This is short but if all goes well I should be able to have an update tomorrow.

Thanks for reading!


Life and Death

The room was brightly lit but Reid felt nothing but darkness surround him as the mysterious events continued to unfold. It was enough stress to think that something terrible had happened to JJ and Hotch, and he just wasn't convinced that Morgan and Emily were acting like themselves. He listened intently to Rossi finish the brief conversation with Derek and hung up.

The senior profiler sighed as he pocketed his phone. He didn't like Derek's tone and the abrupt end to the call, it just didn't fit with what he said. He looked over to Reid and saw that his face read the same concerns he had. He cleared his throat, "what's on your mind?"

Spencer looked over to Bane and shook his head, "I'm not sure. There are just a lot of things that don't connect."

"Like what?"

"Well, Emily for one. It's not like her to leave without telling anyone. The way Herst acted when I questioned him. He got pretty defensive, like he knew her better than us."

"Maybe she told Hotch." Rossi said as he picked up her phone and proceeded to check her call history.

He turned the phone to face him, "Last two calls, Garcia and Hotch." He turned it back to himself, "Let's call Garcia and see if she told her anything."

Reid crossed his arms as he watched Dave make the call.

"My dear E tell me you have found JJ and Hotch!" The Analyst half yelled through the phone.

"Garcia its Dave, and no I'm sorry."

Her voice dropped in a sad disappointment, "Oh, why are you calling from Emily's phone?"

"What did the two of you talk about when she called?"

"Uh, are we on speaker?"

Dave shot Reid a look then looked around the room. "Yes," he answered hesitantly.

"Well, maybe not be," she suggested.

He turned away and moved to a corner of the room and pressed the button before putting it to his ear.

"What's going on?"

"Well she had asked me to look into Agent Herst."

His brow narrowed and he felt his heart begin to race a little. He tried to think why Emily had a suspicion of Herst and he looked over to the board but still nothing clicked. He redirected himself back to the conversation with Garcia, "Why did she want you to check him out?"

"She didn't give a reason. She said he was right there so she was being discrete about it."

"What did you find out?"

"Nothing besides an almost too flawless record. He has applied for quite a few transfers and a ridiculous amount of them to the BAU."

"That's interesting," Dave muttered but was not liking the direction the information was going. "Did Prentiss say anything about not feeling well and possibly going back to the hotel?"

There was a pause, and she answered with a questioning tone, "No, she sounded tired but said we were going to conference with Hotch when they got back. Please tell me what's going on."

He covered the phone's speaker and eyed Spencer, "Call Morgan back, get an ETA."

Spencer squinted at him but pulled his phone as he did. Spencer felt the irritation rise as the phone rang but went to voicemail. He tried again and when Derek still didn't answer he just shook head at Rossi as he left a message for him to return the call.

"Garica can you track the GPS and see where Morgan is?"

"Please tell me what's going on!" She begged as she typed frantically on her key board.

"That's what we need to find out."

"His phone is at Main and 33rd."

"What's there?"

"Uhh," she muttered as she continued to type, "a medical center, dentist, pharmacy, lab, and an Urgent Care."

Rossi let out a breath, "okay do me a favor can you check to see if Prentiss has checked in, and keep trying Morgan for me."

"Is Emily okay?"

"Morgan said she was pretty sick and took her to get checked out."

"K, bye." she replied somberly as their connection was broken.

Spencer wasn't convinced and there were too many inconsistent variables.

He saw that Rossi picked up on his doubt, "Not satisfied?"

"No," he answered as he looked over to Bane, who he had noticed checked his phone every few minutes and appeared slightly more agitated.

"You didn't find it odd that Bane said he was attacked from behind, yet all of his injuries are on his face, and I saw bruising and cuts on his hand."

"So let's have a talk with him again."

Spencer shrugged his confirmation and was about to confront the man but paused as Bane rose and reached in and pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. Spencer saw that in his need for the nicotine fix he had left his phone on the table. The profilers watched him make an exit from the building before they moved over to the table. Spencer slowly turned the phone to face him, and as he did it lit up and alerted of a text.

He drew closer to see what it said and felt himself tense when he saw Herst's name and the words that came through clear.

Players in place, I'm ready for the Genius.


JJ could barely focus on her steps or movements as her mind flashed images of leaving Emily how she did. She stopped halfway up and fought her urge to run right back down to the room. She didn't know what she was doing and never felt more frustrated and confused than she did at that moment. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the wall. She let out a sigh of frustration then looked back and forth in the darkness. All of her uncertainty was over running her instincts and confidence.

The silence of the house was unnerving, all she could hear was her heart as it beat erratically in her chest. She swallowed and forced her legs to continue her slow pace up the stairs. She tried to listen for any clue to what was ahead but nothing presented itself. When she finally reached the landing at the top her only option was a hallway that led to a closed door.

Of course she thought as she took small steps. She kept her head moving to not be surprised by anything that might jump out from the dark shadows. The hall seemed endless and each step did not appear to close the gap.

It was more than clear that anything she would encounter was not going to be easy or obvious. She hesitated when she finally reached the dead end, and leaned in to listen for any sounds on the other side. There was only a faint rustle but she could not place it as anything significant.

She slowly placed her hand on the knob and began to turn. Before she got far a frantic yell from the other side kept her from finishing the revolution. She released the round metal and stepped back. Her stomach clenched as she recognized the voice.

"Derek?" She asked through the door. If he was here did Herst have the whole team? Her mind swirled at the possibility and what that meant for her. Would everyones life rest on her shoulders? She tried to control the rush of panic that crashed into her.

"JJ?" His voice called back.

"Yeah its me," she answered in a shaky voice. "Are you okay?"

"I'm okay. Don't open the door."

"Why? Tell me what's going on."

"I can't JJ just trust me."

She placed her head against the door in defeat. There was it was again, it all lay in her hands but she didn't know what the right thing to do was.

"How can I help you if you don't tell me anything?" She pleaded to him, in hopes he could give her anything.

There was a brief silence before Morgan's voice was back, "I can't tell you what's going on in here but-" then his voice trailed off.

She held herself in anticipation for what he was going to divulge, hopefully a hint to how she could help him. She in no way had prepared herself for the words that slapped her hard.

"JJ it's your fault Emily almost died."

She stepped back shocked by his words but more confused at why he said them.

"Did you hear me?" He called back through the door.

She shot back harshly and tried to hide the pain they caused, "Yeah I heard you! What's your point?"

"That is exactly my point."

She stared at the dark wood in front of her in confusion and hurt. Then it hit her that he was trying to tell her what he was facing.

"Derek I'm not sure I understand. What does Emily getting shot with an arrow have to you and me not coming in?"

"You tell me."

It had to be simple. It was obvious that the rules that he had given Emily and Derek were not to tell her any of them. She had to make a blind decision, but here Derek was trying to tell her without breaking his rules. She thought about the events that led to Emily getting struck by the arrow. She had tripped on a line that released it. The circumstances probably were similar since Derek brought it up. It only made sense that if she opened the door a similar fate would be held by Derek.

If that was the case she was stuck in indecision again. She pressed her forehead against the door and let it take her weight. She stared down to the ground and placed a hand on the door. She did not want to turn away again, and she knew that this was what Herst wanted. She just had to find a way around it, she was not going to give up, but the doubt to find success had become heavy and thick. She fought to not let the emotions of her failure win but Derek's voice broke into her self induced misery.

"JJ are you still there?"

She slightly lifted her head and spoke into the door, "Yeah."

"I think I've got something."

She was about to respond when she began to hear a scrapping noise and what sounded like breathing. As she turned her attention to it she realized it was not breathing but more of a sniffing. Her panic of what was coming rose as the scrapping and tapping grew louder. It moved with purpose up the stairs, and she turned around to try and face it.

"Something's coming Derek!" She called behind her. Her only option to get away from it was through the door behind her. If she did she would kill Derek, if she didn't she would most likely not survive the attack of what was headed towards her.

She looked frantically around for anything she could use as a weapon, but there was nothing but the walls and the booby trapped door behind her.

"JJ stay calm!" He called through and a rattling noise echoed behind his voice.

She closed her eyes at his words but the shaking that had begin in her hands quickly spread throughout her body. When she opened them again her eyes landed on the beast that had stopped at the top of the stairs. She did not take her eyes from it and tried to get into a defensive stance as it began to growl.

She could not take her eyes of its sharp and menacing teeth as they were exposed and warned her of what was coming.

"Dog!" She called out urgently behind her.

"What?"

"DOG!" She screamed again as she saw it begin to bound towards her.


That silly little review button is a great way to let me know if you like, dislike,or just have a comment for me! I appreciate all feedback!

Thank you again for reading!