Olivia Benson sat down in defeat totally stunned. What had just happened? Vivian…she-she wasn't supposed to come take Calvin back, not now while she still used! Sure, she said she was going to be clean, but she'd worked enough of these cases to know that it probably wouldn't happen.

Her mind drifted back to moments before…

"Let me go!" he had screamed. "I wanna stay with Olivia! Olivia, don't let them take me!" he'd yelled as they'd pried him from her arms and drug him away. "Help me!"

She sighed, running her hands over her face, trying to mask what was happening to her. That little boy was the closest person she had to a son. How could she let them do this? She slammed her hands on her desk.

"Here," Elliot said, handing her a hot coffee, "drink it."

She shook her head. "Nothing's gonna take this away, El. I feel like I lost a piece of myself. When I'll see him is what worries me. Something tells me Vivian's never going to stop. So the next time I see him will be…when his mother turns up dead in an alley or-or maybe she'll be desperate and need money and he'll steal 'cause hey, she's his mom…"

Unknown to her he'd walked over to stand beside her. "Hey, don't beat yourself up, Liv. Calvin's a smart kid. I'm sure if things get too dicey he'll come looking for you," he answered, resting a hand on her shoulder.

She sighed. "I just hope by then he hasn't forgotten me," she replied taking a sip and setting it on her desk.

"He won't. I saw how Calvin looked at you, how he acted. It was like he'd replaced her with you."

She smiled, taking a long drink before setting it back down. Seconds later, the familiar click clack of high heels came from behind her. She turned, seeing Casey Novak coming toward her with a manila folder.

"What is it, Casey? What's going on?" Olivia asked. In truth, she wasn't in much of a mood to do anything but kick herself for not giving legitimate reasons that he should stay.

"I know you're not up to much right now, but I thought you might be interested in this." She handed her the file.

Olivia opened it, scanning through a few pages with a raised brow.

"What is it, Liv?" Elliot asked.

"Vivian said she was checked into a treatment centre, right?" she asked, looking up. He nodded. "Well, according to this, they've never even heard of her."

Casey flipped to the back page. "And they need a viable reference to bring kids just to visit."

"They can't stay there because kids aren't supposed to live with the addicted parent," Elliot added. "She lied."

"To us, to her Child Services provider—who was he again?" Olivia asked.

"Name was Paul Verecca," Casey responded.

"Wait, then the nullification of Liv's guardianship wasn't legal?" Elliot asked.

Casey sighed. "Well, that's the difficult part."

"You mean because as his birth mother, she can automatically supersede my rights?" Olivia asked, her hope fading slightly. "Which means there's not much we can do."

"Not necessarily," Fin said walking into the room. "Old buddy of mine from Narcotics just called. Turns out he's been undercover for a while and get this…Vivian buys from him which means she's definitely still using."

"Which means she had no right to take Calvin from me—us—to provide him a stable environment," Olivia responded. "We've gotta get him out of there. Fast."

"What do we do?" Elliot asked. "We can't just go over and grab the kid. I know how much you want to, Olivia, but if we do we'll probably face major legal trouble."

"There is a legal loophole," Casey answered. "If her Child Services person was actively involved in her life, which Child Services has to be to determine the suitability of the environment, then he knew Vivian wasn't clean."

Olivia paged through the report again before looking up. "Then why agree to it?"

"Casey, did you recognize him at all?" Elliot asked.

The ADA sighed. "No, but there are so many districts in this city alone I'm not surprised. You think-you think he wasn't with Child Services?"

"It's a long shot, but it is possible. Papers can be faked, birth certificates, driver's license…"

"It's a really long shot, Elliot, but I'll make a couple calls," Casey answered walking away.

Thirty-five minutes later…

Casey Novak sighed, hanging up the phone. She'd exhausted every angle, called everyone she knew and then some, but no one had ever heard of Paul Verecca which meant they could possibly have a huge case against him. As she really knew nothing about him, she thought the databases should be checked.

After all, Meth addicts were always looking to score and she had a feeling—a horrible feeling—in her gut that the little boy Olivia had become so attached to was in serious trouble.

Briskly, she walked from her office into the precinct.

Olivia looked up from her still-warm coffee, seeing the DA coming toward her. "Casey, what—"

But before she could get a word out, she was cut off.

"Munch, I need you to check someone," Casey said.

He looked up from his lunch, nodding and walking to the front of the database. "Who?"

"Paul Verecca," she answered. "V-e-r-e-c-c-a."

Benson's eyes narrowed. "Why? He's with Child—"

"No, he's not, Olivia. I called everyone in-state and slightly out. There's no one by the name of Paul Verecca working for Child Services."

Stabler sighed. "Then what the hell did we send him back to?"

Benson stood and walked over beside Munch, who was still scrolling through the databases. She knew whatever they found wouldn't be good and was trying to prepare for it.

After ten minutes, he turned to her. "Well, there's nothing in petty crimes."

"I'd almost prefer that. At least then, he'd run a lower psychological risk. Keep searching," she answered, walking over to where Casey Novak stood. "Casey, what's your take on this?"

"Probably as good as yours. Normally, you would help the kid and everything would be fine, but I know this isn't a normal case for you."

"And?" Stabler asked.

"There's nothing in any of our criminal databases. Sorry Liv," Munch answered, walking over to finish his lunch.

She sighed. "There has to be something! Just because he isn't there doesn't mean he's clean! He probably just hasn't been caught…yet."

"So, now what?" Stabler asked. "Do we just wait for something to happen?"

Olivia grabbed her jacket. "You can, but I won't just sit around."

"Where are you going?" Casey asked.

"To her last known address, where else?"

Fin walked in. "Hold it, Liv. She won't be there. They've moved it." He handed her a piece of paper. "Got the new address since I know you can't leave this alone." Her eyes narrowed in rage. He backed up. "Hey, no one here's blaming' you for carin' about the kid," he said placing his hand on her wrist. "As far as kids go, he's one of the good ones." She nodded, relaxing.

Cragen walked out of his office. "You are going after the kid, Olivia?"

She walked over to him. "Yes sir. I'm concerned for him. I'm positive Vivian wasn't clean when she picked him up."

He shrugged. "She looked okay to me."

"Heavy drug addicts can alter their state of mind, rarely, but she must have one hell of a tolerance," Fin answered.

Cragen nodded. "Alright, so how do we go about this?"

"I'll make a few more calls to my buddy in Narcotics," Fin answered sitting down at his desk and picking up the phone.

"Okay, so Benson, Stabler, Munch, Fin's leading this. If you need me, I'll be in the office," he said walking away.

"And while he's doing that, I'll get you an issue of protective custody for him. Any kid's in danger around that," Casey told Olivia before she walked away.