A/N: I do not own any recognizable characters.
Chapter Two: Not a Lost Cause
"Can't you give me one smile?" Garcia asked Hotch.
"There is nothing to smile about, Garcia." And on the surface, he was right, but Garcia was not about to let him lose faith in the situation.
"We are alive. I can smile about that." He couldn't see her but she placed one of her more toothy grins on her face.
"I don't know for how long that will be true." They were trapped in the basement of the police department. It turned out that the unsubs were same people who called them to help solve the string of murders plaguing the small town.
"The team will figure it out, and we will be rescued." Garcia said in Hotch's general direction. Before one of the officers turned the light off, she saw that she and her boss were handcuffed to shelves on opposite sides of the fairly large basement. Hotch was blindfolded and someone took Garcia's glasses.
"If they are not killed first, we will be rescued." Hotch was running out of ideas. All of his plans would produce too much noise.
"So you are just going to sit there and wait for them to kill us?" She was worried about the hopelessness in his voice.
"I am thinking of a plan, but everything will draw too much attention."
"Do you need a distraction?"
"What?"
"A distraction. Should I start crying hysterically? Or… ooh! I know. I could always pull the bathroom card. These police officers are still country boys and they won't let a woman not use the facilities."
"And what would you do once you get to a restroom?" All of his plans involved Garcia as a bystander, never an active participant.
"Pull the period card so I can get my purse."
Hotch thought about it for a few seconds. "What if they go through your purse for you?"
"Good question. I'll think of something. At least I could report back to you and we could go from there. We will have guaranteed eyes on the situation from that point on."
"How do you know that?"
"Hotch… a girl has to regularly use the facilities if she is on her period."
"Hmm… that… might work." He was amazed at the complex simplicity of her plan.
"Look at you. You're smiling."
"How do you know?"
"I can hear it in your voice."
"Really?"
"Yeah. And the lights are back on."