A/N: I posted two chapters today so, if you haven't read ch 28 you should do that before you read this one. Just the epilogue to go after this which should (hopefully) be up tomorrow.


As it turned out, Mia's cheek was not fractured as the school nurse had suspected, just badly bruised. The doctor cleaned the gash on her lip and prescribed some Tylenol and Motrin for the pain before discharging her. The painkillers she'd been given were quick to take effect and it wasn't long into their journey home before Mia was dozing in the back seat.

"Did she tell you what happened?" Rafael asked Olivia, glancing over his shoulder to check the subject of their conversation was still asleep.

Olivia glanced at him momentarily, shaking her head. "The principal said she started a fight. Mia said it wasn't what it sounded like, but she also said she didn't want you to be disappointed in her. So…" She pressed her lips together and shrugged. "I didn't get much further than that."

Rafael sighed. "It's just so unlike her." The idea that Mia had instigated a physical confrontation with another student had floored him. She was normally so even-tempered. Even in her worst moods, she had never lashed out.

"She's a teenage girl. They're hormonal, which means they're unpredictable."

"I know, but… a fight? Really?"

"I agree with you; it isn't like her." Olivia slowed down for a red light. "She'll have to talk to us when we get home though. The principal wants to see us in the morning to discuss it. She was very insistent I arrange a time before I left with Mia."

"What time?" Rafael asked

"Nine."

"I can't do nine," he said, turning his head to face her. "I have a meeting with Rita. She wants to cut a deal on the Pearson case."

The light turned to green and Olivia pulled away. "It's fine," she told him, waving her hand dismissively. "I spoke to Carmen; she said she'd push it back an hour." Rafael groaned, and Olivia bit her lip. "I'm sorry if I overstepped, I just…"

"No, no… It's fine. You did the right thing. It's just that I'm going to owe Carmen big time for this. Rita's assistant is a pit-bull."

"A bit like her employer then," Olivia smirked.

"Which we'd be immensely grateful for was she was still on our side," Rafael pointed out.

Olivia shrugged. "Maybe," she said noncommittedly before suddenly remembering her email to Trevor. "Speaking of emails. I sent one to Trevor Langan. I think… I think we need to push ahead with exploring our legal options for Mia and Noah. We were remiss to leave it for so long, I think today has proved that."

"We couldn't have foreseen this," Rafael appeased. He knew Olivia and knew she would be feeling guilty, blaming herself for not having things sorted out.

"But we should have, Rafa," she hissed, fighting to keep her voice low save she wake Mia. "Especially after Noah's accident last year. That poor girl had to sit there in the waiting room in pain… all because neither of us could be bothered to rearrange our diaries."

It wasn't an accusation. She was as much to blame as him. With their busy schedules, they'd both had problems finding a convenient time to meet with Trevor and neither of them had bent over backwards to rearrange things, never imagining a situation like this.

Rafael reached for Olivia's hand where it lay on the gear shift lever. He interlaced their fingers and gave a gentle, reassuring squeeze. "I know. But we didn't know. If someone had told us this was going to happen we'd have both moved hell and high water to get this sorted."

"We should have done that anyway; the kids have to come first." When she'd taken on Noah, she'd had a similar conversation with Judge Linden, promising her that her top-priority was Noah's well-being. His health, his happiness. For her, that now applied to Mia too. And she needed Rafael to be on the same page.

"And they will from now on." He lifted their clasped hands to his lips, kissing her knuckles. "I promise. As soon as Trevor gets back with some appointment times, we'll pick one and stick to it, even if it means rearranging our schedules and pissing off Dodds and McCoy to be there."


"You need to talk to us," Rafael said sternly.

His patience was wearing thin. They were sat in the living room, where they had been since arriving home twenty minutes ago. Noah was at the park; Olivia had text Lucy when they left the hospital, asking her to make sure the little boy was not present for this conversation. Mia sat in between Rafael and Olivia on the large sofa but hadn't uttered a word, despite the adults' questions.

"Mia, honey," Olivia said, putting a hand on the teenager's leg where it curled up beside her, "if you don't tell us what happened we can't help you."

"You can't help anyway," Mia stated. Her voice was quiet but there was a hint of resignation in her tone. "I started a fight. I will be punished."

Rafael shook his head. "But it's just not like you," he pointed out. "If there were mitigating circumstances, you need to let us know."

Mia shook her head. "I can't." She squeezed her eyes shut to stop her tears.

Olivia watched the teenager with interest. In her years of working in SVU, of dealing with victims Olivia had seen responses like this before and alarm bells began ringing in her head. Mia was scared, but not of Rafael or of punishment. She was afraid of something else. She leaned forward and spoke softly. "Mia, the girl you were fighting with… has she…" Olivia swallowed, taking a moment to compose herself. "Has she been hurting you?"

This time there was no response. No shake of the head, no denial. Nothing. And that spoke volumes to both Olivia and Rafael. Their gazes met over the top of Mia's head and they shared a look of understanding.

"Sirena?" Rafael placed his hand on Mia's shoulder, his eyes softening. "Is Liv right? Has someone been hurting you?"

She was still for a moment, looking resolutely at her hands clasped on her lap, before taking a deep, steadying breath. Her answer when it came was just a whisper, but it hit Olivia and Rafael like a lightning bolt. "Yes."


"Thank you for coming in, Mr Barba." Principal Dalton stood from behind her desk and extended her hand as the three of them entered her office.

Rafael took her proffered hand and shook it, before indicating Olivia. "This is my partner, Olivia Benson."

Principal Dalton shook Olivia's hand too. "Yes, we met when she collected Mia yesterday afternoon after the… incident." She waved at the three chairs that had been set out in front of the desk. "Please, have a seat."

Mia took the middle seat, with Olivia and Rafael flanking her on either side. The teenager wrung her hands in her lap as she waited for her principal to speak.

"Right, well as I am sure Ms Benson has informed you, Mia was involved in, and I believe instigated, a fight in the hall yesterday lunchtime. A fight that resulted in injuries to both girls involved and damage to several school lockers."

"Mia is more than happy to pay for any damage," Rafael explained. "Isn't that right Mia?"

The teenager nodded, her fingers now playing with the hem of her skirt.

"Thank you for that. There is however a more serious issue. Our school has a zero-tolerance policy on violence and, having spoken to the parents of the other girl involved, they are naturally very concerned and-"

Rafael had heard enough. "Oh, they're concerned? Are they at all concerned that their daughter has been hounding Mia for months? Sending menacing tests and emails. Spreading rumours. Cornering her in the stairwells and bathrooms. Pushing her. Are they even aware? Are you?"

After admitting that she was being hurt, the floodgates had opened, and Mia had disclosed the extent of the bullying, which it turned out, had been going on for months.

Principal Dalton turned to Mia. "Mia? Is this true?"

The young girl nodded, causing Rafael to raise an eyebrow. "I mean, yes Miss Dalton," she corrected.

"Why didn't you tell a teacher or your guidance counsellor?"

"Erica threatened me. She said she could make my life hell and that if I told anyone she'd hurt me even more. I tried to ignore her. I thought I could handle it but then she started threatening my little brother and I lost it. So, I pushed her."

Rafael and Olivia shared a surprise glance, not because of the threats against Noah – Mia had told them all about those last night – but because this was the first time the teenager had referred to Noah as her 'brother'.

Professor Dalton sighed. "I will look into your allegations and speak with Erica and other students but without proof-"

"Mia has proof," Rafael said, lifting his briefcase onto his lap. Lifting the lid, he reached in and handed a stack of papers to the principle. "Screenshots from Mia's phone showing a pattern of messages from the perpetrator." He pulled out several more batches of paper. "Screenshots from several social media accounts too." He dropped one on the desk in front of him. "Facebook." He tossed another batch onto the pile. "Instagram." And another. "Twitter." And finally, "Tumblr."

After her disclosure, Rafael had demanded the usernames and passwords to all of Mia's social media accounts as well as the passcode for her phone – needing to see for himself the extent of the bullying. Once she and Noah were both in bed, he and Olivia had spent the rest of the evening downloading, printing and organising all the hurtful, hateful messages that Mia had received. After reading one particularly brutal message, which basically said Mia's mom would be glad to have died to have been rid of her, Olivia had broken down. She was devastated at what Mia had been going through and guilt-ridden that they hadn't noticed.

Rafael sat back as the principal took in – rather wide-eyed – the evidence he'd presented to her. It was time for Olivia to speak.

"Principal Dalton, I don't know if you are aware, but I am a lieutenant with Manhattan Special Victims Unit and I am trying very hard not to open a harassment investigation here."

She and Rafael both agreed that, given her age, the chances of Erica being charged with anything were slim to none, but neither was above using their positions to protect Mia.

The principal paled, the last thing she needed was a police investigation into bullying at the school. "I understand completely, Ms," she shook her head, "I mean, Lieutenant Benson. You have my word that I will be addressing this issue immediately with Erica and her parents."

"And you'll let us know the outcome of your investigation?" Rafael said, standing. Olivia joined him and motioned for Mia to get to her feet too.

Principal Dalton nodded. "I will phone you directly, Mr Barba."

Rafael gave a curt nod. "Good. Once we're notified of the school's response and satisfied that Mia is no longer in any danger, she will return to school. Until then, we'll be keeping her at home." This was something else they'd decided last night, with Olivia offering to have her at the precinct with her that day. They wouldn't leave her at home alone, save she find enjoyment in her time off school binge wtaching Netflix or such like. Despite the circumstances that had precipatated the erevious days events, she had still been involved in a violent incident and Olivia and Rafael agreed that that could not go unpunished. As well as giving up her allowance to pay for the damage at school, she was also grounded for a month.

Rafael led Mia out of the principal's office, Olivia following behind. They were halfway down the corridor when Olivia's phone beeped. She fished it out of her bag and slid her glasses onto her nose from where they were perched on top of her head. Reading it, she turned to Rafael.

"It's Langan. He can see us tomorrow at 2.30."

Rafael quickly checked his calendar and frowned. "I have a meeting with the DA at 3.15.

Olivia's brow furrowed as she continued to read. "His next appointment after that isn't until late next week."

Rafael thought for a moment. It wasn't so much the time of the meeting that was the problem as the travel time involved. Langan's office was across the other side of Manhattan. "See if he can come to us," Rafael suggested. "My office? That way, I should be clear to meet with McCoy."

Olivia smiled at the compromise he put forward and began typing a response. Maybe they could find a way to balance work and family after all.