Hello! Hope you are feeling good! To the lovely reviewer who informed me about CPS I know that's the law but she did say it's fiction so.. I don't know if it still applies. To the rest reviewers, yes this story will continue! Here is chapter 3, enjoy!
Trigger Warnings: physical abuse and substance abuse.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything, the characters belong to Dick Wolf but this particular plot is all mine!
And I don't really care
If nobody else believes
Cause I've still got a lot of fight left in me
~Fight song, Rachel Platten
It was eleven o'clock pm and Amanda had just left from Rafael's building rooftop. He was so reluctant to let her go back to the hell that she called home. And the things she said on that rooftop, the things she wrote on that paper, how could he sleep knowing that he was incapable of protecting her, keeping her safe. He unlocked the door to his apartment his mind still racing trying to think of ways to help his friend.
"Hey honey, how is your friend?" His mother asked from the small living room the minute she saw him walking in. In order for her to let him go out on a school night, it had to be an absolute emergency so she told her that one of his friends was hurt.
"Honestly, mama, not good." He mumbled, his head down, avoiding his mother's gaze not wanting her to see his swollen and red, from crying, carulean blue eyes.
Mothers, though, have certain instincts. She could sense that something was bothering her son. She got up from the armchair on which she had been sitting for most part of the night, and went to stand in front of her son. "Rafael Barba, look at me." He tried to hide his face even more now. His mother placed her fingers gently under his chin and made him look at her. "Oh my baby, you were crying. What happened?"
To that affectionate gesture of his mother, to that sweet voice of hers, Raf broke down in tears, hugging his mother with every inch of strength that he had left. He needed to vent and what better way than clearing your soul with the purity of tears.
"She is in trouble. She didn't do anything bad, someone else did but she is paying the price. And mama she doesn't let me help her." A harsh sob left his mouth and to that sound his mother kissed his forehead. "I don't think I can live with myself, knowing the amount of pain she is in and doing absolutely nothing about it." He pushed away from his mother, suddenly feeling too much of a man, whipped his eyes and when to sit on the couch.
Ms. Barba when and sat down next to her boy, who she realized that now was all grown up she said, "Well, maybe we can figure out something together. Now it's late, you are tired and so am I. We'll talk about it tomorrow over breakfast okay?" Rafael let a sigh of relief leave his mouth. 'God please keep her safe for tonight.'
In the meantime, on the other side of Manhattan, there was a frustrated brunette girl suffering from her own demons. She was locked in her room studying, trying to concentrate on anything else other than her mother's private party. Since it has been quiet for quite some time now, Olivia decided to go and check in on her.
She quietly unlocked the door of her room and tiptoeing reached the living room. The view was the usual: her, laying on the couch with an empty bottle of vodka on her left hand, clearly passed out. She shook herself disappointed and went to stand in front of her mother.
A mother who never gave a damn if she was dead or alive. A mother who never cared if her daughter was happy. A mother who loved her drink more than she loved her own blood. But then again, how could she love someone that was conceived by a monster?
'So I guess that makes me a monster too.'
She took the bottle out of her hands and placed it on the small wooden coffee table. She lifted her mother in a sitting position, placed her hand under both her armpits and helped her stand. Olivia weighted 110 pounds so carrying a fourty year old woman from the living room to the master bedroom was a challenge.
After a lot of bone cracking and some grunting Serena Benson was now on her bed, under the covers and with a clean pair of pajamas on.
'Only twenty minutes this time. I am getting better and better.' She thought to herself. 'But then again, isn't a seventeen year old supposed to be getting better at math instead?'
She went back in her room having lost every kind of hope, every kind of faith. God, how she wanted to be normal, with a dad that wasn't a monster, with a mom that didn't resent her, in a house that the only transparent liquid would be water.
She decided to do the one thing she always did when she felt overwhelmed. She texted a particular blonde southern girl seeking for her comfort.
"Could we talk tomorrow?" Brief and simple. She didn't wait long for an answer.
"Ofc, early on our spot. See ya there." And just like that everything was arranged and Olivia's pain was alleviated. Knowing that she would always have someone to rely on made her feel secure. So she let the tears flow as she lay down on her bed, closing her eyes and waiting for tomorrow to arrive.
We were walking down the street with my mother who was holding one bag of groceries in each hand, with me next to her holding the rest of the shopping. It was a nice morning, the sun was up, the kids in the neighborhood were running up and down the street playing and laughing and I had a big smile on my face.
Life wasn't the greatest when you lived in such a place. Numerous were the times where shootings had taken place here, the most heinous of crimes, gangs who think they own everything. It was dangerous but still there was something so domestic about the kids' voices. Whilst still walking we reached a bodega around the corner of our building.
'"Hey, Ma, could we stop here I wanna buy some drinks for the house. We are supposed to host a dinner for papa and Nana 'member?" I reminded my mother and reached for the pockets of my jeans to grab the few dollar bills that I had left.
"Sure, Odafin but make it quick, I wanna go home asap." Just as I was ready to go in for the last thing on our list I heard a loud bang. Next minute I look down and I see my mother on the ground, bleeding heavily.
"Mama, MAMA!"
He woke up in clothes full of sweat. It was just another bad nightmare of his. The worst of them all. Most nightmares are products of people's imaginations but not this one. For Odafin Tutuola this was a memory and a very vivid one as a matter of fact. He pushed the covers away from his body and got up. Not wanting to wake up his grandparents he silently opened the door of his small room and headed towards the kitchen to grab a glass of water.
"Hey, sweet boy, why are you up at," his grandma paused to check at the clock. "Two in the morning?" Fin startled a little. He didn't expect the woman, who he considered a second mother, to be awake at such time.
"Just wanted to grab a glass of water." He said casually walking towards the sink in the kitchen.
"Another nightmare?" He spited out the water in his mouth, surprised by his nana's reveal. "What? You thought your old lady here wouldn't notice? When I pull an all-nighter I hear you whimper or crying in your sleep." Fin was just standing there, like a statue and with eyes wide open. "I didn't wanna say anything. I thought you'd tell me when you felt ready but damn son, it is taking you way too long." She said in that soft tone grandmamas talk.
"It's just... my mind keeps replayin' that moment over and over. It's not so frequent now as it was back then, but it's still terrifying." He now walked and sat next to his nana and let her chocolate colored hands envelope him into a tight embrace. "I just miss her so much, nana. I want her to be at my graduation, both high school and college. Maybe the academy if I manage to get in. I just wish she was here, with us." The nostalgia of his long gone mother so clear in his voice that even the strongest of hearts would have broke.
"Oh son, I miss her too." She said to him while moving her hand up and down his arm. "But that doesn't mean she isn't here." He glanced at her with a questioning expression on his face. "Honey, she might not be standing among us but she will always be present. Here," she said pointed at his head, "And most of all here." And she placed her open palm on his chest.
Hearing those words was something Fin didn't know he needed until it happened. He hugged her back and planted a soft kiss on her cheek. "Goodnight, nana."
"Goodnight, my sweet boy."
All members of the Fantastic Four had a rough night. Actually one might say that they have had more than their fair share of rough nights given their age. But today was a brand new day and the southern girl was sitting on the sidewalk of their regular morning spot waiting for her friend. She had a cigarette light as always and had arrived half an hour earlier to catch up with the only female friend she had.
She brought the cigarette up to her lips, a move that lifted the sleeve of her black jean jacket revealing the purple rings around both of her wrists. He didn't hurt her much last night, by the time she had arrived home he was already too out of it and all his strength was gone.
She unlocked the door to her small house and prayed to God that everyone would be asleep by that time. But he wasn't. The minute he saw her walking in, he started pacing fast to reach her. It wasn't pacing, more like stumbling. He was drunk, again.
"Do you know what time is it you little whore?" He yelled at her slapping her with all the power he had on the cheek.
"Yes, father." She replied rubbing her cheek, trying to ease some of the pain.
"How dare you disrespecting me like that, huh?" Another slap. No words came out of Amanda's mouth this time. What would be the point?
He grabbed her wrists with both his hands and pinned her against the door. He brought her hands over her head and waited for some kind of reaction. Nothing appeared on little Mandy's face. A whole lot of nothing.
That enraged him even more so he placed her wrists in one hand and brought the other to her neck and squeezed just a little. When his daughter started suffocating and making weird noises trying to breathe, he laughed and let go.
'Thank God for make up.' She thought to herself today. She managed to cover the bruising on her face and neck but she ran out of make up and couldn't cover her wrists. So with 95 degrees outside, she had to wear a jacket like she was some kind of drug addict.
"Hey, am I late?" Olivia appeared from the corner of the coffee shop down the street, wearing a white T-shirt that said 'tu est tres jolie' on it in black and a pair of mom blue jeans perfectly paired with her white superstars, and sat down next to Amanda. She hugged her tight her arms thrown around the blonde's neck. It was a ritual of theirs in mornings that followed tough nights.
"No, not at all I am just early." She said pulling, discreetly down the sleeve of her jacket and taking another long drag of her cigarette. "Now, talk to me Liv."
"Just, last night it became too much all of a sudden. I realized that I am fucking seventeen and instead of my mother taking care of me it's vice versa. Ever since I dated that student of hers things have been getting worse and worse for her. She can't even go shopping anymore at all!" She laid her head on her hands and grunted. "I haven't had a decent meal since I don't even know and plus she started hiding the money in a different place in the house and I haven't found it yet which basically means I am gonna starve for a couple of days." She chuckled to the last sentence that left her mouth. "God, sometimes I wish I weren't born."
During this whole time Amanda was patiently holding Olivia letting her get it all out. Those last words of hers though triggered her. She quickly put out her cigarette on the sidewalk and took her friend's head in her palms.
"Olivia Margaret Benson look at me!" She said firmly in her authoritative tone so she would be taken seriously. When Liv did as told Amanda went on with her speech. "Don't ever say that again. Ever. You hear me? If you weren't born then I would be very very miserable in this hell whole. Yes, the way you were brought to the world sucks, I know. I also know that no matter what you fucking genes say you are exceptional Olivia. The greatest, bravest and most carrying human being I have ever met. It would be a major loss to the world if someone like you weren't born." Carulean eyes were staring passively into full of tears brown. 'Mission accomplished. Good job.' thought the blonde girl.
"God, sometimes I wonder what would I do without you." Olivia snuggled even more next to Amanda hugging her tight from her middle. That made Amanda wanna scream from pain but kept still so her emotionally overwhelmed friend wouldn't notice her discomfort. She just hugged her back and let her relax.
"And hey, about that money thing I can give you so-"
"Do not even think about it!" Olivia said a little stiffer than she had hoped and immediately regretted it. She was too proud to take money from one of her friends or anyone for that matter.
"Look, I am just saying that I am not here just for talking. You wanna get away, I will bring you a car. Wanna go for a run at three in the morning I am all in. Even if you wanna have a freaking dinner I will take you out and feed you until your stomach is in pain, 'kay?" She stated with a nod to make her point clear. Olivia was too proud to say anything so she just stayed there in her friend's arms.
Amanda with the hand that wasn't making inconsistent patterns on Olivia's arm reached inside her jacket's pocket to grab another cigarette and her lighter. When she took out the cigarette, brought it up to her lips and was ready to light it, she was stopped by Olivia's hand grabbing her purple wrist. 'Busted' she thought to herself.
"You should really quit smoking, hon. That stuff's gonna kill you one day." Relieved that her secret wasn't out Amanda freed herself from Olivia's grasp and went on lighting her cigarette.
"One day, maybe they will. But that day it's not today." And with that she took a long drag from her cigarette letting the nicotine and its calming effects do their job.
Chapter 3 done! I did as promised and wrote something about the families of the rest of the group. I didn't change much and kept things as they are on the show too. Well almost! Anyway hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Leave your lovely reviews if you wish and have a wonderful day!!