Chapter 12: I'll Never Let You Go.

Olivia turned and jumped feet first off the 40 story bridge. Her arms flew above her head as she surrendered nothing to the wind or the fall. She sliced into the water, her toes pointed and her body following a swift downward motion into the cold water that made her whole body ache. The fall took her deep into the water and she struggled to the surface, pausing only long enough to take a deep breath before plunging again down below.

Olivia opened her eyes and swam downward. The water stung, but she kept them open looking for even the smallest sign of movement, of life, of Alex. She swam down far and still saw nothing. She clawed at the water searching, but her hands met only the water. She then had to surface once again for air. She took in three deep breaths and frantically looked around the surface. No one was on shore and no one was splashing at the surface.

She took another plunge into the cold water, her body not registering the temperature, only finding the need, the adrenaline to keep her searching. Come on Alex, don't give up on me. Every second that passed Alex grew further from Olivia's grip, but Liv didn't stop fighting. She tore through the water as though she were the one drowning, because she knew that without Alex, she would drown.

Her breath was waning and she was about to resurface, when she spotted the briefest glimpse of blonde hair. She dove further down into the water; her lungs begging to feel like collapsing, but Alex was right there within her grasp.

Alex wasn't moving, her mouth was still gagged and her handcuffed hands had gotten caught on some metal debris from the bridge and she hadn't been able to untangle it. Olivia tugged at the cuffs, but they wouldn't budge. She tried to maneuver them off the metal but it had somehow gotten bent on there and wound tightly in Alex's attempt to free herself. Olivia began to panic for but a brief second before she reached and grabbed her handcuff keys. Come on, work. The key felt jammed; she kept working it as she let out her last bit of air. Then they broke free and Alex's hands were out of them.

Olivia grabbed Alex by her waist; her body limp in Liv's arms. At once, she began a frenzied swim upward as she pulled Alex with her. She kicked with all the strength she had left within her. Olivia broke the surface and took in several gasps of air, but Alex didn't. Olivia flipped Alex and grabbed her under the arms and tore off the gag as she back peddled to the shore. Her arms and legs began to go numb, exhausted by her effort, but still Alex wasn't breathing.

"They're over there!"

Distant shouting could be heard. Two onlookers dove into the water and soon Olivia felt Alex being swooped out of her arms at the same time she felt a shoulder helping her swim. Wait, don't take her from me. Olivia was too exhausted to fight or to say anything, but she wasn't ready to give up. They reached the shore where the water turned into mud and her legs barely obeyed her command.

Katie was standing nearby with an EMS team arriving just as their bodies reached the shore.

Olivia flung herself over Alex, frantically turning the blonde on her back with her head tilted back and to the side and then began performing CPR with the last amount of energy she had left. She pumped and pumped as the river water along with her tears fell onto Alex's cheek. Water gushed out of Alex's mouth but she remained unresponsive.

A litany of "no's" began to pour out of Olivia's mouth with each pump on Alex's chest. Then she felt herself being pulled off as the EMS team began the CPR. Katie was holding onto her, her arms wrapped around Olivia's chest, restraining her. Olivia fought her grip trying to get back to Alex, but Katie held onto her tightly, "let them do this Olivia," Katie said.

Olivia went limp as she watched the EMS team. "Alex baby, don't leave me. Come back to me, come back to us," Olivia said her voice but a tremor in the rush around them.

Then a faint quiver snaked through Alex's body. Then all at once, her body shuddered and a wet cough racked her body as she spit out the last bit of water and her eyes popped open frantically as she gasped for air.

Katie let Olivia go as the detective flung herself once more over Alex's body, this time looking into her eyes and rubbing the wet hair out of her face. "I thought I'd lost you for good this time."

A look of bewilderment passed over Alex's face as she looked up at Olivia. Then she collapsed back, her eyes darting closed for but a brief moment as she regained her normal breathing and she looked back up at Olivia. "I knew you'd come for me, I always knew you would."

"I almost let you drown." Olivia's words came out ragged and mixed with tears.

Alex reached up and wiped a tear off Olivia's cheek with her thumb, "I would have been shot in the head had I not jumped."

Olivia nodded, she knew this in her head, but somehow she still felt responsible.

"Come on," said Katie as she placed a gentle hand on Olivia's back. "We've got to get you two to a hospital."

*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/

Several hours later, Alex and Olivia were headed back to the ICC. Nightfall had encased the city with darkness, but the streetlights lead the way to the building. Inside had all been cleaned up. There was no longer a sense of chaos as the few remaining employees left for the evening. It looked as though nothing had even happened there. They rode the elevator to Alex's floor, but when they got there, they headed into Judge Donnelly's Office.

"Mommy! Momma!" Riley shouted as he hopped off Elizabeth's lap and ran and hugged his moms.

Alex hugged Riley in tight. "Oh thank god you're safe!"

Elizabeth sat down the book she had been reading to him and joined the three of them on the other side of her desk. "He's quite the character he is. Did you know he took down a guy swinging a baseball bat?"

Olivia eyed Riley with a "you shouldn't have done that but I can't really be mad at you now" look, but then she smiled and scooped him up into her arms.

"You guys shoulda seen him! He was big, big, gy-normous! And he was about to hurt Aunt Katie so I kicked him down," said Riley a huge grin on his face.

"Well, we're proud of you son, but next time please, please, don't ever leave the house like that again," Alex begged Riley.

"Yes, mommy," Riley said, his eye's slightly downcast.

"I contacted Joe," said Elizabeth, "I let him know Riley was safe and that I'd be watching him until you two showed up. He was very upset and already had the locals called to help find Riley here, the poor guy, and he said it was all over a piece of celery!"

Riley shrugged, "I not likes it."

*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/

Finally they were home. Alex drifted off into their bathroom and jumped into the shower as Olivia carried a sleepy Riley into his room and began to lull him off to sleep. She hummed him songs as she laid him down in bed and then made her way to her own bedroom.

Olivia sat down in a plush chair in their bedroom as she unlaced her shoes and kicked them to the side. The chair swiveled as she leaned back in it, thoroughly exhausted after the day's events. The hum of the shower in the distance began to calm her nerves and ease her tension.

Alex climbed out of the shower and drifted back into their bedroom wearing her white robe, her hair unbrushed, her stance completely spent as she walked over to where Olivia was sitting.

Olivia opened her eyes and gently grabbed Alex by the waist, pulling her down onto Olivia's lap. "I don't know what I would have done if I'd lost you today."

Alex rested her head on Olivia's, draping her arms on top of the brunet's shoulders, and looking into her eyes. "I never want to be without you again. I was dumb to have ever come out here by myself in the first place, but I'm so glad you came after me."

Olivia's hands rested on Alex's lower back and her eyes fell to Alex's lips before she looked back into her eyes and said, "All that counts is the here and now. And right now," Olivia said as she leaned in and kissed the side of Alex's neck gingerly, "right now, we're here together; and believe me, I'm never going to let you go again." She accentuated her next words by kissing Alex's lips, "I love you baby." Liv's hands moved up Alex's back and to the front of her robe as she slid her hands underneath and gingerly pushed it down Alex's arms and off her body.

Olivia's hands reached up into Alex's tangled hair as she continued kissing her lips fiercely, claiming the blonde's mouth with her own. Her tongue reached deep inside Alex's mouth seeking out warmth and desire.

Alex pulled her body in closer to Liv's as she held on tight to Olivia's face with her hands, and kissing her back just as eagerly.

Olivia's lips trailed down Alex's neck and down between her clavicle, sucking tenderly on the bone before moving lower. Alex threw her head back loving the sensations, loving the feel of Olivia's lips on her body. Olivia wrapped one hand back around Alex's back while the other held her breast. Liv's mouth kissed all the way around it before taking it fully in her mouth and sucking on Alex's breast, and biting her nipple. Alex's gasped as a pain mixed with desire shot through her body. Olivia continued her affections on Alex's other breast.

Alex's hips began to rock in Olivia's lap as Olivia continued sucking on her breasts. Her head fell slightly as she whispered into Olivia's ear, "Don't make me wait baby."

Olivia heard the need mixed with utter exhaustion laced in her voice, and as much as she enjoyed teasing Alex, she didn't want to tonight. Tonight was about Alex, about holding her, touching her, loving her, and being near her, because without her Olivia was but a log drifting out to sea.

Liv brought her mouth back up to Alex's neck and kissed the pulse point she felt there as her hand moved lower. Her hand drifted Over Alex's hips and then inside to her lower stomach and then finding their way further south and feeling Alex's center fully alive and wet, craving her touch.

Alex moaned as Olivia entered her, using her fingers to thrust up deep inside her. Alex's head fell to her arm which rested on Olivia's shoulders. She moved her hips with Liv's fingers, feeling them rub against her walls, feeling Olivia hit just the right spot as she curled her fingers. And suddenly everything that happened that day came in a rush over her. The anxiety over the case creeping up on her again, the fear of a riot, having been handcuffed and gagged before having to jump off a forty story bridge, a near drowning, and now here with Olivia, feeling her touch so intimate was all too much. She couldn't keep her tears from coming in a flood.

Olivia stopped, concerned, but Alex grabbed Liv's hand with her free on and kept her moving. "Don't stop Liv," Alex whispered in-between breaths and tears.

Liv continued her thrusts, letting Alex rest into her fingers as she sobbed and moaned on her shoulder. She thrusted deeper as she began to watch Alex unravel completely. Olivia's fingers found Alex's g spot and she rubbed against it again and again making Alex moan and whimper in a way Olivia had never heard her before. Liv knew Alex's body was close as she pulled her fingers out and rubbed against her clit.

Alex's breath hitched as she felt Olivia's touch and her legs opened wider. She buried her head into Olivia's neck as her cries came out shallow and needy. Her body began to quiver and her tears stopped and all she focused on was the way Olivia made her feel right then, and on the way Alex knew Olivia would always make her feel safe, known, and loved. Every other problem she faced drifted away and nothing really truly mattered to her anymore except for the woman sitting beneath her. Alex cried out Olivia's name as her body shuddered and tensed and then quivered with release before she fell, completely drained into Olivia's arms entirely.

Olivia wrapped her into her embrace tightly and kissed her shoulder and neck as her breath began to regulate. Liv loved this woman completely and she knew that Alex had given herself to Liv fully. Olivia helped Alex reposition on her lap and then she scooped her up in her arms and walked over to their bed. She laid Alex down under the covers and then Liv stripped off her own clothing and crawled in next to Alex, curling into her side and draping her arm over Alex's body.

"I saw her today," Alex whispered almost inaudibly.

"Who did you see?" Olivia asked.

Alex's eyes rested softly open as she spoke to Olivia behind her. "I saw Habika, the girl from the Congo."

Olivia pulled Alex in tighter, closer to her body needing to feel her, needing to know she was still there and hadn't left her after all. "What did she say?"

"She said, win or lose, you've changed everything for the better." Alex turned to face Olivia and looked her in the eyes, "Then she told me it wasn't my time because I still have two people that need me, and that I should never let them go."

Olivia bit her bottom lip and brushed the hair back off Alex's face. "Never," she whispered, "I'll never let you go."