I'm so sorry for the delay on this. Thank you all so much for reviewing and loving this story. My aim is to add another chapter this evening or tomorrow.

Happy new year!

She froze as his lips covered hers. It was almost as though everything in her entire body had shut down apart from her lips and her furiously beating heart. His lips were soft, softer than she had ever imagined. There was something unsure about the way that he kissed her, a hesitancy that she hadn't ever expected from him, in her dreams he was forceful and dominating, a force to be reckoned with. She closed her eyes as his hand touched the back of her head, pulling her closer and deepening the kiss. He parted her lips with her tongue and she couldn't help but gasp as it made contact with hers.

She had imagined this too many times to remember, but it was so different, tender even. She brought her hand up to cup his face as his tongue stroked hers. Her heart was beating erratically as his hand trailed from the back of her head to her neck, caressing her as he kissed her. Suddenly she hit the ground with a rough bump as the realisation of what she was doing sank in. "Mmmm," she pulled away, pressing her forehead against his for just a few seconds. Her hand made contact with his bare chest as she gently pushed him away. "I…I can't," she shook her head, turning away from him, leaving him stood alone with wide eyes.

He was married, Jesus, he had kissed her. Her half naked partner had kissed her. He was married. She had let him kiss her when he had children waiting for him at home… It was the stress of the situation, it was getting to them both. They had been partners for eleven years and never once crossed the line…How could she be so stupid?

"I'm sorry," he swallowed the lump that was in his throat. He had kissed her. She had kissed him back for a few brief seconds…They had kissed. He didn't know what had possessed him, having her in his arms after he had been so sure that he was going to lose her was like rapture. He had thought about it, of course he could but it had been eleven years and despite wanting to, and wondering if she reciprocated the feelings that he couldn't quite understand, they had never crossed the line. Until now. He watched as covered her mouth, her fingers tracing the exact places that his tongue had been just second before. He had been so scared that he had lost her, so damn scared and he just… He didn't even know how to rationalise it in his own head, how could he explain it to her?

"I…We can't…" she shook her head, closing her eyes for a second trying to forget the feel of his lips on hers. She didn't know if she was telling him or herself. He had kissed her…

"Liv…" his heart was racing as he sat on the bed, suddenly exhausted and overcome with anxiousness. He wanted to reach for her, to tell her how sorry he was. He couldn't explain it, the need to be close to her, to show her after all these years that he cared for her more than he was supposed to. Maybe he'd banged his head as well? He had a family at home, a wife and yet all he wanted to do was hold her. He had nearly lost her, watched as she was very nearly brutalised and she had no idea…

"Elliot, your arm," she came towards him quickly, taking his hand in hers as the blood seeped through the bandage. She ignored all eye contact as she adjusted the white material wrapped around his arm. "Does it hurt?" she asked, keeping her potentially broken wrist pressed firmly against her stomach.

"Probably not as much as yours does," he mumbled, trying his best to forget what he had just done, how she had felt… "Liv-" he started, he needed to apologise, to try to explain it, even if he didn't know how.

"You're losing a lot of blood, I thought it was okay but…you need help-"

"You're not going back out there," he stood up just a little bit too quickly and felt his head rush. Maybe his injury was more serious than he'd thought. He sat back down, shaking his head slightly, trying to focus.

"Elliot, you're losing a lot of blood and-"

"I said no," he held his hand up. There was no way that he was even going to consider it. They were barely safe where they were but it was a hell of a lot safer than being out there with those monsters searching for them. He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to stop the room from spinning as he felt the blood trickling along his arm, through the bandage.

"Okay," she sighed, staying exactly where she was for just a moment. She pulled at her top, only now realising just how ridiculous she must have looked. Her shirt was literally in shreds. She silently thanks whoever was listening that she'd put on a tank top.

"What are you doing?" Elliot asked, watching as his partner used her good hand to pull at the strips of her shirt.

"There aren't any more bandages, so this will have to do," as she spoke to watched as blood dripped from his fingertips having travelled all the way down his arm. She wasn't even thinking about what had happened just moments before, she was seconds away from panic mode as the blood from Elliot's fingertips hit the ground.

"You should use them for your wrist," he started. His arm was slowly going numb, he knew that there was a chance that if they weren't rescued within the next few hours he could bleed to death. He was bleeding more than he had expected but Olivia's broken wrist was still a concern.

"My wrist is fine," she lied. "We just need to make sure you don't bleed to death okay?" she asked, her wrist still tucked against her stomach as she approached him. "I'm gonna need your good arm okay?" she asked, watching as he nodded. "Do you feel dizzy?" she placed a hand on his chin and tilted it until she was looking into his eyes. He didn't answer her, he simply nodded. "Okay, this is gonna hurt, I'm sorry…" she trailed of, placing a piece of her ripped shirt over his arm. Between them they managed to tie three homemade bandages around his wound, temporarily stopping the bleeding but they both knew they wouldn't last long.

"What about you?" Elliot asked, noting every mark on her body. "Your lip, your cheek, your eye?" he asked.

"Nothing's broken." She wasn't exactly sure about that, her cheek was throbbing, bastard had punched her hard. She wished that she could have given him a taste of his own medicine like she had with Kieran, the first time. The first time…. it almost didn't feel real.

"Liv, you need to let me look at that wrist…" he told her, she nodded and walked towards him slowly. "Can you move it?" he asked, reaching for it with his good hand. She winced before he'd even touched it, anticipating the pain. "I'll be as gentle as I can," he whispered, slowly pulling her wrist away from her stomach where it had remained for the last few hours. She closed her eyes, clamping her eyes shut as pain coursed through her arm, like a million daggers hitting her at once. "God," slipped out through gritted teeth. "Stop…" as soon as the words left her mouth he did so.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled as she sat next to him on the bed.

"What if he doesn't come back?" she asked, not turning to look at him. She had been so sure that Elliot was going to die, so sure and then Phil had returned and saved them. What were the chances he would come back twice? "How do we know this isn't just another part of them screwing with us? How do we know he isn't involved?"

"We don't, we just have to trust him-" he stopped as she sighed. "I know that may not be easy considering what we've just been through-"

"What do we do if they walk through that door right now Elliot? We have no way out-"

"Would you calm down?"

"I'm calm, I'm just being realistic. How can you be so calm?" she asked turning to him, a complete look of defeat on her face. She looked away shaking her head.

"I'm not…you don't think I'm…I'm scared as well?" he asked, his voice shaking slightly. "You think I'm not still thinking about what they're going to do to you if they find us? What they nearly did to you?" he swallowed the lump in his throat as anger built in the pit of his stomach. "I can't…" he shook his head, almost unable to finish his sentence, "I can't even think about what's going to happen if they find us…so I don't."

Olivia nodded, slowly. "I'm sorry," she whispered. Biting her lip as the pain in her wrist intensified. "We're going to be okay," she forced a smile.

"Good, and as soon as we get out of here…I want morphine and a steak," he smiled as she let out a laugh next to him. That was better, at least she was smiling, he just had to keep them both alive until help arrived…

EOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEO

"Elliot…"

He opened his eyes slowly, when had he closed them? His head was pounding and he found himself struggling to focus on the source of the voice. He felt like shit, like he'd been run over by a bus.

"How're you feeling?" Olivia asked, she was sat on the side of the bed, the bed that he was lying on. He sat up slowly. She gave him a soft smile. "You fell asleep, I wanted to give you some time to sleep." He had fallen asleep while they were talking, he had been talking about his first ever case at SVU when his words became mumbled and he slowly closed his eyes. They had been awake for such a long time, how long, she had no idea.

"How long was I out?" he mumbled, noting the familiar feeling of blood trickling down his arm.

"Just a few hours," she frowned as she realised the blood had seeped through the strips of her shirt. She had let him sleep, checking his pulse every few minutes for fear that he was actually unconscious. There had been moments when she desperately wanted to join him, when she wanted to lie next to him and close her eyes out of sheer exhaustion but she knew that someone had to be awake to keep watch. She also knew that if she closed her eyes she would be plagued with nightmares, she wasn't ready to face them yet. "How are you…" she stopped as she realised he'd closed his eyes again. "El," she whispered. "I need to check your arm," she told him, waiting for him to stir and maybe even complain. "Elliot…" she pressed her hand against his neck and her heart dropped. "Elliot, open your eyes…" she struggled to catch her breath as her unresponsive partner lay in front of her. "Please…" she climbed across the bed until she was towering over him. "El, Elliot please, please open your eyes…"she cried as tears filled her eyes. He had lost too much blood. Why hadn't she tried to find something else, anything else? Why hadn't she gone for help? Why had she waited for her partner to lose consciousness? She pressed her palm against his cheek, he was cold… "You can't…you can't do this to me…" She tapped the side of his face as she called his name, urging him to wake up as her heart threatened to implode, a deep fear rising in the pit of her stomach.

"Don't move."

She froze as she heard the voice behind her. Was it a friend? Was it someone there to help them? She turned slowly.

"Get off the bed…" the man ordered. She didn't recognise him. He was taller than her, brown hair and brown eyes. He wasn't a cop, there was no gun. She moved slowly pushing herself up and off of the bed. Her heart sank even further as she remembered his face, he had been in the warehouse watching with glee as Kieran attacked her. He looked like a child on Christmas morning, almost…excited?

"Please…" she started, stopping as he scoffed.

"Please? Do you have any idea what I'm going to get for being the one to bring you two back?" he asked, his grin almost unbearable. She held her hand up in defence, desperately thinking of anything she could offer him. Was he alone? If so she had a chance of escaping…She would have, if Elliot had been conscious. There was no way she could carry him, not with one arm.

"I…If you let me just…you don't have to do this," she told him as he took a step towards her. She had talked people down before, convinced people who were going to hurt her not to, why couldn't she do it now?

"Have to? Sweetheart, I've been here for a good few months now. I don't have to do anything, but I want to watch…and then take my turn with you…" he stepped towards her again, smiling as she stepped back. "What's wrong with him?" he gestured to Elliot.

She looked at her partner. There was a chance that Phil would make it back, that he would be able to save Elliot even if it was too late for her. "He's dead…" she whispered. "You shot him…" She desperately hoped that Phil made it back before it was true…

"He's lucky…" the man grabbed her arm, pulling her towards him. "You'll be wishing you were dead by the time we're finished with you sweetheart," he held her tightly against him, smelling her hair, fighting the urge to take her there and then. He knew he would be rewarded for bringing her back, he could focus on that.

She wouldn't cry. She didn't say a word as the man pulled her towards the exit. She had already accepted her fate, she had come to terms with what was going to happen to her, she could do that again. This time she would be safe in the knowledge that Elliot would be nothing to do with it. She wasn't even scared, she was numb.

She had given up. She was exhausted, she couldn't out run him. There was nothing she could do but accept what was going to happen all over again. Maybe there was a way to make it quick. She knew they would want her to suffer and she shuddered as she thought of how much enjoyment they were going to get out of her. She would do anything just to have it over and done with. She was so tired…

She closed her eyes for a second, praying to whoever listened that Elliot was found in time.

"Don't move!"

She opened her eyes and froze. As soon as they had exited the room they were surrounded. Men with guns, police men with guns were stood all around them with guns aimed firmly at the bastard behind her. It happened quickly. She was thrown to the ground, hitting her head on the way down, crying out as she landed on both wrists. The gun shots stunned her. His body hit the ground hard and fast.

"Detective Benson?" a hand reached for hers but she waved it away, she could barely breathe. She wanted to yell, to tell them to call an ambulance but she could barely move. It was over… Blood trickled down her face from the gash on her forehead. What was one more head wound?

Elliot. She waved the man closest to her towards the room, the room where Elliot lay bleeding to death. "Please…" she managed. The pain in her arm was almost unbearable. Three officers stormed into the room.

"Detective Benson?" another officer approached her. "I'm…" she didn't hear his introduction, instead she heard a call from inside the room.

"We need to get him to a hospital now! He's not breathing…"

"No…" she mumbled, everything suddenly becoming cloudy. He had to be okay, after everything, he had to be okay.

"Detective, stay with me…" the man next to her called as he sank to his knees. She couldn't focus. He placed both hands on her shoulders to hold her in place. "Open your eyes Detective Benson!" he called. "I need some help over here!"

She struggled to keep her eyes open as the man's voice boomed above her and as the pain in her head became more and more intense. The last thing she remembered, before everything went dark, was the feeling that they were okay now. They would be okay because they were safe….