I'm back! With a nice, super long story for you guys. I'm already over 30 000 words so sit tight..it's gonna be a long one. Welcome back my old friends and for the new readers, hiya! I always, always finish my stories so don't worry... I won't leave you hanging. I hope you enjoy this one as much as I enjoyed writing it!
Warning: TOTAL FEMSLASH so if you're not into that, please do not read.
Disclaimer: don't own anything, just borrowing for fun :)
PS- There is a slight difference in this story from the show... to make it work better for what I wanted... Alex's office is in the station where Olivia works... there is the precinct/room where Olivia works on one side, further down the hall from the main entrance. Alex's office is on the right, nearer to the main entrance.
Olivia looked up when she heard commotion coming from the entrance of the precinct. Elliot walked in, but her eyes immediately went to the small bundle in his arms. The girl was crying and looking petrified. Her eyes were darting around the room, and when they met with Olivia's, she immediately locked her gaze. The woman instantly got up from her desk, instinctively knowing that the girl wanted her. She made her way over and before she was even there, the girl reached for her and wrapped her arms around her neck, clinging for dear life.
"El?" Olivia asked, confused.
Who was this child? Why did they bring her here and where was their perp? Elliot and Fin were supposed to be going to his house to bring him in on child porn charges. They'd been investigating a small child pornography ring for the past several months and he was the last of the men to be identified and one of the last left to be caught. When they finally discovered his identity this afternoon, one Richard Thomspon, Fin and Elliot had left immediately to pick him up. Now here was Elliot, alone, with a small child.
"We got a real mess, Liv. We showed up at the guy's house, he wasn't alone," he said, looking at the girl, who was clinging to Olivia for all she was worth.
"Where's the guy now?"
"Fin is coming with him in another car. We called one of the guys to go pick him and Thompson up."
"Why…?" she pointed to the child.
"We called her mom, she's on her way," he said gently. "Turns out Thompson's her father. It was his weekend for visitation."
Olivia couldn't help shaking her head.
"And she's one of our-"
"Yeah," he answered, his voice revealing his disgust. How a man could abuse children, including their own, he'd never understand.
Olivia swallowed the urge to swear. She could feel her anger boiling up inside of her. The girl whimpered in her arms, cowering into her shoulder. Olivia wrapped her arms tighter around her and looked around. She saw Cragen and Munch approaching them.
"She doesn't like men. The only reason she came with me is because I promised her we'd bring her to her mother."
"She's coming here?"
The girl started cowering and whimpering more openly.
"It's okay, honey. You're safe here. No one will hurt you. You're with police officers."
Olivia rubbed her back and whispered to her gently.
"She's on her way but she's not going to be here for another hour and a half. She was visiting family and she's driving back now."
The girl was now trembling and shaking her head as the other two men joined them. Olivia realised she had to get away from here because the men were frightening the girl.
"We're going to Alex's office. She can't stay here."
Elliot nodded.
"I'll be there if you need me for anything."
Olivia moved away from the men, heading towards Alex's office.
"We're going to go somewhere safe, okay? Where only girls are allowed. You're safe here, sweetie."
It dawned on Olivia that she didn't even know the girl's name. She cradled her close, wrapping the blanket she was in even tighter around her. Olivia approached Alex's door and knocked. Alex opened the door a few seconds later, confused at the scene before her: Olivia looking worried, carrying a trembling and quietly crying little girl wrapped in a pink blanket.
"Can I stay in your office for a while?"
"Uh…"
"Please?"
"Okay," the blonde nodded, moving out of the way.
"Thank you."
Olivia moved past the woman, eyeing the couch in the corner. She made her way over and made a move to sit down, but the girl scrambled and shook her head.
"No," she said, a hint of fear in her voice.
Olivia stood back up and nodded.
"Okay, no sitting."
"No…we can sit," she started slowly. "But not like that."
Olivia felt like she was going to be nauseous. She had made a move to sit down with the girl straddling her lap, but the girl reacted immediately. Obviously that wasn't a safe way to sit...
Alex watched from the doorway as her colleague made her way into her office and over to the couch. She was completely confused as to what was going on. She had no idea why Olivia was in her office, since the woman rarely came here unless it was for a case, or why she was here with an obviously terrified child. Alex closed the door and walked over to the brunette, who was now attempting for the second time to sit with the small girl. The child buried her face in Olivia's shoulder, hiding there.
"Your mom is on her way to come and get you, okay? She'll be here soon. Until then, you're safe here with Alex and I."
The little girl turned her head and glanced at the blonde sitting on the edge of the couch. She quickly looked away again, burying her head in her shoulder.
"You're okay, honey. It's safe here."
The girl said nothing for several minutes. Then, she slowly looked up at Olivia and back over at Alex.
"Who is she?" she whispered.
Olivia smiled at the girl.
"Alex is in charge of putting bad people in jail for a very long time. She tells a judge all the bad things they did and the judge sends them to jail."
The girl stayed quiet for a minute.
"She's going to put the bad men in jail?"
"Yes, sweetheart. She's going to put the bad men in jail. You're never going to see them again. You're safe now."
The child said nothing, dropping her hand from Olivia's shoulder and hiding it under the blanket.
"I want my mommy."
"I know, honey. She's on her way. You don't have to worry. She's coming to get you."
Olivia turned to Alex, thinking carefully about how to tell the woman who this child was.
"You know that project we've been working on the last few weeks…how there were…little pieces involved?" Olivia hoped the other woman would understand what she meant. She discretely pointed to the girl in her arms as she said "little pieces", trying to indicate that this was one of the victims from the pedophile ring.
No emotions crossed Alex's face, but the brunette saw the woman's eyes darken.
"Yes," she answered evenly. "I understand."
Alex betrayed none of the emotions she felt. She rarely interacted with small children like this and preferred it that way. She was better at dealing with the perpetrators because the anger she felt at their actions fueled her determination to put them in prison. She learnt her cases inside out but tried to avoid the victims because she became too involved when she met them, too attached. It hurt her soul when she stopped to think about the countless atrocities they endured. It was easier to just learn the facts without attaching them to people. However, she was now sitting before one of the children who had suffered like no child should. She knew this case inside out and felt her stomach turn at everything this little girl had been put through.
She turned away from the girl for a moment, focusing on the wall as she forced out all the things she knew about this case. She pushed back the pictures, the notes, the countless files she had been studying since she was first brought this case. She couldn't think about them right now or else she'd break the stoic front that she'd worked so hard to portray.
Olivia watched Alex with interest, trying to figure out what the woman was thinking. The blonde's face revealed nothing, and Olivia wondered if she even felt anything. Alex blinked and turned toward them, her face expressionless. She turned to the small child and offered her a small smile. She might try to stay distant, but here was a small, frightened child and she couldn't ignore her.
"Are you hungry?" Alex asked. "I have some snacks that you might like."
The girl said nothing, instead watching Alex from the safety of Olivia's arms. The blonde got up and walked over to her desk. She opened the second drawer, pulling out a few colourful packages before closing the drawer again. She made her way back to the couch, this time sitting slightly closer to the other two.
"I have little crackers with cheese inside," she started, holding up a red package. "And I have little teddy bear cookies, and there are gummy candies with juice inside, and I have one box of apple juice left."
The girl stared intently at the crackers, so Alex offered them to her. The girl hesitated, but obviously wanted them.
"Go ahead, honey. Take them. You can have all of these snacks if you like."
Olivia sat the girl up, but she stayed glued to the woman's chest. She finally reached out and accepted the crackers, gingerly opening the package before putting one in her mouth.
"Do you like apple juice?"
When the girl nodded, Alex removed the straw from the juice box and poked it through the hole.
"I'll hold it for you but when you want it, you just reach over and grab it okay? This one is yours."
The girl nodded slowly and turned back to her crackers.
"I never pegged you for a kids' snacks type of girl, counselor."
Alex seemed like she would be the type to only eat organic, healthy, unprocessed foods. She came off as such an uptight person, Olivia just imagined her entire life was rigid and controlled, with no place for fun… not even junk food. Hell, that smile a second ago was the first time she'd seen her smile all week.
"You'd be surprised."
The little girl timidly reached out for the juice box in Alex's hand. Alex handed it to her and took it back once the girl had finished. When she had finished eating her crackers, the blonde took the wrapper and offered her the cookies. The child shook her head.
"No thank you. I'm not hungry anymore."
Olivia had felt the tension start draining from the girl's rigid body once she had started eating, and now that she had finished, she seemed much calmer.
"Okay," Alex said, putting the snacks down on the coffee table next to her.
"Are you tired, honey? Do you want to sleep?" Olivia asked, tucking her hair behind her ear.
The girl shook her head.
"Okay. You don't have to sleep."
The girl jumped and immediately grabbed at Olivia when she heard someone knock at the door.
"No!"
"It's okay, sweetie. It's okay."
So much for calming her down, Olivia thought.
Alex quickly got up and opened the door. She saw detective Stabler standing on the other side of the door, looking gravely at her.
"We need you."
The woman nodded.
"Of course."
Olivia watched as Alex left the room, gently closing the door behind her.
End of Chapter 1! I hope this story has piqued your interest :) ... Please let me know what you think so far! It has been a long time since I've written one of these.. so hopefully I've been able to stay true to character. Another chapter to be posted very soon