DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN CRIMINAL MINDS OR ANY RELATED CHARACTERS

A/N: Thanks again everyone for reviewing/adding! Someone pointed out the Morgan can actually swim, but like I said, I couldn't remember. I wanted Reid to be the hero for a change! Also, I'm pretty sure swimming is a requirement for entry into the FBI but we'll skip over that bit of info, shall we? ; )

LABYRINTH - Chapter Three

Hotch was vaguely aware that his left arm was beginning to go numb. He opened his eyes, slowly. The first thing he saw was Prentiss, directly opposite him, seemingly unconscious. He though this odd, as he himself was standing up, and therefore Prentiss must be too. Then he noticed that her right hand was suspended above her head with a manacle around her wrist.

The manacle was attached to a thick chain which crossed over a bar suspended from the ceiling. The chain was then attached to another manacle, around his own left wrist. He closed his eyes and sighed. At least that explained why his arm felt numb. He had no idea how long they had been chained this way.

He looked around the room. It was fairly small, smaller than his office back in Quantico. Between them was a small wall, only around three feet high. Immediately to his right and only just within reach was a table, slightly higher than the wall. On the table sat a metal box with two holes either side, just big enough for your arm to fit through. There was a doorway visible behind Prentiss.

He then noticed that his jacket had been removed, as had Prentiss' and his shirt sleeves rolled up. The sleeves on Prentiss jumper had been rolled up too, and his tie remained loosely around his neck. He looked at Prentiss again, realising that somebody had tied her hair back into a pony tail.

Where the hell were they? He racked his brain trying to recall what had happened, closing his eyes as he did so. He remembered being on route to the Mass Grave Site. They'd gotten a flat and had pulled over to change it to the spare. He shook his head, unable to remember anything after that.

He sighed, opening his eyes to find himself looking at the floor. "What the hell?" He asked himself. He seemed to be standing on what looked remarkably like a trap door. He leant over the wall as much as he could to see Prentiss was standing on something similar. "This can't be good." He muttered. "Prentiss?" He called softly. She stirred a little, but nothing more. "Prentiss?" He tried again, this time louder.

She opened her eyes, but before she had the chance to say anything, a loud noise could be heard below them.

Hotch took only a few second to realise the doors beneath them were about to open. He placed his feet on either side of the door so as to balance himself on the floor. "Prentiss, the floor..." He tried to warn her, but before he could, the doors had opened.

Prentiss had only a split second to realise what was happening before she felt her body fall through the trap door. She felt a sharp tugging pain in her right wrist before she came to a halt. She opened her eyes, breathing heavily from the shock of what had happened.

Hotch was standing before her, feet braced either side of the trap door opening. His left arm, shackled to her own right arm, had been what had saved her. He was using his right hand to help support the weight of the chain on his wrist.

Prentiss looked down briefly. All she could see below her was black. It seemed never ending. "Hotch..." She said, looking at her boss, still not quite able to believe what was happening. He looked at her, his lips pursed from the effort of supporting her weight. "What do we do now?" She asked. Her own wrist felt like it was going to snap at any moment.

"Climb onto the wall." Hotch said, nodding towards the small stone structure between them. At least if she could managed to support herself on the wall, it would take the strain off both of their wrists and free them up a little to do whatever the hell they needed to do.

Prentiss reached towards the wall, her fingers barely grasping the top of it. "I can't reach." She said, her voice exasperated. "Damn it!" She said, trying and failing again.

Hotch removed his right arm from supporting his left. "Try again." He said, after adjusting his left arm to support her weight. He leant forward a little, careful not to loose his balance or lower Prentiss further.

Prentiss reached out again. This time Hotch managed to grab hold of her finger tips, pulling her in closer to the wall. She managed – somewhat ungracefully – to pull herself up on the wall, straddling it so she was facing the box. She and Hotch both let out a sigh of relief as the pressure on their wrists lessened.

"So what the hell do we do now?" She asked, resting her head against her suspended arm.

Hotch looked around the room again. "We find a way out of here and them we find Morgan and Reid." He said, his eyes falling on the metal box. "And I think it has something to do with that." He said, nodding towards the box.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Prentiss said, eyeing up the box. She sighed, looking up at her chained wrist, tugging a few times as if it would come loose. "Would you like to go first, or shall I?" She asked, turning to look at the box again. Hotch raised an eyebrow, but didn't answer. "Lady's first, I guess." She said, reaching towards the box.

The table was only just within her reach. She tried to pull it a little closer, unsurprised when it didn't move. There was an opening on her side of the box, and one on Hotch's. "Here goes nothing." She said, placing her left arm into the hole. She had to approach it at a somewhat awkward angle, but she managed. She'd just about got her whole hand in, when she gasped and pulled it back out.

"You ok?" Hotch asked, his face as calm as ever, but his eyes betraying his worry.

Prentiss looked at her hand. She had a jagged cut running along the back of it. "The box." She said, looking from her hand to Hotch. "It's sharp inside." She looked at her hand again. "Like razors or something."

"Lacerations." Hotch said, recounting the injuries suffered by the victims. "The key must be in the box. You have to cut yourself to get out." He looked up at the chains, tugging them in a similar fashion to how Prentiss had earlier.

Prentiss swore under her breath. "Well, we can't stay here forever." She turned to look back at the box. "At least we know none of the victims died from blood loss, right?" She turned to look at Hotch.

And for the first time, he did something she'd never seen him do. He shrugged. He looked around the room again, before looking at the box. "Together?" he said, not looking at Prentiss.

"Ok." She said, her voice sounding much more confident than she felt.

The next few seconds were a slight blur to Prentiss. She was aware that she was making a sound. Not a scream, not quite a shout. She wasn't really sure how to describe it. She was aware that Hotch was silent, but again had his lips pursed and his eyes closed. She was aware that her arm felt like it was on fire as she felt blade after blade dig into her skin.

And then she couldn't push her arm in any further. The back of the box. She opened her hand to feel around. There was something in there. It was hard to tell what it was. It was metal, and small. She grasped it in her hand, pulling her arm back out of the box. She thought it strange that it didn't seem to hurt as much on the way out. When she had her arm fully out of the box, she turned to look at Hotch.

His arm was soaked from the elbow down in blood. Cuts could be seen littering his arm, blood dripping from his fist. She looked at her own arm to see it in pretty much the same condition. "Ouch." She said, noticing she was a little out of breath.

"Ouch?" Hotch said, raising an eyebrow. He slowly opened his hand, the blood making at slippery. He carefully lifted the key up to the lock, mindful that it not slip from his hand. He placed the key into the lock on his wrist, ignoring the throbbing pain in his arm. He put the key in and turned.

Nothing.

Prentiss watched. "No." She said, almost to herself. That had to be the key! If not, then what was the point?

Hotch looked at the key for a moment, before turning his gaze to Prentiss. "Try your key." He said. She went to unlock her own manacle. "My lock." Hotch said, closing his eyes briefly and resting his head against his arm.

Prentiss reached round, surprised by how easy it was to reach Hotch's wrist. She placed her key in the lock, her fingers finding it difficult to work with the coating of blood. She let out a small yelp of joy and surprise when the lock opened.

Hotch, now free of his restraints, lost his balance a little, falling forward slightly. He managed to regain his composure, stepping onto solid flooring and using his key to unlock Prentiss. "You ok?" He asked, helping her down of the wall.

She tilted her head to the side. "I think given the circumstances, I'm not too bad." She looked around the room a little, then you Hotch. "You?" she asked, noticing he was rubbing his wrist, the blood on his hand streaking his skin as he did so.

"Fine." He answered simply. "Through there?" He half asked, half commanded, nodding towards the door.

She turned to look behind her, having not seen the door until now. "What's through there?" She asked. The pain in her arm had lessened slightly, as had the blood loss.

"Hopefully," Hotch answered, starting towards the door. "Morgan and Reid."

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I know it's a shorter chapter, but that felt like the right place to stop. I know in Chapter 1 I said that only one victim in every for had the lacerations (I think) but I changed it to both of them because I couldn't decide who I wanted to hurt :p )

Hope you enjoyed!