How in the hell do they end up in these situations? Olivia sat back to back with Elliot, cuffed together in a crisscross arrangement that allowed little to no movement between them.
"At least we're to…" Elliot started but Olivia cut him off.
"If you say 'at least we're together' I might actually kill you." Olivia was not even close to in the mood for a 'bright side'.
"How are you gonna accomplish that?" He pulled on their cuffed wrists. "I don't think you're going anywhere anytime soon."
"Ugh!" She groaned. "This is your fault, you know!"
"How's it my fault?" He countered.
She avoided the question. Really, she was pissed they were in this situation.
"Did you at least tell someone we were coming here?"
Elliot hesitated.
"Are you kidding me!?" She might be overreacting, but right now she was pissed and wanted to yell at someone, and unfortunately Elliot was the closest person right now.
"Relax Liv."
She fumed. That comment hadn't calmed down anyone in the history of ever. "Just shut up Elliot. "
They sat in silence, and she suddenly felt bad about the outburst. "Sorry El. I'm just." She didn't finish the thought.
"It's fine Liv. Yell at me all you want." The comment felt somewhere between passive aggressive and defeat.
"Elliot," she suddenly felt contrite.
"No. I want you to yell at me. I NEED you to yell at me."
"What?" She was genuinely confused.
"Stop losing your shit over small things, and just get to the real point.
"Uhhh." What the hell was he even getting at? "I don't think us being held hostage is a small thing…"
"I guess not." He hesitated, "But I'm getting tired of you punishing me. Will you stop being supportive and patient and all that bull shit and just yell at me? God knows I deserve it. Get it over with. Be mad. Hate me. Because we are never going to get past all this if you constantly pretend it's okay."
She finally understood what he was talking about.
"Let me start. I left for ten years. A decade. Who the hell does that to their best friend?"
"It hurt El, and you never told me why. You just left, and popped up ten years later. Then you tell me you couldn't see me or you wouldn't have left. That's supposed to make it better?"
"I know."
"What kills me is everything you missed. My whole life changed in ten years and you weren't here for any of it. None. The most important person, the person I would call for any big event, good or bad, vanished, and I had nothing left."
"I'm sorry. I know it doesn't help, but I hate that I missed those things too."
"I know you're sorry, but I just can't let go of this," she let out a long breath, "all this anger. And I don't want to be angry anymore, I just am."
"Would it help to yell at me some more?" He asked, only half serious.
"Maybe." She smiled slyly.
"Just talk to me Liv. Don't baby me. When you're mad yell at me. I probably deserve it."
"Probably?" He couldn't see her smile.
"Ha ha," he said sarcastically.
She felt his fingers grasp hers. "We used to get pissed, yell, argue, and then figure shit out." He shook his head. "I'm not leaving, and you're not going to scare me away by being angry." He continued, "I think that's been some of our problem.
"You're probably right?" She admitted.
They sat in silence for a few minutes, listening to their captors freak out about kidnapping two NYPD officers, one of which was a captain.
"Elliot?"
"Yeah?" He answered.
"This was one hell of a first date."
He laughed out loud. "I promise next time I'll text someone else to come when I find a suspect while on a date."
She laughed, "Probably a good idea."
"So, there will be a 'next' date?" He asked, his voice full of hope.
"Definitely." She squeezed his hand for reassurance. "That's assuming we get out of here."
Just then they heard a soft "Hey," from a dark corner of the expansive garage. "Am I clear?"
"Yeah. Get your ass over here." Elliot called quietly.
Detective Whelan crept out of the shadows. "What the hell took you so long?" Elliot barked.
Liv felt confused. She had been with him this whole time. When did he call Jamie?
"Well I had to track down Jet first, and she had to track your phone."
Where was he hiding a phone? Olivia thought.
Whelan continued, "It takes a minute to triangulate a phone signal." Whelan finished picking the lock on one set of cuffs and started working on the other set."how about instead complaining about how long I took, you thank me for saving your dumb ass."
Whelan glanced at Liv, "Oh sorry captain. Forgot that you were here."
She waved him off with her free hand. "It's fine Whelan. I was reaming his dumb ass just before you got here."
Whelan quietly chuckled before finishing the second set. "K. Let's get out of here."
Elliot grabbed Liv's hand and hurried to the back door. When they finally found safety in the back seat of the department's SUV Liv asked, "When did you have time call Whelan? I was with you the whole time and they took our phones the minute they caught us."
"I texted Jamie before we started following them, you know, just in case." He shrugged his shoulders. "I dropped my phone into my boot. They confiscated one of my burners."
"Why didn't you tell me!?" She asked in exasperation.
"I tried, but you started to 'ream my ass' before I got to say anything." He smirked.
."Why didn't you stop me!?"
He outright laughed. "You have no idea how hard it is to stop you once you start an angry rant." He brought his lips close to her ear, her whole body tingling in response. "Plus," he smiled mischievously, "you're incredibly sexy when you're angry."
She felt her cheeks flush. Somehow his hand found it's way to her knee. Her eyes flicked to Jamie who was obviously trying to look anywhere but the backseat.
Elliot placed a lingering kiss on her cheek, dangerously close to her lips. Her breathing quickened. "Dinner Friday?" His lips were way too close to her earlobe.
She closed her eyes, savoring the sensation, "absolutely."