Burning Rome

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own EO, if I did, you guys already know what I would be up to, lol. I've never been to Rome (Italy or NY), but one day I will. I checked the map and the city's website, and yep—there really is a town in NY state with only 74 police officers. It's pretty cute—or so they say. An AU with touches of humor and a bit of *Ratinho* DNA (Brazilian Jerry Springer who used to show DNA results on primetime tv in 90s and 2000s). Will there be steamy scenes? You bet!
After more than 20 years of beta-reading, here I am—ficwriting!

P.S. This story is being posted in Brazilian Portuguese first.

Chap. 1 

Elliot Stabler was a proud man, though not in the way people usually define a man like him. He had neither possessions nor wealth; to him, his most precious asset was the family he had built with his high school sweetheart.

Together—and thanks to the major push of an unplanned pregnancy when they were both seventeen and driven by raging hormones—they had four children who were already practically grown. More recently, following a long separation, a "last-chance" baby had arrived to seal their reconciliation.

Plenty of people in town had a lot to say about that, but Elliot ignored it all. What mattered was keeping his family together, even if, deep down, he had his own doubts about his youngest child's conception.

Still, none of that shook the police chief of the charming small town of Rome, New York.

They say that in small towns everyone knows one another, and Rome was no exception. Elliot knew all seventy-three of his coworkers and their families—something he took great pride in. In his younger years—after marrying as a teenager and serving in the military—he had cherished a dream of becoming an NYPD detective, just like his father. However, Kathy had refused to move to the big city, fearing she would lose her support system for their children. He understood her—after all, the well-being of his loved ones was what mattered most. Yet, he deeply missed Queens and the places where he had grown up—places he had been forced to leave after his father became entangled in shady dealings that practically compelled the family to flee to Rome.

Maureen was his firstborn, Kathleen the second daughter, followed by the fraternal twins, Richard and Elizabeth. He called them Mo, Leen, Dick, and Lizzie.

Elliot Stabler Jr., the youngest, was simply called Eli. Born five years ago as a fair-haired, light-eyed infant, the boy now sported a beautiful pair of brown eyes and a head full of thick, dark hair that Elliot swore was identical to his own at that age. He couldn't deny that whenever he looked at how much Eli had changed, a nagging little voice of doubt would whisper in his ear—if doubt could cling to a bald man's head.

Bernadette Stabler—Grandma Bernie—didn't remember all of this, as her mind was no longer entirely reliable for a variety of reasons.

One particular conversation bothered him whenever it crossed his mind...

"For God's sake, Elliot! You were bald even as a baby!" Bernie said sternly.

"All babies are, Mom," he tried to laugh it off while checking if she'd taken her medication.

"Not at all. Some babies are born with a full head of hair. Joey was born that way, and look at him now! Still got a full head of hair!" she retorted vehemently, irritating Elliot.

"All right, don't get all worked up!" he tried to soothe her, but it was too late.

"That boy isn't yours; get a blood test... what do they call it?" She gestured agitatedly. "Oh, a DNA test! Kathy was so set on divorcing you, and you were finally going to do that NYPD training—like you always dreamed of—and stay with Oli..."

"That's enough, Mom. I'm leaving," he said, kissing her forehead and heading for the door. When he had tearfully sought his mother's comfort after learning about Kathy's latest pregnancy—and ended up revealing what he'd shared with Olivia Benson—he never imagined she would use it against him whenever she wanted to criticize him for reconciling with Kathy.

"Duck, or your horns won't fit through the door!" she shouted, annoyed yet mocking.

When he realized the Italian joke about cuckolds, he slammed the door hard, just as he used to do in childhood whenever he didn't get his way.

Cutting ties with Olivia Benson, a Manhattan SVU detective, was one of the greatest sacrifices he had ever made for his family; even giving up his dream of becoming an architect hadn't hurt quite as much. He had never experienced anything as intense and overwhelming as the time he spent in New York with her. What had begun as a brief visit to his hometown—and a few nights of beers and fun with his longtime friend, Sergeant John Munch—turned into a passionate love affair when he met the most beautiful and captivating woman who had ever crossed his path. What was meant to last just a day and a night turned into three months of work—along with a real possibility of transferring to the NYPD—and torrid nights of love and pleasure with his Liv.

But fate had always been cruel to his dreams. A phone call in the middle of the night—summoning him to a hospital in Rome—shattered everything the moment he unlocked his phone screen.

To everyone in Rome, he had willingly returned to his married life, yet deep down, a flame of love still burned for the New Yorker who hadn't deserved his abandonment.

As the years went by, his life settled into a monotonous, repetitive routine: very few thefts, almost no armed robberies, and the occasional call regarding a domestic dispute. Whenever he responded to those cases, his heart ached as he remembered his days at SVU—helping Captain Cragen while waiting for his detectives to return from undercover assignments, and having the honor of witnessing Olivia Benson care for victims and bring them justice.

Little did he know that his life—and that of quiet, gossipy Rome—was about to change.

The following month, a decorated NYPD captain was arriving in town to give a lecture and conduct training on gender-based violence and sexual crimes, at the invitation of Oneida County Sheriff Ayanna Bell. Concerned about a series of reports involving sexual harassment and assault in the area, the sheriff decided that her friend from her NYPD days would be the perfect person to improve her fellow officers' training.

Ayanna had no idea she was about to become the catalyst for the reunion of former lovers and shocking revelations regarding paternity.

DUN DUN