Um...I think I had a mid-story crisis. So...there's more? I'm so sorry. Don't ever listen to me. Consider this the canon Chapter 13.

"Well? What do you think?" Olivia was watching him nervously, hoping for some sign of recognition, but he wasn't taking his eyes off of the man in the box. He was Asian, early forties, with hollow cheeks and venomous eyes. They didn't even know his name. And yet…There was something about him. It wasn't any particular feature, or even the way he moved, but something about this man was plucking at an old memory. He couldn't place it. He couldn't place him. But he had a feeling it was very, very important.

He looked over at his partner. "I don't know," he said truthfully. "But there's something there, I think…" He let his voice trail off.

"You think he might have been the one to put you in the coma?" She was eager, too eager, but Elliot was nervous. In spite of himself, he was scared, and he felt completely unprepared for this. He wanted to go into the box in a position of power, but he couldn't shake the feeling that this man had some sort of sinister advantage on him.

"I–" The man coughed, and Elliot froze, as if caught in time again. The sound replayed over and over in his head, and suddenly he knew–this was not a figment of his fearful, desperate imagination, but reality. The man who had tried to kill him all those years ago, who had done such irrevocable damage to him and those he loved, was sitting in front of him. His jaw clenched, knuckles whitening, and he felt that his breath was fire. This was the man, but why? Why would a complete stranger work to destroy him?

He looked down at a sudden touch, and all the breath seemed to leave his lungs when he caught sight of his partner. Her eyes begged for understanding, and he needed to give it to her. "It's…" He closed his eyes angrily. "I wasn't sure, until I heard him cough…I don't know why, but that memory…" He looked straight into her eyes, willing himself not to show the fear that was clawing at his gut. "It's him, Liv."

Rage wasn't frequently an emotion he had seen from Olivia Benson over the 12 years they had known each other. But now, seeing the hatred enter her eyes, the blood drain from her face–He couldn't think of another word for it. And rather than being unnerving, it was comforting. If Olivia Benson of all people could share in his worst emotion, perhaps he wasn't so incorrigible, after all.

"Did you know him before?" She asked in a tight voice. "Or was he just a hitman?"

He shook his head. "He almost looks military, but…I swear, I only have the one memory. Though maybe I got knocked on the head too hard, who knows…"

She shook her head. "Don't say that. I know you, Elliot. You're my partner. You, here–" She gestured vaguely at him. "Nothing's missing. Take my word for it."

Her words reached him, and he felt that strange sort of vulnerability that comes when confronted with such unexpected compassion. Her words had touched him in exactly the right way, and she probably had no idea. Just more Olivia Benson intuition, he guessed.

He coughed. "Thanks. So…How do we get him?"

She gnawed on her lip. "We have enough to put him away for good on two attempted murders. But if we want to find out who hired him? What his motives were?" She turned to him, eyes darkening slightly with fear. "Are you sure you're up for this?"

It occurred to him to be offended, to think that she was questioning his abilities as a detective, but he knew that that wasn't it. She wasn't exactly wrong to be worried about him losing his temper in a situation like this. "Are you?" He asked back straightforwardly. Her lips tugged up in a smile, and with a jolt he remembered what they felt like. He dragged his eyes back to hers, thanking his lucky stars that hadn't seemed to notice.

"I don't know, but I'll be damned if I let anyone else do this job, that's for sure."

He couldn't help his grin, then. "I'd say that's about how I feel, too."

She nodded, apparently satisfied, but her good humor faded quickly. "Do we have a strategy, here? I could go in, try to get a feel for the guy, offer him a deal…You could go in and scare the life out of him so I could patch him up…"

They weren't bad ideas, but… "I think we should go in together." She looked up at him. "If nothing else, then for old time's sakes."

Olivia smiled up at him, eyes soft, and he couldn't help but notice how tiny the distance was between them. Where once it had seemed impassable, now…

"Hey!" They both jumped at a sudden shout. The man was banging on the steel table, attempting to be heard. His cool façade had crumble with astonishing suddenness, and now they were confronted with utter violence of temper. "Are you motherfuckers planning on keeping me in here forever? Don't you wanna know who's trying to kill you?"

Olivia sucked in a quick breath. "That's our cue." She took less than a moment to compose herself with impressive speed, and strode confidently into the interrogation room, Elliot on her heels.

"Hello," she smiled pleasantly, sitting down across from him. "I take it you're interested in talking?"

The man looked back and forth between the two of them, and nodded abruptly with an expression like he was about to spit. "That's right. That motherfucker can go and fucking fuck himself–"

They exchanged a glance. When the man was done spewing profanity, he settled his hands on the table and leaned over to smile at Olivia.

"I bet you got a great deal for me, don't you, sweetheart?"

She offered him a brief, cold smile. "It's Sergeant Benson to you, Mr–?"

"Gonzales. Mario Gonzales. You wanna get a drink sometime?"

Elliot knew the man was baiting them, but it nonetheless took a considerable amount of effort not to step forward and slap him across the head. Olivia sighed, feigning sympathy.

"That's going to be rather difficult from inside prison, isn't it?"

Mario grit his teeth. "That's my point. I'm not rotting in prison for that fucker."

"Okay," she said, calmly. "What fucker?"

"I need a deal first. I'm not doing time." For two attempted murders? What did he expect, to go home and grab a beer?

Olivia looked loathe to give up the interrogation, but nodded after a while. "I'll get our A.D.A."

"Good," he said, look satisfied. "I just want to get out of here, Game of Thrones is on tonight." Elliot had to hold back an incredulous smile.

When they were outside the interrogation room, Elliot looked confusedly at Olivia. "How exactly are you planning on pleading him out? He's be lucky to get one lifetime in jail instead of two."

She shook her head, and only offered up one word. "Barba."

Great, he thought to himself, following her and trying not to feel too exasperated. That's just perfect.

...

Thanks for bearing with me...