Someone Like You 59/63: Thanks - Beecher/Stabler

[drsquidlove]

Someone Like You
by Dr Squidlove
drsquidlove @@@ livejournal.com

Oz/Law & Order: SVU crossover

Tobias Beecher's trying to rebuild his family in the shadow of the man he was in prison. Elliot Stabler's struggling to continue in the wake of divorce while his job eats away at his soul. It makes for an odd friendship, but it works.

Comments

[wycombe]

The revelation of Kathleen’s DUI was a bountiful blessing in disguise, and almost too good to be true. Ever since the coming together of these 2 families was a certainty, the disclosure, or failure to disclose this piece of Toby’s history has worried me. It had to happen before the weekend was over. Ultimately it would have come up later, and its omission at the start would have been perceived by Elliot’s family as a lie and a fatal betrayal. It was particularly lucky that this came up at the table when everyone was there, which may have been the last time that everyone was all together at the table before Elliot’s family went home.
After Elliot’s kids arrived, I was worried that Harry might spill the beans to Dickie, which would have been the end of everything. It had to come from Toby, and only Toby, or it would never fly. I hoped that Harry’s issues with embarrassing family details would hold him back on this.
The way it happened, Toby’s admission could be perceived as an act of self sacrifice, which it certainly was, to shock Kathleen into an awareness of where she could be headed if she didn’t take herself in hand now. Nothing Elliot could say could have the same power to persuade. It wouldn’t take Elliot that long to understand that, and be grateful to Toby for throwing himself under the bus for Kathleen’s sake, even if it meant a bitter end to their relationship, due to possible ensuing complications with his family.
I would imagine that this would have been close to the surface of Toby’s anxiety about meeting and developing a successful relationship with Elliot’s kids. His delivery suggests that he had thought long and carefully about this.
It had to happen, and I can’t think of any other way in which there could be any possibility of redemption and suspension of judgement, at least by the 2 older Stabler girls. I believe that Kathleen would be the one person to understand Toby’s confession as a gift of great expense, (apparently) be the first one to appreciate his candor, and offer forgiveness in return. I can see her as the first one to go upstairs, and subsequently lay the groundwork for her family to accept this part of Toby’s history so her father’s and Elliot’s relationship can go forward without the complete censure of Elliot’s family. Toby’s courage in making himself that vulnerable could even create a stronger bond with some of the people who were at the table. It doesn’t hurt that Olivia is there.
Good thing that everyone was having such a rollicking good time with each other running up to this :>) Love the 4000+ word count chapters.

[sahem62896]

Thanks for writing this. I forget sometimes that when things appear to be falling apart, what's usually happening is that they're falling together. I hope that's what's happening here.

[wycombe]

So do I.

[drsquidlove]

Ha. I could have given the last few chapters to you, and taken a couple of weeks off.

Granted, there seem to be all sorts of niches and crannies of Ozfic I've never found or barely begun to explore, but I feel like I've read *most* of the Toby/Elliot, and I've never found one that connected their DUIs. Which is kind of staggering to me. It's just so neat. And that meant that if I wrote the pairing, I had to struggle all the way through to Toby meeting Elliot's kids.

Nah, Harry was safe. He's had enough of the neverending humiliations of his father visited upon his life. Holly would be (slightly) more likely, if to prove that she wasn't ashamed and double-dog dare them to make a fuss. Elliot, too, would have put it off as long as he possibly could. He hates showing his hypocrisy. Really, I think Toby's the only one that would choose to do it. Toby spills out his damage and his shames like it's his form of Tourette's, and Elliot should probably be grateful he held it in until day 2.

I love your thoughts on Kathleen. I was kind of 'eh' on her on the show, but the way her story and personality worked through these chapters made me appreciate her a lot more.

Bah. The 4000+ word chapters kill me.

Thanks wycombe!

S.