I watched the woman as she swung the ax in an arch over her head and brought it down on us. My body felt too heavy to move, my eyes were fixated on her. Never before have I felt as stunned as I was at that moment. I wasn't even sure she was a real person, but I didn't want to accept any illogical possibilities, even after everything that had happened up until now. Hanging onto logic was the last thing I had left. Maybe something in that place made us both delusional and we just lost the ability to tell the difference between what was real and what was a manifestation of our own fear.

Elliot managed to react at the last second. His phone dropped to the floor as he let go of it so that he could grab her wrists and push her hands back up and away from us. The woman resisted hard. It seemed like they were equally strong, which didn't make sense since she looked so thin and fragile with all the blood stains. At that moment, it suddenly occurred to me that those stains were probably not hers. They kept struggling, but it was in vain, as neither one of them could overcome the other.

"Olivia, run!" he yelled to me.

"Really, Elliot?!" I said incredulously. I couldn't believe he expected me to leave him there. It had been a long time since we worked together, but did he really think that I had changed so much to become a person who would do that?

I looked around in search of anything that might help fight her off, but there was nothing there but an old chair and some rubbish on the floor.

"Get out of here!" he tried again and I saw that he was trying to move her hands to the side, away from my direction. I felt so helpless, standing there and watching them. Elliot kept trying to pull her hands to the side but the effort was clearly exhausting for him. She, on the other hand, didn't seem to be getting tired.

I knew I had to distract her somehow. A second would be enough for him to overcome her. I walked around her carefully, keeping my eyes on her face in case she noticed me, but she was too concentrated on the struggle. Her dress was torn in several places and looked like it would crumble at my touch, but I had to try anyway. I grabbed the hem of it and tugged, at first gently and then harder until she felt it.

The woman froze for a second, weakening her resistance, and that was all Elliot needed. He pulled her hands down, making her swing the ax in an arch again, but this time to the side. The ax met the wooden floor with its blade and a loud thud declared the end of the battle. The woman fell down, still clutching the long wooden handle. Elliot tried to pry it out of her grip but it just started a new struggle and she began to stand up.

"Elliot, let's go!" I picked up his phone from the floor and the bag that I had left by the entrance when we had arrived hours ago, and then we started running to the section of the building that we first explored and abruptly stopped after the scare that I had there. As we ran, I prayed that whatever was there earlier wouldn't be there again.

An angry growl somewhere in the distance behind us informed us that the woman hadn't given up the fight yet. I didn't dare to look back, but by the sound of it, she was hitting the wall with the ax and screaming in rage as she ran after us.

"She's too fast!" Elliot said to my right but I was too scared to look. "We gotta get in one of the rooms!"

I wanted to protest but I was out of breath and he was already pulling me to the side. Besides, it was our only way to get away from her. The first door that he tried, however, was locked, which made us lose precious seconds.

"If the next one isn't open, it's over!" I could barely talk as we resumed running. Elliot sent his hand forward to grab the handle before we even got close enough, as he wanted to spare every second he could.

"It's all your fault!" she yelled behind us again and I could hear how close she was.

We reached the door and I finally looked back while Elliot tried to open it. I saw the woman swinging the ax above her again when she was only a few steps away from us, getting ready to strike.

That was when I felt Elliot's hand on my back, prompting me to enter the room. He followed me and quickly closed the door, turning the lock as many times as he could.

"COWARDS!" she screamed from the other side of the door. We waited to hear more from her but she didn't say another word.

"Is she… do you think s-she's gone?" I asked as I was trying to catch my breath.

He shrugged, shaking his head and panting, and right at that moment, a loud bang on the door made us jump backward. Elliot instinctively grabbed my waist in a protective manner and it automatically sent my arms around his neck. The loud sound told us that the woman had hit the door with the ax. A very thin crack appeared on the wood where it met the blade. We kept holding each other in our twisted, terrified embrace when she tried a second and third time. With each hit, we winced.

We were both experienced police officers, who had seen many horrible things, yet we were both frozen in place from fear, waiting for the fourth hit that actually never came, which we realized after a while. Still, we didn't move for what felt like a long time. We wanted to stay alert and be ready in case the woman managed to open the door, but all we were doing was hanging onto each other. He was so close to me that I could feel his fast breathing as his chest rose and fell against mine. We weren't at all prepared to fight, we were prepared to die together.

"Maybe she's gone now," he whispered eventually without moving.

"What if she's waiting for us to leave to attack again?"

"That's more than possible. We should stay here for the night."

The second he said it I let go of him and aimed both of our phones at him so I could see if he was joking. Elliot lifted both hands in front of his eyes to protect them from the blinding lights.

"Are you crazy? Who knows what's in here?" I whispered angrily.

Elliot took his phone from my hand and checked the room with its light. It looked like an average hotel room, but one that hadn't been visited in about a decade – outdated with a dominant, stale smell. A short passageway with a closet on one side and a door to the bathroom on the other led from the entrance door to the room itself. A king-size bed took up most of the space inside. Opposite it was an old TV on a long stand that had also served as a desk with a chair in front of it. There was just enough space between everything to pass to the other side of the bed and to the window, which had also been blocked by the wooden shutters.

"Seems okay to me," Elliot stood by the bed and kept looking around the room, squinting at the darker corners.

I walked hesitantly from the entrance toward him, illuminating the floor with my phone. Somehow, not seeing my feet made me feel unstable. I came to a stop next to him and followed his light with my eyes.

"We could get some shut-eye," he added. "Maybe by morning, the shutters will open again."

I looked at him with raised eyebrows and he laughed.

"And we should save up the little power we have left on our phones, too, so let's get on the bed and turn them off before we go to sleep."

"Oh, wow," I scoffed and he gave me a questioning look. "What you just said is all kinds of wrong, I don't even know where to begin."

He turned to me and folded his arms. "Enlighten me. Please."

I sighed and cast a glance at the bed before opening my mouth. Most of it I could easily say, but a part of it I kept to myself.

"First of all, do you really expect me to fall asleep in this place? Will you even be able to? I'm scared something might jump us at any moment. Second, this bed is disgusting. The layer of dust is pretty much as thick as the blanket. Third, I —" The words got stuck in my throat. How could I tell him that it'd bring up too many emotions, to lie on a bed so close to him?

"You what?" he frowned and I could see he was trying to understand the things that I wasn't saying.

"Nothing. There's no third," I lied and I could tell he knew it, but he didn't insist. That was something I had always appreciated in him, the way he didn't push me to talk if I seemed reluctant.

"Look, I'm exhausted from this day. Maybe we won't be able to really sleep, but at least we can rest a little. And we can turn the blanket upside down so it's not as dirty. Besides, we're not particularly clean ourselves after what we've been through… "

At first, I didn't answer. His words made sense to me, but I was still scared of what would happen to me internally from lying next to him. Since I refused to express that particular concern, I had to go along with it. It was either that or sit on that chair all night while he was on the bed. It seemed silly. Besides, he seemed unbothered by the idea, which was a little irritating to me. I wanted him to have the same feelings for me as I had for him, but I never knew with him. Understandably, he had to keep them to himself when he was married, if he had any, but what was his excuse now? I feared the worst. Maybe he didn't love me the way I loved him.

"Fine…" I said in a defeated tone.

"Great. Can you aim the light at the bed as I flip over the blanket?" He handed me his phone and I used both our devices so he could see what he was doing. He lifted the blanket carefully and peeked inside the bed. After deciding it was safe, he lifted it further and gently turned it over, trying not to get any of the dust and dirt on the cleaner side.

"There you go. Good as new," he took his phone back, got on the bed, and turned it off, leaving me to stand at the foot of the bed and watch him. My body resisted moving. He stared at me with his arms folded, waiting with a challenging gaze to see if I would join him. I wanted to slap him.

"I wish I could drink something, I'm really thirsty," he said casually as if the situation wasn't awkward at all and I wasn't reluctant to go near him.

"Oh! I have two bottles of water in my bag," I suddenly remembered. Up until he mentioned being thirsty I hadn't noticed how dry my throat was. Staying alive had kept me occupied.

"Are you serious?" he said in relief and took the bottle that I had pulled out of my bag and handed to him. "You brought water for the both of us?" I thought I heard a hint of emotion in his voice and tried not to let the awkwardness take over me.

We both took small sips, keeping most of the water as a precious commodity. I shoved the bottles back in the bag when we finished, trying to move as slowly as I could to postpone the inevitable. Elliot watched me throughout the entire process. I didn't know if he was examining me because he realized I was moving slower than usual, or there was simply nothing else to look at in the room.

Eventually, I had to close the bag and put it on the chair. I walked slowly to the vacant side of the bed, the one closer to the door, and sat carefully on the edge.

"Liv, come on…"

Aiming my light at him, I realized that the corner of his mouth was slightly curved up. The bastard was enjoying this. For a change, I was grateful for the darkness, because I was pretty sure I was blushing. At that moment, I thought he knew exactly what I was really scared of and my heart started racing, but then he spoke again.

"It's not that dirty. Think of it as camping."

I made an effort to smile, even though I wasn't sure if he could see it, and laid back carefully as if trying not to break anything. There wasn't anything to break, of course, except for my self control. I took another look around the room from my spot on the bed before turning the flashlight off and shutting the phone down.

For a while, all I heard was the muffled sound of the rain outside. The closed shutters made it sound distant.

Being there, next to him, felt surreal. The whole day felt like it was just a continuous dream – or a nightmare – but when it came to him, I had to keep reminding myself anyway that he was really there again, that I could reach out and touch him and I wouldn't wake up and realize that it was just another yearning fantasy.

Yet, I couldn't bring myself to talk to him. I just silently looked in the direction of what would be the ceiling if I could see it in the darkness. He wasn't better than me with the way he just lied there in complete silence. I had a feeling he wanted me to start talking, but he still knew me, even after so many years. He knew that it was just as hard for me as it was for him to talk about what was happening inside our heads… inside our hearts.

"Liv…" I suddenly heard his hoarse voice to my right. He said it quietly and the sound of his voice got caught up in the sound of the rain. For a moment, I wasn't sure that I had heard right, but then his warm palm covered the back of my cold hand, which was lying still on the bed between us. His touch felt so comforting on my skin.

He cleared his throat and continued, "sorry I dragged you into this."

Not the topic I expected. "What are you talking about?" I was in a completely different place in my mind.

"You weren't gonna take this trip yourself, you're a captain now, you have people who do those things for you. I was the one who suggested it."

All I could concentrate on was his hand on mine. All those years missing him just flooded me from the inside and threatened to leak out of my eyes.

"You okay?" he asked when I didn't answer.

"Yes," I whispered and immediately cleared my throat to mask the fact that my emotions were overwhelming me.

"Look, I'll make it up to you once we get out of here, I promise. Whatever you want."

I swallowed. "You just keep accumulating debt, don't you?" it came out of nowhere. My mind wasn't there at all, but the anger reared its ugly head and spoke through me. I had to resign myself to the fact that it wasn't going to go away so easily. I was torn between love and anger, relief and resentment.

"I intend to repay it with interest," he said calmly.

I scoffed in return but neither of us moved our hands. I was glad that he wasn't afraid of the challenge. Our relationship had always been complicated, and now there was the added layer of time and distance. We both evolved and changed over the last decade, and finding our dynamics again would be kind of like going back to square one, to my first day in SVU twenty-plus years ago. It was pretty easy for us to connect back then, with the immediate attraction sans all the emotional baggage we carried today. Everything seemed to fall into place on its own back then, we didn't even have to try to be in sync. I wondered if we could still get it back.

"Or you could run again and never repay it," I couldn't stop myself, but he deserved it.

He kept quiet at first, and I assumed that he needed time to recover from the metaphorical slap in the face. Eventually he said, "That won't be necessary again. I'm done with it."

I wondered what he meant by that. It wouldn't be necessary for him to disappear on me again? How could he be so sure? And why wouldn't it be necessary again?

"Until the next time," I said, hoping it would prompt him to explain.

At that, he let go of my hand and turned on his side to face me. My eyes were used to the dark by then, so I managed to see the dark outlines of the lamp hanging from the ceiling and I assumed he, too, could see my shadowy figure. But I didn't dare to look at him because I was scared I would be able to see his eyes.

"Liv, I'm not leaving again, I mean it." His voice was so soft I could almost feel it caressing me. I wanted so desperately to know what it felt like lying in his arms.

"I guess we'll see," I said quietly.

"You will…" It sounded like he was going to say more, but he stopped himself.

I listened to the constant sound of the rain slamming against the wooden shutters and hoped that nothing else strange and scary would happen to us. I was exhausted from everything I had gone through that day and felt raw from all the old wounds of my soul opening again. His presence sent my emotions all over the place. I was both stressed and relieved to have him by my side. Stressed because I didn't know what he'd been through during the time he was away and how it had affected him. I didn't know what to expect from him, the man who I used to know what he was thinking before he even knew it himself. I was scared that the man I had once known didn't exist anymore and it made me wonder about myself too. Did he see me as completely different? How much had I changed in his eyes? Could I be so different that he couldn't recognize me anymore? That thought terrified me. I didn't want us to be strangers.

The relief was also there because every time I looked into his eyes, I thought I could see the essence of the man who was everything to me for twelve years over a decade ago. He played all the roles for me in such a complete way, that I didn't need or want anyone else in my life. He might have changed, but the soul that shined through his blue eyes was still the same and his heart was still the same one that made me feel loved like no one in my life ever did. The fact that he wanted to be close to me again proved it.

"Liv?" his voice suddenly penetrated the wall of sound that the rain provided. "You sleeping already?"

"No. I'm not calm enough to fall asleep," a shiver went through my body. "And I'm cold."

"Turn over."

"What?"

"Let me hold you, it'll keep us both warm."

I froze for a moment, trying to understand if he was serious. In the end, I just scoffed again and shook my head without saying anything.

"Oh, come on, you think I'm trying something here?" he laughed. It made me feel stupid. Of course, he wouldn't try anything. I trusted him completely.

The one I didn't trust was myself. I was already struggling and was failing to keep my feelings for him from resurfacing. I didn't need the extra effort, but I knew that if I declined his offer, he might think that I didn't trust his good intentions and that wasn't what I wanted him to perceive from me. I desperately wanted the awkwardness between us to dissipate, and to feel comfortable around him again, but I knew it would take a long time.

"No. I just…" I couldn't come up with an excuse. "Okay, yeah," I tried to sound indifferent before I took a few more seconds to gather some courage, and then I turned on my side with my back to him. I couldn't deal with facing him as he held me on the bed. I heard him moving behind me and a moment later his body was lined up against mine and his hand was rubbing my upper arm for warmth before he placed his arm around my waist and the other one underneath my head. I felt like I was completely engulfed in him. It was one of the best sensations I had ever had.

"There. You'll be warm in no time," he said in a low voice close to my ear and I bit my bottom lip, feeling like I could die right there and then. At least he was right about it – a wave of heat rose inside me, starting from my lower abdomen and spreading quickly all over my body. I wanted him so badly, even after all this time, even in the situation we were in.

We stayed silent for a while, just breathing and listening to the rain. At one point I could feel the sleep slowly taking over me. He calmed me in a way that I had already long forgotten was possible. My eyes burned and I had to give up on staying alert and shut them. His chest rose and fell against my back and I could feel his breathing becoming deeper and slower as he was falling asleep, too. In the end, I couldn't resist it anymore and allowed myself to be carried away into peacefulness.

When I opened my eyes again I had no idea how much time had passed. I wasn't sure why I woke up, but I could sense there was a reason.

Everything was quiet and Elliot was still sleeping. I decided it was probably something in my dream that had made me wake up, and allowed my head to fall back down on his arm.

Then I heard it. BANG BANG BANG on the door, so loud as if someone was demanding to enter. My head jerked up from the pillow again and I stared at the entrance to the room, wide-eyed in the blackness. For a moment, nothing happened. I started to think that I was losing my mind. Maybe it wasn't the door, maybe the sound came from outside the building.

BANG BANG BANG. The third time was the loudest and I startled, gasping.

"Elliot," I pulled on his arm to wake him up, though I couldn't understand how he could keep sleeping with that noise.

There was no movement behind me. I turned to look at him and his eyes were still shut.

"Elliot?" this time I spoke louder and right in his face. I shook his arm gently and then again with more force. I thought I could still feel him breathing, but it was weak.

"Elliot! Wake up!"

Yelling didn't help. He was just lying there, motionless. I kept looking at him, feeling so helpless I wanted to cry.

BANG BANG BANG I turned to look at the entrance again just in time to see the shadowy shape of the door being flung open and causing another bang as it hit the wall behind it forcefully.