CHAPTER TEN
It took everything Reid had to keep from throwing up. His head was pounding like a hammer on an anvil. Gulping air into his lungs, he tried to calm his stomach enough to keep the bile down. He was vaguely aware that for the first time in a while he wasn't freezing. He desperately wanted to open his eyes to figure out where the hell he was but his eye lids wouldn't obey his mental command.
A low moan a few inches from him caused Reid to jump slightly. The voice was too familiar. Hotch was right beside him. Then the memories came crashing back. Terrified, Reid tried to move his hand to touch his head. Very quickly he found out that wasn't an option. His hands and feet were tied with rough rope. There was a gag in his mouth and something wrapped over his eyes. That explained why he couldn't open them.
"Where are we?" Hotch asked, his voice hoarse and low. Well, at least that meant his boss wasn't gagged. As hard as he could, Reid rubbed his cheek against his shoulder, trying to dislodge the gag. He was unsuccessful. Shifting, Reid bumped up against his boss's back.
"Welcome to my lair," a deep, decidedly male voice rumbled from somewhere in front of him. Reid felt a chill pass through his body. There was something familiar, menacing about that voice. Frantically, he ran through the past few days trying to figure out where he'd heard the voice before.
"What do you want with us?" Hotch asked. Reid was now pressed up against Hotch's back. Under the blindfold he couldn't tell if there was anywhere else to go. A small part of him wanted to stay where he was, at least it felt safe.
"Actually, you were looking for me. I thought I'd join you in Washington but then the plane crashed. It seemed like fate wanted us to be together. Who was I to argue?" the voice said.
"You're the unsub, from Los Angeles," Hotch breathed. There was a subtle shift against Reid's front as Hotch attempted to sit up. The motion was stopped almost before it started. Hotch's breathing hitched just as the motion stopped. Under his ear, Reid could hear the older man swallowing quickly. Apparently Reid wasn't the only one suffering from nausea.
"That's right. I'm amazed you managed to put that together. You know, so far your abilities have been vastly overrated," the male voice said. "Look, as much as I'd love to spend the next while shooting the shit, I need to go get some more wood. The last thing I want is for you to get cold."
Beyond the blindfold, Reid heard movement, then Hotch was pulled away from him and a scuffle ensued. Unsure of who was winning, Reid held his breath. Above the gentle sound of the fire burning a few feet away, Reid heard the sound of blows landing and grunts. Then Hotch slumped down, almost on top of him. He knew it was his boss because of the subtle scent of Old Spice that always seemed to emanate from the man.
Silence fell. Reid desperately wanted to ask Hotch if he was all right but the gag prevented him. He felt Hotch drag himself off of Reid's torso. Then the blind fold was being removed, followed shortly by the gag.
"Are you all right?" Hotch asked, his voice hitching along with his breathing. Even in the dim light of the low burning fire, the young genius could tell that his boss had suffered the worst of the fight. Blood trickled freely from the corner of his mouth. His hands were tied in front of him, which allowed Hotch to help Reid but not gain his own feet. Watching Hotch move, Reid wasn't sure he could stand up anyway.
"I'm fine. How about you?" Reid asked as he watched Hotch try to undo his feet. The man couldn't bend well enough to do it though.
"I'm fine," Hotch grated as he tried again. It took a lot out of him to keep from crying out. How the hell had he gotten so beaten up? "What's going on? How did we wind up in this cave?"
Reid went completely still. Something wasn't making sense. He knew he should have been able to figure it out, probably a long time ago, but in his addled state he just couldn't figure it out.
"We followed tracks into this valley. We needed to find someplace to spend the night or risk freezing," Reid said. He watched as Hotch finally gave up on trying to reach the ropes on his feet. Lying back down in front of Reid, the Unit Chief had to spend a few minutes catching his breath.
"How did we wind up in this valley?" Hotch continued when he could. From his prone position, he was examining their environment. Confusion reigned in his mind. None of this was making sense. He would have been better able to think things through if there wasn't an annoying buzzing in the back of his mind. Distantly, he realized he had a concussion, possibly a severe one. That could explain the memory loss.
"Our flight crashed," Reid said, ripples of shock spreading through his body. Looking closer at his boss, he noticed in the light that one of his pupils was larger than the other. How had he not noticed this before? Or had it been made worse by the last bump on his head?
"Flight?" Hotch parroted, trying to sift through his memories to put them back in order. Ignoring the discomfort of his body, he closed his eyes and carefully sorted. Within a few minutes, he realized there was a gap in what he knew. "That last thing I recall is the little girl calling you 'pretty'."
The world shifted slightly in Reid's world. Clearly, while being injured he'd missed clues that his boss too had been among the walking wounded. Suddenly their situation seemed all the more hopeless.
OOOOO
Derek's night was spent pacing back and forth across the room. It seemed to be the longest night of the FBI agent's life, and he'd had plenty of long ones before. Emily had fallen asleep in a chair, her head propped on her arms that were resting on the corner of a desk. Rossi was sitting in another chair, staring at the darkness beyond.
The rangers managed to keep busy, to stay out of the agents' way. It seemed like the best thing to do. They were the first ones to see that the snow had stopped outside and the wind had decreased. That was good if they were going to head out at first light.
"How much longer?" Morgan asked. He knew he sounded like an impatient child. He was beyond caring.
One of the rangers glanced up at the clock. "Sun up is in 45 minutes. We'll be on the tarmac, ready to go by then," he said. He nodded at the pilot and co-pilot. Picking up their bags, the two men pulled on light jackets and headed out. They wanted to be ready.
"Get some food and coffee," the ranger said, looking at the agents. "It's going to be a long day and you'll need the energy."
OOOOO
Penelope's coordinates were off. They were currently hovering above a valley. At one end it had shrubs lining it, at the other it was snow filled. The most obvious thing in the valley was the complete lack of people or anything mechanical. If the plane had gone down, it hadn't done it here.
"What about the transponder?" Morgan asked as he scanned the ground below the hovering helicopter. He was so sure that Garcia had it right. Not finding anything had put a crushing weight on his chest. It was so hard to keep from giving up completely. The only thing that kept hope alive was how well he knew Hotch and Reid. The two agents would do everything in their power to survive.
"We've been trying to find it since the plane disappeared. So far we've had no luck. We should have been able to follow it all the way from the air port. None of this is making a lot of sense," the ranger stated. He'd spent far too much of his career searching for downed planes. This one was definitely the largest he'd looked for. It should have made it easier, not harder.
"What's that?" Rossi called out. The older agent had been staring out the window toward the back of the helicopter. He figured there were enough eyes looking forward maybe they'd gain something by looking back. Pointing at a spot of darkness among the white snow, he glanced at the others. It looked incongruous, completely out of context.
Within minutes, the copter put down at the wider end of the valley. Trekking through the snow was harder than Derrick and Rossi had expected. Emily soon outdistanced them as she strode to the spot Rossi had pointed out. She'd grown up moving all over Europe, she was more used to skiing and hiking on mountains.
Reaching the spot, she knelt in the snow and carefully brushed the cold, white accumulation off. Underneath she found a jagged piece of metal. Digging it out, she held it up for the others to see. "What do you think this belonged to?" she asked.
The pilot took the small piece from her and examined it closely. "It is part of a plane," he said, looking up. "It's been snowing and that's hidden the debris path. We'll keep looking further up the mountain."
OOOOO
As soon as the eastern sky began to lighten, Jake loaded up a backpack and headed out. He'd told Laura and Tobey to make sure someone knew where he was headed. The last thing they needed was for someone else to get lost. The snow was still falling this high up on the mountain. He knew the chance of tracking the two men was slim but he had to try.
Making his way down the valley, the sun came up over the rim. It seemed to scare the last few snow clouds away as it slowly made its ascent through the sky. The new snow made the going even harder than it had been before. By the time Jake reached the y in the valley, he had begun to sweat heavily despite the cool wind blowing.
Pausing at the y, not really sure which was the best way to go, the Air Marshall stopped and dug a water bottle out of his pack. Two quick swallows as all he'd allow himself. When he found Hotch and Reid, the two men would need as much water as he could bring to them. Wiping the back of his mouth on his sleeve, Jake scanned the valley walls, hoping for some form of divine intervention.
The sound started out quietly. At first he wasn't even sure he heard it. Then the steady thrum of an engine gradually became clear. Looking down the valley on the right, he saw a glint of light off in the distance. Hope tried to pry its way into his heart. Maybe, just maybe, they were going to be found after all.
The engine got louder and the glint turned into a helicopter. Staring at it as it covered the distance between them, Jake wasn't sure whether he was seeing things or not. Then the vehicle was within five feet of him, hovering just above the valley rim. The valley was too narrow here for it to land.
Shielding his eyes from the wind and snow kicked up by the rotating blades, Jake didn't see the two men repel down the side of the helicopter until they were crunching through the snow towards him. One of them was a well built, dark skinned man who had an intensity that almost burned him, even from this distance. The other was dressed as a ranger.
"Hello!" the ranger called to be heard over the noise of the copter. "We're searching for a plane crash. Are you one of the survivors?"
It seemed like a really stupid question. Of course he was a survivor. No one prepared for being up here would be dressed like him. But, the marshal supposed, they had to ask.
"Yeah, I'm Air Marshal Jake Thurston. The cockpit of the plane is detached, we're not sure where it went. The rest of the plane is further up this valley. I'm down here looking for two men who went missing yesterday," Jake said. The imposing man looked at him all the closer with his dark, piercing eyes. He had to be an FBI agent. Well, if it wasn't, he should be.
"Special Agent Derrick Morgan," the man identified himself. "Two of my team mates were on that plane Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner and Special Agent Dr. Spencer Reid. Are they among the survivors?" Morgan wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer but he couldn't wait to know either.
"Aaah, yeah," Jake hedged, glancing at the other man. "They survived the crash but they're the ones I'm looking for."
"Damn it," Morgan swore, turning away from the man. He had a near overpowering need to hit something.
"We need to get to the other survivors," the ranger said, looking at Morgan. "I know you want to find your people but we've got to deal with the ones we can find first."
Running a hand over his near bald head, Morgan paced a few steps. Looking around the valley and the unblemished snow, he knew the man was right. Even though Hotch and Reid were out here, they had to save the ones they could and then try to find them. He hoped desperately that they could hold on. Turning back to the two men, he nodded his head. "Lead the way."
A/N: I admit. I don't know if any of this is medically accurate. I just knew that I couldn't get Reid and Hotch separated from the team and the other survivors unless Hotch wasn't thinking straight. If I'd had the unsub kidnap Reid, Jake wouldn't have let Hotch go looking for him alone. The same held true if I had the unsub kidnap Hotch. Anyway, it all makes perfect sense in my own mind. Yeah, that's where my screen name comes from. ;)
Thank you so much for the overwhelming response to the last chapter! Since so many people took the time to review I figured I'd update this story first of the four stories I'm currently writing. So you know what to do to get another quick update (yes, I'm shameless). Well, not really. My stories kind of take residence in my mind and won't leave me alone until I've written the ideas down. I'm a little compulsive that way.
Thanks for sticking with me and for all the alerts! Knowing that so many people are waiting and enjoying my story does help to keep me motivated! I hope you liked this chapter. Things are going to get a little more exciting from here on out!
Susanne