Disclaimer see Chapter One.

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Chapter Nine: Battling it out

People who doubt can have great faith, because faith is something you do, not something you think.

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JJ almost forgot to thank Lisa for the photo. Her hands were trembling as she took a picture of the house with her phone and sent it to Garcia.

'Find out where this is and tell me the moment you do,' JJ said to the technical analyst. There was already a lot of peeping and typing to be heard in the background.

'Okayzay, my little zebra, you got it.' Garcia hung up and JJ stared at her phone for a moment, her brows furrowed. Then she turned to Reid. The doctor had already called the rest of the team and was putting his phone away.

JJ started towards the steps again and Reid fell into step beside her. He dangled the keys in front of her eyes.

'You better drive.'

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JJ and Reid hadn't yet reached the police station, when her cell phone rang. She pulled it out of her pocket and handed it to Reid. There was a lot of traffic on the highway and JJ was going so fast, she almost had Reid calculate the probability of them reaching speed of light.

'Yes?' Reid listened for a while, nodding from time to time. 'Okay, we're on our way.'

He put the phone into his own jeans pocket. 'Garcia found the house; it belonged to Tobias Fuller's grandmother. His father's mother. It was still registered to her, so it didn't come up during Garcia's earlier search. She already sent the address to the others and they'll meet us there. You have to get off at the next exit.'

JJ sped off the highway, biting her lower lip. Her hands gripped the steering wheel tighter.

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The dark SUVs arrived at the white house with the blue window frames, followed by police cars with their sirens on. Hotch, Dave and Morgan at his heels, jumped out of the first car, leaving the car doors open. JJ and Reid joined the group, both putting on their bulletproof vest. The other three already had donned theirs.
The police chief was a burly man with close-cropped hair and a heavy mustache. He greeted Hotch shortly, gave all the others a nod and then went to instruct his men. In no time, most of the police officers were searching the area, while the rest positioned themselves behind Hotch and his team in front of the door.

'Go,' Hotch said and the team and the policemen moved in, weapons drawn and at the ready.

Morgan took the door down with one hard kick. It hit the wall with a loud bang that seemed to echo through the whole house.

Hotch didn't wait for every room to be checked and secured; for once, he did not care about protocol or his safety. He almost ran down the corridor, looking for the green door that was the only part of the house that he had seen - apart from the basement.
The door was just down the hall, to the right. It looked so innocuous from up close, but he was afraid of what he might find behind it. The concrete stairs and at the end - Emily. Alive, she had to be alive. There was still time left. Hotch hoped so, at least.
The door was locked and Hotch pushed it open with his shoulder. The staircase seemed longer than when Fuller had walked down. He could see the one deserted chair, the one he had sat on. And as he took another step, he saw the second chair and a bloody and battered Emily sitting on it. There was not much space to hide in and Hotch holstered his weapon swiftly and moved to Emily's side. He felt her pulse while cutting her bonds. He was breathing so hard that it took him some time to find her pulse, but then he felt it. Maybe a little weak, but steady.

'Emily?' he whispered and hesitantly touched her cheek. He felt sick when she didn't move.

But then her eyelids fluttered like a small bird's wings. 'I'll never doubt you guys every again,' she croaked.

Hotch lifted her up from the chair and carried her up into the house. At the top of the stairs he met two police detectives, but he walked past them without really seeing them. He didn't know it, but his face was a blank, hard mask.

The paramedics were already waiting outside and Hotch gently put Emily down onto a gurney. As the paramedics started fussing over Emily, they asked Hotch to step back - which he did hesitantly. But then he heard Dave called out to him. The older agent was standing on the first of the four steps leading up to the front door.

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'We searched the whole house and most of the grounds - Fuller isn't here,' Dave said and crossed his arms in front of his chest. 'But you didn't really expect to find him here, did you?'

Hotch wearily ran his fingers through his hair. 'No. But to be honest, I did not know what to expect. Right now I'm just glad we found her,' he admitted. He felt very tired all of a sudden.

Dave patted his shoulder and looked over to where Emily lay on her gurney.

'Shit!' he said and turned away from Hotch, his hand moving to his weapon at his hip.

'Wha- ' Hotch started and turned around as well.

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It was an almost strange sight. Hotch didn't know what to make of it. Tobias Fuller was standing next to Emily's sleeping form, with a gun pointed at her head. The paramedics had backed away and the few cops that saw the danger had their weapons drawn, but looked indecisive. Hotch drew his weapon, too, neither he nor Dave or the cops had a clear shot. Emily's propped up head was in the direct line of fire.
Moving very slowly, Hotch stepped down from the porch and walked towards Fuller. He took deep breaths, trying to keep his gun steady. He could hear his team move up behind him.

'You know, Agent Hotchner, I actually hoped it would end like this,' Fuller said. He looked like a man who had nothing to lose; or like a lunatic. His hand didn't waver, he did not seem to see anyone but Hotch and his face and voice were calm. Hotch moved a tiny step closer.

'Emily here doesn't look quite as fresh as you do, but maybe she will be alright. I guess, it is up to you,' Fuller said and held a strand of Emily's dark hair between his thumb and forefinger. Hotch relaxed his finger on the trigger. It would have been so easy to just shoot him.

'As I said,' he went on, releasing the strand of hair which fell back onto the white of the gurney. 'I am glad we ended up here together. I wasn't sure if you would make it out of the wood. But you did and here you are. Do you know why that makes me so happy?'

He waited for an answer, but Hotch kept silent. 'No? Why, because I need something from you.'

The cuts that the doctor had cleaned and bandaged felt as if they were burning. And Hotch's insides seemed to be burning, too.

'I gave you everything. What else could you possibly want from me?' Hotch asked, his voice flat, forcing it to not betray the turmoil inside of him.

'A favor, if you want. Most artists only become famous after they are dead.'

'You are neither,' Hotch said. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a few policemen advance carefully. But the gun that Fuller still held to Emily's head kept them away.

Fuller touched Emily's hair again, staring at Hotch all the while. 'You could help me.'

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The offer seemed to be floating in the air separating Fuller and Hotch.

'You want me to kill you?' Hotch's mind was working at full speed, running through all his options and possible outcomes.

'Wouldn't it make your life a lot easier?' Fuller asked and Hotch decided, simultaneously with the rest of this team and half the cops, that Fuller was a madman who had nothing at all to lose.

'I will not throw away my life.'

Hotch lowered his weapon slightly. Fuller, however, pressed his harder into Emily's temple.

'Do I really have to kill poor Agent Emily first?' he asked and sighed, sounding very much like a father who was talking to his stubborn child. 'Her death would be such a waste; and unnecessary at that.'

Hotch ground his teeth so hard his jaw ached.

'What is your answer?' Fuller inquired after a few second.

'Go to hell,' Hotch simply said and aimed at Fuller's heart again.

'Too bad, Agent Hotchner, then we will all meet again there.'

'I don't think so, dirtbag!' The angry voice of Derek Morgan sounded from behind Fuller suddenly and the agent wrestled Fuller to the ground. Before they had both hit the pavement, everyone started to move, as if someone had pressed the Play button.

The team moved in on Fuller and Derek, who had his knee pressed into Fuller's back and was just handcuffing him. Rossi picked up his weapon.

'What I did was more important than anything you will every do!' Fuller screamed and Morgan pushed his head down onto the pavement.

'Shut up,' he commanded and roughly got Fuller to his feet.

'Maybe your cellmates will be more interested in your stories,' Dave said. 'From what I hear, men like you who slaughter women for fun aren't exactly high up the food chain in prison.'

Hotch was silent, until Morgan had managed to get Fuller into one of the police cars. Then he put a hand over his weary face, closed his eyes and sighed. When he opened his eyes again, the paramedics were just pushing Emily into the ambulance.

'I'll ride with Emily,' Hotch called out to Dave and jumped into the back of the ambulance. Sitting felt very good.

'We'll be right behind you!' he heard Dave shout back, before the doors closed.

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