Chapter 1

As Detective Olivia Benson made her the way through the crowds of shoppers she tried to keep hold of what little Christmas cheer she had managed to muster. She shook her head in disbelief that it was that time of year already as the hundredth person barged past her, shopping bags trailing behind to catch her legs on the way by. She realised now her mistake of venturing into the mayhem and wished she had just stayed in her bed that morning instead of getting up to come into work. She'd had to leave her car in the garage two blocks away and had thought nothing of the short walk ahead until she had been shoved, shouted at and moaned at for even daring to walk where other people wanted to be. Her fingers brushed by her badge in her pocket and thought of how much simpler it would be just to flash it and start demanding people got out of her way. Smiling at the image this thought had formed in her head, she continued on her way, head down, aiming to arrive at work in one piece.

Suddenly she found herself crashing to the ground taking whoever had just barged into her down with her. Whilst some passers-by stopped to help them up, Olivia had to snatch her hand away quickly to stop them from being stood on by other, oblivious – or just rude – pedestrians. Assuring the thoughtful ones that she was okay she was helped up and all attention was on the other poor soul who had gone down with her. As she bent down to check on her she realised that this was a child, a young girl, and she hadn't made a sound nor moved an inch. She just was lying curled on the pavement as though sleeping. As she felt for a pulse, Olivia sighed with relief as her cold fingers found one beating strongly. Taking her hand away she brushed her finger softly along the girl's cheek trying to get some sort of response from her. She opened her eyes and Olivia gasped at the hurt and the fear she saw within them.

Realising that everyone was still crowding round Olivia finally got to pull out her badge and demand that everyone stand back. She dug out her phone but, even as she dialled emergency services she stopped and dialled her office instead, something inside her telling her that this girl needed more than an ambulance, more than just some bandages and painkillers. She reached for the girls hand and squeezed it tightly as she waited for the ringing phone to be answered.

"Elliot"

"Elliot, its Olivia. I have a young girl approx 12 years old, just outside the office on the corner. She bumped into me and we both fell…"

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, just a couple of bruises I expect. There's something not right here though. I was going to phone an ambulance but she doesn't seem to be injured. She hasn't spoken or responded at all. She's just lying here…can you come down and help me get her up there so we can decide what's best for her?"

"Is there no one with her?"

"She's just on her own. She's not even dressed for December, Elliot. She's got no jacket, no scarf no gloves…and her eyes...they're so lost; so sad, so scared. Elliot, I'm telling you, there's something very wrong here."

"I'm on my way down."

"Thank you."

As she put her phone away, Olivia kept her gaze on the girl trying to reassure her, to banish the hopelessness that seemed to permeate her every breath.

"My partner's on his way down. We'll get you inside and warm. Don't worry. Everything's going to be okay."

Even as she said it, Olivia wondered if she was promising the impossible, whether there would be anything anyone could do to fix this. Whatever "this" was…

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my first Law and order fanfic. Was watching it last night and decided…hey, I like this program. I like these characters, I'm gonna do something with that. And have done. Not much yet – but it'll become more.

Any characters you recognise don't belong to me yadayadayada……

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