"Shoot me- I dare you!" Colmanshire spat in Garcia's face. The analyst pressed the gun harder against his temple. Neither had even noticed that the gunfire had ceased.
"Do it!" Colmanshire repeated. Garcia only glared back, fighting every urge in her body to pull the trigger. This man had taken nearly everything away from her from the team to her identity. He killed innocent people on the streets as a part of his sick game. If she let him live, the monster wouldn't get the justice that he deserved…..
"Penelope, let it go!" she suddenly heard from behind her. It was Morgan, who was slowly limping towards her the best he could.
"Reid?" she called out without looking away from Colmanshire. Please tell me that he's ok.
" He'll be ok," JJ called from Reid's side. The youngest agent was still lying on his back, gasping for air. The bullet had hit his vest and knocked the wind out of him. Colmanshire looked over to Reid and chuckled, "It should have killed him."
"Shut up!" Garcia yelled. She tightened her grip on his shirt, "You bastard!"
"Penelope." Garcia blinked and glanced to her left where Hotch was kneeling next to her. His hands were inches from hers. "It's not worth it. Trust me, even after I killed Foyet, the pain didn't go away. Please give me the gun."
"You should listen to him, Penny. Don't want you breaking a nail now, do we?" Colmanshire sneered, earning a, "Shut up!" from Hotch. Garcia looked between the Unit Chief and Colmanshire. I can't let him go, Hotch, she thought. She then flinched when Hotch's hands moved closer to hers.
"Penelope, listen to me. Don't kill him-"
"Yes, Penelope!" Colmanshire sneered, "Listen to the man who screamed out for his wife as we damn near beat him into a coma!" At that statement, Hotch changed his focus to Colmanshire. In the corner of his eye, Garcia could see the agent's hands were now wavering.
Colmanshire continued, "Listen to him…or you could try the rest of your team. They weren't any better-the whining from the old man and the runty kid, Derek trying to act like he's worth a damn and don't get me started about the crying from Jennifer and Emily-"
"Shut up," Garcia spat out in a whisper. He took the challenge, " Shoot me, you little bitch. Come on- I screwed you over! I own all of you- all of this!" Garcia leaned closer to him before suddenly tossing the gun across the floor. Colmanshire yelled out, " Just like I thought," before Garcia retaliated. She grabbed his head and slammed it against the floor hard before Hotch and Rossi pulled her away from him.
Anderson stepped in and started hand-cuffing Colmanshire. In the meantime, Garcia got a look at the now quiet warehouse. Every one of Colmanshire's men were lying dead throughout the warehouse. Her teammates looked exhausted, especially Reid still sitting on the ground trying to catch his breath. Hotch and Rossi pulled Garcia back to the warehouse door before letting her go.
Before anyone could say anything to her, Garcia pushed open the warehouse door and took in the cold fall air. She walked a few yards towards the SUV before stopping and placing her hands on her knees. Garcia let out two shaky breaths before she began to sob. As if on cue, a year and a half's worth's of emotions suddenly caught up to her in that instant.
It's over. Garcia sat down on the ground and dropped her head in her hands as she sobbed. The team was safe and Colmanshire was caught…..the case was closed, right?
Don't be naïve- that's the old you, Garcia thought. She knew that this was far from over- there would still be hearings and countless testimonies to get justice against Colmanshire, dealing with the psychological and physical damage of not only the team, but also herself, funerals, dealing with the press…..
All of it made her head spin.
She was brought back to reality when she saw Anderson escort Colmanshire to a police car. With a toothy grin, Colmanshire looked to Garcia and said, "This isn't over. I'll be seeing you very soon…"
Garcia closed her eyes and thought, Crap. What's that supposed to mean?
Holiday Inn- Danville, VA
Hours later, Garcia laid under her warm sheets in her hotel room. Once the news media had caught wind of Colmanshire's arrest, dozens of news vehicles were sent down to Danville, all wanting interviews with each member of the team. As a result, the team was staying in a hotel to avoid the press.
Garcia turned on her side, the noise from a television in the hallway bugging her. Reporters seemed more interested on how Colmanshire was caught than the problems plaguing her- mainly, the aftermath.
"Move over." Garcia turned her head to see Morgan slowly sliding into her bed. She chuckled and said, "I didn't even hear you come into the room."
"Well, your head was in the clouds, Penelope." He wrapped an arm around her and sighed, "Thanks for saving me."
"No problem….love." Garcia shared a glance with Morgan before both broke out into laughter. She turned on her side to face Morgan. "Sorry, it's been awhile."
"I know- I can't imagine what it was like for you," Morgan said.
"It was bad….pretty bad, but on the bright side, everyone's home, safe and sound."
"Yeah…you alright?" Morgan brushed away a hair from Garcia's cheek. She slowly nodded and said, "I'm alright, Derek, don't worry about me. Let's just get some sleep, ok?"
Morgan paused before he answered, "Alright." The agent turned onto his back before drifting off to sleep within minutes. Garcia watched him sleep peacefully for a few minutes before turning away from him. With her mind racing, Garcia then laid quietly in the bed for hours until she could sunlight peeking through the windows. Irritated at the lack of sleep, Garcia slid from under the covers and headed towards the hotel living room.
Garcia found Anderson speaking with the hotel manager in the living room. He looked just as tired a she did, sporting dark circles around his eyes. It took him a minute to realize that Garcia was there before he ended the conversation with the manager and approached her.
"Morning," Garcia said softly. Anderson smiled and asked, "You didn't get any sleep, I take it?"
"No. You?"
"Nope." Both sat down on one of the couches. Anderson let out a sigh before asking, "How's the team?"
"Well, I shared a bed with Morgan," Garcia said, " He slept through the night. I'm not sure…about everyone else-" She paused and took a breath. Anderson sat up once he noticed that she was pale.
"Penelope, what's wrong?"
"I could have killed him," she whispered. Anderson scooted next to her, "Colmanshire?"
"Yes- if Hotch hadn't said anything….I think I would have pulled the trigger." Anderson wrapped an arm around her and said, " Well, that's anger, Penn. That bastard ruined so many lives and deserves some kind of punishment for what he did. Don't forget that you had enough self-control to step down."
"Yeah." Garcia looked up to Douglas, "I'm so scared for what happens next. I mean- there are so many things that need to be done. The team, Douglas' burial, Colmanshire-"
"Slow down there, tiger. We'll take it one day at a time."
Garcia nodded before saying, "There's one thing that's bugging me."
"What's that?"
"Colmanshire said that this wasn't over and that he'll be seeing me soon."
"He's just screwing with you-"
Garcia sat up and exclaimed, "What if he's not?"
Anderson leaned towards her and lowered his voice. Although it was early in the morning, there were still two other hotel guests the living room, not including the manager. "Serial killers taunt their victims all the time, Penelope. It doesn't necessarily mean anything."
"I know- it's just Colmanshire was always twelve steps ahead of us. I just want to make sure that this is for-sure done. No extra men, no extra surprises, no extra nothing."
Anderson paused and looked to his feet. A part of him felt like she was obsessing, but the other part felt like she was possibly onto something. "Alright, we'll look into it. We can start this afternoon-"
"This stays between us."
"What?"
"This," Garcia glanced over her shoulder, " This stays between us. I don't want the team worrying about this. Deal?"
I don't like the sound of that, but….Anderson reluctantly nodded. "Deal."
