The Conspiracy
Chapter 10
Fire Power

"You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist." - Friedrich Nietzsche

Dave watched the horizon as Garcia drove the car, avoiding holes and the brown stubby shrubs that poked up through the dry cracked ground as she went.

'I think I can see the emergency service helicopter, but something is wrong.' Rossi said. Garcia halted the car.

'It looks tilted over.' she said.

'It does.' Dave agreed. 'But it hasn't crashed. There's no sign of fire.'

Garcia started driving again. 'We will be there in a minute.' she said. Her heart was thumping in her chest as adrenalin pumped through her body. Now they were so close, she was afraid of what they would find. The whole team missing was a scenario she dared never contemplate, and being faced with it was almost painful. She risked a glance at Rossi as she took the car at over fifty across the desert. He looked pale and grim. She suddenly realised that as the only surviving field agent, all this was in his lap. She wondered how he wasn't screaming.

As they drew closer, they could see that the helicopter looked undamaged, but it had tipped sideways into a hole that seemed to have appeared beneath it. Ana's truck was stopped next to it. Garcia stopped next to Ana's truck.

She got out of the car and looked around, trying to figure out what to do.

I'm not trained for this......

Dave opened his door, but he didn't get out of the car.

'Penelope, check the radio in the helicopter.' Dave said. 'But be careful. It might be unstable, looking at the ground. If the radio works, get help out here asap.'

Wordlessly, Garcia pulled herself up into the cabin of the helicopter. There was an un nerving creaking sound as she climbed up, and she froze.

The machine didn't move. She noticed that the two lower blades were actually dug into the ground. She hoped that they would be strong enough to take the extra weight.

Dave watched with bated breath as she climbed in. The radio was switched on – the medics hadn't expected to be away for long. She briefly glanced around. Where were they?

With shaking hands she picked up the mike and called for help.

-0-0-0-

A slight movement of the earth, and dirt and dust fell around the five trapped people. Emily instinctively leaned across Reid and shielded him. Morgan did the same for Hotch. Any moment and the whole lot was liable to come crashing down. But not this time. The ground settled and the dust stopped falling.

'What the hell was that?' he said, more to himself than to anyone else. He had dropped the air bulb attached to Hotch's trachea tube, and he fumbled in the dark to try to find it again. Without it, Hotch was dead. He felt his neck for a pulse, and it took a little longer this time to find it.

'Stay with me Man.' he said softly. 'Don't you go anywhere.'

'Is he alright?' Emily called. She felt light headed and realising that they were all on the brink of suffocation didn't help.

'No change.' he lied. 'Reid?'

'I'm not sure, Morgan. There's something wrong, he's not breathing right. I need a medic, but both are under the cave in.'

'Garcia knows where we are. She'll come and find us.'

He hoped so anyway. The air felt thick in his lungs.

-0-0-0-

'They are sending help.' Garcia said to Dave. 'But it will be a while. They only have two helicopters and the other one is on an emergency.' She looked around. 'Sir, there is supposed to be a disused mine around here, but I can't see it.'

'I think we are standing on it.' Dave said. 'The helicopter had caused a cave in.'

'Oh no! So our people are in the mine, and could be hurt.' She looked at the ground. 'We can't start digging in case it caves in more.'

Dave wiped the sweat off his forehead. It was stinging his eyes. He didn't want to wait. Seconds could mean lives. He made a decision.

'Penelope, look over there.' He pointed to a crack in the dry earth on the other side of the grounded helicopter. 'See if the rocks are loose over there. Even if we can't get them out, we might be able to get some air to them.'

Garcia didn't have to be told twice. She ran to where the ground was disturbed and started pulling chunks of dry earth and boulders out of the crack with her bare hands, widening it enough to reach her arm through into the darkness beyond.

That was when she heard Emily's voice.

'Emily, is that you?'

Emily had been listening to what she thought was the ground settling. When a shaft of light broke through the roof of her prison, it was as much as she could do not to shout with joy.

'Garcia?' she shouted instead. 'Garcia, I don't believe it. Morgan it's Garcia'

'Baby Girl, I knew you wouldn't let us down!' he called.

Ana carefully crawled across to where the light was breaking through. He started to pull away at the rocks from the inside, and soon there was a hole a few feet across, big enough for Reid.

'You go first, Ana, and I'll hold Reid for you to pull him out after you.' Emily said. He did as he was directed, and he leaned back in and took Reid by the shoulders, and pulled him out. Emily sighed with relief as he disappeared from her view.

Morgan told the medic that was with him to go. He didn't need to be told twice. He climbed out of the hole and through to daylight.

'Hotch can't be moved.' Emily called up to Garcia.' I am going to stay here with Morgan until the rescue services can get Hotch. I'm not leaving them.'

'They will be here soon.' Garcia called down to her.

Without telling Morgan she climbed down into the chasm where he was kneeling next to Hotch ventilating him with the bulb. When she was next to him, she took over from him.

'You should get out, Emily. This whole lot could come down on us.'

'I'm not leaving. Reid, Ana and the medic are safe. I'm not leaving you.'

'I could order you to go.'

'You could try!' Emily said. She heard Morgan chuckle in the darkness. He put his flashlight in her hand.

'Might as well use this. No point in conserving batteries now.'

She unscrewed the top off the torch, and fitted it to the bottom and stood it on the ground like a lamp. It lit up their little cave with a weak yellow light. She saw Hotch for the first time. What she saw made her stomach clench in empathetic agony.

The metal spike through his abdomen was dark with blood and torn flesh. His entire hip area was red with blood, and the gunshot wound was a ripped hole in his side. His skin was white in contrast, and dirt was stuck to sweat. Livid bruises showed up on his skin of his chest and face where he'd been beaten. She could hardly believe that he was still alive. A lesser man would have given up the fight long ago.

'Oh my god.' she breathed. She took his undamaged hand in her free hand, and squeezed so gently. Although his eyes were closed and he seemed unresponsive, she was sure that he reacted to her touch and squeezed back.

'Hotch, it's Emily. We're getting you out now. Rescue is here.'

-0-0-0-

'I'm Ana.' he introduced himself. 'Are you Garcia?'

She smiled at him, as she bent down at Reid's head to lift him. Ana stooped at his feet.

'I am.' she said. Ana and Garcia carried Reid towards the car.

'Someone is coming.' Ana said. Garcia turned, and saw the dust cloud as a vehicle sped across the desert. 'Is it the rescue services?'

'I don't think so.' Garcia said. 'Quickly, we must get Reid somewhere safe!'

Dave had climbed out of the car and was opening the back door for Reid when he noticed the approaching car. He recognised it at once.

It belonged to the sheriff.

And there were two cars following.

The three pulled up a short distance away. Garcia got in their car and pulled Reid in after her. He groaned in his sleep as they tried to hurry. Dave got back in the front and kept his door open. He rested Chita's shot gun on the edge of the window.

The sheriff had a megaphone. He shouted to them across the space between them.

'You are trespassing on private land. Give yourselves up, or we will open fire.'

'Get down behind the seats.' Dave said. Ana and Garcia obeyed and pulled Reid down with them. The sudden movement woke him up, and he cried out in pain and they bent over him protectively.

'You have to the count of five.' The sheriff said. 'One....... two...... three......'

A shot fired from one of the sheriff's cars ricocheted off the bonnet of Dave's car. He levelled his gun. He hoped that they didn't know he was armed. Another shot, this one shattering the windscreen.

'...four....'

Dave held his breath.

'...five!'

The sheriff's men opened fire. Dave crouched down behind the dash board. He watched the other cars. When one of the men showed a little more of his head than was wise, Dave took it off with one shot. Now they knew he was armed.

There was a volley of shots from the Sheriff. One sent broken glass over Dave, He peered around the door and fired back. He ducked down as a bullet made a hole in the door where he had been seconds before.

Dave waited quietly. He didn't have very much ammunition, just a handful that he had been given with the gun. He couldn't afford to waste any. It seemed like an impasse. Bur he was just one man. There were several of them, and they had as good as unlimited ammo. He waited.

'Give yourself up, and your life will be spared.'

Fat chance. Dave thought. They are ready to kill us 'resisting arrest'. There are no witnesses to the contrary

'Are you two ok in the back?' he asked.

'I'm ok.' Garcia said, her voice strained but determined.

'Me too.' Ana said.

He had his arms around Garcia, trying to protect her. They were both leaning across Reid.

'Can we give ourselves up?' asked Ana.

'These are the men that shot me and abducted Aaron. They will kill us if we surrender.' Dave said. He raised his head and looked through the broken windscreen. He saw the sheriff lining up for another shot. As he emerged to take the shot, Dave opened fire. The sheriff caught the bullet on his right arm and dropped the gun he was holding. One of his men took a shot at Dave who quickly ducked down again. He leaned his head back on the seat. He thought he was going to throw up. His wound was open again and he could feel the wet of blood on the back of his shirt. He closed his eyes briefly, fighting off the nausea and renewing his determination.

He had to do something. He had to pre-emt his enemy. He had to attack.

He reached across to the ignition, and turned the engine on, at the same time, he pressed down the accelerator, and released the hand brake. The car suddenly burst into life and careered forwards towards the sheriff and his men. As the car shot forward he sat on the seat and fired through the window. The enemy was too concerned with getting out of the way of the car to fire back, and Dave took them out one by one in a shower of bullets. Dave's car hit the sheriff's head on and Dave was thrown through the windscreen and across the bonnet.

Nothing and nobody moved for a few seconds, then there was a low rumbling sound. The air filled with dust and the ground seemed to ripple as the mine opened up beneath the rear wheels of Dave's car and it fell backwards down a newly opened mine shaft.