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That was close. Too close.
Sergeant Fin Tutuola watches the two ambulances turn left and out of view. He's still out of breath even ten minutes after leading an assault team up the quiet neighborhood street towards the six gunmen dumping bullets into a townhouse.
So damn close.
Fin hears Amanda Rollins walk over to his side and lean against the police car as he does. Her cheeks are red from the cold May air and likely from the same wave of anxiety he's feeling.
"Ayanna is going to meet Liv and Stabler at Mercy," Amanda says. "If we had been a second off-"
"Cruz and his men would have walked in the door and shot them both point blank," Fin states with a heavy sigh. The realization that Olivia and Elliot’s trip to search a townhouse for a missing child carries so many implications that need to be said aloud.
How two twenty plus year cops held off six gunmen for eleven minutes, even after both taking a shot, the Captain in the forearm and the detective in the thigh.
How the late arrival of Cruz, a competitor of their suspect, Kanto, and the former's demonstration of new players in the world of trafficking.
And forefront in his mind is the look.
He's been privy to the infamous looks between Stabler and Benson, the longing looks across the bullpen and silent conversations. However, the looks shared after Fin had found them, arms wrapped around each other as their foreheads are pressed against each other shows something has changed.
Something happened in the eleven minutes, Fin's sure of it.
Don Cragen deserves an award.
Ayanaa Bell makes a note to give the retired captain a phone call as she watches her detective fidget in the hospital. The gunshot in his thigh is a flesh wound that requires an overnight stay and bedrest. He's also nursing a mild concussion and cuts from a splintered wound that she's sure he doesn't even notice.
Elliot's fidgety as he's separate from Olivia.
Fidgety is actually an understatement- Elliot grips the hospital bed rail with such a white knuckle grip that Ayanna has to wonder if her stubborn detective will try and vault over the edge of the bed with a bullet hole in his leg. Not to mention, his blue eyes flickering the nurse checking vitals and the doorframe with a calculating look.
Ayanna leans her head far enough to the right to try and get into his line of sight. I frigging dare you, she tries to message through a harsh glare. If you so much as say the word leave-
"Sir, I need you to settle," the nurse, Aliana, pleads, "I can't have you reinjuring-"
Elliot's eyes flicker over to Ayanna and widen with hope. "I need to see Liv, Sarg," He licks his lips and drops his shoulders. "Please. I-we- I need to know if she's ok."
Ayanna approaches the right side of the bed and rests a hand on his shoulder. He's vibrating with nervous energy even under her touch. "Stabler, your partner is down the hall asking the same questions. Breathe."
He starts fiddling with his fingers again. Within months of the pair reuniting, Ayanna had readied herself for the aftermath of the impending conversations between the pair about the ten year gap- she had pictured the days of Elliot, somber and guilt-ridden, staggering into work or him stomping into work, ready to shoot something.
But this, this deep need for him to see her is something she hasn't prepared for.
Bernadette Stabler sits alone in the kitchen, musing over her son's shooting.
She's in a pensive mood, shifting between reflecting on the quiet in the apartment and the possibilities occurring behind her son's closed door. Elliot had arrived home, surprisingly accompanied by Olivia after the pair's hospital stay the day before.
A knock on the door draws Bernie from her tea. With a chuckle under her breath, Bernie walks from the kitchen and to the front door. She finds one of Olivia’s detectives, a blonde haired woman with two adorable kids, waiting on the other side of the door.
"Sorry, sorry," the woman greets. "I'm Detective Rollins. I work with Captain Benson and wanted to check in but my girls-"
"Like pancakes, I hope," Bernie finishes with a hopeful eyebrow raise. Both girls squeal in excitement and take off towards the kitchen. Detective Rollins sighs and asks,"How are they doing?"
"Considering no one has told me what happened, I can't say. But-" Bernie leads Rollins towards the kitchen where they find both girls chattering happily at the island. "I'm an old woman. What do I know?"
Rollins hands her cellphone to the older of the two girls and states, "Go watch YouTube with your sister."
As the girls run towards the couch, Rollins' expression darkens and she drops her voice low enough to be out of the girls' earshot. "They went to a townhouse and got cornered by a group of men with guns. It was such a close call. Such a close call ."
Bernie's eyes widen and she leans over the island to take another look at the door. "They look like hell," she gasps, "That was from a shootout?"
"Mrs. Stabler-"
"Bernie. Call me Bernie," the older woman redirects without a thought.
Rollins nods. " Bernie , I don't know what your son wants you to know specifically but know that it was a close call. A very close call."
Her son wouldn't tell her a thing.
Bernie blinks away the tears forming in her eyes. Risking one's life is a given when a family member is a member of law enforcement and the ten years of him away had given some break away the danger.
"Bernie?"
"Let's check on them, shall we?" Bernie says. She crosses the hall with an anxious Rollins on her heels until they reach Elliot’s door. Bernie opens the door slowly and finds Elliot and Olivia asleep on his bed. Her heart warms at the peacefulness between the two. She's spent months during her own sleepless nights, watching Elliot toss and turn at nightmares.
"Something happened between them in the time they called for help and when we were able to rescue them," Rollins says softly. "I don't know what it is but they're different, somehow."
Bernie notices Olivia’s hand on her son's chest. Different indeed.
The line in the sand is gone.
Olivia Benson runs her finger over the gold cross necklace that hangs from her partner's neck. Her head rests on his chest as she lies slightly awkward with her right arm propped in a cast. Elliot is still asleep, giving her a chance to just breathe.
We almost died today.
The pair, once partners, have a list of near death experiences in their twelve year partnership that could fill books.
And with the decade apart?
She remembers those nights back then of limping into her apartment with the ringing of bullets still replaying in her head.
Or the touches of his hand on her back as they would look each other in the eye in utter disbelief after a shoot out.
We could have died and he would never know how I feel about him , would replay in her mind as she'd drink a glass of wine alone.
Olivia lifts her head off of Elliot’s chest and takes in the silence of his bedroom. The wave of we should have died messes with her head once more, making her doubt only for a few seconds off the reality.
She returns her gaze back to him and lifts her hand to brush a finger against the bandage against his cheek, which causes him to stir.
His blue eyes shine at the sight of her. "Hey."
"Hi," Olivia replies softly. She's terrified and yet calm at the intimacy of being curled against Elliot. The line in the sand had been crossed back in the warehouse when-
"You kissed me," Elliot says softly. She can see the worry and the self doubt in his blue eyes- please tell me this wasn't because we were going to die.
"I did," Olivia replies. She lays her head against his chest again. "I did because even when we were both seconds from being killed, I couldn't say what I wanted to say."
"Liv-"
"I love you," Her breath hitches as the words settle between them. She can feel his breathing hitch as well. "Elliot, I love you. And it's terrifying."
Elliot begins to play with her hair. "Liv, whatever you want to do or not do, I'm here. "
She closes her eyes and replays the near final moment in her mind.
"I'm out," Elliot gasps. He waits for a pause and sprints across the hallway to press his body against hers. She's also out.
Time's up.
Olivia looks up to Elliot wide eyed as the bullets pierce through the walls across the hall. Elliot nods shortly in a sudden understanding. "Liv, I love you."
She's speechless, hopeless and they are screwed lest a miracle.
So she kisses him.
Olivia reopens her eyes and says, "Be patient with me. It took so long for me to try and heal after you left. But the shooting showed that life is short and I don't want to wait."
Elliot chuckles softly,"I was going to say the same for me. I feel like damaged goods-"
" El-"
Elliot sighs at her protest, "It's true. I have had a lot of demons over the years that I don't want to ruin whatever we are."
"I have scars and demons too " Olivia raises her head again and kisses him again. The second kiss feels natural, terrifyingly easy to her. "But I've learned that healing can be done together. Can we heal together?"
"If you'll have me," Elliot replies and Olivia rolls her eyes and tucks her head in his chest. He laughs a hearty laugh that warms her heart. "And will ignore whatever the hell just came out of my mouth."
"I guess." She looks up to him again and whispers, "We almost died today."
He nods slightly and lets his body settle. "Yes , we did."