Olivia sat at her desk and tried to concentrate on her computer screen. She was looking at street cams once again. They hadn't seen anyone that resembled Cooper since she left. Olivia was beginning to lose hope that they would be able to find her. Cooper had lived on the streets for half of her life. She knew them better than anyone. If she didn't want to be seen or found than she wouldn't be. Olivia scratched her forehead as she zoomed in on another cam. She had Feathers sitting in her lap and she squeezed his neck as she came up short again. Olivia sighed and closed the street cams. She wasn't going to find anything on them. Olivia stood up and set Feathers down in her bottom desk drawer. She was about to get some coffee when she heard the squad room doors open. She looked up hoping to see Cooper and stopped breathing when she saw Elliot walk in.
"Elliot? What are you doing here?" Olivia wanted to run over and give Elliot a hug. She had missed him something fierce but she was afraid that him being back wasn't a good thing.
"Hey Liv, I found something that belongs to you." Elliot pushed open the door a little and then pulled Cooper into the squad room.
"Cooper," Olivia whispered. No one would have heard her except that the squad room had been quiet since Elliot had stepped in.
Cooper stood there staring at the ground. She couldn't look up because she knew that Olivia was going to be angry. She probably didn't want her back. Cooper was forced to look up when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her. She knew it was Olivia because it gave her that warm feeling inside. Cooper held still for a moment before wrapping her arms around her mom. Olivia had one hand wrapped around Cooper's shoulders and one was holding the back of her head. She kissed the side of Cooper's head multiple times before pulling away. Cooper didn't want to let go so she held on. She buried her face in the Olivia's neck. Olivia felt the hot tears hitting her neck. She just held Cooper and let her own tears of happiness fall. After holding Cooper for a few minutes she did pull away and forced Cooper to step back.
"I'm sorry, mom. Please don't send me away," Cooper whispered. Olivia had to lean in to hear her. Cooper was back to staring at the ground.
"Baby, I'm not sending you anywhere." Cooper finally looked up at Olivia before crashing into her. Olivia wrapped her arms back around Cooper. Cooper cried into Olivia's shoulder. Olivia just held Cooper running her fingers through her hair. She repeatedly kissed Cooper's head until Cooper pulled away.
"I'm gonna go. Cooper, come by anytime if you want to talk. Liv, keep her safe." Elliot walked out the doors and Olivia wanted to go after him but knew she needed to deal with Cooper. She'd find out where he's been once Cooper was dealt with. Cooper pulled away from Olivia and headed out the door. Olivia was hot on her heels.
"Elliot wait!" Cooper ran down the hallway and crashed into Elliot. She threw her arms around him even though it made her body hurt.
"Hey, what's this for?" Elliot asked. He returned the hug but didn't hold her too tight.
"Thank you, for making me come back." Elliot smiled over Cooper's shoulder at Olivia.
"No problem, Rat. Just remember if anyone can protect you its Olivia." Cooper nodded as she pulled away from Elliot.
"I'll see ya later. " Elliot stepped onto the elevator and Cooper walked back to Olivia. Olivia wrapped her arms around Cooper's shoulder from behind. They watched Elliot leave before going back into the squad room.
Olivia led Cooper over to her desk and had Cooper sit down. Olivia knelt down in front of her so she could get a better look at her daughter. Cooper was staring down at her hands still afraid to make eye contact with Olivia for more than a few seconds. Olivia reached up and brushed some hair off Cooper's forehead. Cooper looked okay, no damage done from running away. Well, besides emotional damage.
"You gonna tell me what happened?" Olivia asked.
"I got scared… Fin and Nick were talking about my file. I don't want a file. Files mean people know your trouble." Olivia leaned her head on Cooper's knee.
"Cooper, I'm not going to let anything happen to you. There is a file on you now but it doesn't have anything bad in it. It just let's people know who you are." Cooper shook her head.
"I don't want people to know who I am…if you find out about my past, you won't want me anymore." The last part of Cooper's statement came out as a whisper. Olivia sighed, she knew that she wasn't going to get through to Cooper today. Cooper wasn't going to understand that no matter what she had done in the past Olivia wasn't going to give up on her.
"Okay, I hear what your saying. I'm gonna get a bottle of water, do you want one?" Cooper shook her head. Olivia stood up and kissed the top of Cooper's head before walking away.
Cooper finally looked up and around the squad room. Everyone had seemed to clear out when Cooper came back. She let her eyes roam the room until she spotted something sticking out of the bottom drawer of Olivia's desk. She rolled the chair closer to the desk and pulled Feathers out. She set him in her lap and played with his neck. He was forming a bald spot where she would ring his neck when she was nervous. Cooper ran her fingers over his bald spot. Olivia came back and sat down on her desk. She watched as Cooper played with Feathers fur. Cooper eventually looked up at Olivia and Olivia could see how tired Cooper was. She had bags under her eyes and Olivia could tell running had taken a toll on her.
"How are you feeling?" Olivia asked. Cooper shrugged and then winced. Her ribs really hurt.
"My ribs hurt and I'm kinda tired. Can we go home?" Olivia smiled at the fact that Cooper called her apartment home. She slid off her desk and held her hand out to help Cooper up. Cooper took her hand and let her mom pull her up. Olivia pulled Cooper into her arms. She hugged Cooper one last time before pushing her towards the squad room doors.
Olivia and Cooper left and headed back to Olivia's apartment. Cooper went into her room and grabbed some clean clothes. She went into the bathroom and took a shower. Olivia waited on the couch for Cooper to come back out. When Cooper walked into the living room Olivia sat up straighter on the couch. Cooper sat down next to Olivia and stared down at her hands.
"So, how much trouble am I in?" Olivia looked at Cooper before staring straight ahead.
"You scared the hell out of me. I didn't know where you were and I thought someone had kidnapped you… Cooper I know having a file is scary to you but you have to know that nothing bad will happen to you as long as I'm around." Cooper looked over at Olivia. She felt awful for making Olivia feel that way.
"I'm sorry… I…I didn't mean to scare you…Maybe I should just grab my stuff and go." Cooper hopped up off the couch and was already half way to her room when Olivia wrapped her arms around Cooper's waist. She pulled Cooper back to the couch and onto her lap.
"You are not going anywhere! Do you understand me?" Cooper had been trying to shrug Olivia off but she went still when Olivia spoke. Olivia's voice was an octave deeper than normal.
"Okay," Olivia loosened her grip on Cooper but Cooper didn't move off her lap. Instead Cooper curled up in Olivia's lap and rested her head on Olivia's shoulder.
"Cooper, I never want you to leave. I'm in this for long haul. Nothing from your past will make me go away. Most likely it will make me fight harder for you… Listen, when I was in with Cragen your name came up in a couple of unsolved crimes. Most were small petty things that probably won't progress but one was big. A major drug dealer had named you as his number one runner. Is that true?" Cooper sat up and her back stiffened up.
Cooper climbed off Olivia's lap and curled up on the other end of the couch. She stared down at her hands. Her breathing was becoming faster and shorter. Olivia leaned forward to rub Cooper's back but the contact made Cooper jump which made Olivia frown. Cooper looked over at Olivia and Olivia could see the fear in Cooper's eyes. Olivia decided to wait and see if Cooper said anything she wasn't going to push. What had happened to Cooper that had her this scared?