Juliet and Juliet?

Chapter 3

The constant, deafening wail of the fire alarm was unsettling.

Alex looked through the blinds of her office door, she could hear everyone evacuating the floor but with her office location she could only see the office opposite and it appeared empty. Olivia was pacing between the coffee table and her desk talking on her cellphone with Elliot. Tension colored her words.

"No. No. Yes. I don't know. Jesus Elliot, d'you want me to go look myself?" Olivia said through gritted teeth into her phone. She kept an eye on Alex at the door. Her eyes followed Alex as she closed the blinds and moved back to her desk where she retrieved her glasses. Alex started sorting through the piles of papers on her desk and placing items in her brown leather briefcase.

The constant, deafening wail of the fire alarm was unsettling.

Alex looked through the blinds of her office door, she could hear everyone evacuating the floor but with her office location she could only see the office opposite and it appeared empty. Olivia was pacing between the coffee table and her desk talking on her cellphone with Elliot. Tension colored her words.

"No. No. Yes. I don't know. Jesus Elliot, d'you want me to go look myself?" Olivia said through gritted teeth into her phone. She kept an eye on Alex at the door. Her eyes followed Alex as she closed the blinds and moved back to her desk where she retrieved her glasses. Alex started sorting through the piles of papers on her desk and placing items in her brown leather briefcase.

Olivia turned away form Alex and leaned closer into the phone, "We'll take exit 3 on the ground floor, have the Tact Squad meet us there in 15 minutes. What frequency are we on?" she paused. She placed the cellphone on her shoulder and pressed her ear to it holding the device firmly in place as she adjusted the frequency on her portable radio. She took the phone in her hand again and nodded her head uttering an almost inaudible, "We will," into the phone and hung up.

Alex had almost finished her task. If someone had asked her to do this on a day where there wasn't a $250k hit out on her it would have taken her ten times as long to organise everything. She was placing the last of her folders into her office safe when she felt Olivia's presence by her side. "You ready?" asked the Detective as she lifted the briefcase and slung it over her right shoulder.

Alex smiled at the chivalrous gesture, "Yep. Is it too much to hope that it's just a coincidence that the fire alarm is going off?" She asked rhetorically, all these years in this building and not once had it gone off accidentally.

"Central have no reports of a fire in the building or anything hazardous requiring NYFD's presence. We have to assume this is deliberate. If you can't get to someone inside a building, flush 'em out. That's what I'd do." She said as she lifted the portable radio and spoke into it, "This is Yankee, Retriever, you copy?"

A male voice crackled over the radio, "Copy that Yankee, this is Retriever, what's your twenty?"

"In the mail box, I'll do a floor sweep then move the Package to exit 3 in10 minutes."

"Copy that Yankee"

Olivia clipped the radio back onto her belt then checked her weapon.

Alex moved to take the briefcase from her shoulder but Olivia placed a restraining hand on her arm, "I got it," she said smiling.

"There's a Tact Squad waiting for the package," she said disdainfully, tapping her own chest in acknowledgement. "A false fire alarm with a never ending, headache inducing signal. There are people exiting the building left, right and centre. In short, there's chaos out there Detective. Oh, did I mention the mercenary out there waiting to kill me?"

Olivia just stared at her as she continued to rant.

"I think you should keep your 'firing hand' free, don't you?" She finished with a flourish freeing the briefcase and placing it over her own right shoulder.

Olivia just smiled at her stubbornness, watching as Alex re-adjusted the strap, " Did it ever occur to you Counsellor that I might be ambidextrous?" She said waggling her eyebrows suggestively as she made shooting motions with both hands in an attempt to alleviate the rising tension surrounding them.

Alex raked her eyes over Olivia's taught frame, making sure Olivia new exactly what she was doing, "I'm counting on it Detective," and stepped towards the door.

Olivia swallowed and felt the heat rise in her cheeks, "Hooh boy," she muttered and placed her hand on the door knob. "Let me do a quick sweep first and then we'll move, okay?" she dipped her head in a familiar, comforting way. Alex nodded, "Okay," she replied.

Olivia Benson had been on the job a long time, knew how to evaluate a threat in seconds and make the best decision. She stood outside Alex's door and surveyed the familiar surroundings. It was an 'L' shaped corridor, a wall directly to her left and one open door opposite her. She entered the open office, it was empty. She closed the door with a solid click.

She continued around the corner to her right.

There were two closed doors on the left hand side with the twin elevators at the end of the corridor. The emergency exit stairwell was located to the right of the elevators and was closed signaling the evacuation of the floor was complete. This was a fire door and was supposed to be closed at all times except during an evacuation. Olivia checked each office to make sure they were evacuated and vacant. She closed each door soundly behind her.

The radio crackling into life startled her and she jumped slightly, 'Jesus Benson, get a grip.'

"Yankee, what's your twenty?" She unclasped the radio, "Sweep complete,all clear. On our way now, ETA 7 minutes."

"Copy that," the male voice at the other end replied.

As she turned to retrace her steps back to the ADA's office a flash of red at the end of the corridor caught her eye.

The elevators.

Olivia moved towards them. Quickly.

There was a digital display above the shaft doors indicating which floor each car was currently located on.

The elevator on her left displayed 'G' for the ground floor.

The one next to it however, displayed '3' in bold red colors against the black crystal display.

They were on the 9th floor. The building had 12 floors in total.

All use of mechanical machinery was instantly suspended during an emergency evacuation, even if there was no obvious sign of danger. It was procedure.

Olivia stared, unmoving, her eyes never leaving the digital display, hoping someone was on their way down and had forgotten the correct evacuation procedure.

She watched it change, everything seemed to slow down, even the wailing siren seemed to fade away.

Her eyes widened, the grip on her gun tightened and her mouth dropped open.

'4'

"Oh shit." Olivia said aloud.

She turned and sprinted down the deserted hallway.