Disclaimer: If you're meeting them for the first time, then I own them; otherwise, defer to Dick Wolf
A/N: I'm not too sure how much I like this chapter. I tried a bunch of different things for the end of it, but none of them really seemed to fit well with the story, so I ended up going back to what I had originally.
Elliot looked at Olivia, dumbfounded. A kid under her desk? It wasn't possible. The precinct was open all night, but that's why they had uniformed officers stationed by the front doors. There was no way that a kid could sneak past the officers and make it up to SVU without anyone noticing.
"Elliot? Earth to Elliot!" Olivia called, causing him to jump slightly. "Should I wake her up? I mean, she's still asleep and its not quiet in here at all, so she's got to be really tired."
Considering that as a valid point, Elliot and Olivia both thought about the issue for a while. Finally, Elliot had enough of the thinking and announced, "Watch her, I'm getting Cragen." Olivia just nodded absentmindedly and continued to gaze down at the child. A hand that suddenly came down on her shoulder surprised her and she spun around to see Munch standing behind her. Following his gaze, she realized that he had noticed the girl.
"Wow Benson," he said. "I didn't know you had a kid."
"What…" Olivia started to shriek, then lowered her voice as she remembered the child, "are you talking about?"
"That kid under your desk, obviously." Munch said, "I had no idea it was take your kid to work day, Liv. But why'd you stick her under your desk, not in the crib."
The glare that Munch was met with from Olivia was enough to chill just about anything, and it had that very effect on Munch's humor. Realizing a little late that there was obviously more to the scene than met the eye, Munch tried again.
"So, Liv, do you know what her story is?" Munch asked.
"I'd like to know the same thing," Cragen said from behind Olivia.
"Oh, Sir. I was wondering if I should wake the girl up or not. I mean, she looks really peaceful sleeping, but there's got to be a reason that she's here all alone, and she looks so young."
Cragen nodded. "We have to get her up. Stabler, Munch- over here. I don't want her to get spooked if she wakes up and sees a strange man hovering above her. I think we all have an idea about why she might be here."
Olivia sighed as Cragen, Elliot, and John retreated to the other end of the room. She knelt down next to the child and began to gently shake her shoulder, murmering softly to her.
The girl started and began to open her eyes slowly. Noticing her surroundings, she got very anxious and tried to jump up and away, but Olivia stopped her and began to talk to her in a low voice.
From their distance, Cragen, Munch, and Elliot really couldn't see what was going on, however, they were relieved when they saw Olivia stand up, holding the hand of the small girl next to her. This was the first time that anyone had actually gotten a good look at the girl, and they were shocked by her appearance and how uncared for she looked.
"We're going to talk." Olivia said, then turned and walked towards the children's interview room. The girl's hand was still holding tightly to Olivia's, and she stayed very close to Olivia's side.
In the interview room, Olivia pulled out some paper and crayons and set them on a small table. The girl didn't look interested in them at all, rather she watched Olivia's every movement and never left her side.
"Sweetie, where do you want to sit?" Olivia asked the girl, who remained silent. "Okay then" Olivia muttered to herself and settled down on one of the couches in the room. True to form, the girl followed Olivia to the couch, but instead of sitting down next to Olivia, she crawled up and sat down on her lap.
Olivia was taken aback by this. Never before had a child victim sat on her lap at the beginning of the first interview. However, she realized that she could use this to her advantage and shifted slightly so that she was able to look the girl in the face.
"My name's Olivia. What's yours?" she asked, trying to get anything to go on.
"Julia," the girl murmured, looking anywhere but at Olivia.
"Okay Julia, that's a very pretty name. Do you know what your last name is?" Olivia prodded. She knew that if they could get more information, then it would be easier to find any family that this girl had.
"Umm, I don't know." Julia said. Olivia must have let a flicker of disappointment cross her face, because the next moment Julia was crying "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I know I'm stupid and can't remember things. I'll try harder. I'll remember next time. I promise!"
Olivia was shocked. Wrapping her arms around Julia, she rocked her back and forth, murmuring "You're not stupid, you're a wonderful child. It's okay sweetie, it's fine. Shh, it's okay."
After a few minutes, Julia had calmed down. Olivia knew that she was going to have to get to the hard part of the interview sooner or later, and in this case she decided to go there sooner. The girl already trusted her so there was no need for her to build up a relationship, when one had instantaneously appeared between them.
"Julia, I'm not mad or upset with you at all, but I really need to know why you were under my desk. Can you tell me?" Olivia hoped that this direct approach would work.
"Momma said that if I was ever in trouble and couldn't find her, I should go to the police. It took me a really long time, but I though that this was a police office. So I went in, but there was no one and I was really tired so I fell asleep." Julia looked at Olivia, willing her to believe that what she just said was true.
Olivia didn't completely buy Julia's story. For one, she would have to really try to not run into any of the night guards while making her way up to SVU. And that still didn't explain why Julia was asleep under her desk, rather than on one of the benches or chairs that were plentiful in a police station.
"Sweetie, are you sure that there wasn't anything else? Were you maybe trying to get away from someone bad?" Olivia prodded with more questions. She really wanted Julia to open up and tell her what was wrong, before she just took her to Mercy to have her examined.
Julia's lower lip began to quiver slightly. Without warning, she burst into tears and flung her arms around Olivia's neck, attaching herself firmly. Olivia just sat there, and, as before, rocked her back and forth and murmured to her. When Julia calmed down, Olivia disentangled herself and faced her.
"I need to take you to the hospital, just for a check up." Olivia paused, watching panic rise in Julia's eyes. "Don't worry, I'll be with you the whole time, unless you don't want me to be there.
"Okay," came Julia's soft reply.
"Let's go then," said Olivia, and the two walked out hand in hand, just as they had entered.
Cragen had been observing the interview and heard Olivia say that they were going to the hospital, so he called Elliot and had him bring the sedan up.
"Elliot's waiting for you." Cragen said as Olivia and Julia walked past him on their way out of the precinct.
"Thanks," came Olivia's reply as she entered the elevator with Julia.
A/N: Next chapter will be at the hospital, and then we'll get to hear Julia's story. I can't wait to figure out what it's actually going to be (that's part of the reason for the fluff in this chapter).