Sanity Frontier

Adversity does teach who your real friends are.

Lois McMaster Bujold

ELEVEN

Breakneck speed was dangerously close to becoming more than just a metaphor as Emily and Rossi crashed through the woods beyond the cabin. They were so used to running in pursuit of an unsub; it felt unusual to be running from one. Rossi began to put the brakes on himself as he heard Emily slowing down ahead of him.

'We can't keep running all night,' she said decidedly, huffing only slightly.

'Do you know of any good hiding places?'

By the light of the moon, he could see her grinning. 'When you're eight years old and staying with relatives, hide and seek is the most fundamental form of entertainment. Dangerous as hell, though. Especially at night.' She waited a few moments, letting her eyes adjust to the light, and then took in their surroundings.

'Know a good place?'

She nodded. 'Three years running, no-one ever found me. I suppose it helps when there's over two hundred square miles of mountain.' She stopped talking then, apprehensive of anyone that might be following them. The barrel of the gun might have already been aligned. They moved quietly, dreading every footstep too loud, every branch broken.

The cave entrance would have been hard to stumble upon, even in the daytime. For all the effort that must have gone into finding it, it wasn't the most spectacular of dwellings. Six people might have fit in there somewhat comfortably, but they would have to duck.

Rossi put his pack and the shotgun on the ground, and sat. Twenty years ago, a workout like that wouldn't have fazed him. In the future he would attempt to stick to brisk walks. His fingers brushed the ground, feeling cold rock and the occasional cigarette butt. 'Yours?' he asked, holding up one of the aforementioned butts.

'What is it?' In the nigh total darkness, she couldn't even see his hand, let alone what it was holding.

'Cigarette butt.'

'They should have decomposed by now,' she frowned.

'Preserved by the weather. You should be more considerate of the environment,' he scolded her with some amusement.

'I'll plant a tree back at Quantico,' she replied scathingly.

'You get some rest. I'll keep watch.' She wanted to decline his offer, she really did, but her perpetual exhaustion was at a high point. Her leg was throbbing in agonising pain, something she tried to keep to herself at all costs. The last thing she needed was him carrying her.

Rossi handed her a small penlight from the side of his pack; the two torches they had brought with them were with Morgan and Reid, hopefully on their way back to civilisation. Emily looked through her pack, examining what she had managed to bring in their mad dash out of the burning cabin. Sleeping bag. Sleeping mat. Rope. Cooking pot. First aid kit. Food. She unpacked the sleeping bag and mat, hyperaware of one important absence. This too she kept to herself.

Despite the fear, the pain, the worry, sleep seemed to wash over her instantly, though that too was not without its recurring torments.

A/N: Okay. Short, I know. I'm trying to get number 2 here finished so I can at least start number 3 before I go away. Here's hoping. If not, then you really will have to wait until January.