I don't own any characters. Law and Order: Criminal Intent belongs to both Dick Wolf and NBC. The Twilight Zone belongs to Rod Serling. In spite of what she did, I felt sorry for the killer in the Saving Face, because her parents cared so little about her and saw her as nothing but a replacement for their son.

Christine was trying not to cry in the playground as she sat on the swing and thought about last night. She had been so proud of her 'what I want to be when I grow up' assignment, but her Dad made her tear it and do it over again, but with the answer that he approved of. He wanted her to be a doctor and help people like her late older brother Fredrick. Nothing she did was ever good enough in their eyes. Then, she was pulled out of her thoughts as a friend said "Hey, Christine."

Christine blinked as she saw her friend, Angie walking over to her with a letter in her hand. Unlike Christine who was blonde haired, blue eyed with pale skin, Angie had a Olive tone with long straight black hair, dark brown eyes and almond shaped eyes.

"Your parents being mean to you again?" Angie asked.

"They just want what's best for me." Christine replied.

"No they don't. Even I can see that and that's why I'm giving you this." Angie explained as she sat down beside her and handed her the letter.

Christine looked over the letter in her hands as she said "Thanks, but what can a trip to the zoo do?"

"It will help you get better parents, the same way I did." Angie explained as she lowered her voice.

Christine's eyes became wide with shock as she whispered "What happened to them?"

"Don't worry, they'll be kept safe at the zoo until a new kid comes and picks them. Hopefully by then, they'll have learned their lesson."

"But my Mom and Dad have a lot of money, won't people notice that they're gone?" Christine questioned.

Angie thought her words over for a moment before she said "I think the zoo will somehow make it look like the new parents have always been your parents in the first place."

"Oh." Christine uttered with awe.

That night at her home, she thought long and hard about taking her parents to the children's zoo. They claimed to love her, but they were so strict and wanted her to be like her late older brother Fredrick. They didn't even seem to know or care what she wanted, what she liked and what she didn't, all they wanted was for her to be Fredrick's replacement. With that, she made up her mind and decided to take her parents to the children's zoo.

After dinner, she walked over to her parents and handed them the invitation and said "My friend, Angie gave me this. Can I go? It might help me learn about the kinds of animals I might meet when I go to Africa and South America?"

Her Father looked over the invitation and thought it over and as he said "I've never even heard of this place and both parents must come?"

"It must be new." Her mother guessed.

"Are you free this weekend?" Her father asked his wife.

She nodded her head in agreement.

The next day, the limo pulled into the parking lot of the children's zoo as Mr. Ansil muttered "That's odd. There's no one here."

"We must be early." His wife assured him they got out of the limo.

Christine walked right past them and towards the main greeter as she said "Hi, welcome to the children's zoo. I'm Melody. Did you get an invitation from a friend? And your friend told you all about us, right?"

Christine nodded her head as she handed Melody her invitation.

With that, Melody took her hand and began to lead her into the zoo.

"Excuse me, where are you going with my daughter?!" Mr. Ansil demanded as he and his wife stormed over to Melody.

"It's alright. At the children's zoo, we find it best to let the children see the animals themselves. She'll meet you right in the parent's waiting room." Melody explained as she ushered them inside a small building near the main entrance.

Once they were inside, Melody led Christine into the zoo.

As Christine walked down the pathway of the zoo, she heard a voice over the loudspeaker saying "To hear the parents talk, please press the button below the cage identification number."

Christine walked to a window that showed a pair of yelling parents. When she pressed the button, all she heard was them begging to take her and let them out.

Christine decided to try her luck elsewhere and she went over to another window.

As soon as the mother of the pair saw her, she pointed her finger at the button. When Christine hit the button, she heard the mother yell for her husband. He quickly faced the window and said "Listen here, you little brat. You better tell us where our kid Debbie is or we'll break out and rip this place to pieces!"

"Do you know our daughter? Can you tell us where she is?" The Mom begged.

Christine thought over the parents for a moment, before she decided to look for another set. The Mom seemed like she changed her ways, but the Dad didn't.

If only I could take one without the other one. Christine thought to herself before she came across another pair of patents that promised to spoil her rotten if she picked them. After years of her parents-no, her soon to be former parents being so strict with her and not letting her do what she wanted, being spoiled sounded like a dream come true! However, she suddenly recalled a lesson that one of her teachers mentioned; if something was too good to be true, then it probably was. With a heavy heart, Christine moved away from the window and stopped at what she hoped would be the final one for her.

She pressed the button as she heard the Dad say "Hi, what's your name?"

Slightly taken aback, Christine replied "I'm Christine."

"How old are you anyway?" The Dad asked.

"I'm around 9." Christine replied.

"Our daughter was 4 when she brought us here." The Dad said before he looked her in the eye and said "We've learned our lesson and we'll be the best parents that we know now."

"We know what it means to be good parents." He added.

Christine somehow knew that he was telling the truth and decided that these were right parents for her.

Sometime later, she was in the check out lobby with her new parents, Melody smiled at her as she said "You've made an excellent choice, Christine."

Christine smiled as her new Dad said "Shall we, Christine."

Christine smiled as she took the hands of her new parents and left her old parents, the Ansils behind.

As she walked past them, they called out "Christine Ansil! You get back here this minute! Tell them to let us out or they'll be hearing from the cops and lawyers!"

"You don't exist anymore." Melody replied as she walked towards the window. "It's your own fault for not being good parents." She added.

"What are you talking about? We're given her everything." Mrs. Ansil replied.

"If she got an invitation here, then you must've done something really bad to end up here. We don't make mistakes."

As she walked away from the pair, the Ansils wondered what have they done wrong and if they would ever see the pictures of their son, Fredrick again.

What do you think?

Please leave a review.