Meanwhile, over on the other side of the playground, Ellie who lay on her stomach beside Dakota on the concrete of the basketball court was painting a picture for Sean when she happened to glance up and spot Josh on the other side of the playground. Meghan was with him and she just happened to have him cornered and from the looks of things she was flirting. Narrowing her eyes upon seeing this she got to her feet the paint bottle still in her hand and without so much as a word to Dakota and Spencer she stormed off toward the scene of the crime. Dakota noticed her walk off and raised her eyebrow before getting up and hurrying after her and Spencer shook his head.

“Oh boy…” he muttered and then hurried after them too incase they need any help. When Ellie was right behind Meghan she spoke up.


“Hey BARBIE DOLL, you back up away from MY Kota’s Joshy THIS instant!” Meghan whirled around and looked at her and she narrowed her eyes.


“Why don’t you make me?”


“I don’t think that’s what you really want because if I have to make you,” Ellie began and then grabbed her hand and made it so that her perfectly painted fingernails were showing. “Your pretty nails might break.”


“Ellie just knock it off you don’t need this” Josh insisted from behind Meghan. “She was only talking to me, there’s nothing wrong with that.”


“In the corner of the playground where you couldn’t get’s away! She was flirting with you Joshy I could sees it!”


“Well it doesn’t matter,” Josh said after a moment. “Kota knows who my Belle is.”


“Yes well, the problem is Barbie Doll here doesn’t seem to gets it.”


“Will you STOP calling me Barbie Doll?!”


“Why should I? You looks the part. You dress like Barbie, you act like Barbie, you’re fake like Barbie, an’ you have everything Barbie has except the boobs an’ plastic!”


“An’ she doesn’t haves Ken either,” Dakota added while grabbing Josh’s hand and pulling him around Meghan so that he is standing beside her instead. He slid his arms around her waist and rested the side of his forehead against hers as he watched Ellie and Meghan nervously. “An’ your not gonna haves my Batman play the part either!”


“It was me who should’ve gotten the part as Belle not you! An’ everybody knew it’s!”


“Is that why everybody voted for Kota to get the part instead?” Spencer spoke up.


“That wasn’t fair! I signed up for it and didn’t even get the chance to try out because of her!”


“Well then you should’ve said’s something, that is hardly Kota’s fault” Ellie snapped. “An’ it doesn’t gives you the right to steal her man either!”


“Why not? At least I would be better for him. At least I would be his age and not a whiney little brat like her.”


“Except that Joshy doesn’t loves you – right Joshy?” Ellie asked, looking toward her cousin for confirmation.


“I’ve already told Meghan that I like her just fine but my heart belongs to someone else an’ has belonged to her since I moved into this place an’ set eyes on her.”


“See? So back off!” Ellie said to Meghan firmly.


“What are you going to do if I don’t?” Meghan challenged. “Are you going to get violent on me Elenore?”


“Leave her alone,” Dakota snapped as she could see where this was going. “Of course she’s not.”


“You can never tell with her though, can you?” Meghan asked. “Her father is a violent man, why shouldn’t she be violent too?” Ellie’s hands tightened into fists at her side and Josh reached out and grabbed her arm.


“Ellie don’t,” He warned gently.


“Don’t you dare bring my daddy into this.”


“Why not? What are you going to do to me if I do? Hit me? Drown me in the water?” Ellie started toward her, only to have Dakota move behind her and quickly slide her arms around her waist in a firm hold.


“Put someone in a coma?” Meghan taunted some more. Ellie struggled against Dakota with great difficulty and Dakota whispered in her ear.


“Don’t do it Ellie please, she’s not worth it.”


“Nobody talks about my daddy this way Kota an’ you know it better than anybody.”


“She is just trying to makes you mad so that you’ll fight her an’ gets in trouble. The question is, are you going to let her gets what she wants?”


“Why not?” Ellie asked angrily. “Why not beat her up for it? Why not fights for my daddy?”


“Because you don’t need to fights for him, he can takes care of himself just fine.”


“And you aren’t him Ellie,” Spencer added while moving in front of her and sliding his arms around her in a hug. “Remember? You are the very best part of him and unlike him you can walk away from a fight.”


“She’s not worth it Ellie,” Dakota repeated. “She’s not. Be bigger an’ better than her an’ walks away.”


“She won’t walk away because she is a criminal’s daughter!” Meghan insisted. “She can’t help it.”


“Prove her wrong Ellie,” Josh said as he stood at her side and joined in on the Ellie Sandwich.


“But she isn’t wrong. I’m a criminal’s daughter – what of it’s?”


“You are also Uncle Kevy’s little girl,” Dakota reminded. “You are a good person with a good heart who knows how to love an’ Meghan would know nothing about’s that. You’re my bestest friend in the whole wide world an’ I believes in you. You like to play Ninja Turtles an’ you have five bestest friends who will be here for you an’ loves you no matter what you do. You don’ts need to fight anybody to prove that.”


“An’ you may be a criminal’s daughter, but you are a criminal’s daughter who is going to become a cop” Josh added.


“Yeah, what would Elliot do when a bully is pickin’ on him?” Spencer added.


“You’re gonna haves to let me go if you want me to show you that’s,” Ellie insisted. Spencer looked at Dakota skeptically and Dakota gently squeezed Spencer’s shoulder.


“We’ve gotta trust her. I know she won’ts fight Meghan because I believe in her.” After a moment the two of them pulled back and Josh reluctantly did too but was ready to grab her again if needed. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the handcuffs that she’s been carrying in her pocket ever since Detective Tutuola had unattached her from Ashley four weeks ago and as soon as Meghan saw them, her eyes widened and she started to run. Ellie reached out and was quick to grab her by the arm and she dragged her kicking and screaming toward the fence.


“You haves a right to remain silent” She told Meghan loudly so she would be heard over her shrieking. “Anything you say can an’ will be used against you in the courts of law. You haves the rights to have a torney present now an’ during any future questioning. If you cannot afford a torney one will be given to you free of charge,” she stated, repeating word for word the Miranda rights that she’d memorized from watching Elliot. She then handcuffed Meghan to the fence with very little difficulty and she shook her head.


“An’ you wanted to fights me. I would’ve won an’ it would’ve been pitifuls.” Once she was sure she wasn’t going to get away, she walked over to Jerald who was in a deep conversation with Tim leaving her friends back by Meghan who were all watching her in amusement.


“Uncle Jerry,” She spoke innocently.


“Yes princess?” Jerald asked while looking down at her curiously.


“May I borrow your phone please?” Jerald arched his eyebrow.


“…What for?”


“I want to call…Uncle Harold.”


“What in the world has inspired you to do that?” Jerald asked slightly surprised.


“I likes Uncle Harold, an’ I misses him” Ellie insisted. Jerald eyed her suspiciously for a moment, and then handed over his cell phone. Ellie opened it up and he watched her, wondering when she is going to ask him for his number. Ellie however, began to dial a number and he gave Tim a weird look.


“Did you teach her Uncle Harold’s number?”


“Nope…maybe Kevin or Mom did?” She placed the phone to her ear after dialing and waited a few moments until the phone was finally picked up.


“Hey Jer, what’s going on? You know I’m in the middle of Sean’s trial right now…” Detective Stabler’s voice spoke on the other line.


“Sorry to interrupts you Elliot, but we have an emergency.”


“What?? Honey what’s wrong?”


“Ellie!” Jerald exclaimed while smacking his hand against his forehead in exasperation.


“Are you hurt Ellie? What’s going on? Did one of Sean’s people get in the Orphanage?”


“I’m fine, but Kota’s not. There is a boyfriend stealing girl here an’ she is under arrest! I needs you to come an’ takes her away.” Tim glanced around the playground then searching for Dakota and when he found her, he noticed Meghan handcuffed to the fence looking highly annoyed. He lightly nudged Jerald in the arm causing him to look at him and he pointed toward the problem. Jerald looked over there and he tried his very hardest to stifle a laugh at his niece’s latest doing. This whole thing would be extremely funny if she hadn’t just called Detective Stabler in the middle of an important hearing just to report a boyfriend robbery.


“A boyfriend stealing girl…I see,” Detective Stabler replied sounding none too pleased. “Will you get your Uncle on the phone please?” Ellie held the phone up to Jerald then still looking very innocent.

“He wants to talks to you.” Jerald took it from her while narrowing his eyes at her and he placed the phone to his ear.


“I swear I had nothing to do with this. She said she was calling Uncle Harold and I was dumb enough to believe her.”


“Will you deal with this please? You are lucky the judge called a recess.”


“Yup, right away. I’m sorry Elliot If I had known…”


“All right, bye then” Detective Stabler replied, and then hung up. Jerald looked at Tim then and Tim shook his head having a really hard time not laughing at the situation and then walked away clearly saying that this was all his. Jerald looked back at Ellie then with his eyes once again narrowed and she shrunk slightly finally realizing that she might have done something wrong.


“Give me the key Elenore, now.” Ellie cringed at the use of her actual name and reached into her pocket, pulled out the key, and held it up to him. He took it from her and headed on over to free Meghan from the gate. Ellie stayed rooted in her spot and planned on not moving until Jerald gave another order.


“Get over here Ellie.” She obeyed and hurried after him and when they reached Meghan he knelt down and got to work on un-handcuffing her. “Start explaining,” He threw another order at his niece who remained a good distance away from him.


“Spencer asked me how Elliot would handle a bully…so I showed him,” Ellie began innocently. “I brought her over to this fence an’ told her, her rights an’ then handcuffed her here. Then I went an’ called Elliot an’ told him he could come an’ arrest her now.”


“Elliot is in the middle of a very important hearing young lady, I know you know that” Jerald told her sternly.


“Well, this was important too. He told me to always calls him if there is an emergency. Why are you so cranky? Sheesh…”


“I think you need to be told what an emergency is and what isn’t honey” Jerald said sounding a little calmer now, realizing that no one has bothered to discuss this with her. As soon as he had Meghan free she started to walk away and Jerald grabbed onto the back of her shirt stopping her. He slid his finger into one of her empty belt loops so that she wouldn’t get away and he gently took Ellie’s hand into his before pulling her around in front of him.


“This was an emergency. I won’t lets Kota lose her boyfriend to some Barbie Doll wannabes!” Ellie insisted. “An’ I won’t let her gets away with talkin’ about’s my daddy Sean either!”


“Even so, there is a difference between emergencies you call Elliot for and emergencies you tell an adult in the Orphanage about, Ellie.”


“Nobody here was gonna arrests Meghan for me. That’s Elliot’s job.”


“No, but there is a thing called being sent to your room and being put in time out, I know you know that fact very well.”


“What good would that do? She’ll continue to be a boyfriend stealer the moment she’s free an’ you know it’s. She should be locked up an’ have the key thrown away! My best friend’s heart is on the line here!”


“It doesn’t look like it’s in much trouble to me,” Jerald replied while eyeing Josh who is standing next to Dakota dutifully. “Josh seems to be taking very good care of it like usual. I think you are being a little over protective.”


“And you need to have more faith in your cousin too,” Josh added. Ellie crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes at him making it very clear that she’s not too sure about that.


“The point is,” Jerald spoke up bringing the attention back on him. “Playground bullies, boyfriend stealers, and fights on the playground are the responsibility of the caregivers and uncles in this Orphanage. Kidnappings, fires, break ins, injured caregivers or uncles in the orphanage are the responsibility of Elliot and his people. Is that understood Ellie?”


“An’ monsters in the basement are Elliot’s an’ daddy’s responsibility too” Dakota put in.


“That’s right,” Jerald agreed gently when he noticed how fragile she looked at the mention of her basement incident. “Monsters in the basement, monsters in your room, monsters disguised as friends are all the responsibility of your daddy, Elliot, or anybody that you know you can trust. We need to know those things. Got it?”


“I think the difference between what monsters are Elliot’s responsibility and what monsters are just their daddy’s responsibility needs to be distinguished here Jer,” Tim who’d been standing nearby incase he was needed spoke up. “We don’t want anybody calling Elliot up in the middle of an arrest because there is a make believe monster under their bed.” Jerald thought about that for a long moment, and then spoke up again.


“If you think there is a monster under your bed, in your closet, or somewhere in your room you need to get your daddy or caregiver and your daddy or caregiver will decide if Elliot is needed in the situation or not. Is that a good system?” he asked, looking at Tim for the answer.


“What if the monster won’t let us get’s daddy?” Dakota wanted to know. “What if the monster is holding us down an’ says they’ll do mean things if we tell?”


“First of all,” Tim replied deciding that he would answer the question that was easiest to answer first and he knelt down in front of Dakota and looked at her seriously yet gently. “If a scary man is holding you down and threatening to do mean things if you tell, you need to know that it isn’t true. You need to know that you can tell your daddy anything and he will get help for you right away before they even get a chance to follow through with those mean things. They’re just trying to get control of you and you need to not let him. Nobody can tell you what to do but your mommy or daddy.”


“Or a loving Uncle, cousin, or family friend who you know would never lay a hand on you,” Jerald amended, looking at Ellie.


“A loving cousin over six years old,” Ellie replied while narrowing her eyes at Josh.


“The person has to be thirteen or up we’ll leave it at that” Tim replied slightly amused.


“You mean I haves to take orders from Aaron?” Ellie asked none too pleased about this revelation.


“Yes ma’am, every single one he dishes out at you,” Jerald answered while leaning forward and resting his forehead against hers and she scoffed.


“We’ll see,” Ellie insisted. Jerald raised his eyebrow at her.


“Yeah we’ll see all right,” He told her while pocketing the handcuffs and Ellie gaped at him.


“Hey those are mine!”


“Actually they belong to the playroom young lady and you are here by banned from them until further notice.”


“That’s not fair Uncle Jerry! You can’t take a cop’s cuffs from them that’s like taking away their gun an’ telling them they can’t uses it anymore!”


“Well good thing you have a long way to go before you are a cop, huh?”


“What did I do to deserve this? All I did was play cops an’ robbers for cryin’ out loud!”


“Against poor Meghan’s will might I add and you called up Elliot in the middle of an important hearing when you knew perfectly well what he was up to.”


“Poor Meghan? Poor Meghan? HA! She is hardly innocent Uncle Jerry.”


“Talking to Josh does not qualify as a real crime. Now if she kissed him that would be a completely different story. They were just talking. You have no real evidence that she was doing anything wrong therefore you had no right to arrest her Officer Ellie.”


“But we have eye witnesses that she was bullying Ellie,” Spencer spoke up suddenly, coming to Ellie’s rescue.


“Is that right?” Jerald asked Meghan, and Meghan shrunk back some as Dakota answered for her.


“Yes it is right! She was sayin’ mean things about Sean knowing it would upset Ellie. She was trying to gets Ellie to fight her.”


“An’ Ellie wanted to really badly,” Spencer added.


“But we wouldn’t let her,” Josh put in. “So she locked her up instead.”


“An’ read her, her rights an’ called the cops like the responsible cop to be that I am!” Ellie finished indignantly.


“Okay, well, I know Elliot would’ve played right along with your game if you chose to call him anytime other than right now. It was bad timing and you were well aware of that.”


“Well, you can’t time an arrest Uncle Jerry it’s just not something you do. Baddies will not work on their own time.”


“In the real world maybe, but this was make believe – you cried wolf and I’m sure you gave poor Elliot a heart attack. That is why I am punishing you and taking your handcuffs away.”


“But I am not the only one who did wrong here! Meghan did too!”


“Yes and Meghan is going to go sit on the bench for a little while for bullying you. And because you fought your urge to fight her I will only punish you for crying wolf and therefore you can have your handcuffs back in a couple of hours instead of in a week like I originally planned.”


“But a lot can goes on in a couple of hours!” Ellie argued and Jerald arched his eyebrow.


“Would you like me to keep it at a week?”


“No…” Ellie answered begrudgingly.


“Then don’t argue with me.”


“Fine. But it’s going to be all your faults if the next one gets away because the cop’s Doofus Uncle took her handcuffs away!”


“Ellie I would walk away with your mouth shut while he is still handing out punishments here,” Tim warned after stifling a laugh. “You have it pretty good right now, kid.” Ellie scowled at Jerald, her least favorite person for the moment, and then she took Dakota’s hand and the two of them went back to their paintings with Spencer and Josh following close behind them. Jerald meanwhile shook his head smiling as soon as her back was turned.


“What a character…” he muttered amusedly and then got up still holding Meghan’s hand. “Come on Meghan, you and I are going to have a talk of our own now while you do time on the bench.”