One-Shot
An Elani Short
By Lou
How could any of this be real?
They were supposed to be at home up to their necks in diapers, feedings, sleep deprivation, basking in all things baby.
They were sleep-deprived, all right.
They had not slept in days.
Vivian Alamaine, and her forever henchman Ivan, had taken their children from the hospital's nursery as payback for the death of her son Stefan.
Lani had barely gotten past the undeserved guilt that she felt, and then this happened. He could see it all over his wife's face. She hadn't said the words aloud, but Eli knew that Lani was placing the blame for their children being taken on herself.
They had had to go home to an empty apartment in devastation and fear of not knowing where Carver and Julia were.
Eli held his wife that first night as Lani cried herself to sleep, only for her to wake up with fresh tears on her cheeks to the reality of what was. Then they had gotten a lead, from Xander Cooke of all people. Eli had checked that information backward and forward before he had taken it to Rafe.
The lead had been solid.
The lead had brought them to Chicago.
Against orders.
Fuck that badge. If Rafe wanted it, Eli would gift it to him as soon as they brought their kids home.
This was all that they had, and Eli would rather pull that thread and come away with nothing than do nothing, and they lose their children anyway.
He was not going to allow a child to be lost to them again.
His silence scared her.
With every passing second, Lani could feel her husband's anger grow. It was a silent rage that she prayed wouldn't break.
For Eli's sake.
He had kept her from killing that woman who had taken their children because she had been desperate.
Desperate.
It had been desperate determination, Eli's, that had kept that bitch breathing. Lani sincerely hoped that that woman never tasted free air again.
Every move they had made since Carver and Julia were taken from them had gotten them to where they were, outside Vivian Alamaine's door. Their children were just on the other side.
God knew that Stefan DiMera's death had not been something that was planned. Lani didn't blame herself for shooting him. The man has jumped in front of her gun.
She blamed herself for not being able to stop him. As a police officer, Lani felt that she should have seen him coming. When she finally had, it was too late.
She didn't blame herself for that man's death; her gun hadn't been trained on him. She regretted not being able to stop him. Now, his psychotic mother, and her bottom bitch henchman, thought that they would take their children as payment?
When Eli stopped outside of Vivian's door, Lani watched her husband began to pace. He un-holstered his weapon, glaring at the door that separated them from their children, before jamming his gun back into the holster.
"Eli…"
"We're not leaving here without Carver and Ju." He said to her and, more importantly, to himself. "We need a plan."
"Vivian, she isn't going to answer that door. She has Ivan for that." Lani told him. "We get him out, sweep the house, contain Vivian, find Carver and Jules, then take our babies home."
Lani put her hand on his arm to stop Eli's pacing. "Takedown Ivan," She told him. "Find Vivian. Get our kids."
He put his hands on her shoulders, their heads rested together, sharing each other's strength. Eli pulled in one breath, then another.
"Neutralize Ivan." He repeated. "Contain Vivian. Find Carver and Ju-"
"Take our babies home." They finished together.
Lani nodded, her hand rubbing over his chest. His body vibrated with a mix of emotions that only he knew. She pressed a kiss to his lips, and Eli held her tighter for just a little longer. Hands clasped together, they stepped toward that door.
She ran a hand down her husband's arm; he brushed his fingertips along his wife's cheek. They shared one last look before drawing their weapons. Eli banged his fist on the door.
"We're taking our kids home today."
"I love you, Lani."
"I love you, too."
Neutralize Ivan.
Contain Vivian.
Find Carver and Jules.
Take our babies home.
The words repeatedly ran in Eli's mind. It was a way, a path out of the dark that oddly calmed him enough so that he could support his wife and they could do what needed to be done.
Calm until Ivan opened the door, unsurprised to see them in the least with guns drawn on him. At that moment, all Eli wanted to do was empty the clip.
"Back up," He told the man instead, his words a deep, harsh bark that felt like it was ripped from inside him.
"Put your hands where I can see them," Lani ordered. "Now!"
"Detectives-"
"Where is Vivian Alamaine?"
"Where are my babies?"
"Alive and well, I assure you."
"Hands!"
Ivan raised them slowly. "So hard to find good help."
"Back up!" Eli ordered again.
"Calm yourself, Detective Grant," Ivan replied. "It would not bode well for the children."
No this motherfucker didn-
Bitch.
The sound of Eli loading a round in the chamber sounded in the space around them.
"I know you didn't just threaten my kids like I won't put one in you."
"A misunderstanding, I'm sure," Ivan replied. "Madame is not well. Those children-"
"Our children." Eli snot.
"The children bring her joy." Ivan continued. "If you bust in there and steal from her; again-"
"Steal?"
Ivan's gaze moved to Lani. "She may harm the children." He finished. "Allow me to bring them to you."
"You stole our children," Lani swore hotly. "What makes you think that we'd believe you would bring them to us now?"
"Madame is sick." He spoke. "You put your weapons down-"
Eli shook his head.
"You put your weapons down," The man tried again. "And I will explain to Madame. I will bring your children to you."
"You tracked my wife the whole time she was pregnant, and you waited," Eli told him. "You waited for our son and daughter to be born, and you kidnapped them. You expect me to believe that you're going to just bring them to us now; after all of that?
"Uh-uh." Eli went on. "If you think I'm putting this gun down, you're out of your goddamn mind.
Lani unloaded her weapon, tossing her clip aside.
"Lani," Eli swore at his wife in disbelief, his resolve working overtime not to slide the smirk from Ivan's face.
"You take me to our kids," Lani told the man.
Husband and wife stared at each other for long seconds before Eli turned to Ivan, searching him as best he could with just one hand, his gun still trained on the man.
Vivian could be in there anywhere. Hell, she could be gone. But if Ivan was telling the truth, and she was in there with Carver and Ju... if she was sick…
If there was a threat…
And there was…
This was madness.
Eli looked at his wife, her eyes pleading, and unloaded his weapon.
Lani spared a glance over her shoulder as they stepped into the room, her husband and Ivan staring each other down.
Scanning the room, her eyes locked on the yellow baby blanket tossed carelessly over the back of a couch. It smelled like the tops of their little baby heads. Lani's heart thundered in her chest, the room spinning around her as her eyes searched frantically for their children. Eli's hands held her steady.
"Detectives," Lani followed almost in a trance. She could feel Eli behind her. Her eyes searched every corner she felt a sick, deranged woman could choose to attack from. When they stopped in front of a closed door, Ivan held out his hand.
"Phones."
"Hell no."
"You are in no position to argue, Detective."
"I'm not giving you my ph-" Lani could feel Eli's eyes on her when she put her cellphone in Ivan's hand. She could hear his jaw clench and his teeth grind together.
"Eli…"
"You get your children," Ivan told them. "You get your children, and Madame and I leave freely; never to bother you or your family again. So, please, your phone, Detective Grant."
Eli couldn't remember if he texted Abe the address. Ultimately, he slapped his phone into the other man's hands, baleful hatred sparked in his dark gaze.
"You must understand, Madame-"
"Madame can kiss my ass. Take us to our kids." Eli ordered. "Now."
There was no satisfaction at the other man's anger. They just wanted their children back. He wanted Carver and Julia home with them the way they were supposed to be. Her husband was long past tired of the bullshit games that continued to be played by people with more money than sense, than decency.
"Take us to our kids," Lani said to him.
Ivan let them inside, their eyes immediately scanning the room. There wasn't a blanket, a bottle, or a diaper in sight, but that didn't mean anything. Lani kept telling herself this place was huge as the alarms grew louder and louder inside her head.
They weren't.
They weren't anywhere in these rooms.
A trap.
Panic and desperation closed in on her, squeezing tighter and tighter. Lani felt like she had taken her very last breath as she yelled for her husband, screamed for him.
She didn't remember moving, but Eli was so still when she found him on the ground.
What had she done?
God, please, don't let me lose him, too, she prayed.
Lani couldn't get to her husband fast enough. He was breathing. When she touched the growing knot behind his ear, her hand coming away wet with his blood. Eli hissed out a pained breath as he came to, slowly pushing up to his hands and knees.
"Motherfucker…"
"I'm sorry."
The pain was fading from his eyes when he looked at her, replaced by an enraged determination. Lani's own eyes filled with tears. What had she done?
"Don't." He said to her. "Don't."
She helped him to his feet, and they started out, only for Eli to stop with his hand on the knob.
The door was locked.
Eli punched the wood with his fist. "Ivan!" He roared. "Ivan, you open his goddamn door!"
Then the music started.
Lani knew now why this room.
There was only one other way out. A window that they could not get out of, and if they magically did, it was a six-story drop to snow-covered stone one way and three more stories up the other way to reach the roof.
She had made a mistake, a huge one, and it may have cost them their son and daughter.
They had to get out of this room.
Now.
Lani opened the window. Cold, snow-filled air blew inside as she weighed her options. Eli pulled her back, slamming the window shut.
"Move!"
"I won't."
"Eli, this is the only way out!"
He grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her, making her look at him. Her throat tightened at the devastation on her husband's face.
"What are you gonna do, huh?" He questioned, his voice breaking. "Try and slide your way safely down frozen stone, kill yourself trying to get to the damn roof?!"
"We have to do something." She sobbed out.
"Not this." He told her. "Not this."
Lani tried to hear him, she really did, but all she could think was that their children were just beyond that door, and they couldn't get to them.
They couldn't get to them because of her.
"You do something that we can't take back, and our kids lose you," Eli told her. "And I'm not having that."
The music stopped, and Lani pushed around him to the door. "Ivan," Lani beat her hands against the door's polished wood. "Open this door, you son of a bitch!"
She whirled when she heard glass break.
His head hurt so bad. Breathing hurt more than blinking. Washing his hands over his face, Eli swallowed down the fear that threatened to choke him.
Lani was right. The only way out of this room was that goddamn window. Ivan knew what the hell he was doing.
When the music stopped, and his wife pushed around him to beat on the door, he had seen her empty weapon inside her holster and remembered he still had his.
With one in the chamber.
The window was the only way they had to push something, so he had bust it out. Ivan would either come back here to take care of them, or he and Vivian would take Carver and Ju and go.
Eli prayed that Ivan brought his ass back here.
The lone bullet glinted dimly in the low light as Eli stared down it. He slid the barrel back into place the looked up, finding his wife watching him.
That bullet was their only leverage in getting their kids back. If no one came back, then it was their only tool. They would have to shoot the lock and go in blind.
"One-shot." He said.
Literally.
Lani nodded.
And they waited.
Long seconds grew into endless minutes.
It was looking more and more like they were going to have to shoot their way out of his room. He had to watch his wife's face fall at the sound of their babies crying and there being nothing that she could do about it.
She pulled herself together, Barely.
One-shot, Eli thought again.
It was going to be now.
Lani took a step back, praying.
When Eli had smashed the window's glass after the music had stopped…the way he had looked down at the lone bullet, an almost irrational hope bloomed inside detrimental doubt.
Gun raised; Eli looked to her. She was just about to give him the go-ahead, but she stopped, her arm stretched out to stop him. "Footsteps," she mouthed to him, pressing herself up against the wall beside the door, pulling her weapon out of habit.
The lock beeped aloud in the room, the door slowly coming open.
Vivian.
She sensed Lani immediately, swinging the weapon in her direction while throwing the door open. Lani dropped her gun, battling Vivian for the loaded gun in the sociopath's hands. A shot rang out, and twin cries of fear followed along with Ivan's shouts.
Vivian froze, and Lani snatched the gun from her grip, checking the clip out of habit. When she looked up, Eli as the barrel of his weapon pressed into Vivian's temple.
"Hands." He ordered quietly. "Now."
Lani cuffed the woman while Eli kept his gun trained on her.
Contain Vivian.
She looked at her husband when, again, the music started.
It was another trap that they were walking into, he knew, but they had no choice.
Ivan had not left. No way in hell would he go without Vivian.
His Madame.
Eli stepped right in it.
They had an even playing field now. Ivan was spry for an old bastard high on audacity.
He deserved death.
Monsters like this did not stop. But Eli was not about to kill this man in front of their kids. But he wanted to.
Badly.
They fought over his gun. Eli made sure to keep it between the two of them so that Lani could get into the room safely to Carver and Ju. He could not see their babies, but he could hear them. They knew that something was wrong. Their high, frightened cries went on around them.
So close.
He told Vivian to go, to run, but she did not. No way was happening, and they both knew it. When Ivan saw no way out, he let go of the gun, sharing a look with his co-conspirator.
It was a last-ditch effort, but Eli's hands were faster.
He stunned the man with a left then put him on his back with his weapon to his head. Payback was sweet. Eli kicked out of reach the knife the man had dropped, training his gun between the downed man's eyes flicking off the safety.
"Baby…?" Eli's voice shook.
"They're okay." Lani's voice hitched in reply.
Gun still between Ivan's eyes. I should end it, he thought. Everyone would be safer. Eli swallowed, sweat burning his eyes, cold hate coursing through him. He knew he had to pull himself back. One breath, two, he holstered his weapon then flipped Ivan to his stomach to cuff his hands behind his back.
Neutralize Ivan.
"You're under arrest." He barely got out.
"You don't deserve children."
"You shut your damn mouth," Eli swore at the woman.
"You do not speak to Madam-"
"Fuck Madame," Eli hauled Ivan to his feet. "Don't go feeling left out, Ivan; because it's absolutely fuck you, too."
"You killed my son!"
"You killed your son." Lani spat as she charged at the woman, only to be stopped by Eli putting his body in between them.
"You," Lani went on. "You tried to kill someone. You pulled a gun on a police officer. You are the reason your son jumped in front of a bullet, Vivian. You. Hell is hot, and you left him to it. Come near my babies again, bitch, and I promise you'll meet him there."
They did not know Chicago PD and had no reason to believe that Vivian and Ian wouldn't pull some shit to "find" their way out of police custody.
They had the world fooled, not for the first time, that Vivian was dead. They had been at foolishness like this for decades.
They held no illusions.
Not anymore.
Lani watched Eli and Ivan stare each other down. The older man's chin lifted in disdainful acknowledgment while Vivian stared at nothing. They watched until that pair was gone. After everything, Lani was surprised that she could find it in her to smile, almost laugh, at the impatience of their daughter.
An absolute daddy's girl.
She knew that her father was there and took umbrage at the delay.
Her heart had stopped when Eli told her that their children had been taken. She had been so naïve to believe that this was done. They had thought Vivian gone, and that had been foolish.
She thought she knew what pain was. She felt that she knew fear. Lani would never again feel guilt for Stefan DiMera.
She would fight until her last breath for her husband, their kids, their family.
She watched her husband pick up their daughter. His knees looked like they were about to melt out from under him as Jule's cries died down to whimpers, then to contentment as Eli talked to her.
"You're safe, Jules," Eli told her. "Mommy and Daddy, we got you."
Neutralize Ivan.
Contain Vivian.
Take Carver and Ju home.
Lani watched Eli rock their daughter, murmuring those words over and over. She looked down into her sleeping son's face then back to her husband's shining dark eyes. "Let's take them home."
Lani shot up out of her sleep, a scream dying on her lips, the sound of shattering glass melting away. Her heart thumped so hard in her chest she could feel it in her ears.
A nightmare.
Sort of.
She had woken up more times in the night than their kids had, and they seemed more irritated with her than hungry bellies and diapers that needed changing. Every time her eyes came open, her husband was not lying next to her.
He was checking on the babies, walking the perimeter of the house, checking locks she knew he had already checked, or staring out a window. Rage still cloaking him.
Lani looked to the empty space need to her and sighed.
She checked on their kids.
They slept on soundly.
Jules had a smile on her little face. Lani made a note to make an appointment with a pediatrician. Carver and Jules were not even a week old, and their son snored.
That could not be normal.
Lani looked over her shoulder, listening to the water running in the bathroom. It was their father who she was most worried about.
The closer Lani got to the door, the clearer she heard them.
Sobs.
Harsh, wrenching, almost choking.
When she stepped into the bathroom, Eli was at the sink, splashing water on his face.
The mirror over the sink had been smashed.
Eli blew out a breath. "Damned broom…" She heard him mutter. He stopped when he saw her, hiding his injured hand behind his back. His eyes were red and watery. Dazed; no, terrified.
When she came further into the room, Eli held out a hand to stop her, "Lani, there's gla-" He sighed out a breath when she ignored him.
She stepped around the glass taking his arm and sitting him on the edge of the tub. When she took his hand, Eli hissed in pain.
He would not look at her.
Couldn't.
She cleaned his hand in silence and ignored him again when he objected to her cleaning up the mess he had made. He needed a minute.
She needed one, too.
The mirror frame was gone when Lani got back. He pulled in a slow breath when she sat down next to him, threading their fingers together.
"Shawn has a friend whose father works with glass," He tried. "Tomorrow…"
"…His friend's daddy is a glassmaker?"
"Yeah, he's…ou." They chuckled.
"Ready to talk?"
"I was going to kill that man, Lani."
"Ivan took our children." She spoke softly.
"They're out there, healthy, whole, sleeping…and…."
"And?"
"I still want that man dead," Eli admitted. "I want to go down to the jail and end Ivan. I feel like it's the only way to protect you, Carver, and Ju from that motherfucker-"
"Hey,"
"Lani-"
"You don't know that."
"But I feel it," Eli told her. "Lani, I feel it, and it scares the hell out of me because wanting to kill him and his Madame, it's just about keeping you and our kids safe.
"They deserve it, and too much of me is willing to rationalize murder; feels justification and would get a good night's sleep afterward."
Disgust rolled off him in waves. Lani could see it in his face, in the way that he tried to pull away from her so that it wouldn't touch her.
"Do you expect me to look at you differently?" She asked, waiting until he looked at her. "Because I don't, and that's not because you didn't, rightfully, blast me about walking us into a trap that could have cost our babies."
"Lani-"
"Let me finish. You're Carver and Jules' father, Eli." She told him. "I would question you not wanting to kill to protect them. They came from us. We're supposed to stand between them and the world until they are strong enough to stand for themselves.
"You're not a monster for wanting Ivan dead. You didn't kill him when you could have. You're agonizing over it now because you are a good person, a good man, a good husband, and a damned good father.
"I don't believe that we will see Ivan, or Vivian, again." Lani went on. "But, if we do, we'll be ready; for them and anybody else."
"What do I do with all of this?"
"Your anger? That rage? Realize that you are human." She told him. "Understand that this may always be triggering for you, and that's okay."
"How are you so calm?"
"Oh, baby, I'm nowhere near," Lani replied. "My husband told me that we were going to bring Carver and Julia home, and I believed him. I believed him because I know him; I know what he will do to protect the people he loves. I believed him because I love him, and that's not about to change."
"I love you, too."
"I see you, Eli Grant," Lani said to him. "That rage didn't just come out of nowhere, babe. It's been there. Our children being taken forced you to acknowledge it. It didn't give you a choice. You aren't a monster for that."
"It's like a weight sitting on my chest, a buzzing in my head. I flashed on Ivan, Lani. I had to talk myself out of killing someone in cold blood."
She nodded. "How do you feel now? Truthfully."
"That death, true death, is the only thing that is going to stop Vivian and Ivan. That they deserve it." Eli replied. "I don't believe that they are done, but, as badly as I want them gone, my being the one to do it would put our family in jeopardy.
"I still want to kill that motherfu-"
"But you won't."
"I have too much to lose."
"A monster wouldn't care, Eli. A monster wouldn't need a reason for or against. Please tell me that you can see that."
"I don't…like feeling this way, Lani."
"I know you don't."
His eyes followed her. Lani knelt in front of him, running her hands up and down his arms. His body trembled beneath her touch. "Rage lives in all of us. It's all in how we handle it, babe." He nodded when she brushed away a tear.
When she stood, Eli went to her. Who knows how long they stood in the bathroom holding each other.
When Lani woke up next, she was again alone. The sun was beginning to rise. Their daughter was sound asleep. Eli stood at the window holding Carver and greeting the day.
"No one is ever going to take you, or your sister, ever again." He promised the baby. "We won't let them. And when you grow up," He went on as Lani brought a still sleeping Jules with her standing next to them.
"When you grow up," Eli continued, smiling when Lani and Ju joined them. "When you grow up, you won't let them either."
-End-