Ava was released from the hospital a couple of days later. She avoided Auggie as much as she could. It was simply too painful to be around him. She thought about asking his forgiveness and going back to him several times a day, but every time she considered the notion, she'd hear Kevin's voice telling her she didn't deserve him and Auggie was better off without her and he couldn't possibly really love her. That nobody could. So she stayed away altogether.

Meanwhile, the SVU squad was hard at work on the case.

"Ok, guys. Where are we on the Morgenstern case?" Olivia asked her detectives.

Fin sighed. "Kevin Michael still won't talk. It's like he thinks he's above the law. No respect for anyone."

"He's got Buchanan defending him," Amanda grumbled.

Even Olivia couldn't help making a disgusted face at the mention of that name. SVU had had more than a few run-ins with that pain- in -the -rear.

At that moment, the phone rang and Kat answered it. When she had hung up, she turned to the others.

"That was the owner of the Bodega around the corner from Ava's school."

"Hey, Liv, Check out the address of the school. It's Noah's school," Fin observed.

"These kids are in a different grade, though. The odds that they know each other are pretty slim," Amanda pointed out.

"That doesn't matter right now. Kat, you and Fin go interview the Bodega owner. See what you can find out. Amanda, call Ava's mother and follow up with Ava," Olivia ordered. The squad members nodded and got to work.

Ava's mom told the SVU detectives that Ava was still not up for talking. She blocked every attempt they made of interviewing the young girl. The self-centered socialite just couldn't seem to grasp that the detectives were doing their best to get justice for her daughter.

Finally, on Saturday afternoon, Olivia was taking Noah to the park when she spotted Ava on the swing set talking with another girl. It didn't appear to be a friendly conversation.

Noah ran off to play on the playground equipment, so Olivia moved a bit closer to the two girls in case she needed to intervene. She heard Ava plead,

"Go away, Mary."

"It's a free country. I can be wherever I want, and you can't do anything about it," Olivia heard the other girl taunt.

Ava silently got up and walked across the playground to another swing. Unfortunately, Mary followed her and kept harassing her.

"Hey, loser! I heard you tried to kill yourself. What happened? Couldn't handle the fact that you're used goods and Auggie doesn't want you now? Nobody will ever want a tramp like you. My big brother ruined you for everyone else."

Ava was silent, forcing herself to ignore Mary's taunts as she tried to choke back tears.

Mary just laughed at her.

"Why aren't you saying anything? Is it because you know my brother just showed everyone the truth about you? You can deny it all you want, you worthless piece of garbage, but it won't make any difference."

Olivia had heard enough. She was just about to make her presence known when Mary landed the final blow, hissing, "Now everyone in school and in the neighborhood knows you're a nothing."

Before Olivia could react, Ava jumped up and shoved Mary to the ground and yelled, "Go choke on a lemon, Mary!" Ava rushed away with Mary screaming angrily at her. She didn't get very far. She wasn't watching where she was going and ran smack dab into Olivia.

"Ava? Are you ok? Who was that girl?"

Ava recognized the voice and slowly looked up with tears in her eyes.

"Come on, Sweetheart. Let's go talk on this bench over here, okay?"

Ava nodded and let the SVU captain lead her away. After making sure Noah was still in her line of site, Olivia joined the Preteen on the bench and asked gently.

"Has that girl been bullying you a lot?"

Ava opened her mouth to reply, but instead broke down in uncontrollable sobs.

Wordlessly, the woman pulled the girl close and held her.

After Ava's tears had slowed, she looked up to see that Mary was no longer in sight. Then she explained, "That was Mary. I thought she was stuck up right away, but Auggie convinced me to give her a chance, but she proved me right. She hates me and tried to steal Auggie from me."

"Well, I just heard her mention a brother. Is he the one who raped you?" Olivia inquired.

Ava looked up in shock. "I never knew Mary and Kevin even knew each other. I didn't know she had the same last name. It makes sense, though. They're both horrible people!"

Olivia nodded understandingly. "Okay. That gives us something to go on. I'll ask her to come in for questioning."

Before Ava could respond, a voice called out, "Mom, I'm hungry? Can we get ice cream?" Ava's eyes widened and her face went pale.

Olivia's voice sounded far away as she said, "Sure, Honey. But first I want you to meet someone. This is Ava. She goes to your school but she's in another grade. Ava, this is my son, Noah."

"Hi. I think I've seen you outside at school before," Noah commented.

Ava stood frozen in place. After a few moments She heard Olivia ask in concern, "Ava? Are you alright?"

Ava shook her head to clear the fog. "Um, yeah. It's...it's nice to meet you...Noah?"

"Yeah. That's right. Nice to meet you too, Ava," the little boy responded.

"Ava, would you like to come with us to get ice cream?" Olivia invited.

Ava felt her heart pound in panic at the thought of spending more time with this boy who looked exactly like a younger version of Auggie, but she managed to choke out an answer.

"No, thanks. I-I...I have to go, now. Bye." With that she took off as fast as she could, leaving a very confused Olivia and Noah behind.