Everything seemed to happen in slow motion.
Elliot heard a muffled bang and watched pieces of the Mercedes go airborne. The bumper clattered to ground and the sunroof went end over end into the sky.
Then came the fire. The sirens. He watched the flames grow and reflect in the windows of the brownstones that lined the street.
This was the end of Richard Wheatley.
Elliot watched in the gathering crowd. They didn't know this was a fitting ending. Time bent back, but it wasn't Kathy this time.
Then started to rain. Firefighters sprayed the charred Mercedes with foam. Elliot was dimly aware he was getting soaked. Water poured from the brim of his hat and off his fingertips.
Rollins materialized out of the crowd and stood in front of him. They made eye contact for a long moment. She didn't say anything but there was something in her eyes Elliot seemed to recognize. It was the same way she looked at Olivia.
Respect.
Respect for a man who at first seemed so powerless and so cruel.
She turned and moved toward to the flashing lights and smoke, disappearing like a ghost.
He had to watch the fire. This was all his doing. He thought back to his children's sorrowful faces, Kathy looking so frail in the hospital and Olivia flying back into his life like a terrible angel.
Her face and voice were different, crushed by the cruelty and horror she experienced. The pain in her eyes shocked him. Knowing he caused a lot of it was crushing.
But he said he loved her and meant it.
He said he needed her and meant it.
They believed in each other, the last belief they jointly held.
Elliot wasn't aware she was beside him until she spoke.
"You did it," was all she said. Olivia was wearing her NYPD hat and soaked to the bone, much like their first encounter. If he looked closely, that young face and wide eyes were still there.
"We did," he said deliberately. "The biggest case of our lives."
Olivia stepped in front of him. She still looked like some sort of angel, standing in the rain with the steam rising from the pavement and the emergency lights swirling up the block.
"I couldn't have done any of this without you," he said, reaching for her hand. "For all the times I called, ruined you time with Noah, asked you to..."
"Partners," was all she said.
"Partners," he agreed.
She stepped closer and Elliot wrapped his arms around her. They hugged for a long moment, but didn't let go of each other when it was over. Instead, Elliot looked in her eyes.
"You came back," she said in a small voice.
"I'm not going anywhere," Elliot whispered.
Their faces moved closer. He put a hand on her jaw, aware Olivia's breathing shallow.
We can't continue this way. But I'm so damn scared of you. It would kill me to lose you.
In the street, in the rain, the flashing lights, the mist, their lips connected. What began tentatively quickly tapped into the mine of passion that was never far from the surface between them.
When they finally had to breathe, Olivia let out a shuddering sigh and gave him a smile. He smiled back.
The rain stopped.