Zoe's POV:

We're both sitting at the edge of my bed quietly. He looks pretty nervous and it's kind of weird.

"You don't have to explain it to me."I say, breaking the despicable silence between us.

"What?"he says quietly.

"I understand why you left, ok? I can't blame you for leaving at all. It's not your fault, you're an adult, it was your decision to move on from Mom. But...you can't just abandon kids like that and expect them to pick up the relationship where it stopped, you know that, you used to work the same job as Mom. I missed you, Dad, you were gone a few years, you started a whole new life. I know kids with parents in jail that see them more than I see my own. I'm not angry, I just can't trust you again yet, you broke my heart. You left me for another life, while I was trapped doing the same thing...over and over again."I say, in a sophisticated manner

"I'm sorry, Zoe. I'm never letting that happen again. I'm here for you now, whatever you need. Your sister is here in New York with me. You'll get to meet her soon."he says, which makes me feel twenty times worse.

"I don't think you understand. I don't want to meet her, I don't want to remember that stupid mistake that you made a few years ago. I don't want to blame you here, but I am pissed! You were there for me forever and then you just faded away, I had no one to confide in and no one to help or understand me. Now, remember, you didn't answer Mom's calls or my texts after I was raped...you ignored me, you were too busy nurturing your other child... please, Dad, just go away for a while, I'm not saying you've got to go home, I'm saying you can't be here."I say avoiding all eye contact.

"I'm not leaving this house until everything between us is better."he says, planting his feet on the ground.

I look at him for a second, angrily, then throw my coat over my clothes, running out of the house. Amanda and Mom jump up at the sight of my anger rushing through the front door, wondering what the hell just happened.

"Zoe!"I hear my mother shout behind me, but this time, I'm not doing anything stupid. Once I get out the door, I sit at the end of the steps and plug my headphones in. I don't cry this time. I just stare blankly into the street because what the hell is there left for me to do? I can't cry anymore, I can't feel anything, but I'll be ok...right?

I hear Mom come down the steps, she wraps her arms around me as I sigh deeply.

"It gets better."she whispers.

"I'm sorry, I just can't forgive him yet."I say quietly.

"And you're at liberty to be angry, but not forever. Be happy that you know your father and that he's here now. You know about my father...I never had a father figure, I did it all on my own until I met Cragen."she says, which is true, Mom is a child of rape and although I know it hurts her, she never complains.

A few hours later, Dad and Amanda leave the house and it's just me and Mom.

"Hey, you want to come down to the precinct with me?"she asks me, dressed for work, with her keys in her hand.

"Yeah, sure."I say getting up, I decide to change my outfit quick. I put on a pair of ripped black jeans and a gray T-shirt, after throwing a black blazer over it all, I put on a pair of white Vans from my closet. Then I braid my hair into a fishtail and go brush my teeth.

After I'm finished, I lock the door and rush out to the car, after Mom hears the click of my seat belt, we take off.

When we get there, I receive a big hug from Carisi, Fin, and Amaro.

"I think I've missed you the most."says Carisi, with a cute smirk on his face.

"No way, I have, I talk about you everyday."

"He only talked about you because you weren't here to go on food runs for him."says Carisi, now the competition starts.

"She doesn't like you two clowns, girl power is where it's at."says Amanda, giving me a high five as she walks in.

"Rollins, you're not allowed in this competition, it's for boys only."says Nick, sitting back in his desk chair.

"Oh, now I'm definitely in. I've known the girl longer than all of you fools."says Fin, looking up from his computer.

"Oh, come one guys, I love all of you equally. Maybe Amanda a little more, 'cause she's right, it's girl power, but trust me, I do love you all."I say, looking for my phone in my pocket.

It rings so loud, that everyone hears it. Of course, it's Peter texting me.

"Who's texting you?"says everyone in unison.

"It's no one, just a friend."

"A boy friend?"they all say seductively.

"No...a girl from the squad, asking me when I'll be back."I lie, not even feeling too bad about it.

"Yo, where have you been?"he texts.

"I've just been dealing with a few things. Nothing too serious."I say, now I'm lying to everyone.

"When can we see each other again?"he asks me, which makes my face light up.

"We have to wait until I come back to school. I don't want to risk my Mom finding out about that party."I tell him, meaning every word of it.

"I get it. If your Mom questions or ever finds out, just tell her it was me. I don't want you in any more trouble because of me."he says, which kind of makes me feel good.

"You know, strawberry lemonade hasn't been the same without you."I say, thinking about our time at Starbucks.

"Nothing has been the same without you ❤."he makes me feel special.

"I could say the same to you ❤. I've got to go though, I have a fever and I think I'm going to take a nap."I say, meanwhile rubbing my temples.

"Ok, I'll talk to you later, I've got football practice."

"Talk to you later."I reply, I walk to Mom's office and poke my head into the doorway.

"Mom, I'm going to nap for a bit. I don't feel well."I tell her quietly, speaking any louder would make my head pound.

"Do you need anything? Water, ibuprofen, anything?"she asks, which is why I love being her daughter, she cares.

"I'm straight, thanks though."

"Ok, I'll be in here if you need anything."she says, after that, I walk to the crib and lie down on a bunk in the corner of the room.

I easily drift off to sleep, the walls blocking out the sounds of the busy precinct.

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Olivia's POV:

A few hours after Zoe leaves my office, I'm called down to the hospital. A boy was thrown down the stairs by his mother.

I walk out to my detectives and try and decide which one will come to the hospital with me.

"Who has paperwork to finish?"I ask them, catching their attention.

Nick, Amanda, and Carisi raise their hands, leaving only Fin.

"Fin, you're coming work me to the hospital, I want the rest of you to finish up whatever you have, then two of you, Carisi and Nick, interview the mother. Amanda, you can interview neighbors."

"Yes, Sarge."they all say together.

"And please do me a favor, when Zoe wakes up, tell her where I am?"

"Sure thing."says Carisi, Fin slips on his coat and then we're off.

Once we get to the hospital, we're ready to talk to the doctor.

"So, who's our victim, and who's their mother?"I ask Dr. Rey.

"His name is Peter Landry, his mother, Alice Landry."and then my heart shrivels up and breaks into a million pieces. This couldn't possibly be the same Peter Landry that helped me find my daughters kidnapper, or the same Peter Landry that my daughter has a crush on. I take a deep breath and get ready to walk into his room.

I walk in to see a boy bruised from head to toe, a cast around his foot, arm, and neck.

Unfortunately, it is that Peter Landry. He looks up at me and then over to the wall.

"Oh, come on. The police don't need to be involved, can you just leave me alone? You can't see me like this."he groans, frustration making his face turn bright red.

We walk over to him and I stand next to him, trying to make contact. Once he couldn't look me in the eye, I knew something was up with him.

"What'd she do to you, Peter?"I asked him softly, which only made him angrier.

"She didn't do anything to me. I tripped going down the stairs. It's not a big deal."still, keeping his eyes off of me.

"Have you fallen down the stairs before?"I ask, which basically means, 'has your mother pushed you down the stairs before?'

"No, but I have accidents all the time."he says, shrugging his shoulders.

"What was happening before you fell?"Fin asked him, walking to the other side of the bed that occupied his vision, he was forced to look over at me, then closed his eyes.

"Nothing! Jesus, can you please go away?!"he yelled at us both, but we don't flinch or move a muscle.

"Your neighbors tell us that they constantly hear yelling and arguing over at your house. That your mother comes home late at night, yelling, throwing things, swearing. That true?"I asked him, reading my text message from Amanda, not caring if it was at all personal, this is nothing personal anymore since he's in the hospital.

"My mother has a temper, ok? She gets upset, she raised me alone. I understand why she does what she does."he says sharply back in response to me.

"What does she do?"I asked him, now he has to spill the beans.

"She drinks... more than anyone should. But she's a good Mom, she does a lot, she loves me. What happened tonight was an accident."he said, defending her well.

"Peter, you've got to tell me what happened to you."I tell him, taking his hand.

His face turned bright red, "Fine...I got home late from football practice today. The boys and I went to get something to eat, when I got home, she was already drunk...I tried to keep my distance, I swear--"

"It's ok, Peter, just take a dept breath."I tell him, sympathizing him and what he has been through deeply.

"She just wouldn't stop! She kept on yelling, and hitting me, I was going to try to leave so she could cool down, but she yanked me by my shirt up the stairs and threw me down when she got angrier."

"See, you did great, Peter, that's all we need for now, ok?"I told him, then I started to think about Zoe. What will she do once she finds out about this?

"Where has Zoe been? I talked to her before my football practice today."he asks, almost as if he has been reading my mind.

"She hasn't told you?"I ask him confused.

"Told me what?"he asks clueless.

"Zoe was just released from the hospital. She tried to kill herself and was put on a psych hold for 72 hours. She's trying to recover now."I tell him, feeling as if his heart has shattered, just as mine did just saying it all.

"I didn't know that...but I can't blame her for not telling people. I don't think I would either if I was in her position. Everyone knows what happened to Lucy, and what Jack did to her. It's ok for her to want privacy, I get it."he says, which I know is only half true. The fact that Zoe even wanted to take her life probably scared him just as much as it did me. How could I possibly live without her? She is my blood, she has my heart, my mind, my looks. She's my daughter, I'm her mother, we have both learned everything from each other.

"Are you going to tell her?"

"Probably not. I don't want her to look at me differently. I feel like whenever we're together, all my problems are solved, I have no flaws, evil doesn't exist. She brings out the best in people."he says with a sentimental ring.

"She does."

*******************************************

Zoe's POV:

I wake up from my nap hours later... hungrier than ever.

I leave the cribs after folding a blanket up and turning or the lights.

"Carisi."I say in a sing-song voice, a smile across my face.

"Yeah?"he says, looking up from his computer, "how was that nap of yours?"he asks, pointing to the window outside, revealing that night time is approaching.

"It was a super great nap. And I'm super hungry, please, please, please, find me some food."I say finding my hands in begging manners.

"Sure, kid. Whataya want?"he asks, sitting back in his chair sand yawning.

"Chinese probably."I say, moving away from him and walking over to Amanda's chair. I miss her and my mother for some reason.

"Lo mein?"he asks with his cellphone to his ear.

"You got it."I say with a thumbs up.

I get up to use the bathroom but then notice a face who walls into the precinct.

It can't be...

"Elliot?"I say, as the man approaches me with a smile.

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Heyyy!! It's me! And I left you wonderful fans with a cliffhanger...sorry not sorry ❤
How do you guys feel about Elliot in this story?? I'm seriously curious...

But yeah, don't think that I've been neglecting this story...I haven't, for real. I'm in the process of writing the sequel to this book, it'll be called "Bad Dreams", and I know you guys will like it. Once I'm finished with this book, I'll release the first chapter.

I'm also in the process of working a Criminal Minds can fanfic, so...if you like Criminal Minds...you betta hop on this wave ☺

ok...for frequent updates, comment, vote, and add this story to your library.

Peace ❤