Hi everyone! I know it's been... literal years, since I did anything with this story, and I do apologize for that. But I am back now, and I've completely re-written this story (as well as wrote a prequel of sorts - Finding Safety). Anyway, I hope that it hasn't been too long since I uploaded, and there will still be people who enjoy this story - especially now that it's way better than the original. I will have chapter 11 replaced by the end of April - the last four weeks of the semester are coming up and I am... suffering through it.
Let me know what you think about this new version! I'd really like to know if you think it's better than the original.
One
"Benson, Amaro – four-year-old girl named Allison, showed up at Mercy hospital half an hour ago." Cragen announced as he walked out of his office.
Olivia and Nick stood up.
"Raped?" Olivia asked.
"Abused." Cragen told her.
Olivia nodded. "She a missing person?"
Cragen shook his head. "Abandoned. Her foster parents dropped her outside the ER doors and drove off."
"Any leads on their location?" Nick asked.
Cragen shook his head once again. "No, they seem to have forgotten how to answer their phones."
Olivia nodded. "Good to know." She said as she followed Nick out of the squad room.
XXXXX
Twenty minutes later, Olivia and Nick approached the nurse's station in the Mercy Emergency Department.
"Detectives Benson and Amaro, we're here for Allison." Olivia told the nurse sitting at the computer as she held up her badge.
The nurse nodded and wheeled backwards to pull a chart.
"Allison Lennox, four years old, abandoned, signs of prolonged sexual and physical abuse, dehydration, and malnutrition. Terrified of men, she had to have an all-female staff." The nurse told them. She stood and leaned over the desk to point to a door. "Room three, just right there."
Olivia nodded and stepped away from the desk before the nurse called her back quickly.
"Does she have anywhere to go? She's due to be released in about half an hour, when her IV is finished." The nurse told Olivia.
Olivia shrugged slightly. "I'm not sure yet."
The nurse nodded silently and looked back down at her computer.
Olivia walked down the hall to the room and poked her head in the door. A little blonde girl was alone in the room, clutching a teddy bear. The bed looked too big for her tiny frame. Olivia stepped into the room and the little girls head snapped toward the detective. Olivia smiled a bit and watched as the little girls' eyes widened and she turned away.
Olivia stopped for a second and then turned to look back at Nick. "Wait in the hall." She told him quietly.
Nick nodded in agreement and walked back out into the hall.
Olivia took a deep breath and turned back to Allison. She walked over to the bed and sat down beside her.
"Hi Allison, my name is Olivia." She said gently.
Allison's eyes opened and she looked up at Olivia.
"Hi." She said quietly.
Olivia smiled. "Who's this little guy?" She asked, pointing to the teddy bear in Allison's lap.
"Teddy." Allison said simply.
"Teddy, huh?" Olivia asked. "Well, it's very nice to meet you, Teddy." She said, shaking the bear's paw.
Allison smiled and sat up a bit, feeling less threatened as Olivia spoke to her teddy bear.
Olivia looked at her. "So, Allison, I'm a detective, do you know what that means?" She asked.
Allison nodded. "You put bad people in jail." She said timidly.
Olivia smiled. "That's exactly right." She told her. "Do you know why I'm here?"
"Because of the bad man?" Allison asked.
Olivia nodded. "What bad man, Allison?"
"Dave." Allison told her.
"Your foster father?" Olivia asked.
Allison nodded quickly. "I don't wanna go back there. He hurts me." She told Olivia.
"How does he hurt you sweetheart?" Olivia asked.
Allison bit her lip. "He hits me. And he touches me." She told Olivia as tears welled up in her eyes.
Olivia sighed sadly. "Where does he touch you, Allison?" She asked softly.
Allison tried but failed to blink away the tears. "I don't wanna talk about it." She told Olivia.
Olivia nodded. "I know you don't sweetheart. And it's okay to be scared, but right now, you are safe. He can't hurt you." She told her.
Allison clutched Teddy tightly, contemplating what Olivia had told her. "He… he touches my private parts." She told Olivia quietly as tears ran down her cheeks. She looked up at Olivia. "Please don't make me go back." She begged.
Olivia nodded. "You don't have to go back there Allison. I promise."
Olivia was taken aback when the little girl reached out and threw her arms around her neck. Olivia wrapped her arms around her, hoping to provide some sort of comfort.
Allison's grip on Olivia tightened when Nick walked into the room.
Olivia smiled sadly. "It's alright Allison. This is Nick, he's a detective too. He won't hurt you."
Nick crouches so he's eye level with Allison. "Hi Allison."
Allison lifted herself off Olivia for a moment. "This is Teddy." She said holding her bear up for him to see.
Nick smiled. "Teddy?" He asked. "Wow, that's a great name. My little girl has a bear named Teddy too."
Allison giggled and Nick stood up again.
"Cragen just called, Fin and Rollins are bringing in the foster parents."
Olivia nodded. "Okay, Allison, I have to go now sweetheart."
Allison threw her arms back around Olivia. "Please don't go 'Livia."
Olivia looked up at Nick. "Okay, sweetie, I'll stay. Nick, you go."
Nicked nodded. "Alright."
"I'll call Cragen." Olivia told him.
Nick nodded and made his way out of the room.
Olivia rubbed Allison's back softly. "Okay, I've gotta call my boss really quickly, so I'm gonna get up and walk over to the door. Alright? You'll still be able to see me."
Allison nodded and let go of Olivia slowly.
Olivia stood and dialled Cragen's number, walking toward the door.
Cragen picked up on the fourth ring. "What's up Liv?"
"Nick's on his way back, I stayed at the hospital. Does CPS have somewhere for Allison to go? The doctor's saying she'll be released soon." Olivia told him.
"CPS is calling around, but nothing so far. She'll probably go to a group home for the night." Cragen told her.
Olivia shook her head. "I'll take her. We just finished our last home study, technically we're qualified."
"I'll talk to CPS, but are you sure Liv? Is that gonna be okay with Amanda?" Cragen asked.
"Is she back yet?" Olivia asked.
Cragen nodded. "Yeah, she just walked in, one second, I'll go grab her."
Olivia looked up at Allison on the hospital bed across the room, hugging Teddy tightly.
The phone was picked up and Amanda spoke. "What's up Liv?" She asked.
"This little girl, the victim, she's only four, CPS is having a hard time finding somewhere for her to go…"
Amanda interrupted her. "So, you volunteered to take custody because you don't want her to go to a group home."
Olivia sighed. "Yeah."
Amanda laughed lightly. "I'm okay with it. This is what we wanted to do."
Olivia nodded. "Are you ready?" She asked.
Amanda nodded. "I think I am." She said. "We'll have to go shopping tomorrow."
"So Cragen can tell CPS we'll take her?" Olivia asked.
"Yeah, I don't see why not."
Olivia smiled. "Thank you, Manda. She's just so scared."
"I get it." Amanda told her. "Are you coming to the precinct before you go home?" She asked.
Olivia shrugged. "I'm not sure yet. I'll let you know though."
"Okay. I'll let you talk to Cragen. Love you."
Olivia smiled. "Love you too."
The line went quiet while Amanda handed Cragen the phone back.
"Hey Liv, I spoke with Allison's caseworker, she agreed to let you take Allison, she pulled your paperwork. The soonest she can meet with you is tomorrow morning, but you're good to take Allison home, and the hospital is being notified as we speak." Cragen told her.
Olivia let out a sigh of relief. "Alright, that's great. Thank you, Captain."
Cragen nodded. "Take a couple days, meet with the caseworker, figure things out."
Olivia nodded. "Will do." She said before she hung up the phone. She sent a quick 'I'll just go straight home, see you tonight,' text to Amanda, and slipped her phone into her back pocket.
She walked back over to the bed and sat down beside Allison.
"How would you feel about going home with me?" Olivia asked.
"With you?" Allison asked.
Olivia nodded.
"Is a bad man at your house?" Allison asked.
Olivia shook her head. "No, there's no bad man at my house. I do have a girlfriend, and a doggie though."
"Girlfriend? Like boys have?"
Olivia smiled. "Kind of."
"Aren't girls just supposed to have boyfriends?"
Olivia shook her head. "Nope. Some girls like girls, and some boys like boys. And that's okay." Olivia told her.
Allison nodded, clearly thinking carefully. "You love her?" She asked.
Olivia nodded. "Very much."
"And she loves you?"
Olivia nodded. "Yes, she does."
Allison smiled. "As long as you love each other, it's good, right?"
Olivia smiled brightly. "Right."
"What's her name?" Allison asked.
"Her name is Amanda. She's a detective like me, and she's very excited to meet you." Olivia told her.
"What's she look like?"
Olivia smiled bigger. "She's beautiful. She looks like you – she's tall, and she has blonde hair and really pretty blue eyes."
"She wants to meet me?" Allison asked.
Olivia nodded. "She does, very much."
Allison smiled shyly. "So, I can come home with you?"
"As soon as the doctor says you can leave." Olivia told her.
As if on cue, a woman in a white coat knocks on the door.
"Hi, I'm Doctor Zaman." She said. She turned to Olivia, "you are?" She asked.
Olivia held up her badge. "Detective Olivia Benson, SVU." She told her.
Doctor Zaman nodded. "That means you must be Allison." She said, turning to the little girl.
Allison nodded. "Hi."
Doctor Zaman smiled kindly. "How are you feeling?" She asked.
Allison shrugged. "Okay. Better than before."
"That's good. I think you're ready to go home now, can I take this piece of plastic out of your hand?" The doctor asked, referring to the IV.
Allison pulled her hand back. "Will it hurt?"
Doctor Zaman nodded. "It might hurt a little bit, but only for a second."
Allison took a shaky breath, and held her hand out to the doctor.
She made quick work of pulling out the IV, Allison winced for a moment, and was happy when the doctor placed a pink, heart-shaped Band-Aid on the back of her hand.
Doctor Zaman turned to Olivia. "Who is she being released to?"
"Me, you should have been notified, CPS gave me temporary guardianship." Olivia told her.
Doctor Zaman picked her tablet up off the bedside table and clicked the screen a few times before looking back up at Olivia.
"I'm sorry, Detective, the note is here, I must have missed it before I came in."
Olivia smiled. "It's alright. I understand. Thank you for checking." She said. She stepped closer to the doctor, lowering her voice. "Can I just ask, what did her exam reveal?"
Doctor Zaman sighed. "Bruising, two cigarette burns on her inner thigh, vaginal and anal tears…" She trailed off.
Olivia sighed. "Good lord."
Doctor Zaman nodded. "That's what we said. Take care of her, Detective." She said before she left the room.
Olivia took a deep breath and turned back to Allison.
"You ready to go?" She asked.
Allison nodded.
"Alright, let's get outta here." Olivia said, holding her hand out to her.
Allison slid off the bed. "Can Teddy come too?" She asked.
Olivia nodded. "Of course Teddy can come sweetheart, he's gotta come see your bedroom."
Allison smiled and took Olivia's hand, and Olivia led her down to the front entrance of the hospital and toward a waiting cab.
Olivia leaned down into the passenger window. "You wouldn't happen to have a car seat, would you?"
The cabbie looked up at her. "Course I do." He told her. He stepped out of the cab and opened the trunk, and pulled a booster seat out. "This one's nice, only two clips." He told her as he snapped it into the back seat.
Olivia smiled and helped Allison into the car seat. "Thank you." She told him.
Fifteen minutes later, Olivia and Allison stepped out of the cab in front of the apartment building.
Allison looked up at the tall building. "You live here?"
Olivia nodded. "Yep, on the fourth floor." She told Allison. "Can I pick you up?" She asked.
Allison nodded and held her arms out. Olivia picked her up and settled her on her hip and they headed into the building and up the stairs.
Olivia set Allison down outside the apartment door while she unlocked it. She pushed the door open and led Allison inside.
Frannie, who had been laying on her bed, heard the door open and jumped up, bounding toward the door.
Allison let out a small scream when she saw the dog coming toward her.
"Frannie wait." Olivia told the dog.
Frannie skidded to a stop and sat down, watching Olivia carefully.
Olivia turned to crouch in front of Allison. "I'm sorry Allison. Are you alright?"
Allison nodded. "She bite?"
Olivia shook her head. "No sweetie, she doesn't bite. She's just excited to meet you. How about I stay right here beside you and hold onto her, and you can let her sniff you?"
Allison nodded slowly. "Okay."
Olivia smiled and turned toward Frannie, who was sitting patiently, waiting to be told what to do next.
"Come here Frannie girl." Olivia called, holding out her hand.
She gave the dog a scratch and kissed the top of her head. "Hi Frannie. You be gentle, okay?" She said as she held onto her collar, more for Allison's comfort than the fact that Frannie would do anything. "Alright Allison, just hold out your hand for her to sniff and then give her a scratch behind the ears."
Allison's hand shook a bit when she held it out in front of Frannie's nose.
Frannie sniffed her hand for a moment before licking it, making Allison giggle.
"Can I let her go now?" Olivia asked.
Allison nodded. "I like Frannie."
Olivia smiled. "She likes you too."
Both Allison and Olivia were surprised when the door swung open, and Amanda stepped into the apartment quickly.
Amanda seemed equally as surprised when she realized that there were already people in the apartment.
"I thought I would get here before you." Amanda said.
Olivia laughed. "You almost did. What're you doing here? I wasn't expecting you for a few more hours."
Amanda smiled. "Cragen told me to come home." She explained. She turned toward Allison, who was still petting Frannie, watching the two women talk.
Allison looked away shyly when Amanda looked over at her.
Amanda took a step toward her and crouched in front of her.
"You must be Allison." Amanda said softly. "I'm Amanda."
Allison looked up at her. "Hi."
Amanda smiled at her. "Hi." She pointed at Teddy. "He's a cutie."
Allison smiled and hugged the bear tightly. "He helps me when I feel scared."
Amanda nodded. "That's good." She told her.
Allison nodded, looking up at Olivia. "She's even prettier than you said."
Amanda laughed and stood up, turning toward Olivia.
"You've been talking about me, detective?" She asked, stepping toward Olivia.
Olivia smiled. "Maybe."
"Only good things I hope." Amanda said.
"There's nothing bad to talk about." Olivia said.
Amanda laughed lightly. "You and I both know that's not true." She said quietly before pressing a soft kiss to Olivia's lips.
When they broke apart a moment later and looked at Allison, whose face was scrunched up – a very typical four-year-old response to kissing.
Amanda laughed lightly. "How about we go take a look at your bedroom?" She asked, holding out her hand to the little girl.
Allison nodded slowly. "Okay." She said as she placed her hand in Amanda's.
