"HOLD FIRE!" Emily orders as she races forward to help Reid with Frances Curtis.
"She needs an ambulance!" Reid insists.
Emily looks at the bloodied genius. "So do you."
"Mostly hers. I swear."
"Get her out of here. What's going on down there?"
"Rossi freed me then all hell broke loose. He told me to get Curtis out and they'd cover me. I...I don't know any more than that," he says, breathing heavily.
Emily pats him on the shoulder. "There are officers in the front yard. Get her out and help them get her to an ambulance. We'll take care of things here. I promise," she adds as he starts to argue.
He glances at the badly abused woman and reluctantly nods. Emily helps him get her back up and one of the SWAT officers holds the door for Reid as he hurries out with the woman. Emily hears footsteps coming up once more and spins, her gun trained on the door. She lets out a sigh of relief as Morgan calmly enters the kitchen, hands first to show he is not a danger.
"Status?" She asks.
"Contained," he replies. "But we need EMT's. Now."
Emily studies him. "For who?"
"Two suspects and one of the SWAT members."
Emily nods, forcing herself not to look relieved in front of men who have a buddy injured. "Rest in custody?"
"Nope. Rest of the suspects are awaiting their ride across the Styx," he answers.
Emily grins, unable to help herself. "That's Greek, not Egyptian."
Morgan chuckles. "Whatever...geek."
"So, what the hell happened down there?"
Morgan sighs and leans against the kitchen counter. "They were ready for us."
Two SWAT officers make their way to the cellar door and secure it to prevent anyone using it to escape. With hand signals, they let Morgan's team know that area is covered. Morgan lifts his mic.
"Cellar locked down. Let's do this."
Two entry teams quietly enter the house via the back door. Outside, the SWAT commander watches and when he sees movement behind the front curtains that he knows could not be one of his teams, he sends a few men towards the house as decoys. This keeps whoever is inside focused on the front of the house and, hopefully, believing that no one has made entry yet.
"Good call on that, Hotchner," the man whispers, glad he'd listened to the FBI agent when this tactic was suggested. "Thought you were a damn fool not to use the front door."
Back in the kitchen, Morgan opens the door to the basement and begins to carefully pick his way down the steps. Six SWAT members follow him as Rossi and Hotch take up the rear. Emily turns her attention to this level of the house with 2 men. They clear the kitchen. Then the dining room before finding Stewart in the living room.
Downstairs, Morgan enters the first room they come to. He can't help but wince when he sees the puddle of blood on the floor and the spray patterns on the wall. Something violent and, considering the amount of blood, deadly had occurred in this room.
"Damn it, Pretty Boy, that better not be from you," Morgan mutters as he and the officers confirm the room is empty.
As they step back into the hallway, they see Rossi and two men step into the next room. Rossi hurries to Reid as an officer goes to free Curtis.
"How many, kid?" Rossi asks quietly.
"Stewart and 5 men," Reid answers.
Rossi radios the info to the others. "Take her and get the hell out of here, kid. Prentiss is upstairs."
Reid stares at him guiltily. "Did they hurt her badly?"
Rossi frowns at him. "What? Who?"
"Stewart's men. She said they were going to...to hurt her," he answers.
"Kid, they never had her. Now get out of here," Rossi tells him.
Reid can only nod, partly stunned, partly relieved. He gets her to the steps to the kitchen as Hotch leads the final two men continue down the hallway...
...into a shooting gallery.
Two men step out of the room at the very end of the basement, shotguns at the ready. They don't even aim, just fire blindly at the law enforcement officers. Hotch had managed to duck into the room with one man but the third takes two shots to the chest. Morgan and his duo had jumped back into the room they cleared. Morgan leans out enough to see Hotch lean out far enough to grab the wounded officer and start dragging him to safety.
Morgan and Rossi cover their boss and end the lives of Stewart's men before they can aim at their chief. Two men quickly replace them but they also take bullets, though only none are fatal. Rossi and Morgan carefully walk towards the room, knowing 1 more man, at least, remains. Morgan crouches down then spins into the doorway. As expected, the man in there had expected a taller target. He fires harmlessly over Morgan's head as the agent fires into the man's chest.
As the man falls, Morgan completely enters the room. He sees nothing but the various chemicals and other supplies needed for mummification are there, including a large stack of storage bins. He holsters his gun
"CLEAR!"
Hotch and Rossi step in. Though it is pointless, Rossi checks the pulse of the man on the ground. "Dead," he confirms what the lifeless eyes had hinted.
Morgan slowly studies the items around them then turns and walks back to the room where Reid and Curtis had been held. He stares at the altar and the still wet blood, smeared by Curtis' body. Without a word he goes upstairs to check on Emily and Reid. He'd heard Emily confirm the capture of the cult leader. He couldn't get out of this place fast enough.
"Damn," Emily says as Morgan finishes his run down of what had happened in the basement.
"Yeah. So this time the mummy is avenged instead of getting revenge."
Emily shrugs. "Maybe not. I mean, we followed the clues they gave us to find their abusers and eventual killers. I'd say that's pretty damn good revenge."
Morgan shivers at that thought. "I...gotta get out of here. Where's Reid?"
"He took Curtis out," she answers. She studies her best friend. Prior to the op he had been concerned about her frame of mind. Now the table was turned. "You okay?"
"How do all this men fall for this shit? I never understand this kind of crap."
"I'm sure we'll find all these men had something missing in their lives. Stewart is a cult leader. She figured out what they needed and gave it to them. In return, she got their devotion. Same old, same old," Emily points out.
"Yeah. I guess. Doesn't mean I have to understand it."
Emily pats his shoulder. "Go check on Reid. He can give you a better explanation than I can to help you get it."
Morgan manages a grin. "I think I'll just stick with ignorance is bliss rather than a lesson from the good doctor."
Emily smiles as she follows Morgan out the front door.
In the cellar temple, Rossi notices a storage bin with smears of blood on the lid. He walks over and carefully opens it. He can't help but wince when he finds the battered, partially mummified body of Clay Pritchett. He closes the lid again.
"Got what you deserved, bastard," he mutters.
"This is fucked," Hotch mumbles as he stares at the hieroglyphics painted on the walls. "They really tried to recreate a temple in here."
Rossi nods. "Yeah. Gonna be a hell of a book," he notes, then gives Hotch a wry grin as the unit chief chuckles.
The two head upstairs, leaving the scene to the EMT's, the cops, and the Crime Scene techs who are starting to filter in.
Midway across the yard, Morgan and Emily see people start to run and hear voices raised in alarm. They start to jog towards a cop car that seems to be the scene of the discord.
"HOW THE HELL DOES THAT HAPPEN?" a senior officer yells at a younger one.
"I DON'T KNOW! She was cuffed and I frisked her but I didn't see the pouch!"
"Son of a BITCH!" the senior yells, throwing his hands up in frustration.
"What's going on?" Morgan demands.
The man gestures to the car. "She's dead! Had a pouch with poison or something in it I guess!"
As an EMT goes to pull the body out, Emily sees something and knocks the man out of the way as she slams the door.
"NO!"
"PRENTISS! What the hell?" Morgan scolds.
"Cleopatra," is all Emily answers as she points.
Morgan follows her finger and sees the snake coiling around Stewart's neck. As they watch, the agitated reptile bites the woman once more. The EMT's eyes widen.
"Holy shit," Morgan whispers.
"I was...I was...I..." the EMT stutters.
Emily pats his shoulder. "Yeah. Sorry about pushing you."
"Forgiven," the man says as the snake strikes the corpse once more.
"How the hell do we get that thing and that body out of there?" the patrolman asks.
"Call a snake wrangler," Emily suggests. "They can handle an asp that poisonous and that worked up with proper tools. As to the body...you can get it after the snake is caught."
The cops nod as Emily follows Morgan to the ambulances to check on Reid and Curtis.