A/N: This is going to be the final chapter. It's an extension of sorts as requested in reviews.

Two months later

Olivia opened her office door to absolute chaos in her squad room. She had just finished a call with the chief, so she'd been unaware that something was going on, but now that she was paying attention to everything again, she could see that something was about to happen. Immediately kicking into command mode, Olivia raised her voice above the noise in the room and shouted,

"Everybody calm down, right now, and get back to work!"

Silence followed instantly, and everyone returned to their desks at once. Olivia allowed herself a small smile, but then she looked over to where Rollins was standing with someone. Her heart instantly dropped into her stomach upon seeing the person that Rollins was with, and all Olivia wanted to do right then was walk back into her office and pray that she was wrong.

"Kathleen," she said instead, walking over to the Rollins, "is everything okay?"

"I'm not hurt, if that's what you mean," said Kathleen. "Could we talk, please?"

"Of course. Come into my office." Olivia led her friend's daughter into the captain's office and closed the door. "Have a seat. Do you want something to drink?"

"I'm fine. Listen, I can't stay long, I have to get back to my grandma and Eli, but there's something I need to tell you."

"You can always tell me anything, you know that."

Kathleen nodded. "Good. It's about dad."

"Is he hurt?"

"No, at least not when I last spoke to him. I know that the two of you have been out of sorts since he came back to the States with mum, and I think I know what part of the problem is. Regardless, though, it's not my business. I just can't stand seeing dad so upset all the time. You need to talk to each other, have an argument if that's what it takes, but you both need to clear things up."

"Kathleen..."

"I'm not finished, Olivia. I know that part of the problem was mum. I know that she hated how much time the two of you spent together at work. I get it, but I also know that you were only friends. Dad mentioned once about some letter mum wanted him to write before she died. I don't know what was in that letter, but I know dad didn't like it. He mentioned that he knew you would be hurt by it."

"Well..."

"Have you spoken to him about it?"

"I tried. He doesn't want to talk about it. I can't even get in contact with him."

"He's coming home this weekend. I'll tell him to go and visit you. I can come and take Noah out for the day, if you want?"

"Kathleen, I can't ask you to do that."

"You're not asking, I'm offering. And I won't take no for an answer. You two used to be so close, and I want you to be close again. You were always there for us, you were like a second mum, especially when we couldn't rely on our own mum. You were the one that got our family back together. If anyone deserves to have their friend back, it's you."

Olivia smiled a little. "I would like to have him back in my life. I really missed you guys."

"I can't obviously speak for Eli, since he doesn't really know you, but I know that Maureen, Liz, Dickie and I definitely missed you. So does dad." Kathleen stood up. "I'll bring him to you on Saturday, and I'll take Noah out horse riding again. You two can talk."

Olivia nodded. "Alright, thank you, Kathleen."

Saturday morning, Olivia woke up with a feeling of dread. She really did want to speak with Elliot, to clear the air, but she still wasn't sure that it was a good thing. What if Elliot didn't actually want to be friends? What if she'd been wrong about him being honest that night? She didn't think she'd be able to cope if he told her that he didn't want her in his life anymore.

"Mum?"

Olivia looked up to find Noah standing in her bedroom doorway, his riding gear already in his hand.

"Hey, buddy," said Olivia, smiling. "I see you're ready to go."

"Kathleen isn't here yet, but I'm so excited! Thank you for letting me go with her again."

"Of course. I trust Kathleen very much, and I've known her since she was a child. I know she'll look after you for me."

"I wonder if I can ride Starry again? He was a good horse."

"You can ask. Have you had breakfast yet?"

"No."

"Alright. Give me five minutes, and I'll come and make us something yummy."

"Pancakes?"

"Sure. Do you think you can get all the pancake ingredients out for me?"

Noah laughed. "Of course, mum."

Olivia shook her head, a smile playing on her lips. She loved Noah, and he never failed to make her happy. She got dressed and went out to the kitchen to find that Noah was preparing the pancake mixture already.

"Sorry, I couldn't wait," said Noah as he put the wooden spoon into the sink.

"That's alright," said Olivia, taking the bowl from her son and starting the stove. "Thank you for helping me."

Noah smiled. "Can I go and see if Kathleen is here yet?"

"You can set the table for us to have breakfast, because Kathleen won't be here for another twenty minutes. The pancakes will be ready in a few minutes."

Just five minutes later, Olivia and Noah were sitting down, eating their pancakes. Neither of them spoke until the doorbell rang and Noah jumped up. He ran to the door, returning with Kathleen and Elliot in a few seconds.

"Mum! Kathleen's here!" Noah said excitedly. "Can we go now?"

"Brush your teeth first, Noah. And remember to come and say goodbye." Olivia shook her head in exasperation as she watched her son race from the kitchen. "I'm sorry, Kathleen. He's pretty hyper today."

"He's just excited, Olivia. It's okay," replied Kathleen. "I hope he won't mind the same horse he used last time."

"If that horse is called Starry, then he'll be very excited. He's also been a chatterbox this morning. Good luck."

Kathleen laughed. "I can handle it. Just text me or call me when you're ready for him to be back here."

"I'm ready, Kathleen. Bye, mum!" Noah called as he walked past the kitchen to grab his gear from the living room.

Olivia waved goodbye to her son and Kathleen, then led Elliot over to the kitchen table. She quickly loaded the dishes into the dishwasher, then turned to him.

"Why haven't you bothered to answer any of my calls or texts?" she asked.

"I've been undercover. My phone stays at home while I'm undercover," Elliot replied.

"How do you talk to your kids, then?"

"I phone them from payphones, mostly."

"You couldn't have called me from a payphone?"

"Not for this conversation, Liv."

"You almost blew your cover coming to me after you were drugged. You could have come by anytime since then, Elliot."

"I know that."

"Then why didn't you? You had to have known that I was going to have questions about that letter."

"I didn't know how to face you."

"Yes, you did. You just didn't want to."

"That's not true."

"Sure it isn't. You know, Elliot, I really thought you wrote that letter. You let me think it was you for a year. Why didn't you just tell me the truth?"

"So you could hate Kathy as well as me? That would have been unfair to you."

"No. What was unfair to me was having to feel like the one person I trusted the most hated me. That you never liked me at all. That was very unfair."

"I never hated you, not even for a second, Olivia. I think it was just Kathy being jealous, nothing more. I promise you that I have never, and will never, feel anything that was written in that letter."

"You didn't have to write it, you could have eve torn it up after it was written. Why couldn't you have just not given it to me?"

"I thought you deserved to know why I was being distant. In hindsight, that was a crappy move on my part."

"Yeah, it was. I just don't understand it."

"I don't expect you to understand it. I don't expect anything like that. I just need you to know that I never meant any of it. I want us to be friends, Liv."

"So do I. That's what I've wanted all year long. That was what I was hoping for ever since you left me without so much as a goodbye."

"I'm sorry, Olivia. I really am."

Olivia nodded. "I believe you, please just promise me something."

"Anything."

"Don't ever lie to me. We never used to, so please don't start now."

"I won't. That I can promise. I will never lie to you, Olivia Benson. Never."

"Good. Now that we've gotten that out, there's something that I have to tell you. I don't know if you already know it, but I always hoped that you'd show up after it so I could talk about it."

A/N: The End

If you want to know what Olivia wants to tell Elliot, look out for an upcoming story, entitled 'What You Need To Know About Me Now'.