Writing is therapy for me. This is just an idea.
Shattering Walls
Garcia presented photos on the screen.
"Three women strangled, and left with business cards for Janeway manufacturing on their foreheads. I am tracking any connections to the business and I have yet to come up with anything but I'll keep digging."
"We need to move quickly on this," Prentiss said. "The time between abductions is decreasing. Wheels up in— "
Her last words were drowned out as every window in the conference room shattered. The agents ducked down. When the smashing stopped, heads slowly crept up.
"Is everyone alright?" Prentiss said.
"Yeah," Rossi said and looked at the glass on his hands. "It broke but caused no damage. What kind of bomb, was it?"
"Or earthquake" Alvez said looking around. "But none of the other furniture moved."
"It could have been a pulse bomb," J.J. said. "Like a vibration, I don't know… Spence would."
"No matter what it is, we should get going," Prentiss said. "People will need our help."
They all stood up and left the conference room.
Every window in the building was shattered. Rossi's office was in pieces. They also noticed there was no one else the bullpen or the other offices.
"This makes no sense," Lewis said. "Where is everyone?"
"This is spooky," Garcia said.
"I don't like it," Walker said.
"Neither do I," Prentiss said and pulled out her gun. "Everybody, let's take the stairs. Be ready for whatever comes, okay?"
Everyone nodded and followed her closely. She flung open the door and stepped forward.
"Don't shoot!"
J.J. screamed. They were in a vast cavernous room. It was dark except, for an odd white light from above. Standing front of them in a suit and vest with his hands raised high, was Reid.
She ran and hugged him tightly. He hugged her back.
"Spence," she said wiping a tear away. "Where are we?"
"I don't know," he said as they let go. "I was sitting in my cell, heard a smashing sound, and ended up here in my own clothes."
Everyone appeared and looked around. Some still had their guns raised.
"There's really no need for those," a voice said. They turned around and saw an older man with dark curly brown hair and glasses. He was driving a golf kart.
He stopped the kart in front of them.
"Those things won't do you any good here, anyway. Empty your clip on me and I'll still be here."
"Where are we?" Prentiss demanded.
He looked to Reid. "You're the smart one, aren't you? You know your metaphysics. 'I think therefore I am.'"
Reid instantly understood. "Our reality has warped so we don't exist anymore in the way we thought we did."
"Could someone translate that a little more?" Rossi said. "As in, where are we?"
"Where ever we want to be Dave." Hotch said suddenly appearing in one of the seats of the golf kart. He stepped off and the team crowded around him.
"Something happened to cause your reality to shift to this dimension, realm, library, archive," the man said.
J.J. looked to him. "Who are you?"
He smiled. "Artie Nielson, I help give tours of the place. I personally like to call this place a warehouse of sorts."
Garcia looked around. "Is this heaven? Are we dead?"
"You're in a reality where you can live forever," he said. He patted the seat next to him. "Would you like a tour?"
Prentiss took a step back. "Wait, what if this is all a dream? What if we're being drugged by Scratch?"
"There really is no way to tell, Emily," Hotch said. "All I know is that Jack is safe and I am free to join the team again."
"Come on," Neilson said impatiently "There's lots to see and do."
She looked to the group. J.J. looked to Reid.
He shrugged his shoulders. "I think we are in a semi-undefined universe therefore I am in one."
"Good enough for me," Rossi said and got on the kart.
The rest of the team joined him.
"There room for me?"
Everyone turned to see Morgan approach them. Garcia clapped.
"The whole gang is here!"
"Everyone you ever worked with is here," Nielson said and changed gears. "Let's see what the warehouse has for all of you. "
The door to the BAU transformed into the building in Quantico.
"It is there to return to if you want to revisit old memories," he said.
They drove past the building and a sense of sadness came over all of them. It felt as if something was ending. Then they looked to another. The journey would never be lonely so long as they had each other.
…
"A TARDIS!" Garcia shouted.
Just ahead of them was a blue police box. A man with spiky brown hair wearing an overcoat and sneakers appeared next to it.
"Hello," he said brightly. "Care to join me Miss. Garcia?"
Garcia was glowing. "Would I ever. But what about the team?" she asked.
"We'll see you later," Nielson said.
She looked back again at them. Morgan nodded.
"Have fun baby-girl," he said with a grin.
She gave him a quick hug and jumped off the kart.
The man lead her into the box that from a brief glimpse, looked bigger on the inside.
Reid noticed a girl with braided hair sitting against the box typing away on her phone.
"Who is that?" he asked.
"An architect," Neilson said. "One of many that keep the place running. You'll see them from to time."
He shifted gears again and drove through the dimly lit room.
"How did you become a guide?" Hotch asked.
"It's a long story," he said. "Before my dimension shattered, my job involved collecting historical objects with special powers called artifacts for a warehouse. Warehouse Thirteen to be exact. But then a guy who looked like Bob Newhart called Judson asked me to help new people get acquainted with this reality. I got a kart and a tour book and here I am."
"Even though you are a guide, can you still revisit your own reality?" J.J. asked.
"Of course, reality has a very flexible meaning here."
Rossi grimaced and rubbed his eyes.
"You'll get used to it eventually, Rossi. Just try not to think about it too much."
They approached a flat-topped tower.
"This architect likes to get fancy with her ideas," Nielson muttered.
They stopped in front of it. Reid stared at it.
"I feel drawn to it somehow even though I've never been here before," he said.
"The architect must have designed this place with you in mind then," Nielson said.
He stood up. "Is it dangerous?"
"You will feel like you are in peril but it will pass. When you're done with the experience you'll rejoin the team."
He stood up. He looked to the team. They all nodded.
"Go ahead Spence," J.J. said. "We'll see you later with Garcia."
He slowly got off the kart. Nielson nodded.
"This is a new world Spencer," he said. "Go see what it is all about."
Reid turned and opened the door.
In it he found a young woman with blond hair wearing black jeans and a blue polo shirt. She was sitting on the floor with a red laptop across her legs. She looked up and smiled.
"Hi," she said.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"Just an architect," she and returned to staring at her computer. "Go over there and start climbing the stairs."
"Who are you?" he asked again.
"You only get to know as much as I want you to know about me," she said. "I guarantee what you find up there is more interesting than what you will find just hanging out with me."
Feeling as though he had no other choice, he went to the stairs and began to climb.
When he got to the top he found himself on the dais of the capital building. It was crowded with people and he look around. The Washington Mall was filled with people. This was the inauguration ceremony of a president.
Someone nudged him to move forward. Slowly memories began to form of how he got there. This was twenty years into the future. He had two children, who were both geniuses.
A pair of books were laid in his hands. Reid saw a woman with blond hair swept up into a bun was beaming at him.
She placed her hand on the Bible. "I solemnly swear…"
…
"Reid!"
He looked around and realized he was standing on the tower looking out on some sort of sea.
"Reid!"
He looked down and saw Emily waving at him. She was in shorts and a sleeveless top. He waved back.
Reid quickly climbed down the stairs, having long forgotten about the architect. He found himself wearing a gray T-shirt over khaki slacks and sneakers.
"You look comfy," she said with a smile.
"Thanks," he said. "I think I was married to the president of the United States."
"Nielson said memories from old adventures will linger. I was just playing spy games earlier."
"How'd this appear?" he asked as they walked along the beach.
"I went looking for you and when Nielson dropped me off this appeared."
"This world really doesn't end," he said.
"Apparently not," she said.
A small boat approached the dock. It was called "Spencer and Emily"
An older woman appeared. "Would you like to come for a ride?" she asked sweetly.
Prentiss laughed. "The place has a sense of humor. 'Ship' as in 'relationship.' That is funny."
Reid looked uncertain. "Do you really want to explore a 'relationship' with me?"
She smiled. "I think it might be fun. Do you?"
He looked at her closely. Reid had a grown attached to Prentiss in ways that went beyond friendship. She was also very pretty. Maybe it was worth exploring.
"Sure," he said. "The memories fade, right?"
"But some linger," Prentiss said and got on the boat. "Come on."
"Do you think my wife will be jealous?"
Prentiss laughed. "She's probably too busy with a country to run."
Suddenly he forgot he had a wife. It felt like one story that had ended. Now a new one was beginning.
He got on the boat. Prentiss hugged him as the woman revved up the engine and steered them away from the dock. The wind whipped against them as they approached the setting sun. Once they reached the horizon, in a flash, they were gone.
"Ends are not bad things, they just mean that something else is about to begin. And there are many things that don't really end, anyway, they just begin again in a new way. Ends are not bad and many ends aren't really an ending; some things are never-ending."
~C. JoyBell C.
THE BEGINNING