A/N~ It's short. Man, everything I do is so short... Anyway, here you are. On time, unlike my other stories. Enjoy this!
Dowde was pacing. Back and forth. Back and forth. Back. Forth. Back. The team followed his nervous movements with their eyes, wondering if it was a good or bad thing that Dowde was panicking. He had burst in with the branding iron in hand. But instead of gloating and torturing rossi... he just dropped it and started pacing frantically. They had not yet figured out why.
He stopped suddenly, grasping at his hair and falling to his knees. He started muttering to himself, and the team exchanged glances again. What the hell had happened out there?
"You... did... did you call them!" ... another glance.
"Call who?" Prentiss jumped as Austin's expression turned furious and he dropped down beside her, snatching the iron from it's spot on the floor, and holding it up to her eye.
"You know who! Don't play coy with me!" He laughed suddenly, then quieted just as quickly. Had he completely lost his mind?
"Do we?" Dowde turned on Rossi, and Prentiss gasped in relief. Another second and she would have been forced to blink. Even to twitch would send the iron straight into her eye. Garcia sent her a concerned look from across the table, and she nodded back. she was okay. For now. But every agents hope was steadily slipping away... directly into the grasp of the deteriorating man before them.
"YES agent Rossi. I think you know very well what I'm talking about. Agent..." He paused. Whether it was for effect, or he actually needed to gather his thoughts, no one knew.
"...Gideon." The team gasped. Gideon?
"He called." He spat the last part as if it left a bad taste in his mouth.
The team was grateful that Reid and Hotch weren't conscious. This news might have sent them over the edge. As it was, the team couldn't believe it. How did he know? JJ cleared her throat casually.
"W-what did he say?" Dowde glared at her, then resumed his pacing.
"Why would I give you any information that you could use against me. That could give you any Hope at all? Hm?" Morgan's final resolve was breaking. Any second he was gonna scream at this asshole. Dowde sensed the loathing that was building up in the hearts and minds of every agent in the room. Well. The conscious ones. He relished the torture. With a start, he seemed to realize the iron in his hand. The shocked expression on his face would have been comical if it weren't for the deadly results of his discovery.
"No matter. He won't stop me. I have time. The time it takes them to reach me on a phone that I didn't smash."
No! That was their only line of communication. Dammit.
"So agent Rossi. It seems you didn't quite evade your punishment. Too bad." He smirked. His new found confidence stronger than ever.
"You ready?"
"Oh yeah. Go ahead. it's an expensive shirt though. Avoid that." Dowde's smile fell again and he snarled at the sarcasm.
"You think this is a game, agent?" Rossi cocked his head to the side slightly. As if the exchange bored him.
"You've told us many times that it WAS a game. Are you saying that it's somehow changed, Austin? that-"
He was cut off by Dowde's furious thrust of the iron into Dave's lower neck. He let out a long, low growl. The team could not deal with this any more. 3 of their agents had severe injuries. Rossi made four. Dowde backed off, panting.
"Didn't I tell you NOT to Question me?" Rossi too was panting, squeezing his eyes shut to deal with the spirals of white hot pain that were circling his clavicle.
Without warning, Dowde shoved the iron into his chest, the sickening sound of flesh sizzling meeting the agents ears. The layer of pain and horror remained strong in the fragile agents minds. But it was different. There were no longer shouts of protest. No anger reverberating through the room. The agents were broken. Now the room was saturated with the sound of quiet sobs and heartache... It was the sound of someone giving up. And all they could do was watch. And cry. And pray.
Dowde had branded him three more times, Rossi had yelled and struggled at the pain, and the repulsive smell of burning flesh that had filled the room. Dowde's hunger for fear seemed to have been satiated for now, and he leaned back against the wall, sighing. He seemed to consider for a moment, then spoke.
"Agent Gideon said you have an hour. I'm sure I can do some damage until then." He smiled a madman's smile.
A/N~ There y'are. I hope you found it to your liking. I seriously love reviews. I don't want you to feel obligated to giving me comments at all, (Seriously. I must be pissing you off.) but they're the highlight of my week. :)