Oh my goodness! I was hit today by the inspiration bug, and got excited. So, I really, really love this song, and this band, and realized how much I could relate this to Criminal Minds, so I sat at my computer and wrote my little heart out. It took me about, I'd say, roughly four and a half hours. I am really ADHD so, I had to get up and move every so often. Plus, I had to stop and watch some CM while I wrote, sooo. I really hope you like this one, because I personally do. I rarely ever finish my stories, so this is a rare treat for you guys. I advise you to look the song up on Youtube because you might love it like I do. Reviews are loved, but not needed at all. :) -Taylor. x
Disclaimer: I neither own Criminal Minds, nor this song. Skillet owns the song, CBS owns Criminal Minds. :(
Hero – Skillet
I'm just a step away,
I'm just a breath away
Losin' my faith today
(We're fallin' off the edge today)
I am just a man, not superhuman
(I'm not superhuman)
Someone save me from the hate
Emily Prentiss never liked feeling weak. In fact, she loathed every second of the horrid feeling. She was always the kid who stuck up for the weak, although she came off as a defenseless nerd. Her fifteenth year consisted mostly of feeling weak and stupid, and she resented it. Her glory was feeling like she could defend herself properly. She had never needed a knight in shining armor.
Until now.
After the Cyrus incident at the compound in Colorado, she secretly vowed to never be put into a situation like that ever again, that she would fight like hell to avoid it as much as possible. It was silly, she knew, but it had kept her sane up until now. She now knew how ignorant and oblivious she had been to the hate of the world around her. She never imagined she could ever infuriate someone so badly, especially someone she had never even met.
It had started with a not-so-innocent note being nailed to the door of her DC apartment. She had read it, saved it, and thrown it in a drawer in case the person ever decided to act on the ridiculous threats. Then, it had escalated to notes with mentions of her whereabouts on those specific days. And then, he had discretely shown up to the BAU, masking his true identity with a cry for their help. He had traveled so far, all for one master trick.
It's just another war,
Just another family torn
(We're fallin' from out faith today)
Just a step on the edge,
Just another day in the world we live
The day had started off like any other; alarm, dress, coffee, food, work. She had arrived at almost the exact time she did everyday, right after Rossi and just before Morgan. JJ had greeted her as per usual, coffee in one hand and coffee cup in the other. Morgan had thrown out a quip or two in her expense that she brushed off with a laugh and a few words in a snappy come back, shutting him up. Reid had spouted off a few random facts he pulled out of his ass, then Garcia swooped in, exchanging the predictable "I'll show you a good morning, hot lips" thing with Derek. Hotch had poked his head out of his little rabbit's hole for a few moments, surveying the team, then returned to whatever he had previously been doing.
They had had a few nights off after a troubling case in Seattle, and all had been chomping at the bit for a new case, which is why they had all jumped when one Randle Cattner had shown up in a panic. He claimed that there was an emergency in the small-ish farm town of Kalebury, Connecticut; women being abducted, raped, and killed in one of the most brutal ways possible, only to be proved right by JJ a few minutes after.
Within an hour, the whole team, minus Penelope, had hopped on a plane and were New England bound. The never had a dull moment after that. At least six bodies had all ready been found within only three weeks, and at the rate the killer was going, he wasn't about to stop then. Randle had explained that his daughters Callie and Carson had been among those to be killed, and that he was on the police force, working on the case.
I need a hero, to save me now.
I need a hero
(Save me now).
I need a hero, to save my life.
A hero will save me
(Just in time).
The six women taken ranged from being sixteen, to forty-one, all ranging in body conditions, eye colors, and skin colors, the only consistency being the hair color and the MO. Had those not played in, the BAU would have not quite qualified it as a serial killer's doing. But, a seventh victim, taken within hours of them landing, had made it clear that he now had a type; fair-skinned, dark haired women in their thirties. The first few, a sixteen year old junior in high school named Rebekka Lynch, a dark skinned college student named Sheryl Dorrity, a Latina immigrant named Isabel Valdez, and a twenty-seven year old mother of two named Kate Winem were only test-runs. By the time Callie and Carson Cattner, and Melissa Kavinaugh had been taken, the unsub had found his type.
Hotch had strongly recommended that Randle step back from the case, seeing as he was too emotionally attached to the victims, and, after almost an hour of "heated debating", he had agreed, and gone home. As a single father himself, Hotch understood why he had wanted to stay on, but he also saw how it was clouding his judgment, making him want to storm onto people's property and arrest them at random. The tiny police force, only eight remained, had been easy to persuade to be on their A-game.
After a good two days searching for leads and clues as to who did it, Garcia got a hit. It was undoubtedly their unsub, so the BAU paired up, Emily was with Reid, JJ was with Morgan, and Hotch was with Rossi. The latter two had taken the house and the guest house on the property while Prentiss and Reid had taken the horse barn. With guns at shoulder height, she had gone first, Spencer covering her from behind. They had split up on either side to sweep, which was when she was jumped.
The twelve, or so, horses that had been in there had gone ballistic, rearing and screaming as loud as they could, Emily trying to pry the hand from over her mouth in vane. The man behind her was too strong. Reid spun, gun at the ready, but something he saw stopped him. The man had a knife up to her temple, daring him to move. "Move and she dies," he had said through his ski mask. "Drop the gun, step back, and tell no one."
"Wait, we can talk about this. No one has to die here."
"Oh, but they do, Dr. Reid. Someone always has to die," he said, and both profilers could tell that behind that mask, his lips were twisting into a sickening smile. Emily shivered. "Now, put the gun down."
I've gotta fight today,
To live another day.
Speakin' my mind today
(My voice will be heard today).
I've gotta make a stand,
But I am just a man
(I'm not superhuman).
My voice will be heard today
She had taken every precaution she could possibly think of to avoid this. She did everything n her power to get out of his grasp, and even despite Reid's gallant efforts to save her, somehow, she had blacked out and was dragged from the barn. When she awoke sometime later, her entire body felt like she had been trampled by those horses. She ached everywhere, and it hurt to blink. Her body screamed at her for more sleep, but she knew if she had blacked out once, and was in this much pain, there was a huge possibility that she had a pretty bad concussion, and it was common knowledge that it was completely idiotic to fall asleep then.
She was on a dirt floor, in a shack much like the one she had rescued Kelly from in Canada only a year or two before. She reached up a hand and wiped blood from her chin that was slowly oozing from her mouth. She felt her lip split, which was never anything new, and felt relief. She then began to survey her surroundings, taking in every little detail she could see, from the four inch window near the ceiling, to the little cage that sat in the far corner with a frightened looking woman in it.
Emily began to attempt to sit up, hands flying to her pounding head as she did so. You've got to be freakin' kidding me, she thought, shutting her eyes for a moment. There was a gruff laugh from behind her, followed by an even rougher hand grabbing her by the neck and pulling her into a standing position. Dazed and confused, she realized he had stripped her of her gun, her vest, her earpiece, and no doubt her credentials as well. In attempt to steady herself, she reached for the wall, getting to see his face for the first time since she had awoken. "Randle Cattner?" she breathed, utterly astounded by who she was staring down.
"Happy to see me, bitch?" he asked with a wicked grin. "I've been seeing a lot of you lately."
Her eyes narrowed. "Where?"
"Around DC. All the time you go to that adorable little diner near your apartment, or that pizza place down the road," he began to pace around her. "Oh yes, Emily, I've been seeing you a lot. I've seen how you act around your male colleagues; you're just a whore. A filthy, filthy whore. Which is why I've brought you here, as well as Ms Kavinaugh over there. You get to watch me kill her, slowly. Then, you get to experience the magic for yourself. Doesn't that sound fun?"
It's just another war,
Just another family torn.
(My voice will be heard today)
It's just another kill.
The countdown begins to destroy ourselves.
"Reid, man, what happened to you? Where's Prentiss?" Morgan asked hurriedly, kneeling down beside his friend, who was rubbing his forehead.
He blinked a few times. "He-he took her. I was standing right here, and… He just took her. He can't do that…"
"Looks like he all ready did. Did you see who he was?"
"No… No, I couldn't see his face; he was wearing a ski mask. He took Emily's gun, and I think he pistol whipped me," Spencer said, feeling the bleeding cut on his left cheek.
Morgan looked over his shoulder at JJ. "Get Hotch; tell him we need an ambulance. Let him know what's going on; I want to catch this son of a bitch before he so much as touches her."
JJ, who was utter shock, could only nod, absently, and run from the barn towards the main house where Hotch was speaking with the elderly woman at the door. "Hotch! Hotch, you're gonna want to hear this," she called once he was within earshot. She watched him excuse himself and hurry over to her with concern etched into his otherwise emotionless face. "He took Emily."
I need a hero, to save me now.
I need a hero
(Save me now).
I need a hero, to save my life.
A hero will save me
(Just in time).
She wasn't quite sure how long she had been down there before Cattner had returned leather belts in hand, and that same stupid smile on his face. Emily was leaning against the wall beside the cage, glaring up at her captor with such hatred that he, had he not been a sociopath, would have probably run scared in the opposite direction. No one crossed Emily Prentiss, especially one who she had previously trusted to have her back.
"Ah, I see you two are making good friends. Well, isn't that cute," he mocked, swinging the leather in front of himself, taunting them.
"Shut up," she spat, blood flying out from her mouth.
Before she had time to react, she had been whipped across the face, drawing more blood. "Don't ever speak like that to me," he demanded, getting down on his knees so he could be face to face with her. He reached out and slapped her, for good measure, across the same cheek he had just hit.
With all she could muster, she didn't make a sound, rather gathered all the saliva and blood in her mouth, spitting it across his face. He shut his eyes, rage setting in over his face. He blindly threw a punch, missing her by a fraction of an inch and hitting the dirt wall behind her. His eyes snapped open and he let out a strangled yell of frustration before standing, and kicking her in the ribs. "You just gave the two of you a death wish." With that, he left the room, throwing the belts down halfway up the stairs.
I need a hero, to save my life.
I need a hero, just in time.
Save me just in time.
Save me just in time.
"Please, please save me," she heard Melissa whimper. The poor woman was curled up in a ball, tucked into the corner.
She took pity on her and turned. "It's gonna be okay, my team will find us, but for now, you've just gotta fight him as much as you can," she said in an urgent, yet hushed tone.
"I-I can't, I'm t-too tired," she sobbed, matted hair falling around her face.
"Yes, you can. I know it will be tough, but you've gotta fight. Do you have a husband, or kids, or someone you care about?"
"I-I have a daughter. Karissa. She's thirteen."
"Okay, well, whenever he tries to break you, just think of Karissa, okay? Can you do that for me? Just think of your daughter, and how much you lover her. How much you care about her. All the things you still want to see with her; proms, graduations, boyfriends, getting married, okay? Everything."
Who's gonna fight for what's right?
Who's gonna help us survive?
We're in the fight of our lives
(And we're not ready to die).
"I don't want to die," Melissa whispered minutes later. She had stopped her crying and was now sitting silently against the wall, mind focused on her beautiful Karissa.
"I know. I don't either, but we've got to fight, right?"
Her reply was a silent nod and the shifting of feet on earth. The sound of footsteps stilled the both of them, Melissa into freezing, and Prentiss into protective mode. Randle appeared at the base of the steps, face stone, and knives in hands. He didn't even look at them as he made his way to the opposite side of the room. "You know, you're a fun one. I think I'll enjoy feeling the life leave your body."
"Why did you kill your daughters? Did they look too much like their mother?"
He wheeled around and stormed over to her, grabbing a handful of hair and yanking her to her feet. "Listen here, bitch, you think you know everything, but you don't know nothing. You don't know anything about my wife. She was a whore, just like you. Caught her sleeping with her boss one night when she thought I wasn't coming home. Girls were out at a party, never knew, but I did. So I killed her, and they died just like she did." As if for emphasis, he took his free, right hand and shoved a fist into her all ready bruised ribs.
Who's gonna fight for the weak?
Who's gonna make 'em believe,
I've got a hero (I've got a hero)
Livin' in me?
Garcia had traced Emily's cell phone to a seemingly abandoned barn on the outskirts of town, and, to their astonishments, confirmed it to be the residence of one Randle Cattner. An enraged BAU had driven there in record timing. It had been only hours since Emily had been taken, and since then, night had fallen, and the sun had begun to rise once again. Each member had had their time to lose it, Morgan going first and punching the barn wall when he found Reid, JJ had nearly had a meltdown at the station while they were waiting for Emily's phone to switch back on, Reid had nearly cried when Derek had found him, Rossi had attempted to stay calm, but he snapped at a few officers who were only trying to be helpful, Garcia had gone off on a tangent about "someone taking her Princess, and Hotch had been silently cursing up a storm since she was taken.
There was no debating that the entire team needed to kill the son of a bitch quick, or nothing would ever be okay again. So, when the SUVs pulled up the long driveway, and finally to a stop, they bailed out without a word. Derek, JJ, and Rossi had taken the large, falling apart farm house, and Hotch and Reid had run into the empty barn. The house was swept within a few minutes of being inside, basement included, finding nothing of substance. The barn, on the other hand, took a bit more time. The base level was checked first, then the hay loft. Nothing was their, either. Hotch pulled out his cell, dialed for Garcia and had her send the coordinates to his mobile GPS.
They, as well as two officers, followed a trail that lead into the thin woods behind the property. There was no trail, so Hotch had his nose to the screen, staring intensely at it, as if it were the one holding Emily. He stopped short, almost sending Reid into his back. "It should be here, somewhere," he said, pocketing it and searching the ground. "Check under the leaves."
I'm gonna fight for what's right,
Today I'm speakin' my mind.
And if it kills me tonight,
(I will be ready to die).
"Melissa, dear, tell me, are you ready?"
She simply shook her head, mouth clamped shut.
"But, why? I mean, how could life possibly get any better now? You're trapped down here, forgotten, hungry, thirsty, while your daughter doesn't miss you. She probably doesn't even care that you're gone, in fact, she's probably glad to be rid of y-"
"Don't listen to him, he's just trying to make you upset," Emily said quickly and quietly, only to receive a boot to her left ribcage.
"What did I tell you before about shutting up?"
"You have no right to be doing this, Randle. You're going to be caught. It's just a matter of time."
"And by the time that I do, the both of you will be dead."
A hero's not afraid to give his life,
A hero's gonna save me, just in time.
"Hotch, there's nothing here," Spencer said, grimly, after twenty minutes of tense searching and yelling. "She's not out here."
He refused to believe that. There was no way that she could just have fallen off the map. The deputy stood up quickly and made his way over to him. "Sir, I think this could be your agent's," he said, handing over a white cell phone.
Aaron closed his eyes for a moment, taking it from him. "Yes, this is hers."
I need a hero, to save me now.
I need a hero
(Save me now).
I need a hero, to save my life.
A hero's gonna save me
(Just in time).
Emily was standing now, a hand steadying her against the wall. "They will find us, and you will be put in jail for a long, long time," she told him, stalling as best she could.
"Shut it."
"The entire world will know what you've done, and will be disgusted. Is that how you want to be remembered? A sociopath with no capability of love, or remorse? Huh? An unloving, soulless shell of a father, and a husband?" she prodded, feeling a bit bolder as he inched his way towards Melissa, who was still cowering in the cage.
"I said, shut up," he repeated, raising his voice.
"Why? So you can continue your pathetic existence? What are you afraid of, eh? Cause it's obviously not getting caught. Is this the way your daughters saw you? Is this how you treated them? Did you rape them, too?"
He spun on his heel. "I said, shut up!" he roared, charging her like a bull on a tirade.
I need a hero.
Who's gonna fight for what's right?
Who's gonna help us survive?
"Sh!" both Reid and Hotch said in unison. There was an echo of someone yelling east of them. Within a second, they all were sprinting in the direction of the noise, hearing it growing louder as they surged on.
I need a hero.
Who's gonna fight for the weak?
(I need a hero)
Who's gonna make 'em believe?
I need a hero.
I need a hero.
He punched her across the face, a crack telling her she had her nose broken, now. He hit again and again, all over her upper body, Emily just taking it without showing any pain at all. "I would never touch my daughters like that!" he continued, face turning more and more red, the angrier he became. "How dare you say that?" A hit to the gut. "I loved my daughters like I loved myself, but-"
"But what? Did they remind you of her too much?" A hit to the ribs.
"Yes!" he cried, then swung at her face again, but was stopped by her hand catching his. "You remind me so much of her. You both are filthy, and you both will pay!" With his free hand, he reached up and thrust it around her throat, choking her with all the strength he had left. "All women are the same; always so innocent until one day, they turn on you."
Her hands desperately tried to pry his away, but the more she struggled, the harder he pressed. She could hear Melissa screaming, but it suddenly seemed distant. From behind Randle's head, she saw Morgan, Hotch, Rossi, Reid, and JJ all rush in, followed by a few other officers. She heard Morgan yell something before both he and Rossi jumped him from behind, tearing him away from Prentiss. Reid had his gun aimed at Cattner's heart, and JJ went straight for Melissa. Hotch rushed forward to her.
"Hotch…" she muttered, almost inaudibly, barely able to breathe, let alone speak.
He shushed her, pushing strands of hair from her face. "It'll be okay, Emily. I promise."
And that was the last thing she remembered before she blacked out.
A hero's gonna save me, just in time.