Thanks to the fandom on Twitter for this idea. This is a missing scene from SVU's Return of the Prodigal Son. This story is told from Elliot's point of view as Olivia arrives on scene, and it follows the dialogue as it's spoken between them.
The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, and his heart jumped inside his chest. Anyone else would think it was the after effects of the explosion but not him. He knew it was because she had arrived on scene just as he requested. She had shown up just like he knew she would. 13 years together and 10 apart and he knew she was here. He would always know when she was near.
He watches her as she steps out of her SUV and flashes her badge. He sinks into the shadows not yet ready to face her.
Coward, he thinks.
He hears her announce her arrival, and his heart swells with pride as he hears Captain added to her name as she asks what's going on. He always knew she would be the one to climb up the ranks.
"Car bomb," he watches as the red and blue lights illuminate her face as she looks at the scene around her, "doesn't look good."
His heart shatters at the uni's words. Almost as if he had forgotten in a split second why they're really here. He glances over at the smoldering metal as his mind tries to catch up to what's actually happening. Flashbacks of the last half hour flood his mind, and he closes his eyes trying to clear his head. It doesn't help, he decides as the ringing in his ears intensifies and his heart rate picks up, his chest constricts, and his breathing becomes shallow. He shakes his head, get it together Stabler. He knows the adrenaline is still coursing through his body, and his brain in still blacking out the horrors he witnessed, trying to protect itself from the panic he is sure to come once he lets it. As he tries to catch his breath and slow his heart rate, he knows the panic has already come knocking, and it's waiting for him to answer, but he can't. Not right now. There's too much to do here on scene. He has to find out why. He has to find out who. He has— his breaths are deep and labored, his heart feels like it's about to explode out of his chest, and his eyes find it hard to focus. Not here. No, not here. Not now, he begs. He quickly closes his eyes again trying to ground himself back into reality, however grim that may be. Then he hears it: her voice. He opens his eyes again and sees she's close enough now that he can actually see her, and just the sight of her grounds him. His breathing slows and his eyes focus as he finds solace in the knowledge she's really there. She's real.
"Kathy?"
He hears the softness in her voice as she calls out in confusion to the body on the stretcher. He watches her as she runs to the ambulance to check and see if she was wrong, and he can hear the confusion in her voice as she calls out to his wife again when she realizes she's right.
Kathy, he thinks. He can feel the panic start to rise again. Why Kathy? They were happy. Why did I take that call? This is my fault. He shakes away the feelings rising up again as his mind starts flashing back to moments before: the almost argument as he answered the phone. An argument that never had a chance to start because of the quickness of the blast. His heart starts to beat faster as the guilt takes over the fear. He closes his eyes again briefly to clear his mind, but as he closes his eyes, he feels her presence closer than before. He opens his eyes, and he sees her. All he has to do is call her name, but he finds that he can't as he grapples with a whole other sense of guilt.
Talk to her.
It's been ten years.
It's only Olivia.
I made a choice.
You came back. You were always coming back.
Not like this. We were happy.
You radioed specifically for her.
I don't know what to say.
I'm sorry.
The back and forth in his mind continues as he moves closer to her, still in the shadows. He sees the way her body freezes as if she finally realizes where Kathy is, he should be too. It hits him then, she's afraid. She's afraid of what she might find in the rest of the aftermath if she looks close enough and asks the right questions.
She's afraid for you. She's afraid you were injured or worse, killed in the explosion. Talk to her, Elliot!
He wants to run to her then, to collapse into her embrace, but he knows better. He knows he hurt her when he walked away without even a goodbye. He never meant for it to be ten years of silence and broken promises. He never meant to be the one to fulfill her mother's words, "Everyone leaves Olivia. You'll see." He only meant to step away for a short while to gather his thoughts, to heal, to be a good dad, but a week turned into a month, a month became a year, and before long, he looked at the calendar one day and realized it had been ten years too long. Ten years separating him from what he knew his life to be in New York. Ten years separated from his partner and best friend, but she was here now.
Call to her Elliot. Let her know you're okay. It's the least you can do. She's your partner for better or for worse.
"Liv!" He steps completely from the shadows as he calls out her name, a name he had only spoken in his dreams.
She quickly turns around to see him standing behind her. He meets her gaze, and as he does, he realizes just how much he has to say to her, but he's too afraid to speak or to move. Afraid she'll disappear the same way she does in his dreams.
"Elliot," he hears the shock in her voice, and then the relief as she realizes he's there and he's alive, "Oh my god."
Once again, he has the urge to run forward and wrap his arms around her, but he doesn't. They stare at each other for a few seconds longer before, like a magnet, they are pulled forward toward each other.
Finally, they are standing face to face, and he can truly see the confusion and fear reflecting in her eyes. They stare at each other, ten years of unspoken words flowing between them without a sound.
You're really here.
I'm here.
I thought you were–
I know.
You're alive. Are you hurt?
I'm okay, Liv.
What happened?
"They tried to kill her. They tried to kill Kathy," he looked into her eyes searching for the answers he knew she didn't have. He wanted her to tell him everything would be okay, but he knew deep down she couldn't. No one could. He had been a cop long enough to know nothing about life was ever certain after a blast like the one his wife had faced.
Olivia simply stared back at him, mouth opening and closing slightly as if she didn't know what to say. He could only imagine what was running through her mind as she processed the scene before her and what she had unknowingly walked into when she had answered the 10-13.
"Olivia," he whispered her name.
"I –," she shook her head and bit the inside of her lip, "Elliot—"
The rest of what she was going to say was cut off by the paramedic, "Detective, we need to transport you —"
"I'm fine."
"But sir," the paramedic took a breath, "we need to take you to the hospital to assess for injuries related to the blast."
"I said, I'm—"
"Detective Stabler," he turned to look at Olivia, who in seconds had put back on the persona of Captain Benson.
I'm fine.
You need to go.
I need to find out what happened.
You could be hurt.
I'm fine.
Do it for me. Please.
"Okay," he nodded and started walking toward the waiting ambulance before glancing over his shoulder at Olivia who hadn't moved. She was completely frozen in her spot, and if he didn't know any better, he could swear she was having her own panic attack right there in the middle of the chaos and flashing lights.
Call to her.
I—
Elliot.
"Olivia!" He sees the way her eyes look up to make contact with his and the way her shoulders relax and her breathing evens out. "Meet me at the hospital?"
"Of course," she shakes her head like she's trying to clear it. He sees her pick up her phone and hears, "Fin, I need you to meet me," and then she pauses, "Elliot's back. The 10-13 was for Elliot and Kathy. I'll fill you in on the way to the hospital."
She walks past him, "thanks Liv."
"He's fine, Fin" she makes eye contact with him again, her voice so broken, "I'm fine." She brushes past him toward her SUV, and he so wishes he could reach out to her, to comfort her. How, he wasn't sure. He wasn't sure of anything right now, honestly. This wasn't how tonight was supposed to go. He should have been standing in the crowd clapping the hardest for her as she was presented with her award, letting her know just how proud of her he truly was. Instead he was sitting in an ambulance surrounded by the chaos of destruction, pain, fear, and most of all guilt.
"I'm sorry."