"What the hell was she thinking?" Olivia growled as she stepped on the pedal, sirens blasting and Nick gripping the door tightly.
"Liv, you have to slow down. Even if you get there earlier, you still won't be able to do anything about it." He tried to reason with his partner but Olivia was blocking him out completely. The only thing her mind could contemplate at that particular moment was that Amanda had put herself in so much danger and there was nothing she could do to help her. "LIV!" he raised his voice to get her attention.
"Amaro, if you don't shut up, I'll throw you out of the car, I swear." He knew better than to argue or take her threat lightly so he did the only thing he could do; close his mouth and pray. No one wanted to cross Olivia when she was so worked up.
When they (thankfully) arrived safely, Olivia jumped out of the car and ran to Fin, flashing her badge to the officer that tried to stop her. Fin seemed way too worried and that didn't put Olivia at ease. "What's going on?"
"It doesn't look good. She is in there trying to talk to him and calm him down but he sounded way too agitated when he spoke to us. It's just him, his daughter and Amanda in there." Fin shook his head and lowered his voice. "Liv, she is not wearing a vest."
Olivia took the small monitor in her hands and studied the scene inside the house. She watched the man holding his 7 year old daughter in front of him while pointing the gun at Amanda and her heart tightened in fear. He was agitated and scared and that was never a good combination. If Amanda didn't manage to calm him down soon, no one knew how his desperation could affect his actions. "What the hell is she doing?" she muttered when they walked away from the camera's point of view and from the windows. "Do we have any other visual?" she raised her voice but the person in charge of the Hostage Negotiations Team shook his head negatively.
"I swear to God, if she gets out of this situation safely, I will kill her myself." Olivia fumed through gritted teeth.
"Get in line, sister." Fin added frustrated.
Meanwhile inside the house, Amanda was more than aware that she was in a tough spot. When they had figured out that it was the father that had kidnapped the daughter and she received the call informing her of the location, she didn't even think twice before she drove there by herself. Even though Captain Cragen ordered her to wait for back up, she went in, disobeying his order with no regard of her personal safety or the possibility of losing her job over this. Saving the little girl and possibly preventing her father from making the biggest mistake of his life was her one and only priority.
She had been in the house with them for more than half an hour now and she knew that the cops out there were getting as restless as the man in front of her which was why she came to the decision to move him away from any windows. "Ted, please, listen to me." She spoke in the softest tone she could manage.
"You don't understand!" he snapped at her.
"I do. I do. I know you are right. You have every right to see your daughter whenever you want. You did your time in prison. You learned from your mistakes and your wife doesn't have the right to keep you from your daughter. You are clean and you deserve a chance. I get it." Amanda breathed calmly and even smiled at him. "That's what family court is about. If you show the judge that you changed, they will grant you permission to see your daughter. And with time, the constrictions will probably go away."
"I don't believe you." He yelled at her, waving the gun in front of her. The little girl whimpered in his arms, drawing Amanda's attention to her. "Hailey, it's alright sweetheart. Your daddy doesn't want to hurt you or me. He is not a bad guy, are you, Ted?"
"No, I am not."
"That's right. You are not a bad guy. You just did a mistake in the past and they can't punish you for that for the rest of your life. I understand. You deserve a new start now." She nodded, eyeing the gun warily. "You have never touched any drugs since you were released from prison, isn't that right? You will never touch them again."
"Never. I just want to get to know my daughter." He croaked and Amanda nodded.
"That's right. But, Ted, if you don't let Hailey and me go for now, this will never happen. If you hurt her or me, you won't be able to see her again. There is still time to fix this, just give me the gun." She begged him and for a moment he seemed to be contemplating it.
He cocked the gun at her, shaking his head. "You are lying. I've screwed up. They will never allow me to look after her again."
Amanda immediately put two hands up in front of her. "They will, Ted. They will if you give me the gun and surrender. I promise. They are getting restless out there. I can feel it. I am a cop too. Don't give them a chance to shoot you in front of your child. Look at her. You are scaring her. You don't want to scare her, right?" Amanda tried to reason with him again and this time it seemed that it worked when he looked down at Hailey. He frowned at the terrified gaze on the young girl's face.
"I am sorry, Hailey. I am so sorry." He muttered lowering the gun a bit. "Here, take it. Take her."
When Amanda reached out to take the gun, the gunshot was deafening, making all three jump startled. The blonde's heart raced a mile per second and the pain in her side was blinding but she gritted her teeth and with a practiced move disassembled the gun. Hailey was crying scared and Ted stared terrified. Amanda grabbed at her side and took a deep breath. She probed her skin with her fingers through the hole in her shirt. A hiss slipped past her mouth but the bullet had only grazed her. It wasn't that serious.
When the SWAT team burst inside the house, Amanda instructed Ted to kneel on the floor with his hands behind his head. "Don't shoot! Don't shoot! Everything is under control." She called loudly, hiding her bloody fingers in her front pocket trying to clean the blood. When they came in, they assessed the situation quickly and lowered their guns. "Is anyone hurt?" One of them asked her and she shook her head. "It was an accidental gunshot when he was handing me the gun. No one is hurt." She lied in an attempt to protect the man. Maybe it wasn't a wise thing to do but she knew that Ted didn't mean to shoot her. He wasn't a bad guy, he was just desperate. She was glad that she had chosen a black shirt for the day, since it was hiding the blood that had managed to spill from the small wound.
Ted looked at her in shock when he realized that she had lied to protect him. He had seen the blood. He wasn't stupid but he was for sure thankful. While they handcuffed him, Amanda took Hailey to her mother outside and her squad ran up to meet her. She smiled tiredly at them but was only met with three identical glares. "What the hell were you thinking?" Olivia cried out, making Amanda wince at the angry tone.
"What was I thinking?" Amanda scoffed, glaring back at all three of them. "I was thinking to save that little girl's life. Don't act all high and mighty. You've all done the same thing at least once in your lifetime. At least you have, Olivia. I've read quite a few of your cases. Nothing happened to me. I am alright. Hailey is alright and so is Ted."
"You could have died, Amanda!" Olivia exclaimed frustrated, Fin nodding by her side.
"But I didn't. I am fine." She shrugged, feeling her side brushing uncomfortably against her shirt. Her eyebrows twitched in pain and Olivia didn't fail to notice but before she had time to voice her concerns, Amanda interrupted her. "I really need a strong coffee now. I'll see you back at the station."
"They are going to need your statement, Rollins." Nick called out after her but she didn't even stop.
"They know where to find me." She simply called back and got into the squad car. Her side was on fire and she couldn't get away fast enough. Distracted by the pain, Amanda failed to notice the car following after her.
She arrived at her favorite coffee shop barely ten minutes later and before she went inside, she grabbed the first aid kit from the trunk. She quickly ducked into the bathroom glad that it wasn't occupied. Unbuttoning her shirt, she hissed when she pealed it off the wound and examined it. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that it wasn't as bad as she thought. It wasn't even that deep.
Amanda was in the middle of washing her hands when the door flew open and Olivia stepped inside, startling the other woman inside. They stared at each other for a few seconds with Olivia breaking eye contact eventually and glaring at the blood on the other woman's side.
"Oh fuck." Amanda muttered, lowering her head and closing her eyes mentally preparing for the earful.
"Is that what you meant when you said that no one was hurt?" Olivia crossed two arms in front of her chest, daring Amanda to argue with her.
"It's just a scratch, Liv. Don't exaggerate."
"Have you ever been scratched before? I wouldn't call this just a scratch. What were you thinking?"
"It was an accident. He was handing me the gun and it went off. He shouldn't go down for that. It wasn't right and you know that better than anyone." Amanda glared back at her before turning her attention back to the kit.
Even though Olivia felt the urge to argue some more, it was pretty obvious that she wasn't going to get anywhere with the blonde, so instead she walked closer letting the door fall shut behind her and nudged her aside. She washed her hands thoroughly with Amanda looking at her curiously. As soon as she was done, she turned to Amanda. "Let me take care of this."
"I can do it myself." The other woman argued. Arguing with each other had turned out to be quite a game for them.
"Yeah, I am sure you can. Now let me help." With a sigh, Amanda rested her hand on her other shoulder, giving enough space for Olivia to check and clean the wound below her ribs. Thankfully, the bleeding appeared to have stopped, so Olivia dipped some clean gauze under the water and ran it softly around the wound watching the red disappear from the pale skin.
Amanda held her breath when she felt strong thin fingers washing the wound with water. She barely held in a shudder but she couldn't help the small whimper that slipped past her lips. "Does it hurt?" Olivia asked with care. To say that her voice sent butterflies in Amanda's stomach would be an understatement. She had forgotten all about her wound and all about the pain. The brunette's warm touch was all Amanda's brain could register at the moment.
"A little." She murmured and bit her lower lip to force down the gasp that was threatening to escape her lips when Olivia brushed a thumb softly on her now dry skin beneath the wound.
"This will probably sting a little." Olivia informed her before she started applying the antibiotic ointment on the wound. "Sorry." She smiled apologetically at Amanda's hiss. When she was satisfied with the work she had done, she covered the wound with a bandage and straightened her spine to look at the younger woman. "All done." She smiled comfortingly, only realizing that they were standing way too close.
Amanda pressed her lips on Liv's cheek. "Thank you, Liv." She smiled hesitantly.
"Don't mention it." Olivia cleared her throat, blushing furiously. Making the big bad detective blush was definitely something Amanda wasn't expecting but she definitely found it adorable.
Not wanting to cause any more embarrassment to the brunette, Amanda grabbed her shirt and eyed it worriedly. The side was soaked in her blood. If she wore it like this, she would have to clean the wound again and changed the dressing; not to mention that it was ripped. Olivia, who seemed to have caught the problem, placed a hand on her arm to stop her from wearing it. "I have a spare shirt in the car. Wait here while I grab it."
She was gone before Amanda had the chance to say anything so instead she gathered the items back into the first aid kit and waited patiently for Olivia.
By spare shirt, Olivia obviously meant a black t-shirt with a symbol on the left breast. At first inspection, Amanda assumed that it was the NYPD logo but when she put it on and looked at the mirror, she furrowed her eyebrows. "Really?"
"I'll take it back if you don't want it."
"That's alright. I'll manage." She pretended to sigh in annoyance.
"Leave the judgment behind and get your stuff so we can go, Rollins." Olivia rolled her eyes.
"Go ahead. I'll meet you at the precinct." At Olivia's hesitance, Amanda nudged her towards the door. "I am fine now. I promise."
"Oh and Liv…"
"I won't tell the Captain." Olivia assured her receiving a thankful nod from the other woman. Reluctantly, she left the coffee shop and got inside her car, turning on the engine and driving off. She could sense that the blonde needed some time alone to gather herself before joining her back in the Squad room.
Barely ten minutes later, Amanda made her way out of the coffee shop with two cups of coffee on one hand and the first aid kit and her ruined shirt on the other. The moment she slid into the driver's seat and closed the door, she got a hint of coconut and was that dark chocolate? It felt familiar but she couldn't pinpoint the source when she glanced around. Shrugging it off, the woman drove back to the precinct.
When she arrived in the Squad room, she placed the second coffee on Olivia's desk before settling in her seat. "If you think sucking up to Liv with a cup of coffee will save you an earful, you have another thing coming, sister." Fin commented with a teasing smirk on his face.
"I would never." Amanda gasped in fake shock.
"Actually Fin-" Olivia said, walking in and stopping behind the blonde. She leaned down, grabbing Amanda's shoulders and positioned her head over a shoulder, heads almost touching. "It will." She chuckled and let go before walking back to her desk.
Amanda stood there in shock, finally placing the source of that familiar scent. It was Olivia's shirt. To be exact, it was Olivia's scent and it was delicious. Who would blame her, if she slept in that t-shirt that night? Not a soul. Because no one would know.