Olivia walked into the room, and immediately both Bella and Josh ran up to her and cuddled against her legs.
"Hey," said Olivia, bending down and embracing the children. She gently led the children to the chairs.
"Josh, can you play over there, while I talk to Bella?" Josh nodded and headed over to the toys in the corner.
"Bella, can you tell me what happened?" Olivia asked the girl sitting in her lap.
"I don't wanna talk about it." Bella said, burrowing herself to Olivia.
"Okay, can you tell me what you do at home?" Olivia asked, trying to find another way around the question.
"Mommy doesn't do anything with us. Josh and me go to room and play. Mommy has friends over that do bad things. I don't like the men."
"Honey, what do the men do?" Olivia asked, tightening her arms around the little girl.
"The men take off my pants and they put them in me. It hurts and then they put them in my mouth and they taste yucky. It hurts and I don't like it. Please don't make me do it." She requested, tears rolling down her cheeks as the little girl sobbed tightly holding onto Olivia.
"Do you know the man that did this?"
"No, lots of men come. They do things to Mommy and then to me. Josh has to too. I don't like it. Please don't make me do it." She begged.
"Honey, no one is going to do that to you ever again. I promise." She paused, "Do you the men that do this?"
Bella shook her head and pointed to Josh. "Josh knows." She said simply, her tears beginning to fade.
"Honey do you want to play with the toys while I talk to Josh?" Bella nodded and walked over to Josh, and after a moment Josh walked over to Olivia, climbing into her lap.
"Josh, do you want to tell me what happened?" Josh shook his head.
"Can you tell me what you do at home?"
"I take care of Bella. Mommy has bad men come. They hurt her and me. I don't like them."
"Do you know who they are?"
"Uncle Mark, Mr. Santos, Mr. Vandemere and Mr. Max. Mr. Max hurt real bad."
"Can you tell me what they did to you?"
"I don't wanna talk about it." He said firmly, wrapping his arms around Olivia's neck.
"Please Josh. If you tell me what they did, I can put them in prison and they can't hurt you or Bella ever again."
"They hurt Bella and then sometimes they come to me and pull my pants down and put them in here." He pointed down to his buttocks.
"Thank you." Olivia said, wrapping the boy in a hug. Bella came from the other side of the room, and hugged Olivia, which Olivia immediately returned.
"I have to go now, but I'll be back soon, okay?"
"No, Livvie. Don't go!" Bella begged, wrapping herself more firmly around Olivia. Josh tightened his grip on her neck as they both burrowed into her sides.
"Honey, I just need to make a phone call so my friends can take the bad people away. Then I can come here. I promise I'll be back shortly."
Josh nodded, and reluctantly let go of Olivia. Bella however said, "Promise you'll come back."
"Promise." Olivia said, and pressed a small kiss to the girl's forehead.
Bella let go of Olivia and Olivia quickly left the room.
"God, those poor children." Elliot said, and wrapped Olivia in a hug.
"I don't want them to go to ACS. I know they have to but still."
"Come on, let's run a background check on these people." Elliot let go of Olivia and they went out into the squad room, where Cragen sat on Olivia's desk waiting for an update.
"We got statements. I'm calling ACS." Olivia said, still angry at the Captain's decision. The captain, since making the decision had come to a conclusion, that although she was too close to the case, her rapport with the children would be a benefit.
"Olivia, you're back on the case. Don't make me regret this." The captain said before asking, "What've we got?"
"Josh gave us some names, we're running background checks," Elliot said, while Olivia spoke to someone from ACS.
"They'll be here this afternoon." Olivia paused, knowing what she was about to ask would put her on thin ground, "Cap can I go -"
"Go" Don stated simply.
Olivia nodded her thanks, and headed in the direction of the children.
"What names have we got?"
"Uncle Mark, Mr. Santos, Mr. Vandemere and Mr. Max." Unfortunately, Uncle Mark doesn't exist because their mother doesn't have any brothers or sisters. And the father is unknown."
"What else you got?"
Elliot proceeded to explain about the abuse and when he finished Cragen stated, "Mother's a prostitute and pimps out her children. Are they the only names that the kids gave us?"
Elliot nodded and opened to say something more when a woman spoke.
"Hi. I'm Mandy, from ACS. I got a call from Detective Benson that two children were to be placed in a foster home."
"Yes,"
"Unfortunately the children cannot be placed together in home, but until that time they will stay with ACS."
Elliot went to find Olivia and the children. When he returned, Olivia followed with two children held in her arms.
"Bella, Josh. This is Mandy. She's going to take good care of you now." Olivia said, bending down and prying open the grip of the two children.
"No, Livvie. Don't leave us." Bella yelled, and held tightly onto Olivia's leg. Before Josh could do the same, Mandy grabbed him and he continued to struggle. Cragen bent down and pulled the little girls' vice grip of Olivia's leg and handed the girl to Mandy. Struggling with the two children who continued to shout for "Livvie" and "'Livia", Mandy left the precinct.
Olivia looked down, tears gathering in her eyes.
"Do we know anything about these men?" she asked Elliot quietly.
"No, but we can arrest the mother."
Olivia nodded and headed out, grabbing her coat. Elliot rushed after her, and they began the journey to the apartment. When they reached the place, they called a warning before banging the door in. The apartment was completely trashed. Empty beer bottles and used condoms covered the floor among dirty clothes and food scraps. The place smelled of booze and cigarettes and reminded Olivia all too much of her own childhood.
"Well, she's not here." Elliot said, as they exited the apartment.
"Let's go back."
The drive back to the station was equally silent. Olivia worrying about the children, their screams echoing in her ears, and Elliot worrying about Olivia.