Influenza

Chapter Twenty One


Disclaimer: The show is not my property, and neither are the characters.

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A few days later...

"Shit," Olivia cursed, picking herself off of the ground after their suspect had pushed her, and ran off. If she could see herself at that moment, she knew her eyes were burning with anger, and her cheeks had turned red for the same reason. The moment she was standing, her equilibrium back in swing, she took off down the sidewalk, after the man. Ahead of her she could see her partners back, as he raced after the same person she was.

As she ran, she pulled out her radio, just in case Elliot hadn't managed to call in the man. She yelled into the monitor which street they were on, and that the suspect had assaulted an officer before fleeing. Olivia knew that before she even finished the call, somebody had been sent out.

The man, Jeffery Williams, turned a corner, and Elliot followed. She knew immediately that it was a dead-end street, and panicked. When she had been falling backwards onto the ground she had seen the holster on Jeffery's best. He had a gun. She cursed again, and ran as fast as she could. Just as she turned the corner, Jeffery pulled his gun, and Elliot instantly did the same. When Olivia came to a stop, hers was already out and aimed.

"Drop it, Jeff!" Elliot called out, having noticed that Olivia was directly to his right, her weapon out, just as his was. Jeffery didn't comply, and Elliot threw a brief glance in her direction. Get out, his eyes said. But Olivia didn't move.

In the distance, sirens moaned, the noise growing as the cop cars came closer. Jeffery cursed and clicked off the safety, sending chills down Olivia's spine. Still, she stayed in her position. "If you put it down, Jeffery, we can work this out," it was a lie, but whatever it took to keep them alive. "If not, you'll be going to jail for a long time!"

Jeffery seemed to refocus his attention, switching his gun from Elliot, to Olivia, as if he had just discovered her existence in the alleyway. There was a gash on her elbow, from where she skid across the ground, and her palms were brunt from attempting to stop herself. He snickered at her, a sickening grin that caused chills to run down her spine. In the distance, the sirens wailed. They were getting closer.

"Jeffery!" Elliot yelled, "Jeffery drop the gun!" His voice was frantic and Olivia wasn't the only one to notice so. The smile on Jeffery's face doubled in size, as if he was being let in on a private joke, and both detectives knew that couldn't be good. At the same moment, their fingers tightened around the trigger, readying the weapons, in case the worst should happen.

"I'm already going to jail for life!" he yelled out. "What's a couple more years?"

"Don't do this," Olivia said, shaking her head. "It's not worth dying for!"

Williams shook his head, "That's where you and I differ!" he told her. "I think it is!" Then, as if he was mimicking Elliot and Olivia's earlier actions, his finger tightened the trigger, only it didn't stop. A booming sound, as loud as thunder, erupted in the alley, and before Olivia knew it, she was falling backwards once again...

But she felt no pain. No burning of flesh as the bullet ripped through her body, no stabbing pain as it exited through the other side. Only herself, falling backwards, and her head hitting the concrete, the pressure of a body falling on top of her. Just as the sound of gunfire echoed through the alley, so did the sound of slamming doors. Before Williams could get another shot out, disgruntled at having missed his target the first time around, there were more than five officers surrounding the area, their weapons drawn out as well.

"Don't even think about it!" a nameless officer yelled.

Jeffery scowled and held his hands up, letting the gun slip from his right one. In that instant, the officers swarmed him, one pushing him forcefully against the brick wall of the alley and twisting his arms behind him, to cuff them.

Olivia watched it all from her uncomfortable spot on the ground, still bewildered and confused at how she had gotten there. Her best guess, however, was an easy one. Elliot was lying over her, protecting her. He must have pushed her out of the way when he noticed Jeffery was getting ready to shoot. That explained why she was on the ground, but it didn't explain why he was still over her.

She forced herself to sit upwards, pushing him off of her as she did so, "Elliot?" she questioned, checking to make sure he wasn't hit. As far as she could see there was no blood, and he was conscious. "You can get off of me now, he's cuffed."

"I twisted my ankle," he groaned, as she slid from under him. "You're gonna have to help me up." She nodded and pulled herself off of the ground for the second time that day, wincing as her tender palms slid against the ground once more. He extended his hand to her when she was standing and she grabbed hold of it again, this time keeping herself from showing the pain as he pulled himself up, with a lot of effort on her part.

He tried to walk and nearly fell, before she wrapped her arm around him and let him lean on her for support. An officer walked over to the two of them and directed them to her car, where Elliot leaned against the hood while they spoke. "You two are SVU?" she questioned, pulling out her notebook to jot down the answers.

"Yeah." Olivia told her, "We were getting ready to bring him in on questioning involving a rape homicide."

"And he did what?"

Olivia sighed, "Pushed me, as hard as he could, and took off down the street. My partner chased after him while I got up, and I called it in as I followed."

"Are you two hurt?"

"Nothing major," Elliot assured her. "But it could have been much worse. He attempted to shoot my partner."

"Well," the officer claimed, "I would still suggest that you get your ankle checked out, and then make your formal statement later." She nodded towards the still bleeding cut stretching from the top of Olivia's elbow, down to the middle of her arm, "You, as well."

They both nodded, having figured the same themselves. "We'll do that." And, they did. Olivia helped Elliot back to the car, noting that he wasn't very happy about needed her to do so, and drove them towards the nearest hospital, where they sat in the ER for half an hour before his ankle was checked out and her arm was stitched up. Apparently, she had cut herself on a piece of glass lying on the ground. And his ankle was indeed twisted. He was lucky it hadn't shattered.

Then, after they left the hospital, they returned to the house, Elliot walking on crutches. "Only for the rest of today and tomorrow," he told the captain upon questioning. "It's just a precaution."

"And your arm?" he asked, noticing the bandage on Olivia's arm.

"Ten stitches." she informed him.

He sighed deeply, "Make your statements and then take the rest of today, and tomorrow, off. I expect to see you back here Thursday ready for work."

The two nodded and went to their desks, where they spent the lighter part of half an hour before their reports were over and they headed out, Olivia being the one to drive. Only, once they got into the car, she wouldn't talk to him, much less tell him where they were going.

Fifteen minutes later, she pulled off the road, beside Central Park, and shut the car off. "We need to talk." she claimed, without looking over at him.

He had figured as much from the way she was acting, "About what?"

"Today."

As much as he could assume, that meant Williams. "Yeah... and?"

She finally looked over at him, and when she did, he wished she hadn't. Her eyes were burning with anger, and it was directed at him. "You know why it's normally frowned upon when partners are dating?" Without giving him the opportunity to reply, she continued, answering her own question. "So they don't make stupid mistakes in order to save the one they love."

"Olivia, I--"

"You faltered out there, El," she said, cutting him off. "You forgot that before I was your girlfriend, I was a cop, and you thought you had to protect me. Newsflash, Elliot, I know what I am doing, you don't need to save me. I can do that myself. I am your partner, I am supposed to watch your back. You can't try to protect me, while I'm doing my job and protecting you." She took a breath and continued. "That gun was aimed at you and if you hadn't been so worried about me, we could have gotten through that without you getting a twisted ankle. So next time, think of me as your partner, OK?"

He shook his head, "I was thinking about you as my partner, Olivia. You think, that if we weren't involved, I wouldn't have tried my damnedest to make sure you weren't hurt? You said so yourself, our job is to watch each others backs, that is what I was doing."

"You were the one with a gun pointed at your chest," she replied, her eyes still angry. "I didn't need my back watched, you did." She shook her head and looked away, "Maybe we shouldn't do this anymore... being partners. We're compromised now."

"The hell we are," he nearly shouted. "Olivia, I am not giving you up as my partner because of one damn mistake. It happens, OK? The thing is, we are both alive. That is all that matters here. Not the fact that, yes, I wanted to protect you, and yes, I did it partly because I love you. If that makes me compromised, then oh well. The fact of the matter is, that dating or not, I would have done the same thing. Because you're my partner."

"You were trying to play the hero, El. You're a cop, not Superman. You can't leap tall buildings in a single leap or fly through the air at will. And you can't save my life and your life at the same time. You got lucky today. Next time, who knows?" She pursed her lips, "I don't want to lose you, because you were trying to save my life. I couldn't live with that. You need to let me do my job, instead of pretending like I need you to save me. I signed up for this, just the same as you did. I know the risks, I was, and still am, willing to take them."

Elliot sat, defeated, "He would have killed you. I wasn't going to let you die because of me."

"You showed your emotions, El... you can't do that."

He sighed, "I know, I know... it won't happen again. Trust me."

Her eyes had softened and she reached out to run her fingers along her cheek, wincing slightly at the pull on her stitches, "I understand why you were worried, Elliot. I do. And, if I was in your position, I can't say I wouldn't have done the same thing. But, we both need to focus on our jobs, and not each other. I don't want to have to go through this again..."

He nodded and she turned back towards the road, starting the car and taking off down the street. A few minutes later, she pulled into a parking space, in front of his apartment and helped him out of the car. "Do you want to come inside, have something to eat?" he questioned, knowing that she would probably decline. She was still mad at him. And he knew it.

"Maybe later..." she told him, "right now all I want is a hot shower."

"We could do that, too..."

A small smile spread across her face, "Not tonight."

Elliot nodded, "I'll talk to you later, then?"

"Yeah," she replied. "Call me if you need anything."

"OK," he told her, knowing full well that he most likely wouldn't, even if he did need help. There was only so much damage that could be done to one's ego in such a short amount of time, as it were.

She left his car there, and walked down the street, headed in the direction of her own apartment. It was only six blocks away, and a very short walk for a New Yorker. As she walked off, he turned and headed into his building, thankful that there was an elevator in it, and he wouldn't have to walk up the three flights of stairs it took to get to his apartment.

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A/N: Well... tell me what'cha think of it