I know there was some trouble with the previous chapter and its posting. Hopefully that is resolved and won't happen with this one!
Buckle up!
"Don't come any closer or I'll shoot!"
Olivia and Fin were backed against the wall to her office with their guns drawn, staring down 2 men with assault rifles and ski masks. Olivia had tried to take a few steps and talk to them in hopes of getting them to calm down, which had led to them just getting more upset. Two officers were already down that they could see, and given the amount of gunfire they heard before being confronted in the squad room, there were likely many more. Olivia gave Fin a sideways glance and he mirrored her. This was not good.
"Look, you've already taken out several officers," Fin said calmly. "How about we talk this out so it doesn't get any worse?"
The one gunman looked like he was considering this offer, but the ring leader was not interested.
"NO!" He screamed. "Now drop your weapons!"
Fin and Olivia stayed steady in their places, while a few other officers were able to slowly make their way into the hallway with guns up. The one shooter began to get nervous and pointed his rifle straight at Olivia.
"Any of you come any closer, and she's dead," he said with a shaky voice. Officers froze and Olivia's heart fell into her stomach. All of a sudden visions of her family swam through her mind. Noah playing with his cars, Charlie singing and dancing in their living room, and Ed just being her husband. She swallowed hard and tried to push it all to the back of her mind, but she was getting noticeably nervous. Fin tried to move towards her, but froze when the one man yelled again and fired his gun. Olivia screamed and winced, but he his shot went just above her and shattered the glass window to her office. At that point, Fin moved directly in front of her, despite her protests, and narrowed his eyes.
"You just made a big mistake, you son of a bitch," he said and took the safety off his weapon.
"Where is she?" Ed barked as he ran up to the scene outside of the precinct. He immediately found his buddy, Mike, who was high up the 1PP food chain. "Where's my wife?"
"Tucker," he said, turning around and meeting his eyes. "I'm afraid I don't have any information for you right now."
"Bullshit," he growled. "Please. I need to know something. Anything."
Ed Tucker was trying to remain stoic, but Mike could tell that he was a mess. His hands were shaking, his face was red, his eyes bloodshot, and an overall anguish marred his features. He had never seen him like this. In all of the years they worked together, Ed was always completely poised. Mike softened a bit, realizing that if the roles were reversed he would want someone to throw him a bone as well.
"We don't know a lot right now," he said softly. "Multiple rounds fired, multiple shooters."
"Injuries?" Ed asked, desperate to know if his wife was at least unharmed.
"I'm told there are several, but we aren't able to get in there yet. He's got them barricaded."
Ed's entire body almost gave out at that. Olivia was barricaded in her own precinct by men with assault rifles. His Olivia. His wife. His very reason for existing at this point. Charlie's face was cemented in the back of his mind, as well. That fear in her eyes and the immediate tears were a sight he would never forget. And then there was Noah. Their sweet, bubbly, inquisitive little boy. They were all surviving and thriving because of Olivia Benson-Tucker. She was their family's lifeline and he couldn't lose her.
"Mike…" he said, his voice barely a whisper. "You have to get her out of there."
"I will do everything in my power, Ed," Mike said as he placed a hand on the man's shoulder. "The best thing you can do is go home to your kids."
"No," he said firmly. "I am not leaving here without my wife."
Mike watched him for a bit, before signaling for a younger uni to come over.
"Nelson, this is Captain Tucker," he said. "I want you to take him over to the command set up and get him comfortable. But he is not to interfere with the police work. Understood?"
"Yes sir," Nelson said before turning to Ed. "Come with me, Captain."
"Trevor!" Charlie cried as she opened the door to her parent's apartment and let the lawyer in. As soon as she closed and locked the door behind him, Trevor engulfed her in his arms. "I'm so glad you are here."
"I saw the news and headed out immediately, so I was already on my way when you called," he said, not letting her go and swaying them back and forth as if to offer a small amount of comfort.
"I…" Charlie began before just dissolving into a fearful wave of tears. She had debated calling Trevor at first because she was still incredibly confused about what was happening between them. But ultimately she didn't want to be alone and the only other person she could think to call was Amanda, which didn't help in this particular moment. So she had called Trevor, hoping he could come sit with her until she heard from her dad.
"Hey," he soothed. "I've got you. It's going to be okay. Olivia, your mom, she is the smartest cop I know. She's going to be just fine. Okay?"
Charlie just shook her head violently back and forth as she cried.
"God," she said. "It's like I'm fucking cursed."
"No," Trevor answered firmly. "Don't go there."
"I can't do this without her…" she sobbed out as she pulled away from Trevor and wiped at her face. "I…I can't lose her…"
All of a sudden a cry came from the back of the apartment, reminding the two adults that a young boy was still there and he didn't need to wake up to their emotional turmoil. Charlie furiously wiped at her face and Trevor went to get her some water. As Noah's cries got louder, she began to make her way to his room.
"Trevor?" She asked, turning around briefly. "Please don't leave…"
"I'll be right here," he said. "Take your time."
Charlie turned around and made her way into Noah's room. As she opened the door, her heart swelled at the sight. Her little brother was still curled up with his thumb in his mouth and watching for the door to open. Even though he was four and now slept in a big boy bed, he would always wait for someone to come get him after a nap. As Charlie slowly approached the bed, he lifted his arms up for her to pick him up. Instead, Charlie curled up in bed beside him and pulled the boy into her chest. Noah immediately cuddled into her and put his thumb back in his mouth.
"Hey pal," she said softly, while kissing his head. "How was your nap?"
"It good," he said softly.
"Are you ready to get up or do you want to lay here a bit longer?" Charlie asked, secretly hoping he would go back to sleep so she didn't have to control her raging emotions.
"You lay here wiff me?" Noah asked, a bit slurred as his thumb was still in his mouth. Charlie just squeezed him tighter.
"Always," she said. "I'm gonna be right here, no matter what."
"Otay," he said sleepily. "Lub you, Tar-lie."
"Love you too, pal," she responded, the tears beginning to stream down her cheeks again as she thought of their mom. She just stayed cuddled up with her little brother, praying for a good outcome.
"Fin…" Olivia murmured from behind her friend and partner.
"Listen up," Fin yelled at the gunmen. "This place is surrounded. If you want to get out of here alive, you are going to do what I say."
The entire building was quiet at that point, and it was clear that the perps were contemplating Fin's statement. Olivia was slowly darting her eyes around the station, trying to pinpoint where the snipers were set up outside and what her best options were. Finally, after several minutes, the one gunman spoke.
"I'm listening," he said.
"First, you need to let the paramedics come in and get the injured officers out."
"NO!" he screamed. "That is not happening. No one comes in here."
Olivia winced at the force in which the perp spoke and began to realize that those men didn't care if they got out alive. If they were going to survive, she needed to figure out how to position the men for the snipers to get a shot in. She reached up to grab onto Fin's belt and tapped a bit, hoping it would convey the message to change course. It did as Fin took one step forward, hoping to get them to shift a bit.
"I said DON'T MOVE!" he screamed as gun shots rang out loudly in the precinct.
Tucker was pacing around the make-shift command center when all of a sudden gunshots rang loudly from the building. He immediately looked up in complete horror and watched the snipers take four shots into the windows of the floor where the 1-6 was located. His hand clutched at his heart as he stood, frozen in fear as to whether or not any of those bullets had hit his wife.
"No…" he whispered. "No…."
Officers began to storm the building and Ed was frantically looking around, watching the chaos. He wanted to get into that building and get to Olivia, but he knew that he couldn't get in the way of the rescue operation. So as hard as it was, he stayed planted under the tent with Nelson by his side.
"God, please," he said with his eyes closed. "Please bring her out to me alive and unharmed. I can't lose her."
Ed was not an overly religious man, but he felt confident there was some kind of higher power. And right in that moment, he needed there to be a God because he needed someone or something to get his wife safely into his arms.
"Get the paramedics in here now!" He heard shouted from the entrance of the building and that was when his knees buckled and he steadied himself on the support pole, keeping his eyes on the door. He could hear his phone buzzing in his pocket, knowing it was Charlie trying to figure out what was happening, but he couldn't answer it. He couldn't face her or Noah until he knew Olivia was okay. Maybe it was selfish, but it was all he could do at the moment.
A few minutes later, he saw the first of the paramedics emerge from the building with a victim on the stretcher, shouting medical codes to each other. Ed was on his feet and moving towards them in an instant, trying to see if it was Olivia. He made it about ten steps before Nelson was there stopping him.
"Captain, you can't go up there," he said softly, but firmly, and gripped Ed's arm. Ed ripped his arm from his hand and turned to him.
"My wife is in there," he said, voice full of anguish. "I've waited here long enough. Let me go."
"I can't, sir," Nelson said, his voice shaking a bit in fear of the brooding man in front of him. But he knew he had to follow orders. So he went for the comment he knew would work. "We cant have you hindering the rescue. If she's hurt, they need to get to her fast."
Ed's heart snapped at that statement. If she's hurt. His eyes closed as he pictured her face and waited to see her walk out of the building on her own.
"Liv? Where are you?" Fin asked as he tried to sit up after the gunfire had ceased. The squad room was nothing but smoke at this point and he couldn't see a thing. "Olivia?"
"Over here…" a frantic voice came from his left and he began to crawl in that direction. As the smoke cleared a bit, he saw her frame hunched over the body of a young lady who had been working in their building for about a year. She was mainly administrative, pushing paper work around, but was always happy and smiling. Fin got to Olivia's side and panicked as he saw the blood all over his friend.
"Not my blood," she said softly. "It is Amy's."
Fin looked down and saw that the young lady was dead. Olivia looked like a zombie as she sat over her, holding her hand.
"Her son is three," Olivia said, her voice almost monotone. "I just..."
"Liv…" Fin started but she shook her head.
"Not now, Fin," she said. "I'm going to stay with her until Melinda gets here."
"Then I am too," he said and put his arm around his friend. "Hey Liv?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank God you are okay," he said as he kissed the side of her head and pulled her into a brotherly hug.
"You too, Fin," she whispered, still watching Amy's lifeless body. "You too."
Ed was still standing in one spot, frozen, watching officers and medical personnel go in and out of the building. He had been there for about half an hour, waiting for any sign that his wife was okay. At this point, he was fearing the worst. If she were okay, she would've been out by now. And if she were injured, she would've been out by now. But the alternative was something he refused to believe. He just knew she was alive. He could feel it in his heart, but he wouldn't be okay until he could physically touch her. A buzzing in his pocket brought him out of his thoughts and he finally decided to take a look. As expected, it was Charlie.
"Hey baby," Ed said softly, as he rubbed his hand over his head and kept his eyes on the precinct entrance.
"Dad, do you have her yet?"
"No, not yet," he answered, his voice strained. "Still waiting."
"Daddy…"
The tears were evident in Charlie's voice, so he needed to pull himself together and reassure her.
"Charlie, it's going to be okay," he said confidently. "Is Noah awake?"
"Yeah. He's on my lap watching Peter Pan."
"Good," Ed responded. "Keep him occupied so he doesn't sense anything is off. Did Trevor get there?"
"Yeah, he's right here. Taking good care of us."
"Good. I'm glad," he said and paused a bit, watching yet another group of people leave the building and none of them were Olivia. "Listen, I'm gonna bring your mom home to you okay? I promise."
"Okay. I believe you. Be careful Dad. Love you."
As Ed hung up the phone, he prayed to God that he wasn't wrong. Their family, with as much as they had been through, would not survive this kind of loss. That was when he noticed more commotion at the entrance to the 1-6. He watched, almost in slow motion, as the first body bag was brought out from the building. That was when he finally lost it and headed towards the building.
"Captain!" Nelson yelled from behind him. "Captain, you can't go in there!"
Ed ignored the young uni and made his way to the front, where several Chiefs were standing along with members of Hostage Negotiation.
"Ed," one of them said. "You can't go in there."
"If you can't get my wife to me, then I am going to her," he said in a low growl and they all looked at each other before looking back to Ed. Before he could make another move to get past them, he noticed another group exiting the building. He watched as Fin came out behind another body bag on a stretcher, and he began to shake his head.
"No…" he gasped. "No, please…"
Fin noticed Ed's distress at the sight, so he turned around quickly to reach for something. As Ed watched through tear clouded vision, he saw his wife finally walk down the stairs with the assistance of Fin.
"Oh thank god," he gushed out in a whisper. He could not get her into his arms fast enough. Ignoring the orders from the officers around him, Ed took off towards the building entrance and Olivia. Fin steered the shell-shocked lieutenant towards her husband and she finally noticed him coming towards her.
"Ed…" she croaked out as he finally reached her and pulled her tightly to him, tangling one hand in her hair while the other wrapped tightly around her back.
"Baby…" he whispered into her hair, where he had buried his face. "I've got you. You're okay. Thank God you're okay."
Olivia's face was nestled in the crook of Ed's neck and her arms were wrapped around his waist, clutching the grey t-shirt he wore.
"Ed…" was all she could say. Her mind and body were exhausted, and now that she was in her husband's arms she began to feel the effects of what had just happened.
"It's me, baby," he said. "It's over. You're safe. And I love you so much."
To Be Continued...