(Sorry, had to make a couple of changes so I re-updated)
I've worked really hard on this chapter, and I'm trying to give everyone what they want :)
As always, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy the finale to, Cottonport, Louisiana!
Reid peered around the corner from inside of the bathroom, confirming that the coast was clear. He shuffled forward, searching for a weapon but still wary of his concussed state.
The house was covered in aging flowered wallpaper, the edges yellow and curled. The hallway smelled of mothballs and old age; Reid guessed that this was not Paul's house. Reid caught sight of a hammer lying haphazardly against the wall a bit further down the hallway. Reid grabbed it, his heart racing as he felt the cold steel burning his hands.
Reid continued into the living room, hoping that no one was occupying it. Reid breathed a sigh of relief when he didn't see anyone sitting in the rotting armchairs clustered around the unused fireplace.
Reid whipped his head around when he heard a crash coming from upstairs. Without making a sound, Reid made his way to the attic.
Hotch smashed the camera out of Paul's hands, and brought his fists back up to make a connection with Paul's face. Paul stumbled backwards, taken aback by this surprise attack. Paul roared forwards, slamming his fist into Hotch's stomach while simultaneously kicking his legs out from under him.
Hotch crashed to the floor, his wrist cracking underneath his weight. He gasped in pain, then wished he hadn't when Paul's foot crushed his lungs, forcing the air out of them.
"Paul?" Oakland wheezed from the corner of the attic.
Paul turned his head to where his father was lying. Hotch used this temporary distraction to rise up and throw his body into Paul's. Well aware that he couldn't last much longer, Hotch punched Paul in the face, trying his hardest to render the man unconscious.
Paul, however, refused to give up and shoved Hotch off of him. Rearing up over Hotch, Paul smiled, "Remember this name, Paul Wood."
An instant before Paul brought his bloodied fist down on Hotch's face, Reid crashed the hammer into Paul's skull. Paul instantly fell off of Hotch, lying on the floor with blood running out of his ears.
"Hotch?" Reid asked. "Are you ok?"
Hotch forced his eyes open, taking in a shaky breath to answer Reid's question, "I'm ok."
The black SUV raced through the streets of Cottonport, its sirens overwhelming the quiet atmosphere of the small town. Morgan gripped the steering wheel, his fingers digging into the hard plastic.
"They're going to be ok," Prentiss tried to calm Morgan down.
"That sick bastard said he was going to kill them. That was three hours ago!" Morgan shouted, increasing the speed of the car.
"Please be careful," Prentiss said, grabbing the handle beside her as Morgan whipped around a sharp turn.
Morgan ignored her and continued speeding along in a stony silence.
Reid hunted for a phone, looking over every inch of the house. "Hotch, I don't think there's a phone in here."
"Maybe we should go outside... take a look around," Hotch said breathing heavily.
"Are you having difficulty breathing?" Reid asked.
"... Yeah..." Hotch wheezed.
"I think you might have a punctured lung, and we need to get you to the hospital right now," Reid said urgently.
"How do you propose... we do that?" Hotch asked sarcastically.
"I'm going to go outside. Paul has to have a car out there," Reid said. "Are you going to be ok in here?"
Hotch glanced over at Paul who was tied up and attached to a bed thanks to Reid's incredible prusik knot. "Yeah, I'll be fine."
Reid nodded and headed down the stairs. His head was still pounding, but he forced himself to ignore it. Reid opened the front door and looked around. The house was situated on an abandoned farm. The trees were budding thanks to the spring season and birds chirped into the chilly air.
Reid approached the garage attached to the barn house. Pulling the door open, Reid stepped into the dark building. Finding a light switch, Reid flipped it on and raised his eyebrows.
"Morgan, slow the car down, now!" Prentiss said as she watched the speedometer rise from 110 to 120 miles an hour.
"We can't get there too late, Prentiss! I wouldn't be able to live with myself if they died and I knew that I could have been there in time," Morgan said firmly, maintaining his insane speed.
"I understand your concern, Morgan, but we can't help them if we're dead," Prentiss said.
Morgan didn't move his foot off of the gas pedal. Prentiss pried her sweaty palms off of the handles and moved them to the seatbelt around her waist.
Rossi and JJ approached Paul's house, guns in hand.
"Where are Morgan and Prentiss?" JJ asked.
"I don't know, they were ahead of us," Rossi said.
"Should we go in without them?" JJ asked.
Rossi nodded, signalling JJ to follow him into the house.
They opened the heavy wooden door and stepped inside. Rossi, hearing nothing, called out, "FBI!"
"Here!" A voice shouted.
"Hotch?" Rossi asked, moving towards his voice.
"I'm in the attic, Paul is incapacitated... and Reid is outside looking for Paul's car!" Hotch yelled to Rossi.
Rossi nodded to JJ, who went outside to find Reid.
"Alright, I'm coming up," Rossi called.
Rossi climbed the stairs and found Hotch lying on the floor, "Are you ok?"
"Reid thinks I have a punctured lung... but other than that... it's just minor bruising," Hotch said.
"Ok, we have emergency services coming right now," Rossi assured him.
Reid stared at the garage completely filled with expensive Persian rugs.
"Reid?" A voice asked from outside of the garage.
"JJ?" Reid whipped around.
JJ ran up to Reid and the two embraced, "I'm so happy you're ok!" JJ said.
"Me too," Reid laughed.
"What the hell?" JJ asked as she noticed the ridiculous amount of rugs crammed into the tiny garage.
"I think that maybe Paul's dad was a hoarder of some kind. He seemed to have a soft spot for these rugs..." Reid explained.
"Weird," JJ said.
"Did someone go help Hotch?" Reid asked.
"Yeah, Rossi went," JJ confirmed.
"What about Morgan and Prentiss, are they here too?" Reid asked.
"They were supposed to be, but they haven't showed up," JJ said, pulling out her cellphone. "... No answer. It's going straight to voicemail."
Reid frowned. He was distracted, however, when he heard the ambulance arrive.
"You should go see the paramedics," JJ said.
Hotch grimaced as a tube was forced down his throat but felt immediately better as breathing became easier.
Rossi approached the ambulance with a somber expression on his face. "There's been an accident."
Reid looked up, "Who was in an accident?"
"Derek and Emily," Rossi said.
"What?" JJ gasped.
"Are they ok?" Reid asked.
"I don't know. All I heard was that their car went off of the road and hit a tree," Rossi grimaced.
"Oh my God," JJ said with a shocked expression on her face.
"They're at Bunkie general hospital, it's 23 miles from here. We can follow the ambulance over there," Rossi said.
JJ shook her head in shock, how did this day go so wrong?
Morgan saw spots of white and red when he tried to open his eyes. The car was smoking and the front was completely demolished. His ears were ringing and when he regained his senses enough to look around, he noticed the paramedics trying to get him and Prentiss out of the car.
Morgan stiffly moved his head to see if Prentiss was ok. Blood was seeping from a wound in her head and her eyes were closed.
Morgan tried his best to stay conscious, but his body had other plans and he soon fell back into the dark, cozy place his brain had confined him to.
"Emily Prentiss and Derek Morgan?" The doctor called into the waiting room.
"Yes, that's us," JJ said, standing up.
"Agent Prentiss suffered a minor concussion, and Agent Morgan has severely broken his left arm. At the speed that that car crashed, it's a miracle they're even alive."
"Where can we see them?" JJ asked.
"Rooms 121 and 122," the doctor reported.
"Thank you," Rossi said.
"Hey Hotch," Reid said, approaching Hotch's hospital bed.
"Reid. Are you ok?" Hotch wheezed slightly.
"I have a minor concussion. I have to stay overnight and I would expect two weeks off of work, but yeah, I'm ok."
"Good. How are Morgan and Emily?" Hotch asked.
"I think they're going to be ok. Morgan's feeling pretty bad about the accident. Did you know he was driving at speeds of 120 miles an hour? I've never taken a car past 70," Reid said sheepishly.
"You know Morgan. He can be so impulsive sometimes," Hotch sighed. "At least they're alright."
"At least we're alright!" Reid grinned, looking at his hands. "It was scary, being at the hands of an UNSUB again. I thought I was going to die."
Hotch looked at Reid, "I'm sorry you had to go through that. I think our team has been through more than its share of mishaps lately. We all need a vacation."
"I've heard that Cottonport is nice," Reid said straight-faced.
"Did I just hear a joke come out of your mouth?" Hotch asked mischeviously.
Reid shrugged casually, a smile dancing on his lips.
"I'm glad you're ok Reid," Hotch sighed, "I would have missed you!"
"Better you than me, can you imagine Morgan running the team?" Reid said.
A smile started overtaking Hotch's face as he thought about it. The smile soon turned into a laugh. Both Reid and Hotch laughed and laughed until tears streamed down their faces.
Two Weeks Later
"Look at my poor babies finally back at work!" Garcia exclaimed, rushing over to her bruised and damaged team.
Morgan sported a beautiful pink cast, picked by Garcia herself and decorated with kittens, sparkles and assorted fluffy items.
"Baby girl, you have made me the laughing stock of the FBI," Morgan smiled, embracing his friend.
Hotch was still off of work on medical leave. His punctured lung was healing, but was still too much of a liability to allow him to come back to work.
Reid and Prentiss laughed as Garcia planted a giant butterfly sticker onto Morgan's cast.
Morgan groaned, putting his head in his hand, "You promised no more!"
"But this fits so perfectly," Garcia protested.
"It's fine, I give up. The cast comes off in two months so do your worst," Morgan smiled.
"Oh Prentiss, you and I have a job to do!" Garcia squealed.
"Don't I get to help?" Reid asked, watching as the girls left the bullpen. "Hey! I want to help too! Garcia!"
What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. They are but trifles, to be sure but, scattered along life's pathway, the good they do is inconceivable. - Unknown
Thank you for reading my story, it's been fun to write :)
Thank you also to all of my faithful reviewers, it's been a pleasure to read your comments! Please continue for this last chapter and help me reach my all time goal of 50 reviews! Thanks again everyone.