A/N: It's my first new story in a while guys, now please let me know what you think so I know how much work it will need!
'OK, Detective. You get to pick. You or the girl?' Moore pulled back harder on the teenage girl's hair, yanking her head back and making her cry out.
Elliot didn't even blink. 'Me.' Beside him, he heard Olivia let out a sob.
Moore looked intrigued. 'Now, that was much too easy for you. But this, this gives me an idea.' He shoved the girl to the floor, darted forward and snatched Olivia away from Elliot. He wrapped his arm around her neck and dragged her across the room, hissing 'stop that kicking, bitch, or I'll kill you both.' The girl was whimpering and trying to loosen the tape around her wrists. Moore gave her a disgusted look. 'Shut the fuck up.' He kicked her hard in the ribs and then put one foot on her abdomen to keep her pinned to the floor. Tightening the grip of his left arm on Olivia's neck, he pulled the gun from the waistband of his jeans and pressed the barrel against her right temple. She felt the click resonate through it as he flicked the safety catch off. Despite herself, she whimpered. Moore smiled broadly. 'You or her?'
Elliot looked Olivia straight in the eye. 'Me.'
She widened her eyes. shook her head and mouthed 'no'. Moore just tightened his grip on her. 'I wasn't asking you, Miss Benson, I was asking your friend here.'
'I told you, me.' Elliot ignored the look on Olivia's face. She might hate him for this, but she'd be alive, and that was the most important thing.
'OK, so we've got two votes for you. Here's the real prize question though.' Moore grinned widely and simultaneously pushed his weight forward onto the girl's abdomen and pressed Olivia's shoulders down, forcing her to her knees. He dug the barrel of the gun into the back of her neck. 'Her or the girl?'
Elliot's stomach lurched and he just stared. The girl was on her back on the floor, mascara caked around her eyes and tearstains down her face. Olivia just looked up at him and nodded almost imperceptibly. He just shook his head. He couldn't do it. He'd had this same choice before, and chosen her over the boy, and he still felt terrible whenever he thought about that day. Now that he had to make the same choice again, even though deep down he knew what he had to do, it was still too much. He couldn't do it. He shook his head, and Olivia bit her lip.
'You have ten more seconds, Detective, or I'll kill them both and then I'll kill you for good measure,' snapped Moore impatiently.
'You'll never let her go.' Olivia was struck by how utterly defeated he sounded. 'You get off on the power too much. You'd decided to kill us all even before you started this whole game.'
Moore raised his eyebrows. 'You have my word.'
The room was completely silent except for the sound of the girl weeping quietly. Elliot looked at Olivia. She was blinking to try and hide the tears in her eyes. She nodded again and mouthed 'do it.' He shook his head again. He couldn't.
'Five seconds, Detective!' Moore was enjoying this.
Olivia smiled at him and mouthed 'it's OK.'
'Two seconds, Detective!' snapped Moore. Olivia closed her eyes. Her lower lip was trembling.
There was only one thing she would let him do, only one thing she would ever forgive him for doing, and Elliot knew it.
'Her.' Elliot's voice caught in his throat and it came out as a vague croak. He cleared his throat and raised his voice. 'Her.'
'What, the girl or your lovely partner?' Moore raised an eyebrow. 'Just to clarify, you understand.'
Elliot swallowed and tried to control the waver in his voice. 'My... Olivia.' He felt like he was going to throw up.
'Very nice.' Moore pushed Olivia's head forward and Elliot winced as he heard the gunshot. She jerked, fell forward onto the floor and lay completely still, facedown with her arms bent awkwardly beneath her. He felt his breath catch in his throat. He couldn't believe what he'd just done. He couldn't take his eyes off her. Her hair was tangled and fanned out around her head, and there was a spatter of blood on the back of her shirt.
Wait.
There was so little blood. Why was there no more blood? Her hair should be matted with it, the back of her shirt should be completely soaked, not just slightly stained...
Elliot looked up and saw Moore stagger backwards and begin to fall, the gun lying forgotten on the floor where he had dropped it and a thick red stain blossoming on the front of his dirty T-shirt. There was a crash as the door flew open and the room filled with armed police.
He was running to Olivia almost before Moore hit the ground.
'Liv? Liv, it's me, it's OK.' He knelt on the floor beside her, put his hand to her shoulder and turned her over onto her back. Both her eyes were squeezed tightly shut and her hands clenched into fists. 'Liv, are you OK? Did he hurt you?'
'El, am I dead, El...' Olivia was sobbing hysterically. 'I can't be, I can't, you can't be here, El, why did he kill you too, he promised-'
'No, no, sshhh, Moore is, he's dead, Liv, it's OK. It's fine.' He pulled her into an upright sitting position and hugged her against him, noticing that she had cut her forehead open where she had hit the floor. She didn't seem to have noticed. He leaned in and whispered into her ear. 'I'm so, so, sorry for what I did, Liv, I am, but I had to. I had to.' Maybe if he said it enough, he would start to believe it. He smoothed the hair back off her face, kissed her forehead and hugged her tightly, murmuring reassuringly into her ear. Olivia wrapped both arms around his neck and cried harder.
A/N So... what did you think?