My glorious readers, I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get this posted. My life kind of exploded and sadly reality must come before my fantasy life. Some of this didn't come out the way I wanted but I'm so very attached to this story. The smut fairy will visit soon, I promise!

As usual this isn't betaed so I apologize for any mistakes.

With a creak the final board broke free and Liv was immediately inside taking stock. Whoever had previously occupied the apartment had left in a hurry, leaving most of their possessions behind. In the small living room there was a slightly worn out sofa, an old wooden rocking chair, a modest coffee table, and best of all, a fireplace. Liv scoped out the kitchen next. The cabinets were mostly bare save for a few pots and pans and an antique hutch that sat in the corner, still full of china dishes. But it wasn't the china that caught Liv's eye, it was the two quilts that had been thrown across the top of the hutch, a seemingly haphazard attempt to protect the heirloom cabinet.

"Well maybe our luck hasn't completely run out," she smiled to herself. But that smile abruptly faded when she ran out to get Olivia. She was slumped against the railing, chest heaving with every slow, shuddering breath she took.

"Olivia?" She kneeled down at Olivia's feet and hooked a finger under her chin. "Hey. Look at me." But the eyes that met hers were not the ones she was used to seeing. They were cold, distant, as if she were lost in a memory.

"You're white as a sheet. Come on, let's get you inside." Liv took Olivia's hands from the railing and hooked them around her neck. The woman no longer seemed to be capable of moving on her own but she held fast to Liv as she gathered her into her arms. "Okay… one, two, up we go."

She carried her inside and carefully laid her down on the sofa. It was only then that she noticed the slight sweat that had broken out on Olivia's forehead. As she brushed the clingy strands of hair away from her face she felt just how feverish she was.

"God, you're burning up."

"No…cold."

Liv raced to the kitchen, grabbed the two quilts, and tucked them gently around her. She had just turned towards the door when she felt Olivia's hand grab hers.

"Don't leave," she pleaded weakly. "Please."

Liv sat down on the edge of the couch and held Olivia's pale hand in both of hers. "Listen to me. I will never leave you. Never. I'm just gonna break up those boards so we can have a fire. You get some rest, okay? I'm right here with you."

Once Olivia had closed her eyes, Liv started on the boards. She tried to throw all her focus into breaking them into pieces small enough to fit into the fireplace, but she couldn't shake the terror from knowing what had to come next. She was going to have to remove that bullet and stitch up the wound herself, no experience, no sterile surgical tools, no anesthesia.

Liv had tried to get everything ready while Olivia was resting. She'd started a fire, collected some rain water from the large puddles in the gravel road outside and started it boiling, and removed the spring that held the batteries in her flashlight to use for forceps and a needle. She had pulled out some of the thread from the quilt binding, hoping it would be strong enough to use for sutures. If they were really, really lucky, they might just pull this off.

She pushed the couch as close to the fire as she could without sitting directly in it and gently pulled the blankets away from the blonde's stomach. Olivia stirred just as she started to unbutton her blood soaked blouse.

"I'm sorry but we've got to get this taken care of."

"Liv, don't. There's no point. I'm going to die."

"No you're not! Don't say that. Don't you dare say that!" She paused. Olivia was obviously startled. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to….I just…I've never met anyone that…that can do the things that you do." She took a deep breath. "I know I annoy you. In my own little fucked up way that's how I show that I care. But I can't imagine my life without you, Olivia. I…I don't want to imagine my life without you. Please, you have to fight this. Promise me. You can't leave me here alone."

Olivia reached up and wiped a lone tear off Liv's cheek. She sat up as much as she could and leaned her forehead against her alternate's. "I promise," she whispered and pressed her lips softly against Liv's. It should have been awkward. It should have felt wrong. But at that moment, nothing felt more right.

"Alright. You ready?"

Olivia bit down on her lip and focused her eyes on the ceiling. "Just do it."

Liv unbuttoned the rest of her shirt to expose the wound. It looked much worse than she'd hoped but she stayed expressionless. They both needed to stay calm for this to work. Liv tore off the bottom half of her t-shirt, ripped it into several pieces, and dunked one into the pot of water. She started wiping off the blood farthest away from the wound first. As soon as she got close Olivia's stomach tightened under her hand. Still, she was remarkably composed for what was about to happen to her.

"I have to try to get the bullet out now." Liv held up the spring that she'd bent into makeshift forceps. "I'm sorry, Olivia. There isn't any other way to do this."

"I know. It's okay."

"Just focus on breathing and bite down on my jacket if you need to. Don't be afraid to scream."

Olivia nodded.

"Okay. Here we go."

Liv couldn't see the bullet through the swelling of the entry wound which meant she was going to have to feel around for it. She'd tried not to think about how painful that was going to be as she slid the spring in.

Olivia immediately let out a strangled cry from the back of her throat.

"I know, hun. Just breathe and hold as still as you can."

Olivia nodded silently, small tears slipping out of the corners of her eyes.

Liv gently moved the spring around, trying to find the bullet. It felt like it was taking forever. Every time she moved farther in Olivia's cries got louder and louder.

"I'm so sorry, I'm…it's got to be…wait! There it is! I've got it!"

She was somehow able to grasp the 9mm with her crude instrument and started to slowly pull it out.

"Brace yourself, Olivia."

As she removed the bullet Olivia dug her nails into the couch and screamed. When Liv had the offending metal in her hands she looked up to see her alternate unconscious.