CHAPTER ELEVEN
Reid suggested they stop by the bathroom on their way back to the safe room, remembering Quinn's rosary still tucked away in his pocket, ready to mix up a new batch of holy water just in case. But Hotch just looked at his throat and shook his head. They would have time for that later.
The group was alerted when Rossi, who had taken a post next to Carr as lookout, saw them and said worriedly, "What the hell happened to you guys?"
"We ran into the demon," Prentiss said, stepping over the salt line. She could see everyone inside the room hurry to their feet. "Reid managed to exorcise him, though."
There was a collective sigh of relief, and Reid stepped over the salt line himself, now capable of walking without assistance. He hurried into the room and set himself up in a corner, a few feet away from where Spike was propped up. It was useless to try and hide the growing bruises around his neck, especially since Hotch would just tell everyone what happened, but he didn't want anyone fussing over him.
He pulled out the first aid kit, painfully small but still useful, and the snacks. There was no telling how long they'd stay there, so they'd have to ration. He wasn't hungry himself, and he figured the Winchesters would get everything wrapped up in less than a day – given their track record – but it was good to have a plan.
"Hey, Reid?"
He looked up to see Garcia standing over him. The angle of his chin fully exposed his neck, and Garcia made a little sound in the back of her throat at the sight, her already worried face softening with sympathy.
"How're you doing?" she asked, nervously tugging at the end of her bright shirt.
Reid smiled up at her. "I'm fine. Did you hear I exorcised a demon?"
Garcia giggled, almost nervously. "I did hear. I'm very proud of you."
Reid smiled and gestured to the items in front of him. "We've got some food and first aid, and holy water is safe for us to drink, though we should refill the bottles that were used. Just in case."
Garcia frowned. "You shouldn't go outside the room, though, not after... that," she said, gesturing wildly at her neck. "Can you write down the blessing for one of us to say?"
Reid paused, then wrinkled his nose. "I don't have a pen."
"Oh," she said, disappointment in her voice. He wondered if she had been hoping to show her skill with the supernatural. She shrugged and turned to sit down beside him, looking out over everyone else in the room.
Hotch and Prentiss were regaling the rest of the team, along with Wolfes, with a play-by-play account of what happened with Mullin. Emory was just visible outside the room, standing guard next to Carr. Quinn and Orion were hovering over Spike, and the two men had shared a relieved reunion while Orion tried to avoid talking about Madison. The rookie they had found in the bathroom, now calm enough to introduce himself as Tanaka, was curled up in a corner. He was mumbling to himself, and if Reid listened hard enough he could hear that the man was trying to convince himself that this was all a dream.
Everyone took some time to relax the best they could, and they all poked around the first aid kit to take inventory of what they had. The ice pack was actually a little cold, so they passed it over to Spike. They didn't have the tools to return his leg to its proper position, but they could reduce the swelling. Most of their injuries consisted of bruises, but there was nothing in the kit for that. There were a few grazes that were still sluggishly bleeding, so they got bandages. Orion's fingers got nearly covered, since his solid grip on the nail-embedded door frame had done damage to him as well as Mullin. Garcia also took this time to inform him about the effect of iron against supernatural creatures. Orion swore that he would never let go of his weapon.
Eventually, Reid convinced his teammates that they should restock their holy water supply. JJ, Rossi, and Wolfes went with him this time, and they carefully made their way to the bathroom they found Tanaka in.
Garcia wasn't sure how much more she could take. Learning that the Supernatural books spoke all truths had been exhilarating, but now the horror of the situation had sunk in. Creatures hunted the night, another set of monsters on top of the ones they already chased. And now she was holed up in a makeshift shelter, protected by things she had never seen in action, surrounded by people who were barely holding it together and who didn't really know what was going on.
It had been a tense silence when the group had left in search of more people. Spike groaned in pain every so often, JJ paced up and down, Morgan kept adjusting his makeshift sling, and Quinn had taken to murmuring prayers, occasionally joined by Carr and Wolfes. They jumped at every little sound, waiting for the inevitable attack, but nothing had come. No demon, no witch, not even a fellow officer. She couldn't decide if that was messing with them even more than if they saw something.
It had been comforting when the group returned, especially when she heard that Reid had exorcised the demon. A visible tension had lifted from them all, and even though they fussed over injuries, everything was starting to look up.
Now Reid was gone again, and Garcia felt that much more unsafe. She checked the salt line and the devil's trap, making sure nothing had gotten smudged. Their bag of salt was still half full and there were still a couple of bottles with holy water still in them. And there was nothing to do but wait.
No more than five minutes after the group left, a clattering sound rang down the hallway. Everyone jolted up, and Garcia looked through the doorway in fear. Emory raised his gun, but there wasn't anyone in sight.
"I'm gonna check the adjacent hallway," he said, clapping Carr on the shoulder. "Keep an eye out here."
"Take someone with you, stupid!" she hissed at him, but he had already stepped over the salt line and was carefully making his way down the hall. Carr huffed and kept her gun raised, pointed at the floor behind Emory.
"Never go off on your own," she whispered with a glance back to Garcia. "Isn't that the first damn rule in any horror film?"
"I think the first rule is actually to never have sex," she replied, trying a nonchalant shrug. The other woman snorted and returned her full attention to the hallway. Emory had reached the entrance to the adjacent hallway, but when he whipped around to face it, there didn't appear to be anything there. He walked out of sight, his footsteps tapping a soft tune that let them know he was still moving.
Tension. Garcia stepped out of the doorway, leaning against the blackened window as they waited. Suddenly, a gunshot rang out. Everyone pulled out their guns at once, and Carr was already leaping over the salt line as she rushed to her teammate's aid. Hotch, Prentiss, and Orion rushed out after her as more gunshots sounded.
"Get her!" Garcia could hear Emory's voice calling out, a sign he was still alive. There were sounds of a scuffle, more gunshots, and Garcia needed them to come back before she had a heart attack. After what seemed like a century, Prentiss walked out, followed by Orion and Hotch escorting a handcuffed, squirming Vanessa Barsky. She had lost one shoe, and blood was seeping out of a hole in her foot. Carr emerged next, Emory leaning heavily against her while he limped on a bleeding leg.
Vanessa swore and jerked in her captors' arms. She paid no attention to her bleeding foot when she aimed for Hotch's ankles or Orion's kneecaps, though she couldn't help but scream in pain when her flailing swiped against the salt line. Nobody felt any sympathy for her. Carr helped Emory over the line and he leaned against the wall while she grabbed the bag and re-salted the line, adding an extra inch.
"What happened?" Garcia asked, watching as Vanessa was seated in the chair. Orion grabbed Spike's handcuffs and attached them to the pair already around Vanessa's wrists, then to the chair.
"She had hidden in a room," Emory grunted from the hallway. "Popped out and shot me. I tried getting her, but it's hard to get a decent shot when you're writhing in pain-" He gave a short, wry laugh. "-Then these guys came running, got her in the foot. She popped off a few more shots, but I don't think she hit anyone. Agent Hotchner tackled her to the ground and Orion slapped a pair of cuffs on her."
Quinn grabbed the first aid kit and hurried to Emory's side. She pulled out a pair of scissors and cut away at his pant leg, exposing the sluggishly bleeding bullet wound in his thigh. "Doesn't look like it hit anything major," she mumbled, her hand turning his leg while she craned her neck to find the exit wound. She pulled out a roll of bandages and began tightly wrapping up his leg.
Garcia turned away and sat down next to Morgan, her head automatically lowering to rest on his uninjured shoulder. He shifted so he could wrap an arm around her, pressing a quick kiss to the top of her head.
"It'll all be over soon, baby girl, don't you worry," he said, giving her a tight squeeze. Garcia smiled softly.
"I'll just feel a lot better once we're all together again."
Reid, Rossi, JJ, and Wolfes made it to the bathroom without any incident. JJ excused herself into a stall, citing that the discovery of horrible supernatural creatures always wrecked havoc on her bladder. Reid filled each of their empty bottles up with water from the sink, then individually blessed each bottle, marking them with the fat marker as he went. The water in the other bottles he wouldn't trust to drink, but tap water would be fine. It would be time consuming, but it was important that they had safe drinking water.
Three bottles in, they heard a rustling from outside the window. Rossi raised his gun and crept closer, peering outside. Reid paused, the fourth water bottle poised under the tap, as Rossi raised an eyebrow and looked downwards.
"What, exactly, are you doing?" he asked, almost conversationally.
Dean's head popped into view, startled by the sudden question.
"Who're you?" he demanded. Rossi just stepped aside and waved an arm towards Reid. Dean relaxed at the sight of a familiar face and gave him a nod. Reid could tell he was being told to come closer, so he left the bottle in the sink and walked over to the window. Behind him, Wolfes started fill up the bottle.
"How's it going on your end?" Reid asked, leaning forward to gently prod at the barrier. It felt softer, but it was still there. He glanced down and saw a small hole dug by Dean's feet. Sam was nowhere to be seen.
"We figured out how he did it," Dean sighed, running his fingers over his hair. "Bastard set up an altar at the witch's house, then buried five hex bags around the station in a five point star. We just need to find them all, burn 'em, then burn the altar. Cas is stationed at the altar, ready to destroy it, but Sam and I still have to get all the bags. Not easy when all the damn cops in the town are centred around the one area."
"You could always have someone create a new disturbance," Rossi suggested. "Get a friend to claim that there's an armed robbery, a hostage situation, something like that."
Reid nodded. "Some of the officers are sure to stay behind, but if you're convincing enough, most of them will leave for this new disturbance."
Dean looked like he was considering this. "I'm sure Chuck can think of something," he murmured. He glanced down at the hole under his feet and crouched down, continuing to paw through the dirt with his hands.
"How do you know the hex bag is there?" Reid asked. Dean shrugged.
"We've already found one, so we were able to roughly figure out where the others are, and this area has freshly turned dirt, so..." He gave another shrug.
Wolfes walked over with the remaining water bottles, now filled to the brim with water. Reid took one and dipped the rosary in, letting the cross settle on the bottom while he kept a grip on the beads. He quickly recited the blessing, then took the rosary out and marked the bottle. He handed it back to Wolfes, who capped it and handed the next to him.
As he blessed the water again, he noticed Dean looking at him with an impressed eye. "Damn," he whistled. "Thought you were a rookie."
"I am," Reid mumbled, looking down at the ground as he removed the rosary.
"He exorcised the demon," JJ said, her voice full of pride. Dean's eyebrows rose so fast, they could have flown off.
"One hell of a rookie," he said, grinning.
"I have an eidetic memory," Reid said, sounding almost defensive in his embarrassment. It was an impressive feat, and Dean seemed to approve, but he didn't want the man to stare at him and try to figure out why he was able to do these strange things so easily.
There was the sound of a match being struck, and Reid looked out the window to see that Dean had uncovered the hex bag and was burning it. The hunter pulled out a map and a pen – Reid's pen, he couldn't help but notice – and scratched out a spot on the map. He shoved the items back in his pocket, then pulled out his cell phone.
"Damn, no service," he mumbled. "Supernatural shit messes with electronics. Probably just need to get a little further away." He looked up at the group by the window. "Hang in there, it shouldn't be too much longer. " He gave JJ a quick wink before jogging away.
Reid double-checked that they had all the water bottles filled and marked, then motioned that they could go. Almost as soon as they left the bathroom, the loud and unmistakable sound of gunfire rang through the halls. They all jumped to attention and dashed through the hall, running back to the safe room, barely checking behind them for any danger as they rushed to check on their friends.
Emory greeted them with a short wave and a big grin as they jogged forwards. He was sitting propped against the wall a few feet away from the salt line, a white bandage strapped around his thigh.
"We caught the bitch," he said, pointing inside. Vanessa Barsky watched them from the chair, a snarl on her face.
"Oh yes, name-calling, let's resort to that," she said, her voice sickly sweet.
"You've killed our comrades," Orion hissed, his hand slamming the table. "You've used crazy-ass witchcraft to murder townsfolk who pissed you off. You don't really get a say anymore."
She glared at him and straightened her back. Her eyes dragged over everyone in the room as she spoke. "Just you wait. Mullin will come in here and kill you all. He'll set me free and I will make sure to find all of your families and slit... their... throats."
"Someone gag her, please," Spike groaned, rolling his eyes.
Reid walked into the room, unloading the water bottles onto the table and giving Quinn back her rosary. Rossi and JJ followed easily, walking straight to the other agents and updating them on their status while getting the full story of Vanessa's arrest.
"Emory, man, you should lay down in here," Wolfes said, patting the man's shoulder. "Elevate your leg."
Emory laughed lightly. "I don't wanna move. I can keep an eye on things here. Besides, the demon's been exorcised, the witch is in handcuffs. We're safe. We just gotta wait."
Reid tapped his finger against the top of his water bottle, eyes watching Vanessa Barsky. He hoped they were safe. But the way she kept eyeing the doorway left him uneasy.
Safety was a hard thing to ensure.