The world began swirling around Olivia. Her body was paralyzed, and she could feel her heart beating rapidly. She was stunned standing there staring at the young woman's eyes…Elliot's blue eyes. Elliot's ocean blue eyes. She was here. After all these years…she was here.

Olivia tried to form words, but her throat was constricting…preventing any air from escaping. She fought back the tears that were filling her own eyes. She wanted to grab the young woman and give her a hug, but quickly controlled that urge.

"I'm sorry to blurt that out. I'm probably the last person you expected to just show up at your office." Ella searched Olivia's eyes, yearning for her to say something…anything. Hoping that all of this wasn't a mistake.

Olivia crossed to the door of her office, and shut the bullpen out. She motioned for Ella to take a seat on the sofa on the other side of the room. "Please have a seat." Ella took a seat on the sofa. "Would you like some water?" Ella nodded, and Olivia grabbed a bottle of water off her credenza, trying to control her shaking hands and contain the tears welling up in her eyes. She returned to the sofa and handed the bottle to Ella, who took it, opened it, took a drink, and placed it on the coffee table. Olivia sat on the opposite side of the sofa, and they both turned slightly to face each other.

Trying to hold back tears, Olivia nervously studied the young woman. "I don't even know where to begin. I never thought I would see you again. You were so tiny the last time I held you." Olivia sheepishly extended her arms. "May I give you a hug?" Ella nodded and leaned towards the Captain, who now had tears streaming down her face. The women awkwardly embraced, and then returned to their seating positions.

Ella and Olivia sat silently for a moment before Ella broke the ice. "Captain Benson, I know this is really awkward, but I want you to know I don't expect anything from you. And if you don't want to know me, I would understand."

Olivia was quick to respond. "No…no…please. I'm just amazed you are here. Please call me Olivia." She exhaled a long breath, and calmed her racing mind. "I'm just trying to gather my thoughts and keep my emotions in check." Olivia tried to bring her breathing back into a normal rhythm. "Where do we begin?"

Ella looked at Olivia, anxiously waiting to hear whatever answers she had to her questions."I'm not sure. There are so many questions. Maybe we start with some basic information. What's your full name? What do you do here?" Ella motioned out to the busy squad room, and then returned her focus to Olivia.

After taking a drink from her own water bottle, Olivia answered the questions. "My name is Olivia Margaret Benson. I'm Captain of the Manhattan Special Victims Unit. We investigate rapes, child endangerment…things like that. I've been with the NYPD for 30+ years, and with SVU about 25 years." Olivia stared intently at Ella, still in shock that they were sitting together in the precinct. Shocked that the tiny baby she held all those years ago was now sitting in her office as a beautiful young woman.

"Thank you. Ummmm…Do you have any immediate questions for me before we continue on?"

Olivia's head was spinning with a million questions. "Ella…what do you know about your adoption? How did you find me?"

Ella took another drink of water and continued. "I know I was adopted in the fall of 2006 to Thomas and Elizabeth Humphreys of Salem, Oregon. I'm 17 years old, and I will graduate from McKay High School in the spring. My parents told me my birth mother named me Ella Margaret Benson, and since I was already a few months old when they finalized the adoption, they decided to keep my first name, and use Benson as my middle name. They said it was to honor my birth mother." Olivia nodded and gave her a gentle smile, and brought her hand up to her cheek to wipe away the tear that had escaped her eye.

"That is an amazing honor. I'm at a loss for words. They sound like amazing people. You're very lucky", Olivia lamented.

"My parents were always open once I started to question if I was adopted. I don't look anything like them, so I started questioning during middle school." Tears were now rolling freely down Olivia's cheeks, but she was too engrossed with the presence of her daughter sitting in front of her.

"When I turned 17, I told them I wanted to find my birth mother, and they were incredibly supportive. We went to the adoption agency in Portland, and they gave me your name. You had checked the box that stated you were open to being contacted. They didn't have much information on you, so my parents hired a private detective, and eventually tracked you down. We figured it was best to come in person instead of a phone call or email."

Olivia just kept nodding her head at everything Ella was saying. "I appreciate that." Fin knocked and then quickly opened the door. "Liv, we have that suspect in Interrogation 1. You said you wanted to watch us question him." Olivia kept her back to Fin. "Thanks Fin. I'll be there in a minute." The Sergeant closed the door, and Olivia kept her gaze on the young woman. "Ummmmm…As much as I don't want this moment to end, I think we could sit forever asking and answering questions. Do you think you could get together for dinner tonight? It's obviously pretty crazy right now here in the precinct, and I want to be able to focus on you."

Ella let Olivia know that she and her parents had tickets to a show that evening, and were planning to tour NYU and Hudson University while they were in town. "Could you have lunch tomorrow?" Olivia immediately agreed, and the women agreed lunch would just be the two of them. They discussed that if everything worked out, Olivia could meet the Humphreys. All she wanted to do was throw her arms around them and thank them for everything they had done for her daughter.

The women stood and embraced each other while tears streamed from both of them. Olivia still couldn't believe she was holding her daughter. She kept her hands on Ella's shoulders staring directly into her vibrant blue eyes. "I know we'll talk about him eventually, but you have your father's eyes." Olivia let more tears flow down her cheeks.

Ella wiped tears from her cheeks and she tentatively asked, "I do? Do you mind if I ask his name? And are you still in touch with him?"

Olivia answered with a shaky voice, "His name is Elliot. And yes, I'm still in touch with him. I promise I'll tell you more about him tomorrow." The women agreed on a time/location for lunch the next afternoon and quickly exchanged phone numbers.

There was one last hug, and Ella left Olivia's office, and exited the precinct. Olivia closed her office door, drew the blinds, and collapsed on the sofa letting herself release all the tears of guilt and regret she had been holding back for years.

After what seemed like forever, Olivia sat up and realized that she needed to confirm Ella's story. She knew, deep down, Ella was who she said she was, but Olivia was a police Captain, so she wanted confirmation before bringing her further into her life. And definitely before she told Elliot he had a daughter he didn't know existed.

She grabbed her phone, and called the TARU office. After speaking to the Captain of TARU, only giving basic details, Olivia started the process of confirming the adoption. She then spotted Ella's water bottle, and had an idea. She dialed a new number…"Melinda, it's Olivia. Could you run a DNA kit for me? Rushed. I need the results by lunch tomorrow."