Automatic disclaimer: I sadly do not own Law & Order: Special Victims Unit or Law & Order: Organized Crime (but they surely own me!). I don't make any kind of compensation from this work of fiction. Also, a quick thank you to AlexisDawn for BETA-ing this, as she can attest, it definitely needed it!

"LIV!"

She couldn't get how he yelled her name after nearly ten years out of her head. Part of her wanted to ignore it, part of her wanted to just put it on repeat and listen to it over and over. Though the biggest part of her won out. With where they were, with what was going on around them, she searched the crowd for the blue eyes she'd never forgotten. The blue eyes she wanted to see during some of the hardest moments of her life. The blue eyes that she thought she'd seen for a few brief moments at the awards ceremony before she was whisked off to take pictures with the brass. She looked in seemingly every direction, then when she finally found him:

"Elliot." she breathed out, "Elliot! Oh my god." she rushed to him, with only a brief concern of her own life. He had blood running down his face, and he held his left arm close to his abdomen, and judging by the look on his face, he wasn't entirely sure what had happened. "Elliot. God, c'mere. Come on, you need to be checked out." she spoke carefully, loud enough for him to hear her, but not so much that it'd startle him. When she started walking towards the nearest ambulance, she turned expecting him to be following, but he was still where she left him.

"Elliot." she waited until he looked up at her, "Come on. You need to get your head checked, you're bleeding."

He shook his head, then stumbled and Olivia had to rush to him so he wouldn't fall. She tried to keep herself calm, but everything was pointing to Elliot having potential head trauma and she wouldn't let something happen to him after just getting him back five minutes ago. "Please come with me." she all but begged him. He stared at her for a moment, then another, then finally started walking carefully with her help. "There you go. Good job El." the nickname rolling off her tongue just like it had millions of times before.

"What? I'm a good boy now? You want me to sit for you?" were the first words he'd spoken since yelling her name seemingly a lifetime ago. Despite her worry, Olivia couldn't help the chuckle that left her at his words. "Sure El, you're a good boy now. Just a little farther, then you can sit." they walked the last few yards delicately. When they reached the bus, he sat down with a huff while Olivia rattled off to the EMT what she had observed while walking with him.

"Okay sir, my name is Callan York, can you tell me your name?"

"Elliot Stabler."

"Date of birth?"

Elliot looked at Olivia, rolled his eyes, "October 20, 1973"

"Okay, now let me take a look at this cut you've got in your attic." the young EMT spoke.

"In my what?!" "In his what?!" Elliot and Olivia overlapped each other's question.

"Oh, uh, the cut on his head." he stammered, chuckling briefly, then carefully moving Elliot's head so he could get a better look at it. He let out a low whistle, "You're definitely going to need either stitches or staples for this Mr. Stabler. You sit back far enough, I can get you onto the gurney to take you to the hospital for that, do some basic checks and get that arm of yours checked out."

"I'm not going to the damn hospital for a small cut on my head. I don't need any check-up either." Elliot retorted. "My arm is also fine, just hurts like a bitch." He added as an afterthought.

"Elliot..." Olivia started,

"No Liv, I'm fine. Just a little shocked is all." his hard-headedness poking through just like old times. He went to stand up to prove himself right, but all that accomplished was him coming two feet from kissing the ground. Thankfully Liv and Callan caught him. After righting him and getting him to sit on the gurney, Olivia looked at him with a raised eyebrow and a hand on her hip.

"You sure you're okay there Superman? Looked like you were about to fly for a moment." while she was joking, she was still incredibly worried about him.

With a huff, Elliot relented, "You look so much like a mom when you do that! But so as long as you come with me. I don't want to.. To leave.. Without talking to you. That was at least part of the reason I'm here."

Olivia checked the time on her phone, 9:35 pm, nodded her head, then looked back to Elliot, "Good because I am." Looking at the EMT, she smiled, "Guess that means you'll have two passengers, Callan was it?"

"Yes ma'am. Callan York." the red-haired young man replied, "Let me get Mr. Stabler all situated, then I'll help you up."

She nodded and took the quick moment to herself to call and check in on Noah. He should be in bed, but with it being Friday, it was entirely possible Lucy let him stay up later. Sure enough, when she dialed the young woman's number her son answered on the second ring,

"Hi, mom! When are you coming home?! Lucy and I did some crafts tonight and I can't wait to show you all of mine!"

She couldn't help but smile and laugh at her boy's animated questions, even this late, he was so full of life. "I'm afraid not until after you're in bed Noah, I have to go to the hospital with a friend. But I promise that once you're up tomorrow, you can show me all of your crafts. And if you don't give Lucy any trouble going to bed, maybe we'll go to the park to go sledding tomorrow afternoon, how's that sound?"

"Awwe, alright mom." he sighed. "But going sledding sounds cool! Can I bring my snowboard?!" He eagerly asked, always looking on the bright side.

"As long as you're extra careful, I suppose so. Good night and I love you Noah. Let me talk to Lucy for a minute please." she knew fighting him on whether he could bring his snowboard would lead to an unnecessary letdown. He was getting better, she had to admit.

"Goodnight mom, I love you too, here's Lucy." the last part trailing off as he started giving the phone over before he was entirely finished talking.

"Hi Liv!" she answered.

"Hi Lucy, I'm going to be a while yet, I ran into an old friend and he's pretty unwell at the moment, I'm going to run to the hospital with him, make sure he gets fixed up. I'll shoot you a text when I'm on my way home."

"Okay, that's fine, it's Friday, so I'll just finish up my homework after I put Noah to bed. Or do it tomorrow. Do you mind if I just crash on the couch then?" she inquired, knowing the answer, but always wanting to be sure if it was okay first.

"You're a lifesaver Luc, and of course you can. Help yourself to whatever foods are in there too if you want, I know there's not much, one of the things on my to-do list this weekend." the older woman easily replied.

"Okay ma'am, we're ready to head out as soon as you come up!" Callan called out to Olivia.

"I'll be in touch soon Lucy, gotta run! Tell Noah I love him again for me please!" she didn't even wait for her to reply, just hung up. She'll text her later while at the hospital to apologize.

"Call me Olivia by the way." she requested as she took the hand Callan offered out to her to help her climb up into the back of the ambulance, parallel to Elliot, who had a blood pressure cuff around his right arm, along with a blood oxygen reader on his pointer finger while the rest of his digits were curled under. He nodded, "Okay Olivia. Are you ready to go?"

"Yes! Let's get this big guy checked out," she smirked at Elliot when he raised an eyebrow at her.

"Ha-Ha Benson. Only going so you don't worry yourself sick about me." he winked at her.

God this felt too easy already. He'd been back all of thirty minutes and it was like they hadn't been separated at all. She pushed down the urge to bombard him with questions. That could wait until later. Olivia smiled slightly to herself, she knew now that Elliot was back, she wouldn't let him get away with disappearing again. For any length of time. Unless...Unless he truly decided his life was better without her.

"Olivia!"

Shaking her head, she looked towards the man who had just hollered her name, "Huh?"

"Where'd you just go? I said your name like five times. I know I deserve the cold shoulder, but damn, can we wait until I get checked out at the hospital first?" Elliot was staring at her, but had a smile on his face.

"Oh, umm, it's been a long day, sorry. Now, what were you saying?" She tried to shake off the possibility that he could be out of her life just as fast as he reappeared in it if he so chose. She subconsciously looked at his left ring finger, expecting to see his long-time wedding ring.

But there wasn't anything there.

Elliot must have seen what she was looking at because she heard him chuckle and quickly turned her eyes up to him. He lightly shrugged and casually declared,

"We've got a lot to talk about."

"Uh-huh, no shit Sherlock." She looked at him like he had just said the grass was green, or that the sky was blue.

"Ten years is a long time Liv," Elliot whispered.

"I know." Olivia whispered back, "But we're here, let's focus on that for the moment. Please." She quickly wiped away an errant tear, but not quickly enough that Elliot didn't see it. He didn't know what or how to reply so he nodded his head gingerly, but delicately reached his right hand out to grasp hers and when she willingly gave him her left, he intertwined their fingers.

Finally, he took a breath, "I had asked if you were okay, that scene was a mess, in more ways than one." Elliot was looking at his blanket-covered feet when he asked but kept a hold of her hand. It was the only thing keeping him grounded at the moment.

"I'm fine. I only came out after we all heard the explosion and they secured the area that there weren't any other bombs. Scared us all half to death." She quietly replied, squeezing his hand once. "Do you know whose vehicle it was?"

"No. Was going to ask you if you managed to see if anyone made it out alive or not. All I remember is that I was walking out, was going to wait for you out there since it wasn't so stuffy as it was inside, turned around after holding the door for someone, then it's all blank until I saw you in the crowd of law enforcement and emergency personnel. Now here we are."

"I did not, though, by the looks of things, it'd take a miracle for someone to. I did hear an ambulance, I think that's what it was, take off before they allowed us to leave the building. Maybe someone did. I'm sure we'll hear about it tomorrow morning, tomorrow afternoon at the latest."

Callan smiled, clearly, these two had known each other for a while, beyond just tonight. He scratched the back of his head knowing that he'd need to interrupt sooner than later but tried to decipher when would be the best time.

"Two minutes out Cal, make sure your passengers are ready to take flight." The driver of the ambulance called back.

"Thanks E, I'll make sure they're ready." He replied back, then turned around to address his occupants, "Alright Mr. Stabler, Olivia, we'll be at the hospital in just a moment. They'll wheel him back to a room, but I don't know whether or not they'll let you go back with him. Unless you're immediate family, I'm afraid they won't."

Elliot and Olivia shared a look, "She's not, but she's coming back with me. I don't care what they say." Elliot quietly, but forcefully spoke.

"Elliot...You'll be alright, you'll be in a hospital. I can just wait in the waiting area until they say I can come back. I promise I won't leave until -" she was cut off mid-sentence,

"I don't care that I'll be in a hospital, I know you won't leave, I just don't want- I don't want to be alone right now." He pleaded with her to come back with him.

"Okay. I'm not supposed to do this, but I'll say she's your sister so she can." Callan whispered to them.

"Thanks, Callan. You're a great guy." Olivia thanked him and offered a smile.

He nodded his thanks, "Just doing my job ma'am. Okay, you guys ready to go? I think we just stopped, which means we all made it safely which is always the goal."

Without waiting for an answer, he squeezed by Olivia with minimal effort and opened one of the back doors. After jumping out, he reached back up to open the second door, then grabbed the gurney Elliot was secured to and pulled. He was wheeled out easily as Olivia followed closely behind. As they entered the hospital, Callan started rattling off Elliot's basic information, along with his medical stats.

"Male, 6'0", 230 pounds, DOB is 10-20-73. BP 157 over 93, pulse 123, O-2 levels are at 95%. Head contusion that'll require closing, likely a fractured left arm, sister claimed he was unsteady before bringing him over to us. He was at the explosion earlier tonight by the NYPD banquet, says he remembers going outside, then it's blank. The sisters requested to stay by his side so he doesn't get upset or any more confused."

"Thanks Cal, we'll take it from here, but we'll likely need your help moving him over." One of the nurses came up and started wheeling the gurney to the next available room. The nurse looked up to Olivia, smirked, then continued rolling. "We're going in this room up there to your right Olivia." Nodding at the open door two doors down that they were quickly approaching. Nodding that she heard the nurse, Liv stepped away just long enough for them to get Elliot in the room, and carried over to the actual hospital bed, then was right back in his line of sight. While the nurse got Elliot steady and set up on all the typical machines, Olivia watched on.

"Sister huh? That's a new one for you two. Though I haven't seen that old goat in a long time." the doctor that came in stood next to Olivia waiting. "Sorry, sorry, didn't mean to scare you Captain," he smirked as he raised his hands in defense.

"Just- just don't make me leave, Dr. Williams. I tried telling him on the ride over here that I'd wait out in the waiting room, but he refused. I truly think he might have a concussion." She quietly spoke in reply.

He nodded his head in agreement, "That'll be something I'll check for, but first I want to clean and staple that wound closed. And don't worry, nobody's going to make Wonder Woman leave." He winked as he turned to start walking closer to Elliot. "Hello Elliot! Long time, no see my friend! Wish it was under better circumstances that I'm finally getting to see you. How're you feeling?"

"You're way too cheery doc." Elliot mumbled, "My head is throbbing and my arm feels like it's on fire." He spoke up, looking at Olivia while he said it.

"Just excited to see you, that's all. But let's get your head wound cleaned up so you can sit back and hopefully relax some." Dr. Williams smiled, "I'll be back in less than five minutes." he assured them as he walked out of the room. As soon as he was gone, Olivia basically ran back to Elliot's side.

"How're you really doing El?" She breathed.

"Hmm, feel like church bells are going off in my ears nonstop, my head is not only throbbing, it feels like someone has continuously hit me over the head with a bat, I just want to sleep, and I really do feel like my arm is on fire." He admitted.

"Squeeze my hand if it'll help." She offered her hand to him. He took it, and squeezed lightly, "I'm not going to break y'know, you can squeeze harder than that Elliot."

"No." It was a quick and simple response. Before she could say anymore, Dr. Williams returned carrying a few instruments with a nurse following right behind him. They set their items down on the tray and Dr. Williams spoke to each of them, "Monica here is going to clean up the area as best as she can, then I'll come in and staple it closed. Shouldn't take much more than ten minutes total. Olivia, can I have you go over to the other side of Elliot so we're not bumping into each other? Thank you m'dear."

Sure enough, fifteen minutes later, Elliot had 6 staples in his head, an X-ray of his arm, a head scan ordered, and the promise of a pain reliever on its way. Just when he was getting somewhat comfortable, another doctor knocked on the door, then walked in when prompted,

"Mr. Elliot Stabler?" The older gentleman asked.

"That's me. Whataya want?" Elliot threw back.

-End Chapter One-

Quick A/N: Hiiiii! I'm back! I'm going to be honest, this wouldn't have happened without the help of the following people: Pink Professor, Bulldog Blue, MadMo, Your Purple Majesty, and Tech Queen B. Yes, those are all aliases, but no, I won't share who they are. ;) Thank you to them for encouraging me when I was so scared to put my thoughts to paper. I promise to update this more frequently than my other two stories. I will also incorporate what I deem important enough from the shows to here. Hope you enjoy this unexpected, but hopefully enjoyable new story from me. As always, remember that you are loved, you are important, and you are always believed. 3