A/N: Thank you to everyone who continues to read and review. x
A few days later and the SVU squad were at at their desks filling out paperwork. The four detectives looked up when the captain's office door opened suddenly. His focus zeroed in on Olivia and Elliot. "Benson! Stabler! A body's been found in an alleyway down town. Suspected rape homicide. CSU and patrol are waiting at the scene." Cragen briefed them as he handed Olivia the slip of paper with the details of the crime scene's location.
Elliot and Olivia looked at each other as they stood up and grabbed their jackets. They knew it had been too quiet that day and had sensed that something was coming their way. It was only a matter of time until a call came in.
"On it, Cap." El said as he got his car keys from his desk draw before following after Liv who had already left the squad room.
The sight they saw when they got to the alleyway would have turned any rookie's stomach. However, the two detectives were – unfortunately - used to situations like this and had no trouble as they kneeled down next to Melinda Warner who was in the middle of her primary examination.
"What have we got, Warner?" Elliot asked as he watched the ME work.
"Caucasian female. I'd say between the ages of sixteen and twenty. Half her head is caved in, burns all over her body. I haven't got much further than that but from the way she's positioned I can determine that she was raped and murdered right here. I'd say that the time of death was around three am this morning. I'll check for semen or any trace evidence back at the lab." Melinda rattled off as she continued making her preliminary notes.
"Any ID on her?" Olivia finally spoke up. She had become lost in her thoughts when she saw the victims bruised and bloody face. She just couldn't get over how young the girl was. Despite her scantily clad body, she still looked so innocent.
Melinda gave Liv an understanding look for her delayed response and shook her head sadly. "Nothing but she has this tattoo on the inside of her wrist. Possibly a pimps trademark?" The woman suggested as she turned the Jane Doe's right wrist to reveal a tattoo of some sort of ritualistic symbol.
Olivia stood up and began to walk away from the body, not being able to handle the sight any longer. Elliot was quick to follow her and put a gentle hand on her back. "You ok, Liv?" He asked in concern.
Olivia sighed and leant against their squad car. "She's so young. Where are her parents? They must be worried sick."
Elliot moved so he was directly in front of her. "Probably the same old story. She was more than likely a runaway who got caught up in drugs and prostitution. From the looks of her she's been living a rough life for years. Her parents are either no longer alive or deadbeats."
Liv shot him a sharp look. "If that was my child-"
"But she isn't yours. Liv, it's not the first time we've come across this scenario. Come on, let's go have a chat with some of the local working girls. Maybe they heard something last night." Elliot decided it was best to move on. The best way to do that was to continue doing their job.
"Benson, we've got an ID on your vic." Fin called out as he walked into the squad room. Olivia was sat at her desk looking through a list of missing girls in an attempt to find a match to their most recent Jane Doe. They had been working on the case for two days now and had yet to catch a break.
Olivia looked up when Fin stopped by her desk with a file in his hand, there was an expectant look on her face. "Her prints were ran through the system and we got a hit. Her name is Alexa Jones. She was arrested four years ago for possession. Alexa was put on probation as it was her first offence - she was only fourteen at the time."
Liv held out her hand for the file and couldn't help but stare at the young blonde. If she didn't look so rough in her mug shot, Alexa would have been considered a pretty girl. She had light blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. 'What a waste.' Olivia thought to herself sadly before looking up at Fin. "Anything on her parents?" She enquired.
Fin nodded. "They passed away when she was five. There are no other relatives that we know of. Alexa was in the system until she was thirteen when she ran away. She was returned to the system after her arrest but we spoke to her old case worker and she said Alexa ran again a couple of weeks later – I guess she just fell through the cracks and was never found." Her colleague explained.
Olivia put the file in her desk draw and stood up. "I'll call El and tell him to meet me at the ME's office. Maybe Warner has some more information. At least we've got an ID now. Thanks, Fin." With that she was on her way to speak to Melinda.
"You're victim was a mother." Melinda claimed as soon as Olivia and Elliot walked into her work area. Elliot squinted at the ME whilst Olivia's heart once again felt heavy at this new piece of information. Melinda sighed and expanded on her statement. "She has a scar going across her stomach – a c-section scar. I'd say the birth occurred about two or three years ago."
"She would have been fifteen or sixteen." Olivia said mindlessly. She blinked and shook her head before asking her question. "Was she raped?"
Melinda nodded sadly. "With a foreign object. Probably some sort of hunting knife. The vaginal area was torn to shreds." El and Liv both openly winced. "But there was semen present. That's being run through the database as we speak. Hopefully we'll get a match."
"Ok. Call us if you find anything." Elliot said before he and his wife left the lab. "That girl sure has had it rough." El said as he shook his head in despair.
"You're right. But what I want to know is what happened to her baby?" Olivia asked and shot him a desperate look. Not only did they have a rape homicide on their hands but they now had to search for their victims child.
The search for Alexa's baby was short lived as a couple of hours after their chat with Warner, a man entered the squad room holding a little girl in his arms. "This the right place to find the Special Victims?" He announced his presence.
Olivia stood up from her desk and crossed her arms across her chest. "Yes. How can we help?" She asked. She studied the man briefly before her attention turned onto the child in his arms. Something about the kid's face and eyes were eerily familiar.
"I heard you people found one of my girls dead this morning. Alexa?"
"You're her pimp." Elliot stated rather than asked as he made his way to be next to his wife. His gaze also happened to fall on the little girl briefly before looking into the man's stone cold eyes.
"I run a legitimate escort service. Now, have you found my girl or not?" The man, who had yet to even identify himself, bit out as he looked between Olivia and Elliot.
The detectives shared a look before Olivia turned to the man. "Mr..."
"You can call me Marcus." The pimp said.
"Marcus, can I take your daughter for you-"
Marcus burst into laughter. "This kid aint mine. It's Alexa's."
Olivia flinched at Marcus's attitude. Especially when he referred to the little girl as 'it'. "Ok, well if you just hand over the child. My partner here will explain everything to you. Maybe you can help us with our investigation." Liv held out her arms only to have Marcus thrust the little girl towards her rather harshly. "Does she have a name?" The brunette detective asked without looking at Marcus. Instead she was too focused on the little blonde bundle whose head was now rested on her shoulder.
Marcus waved her off. "I think it's Zoe or something like that."
"Zoe?" Liv smiled when the toddler lifted her head confirming that 'Zoe' was in face her name. "You hungry, Sweetie?" Olivia received a small nod as Zoe patted her stomach. Liv felt her heart break a little and she wasn't surprised that the girl was hungry. She was a bag of bones and hardly weighed a thing.
"Ok, Marcus, why don't you come with me while I ask you a few questions." Elliot asked as he pointed the way to one of the interview rooms.
"Look man, I didn't do nothing. I just came to see if the dead bitch was Alexa or not and to drop off her kid. She knows better than to leave her for so long. I told the slut that she could keep the kid as long as she was there to-"
Olivia walked off with Zoe in her arms so she didn't hear the rest of what he said. She didn't think the language he was coming out with was appropriate for little ears. "Let's get you something to eat. You like sandwiches?"
Zoe nodded and looked around as Olivia made her way towards the elevator. "Where Mama?" She asked once her eyes finally landed back on Liv's kind face.
Olivia brushed a piece of hair away from Zoe's face and ran a finger down her pale cheek. "Mama had to go away, Honey." Her tone was slightly wobbly as she spoke. How could she even begin to explain death to such a young child? How do you tell them that their 'Mama' was dead?
"In heaven?" Zoe tilted her head inquisitively, her eyes filled with innocence.
Liv heaved a sigh as she stepped into the elevator. "Yeah, Baby. Mama is in heaven." She closed her eyes in grief when she felt Zoe's skinny arms wrap around her neck tightly.
Hours later and Olivia and Elliot were still at the precinct. Liv had returned to the station after getting herself and Zoe something to eat and was updated by Elliot. After his interview with Marcus, he found out that Alexa had a 'date' with a man called Nathan Hale. She had left the brothel at about nine pm the previous night and was never to be seen again until her body was discovered by the cops who found her. They were hoping if they could track down this Nathan they would have found their killer. Marcus had also confirmed that their victim was, indeed, Alexa.
After having Melinda check Zoe over, they discovered that apart from being a little under weight, she was relatively healthy. They took a swab of DNA from the girl to see if there was anyway of tracking down her father or blood relative. Marcus was also able to confirm that the child was three years old after he handed over the birth certificate.
Now Liv and El were just waiting on a social worker to collect Zoe who had fallen into a deep slumber in Olivia's arms. The little girl had refused to be held by anyone else and each time Olivia had tried to put her down, Zoe practically screamed the house down. In addition, Olivia refused to leave the child alone in a strange place so they had to call their sitter to let her know that they were running late.
Every now and again, Elliot would cast a glance at Olivia who was sat in her desk chair. Each time she either had her arms wrapped around Zoe protectively or was running her fingers through the matted blonde hair. He recognised the look in his wife's eyes. It was the same look she often gave Maria. El felt like he should say something but he didn't want to upset Olivia. The case had obviously gotten to her but he decided he would speak to her when they got home.
"Detective's Benson and Stabler?" Olivia and Elliot were ripped from their own thoughts by a feminine voice calling out their names. They stood up and approached a stern looking woman.
"That's us." Elliot told her.
"I'm Irene Miller. From Child Protective Services? I'm sorry I'm late. I had an emergency at one of my foster homes. I heard you have a child that needs taken into custody?" The social worker said as she looked at Zoe who remained asleep in Liv's embrace.
Olivia clutched onto Zoe a little tighter than necessary and found herself unable to speak. She looked up at Elliot who was looking right back at her. He tore his blue eyes away from her brown ones to face Ms Miller. "Yes. This," he gestured to the little blonde, "is Zoe. We're currently working on her mother's murder. So far we've been unable to track her father down." He said as the social took the few steps so she was standing directly in front of Olivia.
Irene held out her arms to receive the child and when Olivia made no move to hand Zoe over, she felt her husband nudge her in the side a little. "Liv." Was all he had to say to get her to snap out of her thoughts.
Olivia looked between Zoe and Irene before very reluctantly passing the bundle over. Zoe stirred in the social works arms before lifting her head and looking up at the stranger. She whipped her head around until her eyes landed on Olivia. "Livy?" She whimpered as she held out her arms towards the female detective. Olivia didn't respond but just continued to stare at Zoe with her arms limply down by her sides. In reality, what she wanted to do was rip the baby girl from the social workers arms and high tail it out of the precinct.
The social worker chose that moment to speak. "Again, I'm sorry for the delay. I really should be going. You'll let me know if you can find a father?" She didn't wait for a response but instead turned and marched out of the squad room.
"Livy?! No, Livy!" The sound of Zoe's heart wrenching sobs and screaming was more than Olivia could take. Without even a second glance at her partner, she turned on the spot and ran towards the cribs.
Later that night, Elliot and Olivia were laying in bed. El was wide awake whilst Olivia was somewhat asleep although she kept tossing and turning which meant that her husband was struggling to get some sleep of his own. He closed his eyes and was just about to drop off when he felt a jolt beside him as Olivia sat upright in bed.
"Zoe!"
El's eyes snapped open as he too sat up and rubbed his wife's back comfortingly. "Liv?" He whispered into the darkness.
Olivia was panting as sweat poured off of her face. She swiped a piece of hair out of her eyes and looked at her husband. "Oh, El. I'm sorry. Did I wake you?" She rasped out.
Elliot laid back down and pulled Olivia down so she was resting on his chest. "You're thinking about her again."
Liv wrapped an arm around his muscular torso and nodded. "Every time I close my eyes, I hear her voice calling out for me." El was unsure how to respond so he just tightened the hold he had around her waist. "El, I think we should hold off on having a baby."
"What?" Elliot was confused. It was only the other day they had the conversation about conceiving a child and now she was backing out?
Olivia sighed and looked up at him. "Just hear me out. What if," she paused briefly before continuing, "what if we provided a home for a child who needed one."
Elliot remained silent for a few seconds as he thought over what she said. "Let me guess, you already have a child in mind? Blonde hair, blue eyes, about three years old..."
Liv groaned and hid her face in his chest. "Am I that predictable?" Her voice was muffled.
"Not predictable." El told her. "I just know you too well."
Silence engulfed the room but was once again broken by the blue eyed detective. "So...you want Zoe?"
Olivia sighed and sat up once again. Elliot, realising she wanted to talk it over properly, got up and switched the bedside lamp on before facing his wife. "El, this isn't solely my decision to make. Whatever we decide will affect your life too and let's not forget Maria. If we went ahead, Zoe would be her sister and our daughter. I mean I'm the one who got attached – again. You shouldn't have to pay the price for my weakness-"
Elliot held Olivia's head in his hands and caressed her cheeks lovingly. "Liv, you caring about someone is not a weakness. One of the many reasons I fell in love with you is because you're so kind hearted and full of love. If you want to share that love with someone else, I'm more than happy to accommodate that. Besides, I could always do with another princess to spoil."
"You mean..." Olivia trailed off, surprised about how easy it was to convince him. She couldn't help but feel like she was pressuring him though and she was feeling just slightly guilty.
"We'll go to CPS first thing in the morning. I'll call Don after breakfast and let him know we'll be late." Elliot stated. He was almost pushed off the bed when Liv fell on top of him.
They settled back on the bed properly and Olivia resumed her position on his chest. "Have I ever told you how much I love you, Elliot Stabler?" Her tone was sultry as she climbed on top of him and straddled his waist.
"Hm, yeah you have but maybe you could show me." Elliot growled out. Olivia slowly lent down and began peppering kisses up his chest. She paused as she reached his face and teasingly bit his bottom lip before kissing him fully on the mouth. It didn't take them long to get lost in a full on make out session and it's as they say 'one thing led to another'...