AN: I am trying to write more and more.. it's a work in progress:
Please review!
You don't know why, but you know this is different. Something feels different, and not a good different. An ominous feeling has swallowed you since you first took this case, and now, right now, it encompasses you. You cannot shake it, but you cannot afford to focus on it.
You are so close, you and the team are on the verge of arresting a horrific UNSUB, one that plays by no rules, and shows no mercy. And now, you and your team, and the local police are moving in to end this, once and for all.
It was Reid who made the connection to what you now know is the hideout, you have confirmation of that. The gruesome evidence litters the nine story abandoned hotel, you knew you were right the moment law enforcement entered the building.
You also knew that he had a victim, and that time was running out- if it hadn't already. In an instant, you had made the decision to split the team up, to cover more ground. It was as JJ walked away, confident in her strides, that you began to think you may have made a mistake. But you stop yourself from second guessing, you don't have time for that, and neither does the current victim. JJ is a strong and capable federal agent, and a hell of a shot; and accompanied by an experienced SWAT officer. Of all, she is the least you are worried about.
Except for her recent risk taking, and it gnaws at you. It is something you will have to talk to her about once this is said and done. You cannot help but worry about her in the field, but she has proven herself capable and you don't have anything to go on to pull her out.
And right now, you need all the help you can get. You watch as she disappears into the stairwell before you head the opposite direction.
You can hear your team over the mics. You hear their breaths and it has become a soothing thing for you- when you all are in this type of situation.
Morgan, you hear him, Rossi and Reid and Kate and JJ. You hear them all, they are so quite, but you can hear every breath they take. And you wonder if they do the same for you, listen to each other's breathing. It's interesting though, while you can distinctly decipher what breath belongs to what member, you also have noticed that everyone breaths as one. You hear five breaths taken at once, your team is breathing as one.
You nod at the SWAT officer with you and together, you begin your search, hoping to bring Donny Tyran into custody. It's a massive building, hundreds of places to hide. From what Garcia had discovered, the hotel had once been the jewel of the Dallas skyline but when the 2008 recession hit, the hotel simply could not keep up. It shut down and had yet to garner any interest in real estate.
The blueprints showed well over five hundred bedrooms, six kitchens, a laundry room, spa, the list went on and on. And somewhere, somewhere in the maze, your UNSUB was hiding. It was the ultimate game of hide and seek, but he was outnumbered and he would lose. They all did. Eventually.
Slowly, quietly, you made your way up the stairs, you had decided to take the eighth and ninth floors and as you walked up, you listened for any noise, anything that would clue you into that this was finally over. You listen for one of your team to shout FBI, you listen for a struggle, you listen for a warning- you hear nothing.
You search every last corner, every bedroom and bathroom, everywhere until you have exhausted your search. He is not up here and you lower your weapon and gaze out the window. Nine floors below, you see Morgan canvassing the perimeter and without asking, you know he has not seen a thing.
God, what if Reid was wrong? What if this isn't the place? You stop that train of thought instantly, Reid is not wrong, Tyran is here. Somewhere.
You think back to the profile, how he loved surprises, how he always seemed to be one step ahead, how he would lure…
And then you stop. You stop and think. It's a trap, you all have walked right into a trap and you are now scattered about the building.
"Get out, everyone out now!" You order, hoping you are wrong.
You hear voices respond, Rossi and Morgan, Reid and Kate, all acknowledging that they heard your command. They know the drill, you say something and they do it- arguments can come later.
"JJ? Your heart drops, why hadn't she responded? "JJ?" You try again as you rush down the stairs.
"H.. I am.." Her voice is breaking up, but at least you heard her. But had she heard your message earlier, to evacuate the building?
"JJ- Get out now." You frantically voice and hope that she heard you.
You see the door and slow your pace as you see other members of your team and their SWAT counterpart outside. You immediatly look for her and your heart stops when you don't see her instantly.
"Where's Jacobs?" You turn to the SWAT leader.
"Who?" And you stop, right then, he just confirmed what you already were on to.
"Jacobs, the officer we sent with Agent Jareau!" You don't have to say another word, you and the team are already rushing back into the building.
"We don't have a Jacobs on this team…"
"JJ!" You command her attention, hoping that she will answer.
"Hotch, I'm coming. We got turned around." The relief you feel at the sound of her voice is almost palpable.
"JJ, is Officer Jacobs with you?" You ask, hoping he has not caught onto what you know.
"Yes, he's right.." She stops talking.
"JJ?" You signal for your team to enter, to find her. "JJ?"
It stops you right then, you close your eyes as you hear it. You actually hear the struggle that is taking place, the words being thrown around and then the awful sound that meets you next.
"Jennifer, Jennifer, Jennifer.." The man cooes, and you hear the sicking sound of what you know to be JJ's body to be hitting the floor. You hear her breathing hitch, a groan of pain.
"Wha..?" She coughs and you can tell she is gravely wounded. "Hotch.." She whispers.
"We're coming JJ." God, where is she?
"Agent Jareau, nobody will find you in time. You have a four inch knife stuck in your back.. I could pull it, but I would use it to slit your damn throat." You hear a crack and a cry of pain.
"Jacobs.." You know she says it, she identifies the man who did it.
"Jareau." You want to vomit as you hear what sounds like a kiss on her body. "Say goodbye.."
"NO!" You scream at the same time you, and the twelve other law enforcement hear the sound of a gunshot- coming from the opposite side of the hotel. You were nowhere close.
And you hear one less breath over your mic.