His final sentence escapes His lips as He lays His head back and His breaths become nonexistent. I'm proud of you replays through Riley's consciousness. It's all she can hear. She watched the light in His eyes die out as He spoke His final words; words that might as well have been a physical shot to her heart. I'm proud of you. This monster was proud of her.
Riley takes a few steps back and drops to her knees, the gun limp in her right hand. I did this. I'm a monster just like He was. Maybe I-I'm the monster.
Mr. Hill watches his friend fall and observes his last breath. "God? God! No!" He turns to Riley. "You killed him!"
He rushes forward with his knife, now ignorant of his own captive in the chair, to avenge his comrade's death. If God couldn't kill her, I'll have to kill her for Him.
As Hill advances across the room, the door to the cabin swings open. Derek Morgan steps into the doorway; gun raised, and quickly assesses the situation. Mr. Hill looks up at the movement of the door, but doesn't hesitate in his actions. Head down, he presses on toward Riley until two shots are fired into his chest. His body hits the ground and doesn't move, the knife falling from his grasp as his body goes limp.
Riley is oblivious to all of this as she remains tormented in the realm of her thoughts. I killed Him. I'm no better than Him. I'm going to turn out like Him. She thinks, still clutching the gun He released.
Reid and Prentiss appear beside Morgan in the doorway, find no threatening forces left in the room, and return their guns to their holsters. Reid takes a step forward as Morgan and Prentiss move to the dead figures in the room; no one notices the small boy stunned to his seat on the far side of the room.
"Riley, are you alright? Tell me what hurts; what's wrong?" Reid asks as he continues to move closer to her.
Her eyes still locked on His dead body in front of her, Riley hears nothing but her own thoughts. I killed Him. If I could kill Him, I could kill anyone around me. I have to stop myself before that happens. She places the gun to her temple and closes her eyes.
"Riley, what are you doing?!" Prentiss exclaims as she takes a step toward her and the gun.
"Stop," Riley commands firmly as she situates her grip on the pistol, finally hearing the others in the room. Everyone in the room listens and freezes where they are. Tears leak down her cheeks. "I don't want to hurt you. I don't want to hurt any one else."
"Riley don't do this," Reid says from his position 10 feet away.
"I don't have a choice. I killed Him," she sobs through closed eyes. The gun shakes against her temple but she keeps a tight grip.
"Yes, you do have a choice, Riley, it's okay…" Reid speaks softly.
"No! No it's not okay. I'm a monster. All I do is hurt people just like Him. First my parents, and that lady in the park all those years ago, and now God! Who knows who else I've hurt along the way!" She opens her eyes to look into Reid's as he stands a few feet away. She whispers just loud enough for everyone to hear, "I don't want to hurt anyone else."
"Riley, listen to me. That is not true. You did not kill your parents. You did not kill that lady in the park. And God? This was self-defense. If you hadn't killed Him, Riley, He would have killed you."
She looks over at His dead body. "I think it would have been better that way. Then I wouldn't have to live with the fact that I'm just like Him. I might not have killed them all myself, but there's no doubt they're all dead because of me."
"Don't say that."
"I can stop it though." She adjusts her grip on the gun once more and looks at Him more intensely. "I can stop myself before anyone else dies."
"Riley. Look at me." He waits for her to gaze up at him with tears in her eyes. "You are nothing like Him. You help people—you don't hurt them. Think of all the cases you've helped us on; think of all of those people you've saved in the last year," he takes tentative steps closer to her as he continues, "Think of Wren, Riley. Wren needs you."
"I do, Riley," Wren squeaks as he timidly gets up from his chair and takes a few steps closer to them. One hand pressed against the cuts on his neck, and the other hugging his small frame.
"I need you, Riley." Reid states as he takes a final step and kneels in front of her. "Give me the gun, Riley."
With tears blurring her vision, Riley looks into his eyes to see his sincerity reflected back at her.
"You've gone through too much to give up now. If you kill yourself, He wins. Don't let Him win, Riley. We need you here," Reid whispers to her as he holds out his hand.
Gripping the gun one more time, Riley shakes her head and pulls it away from her temple to hand to the agent in front of her. She sinks back completely and sits wholly on the floor; physically, mentally, and emotionally spent. A few, final tears slip down her cheeks as she tries to steady her breathing.
Suddenly a force wraps its arms around her torso. She gasps as the pain in her ribs resonates around her entire abdomen. She gets up on her knees, trying to get air back into her lungs, and the force lets go.
Still gasping, she looks over and finds herself looking into Wren's tear streaked face. "Oh, Wren." One hand on the floor supporting her, she brushes over his cheeks with the other to wipe the tears off his worried face.
"Riley, Riley, are you okay?" He asks in between sniffles.
"I'll" She coughs and winces. "I'll be alright." She looks to the cuts on his neck and cringes. "Wren, I'm so sorry. I should have…"
She coughs again, but uses her hand to cover it. Looking down at her hand, she finds blood. She places both palms down on the ground as her body is racketed with more pain. She takes steady breaths, as she tastes blood.
"Riley? Is that blood? Are you okay? What's wrong?" Wren rapidly questions as he touches her shoulder.
Reid, now finished bagging the gun and handing it off to the back-up police now arriving on scene, looks back over to the kids to find Riley on all fours and Wren checking on her. His eyes widen and panic rises in his heart. I didn't even check to see if she's physically alright. He rushes over and kneels in front of her.
"Talk to me, Riley. What's going on?" Reid asks, placing his hands on her shoulders to steady her. "Why don't you sit upright?" He looks her over the best he can from this position. Noticing the split lip and small bump on her forehead she came to the safe house with, but with the addition of a cut on her cheek, most likely from a punch, and a new, larger bruised bump on her forehead where it looks like her head connected with something hard. He sees the long cut down her left arm and on her chest. But beyond these superficial wounds, she appears okay.
"I…I can't," she gasps out quietly, trying to gather enough air to keep talking. Her body growing more tired with every shallow breath she manages to get out despite the piercing of her ribs against her organs.
"What hurts? Is it your head?" Reid keeps talking as he runs his hand over her forehead. He turns to the front door, "Get the paramedics in here!"
Riley coughs again, not bothering to cover her mouth, as she needs all the support from her arms she can get. Blood splatters to the ground below her.
Reid grows more concerned as he watches blood drip to the floor. He lifts her chin up to look at her and wipes a few remaining drops from the corner of her mouth. "What's wrong, Riley?"
"He…broke my ribs." She wheezes out. "It's getting harder…to breathe."
"Just hang on, Riley. The paramedics are coming right now. We're gonna get you fixed up. Just hold on one more minute." He speaks quietly to her, before he turns back to the door. "Where are the medics?! We need them now!"
"Reid. Make sure…Wren comes with. His dad cut him. They look kind of deep. Please. Help him." She croaks out, her eyes starting to close as her adrenaline diminishes and the full effects of her injuries ache.
The elder man gives a crooked smile and shakes his head slightly. Even in immense pain, she's worried about someone else. Unbelievable. He looks over to the boy and notices the cuts on his neck. While they definitely look deeper than scratches, they aren't deep enough to worry about blood loss.
Reid reaches over with a small smile and smoothes Wren's hair. "We'll take care of him, don't worry."
The paramedics enter and move immediately to the group on the floor. The two men load Riley up onto the gurney, attaching lines of oxygen and pain relievers to her as they push her toward the exit. Her eyes close as they push her into the ambulance, her body finally able to relax after the stress of the last hour. The stress of the last 10 years.
