In all the ways that count he is trying. It's not something she's used to with Elliot Stabler but then again she isn't used to him being in her life again either. Or being so straightforward.
He tries now to be a good cop, a good dad, a good friend- before he simply acted on impulse and justice. He did what he thought was right, what he felt was right. A lot of other areas of his life fell to the wayside as the price for his dedication and also ultimately his defeat.
The old Elliot seemed like he never gave anything a second thought, acted first and questioned later and more times than not he was right. That nagging voice or impulse he had was also one she shared when they followed a lead based off instinct. It's landed them both in trouble but isn't at all who he is now.
He can't stop talking about his new captain to her. A brilliant and incredibly powerful sergeant from New Orleans that's been stationed in Brooklyn for a few years now and specifically requested him.
He seems impressed by her and that he's open to learning and that in itself is something new for Olivia.
He isn't who she knew back then in so many ways- his approach is all different. He's more calculated because of his past recklessness and what it cost him. He acts more strategically but with her he's treading lightly. She feels it and he knows it. It's a slow back and forth with them but it's out there now.
It's him sending breakfast to her office when he knows for a fact there's no way she had time to eat and prepare for the trial she was off to first thing after getting no sleep the night before.
Or it's her finding out Noah has been texting with Elliot and also that he was the one that persuaded her son to confess to the fight he got in a few weeks back that she would have otherwise had no clue about.
He's here in ways that she can't imagine. She never ever pictured a life with him in it and her son.
It was never in her realm of thinking because of the pain he left her and how they made everything so complicated to the point where he could just vanish.
Vanishing was better than expressing for them in the past
That's all changed now. Life has she knew it and the world as they knew it had completely changed.
She wakes up with her feet pulled on his lap.
He's fast asleep, sitting upright but laying back against her sofa. The same obnoxious flashing graphic is replaying over and over again from the video game on the TV, still plugged into the headphones now abandoned on the carpet in front of her.
She sees her son with his hood pulled up, a dirty face and wrinkled jeans laying on the recliner across from her. The gaming control glowing neon green in his hand still. Then there's Elliot's son.
The one she helped deliver and held before anyone else on this earth.
Laying stretched out on the couch across from her son with his own controller tossed on the floor below him, hands spread out, socks kicked off.
She wants to move, she should move but she can't. Just like that she feels a squeeze around her ankles. He's awake. He doesn't want her to move either.
He pulls her feet back onto his lap and rubs her ankles before settling back into sleep.
The house is so quiet with the exception of the low buzzing of the TV. The world is so very still in this perfect moment in her messy house. In her busy house that was full of laughter and yelling and loud thumping from boys playing too carelessly, which also made her happy.
Empty pizza box with chip bags on floor near the tv, with soda cans scattered around on her coffee table but she can't help but feel how special and tender this moment is. How rare it is. The peace and the picture laid out in front of her.
What started off as Elliot and his youngest dropping Noah back at home turned into an invite by her son for them to join them for dinner.
They had spent the entire evening together where much to the delight of their sons they were allowed to play cards for twenty bucks and eat whatever they wanted.
She isn't sure how she doesn't remember putting her feet in his lap but now he's rubbing her heel softly and still has his eyes closed.
She falls back asleep but this time wakes up to their sons taking photos of them with filters on she doesn't even want to know about.