The climb of the next thirty floors passed in a blessed daze. Before, Liv's legs had protested every step, her muscles weary. But after their run-in with the man, her legs ceased to feel anything at all.

Some part of her brain had taken over telling her legs to keep putting one foot in front of the other and they obeyed. All the pained messages her legs had been sending to her brain had been muted, and at times she wasn't even sure her legs were still connected to her body.

When they finally made it to the roof, they were greeted by a strong, chill wind. It stung Liv's cheeks and made her eyes water. It pulled at her clothes, waking her up. She breathed the fresh air in deeply and the world rushed into clear focus.

The soot-covered walls, the metal vents and odd pipes running grids along the floor. There were solar lights that shone brightly in the four corners of the roof and it was the most light they had seen in hours.

Ezra led the way to a squat metal box and sat. Liv followed, stepping carefully. The ground was concrete and rough against her bare feet. When she sat, they pulled out their phones and looked at each other.

Liv could see Ezra hesitated like her. Until they tried, they could hold on to a sliver of hope that their phones would work. That their call would be answered and help would be sent. Hope that they would see the night brought to an end. But if they didn't work... That was a bridge Liv didn't want to deal with.

They held each other's gaze. Ezra's eyes were darker than the night and sharp with intelligence. Liv stared at them, pulling courage from their steadiness until she had enough to look at her phone. Together, they followed the quick steps it took to place a call and held their breaths.

Nothing happened. Ezra spat a frustrated curse. Liv couldn't take her eyes from the blank screen. She had reached that bridge she had been dreading. It was time to cross it, but she didn't have the slightest clue how.

"The next logical step. The next logical step." She had used that phrase like it was a life-vest that could save her. But all it had given her was sore legs and empty hope. She threw her hands up in despair. "That's it." When you reached the roof, there were no more "next steps". Ezra looked at her in surprise, momentarily distracted from cursing his phone.

"Liv..." he started. His voice was gentle and she knew what type of consoling talk he was about to give her.

"No!" she snapped. "My idea was stupid. Of course, the people who are smart enough to break into the building are smart enough to have a cell-jammer that reaches the roof. What was I thinking? I wasn't, clearly. But what else were we supposed to do? They have Tommy. Oh my, Tommy. What he must be thinking?"

She imagined he was thinking he was going to die, but she couldn't bring herself to say the words.

"We climbed all the way up here for nothing. And we can't stay here. What if they plan on leaving by the roof. But where do we..."

Ezra clamped his hand over her mouth, forcing her to stop. She tried to pull away but he held the back of her head with his other hand.

She looked at him, fire in her eyes. But he was like a pool of cool water. His calm dark eyes were on her as he took a deep breath in and slowly released it. Liv's thoughts were still running wild as he took the next breath but she forced herself to follow his lead.

After she took five more calm breaths, he dropped his hands from her mouth and head. "This isn't it," he finally said.

"We can figure something out." She didn't believe him and the look she gave him told him so. "Stop," he said. He gave her a pointed look and shook his finger at her. "I mean it."

"But..." The breathing had calmed her nerves but her frantic thoughts were still fighting to be acknowledged.

"No!" he said sharply, shocking her thoughts into silence.

She jumped back but he caught her hands to keep her from going too far. His hold was firm but not rough and when she looked into his eyes she found the same was true about his gaze. He looked at her intently but there was no echo of the sharpness that had been in his voice.

"We can't afford to think that way," he finally added.

Her mind was still blank as she looked at him and it allowed him to keep talking. "It will only paralyze you and that won't help anyone. Understand?"

"Liv?" he said when she didn't show any form of response. She finally nodded slowly. "Okay. Now, we need to figure out what to do."

And just like that, a weight landed back on Liv's shoulders. This is where she had been minutes before. But before her brain could get back on track with its downward spiral Ezra spoke.

"Courtroom 101: the fights not over until it's over. And this night is far from over." He fixed her with a reassuring gaze. "During a trial, things can change and you have to be able to adjust your argument accordingly. Come on." He stood and pulled her up with him. "Let's look around and see if we can find anything useful up here."

He didn't suggest they split up but kept her by his side as they walked the perimeter of the roof. Slowly, the movement cleared Liv's mind and she joined in the search of their surroundings.

They didn't find more than some gravel and pipes. After their search left them empty-handed they came to rest along one of the walls, their arms resting on the top as they took in the neighboring buildings.

Liv was surprised how much closer the buildings seemed. Her small cubicle was in the middle of the office floor and kept her far from any view of the buildings around them. But on the roof, she could see the buildings were just as tall as the one they were on and almost looked close enough for her to reach out and touch.

Her eyes slowly moved from the roof down to the top floors when Ezra grabbed her arm.

"Look!" he said excitedly.

She followed where he was pointing a few floors down and found some of the offices had their lights on. Compared to the rest of the darkened windows, they shone brightly.

"There are people working late."

Liv looked closer and could see there were people seated at the desks in the lit offices.

He reached down and scooped up rocks.

"We can signal to them," he explained.

She looked between the rocks in his hand and back at the building. "Do you mean to throw those rocks at the building to try and get their attention?"

"Yes!"

"Do you think it will work?"

As close as the building felt, it was still a far distance away.

"I pitched for my college baseball team all four years so that's got to count for something."

Liv didn't say anything, as he gripped the first handful of rocks and pulled his arm back. The idea seemed even more far fetched than her idea about the roof and the signal-jammer.

As he released the rocks, she could see the power of his throw but the rocks sprayed out in different directions never getting close to their intended mark. But Ezra was not so easily discouraged as he reached down for another handful and tried again.

"I need something bigger," he said after his fifth attempt. His eyes dropped to the ground.

Liv joined the search. He had climbed fifty-plus floors to indulge her in her idea. The least she could do was help him find a bigger rock.

"Here," she said, handing him a large one she found.

He took it and threw it. Liv felt a spark of hope as she watched the rock soar further than any of his other attempts. It still wasn't close to hitting the other building, but it hadn't been that big of a rock. Maybe his idea wasn't completely crazy.

They returned to their search, spreading out across the roof. Liv's breath caught with excitement when she spotted a round, baseball-sized object, but when she reached for it she discovered it was only the end of a pipe. But the shape gave her an idea.

"I know where we can find a baseball!" Ezra looked at her questioningly. "In our office. Matt has one." She was already moving back towards the door while she continued to explain. "He works in a cubicle near me and is constantly throwing the ball up in the air."

Ezra's steps quickened as he followed her.

"Let's go," he said excitedly.

They were almost running by the time they reached the door.

**********************************************************************

Ahhhhhh!! He held her in his arms!

🙄 Joy, held his hand over her mouth. That's what people do when they are trying to shut someone up, that's not love.

True, but you said there was fire in his eyes....the fire of love!!! 😏

It was in her eyes. His were a pool of cool water.

Just give it to me!!!

As long as you give me that cartoon of ice cream.

*hands over ice cream*

🙄 Fine, they're in love.

You're the worst Burr.

Okay, you be the tie breaker, was it love or was Ezra just trying to shut Liv up?

And if you don't agree with me I'll never speak to you again. Considering you've never actually heard me speak and you've only seen my written voice I guess this isn't much of a threat.

Vote, comment, follow and no, I'm not giving you ice cream.