A/N: Sorry! There was a numbers discord. I'm going to say there are six bad guys plus Fallon. Thanks guys!
*****
"Like hell I am!"
Pain shot through Reid's stomach as the butt end of a gun slammed into his abdomen. He struggled to breathe as he fell to his knees.
"You're going to help me, or he will die."
"Fallon, you said there were twenty six hostages, plus the Senator. You sent out the Senator and seven women. That means that there are nineteen hostages, and that's how many I counted. So either you lied or-"
"Or he's not a hostage. You see, Dr. Reid, a hostage is someone with a chance of living. Your friend has no such chance. He has gone and upset me and so have you. And the both of you are going to be a part my final show."
*****
"You are both going to be a part of my final show."
The team watched the screen as Reid's bug depicted him sitting, doubled over, as Fallon calmly declared, in more or less words, that they were all going to die.
Morgan walked away, ready to hit anything. "Hotch!" He paced back, "We can't do this again. Reid can't do this again. Not after Henkel. Not again!"
"I know." But he knows what he's doing. He's aggravating him into making a mistake. Detective!" The older man turned, "Gather your men, and be ready. They are either going to send out hostages or bodies."
Greene looked up from the computer screen, "Sir! We have three more bugs up. We now have a full visual and audio system. Your agent is stroking Fallon's ego, trying to ensure him that releasing the hostages will put you into a false sense of security. It doesn't appear to be working."
"Keep working it Greene."
*****
They had moved him to sit by the other potential threats- the larger looking men. There were six of them and they were separated from the others by three of the armed minions.
Reid turned to the nearest man, who appeared to be a tough looking security guard, and said "is everyone here alright here sir?"
"Yeah, all except for that unlucky bastard they shot before you got here."
"Who was he?"
"A PSA named Mikey Clark. Poor guy left behind a wife and a baby."
"I'm so sorry. I'm Agent Reid, by the way, I'm with the FBI."
"Will Goodman. I work front desk security here."
They shook hands.
"Listen, William, can you tell me if there was another man here?" Reid asked with bated breath. "He would've mentioned me. He's about six foot two, with brown hair and blue eyes. He's scruffy, and he looks a bit like we do- like an FBI agent."
"Sure. He was with Clark. They didn't kill him, but they led him upstairs with two guards. That's why there's only four here now."
Reid breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, I'm going to get you all out of here. I promise no one else is going to die. I've got two agents coming in the back door at exactly eleven fifteen. Can you pass that around and have people start sneaking towards that back door?"
"Yes of course. But what are you going to do?"
"I'm going to distract them…."
*****
"Hotch!" JJ called. They were all gathered around the screens now.
"Did you hear? Reid sent us a sign. Eleven fifteen is in thirty minutes. We have to send a team out there to intercept them. The hostages are going to be there."
"Detective have your men positioned at that door at eleven straight up. We go in at eleven ten to get the hostages. At eleven fifteen we take down the unsub and his cronies. Got it?"
"Yes. Everyone is stationed and ready to go." The detective replied, walking away to get everything in order.
"Hotch did you hear Reid?" Emily asked. "He said he was going to distract them."
"Damn it that kid is going to get himself killed!" Morgan was flying off the handle.
"Everyone relax." Rossi stood up. "Reid knows what he's doing. We're going to get him out of there safe and sound. We will get him home."
*****
Eleven.
William and the others that had been quarantined quietly spread the word of the impending rescue. Luckily, they were in an office made up of security workers with incredibly cool heads.
Eleven oh five.
People begun to edge towards the back door.
Eleven ten.
Reid knew this drill. The FBI wrote this book. Five minutes early. Always. He turned to William and held out his hand. "It's been a pleasure William. I hope to see you again. Remember the moment no one is in sight, get everyone to the back door. Explain the situation to the agents there." The guard took his hand, his face grim, and nodded.
Reid, without warning, jumped up and yelled "Hey bitches!" He ran towards the stairs William pointed him to. All four of the minions followed him. Fallon was nowhere in sight.
Reid ran up the stairs to the next floor and blockaded the door behind him with a cubicle desk. The four cronies slammed into the heavy steel door and began shouting. Reid knew he'd have very little time. He had to find him.
He looked around the desolate floor are called, "Elijah!"
"Spence!" A haggard voice called back.
He ran towards the sound and soon turned a corner and found him handcuffed to a chair against the back wall.
"Elijah!" He ran to him, kneeling down and kissing him soundly on the lips, taking out some of his tension immediately. Elijah's lips did that.
"How did you get here? I saw you last night. Hell I saw you before work."
He looked tired, but unhurt, and said, "After you left I got a call from Steele. He said there was a situation down here and he needed me to investigate. I got here at six this morning and was ambushed just as I entered. I saw Clark on the floor. Spence they killed him! Oh gods, what am I going to tell his family?!?"
"Shhhh." Reid soothed, stroking the frantic man's short hair right behind his ear, just like he liked it. "I'm going to get you out of here."
"Spencer…."Elijah's voice took on that all knowing quality that Reid hated so much. He was so observant! He should've been a profiler.
"Why are you here?"
"I came with the team and traded myself for a few hostages. I distracted the guards so that my team could get everyone out. Wait a minute, El where are the two guards who were watching you?"
"They went down to the basement. Spence they've got this whole place rigged with military grade C-4. They're going to blow it to pieces. We've got to get out of here.
"Okay. Lets go."
Reid untied his haggard boyfriend and helped him to his feet. They walked to the door and listened. It was silent. That was unnerving. It meant something happened downstairs.
The two of them walked to the lobby to find the entire place deserted. It meant the hostages got out okay. That was a very good sign.
*****
"Hotch we got 'em." Morgan rounded the corner, followed by the rest of the rescue team and all the hostages. "Reid did it, man. All of them are completely safe and unharmed."
"Where is Reid?" Morgan looked around, "Hotch where is Reid. Why didn't you go get him?"
"Hotch!"
Both hurried to the computer screen. Reid was once again standing in the lobby. Accompanying him was a tall, quite handsome man that made JJ and Emily swoon and sigh, even with the pressing situation.
Morgan looked closer. "Sorry ladies, I think he's taken." Morgan pointed to Reid, who was holding onto the mystery man's waist in a way that was way too familiar to just have met him.
JJ and Emily looked disappointed, until they realized what Morgan was implying and both squealed with delight.
Rossi turned to Hotch and said, "Well, I guess he was harder to profile than we thought."
"Guys! Oh no." The tone in JJ's voice was painful.
They turned back to the screen.
*****
"Well well well. You disappoint me Dr. Reid. Letting all of those hostages go. Your death will be all the more painful now."
"You going to blow me up, Fallon?
"You going to blow me up, Fallon? Like this building and these people?"
"Yes. All the world will see how great I have become."
"You're living in a fantasy Fallon!" Reid shouted. "No one is going to care. Just wait until Morgan gets here. He's going to come in the way he came and you will lose a prize."
*****
"He's talking to us!" Emily said.
"Morgan. Go!" Rossi yelled. Morgan took off at an incredibly quiet sprint to the back door.
*****
"Dr. Reid, you will be a part of this plan! Rejoice, for it will be over soon."
"How soon Fallon?"
Fallon pulled out a strange device that looked like a cross between a remote control and a cell phone, but in fact was neither.
It was a detonator.
"Reid!" a quiet whisper floated to Reid's ears. He pretended to back away from Fallon in fear, dragging the ever- defiant Elijah with him. He backed up to the wall and deliberately placed Elijah closer to Morgan and placing his hand around the corner and out of sight so the agent could grab it.
"Reid!" Elijah whispered furiously as Morgan grabbed his hand, "What the hell do you think-"
Reid grabbed the back of his boyfriend's head and placed a soft kiss on the stunned man's lips. "I will always love you," he whispered.
"Morgan! Take him now! Take him and run!" Not waiting for a reply, Reid ran at the very confused Fallon. He tackled the man to the ground. They wrestled Reid took another blow to the stomach but he managed to grab one of Fallon's guns and point it as his head.
They froze there, both holding the life of the other in his hand. Two of Fallon's less brave cronies broke for the door and surrendered to the police. The other four remained with their guns of the young genius's face.
"Reid! Reid talk to me!" Morgan's voice rang out.
"Morgan, take him and run! Fallon has C-4 under the building and he has the detonator. Take him! Please!"
"We're not leaving without you!" this time it was Elijah who spoke. He turned to the agent who had dragged him away. "Please. Morgan, is it?" Morgan nodded. "Please, Morgan. I love him and I can't lose him. Please?"
The other man nodded. "Reid!" He called out to the other man, "I'm going to get some backup."
Reid turned back to Fallon. He smiled sadistically and said quietly. "I told you that you would see my show Dr. Reid. Boom."
"Morgan RUN!" Reid turned and sprinted after his lover and his best friend. They cleared the building and Reid breathed a sigh of relief. He turned and pointed his gun at Fallon, who was so wrapped up in his own maniacal laughter that he hadn't pushed the button yet.
"Boom!"
They stood maybe ten feet apart now. Reid leveled his gun and the man's head and pull the trigger swiftly just as he pushed the detonator. Fallon died instantly with a dime- shaped hole in his head. Reid, however, had just enough time to think I think I'm going to die before his world exploded.
*****
Morgan and Elijah just cleared the building when they turned to see Reid shoot Fallon in the head.
Then the world shook to the core and exploded in a ball of fire. Morgan and Elijah were thrown back against the pavement.
*****
The team cam sprinting just as Morgan sat up, his ears ringing. He felt something sticky on his head, and when he moved his hand his fingers were covered in blood.
"Morgan!" Hotch descended on him while Emily and Rossi ran to Elijah.
They walked him over to the ambulance that had drove around the corner to meet them.
Explosions… boom… Fallon… Reid… REID!!
"Hotch! Reid is still in there! He's still- we have to find him. We have to go now." He struggled against Hotch and he turned to see the mystery man doing the same while being apprehended by Rossi.
"You need to go to the hospital. Now. With the other man. We will find him. We will." Morgan was forced into the ambulance next to the other man and, before anything could happen, it sped away.
*****
Hotch turned to the remaining member and said, "Split up. He was standing to the south to search there."
They went off in separate directions and all began searching through rubble and debris.
Hotch walked to the southern street. He made a three sixty turn to look for anything. That was when he spotted a hand. He sprinted over and found the rest of the connecting body. He prayed it was Reid.
It was.
Hotch knelt beside him.
"Oh god. ROSSI!" he called frantically. "Oh god Reid! This is all my fault. I'm so sorry!"
The young man was covered in blood and ash. He was unconscious, but Hotch found a weakened pulse. It was barely there, and Reid wasn't breathing. He had a nasty cut that followed the length of his left brow. Hotch was sure it would scar. It Reid ever woke up. If not well then, he didn't have to worry. Don't think like that!
The source of most of the blood was on the man's chest. Hotch carefully removed the red shirt and tie to assess the damage. Reid's white undershirt was soaked red. Across his abdomen was a series of deep laceration, and several pieces of steel debris clung to him like morbid, deathly art.
"Hotch?" a weak voice. He turned. Reid was looking up at him. "Hotch…. I'm… so sorry."
"No Reid, I'm the one who's sorry. This is my fault."
But the man shook his head.
"No…. no. Hotch." He coughed and blood bubbled to his lips. "Tell… tell El that… I love him…. Always…."
"No Reid, you can do it yourself. Come on buddy, stay with it. Stay with me!"
"You're a great boss." It was almost inaudible now. "I'm… honored…. To have worked for you. Tell… tell M-Morgan it's not his fault."
It was getting softer now, and he looked like he was barely hanging on. Hotch had tears dripping off his nose and onto the pavement.
"Tell everyone… I love them. Please. Tell- tell them they have to live… and that JJ has to send Henry to Cal tech…. I've… I've arranged it for him."
"I-I will buddy. I will." He was openly crying now.
Reid slowly shook his head.
"Don't be sad. Its okay. Its…. Okay…. Tell El. Tell him…."
"Reid? REID?"
Hotch looked desperately at the young man. Reid closed his eyes and lay still just as the ambulance arrived. He took one last breath, and lay still.
And Hotch, obliviously to the world around him, cried for his lost comrade and friend.