Title: Fallin' In Love

Author: Ebony-Jayne

Notes: Olivia and Elliot question the other children.

Chapter two finally! Have very little time on my hands right now so I squeezed this chapter in when I could. Sorry it's probably not as good as it could be…

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or the show or the storylines on the show. I do, however, own the characters that I make up so please don't steal them. Any resemblance to anyone or anyplace is a coincidence.

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Chapter Two: Hailey, Michael and Stacey

"They hit Amber the worst I think," Hailey, a sweet natured nine-year-old, told Olivia and Elliot. She nervously tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear.

"Did they hit you Hailey?" Olivia asked.

"Uh huh, yeah sometimes," she answered. She had not made eye contact the entire interview. In fact until then she hadn't even lifted her head. Now she did and Olivia could see why it took her so long. Her left eye was swollen shut and massively bruised. "This one was from the day before they took us away. The swelling has actually come down now. I still can't see out of it though and I heard the nurse tell my social worker she doesn't know if I ever will," Hailey told them quietly.

"Have there been other times?" Elliot asked, carefully resting a hand on her small shoulder. He was surprised when her hand came up and began to absently play with his fingers.

"Yeah, I've lived with Henry and Annie for four years. There's been plenty of other times I could tell you about," Hailey said sadly. "Do you have kids Mr. Stabler?" she asked.

"Yeah I do. I have four kids," Elliot answered.

"I bet you love them a lot. And I bet that they have no idea how lucky they are," Hailey said wistfully. Elliot didn't know how to answer that and so he just gave her shoulder a light squeeze. "Can I go now?" Hailey asked.

"We need you to tell us about some specific incidents first. Then you can go, Ok?" Olivia told her.

"Ok," Hailey recounted a few of her incidents with Henry and Annie which completely disgusted the detectives. "Now can I go?" she asked, her voice edged with desperation.

"Sure. We'll need to talk to you again though Hailey and we'll need you to say what you just told us in court though," Olivia warned.

"I know. Thank you for wanting to help me," she said quietly before leaving as quickly as she could.

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"Annie and Henry were both evil and I hated the pair of them. Bastards!" fifteen-year-old Michael viciously kicked the wall as he cursed his foster parents. He let fly with a couple of four letter F-words before Elliot intervened.

"Whoa, take it easy Michael," he said calmly.

"It's Mike and they are-," Michael let loose with another string of violent language.

"OK Mike, take it easy and sit down. Can you tell us some of the things Henry and Annie did to you? Preferably without using the F-word," the last sentence was practically a whine.

"Sorry, I guess I should probably watch my mouth in front of the Police," Michael answered. "They haven't hit me for ages. Not since I smacked Henry back when I was thirteen. He mostly hit the girls which I thought was real low of him," he told them.

"Which girls did he hit Mike?" Olivia asked.

"Amber, Hailey and Stacey. Hey I let you call me Mike, what are your first names?" Michael asked. He seemed to be calmer now.

"Elliot," Elliot replied.

"Olivia," Olivia smiled a little.

"Cool," Michael really relaxed then and answered their questions.

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"They just hit the girls. Me, Amber and Hailey. Oh and there was one incident with the little girl, Mollie," Stacey, a 17 year old African-American girl, told them. Elliot saw Olivia's head snap up her dark eyes lighting up with fury.

"What incident with Mollie?" she asked sharply.

"Hey, slow down. That wasn't even really his fault. She was throwing a hell of a tantrum and he went to pick her up. She bit him and he dropped her on the floor. You can't really blame him for that. He did swing her into the corner by her arm afterwards but she was going pretty mental," Stacey told them.

"What about you?" Elliot asked.

"Yeah, they hit me. Y'know for not doing things right, for getting 'fresh' with them. Mostly hit us over trivial little things," Stacey replied. "I get out of foster care in three months. I decided that I could wait it out just a little bit longer. Will I have to go to court over this?" she asked.

"Yeah, yeah you will," Elliot replied.

Stacey nodded. "Yeah, OK," she agreed. "How is the little girl? Mollie? Did they find a home for her yet?"

"No. She's living in a group home at the moment," Olivia told her.

"Not the same one as Amber I hope," Stacey commented.

"Actually she is. Why?" Olivia asked.

"That home is no place for a little girl like Mollie. It's one of the roughest ones around," Stacey shook her head.

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Elliot watched as Olivia stewed in the passenger seat of the sedan.

"Maybe we should see about getting Mollie out of that home Elliot," She suddenly commented.

"Olivia-," Elliot began.

"You heard what Stacey said Elliot! That home is no place for a little girl," she interrupted.

"No place for a little girl or no place for that little girl," Elliot asked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Olivia asked accusingly.

"It means you're getting attached. You can't afford to do that Olivia. You know that. Once this is over you have to let her go like every other case. You can't do that if you get attached," Elliot told her.

"I'm not attached," even to Olivia's own ears that sounded weak. She was already far more attached than she should be. This one wasn't just going to go away.

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