(Ariel's P.O.V)
I was sat up again. I felt alright. Talking to Anna really helped. Knowing that I was going to be ok felt good. Jason was texting me. He did seem off at school the other day.
Hey Ari,
The reason why I was late yesterday is because I had to sort my little brother out.. but my Dad is hurting my mom. Could we just keep this between us please? I'm scared enough as it is.
The first thing that flashed in my mind was.. Is he hurt as well? It's just him and his little brother. Should I tell Mom and Dad? They'd know what to do. "Ri! Ri!" Hearing my little brother's voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
"Coming Caleb!" Opening my curtains, I then went to open the bedroom door. "Morning you." Kissing him on the cheek, he giggled. "Mommy.. ownstairs." Heading down there with him, my sister said hi. "Hey Paigey. What are you eating?' Getting Caleb a drink, I placed him in his highchair. "Cereal. Coco Pops are my favourite." As she kept chatting to me, I asked her if she had cheerleading practice today. "Yes I do. It's at 11am." Mom and Dad then came downstairs. "Morning Mommy!" She walked over to Paige, giving her a kiss on the forehead. "Morning sweetpea." Dad then gave me a hug. "Morning honey." As I put milk in Caleb's beaker, I gave it to him. "Hanks Ri." He was sweet. "So, are you ready for counselling this morning Dad?' He said yes as he sipped his coffee. "I'll be ok. Paige? Do you have practice later sweetpea?' She smiled. "Yes I do Daddy. I've finished breakfast now. Thanks." She said she was heading upstairs to shower. "We have work later on tonight Ari." My mind then drifted.. to the text. "Huh?" Mom asked if I was alright. "Yeah I'm fine. I promise." Caleb kept banging his beaker on his highchair table. "Hey monkey, please stop that." Dad went to get him out. "Did you enjoy breakfast?" He nodded. "I'm happy about that. How about we both get dressed and then we can look at some of your toys?" He giggled. "That's my boy!" As Dad went upstairs with him, I asked mom a question.
"What if someone I knew needed help? What could I do?" She sipped her tea. "You could always try talking to them. Just be there. Is something going on that I should know about?" I shook my head. "No. Trust me." She hugged me. "I trust you." We spoke about Auntie Nina. "How is she? We've not heard from her." Mom looked at me.. "I think she's ok. I've not heard from her either."
(Nina's P.O.V)
I wiped the tears away from my eyes. Axel was crawling around in his bedroom. I'd had enough. Simon had drained me. I needed to see the therapist that Olivia had recommended. For both me and him. "Momma.." His arms wrapped around mine. I hadn't texted Olivia or Amanda. I felt so emotionally drained. "Axel.. baby." I kissed his cheeks. Getting up, I got some clothes out for him. Ringing the therapist, I asked him if he had an slot free for this evening. "Thanks. I'll see you then." I just needed someone else to talk to.
As I washed my little man, I thought more about appyling for a job. Maybe I needed a fresh start in terms of a career. "All done." As I wrapped him up in a towel, I sorted him out. "Dada?" Trying not to cry, I just focused on him. As I heard the front door shut, I felt a stray tear drop down my cheek. "All done baby." As he shuffled into his bedrooom, he went to play with his toys. Getting a blouse out with some jeans, I turned the shower on. As the water warmed up, I jumped in. Letting my mind just wander, I thought about the last few nights...
"Si?" He had been in the bathroom for ages. Sitting up in bed, I felt a bit nervous. I wondered if something was up. "Ahh.. babe, you look stunning." He pulled his t shirt down. He looked a bit flustered.. "Thanks baby." As he stroked my cheek, I giggled. "You are amazing. His lips then touched mine. "You taste incredible." He was sure being romantic tonight.. something still felt off.. "You.. are.. just.. so... sexy.." My heart fluttered.
"Mama?" Sprinkling water over my face, I turned the shower off. Wrapping the towel around my body, I dried my hair quickly. Checking on Axel, he grinned at me. His tooth was slowly coming through. "One minute baby." My phone rang. It was Olivia. "Hi. How are you?" She told me everything. "Your nephew is starting to shuffle around. He's great. I'm going to start looking for jobs today. Ahh ok. Good luck with work tonight. I'll see you soon. I will kiss him for you. Bye hun!" As I finished getting ready, I straightend my blouse out and brushed my hair. Heading downstairs, I checked that everything was in my bag. Mom then rang me. "Morning sweeheart. How are you?" Zipping up Axel's backpack, I headed out. "I'm good thanks Mom. I'm heading to you now." As I drove, I thought about what I could say to her. She would know that something was up. As I parked up the car, Axel giggled. "Mama?" I took him out of the car. "Yes baby." He then said Nanna. "That's right." Mom then said hi. "Hey." As she took her grandson, she looked at me. "You look lovely sweetheart. You'd better go. We'll talk later." Axel then waved bye. "Bye sweetie."
Heading to the centre, I checked to see if I was in the right place. Stepping out of the car, I went inside to reception. "Hi. I'm here to see Karen." As I sat down, I saw messages from Liv and Amanda.
Olivia:
Good luck with your interview. I know that you're nervous. You're an amazing person. I'm really proud of you.💜🙌
Amanda:
I just wanted to say good luck!!!! You're so amazing. I have every faith that you'll be successful.💛
"Nina Rodgers?" A lady with blonde hair walked up to me. "Yep." As I shook her hand, she asked if I was ok. "I'm good thanks." As we walked towards her office, I sat down. 'Welcome to Brook Road Help Centre.' She told me a bit more about what they did, how they've helped young women and what their values are. 'We are here to provide support and care. Some of the women we've helped have been through some tough things. Do you know what it's like to go through something along the lines of well.. awful?" I nodded. "Yes I do." As she spoke to me about the job description, I looked at the contract. I would be a counsellor and have full training as well. "What skills do you have that may contribute to our team?" I said that I was a good listener. "Could you tell me about a time where someone needed help?" I told her about when Olivia was going through a tough time. "One of my best friends went through a rough patch with her boyfriend. I was there for her. I just listened to her." The lady then nodded. "It sounds like you really helped. I think that you would be a good addition to our team. I'll be in touch." Shaking her hand, I left the building. I think it went well. My phone then rang. It was Greg. "Hi. Yep. I'm on my way now." As I got in the car, Simon called me.
It feels like fight or flight...
"Hi." I started to drive. He sounded like he was fine. "Where's Axel?" I really couldn't be bothered to do small talk with him right now. "He's with my mom. I'm on my way to the appointment." He said that he would meet me there. As I ended the call, I tried not to break down in tears. I had just come out of a really good interview and now I had to go and spill everything to a complete stranger.. great. As I pulled up at the office, I took a deep breath. I had to do this for Axel.
"Yes. I'm here to see Greg.' The lady at the desk then said to sit down and wait. I felt anxious. I saw Simon walking towards the entrance. What should I do? As the door opened, he sat on another chair. "Hey." His eyes were still dreamy. I just wanted to figure out what was going on inside his head. He was at fault here. I did nothing wrong. "How's Axel?" I said that he was fine.
"Nina Rodgers?" Greg popped his head through his office. "Yes?" He asked if I wanted to go in. "Thanks." As I sat down, I placed my bag on the side. "So, I'm Greg. It's nice to meet you. It's nice that Olivia recommended that you come and see me." I felt really confused about him. "You're frightened. You're feeling like you're on your own.." He wasn't wrong to start off with.. sighing, I told him a bit. "I went through the worst ordeal of my life. I was hurt badly.." Greg then spoke more.. "How do you really feel Nina? Is the guy outside your boyfriend?" A tear dropped down my cheek. "Yes. He is." Greg then said that I could talk a bit more. At my own pace.
"I trusted him. I feel stupid now. Putting myself out there after going through something awful." I let the tears fall.. they felt salty. "I feel like my guard is back up again." Greg then voiced his opinion again. "You're protecting yourself by saying that you're ok.. I can tell that you've been telling yourself that you can handle all of this pent up anger and hurt on your own.. And I can also tell that deflecting the fact that you have problems is making you feel worse."
I nodded. "I'm guessing that something serious must of happenend to you." I sat forward.. feeling the sweat on my hands more and more. "Honestly, I want him to leave me alone. I just want to be alone with my child." Greg asked me if I had a tendency to put my guard up when things become more real.. "Well, it's much more than that. I do mainly do that. At the start, we were just having fun. We texted a lot. I'd just come out of a really bad relationship.. I wouldn't let him near me for a couple of months. As soon as I let him in and we became intimate, he broke my trust. He can't be trusted. I just can't.." I continued to cry and just left the room. "Nina! Please come back!" I heard Greg's voice.. but I just went back into the car park. Sitting in the car, I just let myself have a good cry.
(Simon's P.O.V)
"Hi Greg." As I sat down on the couch, I felt my heart beating. I was very nervous as well. "Hi Simon. What's brought you here today?" I looked at him. The memories of Axel flashed through my mind. That little boy was my world. He may not be mine biologically.. but I've practically raised him.
'How did you feel about Nina when you first started talking?" I took a deep breath. "I thought that she was an great girl. I really liked her. She's one of my sister's best friends. I still love her deeply." Greg asked me what went wrong. "I decided to head out to a club with some friends. As we were hanging out, I saw an ex girlfriend of mine." Greg nodded. As I continued to talk, my fists clenched. "Simon.. I'd like you to take a few deep breaths." As I breathed in and out, I felt myself calm down. "She made me feel aroused... My body just reacted. When I got home, I instanly went to find Nina. I just wanted her.. but I didn't feel it. She was confused as to why I needed her so badly."
Then, I went to relieve myself in the bathroom. I felt so bad. My ex girlfriend had made me feel like that. But, I didn't act on the impulse. I didn't go there with her." Greg then spoke..
"The thing is, Nina needs that security. When was the first time that you noticed that something was wrong?" I said that she would keep herself to herself when we were in the house together. "That side of things was like a slow burn.. but I didn't want to be nothing like her ex. I'd never do that to her. I wanted to be respectful. She trusted me. She started to open up more. She started to smile more. I trusted her as well. Axel was happy. Can you imagine having to go and relieve yourself because your ex partner makes you feel aroused?!"
I needed to calm down.. "Simon.. I can tell that you feel angry. I can tell that the incident moved very quickly. The good thing though.. is that you didn't act on that impulse. You told your ex girlfriend no." I agreed with him. "Yes, I did tell her no. I love Nina too much." Greg told me that Nina had been really hurt in the past.. "That's why she's so guarded. That's why she shouts when she's upset. That's why she decides to leave as she doesn't want to get hurt again. I understand that I hurt her." Greg smiled. "It's amazing that you're realising some things. You just need to slowly give her time. Her little boy needs her right now." Greg was right. I realised that what happened really affected her. I broke her trust. She had been hurt already before. "I'll phone you both to arrange another session soon." Shaking his hand, I left the centre. Heading home, I just went to get my stuff. I decided to stay in a hotel for a few nights.
(Elliot's P.O.V)
All of the squad was at the precinct. We were briefing on the mission. "So, this guy called Alan is hurting and taking advantage of young teenage girls in this care home?" Carisi nodded. "Yes. He's preying on their vulnerabilites.. Ellie Wood. She's 14 and she's ran away from home mutiple times because her dad is hurting her mom. She had a soical worker.." As I read more, I read my UC character brief. My name was Neil and I was going to be an recovering addict who was looking for his daughter. Thanking Carisi, he followed me to the guy's restroom. "Hey babe." Olivia kissed me. "Hi. Are you off to get ready?" I nodded. "Yep. See you in a bit. I love you.' She smiled. "I love you more.' As I got dressed, I put on my white vest top, my eyes looked quite suken and tired. That was the look I was going for anyway. "My brief is quite good. I'm going to be Xander." Carisi told me more. "So you'll be looking for your little sister." He nodded. "Yes I will be. The other girl is Anna. She's 15. She was brought up in a terrible home. Her mom left when she was little and her dad had developed a drink problem." As he got ready, I finished off. Waiting outside, I texted Charlie.
Hey bro. Hope that you're ok. At work tonight. Will text you later.
"Elliot. You look messed up!" Fin bro hugged me as I laughed. "That's kinda the point Finn. You look diffrent." He was wearing a black t shirt with some trousers. "I'm going to be looking for my "niece." He said her name was Hannah. She's 14. Her mom had not treated her right. She ran away from home at a young age." He read everything else from his brief. The ladies then walked out. Me and Carisi wolf whistled..
"Well, thankyou." Olivia told me more as Amanda walked over to Carisi. "Y"all are making me think about Pheobe." Finn blushed. "Ahhhh! Well, maybe you should call her Finn!" Olivia laughed. We got the location details and we made our way there. "Lucy texted me saying that Paigey is at cheerleading practice right now. It's only 3pm. Caleb and Ari are with her too." As we got to the care home, Carisi checked the details.
"25 Staten Street. It's that one over there. As he parked up, we all got out of the car.
"This is the care home?" Amanda asked. "Yep." Olivia said she'd go in first. She was wearing a casual outfit. "Here I go." As we waited outside, we heard her. "I've been clean for about 4 months now. I just wanna see my daughter.." As we followed each other inside, we kept close to each other. "Hi. I'm Alan Greenwood. Welcome to the local care home. What can I do for you?" I sniffed. "I'm looking for my daughter. "Yeah. That's her." I saw Olivia grimace at the surroundings.. the rooms were a mess. "But why?! My friend here is looking for his niece." Alan then looked at me. "Fine. You wanna see your niece? She's actually busy in that room down there."
As we walked down the hall, I coughed. "You ok Neil?" Shaking my head, I clenched my fists. "Nah man. I wanna see my daughter." Carisi then caught up with us. "Hey Neil. I've found 2 girls in the bedroom upstairs. You might wanna see this." We saw Hannah with a guy who looked way older than her. He was kissing her.. "Oi! Hey man! That's my niece!" The guy just sneered at him.. 'So?" I saw Finn nearly rough him up. "So.. you can't touch her." The girl stood up and placed a towel around her body. She looked petrified.. "He.." She ran to the bathroom. "Hey! Hey! You!" As Finn went to find the girl, I shut the door. "Don't move!" I heard another girl crying.. "Do you know my daughter? I've been looking for her.." I scratched my cheek. "Nah. I've not seen her." A knock on the door. "Who is it?!" I heard someone else's voice. "It's Kelly." Opening the door, I looked at my fiancee.. my god, if we weren't undercover right now, I'd want some one on one time with her. "Hey. Did you touch her?" He wolf whistled.. "Is this your lady friend?" I wanted to hit him...
"Where's my daughter?!" He sneered. "I hooked up with her.. She's in the bathroom. You look like rubbish. Do you need a fix?" I nodded. "What you got?" He took out some bags.. so, he was dealing and screwing teenage girls?! "I've got powder and tablets." Taking them, I got my cuffs out. "You're under arrest. For sexual activity with a minor and drug supply." Don't talk!" As I placed him against the wall, I heard crying. "No! He hurt me! Please help me!" I asked Olivia if she and Amanda were ok. "We're good Elliot. I'm going to get her some water. Arrest that idiot!" As Amanda and her took the girls, we saw Alan walking downstairs.. he sped up as Carisi chased him. "Alan! Stop! I'm with SVU! You're disgusting pal!" He protested. "I didn't do nothing! Those girls came to me for help!" Carisi just huffed. "You took advantage of them."
At about 10pm, we were all done. "I'm so tired Olivia." I hugged her. "I love you." I asked her what will happen with the 2 girls. "They'll be in temporary care for a couple of weeks. Then, they'll come in for questioning." Warming her up, she got a video through from Lucy. "Look at our little star cheerleader." Paige had really improved. She was awesome!
"Shut up!" Finn dragged Alan to the cop car. "You won't find anything. I'll get a good lawyer." I opened the car door. "You're going to rot in jail for the rest of your life. You never, ever do that to anyone! Do you understand me?" I then asked the officer to cuff him. "Good job guys." Finn hugged me. Amanda then smiled at me. "One night done." All we had to do now was the paperwork, court arraignments and try to get the girls to testify and make Alan pay for what he did.
The best thing we did was give the surviours hope.♡
Amanda and Carisi had to go back undercover tomorrow night though. But, me, Olivia and Finn were done for the night.