Adult-FanFiction.org : Television / Streaming

Release	By : KaticaLocke Category: G through L > Law & Order Views: 3499 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Law & Order, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 49
- 50
- 51
Alex turned her attention to Olivia. Her reaction was even worse than she�d expected, worse than it should be. This was a strong woman, a capable detective who witnessed horrors worse than this every day. So why was a simple game of naked co-ed Twister freaking her out?

�Wake up - wake up - please, wake up,� Olivia repeated again and again, her breathless mantra interrupted only by short, strangled gasps.

�No, Liv, no,� Elliot whispered, his face twisted by some unimaginable pain and sadness.

�What is it?� Novak asked. �Elliot, what�s wrong with her?�

�Last week,� Elliot said, his voice hoarse, �she told me about this nightmare she had a few weeks back, one that wouldn�t let her go back to sleep. A man attacked her, raped her, and when she finally saw his face ... it was me.� Alex closed her eyes, her heart aching. Living nightmare, her ass, this was absolute hell.

�Don�t, Elliot, please,� Olivia begged. She screamed as he grabbed her, winding one hand into her hair the way Alex had done with him, making sure she heard him.

�It�s okay, baby,� Elliot said, holding her eyes with his. �You�re not dreaming. Listen to me, look at me, trust me.� Tears streaked her face, but she had stopped that terrible gasping. She watched Elliot with trepidation, her eyes filled with the fear of betrayal. He reached up to wipe her tears away and she tensed, causing his hand to close on her arm of its own accord. �Relax, Liv, I�m not going to hurt you.� The words pained him visibly and he leaned his head against hers, then drew back and laid a gentle kiss on her tear-stained cheek. She went still against him, a kind of inner quiet that let them all breathe a little easier. Elliot kissed her again, just above the corner of her mouth. He whispered something Alex couldn't hear, then waited, his parted lips barely an inch above hers. The room seemed to hold it's breath as Olivia stared up at him, then slowly closed her eyes and leaned into his kiss.

Alex felt her breath catch in her throat as Olivia sobbed and melted against him, her arms wrapping around him as if for dear life. The last of the incubus�s lust lifted and a chorus of relieved sighs rose up. At last, they were free to find a little elbow room. Alex didn�t move, expecting the others to scatter like a handful of dropped marbles, but for the most part, they remained as they were. Munch slipped away from Olivia and Elliot, nestling himself between Alex and Fin, his hands rubbing his weary face. Alex leaned against him before she could stop herself, but he seemed to take comfort in her touch in a way that had nothing to do with sex.

"Well, that was interesting," Logan said dryly, his wide, warm back against hers. "Can we go home now?"

"Olivia?" Munch said, hardly louder than a whisper. "Are you okay?" As if in response, her sobs grew quieter. After a minute, she raised her head enough to speak.

�I�m sorry,� she said, her voice raspy from crying, �I tried to stay calm, I thought I knew what to expect, what to do, but - it was such a shock - you never said what was going on in here.�

�Wait, you could hear us?� Alex asked. Olivia nodded. "Everything we said?"

"Pretty much." She reached up and wiped the tear tracks off her face with the back of her hand. "I tried to pay attention to what John was saying, but I heard about your fianc�, Edward.� Alex felt him tense beside her. �I�m sorry.�

�Thank you,� he replied graciously, but Alex could tell that sympathy was the last thing he wanted. �I heard about your nightmare. I�m sorry.� Alex glanced up at him, but couldn�t tell if his insensitivity was deliberate, or just his usual social ineptness. Olivia couldn�t seem to decide either.

�Thank you,� she said, her voice trailing into a whisper as she leaned her head back against Elliot�s shoulder. Elliot stroked her hair with one hand and glared at Edward. At least one of them had made up his mind.

�So, can we get out of here now?� Novak asked after a moment. �I can�t take much more of this.�

�Oh, I don�t know,� Logan said, stretching lazily, �I�m actually starting to get comfortable.�

�That�s what�s bothering me,� Novak said. �I don�t think being in the middle of a big pile of naked people should feel this normal.�

�It�s only society that deems it abnormal,� Dr. Huang said, interjecting his professional opinion. �Touch is one of the strongest methods of communicating trust, friendship, attraction, love. We shake hands when we meet a new person, we hug old friends, we make love to say what words alone cannot express.� He gave a crooked smile. �I�m as ready to get out of here as anyone, but there�s nothing abnormal about finding the touch of a friend comforting.�

�If you were holding my hand instead of my ass, I might agree with you,� Novak said, looking over her shoulder at him. Alex smothered a laugh as Huang brought his hand up to Novak�s hip, his expression reminding her of a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. She turned to Munch.

�So, if Olivia could hear us, Bishop probably can, too.�

�I would say so, yes.�

�Good.� She raised her voice. �Okay, you can stop messing around with my partner now and bring us back.� In a more conversational tone, she said, �If she can, that is. Being the great-great-great bastard child of some slutty goddess doesn�t mean she can handle the incubus.� Alex had hardly finished speaking when the room gave a great lurch, the luminous red walls flaring with flashes of bright white and streaks of black and violet.

�Nobody move,� Munch commanded as they twisted inside out once more, and found themselves standing on the rooftop again. Alex blinked hard in the eerie pre-dawn light, staggering forward a step as her head spun. The others swayed drunkenly, but their hands remained tightly clasped. In the center of the circle, the incubus - no, Bobby - stood forlornly, his arms hanging limp at his sides, shoulders stooped, a line of blood running down his chin. Alex glanced at Bishop, whose lip was also smeared with blood, through Alex was willing to bet that it wasn�t hers.

�Sorry about that,� Bishop said, her eyes sweeping the circle. She lingered on Edward and Olivia. �I would have warned you, but I didn�t want to tip off the incubus.�

�You bit him,� Alex said, surprising even herself with the accusatory tone in her voice.

�My hands were full,� Bishop said, tilting her back a fraction to give the impression that she was looking down her nose. �I had to get him off of me somehow.�

�We�ll fight about it later,� Munch said, giving Alex a hard look as she opened her mouth to speak. �We don�t have time now.� Alex turned her attention to Bobby, who had begun looking for his hydrangea. He found the flower and took his place in the center once more, his eyes seeking her out, a raw, hollow pain peering out at her.

He was hurt, hurt that he�d been left behind again, and hurting because he knew it was wrong to wish to have been there. He was also jealous that Edward had been and become so close to her. How she knew these things just by looking at him, she wasn�t sure. This was so much more than reading an expression and making an educated guess. It was as if she could feel what he was feeling. And he was feeling like a worthless son of a bitch for wanting to be a part of their magick induced orgy - no, not the orgy, the moments of peaceful closeness they shared between bouts of lust and fear. The touching and being touched, and having it be normal, that was what he wanted. Normalcy above all else -

�Alex?� Her head snapped around at the sound of her name. It must not have been the first time Munch tried to get her attention, because everyone was staring at her. �Are you ready?� She swallowed hard and nodded, forcing her eyes to the ground to keep them off Bobby. �All right, then. We need to focus, focus on driving the curse into the ring in Goren's hand." Hesitantly, she looked up, but whatever it was that happened before, it didn�t happen again. If she was lucky, it was a one time only sort of thing. Bobby held out his hand, the ring gleaming softly on his palm. "Now, we've only got one shot at this, so repeat after me - and mean it. As I breathe / As I stand / I cast thee out / With all that I am." Alex felt Logan and Carver gripping her hands, but her eyes were only for Bobby, for the curse that again became clear inside him, writhing, clawing, trying to keep its hold on her friend.

�As I breathe, as I stand, I cast thee out, with all that I am,� she said, the others picking up the chant one at a time, their voices blending, rising, drawing the gathered power into one spot - Bobby.

He stood stiff, his head thrown back, hands clenched into fists. Veins and cords stood out on his neck and arms, his face twisted into a silent, agonized scream. Tears burned down her face as she came back to that phrase again and again, "With all that I am", the words frail and insufficient to convey the depth, the power of the emotion thrumming through her. It was like trying to carry the ocean in a plastic pail. She couldn�t do it; it was impossible. Every rational cell in her body screamed that you could not put that much of anything in such a small space, and that included the amount of magick that was trying to enter her. She fell silent, felt the power ebb away, watched helplessly as the incubus fought against her friends and would not be backed down.

Behind Bishop, the sky was a pale, pearly silver. Time was almost up and the curse didn�t look to be going anywhere. In the center of the circle, Bobby fell to his knees, and her heart plunged into the empty pit of her soul. She had failed him. He was going to die, and it was her fault.

�No, Alex, you haven�t. Remember, I love you.� His voice couldn�t have been clearer had he stood at her shoulder and spoken in her ear. His presence was all around her - the smell of his skin, the heat of his body, even the sound of his breathing, the touch of his hands, the taste of his lips. It awoke that fire inside her, the light of which all other loves are just shadows. Love. That was the answer to the riddle. Maybe a handful of magick couldn�t fit into one feisty New York detective, but any woman could harbor love enough to light the universe.

�As I breathe, as I stand,� she said, her voice out of sequence the others, �I give my love, with all that I am.� She could feel that warm, buttery glow filling her again, spilling out of her into Logan and Carver. The incubus thrashed within Bobby, jerking his body around like a rag doll. The rest of the circle fell silent, leaving her to chant alone, but it was okay; for the first time in a long time, she knew what she was doing. �As I breathe, as I stand, I give my love, with all that I am.� The incubus gave a single horrific shriek and fled into the only place that promised relief and safety - the ring. Bobby fell forward onto his face and lay still. It was all Alex could do not to run to his side.

As the echoes died away, leaving them standing in almost complete silence, Munch took a shaky breath.

�So mote it be,� he said solemnly. He glanced over at her, his face glistening with sweat in the early morning light. "I take it back, again," he said. "You would make an excellent witch."

"It wasn't magick," she said quietly. "It was love."

"What do you think magick is?" Munch asked quietly. "The love of the Lord and Lady, our love for each other, for ourselves. No greater power exists." Alex wasn't really listening. Bobby still hadn't stirred.

"Can we -"

"Yes, of course." Starting with Huang and working backward around the circle, they thanked the powers that came to their aid and returned them from whence they came. The wall of light around them faded and flickered and died away. As one, they opened the circle, their plants falling to dust between them, and stepped backward over the salt. It was like rewinding the ritual. Alex, Olivia, Novak and Bishop picked up their implements, the wand still burning with that pure, undying fire. Olivia thanked the water, and the spirit of the West. Alex and the others did the same, then they scuffed the circle of salt, breaking it in twelve places. "It's done."

They rushed to Bobby's side, but Alex got there first. He was so cold. With Elliot's help, she rolled him onto his back. He didn't seem to be breathing. She laid her ear against his chest. Silence. Dr. Huang checked for a pulse, his face grim as he slowly shook his head.

Her hand trembling, Alex reached out and stroked the side of Bobby's face. She just stared at him, cold, numb. Her eyes were too full of tears to cry, her throat too full of words to scream, her heart to full of pain to break, so it was the anger that showed first. She slammed her fists against his chest with meaty thud.

"Sonofabitch!" she screamed, hitting him again. Someone grabbed her from behind, probably Edward, strong arms wrapping around her, holding her still. She fought him, clawing at his arms, thrashing her body from side to side. Another pair of hands grabbed her, and she looked up into Munch's face. "Bring him back!" she demanded. "Work your magick and bring him back."

"I can't, Alex," he whispered, pushing her hair back out of her eyes, "I don't have the power." She didn't buy it. What good was magick if it couldn't save one life?

"I'll take his place," she said. "I know how this works, it's about balance - an eye for an eye, ying for yang, a life for a life. I am balance. I will give my life to save him ..." Munch was shaking his head.

"Even if I could, is that what you think he'd want?" She stared at him, sure that if she tried hard enough not to understand, he wouldn't be right. But he was. She hung her head, weeping like a child. That only lasted a moment, though, before she pushed Edward away. Her hands found Bobby's face again, brushing aside the bits of gravel still imbedded in his skin, smoothing his hair, tracing the line of his jaw, of his lips. Gently, she wiped the blood away. One last time, she leaned down and kissed him.

Standing up, she stepped between Edward and Deakins, both men with lines of tears on their cheeks. They let her slip past them, neither trying to comfort or restrain her, and she was grateful. She stared up at the peach and pink sky, the rising sun reflected in the dark and empty windows of the surrounding buildings, the black silhouettes of pigeons and swifts gliding overhead. She'd never seen a more beautiful New York morning. The world sure could be cruel. Turning away from the sunrise, her eyes fell upon the still form of Raum.

Her vision splintered, like looking through broken crystal. She reached for the gun at her hip, her fingers brushing the cold metal, but she pulled her hand back. A bullet was too good for that monster. She walked toward him, slowly, one foot before the other, her eyes drawn to the rusty metal pipe lying beside his thin, pale hand. She picked it up.

�Alex, what are you doing?� Olivia�s voice sounded so distant, so far away.

�He deserves to die,� she said tonelessly. �For this, he deserves to die horribly, but I would let him rot in prison, if I thought he would ever end up there.� She began to walk the length of him, from head to foot, each deliberate step in front of the last, the pipe thudding dully against her leg. �We have no laws for this kind of thing. He is going to walk away, he is going to hurt someone else. How many more innocent lives are we going to let him ruin?�

�You�re right, the NYPD can�t touch him,� Munch said, walking toward her, his hands out in a non-threatening and patronizing manner, �but the Witch�s Council can. They�ve been after him for a long time. And I can guarantee, the punishment they dish out is far worse than death.�

�Really? Does he get to watch his partner lie dead at his feet and know that it was his fault, �cause that�s about the only thing I can think of that worse than death!� She turned on her heel, raising the pipe above her head in a wide arc. It was a shame he was unconscious; she would have liked him to feel this.

The pipe was snatched from her hand. She glared at Logan, who dropped the pipe and rubbed his palm.

"Quite an arm you got there," he said. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you were trying to kill him. But you wouldn't do that, because you know that killing Raum won't bring your partner back." She pulled her weapon and pointed it at Raum's head. Shock was the main reaction, surprise, disbelief, and disappointment from Deakins. That hurt, but she stomped the pain down. She only had breath enough for one agony at a time. She looked down at Raum, lying so quiet, so peaceful. He should have been awake, should have known what was coming. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Logan take a step toward her and she released the safety, her finger tightening on the trigger.

"Maybe it won�t bring him back," Alex said slowly, "but it'll make me feel a whole hell of a lot better." There was a startled gasp, then another, several 'Oh, my God's and one 'Merciful Goddess'.

"No, Alex, it won't." Her hand shook at the sound of Bobby's voice. It wasn't right in her ear this time, but it was just as clear, just as real. She glanced up, her whole body going numb at the sight of Bobby standing alone in the middle of the crowd. The others had drawn back from him, their mouths hanging open, eyes staring.

"Bobby?" she whispered. He walked toward her, his head tilted forward, watching her from under lowered brows. She looked past him, to where his body had lain, half expecting it to still be there, for him to be a ghost, but the spot was empty. He reached for her weapon, but she jumped back, swinging around to train the sights on his chest. "Don't move," she said, her voice strained as she tried to talk around her pounding heart, which was suddenly lodged in her throat. "John?" She didn't dare take her eyes off him, catching only a slight movement out of the corner of her eye as Munch stepped forward.

"Yeah, Alex?" He had that same wary, placating tone as before, the one that made her want to do something crazy. After all, if he was going to treat her like a lunatic, she ought to do something to deserve it.

"He was dead," she said, her hands trembling at the words, but she gritted her teeth and tightened her grip. "He looks pretty alive right now. You said magick couldn't bring him back, so what the hell is gong on here?"

"I didn't - " Munch started, but Bobby cut him off.

"Put the gun down, Alex," he said, taking a step toward her. She raised her arms, aiming right between his eyes, and he backed off.

"What kind of cockeyed magick crap is this?" Alex demanded. "Is it a spell, a demon, the incubus, what? Or am I making a complete jackass out of myself?"

"Hee haw," Bobby said humorlessly.

�Shut up,� she told him. �Comebacks and one liners are my forte; if you were really Bobby, you�d know that.�

�And if you weren�t having the worst day of your life, you�d know it was me. Look at me, Eames, touch me, you�ll know. It�s me.�

�It - it could be, Alex,� Munch said. �I never said magick couldn�t bring him back - I said I didn�t have the power to do it. There are forces at work here that nobody understands. And it would be a shame to shoot your partner and then find out he was telling the truth. If it is a demon, or a wraith, or a Paguristes ghoul - �

"A what?" Alex and Bobby asked in unison. She narrowed her eyes at him and tightened her grip on her gun. "You don't know what it is? Bobby knows everything." He gave her an exaggerated eye roll.

"Good God, Eames, I do not. If you want to give me a minute, I could go look it up for you." He looked out over the rooftops and sighed. "Okay, Paguristes is the genus of several hermit crabs, but that's as much as I know." Alex glanced over at Munch.

"Hermit crabs?" He shrugged.

"Basically, yes. Paguristes ghouls inhabit the bodies of the recently deceased like hermit crabs inhabit old shells; that's how they got their name. That and they both eat carrion. There's little chance of Goren being one, though, they're fairly rare." Alex lowered her weapon, pointing it back at his chest instead of his head. What if it was him? What if it wasn't? If Bobby was really gone, there was no way he would want some thing using his body, wearing him like a - like a suit. She backed away, pulling Munch to the side, but kept her weapon trained on her partner.

"How can we tell?" she asked. "Is there some kind of test?"

"Of course," Munch said. "The dead have no heartbeat."

"As simple as that?" she asked, slightly annoyed. He returned the look.

"I tried to tell you."

"You two want to hurry up - it was a long night before I had to rise from the dead," Bobby called, stifling a yawn. She walked back across the roof toward him, pressing the barrel of her gun into his chest.

"Touch me and it'll be the last thing you ever do," she said, reaching out with her free hand to check the pulse in his wrist.

"That's not what you said earlier."

"You are so not funny," she replied. His heartbeat pattered steadily beneath her fingertips, his skin warm once more. "Okay, it's him," she said, letting go of his arm and holstering her weapon. Her hands were shaking again. She wasn't sure if she wanted to laugh, cry, scream, or throw up, but if she didn't get a grip, it was probably going to be some combination of two or more. She smacked him on the arm with the back of her hand. "What the hell did you think you were doing, dying like that!"

"Sorry, Eames, it couldn't exactly be helped," he said, rubbing his arm and smiling slightly.

"And then you had to come back from the dead and damn near give me a heart attack."

"Well, that - that was your fault, you know."

"My fault? How is it my fault?"

"It was your kiss that brought me back, reminded me that I had too much left ... unfinished, too much to - to live for." Alex felt the anger bleed out of her, that buttery warmth overflowing in her chest and catching at the back of her throat, pricking her eyes with tears. She blinked them back, determined not to cry. Bobby reached out and cupped her cheek in his big hand, drawing her toward him without a word, his thumb tracing the edge of her lower lip. The coarse denim slid beneath her fingers like silk as she ran her hand down his chest. Slowly, he bent his head toward hers, those dark eyes, so full of unspoken promises and barely whispered secrets, devouring every line, every curve of her face.

"Ah-choo!"

"Gesundheit," Bobby said, his eyes crinkling in a smile. They stepped back from each other and glanced over at Logan, who was rubbing his nose and looking sheepish.

"Please, don't stop on my account," he said. Alex let her eyes travel over the assembled faces, finally stopping on Deakins. He didn't look too pissed, she decided. She turned away and rubbed her face with both hands, wandering over to the roof edge as Bobby was swarmed by their friends, their voices buzzing like a beehive.

"Were you really dead? What was it like? Are you okay? How do you feel?" She didn't envy him at all. Had she not been feeling like week-old road-kill, she'd have gone over and rescued him; as it was, she just stood staring down into the street. She didn't even realize she was crying until her vision became too blurry to see.

"See anything interesting down there?" Edward asked, stepping up beside her. She bit her lip, trying to stop the tears, but they continued to course down her cheeks. "Hey, Eames, are you okay?" She shook her head.

"I was going to kill him," she said, her voice thick and husky from crying.

"Who, Goren?"

"Raum. I was going to beat him with that pipe until he was unrecognizable. I - I didn't think I was capable, but I'm no different than the perps we - "

"Stop right there, Alex," Edward said, grabbing her by the shoulder. "You are nothing like those people. You're a good person, but even good people can be pushed too far. That's why we have the temporary insanity defense." It wasn't that funny, but she laughed through the tears, then turned and hid her face again Edward's shoulder. He wrapped one arm around her shoulders, holding her to his chest. He smelled different from Bobby, not better or worse, just different, cooler, crisper, like snow, like mountains.

One hand gently stroked her hair, easing the ache deep in her chest. After a while, she stopped crying, her ragged breathing slowing. His touch was almost therapeutic. She leaned against him, with no desire to leave the safety of his arms. This was a man she had hardly spoken to before that morning, but right then, she couldn't think of a more comforting place.
- 49
- 50
- 51
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Release