The characters appearing in this story are the property of their respective rights holders, and belong to Tess Gerritson, Andrew Marlow and Dick Wolfe. No infringement of their rights is intended but thanks heaps for letting us have our way with them, if only for a little while.
Running in the Night Part 28
They sat there for a while, letting the adrenaline wash out and giving their horribly abused bodies time to heal, before Liv finally dragged herself together and retrieved her, thankfully unbroken, phone to make a call.
Several minutes later she ended the call and sagged back against the wall next to Alex; Carmilla had been advised of what had happened and was sending help. They sat there for a while, backed up against the wall, shoulders together, just reveling in the knowledge that they'd survived, that they'd beaten the odds, together. Jane and Maura had taken the couch at the other end of the room, giving them some small measure of privacy for which they were grateful.
"When I woke up and found you weren't there, I was terrified Al" Alex nodded slowly, her hand coming up to cup her detective's cheek.
"I had faith Liv, I knew you'd come, we just had to be strong"
"I'd always come for you Alex, no matter what"
"And that was what I realised, it gave me strength to hang on until you could rescue me. Thank you for coming for me:"
"I'd do anything for you Alex, absolutely anything, you know that" Alex turned and leaned over, placing a gentle kiss on Liv's cheek.
"I know that, the same as I would for you" Liv's head turned to her and she smiled, before she leaned forward, seeking out the lips so tantalisingly close, they sat there for a while, exchanging deep kisses and playful little pecks, until they finally sat back, Liv shifting slightly against the wall as she struggled to get comfortable.
"God, I feel like a train ran over me"
"Well, we all got beaten up pretty badly, but it'll heal"
"I can feel it, but I'm so wasted, really, really tired" Alex nodded, suddenly realising that Olivia and Jane, well all of them probably but those two most of all, were suffering, all of that energy expended to heal the injuries had left them dangerously depleted, they'd need to feed sometime soon.
"We'll have to get out of here soon Liv, out of New York for a while"
"Oh?" Alex nodded once, with certainty.
"Yes, we need time to work out how we're going to deal with all the changes, plus dodge some of the questions we've managed to skirt by so far" Liv nodded slowly.
"Yeah, I'm stunned Cragen and the rest haven't knocked down the door at my place and yours trying to find us" She pulled her phone out and checked her voicemail and texts, grimacing. "I've got a mess of missed calls, from him, Amaro, Rollins, Fin, even Munch and Melinda" She shook her head slowly. "Maybe you're right, getting away for a few days will help"
"You think Don will give you the time?" Liv nodded confidantly.
"Yeah, you know me; I never ask for personal time, I don't think he'll complain too much. What about you, can you get the time off?" Alex smiled.
"I think Liz'll give me whatever I ask for, given what's happened, all things considered" Liv nodded slowly and picked up the phone. Alex raised an eyebrow.
"No time like the present, I'll text in a request for leave, Don'll get it when he gets up, knowing him, he'll approve it straight away"
"Good, then we can get out of here" Alex looked down at her watch. "It's after midnight; if we get going soon we can be at my family's place in the Hamptons well before dawn"
"Oh, why there?"
"Peaceful, quiet, we won't be disturbed and the neighbors are far enough away that no one will know we're there, let alone bother us" Liv nodded slowly, that sounded wonderful. She looked across the room, taking in Jane and Maura sitting facing each other on the couch, having a, quiet, intense discussion, before they fell into each other's arms.
"They're coming too?" Alex nodded.
"Hell yeah, we're all in this together" Liv smiled quietly at Alex's heartfelt words as the blonde lay her head on Liv's shoulder, the feeling both strange and wonderfully right.
"Yeah, that we are"
Catching movement across the room Jane looked over at the other couple, seeing them sitting there with their backs to the wall, hands held as Alex leaned against Liv's shoulder. Alex caught her glance and smiled back at her before Jane looked away, lest the other woman see her pain.
The lawyer was beautiful, smart, rich and successful, everything that anyone would want, and everything she wasn't. No wonder Maura fell for her, that knowledge deepening the pain inside her as she looked up to see gold-flecked hazel eyes watching her.
"Maura" Jane paused to wet her lips and force the words she knew she had to say out, no matter how hard they might be. Maura picked up on her tone though, tilting her head to regard her.
"Yes Jane?"
"Um, I just wanted you to know…" Damn, this hurt to say, it felt like her heart was tearing apart. "I mean, I won't get in your way" Maura's expression changed, confusion furrowing her brow; Jane just wanted to reach out and smooth it away.
"Whatever do you mean?"
"You and her…Alex I mean. I won't stand between you" Maura's frown deepened as she struggled to follow her friend and partner's logic. She thought she'd become pretty good at deciphering Jane's intentions over the years but this left her confused.
"I am not sure I am following you Jane, what exactly do you mean" Jane sighed, was Maura going to make this harder than it already was?
"I mean you and her. I know you love her, I just want you to be happy" As Maura sat there staring, Jane hastened on. "I know you and her are…together. I saw it back at her place after I woke up, the other bedroom" She shook her head slowly, trying hard to keep her voice firm, to not let her tears show. "I won't stand in your way, I want you to be happy and if that's Alex then so be it"
To her shock Maura's face transformed, first as a smile, then as a low chuckle.
"Oh Jane" She suddenly leaned over, her lips finding Jane's in a quick, soft kiss before pulling back slightly to look into her warm brown eyes. "Alex is my lover yes. But you are the one I love. You are the one I need more than anything else, to make me complete" Maura leaned in again; this kiss was anything but quick, as they lost themselves in each other for a while. Despite the sensations Maura's kiss was creating within her Jane's head was whirling as she tried to follow Maura's logic. 'What did she mean?'
Finally they pulled apart, Maura seeing the confusion in Jane's eyes and smiling as she tried to explain.
"Alex is beautiful yes, intelligent, charming, an amazing lover, Liv is so very lucky to have her, but she is not you Jane, and she never will be" Seeing the need to clarify what she had said, Maura pressed on. "Alex and I have a bond, due to our shared experience, after what has happened there is always a piece of me that will need and cherish her, but my heart belongs to you Jane, you are the one I love"
"You're sure Maura; I mean I can see why you'd want her…" Maura knew where this was going and shook her head to stop Jane, her face hardening and her voice lowering and taking a much firmer, no nonsense tone.
"Jane, listen to me and take careful heed of my words. You were the one who rescued me from Vanchev; twice. You were the one who offered to give up your life for me, to become a vampire to protect me and to be with me. You could have died here tonight but instead you found me and saved me" Maura smiled. "You have made quite the habit of that over time, saving me I mean. From Charles Hoyt, from that flooding car, from Dennis Rockmond, from a life behind bars for a crime I did not commit, every time it has been you" She leaned forward, her voice full of sincerity and emotion. "It has always been you Jane, you save me" Jane swallowed at the lump Maura's heartfelt words had created as she tried to respond, finally managing to speak, her voice low and filled with emotion.
"You save me too Maur, I was lost till you arrived. Hoyt had his claws in me so bad I thought I was gonna go mad, or worse. Then you made everything better, just by being you" Maura's smile was soft and warm.
"I must have been blind Jane; I loved you but thought you would never feel the same way about me" Jane shrugged.
"I've had it bad for years Maur. I liked you pretty much as soon as we met, but it was around the time that Hoyt escaped that things changed. I came to you because I only felt safe with you. It sort of grew from there" She smiled at the memory. "That was the first sleepover at your place. Even though I was scared stupid, when you lay down next to me, I realised how much I liked being there with you, how you looked, how you felt up against me, how nice you smelled, I realised that I wanted to do more of that" She looked sheepishly down at the floor.
"Why do you think I kept arranging to come over or for you to come over to my place? I kinda got to the point that the only time I really slept good was when you were with me"
"Well Jane, you slept well" Looking up Jane's expression turned skeptical, as did her tone.
"I'm telling you how much I love you and you're correcting my grammar?" The smile that Maura had been holding in broke through like sun through the clouds, leaving Jane basking in the warmth.
"Good grammar is the basis for good communication Jane" Jane grinned for a moment, before trying a bit of snark, not that Maura didn't see right through her to what she wasn't saying.
"Does this mean you're going to be correcting my grammar for the rest of eternity?" Maura leaned into her until her head rested on Jane's shoulder, arms around her, Maura's gaze fixed on their hands, fingers entwined, and smiled again.
"I certainly hope so my love"
The room was quiet for a while, both couples too comfortable, and frankly too fatigued, to want to move. Their quiet didn't last long though.
"Anyone in there?" At the call, a woman's voice, they sat up, as Liv worked up enough energy to respond.
"Yeah upstairs"
"They heard soft footfalls on the stairs before a woman stepped carefully into the room, long, lean and quite gorgeous, dressed in boots and jeans, a button down and a leather jacket, the tawny-blonde haired woman looked round, taking them in. Neither Jane nor Liv missed that she had her hand on the Glock at her belt. The woman's eyes widened as she saw Vanchev's body lying there, before she looked across at Jane.
"You Benson?" Jane shook her head and gestured to the other couple.
"Nope, Rizzoli, that's Benson" The other woman nodded and partly turned.
"Hi, Kate Beckett, Carmilla sent me" Liv nodded and forced herself to her feet, the name was vaguely familiar, to buy a few seconds to try and remember she turned and helped Alex to her feet. Unable to recall the name, Liv turned back and nodded, seeing Jane and Maura making their way over.
"Olivia Benson; thanks for coming" She noticed the badge on Beckett's belt. "You're a cop?" Beckett nodded.
"Yeah, homicide with the 12th Precinct, you're with the 16th aren't you?" Liv nodded, she now placed the woman, Beckett had a good rep for solving the weird and difficult cases.
"Yeah, SVU" She turned and indicated Alex standing next to her. "Alex Cabot, she's our ADA" Kate nodded once at her and then pointedly glanced at the others, prompting Liv to do the introductions. "Jane Rizzoli with Boston Homicide and Maura Isles, Boston's ME" They exchanged nods before Kate spoke.
"Good to meet you all, especially under the circumstances" Kate waved over at Vanchev's body. "Thank god that bastard's dead and you're all ok" Alex looked at the woman, her expression curious.
"You knew him?" Kate nodded once.
"Yeah, met him a few times, he gave me the creeps, you could just tell he was imagining something sick when he looked at you" She pulled a face. "He made my skin crawl" Liv nodded.
"How long have you been...?" Kate knew exactly what Liv was asking.
"I was turned three years ago. I caught Carmilla's eye and she seduced me" Kate shrugged. "Carmilla's impossible to resist when she turns her mind to it, but I was in love with someone else and she let me go to be with him" Liv nodded, Kate had a hell of a reputation as a good detective, which raised Liv's hopes of continuing to be a cop despite everything.
"And you make it work?" The other woman nodded once.
"Yeah, it has its moments, good and bad. The whole avoiding sunlight thing's a pain, but on the other hand I've survived a few incidents that might otherwise have killed me" Maura nodded.
"Your partner, does he know?" Kate's long hair tumbled across her shoulders as she turned to look at Maura.
"He found out after someone shot me at point blank range and I shrugged it off, I practically tore the guy's head off with the return punch" She gave a shrug. "He saw it all, including how quickly I healed. We had a very long talk later, over a long night of whiskey, lots of whiskey. In the end he demanded I turn him so we could be together"
"And did you?" It was Alex.
"I didn't want to, but in the end I wasn't going to lose him; I love him too much for that. Besides, in our line of work having someone else there to cover for you makes it all much easier. We cover each other's backs, alibi each other when we have to" She frowned. "I won't lie, there's downside's to this, Rick's gonna watch his daughter die of old age while we live on; that's hard, damned hard" She shrugged again. "We have each other, we'll cope"
They nodded, they knew exactly how that felt. Jane looked over at Kate.
"So what happens now?"
"We torch this place. It'll get rid of both Vanchev here" Kate jerked her thumb over her shoulder at his body. "And the body downstairs" Liv frowned at the thought, the police officer in her shying away from deliberate arson of private property, instead she temporised..
"Won't a fire draw too much attention?" Kate flicked a glance at her.
"Your fingerprints will be all over this place, so we need to make sure nothings found" Kate smiled. "Don't worry, by the time I'm finished this place will be a gutted shell" She grimaced for a quick moment. "Shame about that sweet Mustang downstairs though" She glanced around at all of them.
"That Audi out back belong to any of you?" Alex nodded.
"It's mine" Kate glanced back at her.
"Then I suggest you get it, and you, the hell out of here before anyone's in a position to connect you to the fire here"
"What about you?"
"My bike's parked a block and half over, don't worry, no one's gonna connect that with this" Seeing their concern and appreciating it, Kate flashed them a quick grin. "Trust me on this one guys, this isn't my first rodeo" She looked around, taking them all in. "Make tracks people, time's wasting and the sun's coming" Jane nodded and held her hand out.
"Thanks Kate" The other woman smiled and ducked her head, even as she shook Jane's hand and then the others
"Don't thank me, you guys did the all hard work, I'm just glad you took out Vanchev, he was a threat to everyone, now he's dead we'll all breath a hell of a lot easier. C'mon, you need to be outta here" Jane and Liv paused to collect their pistols and the now useless shotguns before Kate led them back down the stairs, pausing just inside the door by a backpack, one she'd obviously left there. Crouching down Kate opened it up pulled out several bottles, glancing up at them.
"Accelerant, make sure everything here burns" Liv nodded.
"Handy" Kate shrugged like it was no big deal.
"Like I said, I've done this before" She reached back in and pulled out a small cooler bag. "Carmila told me to bring you this too" Realising what it was Alex took the proffered bag.
"Thank you Kate, for everything"
"Like I said, thanks for what you did tonight, we owe you"
One by one the others shook Kate's hand or hugged her before they made their way out, piling into the car before Alex drove them off into the night.
