A/N: Ok, I rewrote Highway to Hope because I got a better idea for it. Enjoy it!
His hands gripped the steering wheel as they flew down the highway towards home, trees whipping by them on either side of the darkened road.
Looking to his right as his friends carried on loudly in the backseat, Henry LaMontagne gave his girlfriend, Elle, a soft smile. She said nothing, only reciprocated the gesture with a smile of her own, reaching across and locking her fingers with Henry's for just a moment before he turned back to the road.
"Hey Henry, turn it up, let's get legless," his friend Alex called out drunkenly from the backseat. With his Scottish accent and the effects of the alcohol, it was turning into quite the comedy.
"I think you're legless enough Alex, I'll have to carry you inside," Henry laughed.
"Yer no any fun," Alex slurred, collapsing back against his seat as the two either side of him started singing loudly and off-key to the radio.
Henry chuckled. "Here you go, you nutter"
Reaching over, he turned the volume on the radio up amidst cheers from the backseat. With a grin on his face as they started a very drunken rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody, he shook his head.
The lights of the city shone in the distance as they rounded a bend in the road. Elle was quiet in the passenger seat as their friends continued to party in the back.
The road began to straighten out again and Henry relaxed his grip on the wheel. He turned to Elle, grinning in defeat at the raucous behaviour behind them. Elle chuckled in response, not needing words to know what Henry was grinning about.
It was barely a split second later, when Henry's eyes had just slid back to the road, when the flash of light erupted across the windshield, and the entire world rolled out from beneath them.
"You made me go down into a ditch when I was just off crutches, because your shoes were Italian leather," Reid exclaimed over the rising chatter at the table.
"My shoes weren't really Italian leather, I just didn't want to go into the ditch," Rossi admitted to raucous laughter from the other members of the team.
They were out for one of their rare get togethers outside of work, at a new Italian restaurant that had opened up just a few blocks away from Rossi's. It was so rare that they were able to get together without the evil that resided as a backdrop within their everyday work.
"So who's children are going to result in a phone call tonight? 'Excuse me Sir, this is Officer Davies, I have your son here... he's a bit drunk'," Hotch said with a chuckle.
"That was one time!" JJ laughed. "And trust me, we reamed him out for it"
"I think it was more you reamed him out for it and I just stood beside you and occasionally nodded or said "listen to your mother!"" Will butt in, making the others laugh.
"Yeah, that's pretty much how it goes. Mom does the yelling, Dad just stands there and pretends he knows what's going on," Morgan chuckled.
"Only way to get it done," Will agreed, reaching across and bumping Morgan's fist as their table mates laughed.
JJ shook her head as she grinned at her husband. He was such a goof: sometimes she was sure she could swear she had three children, not two.
Steven Erskine was going to be a dead man.
He had promised his wife, his beautiful Isabella, that he would be home no later than 9pm. It was now after 10, and he was still at least twenty minutes from home.
She was the most beautiful woman he'd ever laid eyes on, but by god, she was terrifying when she was mad. It certainly didn't help that she was eight months pregnant with their first child, and the hormones were running rampant. Steven knew he was in for a hell of a tongue lashing the second his big toe crossed the threshold.
He slowed down as he came to a bend, wanting to keep the car steady and secure on the dark highway. He dipped his lights in case another car came around at the same time, and kept his hands steady on the wheel. The last thing he needed was to have a car accident getting home. Isabella would resurrect him from his own grave so she could kill him herself.
Moments later, the road was straightening out once more and he was relaxing a little... well, as much as he could knowing what was waiting for him at home.
'Maybe I should stop and get her her favourite takeout, or some ice-cream' he thought to himself.
The thought had barely crossed his mind when his headlights started to illuminate a scattering of debris across the road.
Frowning, Steven slowed down, watching in bewilderment as the debris grew larger and larger the further along the road he got.
And then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flicker of orange. It was dancing between the trees at the edge of the road. It only took Steven a few moments to realise it was fire.
Pulling to the side of the road, he stopped altogether, all thoughts of Isabella leaving his mind as he cut the ignition and climbed out of his car. The air was cold, almost frosty, and Steven could see his breath forming curls in the darkness before him.
Taking a few steps towards the ditch at the edge of the road, Steven instinctively reached down to make sure his phone was in his pocket.
The closer he got, the more the flames appeared to be rising, but he steeled himself against the imminent danger and slowly traipsed down the side of the ditch.
Now that he was below the rise of the road, he could see a car wedged between the trees, flames licking the underside of the engine, dangerously close to fuel lines. The car had clearly left the road at speed and was now completely wrecked.
His breath was caught in his throat; surely no-one could have survived this.
He was close enough to see in the window of the driver's side, the flames lighting up the face of the young boy inside the car. Beyond him, Steven could see four more people; a girl in the passenger seat, as well as the two boys and another young girl in the back. All had their eyes closed, their faces pale and bloodied.
And then the driver groaned.
Steven gasped softly, leaning closer as he looked towards the younger man.
His stomach turned violently and he nearly had to back away.
Protruding from the driver's upper abdomen was a thick fence post that had clearly broken off in the collision. A short glance to the back of the car revealed that it had come in through the left rear window and had completely nailed the driver to his seat.
Without further hesitation, Steven closed his hand around the door handle and yanked it as hard as he could. The door cracked open slightly, but the hinges were so mangled that he thought it was unlikely he would ever get it open.
Somehow though, he had to. The fire was building, and he knew it was just a matter of minutes before the flames came in contact with the fuel and ignited a fiery explosion.
"Get me out," the driver mumbled, his face contorted in pain. Steven turned his attention completely to the car door; if the driver was aware of the pain he was in, he was conscious and alert. Steven knew it would be safe to divert his attention entirely to the door for a few moments.
Mustering all his strength, he pulled at the door, grunting with the effort, but managing to grind the hinges around until it was open just wide enough for a person to fit through.
But his problem was only getting bigger. For now, he had to get the driver out of the vehicle and to a safe point on the highway, without fatally killing him via the fence post lodged through his abdomen.
He needed to call 911. But first, he had to get the young men and women out of the vehicle. Or they would surely die before help even had a chance to arrive.
Will had noticed when JJ started to slowly drop off from the conversation. The others continued to talk joyfully around them, but JJ had gone silent, absently twirling her wedding ring as she frowned at the table.
"Cher?" Will asked softly, reaching across to cover her hand with his, effectively stopping her fidgeting. "You've gone all quiet. You know I worry when you do that"
JJ sighed, looking up at her husband.
"I think I should call Henry," she said quietly.
Will shook his head, squeezing JJ's hand. "You don't need to do that. The boy will be fine"
JJ said nothing, her hand limp under Will's as she stared anxiously at the table before her, her mind running a million miles a minute.
"I just have this weird feeling. I just need to call him," she said softly, extracting her hand and rising from her seat.
Will nodded, knowing better than to argue with his wife once she had made up her mind. He watched as she walked to the front of the restaurant and disappeared into the cold night to make her phone call, before turning back to the table.
"JJ alright?" Morgan asked quietly as Reid and Prentiss entered a loud, slightly tipsy debate over who was more valuable to the BAU.
"Being a mom," Will chuckled. "She's checking in on Henry"
Morgan grinned. "To think she never planned on being a parent... she's damn good at it"
"She is. She worries a lot but our boys wouldn't be the people they are today without having JJ as their mom," Will replied.
He was half expecting JJ to return and say that Henry hadn't answered (as usual) and so it was that he settled back against his chair and listened to the streams of conversation flowing around him.
Some five minutes later, the front door had been wrenched open and JJ was flying back towards the table, her pale face and manic demeanour catching the attention of her husband and her colleagues.
"JJ?" Will asked worriedly.
"We have to go," JJ said quickly, grabbing her handbag.
"JJ, if Henry didn't answer his phone it's probably just because he's driving-" Will started, rising and holding out his hands to steady his wife.
"Henry didn't answer, but a firefighter did. They've been in an accident"