A/N Thank you all very much for your reviews. I am humbled.
Elliot looked over at her and noticed tears were threatening to ruin her makeup. He turned the key in the ignition and headed for the bar. Hopefully, this won't take long, Elliot thought to himself. He sped away into the city, leaving her apartment building and their issues behind for now hoping to return to both soon
The bar was dark with thumping music that made Elliot's head spin. Strobe lights bounced from wall to wall and a few sweaty people were already grinding on the dance floor. It was still early, so the bar was not nearly as full as it could be and Olivia and Elliot found a booth in the corner near the bar quite easily. From this vantage point they could see most of the room and the door so they could survey who was coming in and going out. Olivia slid into the rounded booth and Elliot scooted towards her from the other side. The booth seat was connected and they met in the middle, thighs brushing accidentally. Olivia apologized quickly and moved to scoot away when Elliot's strong hand found her thigh just below the hemline of her dress and stopped her.
"We're supposed to be undercover, Liv. We can't act like cops. People come to this bar on dates, not to get work done."
Olivia huffed in frustration but relaxed a bit and stayed put.
"Let's at least try to look happy, okay?"
"Yeah, alright. I don't want to mess this up." Olivia relented.
Officer Hudson walked in at that moment, her blonde hair shining in the dimness and took a seat at the bar near Olivia and Elliot.
"Okay, let the show begin." Elliot mumbled.
A perky waitress bounced over to their table and took their drink orders; club soda with lemon for both since they were on the job. Olivia settled back in the cushy black leather seat , crossed her gorgeous tan legs and made herself a little more comfortable. Elliot slipped off his sports coat and hung it on the hook by the booth. The waitress came back just as he was sliding back to his spot next to Olivia with their drinks and a shot of tequila that she set in front of Olivia.
"Oh, thank you but I didn't order that." Olivia said with a half-smile as she pushed the shot glass back towards the waitress.
"Courtesy of the gentleman at the bar." The waitress said with a smirk and walked away swishing her hips as she went. Olivia cocked her eyebrow at Elliot and then scanned the bar for the man the waitress had referred to. She found him, sitting on the opposite side of the room from her and raking his eyes up and down her body – from her face to her chest and back up. He couldn't see the rest from because she was seated.
"Elliot. Pull out your phone please and pull up the sketch of the guy we're looking for." Olivia said softly while smiling and raising the shot glass in thanks towards the slimy looking man.
Elliot clicked on his phone and pulled up his pictures. Only then did Olivia notice that he had kept his hand on her leg. She immediately missed his touch and was momentarily shocked at how comfortable she had apparently been. Looking at the picture on Elliot's phone, it was clear that man in the sketch looked eerily similar to the man at the bar.
"I thought he went for blondes…" Olivia said.
"Yeah, me too. I'm going to text Cragen and let him know that we may have to pull out of this one."
"What?! Elliot we are not losing this one just because he's taken an interest in me instead of Hudson!"
"Keep it down, Liv! And yes, we are most certainly not using you for bait."
"Why? It's not like I haven't done this before. Calm the hell down Elliot and let's see how this plays out. Now, get up and go to the bathroom."
"What? Olivia. I am not leaving you alone with him."
"Well, he's not going to make a move until you leave so get out of here. You can watch from the other side of the room for a bit and then come back. I just want to see what he'll do. Text Cragen and tell him we've got a different situation than we originally thought. Now go!"
Elliot placed his hand on Olivia's thigh once again and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Be careful."
A warm tingle swept through Olivia's stomach. She had to work to not grab his hand and pull him back to her. She suppressed her feelings with some effort, locked eyes with him and whispered sincerely, "Will do. Go."
He slid out of the booth and stalked towards the bathroom.
Once he was gone, Olivia focused her attention on the greasy man at the bar. His hair was dark and too long. He needed a shave and possibly some clean clothes. He wore a plaid shirt, dark jeans, and leather bomber jacket and looked like a bad mix of country boy trying to fit in the city. He was certainly not the kind of person that usually gave their patronage to this particular bar and yet he didn't stand out. In fact, he kind of disappeared if you weren't looking right at him. Olivia wasn't even sure she would have noticed him if not for the drink he sent her.
Olivia glanced at Hudson who had clearly not noticed him either as she appeared to be flirting heavily with the bartender.
"Rookie." Olivia muttered under her breath. She took a deep breath and decided to make a move. She slid out of the booth and made a show at rearranging the hemline of her dress when she stood up, making sure that her legs were on full display. She sauntered over to the bar and pretended to be waiting patiently for the bartender to notice her.
A couple minutes later while the bartender was still flirting with Hudson, the greasy man stood from his barstool and made his way towards Olivia. She pretended to be oblivious. He creeped up beside her and leaned heavily on the bar counter a little too close for her comfort. She turned and was about to thank him for the drink when she felt a cold, metal object press against her side.
"Don't move. Don't scream, don't do anything suspicious, just keep smiling and pretend like nothing's going on." The man whispered. "Now, invite me back to the booth and let's have a chat, Detective Benson."
Olivia moved slowly back to the booth and sat down. The man slid in next to her and put his arm around her waist. The hand holding the gun stayed planted at her other side.
"What do you want?" Olivia sneered, more angry than frightened.
"Lots of things, Detective Benson, but mostly, I want to walk out of here with the guarantee that no one will look for me ever again and that the NYPD will drop this case."
"Not likely." Olivia scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Do you have any idea what will happen if you hurt me? Do you have any clue the kind of hell that you'll go through when my partner gets ahold of you?"
"He won't!" The man spat, curing his lip in frustration and rising anger. "You're going to make sure of that!"
"Ha! What do you think I'm going to do, huh?"
"You will first get rid of Detective Stabler. He's a loose cannon and can't be trusted in this delicate situation. You will then call your captain and instruct him order the undercover officers out of the area and tell the swat team to go home. We will then get in your car and you will drive me to the coast. The rest is a surprise."
"And what if I refuse?"
"I wouldn't do that if I were you."
"And why's that, jackass? Why should I do anything you want? I'm going to make sure you rot in jail for the rest of your miserable life!" Olivia was fuming now and felt a "Stabler" moment coming on. She knew she needed to regain her composure in order to get out of this alive.
The man's face immediately darkened. His eyes disappeared into his murky black pupils and his breathing became slightly erratic. Taking a moment, he closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. When he opened his eyes again, a eerie calmness had enveloped him once again. He whispered in Olivia's ear, so close that she could feel his rank breath on her ear lobe "Then I will destroy everything you love. Everything and everyone that is important to you. And I'll make sure you never recover. I'll put you through hell and I'll start with Detective Stabler's children."
At that moment a shot rang out. The entire bar went silent for a brief moment and then everyone started screaming and running. No one knew where the shot had come from but everyone scrambled for the exits anyway. Elliot rushed from his position at the restroom towards the booth where Olivia sat, trembling now, in the arms of the Duct Tape Rapist. The man lowered his arm from firing the gun into the ceiling and returned it to Olivia's side.
"Liv! Liv, are you okay?! Are you hurt?!" Elliot ran towards them pushing past frantic people and weaving through the crowd.
"I'm fine, El. Get out of here."
"Ah, Detective Stabler, I thought that might bring you out of hiding. Join us, won't you?" The man smiled a disturbing half-cocked and toothy smile.
Elliot stopped abruptly when he saw the gun at Olivia's side and the panic in her eyes.
"El, please, you need to leave." She held his gaze intensely, trying to communicate the danger of the situation.
"Liv, I can't leave you. You know that." The absolute fear in his voice struck Olivia deeply.
"El, you have to. Please. For the sake of your family, you need to go."
"Elliot, you really should listen to her…" The man sneered, pulling Olivia's hair away from her neck and moving to inhale her scent. His nose brushed against the column of her neck and made Olivia want to vomit. Elliot closed his eyes as his stomach churned unpleasantly.
"Elliot," Olivia spoke quietly, her voice shaking. "please, I need you to go. And I need you to tell Cragen to fall back and send everyone home. I'll be fine. The operation is over. They can go home."
"Olivia, you know they won't do that."
"You have to convince them and you need to do it right now." Olivia was crying now. The only thing she could think about were his beautiful children. If anything happened to them she would never be able to forgive herself and if protecting them and Elliot meant complying with this sicko then that's what she was going to do.
The man tightened his hold on Olivia and pushed the gun farther into her side causing her to cry out in pain.
"Okay, okay. I'll go just don't hurt her. Please, God don't hurt her." Elliot was on the verge of tears now. His mind was spinning with every possible scenario and nothing he came up with got her out safely. He backed up slowly with his arms raised and made for the door. He was terrified that if he left he would never see her again but he hadn't killed her yet so he obviously needed her help to get out of this alive. She was useful and therefore not in immediate danger. That bought him time to think of a plan.
He continued backing up towards the door, eyes focused on Olivia, when all of the sudden, Officer Hudson appeared from behind the bar with her gun trained on the man in the booth.
"Hudson! NO!" Olivia screamed but it was too late. The man had startled at her sudden appearance, twitched, and fired directly into Olivia's side. She slumped over, forehead hitting the table hard. The man moved to stand up but it was too late. Hudson fired twice, hitting him squarely in the chest both times. He fell to the floor and didn't move.
Elliot rushed to Olivia and pulled her out of the booth. She had already lost a great deal of blood and he immediately took his button up shirt off and tied it in a tourniquet style around her slim waist. Putting pressure on it, he yelled at for Officer Hudson for help. People were already rushing into the bar after hearing the shots and Cragen was on his radio instantly, ordering a bus.
Elliot was pale and shaking. Keeping pressure on her wound, he bent down to Olivia's lifeless face and whispered in her ear "I love you. Stay with me, Liv. You can't leave me. I need you, dammit. You can't leave me." Blood was everywhere. Elliot was soaked, the shirt he tied around Olivia was soaked, and he knew she wouldn't survive much longer without a transfusion.
Her pulse became weaker and weaker and as the tears finally began to blur Elliot's vision, the EMS team arrived and scooped Olivia up onto a stretcher. Elliot turned over the job of managing Olivia's wound to the emergency workers but refused to let go of her hand. He ran alongside them as they rolled her out of the bar and into the waiting ambulance. As the bar and his coworkers who were standing helplessly in the street, began disappearing from site, Olivia's hand fell from Elliot's and her heart stopped beating.