Sanity Frontier

Fortune can, for her pleasure, fools advance,
And toss them on the wheels of Chance.

Juvenal

TEN

Reid and Morgan had barely started their trek down the mountain range when they began to feel that something wasn't quite right. Morgan thought he was being watched, and not just by any nocturnal beasts – no, these were human eyes watching. He put a hand on Reid's shoulder, silently indicating that they should stop.

They stood still and silent. Both states were soon broken by a muffled gunshot in the distance. 'The cabin,' they both said in unison, and broke into a run, all but oblivious to the all consuming darkness. It had been a toss-up between being shot by a murderous unsub, and falling down a mountain. Neither had been particularly eager to make the choice, but they came to the conclusion that they would use the torches if they desperately needed them; there was sufficient moonlight to see the path ahead of them.

It was fortunate that they had moved, for no sooner than they had, a second crack split the air. This one was closer – aimed at them. Unconsciously, they split apart, running in different directions, though both quite distinctly away from the second gunshot.

After what felt like hours worth of jogging desperately, Morgan finally came to a halt. He'd tripped twice in his mad attempt at escape, recovering quickly both times. In his haste, he had completely lost track of Reid. And his own location, for that matter. He might as well have been trapped on Saturn. He looked around for a sign, any sign. Something to indicate where he was, and where he needed to be. The answer he found was not at all comforting.

A steady plume of smoke rose gently into the night air.

Reid noticed the smoke at about the same time as Morgan. He had been so focussed on his own retreat that he hadn't noticed the growing stench, the thickening air. There was no doubt that the source of the smoke was the cabin. It was heavy smoke, not the kind from a chimney, but the kind you get when a building is steadily ablaze. Half a dozen sets of statistics ran through his head. In 2004, fire killed more citizens of the United States than all other natural disasters combined. In just three and a half minutes, the heat from a fire can reach over 1100 degrees Fahrenheit.

He began to run again, paying close attention to his surroundings; Rossi or Emily might have escaped, and he wanted to be ready to give medical attention. The thought crossed his mind that there had been two gunshots, a mile apart at least. Two killers. It was another reason to pay close attention.

The close observation paid off. No more than forty feet ahead of him, two men were partially silhouetted against the raging inferno. They were yelling to each other over the sound of the fire, though, from what he could tell, it wasn't angry yelling. He inched forward slowly, keen to hear the conversation without them noticing him.

French. They were speaking French, he knew that much. Something about a man and a woman – Rossi and Emily, he assumed – escaping. He hoped that was the word he had heard. Direction? Which direction had they gone? One of the men pointed further along the mountain range, into the cluster of trees that lay at the base of the cabin.

'I don't know how he didn't spot us, running like maniacs,' whispered Morgan from behind. Reid jumped backwards.

'Do you really think it's wise to scare me like that, Morgan?' Reid said, exasperated. They continued to watch. The men seemed content to let the cabin burn – it wasn't as though there was anything they could do. There was a firebreak between the cabin and the tree cluster, enough that there was a very low chance of the fire spreading.

'They're going after them,' commented Reid. He did not need to specify which "theys" he was referring to. The implication was clear.

'Why them?' Morgan seemed somewhat offended. 'They're not going to just let us run havoc.'

'Maybe they know Rossi's got the shotgun. Get the only armed opponent out of the way first.'

'We need to follow them too,' said Reid decidedly.

Morgan agreed almost immediately. 'We can't just abandon them. Help can wait. We take care of our own.'

So the two agents set off in pursuit of two serial killers who were in turn chasing Rossi and Emily. All in all, it was a very macabre game of follow the leader.

A/N: You know the drill, read and review before I beat you to death with your own skull. Have a great day! Cheers, tfm.