Content warnings: drug addiction, homelessness

Tessa twitched her nose in an attempt to subtly flick away the sewage stench that permeated the downtown Los Angeles streets. No matter where they went, the city had two smells: bad and worse. And the area where Eleanor had last been seen fell into the worse category.

Next to her, Joe sidestepped a rotting pile of garbage.

"Of all the places to be homeless, LA is one of the worst."

Tessa nodded in agreement.

"Let's just find Eleanor," she said, thinking of Ellie sitting at home without anyone else with her. She had been home alone before and handled it well, but it did not make Tessa any less anxious to get back to her.

As far as Ellie knew, Tessa and Joe had gone out for the night. They did not want her knowing that their version of "going out" meant combing through the streets for a woman who abandoned her daughter. It was not worth getting her hopes up if they were unsuccessful.

The first time they went searching for Eleanor, they at least had police to do all the heavy lifting for them. Even then, it'd taken several days.

Now that finding Ellie's mother was no longer a police matter, Tessa and Joe only had themselves to rely on—and a private investigator to get them most of the way there. So they took to the streets with nothing but a three-year-old mugshot from a public database, a list of streets Eleanor frequented, and a resolve to do whatever it took to get Ellie her mom back.

"Down there," Tessa said, pointing towards a street sign denoting the corner of Fifth and San Pedro. "The PI said she's been there every day this week."

Joe took Tessa's hand and veered off the curb to bypass a myriad of tents blocking the sidewalk.

They walked with purpose down the street, weaving through makeshift shelters. Tessa's heart ached for the people who slept there, their stories of how they ended up on the streets unimaginable.

Most importantly to her, she hurt for Eleanor. Not only had she lost her daughter, but she lost herself as a result, driving her out of her home and into the merciless disease of addiction.

At the end of the block, Joe stopped them outside a mission and approached a group of volunteers unloading boxes from the bed of a pickup truck.

"Have you seen this woman?" He held out the piece of paper they'd printed at home with Eleanor's mugshot.

The volunteers ignored him.

"I'm not asking for anything. I just need to know if you've seen her."

"Get in line or fuck off," barked a bearded man the size of a refrigerator, gesturing towards a queue of people along the side of the building.

Tessa and Joe checked every mission and shelter within the three block radius Eleanor frequented, most of them unwilling to even glance in their direction. The ones who actually gave them the time of day did not recognize her.

With the sun beginning to set and taking the warmth of day with it, Tessa and Joe would have to call it quits soon.

"Just one more," Tessa said, pointing to a building across the street. A handwritten sign taped to the front of a table that read "first come, first serve" flapped in the thick breeze.

"Excuse me," Joe said to the person manning the table at the entrance. "We're looking for this woman. Have you seen her?"

The volunteer replied without looking up from her hands.

"Nope."

"We're trying to reunite her with her daughter." Joe held out the image, but the volunteer brushed them off again.

Joe's polite approach was getting them nowhere, so Tessa decided it was time to switch tactics.

"Please." She took another step forward so her legs bumped against the table. "She's... dying."

"Tess," Joe scolded through clenched teeth, but she ignored him.

"Her daughter is on her deathbed. It's her dying wish to see her mom one last time."

Joe nudged her side, but she nudged back harder to get him to follow suit.

"Right," he grunted as his wife's elbow jabbed his ribs. "Help a sick kid out."

Tessa and Joe waited with bated breath as the volunteer's mind turned. Finally, she sighed and raised her disinterested eyes to take a brief glance at the paper.

"She was banned for using indoors," she said. "Heard she goes to the church on Crocker. Buncha bleeding hippie hearts. They'll probably buy your load of shit story."

"Thank you," Tessa breathed. She took off down the street, leaving Joe to jog to keep up with her. With the sun now sitting halfway down the high rises in the distance, there wasn't much light left, and they would not be caught outside after dark.

Tessa's heart pounded as they weaved down the sidewalk. When they reached the church, a young man in a stained apron was turning away what remained of the line.

"We're all out," he called. Tessa detected the perfect hint of regret hanging in his voice.

"This woman's child is sick and dying," she said, snatching the paper from Joe. "Is she inside?"

The horror that struck the kid's face almost made her feel guilty for lying. But she only had one person on her mind.

"Yeah." He rubbed his palms against his apron. "She was one of the last in line. I don't think she's left yet."

"Show us," Joe demanded.

The kid led them past the front doors, through the drafty church, and into a crowded fellowship hall.

The unhoused who arrived on time were all seated at folding tables, packed together as they ate amidst light chatter. Tessa scanned the crowd with desperate eyes, silently begging for Eleanor to be there.

The kid stopped another young volunteer and pointed to the paper in Tessa's hand.

"Hey, have you seen her?"

The volunteer pointed across the room. Tessa's gaze followed the finger towards a corner table where a woman's bony frame was hunched over, her short curly hair draped down the sides of her neck.

Tessa and Joe slid through a sea of chairs to the back of the room.

"Eleanor," Tessa said as soon as she was within earshot, but she did not turn around. Tessa repeated herself. "Eleanor."

The woman turned, and a wave of relief passed over Tessa. Though several years older, she was the spitting image of her daughter, and unfortunately with the same weary look. Life had dealt Eleanor and Ellie different cards, but they both wore the same exhaustion and misfortune in their eyes.

"Who are you," Eleanor asked, guarding the paper bowl in front of her.

"I'm Tessa. This Joe. Remember? Ellie lives with us."

"Fuck off," Eleanor spat. "My kid's dead."

"No, she's alive. Remember, you saw her in the hospital. And you came to our house."

Eleanor pondered for a moment. Years of drug use had affected her brain, but Tessa swore she could see the memories from a few months prior return to her tired eyes.

"What? Is she hurt?"

"No, Ellie's not hurt," Joe said, because saying she was okay would be a lie. He crouched down to the same level and Eleanor shrugged away from him. "We came to take you back to her."

"She's better off without me."

"She needs her mom. There's a diner down the street. Come with us, we'll talk there."

Eleanor eyed the nearly empty bowl.

"Fine. You're paying."

Eleanor pushed away from the table and followed Tessa and Joe.

Outside, the tops of the buildings glowed bright orange, while the streets lingered in the blue shadows of nightfall.

Tessa, Joe, and Eleanor made their way down the block as people who were not lucky enough to find a shelter bed began to rustle into their makeshift tents to protect from the impending cold night.

They found a secluded booth near the back of the diner for privacy. Not that they needed it, considering the shoddy restaurant was a ghost town. But the woman refused to speak until she had a plate of hot food in front of her.

"Ellie misses you," Tessa said as soon as Eleanor dove into a cheeseburger. "She's hurting without you there."

Eleanor bit off half a french fry.

"She doesn't need me."

"Of course she does," Joe said, resting his elbows against the table. "Come home with us. We'll get you the help you need to get clean so you and Ellie can be together again. We found a rehab program that's not far from us, so Ellie can visit as often as you both want. They'll take you as soon as you're ready."

A glimpse of Ellie passed across Eleanor's face as she wrinkled her forehead in thought the same way her daughter did.

"I can't afford that."

"You don't have to," Joe said. "Please. For Ellie. Show her that you still care about her. Stay with her tonight, join the program tomorrow, and you'll be out in time to spend Christmas with her—with us."

"Eleanor," Tessa said. She reached across the table and held the woman's hand like she often held Ellie's. "Please come with us. It would mean the world to Ellie if you were there."

"Why are you doing this," Eleanor questioned. Tessa gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

"Because we love Ellie, too."

Having said what they needed to say, Tessa and Joe waited for her response.

They knew that Eleanor did not consciously pursue that life for herself. Having first row seats to Chase and Robin's lives spiraling into near disrepair after losing Lizzie, they could hardly fault her for it.

After Lizzie was found, she was different, but she was still Lizzie. Eleanor lost her daughter, and the seventeen-year-old that came back was not the same as the child who disappeared. Both Ellie and Eleanor had changed so much that they were practically strangers.

But when Tessa said they loved Ellie, she meant it. Not because she saved Lizzie, but because she felt like a missing piece in their lives. The girl who was afraid of her own shadow was more than just another person under their roof. She was tender, full of compassion, and showed a kindling curiosity for life outside the basement's walls.

Ellie meant the world to Tessa and Joe, and they were willing to do whatever it took to make her happy. But even though Ellie's nightmares and aversion to sleep drove them there, they stayed for Eleanor. Because after what Ellie and her mother had been through, they deserved the kind of happiness that could only come from being together.

Finally, Eleanor looked up.

"Okay. I'll go with you."

Elated, Tessa and Joe waited for Eleanor to decide she was done, and they drove her home.

When they first walked through the door, Ellie did not seem to notice anything amiss. She stuck to her usual chair by the back windows, her eyes held wide open at an open book as she staved off the sleep she desperately needed. It wasn't until Eleanor stood in the middle of the room that she finally looked up, and her eyes grew even wider. The prominent dark rings under her eyelids were visible from where Tessa waited by the door.

"Mom?"

Ellie slowly rose to her feet and tentatively treaded towards her mother. Tessa could not see Eleanor's face, but based on how she held her arms stiffly at her side, she was not sure what to do.

"Ellie. You look..." Eleanor trailed off, flattening her daughter's hair. Ellie met Eleanor's hand with hers and held it against her head.

Eleanor pulled her daughter into an uncertain embrace. The teen returned the hug, but stared at Tessa and Joe, confusion written across her face.

"What are you doing here," Ellie asked, breaking the lackluster hug.

When Eleanor failed to answer, Tessa spoke for her.

"She's going to stay here for the night. Then we'll all drive to a rehab facility together in the morning."

Ellie's tired eyes sparkled with a glimmer of light brighter than Tessa had ever seen on her.

"Really?"

Eleanor nodded. "Yeah, baby. Really."

A smile cracked its way up Ellie's lips for the first time since she began to remember her nightmares. Flinging her arms around her mother, she squeezed, like nothing in the world could tear them apart again.

"We can be together again," she mumbled into Eleanor's jacket.

Ellie and Eleanor held each other for a moment longer. Tessa leaned into Joe as they watched from the sidelines with small smiles of pride and admiration.

Finally, Ellie pulled away, her face illuminated with unbridled excitement.

"Can I show you my room?"

Before Eleanor had a chance to accept, Ellie was already leading her towards the stairs. She guided her mother upstairs like a child excited to show their new friend a prized possession.

"You'll love it. It has a bathroom, and huge windows, and a ton of books, and..."

Once Ellie's chatter faded, Tessa let out a sigh. Ellie finally had her mother back. Not for long, at least for the time being. Eleanor has a long road ahead, but she was on the right path. For the first time in months, everything seemed to finally fall into place for the briefest moment.