Thanks for the reviews. Hope you all like this chapter, the end of this chapter goes back to the Prologue. Will they find Olivia alive?

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Chapter 6

Olivia was kicking wildly at the step, but needing air she once more resurfaced, for what good it did her. She had to tilt her head back slightly, the water now just under her chin. "Help me!" she screamed again, spitting out water that seeped into her mouth.

She knew she had to continue kicking at the step but she couldn't hold her breath any longer than a few seconds now. Her entire body was in pain and the cold water only made it harder for her to try to get her breath back. She wanted to scream again but right now she couldn't, the pain was just too much.

Instead she held onto the ladder, as best as she could, for dear life and began pitifully attempting to pull her ankle away from the step but all it did was bruise and cut her flesh.

~0~0~0~0~

Elliot and Fin where now back at the precinct. Elliot was trying not to think about his burnt down house and all his family's memories and possessions that were ruined because of Mac.

He looked up at the TV and began watching the News that was playing seemingly to itself. "Telephone lines are down all over the city. People are finding themselves literally stranded in their houses." a News reporter said.

Elliot flicked off the TV and turned to face the window. He couldn't peel his eyes away from the rain covered window, or flinch each time a flash of lightening lit up the room. That was until he heard the sound of wet rubber shoes sliding into the bull pen.

He stood up from his desk when he saw the CSU tech that had found the footprint at his house run up to him, dripping wet. "I got here as quick as I could, I wanted to ring but phone lines are down." he said, lost for breath.

"Yeah, I just heard on the news. Why are you here?" Elliot asked him, a little impatiently.

"I got the sample back to the lab and tested it. It's a chemical that is now illegal in the states. It used to be put into domestic paint before it was linked to certain cancers. It was only ever imported via one place, out on the docks. It's been shut down for years. I also checked his details and the size of the footprint matches your perp.

Elliot ran over to his computer and got the map of the drain systems back up, "Where by the docks?" he asked.

As the tech told him and he began searching on the map he hoped and prayed this would be it, that this would be the evidence they needed that would take them to Olivia.

"There, that one!" Fin shouted, bringing Elliot out of his thoughts.

"Come on lets go!" he yelled as he grabbed his keys and ran out.

Fin, Munch and Cragen quickly followed.

~0~0~

As he ran through the rain, across the street, and into his car Elliot couldn't help but think that this may not even be a solid lead but he also couldn't stop believing that it was, something was telling him this was where Olivia was.

He started the engine up and pulled out onto the street. Fin, Munch and Cragen all jumped into another car and quickly followed after him.

Sat in a car, also outside the precinct was Mac. He had a horrible feeling that Elliot had worked out where Olivia was. It had pissed him off big time that Elliot had survived the fire and now this had sent him over the edge.

With an angry growl he started up the car and pulled out, slowly and from a distance following Elliot and the others to see where they went.

~0~0~0~0~

Everywhere the rain fell it was gathering, streets were flooding, gardens were bogged down under water, any slightly sunken surface now held a deep puddle.

The top of the roof of the old warehouse was mostly flat, only the sides were slightly slanted, however years of having been neglected had left it broken and fragile, slightly dipped in the middle. The rain water had gathered on the roof. It had gathered so much that it was becoming more than the weakened structure could handle, in any minute it would give in and the rain would come spilling over the side and down onto the ground…it just so happened that directly below it was the drain where it would all spill into, the drain in which Olivia was literally clutching onto life.

~0~0~0~0~

Elliot's heart was pounding like a drum in his chest. He could see the warehouse in the near distance, just on his left, they were close.

He spun the steering wheel round with just one hand as he turned onto the industrial park. It was now a short trip down a dirt track at the end of which was the warehouse, and he hoped, the drain. Olivia.

At the end of the track he could see two big rusted and broken metal gates. As he got closer he could see the chain that held them locked together. Without giving it a second thought he put his foot down flat on the accelerator and drove at full speed towards the gates and crashed right through them.

The sound of metal scraping against metal should have been almost deafening to Elliot but instead he barely heard it. He was driving so fast that he was struggling to control the car as it bounced along the uneven gravely ground, the pounding rain practically blinded his vision as it bounced down against the front window, loud, angry and unforgiving.

~0~0~0~0~

Olivia was struggling to keep her mouth and nose above the water. She kept ducking under the water where she was frantically kicking at the steps as hard as she could, but her body had become weak, from pain and blood loss.

She pushed herself up above the waters surface once more and gasped for breath. It was a few painful seconds before she could take in a breath. The water kept splashing into her mouth, causing her to cough and choke, which caused her to yelp and groan in pain.

She had just taken in a much needed breath when she thought she heard something, like the crunch of metal. She looked up, wondering if help had come for her. But she looked up just as the roof gave in and a build up of rain water came crashing down into the drain on top of her. She tried to scream for help but the water landed on her before the sound built up in her throat.

She immediately tried to push herself above the water but it was no good. The water was now well above her head. She tried to pull herself up the ladder but it was no good so she again tried to pull on the cuffs, praying the step would come loose, just break. She pulled as hard as her broken body would let her at the step.

Her lungs were beginning to burn. All she could think about was taking a breath of air, how desperately she needed it. How if she could take just one tiny breath she would never take being able to breathe in polluted New York air for granted again. How if she couldn't hold on a second longer Elliot's death would go un-avenged.

But there was suddenly nothing she could do. She kicked at the ladder in one last feeble attempt to free herself, but as she did she could hold her breath no more. It was ironic really because the kick finally broke the step.

Her limp hand let go of the ladder and her lifeless body floated to the waters surface, face down in the water, the rain pounding down on her back.

~0~0~0~0~

Elliot and the others had also been joined by three more police cars, all with their sirens blaring. Elliot's car skidded to a stop and he jumped out without even turning the engine off or shutting the door behind him.

"Liv!" he bellowed into the rain, hardly able to hear himself. "Olivia!" he tried shouting louder.

He'd only been out of the car a minute but already he was soaked through and dripping wet. He tried searching through the rain, but he couldn't see a thing properly it was coming down so fast and heavy.

"Where is she?" Fin asked as he joined his side, quickly followed by Munch and Cragen who were all just as wet.

"I don't know. I can barely see through the rain." Elliot said, shouting to be heard over the heavy down pour.

They all jumped back as they saw part of the warehouse roof come crashing down, water crashing down with it. They watched the water fall straight down into the storm drain.

"There!" Fin yelled.

As they ran over to the drain they all began calling out Olivia's name, all knowing it could already be too late. They could see another part of the warehouse roof lay on the floor, now joined by the piece they had just witnessed fall.

For Elliot, as he ran he felt like time was moving in slow motion around him, everything seemed to have gone silent, the only thing he could hear was his pounding chest, his heavy breathing. Images of Olivia kept flashing before his eyes, he kept seeing her smiling face, her big chocolate brown eyes that he often found himself lost in. She was his partner, his best friend.

"Olivia!" he shouted as he skidded to his knees by the storm drain. He looked through the grid. He could just about make something out in the water, whatever it was, it wasn't moving. "Olivia!" he bellowed into the flooded drainage pipe.

Fin took out his gun and began hitting the lock on the grid. Cragen quickly ordered one of the officers to call for a bus, he could then only look down at who he knew was Olivia. His head told him they were too late but his heart told him they couldn't be.

The lock finally broke off and both Elliot and Fin pulled open the grid and let it fall right back onto the ground. Elliot went to climb in but Fin quickly stopped him.

"Let me. You were almost burned alive last night." Fin told him, climbing in before Elliot had a chance to argue with him.

He'd only stepped down four steps when he was in the freezing water. He held onto the ladders as he reached out and hooked his arm under Olivia. He scooped her up and pulled her close to his chest. He felt sick when her head flopped back, her skin and was almost blue, her lips a deep shade of it, but that didn't surprise him; the water was ice cold.

He began climbing up the ladder, holding on gently to her. Elliot and Munch reached in before he was out of the drain and took Olivia from him. Elliot laid her down on the floor and Munch helped his partner out of the drain.

"Liv, Liv please talk to me." Elliot said, praying. "Shit! She's not breathing." he said before he began to do CPR.

The others all watched. They could see the state of her, her broken wrist, her shot collar bone and her beaten face. The rain continued to fall around them as Elliot desperately tried to save Olivia's life.

"Don't you dare do this, Olivia." Elliot warned as he began compressions again. "Fucking breathe!" he told her before he gave her mouth to mouth. He knelt back up and began compressions again.

The others could see how there was no change in her condition. "Elliot, we have no idea how long she's been under water and bleeding out." Munch told him sadly, saying what they were all thinking.

"She's stronger than this." he told them before he gave mouth to mouth again. He moved back to compressions, already his body was tired from it but he wasn't about to stop. "Breathe, breathe, breathe…" he kept saying over and over.

They were all shocked when Olivia began coughing, spitting out a mouthful of water. She then struggled to get a breath, clearly in a lot of pain.

Elliot quickly scooped her up in his arms, holding her tight against his chest, trying to keep her warm. She was shaking badly, and whimpering in pain. Elliot held on to her, thanking God that she was alive, that they had found what had been a needle in a haystack.

TBC

Thanks for reading. Anyone think I was going to let Olivia die. So this story isn't over yet, they still have to find Mac, if they can.