DISCLAIMER: I sadly do not own Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, or it's characters, or anything else affiliated with the franchise. All that belongs to Dick Wolf. The only thing I own, is my own ideas for this story, therefore the only thing I get out of this, would be the pride and joy of people reading this. At least I hope people get pride and joy out of this…

Authors note: I have never written anything for anybody else to actually read besides for school. So obviously I'm not sure what to expect. I'm not going to tell you to take it easy on me, because frankly I'm hoping it'll help me become a writer, not just on here, but overall. Writing has always been my weak point, and probably always will be. Anyhow, I also just want you all to know I will be moving in about a month in a half, so if I don't update for a little while, that will be why. I'm also going to try to find a job so I can get back into school this Fall. I promise I will not give up on this story though. So here goes nothing!

A quick PS: The first two or three chapters are T, but after that, the M rating will be there for a reason.

When Worlds Collide {W.W.C. for short}

By: CrimeShowFanatic93 [aka Marissa]

Rating: M, Language: English, Genre's: Romance, Friendship

Characters: O. Benson, Noah, E. Stabler, B. Stabler, R. Barba, Barba's mother, the squad later in the story

Summary: We learned at the end of Winter Solstice that Rafael Barba lost his grandmother, so what if somehow Rafael and Elliot not only knew each other, but actually had been great friends up until they graduated from high school? Then Barba went off to college/law school and Elliot went into the Marines and eventually got into the NYPD and became the SVU detective most of us all know and love. Since they hadn't talked since graduation, Barba never knew Elliott was a part of the very same SVU unit he's now the ADA for and therefor knows Liv & Fin. But what happens when worlds collide when Barba's mother unknowingly invites Elliot & Bernie to the viewing/funeral and Rafael invites Olivia and Noah? Read on & I hope you find the answer appealing & satisfying!

Prologue: Seasons 1-16 of SVU up until the end of the episode Winter Solstice which aired 2/25/15.

CHAPTER ONE: SETTING THE SCENE

-Moving right along to the same night as Barba was told his grandmother died-

Sergeant Olivia Benson was sitting at her desk reading over some of the reports that she had to catch up on, but quietly wishing she could go home already to Noah, her now-nearly adopted son. Her phone started ringing, and without even looking at the caller ID she already knew who it was. There was only one person that would be calling her this late on her office phone and not her personal cell:

"Hello Barba, what's up with the-" she quickly glances at her watch, "With the late 9:30 call? Please tell me that we didn't catch anything this late!?"

"No Olivia, we didn't catch anything." he furrowed his eyebrows for a quick second before continuing, "Wouldn't you be the one getting a hold of me, instead of me getting a hold of you, Sergeant if we had? Anyhow, that doesn't matter right now.. I was actually wanting someone to ugh, uhm, I don't know, just somebody to talk to I guess, and you were the first person that popped in my head. I'm not interrupting anything am I?" he asked her somewhat timidly.

"Only my longing to be done with all this damn paperwork so I can get home to Noah already. Barba, what's going on?" Liv asked carefully, not sure how this conversation will go.

"What?! Who said anything is going on Ms. Benson?" he answered a little too quickly, and mentally swore to himself for it.

"Ms. Benson? Really Mr. Barba? Have you forgotten that I've been a detective for the last, oh I don't know, sixteen -almost seventeen- years? And you never call to just wanting to talk. Particularly to me, unless it's case related. Which obviously you stated so above, that it wasn't, so Rafael Barba, what is going on that you decided to call me at 9:30 in the evening?"

She heard him take a deep breath, then slowly let it out. Then another. She was getting ready to tell him to meet her somewhere when he just barely whispered out, "She's dead..." but didn't elaborate anything more. Being in her line of work for as long as she had the-now-Sergeant Olivia Benson's heart rate sped up instantly, but the way he said it, so quietly and heart broken, it felt like it stopped at the exact same time. She swallowed once, then asked him carefully still unsure as to his full mental state at the moment,

"Barba, who-" she swallowed again, "Who is dead?"

"My-" he needed to swallow himself, "My grandmother. She died in her home, just like she wanted to. But that doesn't make it better, that doesn't make it any easier, God, why now?" he replied in a shaky voice that was very uncharacteristic of the usual powerful, don't-give-me-that-shit voice the Assistant District Attorney Olivia has gotten to know over the last couple of years. That alone, put her senses into hyper awareness.

"Oh my God, Rafael.." she murmured, though it felt a little awkward that she was using his first name, it felt more comfortable than calling him by his last name. "Is there anything I can do to help you or your family with?" she asked, running a hand through her hair. "I send my deepest heartfelt condolences to you and your family." she quickly added.

He knew Olivia couldn't see him, but he smiled weakly into the phone. She had always amazed him on how much compassion and love she constantly showed to everyone else. He knew there were things that he had no idea about, that she'd reference to and he'd have no idea what she was talking about, but when he would go to ask her what she meant, either she'd change the topic, or would tell him that she'd tell him in due time. He'd wanted to ask her squad each privately whether they knew or could say anything. Carisi was still way to new to know anything of importance. Nick and Amanda seemed like they were just as clueless as he was, so he didn't bother asking them, which left Fin. All he got from Fin was that from what he had heard, she had had a hard time growing up. But he did know that when she got here to SVU she had had a partner that had up and left after shooting a victim that came in and started shooting up the place. Fin told him he wouldn't name names because he felt if Olivia wanted him -Barba- to know the story, and all the specifics she would tell him.

"Rafael Barba! … Hello?! You still here with me? I can hear you breathing.." Olivia's voice and slight chuckle broke him from his thoughts.

"Huh? Yeah, I'm still here Sergeant, sorry. Ugh, would you be up to lunch tomorrow? That way you can get home to Noah. I know the time with him you get you treasure." he blushed, even if he knew she couldn't see him, from wondering off in his thoughts.

"Yeah, sure, lunch sounds great!" Liv smiled happy that she would have someone to have lunch with, even if the subject and reasoning behind it weren't the best.

"Great! One more thing, would you be willing to help me with her funeral arrangements, my mother will get set up the guest list, but to make it easier on her, I think that it'd help her out a lot if I did that. Also with the viewing, like where, and when exactly. You don't have to of course, I just thought it'd give us a reason to talk, and I don't know, I don't want to be by myself right now.. You can think about it tonight if you would like to." he kept rambling, not realizing he had been.

"Mr. Barba! You sir, are rambling!" she chuckled lightly, but continued, "But yes, we can go to lunch tomorrow early afternoon, I will tell Fin to watch over the house for a few hours, that way we can have plenty of time to discuss all the details that need to be sorted. I think it's great that you want to help out your mother, that you have a mother to help out.." she muttered the last sentence quietly, but not quietly enough for Barba not to hear it.

"Liv?" he asked quietly..

"In due time Mr. Barba" was all she said.

"Okay." he knew not to push anything the Sergeant didn't want to talk about. "Anyhow, thank you ahead of time for even considering helping me out with this. Even if you decide not to." He wanted her to know that he really did appreciate that she was even considering helping him.

"I don't need to think about Rafael. I will help you, I had somebody help me when I needed somebody, though it was different circumstances. I better get to going, so I can relieve Lucy of her duties. Goodnight counselor." she smiled slightly.

"G'night Sarge!" he hung up afterward, not even thinking that they hadn't decided on a time. He was feeling a bit more joyous at the moment knowing he'd at least have one person that be able to vaguely knew how it felt apparently.

Olivia on the other hand closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She shook her head just remembering that they didn't even decide on a time, how was she supposed to ask Fin to cover the house when she didn't even know when to tell him when she'd be gone. She was about to get up, and gather her things, when her phone rang again. She actually laughed and smirked, "Hello counselor."

"Hey Liv! I was just thinking.. We didn't set up a time for tomorrow. I have court until 11:30 tomorrow, but after that I'm free for the rest of the day. If it'd be easier for you, I could pick up some Chinese food for you, and I could pick up something for me to eat in your office. You wouldn't have to leave the precinct that way and if for some reason you needed to help out the squad, you'd already be there and I'd be there too." Barba rattled off quickly. She agreed that would be fine with her, that she'd see him around noon, and gave him what she preferred to eat. After that, they hung up and she started gathering her things. If Barba had been Elliot, he'd already know your order. We both know this. {quick A/N: things in bold during the story are Olivia's thoughts.} "What the hell? I haven't thought about El in a while, why now?" she breathed out, not wanting people to hear her and think she was losing it, especially if it was none of her usual squad in the bullpen. Truly why haven't you thought of him? You still miss him, you still love him. She shook her head as if telling herself not to think about it, it'd do her no good. And she wanted to get home to Noah, the sooner the better. She looked at her watch again to find that it was getting close to 10:30. If she could rush out of there right now, she might be lucky enough to make it back to her apartment by 11:00 which would actually be fairly early for her.

Once she was in a cab and on her way home, she allowed her mind to wonder again to the question her mind asked earlier. "Why haven't I thought about him? Because he fucking left me. High and dry. Going on four damn years now. If he would've given me a quick text saying 'Hey Liv, Fuck off.' would have been so much better than nothing. At. All." she allowed herself to answer quietly, but firmly. Oh get off your high horse Olivia! He didn't leave because he didn't like you anymore, or couldn't stand you anymore,he left because he shota young girl that was his daughters age! Think about it, if you had a daughter the same age as somebody you had to shootto save multiple lives, and when youdid they diedright there in yourarms by yourbullet from yourgun, could you'velooked him in the eyes again and or continued this job?

- So what do you guys think? Continue or scrap? Be 100% honest, I'm a big girl, I can take whatever you give me. \-_-/ Hope you guys enjoyed it! Hope to hear from you guys soon! :) -