Chapter 21

Rossi watched as Hotch tossed and turned in his seat. He knew Hotch was having a nightmare and as soon as he got up to go wake him up, Hotch awoke with a start. He looked around the cabin quickly as if he didn't realize where he was. "Hey," Rossi said quietly as he sat down next to him.

Hotch focused on him and his breathing started to go back to normal. "Hey."

"You want to talk about it?"

Hotch rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and sat up straighter. He shook his head. "I don't know what's worse. Not being able to sleep or falling asleep and having dreams."

"Dreams? Look like a nightmare from my seat."

Hotch took a deep breath. "Yes. A nightmare. She was right there, but I couldn't get to her." He shook his head again. "We've got to find her soon, Dave."

"I know, Aaron. I know." Rossi told him as he patted Hotch on the leg.

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Nick was with Tony in the surveillance room watching Kahlan. He reached up and pushed the button to drop water on her.

"What are you doing? Dee said not until she's been asleep for fifty minutes."

"Chill." Nick told him and laughed as he watched Kahlan wake up and cuss at the ceiling. "She deserves it."

Tony shook his head. He was starting to feel sorry for the strong willed woman. Dee's gonna kick your ass if you screw things up.

"She'll be ready for me soon," Nick said with an evil grin.

Tony didn't say anything; he just gave Nick a sideways glance.

XXX

"I'm gonna kill you, Demitri! The next chance I get, I'm gonna kill you." Kahlan wiped the water out of her face and ran a hand through her hair. She reached in her pocket where the little piece of metal was hidden, but realized her fingers were too cold to feel it. With her anger burning, she laid on her side close to the wall and put her hands under her arms to warm them up as much as possible. Not being to shield her eyes, though, let the strobe effect bother her even though her eyes were closed. And I'm going to break those fucking lights! I'd rather have it dark than have those damn lights! She tried to focus her thoughts on home and her kids, but it was like she couldn't keep her train of thought going, and she knew she was in trouble. She allowed her thoughts to go to her childhood, her strongest memories, and she settled a little. Those memories were still fluid and flowing. She smiled as she thought about a hunting trip she had taken with her dad. Sitting at the base of a tree and watching the woods for deer may have seemed boring to most girls, but not her. She loved spending time with her dad, and being the youngest of four girls, she was as close to a son as he was going to get. He didn't seem to mind, though. She felt a twinge in her chest at the loss of one of the greatest men she'd ever known.

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As soon as they landed and got to the police station, Hotch got a text from Chuck. He had found the building where Mitch had witnessed Kahlan being taken. Two dead bodies confirmed the story, but nothing new had been found. Hotch thanked him and put his phone away. He didn't have time to focus on the implications of not knowing where Kahlan was for long, though, as he quickly focused himself on the case of the missing boys.

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Nick dropped water on Kahlan again. She hadn't even feel asleep, but she realized that she had been so still that they probably thought she was asleep. She just let the water run off of her because she was tired of giving them a reaction.

XXX

"You think she's passed out or something?" Tony asked Michael, the only other man in the room with him.

"I don't know. Think we should go check on her?"

"I ain't going in there. She's still breathing. I say we leave it alone."

Michael smiled. "Sounds good to me."

XXX

Kahlan let her fingers dance around, and she figured they were warm enough so she took out the little piece of metal and tried to get into the right shape to pick the lock on the cuffs. She made sure her body shielded what she was doing and after a few attempts she had her wrist free. She smiled as she glanced up at the lights. Should I break them now, or should I try to surprise the next person that is stupid enough to come in here? Her fingers drummed against her chest. Decisions, decisions, decisions. Since they had taken her watch when they moved her, she had no idea if it was day or night, and she wasn't even sure it made a difference as far as anyone guarding her. Fuck it. The lights have to go! She used the pick to unhook the cuff from the wall. Her legs started shaking to try to get the muscles ready because she knew she'd have to jump to reach the lights, but she didn't think it would be too hard to take out all three lights before anyone could respond. After about five minutes, she quickly jumped up and had the first light broke within seconds.

XXX

"Son of a bitch!" Tony yelled as he watched Kahlan jump up, swing the handcuffs up, and break the light above her head. Michael grabbed the dart gun and they both took off running down the hall. By the time they got the solid door open to her cell all of the lights were broke and the cell was in complete darkness. Shit! Dee is going to kill us, Michael thought as he looked into the cell. The little bit of light from the hallway did nothing to illuminate the little room. They couldn't see Kahlan, who was hiding next to the wall beside the door. "Go hit the other lights," Michael told Tony.

Tony nodded and ran back to the surveillance room.

Michael waited for the lights to be turned on before approaching the bars.

Come on, just open the damn door, Kahlan thought as she tried to keep her breathing steady. The two remaining lights came on. Shit! She knew she couldn't get to the other lights without leaving her protected spot.

Tony came running back down the hall. He swung the solid door shut. "She right next to the door. You'd never get in there," he told Michael as he locked the door.

"So we're just going to let her roam free in there?"

"Are you going to go in there and try to cuff her again? How the hell did she get them off?"

"I don't know, but we better go call Dee."

Tony nodded. "I guess we have to now." They both walked back to the surveillance room.

"Shit!" Kahlan cussed once she realized no one was going to be coming in. Fine! I'll just use this time to really screw up your day. Or night, whatever! She went over to the bed and climbed up on it. She looked at the part of the ceiling that opened to let the water out. She used one end of the cuffs to pry open the access panel next to it to reveal the electrical wiring to it. Dumbasses! Who would design a cell and leave the access panels on the inside! She reached up and started yanking wires out of it. The light closest to her went out and she laughed. She started toughing all of the different wires together. The deafening music stopped and her ears actually throbbed with the new silence.

XXX

"Jesus Christ! What's she doing now?" Tony yelled as soon as he realized Kahlan was messing with the ceiling.

"Should we stop her?"

"You could go open the outer door and try to dart her."

Michael nodded and ran back down the hall with the gun.

XXX

Once two of the wires touched, the ceiling opened and Kahlan got drenched again. "Son of a bitch!" She quickly tried a different combination and the motor running the ceiling opening sped up. Even once it was closed the motor still struggled. Kahlan heard someone unlocking the door. Shit! Not yet! Just a few more seconds! The motor coughed and sputtered as soon as she heard the door opening. Sparks flew from the ceiling and the lights exploded due to the surge. She was in complete darkness again. She jumped down just as a dart flew past her face. That could have hurt!

"Shit!" Michael yelled once he could no longer see into the cell. For a split second he thought about going in and trying to find her, but the vision of Sam's snapped neck made him think better of it, and he quickly shut the outer door and locked it.

"Chicken!" Kahlan yelled as she smiled. Not only had she gotten rid of the lights and the music, but she killed the motor to the water, too. Not bad for being half frozen! She sighed heavily and sat on the floor next to the door. She wasn't sure what kind of punishment she'd receive for what she had done, but the satisfaction she felt at the time made it worth it. He will rue the day he decided to take me prisoner!

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By that evening they had a profile, but they were running out of leads to try and narrow down an unsub. Hotch's frustration at not finding the boys was being compounded with his frustration over not finding Kahlan, and by the time he got to his hotel room, he felt like he wanted to explode.

There was a knock on his door and he opened it to find Rossi holding a bottle of scotch. "We're in the middle of a case, Dave," Hotch told him as Rossi came into his room.

"And a couple of drinks tonight isn't going to stop you from doing your job tomorrow," Rossi told him with a smile.

"Ah, hell, why not?"

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