"I've got a bad feeling about this."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Olivia's ears were buzzing, fear was swirling inside her, and automatically her gaze began to roam the people in the room. They were all wearing long, hospital gown-like clothing, despite the dirt and paleness, they looked to be in pretty good shape, and the clothes made it quite difficult to try to tell if any of the women were pregnant.

"Liv, breathe," Elliot's quiet voice next to her made her flinch, and only then did she notice how shallow her breathing had become. She tried to take a deep breath, but her throat felt tight, her chest heavy, and she closed her eyes.

"I… I can't…"

"Breathe, you can do it," Elliot's hand landed on her shoulder, warm and strong, and eased the weight a little. "Slowly and deeply, just like that."

And when the air finally began to flow into her lungs again, Elliot's eyes smiled at her encouragingly, and then he turned his head towards the other people.

"May I ask what "Operation Noah's Ark" means?"

The people eyed each other uncertainly, hesitantly, before one of them slowly opened his mouth:

"That's Father's goal. He will save us from the apocalypse."

"Okay, but…" Elliot stepped closer to them, grimacing in pain. "Do they do anything to you?"

"It's part of the plan."

"What happens in the doctor's room?"

"We must fulfill our purpose."

Elliot rubbed his face in frustration and shifted his weight from one leg to the other.

"Are you here voluntarily?"

"Father will save us."

"But did you come here of your own free will?"

"We have a purpose."

Realizing that he couldn't get anything out of the others, Elliot turned to look at Olivia, worry flickering in his eyes, and Olivia shrugged. It was clear that the people in the room knew more than they were letting on, but whether it was because of fear, because they really believed what "Father" was saying, or because of something else was unclear.

"You know..." Elliot stepped closer to her and eyed the room, biting his lip. "It doesn't necessarily mean what we think. It could be a code name for some stupid criminal activity, and it's just to trick these people into believing they're part of some important mission," his voice had dropped so that no one but Olivia could hear him. Then he turned to look over his shoulder, and the twisting motion of his back made him grimace in pain. Olivia frowned.

"Does it hurt?"

"A little."

Her partner's voice revealed him though, and she sighed uncertainly, grabbed his shirt, and despite the fact that he tensed under her hands, she lifted the hem of the shirt up to see the stab wound.

As she had felt the night before, the wound was covered with a thick white patch. Apparently, the nurse, the doctor, or whoever had helped Elliot, had at least superficially been able to do their job, because the wound had barely bled, and the skin didn't redden much around it. However, the knife had been deep, and the muscle had been damaged, so it would have been a miracle if he hadn't been in pain.

Olivia knew he needed medicine. She knew he had no choice but to suffer or accept the medicine he was given. But even so, the thought of the drugs messing with his mind again sent nervousness coursing through her veins, and selfishly she would have liked her partner to refuse the drugs.

Because the night before, despite his presence, she had felt lonely. Although she didn't want to admit it to herself, she needed her partner, under these circumstances, she needed him lucid, because he was the only thing keeping her from panicking completely.

It was as if Elliot had read her mind, because he grimaced and said quietly:

"I don't want it."

"What?"

"I don't want it... Medicine."

Olivia blinked for a moment, but despite her thoughts she frowned. "But you need it. I know you well enough to see that you are in pain."

Elliot looked away, guilt flashing in his eyes, but to her surprise he added in an even quieter voice:

"But I can't protect you then."

Olivia pursed her lips, a vague mixture of pain, sadness, affection, and trust flaring up inside her, and before she could stop herself, she stepped closer, wrapped her arms lightly, carefully around her partner, and rested her head on his shoulder with a sigh. The act was out of character for them, for their relationship or partnership, and it was probably why Elliot froze for a moment, but then she felt his arms around her, and despite the situation, a deep, light warmth spread inside her.

"Let me do it for you this time."

Her words made his body tense, and he was about to pull away, but she tightened her grip around him and pressed her cheek harder against his shoulder, making him stop.

"But…"

"We are partners, for better or worse, remember? We. It's my job to protect you too."

A moment of silence fell between them, Olivia felt Elliot's light, pained breath on her skin, and his voice was a barely audible whisper when he replied:

"You protect and have protected me for years more than you think."

The confession made her heart jump involuntarily in her chest, and suddenly it all felt too much, too intense, and she forced herself to snort.

"Yeah, maybe you're right. You should have seen yourself last night. That damn "fascinating" darkness almost blew your mind."

"Really? Well, at least I wasn't the one who stabbed the captain with the pickle."

She felt her partner smiling against her head, and involuntarily a small smile spread across her lips.

"Shut up."

And she felt Elliot's arms tighten slightly around her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The kidnapper had announced that they would get food in an hour, but that hour had felt like at least half a day when the door finally opened and someone, a stranger to them, pushed a bucket of sandwiches into the room. The other people immediately jumped to their feet and rushed over to the bucket, scooping up sandwiches with their hands, and before Olivia and Elliot could even realize the situation, there was only the bottom of the bucket left.

"Goddamnit," Elliot grunted, lifted his gaze and crossed his arms. "Seriously, guys?"

"Finders keepers," the young woman who had approached him earlier said, her mouth full of bread. "Better luck next time."

Elliot took a quick step towards them, but Olivia grabbed his arm.

"El."

"But they eat all our food!"

Hunger was rumbling demandingly and burning in her stomach, but she shook her head in surrender.

"Yeah, but look at them. They've clearly been here for a long time, and they look in pretty good shape. They have to get more food than just a sandwich a day."

Her partner looked at the breads disappearing into the hungry mouths for a moment before swallowing loudly, and then his shoulders dropped in surrender.

And then they sat down again, waited, listened to the satisfied chewing, and finally the diners began to fall silent one by one. Sleep began to creep into Olivia's limbs, she lightly rested her head against her partner's shoulder, and focused all of her senses on the warmth radiating from him.

But just as she was drifting off to sleep, a light nudge jolted her awake again.

"Liv."

"H-huh?" She blinked and turned to look at her partner, who had directed his gaze ahead. She turned her gaze in the same direction, scanning the room, trying to spot something out of the ordinary, something that had clearly caught Elliot's attention.

"Look at those people."

And then she noticed. The other people had begun to stand up one by one, they were swaying on their feet, their heads tilted upwards, their mouths open.

"What the h-…"

But her words were cut short as one of the women let out a throaty scream that made the blood freeze in both Olivia's and Elliot's veins. The woman began pacing the circle in place, her head in the same position as the others', and she began to make a strange, gurgling, low murmur, joined by the others.

The sight made the hair on the back of Olivia's neck stand up, and she could feel Elliot tensing next to her, slowly and imperceptibly bringing his arm around her waist and pulling her tighter against him. The bodies of the people in front of them began to jerk, they started wandering around the room, Elliot's grip tightened around her, and she felt her heart pounding furiously in her chest.

"El…"

"Don't move."

"I think they've been drugged."

"Yeah."

"But ho-…" But the words got stuck in her throat, and she turned her gaze to the empty bucket lying on the floor.

The sandwiches.

And she didn't have to say it out loud, her fingers pressed into her partner's arm, and she heard him swallow. The people in front of them were muttering manically, almost unnaturally, and fear exploded inside Olivia with a paralyzing force.

They could be in the same state now.

It had been a blessing in disguise.

But the fact was that they couldn't go without eating forever.