J-J was struck by the awesome irony of this place. A massive church that swallowed the souls of the living and the dead. A church that was meant to be a place of sanctuary and peace armed to the teeth with caskets lined up spilling over enough bullets to baptize. The overpowering scent of roses and holy water merging together made her sick to her stomach. They had come to the church just as Grams had said, but Spencer Reid wasn't here. The investigation wrung its hands at a loss as this chaotically evil unsub played by none of the profile's rules anymore. He had changed himself and swung back and forth from old and new psychopathy like the pendulum in a clock.
She was on her knees in the candlelight. Her heart filled up with the emptiness of this place. He was alive. She wanted to believe he was alive again. Yet, he wasn't here.
J-J held her hands together vigilant in prayer. The others swarmed around her. Derek sputtered, talking on the phone to someone. J-J wasn't paying attention until she heard the name.
"Gideon...I don't know. I'm scared, man. I think if anyone can get through to this kid, get him to cooperate with the team, it's you...You're the one he thinks of as his father. Now, I know that you've been out of the picture a while, and I know that...that his death. That it threw you. This is a lot..." Derek went on talking.
J-J bit her lip. His death. Every inch of this place, every inch of the empty of this dusty place, all at once sacred and sinister, left her reeling. Oh, God...Her best friend reduced to memory. A melting, blurring afterglow of her life like the prayer candles burning vigil before her.
"God..."J-J shuttered. She shivered. The wind blew. Only now did she realize the doors to the church were knocking together as the violence of a flash flood was creeping down the pathway that led to the houses of the holy. Judgement day rang through the pipe organ, making it sing with phantom keystrokes.
"Oh, God..."J-J closed her eyes. Only now did she realize something eerie. The others had slipped outside. Talking in frantic, hushed voices. They had seen something.
"WAIT! J-J IS STILL INSIDE!" Derek's scream brought her off her knees. She turned. Her eyes were wide like screech owls, she could feel them bursting from her head. Fear. Fear tore through her body, but it swiveled around her as a question mark. What was she afraid of?"
"Spencer...played fast and loose with the rules of this game...He always thought he could outsmart me..."There was a lighter click in the corner. J-J pulled her gun before she had time to react with a scream or a curse. Her gun hand was steady but her heart was a war drum at the sound of his name.
"The funny thing is...I found out his greatest weakness...So selfless, so smart...He would bleed for kids he didn't know. He practically begged me to kill him in Morgan's place. Mm...Sweet, really. But see, Pepper, or whatever her name is, she wasn't the bait. She was just the distraction. No more meant to be at the scene of my great finale than Agent Prentiss was...No...No, sweet Jennifer, this...This was my design. You. You are the lamb that will lead Spencer to slaughter...The loss of you will break his heart..."The Lone Wolf smiled in the light of his fire. J-J smelled it then. Oil. The holy oil used by priests. It had puddled on the floor.
"Who...Who are you?" J-J shook her head.
"I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, preparing the way for kingdom come. Death. Only death. We saw him dance for Pepper, saw him come apart for Morgan. Let's see him run to you." The Lone Wolf dropped his Zippo on the oil. J-J felt the flames. They rushed to her like a spirit running, jumping, barking like a dog. She took three steps back as smoke hit her nostrils.
Please, God, let this be quick. Don't let Spence try anything... J-J closed her eyes.