Disclaimer: Law & Order SVU/OC and its characters don't belong to me. This story has been written for fun only, not for money.

Spoilers: SVU x OC up to Simon's case being resolved and the hand holding ;)

Summary: Elliot meets the SVU team at a bar at the end of the week. Olivia is confronted to her own feelings about her old partner coming back.

Context: This is my first L&O fanfic ever. I've watched the series before but stopped when Elliot left. With his return, I've been pulled back into their world and Chris & Mariska's chemistry (which has not faltered at all!). A lot of possibilities are now opened with OC, this popped into my head.
I'm not too familiar with the "newer" characters of Rollins, Carisi and Kat, hopefully this won't translate too much into the story.

Feedback: I always love to have feedbacks on my work so I can improve my writing. Any advice, constructive comments and suggestions are welcomed.

Enjoy!

Into the light
by musical-Aven

Olivia stepped into their usual Friday night bar. The gang was getting together after another week of hard work. Fin, Rollins, Kat and Carisi were already there and greeted her. The bartender took her order, and Fin proceeded to bring her up to speed on their current conversation. She liked those Friday nights, talking about anything and everything with her squad, and just enjoying them in a more friendly atmosphere. But tonight she had a bit of apprehension. Her eyes kept going to the entrance door of the bar during conversations. After he noticed it for a few times, Fin leaned over to quietly ask:

"You're sure about this, right?"

She smiled, she knew she was half present and that he was concerned about it.

"Yes Fin, you've asked me twice today already."

He didn't look more convinced but he didn't have time to reply as the guest he invited earlier walked in. Elliot Stabler entered the bar casually, but his presence was nothing subtle, he just had that effect in a room, Olivia remembered. He held the door opened for Sergeant Bell who was following him. Once he spotted them, he made a head gesture and they walked over to their table. Olivia felt her stomach turn a bit, part out of anxiety, part out of excitement to see him. She still wasn't used to seeing him just walk into places…she spent too many years forcing herself to *stop* seeing him everywhere…

Elliot smiled when he greeted everyone and Olivia swore he stared just that bit longer at her. Presentations were made and everyone started talking, drinking and reminiscing of old and newer stories.

Olivia surprised herself that she had so much fun. Elliot blent well with her squad, sergeant Bell had some funny stories to tell, Fin seemed to enjoy this mix of old and new friends. She even, for a brief moment, forgot about her pain of the last ten years. It was never far in the back of her head though, the hurt, the abandonment Stabler put her through...Liv caught herself and tried to just enjoy this night as it was. Until Rollins started to question her old partner.

"So Stabler, tell us what it was like to live in Rome!" she asked, half genuinely interested and half in interrogation mode.

Elliot smiled, took a moment and glanced for a second in Liv's direction, before answering.

"It was okay."

"Okay? That's all? Come on, we want details! The food, the scenery, the wine! It must have been amazing."

Olivia was pretty sure nobody noticed his small wince. It was intended for her, she knew. The last time he started to talk about his life in Europe, she made it clear that she wasn't ready to hear about that. He knew it hurt her, and he completely understood why. Olivia stood up and made the excuse to refresh her drink at the bar. Fin noticed how she left the table suddenly, and looked at Elliot. The message between old friends happened quickly and Fin got up to go to the bar to check up on Liv.

"Come on, have you ever had better coffee in the world?!" Rollins continued.

Stabler started answering her questions and was happy to share good memories of his time in Italy, while still occasionally glancing at Fin and Liv at the bar. Her back was to the table but when Fin approached, Elliot could see half of her face when she turned to talk to him.

Fin stood beside her, and she was half glad it was him, and half annoyed to be disturbed.

"You ok?" he asked gently.

"I'm fine, Fin." She replied softly, unconvincingly.

Fin waited with her for her drink. She asked for a refill, but her eyes suddenly went across the selection of harsh whisky behind the bar. She sighed and closed her eyes for a second. She felt her friend's concern, and knew he didn't know what to do or say.

"It's okay Fin, it's my issue to deal with…" she offered as an explanation, hoping he would not feel so guilty about the situation.

"Hey, if there is an issue, then it's my issue as well, you know?".

So loyal, she loved him for that. She smiled as she looked at him.

"Thanks."

They stayed in silence. The bartender put her drink on the bar and walked away. She was still faintly hearing the conversation going on at the table and wasn't ready to go back. She then tried to talk to open up to Fin.

"It's just hard, you know…" she moved her head in the table's direction subtilty, he got it. "It's hard…to hear about where he…" She had difficulty just expressing the hurt she felt.

"It's hard to hear about perfect Rome and how he has spent these last ten years." Fin stated for her.

She nodded slightly; it was nice to be understood without having to say a word. She had that with Stabler a while back…she had missed it.

When Elliot first came back, she put all of her feelings on the side to deal with Kathy's accident and to be present for Elliot and his kids. Even though he kept pushing her away, she kept coming back because she knew that's what he needed. But all this time, she didn't deal with her own feelings about his return. She was so angry at him and she had to put that aside to help him. Now he seemed better…and her feeling were catching up with her.

Fin saw the struggle in her face and felt deeply for her.

"I get it. You know, and it's no excuse, but neither of you can do anything about what happened ten years ago…" he let it sink in before adding "but you do have a say in how it's going and what will happen in the future."

That made her think. She locked her eyes with him for a few seconds, before breaking contact to look past him directly to Elliot. He was right. Stabler was back now, and the road ahead in their relationship was up to them both. She still felt unsure what she wanted that road to look like though. She offered a small smile at Fin before he turned and got back to the gang. She followed him not long after that, avoiding Elliot's gaze which she knew was intensely on her.

Elliot didn't want to talk about Rome anymore, so he changed the subject.

"Tell us Fin, how's the wedding planning going?"

Second (and final) chapter is next!