Chapter 11

They reached the area where the parabolic mics had picked up Scarlett, and Dan pointed to the specific window. He kept the portable tuned to Scarlett's voice. She was still repeating her message, and they could see her feet pulling the blind in the window.

"She must be standing on her head," Dan mentioned as Derek set up the laser. Morgan laughed in spite of himself.

"Probably…" he grinned. He directed the light through where the blind split between her feet.

Scarlett saw the red light from the laser reflect over her boot and hit the wall…

"Okay… Oh God, okay- I got you! I got you. What time?"

She watched the light flash three times against the wall.

"Three a.m.?" she watched the light slide up and down as a yes.

"Yes. Okay- Understood."

Scarlett let out a huff of breath. "Reid… Reid is on the first floor with Cyrus…" she panted, nerves and her position coupled with her injuries making her out of breath. "Please, remember there are children in here…"

The light on the wall made a sideways "v" and then what looked like a "3"…

Text-speak for a heart.

"Derek…" her voice cracked slightly and the light went up and down again.

She choked on a sob. "I'm okay, D. God… I love you too- Get Reid!" she told him. "Someone's coming!"

She dropped the blind and got back into position, just as Kathy walked in with a bottle of water.

"Hold on Katy-bird… we are coming…" Morgan said as the blind fell and they lost contact.

Derek looked at Dan, noticing the look of confusion on his face.

"She's my sister…" he explained gruffly. "Reid is her husband, my brother-in-law. This is personal…" he told the other man.

Dan nodded, not saying anything.

Spencer sat in the office as the food was delivered. He noticed Hotch's writing on one lid, the message said 'Now open til 3am'. Another container was dropped onto it and he saw Morgan's writing. 'New Hours, now open til 3am!'

He swallowed deeply, immediately trying to think of a way to get the information to Scarlett. He needed to make sure she knew when they were coming. He picked up one of the containers and turned to Cyrus.

"I know what you are thinking," Cyrus told him.

Spencer schooled his face to impassive, setting the food back down. There wasn't any way for him to know, he reminded himself.

"You don't have to be a part of this," Cyrus continued. "You can go…"

Spencer nodded and bit at his lips nervously.

"I think I'd prefer to stay," he told Cyrus in all honesty. "Somebody needs to tell your story," he offered.

"Then I'm glad it will be you…" Cyrus said, walking over to a box and opening it. "Now that the false believers have been cleared from our midst, it's time we make our final preparations."

Reid looked over his shoulder and saw the man pull c4 out along with wires and charges. He glanced around at the other boxes that some men were bringing in, noting there was enough explosive to level the entire compound. Cyrus held a main switch in his hand and ran his fingers over it lovingly.

Reid swallowed hard. He had to get to Scarlett and warn her. He picked up the container again and moved slowly towards Cyrus.

"Uh, you- mentioned before about taking food up to the agent?" he asked gently, indicating the takeout tray in his hand. "May I?"

Cyrus regarded him slowly. "Answer me honestly and you may…"

Spencer nodded, avoiding his eyes.

"Sure…" he swallowed again.

"Why?" Cyrus asked, waiting for Reid response.

He closed his eyes, bringing a thought to his mind that would allow the familiar heat of a blush warm his face.

"I-uh, I like her… liked, her, I mean… I think… She was nice to me, the past few weeks we worked together, and I thought…" he huffed out a nervous breath. "I thought she sort of liked me too," he looked down as if embarrassed.

"And you want to ask if she was lying about that too," Cyrus concluded.

"Yeah," he nodded quickly. He met Cyrus's eyes and looked away.

Benjamin nodded, satisfied by the answer and the truth he saw in the young man's eyes.

"Go… go ahead," he looked over to one of his men. "Show him to where we have the agent staying…" he regarded Spencer again. "And give him some privacy with her," he smirked.

"You get your answers my friend," he told Reid.

Spencer bit the inside of his cheek and gave Cyrus a sad smile as he followed the other man up the stairs.

At the same time as Reid was trying to get to her, Scarlett was attempting to get Kathy to help her get the women and children away from the danger.

"Cyrus is planning mass suicide…" she told the mother. Kathy shook her head. "Kathy, I know you made that 911 call…"

Kathy's eyes teared up. "This is all my fault. None of this would have happened if I hadn't made that call…"

"You were protecting your daughter. I can understand that," she told the woman. "I have a twelve year old daughter myself, and I know there is nothing that I wouldn't do to protect her…" Scarlett said.

"There were other girls before Jessie- he'd take them away and marry them in secret and we weren't permitted to speak of it," she told Scarlett. "So when she came to me, asking for my consent, I wanted to take her and run- but I was afraid, she wouldn't leave him!"

"So you wanted us to take her…"

"I wanted to save her from Cyrus…"

"I can give you another chance. The FBI is coming in at 3am. I need you to get Jessie, and the women and children down into the tunnels…"

Kathy stood pacing and shaking her head 'no'…

"Why are you telling me this?" Kathy asked; her eyes full of fear.

"Because I have faith that you are a strong enough woman to do the right thing for Jessica," Scarlett told her. Kathy shook her head again and left the room.

Scarlett rolled her eyes and leaned back against the wall. She prayed Kathy would believe her and see the truth so she would help get the others to safety…

In just a few more moments, she heard voices outside in the hallway. Hoping that it was Kathy, she sat up straighter in the bed and watched the door. She felt a wave of love and relief when she saw Spencer enter instead. He talked to the other man at the door for another moment before looking at her. The guard shrugged, closing the door behind him, leaving Scarlett alone with Spencer.

As soon as Reid heard the guard's footsteps echo down the hall, he moved across the room dropping to his knees before Scarlett. He reached around her waist, untying her as he spoke quickly.

"The raid is coming at 3am- you need to work on getting the women and children out of harm's way. Cyrus thinks of me as a confidant so I'll stick close to him and stall him the best I can- but they are already running lines between explosives through the stairs, hallways and interior walls… they mean to bring the entire compound down in a blaze. Cyrus has already requested to have media presence, but with the team coming in at three, he could trigger the explosion at any time…"

Scarlett watched his face, hearing his words and working out a plan for the others. He leaned back a little, shoving the container of food at her.

"Eat something," he told her. Scarlett rolled her eyes.

"Really, Spence?"

"You probably haven't eaten anything in the past two days, please, just eat something, for me. You need your strength…"

"Did you eat?" she asked.

When he only nodded and looked away, she scowled.

"Liar," she called him with no real malice. She nudged him. "You eat, I'll eat…"

She glanced at the watch around his wrist. "We've got less than an hour before go time…"

Spencer nodded, chewing some of the food and handing her some more as she told him about Kathy and they planned the best way to make their next moves. Scarlett balked when she heard that Cyrus had told him he could leave.

"You should have gone," she pouted.

"No! I won't leave you!" he stated hotly. "Besides, I am in a position to hold off some of the diehards from reacting, giving the teams a better chance of getting everyone out safely. You asked me to trust you to do your job, Scarlett," he reminded her. "Now you have to let me do mine…" he reached over slowly, lightly touching her bruised cheek.

"Please," he asked her.

Scarlett nodded, swallowing hard. She knew he was right, but couldn't help but wish him a million miles away from here. She met his eyes, holding them, letting him see her worry and her love…

"I can't stay much longer…" he told her, running his hand over her hair. "But…" he stopped hearing someone in the hall.

Scarlett heard the footsteps also, moving quickly away from his touch and shoving her hands behind her back as if still tied. Kathy came into the room in a hurry.

"You were right, you are right," she was saying in a rush and stopped dead as she saw Reid, afraid he would run back to Cyrus. She'd seen that this man had rarely left Cyrus's side since this began and Cyrus that treated him like a new favorite toy. She didn't want to get Scarlett in any more trouble with Cyrus, or herself for that matter.

Kathy backed up towards the door…

Scarlett stood easy, moving to the woman. "It's okay, he's with me Kathy… you can trust him. What did you see?"

"Uh… they are wiring up the rooms with explosives. I told Jessie and some of the others that Cyrus wants us back down in the tunnels and that he would meet us there… We have to hurry…" she told Scarlett, tugging on her arm.

"Okay, okay…" Scarlett looked over at Reid, her heart in her eyes.

"I'll stall Cyrus. Get everyone out as fast as you can. If we are lucky, he won't notice until after the team hits the compound…" he told her. He reached to touch her, thought better of it and backed up. He turned to leave the room.

"Spence!" Scarlett cried out, unable to let him walk away. When he turned around, she flew into his arms, wrapping hers around his neck.

Spencer shuddered, holding her close and burying his face in her neck. He pulled back just as quickly as she did, knowing they had no time to waste.

"I love you, Scarlett," he told her, pressing his lips to hers quickly.

"I love you, Spencer," she said at the same time.

He squeezed her hands and left the room.

Kathy watched Scarlett then looked out at Reid's back ahead of them.

"He, uh, he's FBI, too?" she asked Scarlett. "Like you? I thought that he was…"

"Yeah, I know… he's just a better agent… and my husband…" she said to Kathy with pride in her voice, as she watched him move down the stairs.

Reid didn't hear her comment as he hurried back to Cyrus's side. Taking the stairs two at a time, he let his gaze wander, noting each spot where they had put a charge. It seemed like they were almost done with the wiring already, which wouldn't buy him any time. Even if he removed some of the wires, there were so many other charges already placed through the compound it wouldn't make enough of a difference...

He had to stay with Cyrus and delay him directly. A quick look at his watch before he entered the main hall told him that they were down to minutes now. He closed his fingers around the other watch in his pocket, grasping it tightly, praying for Scarlett to be safe.