Hello humans.

This little quarantine and social distancing has got me in a writing mood, so I thought I'd throw together a little one-shot. Takes place in this current season - there's a celebratory party for Olivia now that she has been promoted to Captain. A familiar face from the past comes to congratulate the new Captain, and a long awaited conversation is finally had. Olivia finally gets a final piece of closure, just as she is embarking on a new, exciting journey in her life.

Closure

When he heard that she had finally made Captain, had finally filled into the role of the man whom had been a fatherly figure to them both during that thirteen-year long partnership, he had been elated. He heard from a mutual friend – another former cop – that the celebratory party would be at the Mulligan's Pub, one of the most popular, and nicer, cop bars in Manhattan. He debated in his head and even talked to his ex-wife about what to do, and when she told him that it was time to face her and go, he decided that he would go.

Elliot mulled over this information in his head as he parked his car along the street and looked across at the pub, where people were filing into – former and current cops, former and current members of IAB, lawyers. All had gathered to celebrate this milestone accomplishment for one of the most dedicated officers within the NYPD. He sighed to himself. What was the worst that could happen? She could decline to talk to him, punch him, and put him out. All of that would be better than her outright ignoring him altogether.

Then again, it would be fair game, considering he had done just that. He had shut her out all those years ago, and now it had been eight years since he had last seen her. He was really about to show up at her celebratory party, and he was terrified.

He had stared death in the face for over twenty years, yet he was terrified to face the woman he had left behind so long ago.

He had listened to every voicemail and read every text yet could never bring himself to contact her until two years later. He had tried to reach out after hearing what that sadistic perp had done to her, but he couldn't find her. He could have easily gone to the precinct, but so much time had passed. He couldn't face her before; he was too much of a coward.

He was still scared now, but he was going to do this.

He stepped out of the vehicle, breathing out as he did so. He smoothed out his clothing; simple pair of jeans and a button-down top underneath a leather jacket, and plain dark colored shoes. He checked the street before dashing across, and he headed straight into the bar. His eyes zeroed in on the balloons surrounding a bright, cream colored banner with gold and black lettering;

'Congratulations Olivia'

He was greeted by a few former cops he had known, all of them happy to see him. Even Fin had greeted him with a friendly hug and pat on the back, and he was pleased to see their former colleague John Munch, and even their former Captain, whom had been very happy to see him. He could see her in the distance; she was laughing with Alexandra Cabot, their former Assistant District Attorney. She looked so beautiful, in her black skinny trousers and the blush pink fitted t-shirt underneath her black blazer, with her black heeled boots that elongated her legs. Her glossy hair was in a clip with a few pieces falling around, and though her face held a few more lines, she still looked as beautiful as the day he had last seen her.

That fateful day, before the world as they knew it turned upside down.

"Son, go talk to her…" his former Captain's voice filtered through his ears, and he looked up; "Go talk to her; I'm sure she'll be happy to see you."

"So much time has passed though; I don't want to ruin her night." Elliot replied with a shrug of his shoulders, fiddling with the label on his beer bottle.

"Nothing's wrong with just going to say hello and congratulations," Don Cragen placed a hand on Elliot's shoulder; "A lot of time has passed and I'm sure you two will talk about it at some point, but just for tonight, go say hello."

Elliot nodded his head; the older man was right. There was nothing wrong with going to say hello and congratulations.

He took another swig of beer, then began making his way towards her. However, as he grew closer – so close that he could hear her laughter over the music that was playing – something caused him to stop in his tracks.

The tall man that came up beside her and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her in for a hug. The smile on her face grew wider; she wrapped her arms around him and stood on her toes, stretching even in her heels to meet the man for a kiss. Their smiles and the looks in their eyes were full of love, and he felt like his heart had shattered.

Trevor Langan. Olivia – his Olivia – was now in the arms of Trevor Langan.

He was frozen, his eyes were locked onto them. He hadn't even realized that Trevor had noticed him and had nudged Olivia, until Olivia looked over, her brown eyes locking with his blue ones like they had done so many years earlier.

"Oh my God…" her lips curled into a smile; "Elliot – hi!"

As if an invisible force pushed him, he began making his way further to her. He met her and gave her a hug; she squeezed him before letting go, giving him a huge smile though her eyes were full of shock; "It's been a long time."

"It has, too long…" he murmured before clearing his throat a little and sticking his hand out to Trevor; "Langan, nice to see you."

"Likewise, Stabler; good to see you too." Trevor replied, giving him a friendly smile as they shook hands. As he stood there, Elliot couldn't help but notice the platinum wedding band on Trevor's finger, leading him to look over Olivia once again.

His heart cracked at the sight; the platinum band and diamond were sitting right there on her ring finger. He looked back at her face again; she was still smiling, oblivious to his inner turmoil.

"Uh…congratulations, on…so many things." He gave her a smile, tilting his head to the side. Olivia let out a giggle and shrugged, her blush creeping onto her cheeks when Trevor squeezed her into him some more.

"Thanks," she replied; "It's been one hell of a year, that's for sure." She remarked. She then glanced up at Trevor, whom tenderly rubbed her arm and squeezed her yet again while kissing her forehead. Elliot was struggling to watch them like this; he felt like his heart was breaking, yet he knew he had no right. He had done the damage years ago; and despite how heartbroken he was at this sight, Olivia deserved to be happy.

"I can tell…" he nodded, then took a breath; "Well um…I just wanted to say hi and congratulations; you deserve this, and you deserve to be happy…" He then looked at Trevor; "Take care of her, man; I wish you two a long, happy marriage."

"Thank you; and I promise I'll take care of her; she means too much to me to let her go." Trevor sweetly replied before glancing at her. She smiled and leaned into him, a sigh of contentment escaping her. Elliot watched them; this love was so pure and genuine, something that Olivia Benson deserved. Despite being on opposite sides of the law, Trevor really was a nice guy outside of work and it was clear from how he was looking at Olivia that he was head over heels in love with her, and it was clear to him that she felt the same way towards him.

His own heart was broken, but he loved her too much to dwell. He had lost her long ago, and despite loving her always, he wouldn't dare take her away from all she had now.

He made up some half assed excuse about needing to head out, before turning to weave through the crowd. He bid his former co-workers farewell, before heading towards the exit. He stepped out into the night sky and began walking across, when suddenly he heard;

"Elliot, wait!"

He turned; Olivia was rushing out of the pub behind him. He stepped back onto the sidewalk, meeting her halfway. They stood face to face, not touching of course, but simply sharing small smiles. Her arms were folded across her chest, and his hands were in his pocket.

"I uh…I should really get going and-"

"We were partners for thirteen years, so I know you're lying," she smirked before turning serious; "It's really good to see you, I promise it is…but…why?"

"Liv-"

"Why…why so long?" she tilted her head; she wasn't crying, but she was curious; "I called you, I texted you, there were times that I needed you and you weren't there…" He could hear the hurt in her voice, though she still wasn't crying; it was more so that she had accepted things now;

"Where were you? Why didn't you answer me?"

"Liv, you have to know that I never meant for things to go on as long as they did; I never meant to shut you out – I just needed to get my head together, it just…just took longer than I meant for it to do."

He then sighed; it was time to be truly honest;

"I never told you because I didn't want you to start fighting for my marriage, but the day before the shooting, Kathy and I had agreed to divorce; hadn't done the paperwork but we agreed to it because we knew that it was done – it had been done, we were just holding on for Eli."

"El-"

"Please Olivia, please let me finish."

She nodded her head, and he took a breath before continuing;

"The shooting happened, and our lives were just…turned upside down. Kathy held off on the divorce long enough for me to get my head together, but it was rough. I was cleared, but I didn't want to put my gun on again. I had killed a kid, a kid that was barely any older than my twins for God's sake; that was hard for me to handle."

"We were all there Elliot; it was an all around rough time and-"

"But you guys weren't the ones who pulled the trigger; that's what really got me – I had pulled the trigger and ended this girl's life."

"But you never meant to…" she suddenly felt this need to reassure him; "You didn't mean to; you saved a lot of lives that day."

"I know, but still…it went beyond what happened; mentally, I was done. This job was taking and taking and taking; the only thing that kept me going was you…" there was a pause, then he found the nerve to speak again; "I want you to know that I listened to every voicemail and read every text, I saved them and read them at the lowest moments, and that's what kept me going – I knew that you were out there still fighting for the city we had protected together, yet still holding a torch for me, silently begging me to keep going."

He shrugged a little; "But time…time just got away…" he shook his head; "Three months turned into a year, which turned into two, and then…then I heard about…what happened to you…" He shuddered, and she flicked her gaze to the floor; "I tried to reach out afterwards, but you had changed your number and moved."

"You could have come to the precinct." She tried to hide the ice in her tone, and she immediately held her hand up to apologize when she heard how it had come out. However, he stopped her;

"I deserve that because you're right, I could have…" he shrugged; "I wasn't ready to step in there, to face you; none of it – I couldn't handle it."

She nodded her head, folding her arms across her chest again. There was another pause, then he spoke;

"I wanted to find you, to sweep you up in my arms and tell you…tell you I loved you, that I was sorry for everything; for every fight, for leaving you – everything…"

And suddenly, the truth was falling from his lips. There was no turning his back now.

"That scared me, that guy having you; I thought I'd never get my chance. When I tried to find you but couldn't, I thought that maybe it was God or the universe telling me that…that I had my chance and blew it."

"Elliot-"

"But…now…seeing you tonight…I'm glad I didn't find you and tell you because what you have in there, with Langan; I couldn't give you that, Liv."

She nodded her head, then looked at the ground before looking back up at him again. They were being so honest; baring their souls, talking about something they had danced around for so long.

Now it was her turn to be honest.

"Honestly, I'm glad too…that you didn't find me, because so much has changed; I've changed…I grew…without you."

As much as her words stung, he nodded his head. She placed a hand on his shoulder, giving him a timid smile.

"I don't mean that in a bad way, because Elliot you were great, and…and one time, I thought maybe…just maybe we could be…something."

She dropped her hand, and folded her arms again as she continued;

"Me and you together were great, as partners; I've accepted that now. I loved you for a long time, but then I had to grieve your loss and accept that you were never coming back – not to the job, and not for me. The three months turned into a year, and one year turned into two, and after the Lewis thing, I realized how short life was and how I couldn't spend life holding onto something that was never going to happen."

"Olivia, I'm sorry-"

"Let me finish."

He nodded, and she took a moment to choose her words before she continued;

"We had a partnership that was remarkable, but…but we were stuck, because we didn't want to be without each other. In a way, you leaving was like a blessing in disguise. Not saying that you were holding me back, but when you left, I had to find this new role not only in a professional sense, but a personal sense too because…because the person I loved, whom I was obsessed with, was now gone."

"I- "

"I know you're sorry, and I know you had your reasons and I do understand, that's why I'm not mad at you, not anymore…" she assured him, then continued;

"After Lewis, I really had to find myself again; I was with Cassidy but that didn't work out; he was never good with victims and I didn't want to see myself as a victim anyway so I wouldn't be vulnerable or open with him; so yeah…that went to shit…and I had to figure thigs out. Munch left, then Cragen left; I went from being alongside my fellow detectives to being the boss, and as much as that scared me, I'm glad it's happened and also…I knew that would have never happened if you had stayed."

A soft smile then came across her lips; "And then, came some other things that really changed my whole life."

She then whipped out her phone, and flashed the home screen; Elliot saw the curly haired boy and smiled, before looking up at her; "Your son?"

"Yeah, I have a son…adopted him when he was a baby, his name is Noah." She quickly explained, and Elliot couldn't help but beam with pride.

"Liv, that's amazing; I always knew you'd be a great mother." He told her.

"Thank you, I try to be…" she shrugged, then continued;

"Anyway, so with Noah, came Trevor…that's another story for another day, but Trevor became a child rights attorney, and represented Noah throughout the foster process and adoption, and has continued to represent him since…well until…he couldn't anymore."

Elliot nodded, understanding that Trevor obviously couldn't have represented Noah anymore following his and Olivia's disclosure of their relationship. He was listening intently to her, knowing how hard it was to be so open, but he understood that she needed to get this out.

"Trevor and I remained close after the adoption of Noah; he always would check up on Noah and stuff, was a great support after another break up I went through, and then…then the whole bullshit with Noah's maternal grandmother, he was really supportive with that chaotic ordeal too…" she noticed the look on Elliot's face and she rolled her eyes; "Another story for another day, right now I'm trying to get to the point."

"Noted…" he let out a chuckle, then nodded for her to continue. She laughed, shaking her head before continuing;

"Anyway, just all those factors allowed me to see Trevor in a different light, and after the whole shit with Noah's grandmother, we grew closer. We started dating shortly before Noah's fifth birthday, and he…he has been…everything I ever dreamed of."

She stopped for a second, then she spoke again; "I'm not saying this to twist the knife and hurt you. Please, don't think you weren't amazing to me; I put you in the same regard with all the important figures of my past; you helped shaped me into who I am…but Elliot…you were gone and I had to accept that. I couldn't wait around anymore or run the risk of you coming back and the inevitable happening again – of us being so close, only for you to go…go back home."

"Olivia I am so sorry."

"Don't ever be sorry for making your family work, and for that sweet little boy that came from a period of love…even if it was a brief period…" she reassured him, giving him a sweet smile;

"I understand it now and I understand what I was doing, what we were doing. Some people are never meant to go past being friends, despite the feelings they may have, and that's okay…"

She then placed her hand on his shoulder, rubbing gently with her thumb;

"Thank you for being honest with me, finally, and part of me will always love you – for what we had during our partnership, and for the person you helped me to become…"

She then glanced back through the windows, blush creeping onto her cheeks as she looked at the man whom truly had her heart, whom set every nerve in her body on fire, and whom she never, ever wanted to be without. She looked back at the man she had once longed for, and she hammered the final nail into the past that had been them;

"But…it was never meant to happen. This….this that I have with Trevor; I feel it with every fiber of my being and for the first time in my life, I am not scared, I'm ready for the future."

She reached up and held his face, smiling at him;

"I appreciate you, I always will; and I hope you'll find happiness again because you deserve it, and I hope that me and you can be friends again…because I missed my best friend."

Everything was out in the open now, and there was no more to be said. Elliot nodded his head, sniffling slightly as he stared at her;

"I'm so happy that you've found happiness now, Liv; even if it's with the enemy…" they both had to laugh at that; "Seriously, you deserve it."

"Thank you.." she then wrapped her arms around him for a much-needed hug, and he hugged her back, squeezing her tightly. He then kissed her head, before they both pulled away from the hug.

"Let's meet up for coffee or something soon, properly catch up so you can tell me about your son, and I can tell you about the fact that I'm a grandfather now." He told her.

"Elliot Stabler is a grandfather? Wow – getting old, aren't you?"

"You're right behind me, Benson; you're not as young as you used to be." He smirked.

"At least I'm not a grandparent." She smirked. He burst out laughing, shaking his head at her. She laughed as well before gently squeezing his arm;

"See ya later, Elliot Stabler."

"See ya later, Olivia…Langan."

He smirked as she blushed over her new name; "I love hearing that; it makes me all…girly."

"Olivia Benson being an actual girl and going soft over a man? Never thought I'd see the day." He joked. He then laughed when she punched him in the arm. The two then exchanged numbers and promised to stay in touch more, before he then nudged her to go back inside. She waved again and headed back inside the bar, straight into the arms of the man who made her heart take flight.

Trevor pressed his lips to her hair, squeezing her tightly; "You okay, baby?"

She nodded; "I'm perfect."

And she was. She had gotten closure. And now, the future was brighter than it already was.

She was happy – so blissfully happy.

So...just let me know what you guys thought about this. I know its not the typical "He comes back and confesses his love and they run off into the sunset"; so let me know what you think. thank you guys and I hope you're all staying safe during this crazy time! xoxo