Flash
by RoadrunnerGER
Same ole song: I don't own them!
A/N: Thanks for your reviews. :) I'm sorry for the long wait. No excuses, though. My muse went missing and returned only reluctantly. I hope that it'll get better now, but who knows... Thanks to bammi1 and JO for their help. Enjoy.
Ch 10
No!
That was all Olivia could think. No. No. No!
She was not the only one.
On a monitor they saw Jaenicke stand in the street in front of the bank. He stood motionless, still shocked from what had happened.
Still rang the shot in their ears.
Now a SWAT member came running and pulled Jaenicke back to the truck. Shaken out of his trance like that he climbed back in and settled in his chair. For a moment he sat there equally motionless before he put the headset back on. He opened the channels to the SWAT team.
"We have no sight into the bank," McLeod answered his request. "We're blind."
They were blind.
They were deaf.
They were cut off as long as Red would not allow contact.
"We have to go in," Tippe said.
"If we go in now it'll end in a massacre," Deakins thundered. "Do you want them to kill all the hostages?! Go ahead!"
"Captain Deakins is right," Jaenicke agreed. "We need to get contact back."
"And I don't think that we'll get them to talk again."
"We have to try!"
"But what if they won't talk?!"
"They will!" Jaenicke stared at the others rather stubbornly. "They want to get out of there so they'll need to talk with us. They don't talk, they will die."
"We should go in now before they lose their heads and kill the hostages!" lieutenant DiSalvo joined in the discussion.
"I don't think that we need to!" Jaenicke yelled to make himself heard.
"But they shot a hostage!"
That silenced them all for a moment.
"We don't know if he is dead," Jaenicke then told them. "We need confirmation of Stabler's death first before we make a decision we might regret."
"He's got a point there," Deakins said.
Olivia could not stand it anymore. She had to get out. So she retreated from the discussion and left the truck. Outside she took a deep breath and then another before she turned and went a few steps to a crate on the sidewalk. She sat down on it and before she knew what happened she was crying, tears streaming down her face.
"Olivia?"
Anxiety waved in that voice. Olivia's insides constricted when she recognized it as Kathy's. She had to collect herself. Gasping for breath she wiped the tears away and straightened up.
"Olivia, what happened? We heard about a shot being fired. What's going on? Please, tell me."
With every word she sounded more urgent and Olivia wished she knew what to tell her.
"Nothing's confirmed yet," she finally gasped tonelessly. "It's possible that someone got shot, but we don't know it for sure."
"Who?"
Yeah. I knew you'd ask that. Olivia's heart beat frantically. She could feel it thump against her chest from inside. God! What should I tell her? We don't know what really happened. Even though it appeared to be clear we only can speculate.
"We don't know, Kathy," Olivia told Elliot's ex-wife. "Come. Sit with me."
Hesitantly Kathy sat down beside the detective.
"Please, Kathy… As I said we don't know anything except that someone fired a shot. As it is Elliot was on the last pictures of the surveillance camera before it was destroyed by the bank robbers."
Kathy gasped with shock and clapped her hand over her mouth. "Oh, my God! Elliot!"
"We don't know what happened then, Kathy," Olivia told her again. "Maybe it was just a warning…"
"You don't believe that, do you?" Kathy said. "Oh, Olivia. Do you think he's dead?"
"I don't know, Kathy."
"But what do you think?" Her desperation was audible in her voice now and she clawed at Olivia's jacked with her left hand. Olivia hesitated.
"It's possible," she whispered then. "Maybe he got shot. I can't tell. We just don't know. We don't know…"
"Olivia…"
"I know, Kathy. I know." Olivia wrapped her arms around her husband's ex-wife and hugged her compassionately. Both women gave each other comfort, not knowing if the man they loved could be saved from the hostage takers.
xXx
"When can I talk with her?" Mike Logan wanted to know.
"I'm sorry, sir," the nurse said. "But you'll have to wait for Dr. Brosnan." The nurse was not being stubborn, but she really could not tell what she did not know.
"I'm not only a cop, you know," he told her. "I'm also a close friend of Alex."
"And if you'd be the Pope… you'll have to wait."
With that she left him standing where he was and hurried off to work again. So Mike stood and waited until he spotted a man in doctor's jacket leave a room.
"Excuse me, Sir," he said. "Dr. Brosnan?"
"Yes."
"Detective Logan, Major Case. I'm here for Alexandra Eames Goren," Mike told him and produced his badge.
"She's in her room now," Dr. Brosnan told him. "But she needs rest. I'm afraid I can't allow any visitors in."
"And I'm afraid that it can't wait, sir," Mike insisted. "I'll only need a few minutes. She's a police detective, she'll be able to help us a lot."
"Detective Logan," the doctor started, but Mike cut him off.
"She was released from a hostage situation. We need her statement, and we need it now. I'll only be a few minutes." Am I insisting or begging? Mike wondered.
"Room 227," Dr. Brosnan said. "Five minutes."
"Thanks."
Mike strode down the hall in search for Alex's room. When he found it he knocked on the door before he entered. Alex lay in the hospital bed under thick covers and tiredly turned her head when she heard him approach.
"Mike."
"Hey, Alex."
"Anything new about Bobby?" she asked anxiously.
"Not yet."
xXx
Being dead did not feel so much different from being alive.
Lying prone Elliot had difficulties breathing, but he knew he was lucky to be breathing at all. Sometimes a breath caught painfully in his chest. The gun still pressed against the back of his neck and beside him lay the disconnected camera. It took a long while for him to comprehend it all, and then slowly, he came to the realization that Red had shot out the camera. The pain in his head was not from a bullet lodged in his brain, but from being struck by the barrel of the gun as the projectile flew out of it; and the breaths that caught in his chest were his own terrified sobs. As relief and humiliation swept through him, he could only cry harder.
"Shhh, don't cry," Red soothed with a mocking undertone. "You're still here. So you don't have any reason to cry."
But Elliot could not stop the tears. They just kept on rolling and Red's sarcastic tone did not make it any better.
"Why don't you leave him alone?" Bobby asked.
"Shut up, Bobby!" Red snapped. "I'll get to you soon enough!"
I bet you will, Bobby thought. What are you planning? You didn't demand anything yet… so, how do you plan to get out?
"Elliot?" Red purred. "You hear me?"
You hear me?
It sounded as if he heard it through cotton batting. Still his heart was beating frantically and blood rushed in his ears. His vision was blurred with tears and his breaths came hard through his mouth because his nose was blocked.
Still lying in the same position did not make it easier at all. Actually Elliot rather felt like suffocating and he struggled to grunt a choked yeah.
"Was that supposed to be an answer?" Red teased.
"Yeah," Elliot managed to say a little clearer.
"Good," Red smirked and patted Elliot's shoulder, putting the gun away. "So listen closely. You'll remain silent or the next bullet won't miss. You got that?"
"Yeah," Elliot choked.
"Good."
Elliot could hear the grin in Red's voice and it sent shivers down his spine. The light touch of the man's hand on his shoulder seemed to burn him. Breathing was still hard as his nose was blocked from crying. He sniffled, but it was not enough to clear his airways. Their predicament was worse than ever and his muscles tensed, hurting his wrists as he subconsciously strained against the handcuffs.
"Whoa, easy, Elliot. Easy," Red scolded. "You think you can stay silent? Otherwise I'll have to gag you."
No!
The thought made Elliot tense even more. Fear clawed at his heart.
"Elliot?"
No! No, no, noooo!
"Elliot."
The detective could hear that Red became angry, but his throat was corded up and he could not answer, even if he wanted to.
"Is that a yes?" Red pushed and Elliot managed a small nod. The man chuckled. "Actually I should congratulate you. You've gotta have nerves of steel. I've seen men piss their pants for less reasons."
Thanks.
Lying prone, looking to his left side, Elliot could not see Red who was on his right side. All he could see was a wall, a big plant, part of a counter and a ventilation shaft. So he was more or less cut off from what was happening around him. He was bound and, if he was honest with himself, scared to death, so he did not really care right now what Red was up to.
"That's a good boy, Elliot, you just stay down…" he patted Elliot's head like a dog. "And I'm going to see to your buddy now. You know, the one who can't keep his mouth shut."
Bobby, Elliot thought. God, wish you would just shut the fuck up for once.
"Hmmm… I better make sure that you stay down, right, Elliot?" Red snickered. "Let's see… oh, right."
Elliot heard him get up and walk away, but the footsteps soon returned.
"Okay, Elliot," Red said, "This will let me know if you're trying to wander off."
Something touched Elliot's lower back. At first he thought it was just Red's hand, but the light weight did not leave.
What is it?
Tentatively Elliot tensed his leg muscles. The thing danced precariously on his butt.
"Careful, Elliot," Red murmured close to Elliot's ear. "Don't make it drop. The clatter of the pens might startle the hostages and that might startle Green. You don't want that, do you?"
"No," Elliot whispered tonelessly.
"Good." Red smirked and got up. His voice became menacing when he said, "Now to you, Bobby."
Once more Elliot heard the man get up while he was left in his current position. A position that he could not change.
The idea alone made his insides constrict.
He said something about pens. What did he put there? A mug with pens? I drop it and the sound will startle everyone, just like Red said.
Chills crept down his spine. A muscle in his back fluttered and he sensed the mug or whatever it was tremble on his butt.
Now that's not good. I have to keep it still. Damnit!
Listening to the fading footsteps Elliot tried to imagine what Red was doing to Bobby, but his thoughts returned to his new predicament.
I must look ridiculous with my hands cuffed behind my back and a pencil holder balancing on my ass. It's… humiliating.
Right now he could not hear Red anymore. There was some rustling of clothes, a sharp breath, and then, unexpectedly, the ringing of a phone.
tbc…