Alright, who else was disappointed by that slightly anticlimactic ending? I mean, it was a little creepy, but what the heck? Anyway, I started this a couple of days ago, and trekkerforlife joined me tonight after the season finale. Basically this is an AU (the first of many from me...) in which Melinda doesn't get shot, but someone else does... Mwahahah. So enjoy, and please review!

Disclaimer: Not ours!

SVUSVUSVUSVUSVUSVU

"Sophie, don't!"

Olivia saw the whole scene play out in front of her like a horrible nightmare, and she was powerless to stop it. Jo ducked as Sophie pulled the trigger, and instead of fatally wounding the ADA, the bullet plowed ahead and lodged itself in Elliot's shoulder.

Jo froze, her mouth open in a silent scream as Olivia dove forward. But her reaction time wasn't fast enough to prevent Sophie from pulling the trigger again. She landed on her knees beside her partner, and she instinctively covered his body with hers when she heard the gun go off again.

Warner moved fast, ignoring Sophie's scream, and dropped down beside the two cops. She gently grasped Olivia's arm, gently urging her to move away. "Liv, let me see him." Her voice was gentle and reassuring.

Cautiously, Olivia moved just enough for Warner to get a look at her partner. His blood was everywhere…

Warner quickly applied pressure to Elliot's shoulder. "Hang on, Elliot."

Olivia paled when she looked down and saw the blood gushing from her partner's abdomen. "Melinda..."

Warner turned her head. This wasn't good... She met the other woman's eyes. "Olivia, I need you to focus."

The brunette nodded shakily. "What do we do?" She could not lose her partner. She just couldn't.

Warner held her hands tighter against Elliot's shoulder. "Olivia, he's going to lose a lot of blood before we can get him out of here, unless we can stop it."

Olivia felt a wave of nausea pound into her, but she shook it off. "What do I do?"

She briefly took her hand away from Elliot's shoulder wound, then took Olivia's hand. "The bullet nicked an artery." She guided Olivia's hand. "Just keep the pressure right there."

Olivia grimaced and almost lost it when she felt her partner's warm blood on her hand, but she forced herself to hold it together.

A sudden spike of pain brought Elliot back to his senses. Blinking, he looked around. He was lying on his back on the floor of the morgue, and he saw Melinda and Olivia leaning over him.

Warner quickly removed her jacket and resumed applying pressure to Elliot's shoulder. What she was afraid of, what she didn't want to tell Olivia unless it was absolutely necessary, was that the bullet had not gone straight through his shoulder. Which meant that it was very likely doing some damage to his vital organs.

"Liv? Doc?"

Warner nodded. "Try not to move, Elliot." Her eyes were filled with worry.

Olivia looked into her partner's eyes. "We're going to get you out of here, El." There was a slight waver in her voice, one that she desperately tried to conceal.

It wasn't hard for him to tell that whatever shape he was in, it wasn't good. He returned her gaze, trying to say without words what he couldn't say aloud.

She wanted desperately to reassure him, but she couldn't risk moving her hands. So she did the next best thing. "Just keep your eyes on me, El. We'll get you out of here as fast as we can."

Warner stared down at her hands and continued to apply pressure. Suddenly she felt as though she were intruding on a very private moment between the two partners. She forced herself to focus on the task at hand.

The moment was soon shattered by a shrill, unintelligible yell in French from Sophie. Jo pleaded with the distraught, slightly insane woman. "Sophie, please-you want to keep you son safe, right?"

"Of course." Even distressed as she was, the accent made every syllable seem beautiful, sing-song, almost.

"Detective Stabler could die on that floor." Jo pointed behind her. "If you want to protect him, keep him safe and shielded, you wouldn't want him to see that, would you?"

Slowly, Sophie shook her head. "You," she said voice shaking slightly, swinging her hand that held the gun in Melinda's direction. "You and Detective Benson-get him out of here."

Melinda nodded. "Jo, could you give us a hand?" She tried to make her voice as calm and non threatening as she could.

Copying Melinda's tone, Jo spoke again. "Sophie, they need my help to get him to a gurney so they can leave; I will come right back. Is that alright?"

The woman nodded yet again. Jo strode quickly over to the two women bent over Elliot on the floor.

Melinda met Jo's eyes, then looked at Olivia. "No matter what, Liv, do not let go."

Olivia nodded, keeping her hands in place as Jo and Melinda managed to lift Elliot onto the gurney.

The pain of movement shot through Elliot as he was moved and, though he barely managed to stifle a groan, he failed to keep the expression of severe pain off his face.

Olivia whispered soothingly to him as Melinda grasped the gurney and pushed it to the door.

Elliot held on to those whispers like a lifeline. He could not muster enough strength to say anything back, but was determined to hold her gaze until he could no longer.

The thud of the gurney doors reached his ears; they were out of the morgue...

As soon as they went through the door, Melinda shouted, "Get those medics over here, now!"

Cragen rushed to his detectives, and his face paled when he saw that Olivia had her hand in Elliot's gut. He looked at Warner, who had a dark look on her face. The medics made their way to them, and Warner was gently ushered away.

Munch came to Cragen's side, pulling his sunglasses off and revealing his deeply concerned eyes. How had things gotten this bad?

Olivia followed alongside the gurney, terrified for her partner. She had seen the looks on Melinda's face. If she hadn't done this, Elliot would have stayed in that morgue, and she would have lost her best friend. She met his eyes again.

His eyes were still open and locked with hers, but he seemed to be having trouble focusing. Every few seconds, he would lose focus and have to get it back. Liv...I...I'm sorry...I can't.... "Liv..."

She nodded, desperately wanting to hug him and never let him go. "I'm here, El. I'm not going to leave you."

As the medics hummed around him, their words a jumbled mess to him, he felt more painful jolts as the gurney was lifted first down the front stairs, then into the waiting ambulance. As he was hooked up to an IV, the pain became overwhelming. Elliot caught his partner's gaze once more, then slipped into blackness.

TBC...

A/N: Uh oh, cliffie. I know, wicked. But we're at the beginning of the summer stretch with no SVU, and I'm just getting started... MWHAHAHAH! *ahem* Thanks for reading, and please review!