A/N: you all wanted Brian to go away, so he is! Just so you know this takes place in the second season now, so Brian isn't in SVU anymore
Things went on like this for about a week, Olivia hadn't heard anything from Brian, for which she was thankful. Everything was going just fine. Olivia was getting over Brian and getting closer to Elliot. Although she hasn't slept with him yet.
One day in the squad room, a petite woman with short Brown hair approached Elliot, "I was told this was the place to report suspected child abuse?" she calmly asked with a British accent.
"Yes maam" he responded.
"Good, can I talk to you alone please?"
"Yes, come with me." He said leading her to an interview room.
Once inside she gingerly sat down and crossed her legs. "My name is Darlene Theodore. I am a Karate instructor; I believe one of my students is being abused.
"Okay, what makes you say that?" He gently asked.
She took a deep breath and exhaled, "Every time I see her after she has been at her fathers home, she has more and more bruises. And I am under the impression her father is the one giving her these bruises."
"How old is your student?"
"Seven. Her mother signed her up for my class. She told me her father has been suspected of beating her. But she didn't have enough proof to make a case, so her husband still has joint custody."
"Can I have the students name please?"
"Sophie Brown. Most beautiful little girl you've ever seen." She said shaking her head.
"Have you asked Sophie about the bruises?"
"She always says something different, either she fell, or she was hit by a football. It's always something."
"Where does she live?"
"No, you can't go to her home, what if her father is there."
"We need to talk to Sophie's father."
"Let me bring Sophie in, please." She said, her eyes pleading with him.
"Okay, bring her in tomorrow." He said.
"Thank you, I'm sorry I didn't get you name." she said reaching her hand out.
"Detective Stabler." He shook her hand.
He walked out of the interview room with Darlene. And walked to over to Olivia, "he told her of his previous discussion and then accepted coffee from her. "they sat at there desks doing paperwork for another forty-five minutes before Elliot looked up at Olivia to see her hard at work focusing. "I'm hungry." He whined.
Olivia looked up at the sound of his voice, "can you wait another fifteen minutes?" she asked as if she were his mother.
He just exhaled and kept working, slowly slipping paperwork into Olivia's pile.
The next day when Elliot and Olivia came back from tracking down a hopeless lead they saw Darlene Theodore and a small girl that appeared to be about four or five with light skin and light blond hair waiting for them. Upon closer inspection Elliot and Olivia saw the girl had a black eye and a large bruise and her arm.
Elliot turned putting his hand on Olivia's arm, "I got this one." He whispered in a voice that made her knees wobbly.
"Hello, detective. This is Sophie." She said trying to smile.
Elliot bent down to Sophie's height and smiled, "hi, I'm Elliot."
The tiny seven years old smiled, "hi, I'm Sophie."
"Can I talk to you a little bit?"
"Ok."
He looked up to Darlene, "I need to talk to her alone."
"okay." At that she left and Elliot took Sophie into an interview room.
"Do you want something to drink or eat?" he asked gently.
She shook her head. "So, Sophie," he sat down, "how did you get that black eye?"
"I fell." She looked down.
"One time I had a bruise like that." Elliot said making her look up, "you want to know what happened?"
"What?"
"I was hit by my father." He said. Tears started to well in her eyes and she looked down. "What happened Sophie?"
"My daddy hit me too." She said looking up with tears in her eyes.
"Is this the first time he hit you?" he asked maintaining eye contact.
She just jumped up and hugged Elliot crying into his chest. Elliot put his arms around her and just stroked her hair.
An hour after Olivia saw Elliot enter the interview room with Sophie he saw them come out together. Sophie's eyes red and swollen, it was obvious she had been crying. Darlene, who was being questioned by Olivia at the time, walked up to Sophie smiling until she saw the tears, "are you okay Sophie?"
Sophie just huggeddarlene'slegs. "Can I speak to you alone?" Elliot asked.
"Sure" Darlene nodded her head. "Sophie I need to talk to Elliot for a minute, can you stay with Olivia?"
She nodded her head and detached herself from Darlene's legs. Then Sophie immediately went to Olivia and grabbed her.
Elliot and Darlene walked away, "Sophie admitted to being abused. I need her home address." Elliot said softly but with a clenched jaw.
"Certainly," Darlene said with a depressed British accent, "you can drop by my school." She added.
Elliot just nodded and walked by to Olivia with Darlene.
"Hey,i got a lead on the Johanson case." Olivia said looking up at Elliot.
They continued working the rest of the day on their various cases and occasionally giving each other glances that werequite suspiciousto any onlookers, including Munch.
Okay, I just had to get the case started; this will be the major plot line of the story, with E/O fluff obviously!