to be too many references to cases from the show. But this story would generally be starting in about Season 13/14 of the show. Please let me know what you think and if you distribute elsewhere.
Her eyes opened but it still took several more seconds for her to realize the sound she was hearing was her apartment buzzer. She heard it so rarely. But as that realization set in, she sat bolt up.
Jack, she thought.
She darted for the door, glancing at the clock 4:12 a.m. beside her bed. It could be Jack. Who else would it be? she thought as she made her way for the buzzer. But then as the buzzing seemed to stop, it set it that it could just be high school or university kids wandering around the streets on the way to Black Friday sales and just being jackasses. Or it could be Elliot? Had he come back?
The buzzer went again.
She near dived for it and pushed in the button. "Hello?" she said. There was no response. "Jack?" she asked. "Jack? Is that you?"
She sighed and let go of the button waiting and it buzzed again. "Jack?" she said again. "I'm not buzzing you up unless you identify yourself. It's a safety issue."
Still nothing but then she heard her phone started ringing and buzzing around on her bedside table. She glanced behind her shoulder back in that direction – and reluctantly left the intercom, quickly walking back to her bedroom.
She grabbed the phone and looked at it. It was Jack's caller ID. She answered.
"Jack?" she near demanded now. "Are you at my …"
She could hear the dead air already and looked at the phone – the timer stopped dead as the call ended. But then the buzzer started going again – this time not stopping.
She gazed at it for a moment. He mind was churning, processing. She looked at the phone again and then bolted for the front foyer. She shoved her feet into her badly neglected runners and opened her door, bypassing the elevator and trotting down the stairs as fast as she could make her legs go.
She quickly glanced around the lobby as she got into it and then her eyes fell onto the glass doors leading out front. Benji was standing on the front stoop near shaking and glancing back and forth at the street. A gym bag and a milk carton containing some of his toys were sitting at his feet. He was alone.
She gaped at him for a split second – horror, sadness and utter relief mixing in her. She took the last couple steps to the door and tapped on it, to get his attention and to get him to move so she wouldn't hit him with the door. He turned to her – clutching onto what looked like Jack's phone and trembling. His face was completely flushed red with tears streaming down it. Snot was dribbling out of his nose and his mouth was stringing with salvia, he was blubbering and sobbing so badly. His whole little body was shaking with his cries and fears.
She pushed the door open, him hardly moving for her and her having to knock him with the door a bit to get to him. He was crying so hard his breathing wasn't able to keep up and his wails were near silent pants and hisses. She immediately stooped and scooped him up, clutching him tightly to her. She rubbed the back of his head, bringing it closer to her and put a kiss on his temple and his forehead.
"It's OK, Benj," she told him. "It's OK."
He griped at her, his little body shuttering against her. His snot and slobber smearing onto the shoulder left bare from her sleep tank. She rubbed his back. His bodily reaction was so clearly violent but he was so quiet that she feared he was near hyperventilating.
"Shhh," she whispered at him. "You're OK, sweetheart."
She glanced up and down the street like the little boy had been doing – trying to spot Jack but there was no sign of him. He'd moved fast – and with the left cell phone, she really didn't have a way to reach him until he wanted to talk to her. She wondered when that would be if he was leaving his little nephew on her doorstep in the middle of the night. She looked at the intercom and pulled out a folded up piece of paper that he'd at the edge of under her number to hold it down. She sighed.
She put another kiss on Benji's temple. "You're OK," she told him again, patting at his back. He'd wrapped his legs around her so tightly and had his wet face pressed against her as he still shook.
"Pee.. Pee… Peedg," Benji sputtered against her.
"Shh," she calmed him, as she reached down with her one arm to grab the bag and slung it over her shoulder, while grabbing the handle on the one side of the crate.
"Pee … Peedg says I cry too much. He say he can … can … can not stand me. He h … h … hate me," Benji managed to get out.
She looked at him and kissed him again, and carried him back inside the door, dragging the rest of his gear with her.
"You're OK now," she told him again. "Jack didn't mean that. You're here now. You're safe. Let's get you upstairs."