so my plan was for this to be the last chapter. and that sadly didn't work out. I started writing and it was taking forever until I got to the exciting scenes and then the just kept coming and coming and coming and now this chapter is 21 pages long and im not even at the final confrontation so I decided 2 save that for the last chapter along with the epilogue. so ya. lots and lots of angst in this chapter and that's always fun so pppllzzz review this fun chapter. enjoy guys =)
Morgan was getting ready to put the entire hospital on lockdown. After he got Garcia safely upstairs, he was going to find the head doctors of this place and explain the situation. No one would be entering or leaving the hospital until Laura Bates was found. He wasn't entirely sure what to do if someone did come with a dire emergency that doctors needed to treat, but if that did happen, he could probably have Dylan look over the patient with an officer at his side. He wouldn't put it past Laura to wear some silly disguise to get into the hospital, but Morgan was never going to let that happen. All of this was going to end tonight.
He found Garcia where J.J. told him that he would. She wasn't in the bathroom anymore, but she never left the cafeteria. She was sitting at one of the tables looking at some necklace. He wanted to sit down and talk to her. He wanted to find out what was bugging his dear friend, but he didn't have time at the moment. After he was sure that she was safe, he would sit down and talk with her for as long as she needed, but not now. He loved her with all of his heart, and he would die if anything ever happened to her. She needed to be upstairs with the rest of the staff when Laura got there. He thought about sending her back to the station or the hotel even, but he couldn't let her be alone anywhere. That's what Laura would want.
"Hey baby girl," he said softly as he approached the table. Her eyes were red from crying earlier and she looked exhausted. He wanted nothing more than to hug her and tell her everything was going to be alright, but that would probably make her even more upset. He was never good at hiding his emotions from Garcia.
"What's up?" she asked.
"Well, Reid will be back soon and Rossi is on his way here with J.J. We got a little situation going on."
"What kind of situation?"
"Laura Bates escaped," Morgan said as calmly as he could. "The sheriff already has officers out looking for her, but all of us have a bad feeling that she is heading over here."
Garcia stood up, and stuffed the necklace into her coat pocket.
"What? No, no, no, no, no!" She circled around to the front of the table where Morgan was standing. "How she did she get out? How do you know she is coming to the hospital? Oh my God, what about Hotch? And Reid? What if she causes another car accident and takes Reid again? She would take Reid and Prentiss. Does she have a gun?"
"Slow down," Morgan said. "The doctor is driving them, and Laura doesn't have a car. The old car that she had with her husband was impounded. There is no way she can get to it, but is armed. I'm not going to let anyone come or leave this hospital until she is caught. No matter how hard she tries, she isn't going to get near Hotch or Reid."
"How do you know she is after them again? What if she has a new target like Prentiss or J.J.? She saw Emily when she crashed their car. How do you know that Laura doesn't want to take her because of what is happening?"
"I'm positive she wants to finish what she started," Morgan told her. "If she does have some kind of beef with Prentiss, that will come after what she wants to do to Hotch and Reid, but it's not going to happen. Don't worry."
"Kinda hard not to worry when I saw what happened to them last time," Garcia said. Her voice was trembling. "Hotch and Reid can't go through that again. They can't."
"And they won't," Morgan said. "Can you tell all of the doctors and nurses upstairs to not let anyone they don't personally know past the elevators? There will be officers here soon, but we need to start getting ready. I don't know what time they will be here, and we don't want Laura sneaking in before Sheriff Bill shows up."
"Ok," Garcia said. She looked happy to be given something to do.
Morgan watched her get into the elevator, and then he went to find the nurse's station. He knocked on the door once, and when no one answered right away, he let himself in. He didn't have time to waste. He saw about 15 nurses sitting around; some were eating and some were texting, but all of them looked up when they saw him. He didn't see Hotch's doctor, but he was probably still upstairs.
"How many patients are in this hospital right now?" Morgan asked.
"I don't know agent, but you should really stop opening closed doors," an older nurse said.
"How many?" Morgan asked again.
"About 10," a doctor standing near the microwave said. "I'm not sitting in front of my computer right now, but that's my guess."
"Is it possible to move everyone to the second level?"
"It is, but what is this about agent? It's not a great idea to be ushering sick people back and forth, and I know that at least 2 of them have broken bones. Poor old guy in room 163 has a bad flu, and the flu is always worse on older people. He is 93 years old, and we are just hoping that guy lasts the night. He isn't doing too well."
"Laura Bates escaped from jail about an hour ago, and she is heading in this direction."
One of the nurses gasped, and he finally had their full attention. Most of them never treated Hotch or Reid, but all of them knew who they were and what the Bates family did to them.
"She is armed, ruthless, and is known to take hostages. We are putting this hospital on lockdown as soon as the rest of my team is back. She will be going after Agents Hotchner and Reid, but she won't be afraid to shoot anyone in her way. I'm asking the doctors and nurses in charge of the patients here to stay, but the rest of you can leave if you want. If you do choose to leave, you cannot come back in the hospital until Laura Bates is caught."
"How do you even know she is coming here? If I were her, I'd change my name and get out of the state."
"She is coming here," Morgan repeated. "She isn't smart enough to change her name or keep herself hidden for long. She wants revenge for what happened to her family. So is it possible to move all of the patients down here to the second level?"
One of the nurses nodded.
"Then get on that right away," Morgan said. "I'd like to start locking the doors and windows now. We can let the rest of my team in when they get here, but after that, no one comes or leaves."
"If the doors are all going to be locked, why can't we stay down here?"
"I don't want to risk it. If she does manage to get in, the first thing she will do is look for a hostage. Everyone will be safer upstairs. I don't want anyone walking anywhere alone or going onto some upstairs balcony where you can be spotted."
"Making us feel like prisoners," another nurse muttered.
"If you don't like it, you can leave. I'm giving you that option. I'm giving all of you that option, but I will not let any of you jeopardize the lives of the agents upstairs or anyone else in the building. This is a serious situation, and I'm counting on you guys to help me out. Are there any questions?" Morgan asked.
No one raised their hands or blurted out a question.
"Ok, good. Start moving the patients upstairs. I'll help you guys lock the doors and windows. We need to make this place as secure as possible."
He got out of the room when they started packing up their foo on the tables. He didn't need to supervise them like they were babies. They knew what they needed to do, and so he went out to the waiting room, and after making sure there weren't any people out there looking for assistance, he got to work making sure all the windows were secure. He turned all of the televisions off so if Laura was sneaking around, he would be able to hear her.
He was checking out one of the back offices when his phone started buzzing in his pocket.
"Morgan."
"Hey, it's us," J.J. said from the other end. "We're almost there. Any sign of Rickie?"
"I haven't been outside, but I haven't seen him anywhere inside. I'm having all the staff move to the second level. I'll let you know if I see the kid though. Garcia is upstairs, and I'm having the nurses move all of the other patients to the same level."
"Good idea," J.J. said. "We already told Reid so he knows what is going on, but we'll be there in a few minutes."
"Okay," Morgan said. He wasn't too thrilled about Reid knowing what happened with Laura, but what's done is done. "I'll wait down here for you."
He hung up his phone, and looked out the window. Clouds were covering up the winter sun making it look gloomier than ever in the waiting room. He hoped that wasn't a prediction of what was to come. He knew that Laura was nearby. He didn't know how close she was, but she was waiting, and he was ready for her. He dropped the curtain over the window when he saw the doctor's red car pull into the parking lot.
Rickie had a lot on his mind when he was walking home from the hospital. He got his bike without any incident, and he was trying to figure out if he should go back to the Bates house or stop by at the station to see if the guys working over there needed any help. He didn't want to go back home. Sheriff Bill couldn't pay him to go back home. He hated it there more than anything, and he was actually enjoying the serenity of the walk in the woods. He watched the wind blow softly through the trees, and he loved looking at the tiny footprints of the creatures that ran off as they heard him approaching. He always thought it would be nice to build a house out here, and just live off the land. He knew that would never happen for him, but it was nice to think about.
He was about halfway back to the station when something felt wrong. He didn't know what. He couldn't see any animals nearby, but he knew he wasn't alone. He tried to let the feeling pass and keep walking. It wasn't possible to alone in the forest. There was always something around, but this wasn't some cute little animal. Somebody was watching him. He was keeping an eye open for any movement towards him when something that felt like a large rock or boulder hit him in the shoulder. His shoulder felt like it was burning as he managed to see what happened to it. Blood was gushing out and falling to the snow in large amounts. Rickie felt some kind of vibration coming from his throat, and that's when the pain finally hit him. He dropped his bike, and fell down in the snow. He put his hand over the wound to stop the bleeding, but the blood just seeped through his fingers. He got picked on his most of his foster homes, and he was used to getting hit around, but none of the pain he felt in his past could compare to this. This was pure agony, and no amount of pressure he put on it would stop his shoulder from throbbing.
Rickie finally turned around to see what hit him. He was sure that snow hadn't fallen on him from tall branches, and no animal attacked him for sure. He kept his hand on his shoulder as he turned, and he found Laura standing directly behind him smiling. She was waving at him with her left hand which was strange because she was right handed. She was hiding something behind her back, and it was at that moment that Rickie realized he had been shot. He lived in a silent world his entire life, but he never wanted to talk or hear more than that very moment. How did she get out of jail, and how in the world was she armed? Did she hurt the officers back at the station, and why in the world would she shoot Rickie? He admitted to himself that he wasn't exactly friendly to her, but how would that relationship end with his bloodshed?
"Hey mutie, remember me?" she asked.
He felt the back of his jeans looking for his notebook, but it wasn't there. He must have lost it when he fell down, but he didn't see it near his bike. He couldn't even ask her why she shot him.
"Don't bother mutie," she said when he looked back at up.
She finally pulled the gun out from behind her back which only confirmed what Rickie already knew. He took a step back out of instinct, but then she took a few steps towards him. He did not live his life in and out of foster homes to just be murdered like an animal in the middle of nowhere. This couldn't be it, but he didn't see anyone else around. Surely, if someone was in the area and heard gunfire, they would come to see what happened. That's what Rickie was hoping for anyway, but this was the forest. Gunfire was probably a very common sound out here. Rickie was on his own.
Laura shot the back tire off his bike, and as hard as it was to do so, he didn't run. It took him forever to earn enough money to buy that bike. He loved it. He didn't think he would ever be able to drive a car so that bike was all he had. He wanted to attack her for what she did to his bike, but his bleeding shoulder kept him in place. The blood was sure to attract every wolf that was living nearby. As much as he hated Laura, he thought his chances were better with her than with a pack of hungry wolves. He was smarter than she was.
"You scared?" Laura asked him.
He shook his head no, but he really was terrified. One bullet could end it all for him, and he knew it. He just hoped that he was smart enough to figure a way out of this situation. He took his hand off his shoulder just to show her that he wasn't scared of her. It hurt worse without the warm pressure from his hand, but he chose to ignore it. When she went off on some story about a poor kid that her husband murdered, he finally got a good look at her. She wasn't wearing her own shoes. He wasn't entirely positive, but they did look a lot like the drunk guy's shoes that came to the station what seemed like once a week. It was obvious they weren't hers. Her feet seemed to slide around in them. If Rickie did choose to run, she probably couldn't keep up with him long in those shoes.
The other thing that stuck out to him was the jacket she was wearing. He knew for certain that this wasn't hers. Kyle was wearing that jacket last night. He wore that jacket pretty much every day so Laura got it from him. It seemed possible that Laura could have attacked him and took his jacket and the pair of shoes she found, but how would she have known about the gun in the desk? Rickie could tell that she had more than just the one gun she was holding. It was hard to hide the bulges in her pockets. Kyle was over six feet tall, and Laura probably stood around 5'4 at the best. How could someone of her height take over a man like Kyle? It didn't make sense, and the more Rickie thought about it, the more he was convinced that she had help getting out of her cell.
None of his recent discoveries explained why she attacking Rickie though. Even if Kyle had let her out, why was she shooting Rickie? She could have just let him be. It looked like she was heading in the same direction that he was coming from which meant she was going to the hospital. Why in the world would she take precious time to kill Rickie when she could be going after the agents? It didn't make any sense at all. Rickie looked at Laura's mouth to make sure she was still telling her story, but he didn't know what he would do when she finished. He would never refer to his deafness as a handicap. It wasn't, and he hated relying on people more than anything, but he gladly welcome help from Rossi or one of his friends right then. He would have given almost anything to not be alone with Laura.
"Want to know why he reminds me of you dummy?"
Rickie shook his head no. He honestly didn't care, but he was running out of time. There was only so long this woman could stand the sound of her own voice. He was sure it was a sound that other people couldn't stand. She went on to tell him that the kid her husband murdered was never missed after he died, but that really wasn't any concern to Rickie. He couldn't change the past. All he could do was focus on this moment, and if he would be able to figure out a way to get as far away from Laura as physically possible.
Laura took a step towards him, and that told him that her little speech was over. She raised her gun higher, and Rickie's heart felt like it was running a marathon in his chest. Was this it? Was she just going to shoot him and call it a night? He didn't want to die, but if he didn't have a say in the matter, he didn't want to die alone.
"Turn around and get on the ground mutie," she told him. "Do it now you stupid kid! Put your hands on your head while you're at it. Understand mutie?"
He took his time to turn around, and his eyes scanned over the forest, but he didn't see any movement. There weren't even any birds in the trees. He was completely alone. When he got down on one knee, he felt a sharp kick in his back. He fell down, and his shoulder erupted in fiery pain that he did his best to ignore. He finally got on both knees when she shoved her gun into his bleeding shoulder. The pain was almost more than he could bear. He let out a pained gasp, and fell back on his knees. He tried crawling away out of instinct alone, but she grabbed him by his hair and pulled him back up. His baseball hat fell to the ground, and his teeth started chattering. He couldn't tell if this was simply from the cold or from the fear coming from deep inside of it, but he couldn't control it. She patted him on the head, and her boots brushed against his leg when she stepped back. If his plan didn't work, this would be it for him. He counted to five, and pushed himself forward. He landed face first on the snow, and felt a strong burst of air go through his hair. He looked up, and saw a hole in the tree in front of him. He turned around and saw Laura still standing behind him with her eyes closed. If she hadn't closed her eyes, he would be dead by now. He kicked his right leg into her knee, and just like he was hoping, she dropped her gun down in surprise. He grabbed it before she knew what hit her, and he jumped up as fast as he could. He almost slipped in the melting snow, but he got his footing and he started running. He ran and ran and ran. He made sure not to stay in a straight line because he remembered it was harder for the bad guy to get you if you ran in a zig zag. He turned around in the trees, and ran deeper into the forest. He ran until his legs gave out, and even then, he managed to crawl behind a bush.
Rickie was sure that she would be able to hear his breath so he tried breathing with his mouth closed. It was hard when his lungs were screaming for more oxygen, but his life depended on not getting caught. He didn't even know if Laura was chasing him, but why would he risk it? He kept his fingers wrapped around the gun. He never shot one before in his entire life, but he wouldn't be afraid to if Laura found him. He ripped off part of his shirt, and wrapped it around his still bleeding shoulder. It didn't hurt as badly as it used to, but he needed to stop the bleeding. He was sure wild animals could smell the blood. He tied it up tightly, and leaned his back against an old tree so he could be able to see the forest around him. He didn't see Laura anywhere, but that didn't mean she wasn't still out there looking for him. He didn't know how much time went by before his eyes starting getting heavy. He fell asleep against that tree with his fingers still wrapped around the gun.
When they pulled into the hospital, Prentiss let Dylan get Reid out of the car. He got the wheelchair set up, and Reid didn't complain when the doctor put him in it. Prentiss wasn't exactly thrilled that Reid knew what was going on. He had too much on his plate already, but she couldn't keep it hidden from him forever. He was smart, and he would have figured it out whether she told him or not. She just didn't want to do anything that would further damage his fragile mind. The poor kid had been through so much, and as much as she hated to admit it to herself, it wasn't over. It wouldn't be over until that woman was caught, and forced to pay for the horrendous acts she committed with her family. Prentiss kept her hand on her gun while Dylan led the way into the hospital. She looked around the grounds of the hospital, but she couldn't see anyone sneaking around the bushes. She didn't let her hand rest until Morgan let them into the building. Morgan locked the door again after they were safely inside.
"Any news?" Prentiss asked.
"Rossi and J.J. are almost here," Morgan said. "All the patients and staff are on the second level, and the building is secured. No one can get in without us knowing. Betting you a million though that the sheriff and his posse are on their way too."
"Know what happened to that guy who let her out?" Prentiss asked.
"No idea, but if I were him, I'd be halfway to the next town by now."
"Okay, I'll get Reid upstairs," Dylan said. "I need to call my wife to let her know what's going on here. She was hoping I'd be home to have lunch with her and the baby."
Morgan finally noticed that Reid was dozing off in his chair.
"Gave him a sedative," Prentiss said quietly. "He started stressing out on the way here. We didn't want him to have a panic attack, and it's better if he was sleeping until she is caught. Hotch is still sleeping, right?"
"I haven't checked on him in a while, but the last I heard, he still was in dream world."
"Thank you for doing all of this Dylan," Prentiss told the doctor. "You don't have to be here if you don't want. You could go home to your wife."
"Nah," Dylan said pushing up his glasses. "I'll stay. I need to be here. My wife will understand. I'll be sure to get my vacation time once all of you go home."
Prentiss smiled at him, and watched him go into the elevator with Reid. The hospital looked like something out a horror movie with absolutely no people running around the waiting room. The televisions were all turned off, and Morgan had closed all the blinds so there wasn't any sunlight coming in from the windows.
"Laura isn't going to let herself get arrested, is she?" Prentiss asked to break the silence.
"Pretty sure she isn't," Morgan said. "Her husband went down fighting so I'm pretty sure she will too. When the police get here, I want at least one officer outside of Reid's room and Hotch's room. There isn't any way to possibly get in their rooms through the windows so that should be enough to deter her from doing something stupid."
"Oh, she'll still do something stupid," Prentiss said. "It just won't happen around Hotch or Reid."
"What happened at the morgue?" Morgan asked quietly. "How did Reid take it?"
"Better than I thought," Prentiss answered. "He needed to see her. Everything happened so quickly at the Bates house. Hotch and Reid probably talked to her a lot. I mean, she was the only one who knew exactly what they were going through, and then one day, she's gone. That would be hard on anyone."
"I just hope this didn't set him back any," Morgan said glancing outside. "I mean, I wasn't prepared for what happened to Hotch in the bathroom."
Prentiss nodded. She didn't know the details of what went on, but she knew enough. Dylan told her on the way back that Reid would be okay for the plane ride to go home. Reid was already asleep by the time he told her, but she was so excited. All of this was finally coming to an end. They would go back home, and soon, all of this would be nothing more than a distant memory. Or nightmare. Either way, Reid would be safe. Hotch would be safe, and Laura would either be rotting away in a prison cell or in the ground. Both seemed like fine choices to Prentiss. She looked out the window again when she heard a car's engine. Rossi and J.J. pulled into the parking lot with the sheriff's car not far behind them.
"This looks like fun," Morgan said unlocking the door.
"Oh, a blast," Prentiss said. "I'll start blowing up the party balloons."
Morgan smiled, and she followed him outside. Rossi and J.J. were just getting out of their car when the sheriff jumped out of his. He was sweating terribly and his face was bright red. It looked like he had just gotten caught with his fat hand in the cookie jar.
"Did you have to stay on my tail the entire way here?" Rossi asked him.
"Shouldn't you be at the station disciplining your deputy?" J.J. asked.
"I sent him home," Bill said. "And she escaped from my jail so this is my business to be here. I'll be the one arresting her and taking her back. I have every single officer, including the lady one, out in the forest lookin for her. Don't you worry agents. My men will find her."
"You sure do a wonderful job running the police station," J.J. said.
Rossi looked like he wanted to say something, but he kept his mouth shut and led the way back into the hospital. It was too cold to stay outside arguing with a sheriff who couldn't tell a bunny rabbit from a hungry wolf. The two officers that Bill brought with him sheepishly looked at one another, and then followed their sheriff into the hospital. Prentiss didn't go until last. She was just hoping so hard that she would be able to spot Laura hiding in the bushes. The sooner she found Laura, the sooner all of this would be finally over, but just like before, the bushes stayed still. Prentiss wasn't crazy enough to wander in the woods alone, and so she finally went into the hospital. With her luck, they would have found and captured Laura right when Prentiss realized she was lost in the woods. Then she would have to wait for her own rescue. It was better to stick with the others, and as much as she hated it, she had to wait for Laura to make the first move.
"Hospital is locked up," Morgan was telling everyone as Prentiss walked in. "I want an officer to be stationed outside of every door just in case Laura does get in, she won't know which door belongs to Hotch or Reid."
"She is armed and dangerous," J.J. added.
"Not to mention angry out of her mind," Rossi said. "She won't be afraid to shoot and kill anyone in her way."
"How do you know she will even come tonight?" an officer asked.
"We don't know for sure," Prentiss said stepping forward. "But from what we gathered, the chances are pretty good. She has no friends that we know of, and she has no place to go. It gets cold here at night so I am sure that a nice, warm hospital is looking better and better for her."
"And we'll be ready for her boys, won't we?" Bill asked with a big smile. I'll station the two of you down here at the front door. When the rest of them get here, you let them all in and tell them where we will be."
"He's crazy," J.J. whispered to Prentiss.
"Let's just go upstairs," Prentiss whispered back. "Hotch might be awake by now, and I want to see where they are going to put Reid. I doubt they will put him back in his old room. He was too close to the elevator."
J.J. signaled towards the others, and they left without giving the sheriff any explanation. They didn't owe him anything. It was the fault of the men he hired that all of this was happening in the first place, and if anyone did die from Laura, their blood would be on his hands. It was true that Laura wouldn't hesitate to kill anyone in her way whether that be Rickie or some poor old hunter just looking for his dinner in the woods. She was scared for Reid and Hotch. None of this was right, and they wouldn't be able to take much more of this. How would they ever be able to heal when their nightmares kept coming true? She looked once last time out the window, and then followed the others in the roomy elevator.
Laura wasn't planning on opening her eyes until she finished saying the Lord's prayer. She needed God on her side now more than ever. She didn't want to be alone. She missed Benjamin more than she would ever admit, and she wanted her boys close to her. It had been forever since she last saw them, and praying helped her feel closer to them and her husband. She knew he was still with her, but she had only said a few lines of it when a blunt pressure sent her stumbling back in the snow. She dropped the gun she was holding, and almost lost her footing before she opened her eyes. In front of her, Rickie was where she left him, but he was still alive. The only blood she could see on him was from his shoulder. He was awake, alert, and the little bastard grabbed her gun. She reached out to stop him, but he was on his feet quicker than she could grab him. He took off running like some frightened deer, and he turned at the first tree he saw. She didn't see him again after that.
She could chase him if she wanted. She knew how to track wounded animals, and that's all Rickie really was. He would find some nice hiding place to clean up his wound, but she could find him easy. His blood trail could lead her exactly to where the brat was hiding, but she didn't have time for that. If she wanted to get her boys out of the hospital and finish Benjamin's work, she didn't have time to go chasing deaf mutes. If anyone asked her, she would say that she did kill the kid. He would probably bleed to death out there anyway. It was easy to get lost in the woods, and she was sure he already had hungry wolves on his trail. The smell of blood attracted all kinds of beasts. He would be dead by morning, and the fat sheriff would his mauled body underneath some tree. She would claim responsibility, but by then, she would be gone. She wasn't stupid enough to stick around after the agents were dead.
She took the second gun out of her pocket, and turned around back towards the hospital. She had no ideas of how she would get in the hospital or how she would even find out the rooms that everyone was in, but God was on her side. She finished the Lord's Prayer, and then she took off towards the hospital. The air was growing still around her, and she took that as a sign from above that everything was going to be alright. She just needed to keep her eye on the goal. She picked up her face, but made notice of all the sounds around her. The cops were out looking for her by now, and she wasn't about to get herself caught. She pretended that Daniel was leading her. He always knew how to get of the woods. When he was little, she would wake up and find him sleeping in some tree.
"Come on Laura. You can do this," she told herself.
Laura was convinced that she took a wrong turn somewhere when the hospital finally came in sight. She made sure that no one was outside, and then she darted under the bushes in the front. She could see the sheriff's car, and the black SUVs that she knew belonged to the dumb ass agents. She couldn't see into the hospital itself though. Something was blocking the windows, and she was sure the sheriff had people down there waiting for her. What kind of idiot did they think she was? She kept herself down, and circled around to the back of the building. She was looking for some open window or a ladder or something that would give her access inside. As far as she could tell, everything looked secured. Even the top windows were locked shut, and it looked dark inside. What the hell was she going to do? She couldn't wait outside all night. The temperature was dropping by the minute, and her feet were already feeling cold.
"Think they can order me around," some mumbling came from behind a trashcan. Laura's heart sped up. This was her lucky day.
"If I need to go outside for a smoke, I need to go outside for a smoke," a young nurse complained to herself.
Laura pulled her gun out of the jacket's pocket. This was going to work out perfectly. Nothing would go wrong like it did with Rickie although she was confident the kid was dying. Or already dead. She came out from her hiding spot, and ran across the street. The woman was too busy fumbling in her purse to notice Laura. Laura got close enough to pull the woman's hair if she wanted to, but she wasn't going to do that. She rose up her gun and fired. The gun shot echoed through the parking lot, and the bullet went right through the back of the nurse's skull. The woman dropped down where she was standing, and Laura went to work. She took off the jacket she was wearing, and replaced it with the loose fitting shirt the nurse was wearing. She despised the flower designs in the material, but she didn't have a choice. She put on the black pants as well as her stupid crocs, and left the dead woman in her underwear behind the trashcans. She looked at the nametag on the shirt and smiled. Laura's new name was Kelsey.
She put both of her guns in the pockets of the black pants, and opened the back doors into the hospital. The bottom floor was deserted except for two officers who were standing by the front entrance. Both of them glanced at her and went back to their boring duty. She couldn't believe how easy this was. She kept her head down as she took the elevator to the second floor. She was planning on getting her boys first, and then killing the agents, but that would be harder than she originally thought. She would have to get to one of the agents, hold him hostage, and demand that her boys be brought to her or she would take his life. Once she got her kids, she would kill the agents that started this entire mess, and then smart Daniel could figure out a way to get them out of there safely. She missed him.
When the elevators were opened, she was greeted with a blast of cool air from the air conditioning and people running in every which way. There wasn't any order or control. She could see the blackie agent talking to some nurses at one of the stations, but she couldn't see any of the others. Nurses were talking loudly, and most of the cops looked like they had no idea what they were doing. It couldn't be more perfect. She wasn't stupid enough to go anywhere near the blackie. She went in the opposite direction, and spotted a door that was being guarded by two cops who were looking bored. She took a deep breath, and prayed that Benjamin would be with her. She needed him to help her be strong.
"Whatcha doin here nurse?" one of the cops asked. He was fat. She immediately didn't like him.
"I need to clean his bandages," Laura quickly said.
"Go on," the other cop told her.
"I'll be taking him to the cleaning room," Laura said avoiding eye contact. "It won't be long."
The cops both shrugged, and stepped away giving her access to whoever was in the room. She really had no idea, but she was sure it was one of the agents. She hid her excitement and hurried in the room. She didn't have a lot of time to get him out of there before she was discovered by a real nurse or one of the real agents. She shut the door behind her, and looked around the room she just walked into. Stuffed animals and balloons were everywhere. It reminded her a lot of the beloved nursery she made for her daughter that never was. She put that out of her mind and approached the sleeping man in the bed.
At first, she couldn't tell. Hair was covering his face, but as she bent down closer, there was no denying that was virgin boy. Well, he wasn't a virgin anymore. She giggled to herself, and took off the sheet covering up his still bony legs. He still had a black eye, and tons of scratches and bruises all over his body, but a lot of it was bandages up. He was a pussy. Benjamin got more scratches than that and never went crying to the ER. She found a wheelchair near the bed, and somehow managed to get the sleeping agent in it. He was totally out of it. She didn't know what kind of medication they gave the kid, but she loved it. He groaned a little while she positioned him, but he never woke up. She looked over the room to see if there was anything else she could use as a weapon besides her guns. Stuffed animals. Balloons. Cards. TV set. Some kind of medical equipment. No other guns or knives. She couldn't even find handcuffs, but she guess she didn't need them. Virgin would die by a bullet to the head.
Right before she wheeled him out, she took his socks off. Socks were a luxury. They were a luxury she couldn't have when she was locked up so he had no right to be wearing them. It was chilly in the hospital, and his feet would be the first to feel when the sleeping beauty finally woke up. Satisfied, she wheeled him right past the guards and into the elevator. Only a few people saw her, but not one person stepped forward to ask what she was doing with one of them they were supposed to be guarding. No one seemed to care. She went to the very top floor. She figured she could get the privacy she needed there. She would be able to set up a makeshift cell to keep Reid locked in until she got her boys back. The top floor was so quiet it scared her. No one ever saw abandoned wards in hospitals unless it was in some terrifying movie where a zombie would grab an unsuspecting victim and drag him into the darkness. If there were zombies up there, the first person they would see was Reid. He would be the one to die. Not her.
She walked as quietly as she could, but nothing was there to hurt her. It really was completely abandoned. She found a dirty looking room at the end of a long hallway, and figured this place was as good as any. It didn't look like the room had been used in years. The bed didn't look sanitary, and there was only one chair but it was missing a leg. Great. She didn't care. She pulled Reid out of the bed, and dragged him over the corner wall. There was a pipe she saw there, and she went to work securing his hands with bed sheets against the pipe. Once she was confident he couldn't move his hands, she stripped him of his hospital gown to secure his legs together. She laughed when she saw the bandages between his legs. She wondered if it still hurt, but she didn't take time to ponder. She would just ask him when he woke up. She tied his legs together as tightly as she could. He wasn't going anywhere.
When she was done, she wandered down the hallway until she found a chair that she could sit on and some more bed sheets that she could use to restrain Hotch. She would kill Reid in front of Hotch, demand the release of her boys, and then she would let one of them kill Hollywood. Joseph would probably love to be the one. She smiled to herself, and flung the sheets over her shoulder and dragged the chair behind her. She did find some interesting little knives that were probably used for surgery, and she thought they could help her out quite a bit. She stuck them in her she got back to the room, Reid was starting to move around. The idiot was finally waking up, and one of the first things he did was try to move his hands. Panic set in when he couldn't lift them up, and his big eyes shot open. She stepped forward and smiled as wide as she could.
"Miss me?"
Reid opened his mouth to scream, but she was prepared for that. She lunged forward with a pillowcase and stuffed it down his mouth. He was hyperventilating and struggling as hard as he could against the restraints. If he didn't calm down, he would faint but it wasn't any problem to her if she killed him when he was awake or not. She pulled one of the guns out from her pocket and waved it in front of his face. He stopped fighting, but he was trembling and his skin had become a ghostly pale.
"This ain't a dream sweetie pie," she told him. "You is here. I'm here, and we're together. Doesn't this sound fun? Not goin lie. I thought about you every single day. You think about me? I'm sure you did."
She got down on her knees, and ran her index finger against his cheek. He pulled back, but she grabbed his hair and put him back in place. He belonged to her once again, and she wouldn't let him forget it. He was only breathing because she allowed him to. It was another luxury that was denied to her beloved husband. She pulled one of the little knives out of her pocket, and dragged it across his cheek. His skin broke under the blade, and she heard a whimper from underneath the pillow case. She smeared the blood across his cheek and smiled at her handiwork. It wasn't as good as good as her carvings used to be, but it was a start.
"Think that will scar virgin?" she asked him.
He looked towards the door which she had left open, but no one was out there. She shut it just in case, and watched his eyes drop down. He was alone and he needed to know that.
"Ain't no one out there sweetie. Ain't no one comin for you. You know what could be interesting though? When Hollywood shows his pretty face, you think he could put on another show? You know, finish what he started?"
She took a step forward, and watched as Reid frantically scooted closer against the wall. His legs were up by his chest, and he looked close to passing out. She didn't feel sorry for him. He deserved every second of what was happening to him.
"You're going to die tonight. You know that?" she asked him. "I'd tell you it wasn't going to hurt, but I ain't no liar. It's going to hurt. Hurt bad."
"Laura Bates," a voice announced from the intercom above the door. "We know you are still in the building. Please pick up the phone so we can talk."
"And so it begins," Laura said smiling. She aimed the gun right above Reid's head and fired. She heard him scream through the pillow case and she laughed. This was going to be fun.
Everywhere Garcia went she felt like she was in the way. There were people everywhere. There was so much commotion, and she couldn't get one spot to herself. Since she wasn't going to be facing Laura, she figured she should be doing something else that would help everyone out. J.J. was already with Hotch so Reid probably needed a friend as well. She could give him that necklace that belonged to Kate. He would love it. She knew that he was probably still sleepy from the medicine the doctor gave him, but she would be there when he woke up. She would make him smile and do her best to make him forget about what was going on. She would keep the boy genius until the monster hunting him was caught. She wasn't sure if they changed his room already, but she found his doctor in a hallway just putting his cell phone in his pocket. He would know. He looked tired, and Garcia had to respect him for being there. He could have fled like so many others in the hospital did, but he didn't.
"Excuse me, um, doctor?" Garcia called out.
"Call me Dylan," he said turning around.
"Dylan, do you know if they moved Reid to a new room yet?"
"No one has said anything to me, but there's only one way to find out," he said.
He led the way through the crowds of people right to the room where Reid used to be. Garcia thought it was weird that there weren't guards standing in front of it. She could have sworn that the sheriff ordered his officers to watch their rooms. She guessed Dylan thought so when he stopped at the door and looked around.
"Guess they must have moved him," he said.
"I'll look inside," Garcia offered.
Dylan nodded, and Garcia opened up the door. Nothing seemed that out of place. The bed was messed up and the wheelchair was missing, but it would be if he was moved to another room. Dylan stepped in beside her and walked over to the bed. Garcia felt a little hurt that no one thought to move even one of the stuffed animals she brought him when she noticed a pair of socks lying on the floor. Why would his socks be lying in the doorway like that?
"Would they give him new socks when they moved him?" Garcia asked quietly.
"No."
Garcia stared at the socks, and she felt her heart pounding. She felt silly for flipping out over a pair of socks, but something wasn't right. Dylan didn't say anything, but she could see the worry in his eyes. Where was Reid? An officer wandered in just as she was turning around. He had a cup of coffee in his hand, and didn't look one bit entertained about what was going on in the room.
"Whatcha guys doing in here?" he asked casually.
"Looking for my patient," Dylan snapped.
"Nurse lady took him a little while ago. Had to clean his stitches or something."
"Which nurse?" Dylan asked.
"Kelsey."
"What did Kelsey look like?" Garcia asked.
"Um, middle aged woman," he said after he took a long sip. "Shorter. Little bit chubby. Brown hair. Funny voice."
"Kelsey is 23 years old," Dylan said quietly looking at Garcia.
"Ha! This lady was not some 23 year old," the cop said laughing.
Garcia ran out of there as fast as she could. She needed to find Prentiss. Or Rossi. Or Morgan. Or someone who would listen to her that Laura Bates was in the hospital dressed as a nurse. She was dressed as a nurse, and she took Reid to God knows where. She could barely keep control of her legs. She kept thinking to what that horrible woman could be doing to Reid at that very second. She didn't kill Reid. Garcia kept telling herself that. They were going to find him, and he was going to be just fine. That was the only way she could keep her legs moving. She was moving so quickly that she didn't notice Morgan standing there until she ran into him.
"Whoa, slow down baby girl. What's wrong?" Morgan put his hands on her shoulders, and it wasn't until then that she realized she was crying.
"Reid," she blurted out.
"Reid? What's wrong with him?" Morgan asked looking over her shoulder.
"Laura Bates is in the hospital. Dressed as a nurse," Garcia said as fast as she could. "She has Reid. She went in his room and took him, and the police officers let her!"
Morgan finally let go of her, and he ran off to where the nurses and doctors were starting to gather. She watched him go, but she couldn't sit around and do nothing. Moping around wasn't going to help Hotch or help Reid. She turned around to go find J.J. She didn't know how Morgan planned to tell everyone, but Hotch couldn't be alone. She was sure that he would try to do something silly like go after Laura himself, but he was in no shape for that mentally or physically. She wasn't there for Reid when he needed her, but she would be there for Hotch.
Morgan was feeling stressed out. He felt the weight of the world on his shoulders, and nothing he seemed to do would make it better. He thought he finally had things under control when he got the hospital in a complete shutdown. Quite a few of the nurses and doctors left, and most of them followed his orders well. They were actually more of a help than the sheriff's little posse who had no idea what they were doing most of the time. It was almost like they didn't understand how serious this situation was and it was killing him. Lives were at stake, and they thought they had time to stand around and gossip or try to figure out what kinds of sweets that were being stored in the cafeteria. It was infuriating. He was trying to figure out where the hospital's cameras were when he saw Garcia running towards him at full speed. He stepped out from behind the counter to catch her if she fell. He knew that she could run in heels, but she didn't look like herself. Her hair was falling all around the headband she was wearing, and the mascara she was wearing was starting to drip down her face. Something was wrong.
"Whoa. Slow down baby girl. What's wrong?" he asked her. He put his hands on her shoulders to try to steady her. She was shaking all over.
"Reid," she finally said.
Morgan swore that he had a heart attack when she mentioned his name. There was so much that could be wrong with him. Was he having a panic attack from that damned visit to the morgue or were his stitches tearing open? What if he was having a PTSD episode like the one Hotch went through? What if his body was rejecting the medication he was given?
"Reid? What's wrong with him?" Morgan asked. Reid's doctor was there. He knew that. If something was wrong with the boy genius, his doctor could surely help.
"Laura Bates is in the hospital. Dressed as a nurse. She has Reid. She went in his room and took him and the police officers let her!"
He didn't remember letting go of Garcia, but he ran as fast as he could to wear Prentiss and Morgan were talking to the other officers. The men would probably be thrilled that they finally had something to do, but where would Laura take Reid? If she already left the building, it would be harder than hell to find them. She would take Reid somewhere deep in the woods, and Reid wouldn't last long out there. He wasn't well, and the cold nearly killed him the last time he was in the woods. Morgan wanted to go punch a wall to let out his anger. How could this happen? How could a wanted woman just stroll in and take him?
"What's wrong?" Rossi asked.
"Somehow," Morgan said firmly trying to get his voice under control. "Laura Bates got in this hospital. For some reason, no one saw her or heard her. She is dressed as a nurse, and she has Reid."
"What?" Prentiss asked stepping forward.
"I don't know when all of this went down, but if we're lucky, she is still in the building," Morgan said trying to make eye contact with all of the officers. "We need to search every single room in this floor and on the other floors. We can't let her take Reid outside."
Rossi pulled out his gun and turned towards the officers.
"Well what are you waiting for?" he asked them. "Let's go!"
He directed them towards the hallway behind him, and he followed them to search those rooms. Morgan told the remaining cops to search the hallways to their right which just left Morgan and Prentiss standing alone at the nurse's station.
"You don't think she took him outside, do you?" she asked him.
"I don't know," Morgan admitted. "If we can't find them in here, we don't have much of a choice. I'm just afraid that if she did take him out there, it won't end well."
"And it's still really cold out there," Prentiss said.
Neither one of them had to admit what they were thinking. Morgan knew that is was becoming a very real possibility that Laura just took Reid into the woods and killed him. She had more than enough time already. If Reid was dead, none of them would ever forgive themselves. Morgan would have to live with that for the rest of his life. He promised the boy genius that he would protect him. Reid was supposed to be safe in the hospital, and Morgan was right there to fight away any bad guys that came around, but he somehow failed. Laura slipped right under his nose, and the poor kid that had been through so much already might be dead.
"Hotch is going to find out," Prentiss said after a moment.
Morgan wanted more than anything to keep that from Hotch. Hotch didn't need to know that Laura already took Reid away from them for a second time. That wouldn't be good for his health, but what good would it be to keep it a secret? Hotch would be furious if he found out that Reid was gone from some nurse or cop. It had to be someone from the team to tell him, and then they had to keep him from running off in some frantic attempt to rescue Reid.
"Guess I'll have to tell him," Morgan said quietly.
"Maybe we should check upstairs," Prentiss said. "Just in case. I'm sure the first place the sheriff will check is downstairs so maybe we should go up. Don't think she would be dumb enough to hide up there, but who knows?"
Morgan didn't really want to go up. He was sure that she was hiding in the forest somewhere, but it was worth a shot. He shrugged, and followed Prentiss to the elevators. It was a quiet ride. His own thoughts were louder than the creaking noise the elevator made. They couldn't have come this whole way for it to end like this. If Reid was murdered, what were they going to do? Giving Laura this most painful death he could imagine would never bring Reid back. Their team would be lost without him. Morgan couldn't even think about it.
The doors opened on the third level, and Prentiss went out first with her gun drawn. She looked both ways, but she never put the gun down. The place looked deserted. There was an empty bed down the hallway, and broken chairs littered some television room. The only light coming in was from the open windows in the rooms. Morgan swore he saw a set up like this is a horror movie once. He needed to remember to ask the doctors why no one was on this level.
"Yeah, this isn't one bit creepy," Prentiss said looking around.
"Not at all," Morgan said. "Kinda expected the basement to look like this. Hey, do you think she could be hiding down there?"
"Maybe, but let's look around up here first. I don't hear anything, but it's worth a shot."
"Laura Bates," a voice announced from the intercom above the door. "We know you are still in the building. Please pick up the phone so we can talk."
Morgan and Prentiss both froze in their spots when they heard the sheriff's voice echoing down the empty halls. He found out quickly, but if Laura was hiding out somewhere, calling her like that probably wasn't the best idea. It could make her scared or nervous, and a scared psychopath meant hostages. Morgan suddenly wanted everyone out of the hospital. If Laura was there, the doctors and nurses needed to leave.
"Wonder who told him," Prentiss commented.
"Wonder who told him that she is still here," Morgan added.
He was about to tell her that they needed to evacuate everyone when he heard a gun being fired. Nearby. Prentiss jumped a little, and both of them looked in the direction of the shot. It was coming down one of the hallways, and while they were waiting to see if they could hear anything else, Morgan heard a muffled scream. Morgan got his gun out, and ran as fast as he could down the hallway. He ended up at a closed door, and when he put his ear against the wood, he could hear someone moving around inside. He tried the handle, but it was locked.
"Oh my God, Reid," Prentiss whispered.
"Laura Bates, this is Derek Morgan with the FBI!" Morgan shouted as loud as he could. "Open this door right now or I will kick it down."
"Kick all you want blackie," Laura's voice came from behind the door. "You break it down, and virgin gets a bullet in his head. I ain't afraid to do it."
Morgan looked at Prentiss. She looked worried, and kept her gun in front of her.
"Laura, let's talk about this," Morgan tried again. "Just open the door and let me in. I'll leave my gun out here."
"Sure, come on in blackie," Laura taunted. "Come on in and see the dead body of virgin. Got the gun to his head right now. Don't believe me? Come on in!"
"What do you want?" Morgan asked.
"Only ones welcome in this here room are my boys and Hollywood, got it? Anyone else who tries sneakin in here through the window or the vents or that stupid door gets to clean up the virgin's blood. Lots and lots of blood."
"Let me hear his voice," Prentiss shouted at her.
"Why would I do that pretty lady?" Laura asked.
"Prove to us that he is still alive," Prentiss answered.
It got quiet in the room for a second. Morgan was sure that Laura wasn't going to give into their demands. She was in control. Morgan didn't want to admit it, but she was. Morgan wasn't going to do anything to risk Reid's life. Prentiss looked like she was going to ask again when a weak voice called out to them. It sounded strained, and Morgan felt like screaming.
"I'm here," Reid told them.
"Reid?" Prentiss asked. "Are you alright?"
Reid didn't say anything for another moment, and Morgan was debating if he could break down that damned door before Laura could do anything stupid. He could hear a muffled voice coming from inside, and he was sure that she was telling the poor kid what to say.
"She has a gun to my head," Reid said. "I'm scared."
"Hang in there kid," Morgan called out.
They heard some more movement, and Morgan figured that she was probably putting some kind of gag back in his mouth. Morgan would do anything in the world to switch places with Reid. Anything. Reid's voice was enough to send Morgan down the hallway in a violent fit, but he kept himself steady. He had to.
"There, y'all heard the virgin," Laura announced. "He's alive, but ain't goin promise on how much longer. He's already bleedin, and I don't know for sure, but it don't look that clean in here. Wouldn't want him to get sick and die before Hollywood and my boys get here."
"Ma'am please," Prentiss pleaded.
They both took a step back when another bullet was fired from the room that Laura was keeping Reid in. Prentiss had to hold Morgan back. He had one of his legs on the door already, but if she was sitting in there with a gun to Reid's hand, there would be no way Morgan could save him in time. Morgan had to control himself. They heard Laura laughing from inside.
"Y'all should have seen the way virgin flinched!" she shouted. "He should probably stop moving every time I get the gun near him. That one almost got him. It ain't nothin compared to what my poor Benjamin had to go through. Is it?"
Morgan heard some kind of struggle going in, but all of the noise was coming from Laura. She was kicking Reid, and Morgan felt the pain his young friend was going through. Pained grunts were coming from Reid, and Laura was laughing hysterically.
"You guys goin to hurry or keep listenin to our party?" Laura shouted. "Go get my boys and Hollywood in here pronto or I'll kill virgin. I could probably just stick one of these little knives into his throat. Think that could make him bleed to death if I get it in there deep enough?"
"What are we going to do?" Prentiss whispered.
"I don't know," Morgan said glaring at the door. Laura was still kicking Reid, and she wasn't trying at all to hide that from them. They didn't have much time, and Morgan knew Laura wasn't going to take it well when they told her that her kids were dead.
"We need to do something," Prentiss said.
"Okay," Morgan finally said. "You stay here. Don't move. Call me if she does something else, but I'll go down there and tell the others."
"What are we going to do about Hotch? We can't send him in there."
"I know," Morgan said. Giving her another hostage was the last thing she needed. "I'll see what the others say, and we'll meet you back up here."
"Tick tock agents!"
"Hurry back," Prentiss whispered.
Morgan ran as fast as he could to the staircase, and jumped down most of them. It was faster than taking the elevator. He was thankful that Reid was alive, but this was a disaster. If Laura killed Reid before he had a chance to get more help, he would personally kill her himself. She didn't deserve any less, but that wouldn't help Reid. He needed to find that doctor. Morgan could break the door, Laura could shoot like an idiot, but the doctor would be there to get the bullet out of Reid before any real damage was done. That would work. He wasn't going to send Hotch in there. He was going to get the doctor, and all of this was going to work out. He just needed to stay calm and stay in control. Laura wasn't in charge of him.
pretty awsum, right guys? ill start working on the final chapter tonight so ya. this will be lots of fun but then I shall cry when its over. this story has been awesome 2 write and these r some of my best characters ever. make your predictions on who does what in the last chapter. don't forget 2 review my lovely friends. till next time! xoxo