We own no one but our own people. Proudly Co-Written by Bellatrix Wannabe 89

Quickly walking down the same grand path they had walked up only a few hours ago, Elliot made Sofia take steps ahead of him with his eyes not moving from her as the young girl kept glancing back towards the house they had just left. They headed along the road, the air cold and crisp nipping their exposed skin.

Elliot looked down at the girl and walked nearer to her and pulled the collar of her coat up around her neck to stop the chill. As they turned the corner to the home they now occupied they saw smoke rising from the red brick chimney. Elliot would have strongly considered calling this place picturesquely gorgeous if he was living in it of his own free will. But as it stood; his whole reason for being here was so underhandedly vile and revolting even the beauty of their dwelling seemed to be perverted from the duties he was being forced to do as well as the depraved actions of them men around them.

Elliot didn't dwell on that thought long as he and Sofia walked into the house. It was completely empty and a deathly silence filled the air. The pair exchange worried looks and walked into the kitchen expecting to find Olivia pretending to cook to appease the man watching them.

They walked by the kitchen window and something drew Elliot's eyes towards the little shed that stood alone down at the bottom of the garden. A tiny burst of light was leaking through the stained and dirty window of the shack.

Elliot swallowed hard as he stared out towards the little wooden shed. He had no idea who, or what, was in their or who had turned on the light and his heart raced. He squinted his eyes as she saw the faint shapes in the shed move about. He stared hard for several more moments before a breath of relief left him. Olivia was in their laughing at something Dickie, who had a beaming smile on his face, had just said as he waved his hands animatedly in the air.

The thought that he still had to remain 'in character; forcibly crept back up on him. Elliot turned towards Sofia and grabbed her by her wrist. "Let's go," Elliot snarled as he half dragged Sofia out to the shed. As they reached it Elliot slammed open the door making both his son and Olivia jump a foot in the air.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" barked Elliot as he turned from Olivia to Dickie.

"Elliot, relax," Olivia spoke softly. Elliot's jaw dropped for a long moment. She had just seriously broken character. They were screwed…

Upon seeing his stunned reaction Olivia told him to relax and also that; "There's no cameras in here, I double checked. This place is safe. We don't have to be in character in here."

At hearing the news she no longer had to stay in character; Sofia bust through the door and wrapped her arms tightly around Olivia's waist and began to sob on her shoulder. Olivia ran her hand through the young girl's hair and hugged her back just as tight while looking at Elliot for an explanation.

"Malcolm has a little girl named Erica living with her. She was dressed in the same clothes the others were found in." Elliot walked over and gently took the doll from Sofia's grasp and showed it to Olivia. "Erica seemed very attached to it and he threw it in the trash after the girls had a little accident."

"What accident?" Olivia demanded not even trying to hide her contempt from Elliot. She knew something bad was going to happen if Elliot took her there alone.

"I don't know I wasn't watching her when it happened," Elliot admitted.

"You weren't watching her?"

"I wanted to go play with Erica!" Sofia cried against Olivia shoulder. "I- I touched the doll and she pushed me! I hate this place! I wanna go home!"

"Baby, you can't. Not yet. You gotta wait a few more days."

Sofia sobbed as she shook her head. "I don't wanna be McKenzie anymore!"

Olivia felt tears well in her eyes as she rested her head on Sofia's shoulder. She hated how this little girl who meant the world to her was suffering so badly when all she wanted was the one thing Olivia couldn't give her. "It's just a little while longer, baby. I know you miss your mommy and your home but it'll just be a few days longer. Do you trust me?"

Sofia sniffed and nodded as she pulled away from Olivia's touch and wiped her eyes with the back of her sleeve. Sofia looked down at eh plank wood boards before her

"Look, why don't you and Dickie go build a snowman?" Elliot offered. "Just stay where we can see you."

The two kids, knowing they were being kicked out of the safe zone, nodded and left the tiny shack shutting the door behind them.

Once they were in Private Elliot sat down and shook his head. "I think this is a lot bigger than we thought. We need to pull out."

"We can handle it" Olivia protested.

"We can but the kids can't. We need to get them out," Elliot said this time in a more firm and authoritative tone.

Olivia stared at him for several long seconds and he looked down at the ground as if he was incredibly ashamed of himself. Her voice was nothing but a soft whisper. "What happened in the house?"

Elliot took a shuddering breath and looked up at her and she struggled to hold in her shock. She never saw Elliot look so lost in their thirteen years together.

"She got that doll from her father. Her REAL father, I know she did. She was kidnapped by his group and somehow she managed to hang on to it for however long she's been gone. When Malcolm got pissed at Erica he chucked it in the trash. Her one reminder from home and he threw it away like it was nothing…"

Olivia shook her head. She knew there was no way Elliot would be this upset over a doll. That would have made him pissed off and angry but something had happened to make him want to get the kids out and to make him look so miserable and that made Sofia break down like she had. "That's sad and I'm glad you rescued it but that's not all that happened." Olivia's voice softened considerably. Talk to me, Elliot. What's going on?"

Elliot took a long pause and Olivia could have sworn she saw a tear in the corner of his eye but it was gone just as quick as it had came. "She's… she's his own personal girl, Liv. He probably rapes that little girl every day and then rewards her with toys and games and clothes that she hates. He treats her like she's some kind of 'pet'," he spat. "Plus he had no qualms about abusing her in front of me and Sofia, I don't even wanna think about what he does when they're alone." He took a long shuddering breath. "I can't stand by and do nothing again and I don't want Dickie OR Sofia getting hurt. You were right. This is way too dangerous for them."

Olivia sighed as she looked out the tiny dirty window where Dickie was trying to encourage the young girl to help build their snowman but all she was doing was sitting on the edge of the concrete back porch sitting with her her head resting in her knees. The moonlight that was beginning to fill the night sky showed the silent tears that were making their way down Sofia's face. Olivia looked back towards Elliot and swallowed her own tears away.

"What did Malcolm to do to the girl?" asked Olivia softly.

"He grabbed her by the throat and threw her against the wall then pushed his hand up her shirt. Then when she was begging him not to throw away her doll he pulled her hair and kissed her neck."

Olivia shuddered in disgust. She wasn't sure if she could have contained herself if she had saw Malcolm being cruel to an innocent child. She wasn't even sure how Elliot had managed not to rip his head off… Now that she thought about it… maybe getting the kids out was a good idea. It was far too dangerous for them…

Olivia took a deep breath she asked her next question. She knew his answer could either be grounds to leave or proof they needed the kids to stay and she wasn't sure what she wanted his answer to be. "Do you think we're making any headway with Malcolm?"

Elliot nodded and Olivia held back a sigh. "He wants me to find him an out of the way house. He told me it's for a children's hospital he's building but he told me it's for 'holding supplies'."

"The children."

Elliot nodded before he continued. "I'm gonna get Porter to get me a house I can show them and maybe he'll trust me enough to let me in on it."

Olivia sighed and ran a hand through her hair; a look of sorrow on her features. "Guess they're staying…"

Without another word she got up from the warm comfortable and safe shack and went outside to bring the kids inside. Elliot hung his head in shame before he stood up. He took a deep breath, prepared himself for acting like a man he normally would have spit on in the street, and followed her inside.

Just like how the house was in the beginning the day, Fin and Munch's beginning was as well and it began with an autopsy of a week old infant…

"Please tell us you got something?" Fin asked Melinda as he and Munch walked into the morgue.

"Still waiting on some of the results on the prints but what I can tell you is that the latest infant, the one with the marks around her neck, died three weeks ago. A tumor was pressing up against her spinal cord and severed it from her brain. She would have been paralyzed from the neck down her whole life straight from birth."

Fin nodded and nodded towards the rest of the infants lying on tables around the morgue. "What's the story with the rest of them?"

"Thirteen had Down syndrome and seven had FAS. Those twenty were strangled just like the paraplegic, Twenty seven died from SIDS and twelve were HIV positive and the HIV infected children were fed large amounts of cough syrup until they fell asleep and never woke up. But eight of them never even drew breath."

"Still born," Fin breathed.

Melinda confirmed his spoken thought with a nod as she handed them each stacks of brown folders and sighed. "I wish I could give you more but right now that's all I have."

"Thanks Melinda, just call us when you get more," Fin told her.

"Of course I will. I should have more in a few hours."

"Thanks Melinda, that would be great," Munch said with a curt nod.

Warner looked down at the infant for a long moment before she looked back up at the two detectives. "Make sure you get this guy…"

"We will," Fin promised. "Whoever this psycho is, I promise you he'll pay…"

With that both men left and went back upstairs and headed to their desks.

Fin looked through the file to see if anything jumped out at him, but no matter how hard he looked nothing did. It was like the answer he need was staring him right in the face and he was still missing it. He knew that an answer would need to be found soon before it was too late and time ran out for another helpless child…

Munch looked up from his own half of the stack and cleared his throat loudly. Fin looked up at him and Munch nodded towards the door. Fin turned and saw Carla, wearing a simple pair of dark jeans and a light brown suede coat with brown boots, smiling timidly at him.

Fin got up from his desk and walked over to her. "Hey," she breathed nervously as her hands twiddled together. "Um, I was wondering if I could talk to you. If you're busy that's okay! Or if you don't want to that's okay to!" she added quickly as if she was afraid he would think of her of some desperate pushy woman because she wanted to talk to him.

Fin nodded and led her into the file room where he gently shut the door behind him.

Carla took a deep breath and muttered several words in Spanish before she turned and faced Fin. "Okay I'm sorry for barging in here like this but, I- I just wanted to know what… what that night was."

"It's whatever you want it to be, Girl," Fin told her as he wrapped his arms around Carla's slender waist and pulled her closer to him. "I want it to be the start of something amazing but it's up to you."

Carla breathed a sigh of relief that Fin chuckled at. He leaned down and kissed her lips softly. She draped her arms around his neck and increased the feverishness of the kiss. Fin groaned as he pulled away from her intoxicating touch. "I gotta get back to work."

Carla stuck out her lip in a pout as she pressed up against him. "Really? You can't stay away for ten minutes?"

"I wish I could but I really can't. We got a huge case and I need to focus on it. I'm sorry, Baby."

Carla nodded and took a step away from him. "Its fine I understand," she said with a sympathetic smile. "I'll see you… when you have a chance?"

Fin bit his bottom lip as he took her in his arms once more. "How about tonight?" he offered. "I'll pick you up around eight?"

A beaming grin overtook her face as she nodded. "I'd like that."

Fin chuckled at her timid smile and kissed her again. They pulled apart and Fin opened the door and the two made their way towards the exit. "I'll call you," Fin whispered before he gave her a chaste kiss on the lips.

"I look forward to it," she answered with a seductive smirk and wink. Fin watched, his eyes glued to her tight ass the whole way, as she walked away until the door to the stairs shut behind her.

He shook his head before he headed back to his desk where Munch was giving him an all knowing 'I knew it' smirk.

"I'm gonna be your best man right?" the older detective asked as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Shut up, dumb ass," Fin told him as he picked up the file he had been looking at beforehand, only this time he had a tiny smile on his face as he read…

Malcolm paced his large study with a brandy in hand, his knuckles blood stained and white. He didn't want to call them but he had to let them they were running out of time. They had to move fast and the second in command was adamant about getting the female detective. Malcolm didn't understand what was so special about her but he knew that only the boss's right hand man had a raging hard on foe her since the moment they discovered she was gonna be investigating them…

Downing his brandy to steady his nerves Malcolm picked up his cell phone and called the second in command. He wanted to live with his mistake and that was more of a guarantee with him than the boss…

"I told you not to call me on this number," the voice answered sharply.

Taking a deep breath Malcolm spoke. "We need to move faster than we originally planned."

"What the hell did you do?" he barked and Malcolm flinched.

"They saw me grab Erica. They're gonna want to get the kids out of there and fast…"

"You stupid idiot!" the man roared. "You couldn't control yourself until they fucking left?"

A shiver ran down Malcolm's spine. Only two people made him like this and he was going to have to pay somehow and it wasn't going to be good. He had had seen what they were capable of and he wasn't ready to face it…. The man he was talking to was somewhat worse than the boss even. He was in charge of the older girls and had arranged the pregnancies and even the deaths of anyone over the age of 20 and he wouldn't hesitate to kill Malcolm in a second if he thought Malcolm wasn't doing his job right…

"I- I'm sorry. Wha- what do you want me to do?" Malcolm asked, his voice trembling.

"Just don't anything I'll sort it out!"

With a click the other man hung up. Malcolm stood shivering in his study for a long moment before he swallowed his nerves and poured himself another glass of Brandy. He downed that just as fast and took a deep shuddering breath before he cleared his throat and left the room.

He made his way up to Erica's room and opened the door. Erica was curled under the covers shivering, the clothes he had ripped off her still in a pile on the ground next to the bed. She was mumbling low to herself and he could only make out the name of that stupid doll's she managed to hold onto since she was put to work name. A large black and blue bruise stood out clearly against her light brown skin.

Malcolm rolled his eyes. If he had been in charge when Erica came in he would have ripped it from her and burned it the moment he set eyes on it. But the previous man in charge of his age group had been far too much of a softie. The man had actually cared about the girls to the point it was hindering profits. So when they 'retired him' Malcolm had been offered the job and he accepted it with a beaming grin on his face. The top boss told him he could have one girl for his own personal use free of charge. No one else besides Malcolm could touch her or look at her and only if Malcolm gave her back would she ever be put back to work.

She would live with him and it would be up to him to feed her and house her. Malcolm took less than a heartbeat to choose the girl he wanted.

Erica, who had only been working there for a month, was six years old when he chose her… It had been heaven for him ever since.

He walked over to her and sat on the edge of the bed and looked over to her. "You know why you were punished right?" His voice was kind and considerate as his hand reached over and moved her hair from her face.

Erica wordlessly nodded as she sniffed and looked up at him. Her voice was nothing more than a soft whimper. "Can I please have my doll back?"

"No, Erica. It's time you let go of that. You have so many other nice toys to play with. Toy's you earned…"

Erica's lip trembled and Malcolm leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips. "My daddy gave it to me," she told him as Malcolm's lips brushed against the bruise he had given her.

"I know that," Malcolm muttered as he kissed the crook of her neck, giving the skin sensual nips and licks. "But you're never going to see your daddy again and it's time you forgot about him."

Erica bowed her head as Malcolm lifted the covers and slowly climbed on top of the girl. He leaned down and gingerly bit her ear lobe. "Want me to make you feel better?" he whispered softly.

Erica, who knew the answer she wanted to scream every time Malcolm 'made her feel better' would just earn her a beating, instead nodded yes and Malcolm smiled as he kissed her behind the ear, slowly moving down her jaw, her lips, her neck…

Erica closed her eyes and prayed she was someplace, anyplace else other then here as Malcolm's kisses moved even lower under the blanket.

When he reached his intended target she let out a sob that Malcolm, as always, ignored. She wanted nothing more than to die…

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