This one is probably full of more mistakes than any of the others. That is what happens when I write in a panic. And I am truly sorry for any of those mistakes.
If you bring them to my attention I will try my best to edit and fix them.
Please take a moment and review with your thoughts.
Summary: They were scheduled to go on a date, but tragedy strikes, and they are left searching for their missing Agent.
If Only She Knew
Fumbling around in his bedroom closet, Derek Morgan struggled to find something decent to wear. Of course, anything would have been absolutely fine, as long as it was washed and clean, but it seemed to him like nothing was good enough. Especially not with who his dinner guest was. Finally settling on a pair of black jeans and a dark blue casual top, he gave himself a smile. Running his hand through his hairless head as he laid them carefully down on the bed as not to crease them.
Walking into his bathroom, he turned the shower on and turned the heat up to the temperature he liked it at, before strolling casually back down the hallway towards a linen closet to get a fresh towel.
.
A niggling feeling tore at his heartstrings as he realised that his date was half an hour late. Casually, he sipped from the cold glass of water, and waited a little longer. Eyeing the door, apprehensively, waiting for her arrival.
It never came.
He felt his insides shatter into two, knowing he should have been a little more specific about his offer when they stepped off of the jet. Of course, he thought a trained profiler like herself would easily have been able to make his blubbering words out, and realised he was asking her on a date.
Then he mentally kicked herself. Elle had not really been paying attention to a word he was saying to her. Her eyes always darted past him, checking to make sure she was safe. He should have realised that. There was a small bit of hope telling him that maybe she had fallen asleep, and she had not intended to break his heart as much as she had.
Gripping onto the cold glass so hard, he watched the water condense around his hot fingers. A small sigh left his body, as he noted that she was now an hour late.
Derek Morgan had well and truly been stood up.
Signalling to the waiter, that he would only be one minute, he left to stand outside the restaurant. Pulling his cell from his pocket and dialling her number… He waited.
A ringing tone filled his ear, but no answer ever came. It just rang and rang.
Angrily, he hung up before he got the answering machine, and glancing back into the restaurant window, he shrugged, and decided that it would be best to find out what on earth had kept Elle from him.
Fisting his car keys inside his pocket, he called JJ, and was not so surprised to hear her answer on the first ring.
"Jareau." She announced.
"Hey, JJ, it's Morgan." He informed her, as if she had not already known.
"What's wrong, Morgan?" From the distance in her voice, Morgan knew she was busy with all of her files.
"I was just wondering, have you heard from Elle?" He asked.
"She said she was busy tonight when me and Garcia asked about going out for a drink, why?" Then it dawned on JJ, and Morgan knew it. "She was going out with you?"
"No… Well, yes, but she hasn't shown up." A small giggle came from the blonde.
"So wait, Elle Greenaway, has stood you, the amazing Derek Morgan, up?" Amusement hung in her words, but she lost them when Morgan did not give her a reply. JJ knew Morgan was worried. "I'm sure she must have lost track of the time, or wasn't clear of the details." JJ informed him.
"Yeah…" Morgan soon went off into a trance like state, as he sat in the drivers side of his car. Thinking back to the moment when they left the jet.
"So, um, Elle, what are you doing tonight?" He tediously asked, wondering why the hell this was so hard for him; he had never had a problem asking a woman out before! Then again, this woman was Elle Greenaway. The amazingly beautiful, smart and clever, Elle Greenaway.
"Probably just going to make some dinner, watch a bit of TV and go to sleep." Her words sounded distant, and he could see her nervous glance behind him as someone walked on the landing strip behind him.
His heart was caught in his throat as he saw the light bruising just below her ear. God, it looked painful. A small part of him regretted letting her go into that house alone. They had all known it was a trap.
"I was thinking, how about we go out and get some dinner, Chinese?" He offered, knowing it was one of Elle's favourite foods. Absent minded, she nodded.
"Sounds good, Derek." Her eyes once again darted behind him.
"Alright then, how about we meet at Jade Palace at seven?" Another nod came from her as she repeated everything he said.
"Jade Palace at seven. Good." Morgan gave a small sigh.
"You know, no one is here to hurt you?" He asked her, making her finally look into his eyes with a snap. Shock around each pupil.
"Yeah, of course." Her voice was slightly high, making it clear just how on edge she was.
"Do you want me to drive you back to yours?" Shaking her head, Elle pressed a kiss to his cheek. Not in a intimate way, but a calming one. Calming for both of them.
"Nah, I'll be fine soon." She gave him the faintest of a reassuring smile before fishing her keys from her bag. "Jade Palace at seven. See you there." She called back, as she climbed into her car.
Tentatively playing with her house keys in her hand, Elle looked behind her once again. Panic lay in her mind as she saw a black car parked a third of the way up the street; she had not saw that car before…Then again, it was understandable for one of her neighbours to have gotten a new car in the past five days while she was away on the case.
That case.
She could swear the bruise on her ear was stinging far too much, and a light trickle of blood was falling from the mark. A shake of her head brought her back into reality, as she remembered that it was only a bruise. Anything else she was feeling other than the pain was purely mental.
Turning the two different keys in the locks on the door, she flipped on the lights and looked around at her surroundings. The house was undisturbed, and nothing looked out of place. A coffee cup of five day old cold coffee lay on the table, and she smiled at the memory of leaving it there.
As she turned around to close the door and type in the code on her alarm, but stopped abruptly. Her heart began pounding in her chest so hard she sworn it would fly out.
"Don't even try it." A man, clothed in all black said, the gun in his hand pointing steadily at her head.
His face was not covered at all, and she could see his light Hispanic look. It only unnerved her even more, knowing that he would only show his face because he was fully intent on killing her. Silently, she prayed to make it out of whatever was happening alive. Slowly, she raised her hands in front of her.
The gun aimed at her head still, he warned her:
"Try anything stupid, and I will kill you." Reaching forward roughly, he took her two guns out of her holster and rolled it across the wooden floor into the middle of the front room. "Get your handcuffs out." He instructed.
Carefully, with one hand, Elle reached into her back pocket, and she pulled her handcuffs out in front of her. Then he made a mistake, lowering the gun to take the handcuffs and tie them on her wrists.
"Turn around." Elle did as he said, and threw her head backwards into his own. The man grunted in pain, and that is when she made a dash for it. Across the floor to where her guns lay. "You stupid bitch!" He spat, grabbing her ankle before she could run fully. As she tripped up, her head hit the corner of her sofa full on, and it was only a moment before she felt consciousness slip away from her.
As Morgan arrived at Elle's house, the first thing he saw was the darkness all over the house. Not a single light was on… Walking up the driveway, he knew Elle must be home considering her car was parked in it's normal place. Both of his eyebrows creased with worry as he quickened his pace to the front door. Then his heart plummeted. The door was wide open. Both of his hands reached for the gun tucked away under his jeans leg, happy he had decided to bring it with him now. Trying to make as little noise as he could manage, he stepped around the open door. Something cold touched his arm, and he spun around, gun out in front of him, to see the keys still in the front door. Something definitely was not right.
"Elle!" He called and was met by silence. Not even a scuffle from up stairs. Closing the door behind him, he made sure he would know if anyone left the house, then, flicking the light switch, he went into overdrive, searching all over for her.
"Jareau." JJ announced in her phone once again.
"JJ, it's Morgan. Get the team over to Elle's, now." He ordered, and she could hear the panic in his whispers.
"I'm getting Hotch and Gideon now." Automatically, the blonde woman rose from her seat, and raced into Hotch's office, where both he and Gideon were talking.
"JJ… You can't just barge in here." Hotch scolded her.
"Sorry… Morgan called, something's happened over at Elle's. He told us to go over there." No one had to be told twice as she said they were on their way before hanging up and ringing Reid and Garcia.
"Morgan, what is it?" Hotch and Gideon all raced side by side, to where he was leaning against the bonnet of Elle's car.
"She's not in there."
A quirked eyebrow came from Hotch.
"I mean, I got here, and the front door was wide open, keys still in there. There's blood on the floor and her guns and badge." Then Gideon raced into the still open house.
JJ pressed a hand to her mouth in shock.
"Are you sure it is her blood?" Hotch asked, and Morgan gave a shrug.
"I don't know, but there seems to be a struggle. I checked the whole house over and she isn't anywhere." Hotch gave a nod as they all began to enter the house.
"JJ, call the local police, Morgan, try Elle's cell." Both nodded and began to call the numbers.
"Her cell's here too!" Gideon called from where he could hear a ringing from under the sofa, that made Morgan give a frustrated groan.
"Are we sure she wasn't just broken into and hasn't gone over to a neighbours'?" Gideon suggested.
"At nine at night?" Morgan questioned, but he replied with a shrug.
"We'll wait here for the cops, Morgan, you Hotch, Reid and Garcia when they get here, start knocking on doors." Gideon ordered, and both men reached for their ID badges.
Walking down the street, one house at a time, they knocked, but never got a welcome reply. Apparently Elle never really made friends with anyone in the street, and from their attitude, Morgan could not blame her.
"Excuse me, ma'am. I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions." The old woman in a nightgown gave a light nod and opened her door further to let them enter the house. "It's about one of your neighbours, Elle Greenaway." He informed her.
From the gasp the old lady gave, they assumed she either knew Elle in a good way, or she hated her.
"What's happened?" She asked, now on the edge of her seat.
"How did you know Agent Greenaway?" Hotch asked.
"I house sat for her sometimes, well, a lot of the time. You know, just went over and checked everything was in order every so often. In return she would cook me some food from time to time." Hotch nodded and began jotting things down. "Why? What trouble has she gotten herself in?" A hand smoothed over her old face.
"We don't know. Were you aware of Agent Greenaway arriving home tonight?" She answered with a small nod.
"At about five her car came into her drive. She kept looking behind herself, like she was panicked." They nodded, knowing Elle was more on edge after that last case.
"Did you speak to her?" Morgan now asked. She shook her head.
"I was watching some TV when I saw her car arrive. Normally she comes over to say thank you, but she didn't… It looked like she had a man with her so I presumed I would see her tomorrow and got along with making a few phone calls." There it was, the information they needed.
"A man? There was a man?" Morgan prompted her.
"Yeah, he came in only a second after she walked in." Hotch noted down more things.
"What did he look like? What was he wearing?" Hotch asked.
"All black… I couldn't see his face, he was facing the wrong way." Morgan looked to Hotch nervously.
"He didn't have a mask on?" The woman shook her head.
"No. Why?" They watched her begin to pick at her hands.
"Agent Greenaway seems to have been taken… and we believe it was by that man. So if you have anymore information." She gave a nod.
"Of course. Glad I could help."
As her eyes opened, Elle felt like the weight of the world was forcing them to shut again. She had a splitting headache which she knew must have been from the fall onto her sofa. There was a soft wetness at the front of her head, which she believed to be blood. Not managing to check due to her handcuffs still holding her arms together. The cold room she lay in was almost immersed in darkness, the only light coming from the small basement window, when a soft stream of moonlight trickled in, lighting up the table in the centre of the room. The table that was lined with other women's blood. In that moment she doubted that she would ever get out of here alive. Where ever here was.
A oily sensation rose in the bottom of her stomach, and she tried her best to force it back down. Knowing she had failed when the bile filled her mouth, she did all she could do; turn her head to the side and empty out her stomach. Which proved to be increasingly difficult when your hands are tied behind your back, so some of her own vomit landed on her pants, only making her want to puke even more.
Resting her head back against the solid concrete wall behind her, she closed her eyes, thankful for the coolness on the back of her head. Elle began to take soft breaths to try and calm down her fast beating heart, knowing she needed to calm herself down before she could think of a way out of this mess, and out of here. Before she even got the chance to think of a way out, the metal door slammed open, and her eyes flew into a wide state. That was until she cringed from the sudden pain of the light. Most definite concussion.
"Oh looky here, you're awake." The man toyed with her, closing the door back over, and plunging the room back into it's same dark state.
Carefully, Elle listened to where he was walking and tried her best to keep a track of the shadow. It was short lived as he turned on the dim light and a small part of her body thanked the psycho son of a bitch for the softness.
"Good morning, sunshine." He said, and bent down next to her. His mouth pressing into her ear as he placed a soft kiss on the bruised skin. "Looks like you had a rough case..." He smirked as he pulled away, "Well things are only about to get worse." His hand rose to touch the cut on her head. Elle tried to shrink away from him.
"What do you want?" She finally asked, looking in fear, then she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying her best to get rid of the fear inside of herself; knowing the son of a bitch probably fed off of it. She would not give him the satisfaction.
"What do I want?" He smirked. "Well I for one want to have control over women like you. Show you all that's all you're good for. You do not deserve all the respect we have for you." He said, calmly, almost in opposition to the words he was actually saying to her.
Elle's eyes widened in fear as he took a fist of her hair in his hand, pulling it roughly.
"You are nothing. Not a single thing, without me." She knew the right words to say, the words that would make the man stop the sudden pain he was putting her through. But it would only make it worse. And Elle knew that if she was to stand a chance, she would not succumb to him. Not until she had no choice. For now, he could torture her.
There was a small smile in her mind that she would not let reach her face, as she remembered her date with Derek. Maybe she did stand a small chance. Hoping he went to her apartment and saw what had gone on there. Maybe he had gotten the whole team in on it now and there really was a whole bunch of people trying to save her.
"I asked you a question!" He shouted, pulling a little harder at her hair, making Elle whimper in pain.
"W-What?" She managed to stutter out.
"I said: what are you without me?" His nose came in and touched her own. His breath stunk of alcohol. It only made her want to throw up again.
"I am Elle Greenaway. Successful Agent in the FBI's BAU." Her eyes narrowed at him. Then it came.
His fist came to blow with her stomach and she let out the faintest of a groan.
"Wrong. You are NOTHING!" He roared, and dropped her down to the floor just as he heard a movement upstairs... "I will be back in a moment... Remember, you are nothing." He whispered again, this time letting himself kick her in the abdomen.
Elle never looked up to watch him leave, knowing she probably would cry in pain if she did. She was certain right now that not only did she have a concussion, she had at least a cracked rib, if not broken. Tugging at her handcuffs harder, she winced slightly at the rub of the metal on her flesh. She remembered that feeling all too well. It was the same feeling she had experienced only two months ago. When she was stuck on the train with the psycho Bryer.
A small smile came to her lips, despite the pain, as she tried her best to think of anything other than the lingering ache.
She remembered how Reid had saved her on the train that day. And the way she had called Gideon Dad...
'How do you think he'd feel about mom?' She teased.
'Tell me when you're going to do that...'
'Why?' The smile on her face was teasing and joking.
'So I can run.' Lightly she nudged Reid, who she considered like a brother to her.
Then she was snatched away from the thoughts, as she winced at the entrance of the light in the room again.
"Been dwelling on what you are?" He asked, walking back over to her and letting the door spring shut of it's own accord.
"Yeah, and I am Agent Elle Greenaway. And I profile sick sons of bitches like you every day." She spat at him. Angering him so much.
"No! You are nothing!" She did not expect the next thing to come, but he roughly dragged her off of the floor, and threw her on the table in the other women's blood.
Elle winced as her hands were crushed behind her back.
"I will ask again, what are you without me?" He starred into her eyes, menacingly.
"Someone that will shoot you." She wound him up. Not the right thing to do as she watched him dig in a draw under the table, holding out a bloody knife. Elle was now unsure what she was more scared of, the fact it was covered in another woman's blood and she could possibly get a blood disease from it, or the fact he looked like he was about to torture her.
"Wrong answer." The pain from the knife was quite a hell of a lot worse as he cut the thin layer of her already red top. "I will ask you again." He toyed the knife in front of her again. "What are you without me." He cocked his head to the side and raised his eyebrows, really expecting her to give in that easy.
"I will never say what you want me to say. You're nothing without me. Not the other way around." Now that pissed the killer off, and the knife tore across her lower abdomen. Not deep enough to require stitches though. She knew he would only ever kill her when she finally said what he wanted her to say, or until she bleed to death. Which ever came first. Elle just prayed that what the thing that came first was the team to her rescue.
"You are nothing!" He threw a slap at her cheek, making the whole right side of her face burn in pain. All she wanted to do was reach up and touch the warm surface with her hand and nurse it back to health.
Then began the frightening ordeal, as he slowly began to torture her with the knife. Cuts lining the entirety of her stomach.
Elle bit her lower lip, trying to stop her tears from the pain from dripping down her cheeks.
"What are you?" She refused to answer, so this time he carved a line up her still clothed leg. Cutting the black material with it. "What... Are... You?"
"The person who is going to laugh when they finally catch you." She wound him up a little more, and he dug the knife into her calf, fully stabbing her this time. She cried out in unbearable pain.
"I am intrigued, Miss Greenaway... No one has lasted this long before..." He eyed her, wiping his bloody hand on his own top.
"You're just upset that I will not play your game. I will never give into you. And you will never hear that word from me." She played with her words.
"We'll see." An evil smirk came over his lips as he turned to the furnace in the corner, that Elle had not noticed previously.
Digging a lighter out of his pocket, he burn the wood and the orange flames came to life.
"I will make sure you always remember what you are, Elle Greenaway. Nothing."
His back turned to her, and Elle eyed the knife he had put down on the table. How she wanted nothing other than to reach over and grab the blood covered spike and embed it into his skull. But her hands were stuck. Trapped underneath the weight of her body. Numb. It was brought to her attention now that she could not actually feel anything going on it them. Although, the burning of the metal cutting at her wrist still pained her. But the two hands laying beneath her back were dead to the world. Like weights on the end of her arms.
"Let's see if I can make you say it now." Elle's eyes widened with fear as she saw the metal red rod in his hands. The word carved into the bottom was unreadable, especially from that angle. But, if she had to make a wild guess, she would have thought it said 'nothing'. "What are you?" Her mouth remained shut as she refused to say the word he wanted her to say. Giving a shrug, he plunged the hot brand into her abdomen, just above her left hip. Elle screamed in pain, and began begging.
"Please, no, stop!" She cried out. Much to her surprise, he took it off of her.
"What are you?" He asked again. And once again, she did not say a thing. Just breathing deeply to try and get rid of the pain burning at her side. "It's your own fault." He shrugged, plunging it back into her. Elle cried out again, and then she began questioning. How much more of this could she actually take?
"One of the neighbours actually said there was an unfamiliar car in the street. We have a partial." Morgan said, handing Garcia the slip of paper which she frantically took and began tying away at her laptop.
"That's not enough. Did we get a colour?" She asked.
"Black." Then she began taking more things down.
"Anything else, this is still a pretty long list, Morgan?" As she looked up, her eyes were red and puffy, and they all knew she had been crying uncontrollably. she probably would still be right now, if it were not for the sudden lead they had received.
"Another neighbour said they saw a Hispanic man walking around dressed in black." Hotch now imputed. Garcia gave another nod and typed away a little more frantically.
"That gives us three men." They all gave a sigh. Knowing all they could do was go knocking on these men's doors and hoped that their co-worker was behind the doors. That was until JJ said the words they needed to her.
"I got something." She said, walking back in with a file in her hand. "There have been three woman abducted. All brunette, all working high class jobs. they all go missing at night and then, by morning have been found dead close to home..." a soft gulp came from Morgan.
"So wait, we have had this son of a bitches file without knowing?" There was anger in his voice and JJ nodded. Handing the file to Hotch.
"Garcia, rule it down to men who either don't have a job or work below a woman. Something must have triggered him to do with their job status." More frantic typing came from the blonde, and they were certain steam was flying off of her keys.
"I got one name. Carlos Belem. He lives at..." A pause. "32 Wood Lane." That was all they had to hear as they all piled into the SUV's. Not saying a single thing as Hotch turned on the lights.
"JJ, get the police down here." He ordered, damn well not taking any chances if this was where Elle was.
Elle struggled to keep her eyes open as dizziness began to consume her body. She knew it was probably a result of her blood loss and concussion. But she knew she needed to stay awake, the team will be here soon. She told herself. The same thing she had been saying to herself for the past four hours. He loomed over her with a menacing smile. Holding the knife in between his fingers like it would break at any second. His shadow came over her face, making her eyes shoot open in fear.
"Say it." He instructed her. And now it came the time. the moment Elle hoped the team would just burst in the door, because she felt so weak, she knew she was going to end up telling him exactly what he wanted.
"I'm..." She struggled to say anything at all as she coughed through the words. Blood coming out with her cough, the first sign that she had internal bleeding. Now things were getting serious. "I won't say it." She pushed on. And mentally told herself that there was a guardian angel in the room, looking over her, and trying to get the team to her as fast as they could.
Her eyes avoided his as he smirked, getting to try out his new torture method. Clipping her long thumb nail with a pair of pliers, he yanked it off in a swift pull. Elle gave the loudest shriek of pain she could muster up.
"What are you?" He asked again. This time moving onto another nail.
"Agent Elle Greenaway." Her eyes narrowed and she tried to put fear in him, but it was not working. He had the upper hand and he knew it.
"That's most definitely not what you are." He informed her.
With the next cry of pain, Elle tried her best to keep herself distracted by attempting to move her 'uncuffed' hands. But they barely had any other feeling in them other than pain. She could not move them at all. Too weak to do so. She tried to remember back to when he took the handcuffs off of her. But realised that they were still around her wrists, the metal linking the two having been cut. Mentally, she noted that she would have to put in a form for a new pair.
"What. Are. You." He teased the tip of her next nail.
"I'm..." Then she felt it. Like a weight being lifted from her body, and she found a sudden darkness. Slipping away toward it, she found the light. Her eyes closing.
"No!" He cried out, frantically looking for a pulse. "You will not die! You will only die when I say so!" He began trying his best to wake her up. Then the basement door flung open.
"Carlos Belem. Step the hell away from her." Hotch said first, walking in with his gun straight ahead of him. Morgan, Reid and Gideon walking in right behind him. All of them surrounding him. So he did the only thing he could come up with. He grabbed Elle's lifeless body, and held a knife against her throat.
"Try anything and I will kill her." He threatened. Reid automatically whispered into his arm. "JJ, ambulance, It's bad." Then he raised his gun back. Aiming for the man's chest.
"You don't want to do that." Gideon said.
"Yeah? How the hell do you know that?" He taunted with the knife on her throat, rolling it around in his fingers a few times.
Then the gun shot was heard, piercing him right in the back. He dropped to the floor, collapsing on top of Elle.
They all looked to see JJ who had her gun in the gap of the basement window, she then scampered away, and they could hear footsteps racing around the house.
Morgan went to Elle's side, kicking the knife away from Carlos and pushing him off of her.
"Elle, Elle, talk to me." He said, checking frantically for a pulse. There was none. "I can't find a pulse." Before anyone could fire into ultimate panic, the paramedics raced in and began to surround around Elle.
One of them tried their best to stop the bleeding. The other trying to revive her.
"We've got her." He finally announced. Placing a mask over her face to help her breath. "Let's get her on the stretcher." He said. "One. Two. Three." On three both paramedics lifted her onto a small blue carry bed, and carried her up the stairs out of the front door.
"Oh my God." Garcia said, clutching onto JJ's hand as more tears streamed down her face.
"She's going to be okay. Elle's a fighter." JJ said, but there was doubt in her words.
"Gideon's going to ride with her, alright?" Morgan finally said from behind them, making them jump. "We'll follow in the SUV's." It was an unspoken instruction as all of them clambered into the black cars, and, lights fully on and blaring, they began following the ambulance down the winding roads to the hospital.
It seemed to be the longest wait ever, and they all sat there in compete silence. All eyeing up the hospital doors, waiting for the doctor to come out and give them some news. Any news at all. They hated playing the waiting game.
Just as the sun rose on that morning at eight am, a doctor walked out into the hallway, and called the very name they had been waiting to hear.
"Elle Greenaway?" They all nodded.
"Is she okay?" Hotch asked, tentatively.
"We lost her a couple of times. But the surgery seemed to be successful. She's in recovery right now, but everything seemed to go fine. The rest of the recovery is up to Miss Greenaway to make." He informed them.
"Can we go and see her?" Gideon asked.
"She is asleep at the minute, and we've got her on some quite heavy anaesthetics so she probably won't wake up today. But yeah, you can see her. She's down in 5F." Hotch gave him a nod, and then a look of thanks.
When they walked into the hospital room, no one was prepared for what they saw. Elle lay there, as white as the blankets surrounding her. Bandages all over her hands, shoulders, stomach and legs. There were also ones on her cheek and her head as well. A drip was going into one hand that was supplying her with more blood. A monitor was hooked up to her, slowly making small beeps. Telling them all she was alive.
No one dared to move from the doorway for a minute, until someone decided to make the first move.
Garcia was the first. Walking to the bedside and wiping some hair from her face.
"God, Elle." She quietly said, more tears falling from her face.
Morgan came up behind her, carefully putting a chair down and letting her sit. JJ did the same on the other side.
Throughout the day, it seemed like no one dared to move from the room, just in case anything happened. Gideon had called Elle's brother, who told them her family would be down there within the next few hours... Now they were just waiting for their arrival. At six in the evening, the heard the first sign of life from the vulnerable agent.
"Dad?" Her voice was weak, tiny, so broken. Her eyes did not even open as she said the word.
But the room was so still and quiet that they all heard it, and they all turned to look at her.
"Dad." She asked again.
"Should we get a doctor?" JJ asked, looking terrified as to what was happening to Elle.
Gideon shook his head, "She's just dreaming. It's not like she is actually awake."
So, instead, the two women tried their best to run Elle's arms and keep her calm.
"No..." She finally said. "I can't go." All of their brows wrinkled. "...I love you." She gave the faintest hint of a smile, telling them that something in her dream was not scaring her. "I'll see you soon though?" Her words were slurred as a result of the drugs. "When it's time."
"Of course, Peanut." Elle smiled at her father, and wrapped her arms around his neck. Giving him a strong hug and a kiss.
"Bye..." That was when her eyes opened and she took in her surroundings, and the people at her bedside.
They had managed to get there in time. They saved her.
"Hey, you're up." JJ said.
"Hi." She managed to say, then tried to sit up.
"No, you need to stay lying down." JJ held a bit of force on her shoulder to stop her from moving.
"Tell me he is dead." She finally said, looking up at the ceiling. Morgan gave a light laugh.
"Yeah, Darling, he's gone." They watched her let out a slow breath of relief.
"What happened?" She finally asked, looking into Penelope's watery eyes.
"You don't remember?" Pen questioned, Elle gave her a small smile.
"Of course I do. But… How the hell did you find him? Know I was gone?" JJ gave her a small smile.
"Morgan came looking for you… you missed something 'important'." She informed her, then Elle turned a small shade of red as she saw the blonde Media liaison's smirk.
"Morgan?" She asked, now the man came into her view.
"I'm right here." He told her, with a small smile.
"I'm sorry I missed it." He shook his head.
"That's okay, there will be other dinner dates." There, he had said it, but no one in the room gasped or said anything else as Elle nodded. "What happened?" He asked her, fully well knowing they needed her to tell them for the reports.
Taking a deep breath, Elle decided she needed to tell them:
"I opened the door, and he had a gun. Then he took off mine and threw them on the floor. Then tried to cuff me, but I head butted him… He tripped me and I knocked myself out on the couch." She informed him.
"Always the clumsy one." He joked, and Elle gave the ghost of a smile at his attempt at a joke.
"Thanks." She said, happy for once to be alive.