Chapter Six
Friendship

Don't be dismayed at goodbyes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetime, is certain for those who are friends.
-Richard Bach

Olivia peered through the peephole and what she saw made her laugh aloud. Opening the door, she stroked her best friend's furry chin and said, "Oh, my God! What is this?"

"It's a beard," he said, grinning and handing her the popcorn.

"I know that, but why?" she called as she took the Orville Redenbacher's microwave popcorn into the kitchen.

"Ah, just time to try something new," he told her, and grinned evilly to himself as he shoved his hat into his coat pocket and hung the coat on the back of the door. "It's grayer than I thought it would be, and I'm thinking about getting some of that Just for Men dye to darken it. What do you think?"

"Elliot! What the hell?" she shouted and stopped cold as she came out of the kitchen.

He laughed aloud at her expression and smoothed a palm over his shiny bald scalp.

"Well, what do you think?"

"You might have warned me!"

His expression told her he wanted a real response, so she crossed the room and playfully rubbed her hand over his head. "Smoooooth," she said in an exaggerated teasing tone. Then she stepped back and looked him over critically.

He was right about the beard. It was a lot grayer than she would have expected. He had such a youthful face, especially when he smiled, that the gray didn't seem to fit. His eyes picked up the color of the baby blue sweater he was wearing, and without the dark hair framing his face they looked even brighter and more piercing. Hair or no hair, he was still the sexiest thing she had ever seen in pants, but that shiny bald head was so distracting! Maybe she just wasn't used to it yet.

"Some men don't need hair," she finally pronounced, and just as he was starting to feel complimented, she added, "but I'm not so sure about you."

The self-satisfied smile fell from his face. "Gee, thanks a lot," he deadpanned.

"So, what do Kathy and the kids think of it?" she asked.

"Kathy says it's seriously hot, but I can't tell if she really means it. Maureen and Kathleen are like 'Whatever, Dad,' Dickie thinks it's cool, and Elizabeth . . ."

When he trailed off, she just had to ask, "What about Lizzie?"

He shrugged. "She cried."

"Oh, no," Olivia said with a sympathetic laugh, "poor kid."

"She hates it so much she's been leaving these ads for hair replacement therapies laying around the house for me to find," he said. "There's even one online that she keeps setting as the homepage on my computer. I'll probably let it grow back in a few weeks to appease her, but I've already told her I'm ready to embrace the change and I won't be spending any money on putting it back once it falls out naturally."

Olivia nodded. "Sounds like a fair compromise, but if you start getting that kewpie doll look with the little tuft in the middle of a ring of skin surrounded by a fringe of hair, shave the tuft."

Nodding, he said, "Will do."

The buzzer sounded, and after a brief conversation over the intercom, Olivia let the caller into the building. "That's Fin with the soda. Munch should be here any minute with the movie."

"Aw, man! Why did you let him pick the movie again?"

"It was his turn, Elliot. We have to be fair, but we did tell him it had to be about Halloween. Nothing political, nothing foreign, no documentaries, docudramas, or conspiracy theory crap."

While Liv moved some furniture around so that everyone could see the TV, Elliot stepped into the kitchen to make some popcorn. When they were together, they still worked like partners, each instinctively covering whatever tasks the other did not.

The door buzzed, and Olivia let Fin into the apartment. After a brief exchange of greetings, he held up the two twelve packs of soda he had brought and said, "I'll just put these in the fridge."

Olivia nodded and waited to see what would happen.

"Elliot? Man, what the hell?"

Olivia bit her tongue to keep from laughing out loud as she listened to the exchange.

"Yeah, I heard that once already tonight," he said. "In case you hadn't noticed, I've been losing it for years. I just thought I'd look into the future and see what it would be like. I might keep the beard and color it. What do you think?"

"I think you should grow back what's left of your hair," Fin said bluntly.

"You hear that, Liv?" Elliot called. "That's two votes for bald, three undecided, including you, and Fin is siding with Elizabeth."

She laughed. "At least he didn't cry!"

Fin came into the living room and helped her move the sofa so they could fit another chair into the circle. As they lifted it, he whispered to her, "You could have warned me!"

Elliot, who was just bringing in the first bowl of popcorn, whispered loudly, "I've already heard that tonight, too."

They'd been having their Monday night get-togethers for the past four months, ever since shortly after Elliot had left the squad. They might watch a movie, play poker, or catch a baseball or football game on TV. Since tonight's Monday night football promised to be a blowout and Halloween was only two days away, they had all agreed on a movie night.

As Liv and Fin set the couch down, Elliot sat on the back of it, swung his feet around to the front, slid down onto the seat, kicked off his shoes, and put his feet up on the coffee table. Ignoring his friends' exasperated looks, he took a handful of popcorn and started tossing up kernels and catching them in his mouth while he tried to talk.

"So . . . if Munch . . . has the movie . . ."

Olivia reached out and snatched a piece of popcorn in midair. "Talk or eat," she said. "You can't do both."

He grinned up at her and finished his question. "Is Cragen coming?"

He tossed up another piece of popcorn and caught it. Liv flopped down beside him on the couch, took some popcorn for herself and started tossing and catching, too.

"Yeah, but he said to start without him," Fin answered. "He had a meeting after work."

"Oh, about what?" Elliot asked.

Liv and Fin shared a look, then Olivia said, "I'm not sure, but I think it's AA. It was . . . a rough weekend, but things have settled down today."

"Oh, ok." The one unspoken rule about Monday nights was that they didn't talk about police work. It wasn't in deference to Elliot because he couldn't care less what they discussed. He wasn't likely to ever forget what he saw when he was with the SVU, and though he didn't particularly want to be reminded of it, it didn't especially bother him either. Work was off limits because the rest of them needed to do something to preserve their sanity. Having one night when they could hang out as friends and not cops had been very therapeutic. It actually helped that Elliot wasn't in the squad anymore because he gave them a much-needed window on a normal life.

Someone buzzed, and with hand signals and a nod, Olivia asked Fin to take care of it.

"What about the new guy, Ketchup Man?" Elliot asked.

"His name is Heinz," Liv said, "Michael Heinz. He's been with the squad five months, and he's no relation to the ketchup family."

"Whatever, he's almost as rich as they are. Is he coming?" He went back to tossing popcorn.

"Yeah, Mike will be here. I wish you would quit calling him Ketchup Man, though."

Elliot grinned. He only did it because it irritated Liv more than it bothered Mike.

"He's on his way up with Munh, now," Fin said.

Michael "Ketch" Heinz had transferred in from Brooklyn South to be Olivia's new partner. Elliot had met him the day he came in to sign the paperwork officially separating him from the SVU, and he had initially hated the young cop. He was a thirty-two-year-old, six-foot-two-inch, blonde Adonis from a wealthy family who made more from the dividends on his trust fund than from his detective's salary. Working as a public servant made him the black sheep of the family, but it hadn't pissed off his 'grandmamma' enough to disown him so he was still able to enjoy the lifestyle of the rich and famous.

When the weather was nice, Mike drove a bright red, classic Jaguar convertible and when it was bad, he drove a Mercedes that retailed for over $180,000. His clothes were usually Versace or Dolce & Gabbana, and his shoes were usually Prada or Ferragamo. He had graduated from the police academy near the top of his class and been decorated several times as a patrol officer. He came into the SVU with the idea that he was going to single-handedly clean up all of the perversion in Manhattan. Needless to say it had taken him a while to make friends.

When Elliot had first dubbed him Ketchup Man, it had been an insult born of some odd paternal feeling that nobody else would ever be good enough to partner with Olivia. Mike had surprised them all and taken it in stride, and the nickname had stuck. Of course, Ketchup Man was a little unwieldy to be calling across the squadroom in the middle of an investigation, so it was soon shortened to Ketch, and he wore it as a badge of honor. He had survived his hazing and was finally accepted as part of the team.

"Is he working out all right?"

"He's still green, but we all were once." She put her hand on Elliot's arm and smiled excitedly when he faced her. "I got to drive the Jag on Saturday."

"Well, good for you," Elliot smirked at her, and she knew he was jealous. "How'd that happen?"

"We went out for drinks, and Ketch had a few too many, so he gave me his keys to drive him home. I was scared to death I might have a fender bender."

The look Elliot gave her said he was concerned.

"Don't worry, El, it's not a habit, and if it becomes one, well, I'm not gonna trust a drunk to watch my back. He's doing ok."

"That's all I have to hear," he said with a nod, trusting that she would talk to him if she needed to.

"Stabler? What the hell!" John exclaimed when Fin opened the door.

Elliot looked at Olivia and said, "I was hoping for something more original from him."

He turned back to face Munch and asked, "So, what do you think, John?"

"I've always thought covering everything from your shoulders up with a paper sack would have been a great improvement," Munch taunted, "but hey, it's your face, do what you want."

"Ouch!" Elliot laughed.

Olivia doubled over in a fit of giggles.

"At least it was original," Fin pointed out.

Elliot nodded. "I guess it's another undecided, too."

"Shave the beard and you'd look like G. Gordon Liddy," Munch said.

"Nah, Liddy has a way cooler moustache," Fin argued.

"Isn't he the old dude from Celebrity Fear Factor last year?" Ketch's voice said from the hall. "Who is he anyway?"

"What is this country coming to?" Munch whined as Ketch sauntered into the apartment behind him. "A key figure in one of this country's worst political scandals is now just 'that old dude' from some freak factory pseudo-reality stunt show."

Fin pointed a finger in Munch's direction and said, "Do not get started, man!"

Ketch folded his long, lean frame into a seat, said, "Cool look, Elliot. Kind reminds me of Goldberg."

"Uh, thanks, I think," Elliot muttered uncertainly.

When the others exchanged a confused look, Ketch said, "Bill Goldberg? The football player turned professional wrestler turned actor, if you can call it acting."

Now, they all nodded, vaguely aware of who he was talking about. It was odd to them that someone of Heinz's background would be into things like professional wrestling and reality TV shows. They had initially wondered if it was his way of trying to fit in with the 'commoners' with whom he worked, but they had eventually realized that he was surprisingly authentic, and didn't hold himself above anyone. So, now it was just another quirk that had become part of his charm.

"So, that makes three for bald, four undecided, and two for growing it back, right?" Olivia asked.

Elliot took a moment to tally the votes on his fingers and nodded. "Yeah, that's right."

"So, Munch, what's the movie?"

He glared at them. "Do you people have any idea how hard it is to find a Halloween flick two days before Halloween?" he complained.

"Well, if we could trust you to pick something fun to watch, we wouldn't have to give you so many restrictions," Olivia said. "What did you find?"

"I had three choices, so I rented them all." He took them out of the bag and said, "I've got Saw II."

Everybody made faces at that. They'd all seen enough gore to last them a lifetime.

"I didn't think so. Why'd I waste my money?" The question was rhetorical and nobody answered, so he continued talking. "How about The Corpse Bride or It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown?"

"If we start with The Great Pumpkin, maybe Cragen will be here by the time we're ready to watch The Corpse Bride," Olivia suggested.

Olivia's suggestion made sense, so that's what they did. Just as the movie ended, the captain called to say he'd be another ten minutes, so they killed the time chatting and making more popcorn. Since Elliot was the only one not in the squad room every day, most of the attention focused on him.

"So, what have you been doing with yourself lately?" Munch asked. "Aside from crazy adolescent experiments with your appearance, that is."

Elliot smirked at him and said, "You just wish you had the guts." He scratched his beard and said, "Well, I finished tiling the master bathroom this week, so the redecorating is finally done until Kathy gets bored with the house again. I even learned to reupholster furniture and install new light fixtures."

"It's good that you're learning a trade," Munch quipped.

"And now we don't have to hear any more stories about the surprising amount of crud that accumulates under a carpet or the virtues of Corian versus Formica countertops," Olivia added making a face.

Shortly after returning home, Kathy had decided that she wanted to completely remodel the house. Elliot thought it was appropriately symbolic of the way they were starting over, so he agreed. Since he was no longer employed, he had decided to do most of the work himself, also symbolic of him putting more effort into his relationship with his wife than he had in the several years before she left. His weekly update on the progress of the job had become a running joke at their Monday gatherings.

Elliot rolled his eyes but said nothing. "Now that the kids are back in school, I've been driving the carpool, helping coach the twins' soccer teams, and catching up on my reading."

"If you don't mind my asking, have you started drawing your pension yet?" John asked. "I know retiring from Baltimore was such a pain in the ass that some guys probably kept working just to avoid the hassle."

There was a buzz from downstairs, and Heinz, being closest to the intercom, answered it.

"Captain's here," he interjected quietly a moment later.

Elliot sighed. "This is almost embarrassing, John" he admitted. "I never gave it a thought when I resigned. There were other things that were just so much more important to me at the time. I was thirteen months short of my full pension."

Munch grimaced. "Ouch."

"Yeah, but luckily, Don was thinking about it for me," Elliot explained. "He held my resignation, and called me a couple of days later. I used up my sick days and vacation time, and by then, he'd gotten the Chief of Detectives to approve a voluntary unpaid leave until I figured out what I wanted to do about it."

"And what are you doing about it?" Olivia asked.

"Well, I talked it over with Kathy and the kids, and would you believe they all think I would make a good teacher?"

"Yeah, I would."

He looked at her in surprise.

"You're such a hardass as a dad. I think you'd really scare the hell out of twenty-five sixth graders."

That got a laugh out of everyone, but Elliot just made a face at her. "Actually, I'm talking about the Police Academy. In January I start teaching the Detective Bureau Orientation for Investigators course and Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigation."

Munch looked at Fin and said, "You owe me twenty-five bucks. I told you he'd be back in no time."

"Don't pay him, Fin," Elliot said. "I worked four years in Homicide before I went to SVU and that's what I wanted to teach. They ordered me to teach the sex crimes course."

There was a knock at the door, and Heinz let Cragen in.

He greeted everyone, and then looked at his former detective and said, "Elliot? What the hell?"

He didn't understand why that made Olivia and Elliot laugh hysterically, so he just shrugged out of his coat and said, "I hope Munch got a decent movie this time."

"The Corpse Bride," Ketch told him, and he went out to the kitchen to get the captain a soda.

Fin looked at Munch and laughed. "Let's call the bet a draw. I won't take your money either."

"What bet?" Don asked.

"They were betting on how long I could stay away from SVU," Elliot said. "I was just telling them, I got the job at the academy, but they're making me do the Sex Crimes course instead of Homicide."

"Yeah? Well, you can't win 'em all," Don said. "You ok with that? 'Cause I can make a call if you're not." He nodded his thanks as Heinz handed him a Diet Coke.

"Nah, it's all good," Elliot replied. "Especially since they're also putting me in charge of designing a safe dating curriculum for sixth- through twelfth-graders that the school safety officers will teach in conjunction with the sex ed. teachers."

"Really?" Olivia asked in surprise. "That's quite a feather in your cap. How did that come about?"

"Well, I had to complete some workshops before I could begin teaching, and one of the facilitators was a woman named Barbara Fletcher who's responsible for developing a lot of the curriculum. They'd been planning for a while to create this course, but they weren't sure who needed to be involved in it. We were talking during one of the breaks, and she started picking my brain."

"And found it mighty slim pickings, I'll bet," Olivia quipped.

"Good one," Munch commented as he stood to take the remote off the coffee table and switched DVDs.

"Hah-hah, right," Elliot stuck his tongue out at her and then continued. "I guess, she figured between the SVU and having four kids between the ages of fourteen and twenty-one, I had a unique perspective on dating and sexual relationships. She wanted to know who I would trust to teach my kids about safety, sex, and dating if they weren't comfortable talking to me. I started naming people, and a week later, Barb asked me to stop by her office. I had no idea what she wanted, and I think I just about lost the job when I got pissed off by the personal questions she was asking."

"What did you do?" Don asked, asked in a tone that implied he was expecting the worst.

Fin got up to get another soda and put the last bag of popcorn in the microwave.

"Have a little faith, Cap," Elliot grinned. "I just told her that I didn't think it was any of her business, and until she could show me how it was, I wasn't going to answer her."

Don wasn't the only one who breathed a sigh of relief.

"She told me it was about the course they were planning, and asked me a few questions about my kids and about that boyfriend of Kathleen's that I ran off last year. So I guess she had done some homework on me. Then she handed me a sheet of paper, and except for my priest, all of the people I had mentioned during the earlier conversation were on it, plus a few names she had added. She asked me if I thought they would work well together as a committee to write the curriculum, and when I said yes, she said, 'Good, because you're chairing it.'"

"No way!" Olivia said in shock.

"Way," Elliot grinned, "and by the way, you and Fin are on the committee. Barb should be contacting you this week."

"What about me?" Munch asked in his hurt, whiny voice. "Why did you leave me out?"

"Four wives, John," Elliot said simply. "Sorry, but it didn't seem like you'd be the guy to ask about building a successful relationship."

"Point taken," John said sulkily.

"You know, Elliot," Ketch said, "Olivia once told me you were in the SVU for over thirteen years, but it doesn't seem like you miss it at all. That's a huge chunk of your life to walk away from. Do you ever feel like you might want to come back?"

Elliot looked around taking in the faces of each of his dearest friends, studying them almost as if he wanted to memorize their features. Then he looked at the new guy, who was turning out to be not such a bad guy at all.

"I don't miss the work one bit," he said quietly. "But I miss the unit every day."

Olivia covered his hand with hers where it rested on the sofa cushion between them. Don looked down at his watch. Munch hit the play button and started the DVD. Fin cut the lights, and they all settled back to enjoy the movie in the company of friends.

None of them mentioned that he had never really answered Ketch's question.