A/N: Any inaccuracies or inconsistencies in this story are completely my fault. I only hope you won't hold them against me.

WARNING: This story has been rated M due to violence and adult themes. Please heed the warning and be aware that some of the content may not be suitable for younger readers.

Please also note that this chapter contains some language that is unsuitable for younger readers.

The Road to Nowhere – Chapter 7

Travis Simpson made his slow way down the cliff face, secure in the knowledge that the ropes attached to his harness would hold him should he lose his footing. It was his job as first man down to accomplish several, all important, tasks. The first, to see exactly how secure the car was and attach three massive cables to the back and undersides of the vehicle to further ensure it wasn't going anywhere while the rescue was underway. The second task was to check the condition of the occupants of the car and get a preliminary assessment to the other medics who would be following him down with all the gear. The third, and for him the toughest task, was to attach a harness to the woman lying dead further down the tree so that they could retrieve her body.

The car, he realised, was not only resting on an extremely old and sturdy tree, the undercarriage had also wedged itself on rocks; this explained why it hadn't tipped over or snapped the large branches with its considerable weight. Gasoline leaked all over the place and sparks appeared to be randomly coming from the engine block. It was a disaster waiting to happen.

"Simpson to Yates; boss, we need foam and lots of it down here to smother the gasoline leaking out before one of the sparks I can see coming from the engine ignites something we don't want ignited. It'll be tough for the trees here, but I think you should probably look at covering everything from here to the river just to be on the safe side. The car's undercarriage is wedged on rocks. I won't be able to secure the underside. Advise another location for the third cable."

"Roger that Simpson. Fire chief is on to the foam now. Vittors suggests attaching the third cable to the axle linking the back wheels. It won't be as secure, but it will still help."

"Roger that."

He turned to look up and found the three cables to attach to the car were about a metre behind him. He attached them to the vehicle and turned to his next task.

They'd told him the blond in the back was named Penelope Garcia and she was pretty panicked by the whole thing, particularly since her parents had been killed by a drunk driver when she was 18. The woman in the front was named Jennifer Jareau and it was presently unknown as to her overall condition and even whether or not she too was alive.

He eased his body around to the side of the vehicle and found two sets of eyes blinking at him. He grinned. "Hey; I know a lot of people are going to be happy to know the two of you are alive."

"Did you find Emily?" Penelope asked anxiously.

Travis was glad he wasn't a rookie where dissembling was required. "I'll be attending to her just as soon as I've sorted you out. So the easier you are to deal with and the quicker you honestly answer my questions, the quicker I can move on to her. Alright?"

"What happens when you go?" JJ asked.

"Others come in my place. My end task is to see to your friend. Other medics and rescue personnel will be coming to swarm around you and get you safely out of here."

Both women nodded agreement and he once again keyed his radio. "Simpson to Yates; I have had lucid verbal conversation with both Penelope Garcia and Jennifer Jareau. Standby for further details."

"Roger that Simpson."

New Section-

"Reid here," Spencer said as a relieved sigh came from more than one man at the news Simpson had just relayed about JJ and Garcia.

"It's Kevin. Is Penelope okay?"

"They're assessing that now, but the guy with her said she's lucid and to me, that sounds hopeful."

"That's good to know. Okay, three things. A bunch of us are getting on a plane in about two hours. Chief Strauss will be one of them. Ambassador Prentiss is another. The others are me, Will and Henry, Jess and Jack. This thing made national news and unfortunately some idiot reporter with a camera got a close up of Agent Prentiss's face and the caption read 'Agent Dead During Extreme Murder Investigation'.

"Now it wouldn't have been such a bad thing if the cartoons Jack Hotchner was watching at the time hadn't been interrupted with a breaking news story that showed exactly that news story. His aunt called through to say he's hysterical and he needs to speak to Agent Hotchner. Be aware that Strauss has seen his breakdown because that is also all over the news."

"Shit," Reid said with feeling. "Give me a minute."

He put the call on hold and walked to where Derek and Dave stood with a hand each on Hotch's shaking shoulders. The man's broken sobs had quieted, but he hadn't stopped crying, nor had he moved from where he'd landed when his knees buckled. He also hadn't acknowledged anyone or shown any signs of noticing anything around him. This wasn't going to be easy.

"Excuse me, Hotch? Kevin's on the phone with a call you need to take. Your son saw the news footage someone took of Emily and heard what had happened to her. Jess needs you to talk to him because he is hysterical. Hotch?"

The man looked up slowly and Reid flinched at the raw emotion he saw on his face as his hand came up to take the phone. He pushed up off the ground and staggered over to a nearby tree where he sank down to the ground with the trunk at his back.

"Kevin also told me Strauss and Ambassador Prentiss are on their way."

"Shit!"

"Yeah, that was about my reaction too. Kevin, Will, Jess and the kids will also be on the plane leaving in just under two hours."

The three men turned as the noises of other men going over the cliff reached their ears and they looked down to see the advance man had started making his careful, painstakingly slow way down to where Emily lay. They looked back at Hotch as he rejoined them.

"I did what I could for Jack, but I doubt he'll ever be the same again. A child was never meant to see first his mother die and then the woman he'd come to see as a mother figure pass on."

"No man should have to watch two women he loves die either. For this I am truly sorry for your loss," Dave said quietly.

New Section-

Travis sighed quietly as he put his full weight on the branch. The tree truly was strong, for the branch moved not an iota under his feet despite the wind whipping about. He looked at the next branch and stepped slowly across, taking his time to make sure he wasn't suddenly going to plummet a few feet before his harness caught and held. But this branch held too and he edged to the end of it before crouching beside the woman lying prone on it.

He frowned as he noted the still oozing blood and the clammy nature of her skin. He slipped off the glove on his left hand and pressed his fingers in against her neck. Seconds passed before he felt a faint thump-thump against his skin.

He nearly fell off his branch in his excitement as he shifted closer.

"Agent Prentiss, can you hear me? Agent Prentiss? Emily, my name is Travis Simpson and I want to get you off this branch but I need for you to acknowledge that you can hear me. Emily?"

He watched for any signs that she'd noted his presence as he pulled his backpack off his back and opened it up. He set it on the junction where two branches met and set about pulling out the harness he'd been given to get her into. He didn't want to move her without knowing fully her condition, but at the same time he had even less time to get her secured. If she suddenly returned to the reality around her and panicked, she could be off the branch before he could catch her.

He ignored his boss, deciding he'd be forgiven later as he quietly spoke to the woman, explaining what he was doing as he fitted her and tightened the straps. There was no reaction from her at all until he tightened the straps across her chest. Her whimper caught him by surprise.

"Emily. Can you hear me?"

"Can't breathe; too tight," she whispered raggedly.

"I'm sorry honey, but I can't loosen the straps. They're in place to keep you from falling."

He lifted his eyes to hers and blinked. She'd turned her head to look at him and was crying silently. Distantly, he could hear shouting at the top of the cliff and his boss was getting frantic on his radio.

"I know you must be in incredible pain, but the restraints are necessary. Can you tell me specifically where you hurt?"

She blinked at him a couple of times before whispering, "You should answer your radio. There's a guy at the top with one just like it looking like he's ready to cut your line if you don't talk to him."

He smiled gently. "I am far more interested in you at the moment. My name is Travis, by the way."

"That's sweet Travis, but I need you to relay a message for me anyway. Tell Aaron Hotchner if he doesn't finish reading Pride & Prejudice to me while I am in the hospital, he is in serious trouble."

"Will do. Simpson to Yates."

"About bloody time. What's going on down there?"

"I have a message for Aaron Hotchner from Emily Prentiss."

"Go ahead."

"If you don't finish reading Pride & Prejudice to her while she is in the hospital, you will be in serious trouble."

"Emily? Consider it done."

Emily nodded and closed her eyes as breathing got just a little harder. He sounded so lost and broken, she ached with the need to ease his pain. "She heard. Yates, I need the following in the way of equipment before we load her in the basket to get her to the top."

New Section-

Time seemed to speed up once everyone knew they had three living victims to deal with. Previously muted energy became vibrant and everyone moved with renewed purpose.

Travis stayed with Emily through the entire rescue, even going so far as to be the man attached to the basket that was lifted directly into the rescue helicopter and rushed to the hospital in Fayetteville. A state trooper drove his car a little too fast in an effort to get Hotch to the hospital to be with her when she got out of the surgery she would surely need.

With Emily secure, workers were able to move about with a little less care for what would happen further down the cliff face and the rescue of Garcia and JJ happened with a lot more speed than was previously expected. Both women were carefully placed on backboards and winched to safety. As soon as they were at the top and being swarmed over by rescue personnel and their colleagues, fire crews went to work to remove the 4WD from the tree and get the area doused in foam.

Once they were back in the vehicle and on their way to the hospital, Reid called Kevin to relay that all three women would require surgery for various internal and external injuries but that they were all expected to make it and yes, he could take it to mean that Emily was in fact alive.

New Section-

With nothing better to do but worry while he waited for Emily to get out of surgery and Jack to arrive, Aaron put together all his reports on the case and the incident that day. Knowing that Strauss had seen the news, he didn't gloss over any of the facts as he might have done had she not known anything of his reaction to the days' events. He knew he'd face her eventually over his relationship with Emily, but for now it didn't matter and he knew she'd wait til the this had cleared up before forcing him to deal with all of that.

Derek, Dave and Reid followed his example and the paperwork was all completed before the first of the doctors entered the room and made his way over. Before he could speak, an imperious voice demanded information about her daughter and the four men sighed resignedly.

"A moment please doc."

Dave moved to the door and called to the group, who all rushed in. Jack nearly tripped up three of the adults in his rush to get to his father but no one complained. Aaron lifted his son up into his arms and wrapped him up in a snug embrace as they all looked at the doctor.

"Right, I only have an update on Jennifer Jareau."

Will stepped forward anxiously. "How is she?"

"She was lucky. Her head hit the window hard enough to cause a concussion but the scans of her head are clear. The airbag deploying caused severe facial lacerations and a broken nose, but saved her from more traumatic neck injuries by cushioning her head as it whipped forward. She has a broken shoulder and fractured collarbone on the right and a dislocated hip joint on her left side from where the seatbelt caught and held her. She also had some internal bleeding caused by the impact but it was all relatively minor. She's got a badly sprained right ankle and the normal cuts and bruises that are associated with a crash of this type."

"When can we see her?"

"She'll be in recovery overnight and we'll move her to a private room in the morning. You can see her then. I'll let you all know now, you might as well go and try to get some rest wherever you are staying as it will be morning before you get to see any of them."

He turned to walk out of the room and bumped into an entering doctor.

"Penelope Garcia?"

Kevin jumped up from where he'd sat. "That's me, but you can say it here. They're all family of a sort."

The man sighed tiredly. "She'll pull through just fine. She has a severe concussion we are monitoring but was fairly lucky otherwise. Her internal injuries were consistent with a crash of this type where the seatbelt did its job. Her pelvis was fractured and one of her hips is dislocated. She also has a dislocated shoulder, a fractured collarbone and a cracked cheekbone where her head struck the window and the glass held. Other than that, she's bruised black and blue and she's cut up but the cuts should mend without scarring. You can see her in the morning."

He turned to leave but was stopped by Elizabeth Prentiss. "Do you know anything about my daughter, Emily Prentiss. She was brought to the hospital by helicopter or so I heard."

"I'm sorry, I don't know anything about her but I imagine her doctor will be along as soon as she is out of surgery."

Elizabeth stood still for several minutes after the man had left, seemingly off in her own little world. Everyone else had taken seats to wait for news on Emily. Jack had been so distressed by all the events of the day that he'd fallen asleep in his father's arms. For his part, all Aaron could think about was the fact that Emily still didn't know he loved her.

"Tell me something, Agent Hotchner. Tell me what your relationship to my daughter is, because I am getting seriously conflicted stories from different sources."

Aaron rested his head back against the wall and closed his eyes as exhaustion threatened to drag him under.

"Emily and I have been seeing each other steadily since Christmas." He opened his eyes and looked at the ambassador. She was obviously tossing up on whether to ask something else when a doctor walked into the room.

"Agent Hotchner."

Aaron stood and shifted Jack in his arms to a more comfortable position. He nodded to Elizabeth. "This is Agent Prentiss's mother. What you say to me can be said to her and you might as well tell everyone here since I doubt we're leaving until we know what's what."

The doctor nodded at Elizabeth respectfully. "For what she's been through, Emily is very lucky to be alive. The windscreen she went through was shatterproof glass so although it did break up, it didn't shard and this worked in her favour. Her seatbelt clearly snapped when her weight hit it and this stopped her from sustaining breaks to her shoulder, collarbone and hip. The blow she took to her head was severe, with swelling under her skull causing a slight amount of pressure to her brain. The pressure and swelling were already easing off when she went for a scan before surgery, so we are monitoring that closely for now and we won't move to open her head up unless we absolutely have to. We don't know if there was any permanent brain damage caused by the blow but once she's rested up for a few days, we'll check her brain functions thoroughly to see what's what and work from there.

"A large piece of glass that remained unbroken as she fell imbedded in her back extremely close to her spine. We don't believe her spine was compromised, but as you can imagine, she landed heavily and this caused swelling the length of her spine regardless that is causing paralyses at the moment from the neck down. We'll know more about her spine injuries once the swelling recedes. Her pelvis is badly cracked across the width of it from how she landed and though that will heal, any pregnancies she has in the future will need to be closely monitored and birthing will most likely need to be by caesarean section.

"She had a collapsed lung, but that has been dealt with and she is breathing well on her own and her internal injuries were relatively minor by association. In addition, she has a sprained wrist, a dislocated knee and a broken ankle. She'll be in intensive care for a few days to closely monitor her overall condition but I believe she should, with intense therapy, make a full recovery."

"Doctor, just a quick question before you go. If she'd landed in the river, do you think her injuries would have been more minor?"

"No Agent Hotchner, I don't. We ascertained from the location of the blow to her head that Emily struck the steering wheel before she was thrown from the vehicle. If she'd landed in the river, I have no doubt she would have drowned."

Aaron sat down hard as the doctor left the room. Jess sat down beside him and took his hand as silence descended on the room. No one wanted to think about leaving so they all made themselves as comfortable as possible about the room.

The case was over and the Arkansas police would take over the interrogation and evidence-finding. Their only job now was to ensure the family healed all wounds and life returned to business as usual with a few, small changes.

End-

A/N: The End!

I finished my first case fic and I survived it. This is exciting! There will be more, less dangerous missions for our beloved heroes to see to but for now all they need to do it heal.

My next fic will follow on from this one, so stay tuned to this space.

As always, I love reviews, so please feel free to let me know what you think.