While, Olivia put her shirts back on, Alex scampered to her room to throw on some jeans and her old college hoodie. As soon as her other running shoe was on, Alex ran back to the living room, slung her briefcase over her shoulder and grabbed her keys.
Olivia was already waiting at the open door. Alex ran out with door with Olivia right behind her. They trotted down stairs and ran out the door not saying a word to David or Sam.
They got into Olivia's car. As soon as she started it, she turned the lights on, but kept the siren off. She glanced over at Alex who was putting her hair in a pony tail.
"What did Donnelly tell you?" Olivia asked carefully.
Alex took a deep breath, "Charles Sheppard is holding an entire courtroom at gunpoint after stealing a bailiff's gun, demanding to talk to Sarah. So he wasn't on PCP when I talked to him. It would have worn off by now. So we don't really know what's going on with him."
Olivia screeched to a stop outside the courthouse. Alex go out as fast as she could with Olivia on her tail.
Cragen greeted them at the police line and ushered them through.
Olivia was the first to speak, "Do we know where the real Sarah is?"
Cragen nodded as they walked toward the line of police cruisers at the steps of the courthouse, "She's dead."
"How long?" Alex asked.
"Fifteen years," Cragen stated when they stopped.
Elizabeth Donnelly strode up to them. "What's the plan?"
"How many people are in there?" Alex crossed her arms.
Cragen shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "We're not really sure. Judge Harriman's courtroom was the one Charles was being arraigned in."
Alex's eyes widened, "Harriman?" Alex took a deep breath, "Let's give him what he wants."
"What?" Olivia looked at Alex, "Alex, you can't…"
Alex cut Olivia off with a look.
"I agree with Detective Benson," Donnelly added, "There's got to be something else we can do."
Cragen looked at her, "We've tried everything else."
"I'm going," Alex stated.
Olivia looked at her and felt like all the air was sucked out of her lungs. "Alex…."
"I have to," Alex looked at Olivia, "There's people in there. My uncle is in there. If there's something I can do to make sure that those people get out okay, I'll do it."
Olivia knew Alex was right. She also knew that when Alex got like that there was no stopping her.
Cragen put his hand on Alex's shoulder, "Just go in there and play it safe."
Alex nodded.
Donnelly pulled Alex into her arms, "I'm gonna kick your ass of you don't come out of there in one piece."
Alex let out a small laugh, "I promise Liz." She let got of Donnelly and turned to Olivia. She smiled, "You're going to be here when I get back right?"
"Of course," Olivia nodded.
Alex wrapped her arms around Olivia's shoulders. She felt Olivia's arms enfold her waist. She took a deep breath. "I love you Liv." She kissed Olivia's cheek and pulled away.
Olivia was stunned into silence as she watched Alex walk up the courthouse steps and disappear in the doorway.
"Captain!" a man in a SWAT uniform walked over and set down a large briefcase. He opened it to show a screen that showed video of the courtroom Sheppard was wielding a gun in. There was no sound, but they could all see that Sheppard was yelling.
Alex heard yelling as the pushed open the courtroom doors, "Where's Sarah!"
"I'm right here," Alex said in a calm voice.
Sheppard looked at her and smiled, "Sarah, you came back!"
Alex carefully walked into the courtroom, past people ducking between the rows of the gallery. "Put the gun down."
Sheppard cocked his head to the side. "Why would I want to do that?"
"You don't want to hurt any of these people," Alex kept walking until she was within a few feet of Sheppard.
Alex's eyes scanned the room. She saw Serena Southerlyn cowering under the prosecution table and was suddenly regretting handing the case over to her best friend. She continued to scan until she saw her uncle sitting against front of his bench. She gave him a slight nod.
"Let them go," Alex stated, staring an icy hole through Sheppard.
"What about you?" Sheppard asked, his eyes showing his nervousness, "Do you want to go too?"
Alex nodded, "I want you to put the gun down, so we can all go home."
"No!" he yelled, "You're not leaving me again!" He pointed the gun at Alex.
Alex closed her eyes and gulped. She took a deep breath before opening her eyes again, "I'll stay with you, just let them go."
Sheppard looked around and his eyes stopped on the door to Judge Harriman's chambers. "We're the ones leaving Sarah."
Alex stood still for a moment before starting to walk toward him. As she passed the prosecution's table, she knocked a file onto the ground. She bent down to pick it up and whispered to Serena, "I'm gonna drive down Broadway toward Central Park."
Serena nodded, "Be careful."
Alex stood and set the file on the table.
"C'mon," Sheppard grabbed Alex's wrist and pulled her into the hallway to Judge Harriman's chambers.
"I have an idea for where we can go," Alex stated, "We just need a car."
Sheppard kicked open the door to the small chambers. "Okay."
It was dark inside the office and neither one moved to turn the lights on. Sheppard walked over and looked out the window. There were was a police cruiser and an unmarked car parked outside, a few yards away. Both appeared to be empty.
"I'm going to open the window," Sheppard told Alex, "And we're going to crawl out. Get in the driver's seat of the unmarked car and take us to that safe place of yours."
Alex nodded, hoping that the plan wouldn't go as planned and there would be cops all over the place, waiting the bushes outside.
Sheppard opened the window and slipped out. Alex followed and ran to the unmarked car. She was irritated to find it unlocked with the keys in the ignition.
As soon as Sheppard closed his door, Alex started the car a sped off.
Serena was the first one down the stairs of the courthouse. She ran to the group standing around the monitor.
"What did she say?" Cragen asked her.
"They're going down Broadway toward Central Park," Serena replied.
"Someone just stole my car!" a man in a uniform trotted over, "It's my new unmarked."
"How did you let them get away in your car?" Olivia asked in disbelief.
The uniformed officer was at a loss for words so he looked at the ground.
Cragen picked up his radio, "All units be on the look out for an unmarked cruiser heading North on Broadway toward Central Park."
Olivia turned and ran to her car and jumped in. She turned her scanner on and sped off in the direction of Central Park.
Olivia felt like she'd been driving forever when in reality it had only been a few minutes when a man's voice came over the scanner, "We have a female driving an unmarked cruise with a male passenger at 72nd and Broadway."
Her heart began to race. She checked one of the passing street signs. 68th, 69th 70th. She looked ahead of her at a street full of flashing blue and red lights. Past them, she could see the unmarked cruiser speeding along the road and ahead of them was a blockade.
Alex saw the blockade ahead of them speeding closer. She quickly looked around and swerved into an alley before reaching the line of police cars.
A few cruisers actually followed down the alley. Olivia turned a street before the alley and tried to catch up to Alex.
"Go faster!" Sheppard pointed the gun at her, "We're not getting caught."
Alex was afraid of what that sentence meant. This man was unstable. He could kill her at any second and she knew it.
"Suspects crossed Columbus Avenue and is now on West 74th," an officer said into the radio, "Suspects now Northbound on Central Park West."
Olivia could see Alex a few lengths in front of her. Only one marked unit was still keeping up with Alex.
Alex sped through the center lane down the road.
"We have to loose them," Sheppard looked out the back window. He cocked the gun.
"Don't you dare shoot at them," Alex growled. She could see an unmarked car in her rearview and although she couldn't see through glare the flashing lights into the car, she knew it was Olivia.
"What else am I supposed to do?" Sheppard turned in his seat and took aim.
Alex swerved into Central Park and took off down the small road.
"Don't shoot," Alex stated, "I'm going to run into those trees over there. We can get out and run."
Sheppard nodded. He pointed his gun at Alex, "You better not try to run from me, Sarah."
Alex shook her head, "I won't." She pointed to car toward the trees and slammed on the brakes trying not to actually hitting a tree. Her plan worked pretty well until they hit the wall surrounding the park.
The impact wasn't hard enough to give them anything, but whiplash.
"C'mon," Sheppard grabbed Alex's wrist and pulled her out of his side of the car. He pushed her toward the hood of the car as sirens got closer. "Get up there and jump over the wall."
Alex jumped up on the hood of the car and gracefully climbed over the wall and jumped down. Sheppard threw a duffel bag over the wall before climbing over himself.
He grabbed the bag, Alex's arm, and ran to the nearest car, pointing the gun at the driver. "Get out of the car."
The driver quickly complied.
"Drive," he told Alex as he got in the passenger's seat.
Alex got in the driver's seat and sped off again.
Olivia ran up to the wrecked cruiser only to find it empty. She threw her portable radio on the ground and yelled, "Son of a bitch!"
"They're gone," the uniform that was standing next to her said into his radio.