Work Text:
Olivia awoke with a jolt. She had gotten in the ambulance with Maria, not wanting to leave the little girl with strangers. She supposed technically, she was also a stranger - but at least her voice was familiar. Maria had passed out in the ambulance, and IVs as well as a ventilator were running from machines around her. When they had arrived at the hospital, she had been admitted into the pediatric ICU immediately. A nurse had escorted Olivia to seats right outside the room while doctors checked her over. Olivia, after calling Rafael, who she knew had been worried since she had sprinted back into the precinct instead of getting into the car he’d arranged to take them to see Spamalot, had collapsed across the row of chairs and fallen asleep.
She was disorientated having woken up after more than 24 hours awake, then it all came back. Maria. Finally realizing where she was. Digging up her body. The relief when the little girl had said “Olivia,” in her soft accented voice. The adrenaline fizz finally leaving her as she watched Maria sleeping on the ICU bed after the doctors had pronounced the girl, “dehydrated, malnourished, and exhausted,” but otherwise unharmed.
“Detective Benson,” A Nurse said from her station, “We moved Maria to a regular room. I can take to to her now.”
“Please,” Olivia said, “And thank you, for the blanket and pillow.” She folded the blanket and handed the items back to the nurse who had given them to her the previous evening.
“You’re very welcome. The little girl is anxious to see you,” At Olivia’s worried look the nurse quickly added, “Don’t worry - she hasn’t been awake long.”
“Olivia,” the voice from the bed said after they had entered.
“Maria,” she let out a sigh of relief, seeing the child sitting slightly up in bed, enough to eat from the tray in front of her. It was only toast, she noted - bland foods, which the nurse had told the child to eat slowly, but at least it was something. And she assumed the IVs were replenishing her as well.
“The IVs are hydrating and providing a source of sucrose to safely get her back up to normal levels,” the Nurse, Sofia, explained upon seeing Olivia’s glance in their direction, “I’ll leave you two alone.”
“You did find me,” Maria said softly.
“Nearly too late,” Olivia choked out a little, “But yes, we did.”
“What will happen to me? Mi Mama does not want me back, and Papa…”
“Don’t worry about that now,” Olivia said quietly, “Worry about getting better, and we’ll figure the rest out. But I’m sure your Mom wants you back…” She remembered the birthday photo. The girl had looked happy, well cared for.
“She doesn’t,” Maria choked out, “Where we live, it’s not safe anymore. The gangs have taken over, and they are in with the polizia.”
“Well…we will find your father, then,” Olivia said determinedly, “He sent for you, so he will be glad to hear you are okay.” She sat down close to the girl, but didn’t put hands on her, knowing what the child had been through.
“I…I don’t really remember him. He left when I was very small.” There was a knock then at the door, and Olivia looked up, a little surprised to see Rafael’s face through the narrow glass window.
“Give me just a minute, Maria,” she said, getting up.
“Rafa,” Olivia murmured as she joined him in the hall.
“Thought you could use this,” he told her, holding up a coffee mug and muffin from her favorite bakery.
“Ahhh, yes. How do you always know exactly what I need?” She murmured quietly. And she loved him even more for not admonishing her for being at the hospital, for leaving him on his own for their date.
“I love you, Liv,” he said instead. He wanted to suggest that she go home, get a few hours of sleep. But he knew what she would say.
“I love you too,” she murmured, “I’ll be home tonight.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. Assuming everything is okay with…” she gestured vaguely in Maria’s direction.
“How is she?” He took her hand in his, absentmindedly played with her fingers while she took a sip of coffee.
“She’s okay, considering. Malnourished, exhausted, and dehydrated. ACS is trying to locate her father.”
“Her mother hasn’t been in contact?” He asked, surprised. Olivia had given him the outline the previous night while she’d waited outside Maria’s room.
“No. Maria says she’s running scared - gang violence, drugs.”
“Ahh,” Rafael’s face twisted with sympathy, “poor kid. She escaped over the border…for that?”
Olivia sighed, her eyes watering - from tiredness as well as emotion, “Yeah. I’m sure it happens more than we realize.”
He sighed, agreeing with her, “I’d better go,” he murmured, “I’m going to be late.”
“Okay,” she told him, “Love you. I’ll be home soon, promise.” She kissed him lightly, and couldn’t help but smile when he smiled into the kiss. It wasn’t often she did it in public.
“Love you too, Liv.”
Olivia quietly stole back into the room, where Maria had put her tray aside - she’d managed half a slice of toast - and was leaning back against the pillows.
Their next visitor was an ACS worker. He had come in to inform them that he had been assigned to Maria’s case, and while they were working to locate her father, they’d had no luck yet. He wasn’t at the address her mother had provided them with, after which she had apparently disappeared completely. They’d passed the information onto the police and child services in California. The man wiggled around mentioning the mother any further, and when Maria asked him where she would go he stumbled again.
“The doctors want you to stay here until tomorrow morning. After that, you will either go to a foster family or a group home.”
“What does that mean?” The little girl had asked quietly, determinedly blinking the tears back.
“A foster home is with a family, and a group home is ran by the government,” he said. Olivia had to hand it to the man - he was trying to be soft, understanding. Olivia looked at the child, and knew she couldn’t do it. Send the girl to a foster home, or worse, a group home. More strangers. More change. And she knew Child Services in California wouldn’t try very hard to locate her father.
“Maria, we’ll be right back,” Olivia said, looking at the man, Amos Grant, she thought his name was - though she hadn’t really been paying attention when he’d introduced himself, being too preoccupied with her own thoughts, and gesturing to the door.
“I’ll foster her,” Olivia said. She knew it was rash. Knew she should talk to Rafael first. But also knew he’d understand.
“Have you passed ACS checks?” Amos asked, his voice even.
“No, but isn’t there an emergency process?”
“There is, yes. You’ll need to be approved, go before a judge, and there’s paperwork…are you married?” He trailed off.
“Yes, I’m married. We’ve been married two years, together for five.”
“Any kids of your own?” He asked.
“No…I can’t have children, and we’ve just started talking about alternatives,” she admitted.
“Okay, well…get him on board, and I’ll notify the ACS,” he handed her a ream of paperwork, and Olivia looked at him, a little surprised he had it with him.
“I read through your bosses case notes before coming in,” he said. I noted how determinedly you had fought on the girl’s behalf. “I had a feeling…”
“Mmm. Well, ok. If everything is approved, would we be able to bring her home tomorrow?” Olivia asked, “She’s been through so much. I hate to shuffle her around even more.”
“You’re right. I’ll see if they can send someone over this evening to do the home check. Assuming you pass that and the paperwork goes through, we’ll move mountains to get her home with you tomorrow.”
“Thank you,” Olivia sighed, glad that Maria had landed a good, caring, seemingly even competent, social worker. Now she just had to get Rafael on board.
Olivia caught a cab to the courthouse, wanting to catch Rafa on his lunch break. She had told Maria she had to do something urgent, but promised she would be back. The little girl had thankfully been sleepy, so Olivia didn’t feel too guilty in leaving her. She picked up lunch for herself and Rafael along the way, a club sandwich for him and chicken caesar salad for her, and fries to share.
He had just moved into the fancy front office, where he was trying cases for homicide. She was proud of him - Rafael had worked his way up through Brooklyn, and then finally got the transfer he’d been wanting to Manhattan since, a year after starting to date, they’d finally both admitted their relationship was serious and long term.
Olivia smiled at his secretary, Carmen, who nodded her through, “He just came in from arraignment. Good timing,” the woman said. She didn’t bother contacting her boss. Olivia was the only person allowed in without notification.
He was sitting at his desk, a stack of paperwork in front of him. She knew the homicide case was a big one - he had been prepping it the Saturday they were supposed to go and see Spamalot.
“Arraignment?” She asked, “Not another big case?”
“Nah, that one won’t be big,” he told her, “I should be able to plea him out, but the client is Rita’s, so we’ll see how generous she’s feeling,” Rafael smirked, causing his wife to roll her eyes at him. Her husband and Rita had a long standing friendship Olivia still struggled to fully comprehend, but it seemed to work for them.
“So what brings you here?” He asked, getting up to drop a kiss on her lips before clearing the files from the round table in the corner of his expansive office so she could place the food down.
“Maria,” she said as he undid his top two buttons. She passed him his food, and took hers out.
“Mmm.” He knew what she was about to say. He’d been expecting it since his wife had refused to leave the girl alone in the hospital.
“She doesn’t have any family, Rafa. At least, not family they can find. Not that they’ve tried that hard; you know how that goes.”
“So what do you want to do about it, Liv?”
“Foster her,” she said, looking him straight in the eye.
“Ok,” He said simply.
*************
Olivia rose her eyebrows at him, chewing while contemplating her response, “That easy?” She asked him.
“You think I didn’t know exactly what you’d want to do when you refused to leave the hospital?” Rafael asked her, “It won’t be easy, Liv, but if it’s what you want, I’m in.”
She sighed, “They might still find her father…” she trailed off, “It could just be temporary.”
“If it is, then we’ll know we did everything we could to ensure that she has a smooth transition to living with her Dad,” Rafael said.
“She’s going to need therapy, Rafa. Lots of it. I don’t know if she’ll be ready to go to school…”
“Well, it’s summer,” he said, “School just ended for the year. You take some time off work - Lord knows you have it. Get the name of a good child therapist. We’ll get her a lawyer, hire some PIs in California to find her father.”
“Really?” She asked, “You’re okay with me taking time off work? Doing all of that - finding Maria’s father, and then potentially losing her?”
“Liv, look at me,” he said, putting the sandwich down, taking her hand, and waiting until she met his eyes. “If IVF is a route you decide you want to go down, we can afford that, whether we take on Maria or not. The two aren’t mutually exclusive. If we find Maria’s father, and he’s in a position to take her back, and that’s the best thing for her, then that’s a good thing, right?” Olivia nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat. She couldn’t believe how fast she had gotten attached to the little girl, but of course she wanted Maria to be with family if that was possible. Rafael took a breath, and continued, “If we don’t find her father, then we’ll gain full custody. If we find him, and he agrees to give us full custody, then that’s great. Right?” Olivia managed a nod, reaching her hand to her eye to wipe a tear away. Again, emotion and exhaustion.
“Okay,” he said, “Let’s finish up, then you can take me to meet her. Then we should probably go home, clean a little for ACS to come, right?”
“You know it’s clean already,” Olivia laughed. He had encouraged her to change her ways after they had moved in together. Three years on and his cleanliness was finally rubbing off on her, “but yeah, let’s go introduce you two.”
“Wait outside a sec,” Olivia said to him as they walked up to the hospital room door, “I don’t want to blindside her.” Rafael nodded, prepared for this.
The girl was awake, but Olivia could tell she had only just woken up, “We didn’t wake you, did we?” She asked quietly.
“No,” Maria said through a yawn, “Who is we? Is someone else here?”
“Yeah. Uh, Maria, there’s someone I’d like you to meet. And then we both want to talk to you about something.”
“Okay. Who?”
“His name is Rafael. He’s my husband,” Olivia said.
“Oh. Okay. He can come in,” She said, and Olivia smiled reassuringly, getting up to open the door.
Rafael came in, and Maria shifted up on the bed even more. Both adults sat down.
“Hi, Maria,” he said softly, “My wife has told me a lot about you.”
“Why?” Maria asked, her voice nervous, cloud off for the first time since Olivia had spoken to her on the phone.
“Well…” Olivia took her, “You heard what Mr. Grant said about foster homes?”
“Yes,” Maria said, heartbreakingly quiet, “Where I have to go because there is nowhere else for me.”
“Actually, Maria, there might be somewhere else. Rafael and I talked about it, and we wondered how you would like to come home with us?”
“Really?” The girl asked, her voice brightening, making Olivia smile, “You want me to?” Both adults nodded.
“The Child Services people have to do some checks, but hopefully we will get approved and then, if you want to, you could come home with us.”
“Yes! Yes I want to,” the little girl cried.
“Good,” Olivia smiled.
That evening, Olivia and Rafael were both home for the ACS check. They had left Maria several hours earlier, Maria agreeing that Rafael could come and spend the night with her so Olivia could finally get some sleep.
Amos Grant and an imposing woman named Mrs. Jackson were doing the checks, “Everything seems in order,” the woman said, staring the couple down as she looked around.
“The girl is in the hospital for one more night?” She asked.
“Yes,” Olivia confirmed, “Rafael is going to head back there after we’re done here to stay with her. We’ll bring her home in the morning, assuming there are no further complications medically.”
“Alright. And we have your paperwork, which looks in order, so we’ll sign off on it. You’ll present yourselves and Maria in front of Judge Linden at 9AM on Friday morning.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” Rafael said for both of them.
After the ACS workers had left, Rafael drew Olivia into his arms. She slumped into them - both relief and exhaustion, he thought, “Get some sleep, mi amor. I’ll go back to the hospital and we’ll see you in the morning when she’s released.”
She nodded against his chest, “I need to go see Cragen too. Get the time off.”
“So go tomorrow morning when you wake up. Sleep now.”
The next morning, Olivia woke slowly. She had slept nearly 12 hours. She stumbled her way into the kitchen for coffee, needing the caffeine jolt to stay awake. She glanced at her phone while she stood in the kitchen. Rafa had sent a few texts. Maria would be discharged this afternoon. He had taken the day off work - easy enough since there was no court, and would sit with her until the doctors gave them discharge papers.
“Liv?” Her partner questioned, when she entered the precinct and dropped a coffee and muffin on his desk, “I thought you were off until Monday?”
“Yeah,” She told him, “I need to talk to Cragen about something.”
“Everything okay?” He asked, immediately worried.
“Yeah, fine. There have just been some…changes…and I need to take a little more time.” Cragen appeared then, spotting Olivia straight away.
“Liv, I told you…”
“I know, Captain, I’m not here to work. I need to talk to you though. Do you have a minute?” He nodded, and gestured to his office while Elliot looked worriedly at his partner, trying to guess what was up. Was she pregnant? He knew they had tried several rounds of IVF, but last time they’d talked about it Liv had said nothing had taken. He knew they had also discussed adoption, but surely something wouldn’t go through so quickly, and he’d know about it if they’d taken any further steps? Despite the fact he was a lawyer, Elliot actually liked Rafael. After some initial tension they got along well, not that there was really any time for socializing outside of SVU hours.
Meanwhile, in Cragen’s office Olivia was sitting in a chair opposite her captain’s desk, explaining about the foster application.
“So it went through that quickly?” Cragen asked.
“Yes, for an emergency foster. We’ll have to fill out more paperwork in the next couple of weeks.”
“What about Maria’s father?”
“Rafael wants to hire some PIs in California to trace him. He doesn’t think Child Services there will do their due diligence.”
“He’s probably right,” Cragen agreed, “What about the LAPD?” They knew that Los Angeles was Javier Racinos’s last known location.
“I’ll call them too.”
“I have a contact. Leave it with me?”
“That would be great, if you don’t mind.”
“Not at all. I offered. Now, what else are you here for? Time off?” He guessed.
Olivia let out a breath. Here it was, “Yeah,” she said, “I want to take…the summer. Maria is going to need a lot of support, and therapy, if we even have a hope of getting her to start school next year.”
Cragen looked at her, thinking, “You can tell me it’s not my business if you want, but how serious are you and Rafael about adopting her?”
“If her father can’t be tracked down or can’t take her, and it’s what Maria wants, we’re very serious,” Olivia said, “But whatever ends up happening, she needs to recover.”
“Okay,” he let out a breath, “Luckily for you, the police academy has also just finished, and they asked me if I could take someone on only last week. I told them no, because we didn’t have an empty desk. They want detectives doing rotations, so I’ll let them know we can take someone for the summer. It’ll be good for Elliot to change things up.”
Olivia sighed with relief. She’d been slightly worried he would tell her that they’d have to fill her desk with another full detective, so she’d lose her spot on the squad, “Perfect,” she said, “Thanks, Captain.” She got up to leave.
“And Olivia? You get to tell Elliot.”
Olivia turned around, gaping at him, then she laughed, “Fair enough.”
Olivia leant against the wall around the corner from Cragen’s office for a minute, texting Rafael. He responded straight away, letting her know they were still at the hospital, yes he could take Maria home, and they would meet her there after she had lunch with Elliot.
“Hey, El, got time for lunch?” She asked as she reentered their bullpen.
“Sure. Slow day around here,” he grumbled, finishing off his DD5 with a flourish and standing up.
Their feet automatically took them to their favorite lunch haunt - a diner a couple of blocks away from the precinct. Their favorite booth towards the back was empty. The waitress appeared straight away with their usual drinks - Coke for Elliot and water for Olivia, and they placed their usual orders.
“So, what’s up?” He asked.
“Um, I have news…” she trailed off, taking a sip of water to avoid the inevitable.
“I gathered. What news? Wait a sec, you’re not….” He looked at her, trying to discern any change in her physique.
“No, El, I’m not pregnant,” she said, “But…You know Maria?”
“The girl whose life you saved? Yeah.”
“Her mom won’t take her back…she claims its gang violence at home. I don’t know. Judging by the birthday photo, you’d think she loved her daughter, but…Anyway, Child Services can’t locate her father as yet.”
“Okaaaayyy…” Elliot dragged out, though now he had a feeling he knew where this was going.
“So, she was either going to be fostered - unlikely, given her age and background, or stuck in a group home while they “tried” to locate her father.”
“And you weren’t going to have that,” Elliot said quietly. He knew his partner.
“No, El, I mean, she’s been through so much already.” Their food came, but neither touched it.
“Rafael and I applied to be emergency foster parents. It went through. Her case worker pushed it through, I think, but either way, Maria is coming home with us this evening.”
“Wow, Liv. That’s awesome. How long for?”
“It’ll depend, I suppose, on her father,” Olivia said softly, “I’m trying not to get my hopes up too much…Cragen’s got a contact at LAPD he’s going to talk to, and Rafael wants to hire a PI to look into it as well.”
“You’ll find him,” Elliot said confidently, taking a bite of his sandwich.
“I’m completely sure of that. What I’m not sure of is whether or not he’ll want his daughter back.”
“Liv, if he’d wanted her surely he would’ve made some kind of effort to figure out what happened to her. We found the cousin, he said no one contacted him asking about Maria. It seems pretty clear to me that neither of her parents cared about her.”
“Maybe he couldn’t for some reason…”
“The only acceptable excuse would be that he died,” Elliot said firmly, scathingly. Olivia knew he didn’t have any time for parents who didn’t love and care about their children.
“Either way, he’s her biological father, so if he wants her…”
“If he wants her and isn’t a drug addict or alcoholic and has a steady job and can provide a home for her, you mean,” Elliot interrupted, “As well as a reason why he didn’t chase her down when she didn’t cross the boarder. And let’s not even get started on his immigration status…”
“Okay, yes, El, but if he’s her father, and she loves him, and she wants to be with him..”
“Then you’ll fight like hell to make sure that happens. But, Liv, the chances aren’t high. Are you ready to take this on? Until she’s 18, and beyond?”
“I am, El. So is Rafa. We both want this.”
“Well, that’s great, Liv. I can’t imagine better parents for her. So how is this going to affect work?” He’d been wondering, based on her immediate need to speak with their Captain on her day off.
“That’s the other thing I need to talk to you about. She’s been through so much. She’s going to need a ton of therapy, reassurance, if we stand a hope in hell of getting her back to school next year. And who knows how far behind she is…she didn't go to school when she first moved here. And her immigration status. Anyway, all that combined - I’m going to take some time, El. The summer, actually.”
Elliot drew in a breath, and forced himself to hold back his wince. He hated working with other people, and who knew if Olivia’s desk would be available three months from now.
“Cragen said so I can keep my desk he’ll give my spot to a rookie while I’m away,” she finished quickly.
“A rookie he’s gonna want me to train, I suppose?” Elliot asked grumpily, pushing the remaining pieces of his fallen apart sandwich around his plate.
“Yeah. You’re good at it, El. After all, you trained me, and look how amazing I turned out?” She smirked at him, and he couldn’t help but laugh.
“Trrrueeee,” He tailed off.
They finished lunch, and stood outside the restaurant, looking at each other. The last time Olivia had left had been computer crimes. That had lasted two months. This would be longer.
“Well, we’re not mad at each other this time, at least,” Elliot said finally.
“Mmm. True. Don’t know if that makes it better or worse,” Olivia said.
“You deserve this time, Liv. And I’ll see you in three months. Or maybe before? If Maria’s up to it, you guys could come over - hang out with the kids?”
“Yeah, we’ll see how she’s doing,” Olivia agreed.
“Good. Hang in there, Liv. Enjoy it, challenges and all.”
“I will. Good luck with the rookie,” she said, giving him a hug before turning in the opposite direction from the precinct and heading home for her new life.