I have no idea how to add author's notes or whatever to chapters/stories so I'm just going to stick this in at the beginning. First of all, thank you everyone that's read and reviewed this story! I rarely write fiction so it's nice knowing that people read it. Also I'd like to apologize for the long hiatus; I thought I had deleted the file and then I just generally fell out of love with the show/ship. I do love writing up my own versions of the characters though so I may write another Criminal Minds fic after I finish this one up with the last chapter. I'm sorry for any inconsistencies in these last few chapters.. I'm a bit forgetful and I'm not sure if these things have actually happened in the past or not. I'm hoping they have but if not, please ignore my bad memory and laziness.
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'I'm scared,' the boy said quietly as JJ wrapped a limp arm around his shoulders. 'Do you think that's my mom at the door?'
It took all the strength left in her to answer with a simple 'no' now. A loud knock at the door had interrupted their rather dismal situation and Annabelle fled upstairs. This gave Reid and JJ a few moments to think with what little sanity they had left. All the needless beating had left them clueless. Making use of the time they had alone, Reid checked out the damage done to JJ's face. He didn't need good lighting to tell that it was severely busted up; scratches were strewn across her cheeks like stars in a crimson sky. He couldn't tell if she had a black eye or if it was just a shadow being cast. He instinctively brushed a piece of hair behind her ear to get a better look at the damage.
'Shit,' he said quietly, 'I… I'm sorry JJ.'
She gritted her teeth and closed her eyes in response, shaking the hair out from behind her ear so it covered up the worst scratches. 'But hey, this is nothing compared to what you've been through, right? I mean… he made you an addict. I'm still sober.'
'This isn't the time for jokes,' Reid said seriously as Anderson looked on in confusion. 'And if we're comparing battle scars, I'd say we're even. Stop feeling bad for me! I think we're even in that regard too, I mean… we're horrible agents.' JJ looked at him in apparent surprise.
'We're young and inexperienced. Just because I'm smart doesn't mean I can be on the field and hell, you're good at press, not catching serial killers! When are we going to realize that we're just not cut out for this job? Maybe we'll have to die before it sinks…' and before he could finish his sentence JJ's lips crashed down on the side of his face knocking him completely off guard. With that, Annabelle's descent down the wooden stairs could be heard from outside the room.
'Just shut up and save yourself, Spence.'
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'Where the hell is that lazy son of a bitch detective?' Morgan groaned. 'This is his jurisdiction and he should be here.' Hotch tried Benson's cell number and waited impatiently as he let it ring six or seven times. Just as he was about to hang up he heard someone pick up.
'Where are you, detective?'
Silence issued from the other end.
'Benson? Where are you?'
A long pause.
'He can't come to the phone right now,' an eerie voice whispered. 'He's… busy.'
The line went dead.
'What was that all about?' Emily demanded, an eyebrow raised in confusion.
'I hate when people underestimate my authority,' said a fuming Hotch as he shoved his cell phone into a pocket. He had dealt with enough small town police forces to know what Benson had done. As far as he was concerned, the FBI had no right to overstep their boundaries… a way of thinking that didn't exactly do him any favours.
'Translation?' Morgan asked rather impatiently as he crossed his arms over his chest.
'There's a chance Benson's dead… and if he's not then he will be shortly. He'll be with Reid and JJ in the house so we need to get in there immediately.'
'Are you sure that's the best thing to do?' Emily asked, a look of worry etched onto her features. She recalled the incident with Jason Gideon a few years previously when he sent his team into an unsafe location only for them all to die at the hands of the unsub. She did not want Hotch to make the same mistake.
'No I'm not sure,' he said hastily, 'but if we don't do something soon I believe more than Benson's life will be lost.'
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'And you wonder why I've never trusted the law,' Annabelle said menacingly, holding a book of matches in her right hand. 'You tell me you're on my side then you send in your friends… you think I'm the crazy one but really… I don't think that's fair.'
'What are you talking about?' Reid asked, sounding shocked. He really had no idea what she was talking about, which wasn't new, but it bothered him nonetheless.
Annabelle crouched down and came within inches of Reid's face. She was so close that he could see the grease almost sliding down her hair, her eyes bulging, and her lips chapped and faded. 'Deadbeat detective dead on the doorstep,' she sang in an eerie melody into Reid's ear. JJ suddenly spun around and spit on Annabelle, getting her square in the eye.
'You're lying!' JJ was enraged.
'Shot him with his own gun, poor thing… he didn't see it coming,' Annabelle sung in her horribly manic singsong voice, completely ignoring JJ. 'Literally,' she added after a pause, 'I don't know why those cops get so big.'
Suddenly JJ remembered Detective Benson and let out a silent sigh of relief. She was envisioning one of her co-workers dead upstairs in the foyer and it wasn't pleasant. Not that she was glad it was Benson that had to die, but… she shuddered nonetheless.
'What are you going to do now?' Reid said shakily, avoiding her eyes. He was afraid of what he was about to hear. 'I think you know how this story ends,' she hissed as she backed away from his face. 'You know,' she said, using her hands to emphasize her point, 'boom.' JJ gulped involuntarily and Anderson latched onto her arm.
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'Oh my god is that…' Emily's voice trailed off as she saw what appeared to be a body on the doorstep of the apartment complex. Morgan caught up with her and sighed. Benson's bloody body was lying face down on the cold cement, a small Snickers bar protruding from his back pocket.
'Go go go!' Hotch shouted as he directed a few SWAT members around back. He never considered himself a religious man but now, more than ever, he was hoping there was a God to answer his many prayers.
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'Look!' Anderson screamed as what appeared to be bricks in the wall opposite them began moving. There appeared to be a camouflaged door in the ancient cellar.
JJ and Reid both reached out to protect the boy in case there was anyone other than the FBI on the other side of that door. With a few swift kicks four SWAT team members busted down the door and stared at the trio as they scrambled do their feet.
'Aren't you gonna tell us what's going…' one of them began to ask before JJ shoved him the chest.
'Get out; she's going to blow this place up!'
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'Emily, do not go in there.' Morgan's voice was firm and serious as she took a step over Benson's lifeless body.
'Don't tell me how to do my job Derek,' she said coldly as she busted down the door in an unusual display of strength. She simultaneously heard two distinct sounds: the SWAT team in the basement and what sounded like scraping noises coming from down the hall. Quickly, Emily ran down and stood outside the door, her gun drawn.
'I know you're in there Annabelle,' she said quietly but firmly. All of a sudden the scraping sounds stopped. It was apparent that she was moving furniture around. Emily heard a door slam from within the room and decided to enter it. It looked as if she was in a living room and Annabelle had now locked herself inside a bathroom. The apartment was extremely small.
'What are you doing? What have you done with my team?'
Laugher echoed from inside the bathroom.
'I said,' Emily yelled fiercely, 'what are you doing?'
The door swung open to reveal a ghastly woman with a homemade bomb attached to her chest.
'I'm doing you a favour,' she said with a crazed look in her eyes.
