Love and Litigation - An Alex Cabot/Law and Order SVU fanfiction

Chapter 30

Having just returned from a questioning, Luke sat in the break room at work. He had no sooner re-tied his shoes before he heard a voice down the hall. 

"Luke!" 

He stood up and walked into the hallway at the sound of Fin's voice. 

"Your dad is here."

His blood ran cold. 

"My what?" 

"He's waiting in the lobby for you. He and Nick are up there talking baseball. Sounds like he knows his stuff." 

He hesitantly stepped into the squad room and looked upstairs. Sure enough, his father was sitting in a chair laughing it up with his colleagues. Before he could make another move, his old man spotted him. 

"There he is! My son, the detective." 

A wave of nausea threatened to overtake Luke as he ascended the stairs. There, his father pulled him into an unreciprocated hug. 

"You never told me your pop was a baseball fanatic," Nick grinned. 

"He's probably never even mentioned me. A bit of a secret keeper, this one." 

Luke could feel his jaw tense with every word his father spoke. 

"What are you doing here? I'm working." 

"What, I need an excuse to come see my son? You have time for a quick bite to eat? I'm starving." 

With high anxiety and reluctance, Luke led his father outside and down the precinct steps. It was time to see what his motives were. 

"Alright, tell me why you're here." 

Mr. Dawson stood buttoning up his coat. 

"I'll tell you over lunch. What's good around here?" 

"You can't just come here, in front of all my co-workers, and act like father of the year." 

"Calm down, son--" 

"I'M NOT--" Luke lowered his voice and got right into his father's face. "I am NOT your son. You gave up the right to call me that a long time ago."

Turning on his heel, Luke began to storm back up the stairs.

"It's about your mom." 

He stopped mid-step, pausing before turning around. 

"It's about her estate. Have dinner with me tonight, and we'll talk about it." 

Luke considered for a moment, finally relenting and giving his father his phone number. He then left him standing on the sidewalk as he made a beeline back into the station. 

He didn't stop, rushing past the squad room and back into the break room. He paced around before sitting on one of the beds, gripping the back of his neck with his hands. With his head hung towards the floor, he ignored the door as it opened. It wasn't until he felt a hand on his knee that looked up to find Olivia sitting on the bed across from him. 

"Are you alright?" She asked, her head cocked in concern. 

Luke nodded and hung his head again, trying as much to convince himself as her. 

"If you need to take the rest of the day--" 

"No," he adamantly interrupted her. "I'm good. I just need a minute." 

"Okay." She resigned before leaving the room. 

Luke feverishly tried to calm the churning in his gut. He couldn't believe his father had shown up here in the first place, but to talk about his dead mother? There was a large part of him that wondered if this was just a ploy. A tactic from his deadbeat father to get him back in his life.

He took another few minutes, waiting until he was calm enough to re-enter the squad room. As he walked in, all eyes were on him. 

"Take a picture. It'll last longer." He announced, annoyed at the unwanted attention. 

He spent the rest of his shift with his head down, talking as little possible before heading out for the night.