A few minutes after Olivia hung up the phone, the doctor, a man in his fifties whom Olivia had worked with before, knocked on the door and came in. "Detective Benson. What do we have here?" he asked, looking at the children.

Before Olivia could answer, Maggie let out a terrified shriek and dove under the chairs. Dr. Edison crouched down but Maggie screamed louder.

"Let me do it," Olivia crouched down so she could see Maggie. "Honey, can you come out here?"

"Is he gone?" Maggie whimpered.

Olivia motioned for Dr. Edison to leave the room. Once he was gone, Olivia held out a hand. "He's gone. Will you come out now sweetie?"

Maggie crawled out from under the chair and wrapped her arms tightly around Olivia's neck. Olivia stood carefully and began to pace around the small room. "Sh. Sh, you're okay honey. Dr. Edison is a doctor, he's not going to hurt you."

"Men hurt," Maggie sobbed. "Men hurt you."

Olivia stopped. "Maggie. Did a man hurt you?"

"Maggie, be quiet," Brian snapped, jumping up. "Mom will be mad."

Olivia shook her head. "Maggie, if someone hurt you, you should tell someone like a doctor or a police officer. We won't be mad at you, because it's not your fault. I want to help you sweetie. You can tell me."

Maggie was quiet for a minute before speaking in a barely audible whisper. "Sometimes bad men come over. Mommy makes me do things to them."

Olivia sat down in a chair and shifted so she could look at Maggie. "What kinds of things?" she asked, anger beginning to bubble.

"They pull down their pants and I have to put their private part in my mouth," Maggie whispered, playing with locket that Olivia always wore.

Tears filled Olivia's eyes as she pulled Maggie close. "You're safe now honey. No one's going to hurt you again."

"I don't like it," Maggie said. "But Mommy says I have to."

Olivia shook her head. "Your mommy was wrong, baby. You don't have to do that ever again. I promise. Is that why you don't like men? Because they make you do those things?"

Maggie nodded against her chest and Olivia looked at Brian who was holding the baby, looking at the ground. "I tried to stop them," Brian whispered. "Maggie was crying and I promised that I'd take care of her. But Mom told me to stay in my room, that it was none of my business. I didn't want them to hurt Maggie."

"I know you didn't." Olivia held out her arm and Brian walked over, burying his face in her shoulder. "You did a good job taking care of Maggie and Jacob, Brian. None of this is your fault either. And we're going to keep you safe."

Brian nodded and pulled away, wiping the tears from his cheek with one hand. It was obvious that he was trying to be an adult. When Maggie had quieted, Olivia shifted so she could look at the little girl's face. "Maggie, I asked one of my friends to come down here to help you. He's a man, but he's a police officer like me. His name is Elliot and he's very nice. He won't hurt you, I promise."

Maggie shook her head. "Men hurt you," she repeated.

"Elliot won't hurt you, he's my best friend. He's very nice and he wants to help me keep you safe."

"Are you going to leave, Livvy?"

Olivia shook her head. "I'll be right here."

Maggie didn't say anything else but she stayed sitting in Olivia's lap, playing with her necklace. After a few minutes, Olivia reached down and pulled the Cinderella doll out of the bag and let Maggie start playing with it.

Before much longer, a nurse stuck her head into the room. "Detective Benson? Detective Stabler is here, may I let him in?"

Olivia nodded and a second later Elliot walked in the door. "Now what's going on and why did you want..." Elliot trailed off as he took in the scene before him. "Olivia, what's going on?"

Olivia stood, Maggie clinging to her neck. As soon as the little girl saw Elliot, she'd begun hiding her face in Olivia's shoulder again. "Elliot, this is Brian," she gestured to him. "And Maggie and Jacob is the baby. Brian, this is Elliot. I work with him and he's going to help you, too."

Brian nodded nervously. "Hi," he said softly.

Elliot stared at the children for a minute in shock. "That explains the Happy Meals."

"Why don't you give them to the kids, then we can talk."

Elliot nodded and handed one Happy Meal to Brian. "Do you like cheeseburgers, Brian?"

Brian nodded. "Thank you. Are you a police officer too?"

"I sure am." Elliot tried to hand Maggie the other Happy Meal but she whimpered and clung tighter to Olivia's neck.

"It's okay Maggie. Remember I told you about my friend Elliot? He's nice, he won't hurt you." Olivia turned to Elliot. "She's a little s-c-a-r-e-d of m-e-n."

Elliot sighed. "Hey there, Maggie."

"Maggie, honey can you say hi to Elliot?"

"'Lo," Maggie whispered, barely audible.

"That's a very pretty doll you have there," Elliot said noticing the Cinderella doll which she was also still holding on to. "What's her name?"

"Livvy," Maggie said, turning her head slightly.

"Maggie, I'm going to put you down now, okay? I need to talk to Elliot and you can have your Happy Meal that he brought you." Olivia bent over and sat Maggie in the chair next to Brian. She spent a moment unwrapping the cheeseburger and getting Maggie set up before she took Jacob so Brian could eat. "I'm going to be right over here across the room if you need anything, okay?"

Brian nodded and Olivia walked to the other side of the room, Elliot following. "Did you bring coffee?" she asked hopefully.

Elliot handed her the cup and she took a long drink. "Okay, what's going on here? Whose kids are they and why did you tell me that this is a case?"

Olivia took another drink. "I decided to run through the Park this morning. I found them sitting on a bench. Brian said that their mother had put them there two nights ago and not come back. I couldn't leave them there and none of them had eaten in over a day. So I took them to Walmart, then here and you called."

Elliot looked at the pile of Walmart bags. "Jesus Liv, how much did you buy?!"

"I had to get formula and bottles and diapers for the baby," she said defensively.

"I have four kids, all who used to be babies. And those three things don't take up...10 bags."

"Look at them Elliot, they're wearing rags. Maggie didn't even have shoes. I couldn't not try to help them."

Elliot nodded. Really, it didn't surprise him that Olivia had gone slightly overboard. She was one of the most compassionate people that he'd ever met. "What do we know about their mother?"

Olivia sighed. "I'd guess she's a prostitute, leaving her children in the park in the middle of the night. And she abuses them. Brian keeps saying that she's going to be mad, usually for little things like Maggie sucking her fingers. And she won't let them wear anything that exposes their arms or legs."

Because logic seemed needed here, Elliot tried again. "Okay, child abuse, neglect, and hooking. None of those crimes fall within our jurisdiction."

Olivia sighed, pain obvious in her eyes. "Maggie sweetie, can you come here?" As the little girl walked over, Olivia handed the baby to Elliot and picked up his sister when she held up her arms, still clinging to Olivia but at least looking at Elliot. "Can you tell Elliot what you told me?"

"Mommy will be mad," she whispered.

"Your mommy can't hurt you, Maggie. Elliot wants to help you."

Slowly, Maggie repeated what she'd told Olivia about the abuse. When she finished, fury was dancing in Elliot's eyes. "Christ," he hissed. He waited for his partner to put Maggie back down with instructions for her to finish her breakfast before speaking to Olivia again. "Have they been examined yet?"

"No. Dr. Edison came in and Maggie panicked. That's when I found out about the abuse. It looks like Brian has been taking care of Maggie and Jacob for awhile. I'm waiting for a female doctor."

"Okay. What are you planning on doing with them then?"

"I was going to bring them to the station, start an investigation, and call DCFS."

Elliot looked at Olivia carefully. "Liv, are you too close to this? Really?"

Olivia shook her head. "I'm fine. I want to catch the bitch who did this to them though. Jesus El, they're just babies."

Elliot reached out and rubbed a hand down her arm. "I know. And thinking about what they've been through almost makes me sick. But they're safe now, you found them."

Olivia nodded and the door opened. Maggie ran back to Olivia and nearly climbed her leg before she was picked up. A blonde female doctor stuck her head in. "Hi. I'm Dr. DelAmico. What do we have here?"

Olivia explained everything and who she was and saw anger flash in the doctor's eyes. Dr. DelAmico smiled at the children though. "Okay. Who's first for a check up?"

Brian swallowed hard. "I'll go. Then you can see that it doesn't hurt, Maggie."

Olivia smiled and stroked his hair gently. "You're such a good brother," she said softly.

Dr. DelAmico found several large bruises on Brian's body, along with round burns which looked to have been made by a cigarette. He was also pretty small for an eight year old in addition to being malnourished and slightly dehydrated. Once she was done with the check up, Dr. DelAmico said that he could take a sponge bath behind a screen and put on his new clothes since his old ones were going to be used for evidence of maltreatment. She'd also taken pictures of the bruises and burns.

Jacob went next because Maggie didn't seem inclined to release her grip on Olivia any time soon. He had bruises also and four cigarette burns on his legs. He, too, was malnourished and dehydrated. Elliot took the baby back and changed him into his new clothes while Olivia tried to convince Maggie to lay down on the examining table.

"Maggie, please let go, I'll be right here." She bent over, so Maggie was sitting on the table but Maggie still refused to let go. "Dr. DelAmico isn't going to hurt you, she's going to make sure that you're not sick." After finally prying Maggie loose, Olivia still stood next to her. Brian came back from changing and stood on her other side. Finally, all of the kids were finished with their examinations and changed into new clothes.

Dr. DelAmico looked at the detectives and motioned them to the other side of the room. Olivia quickly pulled out a coloring book and Crayons for Maggie before joining them. Elliot still held Jacob in his arms, rocking slightly. "They've obviously been abused. They need to get out of that home, now."

Olivia nodded. "We're taking them to the station with us."

"All of them are malnourished and dehydrated. Over the next couple of hours, get them to drink as many fluids as you can and have them eat healthy things. They should recover from it all very well. They're lucky you found them when you did, Detective Benson."

"Olivia," she corrected. "Are there any bad effects from being outside for so long, Dr. DelAmico?"

"Anna. So far, it looks like Brian and Maggie are coming down with slight colds. There was a little wheezing when I listened to their chests. Jacob seems fine though, thankfully. If you see anything else or have any questions, here's my card, give me a call."

Olivia smiled and handed the card to Elliot who tucked it in his wallet. "Thanks. Would you be willing to testify in court if we need you?"

Anna nodded. "Of course." She looked over at Brian and Maggie who were reading and coloring respectively before letting her gaze drop to Jacob. "Make sure you catch the person who did this to them," she said, stroking a finger down the baby's cheek.

"We will," Elliot promised.

After Anna left, Olivia pulled out the diaper bag and arranged it, fitting as much in as possible so she didn't have to walk around with an armload of bags in addition to three children for the rest of the day while Elliot filled the three bottles with formula. Jacob woke up again and began to cry before they left so Olivia took time to feed him and change his diaper before they walked to Elliot's car. Since they didn't have a car seat, Olivia held Jacob in the back seat while Elliot played chauffeur.

After a few blocks, Elliot glanced in the review mirror while they were stopped at a light and sighed. Olivia was obviously in love with the children already, he just hoped that it wouldn't end up hurting her. His next thought was how natural she looked, cradling Jacob in her arms, Maggie tucked against her side while she reassured Brian. He'd never doubted that Olivia would make a great mother some day.

"Hey, Liv," he said with sarcastic smile. "What do you think Cap's gonna say?"

*The appearance of Dr. Anna DelAmico from ER isn't an accident. Consider it a cameo.

**What is Cragen going to say about Olivia and Elliot arriving with three children? How will the rest of the 1-6 respond? Will they find the children's mother?