AN: I do not own these characters. There will be adult language, violence, sexual situations, heinous crime, and most importantly, gratuitous EO.

Set two years after Season 24 finale.

Chapter 1

The Manhattan SVU precinct was unusually empty when Sergeant Bell rushed breathlessly out of the elevator and into the small office filled with desks. Sunlight poured in through windows, the smell of coffee filled the air, and light-hearted laughter could be heard in the back break room.

"The quiet before the storm," she thought heavily. Her heart beat so hard she could hear the blood pulsing through her veins.

Olivia's voice could be heard overtop the others. It was as bright as the sun in the room.

Bell listened for a moment.

Olivia stood with her back to the door, surrounded by her loyal crew of friends and colleagues. A wide smile on her face.

"I never thought I'd say it…but…I loved every minute of my wedding. I loved the church. I loved my dress. I loved the cake. I loved…the groom….of course," she blushed. "…and all of you being there. I can't thank you all enough. Really. I know, we've been slammed all morning. And I haven't had time to catch up with anyone or even send out Thank You cards. But…thank you…My family. Thank you for supporting me…through everything. I know that I can make it through all of the hard days and the hurdles we sometimes get tossed, because of all you, and I feel so much gratitude after the past two weeks, that I had to share those thoughts with you. It really meant the world to Elliot and I that you were all there for us. Even when…He and I weren't …there for us," she ended with the joke and they all lifted their coffee cups with the same mutual energy.

"To the Cap," Bruno whistled.

Rollins, who decided university life wasn't for her during maternity leave, had came back to SVU. She stood against the counter watching the infamously independent Olivia Benson sweetly brag about her big fat Catholic Disney princess wedding. She proudly smiled back at her mentor and friend. "And," Rollins added. "Seeing you both together...openly in love…was the best part of that wedding. You deserve every minute of happiness, Captain."

Olivia teared up. "Thanks, Amanda." There was an awkward pause and then Olivia snapped back into her no nonsense demeanor. "Okay, people. Back to work before I start to cry again."

"It's only been 10 minutes," Velasco jabbed.

"Yeah, yeah. And by the way, try as you might to hide all of that paperwork under a hoodie, it looks like you haven't done a stitch of desk duty, since I've been gone, so..." She waved. ", get it done by end of day."

"I was hoping you were going to stay out longer," Velasco mumbled.

"If we had stayed one more day on that beach in Portugal, I might have retired without even saying goodbye, but…we didn't, so start typing," she smiled with a tone that was both maternal and strict.

Fin laughed as he followed closely behind Velasco. "One week of officially being a Stabler, and you were ready to bail without notice. Sounds about right," he jested.

The whole team walked past Bell, except for Olivia, who stopped frozen in her tracks.

She could see the fear in Bell's face.

"What happened?," she muttered. The sound went out of her ears before Bell could even say a word and Rollins held her up as the news hit them both.

AN: Okay I left you hanging. But review if you need more...