"Tuck! What that?" inquired Noah as he briefly let go of his mommy's hand to point towards the large structure a few feet ahead of them. Ed looked down in fondness at Noah before looking back up and answering his question. That, bud, is the Eifel Tower." replied Ed. "Big tower! We go there?" questioned Noah. "You betcha, buddy. You, me, and your mommy are gonna have a nice dinner by the tower and then in a little while, the tower's gonna light up." said Ed. "Tower! Light up! Like police car! You and mama are police!" said Noah in his sweet voice. Noah grabbed Olivia's hand again and gently pulled on it. "Mama, let's go, I wanna see the lights!" requested Noah. Olivia ran her hand over his head, giving him a gentle pat. "Okay, sweet boy, we're going. We're going" responded Olivia.
Olivia handed Noah a toy police car as they came to a spot that wasn't too crowded. She sat him down on the grass and put down the basket of food near him as she went to help Ed spread out the blanket, while keeping a close eye on Noah. A few minutes later, her, Ed, and Noah were sitting on the the blanket munching happily on sandwiches and fruit. Olivia looked up as the sun began to set and pulled her jacket a bit more snug around her body. Ed noticed her movement from the corner of his eye and moved one of his arms to wrap around her, while he finished up his sandwich that he held in the other. Olivia snuggled her body against his and sighed in content. She looked up to ask Ed something when a noise interrupted her thoughts. Her, Tucker, and Noah looked to their left where the commotion was. A young couple, probably about half their age, were hugging excitedly as the girl looked at her left hand blissfully. "Mama! What's happenin?" questioned Noah as he brought a hand to her face, touching her cheek gently and bringing her back to the present. "They just got engaged, my love" replied Olivia. "What's engaged?" asked Noah. "Well, my love, engaged is when a man and a woman promise to love each other forever and the man gives her a ring to keep that promise" answered Olivia. "You and Tuck engaged?" questioned Noah innocently as his eyes wandered over to her left hand. Olivia and Ed glanced at each other and then back to Noah. "No, buddy we're not engaged but we do love each other." answered Ed. "Forever?" questioned Noah. Olivia squeezed Ed's hand and looked at him through the corner of her eye. "Yes, sweet boy. Forever. 'I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living, my baby you'll be" responded Olivia as she recited a few lines from one of Noah's favorite books. Noah turned his attention to Ed. "Tuck, you love me forever?" asked Noah sweetly. Ed breathed in deeply, his eyes becoming a little emotional because of the sweet and innocent boy in front of him. Ed glanced back at Olivia before looking Noah straight in the eyes. "Yeah, No, forever and ever." replied Ed. Noah smiled back at Ed before his attention was quickly diverted by the Eifel Tower lighting up. "Lights, mama! Pretty lights" said Noah as he gazed up in wonder. Ed and Olivia looked at each other briefly, silently communicating to discuss this later, before bringing their attention back to the Eifel Tower.
Noah snuggled into Tucker, with his arms wrapped around his neck tightly, his light snores the only sound filling the air as Tucker and Olivia quietly walked back to their hotel. "Liv, about earlier," started Ed quietly. "Don't" said Olivia cutting him off as she stopped her walking and took a breath, trying to collect her thoughts. "You know that year when I was fostering Noah, before he became legally mine, I didn't think I needed anything else. I thought to myself, me and Noah against the world. He won't know the hardships I went through of being alone growing up because I was going to make sure that he knew he was loved beyond words by me. But then you came along, with your offer of bourbon, she laughed quietly as Ed smirked at her, and you became my friend, my confidant, who I could talk to when there were days that I thought I was in over my head. You always reassured me that I was the being the best mother to Noah that I could be. You never pushed for more than I asked. You gave me space when I needed it and you supported me even before we became us. Admittedly, it hasn't always been easy for us, we haven't always seen eye to eye, but i remember when I called you in after they shot at Amaro's house with his daughter inside, and you told him that you would've done the same thing he did,-" "I would protect Noah with my life" stated Ed. "I know" said Olivia as she stepped closer to kiss him and she ran a hand down Noah's back. "I know. I'm not expecting anything, but you being here with me, coming home to you, meeting up with you and Noah at the park for lunch. That's more than enough me. I don't need a ring to promise me forever. You being a constant in our lives, that's enough of a forever for me" said Olivia as she covered his cheek in hand and smiled. Ed turned his head to give her hand that was on his cheek a kiss. "I'm not going anywhere" stated Ed as him and Olivia stood there next to each other, a silent promise communicated through their eyes.
A shrill ring brought Olivia out of her flashback. She glanced at Ed who stood to her left who nodded at her to answer the call.
"Sheila. Please give Noah back" pleaded Olivia
"I told you. Noah is MINE. Me and him are gonna go off and you're never going to see him" responded Sheila
Ed took the phone from Olivia's hands, pushing the speaker button on.
"Hello. Sheila, this is Ed Tucker with Hostage Negotiation. You can call me Ed." said Ed into the phone
"Hostage negotiation? You. You're the ones that can get me what I need." said Sheila
Yes, that's true. I can get you what you need, but Noah, you need to let him go. He doesn't have to be apart of this" spoke Ed into the phone.
"I already told Olivia. Noah is not going back with her. Now I need money and a car. Noah's my baby now." said Sheila
"Money? Alright, we can get you money, but you need to show us that Noah is okay. You do something for us and we'll do something for you." spoke Ed in a calm and even voice.
Sheila sighed, running a hand through her hair in frustration. She marched towards the room where she had locked Noah in. She unlocked it and scanned the room for Noah. Noah sat on the stiff bed in the room, tears running down his face. He looked up at the sound of her opening the door. She pulled the phone away from her ear and said "smile Noah" as she clicked the button on the phone to take his picture.
She quickly shut the door and locked it again. She sent the photo to Olivia's phone and glanced out the window to make sure they got it. She put the phone back to ear. "There. He's fine. Now get me my money. 500,000 dollars" she said and hung up the phone.
Olivia glanced at the phone in Ed's hands as the photo popped on screen. "Oh God. He looks so terrified" whimpered Olivia. Ed grasped her hand that was closest to him and squeezed it gently. Ed turned his attention back to his team and repeated Sheila's demands. His team nodded and went back into the trailer to get to work.
Olivia put a hand to her forehead. Ed turned his gaze back to her as he tried to catch her eyes.
"She won't hurt him. As twisted as this is, a part of her loves him too. And she wants money and a car. She is looking ahead." said Ed
Olivia sighed heavily and shook her head but Ed let go of her and reached up to brush her hair back, stopping her movement. He moved his other hand up so they were on either side of her face.
Olivia opened her mouth to disagree with Ed, wanting to say that this isn't love. Love isn't kidnapping a 5 year old boy..but the words that came out of Ed's mouth stopped her.
"They're not gonna go anywhere" said Ed and they both were quiet for a moment as the weight of words settled in, both of their minds flashing back to the last time Ed had said those similar words to her that night in Paris before everything fell apart.
Olivia looked up finally to meet his gaze. She opened her mouth to respond but closed it back again, not knowing what to say. It was not lost on her how easily she threw everything, the guilt of Dodds death haunted her and hit her full force as soon as they stepped back into Manhattan. Before she knew it, she was making excuses to not meet up with Ed and keeping him away until all of a sudden he was actually gone. Her heart ached at all the times Noah would question her about Tucker's whereabouts after the break up. "When's Tuck coming back? Will Tuck come over read my new book to me? Tuck still my friend?"
"He said, he love me forever Mama. Why Tuck no come over anymore?" She told him forever, but yet she pushed him away the first chance she got. She blinked her eyes as tears started to pool at her eyes as she thought about how she not only took away her happiness, but Noah's. Not this time she thought to herself. I won't screw this up again.
"With my life, remember?" continued Ed as he spoke breaking Olivia out of her thoughts and reminding her of the other promise he had made her in Paris.
"Noah will be back in your arms before you know it. Liv, you and Noah, forever, remember?" spoke Ed
"Ours" responded Olivia, finally speaking up. "Our arms. Noah, me, and you, forever." spoke Olivia, the start of a new promise was not lost on Ed.
Ed took in her words and nodded. He kissed her forehead. "Forever" he said. "Forever" he reiterated and they turned their attention back to the team to see how the demands were coming along.