Hours passed. Olivia came to, dry heaving as she regained consciousness. The pounding in her head made her eyes cross and more than anything, she wished Elliot was there with her.
Tears welled in her eyes as she thought about him before her attention shifted to the trickle of fluid running down her thighs as another contraction ripped through her. She tried her best to remember breathing techniques she'd learned but her panic was getting in the way.
"Fuck," she whispered as she glanced down. She couldn't see but she could feel the warmth spreading. "Mollie, please, this isn't the time," she pleaded, knowing the clock was ticking even faster now. She had to find a way out of here and quickly.
The door at the top of the stairs opened once more and she squinted again, from the light and the pain.
"Well, well, well, have we reevaluated our choices or are we still playing this game?" Jerry asked as he entered the room.
Olivia chose not to answer him, forcing her energy on getting through the contraction.
"Ah, the silent treatment. Classic."
She exhaled as it passed.
"What is this?" He asked, eyeing her up and down.
"What does it look like?" She snapped back.
Jerry's eyes glazed over as he watched her and understood. "Oh," he said, the tone of his voice sending a shiver down Olivia's spine. "This is better than what I had planned." He licked his lips as Olivia sobbed silently as another contraction coursed through her, biting her lip.
"Please," she begged, "do whatever you want to me but please just spare her."
"Be a good girl while I get you out of this chair."
Her stomach rolled at the choice of his words.
"You're letting me go?"
He snickered. "No," he said as he uncurled her arm from the back of the chair. He kept her wrists cuffed together with his large hand as he worked; shifting her arms in front of her and cuffing her wrists again. He began working on the restraints on her ankles, freeing her from the chair.
"In the floor," he said, as he spit on the ground where he wanted her to lay. He held out his pistol towards her as she shakily stood up, grateful to be moving muscles she hadn't moved in days.
She slowly started to sink down as he turned his attention away from her for a moment and she saw the opportunity and took it. .
It happened quickly, but before Olivia knew it, she was kicking him between the legs with all the force she could muster.
Jerry fell to the floor at the sudden attack, the pistol from his hands falling and skirting across the floor.
Olivia spotted the rag he'd used on her in his back pocket and grabbed it as she kicked at his side repeatedly.
"Bitch!" He yelled as he struggled on the ground beneath her.
She shoved the rag over his nose and mouth, using every bit of strength left in her to hold it there. He thrashed under her for a few moments before his body went slack.
Olivia exhaled and winced as she stood up. She searched his pockets for a cell phone and pulled it out once she found it, dialing Elliot's number as she grabbed the pistol from across the room. Though her wrists were still cuffed together, having them in front of her was an advantage she was eternally grateful for.
She hauled herself up the stairs as quickly as she could, panicking as she glanced around and realized he'd brought her to an abandoned warehouse and she couldn't pinpoint her location.
"Detective Stabler."
She could hear the pain in his voice, the sadness and lack of rest in his tone as he answered.
"El," she whispered.
"Olivia? Olivia, where are you?"
"I don't know," she said as tears streamed down her face.
"Are you okay?"
"I don't know. I think but I….I don't know."
"Keep her talking, we can get a location on the phone," Fin said in the background of the call.
"I'm in some abandoned warehouse," she said. "I don't know where. I disarmed him, I bought some time, but it's not enough. I-" she groaned as the worst contraction yet hit her.
"Liv? Liv, what is going on?" Elliot yelled.
"Mollie is coming," she whispered, dropping to her knees. The phone fell to the ground and clattered around as Olivia shifted herself around. She laid on her back with her head towards the door to the stairs she'd just escaped from, pistol pointed at it.
"Got it! She's just across town in-"
"Hang on, we're on our way. Can you do that for me? Just hang on."
"Elliot," she muttered as tears began to roll down her cheeks even faster. "Please just hurry. I'm scared."
His heart broke at her words. Badass, fearless Olivia Benson never admitted she was scared.
"We're on our way. Just hang tight. We're gonna get there so-"
The phone cut out and her eyes jerked open as she glanced at the black screen. "El?" She asked. "Elliot!" Her hands punched down on the phone but nothing lit up she realized it had died and started sobbing even harder.
They couldn't get there fast enough. Cragen flew through the streets of Manhattan, lights and sirens ablaze. Fin and Munch followed behind them in another squad car; they'd called for a bus to meet them at the scene, not knowing what they'd find.
Elliot was out of the car before it was even fully stopped, running as fast as he could towards the abandoned building, needing to get to her. His feet pounded the pavement as he yanked a door open and screamed her name.
"Elliot!"
Her voice sounded weak but he kept her talking and followed the sound of her voice. He burst into the room she was in, screaming her name as he entered.
"Liv! Liv, I'm here, I'm here."
Olivia dropped the pistol she'd been clinging to and wept into his shoulder as he pulled her up and wrapped his arms around her as Fin, Cragen, Munch, and several other members of the NYPD infiltrated the space.
"Where is he? I'm half minded to kill that son of a bitch."
She groaned in pain, her body trembling. "Elliot, she is coming now."
"There's an ambulance outside; we're not too far from the hospital." He brushed matted hair out of her bruised face. "Just hang on a little bit longer, okay?" He said as he helped her up to her feet.
"I can't," she whispered, shaking her head. "This isn't-" Another contraction hit, more intense by the minute. "I'm not-" she groaned. "Something is wrong."
She vaguely heard Munch and Fin yelling at them to go, that they had it under control. He led her out of the warehouse, stopping every so often when the pain became unbearable.
A paramedic assisted in getting her into the ambulance and Elliot jumped in behind her as the doors slammed shut, lights and sirens activated.
Her pants were removed quickly and he noticed the trail of blood dripping down her thighs.
"Okay, Olivia, I need you to push," the paramedic said. "I know this isn't ideal, but we need to deliver your baby."
"I can't." Her face scrunched up as she grimaced again. "I can't do this here."
Elliot glanced at the paramedic in front of her, exchanging a silent conversation. "Grab my hand," he said, offering his palm to her.
Olivia took it and squeezed it without hesitation.
"This isn't how I wanted to do this," she cried softly. "I wanted peace and calm and specific music-"
"I know," Elliot said as he stroked her hair. "But it's happening and we're going to make the best of it, okay?" He settled behind her, maneuvering her back to rest against his chest. "See? We're here now. This is one thing we can control. I'm right here behind you, just like we talked about."
She nodded against him.
The paramedic glanced up as he adjusted her legs. "Ready? On count of three."
Somehow she mustered up the strength to push, squeezing the life out of Elliot's hand but he didn't say a word. He kept muttering words of encouragement and kissing her head as she pushed as they sped through the streets of Manhattan towards the hospital.
"Doing great, just a couple more and they'll be here. Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?"
"Girl," Olivia and Elliot said together, in sync as always.
"Okay, couple more pushes and your daughter will be here. Can you do that, Olivia?"
She nodded and bore down again, tears streaming down her face as she pushed and pushed…and pushed some more.
The echo of sirens faded away and were replaced by the sound of a newborn's cry. The paramedic placed their child on Olivia's chest as he turned around to grab supplies.
"Hi," she cried as she stroked her child's cheek. "Hi baby girl."
Elliot caressed Olivia's head, pressing a kiss to her temple and squeezing her hand, tears of his own spilling over.
"Hi Mollie," she cried.
He shook his jacket off and wrapped it around them, encasing them in his warmth.
"Just a few minutes out from the hospital," the paramedic said in a small voice. He frantically reached for more supplies; Elliot couldn't see what was happening but sensed something was wrong.
He glanced back at Mollie and Olivia, beaming with pride as he took in the sight of their daughter. "You did it, Liv, you did it," he said, thankful they were almost to the hospital and the worst was over. "Liv?"
He looked a t her just as her head lolled to the side of his shoulder. "LIV!" His tone was more frantic now.
Both paramedics moved frantically in the small space as his world stopped at the sound of their words.
"She's crashing."
TBC.