The SUV turns off the main road and onto a dirt road labeled "Sand Creek Cabin". To the average passerby it looked like any side road leading to a vacation cabin in the woods. On this day, to these two agents and two kids, this side road looked like salvation. It was a bumpy, dusty road with green trees encroaching the road on either side. Riley looked out the window with nostalgia; she missed the back roads of her Ohio hometown, they were just like this one. The inner city of D.C. had nothing on this landscape. She allowed herself to smile and relax, despite the rough road. About a mile later and the group found themselves looking up at the home Riley and Wren would be staying for the foreseeable future.
Riley's jaw drops and Wren exclaims, "it's beautiful!" as the kids' eyes meet the large cabin. Fulfilling the title of "log cabin", this home had the exterior appearance of being constructed of logs plucked from the nearby trees. Spacious and with a large front porch, the house looked rustic and inviting with chairs and tables on the front porch and flowers in the surrounding beds. The vehicle comes to a stop, but the kids are glued to their seats, eyes glued to the house.
"This is a safe house? It looks more like someone's million dollar regular house!." Riley exclaims, unable to look away.
"JJ has some good contacts in this area," Reid returns with a smirk. "Ready to go check it out?"
"Absolutely!" Wren yells as he unbuckles and jumps out of the vehicle with his backpack. Riley can't help the smile that spreads across her face. All interactions of the past few hours are forgotten and she lets herself feel happy and safe as she too climbs out of the car with her bag.
The smell of the forest overwhelms Riley's senses and she welcomes the scent over the now-too-familiar smell of the city and musty homes. The smells take her back to her childhood, and she feels herself relax even more. She moves around the vehicle and walks up to the stairs of the porch with Wren leading the pack.
The small boy pulls open the wooden screen door on the exterior before pushing the grand front door open. The group enters into the living room with a fireplace on the wall to the left. To the right sits the more modern entertainment scene with a large, plush couch, two comfortable looking armchairs focused around a TV console. On the far side of the room was a large wooden staircase leading to the upstairs.
Riley moves ahead to walk next to Wren while he's distracted looking around. "Riley! This house is amazing!" She smiles in return and looks around to soak it all in as well. She's left speechless.
Reid and Hotch work their way ahead of the kids and head toward the voices coming from the room ahead and to the left. They all turn the corner into the kitchen to find six agents wearing bulletproof vests and guns holstered at their hips. The FBI agents walk ahead to shake hands with each of them while Riley and Wren place their backpacks down at the table in the corner.
"Thank you all for being able to come in and commit to this on such short notice," Hotch addresses the group. They all nod as he continues. "This is Riley and Wren. The two you'll be protecting for as long as it takes to find who we're looking for."
One of the agents steps forward, "Nice to meet you both." He sticks his hand out to shake with Riley. Confused, but compliant, Riley shakes it back with a nervous smile. He bends down to Wren's level to shake his as well; Wren being much more excited about this big man and his big man gesture.
The agent stands back up to address all of the newcomers. "My name is Agent Rogers and I'm leading the security detail for this safe house. As there are 6 of us, there will always be two guards posted outside on a rotating schedule. Those not on guard might be milling about the house or in our bunking quarters through that door past the living room there." Riley and Wren turn to see the door he mentioned to the left of the television on the far wall. "As you can see the layout of the house is pretty self explanatory. There are 3 bedrooms upstairs you can choose from as well as a bathroom up there. If at any time you have questions, feel free to ask any of the guards. We advise against going outside, but if you strongly feel the need, make sure you let the guards know and you may only go out in the daylight. Understood?"
Wren glances up at him with glazed over eyes. He understood everything he said, but he didn't know if he had any questions to ask now. He couldn't think on the spot like this! Riley on the other hand smartly raised her hand.
Agent Rogers looked at her and squinted, confused. "Yes?"
"Are we gonna get to hear everyone else's names or are they just agent 1, agent 2, etc.?" Riley asked looking at the other guards behind Rogers.
Rogers clears his throat, "well if you must know, this" he indicates to the furthest guard left and moves right, "is Agent Collins, Agent Brennan, Agent Anthony, Agent Simmons, and Agent Coleman. But I'm sure if you went up to any of them and said 'Excuse me agent' they would all respond. Sound good?"
"Yeah we can work with that."
"Now, can I help you with anything else? If not, we're going to disperse and head to our stations and positions."
Riley looks down at Wren, "You have any questions bud?" He shakes his head nervously back up at her. She smiles and rubs his back as she responds, "Nah, we're okay for now. If we need something, we'll find someone."
"Alright, why don't you two head up to your rooms then. I want to have a few words with Agent Rogers and his crew before Reid and I head out," Hotch turned to the kids.
"Grab your stuff, Wren. I'll race you upstairs!" Riley yells as she grabs her backpack. Smiles on their faces as they go to check out the rest of the house.
With the kids out of the room and stomping around upstairs, Hotch turns to the security detail. "I know you've all been briefed already on this mission, who you're protecting and from whom. I want to tell you personally that these men are incredibly dangerous. I cannot begin to stress how important it is that you stay alert no matter where you are. They do not hesitate to kill and they will not hesitate to do whatever it takes to get to these two kids. Am I clear?"
"Yes, sir. We will do everything in our power to protect them at all costs," Agent Rogers affirms.
"Good. Thank you." Hotch nods and goes to shake his hand. He moves to stand at the bottom of the stairs with Reid on his tail. "Riley! Wren! Reid and I are heading out!"
"We'll be right there!" Riley shouts back. Hotch and Reid start working their way to the front door as the sound of quick, loud footsteps can be heard above, then coming down the stairs until both kids emerged with smiles across their faces. They bubble with excitement as they walk toward the departing agents.
"I got the master bedroom! Aha!" Riley exclaims to the agents then sticks her tongue out at Wren in good fun.
"No fair! You have longer legs!" Wren says with a smile on his face.
"Then it's only fair I get the bigger room with a bigger bed, of course! I gotta rest these long legs. They can't be all cramped up in that small bedroom you got." She ruffles his hair as they come to a stop at the front door.
"Okay you two, can you behave for Agent Rogers and his men?" Hotch asks with one of his rare smiles.
"Yes," Riley responds with a roll of her eyes.
"I suppose," Wren answers with a roll of his own eyes.
"I'm really starting to think we should have split you up simply because I don't want him picking up any more of your bad habits!" Reid joked, pointing an accusatory finger at Riley.
They both giggle as Riley wraps an arm around Wren's shoulders. "Aww, but we would have been so bored then! Besides, how bad could he get?" Riley jokes back with a wide grin on her face.
"Okay, okay we really need to go. Be good." Hotch moves to open the door and gets serious. "We'll see you when this is over, alright?"
Riley's smile drops and she takes a gulp before replying. "Yeah. We'll see you guys soon. I know it." She puts on a hesitant smile and rubs Wren's shoulder to comfort both him and herself.
Hotch nods and steps out to the porch and Reid is left with the kids. Riley can tell he's holding back his own emotions as he says his goodbyes. "Listen to the agents here and be safe. Please. We'll catch them again as soon as we can, I promise."
Riley nods with a sad smile. " I know. We'll see you soon. This isn't forever."
Reid looks at her cut lip, then reaches his hand up to brush against the bump on her head. "And when this is over, it'll get better. I promise you that."
Riley nods again, but is left speechless. She pulls Wren closer to her side and gives Reid a final half smile as he turns to leave. Wren waves until suddenly the two are left staring at the closed door.
Sighing, Riley sighs and slaps a smile on her face. "Alright Wren, what do you wanna do first? We could go unpack a little, or we could check out all the channels this TV probably has."
"TV! TV!" Wren shouts as he runs to sit on the couch.
"Oh thank goodness, that was my vote too." She moves to plop down beside him, grabbing the remote off the side table.
Before hitting the power button, Riley hesitates. She looks back into the kitchen to see all 6 agents discussing the logistics and their individual duties. She leans over to Wren and says in a quiet, hushed tone, "you have your cell phone here, right?"
Wren pulls it out of his back pocket with a quizzical expression. "Yeah. Why? I don't really contact anyone but you."
"That's okay. Here let me see it." He hands it over to her while she gets her own out. "Okay I'm putting Reid's number into your phone under 'Agent Reid' alright? That way it'll be near the top of your list. As much as I trust these agents protecting us, I need us to have a fall back plan. If there's ever any doubt that we are not safe, I will let you know. You run up to your room, you lock the door, and you call Reid." Riley hands his phone back to him and looks him in the eyes.
"But...but what will you be doing? Why won't you be there with me?"
"I need you not to worry about me, and just be able to run upstairs, lock that door, and call Reid. Can you do that for me?"
"Riley…this sounds like what we did in the hospital when my dad came…and you got really hurt."
"Wren please, I'm okay now. And you were okay, because of it. It all worked out."
"Not when you were in a coma for a week…"
"Wren. I need you to do this. For me. For both of us. If you don't call Reid, they might not get here in time to save us and neither of us will be okay."
"Alright, alright. I just hope it doesn't come to that…" Wren frowns as he sets his phone beside him.
"Me neither, bud, me neither." She pets his hair and puts on a small smile. "Alright enough talk about bad stuff." She hits the power button on the TV remote. "What do you want to watch? Disney?"
"Yeah! Let's see what's on!" Wren yells excitedly and sits up straight with a smile spread across his face.
