A/N: A shout out to Jade. Thanks for your review for Chapter 19. :)

Epilogue

Not long after the joke about retiring, Munch officially turned in his papers. Between the attack on Olivia and the subsequent racially charged case involving the death of Mehcad Carter, the elder detective decided that he just could not handle the job anymore. He'd been a cop for a long time, first in Baltimore and then in New York City, and in that time he'd seen things that would boggle the mind but none more so than what happened to his friend and colleague and that poor boy who was just walking home on the wrong street that night. The Mehcad case got to Fin too though he didn't exactly express it in words, Munch could tell that his old partner was upset. How was it that in society today something like that could happen?

It was Elliot's first case back and he put simply that despite the strides that society had made as a whole, there would still be those that would not believe in equality. There would still be those that hated others who were not like them, no matter what the race, color, or creed, because it was easier to blame someone else rather than themselves. For Elliot, it had reinforced why he was a cop and why everyone was afforded equal protection under the law needed to be fought for. He'd protected his country while in the service with those same ideals and he would continue to do so as a member of the NYPD. It wasn't so black and white for Munch anymore and he knew that he rather retire on his terms, rather than the department making the choice for him.

The retirement party was held in grand fashion with many people attending and wishing Munch the best as he journeyed into the new life of retirement. The after party was just SVU and family and it was held down at their favorite cop bar.

"Hey! Those kids can't be in here," the bartender said as Calvin walked through the door, pushing Charlotte in the stroller.

"They're with me," Munch told him as he entered the bar still wearing the retirement party hat that Rollins had bought him. The bartender, a retired officer by the name of Charlie, left from behind the bar and strode over to the former detective, shaking his hand; he congratulated him on his retirement.

"You know I can get in real trouble for this," Charlie jerked his head to the two minors who had taken up a corner table along the wall, to stay out of the way.

"At ease, Charlie, they're not going to be drinking. Besides can you imagine the trouble I'd get in for letting Charlotte put whiskey in her Sippy cup?" Munch asked.

"Ten hut!" Suddenly a shout went up and every cop in the bar stood at attention. The music on the juke box was silenced by a swift kick to the front of the machine.

"Geez, you'd think they'd never seen an SVU detective before," Olivia shook her head as she walked in through the door. What she didn't realize was that Elliot wasn't the one holding the door.

"I'm sure they have Detective Benson," the voice made her turn her head.

"Commissioner," she tried to stand as upright as she could with her crutches.

"At ease, everyone," he announced before saying, "The next round is on me." To that cheers went up and the bar became its lively self again.

"I'm dead," Charlie said.

"Not at all son. Those two whippersnappers are my guests this evening. I have it on good authority that we won't be bothered with a surprise inspection from the liquor authority tonight," he winked.

"Yes sir," and with that Charlie quickly ducked back behind the bar.

"Sir, I…" Olivia spoke up but she soon realized that she had no idea what to say.

"Detective Benson, I want you to make sure that you give me weekly updates on your progress. The moment that you feel you can get around without crutches and your doctors think you could return to desk duty, you let me know. Is that understood?" He asked.

"Yes, sir," she nodded.

"Excellent, now go have fun," and with that the Commissioner went over and bellied up to the bar.

"What was that about?" Elliot asked.

"I think I just got offered a job," Olivia said. He was about to ask more questions when Charlie walked up with a tray full of drinks. Munch directed him over to where Calvin and Charlotte where and the group quickly followed.

"All right, beers for everyone, except for the guests of the Commish. Pop and apple juice for those two," with a wink, Charlie was gone.

"Where did Charlie get apple juice from?" Rollins asked.

"I brought some over before the party. I just didn't tell him that they were for Charlotte," Munch smirked.

"Uncle Munch in the clutch," Calvin chuckled.

"That's right," the elder detective said, giving Calvin a fist bump.

"To Munch. We're going to miss you," Fin lifted his glass.

"To Munch," the group said.

The End

A/N2: And with that, this story bids everyone adieu. Keep your eyes peeled for the next one, coming out early next week. :) I want to thank everyone for sticking with me.