Chapter Text
It was after eight. Closer to nine, really. Eli was in bed and Kathy was reading upstairs. The house was silent and Elliot hated it. Rome was beautiful. There was history around each corner, art and culture and coffee and wine always at hand. His new precinct showed off antique furniture and he could give confession at churches that predated the Holy Roman Empire. But it was slow and it was quiet and he didn't hate Rome but he did hate that. Kathy said he'd get used to it. Elliot wasn't so sure. He wasn't so sure he wanted to.
The buzz of his cell phone cut through the silence. "Stabler." There was no answer. "Hello?" Elliot started to lower the phone to check the name and number when a voice came through.
"Daddy?"
He frowned. "Elizabeth? What's wrong?" More heavy silence met his query. "Lizzie—"
"Something happened." She sounded breathless.
"Are you hurt? Did somebody hurt you?"
"Not me." She also sounded scared.
Elliot crept toward panic. "Your brother— one of the girls—?"
She answered with a very quiet, "No."
Elliot forced himself to stay calm. "Lizzie, sweetheart, what's wrong? What happened?"
She let out a shuddering breath. "It's Olivia."
Elliot's eyes widened in shock. None of them had said her name out loud in years.
"What?" he said in a strangled whisper.
"She was kidnapped."
"What?"
"She almost died—" Elliot's brain was breaking under the pressure. She almost died? "But she fought back." Elliot set his jaw. Of course, she did. "The man, the—" Lizzie's voice shook. He was pretty sure she was crying. "There's going to be a trial."
Elliot's nostrils flared like a dragon. "When?"
"Jury selection is tomorrow. I saw it on the news. I thought—" She swallowed. "I thought you would want to know."
A very big part of Elliot wanted to break down in tears. A part of him thought maybe he already had. "Thank you. Lizzie, thank you." It took courage to walk into this particular fire over two years past his last day at SVU. "I'm— I need— I'm going make arrangements to come home." He shook his head. He felt unmoored. "To come to New York. I'm coming now. I—I'll call you when I've figured it out."
"Okay," Lizzie said.
"You did the right thing." His chest felt tight. Olivia could have died and he wouldn't even know.
Lizzie breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay. I love you, Daddy."
"I love you, baby." God, he missed them all so much. He missed so many people so much. "I'll call you soon." He pressed the screen to end the call.
Elliot ran upstairs two stairs at a time and dropped into the desk chair in his home office. Half his things were still in boxes but the computer was set up. He sat and searched for flights to New York. The little hourglass spun and his mind raced. He needed more detail. He opened a new tab and searched 'Olivia Benson trial'. The hits were generic so he clicked on the news link and found a spate of articles from the last few days. He clicked one and skimmed. Kidnapped from her home, held for four days—four days?! The suspect was arrested for assault, rape, torture— Jesus. Lewis was tried multiple times but never convicted. Detective Benson and SVU were expected to testify. Elliot recognized Cragen's name and Fin, but not the others or the prosecutor. He started to search for more, for press from when it happened, and pulled up an image of Olivia. She was bruised and bleeding, staring out of his screen with a dazed and haunted expression. It felt like she was calling to him for help and bile rose in his throat. He closed the window and ran to the bathroom. His knees buckled over the toilet bowl and he threw up.
Some minutes later he stood and flushed, wiped his face, drank water, and sped back to the laptop. Kathy appeared as he reached his chair. "Elliot, are you okay? It sounded—" She shook her head. She couldn't quite explain what she'd heard. "Is something wrong?"
Elliot kept his attention on the computer. "I have to go to New York."
Kathy frowned. "What? Why?" Elliot shook his head, clicking through flights to find the best option. "Elliot—"
"Elizabeth called."
Kathy's breath hitched in alarm. "What—"
"She's fine." Elliot glanced at her briefly. "The kids are fine." He turned back to the screen.
"Okay, so what—" Looking at his watch, Elliot selected a flight. Kathy reached for his shoulder. "Elliot, what's going on?"
Elliot took a breath and shifted in his chair to face Kathy. "Olivia was kidnapped." Her eyes went wide. "She was held captive for fours days by a known sadist and rapist."
Kathy looked horrified. "Is she all right?"
"Would you be?" Kathy jumped at the outrage evident in his voice. He shook his head. "Sorry, I'm—"
"Worried," Kathy said.
Elliot nodded. "I don't know how she is." He turned back to the laptop and typed his name and information to complete the flight sale.
Kathy took a breath. "Is she still in the hospital?"
"No, this was eight months ago." Elliot clicked away from the seat selection. He didn't care.
"Oh." Kathy bit her lip. "Then why—?"
Elliot looked at her. "The guy's on trial. It's all over the news, that's how Lizzie found out. Liv has to testify." Kathy looked like she was trying to decide how to say what she wanted to say. Elliot got the gist. "I have to do this, Kath. Liv needs me."
"Are you sure she'd want you there?" Elliot pursed his lips. Kathy huffed. "It's been years, Elliot."
"And that's my fault. All of this is my fault," he said with haunted eyes. "She got hurt because I wasn't there to stop it." His voice broke. "It was my job to stop it."
Kathy looked pained. "You can't fix the past."
Elliot nodded. He knew. "I can be there now. I can support her now." He sighed. "Maybe she doesn't want me but she needs me." He believed it firmly. "I'm going." Elliot turned back and purchased his ticket. His phone pinged to indicate a text with the boarding pass. He stood and started toward the door. He had to pack a bag.
Kathy followed. "When are you coming back?"
"I don't know." He grabbed a bag from the closet and headed into the bedroom. "When it's over."
Kathy watched him drop clothes and toiletries into the bag. "What if she asks you to stay?"
A long heavy moment passed. "I can't do this right now, Kathy. I have to— My focus has to be on—" Elliot sighed.
"I understand." She sat on the bed and watched him complete his packing.
Elliot zipped up the bag and turned to his wife. "Listen. Of course, I won't make any decisions about—anything—without talking to you."
Kathy swallowed a sigh. He didn't say 'with you'. "I know you miss it." Elliot heard 'miss her'.
Elliot took a breath. "Why don't you?" They were far from home, far from family, far from everything they knew. And they had been for too long. He missed the hot dog carts. He missed Times Square and Central Park. He missed long nights with bad coffee and uncomfortable cots and stakeouts that go nowhere. He missed working with people who bickered and teased and cried together. He missed his team. He missed his partner. He missed Olivia.
Kathy looked at him with resigned affection. "If you don't know, I don't think it will help if I tell you."
"I love you, Kathy," he said because it was true.
"I know. Your capacity for love has never been the problem." She smiled small and sad. "Go do what you have to do. We'll talk when you're ready." She could see the end and honestly, she was ready for it. Life was multifaceted. "I hope Olivia is all right," she said because it was true. Kathy walked out of the room. Elliot blew air over his lips. Then he picked up his bag and called for a cab to the airport.
Olivia arrived at court the morning of the opening statements to find a mob of press and some protesters all waiting for her. She evaded them by using the side entrance for law enforcement. It was quieter inside. She sat on a bench outside the court and tried to relax.
Elliot watched Olivia sit down and try to collect herself. He was flooded with emotions he could barely parse. The last time he'd seen her in the flesh she was kneeling over Sister Peg and then telling him everything would be okay. The smell of gunpowder assaulted him unbidden but he forced it away. Today was for Olivia. She looked distracted and anxious. He wanted to banish that look. He wanted to fight it.
A man approached Olivia. Elliot didn't recognize him but he was clearly familiar to her. The man held out a coffee that she accepted with the semblance of a smile.
"How you holding up?" Nick asked.
"Getting through, one hour at a time," Olivia said with a modest shrug.
"Looking strong Olivia," Fin said as he approached with Cragen and Amanda. Across the way, Elliot folded his lips. He was pleased to see she had support. Pleased but also jealous and territorial and though he was loathe to admit it—scared. What if Kathy was right and he no longer belonged here? What if she turned him away?
"You all came," Olivia said. She looked both surprised and relieved.
"We got your back," Amanda said. Olivia smiled small.
"Liv—" Elliot noted another new man. He looked concerned. "What are you people doing here? You know you can't watch the trial, you're all witnesses."
Cragen raised his chin. "We're here for moral support." Elliot breathed out. He trusted Cragen and Fin to watch out for Olivia. The others were unknowns but it seemed they both had faith in the new man, whom he'd identified as the prosecutor. Barba, he recalled from the press.
"Counselor," Fin said, with some gravity. "Don't mess this one up."
Barba nodded. "I'd tell you the same thing. Remember why we're here."
Olivia worried her lip and the attorney looked to usher her away. Elliot took a settling breath. It was now or never. He stood tall and pitched his voice toward the small group.
"Liv."
Her eyes went wide. The voice was familiar but she hadn't heard it outside her dreams in years. There was no expectation, no reason he would be here. She turned and stared, shock all over her face. Elliot started to walk toward her.
"Hey—" Nick tried to intervene but Fin stopped him.
Elliot settled an arm's length away. Olivia remained silent and still. "I—" He gestured to his daughter standing nervously behind him. "Lizzie called me. She saw the news about the trial." He shook his head. "Liv, I didn't know. No one—" His eyes flickered to Cragen and Fin with open accusation. They didn't reach out to him. Not when she was lost, not when she was found—would they have told him if she'd died? "We were away when—" He shook his head and looked back. Olivia peered at his eyes. They were a storm. "The whole family, we were all away." They were vacationing, celebrating, toasting Maureen's engagement—the juxtaposition made him want to scream. "I didn't know. I came as soon as I could, as soon as I heard." His breath shuddered with emotion. "I'm here— I'm here for you— I'm here for you now."
Olivia's breath hitched and she stepped toward him. Two slow steps and then she closed the space between them in a rush. Elliot wrapped her tightly in his arms. Their eyes closed, both near tears, and she breathed in deep. His scent was familiar and she relaxed into his body. A body as familiar as her own. Olivia felt safe for the first time since it happened. Elliot buried his face in her shoulder. He was home.
They were home.