Disclaimer: All of the canon characters are the property of their creators. They're on loan right now though. Kind of like Rent-A-Center, but I'm not giving them back until I'm good and ready! That's right!

A/N: All silliness aside, thanks for checking out my story. I hope y'all like it. I love it when folks read and review, but you don't have to. This is my first SVU piece that I've put out so go easy on me y'all. Criticism is loved, flames are ignored. Also, this an A/U (Alternate Universe) story. It takes place at the end of season six (April/May 2005). I haven't really changed much, but I do admit the canon characters might be OOC. If you notice that they are, feel free to point it out.

With all that said, happy reading.

Chapter One: Dropping the Ball

Robin Dušana Katsaros-Novak stared at the copy of "The Cartoon Guide to Genetics" in her hands, trying to concentrate on the words there. The words and pictures blurred together until the little girl's head began to throb. Maybe that wasn't so bad; her grandmother hated it when she read at the table, and she sat down with her favorite book sometime ago, her pancakes long forgotten. Robin sighed and closed her book. She was so excited about later that she knew trying to focus on color blindness was pointless.

Excited, and afraid.

"Your pancakes are soggy," her grandmother, whom she affectionately called Yiayia, sauntered into the kitchen swinging a damp dishtowel. She cut her eyes at the book on the table and shook her head. Laughing, she ruffled Robin's coal black curls. "I'm going to have to hide all of your books or feed you intravenously. Finish your breakfast, all right? We have to leave soon. You can finish reading in the car."

"Who gets mad at a kid for reading?" Robin huffed, picking up her fork. She frowned into her plate as she sloshed a piece of pancake through her cold syrup. "I don't even like pancakes."

"All right," Yiayia pulled up a chair. She gently removed the fork from her granddaughter's hand. She smiled kindly at the girl. "What's worrying you Birdie?"

"Besides that you're calling me Birdie?" Robin snorted at her grandmother's arched eyebrow. She reached over her Yiayia and grabbed her fork. "Never mind. It's nothing."

"It's obviously something," Yiayia snatched the fork this time. She tilted her head and stared into the girl's green eyes. "Tell me."

Robin lowered her lashes and hesitated. She wanted to talk, but she wasn't sure her grandmother would understand.

Yiayia smiled gently. "Well?"

"Is it...is it okay for me to be nervous?"

"Of course it's all right, it's your championship game! It is, however, just a game. It may be your first, but it definatly will not be your last."

"It will be if I make my team lose," Robin huffed, pushing a few of her curls behind her ear. She picked up her precious book and hugged it to her chest. "They already don't like me because Mommy threatened to sue the pants off the entire league if they didn't let me play. If I let them down, I'll never be able to show my face again."

"Why would you even think something like that? You're the best catcher they could ever hope for."

"That's not what I'm worried about!"

"Well, what is it then?"

"I don't play my best without Mommy there and I'm scared she's not gonna come."

Ever since her mother got that stupid new job last year, Robin thought it was like living with a ghost. Before SVU her mother had plenty of time for her. They would go to the park and play catch on Saturdays. Mommy always worked on Sundays, but sometimes they would go bike riding or have brunch. Robin always shared facts she learned from one of her many genetics books and Mommy would quiz her on baseball stats.

Robin worshipped her mother ever since she could remember. They were almost identical, excect for Robin's unruly black hair and love of facts. Everything her mother did, Robin wanted to do. Especially baseball. She loved the way her mother's eyes would light up when she knocked one out of the park or when she didn't drop the ball after some boy crashed into her at the plate.

Robin hated SVU. Honestly, she was jealous of it. Sure, she'd shared her mother with her clerking job and White Collar, but her mother didn't come home sad after work back then. After her first day at SVU, Mommy hugged her close until both of them fell asleep in her bed. She kept whispering that she would protect her and that all she ever wanted was her to be was safe and happy.

"I'm sure Casey's going to try her best to be there."

"That's the thing," Robin picked up her now empty plate and walked it over to the sink. "She tries, but she always fails. She missed most of my birthday party because she got called in. We planned that party together. I know missing my seventh birthday doesn't seem that special, but it's special to me."

Robin bit her lower lip, her eyes stinging with tears. She swiped at them angrily and sniffled. She hated crying in front of people, even Yiayia.

"I know honey," Yiayia drew her into a sympathetic hug. She patted Robin's head softly. "I'm sure your mother misses being with you as much as you miss being with her. It's just that she has to work a lot to take care of you. Her job is also very important. She makes sure people who hurt kids like you and woman like me get what they deserve. Who would protect the people if a talented lawyer like your mother quit?"

Robin wiggled out of her her grandmother's arms, upset. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and declared. "This is Daddy's fault!"

Yiayia frowned. "Don't say that."

"It's true! If he didn't go crazy and run away, Mommy wouldn't have to take care of me all by herself!

Before she knew it, Yiayia was holding her at arms length. She was shaking her. Hard. "Your father is not crazy, do you hear me? My son isn't crazy! He's not crazy!"

"Yiayia! Stop it! You're hurting me!"

"Jesus Christ, Sara, what are you doing?" Pappou rushed into the kitchen and forced his wife away from their granddaughter. "What the hell is the matter with you?"

"Charles," Yiayia swallowed. "The things she was saying about him. I snapped. I didn't mean to react that way. Robin, I'm so sorry."

Robin's head hung, she dried her eyes on the sleeves of her baseball uniform. "S'okay."

"No, it's not," her grandparents said in unison. Robin cracked a small smile at that.

"I know you don't understand the issues your father had," Pappou looked between Robin and Yiayia. "The main thing I want you to know is, what happened with your father isn't your fault. It's not your Yiayia's fault or mine."

"It's not Mommy's fault either!"

Yiayia looked away from her.

"It's not even your father's fault. He has a mental disease that controls his thoughts. He had no idea what he was doing when he left us."

"Can't doctors help him control his own thoughts?"

"He isn't ready for help and we can't force him to get it," Pappou explained.

"I wish somebody would," Robin sighed. "I wish I could've known him."

"And I'm sure you will one of these days," Pappou patted her shoulder lovingly. "Now, dry those tears and get ready for the 'ol ball game! You have to be at practice in a few minutes.

"Did Mommy call while Yiayia and I were...talking?"

"No," he shook his head. "I'm sorry."

"I should've known," Robin shrugged and stared for the stairs. "I'll get my bag."

"You'd better watch yourself Sara," she heard Pappou warn harshly. "Outbursts like those won't make the situation any better!"

Robin backed further up the stairs. Suddenly she feared her grandparents, who until then had been one of the few people she really trusted.

"You're late," Jason Hunter, the pitcher and Robin's best-friend, informed her flatly. "I had to practice with Cameron and he whines about my fast balls."

"Sorry," Robin mumbled. She threw down her duffle bag and rummaged for her catcher's equipment. When she found it, she put it on and stalked over to the plate. "I had a talk with Yiayia."

"Are you on on punishment?"

She shook her head and gave him the fast ball signal. "That's all you got?"

Jason frowned. "What happened?"

"Where's your mom?" she asked quickly.

"Uh, over there," he pointed and waved to his mother. Ms. Hunter waved back and flashed a supportive grin at Robin. She was like a mom to her. Jason eyed his best-friend strangely. "She's at every game, why?"

"That's what happened."

"Casey's not coming?"

"Does she ever?"

"Sorry. You know, my mom can cheer loud enough for the both of us."

"There's no cheer like Mommy's," Robin hugged herself. "Every time she comes I play my best. This is the championship game! If I don't play my best, I let the whole team down."

"You're a good catcher with or without your mom," Jason stepped off the mound and joined her at the plate. He wrapped his arm around his friend. "You're my best-friend and we're a team. Even if your mom doesn't show up, you have me."

Robin smiled weakly. "Thanks Jase."

"Jason and Robin sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in the baby carriage."

Robin's cheeks turned beet red. She whirled around to find Brandon Hunter, the center fielder and Jason's cousin, smirking and pointing at them.

"Retard," Robin retorted.

"Takes one to know one," Brandon smiled smugly. "Anyways, Coach Vega wants everybody in the dugout--even husbands and wives."

"You'd better shut up or I'll rip you a new one," Robin inched towards him.

"Birdie," Yiayia called out, waving her cell phone in the air . "Somebody wants to wish you luck!"

"Mommy!" She squealed with delight.

"Mommy," Brandon laughed. "What a big baby."

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Jason whack his cousin upside the head. She tore off of the field like a bat out of hell and rushed to her grandmother. Almost knocking her down in the process, Robin snatched the phone out of her hand.

"Mommy!"

"How's it going my little Piazza?" Casey asked. Robin could hear the smile in her voice.

"I'm good, but I'm really nervous. The game hasn't started yet. If you hurry you won't miss much."

"I'll try, but..."

"You always try," Robin whined. She wasn't much of a whiner, but this was the championship. Desperate times called for desperate measures. "People don't remember you for trying, they remember you for doing!"

"I should learn to follow my own advice, huh?"

"No, you should learn to love me just as much as your job!"

There was a brief silence. "I know I've been disappointing you left and right and I'm very very sorry. I promise, once I get this paperwork finished, I'll be right there."

"I need you here! I can't play if you're not here with me!"

"I'm sorry..."

"You're always sorry!" Robin swallowed the sobs she knew were dying to erupt. She said grimly, "Never mind. Don't come. I don't care."

"Robin let's go!" Coach Vega shouted from the dugout.

"I gotta go now," with that she hung up the phone and started towards the field. Jason put his arm around her while the team listened to Coach Vega try to pump them up.

"What's eating you?" Detective Olivia Benson stepped into Casey Novak's office carrying coffee and files. The ADA was staring at her cell phone, shaking gently like a leaf trembling in the wind. Olivia sat everything on the woman's desk and went to her side. "What happened?"

"My seven year old hates me," Casey sniffled and dabbed at her eyes with a kleenex Olivia handed her. "Not that I can blame her."

Olivia arched her brow at the mention of Robin. In the year they'd worked together, she came up no more than four or five times. "Wanna talk about it?"

"I promised her," she lowered her head into her hands. "She practically got on her knees and begged me to be at this game. All she wants is for me to be proud of her, to cheer her on. I gave her my word and I let her down yet again. I'm a horrible mother."

Olivia hesitated before covering Casey's hand with her own. "You're not a horrible mother. I'm sure she understands."

"She shouldn't have to understand coming second in her mother's life," Casey snapped. She jerked her hand away from Olivia's. "She shouldn't have to feel so alone. I shouldn't have to feel so alone."

"I know this has to take a toll on you, being a single mother and all," Olivia soothed. "It's perfectly normal for you to be overwhelmed. Maybe you should try explaining all of this to Robin. If she's as smart as her mother, I'm sure she'll understand."

Casey sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "Sorry do go Dr. Phil on you."

"We all have our moments. I brought that cup of coffee for you by the way."

"Thanks," Casey took the cup the detective was holding out for her and took a swig of the hot liquid. Sitting it down, she exhaled with a small smile. "I'm sure you didn't come here to be my therapist. Anything I can help you with?"

"I was going to ask you how you felt about Megan Franklin testifying, but I think that can wait until tomorrow. I know a certain little girl that desperately wants her mother. I can drop you at the park on my way back to the precinct."

"Wow," Casey smiled up at her, genuinely touched. "Thank you."

"You can thank me by not spilling that coffee all over the car. Elliot spilt some last week and it took forever to the spoiled milk smell out."

Casey stuffed her files into her briefcase. "Fair enough."

"It's not your fault Robin," Jason followed behind his crying best-friend. "You're not the whole team."

Robin slumped onto the bench and sobbed into her glove. All she had to do was hold on to the ball just a little tighter and her team could've kept the lead. Everyone said they weren't mad at her, but she could see it on their faces. She failed and everybody saw. She kicked the dirt in disgust.

"Tell it's not her fault," Jason asked desperately when he saw Casey, Yiayia, and Pappou approaching the dugout.

"It's all right Birdie," Yiayia ruffled her curls. "You played so well today. I think you deserve some ice cream."

"No it's not, no I didn't, and I don't deserve any," she mumbled into her glove.

"Everybody messed up," Jason tried again. "We're not mad at you, honest. Tell her nobody's mad."

"Believe me, I know how hard it is to lose. I know deep down you know that today wasn't your fault and I also know how much you love your team and baseball. Sometimes, we have to lose to learn. You did what so many catchers have done since the beginning of the game, you dropped the ball. I'm sure Mike Piazza's dropped plenty of balls--especially when he was your age," Casey joined her daughter on the bench and wrapped a kind arm around her shoulder. "You win some, you lose, but you learn something for every single game."

Robin stopped crying, but her body stiffened. "I'm still mad at you."

"And you have every right to be. I apologize for missing your game. You have no idea how much I wanted to see you play today."

She peered at her mother over her glove. "Really?"

"Are you kidding me?" Casey nudged her. "You're the next Mike Piazza. Who'd wanna miss that?"

"I really wish you could've seen me, but you're here now and that makes me happy."

Casey grinned, hugging her. She planted a kiss on her forehead. "What about that ice cream?"

"I'd like that," Robin turned to her best-friend. "Can Jason come?"

"No," he shook his head. "Tomorrow's a school night and Mom doesn't like me having ice cream this late on school nights."

"Sorry," Robin poked her lip out sympathetically. "Maybe another time."

"Yeah. I gotta go now. Brandon whines when he has to sit in the car for a long time. Nice to see you Mr. and Mrs. Katsaros. You too Casey. Bye Robin!"

"Are you guys coming too?" Robin asked her grandparents as she packed up her catcher's gear.

"No," Yiayia glanced at Casey. Robin felt her stomach tighten. "You two should spend some time together. We'll all go out another time."

Robin noticed her mother didn't protest.

"Okay, well, see you guys tomorrow," she slug her bag over her shoulder and then hugged each of the goodbye. "I love you."

As she and her mother walked to the train station, Robin couldn't help but wonder about the tension between her mother and grandparents. Things were going to explode and she just hopped she landed on the right side--if there was one.

A/N: In case I didn't make it clear, Robin's father is the ex-fiancé, Casey mention in the episode "Influence." Thanks Hedila for telling me his name.