It's a bead. With a shimmer.

If you're an SVU fan, you almost certainly have an opinion on the Lewis arc. Love it, hate it, it's hard not to feel something about it.

My opinion is that the arc was poorly written, and I find it a little disgusting that Warren Leight used his initials for the perp (William Lewis). Something about the entire arc doesn't sit well with me: Was it a way to humble Mariska? To indulge in traumatizing Olivia Benson (but not too far, can't have her raped, after all)? To try to create some masterful big dramatic arc (which fell flat because they didn't want to give Olivia the trauma she should have had)? Whatever it is, there are Issues with it, big ones.

Which is where fanfic comes in to save the day. Many writers have written fantastic retellings of the Lewis arc, fixing issues like "Where was Elliot?" because he should have come back for her then, or "Liv really wasn't raped???? You can't be serious". The number of good fics is too great for me to even estimate right now. But a few stand out to me above the rest, the ones I return to read again and again, and which I rec to everyone.

So here are my top five favorite Lewis arc fics, in no particular order:

How Deep Is Your Love - Turquoise Terrier
This is the first one I ran across, back when I didn't know anything about SVU canon (I got into it via the fic, of all things). I was hooked immediately. Amazing hurt/comfort, some excellent points, it brings Elliot back of course… I read it three times in the first 24 hours after discovering and I still adore it and re-read it periodically.

Inflection Point - jabyar
If a fic could win an award for "most realistic", I feel like this one should get that. It doesn't shy away from what might really have happened, digs into some of the dark recovery aspects, and even does a bit of worldbuilding with Olivia's backstory. All of it feels so much like the author took a good look at the Lewis arc and said, "I'm going to write something eminently more realistic", and proceeded to knock that out of the park. It's gritty but very, very good.

Deep Deep Down, Where the Darkness Dwells - wily_one24
This is the darkest one in my set - and also the longest. What if Lewis had Olivia for six weeks instead? This fic delves into all the trauma recovery, with Elliot at her side. An excellent fic for showing the nonlinear path of healing.

Fragments - CaCD
This one shows what might happen if Elliot was involved in helping find Olivia - and takes a more realistic tack to Noah's presence in her life. It excels in outside POV, as the reader gets to see EO through the eyes of many others around them, particularly some who never saw Elliot before (such as Amanda).

don't stay away for too long - bensler2025
And this is the WIP of the lot, the honorary member (because normally I'd wait till a fic is done to add it to the list). This one combines an undercover assignment gone wrong with an unplanned pregnancy in a S14 AU where Jenna never happened (and therefore Elliot never left). Lewis is the catalyst for bringing EO together, and I can't wait to read the rest of it when/if the author posts it.