SVU: The One Shots

Grief

TW: This chapter discusses violence

Her shaking fingers nervously played with the gold cross that rested against her chest. The room was loud, but she didn't hear a word that was spoken. She felt like she was underwater, and everything was muffled. Those around her gave their condolences, but all she could respond with was a small nod and a weak smile.

"Are you okay?" 

Olivia blinked several times and realized that she had wandered outside without remembering at all. Scanning the area, she stopped on a well-dressed man standing on the sidewalk in front of her.

"I'm sorry. What did you say?"

"I asked if you are okay. You seem lost," He admitted, a deep frown darkening his face. Olivia swallowed hard and shook her head as tears burned her brown eyes.

"No, I'm not okay. I feel like everything is falling apart and there is nothing I can do," She sniffled, her fingers going back to the cross of her necklace.

"I'm sure that you are doing your best. You must be from the funeral," He breathed, and Olivia nodded.

"Y-yeah. My best friend since childhood got mur- Oh god, why am I telling a complete stranger any of this?!" Olivia cried. She turned to run back into the church, but stopped when the stranger's hand grabbed her elbow gently. 

"Liv?" He asked. Olivia turned around slowly, her eyes blurry with tears.

"H-how do you know my nickname?"

"I gave you that nickname back in preschool. It was you, Alex, and me," The man replied. 

Olivia stared at him for a long moment before stepping forward and clinging to him.

"Elliot?" She sniffled, her tears soaking into his suit jacket.

"Yeah, it's me."

///

The childhood friends sat together on a cold cement bench, their hands clasped together. Olivia hadn't spoken since her eulogy, and even in Elliot's presence, she couldn't bring herself to explain the situation.

"I take it you and Alex were best friends till the end?" Elliot asked, his thumb rubbing the soft skin of Olivia's trembling hand.

"After you went to live with your grandparents, we stuck together because we didn't have anyone else," Olivia whispered. 

"I'm sorry that I left-"

"Your father died in prison for beating the crap out of your entire family, El. You had no choice but to go somewhere safe."

"Yet I left you two here without someone to protect you!" Elliot exclaimed. Olivia frowned deeply as she leaned closer and rested her head on his shoulder.

"We protected each other, Elliot. Clearly I didn't do a good enough job."

Elliot wrapped an arm around Olivia's body and held her closer. He had missed so much while living in Florida with his maternal grandparents. This is the first time he's been back to New York since his father's arrest, and of course it was after his friend had passed away.

"What happened?"

"Elliot," Olivia grumbled. Elliot held her tighter to his side, ensuring that she wouldn't get up and run away. The city was too big to track her down.

"All I heard was that Alex Cabot was dead. My sister told me she saw the obituary in the newspaper and that I needed to come home. Here I am, and I want answers. Like how did our best friend die?" Elliot asked, a little sharper than he wanted too. Olivia sniffled and moved slowly from his grip.

She stood slowly and walked to a nearby tree, her back facing Elliot.

"Alex was in love with this guy named Neil. He was about ten years older than us, and kinda a douche."

"Liv, please face me. I can barely hear you," Elliot breathed. Olivia turned slowly, her eyes closed tightly as she saw the bloody mess that was Alex's apartment.

"Neil and Alex moved in pretty quick, especially because we were roommates and we agreed that she'd move out when I got pregnant-"

"Oh-"

"I can tell you about that later. Just shut up and let me explain," Olivia grumbled, her eyes still closed.

"Sorry," Elliot mumbled.

"They lived together for a month and she stopped contacting me. One night I tried to call her and she sent me an SOS message. Just those letters and nothing else. I raced to her apartment and found a blood bathe."

"Neil murdered Alex?"

"Yes, and then skipped town. He didn't get far because he was wearing bloodstained clothes and trying to cross the boarder into Canada. He is serving a life sentence with no chance of parole."

Elliot stared at Olivia with wide eyes. He never expected anything this terrible to happen to Alex, and he hated himself for not being there to support Olivia. 

"I'm so sorry, Liv."

"I've been alone this entire time, El. Alex's parents and my mom are both gone, and I've been on leave from work since the murder."

"What about the baby?" Elliot asked, and Olivia took a slow breath and opened her eyes. She smiled softly and walked to Elliot.

"My son, Charlie, is currently living with his father. They are coming home soon, actually in a few days because it's safe now. All loose ends have been tied and we can be a family again," Olivia smiled softly. She pulled her phone from the pocket of her dress and unlocked her phone. Elliot took it into his hand and smiled at the little boy.

"He is so sweet, Liv," Elliot smiled.

"Yeah, he is. He turned three months a few days go, and I missed it. But there wasn't any other option. We were investigating if there were other people involved or not," Olivia sighed. 

"You have the rest of your life to take care of that little boy, and sending him away was the best option to ensure nothing happened to him nor your partner," Elliot spoke. Olivia nodded slowly before grabbing Elliot's hand again and squeezing it.

"I wish that we could go back to when we were little kids. Even if we all weren't in the best places, we were carefree together. Just little kids having fun and forgetting the abuse and pain."

Elliot nodded, before kissing Olivia's temple gently.

"I'm just thankful that I got to see you again... I just wish it was in a bar with Alex."