AN: Thank you for your patience and for all of your kind reviews! This chapter is dedicated to drmelindawarner who won the twitter emoji prize! You killed it girl. I made this extra long and juicy just for you. Also a shout out to TeaDreamer who wanted me to bring the romance back.. here tis!
"It's me-it's me-it's me."
She hears a voice from behind her whisper and her eyes snap open against the back of the bathroom door as she breathes deeply beneath his palm. His hand is still clamped firmly over her mouth, his other hand wrapped around her waist.
"They found us." He whispers against the back of her head in a shaken breath followed by. "They're coming."
She can feel it before it happens, the door to the bathroom bursting open and her stomach lurches at the sound of hard boots thudding against cement.
She holds her breath as Elliot nudges her around his body until he's created a shield between her and the door. She's wedged between his back and the lip of the toilet, her vision blocked by his shoulders as the boots come to a stop directly in front of their stall.
Her heart is hammering as she feels Elliot draw the gun from the back of his jeans and holds it up against the bathroom stall door.
Then she counts ..1..2..3 and a single shot is fired.
A body falling heavily to the ground with a thud.
There is no time to think.
He had taken the shot so effortlessly - without forethought, without solid proof of who it actually was and he was already unlocking the stall, knocking the gun from the limp body with his foot and moving towards the sink.
She watches him grasp a handful of paper towels and start to rub off his fingerprints from all the door handles. She can tell he's done this before and when their eyes meet briefly he motions to the gun on the ground.
"Grab it," he tells her in a rasp and she moves downward, grasping the gun from the corner of the room and instinctively checking the clip – 5 rounds. She steps towards him, holding it out to him by the barrel but he motions with a head tilt.
"It's yours."
They lock eyes for a split second and something flickers within her.
He moves to the exit then, his gun is positioned low in his hand as he motions for her to join him.
"Run to the right, straight to the car - don't stop." He whispers back to her, then he does a quick scan left to right, before he is moving her through the doorway and they're making a beeline towards his SUV.
Her heart thuds in her chest, expecting bullets to come pelting through the air at any moment and rip through their backs. She clutches the gun in her palm, a wealth of comfort from the feel of it alone and they make it to the car unscathed.
He rounds to the drivers seat as her shaking fingers open the passenger car door. He turns the engine over with force, his hand moving behind her seat as he pulls the car violently into reverse just as she catches another man racing towards a red vehicle.
The SUV careens out of the bus stop entrance and they hit the highway with force, tyres screeching as she lurches forward, Elliot gaining speeds that rival the night of the trailer. Her breathing is scattered and erratic and flashbacks of their former life hit her sideways.
"Can you still see them?" He calls out and her eyes immediately flit to the side mirror.
"No," she whispers, thankful they managed a head start.
"If you see them," he clears his throat. "Shoot."
She blinks against the adrenaline as her eyes remain fixed to the mirror, expecting at any minute a flash of red to enter her eye line.
She watches cement highway disappear in the background unable to comprehend that she is back here – with himand when she finally chances a glance in his direction they lock eyes.
She doesn't know if it's the adrenaline or the nostalgia or the flashbacks but an overwhelming feeling takes a hold and there is no avoiding it.
She realises that despite their circumstance, their history – despite it all, she wouldn't choose to be anywhere else right now.
Except here.
With her partner.
He pulls into a parking lot of a motel that looks similar to the ones you'd expect to see off the beaten track and a bout of familiarity floods through her, only this time it feels different. She's still reeling over her earlier revelation, that she doesn't actually want to leave, she doesn't actually want this to endand she can't escape the feeling that it's to do with the piece of metal she's clutching on her lap.
He'd given her back her safety.
He'd given her his trust.
He'd given her equality.
She finally had her partner back.
And now she wasn't quite sure she was ready to let him go.
Elliot's eyes had been glued to the rearview mirror for the entire duration of their short trip but it was now that they were stopped outside motel, a room with a chipped doorframe that he turns to her.
They lock eyes and he takes in her altered demeanor.
"You okay?"
She blinks back at him unable to believe how familiar he seems to her now as if a switch had been flicked and they had been catapulted back into their past. He's staring at her oddly and she knows her face must house a mixture of shock, nostalgia and confusion as she tries to gather her bearings.
A few beats pass before she finally looks away.
"I'm going to get us a room," he whispers to the side of her face and then she feels him starting to move closer, her gaze shifting in surprise to his unexpected proximity as he nears, their foreheads practically knocking as he grasps the envelope that's sticking out of her hoodie pocket.
"We need to be off the road.. out of sight." He tells her, grabbing a $100 note out of the packet.
He hands the envelope back to her through two clasped fingers and she just stares at him, slowly reclaiming it – a thousand questions moving through her mind but not one of them coming to the forefront. He holds her stare for a few more beats until he is opening the car door and heading towards the lobby.
He returns moments later and she catches his reflection in the side mirror as he grasps a bag from the trunk that looks unfamiliar to her. She clicks off her seatbelt and they walk down the long line of rooms until they come to door 121.
He hands her a plastic key from the packet before inserting his own and for a moment she thinks he's booked them separate rooms but he's opening the door and gesturing for her to enter first.
She steps forward, a stale stench of cigarettes and a bout of flashbacks from their evening on the road hitting her full force as she looks around the room.
But this time it feels different.
There are two beds.
Not one.
He locks the door behind them and she hears him drop his bag on the table. She slowly slips the key into her back pocket and she feels him walk up behind her.
She already feels unprepared for what he's about to say.
"I don't know how long we'll be here," he whispers from behind. "Distance doesn't seem to matter to these guys. Staying local could actually throw them off. I'm going to drive the car a little ways down the road, park it by the row of shops in town. I've got a change of plates in the trunk. I'm gonna switch them over. I'll drive you to the city Liv, I promise." He whispers, the words exhaling against the back of her neck. "But they'd expect us to be on the road tonight, so it's the last place we should be."
She turns around at that point and just looks at him.
She's still unable to believe she's adding yet another moment in time that Elliot Stabler has saved her life. She's still trying to reconcile the feelings culminating within, the gun – the spare room key, the absence of Jackie, the amount of information he just divulged to her and the fact that he is now planning on driving her to New York. But what she's struggling with the most, is the concept that Elliot Stabler is standing in front of her, when moments ago she had left the memory of his inevitable death at a bus stop in Ohio.
He's still looking at her strangely and maybe it's the exhaustion or the residual painkillers or the fact that she has a piece of metal wedged in the back of her jeans but she doesn't think too much about it, she steps forward. She feels his sharp intake of breath as she pulls him into a hug, wrapping her good arm around his neck, tugging his chest against hers.
She doesn't know why she's doing it but he embraces her immediately, a hand coming up and pressing between her shoulder blades. He's holding her firmly and she closes her eyes, her face sinking into the juncture of his neck. He feels warm, a sheen of sweat lining his flushed skin and she can feel his heartbeat thudding against her chest.
"Liv I know the last place you want to be is herewith me and I'm sorry," he whispers, his breath hitting her head when he speaks, his voice taking on a low tone as he holds her. "I panicked, I saw the car. I didn't mean to grab you like that, I know it would have hurt. I feel like all I've done is hurt you. I just couldn't risk it.. I couldn't -"
"Stop talking."
She can't listen to his words or his excuses, or his promises, or his plan, she's too exhausted to be angry anymore.
Distant sounds from the road filter through their paper-thin walls as she tries to imagine a different time. She pictures the maternity ward and the church hall but this is so painfully and irrevocably different, too much time and trauma has severed them both from their former selves for it to ever be what it once was. She hears the sound of him swallowing against the crown of her head as if he knows it too.
"I'm sorry Liv," he whispers unevenly, as if their feelings had been redundant the moment they collided in that warehouse. Her eyes start to water, she still feels residual anger trapped within the confines of her chest but it's emotion that's taking a hold, causing her throat to close up. She presses her eyes closed as unavoidable tears start to spill down her cheeks and seep into the material of his t-shirt splaying outwards like an ink stain.
She tries to will the tears back down but they're only escalating so she moves out of his space, his hands reluctantly dropping from his hold as she steps away because she cannot do this, she cannot break down in Elliot Stabler's arms.
"Ah you should… you should move the car." She tells him, her voice cracking slightly as she wipes her eyes, swallowing back the emotion. She tries to keep her expression neutral, hoping that he will read her well enough to grant her some privacy as he takes in her undoubtedly tear stained face.
"Okay.." His eyes register her body language. "There's.." he begins, a little unsure. "There's some spare clothes in the bag if you wanna take a shower.. or lie down."
Her eyes struggle to retain eye contact and he turns away too, scratching his jaw before he is slowly moving towards the door.
She watches him hesitate only slightly before he turns back around and they lock eyes once more, her heart beginning to thrum in her chest at the prospect of what he will say to her.
But as a few moments pass something flickers in his eyes as if he thought better.
"Lock the door behind me Liv," he tells her in a near whisper. "I'll be right back."
TBC
AN: Pop Quiz: What happens in horror movies when they say they'll be right back?
