I'd like to thank Ad Hominem Argument and georgesgurl117 for their kinds words. Thanks!

Benson & Bond

Chapter Six

'Why am I here?' Casey thought, as she sat in the elegantly decorated waiting room with Elliot, Munch, and Fin.

She thought about the idea of New York City being evaporated within a nuclear blast, and it sent chills down her spine. And yet, although she had ample time to leave the city, Casey had remained. Despite the numbing terror she felt, Casey just couldn't bring herself to leave. And as she patiently sat waiting for the oncologist to see them, Casey searched within herself for the answer why--why had she made the suicidal choice to remain in a city that very well may be doomed?

'Because there are people here who are still fighting for it,' she realized. There were a group of determined individuals--James Bond, Olivia Benson, Elliot Stabler, John Munch, Fin Tutuola, and many others--who were not ready to give up on the Big Apple. They remained behind, against all odds, to fight for this city, and Casey quickly realized that she had made the right decision after all. Running out of the city just didn't seem right; it felt like she was a rat deserting a sinking ship. Staying behind with the boys made Casey feel better--it gave her a purpose in these dark times.

'We're all trying to make sure New York will be around to see the next sunrise, and many more after that,' she thought. 'That's a pretty noble cause, and if we should wind up getting nuked…well, at least we went out fighting.'

Doctor Farina emerged from a side door and walked over to them. Although they all stood up, Casey noted that the doctor--who was dark-haired, and in his mid-thirties--stared only at her. He gave Casey a quick, approving glance up and down her body and said, "Hello, how may I help you?"

Elliot, who was all ready to speak before the doctor snubbed him, simply shrugged and furtively gestured at Casey to take the lead.

"Dr. Farina, I'm Casey Novak, with the District Attorney's Office," she said, presenting her credentials. This appeared to impress the doctor even more. "These gentlemen are detectives with the NYPD. Is there someplace private where we can talk?"

"Sure, my office," he replied. Farina turned and led them through the side door and into a plush office that was decorated with pictures of himself on various fishing trips. A giant swordfish was on display on the wall behind his desk. He gestured for Casey to take the only seat right in front of his desk--once again ignoring the other three men, who stood awkwardly by the door.

"Oh, sorry, guys," Farina said, as if just noticing Elliot, Munch and Fin for the first time. "Let me get chairs for you…."

"That's ok, we're fine," Elliot told him.

Casey got right to business. "Dr. Farina, do you have a patient by the name of Luke Marcus?"

Farina settled into the chair behind his desk with an uneasy look. "What exactly is this about?"

"We're involved in an investigation of the utmost importance," Casey told him, "and Luke Marcus, a.k.a. Lucien Marko, is a part of that investigation. We have information which states that he's a patient of yours. Is this true?"

Farina shook his head. "As much as I would love to help you Ms. Novak, I'm afraid I can't reveal anything of a private nature regarding any of my patients. Not unless you have a search warrant."

"No, we don't," Casey replied with a sigh.

"Well, then, I can't help you." Farina gave her a shrug. "Sorry."

"It's imperative that we get the information that we need from you," Casey said, trying a different tactic. "In fact, it's vital that we get it right now. Our investigation involves the federal government at the highest levels, Dr. Farina. We can go back to the feds and inform them of what you told us. But I can assure you that our partners in this case--the FBI, the CIA, and the NSA, among others--probably won't ask you as nicely as I am right now."

Casey noted that Farina now looked anxious. "In fact," she pressed, "thanks to these new anti-terrorist laws that we now have, they're more than likely to come in here and tear your offices apart, while you and your staff are placed under arrest for--"

"Luke Marcus was a patient here," Farina abruptly said. "But I only saw him once."

"Why only one time?" Elliot asked.

"Because he's a terminal case," Farina said. "There was nothing I could do for him."

"How long does he have?" Munch wanted to know.

"Weeks, at the most," Farina grimly replied. "What's he done?"

"It's what he's gonna do that we're trying to stop," Fin muttered.

When she saw Farina's overly nervous reaction at that, Casey asked, "Are you aware of who and what Marcus really is?"

"He told me he was an accountant," the doctor answered. "But I had my suspicions. The type of cancer he had…well, I couldn't say for sure, but it seemed like he had been exposed to some pretty intense radiation. He had lesions. I suspected he might have worked with nuclear materials."

"Why did he come to see you?"

"To see if anything could be done," Farina said. "It was a last-ditch effort. When I confirmed for him that the cancer was too far gone, he appeared to accept his fate. He muttered something about going to France to take care of some loose ends."

Just when Casey thought she couldn't be any more scared than she was now, the thought of a dying man in possession of nukes somewhere in New York City had just pushed her fear into a new level. Because a dying man, one who has but weeks to live, had absolutely nothing to lose at all--and that made him one very scary adversary.

"Could we see his file?" Elliot asked.

When Farina appeared reluctant to hand it over, Casey said, "You will not be involved in this. You have my word as an Assistant District Attorney of New York City."

When Farina handed the file over to Casey, he said, "Hope this helps."

"It's a major help, Doctor. Thank you." Casey had turned to leave with the detectives, until Farina called after her.

"Here, take this," he said, handing Casey his card. "In case you need anything else…or, you know, if you should ever feel like getting coffee some time…Casey."

Casey stared up at the doctor's smiling face, and was stunned when she realized that he was actually flirting with her. She was sorely tempted to say, 'Sure, doc, if the city hasn't been reduced to a radioactive pile of dust within the next few days, I'll be sure to give ya a call!' But, instead, Casey simply said, "Uh, yeah, right…."

As she left the office with the boys, Casey felt dazed and a little numb--so much so that she was still stupidly clutching the doctor's card in her hand as they rode down in the elevator. Casey saw that Munch was already busy looking through the files on Marcus, while Elliot had taken out his cell.

"C'mon, pick up, Liv," Elliot impatiently muttered, as he held the cell to his ear. "Pick up, pick up--damn, bad reception…I'll try her again outside."

Just when Casey felt as if he was on the verge of losing what little hope she had left, Fin suddenly leaned over to her and gestured at the doctor's card in her hand. "Here we are, facing nuclear annihilation, and you're busy picking up guys, you shameless hussy…."

Casey blinked at him, uncomprehendingly, for a second. Then she burst into a fit of giddy laughter that washed away all the anxiety that had gripped her very soul. "Oh, Jesus, Fin! It's not that I didn't need that--I did--but how can you even joke at a time like this?"

"It's because we're the cavalry," Fin told her, still smiling. "Forget the feds and all these super spies; we'll be the ones who'll ride in at the last second to save everybody's bacon."

"That may well be true," Munch said, staring excitedly at something in the file.

"What'd you find?" Elliot asked.

"An address for Marcus, one that's not listed anyplace else," Munch said. "It's out on Long Island."

"Y'see?" Fin said to Casey. "That's what I'm talking about. We're the cavalry, baby."

"A lot of good that info is gonna do if we can't get it to the right people in time," Elliot said, impatiently waiting for the elevator doors open. "Come on, already!"
As if surrendering to his rage, the elevator dinged as it stopped. Once the doors opened, Elliot, Munch, Fin and Casey all ran into the lobby with frantic intensity. And as she ran, Casey felt her inner being swell up with something that she hadn't felt since this nightmare first started: hope.

B&B

When Bond entered the office, he was surprised at the sight that greeted him.

Olivia Benson sat slumped in the plush chair, sound asleep.

'She deserves it,' he thought, placing the cup of tea he got for Olivia down on the table before her. He was greatly impressed at how she had effortlessly kept up with him throughout his relentless pursuit of Mr. Ott.

He sat down in a chair across from the sleeping woman and took a sip of his own tea. Bond couldn't help but admire Olivia's beauty. She was similar to Vesper in that they were both extremely beautiful women, both inside and out--yet the major difference between them was Olivia's toughness. Where Vesper was a delicate flower who was tough in her own subtle way, Olivia was practically a warrior who wasn't shy about getting her hands dirty.

And yet there was a soft side to Olivia, as well. Bond was just starting to see that for himself, after nearly a full day of working with her. Despite her street-bred toughness, Olivia was still filled with compassion.

'You're falling for her, mate,' a voice at the back of his mind told him. He felt a flash of guilt, until he realized that there was no reason to feel guilty: Vesper was dead, after all. Still, Bond wasn't sure about a relationship with Olivia; he had bared his soul to Vesper, only to be betrayed by her. It wasn't just guilt that prevented him from wanting a closer relationship with Olivia, but the deep mistrust that dwelled within him, like a hate-filled ogre which resided in the deepest, darkest recess with his soul.

Olivia abruptly awoke with a start. She momentarily stared at Bond with a frightened look before she leaned forward and cradled her head in her hands.

"You all right?" Bond asked with concern.

"Yeah, frigging dream," she muttered. "All I could see was Louise screaming her head off, and there was nothing I could do to help her."

Bond frowned. "Who's Louise?"

Olivia shot him an annoyed look. "The poor woman who was grieving over Verne, the dead janitor. Remember?"

"Ah, yes," Bond replied with a grimace.

"You're not one for dealing with petty details--like the victims--are you?" Olivia angrily snapped.

Bond gazed coolly at her. He recalled how M once referred to him as being a blunt instrument, and she had been right. "I'm afraid that's a luxury that I can ill afford in my line of work," he calmly stated.

"Why? Is it because you're one of the guys who makes victims?" Olivia tartly said.

"Quite right," Bond said softly.

Olivia slowly shook her head. "I suppose the fact that you're doing it for Queen and Country is what makes it all right, huh?"

"That and preventing your fair city from being nuked," Bond added. "It's just that sort of thing helps me to sleep at night…whenever I can get to sleep."

From the way her expression quickly became sheepish, Bond figured his reply had taken her by surprise. Yet before either of them could say anything else, Felix appeared at the door.

"James, Olivia, you need to see this," he urgently said.

When Bond and Olivia joined Felix, M and the others gathered in the main conference room at CIA headquarters, he saw an image of a white cat on the massive plasma screen. "What's this?" he asked with a frown.

"Just watch," M curtly told him. She nodded to a technician. "Run it again."

"This was put online about an hour ago on a secure, untraceable server," Felix whispered to Bond and Olivia.

The cat made purring sounds as a man's hand began to stroke it's head and neck. The camera was positioned so that his face was never shown. Then a firm, cold voice began to speak. "This is Spectre. We are in possession of the remaining two nuclear warheads that had been appropriated from the Russians nearly a month ago. Their serial codes are as follows: 2093-X897 and 8938-Z920. Check with your intelligence services, and you will see that these codes match those of the two remaining nuclear devices that are missing from the Russian armory."

"We already checked," Felix said to Bond and Olivia. "He's got them."

"Unless you wish to see New York City evaporate in a blinding flash of nuclear fire," the voice continued, "you will pay Spectre fifteen billion dollars worth of diamonds to be delivered at a time and place of our choosing. You must signal your agreement to pay this amount to us by lowering the American flag outside of Gracie Mansion to half mast. This must be done no later than 12:00 PM tomorrow Eastern Standard Time. If we do not see this signal, then we will assume that you do not agree to pay the money, and we shall set off the bombs. If you do agree to pay, you shall wait for a further communication from us with further details."

"It's just a case of bloody extortion, from a cat lover, no less!" M said, sounding royally miffed.

Bond glanced at his watch. It was now 12:36 am--less than twelve hours before the deadline. "Will Washington pay?"

"Unless we can somehow stop it before it comes to that," Felix said.

"The radiation sniffers still haven't picked up anything!" the mayor cried. "How do we know they really have the bombs here?!"

"Good question," M said. "We know they have the bombs, but we don't really know their location. I'd still like to know how they snuck them past the army of sniffers we've got running all over the city."

"New York's surrounded by water," a voice quietly said.

Bond, M, Felix and everybody else all glanced at Olivia, who was the one who spoke. Looking uneasy at being in the spotlight, she just gave a shy shrug. "All I'm saying is maybe they brought the nukes in on a boat."

"Nonsense!" the mayor told her, waving his hand. "All suspicious boats have been checked."

"Suspicious boats?" Bond asked with a frown. "What about non-suspicious boats, have you checked them as well?"

"Of course not!" the mayor said. "The only non-suspicious boat that's docked recently was the Icelander, and that's fine."

Bond exchanged a wary look with M, who turned to the mayor and said, "Mr. Mayor, may I ask who made the determination to clear the Icelander without making a proper check?"

"I did," the mayor replied. "The Icelander is a private yacht that's owned by Karl Jergens. I can vouch personally for Mr. Jergens myself."

Felix turned to his assistant and said, "Sara, call Langley; get everything we have on Karl Jergens."

"Now wait a minute!" the mayor said, looking insulted. "Karl Jergens is a good friend of this city. He's long been a proud sponsor of the arts here in New York. The idea of him being involved in this is insane!"

"If we're wrong, then we'll apologize to Mr. Jergens," M told him. "But until then, it's best to leave no stone unturned."

Bond's attention was drawn to Olivia once more. "Uh, yeah, El--look, now's probably not the best time," Olivia whispered into her cell phone. Then her eyes grew wide with horror. "Oh shit, really? Good Christ!"

"What is it?" Bond asked her.

"My partner, Elliot, has uncovered something," Olivia told them all. "Marko has cancer, and it's terminal. There's something else, Marko's also got another address out on Long Island that nobody knows about."

B&B

"What's the problem?" Mr. Ott asked, soon after he got out of his car.

"It's one of the winches," Lena replied, as she escorted him into the building, an abandoned warehouse located on the docks. It was the rally point for the bombs, just a half mile North from where they were taken from the Icelander. "It gave out while they were lifting the second bomb out of the water."

"It fell back into the water?" Ott said, frowning. When Lena nodded, he added, "It appears that Marko is slipping, and more than just with a winch. We'll have to see about whether we want to keep him alive after this is--"

The blast from the explosion blew them both to the floor. Mr. Ott was the first to recover, pulling out his gun as he did so. He checked Lena, and although she looked dazed, he was gratified that the young woman was fine. Ott glanced down the hallway and saw that the doors at the end had been blasted off their hinges, and the door frame was ablaze with fire, looking like the gates of hell.

"The nukes went off?!" Lena fearfully asked.

"If one or both of the nukes had gone off, we wouldn't be having this conversation," Ott told her. He helped Lena to her feet. "You all right?"

"Fine." She glanced wide-eyed at the destruction. "What the fuck just happened?"

"That's what I'd like to know," Ott said, as he started walking towards the blasted doorway. When he and Lena entered the storage room, their guns drawn, Ott was stunned to see the very walls had been singed black by the force of the explosion. Members of the bomb team all lay dead on the floor--at least the ones whose bodies were still intact. Ott grimaced when he saw various body parts had been flung all over the place. Yet as bad as it was, Ott recognized that this blast was from a conventional bomb.

And there was only one man whom he knew who had a penchant for bombs: Marko. And Marko's body wasn't among the dead.

'Why am I not surprised?' Ott thought, as a white-hot rage grew within him. He glanced at the main platform, where the nukes should be, and saw only one. It appeared to have been heavily damaged by the blast, it's casing ruptured. "We need to get out of here," he said to Lena. "That bomb's emitting radiation."

"I'm surprised the explosion didn't set it off," Lena said.

"It's encasement was enough to protect it, but the encasement itself is now pretty battered," he explained. "Looks like the radioactive materials have been exposed. We need to leave now."

"But I can't find the other nuke!" Lena said, as Ott grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the bomb room.

"That's because it's with Marko, who stole it," Ott told her. "This was a set up on his part from the start. If you hadn't come out to meet me before, you would have been killed along with the others."

When they emerged outside and quickly got into Ott's car, Lena turned to him and asked, "Why? Why would Marko do such a thing?"

"I plan to ask him just that…right before I slit his fucking throat," Mr. Ott snarled.

He pulled the car out of the parking lot and down the street, running a red light in the process. Glancing in the mirror, Ott saw a fleet of police cars pull up to the warehouse they'd just left. "Hope you packed an umbrella, my dear," he muttered, "because it looks like the shit storm has begun."

B&B

Olivia smiled when she saw Elliot in the CIA conference room. He stood awkwardly with Munch, Fin and Casey, looking for all the world like a lost sightseer who got separated from his tour group.

Olivia strode up to them, and Munch spotted her first. "Well, if it isn't the Girl From Uncle," he said with a smile.

"The girl from what?" Casey asked, puzzled.

"Just how old are you again?" Munch jokingly asked. "Should you even be out this late, young lady?"

Casey just rolled her eyes in expaseration. "Good you see you again, Liv."

"Just do what I do and ignore him, Casey," Olivia told her, smiling.

"I do, but he just keeps talking," Casey muttered.

Olivia laughed. "Great job on the info about Marko, guys. They're all gearing up to pay a visit to that address in Long Island right now."

"Hey, we're the cavalry, baby," Fin said.

"How are you doing?" Elliot asked Olivia with concern. "You look tired."

"Not bad," she said, "considering I've been shot at and blown up, today."

When Elliot gave Bond a harsh look, Olivia gently grabbed his arm. "It's not his fault, El. It's part of the job."

"Not your everyday job," he said.

"This isn't your everyday case," she replied.

Elliot nodded, looking thoughtful. After taking note of the fact that he and Olivia were now alone, he said, "You know, Liv. There were some things that were said, when we were last together, that I regret. I just wanted to apologize."

"No need," she told him. "Water under the bridge, right?"

Yet Elliot still appeared somewhat uneasy.

"What's wrong, Elliot?" Olivia asked. "Are you all right? Are Kathy and the kids ok?"

"Yeah, they're out of the city, they're safe," he assured her. Then Elliot paused. To Olivia it appeared he was carefully choosing his words. "Look, this might not be the right time for this, but I don't know when will be the right time. There's something I've been meaning to say, and--"

Just then, both Olivia and Elliot were startled by a high pitched screeching sound that emitted from the main viewer. When Olivia glanced over at the viewer she was further alarmed to see a blinking red dot on the map of the city.

'This is it,' Olivia thought with dread. 'We've been nuked! How much time do we have? Minutes? Seconds? Ohmigod….'

She grabbed Elliot, pulled him in close, and said, "Elliot, I love you."

He stared intensely at her. "I know."

"You do?"

"Yes," he said calmly. "I love you, too, Olivia. More than you could ever know. And if we had the time, I'd get us a room at the Waldorf-Astoria and show you just how much I love you."

"I'd be just as happy with you in a Motel 6," Olivia said, as tears came to her eyes. "Hell, I'm more than happy just to be with you right now."

"This is sniffer 04!" a woman's voice frantically shouted over the speakers. "There's been an explosion at one of the warehouses on the west side docks. We have confirmation of radiation! I say again: we have confirmation of radiation right in the warehouse!"

"Relay that postion to the AEC ground teams," somebody yelled in the conference room. "Get them rolling, NOW!"

"Police are already here," the woman on the speakers said. "They've got the area cordoned off."

"What happened?" the mayor cried. "Did they nuke us?!"

"No, Mr. Mayor," Bond replied.

The mayor shot him a panicked look. "How do you know?!"

"Because we're all still here, aren't we?" Bond curtly said.

They all waited on pins and needles as special radiation teams from the Atomic Energy Commision entered the warehouse. Watching on the view screen, Olivia let out a gasp when the AEC teams found one of the bombs, which sat on a platform that was littered with bodies. The AEC teams, who were all clad in special hazmat suits, quickly secured the nuke within a container that sealed away the leaking radiation.

Then a chill shot up Olivia's spine when she heard the AEC commander state that there was only one nuke at the warehouse. "We don't know where the other nuke is," he said.

"The initial explosion looks like it was caused by a conventional bomb," Felix said, as he examined an aerial picture of the blasted warehouse on the view screen. "What the hell happened there?"

"Something not good, trust me," Bond darkly muttered.

"What do you mean?" M asked.

"I think Marko double-crossed Spectre," Bond said. "He set that bomb, so he could steal the other nuke from them."

M shook her head incredulously. "Why the hell would he do that? What would he have to gain?"

"Revenge," Bond said grimly. "Think about it, M. Marko's dying, most likely from being exposed to radiation from a nuke--and it's all thanks to Spectre. He waited until Spectre openly made their extortion demands, then he stole the other nuke."

"Sweet Jesus," Olivia muttered, feeling sick to her stomach. "He's going to just set the other bomb off, isn't he?"

Bond nodded. "And he's hoping Spectre will get the blame for it. That's his ultimate revenge."

"I thought it was bad enough when we were dealing with those Spectre extortionists," M said quietly. "Now we're dealing with a nuclear-armed madman with nothing to lose."

Everybody in the conference room was silent for a chilling moment. Olivia realized that she and Elliot were still holding each other. She embraced him tightly, because she needed to right now. Elliot must have felt the same way, because he hugged her back just as firmly.

And another reason she hugged Elliot now was because things looked so bleak, that Olivia wasn't sure if there would ever be another time for them to embrace again.

...to be concluded in the next chapter.