I am very sorry for the length of time this update has taken. I usually try to update with no more than two week gaps, so this was a big delay. Thank you for your reviews, PM's and DM's, I really appreciate the interest in this story. :-)

I have two other not yet published stories which have not helped with the delay!

Big thank you to my beta, Joanie :-) :-)

Jed laughed.

Olivia sat back against the wall and shook her head in astonishment at Jed's lack of compassion. Feeling Elliot's hand on her arm, she immediately felt a surge of love for him. She turned her head, her eyes fleetingly moving toward his wrist which she could see was swelling badly, yet he ignored the pain to reach to her, to touch her, ground her, show her that he was there for her.

Olivia let her gaze drop to the floor, not wanting to look at the man lying so close to her, motionless, the smell of his blood inescapable; on her clothes, drying on her hands - seeming to seep into the air that she breathed. Elliot's touch served to keep her calm, the warmth of his hand on the bare skin of her arm sent a small shiver through her.

Olivia wanted to move back against the wall next to Elliot, lean into him and feel his arm around her, pulling her close to him as he held her. She wanted to hear the words that she knew he would speak - the reassurance he would give her without hesitation; that she had done the right thing, that their deaths were not her fault - that he would have done the same thing.

She could feel the tension in the room, and without lifting her eyes to meet Jed's, she knew that there had been a shift, that Jed had brought Sam in knowing he would only die. He knew they had time, and the fact that Jed was more interested in playing games right now than trying to get out, bothered her greatly. If they were starting to think that they were not going to get away, then they had little reason to keep two detectives alive.

Elliot watched Jed and Curtis warily - it concerned him that they had left Olivia un cuffed. The unbalance of the situation worried him immensely. He couldn't help her defend herself against two armed perps if he was securely restrained to a pipe; he knew he could not break free and trying to would only serve to injure his other wrist. That thought caused a wave of dread to creep over him - he didn't like the way Jed had his stare fixed hard on Olivia. He was consumed with an ominous sense that the situation could take a very bad turn at any moment.

Olivia was closing herself off, that much was obvious. He could tell that she was trying hard not to let the man's death affect her, not to make an outward display of her emotions; letting the perps see her weakened emotionally would only serve to give them leverage over her.

He imagined how different the night would have been had this not all gone down; sitting in a bar at a table, opposite Olivia, talking, seeing her laugh, just spending time with her again. It had been too long since he had just simply sat with her and talked, and laughed - and he missed her. He needed to change that - needed for this situation to be over with. After tonight, Elliot decided, he was not going to push her away anymore - to hell with his fear of her rejection, of the potential risk to their friendship, their partnership - he loved her. If they didn't get out alive, then all that fear of taking that risk and telling her how he felt - it wouldn't have protected either of them, it would simply have cost them the chance to be happy together.

Elliot's eyes stayed locked onto Olivia, quite sure in his heart, that if they were anywhere else right now, anywhere else at all, that he would cup her face in his hands and kiss her. To hell with risks, he was pretty sure most of his doubts were in his head anyway, maybe she would feel the same. Maybe Olivia would kiss him back with equal passion, return his embrace, tell him that she loved him too.

Some risks just had to be taken.

His thoughts were abruptly cut off and he tensed, as Curtis stepped closer standing in front of Olivia. His concerned gaze wavered from Olivia momentarily so that he could size up Jed. He knew that Jed was the one to be wary of, he called the shots and it was him and his now dead associate that this whole mess had been about. Curtis was dangerous, he had no doubt about that, but he looked to Jed for the next move, and that told Elliot that Jed was the one to worry about more.

Jed's cold gaze moved slowly from Elliot to Olivia, "You have caused me a lot of trouble. I don't care about him," he said, his eyes fleetingly falling to Sam's body, "but Graham, now he is a different story. You killed someone who mattered to me."

Jed moved closer, looking down at Olivia, "how does it feel to have their blood on your hands?"

Olivia held his stare, but did not give him a response - whatever she said, he would throw back at her and find a way to use against her, and she was well aware of that.

Jed smiled cruelly as he leant down taking hold of Olivia's upper arms and pulling her roughly to her feet, before tightening his grip on her shoulders and in one swift movement, pushing her hard against the wall, her back connecting painfully with the hard surface before she had time to react. Curtis watched with an eager interest as Jed turned around and put his hands on the table, shoving it to the other side of the room.

Olivia swept her hair back from her face, damp from the increased heat in the small room, as she blinked back a wave of dizziness and tried to catch her breath, steady herself, and think.

Elliot's eyes locked to hers for a brief moment, willing her to run while she had the chance. He shifted his gaze quickly to the door, the gun lying on the ground outside, directly in his line of sight, and he hoped in Olivia's too.

"Hurt her, and they won't waste time - they'll move in here and take you both out, believe me, you are making a very bad move," Elliot said, working to control the panic he felt.

His heart thudded heavily as Olivia turned suddenly, making a move for the door.

"You can still get out of this," Elliot said, his voice struggling to withhold his anger as Curtis, only a split second behind her, grabbed her shoulder, spinning her around.

"I can help you get out of here, but if you don't take your hands off her then you can wait till they storm the place, and trust me - they will shoot you in a second," Elliot said.

Curtis took a fistful of Olivia's hair and yanked her head back roughly, laughing as she winced in pain. His other hand went to her throat as he shoved her against the wall, holding her in place as her hands clawed at his, trying to break the tight grip on her neck. She quickly brought her knee up as hard as she could, connecting with his groin, instantly causing him to release his grip on her neck and double over in the pain.

She ran for the door, but froze at the unmistakable sound of a gun …. turning around, her eyes fell on to Elliot, a gun digging into his temple.

"Ok," Olivia whispered, her breath hitching as the sting of tears which she somehow stopped from spilling, clouded her eyes, "ok."

Elliot fixed his gaze firmly on hers, the steel of the gun pressing hard against his head. He knew in a second that she wouldn't do what he wanted her to. She would never turn around and run, never step away from him when his life was in danger. He wanted to shout - to get it through to her that these bastards were not going to let them walk out of there - if she ran she stood a chance, she could get away - they didn't both have to die.

He knew it was futile even as he mouthed the word.

'Run.'

She simply pursed her lips, fighting back the tears behind her eyes as she shook her head slightly, but firmly.

She wasn't leaving him, even if it meant she could save her own life.

Jesus, he loved her. With the gun digging into his head, certain that he was about to die, he almost gave in to the urge to say it - to smile at her and tell her he loved her. He had loved her from the day he met her, and it was stupid, beyond stupid that he had never told her. While he was separated, while he was pushing her away because he was too damn scared to be honest with her;

Elliot's heart dropped as she spoke the words he knew she would, without the slightest doubt.

"I'm not going anywhere."

She fixed her eyes firmly on Curtis as she moved slowly over towards Elliot, "don't you want to get out of here alive? Shooting a cop guarantees you won't."

"This is your last chance," Elliot said calmly. We can show you an exit that they won't have covered, you get to it and you're as good as out of here, I'll take you there right now."

Curtis looked to Jed, his arm wavering slightly as he held the gun steady against Elliot's head.

"We gotta try it," Curtis said, wincing at the pain still radiating throughout his groin.

"Don't trust them for a second," Jed spat, as he glared at Olivia.

"Well, looks to me like you're out of options. You gonna risk it, or just stay here and wait for them to storm the place?" Elliot said.

Elliot couldn't hide the relief he felt as Jed moved the gun away from his head, but tensed instantly as he approached Olivia and held it determinedly against the centre of her chest.

"If you're lying - if this is a trick, I promise you - you are both dead."

Fin and Munch were now at a marginal advantage having established communication with Cragen and the other members of the force on the outside of the building. They had also been updated on the conversation between Olivia and one of the gun men, as well as having taking possession of two glock's from their search of the lockers.

They were also feeling hugely relieved, knowing that neither Olivia nor Elliot had been injured when they had heard gun shots. The situation was starting to shift in their favor, and their confidence was building despite the unease they both still felt.

With their guns drawn, Fin and Munch pushed open the doors and walked into the room - they were both very prepared to walk into a hostage situation, but the first sight that met them was a body on the ground, blood pooling by his side.

"Graham Wright," Fin said.

Munch glanced at Fin before turning his attention back to the room - it was quiet, still, no sign of life.

"Well," he said, "that explains where he went, not so pissed about losing the coin toss and ending up without the gun now, looks like they needed it."

As they moved to check the other rooms, they remained silent, almost certain that the floor was now vacated, but needing to be certain.

"Another one in here - this one's more of a mess though," Fin said.

Munch joined him as they looked down at the body in the interrogation room.

"They didn't pass us on the way down so they could only have gone down from this floor," Munch said.

"That puts them on the two floors below us - where the hell are they going?" Fin asked.

"No idea, but if Liv and Elliot have them on the move, they might be gaining control of this," Munch said, "but they're not getting far unarmed, and heading into the basement."

"We have the firepower they need, so let's go back them up and put an end to this," Fin said.

After a call to Cragen, and a reassurance that there was not an immediate risk of the building being entered while Olivia and Elliot were trapped in the building's lower levels with the gun men, Munch and Fin made their way down the stairs, quickly clearing the next floor before drawing their guns and preparing to enter the basement, where they knew they would find the hostage takers as well as Olivia and Elliot.

Elliot glanced at Olivia, his eyes briefly connecting with hers as they walked through the significantly darker basement. Jed had a tight grip on her arm, and a gun held in his free hand, although it gave Elliot some degree of relief to know it was not pointing at her.

Curtis however, did not hesitate to press the barrel of his gun into Elliot's back as they walked through down the steps into the lower basement. The emergency lighting was at a bare minimum in such a lesser used part of the building, but that was to their advantage. This was their territory, the limited lighting could work in their favour.

"How much further?" Jed said.

"Just through here, and to the back. There's an emergency exit, takes us out into a tunnel under the street," Elliot said.

He met Olivia's eyes, and knew how they would play this. They had to tip the scales a little, throw them off just enough to fight and gain control. It was a risk, but the hope that Munch and Fin were not too far behind was something he held on to. They would have heard the gunshots and they would have armed up and looked for them. He trusted them both and knew they would be thinking along the same lines. He just needed their timing to be right.

Olivia put her hand to her head, suddenly standing still and groaning as she swayed slightly.

"I'm dizzy….I have to sit down, I think I have a concussion."

"You gave her a head injury, just slow down a bit," Elliot said.

"You're joking right - what do you want me to do about that? Get you a fucking glass of water and a comfortable chair? Keep. Moving," Jed spat as he yanked her arm and tried to pull her forwards.

Elliot's gaze connected with Olivia's in a brief flash, and she instantly swayed heavily against Jed, falling against his arm, leaving him with no choice but to loosen his grip as she slumped towards him and fell to the floor with a groan, before lying motionless on the ground.

Thank you for reading, I will try to make the next update much quicker.

Please also check out Hold, which is in progress, and is a longer story. I recently published a one shot called Secrets.