A/N: Sometimes my brain is annoying because I'll be working on a longer story (like "Wings") with a plot I'm really into, but then something else pops up and I just have to get it out of my system.

So this is just a tiny platonic Rolivia thing I scrambled together, set sometime in the future, during S23. But I think this might turn into a collection of one shots/scenarios I would like to see.

Eight stitches and a fairytale.

"Olivia Benson?"

Confused, she briefly stares at the screen before moving her phone back to her ear. "Yes? This is she."

"I'm calling from Mercy hospital, regarding Jesse Rollins."

Immediately, she gets up from her chair and starts pacing back and forth, holding her free hand against her other ear, even though her office is dead silent. Her mind is flooded with worst case scenarios as she clings to the phone. "What happened?"

"She fell on the playground and cut her knee. The daycare tried to reach her mother, but she didn't pick up. And you were listed as an emergency contact?"

When the woman on the other end of the call stops talking, the captain has grabbed her keys and jacket. "Is Jesse ok?"

"She'll be fine, the lady from her daycare is with her now. The doctor is stitching Jesse up as we speak."

"I'll be there in less than twenty minutes." The brunette says, already halfway through the squad room.

"Livia!" Jesse exclaims followed by a short sniffle when Olivia opens the door.

"Hi sweet girl." She rushes over to the bed and gently cups her cheeks before placing a kiss against the little girl's forehead. "Did you have an accident?"

"Yeah." Another sniffle. "I fell off the swing."

"Thank you for staying with her." Olivia says as she turns to the stranger sitting on the chair next to the bed. "I'll be here until Amanda comes."

The sound of her mother's name makes Jesse pout her lips slightly, her chin trembling just a little. "I want mama."

"I know, honey, she'll be here as soon as she can, ok?"

A third sniffle. "Ok."

She doesn't appreciate the hint of disapproval on the other woman's face, clearly judgmental of the fact that Jesse's mother isn't here. But Olivia doesn't feel the need to explain how Amanda is currently undercover in a women's shelter and that she doesn't have access to her phone. So instead, she gives her a short but polite smile and an equally polite goodbye, reassuring her one more time that she will be there until Amanda arrives.

"Are you in any pain, sweetie?" Olivia asks as soon as they're alone.

"A little. The doctor gave me eight titches!"

"Eight titches?" She exclaims, mirroring Jesse's widened eyes while echoing her words. "That's a lot of titches." The six-year-old nods as she points to her bandaged knee. "Poor thing. That must've really hurt, huh?"

"I cried, but only a little."

"Oh, that's ok." Olivia takes Jesse's hand and carefully kisses her tiny knuckles. "I cry too, when I get hurt."

"You do?" She asks, looking like she doesn't quite believe her.

"Yup. But don't tell anyone." The brunette whispers with a smirk, making the girl in the hospital bed giggle. "Want me to tell you a fairytale while we wait for mommy?"

Jesse nods eagerly then. "Mhm."

"Ok." The captain smiles before getting comfortable on the bed with her arm wrapped safely around small shoulders. "So," she begins, "once upon a time there was this little girl who lived far, far away from here. She looked a lot like you actually."

"Like me?"

"Mhm." Olivia confirms while running her hand through Jesse's hair. "She had blonde hair just like you, and the biggest smile, just like you."

Jesse grins up at the captain then. "Yup, just like that." Olivia smiles back. "But, on the inside, the little girl was actually really sad."

"Why was she sad?" The six-year-old asks as her smile fades away.

"Because she felt so alone."

"Didn't she have a mama or a papa?"

"She did." The brunette nods slowly. "But they didn't take care of her. Not like mamas and papas are supposed to."

"So what did she do?"

"When she got a little older, she had become really, really, brave, just like you were today, and then she moved away."

"She moved all by herself?"

"Mhm. Because she wanted to live somewhere else, somewhere she could be happy."

"Did she? Become happy?"

"After a while, but first," Olivia says before lowering her voice to a whisper, "she got her special superpowers."

"Superpowers?" Jesse whispers back as her mouth falls open, clearly enchanted by Olivia's made up fairytale, oblivious to the fact that it really isn't that made up at all.

"Yup. She used all her sadness to help other people. Because she didn't want people to be sad like her."

"Did she help a lot of people?"

"She did." Olivia nods, her eyes slightly glossy now. "So many people. And everyone who got to see her powers were just blown away from how kind and sweet she was."

"I bet she was really pretty, too." Jesse mumbles while her fingers absentmindedly starts playing with the blue shirt the brunette is wearing.

"Oh, she was the prettiest."

"Then what happened?"

"Well this is the best part." Olivia smiles softly before kissing the top of Jesse's head. "She became a mama, to two princesses."

"Princesses?"

"And they were the most beautiful princesses in the whole world, and everyone loved them so much." She adds a second kiss to her head while slowly rocking her back and forth. "And that's when she got really, really happy."

"Because of the princesses? Because they made her happy?"

"Exactly." Olivia says. "Just like she had made so many other people happy because of her superpowers."

"I want to be like her someday."

"Oh, you already are, sweet girl."

Amanda's heart is galloping in her chest as she runs through the sliding doors of the hospital. It doesn't matter that Olivia's messages reassured her that everything was fine. Not when her daughter is somewhere in this hospital. "Jesse Rollins?" She says slightly out of breath when she reaches the reception.

"You are?"

"Her mother."

The receptionist eyes here for a moment, before lifting her glasses to the top of her head. "We tried calling you several times."

"I was… I was working." The blonde mumbles, her guilt momentarily overwhelming her under the woman's stare. "Where is she?"

"Room 208."

The tears she's been holding back rapidly well up in her eyes as she opens the door. Because there, in a hospital bed that makes her daughter look so small, is her captain, cradling Jesse almost like Amanda used to do when Jesse was just a toddler. And they're both sleeping peacefully. No signs of Jesse being in pain, or being afraid. And when Amanda studies her a little more closely, it actually looks like she has a tiny smile on her face.

Suddenly, Olivia blinks, moves her hand, the one that's not wedged under and around Jesse's shoulder, and rubs her eyes.

"Hi." The detective whispers, quickly wiping away a fallen tear, not wanting to look as pathetic as she feels.

Olivia looks confused and disoriented for a couple of seconds and it's strangely endearing, Amanda thinks. Definitely not a side of her that people normally get to see.

"Hi." She whispers back while lifting herself up a little, careful to avoid waking Jesse.

"Is she ok?"

"She's fine." Olivia smiles while looking down at the sleeping six-year-old. "Eight stitches on her knee."

"Eight?"

"Mhm, poor thing really flew off that swing."

Amanda moves closer then and leans down to kiss her daughter's forehead. "Mama's here." She whispers. "I'm so sorry." And that's when she fails to hold back and her tears start to fall in earnest.

"Hey… Hey, Amanda, she's ok." The brunette says while reaching out to grab Amanda's hand from the other side of the bed.

"I know, I know that… I just feel so bad. For not being there for her."

"You're here now. And it's not like it's your fault."

"Yeah? I knew the risks of going UC without a phone. And I still-"

"Amanda, this is what we do." Olivia squeezes her hand tightly while giving her a reassuring smile. "Being working moms with a demanding job, it kinda comes with the territory and it does not make you a bad mother."

For a second it looks like Amanda is contemplating whether to argue back, but instead a trembling sigh escapes her lips, her eyes falling down to their tangled hands. "Thank you." She whispers before locking eyes with Olivia again. "And thank you, for being here."

"Anytime." The captain whispers back just as the little girl between them starts squirming against the oversized bed.

"Mama." She mumbles with a faint smile, still coming out of her deep slumber.

"Hi, baby." Amanda leans down then to place another kiss against Jesse's hair, now made messy from her nap. "I'm so sorry I wasn't here."

"It's ok. Livia was here and told me about the lady with the superpowers."

"The lady with the superpowers?" The detective asks, confused, looking from her daughter to her captain.

Olivia's eyes meets hers as her lips curl into a slight smirk. "Just a little story about a very, very special person."