'Today ranks right up there on the shitty day meter,' Olivia thought to herself. She'd only been back in SVU for a short time; her stay in TARU had done her some good. She'd recharged her batteries and it had helped Elliot to work without her for a while, like they say you don't appreciate what you have until it's gone. She'd grown tired of Elliot's behavior and her own reaction to him, and he need to see what it would be like to work without her. They were back to being a team again and they were better than ever.

The same could not be said for Munch and Fin, or Munch and anyone really, but that was because of what had happened concerning his Uncle, and everyone just needed to give him some space, which was why today was, well shitty.

There'd been an attack on a street kid, and even though the attack hadn't been sexual in nature, since the victim was a juvenile it was handed over to SVU. They'd hauled in a hand full of street kids as possible witnesses including her, Joanie.

Olivia figured she was probably 14 or 15. She was about 5' 6" and probably 90 pounds soaking weight, she had very dark brown, nearly black hair that wasn't curly but had just a hint of waviness to it. Her eyes were hidden behind sunglasses and she was dressed in typical teenage black clothes, not quite Goth though, as she wasn't sporting the typical lipstick and nail polish of a Goth nor did she seem to have any body piercings that Olivia could see. There was something about the girl that seemed familiar, but Olivia couldn't quite put her finger on it.

When she interviewed Joanie she was evasive about just about everything, full name, where she lived, what she was doing in Manhattan. It was obvious to Olivia she wasn't from New York, so she'd asked Munch to see if he could place the kid's accent, that's when things went downhill

"Hey Munch, see if you can place this kid's accent. I know she's not from around here although she swears she is. I'll keep her talking and you can listen in, OK?" Olivia suggested.

"Sure," Munch said around a mouthful of sandwich he had just bit off.

Munch listened for a minute or so and then entered the interrogation room, as he finished of his sandwich he sat down and asked, "Do you miss Charm City much?"

"Who told you I was from Baltimore?" the girl asked reflexively, only it sounded more like she'd said Balmer.

"You did, you and your accent, that and the fact that you know its called Charm City. If I listened to you long enough I could probably even figure out what part of town your from," he said. As he was talking, a frown formed on her face, as though she were trying to figure something out.

"Something wrong Joanie?" Olivia asked.

"You sort of look like the guy in my Mom's happy picture," she said, still frowning at Munch.

"What?" Munch asked, sounding as confused as she looked.

Suddenly the girl leaped up from the chair and began digging in her handbag. "I've got it in here. I just know I do. I never go anywhere with out it. It's one of the few things I have left of my mom's. Here it is," she said excitedly, showing a 3" x 5" picture first to Olivia and then to John. The picture showed a younger Munch and a pretty young woman who was smiling at him.

"Felicia," John said in a soft and somewhat surprised voice.

"Yes, that was my mother's name, Felicia Thomas," the girl said.

"No, not Thomas, Johnson," Munch corrected, still looking at the photo.

"Well yeah, Johnson was my mom's name before she married my step-dad," Joanie agreed.

"Joanie, how old are you?" Munch asked, it was his turn to frown as though he were working something out.

Suddenly Olivia knew why Joanie looked so familiar, the girl had John's features, even down to his tall slender build and his large nose.

"Twelve," she said quietly and shyly, "I look older because I'm so tall. I guess my real dad must have been tall."

"What do you mean your real dad?" Olivia asked.

"My step-dad said that my real dad didn't want me, and so my Mom had to raise me on her own until he came along. He always said I should be grateful he didn't think I was worthless like my real dad did," she answered. She had placed a special emphasis on the word grateful that showed a bitterness a twelve year old shouldn't know.

"That's bullshit!" John said, and then got up and left the interrogation room slamming the door behind him hard.

"What's his problem?" Joanie asked sarcastically.

"You can't figure it out?" Olivia asked.

Joanie looked a little puzzled.

"Hey, you're the one who said he looked like the man in your Mom's picture and he knew her name, and he wondered how old you were," Olivia pointed out all the clues to Joanie.

"You think he's my real dad?" she asked incredulously.

"I think, he thinks he may be," Olivia answered.

"Well you know what, I don't care if he is. I'm too old to need a daddy. And besides, what kind of Dad would he be anyway, he ran out on my Mom and let her raise me all on her own. Now if you don't need me any more I'm out of here."

Before Olivia could do more than call out her name Joanie was gone.

All Olivia could think to say was "shit".