Chapter 10
Gun
"There will be no justice as long as man will stand with a knife or with a gun and destroy those who are weaker than he is." - Isaac Bashevis
Jareau ran up the stairs in front of Morgan.
"This is Emily's cell." she said. It had been kicked to the edge of the landing. Morgan saw where the hand rail had been loosened from the wall.
"There's blood here." Morgan said, "And the paint has been chipped away. I think Prentiss was cuffed here."
"They had to have gone up, maybe onto the roof." Jareau said. "There's blood on the steps in places."
Guns drawn, they cautiously took the stairs to the roof, avoiding the blood evidence. The door wasn't locked, but jammed by something on the other side. Morgan kicked the door and it splintered and fell onto the roof in pieces. He and Jareau crouched, guns ready. Carefully, they moved out onto the roof. The footmarks and gravitational blood spots were clearly visible and led the two Agents across to a low wall that surrounded the roof.
"He knew where he was going. " Morgan commented. "There is no hesitation showing in these prints."
"They jumped?" Jareau said, surprised.
Morgan backed up, and followed them across the short gap. JJ stood and watched.
"I'll take the stairs!" she called, and ran back to the top of the stairway.
Morgan could see where they had landed; scuff marks on the roof cover. He followed the trail of blood droplets to the other side of the roof. The gap here was wider. Morgan looked over the edge, half expecting to see their bodies lying broken in the alley below. When he saw that they weren't there, he realised he had been holding his breath.
"Not this time." he mumbled to himself, and ran to the door onto the stairs.
He ran down, taking them two, and sometimes three, at a time. He met Jareau on the last flight.
"Next building!" he panted, and they both ran outside, across the front.
"You take this one, I'll go on to the next."
She nodded, and without hesitating, they split up.
As soon as Morgan entered the lobby of the building, he knew this was the way they had exited. He called Jareau.
"There is blood here in the lobby." he said. Within a couple of minutes, they were standing on the opposite side of the road where the trail ended.
"He drove her away from here." Morgan said. "Let's get those Security tapes back to the BAU."
-0-0-0-
David Rossi was being a pain in the butt.
"I am leaving. Now!"
He was sitting on the edge of his hospital bed, leaning forward, putting on a pair of disposable slippers. The action made him dizzy – he knew he wasn't completely right from the smack in the face. His top lip had to be almost sewn back on, and it hurt to move his mouth, and he got dizzy if he moved too quickly. But he needed to get back to work.
He opened his mobile and dialled Morgan. One of the nurses stepped forwards to tell him he shouldn't be using it in the hospital, but the look Rossi gave her froze her in her tracks. Without taking his eyes off her, he waited for him to answer.
"Where are you, Derek? I'm coming out."
Morgan quickly briefed him on what was going on. "Reid is there. I haven't had a chance to call yet. Would you stop by and check on him?"
"I'll do that." he said, "Then I'll meet you back at the offices."
He closed his phone, and went to leave the ward.
"Your clothes, Sir." The nurse held a bag out to him. He briefly looked inside.
"I uh won't be needing them." he said, breathing in the sweet garbage aroma. "I have a change of clothes at the office." He paused, then, "Where is Spencer Reid, a patient here. I would like to visit before I go."
Wearing hospital pyjamas and gown, he padded along the corridor where he was given the ward number and directions to find Spencer.
-0-0-0-
Spencer could feel the air being pushed into his lungs, and he could hear a hissing sound as a machine breathed for him. Each time his lungs inflated, a pain that felt like a steel band around his chest tightened. Broken ribs – he knew that pain only too well. He could remember the fight on the stairs – actually not much of a fight really. He thought he had been pushed, and his body hurt as if he had fallen. He remembered Emily, and his pathetic attempt to help her. His mind wouldn't slow down, and he couldn't relax.
His eyes were closed. He made an attempt to open them, before he realised that they were taped closed.
He needed to communicate. There were things he needed to say.
He needed to find Aaron, and now Emily.
He felt someone touching his hand...and a voice.
"Hey, Reid."
Rossi! So they hadn't forgotten about him!
Spencer felt Dave's hand on his forehead. It was nice to have that contact. Later when he could, he would thank him. The touch relaxed him.
Rossi was talking to him. "I have to go now, Reid. I will get back when I can." Dave's fingers tightened on his hand. Spencer concentrated on returning the gesture.
Suddenly he felt safe.
-0-0-0-
When Rossi stepped into the alcove that was Reid's ward, he stopped in shock. All Morgan had said was that he had been hurt and was recovering in hospital.
He didn't expect this though.
Reid's head was bandaged, and tape held his eyes closed. The tube in his throat breathed for him. One arm and both legs were splinted, and his chest, which was uncovered, was a mass of bruised flesh. His face bore the signs of having been hit – eye lids red and swollen, lips cut and split. He had a drip in his unbroken arm which was delivering pain killers and glucose.
Dave went to stand beside him.
"Hey Reid." he said. Reid had hair stuck in the dried blood on his face. Gently Dave removed it and rested his hand on Reid's forehead. "I have to go now, Reid. I will get back when I can."
Dave picked Reid's hand up off the bed and squeezed it gently. He could have imagined it, but he thought he felt Reid's fingers tremble in his hand.
He laid the hand back down and left the room. He made his way down to the reception area where he ordered a taxi to take him to work.
-0-0-0-
Emily watched at the man closed the door at the top of the stairs, and she went to the place where he had left her the blankets. Picking them up, she ran to Hotch's side.
Naked from the waist down, his clothes were caught in a tangle around his right ankle. Carefully she removed them, and covered him with a blanket. She saw the gun at his ankle, but she needed to help him first. Gently she pulled his shirt and jacket down, trying not to notice the bite marks and bruises on his body. She tore one blanket in half and rolled it up beneath his head.
"Hotch, can you hear me?" she whispered, her hand softly against his face. He was so cold.
The swollen eyelids opened slightly. His broken lips trembled, but he made no sound. She saw that he had tears in his eyes.
"I am going to get help." she said. She crawled to his feet, and took the gun. She checked that it had a bullet in the chamber and shot the chain that was holding her onto the pillar. The chain fell away and she quickly pulled the end through the cuffs. The second shot broke the cuff
She went back to Hotch, and pushed the cover in tight around him. "I am going now!"
He tried to take her hand. She saw the movement and held his hand in hers. She touched his face. "I need to go!"
Aaron lifted his head and again his lips moved. She bent down to hear what he was saying.
"I must ...go ...with you..." he whispered. She knelt back and looked at him. She couldn't leave him.
"It will hurt you, Hotch. I can't do it. You could die."
Then she realised that she had to take him with her. If he came back and she was gone, he would kill him anyway.
"I am so sorry, Hotch. This will hurt you."
He nodded his head, and lifted his arms to her. Carefully, she put one of his arms around her shoulder, and slowly stood up. With her other arm around his back, holding the blanket tight around him, she took a step towards the stairway.
Hotch couldn't move his legs, and his bare feet dragged along the ground. He bit down on his lip, he didn't want to cry out, but she could feel him shaking in her arms.
"Hotch, this isn't going to work." she said. "I will carry you to the steps. Hold on around my neck."
She felt him grip tighter, and she let go of his hand. She passed her arm under his hips and lifted him off the ground. The blood had soaked through and the blanket felt warm and wet. She took two staggering steps, when his arm slipped away from her neck and his head rocked backwards. He fainted in her arms. The pain was too much for him to bear.
In a way, she was glad that he had passed out. He wasn't hurting while he was unconscious. She took a few more steps until she reached the foot of the stairs, and carefully she rested him onto the floor.
Looking up the stairs, she knew she wouldn't be able to carry him up. She knelt down beside him, and wrapped him again.
"I am so sorry, Hotch. I am going to have to leave you now. I am going to get help." She turned away from him, tears welling up in her eyes. "Forgive me Hotch." She put the gun in his hand and put his finger on the trigger.
She ran halfway up the steps, and looked back down at him.
I am sorry. Please hold on. I will be as fast as I can.