Disclaimer: Dick Wolf owns Law and Order SVU and the characters. I only own this idea for the story and the new characters.

Chapter 14: Heart

Hannah was exhausted, to say the least. She'd been talking to the Fin, Olivia and basically all the detectives like she was being interrogated. She'd been talking to Dr. Huang and someone from foster care and another someone from ASC. She'd been dragged around the police station and around the city, meeting more someones. And this had been going on for days. After talking to the judge, she was too tired to stand on her feet, so she spent the night upstairs on the couch once again. It was warm and safe, which was more than she'd ever known.

Olivia, of course, was still up and working on the case. She was trying desperately to find out more about this monster who'd been torturing her girl. That's how she'd come to think of Hannah now: as her girl. Shaking her head, she tried to shake that thought as well. The judge had just told them that Hannah wasn't to be tried for the charges filed against her. They would be on file though, her file with ACS and with foster care. Also, she had to appear in family court in a week to be handed over into foster care. Then she'd be put up for adoption.

In a week, Hannah would be put up for adoption. Olivia had to keep reminding herself of that. And in a week she'd get on with another case.

The next morning, Olivia woke up in the crib, still at the station, with no idea of time whatsoever. When she woke up, Hannah's face hovered inches from her own. Twinkling brown eyes glared at her. 'Wake up!' she said, tugging on the blankets.

The detective squinted her eyes. 'What time is it?'

'It's only like six, but your psycho colleague kicked me off my couch anyways.'

'I heard that!' Elliot yelled out from the locker room. Both Olivia and Hannah grinned.

'And you thought if you couldn't sleep, neither should I.' Olivia mumbled, groggily.

'Kinda.' Hannah shrugged with a smirk on her face.

'That's great…' `but Olivia smiled as well.

'Hannah!' Elliot called out to her, 'C'mon, we're gonna shoot some hoops outside.' He stuck his head around the corner. 'Let Olivia have another 30 to sleep. She needs it.'

She did.

'I'll be there in a sec. I'll let you have another 3 minutes to warm up. You need it.' And with that, Hannah turned back to Olivia. Behind her back, Elliot pretended to throw the ball at her jokingly. Hannah didn't see it though, but Olivia did, with an amused look on her face. Then Elliot nodded and said he'd meet her out on the court in a couple of minutes.

Olivia had rolled onto her side, propped up on one elbow, but with sleep still in her eyes. She was waiting expectantly for what the little girl was going to say. Hannah sat in front of the rack crossed-legged.

'Olivia?' Hannah started.

'Yes?' Olivia dreaded questions like these from Hannah a little bit. They were far too grown up, even for the detective sometimes. She didn't expect this one, though.

'Do you like me?' She looked up at Olivia with sincere brown eyes, but just a little insecure.

'Yeah, I do.' Olivia managed after a while, as a whisper. Hannah's head shot up.

'Even though I steal?'

'Even though you steal.' Olivia answered immediately, not hesitating for a second.

'Even though I smoke?'

'Even though you smoke.'

'Even though I'm a foulmouth?'

'Even though you're a foulmouth.'

'Even though I'm dirty and hated and living on the streets?'

'You're not anymore…' Olivia replied, 'but yeah, I liked you back then as well.'

Hannah had to think for a second. 'Even though I punched Elliot?'

Olivia scoffed. 'Well that does prove you've got a lot of guts, girl.'

Hannah put on her cap straight, imitating her favorite rappers:

''Aah-ah you know what it is,

Everything I do, I do it big.''

But Hannah's smile quickly faded. 'It doesn't mean anything though.'

Olivia frowned, 'Why do you say that, babe?'

Hannah stared at her like she was some idiot. 'My charges are going on my foster file. No parent in the world is gonna want me. Besides, after all that, Imma end up back on the streets anyways, dirty and hated.' She quickly got up from the floor.' I'm just gonna wipe out Elliot now, so sleep.'

Olivia quickly grabbed her wrist though as she tried to disappear. 'Hannah, look at me. Any parent would be lucky to have you.' She spoke slowly and looked the girl straight in the eye. 'You have to realize that yourself, because I do. They'd be the lucky ones.'

Olivia could see the panic growing in the little girl's eyes, because she was getting so close. Still she continued, 'I don't like you because you smoke or because you don't smoke. Or like you even though you steal or not. None of that matters. I like you because you're funny and really smart and secretly very sweet.' Hannah pulled up her nose in disgust at that last word.

Olivia laughed out loud at her expression. 'Hey,' she joked, 'I could've called you cute as well.'

'Ugh!' Hannah ran off, yelling a 'bye' on her way out. Then after a few moments she came back running in, gave Olivia a quick kiss on her cheek and stormed back out.

As Olivia rolled back onto her back, smiling like an idiot, and she thought of a conversation she had with Elliot a few weeks ago.

'Elliot, a few months ago I looked into adoption.'

'That's great!'

'They turned me down.' Olivia looked away from Elliot's surprised gaze.

He was confused, 'What are you talking about?'

'Well, I'm single. I don't have any extended family support system. I work all hours. They didn't see me as prime parent material.'

Elliot was silent for a while. 'They're wrong.'

No chance of sleep now.

Outside, after just a few minutes on the court, it became clear to Elliot that Hannah took her sports pretty serious. Her size was a bit of a problem in basketball, but to her advantage she was fast and agile. It felt really stupid when she passed him by playing the ball quickly and ducking under his legs. Still, it was good for his ego that at least he could beat her at this. He just wondered vaguely how long it would last.

'So your eldest kid is like eighteen?' Hannah wanted to know.

'Almost,' Elliot dribbled the ball, getting ready to shoot, 'She's seventeen now. My second is fifteen and the twins are twelve.' He made the perfect jump shot, the ball going straight through.

'That sucks.' Hannah said, eyes following the ball as it flew through the air.

'My game?' He sounded confused.

'No,' she laughed, 'having four teenage kids. You must never sleep.' Hannah tried her own jump shot.

'Hmm.' Elliot frowned, 'Yeah, but it's fun too. I like being a father.' He dribbled the ball around her, daring her to take it. She did, moving fast like some animal jumping in. He stopped as he could've sworn he'd heard her whisper 'old man' again.

'Though none of my rebellious teenagers have a mouth on them like you.' Elliot said pointing at her.

Hannah just stood there, ball casually held between her arm and side. 'Well, aren't you lucky then.'

There it was again, her defensive sarcasm. Fuck, was all Elliot could think. He looked down. 'That's not what I meant, kid.'

Hannah looked away, as he continued. 'I've never met a little girl that's so tough, you know? My daughters aren't like that at all.' He tried to make eye contact, and was glad to see she was still listening.

'But it's good that you are,' he continued, carefully. He walked over to her and knelt down to her level. 'Because of what you've been through, most kids wouldn't even have survived. I've been on this job long enough to know that.'

Hannah nodded, 'I know, and a lot of girls start doing drugs or turning tricks. That's a bad idea…'

'Yeah!' Elliot said, 'but you just punch people in the face.' He winked and she cracked a smile as well. 'You're a fighter and I love that. Don't ever lose that.' He was completely serious now and Hannah just nodded numbly. For the second time in an hour someone was telling her she was more than just vermin that should be exterminated. This was weird.

Elliot could sense that she was feeling awkward, so he got up and asked her, 'You wanna dunk the ball?'

'Yeah, I'll just grow a pair of wings.' She rolled her eyes.

He smiled invitingly. 'C'mon, just do a layup, I'll help you with the rest.'

Hannah started her layup and when she approached the basket, Elliot lifted her up above his shoulders. She could do the perfect dunk, while Elliot was cheering her on. As she let go again, he caught her in mid-air.

For a second Elliot wished he could frame her smile. She looked like a normal little girl without a care in the world, but hers were so rare. It broke his heart.

She jumped up as high as she could to reach his high-five. Walking back, Elliot put a hand on her back and, surprisingly, she didn't shake it off.

'So, where did you learn to read?'

'The library.' Obviously.

Back inside Olivia was up, clutching her coffee for caffeine. She was knackered from everything going on, she couldn't imagine how much this had to be for a nine year old. She seemed happy enough, walking in with Elliot.

Hannah disappeared to go to the toilet, when Dr. Huang came walking up.

'She seems to be doing a lot better.' Olivia said to him, talking about Hannah.

Dr. Huang had been talking to her on a daily basis from the moment she came there. She had opened up to him slowly and carefully, but she had. 'She is, she's talking about herself more.'

'That's good.' Elliot said, crossing his arms in front of his chest. 'By the way, she told me she learned to read in the library? Is that possible?'

'Yes, she told me the same thing and yes, I do think it is possible she taught herself how to read there, with some help of an old librarian. I've done a few of the games with her that we use in the intelligence test. Her IQ is above average, that's for sure.'

Olivia pulled her eyebrows up. 'No surprise there.'

'And,' The doctor continued, 'she has a lot of imagination. She makes up stories all the time to escape reality, so her wanting to learn to read makes sense. She's the sort of child that can do a lot if she really wants to.'

'So getting her enrolled in school will be easy.' Olivia said, hopefully.

'Hmmm..' Dr. Huang looked doubtful, 'On the other hand, she doesn't want to learn things she can't see the point of. Like the little bit of math I tried to do with her.'

'Who can blame her.' Elliot and Olivia shared a look.

'Also, she'll most likely have a problem with the authority figure of a teacher and with the discipline and hours. She's just not used to anyone telling her what to do.'

'She's getting more used to it,' Elliot said, 'She's getting less defensive with me and more cooperating when I tell her she's not allowed to do something.'

'That's good.' Dr. Huang nodded.

'And the singing?' Elliot wanted to know.

'She sings to keep her mind of things.' Olivia nodded, she'd noticed that as well. 'She told me she sings, but softly, when someone is hurting her. She also sneaks into clubs, just for the music. She says everything feels like it's okay when she feels nothing else but the base in her stomach.' He hesitated for a moment, 'She says it's better than drugs or alcohol.'

'She's into that?' Elliot said with eyes growing bigger and bigger.

Olivia shook her head. 'She can't be, she's not missing it now or taking it.'

'I don't think she is,' the doctor said quickly, 'but it makes sense for her to have tried something. A lot of young kids on the streets start with alcohol or sniffing glue or paint.' Seeing the detectives' concerned looks, he added, 'She is very much aware of the dangers of addiction nonetheless. She keeps saying she doesn't want to get into these things. For a nine year old street child, she has some strong values: No heroin, no begging, no prostituting.'

'She does now…' Olivia sighed.

'Exactly,' Dr. Huang confirmed, 'Life will only get harder on the streets and she may not be able to stay this way. She'll get more cynical and lose all faith in a better life. We need to keep her off the streets.'

Dr. Huang turned to Olivia next. 'How are you holding up?' he asked intensely.

'I'm fine.' She said stiffly, not understanding why he was asking her this.

'This girl seems to affect you a lot. Emotionally.' Olivia saw Elliot nodding in the back and it annoyed her to no end.

'Yeah, well, wouldn't it affect anyone with a heart!' She snapped.

Dr. Huang just nodded. 'It would.' That calmed Olivia a little bit, especially when he next said, 'It does me.'

'The both of you need to relax a little bit. I know you're busy working on the case and you really want to get the guy, but do something fun with her.' Elliot advised. 'Go to the movies with her. Because you need to look human and alive again and Hannah really needs to be a kid.' Dr. Huang said that'd be a great idea, and Olivia sighed once again, but agreed. Relax…

'Speaking of,' Dr. Huang asked, 'where is she? I haven't talked to her today yet.'

'O, she just went to the bathroom.'

'That was ages ago.' Olivia said flatly. She had a bad feeling.

Both detectives started sprinting for the toilets directly after that, calling out her name.

Olivia panicked. 'She's not here, Elliot.'

He held onto her shoulders. 'Calm down. This is Hannah we're talking about. She could be anywhere; up on the roof smoking, messing with some security guard, dancing around the halls, anything. She's fine.'

Olivia didn't calm down though. She went into the squadroom, asking everyone if they'd seen her and no one had. The guards hadn't seen her either and Olivia just ran from one place to the other, until Elliot stopped her.

'El, I have a bad feeling.' She just kept repeating.

'What could possibly have happened to her in here? She has just run off, you know she does that a lot. Liv, please, calm down.'

Olivia rubbed her temples and steadied her breathing. Maybe she was just fine. Then she saw something that changed her mind and she raced down the hall, Elliot following in her footsteps.

'Without her cap, Elliot?' Olivia said as she picked up the Yankees baseball cap off of the floor near the exit.

They both knew Hannah would never take that thing off and Elliot's eyes grew with horror.

Much love to all my followers for sticking by me, and Hannah XD

O and btw, the song Hannah sings is 'Black and Yellow' by Wiz Khalifa