The Santa Incident
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of LO:SVU or any other show mentioned here. I don't own the rights of the songs either. I'm making no money out of this whatsoever. Don't sue me, I have no money.
7
No one could remember a situation when the squad room had been as silent as now. The lack of ringing phones and keyboards being typed on made the situation unrealistic. The large room was barely lit by just a few candles.
"If we would have a violin," Fin asked John, "could you play?"
"No."
Fin snorted. "We could sing something."
John frowned at him together with a skeptical look over the rim of his glasses. "You believe we could sing?"
"At least we could try. It's so damn silent in here."
"Why should somebody have the wish to sing right now?"
Fin did not answer that. He leaned back in his chair, thinking hard. When he opened his mouth again, John expected a flippant reply, but he really began to sing. John stared at him incredulously and let his view wander through the squad room to check the reactions of the others.
"C'mon, John," Fin said. "Don't be shy."
"I'm not shy." John glared at him. "I just don't sing."
"You don't want to or you can't?"
"You don't want me to try, I swear that to you."
"We can do it," one of the office clerks threw in. "What do you want to sing?"
The discussion about a song to chose was already loud enough for John. He left for the crib.
Olivia awoke to pain. Her right side did hurt, she just did not know why.
Oh, yes, I know why, she corrected herself. The damned van flip-flopped down the exit-ramp.
It was dark inside of the van. She had to look hard to make out her surroundings. Obviously she lay on the roof of the car. In the front, she could see at least one of the guys hanging in the seatbelts. His head dangled in a strange angle, so she suspected him to be dead. Still, she did not know about the other two. And Elliot!
Someone groaned. She did not recognize the voice. So it had to be one of the other men.
Olivia got up in a sitting position and fumbled with the buckle to release the belt. Once she'd managed to free her legs, she got up, closed her pants again and went for the front to check on the man, lying there. He was unconscious but alive. She did not intend to take any risk. So she turned and grabbed for the belt. Even if she knew that she could cause further damage, she pulled the man's arms behind his back and bound them with the belt. Then she crawled back into the loading space of the van.
She was searching for Elliot but hit Cornwell first. As she did, the giant groaned again.
I have to get off these cuffs, Olivia thought. She patted the man's jacket and trousers for the keys. There they are! She got them out and… Damn!
If he did it on purpose or not was irrelevant, but Cornwell had put on the cuffs with the keyholes upwards like she would have done, too. Olivia could not reach it. She swore again.
Cautiously not to wake him up, she searched for her gun and got it out of his waistband. Then she climbed over Cornwell and crouched down next to the other man. Elliot did not react at all when she touched him and fear grabbed for her heart. She searched for his pulse and sighed with relief when she felt it softly beat against her finger.
"Elliot?" she said. "Elliot, can you hear me?"
Still, there was no reaction. He lay half on his side, half on his back, so that she could not reach his cuffs. She had to turn him. When she did he groaned.
I cause him pain. Grief stabbed Olivia's stomach. But I have to get those cuffs.
Once she had them she went for Cornwell again. As he was heavier than Elliot she had to work hard to get him on his belly. But then she managed to bind his arms safely behind his back. She returned to Elliot to get the belt, too, and wound it around Cornwell's ankles.
When she was done she sat down beside her partner, breathing heavily. With her wrists still cuffed everything she had done had been a difficult task.
Outside the wind was howling. The windshield was broken, but it was averted from the wind. It did not snow very much through the opening. Instead the snow-drift outside grew higher and higher, covering the hole.
Olivia shivered with cold. She leaned against the wall of the van. Exhaustion caused her eyes to close, but they flew open again before she could fall to sleep. Every so often she dozed off just for seconds.
I may not give in to sleep, she thought. I'll sleep, I'll freeze to death. She rubbed her shins and thighs.
From time to time Cornwell strained against his bondage. He did not try to talk. He was brooding silently.
Olivia's gaze still rested on Elliot. He did not answer her. As far as she could tell he was still unconscious. She forced herself to get up again. Squatting beside him she slowly pulled him onto his back. She let her hand run over his face and neck to the shoulders. When she touched his left shoulder he groaned. Automatically she backed off. Then she continued to palpate his body for injuries.
Some of his ribs may be cracked, too. Hell, I wish I could help him. When she reached for his left leg she felt crystals tickle her fingertips. Damn. Blood!
She stepped over Cornwell and headed for the dead guy to get his scarf, then returned to Elliot. As cautiously as possible she felt his leg up and down to examine it further, but she could not find the wound.
"Liv?"
The weak sound startled her. "Elliot!"
He could hear her fear and grief in this single word. "What happened?" he asked, his voice barely audible.
"The car skidded down an exit-ramp," she explained. "I think we have turned over several times."
"The others?"
"One is dead," she said and looked over to the driver. "I secured the other two."
"Sure?"
"Well, yes, I think so." As the snow-drift grew around the van, it became darker. It was almost pitch-black inside. "Can you try and help me, Elliot?" she asked.
For a moment he remained silent. She already wondered if he passed out again when he answered, "How?"
Olivia let out her breath in a rush. "I got the keys for the cuffs, but I can't reach the keyhole."
"Then give it to me…" He lifted his right arm, holding his hand out, palm up. So she placed the keys in it, the one in question already pushed out. Elliot managed to get it into the lock and a few seconds later she was free.
"Thanks, partner."
"You're welcome."
Olivia looked at her wrists. They were very sore. The metal had cut into her flesh and when she removed the cuffs some of her skin had been frozen to it. She ignored it and got it off, but it hurt like hell.
"How do you feel?" she asked.
"Cold."
"I'm not surprised." Olivia turned again to his leg and made the calf a provisory bandage.
"Still snowing?"
"I guess so. I can't look outside."
His look turned puzzled but it was too dark for her to see.
"We're buried beneath the snow," Cornwell laughed suddenly, wickedly. "And if this storm won't diminish soon we're all just dead meat."
"Shut up!" Olivia snapped.
"Or what?" he teased her.
She kicked for his head, smashing it into the roof that now was the ground, and he was silent again.
"You can be brutal," Elliot said.
"He deserves it."
She got up and went for the front of the van. Cautiously she felt around the two men there for anything she could probably use. She shivered. Not only with cold but also with fear. The whining of the storm became softer.
No illusions, Olivia reproached herself. That doesn't necessarily mean that it's decreasing. The drifts are growing around us and muffle the sounds.
There was something, a case or… She fumbled with the locks. When it opened her fingers slid over dressing material. There also was one of these foil-blankets.
"Hey, what are you doing?" the man under the passenger's seat asked.
"Not your business, asshole," she grumbled and searched for the glove box.
She held up the lid and felt inside. Something with a thick round handle, a switch… She turned it and a light lit up. It made her sigh.
A/N: Sigh! We have a light here…! At home we'll have a lot of lights on the tree. I will take a break here to get finished and post as soon as possible – promised…
Merry Christmas!