They could do this.
Olivia and Elliot
.
Benson and Stabler.
Together.
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Olivia hadn't wanted to fall asleep, and she had been fighting for a long time before her body had given in to the fatigue, and she had involuntarily drifted off to restless sleep. And the next time she felt someone shake her arm, she felt like she had only been asleep for a couple of minutes, but when she opened her eyes, the morning had already begun to dawn over the horizon. She blinked in astonishment.
"What the -…"
She didn't understand how she had slept for so long. Sleeping in a sitting position had made her whole body stiff and sore, and as soon as she moved, she realized she was extremely cold. Luckily, Elliot's hoodie on her had had time to dry a little, but it was still damp, and the coolness of the morning was able to penetrate through the fabric directly to her skin.
Slowly, she lifted her head from her partner's shoulder, her neck cracking as she straightened it with a grimace.
"Morning," she heard him say, and she turned her head towards him. Elliot's face revealed that he hadn't slept a wink as he intently surveyed their surroundings.
"How can it be already morning?" Her voice was just a hoarse rasp, and she had to clear her throat. "Why didn't you wake me up?"
Her partner shrugged. "You needed rest."
But before Olivia could say anything, he stood up with a groan, his joints cracking, and he stretched his back.
"But now we have to keep going," he continued and held out his hand, but she waved it away and stumbled to her feet.
"I can't believe you," she hissed, trying to sound annoyed, when in reality her partner's selflessness almost made her cry. "If you had woken me up, you could have slept for a while yourself," she picked up the ax from the ground and straightened her back.
"I wasn't tired," he muttered as he set off, and Olivia pursed her lips and rolled her eyes.
Yeah, sure.
But since there was no point in resisting afterwards, and she didn't have any extra energy to waste on fighting, she kept her mouth shut, and started walking after her partner, carefully observing the surroundings.
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Their walking had been significantly slower than the day before, and the reason was clear.
They were terribly hungry. Olivia felt like she didn't have a single drop of energy in her body, but despite that, her survival instinct forced her to take one step after another. And the longer they walked, the more she hoped the killer wouldn't appear from somewhere and force them to run away.
Because she was not sure at all if her body was even able to escape.
A flash between the trees caught her attention, and she turned her head, squinting. The river glimmering between the trees made her remember her face which was still sticky with dried blood, even though the rainwater had partially washed away the blood. Elliot in front of her was walking slowly, seeming to struggle just as much, and she lightly grabbed his elbow, causing him to quickly turn around.
"What? Did you see him?" He asked, looking around nervously, and Olivia shook her head.
"No, I just saw that river, and I wouldn't complain if I could wash my face there," she grimaced, and for a moment her partner bit his cheek hesitantly, but then nodded.
"Okay. But be quick, the terrain next to the river is open, and if the killer is nearby, he might spot you."
"Yeah, I know," she answered, and then slowly started walking towards the invitingly shimmering water in front of her.
At least I can get rid of this stickiness.
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Elliot remained sheltered by the trees a little further from the river and watched as his partner walked slowly and carefully to the riverbank, stopped for a moment to look around, and then dropped to her knees above the water. He watched as the water glinting in the morning sun made her brown hair glitter, and for a moment the rest of the world around him faded away.
Even in this situation, his partner was absolutely beautiful.
His thoughts wandered to the night before, when they had sat against the tree, his partner in his arms. Olivia had slept soundly, and even though he had been completely frozen, and the sitting position had made his whole body ache, warmth had been swirling in his heart, and he had pressed a light kiss to her hair.
But what had kept him awake all night, besides the killer, was the kiss.
Olivia had kissed him.
The memory of her soft lips against his, her scent, her body, had made his every cell tingle. It had been intoxicating, it had been everything. It had been better than he could have ever imagined, it had been something he would remember for the rest of his life.
And then he'd remembered Tim, Olivia's boyfriend, and the thought had made him almost physically sick. The idea that when they made it out of the national park, her partner would go home with her boyfriend, and he, they, would go back to their normal partnership, pretending nothing had ever happened.
And Elliot knew it would be his own personal hell.
He would have to go back to his own empty home, he would have to go back to new women again, he would have to try to pretend that he could go on with his life like nothing had ever happened. He would take other women to his home, kiss them, have sex with them, and pretend he didn't want only one woman, the one lying in her bed in her boyfriend's arms.
He sighed and rubbed his face, trying to shift his thoughts to something else. Because the thought of it was already killing him. He lowered his gaze to the ground and tried to look for edible berries, but to no avail.
And where the hell are Fin and John?
But when he looked up, he noticed something in the corner of his eye. He turned his head and squinted, trying to see what had caught his attention.
And then his heart stopped when he saw it.
The killer, a few feet away from Olivia behind a rock, the barrel of his rifle pointed at her.
And his partner, completely unaware of the danger, washing her face.
Elliot felt like the world slowed down around him as he scrambled to his feet, and even though he knew, he knew he wouldn't make it in time, he started running, exploding panic blocking his voice.
No no no no no no no no no no no…
And then a gunshot rang out.
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Elliot wasn't sure what kept his entire body from collapsing. Instead, he started running faster, some primal force pulsing inside him, and just as he was about to lunge at the man, something unexpected happened.
The rifle fell from the man's hand, his knees buckled, and he collapsed to the ground clutching his chest. Elliot barely managed to stop before the impact, his eyes widening in astonishment.
A pool of blood was spreading beneath the man.
He turned his head towards his partner, who was frozen in place, as shocked and confused as he was. And then there was a scream.
"Stabler!"
Fin.
And sure enough, Fin appeared from behind the trees, out of breath, fear flashing in his eyes.
"Please, don't tell me that that man was one of your friends."
Elliot shook his head. "No, he was…"
His voice trailed off as he turned his gaze from his colleague to the killer lying motionless on the ground, the pool of blood beneath him slowly growing. And then he looked at his partner, who were still standing there, eyes wide with fright, and his legs started to move. In a few leaps he was in front of her, a choked sound escaped Olivia's lips, and then he pulled her into his arms, pressing her tightly against him and burying his face into her hair.
"Liv, oh my God…"
Olivia pressed against him, and he tightened his grip, his heart pounding furiously in his chest, as if it had only just realized what had almost happened.
But then Fin cleared his throat, and it made them snap back to reality.
"Okay, guys, sorry to interrupt, but..." He glanced at the man he had shot. "Can someone please explain what the fuck is going on here?"
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Slowly, they had started walking towards a nearby campsite that had turned into a base for their search. Elliot had been right: the campsite hadn't been far, but they had gone around it from the wrong side. As they had walked, they had told Fin everything, and he shook his head.
"I saw Olivia, and then I saw that man pointing a rifle at her, and I can tell you it was a really, really confusing moment," Fin huffed. "But then I saw Elliot running, straight into the line of fire…" He glared at him. "So, I had to act. I aimed for the shoulder, but I was quite far away, and Stabler made him turn his upper body just as I fired. So…"
"Good for him," Elliot grunted. "He deserved a more painful death."
But then the campsite appeared from behind the trees, and almost immediately a cry pierced the air:
"Olivia!"
And she recognized his voice.
Tim rushed over to her, out of the corner of her eye she saw Elliot take a step further, and then she was in her boyfriend's arms. He pressed her against him so tightly that it was hard for her to breathe, and then removed his arms from around her as he brought them to her face and almost shouted:
"Where the hell have you been?!"
Before she could answer, he crashed his lips against hers, and she tried to kiss him back, but he was too quick, he parted their lips to repeat his question, and then he kissed her again.
She saw that Elliot started walking towards Cragen, away from her, and even though she was in her boyfriend's arms, her boyfriend's, who had been extremely worried for two days, it somehow felt wrong. She wanted to go to her partner, she wanted to wrap her arms around him and listen to the peaceful beating of his heart, she wanted him to tell her that it was over now, that they had made it, they had done it together…
"Liv," Tim's voice brought her back to reality, and she turned her gaze back to him when she realized her eyes had only been following Elliot.
"Yeah?"
"What happened to you?" Tim's eyes bored into hers. "I was so worried! Your Captain called me yesterday and asked if I wanted to join him in the search. And of course I wanted to," he pulled her into his arms again, and Olivia sighed. Over her boyfriend's shoulder, she saw Elliot walk up to Maya, who first touched his arm but then wrapped her arms around his neck, and a very, very uncomfortable feeling flared up in Olivia's stomach.
"I... I'll tell you later," she replied quietly as Cragen began to approach them.
"Benson?"
"Captain," she broke away from Tim's grip and straightened her shirt. Elliot's hoodie.
"I don't even know what to say," her Captain snorted and shook his head. "A two-night trip…" But then he stepped closer and pulled her into a hug, making Olivia surprised, but then let out a deep sigh. "Fin called me yesterday, and I wanted to tear my eyes out. He and Munch organized the search to the place, and got everyone weapons," he released his grip on her and waved his hand towards his detectives.
"Yeah, well," Fin shrugged. "We maybe left the forest, but we never left you, Liv," he stated, causing tears well up in her eyes. "And you know…" He nodded his head towards Elliot, who was focused on talking with Officer Richardson. "He may be a stupid ass who drives me crazy, but he never left the forest. No, even if it was life-threatening to stay, and everyone else left," he sighed. "Not everyone has a partner like that, Liv."
His words made Olivia swallow, and she glanced at Elliot, who was standing further away. The words seemed to get stuck in her throat, so she shifted her thoughts away from her partner.
"And you saved me."
"Yeeaahh," his gaze slowly shifted to their Captain who raised his eyebrows. "About that..."
And then she felt Tim's arms around her again as he pulled her against him. And no matter how much she tried to enjoy her boyfriend's closeness, the feeling of his arms around her and his warm breath on the back her neck, her gaze involuntarily wandered back to her partner, who was smiling at Maya.
She cared about her boyfriend.
She really did.
But still…
It was not the same.
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They may be out of the woods, but the story isn't over yet...