When Diana left Savina's room, she saw Olivia and Barba standing at the end of the hallway talking to a police officer. She had already started dialing her mother's number, when she pocketed her phone and made her way over to the three of them. She could see how distraught Olivia was, and if she thought she saw emotions on her face in the room, they had magnified to mythical proportions now. The poor woman was barely keeping it together as she spoke to her subordinate. Barba's hand was rhythmically moving up and down her back, and the closer she got to them, the more sympathy she felt for the two of them. She still couldn't quite make out the words, but she could clearly hear how shaky Olivia's voice was. And from what she heard about the head of SVU, she was not one to show emotions easily. So the fact that she couldn't keep her emotions and voice in check as she spoke to the young officer spoke volumes to her state of mind.
"She's on edge, so she'll probably jerk at any sudden sound or movement, so try not to barge into the room. You can see them both through the window, so look inside before you make a move," she heard Olivia instructing him, and he nodded wordlessly. Olivia smiled at her, when she saw her approaching, and extended a hand to point her out to the officer. "This is Diana, she's Savina's friend," she introduced, and Diana smiled politely at the police officer.
"Officer Gonzalez," he introduced, with a polite bow of his head.
"Nice to meet you. She's down the hall, last door to your right. Mr. Barba's mother is with her, and she's fast asleep," she more or less briefed him. "I was on my way to the cafeteria to get some coffee, can I get you anything?" she asked, and the officer shook his head.
"Thank you, I'll go wait by the door," he informed them, before taking his leave.
Diana turned back to Olivia, who despite having misty eyes, was studying her intently. Diana gave her a small smile, "we haven't been properly introduced. I'm Diana Castillo." She extended a hand towards Olivia, who shook it, and Diana saw something flash in her eyes, as they widened slightly.
"Castillo?" she repeated, and Diana nodded, already knowing what the next question was going to be. "As in Bradford Castillo?" she sought confirmation, and once again Diana nodded. "Yeah, I'm his daughter. I know you guys met at the Police Benefit last November," Diana said softly.
Olivia's breath hitched in her throat, something Diana's father had said to her during that benefit now ringing in her ears, and her heart lunged. "His daughter's friend that looked like me," she whispered, and Diana smiled sympathetically at her.
"Yeah," she agreed. "He texted me from the benefit to tell me about it. He even teased Savina about it, telling her that you had the same tells as her when you're uncomfortable at those benefits," she told her, the knot in her stomach growing when she saw the pain flash in Olivia's eyes.
"I hope you don't mind me asking," Barba interjected. "But if you two are that close…." He was interrupted by Diana's pained voice. "How did I not notice she was missing for almost a week?" she finished for him, and he nodded.
"The Solearno's are pretty strict," she started. "They don't let her use her phone inside the house, said just in case she was dealing, they want to be able to tell the cops that nothing criminal happened under their roof if she got arrested," she ground out, and Olivia swayed slightly on the spot, if it hadn't been for Barba's steadying hand on her back. "So when our guidance counselor told me to keep track of assignments, papers, and stuff for her cause she was sick, I knew that I can't really call her, unless she does. I tried on Wednesday during lunch to call, since I figured they'd both be at work, but her phone was off. I went over today cause I know they usually spend Sundays out of the house, so I figured I'd be able to check on her without getting her in trouble," she explained. "But the apartment was swarming with cops, and a Detective Tutuola told me that she was in the hospital," she added. "He wouldn't tell me anything else, and she just coded, and evidently it wasn't the first time. So can someone explain to me what's happening?" she almost demanded.
Both Barba and Olivia sighed, they weren't sure they wanted her to hear about it, weren't even sure what Savina wanted her to know. "I don't think it's our place to tell you," Olivia said regretfully. "All I can tell you is, she won't be herself for some time, and she will need you, even if she won't admit it," she told her, clearly speaking from experience, and Diana nodded. Olivia gave her a tearful smile, and Diana smiled tightly at her.
"We should get going," Barba said, and slowly guided Olivia towards the elevator. Diana followed behind, her phone once again in her hands, as she finally finished dialing her mother's number. She spoke to both her parents, told them what she knew, and her father promised her that he will get her answers, before she hung up. She had made it to the cafeteria by then, so she grabbed some brownies – knowing that they were Savina's favorites – along with a few other pastries for herself, Lucia and the cop. She grabbed a few water bottles, some drinks and a coffee for the cop, before she finally made it back to the room. After some initial half-hearted protests from the officer, he accepted the coffee and pastries.
"I think she may have had a nightmare," he told her, and she nodded. She slowly, and ever so quietly pushed the door open, and creeped inside. She set the things down on the countertop, before she made her way over to the couch, and settled herself on it. She watched Lucia and Savina sleep for a while, Savina balled up against Lucia's chest, and the older woman had her arms wrapped tightly around her. She smiled softly to herself, happy that Savina finally had someone in her life, before her smile fell as she realized exactly how she came to find her family.
Olivia walked into her squad room, and was immediately greeted by Dodds, who did not look amused in the slightest.
"Lieutenant Benson, how nice of you to finally join us!" he hissed sarcastically.
Before she could respond, she heard Tucker's voice from behind her. "Take it easy, Chief. We're all on edge here," he reprimanded.
Olivia may not have liked Tucker at first, and they may have butted heads more times than she could count, but in the past few years, she had found a way to work with him. She was still not his biggest fan, but she was not constantly irritated by him either. And the fact that he seemed more understanding of the situation than the Chief was, was earning him points in her book.
She had barely managed to school her features in the elevator, and her face was blank. It wasn't professional, it wasn't emotional, it wasn't anything, it was just blank. She quickly scanned the room for her team, but didn't find any of them.
"Tutuola hasn't come in yet, neither has Carisi, and Rollins is talking to the foster family," Dodds listed edgily.
Olivia nodded at him, as she made her way over to her office, a silent invitation for them to follow her, which they did. Once they were inside, she closed the door behind them, and made her way around her desk.
"Do you have an update on the case?" Tucker asked, before Dodds basically barked out the question.
"A lot actually," she said hoarsely.
"Last I heard, they found where she was held, and the lab was working all night on what they found. There was a warrant for the foster family's arrest, and apparently they have been. And Mrs. Freed was still in the wind," Dodds counted off.
"That sounds about right," Olivia concurred.
"And the lab techs also said that your detectives are even more unbearable than usual," Dodds added pointedly.
"That's understandable considering the Lewis angle," Tucker pointed out.
"True. But apparently it got worse last night," he argued.
"Well, that's because last night we got a DNA match on her," Olivia now stepped in, seemingly the peacekeeper between the two men, who suddenly seemed to be butting heads.
"Please don't tell me she's Johnny D's too," Tucker almost begged.
If it wasn't for the gravity of the situation, Olivia would've laughed. It seemed that this was everyone's first thought when they heard about the DNA match. But the echo of the monitor when Savina flat-lined still rang in her ear, the image of how small and vulnerable she looked as she drifted off to sleep flashed before her eyes. And so, after the night she had, and the even more stressful morning, she didn't have the time for pleasantries.
"No, actually, she's mine," she blurted it out. There was really no point in sugar-coating anything at this point, or trying to beat around the bush.
Both men froze, and gaped at her. And once again, if it wasn't for the seriousness of the situation, she would've found the speechless, fish-out-of-the-water expression on their faces, not only priceless but rather hilarious. They both just stood there, frozen in whatever position they had assumed when they walked in, both staring at her, and she could tell they were trying to decide if they heard wrong, or if she had finally lost it.
"I'm sorry. She's what now?" Tucker finally seemed to find his voice, albeit shaky and hoarse.
"My daughter," Olivia repeated, her voice finally betraying her at the last syllable.
"Do you mind explaining that one, Lieutenant?" Dodds stammered, which was quite unusual for him.
Olivia sighed audibly, before she once more recounted the all too familiar story. Tucker's mouth was gaping inch by inch at her, and Dodds just lowered himself into a chair, unable to stand straight any longer. By the time she was done with the story, both men were visibly shocked, and Tucker was even shaken up.
"My God," he whispered in disbelief. "What the hell were those nuns thinking?" he questioned in shock, and she shook her head.
"We have no idea. Carisi went over yesterday to talk to them, but they're on a mission in Guatemala, and won't be back for a few weeks. And Savina said that her mother knew of her arrival months before she was born, so we think they may have promised her the baby they gave me. But when she died, they panicked, and switched," she explained.
"But why would they do that?" Dodds asked, a suspicious undertone making its way to his voice.
"That's a question for them," Olivia replied calmly.
"And it never occurred to you to let 1PP know," he seethed.
"It had no bearings on my work, it's not like I was hiding a child at home. I thought she died at birth, before I even joined SVU. So no, I didn't think it was any of their business," Olivia said bluntly. Her boss's attitude was starting to get on her nerves, and she was in no mood to play politics.
"So all those times a defense attorney asked you if you had any children, and you denied it, you were perjuring yourself!" he fumed, and she gaped incredulously at him.
"No. Because I didn't," she hissed. "I thought my baby died."
Dodds opened his mouth to fire off another angry rant, when Tucker stepped in. "Chief, you need to calm down a bit. I understand it's a shock, but it's not like the Lieutenant was deliberately hiding the existence of the girl. Hell, she didn't even know she did exist," he said calmly. "What I wanna know is, why you waited till today to tell us?" he wondered.
"I wanted to wait till we tell her," she answered truthfully.
"You trying to tell me you didn't tell her last night?" Dodds inquired icily, and she shook her head.
"She refused to find out who her mother was. Based on the story she heard, she didn't want to know the woman who did that to her. I only told her this morning, I just came from the hospital actually," she replied.
"Well, I can't really blame her. But at least now she knows the truth," Tucker commented off-handedly. "I don't need to tell you that you are now officially off the case," he added and she nodded.
"Rollins was the lead on this from the beginning, so I'll give her my statement and stay out of it."
"Good. The fact that she's yours will complicate everything, and unfortunately gives the defense a whole lot to work with. So this has to be done by the book. Tell your team to follow every archaic rule ever written in any book, understood?" Dodds ordered, and she nodded.
"Anything else we need to know about? Tutuola already said the lab confirmed that Savina was held in that old slaughter house," Dodds said, seemingly in the know of a hell a lot more than Olivia did.
When Olivia shook her head, Tucker asked. "And where is Carisi now? I understand you're keeping him away from the Lewis angle of things."
"I think he might be trying to track down my old credit card records from around the time Savina was born," she replied, and Tucker nodded his head appreciatively. "If he finds a paper trail for all the baby stuff you got, it'll make it harder for the nuns to claim it was all your idea," he finished her trail of thought, and she nodded.
Just when Dodds opened his mouth to fire off another question, the sound of a door banging reached their ears, followed by the angry stomps of Amanda's feet. Both men turned around in time to see Amanda stalking back into the squad room, and throwing a notepad onto her desk. Dodds, being closest to the door, swung it open, and walked out, with the other two trailing behind him.
"Sargent, what can you tell me?" he demanded, crossing his arms over his chest.
When Amanda whipped around at the sound of his voice, they all noticed the phone pressed to her ear for the first time. She held up a finger to them, before her eyes cut out to something behind Tucker, who now stood with his back to the hall that led to the interrogation rooms.
"Put them in holding for now," she instructed, and the other three turned to look behind them. They saw two uniformed officers leading a couple, both of whom looked to be about mid-thirties, out of the hall, and following Amanda's instructions, headed for the in-house holding cell.
"This is police harassment!" the man bellowed. "You have no right to hold us!" the woman protested angrily. Both were fighting against the cuffs, and the officers' grips.
"You two might wanna think about shutting your mouths, or I'll make sure neither of you see the light of day!" Barba barked from the doorway threateningly. He stared them both down as the officers led them away, before making his way over to the small group still standing around Amanda's desk, who was now glaring at her phone.
"The one time I want Carisi to pick up his phone!" she growled in frustration.
"He's still not in yet?" Barba asked, and she shook her head. "He called me, but the line was breaking up, and then I lost him. I tried him back a couple of times, but got nothing."
Both Amanda and Dodds opened their mouths to say something, when Olivia spotted Carisi stalking in through the door. He held his hands up in surrender when he saw five identical sets of glares sent his way. "My battery died, and I forgot the charger at the hospital," he explained hastily.
"Did you get the credit card records?" Dodds wondered, and it was Amanda's turn to look baffled.
"Credit card records?" she repeated in question. Carisi nodded, before he answered. "Yeah, I figured if I found old receipts for the baby stuff the Lieutenant bought for Savina, it'll be harder for the nuns to claim they acted on her wishes."
"And?" Barba urged.
"They digitized their records all the way back to the eighties, but it's only accessible through the main branch where their archives are," he informed them.
"Which is closed because of the weekend, and won't open till tomorrow morning," Tucker finished for him.
"That could've been done over the phone," Dodds almost snapped.
"I did do it over the phone, that's why my battery died while I was talking to the councilor," he argued, pointing at Barba. "I went to Sheepshead Bay."
"I thought the nuns won't be back for another couple of weeks," Olivia interrupted.
"That's not where I went," he said. "I went to talk to the nurse who checked Savina when she was born," he continued, and they all frowned at him. "Okay, so last night, Savina couldn't sleep, so she and I got talking. I managed to ask about her adoptive parents without setting off any alarms in her head, and she told me that they actually knew of her arrival a few weeks before she was born," he recounted, to which both Olivia and Barba nodded. "She also said that when she spoke to the nurse who checked her out, she said that Savina was too healthy to be an abandoned baby," he added, and once again, Barba and Olivia nodded. "So it got me thinking; if the Lieutenant had no intention of giving her up, then the nuns were probably referring to someone else's baby."
"The baby they gave Benson," Tucker finished his trail of thought.
"Exactly. So I went to the hospital and asked the nurse if maybe she knew of someone else around the same time who was pregnant, but didn't really seem like the motherly type, and who was also suddenly not pregnant," he said in one breath.
"Please tell me you got a name," Barba pleaded.
"Not really, she said she couldn't remember her name, and I need a warrant to go digging."
"I'll get you the warrant," Barba interrupted, already fishing his phone out of his pocket.
"Slow down, Councilor. There might be an easier way," Carisi stopped him. "The nurse said she thinks the woman may have been an escort," he told them.
"So chances are, she's in the system," Amanda realized.
"But we don't have her DNA!" Dodds pointed out.
"Yes we do," Olivia caught up to Carisi's trail of thought. "The baby I buried," she added, once she noticed the confused looks she was getting, and Carisi nodded regretfully at her.
"Yeah, I thought it might be easier than going through hundreds of patients' records from that time," he said apologetically.
Olivia nodded. "Get me the exhumation order, and I'll sign it," she told him.
"Is that why you were calling me?" Barba wondered.
Carisi shook his head. "No, I wanted a warrant for Savina's record from that night actually. The nurse said she was healthy, but we need the official record that says so."
"And why were you trying to reach him, Sargent?" Dodds asked.
"Mrs. Solearno works at a center that holds many support group meetings; GA, AA, that kinda stuff," she started. "She says that one of the groups that meet there is for people with weight problems," she continued. "One of the regulars there is a pale, red-headed woman, but she is not sure of her name, and couldn't give me a detailed description, but apparently they sign up with their ID, so I wanted Carisi to go get the records," she finished.
"I thought you were keeping him away from anything related to the Lewis angle," Tucker pipped up.
"I am, but Fin is nowhere near the area, and this really doesn't have any connection to Lewis, he's merely looking at ID pictures," Amanda argued.
"Where is Detective Tutuola?" Dodds now asked.
"He's still canvasing around the Solearno's home, trying to see if anyone had been snooping around, or asking about Savina," she replied. "And he's gonna canvas around her escape route once he's done to see if maybe someone saw our missing juror, or even Savina."
"They know which way she went?" Tucker asked.
"Yeah, the Canines were able to track her smell from the slaughter house all the way to the street she stumbled into," she answered.
"I thought they only got as far as a couple of blocks before they couldn't figure out which blood was hers and which wasn't," Dodds dead panned.
"That's because the unis were tracking blood stains, we hadn't gotten the Canine unit involved yet. But yesterday, Fin had them sniff her bloody dress, which seemed to do the trick. They found where she was held, and were able to track down her escape route," Amanda explained, stumbling over the words, as she saw the pain flash across Olivia's face.
"So you still need me to go get those records?" Carisi wondered.
"No, I'll tell Fin to grab them. You need to go home, and get some sleep, because you have another sleepless night with Savina tonight," Amanda informed him.
Olivia's head snapped towards Amanda as she heard her say that, and practically bit the younger woman's head off. "I'm staying with her tonight!"
"Liv, you can't," Barba argued softly, already knowing why Amanda said Carisi would be the one to stay with her. He held his hand up when Olivia's head snapped towards him, and he saw that she was about to kill him for even suggesting that she leaves Savina again. "You need to speak to a judge first, get a temporary custody order. Even if Rollins takes you off the case now, any time you spend with her before she's released into your custody, the defense will use to taint both of your testimonies," he explained gently, yet firmly.
"Lieutenant, I told you, this has to be done by the books," Dodds now joined in, though his voice was less icy than minutes before.
"Call Lanagan, and try to get before Judge Linden," Barba started. "The second she signs off on the custody order, you can spend all the time you want with her," he finished.
"Lieutenant, I promise you, she's in good hands," Carisi assured her.
"I know that, Carisi," she reassured him.
"Go give Rollins you statement, then call Lanagan. You can go back to the hospital tonight, explain it all to her, but after that, go home, and work with him on getting her back," Barba instructed gently.
Olivia was silent for a few seconds, a whirlwind of emotions and thoughts running through her. On one hand, she knew that they had a point. Any time she may spend with Savina right now can be used against them if the case went to trial. It's true that she doubted the case will. Freed wasn't exactly a mastermind, and Olivia was almost certain that they will get a confession out of her. But like Dodds said, they had to follow every archaic rule ever written in any book known to man. But on the other hand, she couldn't imagine just leaving her little girl again. She had left with them the night before, because Savina didn't really know who she was. But she had promised her that she will help her through this. She knew what she was going through, understood the crippling fear that creeps on you at night. How terrified you become of falling asleep, because that's where the shadows of pain, and the horrifying memories lie. She was torn. Her brain was telling her to do one thing, but her heart was singing a completely different tune.
She shifted her gaze between Barba, Carisi and Amanda. She saw determination on all of their faces, rage in their eyes, and a silent vow to make sure the woman would pay for what she has done. And so, deciding that an argument with all three of them would be a waste of breath, she reluctantly nodded her head.
Amanda picked up the note pad once more, before she led Olivia to the interview room to take her statement, so she can officially take her off the case.
So sorry for the long wait you guys, I was on vacation without any form of internet. But on the plus side, I was able to write a fairly long chapter...actually two chapters. The next one is almost finished, just a few tweeks here and there, and it should be uploaded by tomorrow if all went according to plan.
I know that this chapter might seem like a bit of a filler, but it was necessary to move things along.
I JUST watched the season premiere, and I am absolutely flooded with Barson feels, so look out for some Barson moments in the next chapter.
Let me know what you all think of this.