A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys!
Elliot stood atop the bridge watching his wife hold the woman he loved at gun point. Isabella and Olivia were still handcuffed together and Elliot kept searching his mind for a way out of this situation, a way out where no one would get hurt. The idea of no one getting injured, was starting to become something he didn't think was possible though. The only thing he knew for sure was that he wouldn't let that person be Olivia. If he had to sacrifice himself, he would do so, she had been through too much, he wouldn't let her die, not at the hands of his wife. Knowing he was on his own right now, Elliot almost wished he hadn't left Dean lying on the floor of the boat after putting him in a sleeper hold. As crazy as he thought Dean was, Elliot was able to convince him to let him find Olivia, so there was something there inside the man that cared for her. His wandering thoughts were interrupted when he heard his wife's voice.
"Elliot, put the gun down now," Isabella demanded as she shoved her gun in Olivia's side.
At a complete loss as to a plan or any semblance of one, Elliot began to lower his gun. Before he could actually set it on the ground though, he heard Olivia's voice.
"Elliot! Don't put the gun down!" Olivia yelled. "She will kill you. She told me if she can't have you no one can. Please don't put the gun down."
Elliot stood up with the gun still in his hand, looking directly at his wife.
"Is that true Izzy? You gonna shoot me and throw my body off this bridge?" Elliot asked.
"It's an option, El. I'm still thinking though. I have so many options here. I would hate for you to end up dead in this situation, but the probability that one of you will not make it off this bridge is almost certain." Isabella explained.
Sighing and running his free hand down his face, Elliot just looked at her, then back to Olivia. Where Isabella said she had a variety of options, he was out of them. With no plan and no back up, he had no idea how to keep himself and Olivia alive at this point.
"You know if you shoot Liv, I will kill you without hesitation right?" Elliot asked his wife sternly.
"Oh Elliot, you're so damn dramatic. You and your little Olivia. You two make me sick and actually deserve each other. If I had half a heart, I'd just let ya run off into the sunset together and be happy, but since you stomped on my heart, Elliot, there's no chance in hell you to are walking out of here arm in arm." Isabella spat back at him.
"Do you want me to shoot you Izzy?" Elliot asked raising his gun so that it was level with his wife's head.
Isabella, knowing Elliot was a damn good shot and she was not in his good graces at this moment, decided to use Olivia as a shield. She stood directly behind her with the gun pointed right at her head. She wasn't about to give Elliot an easy shot at her. If he wanted her dead, he was going to have to work for it.
Seeing the shift in position, Elliot shuddered and shifted the gun's aim to point toward as much of Isabella as he could, but, even if he'd wanted to take a shot, none were clear. Keeping his voice steady, he said, "What can we do so that we all walk out of here and no one gets hurt?" Elliot asked.
"You had your chance, Elliot. Back at the boat Olivia could have been safe and sound with Dean right now but you wouldn't leave with me, so that option is not on the table anymore honey," Isabella replied sarcastically.
"Fuck! Isabella! You have to know my intention was never to hurt you. I was happy with you. I swear to God I was," Elliot explained. "Why don't you let Olivia go and you and I can talk about it?"
Laughing at her husband's desperation, Isabella said, "Seriously Elliot? Do you think I'm that dumb? The second I let Olivia go, you'll pump a bullet into me!"
"I wouldn't do that. You can't honestly think I would kill you if you let Liv go. I will shoot to protect her, I told you that, but if you let her walk away, off this bridge away from all of this, I give you my word I won't hurt you. I will toss my gun in the river if you want, just let her go," Elliot voice had lost it's calm and was now pleading.
"Can't do it, Elliot. Sorry. As long as she's with me, I know I'm safe," Isabella shot back.
"Okay, well we can't just stand here like this indefinitely. What do you want?" Elliot asked impatiently.
"Oh we aren't. Olivia and I are leaving," Isabella explained.
"I can't let you leave with her. You know I can't, and if you try to…"
Cutting Elliot off, Isabella yelled, "You'll what Elliot? You'll shoot me?"
"If I have to," he said softly.
"Well I guess that's what you're gonna have to do then, cause I'm not letting her go. But Elliot, you better make damn sure you hit me otherwise my gun might go off in her head or I might just jump and take your beloved with me," Isabella said with a look in her eyes and a tone in her voice that sent a shiver through Elliot.
Elliot knew she was growing more and more unstable the more time that passed. He knew he needed to keep her talking and calm to give Munch, Fin and Cragen a chance to find them, but they were taking so damn long, he started to think he was on his own.
"Elliot! Listen to me. Look at me," Olivia said speaking for the first time.
"You shut up," Isabella said to her shoving the gun in her side.
"Listen bitch, how bout you shut the hell up. You have me handcuffed to you with a gun in my side. I'm getting really sick of all this shit. I'm gonna talk to Elliot, you don't like it, shoot me! But keep in mind as soon as you do, Elliot will put a bullet right in the middle of your head!" Olivia said with authority.
"Liv, don't antagonize her, please," Elliot begged.
"Elliot just listen to me. Do not shoot her. That's what she wants. It didn't take long for me to figure out, but I did.. That's what I was trying to tell you while we were on the boat. She wants you to shoot her. This is part of her, if she can't have you no one can plan. In her sick mind, if you shoot her to save me, then she will always be a part of our lives. You will always look at me differently because you killed your wife to save me. She's right. Just don't do it, please," Olivia pleaded.
"Liv," was all Elliot could manage. He was desperate. He also understood what she was trying to tell him. It made sense. She was right, it would haunt him if he had to kill Isabella, even if it was to save her What was he supposed to do?, he asked himself. He wasn't about to let Isabella leave with Olivia, but it didn't seem as though Isabella could be talked down.
Laughing to herself, Isabella spoke. "Wow, she's not as dumb as she looks, Elliot. She's right, you shoot me to save her and I'm in your head forever, just where I wanna be. So how about you just do it and put us all out of our misery," she said cocking her own gun and placing it at Olivia's temple.
Elliot cocked his gun, knowing that as much as Olivia was right, he had to take Isabella out before she had a chance to shoot Olivia.
"Elliot! Don't do it," Olivia begged once more.
Before anyone could move, do anything a shot rang out.
Elliot watched as Olivia and Isabella fell to the ground and he quickly ran over to them and noticed the blood right away.
"Olivia!" he yelled.
"I'm okay…I'm okay…I'm not hit," she replied.
He then looked over to Isabella who was bleeding profusely from her abdomen.
For her part, Olivia was having a hard time moving, as she was still handcuffed to Isabella, but she was able to manage to sit up to look down the bridge at the shooter.
"El," she said pointing down the dock.
"Jesus!" "Porter shot her?" he asked, watching as
Dean came running down the dock waving his gun. He was obviously a bit distraught over the fact he had just shot his sister. Keeping one eye trained on the other man, Elliot began to call 911.
"No!" Dean yelled. "If the cops show up, she's going to jail."
"You idiot! If we don't call the cops and an ambulance, she's not going anywhere but the local morgue. Do you see how much blood she's lost?"
"Shit!" Dean said pacing around thinking for a moment before kneeling down next to his sister. He told her how sorry he was, but that he couldn't let her kill Olivia. She pulled him close to her and whispered in his ear.
At same time, Elliot was using an old nail he'd found to uncuff Olivia from Isabella. He helped her up and hugged her tightly, she returning the embrace just as firecly They both knew they still weren't out of danger as long as Dean still held a gun.
"Porter! I'm calling 911," Elliot told him. "As much pain and heartache as she has caused me, I don't want to see her die, do you?"
"She wants you Stabler. Can you come over here and talk to her?" Dean asked.
"Porter, we don't have time for this, she needs a doctor now!" Elliot spat back knowing he didn't really want to have a conversation with his dying wife.
"Stabler please. I don't think she's gonna make it," Dean said practically begging.
"El, go," Liv urged him. "You don't want to have any regrets."
Elliot walked over to his bleeding wife and knelt down next to her. Dean got up and stood back to give them privacy.
Isabella grabbed for Elliot's hand and he reluctantly let her take it.
"Izzy, you need to let me call the ambulance, please," he said.
"No, no ambulance no time Elliot. I want you to know I'm not sorry. I'm not sorry I fell in love with you and tried everything in my power to keep you with me. I know I hurt you, but I'm not sorry for any of this. If I had it to do over, I wouldn't change a thing. I love you, always. Please forgive me," she whispered as she took her last breath.
Elliot sighed and buried his face in his hands. Olivia walked over and put her arms around him.
"I'm sorry, El."
"She said she wasn't sorry. She said she'd have done it all over again if she had to. Liv, she was dying and telling me she wasn't sorry for what she'd done to you and then had the nerve to ask me to forgive her," he explained.
"I'm so sorry, El. I know you loved her. I'm sorry she hurt you." Olivia said standing up walking away.
"Liv," Elliot whispered. "Don't go," he said walking toward her and wrapping his arms around her waist.
"I'm not going anywhere Elliot. Just giving you a little space."
"I don't need space, I just need you," he said as he crashed his lips to hers.
Forgetting everything for a moment, Olivia and Elliot were shocked back into reality when Dean shot his gun in the air.
"Fuck Porter!" Elliot yelled.
"I killed my own sister. I killed my sister for you!" He yelled looking at Olivia with his gun trained on her. "I killed her for you and you're kissing him?"
"Dean," Olivia began. "I appreciate more than you will ever know that you just, ironically enough, saved my life, but that doesn't change anything. You betrayed me. You kept me from everything I love for three years. You stole those three years of my life to make me love you. I can't forgive that, not right now."
"Well I can't live without you so, you leave me no choice," he said as his gun cocked.
Another shot rang out and Elliot looked at Olivia, scared to death that Porter had pulled the trigger, but he saw Olivia standing there, unharmed. They both then looked over and saw Dean falling to the ground and then They stared up and saw the shooter. It was Munch. The older man immediately ran over to Dean and checked his pulse. He was gone. He then ran to Olivia and Elliot and asked if they were okay, before all three saw Fin and Cragen approach the scene.
Olivia reached for Elliot hugging him. They held each other tightly, knowing this whole nightmare was finally over. He leaned in and kissed her freely for the first time since this entire ordeal started.
After they all gave their statements to the Miami police, the local officers told them they would contact the FBI and the Chief of D's back in NY and that Olivia should be cleared of everything.
Munch, Fin and Cragen walked down the docks, and
Elliot and Olivia followed, walking hand in hand behind their friends, knowing they could go back to New York and make a fresh start.
"You ready to come back home, Liv?" Elliot asked.
"I am so ready to go home. I'm ready to go home with you. I'm ready for a second chance at my life," Olivia said, kissing him.
The end
A/N: Thanks to everyone for all the support and reading this story and just everything. I so appreciate it. Still working on Life After Jenna and will get back to Calvin's Rescue and Wrath the Continuation and whatever else pops into my EO bubble! Thanks again for all the kinds words! You are all awesome!
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