"Good morning, guys." Olivia greeted everyone with a light smile, walking into the squad room.
"Morning, Cap." They all replied collectively.
Olivia walked into her office, hanging up her coat and scarf before opening up her laptop as she sat down. She went to her email and saw that she had one in her inbox from Chief Dodds.
The new captain of Organized Crime and his lead detectives will be coming in to assist in your investigation of the murdered girls with drugs found on their bodies. Play nice.
-Chief Dodds
Olivia was slightly confused. She was used to Dodds giving her orders like this so she wasn't surprised but she didn't know who the new captain of Organized Crime was; why didn't Dodds just tell her? And why did he tell her to 'play nice'? She walked to the opening of her door and looked towards Fin. "Sergeant, can I see you in my office?" She asked, walking back to her desk.
Fin got up and walked into her office, closing the door behind him. "Yeah, Cap?" He asked, respectfully.
"Dodds just sent me an email saying that the new captain of Organized Crime is coming in with some of his detectives and that I need to 'play nice'," Olivia said, making air quotes with her fingers. "Do you know who it is?" She asked.
Fin shook his head. "No, I have no clue. Sorry, Cap." He said.
"No worries, I was just curious. Oh, excuse me." She said as her desk phone started to ring. She answered it as Fin nodded and left her office, going back to his desk.
"Everything okay?" Amanda asked, watching Fin walk back to his desk that adjoined hers.
"Yeah, all good." Fin replied.
A few minutes later, Olivia came out of her office and gathered everyone together. "So, we all know that it's been a hard few weeks and that's why Chief Dodds has informed me that he's bringing in the new captain and some lead detectives from Organized Crime to help us out. We're all on the same side here so, let's remember that as we work the investigation together. Thank you." She said, watching everyone disperse and go back to their desks.
"Cap?" Amanda asked, walking over to Olivia.
"Yeah?" Olivia replied.
"If you don't mind me asking, who's the captain of Organized Crime?" She asked.
Olivia was about to answer when she heard the elevator ding and waited for the captain and detectives. When they walked in, her breath caught in her throat and her heart stopped. She couldn't speak. She could barely breathe.
"Son of a bitch." She heard Fin say quietly. She would've reprimanded him but her brain had turned to mush.
The whole squadroom seemed to go quiet as they watched the captains greet.
"Captain Benson." The man greeted, extending his hand to shake Olivia's.
"Captain Stabler." Olivia greeted back, shaking his hand hard. Trying to keep her composure.
"Detective Tutuola." Elliot said, reaching out to shake Fin's hand, seeing the anger in Fin's eyes.
"Sergeant Tutuola." Fin corrected, gritting his teeth as he shook Elliot's hand roughly.
"My mistake." Elliot said apologetically. Then, he turned back to look at Olivia. "Can we speak in your office?" He asked.
Olivia nodded, not saying anything, as she led Elliot into her office.
Fin watched them go until Olivia shut the door then he shook his head and sat back in his chair at his desk.
"Who was that?" Amanda asked, clearly confused.
"Remember I told you about Liv's first partner? He left after he shot and killed a girl who killed her mother's rapist in the squadroom?" Fin asked.
"Yeah." Amanda replied, nodding.
"That was him." Fin responded, looking toward Olivia's office.
"Damn." Amanda said softly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Walking into her office, Olivia closed the door then walked over to the window that looked into her office and closed the blinds. Elliot stayed silent as he watched her walk over to her desk and turn her back to him. After a moment, she turned around to face him and his heart broke at the expression on her face. Hurt, anger, exhaustion and was it...love?
"So, how are you?" He asked tentatively. He wanted to say so many things but he couldn't. Not right now. Not yet.
She scoffed. "I'm fine." She replied, lying. They both knew she wasn't fine. She never was. "How are Kathy and the kids?" She asked politely.
Elliot cleared his throat and took a breath. "The kids are good even though they're not kids anymore. They're all grown up now." He responded, smiling slightly. "Maureen's married with a son and a baby on the way and she's a teacher, Kathleen is a therapist and she's engaged, Dickie's in the Marines, Lizzie is a biochemist and Eli's in the sixth grade." He chuckled softly. He was beyond proud of his kids. Olivia loved that about him.
Why didn't he mention Kathy? She thought to herself. "That's good." She responded, nodding, leaving it at that.
"Yeah." He said softly. He wanted to ask about her life but he didn't want to intrude if she didn't want to talk about it.
"Well, we should get to work." Olivia said, moving toward the door.
"Liv?" Elliot called softly. Her eyes closed and her breath caught in her throat once more. She longed to hear him call her that again and it only took him ten years to do it.
She turned around to face him, staying silent.
"Maybe after this is over, can we...talk?" He asked softly. He'd never admit it but he felt tears threatening to form in his eyes. He couldn't help but feel guilty for leaving without a word.
"We'll see." She replied, opening the door and walking into the squadroom with Elliot following behind her.
"Okay, guys. Let's get started." Olivia called out, waiting for everyone to quiet down. "The last three Friday afternoons, we've had three teenage girls raped and dumped in alleyways with cocaine on them. Isabelle Cormack, thirteen, Amy Shields, fifteen, and Jenna Williams, eighteen. The alleyways are known gang hangouts. Now, I don't have to tell you what today is." She said, addressing everyone. She looked toward Elliot who stepped up with his detectives.
"I'm Captain Elliot Stabler and these are Detectives Marshall and Whitman." Elliot said, gesturing to the two men next to him. "We've had a guy in our sights for about two weeks who has charges of cocaine possession and distribution. Since his arrests, he knows how to lay low so he won't get caught. That's why we haven't been able to catch him but he's most likely our guy." He pulled up a picture on the computer monitor of their suspect. "His name is Luis Ramirez. He could be armed and dangerous so let's be careful out there." He nodded at Olivia who nodded at the group and they all dispersed.
Olivia walked toward her office with Elliot following behind her and he was about to speak when her phone rang. "Benson," she said, answering it. "Okay, yeah, got it. Thanks." She hung up and wrote an address on a piece of paper. "He's early." She spat angrily, looking at Elliot.
"Another body?" He asked, looking at the paper as she handed it to him.
"Yep." She said flatly, walking back out into the squad room. "Fin, Rollins, let's go!" She called, watching her detective and sergeant follow as well as Elliot and his detectives.
On their way to the crime scene, Fin was in the passenger seat and Amanda was in the backseat as Olivia drove. She was thankful to be driving so her mind could be occupied. She was also thankful that she and Elliot drove separately. She didn't know if she could be in the same car as Elliot right now, in the deafening silence. She had to stay professional until this was over, otherwise, she would lose it.
"You okay, Liv?" Fin asked softly, low enough so Amanda couldn't hear him.
"I'm fine." She responded flatly.
Fin left it alone, figuring he didn't want to piss her off when there was work to be done. He would check in with her again once the case was over. Finally arriving at the crime scene, they all walked over to the medical examiner and the body of a girl who couldn't be older than sixteen. It made them all sick.
"Wallet says her name is Colleen Bellamy." Melinda stated, watching one of the uniformed officers hand the wallet in a sealed bag over to Olivia. "Cuts and bruises all over her body, ligature strangulation." She informed them regretfully, not looking up. "This guy is really angry."
"Thanks, Melinda." Elliot said, watching her head snap up and her eyes widen. He gave her a sad smile.
"Good to see you, Detective." Melinda replied, trying to stay professional.
"It's actually 'Captain' now. I work with the Organized Crime Task Force." Elliot explained.
"My apologies." Melinda said, looking at Olivia. Waiting to see if she would react.
"We'll let you get her on your table. See you at the morgue." Olivia said, nodding at Melinda and walking back to her sedan.
"You should've come back sooner." Melinda said to Elliot, quietly.
"What?" He asked, confused. He didn't get an answer as Melinda and her team put the girl in a body bag and left. He went back to his sedan and drove back to the precinct with his detectives.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Sergeant Tutuola." Fin said, answering his desk phone. "Got it, thanks, Mel." He said, hanging up. Then he turned to Olivia and Elliot. "Melinda wants to see you."
"Thanks." They said in unison, walking in sync to the elevator. They waited in silence for it to open and they stepped in at the same time once it did.
Neither one of them knew what to say. They wanted to say so many things but they couldn't form the words. Needless to say, it was awkward. Once the elevator doors opened again, they walked into the morgue and found Melinda making notes in a chart.
"What do ya got for us, Mel?" Olivia asked.
"It looks like she was strangled with a very thin rope. There are faint indentations in her neck and she asphyxiated on her own blood." Melinda explained, lifting the girl's lips so the captain's could see the blood on the girl's teeth.
"Son of a bitch." Elliot and Olivia seethed at the same time. They looked at each other and almost got lost in each other's eyes when Olivia cleared her throat and looked away.
"Anything else?" She asked, looking back at Melinda.
"I didn't see the connection until I was going over the charts of the other victims to see if there were any similarities and I found one. They each have a small 'X' tattooed on the inside of their right wrist. This one is fresh." Melinda explained, showing Elliot and Olivia the fresh ink on the inside of their newest victim's wrist.
"They're a little young to be getting tattoos." Olivia commented.
Elliot nodded, agreeing. "Any DNA?" He asked.
"No such luck. This guy is smart." Melinda griped, sighing heavily.
"Thanks, Mel." They both said, smiling flatly as they made a note of the tattoo on small notepads from inside their pockets then left to go back to the precinct.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Cap?" Amanda called out. Both Elliot and Olivia's heads snapped toward her and they walked to her desk.
"What's up?" Olivia asked before Elliot could.
"Security footage caught Ramirez across the street from the alleyway where our latest vic was found and it looks like he has blood on his shirt." Amanda said, zooming in so the captain's could see the blood.
"Okay. Let's get a warrant to track Ramirez's cell phone and to search his place. Fin, take Whitman and see if there were any witnesses." Olivia ordered.
"On it, Cap." Fin said as he and Detective Whitman left to go to the alleyway and Amanda went to Carisi's office to get the warrants.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Half an hour later, Amanda came back with the warrants and Fin came back with a witness who saw their perp leaving the alleyway after the attack. She agreed to do a sketch.
"Captain?" The sketch artist called, making Olivia snap her head toward him. He handed her the sketch and she nodded.
"That's our guy." She confirmed softly. "Thank you for coming in. If you remember anything else at all, feel free to give me a call anytime." Olivia said to the witness, handing her a small card and showing her out.
"I'm glad I could help." The witness replied, smiling lightly as she left.
"Cap!" Fin shouted, calling Olivia back into the squadroom.
"What do we got?" She asked, walking over to the monitor where everyone else was standing.
"We tracked his phone and it shows him walking toward this apartment building. Payment records show he lives there." Amanda said, pointing to a certain part of the screen.
"Well, that should make this easy." Olivia replied as they all left the squadroom to arrest their suspect.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"NYPD! Freeze!" Elliot and Olivia shouted together as they burst through the door.
They found their suspect sitting on his couch, smiling evilly with his hands in the air, cocaine on the table in front of him. "I'm glad I did it." He said sadistically.
"That sounds like a confession to me." Olivia said as Fin handcuffed him.
"Karma's a bitch." He spat harshly.
"Luis Ramirez, you are under arrest for possession of cocaine..." Fin said, continuing to read Ramirez his rights as he dragged him to the squad car outside.
"Once we test the DNA on this shirt, this asshole is goin' down hard." Olivia said harshly as she put on a glove and picked up a bloody shirt laying on Ramirez's bed.
"He didn't even wash it? It's like this guy wants to go to prison." Elliot said, shaking his head.
"Captains, you're gonna wanna see this!" Elliot and Olivia heard Detective Marshall say and they walked to the bedroom.
"Oh, my God." Elliot and Olivia said together. There were pictures covering every inch of the walls in the bedroom of all four victims.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The blood from Ramirez's shirt came back positive to Colleen Bellamy's DNA and with the cocaine we found in his apartment, we have enough to charge him with possession, stalking, rape, and murder. Good work, everyone!" Olivia announced and was about to go into her office when Fin started clapping slowly, joined by Amanda and soon, the entire squad was clapping and cheering, looking at Olivia. Including Elliot who was smiling at her.
"Okay, okay, that's enough." Olivia joked, smiling and rolling her eyes, trying not to blush. "You've all worked really hard so you have the weekend off. Enjoy it."
Fin put his coat on and walked up to Olivia. "Hey, Cap. Amanda and I were thinking of goin' down to O'Hanigan's for some drinks and we invited Marshall and Whitman. Wanna come?" He asked. When she hesitated for a moment, he lowered his voice. "Don't worry, Liv. I got your back. I won't let him say anything to you."
"Thanks, Fin." She smiled. "I'll come but I can't stay too late." She said, grabbing her coat and scarf before heading out with the group.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I would like to propose a toast to Captain Olivia Benson." Fin announced, raising his glass.
"Oh, God, no. Fin, please don't." Olivia begged, covering her face with her hand.
"You deserve it, Liv. Now, if everyone could please raise their glass." Fin instructed, watching everyone raise their glasses, including Elliot.
"I've known Olivia for twenty years now. Wow, I feel old." He laughed.
"Yeah, no kidding. I had to teach you how to reboot your computer so you wouldn't smash it yesterday." Amanda teased as everyone laughed.
"Thanks a lot." Fin joked. "Anyway, I've known Olivia for twenty years and I've watched her become an amazing sergeant, lieutenant and finally, captain. Her drive and determination to get justice for the victims is inspiring and she can probably kick all of our asses with one hand tied behind her back, blindfolded." They all laughed then toasted, "To Captain Olivia Benson!" and clinked their glasses together.
"Thanks, guys." Olivia said, blushing slightly. She glanced over at Elliot and saw him smiling brightly at her. She had to look away. She was still hurt by the way they left things and she knew they needed to talk at some point but not right now. It could wait.
"Hey, Stabler." Fin called, walking over to Elliot. "Can we talk?" He asked.
Elliot nodded and they went to a table closer to the back of the bar, away from the group. "What's up?" Elliot asked.
"I'm gonna give her a chance to say what she needs to say but...man, after you left, Liv didn't handle it well. It was like a part of her was missing and if I'm being honest, it made me wanna hunt you down and beat your ass." Fin said bluntly.
Elliot nodded. "I know. Trust me, a part of me went missing when I left, too. If I had a say in it, I wouldn't have left." He responded.
"All I'm sayin' is, you shoulda come back sooner." Fin said. Before Elliot could say anything, Fin went back to the table.
"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Elliot mumbled, making his way back to the table.
After a little while, Fin checked his phone and then he got up from the table. "I'll be right back." He said. He came back a moment later with a woman holding his hand and smiling. "Guys, I'd like to introduce my fiancé, Phoebe Baker."
"Congratulations!" They all cheered, patting him on the back and giving him congratulatory hugs.
Fin introduced Phoebe to everyone individually and they all spent an hour talking and laughing, having a great time. After another joke about Munch and the government was told, Olivia checked her phone and started putting on her coat. "Guys, I'm really sorry but I have to get home. I'll see you all Monday morning." She said, putting on her scarf. "Congratulations again, Phoebe and Fin." She smiled, hugging them both. She started walking when she caught Elliot's eye. He got up from the table, said goodbye to everyone, and followed Olivia out.
After a few moments of awkward silence as they walked to Olivia's car, Elliot spoke up. "Liv, I know we need to talk about everything so, how about we get some coffee tomorrow?" He asked tentatively.
"Sure." She replied softly after a moment, unlocking her car once they got to it. "I'll text you where we can meet."
"Okay." He responded, smiling softly. "Goodnight, Liv."
"Goodnight, Elliot." She replied, giving an unsure, small smile, then getting into her car and driving away. Elliot stood still for a moment before heading to his car. He got in and drove for about twenty minutes, his mind racing. He had to think of what to say to Olivia. There was so much he needed to tell her. He just hoped she would listen to what he had to say.
Finally making it home, he went inside and got ready for bed. It had been four years and he still wasn't used to living in a one bedroom apartment. He closed his eyes but sleep didn't come easily. He couldn't stop thinking about Olivia and why everyone said he should've come back sooner. He had a feeling he wouldn't like the answer to that question. At all.