Cragen went out into the hallway to update Munch and Fin and check on the status of Ms. Gilbert while Elliot stayed with Olivia to make sure she was sleeping okay and she wasn't going to wake up.

"Ms. Gilbert is fine -- just some bruises," Cragen whispered. "How's Olivia?"

"She's restless, but she's sleeping." Elliot watched as she shifted back and forth in the bed.

"Why don't you go and get some sleep? I'll stay with her for a while. Fin and Munch are going to stop by in a little while. Oh…"

"Shit, I've got to find somewhere to take Megan," Elliot interrupted.

Megan's eyes grew wide. Suddenly she felt an oppressive weight return to her small shoulders. She had forgotten about her mom until now. Megan waged an internal war with herself over what to do next. Finally she decided that despite everything, she still loved her mom and did not want to leave her. She had no one else to go to. It was hard enough with her mother, who she knew deep down loved her; what would it be like with someone who had to take her? "Why, why, can't I stay with Mommy?"

Cragen raised his eyebrows at Elliot and indicated that he should be the one to explain. He drew in a deep breath; this was not going to be easy. "Honey, your mommy's sick and needs some help so she'll stop hurting you and herself."

"But who will take care of her?" Megan began to weep.

"She's going to a place where they will be watching her all the time and helping her get better."

"What about me?" She wrapped her arms around Elliot's leg.

"I was just going to tell you that Munch located a Jeannine and Lee Gilbert, parents of Rena Gilbert. They are very willing to look after Megan. All you have to do is call and tell her when she can come and get her."

"You found Grandma Jeannine and Grandpa Lee? Where? She wants to see me? Elliot, can I go? Please!"

"Whoa, slow down there --let me call her and find out where she is." Elliot laughed.

"She's in Qew Gardens. Here's her number." Cragen handed him a small scrap of paper with a number on it.

"Lets see what she has to say; shall we, Kiddo?" By this time Megan was hopping up and down with excitement. Elliot dialed the number and handed the phone to Megan.

"Grandma, is that you? Mommy said you never wanted to see me again."

"No, Sweetie; Grandma's been trying to find you since you left. I love you so much, and I miss you." After a short conversation Megan handed the phone back to Elliot, "Grandma wants to talk to you."

"This is Detective Stabler."

He could hear the tears in the woman's voice. "Is Megan really okay? I've been looking for her and her mother for almost two years."

Elliot gave her a condensed version of what happened and explained about what the doctor had said about Megan's general condition.

"I should never have let her take that child away. Rena was always a wild child. She was at a party too drunk to move when some guy found her and raped her. She wouldn't take anything that the doctor gave her. She told me once that it would have made it too real for her. She was almost four months along before she'd admit that she was pregnant. She refused any counseling. I knew that she wasn't up to dealing with her little girl and the memories that it stirred up. We got in a fight over Megan and she took off. I haven't seen them since."

"It's all past now. Megan needs you. I know you're close by; did you want to come pick her up now?"

"Of course! My husband will be home soon. We can pick her up then."

"I'll wait here at the hospital for you." Elliot looked down at his partner's sleeping form. "I was wondering if I might ask you a favor?"

"Anything. Just name it." Jeannine told him.

"My partner was the one who was able to get Megan to come with her and made sure she didn't get hurt falling, but she was injured in the process. Would you bring Megan to see her in the next couple of days? I know she would love to meet you and say goodbye to Megan."

Without any hesitation she replied, "Of course. She can see Megan anytime that she wants; and that goes for you, too, Detective." Then she hung up.

"I'm going to stay until Megan is picked up; then I'll go get some sleep." Elliot explained to Cragen. He wasn't very anxious to leave Olivia, even though someone would be watching her.

Munch arrived a short time later bearing a vase of assorted carnations, with Fin right behind carrying a couple of 'Get Well' balloons.

"How'd you both get blood on you?" Munch asked.

"That's a good question," Fin added.

Don and Elliot had taken off their bloodstained jackets but hadn't noticed that they also had some on their shirts.

"Olivia woke up a little panicked and pulled out her IV. We were trying to help calm her down," Cragen explained. "I guess they must be used to seeing people walking around with blood stains on their clothing. Not even the espresso woman said anything."

The two newcomers looked over toward Olivia. She was still squirming in her sleep. "She really okay?" Fin inquired. "I know what you said about physically, but she seems awfully restless."

"I think this case hit a little too close to home. A child produced by rape –abusive, neglectful mother, you know?" Elliot had completely forgotten about Megan sitting in a nearby chair.

"Livvy's mommy was raped and had her?" Megan was very familiar with the circumstances of her conception. "Did her mommy hurt her too?" It was the first time that she admitted to the abuse.

It was Cragen who finally spoke up. "Yes, Olivia's mommy was raped just like your mom; and her mommy got angry with her, too." Even after talking to Elliot, Don was unable to come out and admit to physical abuse. "That's why it was so important to her that she help you."

"I'm glad she did."

A woman's voice interrupted them. "Megan, honey, is that you?" A short older woman with salt and pepper hair walked into the room followed by a man about the same age, a little taller, with white hair.

"Grandma, Grandpa," the girl squealed.

"Look how big you've gotten." Mr. Gilbert said, scooping Megan up in his arms.

"Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert, I'm Detective Stabler," Elliot extended a hand. "This is my boss, Captain Cragen; and these are my coworkers, John Munch and Fin Tutuola.

They all exchanged greetings.

"And that's Livvy. Her mommy was raped; and had her and her mommy was mean to her, too," Megan explained.

Jeannine Gilbert looked questioningly. Elliot simply nodded.

"She must be a special person to do this kind of work after going through all that." Lee Gilbert looked sadly at Olivia.

"Yes, she is." The men agreed.

"You all are special," Jeannine added, "Thank you for giving us our beautiful granddaughter back."

"Our pleasure, Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert," Cragen said. "I can get some officers to meet you at your daughter's place so you can get some clothes for Megan, if you'd like."

"That would be great." Lee turned to his granddaughter, his eyes wet with emotion. "You ready to head out Little One?"

"Yes, I am, Grandpa." She giggled.

Jeannine walked over to Olivia's bedside, "And thank you for your help. I will bring Megan by later to see you." She placed a kiss on her forehead, then turned and left.

"So I guess there are a few happy endings left in the world," Munch commented.

Elliot wished Olivia could have had her own happy ending. Of course, if she did, she might not have become his partner, maybe not even a cop. "But maybe she'd be happy," a voice whispered in his head.

"Happy endings and work left to do," Cragen hinted for Munch and Fin to take their leave. "And sleep for you, Stabler. Go on, get out of here; I'll look after her."

When the three men turned around, they met a tall, young, blond man standing in the doorway holding a vase of pink roses. The man blushed deeply when he saw Stabler standing there. "I…uh…I was just checking to see how she was doing, and…and to drop these off, from…um…you know, some of us that, uh, were there today."

Elliot cleared his throat a couple of times in hopes of erasing the laughter in his voice. "Officer Mathews, how thoughtful of you. Captain, this is the one I told you about."

"You're the one who messed with the kid, causing my Detective to fall?" Cragen already knew that he wasn't but couldn't seem to help himself. He put it down as stress-related.

"No! No! It wasn't…"

"I'm John Munch, and this is my partner Fin. We work in the same unit as Benson." Munch eyed the vase suspiciously; although, a small smirk escaped his lips. "We are all very close in this unit."

Fin decided to take things a little farther. "Yeah, thanks for taking care of our girl there. We're very protective of her. We don't like anyone messing with her." Not really a lie, Fin thought to himself. He knew that Olivia would kick all their asses if she actually heard them saying anything like that --not a place any of them would dare to go.

Mathews stood frozen in place staring at the detectives until Elliot could not hold in his laughter any more. Soon, they were all laughing -- including Mathews.

"No, really, man, thanks a lot for today. Look forward to working with you sometime." Fin stuck out his hand.

Mathews shook everyone's hand and then turned toward the bed. His smile suddenly dropped. "How is she? She's so restless; is she in a lot of pain?"

"They just gave her something for pain. They want to keep her here overnight for observation. If all goes well, she'll get to go home tomorrow." Elliot let him through so he could set the vase down.

"Will you tell her I stopped by?"

"Yeah, no problem." Cragen assured.

"Why don't you stop by the precinct sometime," Munch added wryly.

"I'll be sure and do that." Mathews left smiling.

"You know, Olivia's going to kill you if she finds out," Fin said, taking a few steps away like he was trying to make sure John's bad karma didn't affect him.

"Yeah, but right now I'm safe."

"The way you talked, Stabler, I thought we had a remarkably giving cop in the making. Why didn't you tell me he had ulterior motives?" Cragen smirked.

"Yeah, well, Liv might have kind of used him to piss McCabe off. I thought it was a fair tradeoff to give him an 'atta boy'. Although, the way he was looking at her there at the scene, I think he would have done all that for her anyway."

"Man's got taste --you gotta give him that." They all agreed with Fin.

"Now, to work and to sleep; I'm already down a detective. Go." After everyone left, Cragen went and got some more coffee and a magazine out of the gift shop. When he got back, he set himself up next to Olivia's bed.

Just as he got settled, a nurse popped in. "Popular lady, it was so crowded in here a few minutes ago I had to wait my turn." She busied herself with the charts, vitals and another dose of medication. She was almost out the door when she turned and asked, "Would you like a cot to sleep on tonight? We can have one sent down, if you'd like."

It was already dark. 'Would I be here that long?' he asked himself. 'Of course I will.' "Yes, that would be great; thank you."

As it delved into the one o'clock hour, Cragen awoke to the sound of someone softly crying out. It took a minute to shake the rest of the sleep out of his brain, before he figured out it was Olivia he heard. "What's wrong?" he asked. When he got to the bed he realized that she was still asleep. "It's okay, Olivia."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean for anyone to see. I didn't mean to talk to the Nelsons. It was an accident. Please don't hurt me anymore," she cried.

Cragen took her hand in his and tried to soothe Olivia. "It's okay I know you didn't mean it; I'm not mad." That seemed to settle her down somewhat. He flashed to Olivia's mother, Serena. He had met her a couple of times in the precinct before she died. Cragen could never put his finger on it, but he was never comfortable around her. She definitely had a superior attitude. It reminded him of dealing with perps who believed that they had gotten away with the perfect crime.

Serena Benson never had warmed up to the idea of her daughter working in SVU and made that clear on one of the occasions Cragen had seen her. Olivia had been out on a call with Elliot when Serena came in looking for her daughter. She had heard of an opening in vice and wanted to pass it on.

"Funny," Cragen thought at the time, "she didn't want her daughter to work in SVU, but it was okay for her to be in vice where she would most likely be going undercover as a prostitute." He shook his head sadly as he watched Olivia thrashing around. 'What the hell is she dreaming about?'

The small bit of rational consciousness that Olivia had left desperately screamed for her to wake from these terrible dreams (memories) that she was having, but she couldn't wake herself from the drugged state.

She dreamt about a little girl with big, dark eyes that even at the tender age of five looked as though they had seen many sorrows. Strange, she thought in her dream, the child's name is also Olivia.

Young Olivia sat on the front stoop of her apartment building enjoying the summer sun. Her long dark hair danced with a rich reddish glow in the sunlight. A young couple walked out onto the porch. They lived next door to Olivia and her mother.

"Hello, Ms. Olivia. How are you today?" The man who in his early 20s with red hair

"I'm doing fine today, Mr. Nelson," she giggled. He always called her that.

The man's wife was about the same age he was. She wore her blond hair in a short bob cut. They seemed to almost glow in her dream, like the Elves in the Lord of the Rings movies. The light of the good, she remembered thinking when she watched it. "Are you sure, Olivia? We heard an awful lot of noise last night."

The little girl looked down at her shoes. "Really, I'm fine; I kept bumping into things and talking loud."

"Okay, Ms. Olivia, if you say so." He smiled at her; then, she saw his face grow serious. "You know, if you ever need anything, you can come to us."

"I know."

He gave a small pat on the shoulder, causing her to wince.

Mrs. Nelson knelt down next to Olivia and pulled her shirt back a little. Her touch was gentle and warm. A deep purple bruise in the shape of a hand went across the girl's shoulder.

"I…I fell."

Mrs. Nelson cupped Olivia's cheek in her hand, "Oh, Olivia, honey, we both know that the bruise wasn't from a fall. What's going on, sweetie?"

"Yes, I did. I fell off the stool and mommy had to catch me. Please don't tell anyone." She ran back into the apartment house crying.

"What are we going to do, May?" Mr. Nelson asked his wife.

"Nathan, that little girl needs our help. She needs to be taken away from that woman." He nodded in agreement.

Olivia sat on her bed clinging tightly to a Pink Panther plush animal that the Nelsons had given her for her birthday. She knew her mother would be furious at her for talking to them. Her mom always told her that they were too nosy for their own damn good.

--Always interfering with her business.

Olivia didn't understand why her mother didn't like the Nelsons. They were really nice people. Not even Serena remembered her birthday this year. She had stayed out all night at the bar. The Nelsons made her a couple of cupcakes with candles and brought them over.

Much too grown up for her years, Olivia pulled herself together and started to make dinner, (macaroni & cheese). When she heard her mother come in, she almost jumped off the stool she was on in front of the stove.

"Olivia! Where are you?" the light in the apartment seemed to grow dim.

"I'm in the kitchen, Mommy."

"You're not burning anything again are you?" Olivia could already smell the liquor on her breath.

"No, it's all ready, come and eat."

Shortly after dinner, there was a knock at the door. Her mother opened the door to find two police officers standing there. "Are you Mrs. Serena Benson?"

"It's Ms. Benson. What can I do for you?"

"We got a report of possible child abuse. Do you have a child?"

Serena's gray blue eyes were icy and her face seemed to distort when she turned to look at her daughter. Olivia's stomach knotted painfully.

"Yes, I do. Olivia, will you please come and talk to these men?" Olivia slowly walked forward until she was standing in front of the police officers. Her mother reached down and grabbed her bruised shoulder. She could feel the cold of her mother's hands through the fabric of the shirt.

"We were told that your daughter had a bruise on her shoulder and it was shaped like a hand."

"Yes, she does have a bruise on her shoulder. Olivia, tell them what happened."

"I was standing on a stool in the kitchen. I started to fall, and mommy had to catch me; that's all."

"Could we take a look at this mark?" Serena pulled the shoulder of Olivia's shirt off so they could look.

The officer nodded, then leaned down toward the girl. "Does your mom ever intentionally hurt you?"

"No," she said in a small voice. She was in big trouble. She could see the rage boiling in her mother's eyes.

The second officer asked Ms. Benson, "Are you currently having any problems with anybody who might want to mess with you like this?"

Serena shot another icy glare toward her daughter; "Yes, I can think of a couple that might stick their noses where they don't belong. I think that they have a problem because
I'm a single parent."

"I see." The first officer closed his notebook. "Sorry to have disturbed you, Ma'am. We'll make a note that we spoke to your daughter, and she confirmed about the accident." They turned and left.

"You were talking to the Nelson's today?" Her mother's voice was low and venomous. Her face had turned into an ugly mask, some demonic creature draw out of Olivia's mind.

"I was sitting outside on the steps in the sunshine. They came out the door." She pleaded.

"And just how did the Nelsons see your bruise?"

"They said they heard a lot of noise last night. I told them I was talking too loud and bumping into things. He put his hand on my shoulder. I made a noise. I didn't mean to."

"Do you have any idea the trouble you could have caused me?" The mother-beast began to advance on her. "If you'd just take your punishment like you're supposed to and quit being a weak little brat, none of this would have happened."

"It was an accident. I just wanted to sit in the sun." She desperately fought back the tears.

"You just don't understand what a mean, ugly world it is out there. You have no idea the things men do to women and little girls. He could have hurt you like I was hurt. You could have been killed; or, worse, you could have lived through it, like I did, remembering the pain everyday. Is that what you want?" She seized a hold of Olivia's arm.

"No, Mommy."

"You cannot let people get near you like that. They'll use your weaknesses against you. You must be strong!" Serena used her free hand to backhand her daughter across the face. This was the first time she had struck in a place that could not be covered up.

Tears began streaming down the young girls face. "Don't you cry! Don't you dare cry! This is all your fault. It's your fault that I have to look at you everyday and remember what that man did to me." Serena now focused all her rage on her terrified daughter, flinging her across the room. Olivia fell over the couch. Before she could move out of the way, her mother grabbed her and shoved her against a nearby end table. The corner of the table dug sharply into the girl's back. She crumpled to the floor trying to hold in a scream.

"I told you to be quiet!" This time she pulled her daughter completely off the floor and shook her.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean for anyone to see. I didn't mean to talk to the Nelsons. It was an accident. Please don't hurt me anymore," she cried.

"Shut up. Just shut up!" She banged her daughter against the wall a few of times before realizing that Olivia had gone limp.

"Oh, no. Wake up, Honey; Mommy's sorry." The mommy-beast was usually sorry afterwards. "Come on, Baby, wake up for Momma." Serena carried her daughter into her room, carefully putting her in bed. Then, for the first time, she crawled into bed to lie next to her, the mommy-beast face was gone and she was Serena again. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry; please wake up." She talked and played with Olivia's hair until early morning when she finally woke up.

It would be another ten days before anybody in the complex saw any sign of little Olivia.

For most of those days, Serena was 'Mother of the Year'; but as her daughter got better, things slipped back into old patterns.

The Nelsons received a letter stating that there was no cause to suspect child abuse in the home that they reported and a warning from the Super to stop harassing Serena Benson. They moved out before Olivia could see them again.