A/N: I'm sorry for the delay. I planned to upload much faster but anyway, here it is and I hope you'll enjoy.
Thanks alot to those who left a review: 21oscar21, christellesvu, Roanie123, spacekitten2700, Heart Story and those two guest reviewer. A special thank you goes to laosvu18- your review actually made my day. I hope I won't dissapoint you'all and please stay patient with the storyline, I'm getting there soon.
Beta Reader: Charmita


3. Chapter

Putting Elliot's life at risk so easily had been so selfish and so dumb. She should have known better, she shouldn't have dragged him into this mess in the first place. Since when did she become such a pathetic and weak person, since when did she call out for help to save her own ass. She had been so blind with despair for herself, for her own wellbeing that she'd accepted the possibility of Elliot being hurt or even being killed.

What kind of human being did that make her?

Her breath hitched when the whole impact of her actions, the amount of consequences based on her selfishness came back to her. The ramifications of calling out for Elliot, of calling out for help would take a terrible toll on her in the end. And there was nothing she could do about it, nothing she could do to change the timeline and let Elliot leave, safe and alive. Unbidden images of Elliot's lifeless body entered her mind and she couldn't stop the flood of guilt, anger and worry which overtook her senses.

Had she, in the end, indeed caused Elliot's death?

After she'd denied it 8 years ago during Gitano, after she had clearly stated she wouldn't have taken the shot which would have possibly killed Elliot too. She'd chosen Elliot over the job back then and she would do it again. The words of Dr. Hendrix echoed in her mind 'If you had to choose saving your partner and saving a member of the public. What would you do?' She hadn't answered it then, because she knew she couldn't say it out loud, she couldn't acknowledge it, not even to herself. It was simply wrong, wasn't it? As a cop she had a job to do, she had a duty to serve the public and not her partner. Her partner, her friend- the one she deeply cared about.

She knew she would choose him again, because she couldn't bare the risk of losing him or worse- of causing his death. So why couldn't she choose him over herself? She would give everything she owned, she would give her life for him- why hadn't she allowed herself to let him leave earlier? She'd had his back for twelve long years only to risk it now to save herself?

Oh god, what had she done?

She caught herself staring blindly ahead and then forced her eyes to focus on what was happening in front of her. She searched for any signs of life on him and stared at his back, waiting for any movement of his rising torso. She breathed a sigh of relief when she was finally able to make out his constant and shallow breathing.

She closed her eyes briefly. She needed to keep it together, not only for herself but for the both of them. She was responsible for this mess and one thing she knew for sure, she would do everything in her power to stop Lewis from harming any other soul because of her. She'd do whatever it took to prevent Elliot from getting hurt again. She wouldn't let anything happen to him just because of her, just because of her selfishness. She couldn't let anything happen to him, he had a family, had kids- he had a real life to go back to. She on the other hand, had nothing to lose but her own life, a beating heart and a haunted soul and she'd gratefully trade it in to protect him, to prevent his life from ending so abruptly. She'd have his back, no matter what.

Lewis was now bending over Elliot's collapsed body on the ground, checking his sides and pockets for his belongings. He fetched his wallet from the back pocket of his jeans and some keys and his cell from his jacket. He put it all down beside him and grabbed the roller duct tape from the coffee table.

"We don't want him moving around, do we?" he joked while he continued wrapping a second layer of duct tape around his wrists.

Olivia's gaze wandered from Elliot's form back to Lewis and her heart began pounding faster against her chest, with every pulsation more blood- more adrenalin was pumped from her organ through her veins making her vicious headache throbbing more frantic against her temples and her cheeks turn a shade redder. As a result, her breathing became quicker and with her nose still sticky from being on the verge of crying just moments ago it was hard to breathe adequately. She was panting, trying to gulp enough air in to satisfy her burning lungs as her eyes followed Lewis movements.

For a small moment, he looked up at her from his task at hand and his cold eyes met hers. The corners of his mouth tucked up into a sly grin, obviously amused by the situation, by his power over the situation and simultaneously pleased by her powerlessness.

A certain heat was boiling up in her, an emotion too strong to hide or control was bubbling under the surface screaming mercilessly for release at the sight of him, by watching his ecstatic mood about the situation he'd caused.

She gripped the edges of the armrests tighter and yanked her head to the side, she couldn't look at him any second longer. Her own body was betraying her by reacting in such a malevolent way, it was exposing her by showing her true feelings to everyone, even the ones she'd rather hide. Her body strongly affected by rage and fury, reacting with an increasing pulse and a rapid breathing. She knew, she was getting hysterical because she wouldn't calm down any time soon but there was nothing she could do.

In this moment, every fiber of her being demanded to be released from that situation, every muscle of her body was primed and flexed and bursting with adrenaline-fueled energy, aching to break free of her restrains, of the nightmare she currently lived in and she was powerless to make it happen.

She'd never felt that kind of anger, this load of anger ever before. Yes, she'd been angry- even furious and she couldn't even count the number of times that had happened anymore but she'd never experienced emotions like that before. Briefly she wondered, if that was how Elliot always felt when she'd watch the redness making its way from his neck to his face and he used to hit something. She wondered if any anger management lesson would even be able to teach you how to control those strong emotions. How was it even possible to control something that controls oneself? An emotion that doesn't allows you to think straight, doesn't allows you to be yourself anymore. Something that just makes you see red.

Because that's what it was, she was seeing red. She felt like she couldn't breathe anymore, the air she was drawing in wasn't enough for her body to work with. The throbbing at her temples wasn't easing and she heard her heart slamming against her rip cage.

She was ripped out of her thoughts when she felt him approach her and before she could even turn her head around and look up, he had ripped the tape off her mouth. The movement hit her unprepared and the immediate pain shot through her nerves, making her gasp. She glared up at him, doing her best to ignore the burning pain on her skin because a greater part of her was relieved about being allowed to breathe decently.

"You son of a bitch!" she yelled at him as soon as she'd caught her breath. "He has nothing to do with this. Let him go!"

He'd made his way back to Elliot, who was still lying motionless on the floor. "Yeah?" He took his time to turn back around and look at her closely before his food collided with Elliot's side, aiming for his rip cage. Olivia was well aware of him watching her expression and continued to stare him in the eyes, the anger inside of her rising even more.

He raised an eyebrow and crossed the room back to where she was while speaking, "So he can run back to your little friends?" Reaching her, he squatted down in front of her and pulled out his gun, shoving it under her chin. "You think I'm stupid?" He spat, his voice dangerously low.

She took a shaky breath and closed her eyes briefly when the gun made contact with her skin, "Lewis-" she started with newfound determination, "-this is between you and me." She paused and softened her expression, trying her very best to convince him. "You don't need him."

He seemed to consider her words and pulled the gun back, rubbing it slightly against his own chin and leaning into it, still seeming to think about what she had just said. He looked up at her then, raising an eyebrow and tilting his head to the side. "He's important to you, isn't he?" he grinned.

The question took her a bit off guard and she didn't answer right away, giving him time to reach for her and stroke a strand of hair back behind her ear. She waited for him to look her in the eyes before speaking again, "Every innocent life is important to me!" she announced with conviction, emphasizing every single word. "Let him go. He won't tell anybody, I'll make sure of it."

"You wouldn't lie to me, would you?" He mocked her, knowing very well she was doing just that. He stood up and pointed the gun directly at Elliot, "Maybe I should kill him right away." he said and disengaged the weapon's safety catch.

"NO!" It burst out of her before her mind was able to stop what her heart was screaming for her to do, giving away what she'd tried to hide all along- her bond to Elliot, her feelings and that he was indeed very important to her. "No." She repeated much calmer and looked him straight in the eyes, "He's a NYPD Detective." She lied, still not sure what he'd been doing for two years. "His squad, the entire department- hell, everyone will hunt you down if you kill a cop."

He chuckled, "Oh yeah? What do you think is the end game for your pretty head?" He lowered the gun slightly and walked back towards her, coming to a stop in front of her.

"Billy." She breathed, knowing the ice was very thin right now. "Let's think about what you're doing here." She would have raised her arms in any other situation, it was a part of her training but that wasn't possible right now, so she softened her voice. "You walk out that door right now, no one will know anything happened to me- to us. We can pretend this never happened." She said, both of them knowing it was an empty promise.

He quickly closed the distance between them and pressed his fingers against one of the fresh burn marks on her chest, making her cry out in pain. "What about this, huh?" he hissed, increasing the pressure on her wound. "These burns, huh? You would pretend this never happened?" he said in disbelieve.

She took a deep breath to cope with the pain he was causing but she wouldn't back down, not now and not ever. "Lewis!" she said, fire and pure hatred was dancing in her eyes, glaring right back into his cold ones. "You can stop this right now. Go! Get the hell out of New York and I promise, no one will come af-"

She was cut off when his hand suddenly collided with her right cheek, the force almost sending her over the edge to darkness but instead it took her breath away and left her head spinning. Before she could even attempt to try and take a breath, his hand wrapped itself around her hair and yanked her back harshly, making her cry out in agony. Her eyes instantly filled with tears at the unexpected new wave of pain and dizziness and her vision was blurry when she felt him inching his face closer to hers.

"Now-" he breathed, "-either you'll shut up on your own, or I'll shove this gun right down your throat and make you." He growled into her face and with one last pull he released her head. She took several breaths and blinked to regain her vision. She was still too out of it to follow his movements and gasped in shock when she felt his hands on her face only moments later, grasping her cheeks and forcing her mouth open.

Instead of a gun, which she'd expected, she felt another object forcefully enter her mouth followed by cold, burning liquid. She gasped and chocked, trying to cope with the amount of liquid by swallowing as much and as quick as she could but it was a lost battle from the beginning and she felt her reflexes losing it more and more when her lungs ran out of air. She struggled against his hands and tried to spit it out but the neck of the bottle was preventing that. Her eyes widened in fear and she felt a lonely tear roll down her cheek just when he pulled back, throwing the now almost empty bottle backwards- landing in a corner. She spit the remaining alcohol out and continued to cough and choke until she was able to breathe anew.

Still breathing heavily, she also tried to stay focused on his movements to prevent him from taking her by surprise again. Lewis was now pulling up a chair next to Elliot, the second chair of the pair she had and lifted Elliot onto it. He grabbed the roller of duct tape again and started to tie his feet to the chair.

She watched him quietly, not daring to speak up at the moment. She'd need to think about what she was going to say to him, she'd need to play her cards properly the next time. She sighed shakily, thinking about the mess they were trapped in and compared it to everything they already went through but came up with the conclusion that nothing they had ever experienced during their twelve years together could be compared to this situation and certainly not to whom they were dealing with. She had seen a lot of sadistic, psychotic people, a lot of insidious, raping predators had crossed her path but William Lewis was definitely the most terrifying of them all if not even the only person she truly feared. They weren't going to fool him like they had many others before, there was no playing good cop vs. bad cop here and he wouldn't fall for anything else either.

He would play with them- play with her until he'd manage to break her which wouldn't be that hard anymore by using Elliot as leverage against her and then, when she'd finally give in after he'd possibly killed Elliot, only to torture her and inflict even more pain she'd beg him to kill her too because there was nothing left to live for, she would die a cruel, lonely and painful death. It was just a matter of time until he'd notice how to use Elliot by threatening his wellbeing and his life and once they would've reached that point of no return, they would've lost the battle.

TBC

Yes, I know I used some of the actual phrases from the episode. Hope you don't mind me changing them a bit. :D