JJ's hand was soft and warm to Emily's touch. The fact that they were both here and safe for the moment eased her worry. The run from the compound had been extremely difficult. JJ had shown remarkable strength to handle the piercing cold. It had been by chance they found this small hiding place in time. Holding JJ's hand now, Emily kept coming back how close she had just come to losing this woman who was so very important to her. She would not let that happen again, she promised herself. Twisting JJ's hand gently in her's, she began to rub small circles into JJ's palm to soothe herself as much as JJ.
"Oh my," JJ grinned to herself and said, "You know you can hold much more than just my hand if you get under this blanket again." Emily's head shot up, and she quickly released JJ's hand. "Ahh….I was just," JJ could not help but laugh at her now incredibly red faced friend, "Oh Em, you so have to sing to me now." growled JJ. The running joke had let Emily off the hook and stopped her from talking her way out of the situation. JJ didn't want Emily to say she was sorry or say that she didn't mean anything by it. JJ wanted Emily to own these actions because she was going use them to make some tall walls come tumbling down when they returned home.
Taking a deep breath Emily shook her head, "Oh yeah she should definitely be singing for this." she thought. "Well since you're on the verge of hypothermia and most likely will not live to report that I had to sing." She said aloud. JJ laughed at this. Emily continued, "I will agree that you earned a song. Nothing is going to happen till sun up anyway so..." with the sound of the words still ringing in the air a mournful howl broke through the night. Emily broke for the door and scanned the area. "How had they repaired the locking mechanism so soon?" she wondered.
JJ was up and moving in an instant. Carefully working around Emily, trying not to block her view, she pulled her clothing off the branches and dressed. Reluctantly, she broke the fire apart and killed the flames, then moved to free some of the larger branches from the doorway. Emily surveyed the outside area one more time then turned and grabbed the pack. The pack was more like a suitcase of endless goodies; goodies that included two folding knives and five yards of nylon clothes line. She grabbed them then shook her head. Emily could not believe how this well-intentioned, but quietly laughed at, gift was the reason JJ was alive and provider of their only defense.
The ladies had discussed their strategy for protecting themselves as they set up their hiding place in the rocks. The discussion was held mostly to keep JJ's mind on something besides freezing to death, and the conversation let Emily know exactly how the other woman was fairing. The fact of the matter was that these women were so good at thinking their way through dangerous situations, the options were weighed, and the plan was set in less than twenty minutes. They had to somehow remove the dog from the situation and focus strictly on the human factor.
Harming the dog was almost unthinkable to them. Even though JJ was still afraid, she recognized that these poor animals were as much the victims in this as the humans were. Both Emily and JJ knew these powerful animals could be deadly. The unspoken truth was if the dog attacked one of them there was no chance of survival.
Which man would hunt them was the real question. Fleming had flat out told them that they were Rogers's playthings, but that was before they blew up half of his compound. Still the women had agreed that it would be Rogers on their tail, maybe not Rogers himself , but someone to do his bidding. With this in mind they profiled Rogers. He liked spectacle, especially in his role as leader. He intimidated with his showmanship as much as his cruelty. They were counting on Rogers need to punish in front of an audience to make his orders capture instead of kill.
JJ and Emily also agreed that Fleming would be trying to assess damages to his equipment and timeline. They still had to laugh at the size of the explosion they had caused. Rogers was Fleming's hit man. It made sense that Fleming would send him after the team giving him time to solve other problems. If Fleming came for them himself, he would just kill them as fast as he could. They never thought they would be hoping to meet an assassin instead of a terrorist.
Handing one of the folding knives to JJ and keeping one for herself, the women wedged each securely into places in the rocks on either side of their hiding place. Emily smiled as she wound the cord tightly around the hilt of her knife thinking of JJ's comment that it was really no use bringing a knife to a gun fight, and they needed to do something more creative with the two weapons. After the cord had been positioned and secured, a virtually invisible cable stretched across the hollows width about neck high. JJ flicked the line. The ladies smiled as it held taunt. A small laugh escaped JJ, with all their combined experience this was the best they had, string. String and large club-like branches handily placed in easy to grab locations. The thermal blankets spread on the enclosure floor, and the pack placed on the end closest to the door. One last glance around and the women agreed that was it, now the waiting game began.
Each woman knew the wait would not be long; the dog must have their scent by now. They each knew their role in this paper thin plan and both were thinking that they did not stand a chance. They flanked each side of the doorway and watched for any sign of their hunters. The cold was filling the enclosure. Emily knew that JJ was still affected by the earlier shock to her system. Moving across the opening, Emily said, "You're starting to get cold," and stepped behind JJ pulling her close. A small sigh left JJ's mouth and Emily shivered from things much different than the temperature.
JJ felt Emily pull her tight and flashed to the sensation of those strong arms cradling her under the blanket. This was so stupid, did it take crazy unsubs with vicious attack dogs to convince these two to act on their feeling. She smiled to herself and leaned into Emily's arms. The sound of a motor buzzed through the quiet and JJ stiffened. It was time for them to get into position. As she went to move away, Emily held her tight then half whispered, "Okay, this is it." She loosened her hold then pulled JJ back to her. "I know that I owe you a song," she paused then quickly spun JJ in her arms. "I don't fudge on my bets so consider this my marker." She gently but quickly moved her hands to JJ's face, pulled her close and kissed her. Emily's warm lips claiming JJ's mouth, the simple gesture hinted that there could be so much more. Before JJ could respond with anything, a word, action or even a return kiss, Emily was out the door, and the plan was in action.
Emily did not want to think about what she had just done, but as she made her way through the trees she kept reliving that last moment with JJ. She stepped on a fallen branch. It snapped. Cursing her lack of focus, Emily thought maybe she would get shot before this was all over with and never have to face JJ's reaction. Willing herself to return to the task at hand she listened for the sound of the motor. There was no real surprise here. The sound was approaching her position directly from the compound just as they had hoped, so far so good. She found the hiding spot she had scouted earlier and positioned herself to watch. There was a sturdy piece of branch nearby and she grabbed it. The thing was not going to do her any good, but it was better than nothing.
She knew the dog would be out front. The hunter needed to see her close to the same time the dog spotted her. There was a steep slope in the terrain which edged a small opening in the trees right above the rocky area they had been hiding in. The plan was for Emily to make herself seen as her pursuer was climbing the slope. This would give her time to move out of sight and for the hunter to get control of the dog. This is where it got sticky because if the hunter released the dog to attack Emily, she would have to beat it to the hollow and she and JJ would have to attempt to subdue the animal with the clubs. This scenario was a no win for everyone, so Emily made up her mind that things would not be going that way.
JJ had been so strong and would continue to be, but Emily would not put JJ through another animal attack. The dogs JJ had survived so long ago left more than physical scars. Emily knew that JJ had harbored so much guilt about what had happened to Spencer and still had flashbacks of that mauled body. Even in the compound's barn she had reached out to Emily for support when the dogs approached. There was no way Emily would lead the hunter and especially the dog to JJ. If things went bad she would stand and fight right where she was.
The sound of the motor grew and Emily became hyper-alert to the sound. Staying low, she peered around a tree scanning for any sign of movement. There, right there, she saw the dog on the run right at her with a snowmobile right on its heels. They were so much closer than she thought. She had not factored in the slight breeze that interfered how the sound would travel. Where was Reid when she needed him?
She dashed out into the open as if caught unprepared. This was supposed to be an act, but the sight of the hulking animal starting to bound up the hill made her adrenaline skyrocket. She hesitated as if in shock, this would give the hunter time to call off the dog but nothing happened. The dog was flying up the hill, and there was no command to stop it. Emily steeled herself; this was going to be bad. She glanced back at the rock face then began to run. It was in earnest this time. She needed to get across the clearing to the opposite side and the thicker trees. At least she figured the snowmobile would have to stop giving her a small amount of time to try to stop the dog. In the back of her mind, she knew JJ was seeing all this and trying to figure out what went wrong. Emily prayed she would use that beautiful brain to work out a way to hide or get to safety.
She had moved about half way across the clearing before she glanced back. The dog had topped the slope and was on the ridge with her. The charging animal was no more than fifty feet away, she was never going to make it to the trees. She thought she heard a sound, yelling maybe, but she did not stop running. Something whizzed by her head, and she instinctively dove for the ground. Letting her training kick in, Emily fully prepared to be attacked by the pursuing animal. Emily rolled to her knees, club held at the ready, but the dog was stopped near where she had last spotted it. A burly man with a pistol was next to the dog taking aim at her. Flinging herself sideways, her face dusted with a puff of snow as a dart smashed into the ground right where she had been.
Using her momentum she rolled into an awkward stance and then ran. She had no choice but to try to make it to the hiding spot and JJ. The snow was drifted in this area, and it was difficult to run in. Emily stumbled, falling awkwardly to the side. The whiz of a projectile assaulted her ears again. It was sheer dumb luck that she had not been hit. As she was righting herself, Emily caught a glance behind her. The man was struggling to reload as he watched her begin to move away again. Emily's breath caught as she saw him throw the gun down in frustration and then heard him yell, "Alexei, Nul Dva, Tuer!" Emily smiled to herself and turned to face the dog as he flew at her. "Alexei, Nul Dva, Paix!" she yelled. The dog, only moments away from lunging at her, veered to the side and crashed into the snow. Then it moved to a down position panting with exertion. After watching the dog's behavior for a moment Emily started running again. The man was so close now she could hear him cursing under his breath. She felt his hand graze her shoulder.
JJ watched as the two figures weaved and plowed through the snow. She had to tell herself to keep breathing. Watching this play out had been excruciating. As Emily had run from their hiding spot, JJ cursed herself for letting her go. "What if the profile was not correct? What if the dog was not called off in time?" she thought then shook herself to get back into the moment. Emily moved into her hiding spot to wait, as she ducked out of sight JJ's heart stopped. Emily was alright and was going to be alright. JJ put her hand to her lips, then thought to herself "Emily will be alright because nobody pulls a move on me like that kiss and gets away with it."
She started as Emily darted into the open. JJ had not even heard a change in the motor sound. How could they be here already? Something was wrong. The plan had been for Emily to run down the hill to the hollow, but she was moving across the clearing. JJ let out a cry as she saw the dog break over the crest. "What was Emily doing?" she thought. JJ knew exactly what she was doing, moving the danger away from her or at least trying to. Before she could get good and mad, her blood froze as she saw a man clear the ridge and pull a gun. JJ yelled out in spite of herself, but she was too far away to be heard.
Terrified she watched as Emily dropped to the ground and rolled back up. Trying to follow the whole scene, JJ realized that the dog was not moving. They had been right; Emily just needed to get back to the plan. The man shot at Emily again. The sound was not right. It was a popping noise, but that just barely registered as JJ watched Emily fall again. The man then started yelling and the dog sprang forward after Emily again, but this time Emily did not run. Instead, she turned to face her attacker. JJ wanted to run to her. She had to help her in some way, and was almost out the door when the dog stopped dropping to the ground. Almost collapsing with relief, JJ leaned heavily against the rock wall then quickly straightened. The man and Emily were headed her way, and she needed to be ready.
Emily dodged as best she could, but this was a much closer event than she had imagined. She looked for the doorway and managed to angle her path so that he wouldn't see the dark opening until the last minute. Ducking another swipe by the man, Emily raced to the opening with the hunter right on her heels. Flying into the opening Emily dropped and slid. She hit the emergency pack and then slid down the length of the enclosure until she crashed into the end. The man behind her never knew what hit him.
They had overestimated his height, but the result was still dramatic. The nylon cord caught him across the forehead, snapping his head back. Feet flying into the air, he slammed down to Earth with a deep thump. He groaned and JJ stepped up striking him in the head with one of the heavier branches. The man was out cold, the dog was under control and both women were very much alive.
