"Hey Elliot!" Noah bounded into the room with his typical exuberance.
Elliot had been reading a case file with his glasses perched on the edge of his nose. He pulled them off and tossed them on the rolling table to his left. He set aside the file, giving her son his full attention.
Noah plopped onto the chair nearest the hospital bed. His eyes flicked to Olivia and then back to Elliot, "I asked my mom, and she didn't know, but was wondering…how many stitches did you get?"
Olivia resisted the urge to facepalm at the question. Boys.
Elliot laughed and then winced. "Ah. Still hurts when I laugh," he explained, when Noah's face fell with concern. "But to answer your question…I don't know actually." Elliot glanced down at the wound tightly packed with gauze and tape. "Why don't we count?"
His hand reached for the tape, and Noah yelled out, "Cool!" and Olivia was left wondering how in the world she became the only adult in the room.
"Elliot, so help me, if you peel that tape off, I'm not visiting you again." She threatened.
Noah snickered at the threat. "Better listen. She's using her captain's voice."
Elliot's eyes caught hers, and she could see them dancing with amusement. He reached for the tape, "You wouldn't leave me here all alone…" he teased.
She stepped towards him and smacked his hand out of the way. Her face was nose to nose with his when she said, "Oh I would." she smirked and stepped back, "Go ahead. Try me." she knew he wouldn't peel open the bandaging. He wasn't that stupid.
"Fine," he groaned.
Noah jumped in, "Hey! I would still visit you everyday."
Elliot grinned, "thanks dude." His blue eyes found hers, "See, at least someone here loves me…" he teased.
She rolled her eyes, but couldn't hide her smile. She changed the subject. "Noah, show him what you brought."
Noah's eyes lit up. "I told mom I wanted to bring you something since being in the hospital is the worst." He elaborated, "When I got stupid Covid they made me stay at the hospital because of my asthma. It was dumb because I was fine."
"I'm sure they just wanted you to be safe." Elliot chuckled.
"Yeah yeah. I know, but anyway. I asked mom about some things that you liked, and she helped me pick up some stuff at the store." He lifted a grocery bag proudly.
"Alright then," He glanced up at Olivia, eyes smiling. "Let's see what we got here." He laughed a little and looked at Olivia, "I feel like I'm reliving our stake out days."
She shrugged, "The only time I bought snacks and time killing stuff with you was at bodegas during stake outs."
"It's perfect," he patted Noah's shoulder. "Thanks dude."
"No problem," Noah shrugged and his curls bounced.
"Tell me what's been happening lately. Haven't seen you in a while. How's school?"
Noah leaned in and told Elliot all about the different things he had going on. Olivia hung back, leaning against a wall, watching Noah interact with Elliot.
For years rumors and speculation surrounded the paternity of "Captain Benson's son". It was stupid really. Anyone who even remotely knew her knew Noah was adopted, but still the rumors persisted. What started as light embers of rumor, exploded into a full blazing wildfire upon Elliot's return.
Nevermind the fact that Elliot had been gone for years when Noah was born. People still talked. Knowing exactly where Noah came from always made her a bit blind to the uncanny physical similarities between him and her former partner. She never even considered what it might look like because she understood the truth of the matter. But now, when she took a step back and just observed, she could see it.
It wasn't just the blue eyes. That seemed to be everyone's sticking point, but not hers. There were an innumerable amount of blue eyed men in this city. For her, it was almost everything else.
Sure, he didn't look exactly like Elliot, but Noah had a lot of similar features to Dickie and Elliot.. The lighter skin, the blue eyes, and taller build mimicked what she knew both Elliot and Dickie exhibited at that age. It was uncanny in a very real way.
And then there was that sense of connection. Familiarity. It had been instantly apparent from the minute they met. Olivia wanted to chalk it up to her undoubtable connection with Elliot. Noah was her son after all, and it made sense that he would connect with Elliot in a similar way. But it felt like more than that. They were bonded in a different way, a way she couldn't quite understand.
Maybe it had to do with that parallel universe. Maybe.
In some ways she wished the rumors held the truth. Like herself, Noah wasn't completely cognizant of the DNA that flowed through him or what bearing it had on the trajectory of his life. Everything inside of her wished he could claim Elliot as biologically his, but that would never be the case. Not in their perfectly imperfect universe.
A soft knock at the door pulled her from her contemplative state.
"Hey guys," Amanda opened the door quietly. "Hey Stabler," she shot a cheeky grin in his direction, "glad you decided to stay with us." She gave Olivia an amused smile before moving her attention to Noah, "Ready to go Noh?"
He didn't look ready, but Noah was a reasonably compliant kid. He picked up his overnight bag, "Yeah." He walked across the room and gave Olivia a quick hug.
She kissed his head. "Be good for aunt Amanda."
"Mooommm," he rolled his eyes.
"He's alway perfect." Amanda gave Noah a wink.
"I hope that's true…" Liv smiled. She knew Noah loved hanging out with Amanda and Sonny and always behaved well for them. "Bye baby," she said and he scooted towards the door.
"See ya Elliot," he called as he slung his bag over his shoulders.
"See ya kid." Elliot gave him a wave as Noah slipped out the door behind Amanda.
The room felt painfully silent without the preteen's presence, and after a moment Elliot reached his hand out for her, inviting her to come sit with him.
She couldn't stop the smile crossing her face as she sauntered over. She grabbed his hand and he gently tugged her down to his side. He kissed her quickly before she settled into the hospital bed next to him.
"You got a pretty great kid there, Benson."
"I know." She leaned her head against his shoulder. "He's my miracle, that's for sure."
She felt him start to say something but hesitate. Her normal reaction was to let it go, but she wanted things to be good between them, and that might mean a little discomfort for one or both of them. "What, El?" She prodded.
He turned his face towards hers, "I'm always…" he hesitated again. "I don't like bringing up the time when I was gone because…I mean it's obvious, but.."
"But what," she encouraged.
He still seemed nervous, but he reached for her hand and she gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Tell me about him. I guess I'm asking you to tell me what I missed, because God…" he shook his head and she knew he was internally beating himself up. "I missed so damn much."
"Yeah, you did." It was a matter of fact. It was something they couldn't change, but it was something they had to acknowledge and move on from. "But," she gave him a reassuring smile, "Noah is the best thing that happened in your absence, and it's something that doesn't hurt me to talk about…we'll at least most of the story." She could acknowledge that her path to parenthood wasn't all giggles and sunshine. It took her to some dark places before achieving the beautiful end result.
He seemed concerned by her qualifying statement, but decided to let it go for now. "Tell me about adopting Noah." His blue eyes could always communicate his every emotion with roaring intensity. Right now they communicated his sincere adoration, for her…and her son. It touched her deep to her core.
"Well," she started. "It was not long after I returned back to work after," she swallowed, "the second encounter with Lewis." His face fell, but he remained cool. "Anyway, we were working on this child pornography case…and during our investigation, I found a sweet baby boy tucked into a dresser drawer…"
-000-
Ayanna watched the interrogation on the other side of the one way glass. These men weren't exactly geniuses. Even a minimally competent detective should be able to crack them. Her's were elite. This should move quickly.
They decided to interview the older brother first, and let the younger brother stew a little. They figured the younger brother got stab happy, and the older one wouldn't want to take the fall for the younger brother.
She flipped the audio switch and watched her detectives go to work.
"How are ya Mark? It's been a little bit…" Whelan began.
"Like a full day," Reyes nodded.
Mark lifted his hands defensively. "I told you guys. My van was stolen and I got nothin' to do with whatever you thinks goin' on." Mark's voice remained gruff and defensive.
"I'm curious," Whelan started, and glanced over to Reyes casually, "you curious?" His eyes went back on Mark, "What do you think we have you in here for? I mean, this could all be a mistake, right?" He directed the question at both Bobby and Mark.
Mark didn't bite. He seemed wary of Whelan. "I don't know why I'm here," the man insisted.
"Well we generally don't make a habit of pulling random people off the street, do we?" Reyes directed the question to Whelan.
"Yeah, not so much. We have to have this thing called probable cause before we pick anyone up off the street." Whelan grinned. "So that begs the question, why could our friend Mark Cox be here."
Mark squirmed nervously, but maintained his original assertion. "I didn't do nothin, so whatever you think you have must be a mistake."
"Yeah we don't really make mistakes," Whelan pulled out a Manila folder. He flipped through some papers until he found what he was looking for. He dropped the picture of the pest control van onto the table. "See, one of your vans was caught at the scene of a body dump…"
"I told you that the van was stolen."
"See, that's where things get a little murky," Whelan continued, "we checked on the report and the provided VIN numbers… this was your "stolen" van, but it appears you found it on your own because we found it parked right next to your two other vans."
Ayanna shook her head. Obviously, not the most sophisticated criminal…
Mark looked stuck, and maybe a little cornered. A sheen of sweat began forming on his forehead. Ayanna leaned in. This was the time a suspect would either break or…
"I think," Mark licked his lips. "I think I need a lawyer."
Ayanna internally groaned. Her detectives did the usual dance necessary in this type of situation.
"Look man," Reyes tried buddying up to him, "we can help you right now, but once lawyers are pulled in…I don't know man…we can leave you in here to wait for a lawyer, and in the meantime we will talk to your kid brother." Reyes brought his voice down, "and between you and me…you're brother seems like a dumbass. And I'm thinkin he had more to do with this than you did."
Mark bit his lip, and Ayanna watched his knee bounce nervously. Come on. She thought. Break!
"Uhhh," Mark licked his lips. "Um….no. I think I want a lawyer."
"Alright," Whelan pushed against the table, scooting his chair back. "You heard the man." He stood and waved for Reyes to join him. "Let's go question the dumbass brother."
Reyes gave Mark one more look before he stood and followed Whelan to the door. Just as Jamie's fingers grasped the handle, Mark called, "Wait!"
Ayanna could see Whelan's satisfied smile from the other side of the glass. They got him.
