Lmao your reviews are great! Sorry for making you mad...a little. Okay, not really it's totally fun! Enjoy!
Chapter XXIX
"Emily?!" Hotch's panicked voice cried as he moved closer to the brunette, smoke and debris obscuring his vision of the others.
"I'm alrigh-JJ!" Emily screamed as she caught sight of her friend lying unmoving directly in front of the now dead criminal. At the sound of Emily's cry, the men of the BAU sprinted in her direction and caught sight of the brunette dropping to her knees beside her friend. She cradled the woman's head in her lap and gently shook her. "JJ, wake up!"
"It caught her dead center at point blank range." Morgan knelt behind Emily. "Give her a second."
"Ow." A groan escaped the blonde's lips as she winced in pain. JJ opened her mouth and drew in a raspy breath as everyone leaned closer.
"JJ, are you alright?" Reid implored as they watched the blonde take in the room.
"Did I get 'em?" she asked jokingly, her face still contorted in a grimace, and everyone exhaled in relief.
"Yea JJ," Emily pushed a few strands of golden hair out of the woman's eyes. "You got 'em."
"Morgan, get her out of here." Hotch told the dark skinned agent and just as he moved to lift JJ into his arms, the blonde's eyes shot open and she shook her head.
"No, just help me up." She insisted, earning herself dumbfounded looks from every member of the team.
"JJ, you just got shot." Morgan said matter-of-factly.
"I barely even feel it anymore." JJ held back a wince as Emily and Rossi helped her to her feet. "We've wasted enough time." She bent to retrieve her gun and pressed a hand to her chest before returning to face her team. "Come on." Shaking their heads, the BAU knew better than to argue with the woman and simply followed her lead as they went to clear the upstairs.
"Status." Hotch demanded and they waited for a response.
"Fourteen of Hail's guys are down. Can't tell how many are dead." A familiar voice sounded in their ears and they recognized it as Waters' ex-partner, Ralph Mormont. "We've got four dead, two wounded."
"About another ten of Hail's are down towards the back of the property." The SWAT team leader's voice said. "Two of ours are dead, five wounded."
"Get the wounded out immediately." Hotch ordered and heard their confirmations. "That leaves the eight of us to take down Hail."
"Agent Hotchner," Mormont's voice said. "I just found a fire escape leading to an upstairs window from the side of the house."
"SWAT Leader, regroup with Detective Mormont and clear that room. We're making our way up now." The two men complied and Hotch waited for each of his team to reload. They nodded when they were ready- no one missing the fact that JJ kept a hand pressed to her chest- and proceeded to clear each room they came across. Gazing across the hallway to the only room with a light on, the team glanced at one another before Hotch placed a hand on the doorknob. 3,2,1. The unit chief threw the door open and made room for the rest of the team to storm in.
"About time." Hail's exasperated voice drawled out as six guns came to face him. Each agent took in the sight of the man with a serrated blade against Mackenzie's alabaster throat. A line of red decorated the top of the knife and trickled down the girl's neck. "I was beginning to think you'd forgotten us. Heard some commotion before; hope you're all alright." His gaze wandered to JJ who used only one hand to point her gun at him- the other was too busy clutching her chest.
"Put the knife down and let her go." Hotch demanded, his penetrating gaze fixed on Hail's amused one. The man chuckled in reply.
"Explain exactly how that would be beneficial to me." Hail quirked an eyebrow in question.
"I won't put a bullet through your eye." Emily snarled at the man. Hail's grin widened.
"Emily, how nice to see you again. How's your head?"
"A hell of a lot better than yours is about to be." Morgan took a step towards him and Hail took one back.
"Careful now, we wouldn't want an accident now would we?" He emphasized his point by pressing the switchblade harder against Mackenzie's neck. The girl winced and twisted in his arms, trying to pull them off of her. Her emerald eyes frantically searched for Emily's and latched onto them. The dark haired agent made a hasty decision and raised her hands in a sign of surrender after holstering her gun.
"Adrian, just let her go." She begged the man. He frowned in return, unsure of her plan, and took another step towards the window at his back.
"Why would I do that?" he narrowed his gaze at her, seemingly forgetting the remaining five agents in the room.
"Because we have nothing on you. This- all of this- falls on her." Emily pointed at the girl in his arms whose eyes widened in panic. She opened her mouth to defend herself but Emily simply continued. "You think she's just going to get away with stealing all that money?"
"I'd hope not." Hail grumbled as if Mackenzie had offended him by stealing it.
"We just want her. Please, just give her to us. We don't want to hurt you." Emily saw realization in Mackenzie's eyes and almost sighed in relief. Hail shifted, his grip on the girl's chest loosening slightly, until the faint sound of the computer beeping demanded his attention. Turning slightly with Mackenzie in tow, Adrian rapidly read the notification that flashed on her personal laptop.
Error. Files corrupted. Transfer terminated.
"What the hell is this?!" Hail screamed in Mackenzie's ear and pressed the blade harder against her neck. Taking in the lack of surprise on Mackenzie's features, Emily guessed that the error had been no accident; unfortunately, so did Hail.
"It's over Adrian." She spoke before he could think of harming the girl. His hold on her had tightened, her body now completely pressed against his and his head hiding behind her shoulder. Luckily, Mackenzie was blissfully unaware of the look in Hail's eyes and the snarl on his lips.
"Have you been helping them this whole time?!" he ignored Emily. "Did they know about this?!"
"Yes." Came Mackenzie's calm reply. The one word answer seemed to throw Hail into a fury. He grabbed her by the neck and, squeezing the already bruised area, increased the pressure as he spoke.
"I swear to God, I'll make you regret this." He threatened. "You and this fucking bitch!" he jerked his head in Emily's direction.
"This doesn't change anything Adrian." Emily assured him. "Put the knife down and we can all go home." She holstered her gun and raised her hands in an attempt to show that she meant no harm.
"You think I won't do it?" His eerily calm voice disturbed the agents to their core. His posture relaxed, his grip on Mackenzie's neck still vice-like, as he dragged the knife over her cheeks and eye. "I'll carve her up like a pumpkin on Halloween."
"No you won't." Emily tried desperately to sound sure of herself. The look of horror in Mackenzie's eyes did more than spur her. "You won't hurt her because she actually loved you. For the first time in your life, someone cared about you and you're mesmerized by it." She had his attention. "You feel nothing for no one and the fact that you managed to convince her to have genuine feelings for you intrigues and astounds you. All those men down there; the ones that died for you; you never cared about them. They were puppets; pawns to use in your battles. You would have killed every last one of them to get what you wanted. You won't kill her because then they'll be no one left; no one to feel bad for you while you rot in a cell and no one to mourn for you when they put that needle in your arm."
"I thought you said you weren't interesting in arresting me." Hail taunted, a slight smile dancing on his lips.
"I lied." Emily announced nonchalantly. "But it doesn't matter because one way or another, the life you knew is over. Letting her go is the only way you can ensure that someone would be there for you when the time comes." Hail stood, seemingly stunned into silence at the idea that someone would speak to him in that way. He opened his mouth but said nothing, contemplating the truth of Emily's words when the agents caught sight of movement behind the man. It was Mormont and the SWAT leader climbing in through the window. Emily opened her mouth to order them to stand down but only as the first word left her lips did she realize that it was too late. Hail heard the sound of footfalls and spun, Mackenzie still in his grip, to meet the intruders. Just as Emily shouted don't!, the sound of two gunshots vibrated through the air.
Someone should really institutionalize me. muahahhaaaa!
