Hi everyone, so here it is. The final part of Reemergence. This is a bit of a SVU/OC crossover as well regarding spoilers. It takes a little bit of info given on each show, particularly the SVU 22 finale and early Organized Crime eps. I hope you enjoy it, and please let me know what you thought with a review. It really means a lot.

P.S. Hey again, so after one review, then two about a certain part of this final chapter, I had to come here and clarify some information regarding the state of Elliot and Kathy's relationship. After all these years writing fic, I couldn't let people continue thinking something that isn't true and not fix it lol. I hope it's clear now. This is vague so anyone who has not read yet won't be spoiled. Thank you again. xo

Part XIX

April 1, 2021

11 Months Later

Little droplets of moisture keep streaming down her face yet she's sure that they are not tear drops.

However, it feels fitting that the rain wash away the remnants of the blush she'd so delicately put on earlier this morning as she'd prepared to leave into the void of yet more loss.

Her bottom lip trembles but she bites down on it to keep her son from seeing the discombobulated mess she truly is on the inside.

When she glances down, his attention is elsewhere but his hand is wrapped securely within hers and she gives his hand tale tell squeeze. Without looking up at her, the eight-year-old, much wiser beyond his years, simply squeezes her hand back and continues to gaze at the other mourners.

If he's confused by what he's witnessing, he hasn't said it aloud. Rather, he's more interested in finding any other children his age. She feels guilty for a slight second knowing he'd be alone in that regard.

However, she tries to think of the positives. He's spoken on the phone a few times with Elliot's youngest. Elliot had thought that meeting up so their kids could meet would be a nice idea one day soon.

Plus, she'd gotten the impression that Noah had more to ask her former partner and was wanting to get to know him as much as Eli.

Unfortunately, that day had been delayed by the unfathomable.

Clearing her throat, she turns her head away and stares at the expanse of land all around them, at the faceless stones that stare up at the sky. The vegetation is starting to regain its green hue as Spring becomes alive again, yet the sky feels like an endless sea of grey.

She looks down at her black pea coat, and all around at the different tones of lifeless colors, as the priest speaks in front of them all.

A whisper of wind blows through her hair and she can't help but close her eyes as the chill seeps in between the threads of her clothing. The goosebumps are almost immediate.

As if on cue, she opens her eyes just as he turns around and glances at her with heavy, reddened eyes.

She can only look into them for a short time before looking down at the ground and then at her son. His light blues are a silent curiosity and all she can do is give him a small, timid smile.

The world is drastically different than even eleven months ago when he'd slipped back into her sphere so desperate to right the wrongs of the previous decade.

She trembles when she fixates on how the universe paid him back; paid them all back.

Eleven months ago, he'd left New York City again. He'd left to do what was right for him and his family. For all of them. Especially his youngest son. He's taken the job so he could be close to Eli. If Eli hadn't gotten hurt, she's not sure what he would have done. She doesn't linger on it too long remembering the week they had. It is still seared into her brain and she knows they're in his as well, swirling around with the redness in his blue eyes.

Three short months ago he'd returned to not only her, but New York with his whole family this time. He had been able to make amends with most of them. Finding his footing as a father again after leaving them all behind thinking he was leaving them better off without him.

He finds her again in the small crowd behind his kids and she tries to convey her feelings with her eyes but she feels like nothing will be enough for the pain that infiltrates through he and his kids as they stand with their heads bowed, backs rigid and souls crushed from the loss.

He came back. He came back.

Yet, at another cost.

He'd told her everything else he'd been through over the last ten years this time.

There was Monaco. Puglia. Texas.

Undercover then, life now, with a lot of new enemies.

He'd reconciled with Kathy soon after Eli had almost died and they became friends again as much as two ex-spouses could be.

She watches as he contemplates whether or not to put his hand on the back of the young man's shoulders as his chest heaves in mute sobs.

The boy is only fourteen, just six years older than Noah. Only six years of life separate the pain inside of his son and the innocence of hers.

Elliot had pissed off the wrong people in Puglia. By now, she was well aware of several key players and was now feeling the tingling on the back of her neck at the thought of what they had done to his family… again. When she glances at the beautifully done casket in front of the mourners, she feels the tears build at the corner of her eyes.

Kathy hadn't been spared. While Elliot had cut ties with her long ago, finally accepting that they were better apart than together, the bad guys hadn't seen it that way. They saw her as family and a way to hurt Elliot no matter what the circumstances were.

His son had gotten involved with drug traffickers disguised as small-time drug dealers and Kathy… well she'd been an innocent bystander in all of it. It isn't fair to anyone.

Yet in this moment, she knows she'll do anything to help him get justice for his kids who continue to stand devastated in front of her remains.

She sees the blame in their eyes as they glance at their father.

She knows it'll be a long road to them accepting what he'd done for them.

It'll be a long, winding, desperate road but she'll stand right here as long as she needs to.

Undercover. Sex Trafficking. Drug trafficking. Organized Crime.

It may be his life now, and a life of his she hadn't been privy to for ten years, but it's a new genre of justice that she wants in on.

It's all that has swirled around in her brain since he's come back to New York City.

He's a Sergeant now in the Organized Crime Control Bureau, originally the Organized Crime Task Force.

Elliot has a new mission and she knows that every fiber of her is going to follow along in the only way she knows how.

As his partner.

They may night be in the same unit any longer, but they are still partners in justice.

Noah squeezes her hand and motions with his little fingers and says in his tiny voice, "Mom, they're leaving."

As she looks up, Elliot glances at her once more, giving her a look. It's a mixture of sorrow, pain and hopefulness. He motions his head toward their parked cars nearby.

They almost make it to his side when there is a pause.

The tall, lanky, youngest with jet black hair like she once wore hers, lingers behind before dropping to his knees, "I just miss my mom," Eli's voice echoes, drifts, lingers.

"Eli, I'm here."

"You weren't for most of my life."

"I am now. I am now," Olivia hears Elliot plead into his sobbing son's neck, "I got you. We all do."

Olivia looks down at her feet before squeezing Noah's hand and nodding to her own car a few yards away. They silently walk away as Elliot tries to comfort his inconsolable son as the older ones look on with tears in their eyes.

One day, she'll be able to look at them and not see the despair. Today isn't that day. One day.

Eoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeo

August 14, 2022

Saturday Night

"So, what is the story about him? All I know is that he used to be her partner and 'looked out for her like no one else did back then.' Her words, not mine," Amanda gestures with her hands outstretched as she talks to Fin who's giving her a "really?" look.

"I'll give him that. He was always working, trying to support his kids and Kathy. I'm sure it got to him a lot. Not being able to be around as much as he'd like. He and Olivia got close. He cared a lot for her. I'm just not sure he knew where to place that part himself."

"Place what?" Amanda asks softly.

Fin takes a sip of his drink before setting it down on the counter, "His feelings for her."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah. I can only imagine how difficult it was. They were partners for a long time. They cared, care, a lot about each other. Sometimes partners are just partners on the job. Sometimes they're not. Sometimes you just have to accept what just is."

"So, what you're saying is what they have… just is."

"Yeah. Something like that," Fin smirks.

"Yeah, I get that. Just like… you and Phoebe," Amanda offers with a grin.

"Sure," Fin smiles and walks toward the table where most of the 16th precinct is sitting. "Is that Carisi over there waiting for you?" He throws over his shoulder

The blonde turns her head and like clockwork, Carisi looks up from the group of people he's standing with from the DA's office to look directly at her. She smiles, "Sure," she repeats Fin's words.

To the table on the right, sits an older, yet spritely John Munch who just flew in from Marseille, France where he moved not long after retiring from the Special Victims Unit. His new wife of "3 years" sits next to him watching him talk animatedly with a few of the Uni's who've just walked in. Beside him as well, is Nick Amaro, who's also just flown in from D.C. She smiles, recollecting the shared history she has with both men.

Turning around she walks toward the table Carisi is sitting, touching his shoulder gently, "Looks like you get to give that speech after all," she whispers into his ear.

Turning his head into her, he smiles, "I think I'm ready."

"I think so, too."

Sitting down beside him, she slides her arm through his as she watches the people mill about inside of the banquet hall she's rented as part of the joint ceremony/party. She recognizes a lot of people including the outspoken Agent Dana Lewis who walks in through the double doors near the entrance of the hall with her husband. She's carrying a large cake and Amanda can't help but laugh silently when she remembers the moment they'd agreed by phone she'd bring the cake. There was no arguing with the woman and Amanda had happily obliged.

She disappears into the crowd and Amanda's eyes sift around for the honorees for the night but they haven't arrived yet.

She skims the tables along the far wall and sees Fin and Phoebe, newly married but not married for a little over a year now, along with the no longer newly promoted Detective Kat Tamin. The young detective is with her girlfriend of almost two years. Sitting to her right is the paper name tag folded in a triangle with Olivia's name typed across it. Next to that one is another one with Elliot Stabler typed across it.

Amanda leans her head on Sonny's shoulder as he silently reads over the speech that he's read at least one hundred times since last June.

She watches as Sergeant Ayanna Bell hands a bottle to her newborn son at the table in between Munch and Fin. Her wife talks to another older man she hadn't seen come in yet and quickly realizes who it is - Don Cragen.

Finishing out their table are a few of the members from Elliot's new squad in Organized Crime including Moennig from intel, who silently listens as Cragen turns his attention to him, no doubt explaining his own history with Elliot, Amanda guesses amusedly.

She misses the wise former captain of the 1-6 and she knows Olivia has too as well. Yet, she's insanely happy with how the unit is going with Olivia at the helm.

Her eyes well-up. The turnout is more than she could have ever expected. Olivia has been a mentor to her for the last ten years and she deserves nothing less than everyone who's been with her on this journey over the years seeing her finally accept the award she'd missed out on and the party she deserved for becoming the leader of their unit. It hasn't always been easy, there have been bumps in the road along the way but Amanda finally feels like everyone and everything is starting to fall into place.

There's a loud applause suddenly and she thinks that Elliot and Olivia have finally arrived only to be greeted with the sight of none other than Rafael Barba who walks in with three other people. She recognizes the two women, Casey Novak and Alex Cabot and even seeing them brings a certain joy as people continue to walk in. But who she doesn't recognize is the third person that stands with the three former ADA's.

She watches as they sidle up next to the three tables and disperse, Casey sitting next to Munch, Cabot sitting next to Cragen, and Barba pulling out a chair for the other man, "This is my fiancé, Taylor Jordan of Jordan and Beck LLC."

Everyone at the table says hi and Rollins catches something from the corner of her eye.

Quietly, standing in the hall just outside of the banquet hall, are the two guests of honor. She silently watches as they speak quietly to each other and she finds herself intrigued by their connection and always wondering how deeply intertwined they truly are.

Elliot and Olivia stand facing each other as what appears to be his kids walking down the hall with bags in their hands. She smiles again to herself as she remembers talking to his oldest daughter about setting up this party.

She, along with her two sisters, put the small bags of party favors together for the contest of who knows Benson and Stabler the best, at the very end

The end.

She finds it very interesting that by the end of tonight, it'll not only be the end of this event that's brought people together that haven't seen each other for a while, but it's also a new beginning for them all. The word has changed so much: the worldwide pandemic, death, distance and mourning. But, it's also a time for celebration because they all made it and silently say so by their presence here tonight.

With that thought in her head, she squeezes Carisi's shoulder as she stands to walk toward the podium with a glass in hand, clinking it with a spoon to get everyone's attention. She watches patiently as Elliot and Olivia sit in their assigned spots, and his kids sit at the remaining table. It's hard to miss the newly forming family, noting how Kathleen and Elizabeth have already taken little Noah under their wing as he happily sits in between them.

Yes, this has turned out amazingly well, Amanda thinks.

Eoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeo

He feels her palm slip into his at one point during the evening. It simultaneously sets him ablaze and calms him as the night wanes on in an ambient flow of life.

Her fingers are thin and long, and they fit right in between his like puzzle pieces.

Remembering that night in June over a year ago rushes back to him and he finds himself remembering what Olivia had said about Fin and Phoebe. First partners.

While he and Olivia weren't first partners by any stretch… he feels that they may have been each other's first real partners.

He can't say he would have died as easily for any of his previous ones like he would for Olivia.

Now that she's a mother, he finds that feeling intensified by a thousand percent.

The soft melodic music plays and it's not unintentional. For most of the night, it's been a lot of rock and pop music. Now, the music is precisely what is meant to lead to something more.

He's had a chance to chat with almost everyone tonight. His eyes had watered when he spotted Munch in the corner shooting the breeze with some of the new detectives who'd come in after he'd left and some of the squad from his new unit in Organized Crime. He'd gone up quietly to the old man for a handshake and Munch had joked, "I didn't recognize you with all that white hair. And I'm not talking about your head."

Elliot scratches the light beard now. His first year in his new unit, he'd kept his face clean shaven, but as the new year had rolled on, he'd let it grow out and Olivia seems to enjoy it.

As he thinks about her, her fingers curl into his even more and he pulls the combined weight into his lap.

They don't hide their connection from anyone. He's not made an effort to keep his hands off of her nor has she hidden the way she had touched his thigh when some of the other guests had come to say hi. But they don't announce either. They just… are.

He has a sneaking suspicion that some of them know. His kids have an idea of what's happening. They know he and Olivia spend more time together outside of the work environment than they ever did as partners but they've both made sure not to do too much too soon in front of them despite what they truly are to each other.

Thinking about that first week with her burns a hole in his memory and he finds himself yearning to get back to that place. With her son home again, he knows it'll take time and it's time that he feels he has more of these days.

Eli did walk in on them hugging one night as she'd come off of a follow up case on the sex trafficking survivors that set alight their new journey. It'd been a rough week for her and she'd told him that night that she'd have given anything to have someone to come home to so many times over the years. He'd told her that she'd never have to think that again. He was there and wasn't planning on going anywhere. Even in D.C. he was there and would give up a night's sleep to be her shoulder if she wanted him.

His youngest hadn't seemed phased. He seems a bit like a fish out of water, but now with them both going to therapy, he seems better. They all do. Healing won't be over night. It won't even be over a year, two years. He'll take it.

The lights dim in the room and for a split second, as the soft music lulls to a silence, Elliot feels like they're at a wedding reception. Theirs and he's about to slow dance with the bride for the first time.

It all oddly matches up except the wedding rings and vows.

Everyone quiets and he watches Detective Rollins stand up to retrieve the microphone from its stand in the center of the room.

"Hi, everyone. As you can see, tonight has been a gathering of some of the most influential people who I've ever met in my life. Some are old. Some new. Some forever," she beams at the crowd.

"Who are you calling old?" Munch shouts from one of the tables and a fit of laughter rises around the room.

"Oh hush, John," Amanda admonishes and everyone laughs even harder.

"What - what I mean to say is, that we're here for a reason. A few years ago, our captain, Olivia Benson, became the leader of our squad with the weight of the world on her back. She's a survivor, mother and an influence to many, many people. Tonight, is a night we gather here to bring all those that have stood with her and by her over the years to see her celebrated as she should be. Where she belongs. Along with celebrating her captaincy over the Special Victims Unit, this is also a chance to acknowledge her award - Women in Law Enforcement - who are making a difference and a change every day. Thank you, Olivia."

Everyone applauds as Amanda finishes her segment and hands over the mic to Dana Lewis who saunters in with the flamboyance that will never get old. Elliot squeezes Olivia's hand and she turns to look at him in the darkened room, a glint of light hits her eyes which are glossy from the emotions flowing inside of her.

He leans in just before Dana starts to speak, "You're beautiful."

Olivia shakes her head, closing her eyes, "Stop," she whispers.

Elliot just smiles and turns back as Dana begins to speak in her southern drawl.

"Hello, I'm Dana Lewis. I've known Elliot Stabler and Olivia Benson for nearly twenty years now. I've never come upon two more dedicated people in my entire life. No matter what it is, they give it their all. On the job. Or in life. Well, maybe second to me but that's neither here nor there," she jokes and the crowd laughs again. "I want to say how honored I am to be giving this little speech tonight. I've worked with both of them and most recently Elliot. We had some tough years, especially when he took on a job that I offered him that would end up changing his life. Some can say the last ten years are my fault. I'll take it. However, he sacrificed a lot. His mind, body, soul… family. Not only did he come through on the other side, he's continued to fight for those who can't fight for themselves in this new position. Congratulations on the new unit, new title and new beginnings."

Elliot nods toward the other woman who nods back to where he and Olivia sit together as she puts the mic on its stand as everyone applauds once more.

It goes silent for a few minutes as the guests chit chat quietly as the last speaker, Carisi, gathers his notes in his hands and makes his way to the mic.

"Heh, sorry. I'm a little nervous," he smirks. "I just have a few words and then the rest of the night is all of yours."

Olivia turns her head and looks at him again, a serious look on her face, "Any more of this, I won't be able to fit my head through the doorway on the way out," she whispers.

He leans in, resting his arm on the back of her chair, his skin lightly brazing the back of her dress and whispers in her ear, "Ditto. Did you know they were doing this?"

She leans back and stares him in the eyes, and eyebrow quirks. "I thought you planned this."

"Not a bit," he shakes his head as Carisi begins.

"You know, last year when some of us gathered together for a special event, I had this speech all planned out, and got it under two minutes. But, with how life changes by the second, I ended up not giving that speech. And now that I think about it, I'm sort of glad. Because, now, I see how life can be, how unpredictable events are, and now special moments, with people you love and respect, are perfect… as is. There is a lot of love in this room tonight. A lot of love for our colleagues here, Elliot and Olivia. There's a lot of love between us as individuals that may or may not have been there at a certain level a few years ago even. There's a lot of love between friends, co-workers, and family. I guess what I wanted to say is at the end of the day… just like my friend Fin and his fiancé, Phoebe, we often come back to the ones we love."

In that moment, something hits Elliot deep within and suddenly, to him, it doesn't matter who is watching or who notices. Caris is right, there's a lot of love in the room tonight and none more so for his partner in crime sitting so close to him that with every breeze, he can smell her perfume, shampoo and whatever else she put on when she was getting ready for this even tonight. He suddenly can't wait to be in that part of her life every day.

He doesn't do it intentionally, but he tunes out Carisi, and he's not sure what gets into him, but he wraps his arms around Olivia's shoulders, lightly grazing her neck with his fingers. She falls into him with a question on her face before giving in and letting him do what most of them suspected they may do more of than they ever let on since he's reappeared all those months ago.

He gently leans in and kisses her on the lips softly. She stills, grabbing his hand the dangles on her shoulder, squeezing it tightly, and closing her eyes. Once his lips detach from hers, her eyes stay closed as he gently rests his forehead on hers as Carisi continues to speak. He'd finally done it and feels a weight lifted off his chest. No one says anything, however, he's not sure he'd be able to hear them over the thrum of his heartbeat in his ears. He just feels comfort knowing that they all know now and that Olivia is next to him, against him.

"Much like what I had written for their special day, which said a partnership is a lot like a marriage, you fight, you make up, and at the end of the day, you always have each other's backs. If you had to, you'd take a bullet for each other. Elliot and Olivia, were partners back then, and they're still out there on the same streets, on the same wavelength, walking in sync on the same path to justice. We all sort of need to reemerge from our own darkness to find light again. They both did. A lot of us found light by looking within over the last year or so and finally saw what had always been right in front of us. So, tonight, I want to congratulate these two on their achievements, especially Captain Benson, for coming full circle. She's truly floated to the top, and there will never be anyone else like her or like Sergeant Stabler on the streets again. Good night."

finis.