Author's note: Hey! So I finally think I have a good place to end this story (not anytime soon dont worry), but I was wondering how y'all felt about a sequel set a few years in the future? I have a lot of ideas for it but I could always incorporate those into this story if you guys aren't down for it. Let me know!
The next week went by smoothly. David was relieved when Cordelia told him she wasn't going to kill him, although Elliott still was a little mad at him for not telling her in the first place. Cordelia filed the adoption papers again, trying to get through the process as quickly as possible. She had taken a few days off from working to spend time with Elliott, the young girl finally convincing her to actually go on a real date with Misty. The two were in the middle of said lunch date when Cordelia got a call from Queenie. "Hey, what's going on?" Cordelia asked, confused. She had only been gone for a little over an hour, and it was unusual for the girl to bother her unless something was wrong.
"Uh, you need to come home. Elliott's social worker is here with some cops, says he needs to talk to you." Queenie said unsurely.
"Does Elliott know he's there?" Cordelia asked, knowing how the girl would freak out if she saw him.
"No, she's out in the greenhouse with Mallory. She's distracting her until you get here." Queenie said.
"Ok, I'll be there as soon as I can." Cordelia said, hanging up the phone and looking at Misty. "Elliott's social worker is at the house. I'm sorry we have to go."
"It's fine." Misty said, waving her hand, "Was he supposed ta come over?"
"No, it could just be a wellness check, but he has to talk to me." Cordelia said, trying to not worry.
Misty noticed her concern and grabbed her hand as Cordelia waved down the waitress for the check, "It's gonna be fine darlin', don't ya worry."
The two arrived at the house and Cordelia immediately started talking with the man by the stairs, noticing his concerned expression. "Hello, I'm Cordelia. What's going on?"
"Uh, we have to take Elliott with us." The man said, obviously not happy with the situation.
"What do you mean? Why?" Cordelia said, her voice rising with her panic. No way was Elliott going with them, she wouldn't allow it.
"Miss Goode, did you take Elliott with you on your recent trip to California?" The man asked carefully.
"Yes I did, is that an issue?" Cordelia asked, confused.
"You didn't clear it with CPS." The man responded.
"I don't have to because of the adoption." Cordelia said, she knew how the rules worked.
"You stopped the adoption, which meant that Elliott was a ward of the state and any travel out of state had to be known and approved by CPS. I'm sorry but we can't have that, she has to be moved out of the home until a judge signs off on it." The man said sadly as Elliott appeared in the doorway behind them.
"What's going on? Mama?" Elliott said softly, the concern on her face only growing once Cordelia looked at her.
"Elliott, go get your stuff, you have to come with me." The man said, Elliott looking at Cordelia, the panic evident on her face.
"She's not going anywhere." Cordelia said to the man, her eyes blazing, "Elliott just go back to the greenhouse, I'll come get you once we are done talking." She didn't even let her brain process the fact that Elliott had just called her mom, that would only break her heart further.
"Elliott you know the rules; whatever you don't have packed by the time we're done doesn't go with you. Go pack." The man said sternly, not looking away from the older woman.
Cordelia didn't say anything for a moment, she didn't want to tell the girl to go pack but she also knew if she didn't, the girl would leave with nothing, and she couldn't risk that. She looked over at Elliott and motioned for the girl to go upstairs and do as she was told, Elliott's face hardening as she did. Once the girl disappeared into her room Misty followed her up, trying to explain what was happening to her. Downstairs, Cordelia tried to talk with the social worker, "It was an honest mistake, are you really going to take her away because of one mistake? Can't we just write this off?"
The man shook his head, "Listen, I'm not happy about it either, but we don't give strikes on things like this, not when these girls are being trafficked. We can't let it slide. We didn't even know you had halted the adoption until it showed up on our desk that you refiled." Cordelia sat silent, trying to decide what she was going to do. She could get inside his head, make him forget about the whole thing, but he seemed to read her mind. "Look, the more of a fight you put up, the harder it's going to be to get her back. You do something drastic to keep her here? That's a huge red flag, no judge in their right mind would give her back, ever. You'd be finished. The best thing to do is let us take her and place her somewhere else, and then go to a judge. It might take a while, but it's the best option for both of you."
"How long would that take?" Cordelia asked, trying not to cry.
"Could be a few weeks, more than likely it would be a couple months, if she stays where she is supposed to. She can't be in the house, can't visit, nothing. You can talk to her on the phone or maybe have supervised visits, but that's it. If she runs away or comes back here, that makes it harder, and I know she's a big fan of leaving. If she leaves and we find her here and you didn't immediately tell us, she's not coming back." The man explained. "I'm sorry, I wish it didn't have to be this way, but it does."
"I need to go talk to her." Cordelia said, tears freely falling down her face. The man nodded at her and she walked up the stairs, desperately trying to hold it together as she approached the girl's door. She stood in the doorway as Misty tried to talk to Elliott, the girl ignoring her as she packed. The two finally looked up at the older woman, waiting for her to speak. "I'm so sorry baby." Cordelia choked out, breaking out into even more tears. Elliott's face fell, tears clouding up her eyes as she softly nodded, then continued to pack. Misty pulled Cordelia onto the bed with her, holding her hand as she cried, letting a few tears go herself. "I can get you some of my luggage for your clothes…" Cordelia offered, Elliott shaking her head.
"I'll just lose it. I can fit what I need in here, leave the rest of it." Elliott said solemnly, motioning to her backpack. "I'm done anyways." She said softly as she placed the last article of clothing in her bag, coming to sit on the bed with them.
"Where's your necklace?" Misty asked, noticing it wasn't around the girl's neck.
"I broke the chain; I don't want to lose it so it can stay here." Elliott said, looking down at her hands.
"I'll give you a chain, I have plenty." Cordelia said forcefully, not waiting for the girl's response before she left the room, heading to her jewelry box and pulling out a new chain for her. She paused for a moment, willing herself to not start sobbing, and took a deep breath before she headed back to Elliott, grabbing the locket from the dresser and stringing the chain through it before she locked it around Elliott's neck. "There we go." She said as Elliott gave a small smile. "We need to talk though, and I need you to listen very carefully ok?" Elliott nodded, looking up at the woman briefly with her cloudy eyes, one wrong move from a total meltdown, which only made Cordelia start crying again, her heart breaking. "I have to wait for a judge to say it's ok for you to be here, it could take a few weeks, or a few months, I don't really know. But in the meantime, you can't be in the house or be with me unsupervised, at all. If you do it will just make everything that much harder. You have to stay with your foster family, you can't run away. If there's a problem you tell your social worker and then tell me, I'll make sure you are safe and ok, alright? But you can't leave, for any reason ok? I need to know where you are. You have your phone and your charger, yes?" Elliott nodded, "Good. We can talk whenever you want, I don't care if it's 4am, if you need me I'm here ok?" Elliott nodded once again, looking back at her hands, which caused Cordelia to grab her face gently in her hands and force the girl to look at her. "Listen to me, you will be back here, ok? I'm going to do everything I can, I can promise you that, you just have to hang on for me, alright?" Elliott nodded and the supreme kissed her forehead, letting a few tears fall. "I love you, more than anything. I'm so, so sorry baby."
"I love you too." Elliott said softly. She was trying to remain strong, but really all she wanted to do was cry. She knew how hard it was to get kids back after they were pulled from the house, and as much as she wanted to believe Cordelia would get her back, in her gut she knew it wouldn't happen, things never worked out her way. She let Cordelia hold her for a few minutes, just sitting silently as Misty held both their hands. This sucked, like royally sucked. She didn't even want to think of the mess that was going to happen after she was gone, David returning from class only to discover she wasn't there anymore, she wouldn't even get to say goodbye.
Eventually, it was time for her to go, and she begrudgingly headed down the stairs to her social worker, the women following right behind her. The social worker quickly made a move for the door, signaling it was time to go, and Elliott's eyes welled up with tears as she turned to hug Misty. "It'll be ok baby doll, just hang in there." Misty whispered into her hair, the young girl nodding before pulling away.
One look at Cordelia and the girl broke, tears streaming down her face, she didn't want to go. Cordelia pulled her into a tight hug and the two cried together, Cordelia peppering her hair with teary kisses, just repeating "I love you so much, it will be ok." over and over again as Elliott nodded into her shoulder.
"I know; I love you too." Elliott said as she finally pulled away, looking Cordelia in the eyes and giving her a soft, sad smile that broke the older woman's heart into even more tiny pieces. Elliott finally walked toward her social worker and Cordelia was about to break down into sobs, desperately trying to keep it together until Elliott was gone. Once the door clicked closed however she was on the floor, Misty holding her as she finally let out the sobs she had been holding in. This was a nightmare, a true nightmare, and Cordelia was living it.
Meanwhile, Elliott tried to pull herself together on the car ride to her "new" home. Her social worker tried to make small talk on the drive over to remove some of the tension, but at that moment making him feel more comfortable was the last thing on Elliott's mind. She cursed herself for being such a mess, for letting herself be so vulnerable. She knew this would happen, her gut was never wrong. How could she be so stupid? She knew things never worked out right for her, so why did she let herself get so attached?
Every bone in her body was screaming at her to just walk away, to leave and never come back. She knew Cordelia would fight for her, but whether or not she would win was a different story. Immediately Elliott was thrust back into her old ways, her own self-preservation jumping out. Which was worse, leaving and causing her own heartache, or waiting for something that never came? Both were incredibly self-destructive, but at least one of those situations she could control. She knew she promised Cordelia she would stay, but she didn't know how long she could keep that promise. At least if she left, she would only have herself to blame, and that was much easier than blaming everyone else. Elliott didn't want to harbor that hatred towards anyone else, if she was going to get hurt she was going to be the one to do it to herself. She could handle hating herself just fine, she had done it for years.
The longer they drove, the more Elliott distanced herself from all of her emotions, her walls crashing back up, even higher than they were before. She wouldn't make the same mistake twice; she couldn't deal with the hurt again. She had managed to talk herself out of running away, at least for the time being, trying to have a little faith in her supreme. She would give it four months, if nothing had changed by then, she was gone. In the meantime, she had to distance herself from Cordelia, just in case things went south. Communication between the two would have to be minimal, although Elliott doubted Cordelia was going to play into that, she freaked out when her and Elliott were apart for longer than a few hours, to be honest Elliott was surprised Delia wasn't already blowing her up.
Once arriving at her new home, Elliott was immediately introduced to her new foster parents and her two younger foster siblings. The parents didn't have any kids of their own, and while they didn't seem too terrible, Elliott knew they were putting on a good show for the social worker. All her previous foster parents seemed fine at first, it was after that shit hit the fan.
Elliott didn't say much to anyone while her social worker was there, she of course answered questions when prompted but not much else, and after being given a quick house tour her social worker left and she went and sat in her room. She was lucky, in this house she got to have her own room, most places weren't like that. "We figured since you were so much older you wouldn't want to stay with the girls." Her new foster mom said. It was a nice gesture, but the two girls didn't seem to value Elliott's privacy much, as soon as she was left on her own the girls came to bother her, not even knocking on the door.
"Hi." The younger girl said, running into the room and jumping on the bed, starling Elliott, "I'm Cora. I'm five."
Elliott didn't really feel like talking, but the girls were little and cute so she complied, "I'm Elliott, I'm fifteen."
"Wow, so you're like a teenager?" The older girl said, sitting on the bed as well, "I'm Emma, I'm nine."
"Well nice to meet you Emma and Cora. Are you two sisters?" Elliott asked, the girls nodding their heads. "Well it's nice you two got placed together. Do you like it here?"
The girls looked at each other, then down to the floor. "It's ok." Emma said. "Gotta be careful though, if this place doesn't work then we gotta get split up."
Elliott nodded in understanding, she knew how difficult it was to find homes that would take siblings, a lot of her friends had gotten split up that way. "Yea, I'm sorry. Is there anything I should know while I'm here?"
"Not really. Just the usual stuff." Emma said, "Oh, when they fight you might not wanna go downstairs, we usually just hide in our room. Mister gets real mad a lot and messes her up."
"Does he ever mess you guys up?" Elliott asked carefully.
"Yea…" Cora said quietly before Emma shushed her.
"Only when we're bad usually. It's ok, we look out for each other." Emma said cautiously.
"Hey," Elliott said, turning towards the girls, "You don't have to be careful with me, I'm not going to tell on you. We all have to look out for each other."
Just then Elliott's phone buzzed, and she looked to see it was a message from David, telling her to text Cordelia when she got settled in because she was a mess. Elliott quickly sent a message to her saying she was safe and at the new place, sliding her phone back into her pocket. "Who are ya talking to?" Cora asked getting a glare from Emma.
"Oh, um.. just my family. They wanted to know that I got here safe." Elliott responded, not sure exactly what to say.
"You got a family? Then why are you here?" Emma asked.
"It's complicated." Elliott replied.
"Ah ok. We gotta family too, we got our mama, but she isn't doing so good." Emma said, "You got a mama?"
"Everyone has a mom." Elliott joked, getting a smile out of the girls. "I actually had two. I was adopted as a baby, but my parents died so I got put into foster care. A few months ago I met my birth mom and then she decided to adopt me."
"What happened?" Emma asked, curious.
"Just some legal stuff, that's why I got put here. She's working on it though." Elliott said. "What about you guys? Do you still see your mom?"
"Sometimes. She's trying to get better and get us back, but she told me I gotta watch out for Cora until then." Emma said.
"Well that's nice that you're looking out for her." Elliott said softly, smiling at the older girl. It was obvious Emma took care of her sister, that she was looking out for her and protected her, but it also made Elliott sad. The girl was nine years old, it shouldn't have been her responsibility. "And while I'm here with you guys, I'll look out for you too. We're family." The girls smiled at that, happy that they didn't feel so alone for once. They talked a little bit more before their foster mom came upstairs to tell them it was time for bed, the two begging to stay in Elliott's room, but finally they gave up, saying goodnight and heading off for bed.
Once Elliott was alone again, she pulled her phone back out to see a message from Cordelia. "How is it? Are they nice?" She asked.
Back at the house, Cordelia was curled up on the couch next to Misty, her eyes bright red from all the crying she had done that day. She desperately wanted to call Elliott, to at least hear her voice and know she was ok, but she knew if she did that she wouldn't be able to hold herself together, so she settled for texts, smiling when the girl responded, "They seem ok. I have my own room which is nice. They have two sisters staying with them too, but they're a lot younger than me."
Right after Elliott sent that message, the screaming started from downstairs, and soon after she heard things being broken, loud clangs that made her visibly flinch. This is what the girls were talking about. Elliott knew she should tell Cordelia the truth about what the girls had told her, but the woman was already so upset, this would only make it worse. Not only that, but she didn't want to risk the girls getting separated, and truth be told she felt inclined to stay and protect them. They were little, they shouldn't have to deal with this alone. So, when Cordelia responded, "That's nice you have your own room. Do you think you'll be safe there?" Elliott lied through her teeth.
"I think I can manage." She sent back.
"I called my lawyer and he's requesting a court date, you should be back here soon." Cordelia said, "I'm so sorry Elle."
Elliott let out an audible sigh. As much as Elliott knew Cordelia was hurting to, she was also angry at her for letting this happen. She tried to keep it together for her, to act like everything was fine and try to make her feel better, but she was dying inside. None of this would have happened if she just left Elliott alone, and while Cordelia obviously had a right to be upset, Elliott was the one who took the hit. Cordelia was safe at her coven, and Elliott was once again stuck in a hellscape she so desperately tried to avoid. She ran away so she wouldn't have to go through this again, but the universe had other plans. "It's ok." She responded, "I have to go to bed though, I promised the girls I would take them to the park tomorrow. Night."
She didn't even wait for Cordelia to respond before she put her phone on silent and plugged it in, she knew it would just be a slew of "I love you" and "I'm sorry" and she just couldn't deal with all her emotions at that moment. She willed herself to not cry, burying all her feelings, making herself completely numb to everything as she tried to lay down, blocking out the screams from below.
Once the screams were gone and the parents had gone to bed, Elliott heard her door creak open. She panicked, worried it was the dad coming after her, so she tried her best to pretend she was asleep, holding her breath. "Elliott?" She heard Cora call faintly, causing her to relax and open her eyes, shifting toward the voice. She saw both the girls standing in the doorway, visibly shaking.
"Hey, are you ok?" She asked softly as the girls moved toward her, Cora shaking her head.
"I don't like it, I'm scared." Cora replied, "Can we stay with you tonight?"
Elliott paused for a moment, trying to figure out exactly how this was going to work. Her bed was definitely too small for all three of them to fit on it, but she couldn't tell the girls no. She nodded and they all climbed in, squishing in like sardines in a can. The girls didn't seem to mind though, quickly falling asleep as Elliott played with their hair. It was times like this she missed being able to crawl into Cordelia's bed, at least that one they all could fit on. Once the girls were fully asleep, Elliott finally grabbed a pillow and moved to the floor, willing herself to finally sleep.