Fooling Ourselves

Chapter 12: One Heart

A/N: Here's the next chapter you guys. I hope you like it. Please review because you all make my day a little brighter. Happy reading.

"Do you think you could shoot those cameras out from the slots in the vents?" Elliot asked.

Olivia inspected the panel nearest her. She peered through the slots into a hallway. She craned her neck and could just see the security camera that covered the area. She stuck her gun barrel through the slot "I think I might be able to," she said pensively.

"Good," Elliot said, shifting slowly and turning away in the narrow passage "Shoot out as many as you can but don't use more than half your bullets okay."

Olivia nodded "Be careful," she called after him, knowing that he was off to do the same thing.

"You too," he called back as he disappeared into the inky blackness of the vent.

Olivia crawled along until she found a panel above an office. Alone in the vent, every sound seemed magnified. Every creek made her shiver. It had been okay as long as Elliot was with her but alone, all she could do was think about what had happened. Dean had been set up. Why?

She took careful aim between the slots in the vent. She squeezed the trigger and she was so on edge that the gunshot nearly made her scream.

She stayed frozen in place for what seemed like an eternity. The camera was decimated, that much she was sure of. Only a minute or so after she had fired, she heard what sounded like an answering gunshot coming from the direction Elliot had gone. She only prayed it was him. Amy's words suddenly flashed in her mind with white hot intensity 'he's not invited to the party'.

She suddenly forgot all about taking out security cameras and backtracked, holding her gun at the ready just in case, to the place where she had last seen Elliot. She heard two more gunshots before she found him. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that he was uninjured. "Thank God," she whispered.

"You okay?" Elliot asked reaching out to her and pulling her towards him. She was shaking slightly "Liv?" he questioned.

"It's nothing," she said dismissively, pulling away from him "I took out one camera," she changed the topic quickly.

"I got two of them," he said, holstering his gun.

"Now what?" Olivia asked, looking at the vent Elliot had just shot through when before she arrived.

Elliot was about to say something when they heard voices coming from below. Both leaned closer to the panel so they could hear more clearly.

"Damn it!" one voice yelled "They aren't here either."

"There around here somewhere," the other voice said smugly. "Remember, you take her alive," the voices were drifting away as the two men walked out of the office. Still, his next words reached both of them clear as day "Fisher wants you to take care of her friend nice and clean, not like with her husband. If you hadn't gone overboard with that, we probably wouldn't be in this mess."

Olivia's jaw clenched tight. One of those men had been Trent Nash. She turned to Elliot "Come on," she motioned down the passage "Let's go. They've probably already searched the office that I got earlier," she practically dragged him along with her. She had one objective now, get to the office, call for help. After that, she just didn't care what happened to her.

She would go down into the office alone. Elliot would be safer if he waited in the duct until help got there. It took them ten minutes before they reached the panel in the wall that Olivia remembered firing through. She pried the grate off and was about to slide through the opening when Elliot stopped her.

"Wait a minute," he said gently "I'll go down there, just in case."

Olivia almost laughed, they had both been thinking the same thing "No," she said firmly "You should stay here," to make her point, she shoved him back and slid down into the office, gracefully landing on the desk.

Up in the duct, Elliot rubbed his head where it had hit the wall. He moved closer to the opening and peered down into the office just in time to see Olivia thrown against the opposite wall of the office. He slid dropped down onto the desk immediately but Olivia's assailant didn't even turn around.

"How…?" Olivia asked in surprise.

"You'd be surprised how much faster you can go from point A to point B when you don't have to crawl through a vent," Trent Nash told her fiercely. "We figured that you'd head to one of your first two targets. I guess I hit the jackpot hmm?" he raised an eyebrow suggestively at Olivia who felt like she wanted to vomit.

She shoved him back and he stumbled, colliding with the desk. It was then, as he turned to try and recover his balance that he saw Elliot.

Nash drew his gun and pointed it at Elliot. Olivia saw what he was doing and acted quickly, pushing his arm so the bullet lodged itself in the wall.

Elliot meanwhile had ducked and had managed to get around Nash to where Olivia stood. He pushed her behind him. Nash recovered quickly and pointed his gun at Elliot once more.

"No!" in a move that would have appeared comical if not for the circumstances, Olivia jumped in front of Elliot and pushed him behind her.

Nash kept his gun level as he stared at Olivia with cold, soulless eyes "Isn't that sweet," he said with a smirk "I'll make you a deal sweetie, you give me what I'm looking for and I'll let you and your wannabe superman go."

Olivia stared back at him with fury etched into her face "I don't know what it is you've been looking for," she said honestly "And even if I did, I wouldn't give it to you because we both know that there's only one way this is gonna end."

"Yeah," Nash said smugly "Your friend there dies and his blood is on your hands. No matter how this goes, I'm gonna get what I want." He watched the reaction on Olivia's face with great amusement "Now just give it to me and this can all be over."

"Like I said," Olivia said angrily, feeling Elliot shift behind her "I don't know what the hell you're talking about."

Nash approached her and lifted her wrist "Nice watch," he mused.

"So," Olivia stared down at the watch that Dean had given her right after Zack was born. What could this have to do with anything? Still, if all he wanted was her watch, she should count herself lucky. If it meant Elliot's life, Nash could have the damned thing.

Nash slid the watch off Olivia's wrist and examined it. He smiled and slipped it into his pocket. Before Olivia or Elliot knew what had happened, he had thrown Olivia to the side "Well," he said, looking at Elliot who by now had pulled his own gun "I've got what I came for," he cocked the hammer of the gun.

Olivia rolled over on the floor and her eyes went wide. She had known not to trust Nash but for some reason she thought that they might benefit from a little more time. She sprang to her feet and launched herself at Nash. The gun went off and Olivia rolled to the side.

Elliot fired the all of the remaining bullets in his gun into Nash before kneeling beside Olivia. She had a pretty nasty looking wound in her side "Oh God," he whispered, pulling off his coat and pressing it to the wound as hard as he dared.

"El…" she whispered "The… phone…"

Elliot had almost forgotten. He managed to reach up to the desk while still keeping pressure on Olivia's wound. He cradled the receiver between his shoulder and ear as the blessed sound of the dial tone filled him with a sense of hope "Hold on Liv," he said desperately as he dialed.

Olivia's focus was fading in and out. She barely heard any of Elliot's conversation with whoever he had called but she heard enough to know that help was on the way. She realized that he had hung up and was speaking to her again. She summoned the strength to reach the arm that was on her uninjured side up and place her hand on his arm. He fell silent immediately and listened "It's okay…" she told him.

Elliot laid his free hand on her cheek, keeping eye contact with her at all costs "Stay with me," he begged.

"El... if I…" she began "If I…"

"Don't say it," he pleaded "You're too strong to let this get you."

She smiled softly "But… if I… don't… make it."

"You're gonna be fine," Elliot told her firmly as his eyes filled with tears. The only reason she had gotten hurt is because he hadn't been quick enough with his gun.

"Shut up… for a… second…" Olivia said in a firm, yet halting tone "If I don't… Take care… of Zack… please…"

"Olivia," Elliot said quietly and then the hand that lay on his arm grasped him so forcefully that it made him jump.

"Promise… me…" Olivia demanded.

"I promise," he whispered as he heard the sirens of the New Jersey police department approaching "But you're gonna be fine."

"Stop… saying... that…" Olivia half laughed "I… got… shot… I'm… not… fine…" her eyes drifted closed "I'm so sorry… I ran…"

"Don't be," Elliot leaned closer so he could hear her weakening voice "You shouldn't try to talk." Where were those damn paramedics? Vaguely, his senses registered the far off sounds of guns being fired and people shouting to one another but in this moment, in this place, there was only him, and Olivia.

"No…" she said "I… have… have to… you… have to… understand… why I…"

"Shhhh," Elliot said softly. "I understand," he reassured her as he pressed against the wound with all that he had. It was as if the blood that flowed between his fingers and turned his jacket a thick wet black, was as much his life force as it was hers.

Olivia smiled "Good," she whispered, her lips parting ever so slightly. She fell silent and Elliot began to mutter incoherent prayers under his breath as he fought to keep his hands steady.