Chapter four: Two

She groaned as she slowly woke, a dull ache in her body as though she'd been hit with a very large mallet repeatedly until they'd gotten her entire body. She was laying on her stomach with her face in a small puddle of something that she thought was water and carefully lifted herself on her hands and knees. Still in her nightclothes, she spit out a bit of the liquid, yep, water, and groaned again in pain.

"Angel?"

"Hotch?"

"Are you okay?"

She blinked a few times while her vision adjusted to a form a few feet away from her, leaning against a wall. She crawled over to him. "I'm fine, just achy all over. You?"

"Same. Do you remember anything before now? Did you see them?"

"No, I mean, yes, I saw them, but I didn't make anything out. I took one down, but the other had JJ. I had to let go."

"So they have her too, we can assume then they have Reid and maybe the others. We have to find them."

That was when the lights were turned on with a bright flash. Angel covered her eyes and then squinted through for her eyes to adjust again to the light. There was a click and then an intercom came on with a drawling voice.

"By now, you have all woken up in your pairs. Here's how you play the game. Find your friends, find the exit, and we'll never come near you or anyone else again. You have six days. Along the way there will be rooms with food and drink. These will be safe rooms where you may rest without fear of dangers. Choose the wrong door, and you may find yourself in terrible peril. Good luck."

"That's great," Hotch said, standing up. "A game."

"Let's find the others and bring them down. Shall we?"

He stretched a bit and nodded, looking around the room. He hadn't changed out of his suit yet, only taken off his jacket and tie. There was nothing aside from a few puddles from dripping water and some rubble. And a door. Angel walked over to it and went to open it when Hotch stopped her.

"Wait." We need to think.

"What's there to think about?" She asked aloud in response to his thoughts. He snapped his eyes to hers and she looked away.

"We need to at least be cautious about things."

She nodded. "All right, but we need to go. We don't know how big this building is or where the others are. They're probably paired like we are, which means two- plus Emily if she's alone. We also don't know how long we've been out and therefore how much time. Let's go."

She opened the door and they carefully stepped into the long hallway. They were at the end. Angel started walking down the hall, Hotch beside her. She tried to think of how the Egyptians used to booby trap their catacombs, but she wasn't Reid. At the other end of the hallway was a door before the hall went in an L shape to the side and upon reaching the door, she saw that there was another door down that way.

The first door had a sort of lever to pull in order to open it and the metal was cold when she touched it. She pulled it and it opened to a meat locker of sorts that was seemingly empty. Hotch was about to take a step, when she stopped him. Something wasn't right.

"What do you have in your pockets?" Angel asked him. He frowned and reached into them. Nothing. "Then, give me a shoe."

"A shoe?"

"Yes, a shoe. Either it will save your life or you'll get it back."

Hotch looked down at her own feet, which were bare, and knelt to untie his own and hand to her. Angel took the shoe from him and threw it into the room. It only reached halfway before it was incinerated. Hotch and Angel stared with held breath and wide eyes as his shoe was no more. This was his favorite pair, but he said nothing.

"That's some shit."

He nodded in agreement and took his other off, pulling her away from that room to the next. He opened this one with just a push as it had no door knob. Just a room. They both sighed and walked carefully across. Angel only stopped to pick up a piece of forgotten pipe. There was only a door way to enter the next hallway which had two doors on either side.

"Okay," Hotch said. "I think we should look in all of them before deciding which one to enter and maybe continue through."

"Right. Anything we find, I think we should keep with us. Just to use to maybe set off any traps."

"This is amazingly well coordinated. The leader is highly intelligent."

"Or, just practice at getting better. They may have been doing this for longer than we realize. Do you think they took us on purpose for who we are?"

"It can't just be a coincidence," he told her, opening a door to their right.

It held a floor of spikes shooting up. No, she thought as she wriggled her cold toes. Actually, she was just cold. Her nightclothes were shorts and a tank top with slits cut in the back, it was freezing. "So, you thinking police?"

"I'm thinking the sheriff."

The next room was pitch black and they couldn't see anything. She knew from Hotch's thoughts there was no way they were going down there without seeing what there was.

"It's not him," she knew. His thoughts had solely been about finding out who the unsubs were.

"You're sure?"

She wrapped her arms around herself and nodded. Another room, leading to another hallway. The last was a brick wall. Not a real door. Angel and Hotch moved to the new hall, Angel walking first and as soon as she walked through the door way, something swung into her hard- knocking the wind out of her and throwing her back into Hotch who had to catch her to keep her from falling.

"Angel?"

She was coughing, her chest burning at where it had hit her. A bar, now looking at it, had come around on an automated something and hit her.

"I'm okay," she choked out. "I just need a second."

"Alright. You're- God, you're freezing." He unbuttoned his shirt and held it out to her. "Take it."

Angel moved to sit steady. He was kneeling beside her. "No, Hotch. Trust me, I have thick skin."

"Thick skin that's shivering an covered in goosebumps. Take the damn shirt."

She gingerly took it from him and tugged it on. It was warm. He looked silly now in his suit pants and a T-shirt. He helped her up and they looked into the room. It looked like that was the only thing, but to be sure, Hotch threw his other shoe. Nothing.

Angel wasn't sure what to make of his mind. He was wondering who was the unsub in the police department, how Angel knew it wasn't the sheriff, if everyone else was okay. He was wondering about her, being suspicious that she was hiding something. She pulled his shirt around her more and ducked under the bar to follow him.

She tried to reach out to find the others minds, but could reach and wasn't sure why. Maybe it was all the metal. The walls were metal. The floors were stone. She couldn't hear anyone else without being closer.

"Do you think one of them works at the hotel or threatened the person working the desk to find out what rooms we were in?"

"Or watched us and snuck in."

Angel frowned. "What were you doing? When they came. Obviously you were still awake, you hadn't changed out of your clothes."

"Actually, I fell asleep in the chair. I remember hearing something and then I barely opened my eyes when I don't remember anything again. Then I'm in a dark room. I thought I was alone until you moved. You said you were asleep?"

"Yes. JJ and I both were. Like you said, I heard something and woke up. I pretended to be asleep until I heard JJ and then went for the nearest person, but the other had JJ by the throat with a gun."

Hotch was now thinking about JJ. She was pregnant and this was supposed to be her last case before she went on leave. She was alone after Will left and they had to get her out of here.

There was a door. Or, not a door per say, but a plastic divider that lead into a room of water where the floor was just a pool to nothing on the other side. But there was a window with a ladder to it from the water halfway there. If they could get to the window, they could maybe see where they were and how big the building was. Something. Hotch was unbuttoning his pants to dive in.

"Stop! I should go. I can guarantee I'm a better swimmer."

"I'm a fair swimmer," he told her, taking his shirt off. "Besides, I have more clothes than you and will be able to be semi dry when I get back."

She wasn't going to win, plus, she supposed that if he went she'd be able to see out through his mind and they'd both know what was out there. "Be careful, yeah? We don't know what's in the water."

He dove in and swam towards the window in long strokes. She'd admit that he seemed to be a good swimmer as he got there a lot faster than she would have.

"Are those briefcases on your boxers?"

"I didn't ask your opinion on them." Haley had bought them as a snub, but they were his favorites. "I don't see much of anything. I see a lot of trees."

She could see too. "What about to your left?"

"What? Oh, I think I see the hotel." How did she know that was there?

Angel almost groaned in frustration. This would be so much easier if he just knew. The last time she was in this position, the position of trying to escpape and being in such danger, she was with people who knew what she could do and could more or less do the same things. Minus reading minds, of course. Now, she had to pretend. She could get out of the window. She could fly and get down to help and bring them back, but she couldn't leave Hotch and the others. Besides, how would that look? That she was able to get out alone mysteriously.

"Come back," she said. "I really think we need to get moving. We have to find the others."

It looked to be dusk. A day gone by. Hotch swam back and pulled himself out of the water. "I'm feeling time pressure. This place is huge. If we want to find the others we need to go now."

"Alright, come on."

He shook off as best he could and pulled his pants and shirt back on. They jogged down the hallway, the hall taking turns twice, once left and once right, to a stair well that ended with two doors. One on the left, and one on the right. Angel moved the pipe she kept from one of the first rooms and jabbed it down to each step ahead, until she missed one.

"Aah!"

"Angel! Are you okay?"

Her foot was stuck in a trick stair and he grabbed her around the waist to pull her out of it. It wasn't broken, she knew what broken bones felt like, but she definitely twisted it something awful as it was already bruising into black and blues and hues of purple.

"I'm okay. I didn't mean to, I just-"

"Angel. You're alright. Come on, lean on me." She put her arm around his shoulder and they went down the rest of the stairs to the first door.

Hotch helped her lean against the wall so he could open the door, but again it was another room completely black and they couldn't see anything. No. The next door was stuck. Hotch tried to shoulder it, but it barely budged as he banged his weight against it.

"Maybe we should go back." Bang.

"No. We have to find the others and this is the way to go." Bang.

"You're going to" Bang, "hurt yourself, Hotch." Bang, "Stop it." Bang, "We don't know what's on the other-"

With a last effort, he threw his weight against the door and it slammed open. It led to outside, from a top floor off a cliff. And he was gone.

"HOTCH!"

Angel tore his button up shirt off of her and jumped out the door after him. He was falling and Angel could appreciate how high they were. The building, it seemed looking at it now, was three floors. They'd been on the top floor were making their way to the second when they found this door. The building was built off of a cliff and Angel was reminded of her home so long ago with just her and her flock before it all began again and the Erasers kidnapped her.

She wrapped her arms around him, wind whipping around her face.

"Are you stupid?!" He shouted at her over the noise.

"I can explain," she shouted back, "but I need you to stay still."

"What are you doing?"

Her wings caught them painfully, coming to a stop after falling and for a moment, like ever when she did this, she felt almost like her wings were being ripped off. She flapped and began getting altitude and Hotch said nothing. He stared at her with a blank expression as she tried to get them back to the door. He was heavy.

When she reached the landing, she let go and collapsed against the steps breathing heavily. He shut the door and leaned against it to stare at her more. Or more, her wings, which were fluttering absentmindedly as she caught her breath.

"So," she started, her breathing go back to normal but her heart still pumping wildly. "Next time, just leave the damn door alone. Yeah?"

He did nothing, just stared at her. Even his thoughts were a jumble, a loop of wings, wings, wings, wings, wings, wings, wings. "You have wings. Your wings were real."

She stood up. "Yes. The wings are real. Halloween is the only day of the year I can be myself."

"How?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"I think, considering you just flew to save my life, I'd believe you."

Angel shook her foot, still painful, but healing. "I was born in a secret government lab called the School. There were others like me. They're all dead now. I'm the last one."

"What are you?"

"Well, they mixed our DNA with birds'. I'm two percent bird. I have hollow bones, nuclei in my blood, air pockets in my lungs, and wings I can fly with."

Hotch blinked. "Th-that's insane."

"Yeah, well, they're all dead now too."

"Are you being for real?"

He didn't know what to do. It sounded outrageous, but so did the idea that she had wings. And yet, here she was. She nodded to his question and pushed something into his mind.

I can hear you.

He jumped and his eyes widened again as he realized what she meant and what she had just done.

"You can... read thoughts."

"And manipulate them. Depending on the person I can influence them to do what I want."

Hotch straightened from the door. "Do you.. do that often?"

"Actually, no. I can't remember the last time I did it. I can't do it to any of you, you're minds are too strong. Nor would I if I could."

"Does Reid know?"

"No one alive aside from my dogs know. And now, I suppose, you."

Hotch was shaking just slightly, cursing himself in his mind and trying to get a hold of himself. "That's, I, yeah."

"Hotch? I can answer any questions, but I think it should be on the way. Don't you? It's the end of the first day." At the last word she said, there was an echo of a bark and she whipped around to behind them. There were snarls and more barks as it sounded like they were moving. "Now, we really have to go."

She ran to the other door and wretched it open, holding it for Hotch to run after her. And they ran.

"Your foot," he said, slightly behind her.

"I'm a really fast healer."

She was getting tired of hallways as more barks were getting closer. They needed to find one of those so called 'safe rooms'. This would explain the animal attacks on a few of the victims. At night they unleashed dogs to chase the victims. Hotch was hoping JJ was safe in this as she had a past with dogs that liked to tear people apart.

"That's disgusting," she said aloud, not realizing how she missed being able to be open about herself.

"Tobias Hankel," he said.

"Right. The one who abducted Spencer and drugged him."

"He told you about that?"

"Not exactly."

There was one door ahead and Hotch ran faster towards it to open it. The moment he touched the door knob, he let go in a shriek. It was red hot and his palm came away from it blistered and smelling of pork. Angel went to examine his hand when there was a bark and a low growl behind her. She jumped and turned around to look at the german sheppard that was baring his teeth at them and growling, as well as the doberman doing the same beside him. Angel slowly backed to the door and grabbed the door knob, turning it and ignoring the sizzle in her palm to pull Hotch into the room and slamming the door behind them. There was another door in the room and a table of random packaged foods such as crackers and the like and bottles of water. In the corner was a pile of blankets and Angel sighed in relief. A safe room.

"Let me see your hand," Angel said, grabbing a bottle of water off the table. She unscrewed the cap and poured a dab on the back of her hand to be sure it was safe and then poured it onto the burned flesh of his hand. He hissed through his teeth and tried to jerk his hand away, but she kept pouring the liquid onto it.

"Thank you," he said. "Now let me see yours."

Hers was a harsh red, but not the bright angry red his was. It looked as though it had happened an hour or two ago and not a minute.

"It will hurt and look like that for a few days," she told him. "Yours will most likely take a few weeks."

Hotch poured the rest of the water on her hand then they looked around the average sized room. There were a few packages of crackers, and a box of various MRE's with a dozen waterbottles. Four military grade blankets.

Angel went over to the blankets, all fairly old and had seen some use, and tore two strips off of one. The first she tied around Hotch's hand, soaking it in water that was actually fairly cold. But maybe that was because the room was cold. He hissed again at the tightness of the rough fabric against his burn and she loosened it.

"Sorry."

"So, you can read minds, heal faster than others, fly, is there anything you can't do?"

She smiled. "I can't seem to make my dog stay off my pillow."

He chuckled half heartedly and took a sip of water. "And you said a government facility?"

"We called it the School."

"We?"

"My flock. Max was the leader. The oldest. Then Fang. Then Iggy. They were all fifteen when they died. We had just had a birthday. None of us knew our real birthdays so we just sort of decided randomly when we wanted to have a birthday. Next was Nudge. She was twelve. My brother, we were the only ones actually related, was nine. I was seven when they died.

"One day, one of the White Coats helped us escape. Jeb. He taught us how to fly, how to defend and take care of ourselves. He was Max's real father. He left us to go back to help the School. He had never really left. And then we were on the run."

"You were seven."

"Six at the time."

"How did they die?" He asked in a whisper.

She sniffed. "We were getting rid of the School. Once and for all. Iggy died first. His girlfriend, Max's sister, was stuck in an area we had just rigged to blow up. Iggy and Gazzy were always into explosives. You should have seen what they did with Max's Mickey Mouse clock. Anyway. He was still trying get her out when it went off. Next was Nudge. And Gazzy. They were torn apart by hybrids the School had made called Erasers. They could morph into wolves. I still hear them screaming sometimes. Fang stayed behind to hold them off so Max and I could get out. Max was caught by another hybrid and the building was about to go. She shoved me out the window into the lake and that was that."

Hotch was silent, repeating her story to himself in his head. Has she just been alone?

"Not really," she answered aloud. "I was found by a regular person and put into the system. My dogs, Akila and Total lived. They came with me and when I turned eighteen, I left out on my own to an old hide out we'd had. Graduated college, joined the FBI, then BAU, and here we are."

"That's... awful."

"It is what it is."

There was a bang against the other door that made them both jump, the door they hadn't gone through yet. And then it opened.

A/N: Hope I was able to explain her past okay. Who do you think finds them? An unsub? Another team member? OOOOHHHHOHHOHOHOH! All the creepy sounds. Do you like Hotch finding out? His reaction?

Soo, background romances. I'm thinking about pairing Emily and Rossi together, but who should be with Hotch? I just reached the episode with Beth and their date. What do you guys think of her?

My issue with shows is that I write fanfiction for them and therefore get angry with their real canon couplings. That's crazy isn't it?

Love always, Skye.