"You are beautiful…"

And she wasn't sure if she heard right, but nevertheless it ignited a warm flame inside her, and it seemed to light up the whole dark room for a moment.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Olivia was exhausted, but thirst and her full bladder prevented her from falling asleep. That's why she was wandering between sleep and wakefulness, leaning against the wall, sometimes listening to Elliot's sleepy voices.

And when the keys started jingling at the door of the room, she was immediately awake, her whole body ready to react, unlike her partner, who was sleeping soundly, without the slightest trace of worry.

I need the same stuff as him.

"El!" She hissed and shook his shoulder vigorously. All she got in response was a sleepy grunt as he snuggled tighter against the bed. "Elliot!"

"Five more minutes," he muttered, but she didn't give up.

"No, Elliot, now! Someone is coming!"

And then the door opened, just as he moved, and Olivia's muscles tensed automatically. A man, already familiar to them, was standing in the doorway, a flashlight in one hand, a gun in the other, and she felt Elliot sit up next to her.

"Sorry for the delay, but now everything is ready. Follow me."

"Could someone please explain why we are here? Why…"

But the man interrupted her by raising his hand.

"Patience, you will find it out in time. That's all I can say."

"But…"

"Not now, later," the man's voice was sharp as he swung his weapon. "Come on."

"In that case, could we even get water and use the bathroom?" Olivia snapped in frustration, and the man looked at her appraisingly for a moment before sighing.

"Okay. But on the condition that you won't ask more. Now!" His voice turned commanding, and he pointed his gun at Elliot, causing Olivia to move. She stood up, grabbed her partner's arm, and without listening to his tired protestations, she pulled him up from the bed and started to follow the man out of the room. Elliot's body was heavy, his legs moved slowly, and an irritated growl rose from his throat.

"Why did you wake me up? I don't want to walk now."

The something he had been given was clearly still having an effect, and she didn't say anything because she knew it would be pointless. They followed the man to the front door, he opened it, and they stepped out into the darkness, the chilly autumn air greeted them, and then the man stopped in front of a small outbuilding and waved his hand towards it.

"That's your bathroom."

Olivia eyed the small wooden building suspiciously, but right now she could have peed in a bucket if that was the only option. Elliot was swaying on his feet in her grasp, completely in his own world, and she swallowed hesitantly as she looked at him.

But the man behind them seemed to be reading her thoughts.

"C'mon, do you want to go to the bathroom or not? I'm sure he'll be fine without you watching him for a while."

And with a surrendering snort, she released her grip on his arm and opened the wooden door. And when she stepped out a moment later, by the light of the flashlight she saw that her partner had turned his gaze upward. Automatically, she bent her neck and tried to see what he was looking at so intensely, but the sky was dark, not even the stars were visible, and she patted him lightly on the shoulder.

"El, go to the bathroom," she whispered, and for a moment he just stared up, speechless, but then he moved, as if her words had passed into his consciousness in slow motion, and he closed the bathroom door. The darkness outside wasn't as thick and dense as it was inside, but the humming forest around them, the chilly wind, and the unknown, dark surroundings felt almost threatening, and she shivered, hoping Elliot would come back quickly. She was painfully aware of the closeness of the man holding the gun, and to distract herself from the fear that had suddenly begun to grow inside her, which began to grip her chest, she opened her mouth.

"I know you forbade me to ask, but could you even tell me who you are?" Olivia had to clear her throat to keep her voice from sounding so hoarse. But the man didn't answer, anger flared up inside her, but her eyes fell on the barrel of the gun, and she swallowed his irritation. "Where can we get water?"

"Inside," the man grunted, and with a frustrated sigh, she turned to look again at the wooden toilet building where Elliot had been stayed for a suspiciously long time. She stepped closer to the door, listened, but there was no sound, and nervousness immediately began to swirl inside her.

"El? Are you okay?"

No answer.

She raised her hand, knocked on the door, and felt the man approach her. He pressed the gun against her back, his breath warm on her neck, and cold shivers of disgust ran down her spine.

"Remember, no surprises."

She swallowed, squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, then knocked on the door again.

"El? What is going on?"

And then, after what felt like an eternity, she heard his happy voice.

"It's so dark in here!"

For heaven's sake…

She took a deep breath and only then realized she had been holding her breath, wiped her forehead and replied:

"Okay, but it's also dark outside. Could you come out?"

And then the door opened, instinctively Olivia grabbed his arm, seeking safety from the gun pressed against her back and the man's breath on her neck, and despite the situation she was able to breathe a little more freely again.

"Did you see that? That toilet was fascinating. Why aren't there similar ones in New York?"

And finally the gun came off her back, and waving his flashlight he told them to move. Elliot began to sway forward, and the man shook his head, chuckling lightly.

"He has clearly seen more lucid days."

Olivia glared at him. "No shit. What the hell did you give him?"

But the man didn't answer, instead just nudged Elliot with his gun, telling them to keep walking towards the house, and she shut her mouth. They stepped back in, the man closed the door behind them, and then he stepped forward, grabbed a large bottle of water from the floor and handed it to her. Olivia was so thirsty that tears nearly welled up in her eyes as she opened it, raised the bottle to her lips and drank greedily, yet sparingly. Then she pushed the bottle against her partner's shoulder.

"Here. Drink," she said quietly, and even though Elliot seemed to be in a completely different world, he obediently took the bottle from her and emptied it. Then the man turned, led them to the very end of the corridor, and opened the door with his keys.

And if Olivia had thought it had been dark in the house or the guest room, it was nothing compared to the black doorway revealed behind the opening door. A bad, bad feeling started to grow inside her, making her whole body tense, but even so, she asked:

"What's in there?"

The man's voice was indifferent. "It's your temporary accommodation. I hope you like it."

"No, wait, why can't we stay in the guest room…" She turned on her heel, but at the same time she loosened her grip on her partner, and the man took advantage of his opportunity immediately. He shoved Elliot towards the black doorway, his already poor balance at the moment causing him to stagger forward, and instinctively Olivia turned, grabbed him to keep him from falling, and then she felt the man's knee on her back as well as he pushed her forward. And then he slammed the door behind them, and the darkness swallowed them, denser than ever before, and it was so quiet that she could only hear her own furiously pounding heartbeat in her ears. Panic began to cloud her thoughts, the endless, total darkness began to throw off her sense of balance, and she had to close her eyes, not that it mattered.

"Where are we?"

Elliot's voice seemed to come from somewhere far away, like from outside a bubble, but it calmed her rising panic a bit.

"I… I don't know."

"It's so dark."

Groaning softly, she squeezed her eyes shut again, tried to take deep breaths, but the air was stuffy and thick, and even though she knew there was space around her, she suddenly felt claustrophobic.

But then she felt Elliot's hand on her shoulder.

"Liv… It's…"

Resurgent panic and suffocating desperation caused anger to flare up inside her, and her voice rose.

"Leave it, Elliot! I know it's dark! You don't need to…"

But the words got stuck in her throat when she suddenly felt her partner's lips so close that his breath tickled her ear. And unlike earlier outside, his closeness didn't make her shudder in disgust, instead, chills ran down her spine, and though she didn't want to admit it to herself, butterflies began to flutter in her stomach.

"I heard something," Elliot whispered barely audible. "In the darkness."

She turned her head, his lips brushed her ear, and as her body vibrated unbidden, she was glad for the first time that Elliot's brain wasn't working very clearly at the moment. And then she listened, straining her ears so much that it almost hurt.

But she didn't hear anything.

"What did you hear?" She whispered, and suddenly her partner gripped her hand tightly.

"I can hear it. It's… Breathing."

His words made her swallow hard, and she straightened her back, turned her head again. And then she heard it.

Breathing.

Muffled, quiet thumping.

They were not alone.