Hello fellow SVU addicts, this is my first fanfic. Setting is somewhere mid season 17. I started writing after season 16. The story is coming along nicely and I promise I will finish it! Will upload 2 chapters to begin with, would love some feedback.

PS. English is not my first language so any constructive feedback about my vocabulary and grammar is welcomed!

A young woman walked into the squad room. She looked around hesitantly, looking at the people at the desks of the Special Victims Unit one by one. A lot of them were out.

Amanda Rollins got up to greet her. 'Hi honey, can I help you?'

'I hope so,' the girl answered. 'I am looking for Olivia Benson. She still works here, right?'

'Yeah, she does,' Amanda replied. 'She's in her office. Let me take you to her.'

They walked to Liv's office together and Amanda told Liv she had a visitor.

Liv looked up from her computer screen and held her breath for an instance when she saw who her visitor was. Her stomach dropped but she quickly shook off her initial shock to get up and greet the young woman.

'Kathleen! I haven't seen you in years!'

'Hello Olivia. Yes, it has been a long time ...'

They hugged and Liv invited Kathleen to sit down, while nodding to Amanda that she could close the door on her way out.

'So you're in charge here now?' Kathleen observed.

'Yes, I am ... who would have thought, right?' Liv laughed. 'But I am doing okay, actually.'

'I am sure you are being too modest.'

Kathleen seemed a bit nervous and Liv asked her if she was okay.

Kathleen nodded. 'Yes, I am fine but ... well, my mom sent me here.'

'How is your mother?'

'Actually, she is not well at all.'

Kathleen's eyes teared up and Liv put her hand on the girl's knee.

'She's not? What is wrong with her?'

All kinds of thoughts were tumbling around in her head while she waited for Kathleen to explain. What was going on with Kathy and why had she sent Kathleen to talk to her? And how was he ...

Kathleen took a deep breath, clearly struggeling with the awful truth: 'Mom was diagnosed with cancer last year and she is now in the final stages ... she was sent home last week to die there.'

'Oh my God ...' Liv gasped and she felt a huge lump forming in her throat. This was horrible, such an enormous blow to the whole Stabler family. Her heart went out to Elliot and with difficulty she finally asked his daughter how he was taking it.

'Dad? He is trying to stay strong for all of us, especially for Eli. But he is hurting, obviously. We all are. But you know, we all have our own lives too, except for Eli of course. He's just turning 9 this year. We will all miss our mother, but it will be the hardest on him and dad.'

They sat in silence together for a few minutes. Kathleen was calm again now that the difficult words had been said and Liv was taking in what all of this meant.

Finally she asked why Kathy had sent her daughter to meet with her.

'She would like to talk to you, that's all she said. She sent me to ask if you would come with me to see her.'

'Right now?'

Liv quickly checked her watch and got up, while trying to keep from trembling too much. She had enough time to meet Kathy before she had to pick up Noah at the day care centre.

Kathleen got up as well. 'It would be great if you could come right away. We don't know how much time mom has left ...'

Liv nodded and put on her coat. 'No problem.'

As they walked from her office into the squad room, Fin and Carisi were just returning from an interview with a witness in one of their cases.

'Fin, I have to step out for a while. You're in charge. Don't burn the house down, okay?'

'Sure thing boss,' Fin replied. Then he looked at the young woman Liv was leaving with. She waved at him while they hurried out.

'You know her?' Amanda asked.

'Yeah ... that's one of Stabler's kids ...' Fin said with a frown. 'What did she want?'

'I don't know. She asked to see Liv and now they are leaving together,' Amanda replied.

The detectives were left wondering what was going on.

They drove to the Stabler residence in separate cars and alone in her car, Liv tried to gather her thoughts and make sense of all the emotions that were surfacing now that she was probably going to see Elliot again after almost five years. To see him again was stressful enough, but now his wife was dying ... She pushed away the thoughts of new possibilities resulting from this situation - now was definitely not the time to reassess her feelings for her former partner. If anything, he would be needing her right now, not the other way around.