"Barek!" Without thinking, Mike jumped and dove onto the beam. He caught Carolyn's wrist and the force caused Kelsey to slip slightly in Carolyn's arms. Mike was laying on the beam perpendicular with his legs dangling. He didn't have a very good hold on his partner, she was starting to slip. He needed her other hand. "Hold on, just hold on," he muttered. His stomach was killing him.
"Take her," Carolyn whispered.
"Kelsey. Kelsey, look at me," Mike said. The girl looked up, terrified. "Give me your hand, honey. Can you do that?" She shook her head and started sliding down more. "Reach, sweetheart. Come on. Hold on tight and climb up." She nodded and slowly shimmied up Carolyn's side. When she was close enough Mike used his free hand to hold onto her and help her up and onto his back. "Hold on tight. Like a little monkey," he told her. Her hands circled around his neck and clasped together, he felt her tears fall down his neck. He reached down and gripped Carolyn's other wrist, bringing her up a bit. "I got you," he told her gently. "We're all just fine..." Carolyn looked up into his eyes. He saw utter fear behind them. "I've got you Carolyn," he repeated. She nodded slightly. He turned his head just a bit to the ladder. There was no way he could reach it without possibly dropping one of them. The weight on his back didn't help things, but he wasn't going to have Kelsey sitting on the beam alone. He felt the weight in his hands shift and grow heavier. He looked down. His partners body had gone limp. "Barek!" He shouted. He realized then that the underside of her arm was bleeding. He tried to look at it without moving too much. Her shirt and jacket were torn along the entire sleeve. Probably from trying to catch herself. A flash of movement below caught his eye. Kelsey was whimpering. "Just hold tight, little monkey," he said. He narrowed his eyes at the lot and saw an SVU pull in and Goren and Eames jump out. He didn't know why they were the backup, but he was thankful. He watched as they immediately ran over to Ryan's body and looked him over. Then they both looked up and jumped back at the sight. He watched Bobby pull out his cell phone and hold it to his ear. Within seconds, his own phone rang. "Kelsey, honey...can you reach my pocket without moving? My jacket?"
"Maybe."
"Try. Try to get my phone," he closed his eyes and waited as she reached down. He felt her slide a bit. "Never mind, stop. Just-"
"I got it," she said.
"Good girl. Okay press the button and hold it near my ear if you can." When the phone was against his ear, he spoke. "A hand?"
"Eames is calling a bus and the fire department."
"Ryan?"
"He's dead. Is that Barek?"
"Yea. Unconscious."
"Little girl okay?"
"Scared."
"And you?"
"Tired, Goren. I'm tired."
"Can you hold on until the fire department gets here?"
"I don't know."
"Okay." Then he watched as Bobby hung up his phone, slipped his jacket off, and jogged over to the ladder.
"Thank you, Kelsey. You can-" She let go of the phone and it crashed to the ground. He didn't really care about his cell at that point.
Soon, Mike saw Bobby pop up on the ladder, out of the corner of his eye. Goren climbed up and sat at the end of the beam, holding onto the ladder. "My name is Bobby," he told Kelsey. "What's yours?"
"Kelsey," she sniffled.
"Well Kelsey, I want you to take my hand okay?"
"I can't."
"Yes you can," he said gently. "I bet your arm is like Gumby. Do you know who Gumby is?"
"Uh-huh."
"Then stretch your arm like Gumby." Kelsey did and Bobby reached, too. When their hands connected he held tight while she eased over to him across the beam. He clasped her tight in his arms. "Logan?"
"Go! Just get her down."
Eames, seeing what was going on, had climbed up the ladder too. She took Kelsey from Bobby and headed back to the ground. Bobby stayed. "How do you want to do this?" He asked.
"I don't know. Can you reach her?"
Bobby tried. "No. Not without falling. Can you hoist her up?" Mike tried pulling her up, but his arms were like putty. He tried again, and slipped an inch. "No, no. Just...okay...just hold tight," Bobby said.
"Right," Mike said. "Easy for you to say. What the hell took you guys so long?"
"We came as soon as we heard the call come out. Would have brought the calvary with us if we'd known what was going on."
Then, like music from heaven, the sounds of sirens broke through the air. Mike wanted to raise his head and look, but he hadn't the strength. "Here they are," Bobby said. Mike closed his eyes. The relief gave him a moment of strength and he tightened his fists around her wrists. "Open your eyes," Bobby said. Mike did and saw a red engine below. A ladder was rising to him, with a firefighter on it.
After forever, it came to a stop before him. Without moving his head he was able to look into his rescuers eyes. They belonged to a woman. "You are the singularly most beautiful thing in my world right now," he gasped.
She smiled. "Can I take her off your hands?" In an easy motion, the firefighter had Barek over her shoulder. Mike let his limps droop with a sigh. "Should I send someone up for you?" She asked.
"No. I think I can..." he reached for the top rung of the ladder and slid over it. The woman started moving down and Mike slid down the ladder far enough so that his whole body could lean against it. Then he stopped. He was done. He felt the ladder being lowered, and he was feeling dizzy. When he reached the bottom, hands were helping him down. He stepped down and planted both feet on the ground, but his legs gave out on him. He crumpled onto the dirt, everything going dark.