Hey Everyone!
I KNOW I'M BACK AGAIN SO SOON? WHAT? HOW COULD THIS BE? Well it's because Blue kicked my butt and was thoroughly demanding that I made sure I broke down the chapter to give you guys a second part. So HERE WE ARE! I WON'T KEEP YOU LONG BUT THANK YOU TO ALL OF MY LOVELY FOLLOWERS AND THOSE WHO FAVOURITE THIS STORY YOU ARE ALL SO PRECIOUS TO ME.
TO THE ABSOLUTE BEST REVIEWERS: River, fishtrek, zikashigaku, gassamermouse101, megamegaturtle, Guest, LisaPark, SonnetStar, OneWhoReadsTooMuch, WickedlyMinx, .2020, PotatoWritesFanfic, im-okay-mj, mercijirl01, and DaiylLynn21, thank you for always putting a smile on my face with your words, especially if you are all being honest and let me know that it too you people a minute (or a whole re-read) to get caught up... that's my bad... sorry! Thank you for sticking with me through it all!
OKAY HERE WE GO ENJOY!
Disclaimer: I don't own CM.
One.
She didn't have a lot of time.
He had been a well-trained assassin, molded from the underbelly of England at a young age, to the skilled killers and trackers of MI6 who had been taught to be well-oiled machines. Noah Bennett clearly had years upon years of experience of ending lives, and to do so without leaving a trail or a trace. Lou could have had months and months of training prior to Noah Bennett standing in front of her attempting to kill her, and still most likely would be unsuccessful. It was something that Emily was drilling into her head, finding it absurd to aid her in defending herself against the one person who had wanted- no, absolutely desired to have her life be controlled by him.
If he could not control Lou, he would kill her.
Lou realized quickly Bennett figured out she could not be controlled.
He took another step, blocking the foyer of the library. Noah had snuck up on her as she was viewing the security screens, knowing that it would distract her. His favourite silver blade was overtly shown, Noah making no effort to hide his weapon. He didn't feel the need to.
"I didn't think you would make this easy for me."
Noah had just said those words seconds prior.
But to Lou, it threw her off that he said that specific sentence.
She started to smile.
He's following Emily and I's plan.
Bennett noticed the smile on Lou's face. That brought forth confusion he wasn't expecting. Here she was, the tiny little lamb in the middle of her slaughter, sitting prettily for him, waiting to have the life strangled from her.
Yet she continued to stand there, like a doe in headlights, immobile.
He mimicked her smile, adding a shrilling, hideous laugh.
"What? What is it you little thing?" He took a step closer to her, an extravagant twirl of his blade causing the light to reflect throughout the library. "Why are you so pleasantly happy? Considering you had such a horrible face on not too long ago."
Two.
Lou wouldn't let him see her smile falter.
Not when her mother was so close to being saved.
Take a deep breath.
It's exactly how I predicted him to act.
Lou widened her smile.
This is why you grow and change.
Don't let people predict your moves, Noah.
"I'm smiling?" she asked him softly, revealing the blade in her own hand. The slight shock on Noah's face had been intertwined with… admiration? Was he proud that she looked… sadistic to him? She ignored it, twirling the blade herself before pointing it in Noah's direction.
"I merely find it… amusing."
Noah cocked an eyebrow, his eyes still on Lou's blade. "What is amusing?"
"That you said the exact words I intended to say to you."
It took him a second; it had indeed been a while since he last had a one-on-one conversation with Lou. But the woman in front of him preferred her words like a weapon. She had said sentences on purpose, always choosing her words very carefully.
So why was it she found it amusing?
What did he just say to her? That he was grateful that she made capturing her easy?
A small piece of dread hit Noah in that moment, realizing what Lou had meant by that phrase.
She… had a plan.
Noah knew Lou would come to the library. She always told him it was the safest spot in the home. She told him the multiple ways to get to the library, the secret passages that took him forever to find and map out, so it made complete sense to draw her into the study, as she was well aware that it would be her best course of action to, say, have a one-on-one conversation should she not follow his plan.
So, Noah knew, at least, to set up one trap for Lou in the library, cutting off all the entrances to the library except for two: the main entrance, and the trapdoor through Lou's old study room, to which Lou followed his plan and entered through the second-story platform. He waited for her to be sitting in the room, because Lou was always the one to let emotions guide her and control all of her actions, so he had to evoke emotion out of her. He had to get a hold of something, or rather someone, to get her so emotional that she could come into the library, and he could… take control over her. Lou stumbling on his security system was the added bonus. The obvious choice was to kidnap her mother, and here Lou finally was, where he wanted her exactly.
What he didn't take into consideration, however, was that Lou would know what he was doing.
Lou took his trap that he laid for her and turned it back on him.
Shit.
He underestimated Lou once again.
Three.
Noah looked up just in time to see the Mossad agent standing on the second-level platform firing his gun towards him. If Noah hadn't pulled back the moment he did, the bullet would have entered his heart. The bullet left Zion's gun chamber and ended up clipping Noah's shoulder, causing him to stumble backwards on the opposite wall of Lou. Zion attempted to fire again, but Noah ducked for cover, diving to the left of Lou to cover behind one of the couches.
It was then Lou remembered what she grabbed before she entered the library.
I can lock him in!
Lou grabbed the bat off of the desk, the pink bat that she had taken from her father's study, and ran straight to the main entrance of the library, just passing Noah as he stared at her, anger growing on his face.
"LOU!"
It was a scream she was all too familiar with.
But she also was familiar with ignoring him.
She never deviated eye contact from him as she shut the large doors to the library, intending on locking up Noah as a back-up. She knew Zion would go through back through the trap door if he needed to escape. He was his own well-trained spy. Lou knew he could take care of himself. How the hell is it that a bat has saved my life again? Lou remembered to count that blessing as she used the child-size bat from her dad's office as a makeshift lock to hold the library doors temporarily.
Take that Douchebag McGee.
She couldn't focus on the fact that Zion wasn't successful. Yes, she still had her plan, but she couldn't falter at the fact that she could do nothing to change that Noah was still active, and the plan she worked out with Emily didn't go through, and Lou still had to go through with her plan.
It was the biggest secret she was keeping.
Even from herself.
Lou didn't want her plan to go through.
Her plan was dangerous. Her plan could potentially hurt a lot of people if she didn't take caution. Her plan would irrevocably scar multiple people, regardless of the outcome, because it put her directly in the line of fire, or more specifically, within reach of Noah Bennett. Lou kept running, running past all the sitting rooms, all the washrooms, serving quarters, any door that wasn't the door she was looking for, she didn't acknowledge. There was only one thing to focus on, at that was her dear, sweet mother, who she wanted to come home.
I'll worry about the plan later.
Turning the corner after several corners, she looked down the long hallway and found the door to the grand dining room to be expertly chained shut, with her father and friend-turned-double-agent attempting to get into the room. Emily had been using bolt cutters to the chains. Lou and Emily made eye contact before the professor ran to the former spy to help her with the locked door. Charles was also there, gun drawn, keeping watch.
"Did it work?" Emily asked.
"No."
"He's still alive?" Lou's father asked in disbelief.
Lou sighed. "Dad, not right now."
The exasperated grunt came from Emily after hearing the news, clipping the last link in the chain. They pulled out the metal from the door handles, swinging open the heavy door. The commotion from outside of the room must have been able to be heard from the inside, because the second Lou and Emily pushed the doors open, Lou saw her mother standing there, as straight as she could bare it, with a long metal rod in her hand, frailly holding it up. Lou's heart pulled at itself, realizing her mother had been so terribly beaten, destroyed, and weak… and she was still protecting herself.
The elder Richardson dropped the rod when she saw her daughter.
"Elena Lou," Antoinette whispered out in disbelief.
"Mom."
All the emotion that she had been bottling up, everything that she had been holding it was let go in that moment. She didn't have to be relentless then. Her mom was in front of her (albeit barely standing), still alive. Noah didn't kill her. Noah didn't have her hidden at the bottom of the sea. Her eyes weren't lying to ran straight to her mother, wrapping her arms around her torso to not only hold her up, but to hug her, to feel that she was safe. Emily went to work right away cutting the chains and shackles from Antoinette.
Lou took in her mother's touch, her voice, her tears.
She couldn't believe it.
Noah didn't kill her.
She knew to be concerned at that thought…
But Lou didn't care.
She had her Mom.
"You came for me…" Her mother cooed over her. "Sweet girl."
"I thought you were gone." She whispered to her.
Her mother's laugh was tired, but it still had that tone Lou adored.
"Not without a fight, darling."
They pulled away slightly, with Antoinette looking at her daughter, before her eyes caught onto the figure behind the professor. Lou could see her mom's eyes light up in a way she had rarely seen. Her mother pulled away slightly, with Lou getting the hint that all of her attention was directed towards her love that had been walking up to her.
"Theo," she whispered.
Charles walked up to his wife in that moment, waiting for Emily to finish with freeing Antoinette before he held her in his arms.
Lou couldn't help but stare at her parents. She knew they were affectionate, and from time to time they would show that affection in front of Lou. But what Lou saw was different. It had been a deep love, surrounded by a thorough understanding of one another and trust within each other's actions. The two of them hadn't spoken a single word to each other, and yet it clearly looked like they had been communicating.
Lou was in awe of how her parents were when they were with each other, and the overwhelming amount of love Lou felt even just by proximity was tremendous. Her father had been staring deep at her mother, almost drinking her in as much as he could. Her mother had been looking back in her own admiration, but Lou could tell how much her father was enamored by his wife.
It hit Lou then, a deep wave of sadness.
Was that how Spencer looked at her when she wasn't paying attention?
"Ambassador, Missus Richardson," Emily said with swiftness. "I apologize, but we have to get a move on. There's not enough time."
"Right. Onward then."
Charles and Lou began helping Antionette out of the manor. The four of them had been weaving their way through the hallways, side passages, and luckily out to the back pasture of the manor where an SUV had been sitting waiting on the front side of the roundabout driveway of the Manor. Lou and Emily were both going to go back into the manor, get Zion securely out, and make sure that Bennett had been locked in a room, or if Lou actually went through her plan, much less verbal.
Before they could secure Antoinette in the back of the car, a noise that Lou didn't think was capable of being heard rang out through the manor.
Zion's agonized scream came from the front foyer.
Both Emily and Lou looked to one another.
"Zion!" Lou cried out.
Zion's part of the plan was to distract Noah, to get him on a wild goose chase around the house if he wasn't successful in killing him, buying the Richardsons enough time to get Antoinette out. Zion had done this runaround hundreds of times, with much more dangerous people at his mercy. However, with the sound of Zion's pain only intensifying both the women's concerns, they both headed directly back into the manor.
"Lou!"
She turned to her father's voice.
"What do you think you're doing?!"
She saw her father's fear.
She saw how scared he was to let her go.
He just had his whole family back in his arms.
To watch his daughter, his only child, go back to a place of certain death terrified him.
But Lou had to do this.
"It's Zion."
Lou's tears wouldn't leave her eyes, running to catch Emily who had been not too far ahead. Both of them were able to reach the front doors, where it must have been placed conveniently open for the two via Noah Bennett. Entering the large room, Lou couldn't help but feel Noah's eyes on her, somewhere in the large house. She had to forget that Bennett may have been watching her.
She had to find Zion.
It felt too much like a trap, but she had to get her brother.
Emily put her hand out in front of Lou, grabbing her attention. The agent pointed to the stairs, where Zion had been laying on the middle set of stairs on the second level of the staircase, propped against the railing. The two women ran up the large stairs. Lou noticed as she was getting closer to Zion, she couldn't see any giant pools of blood, blade slices, or bullet holes, but she could see Zion had been beaten.
He was beaten badly.
"He is quiet, that one." His voice was raspy, softly speaking. "Or I am just getting old."
The Mossad agent began coughing in pain.
"Zee," the guilt of her actions was apparent with each blow Zion had on his body. "I'm—"
"If you apologize, I will kick your bum-bum, Neshama."
Zion coughed again, to which Lou saw the bit of blood leave his lips.
"Broken collarbone," Emily said, examining Zion all over. "Could potentially be puncturing your lung."
"Wonderful. A good reason to be on sick leave." Zee moaned in pain. "That would be a nice vacation."
"Well let's get you one," Lou said stubbornly, wiping her tears. She was getting frustrated with Zion.
She couldn't help the fact that she had the same mentality, but she hated when Zion went mindlessly into dangerous tasks. It terrified her more than she had anticipated.
"Dammit Zion, I told you a million times, you need to use that thing in your head!"
"What? A brain?" He said with a tired breath. "You really think I would have one of those?"
Lou rolled her eyes, checking on Zion's injuries. "I forgot. You are the definition of out of your mind."
"I learned from the best," he said, softly chuckling.
Emily couldn't help but smile along.
"Zion, can you stand?" The Interpol agent asked the Mossad agent.
"I believe I can, Emily." He struggled to sit up, letting out an exasperated sigh.
"Maybe Mossad will give me time off if I die."
"Aya will kill you if you die before you guys get married."
"Oh, yes, you are right." Zion found some energy to smile. "A good time to leave, correct?"
"Bold of you to assume that you three will be leaving."
Noah had appeared out of nowhere, towering all of them as they sat on the stairs over Zion.
He had snuck up on them, standing on the landing of the second level, only being a few feet from Emily.
His blade was much closer to Prentiss' face than Lou liked.
"Although, I can arrange that."
Not Emily.
Not anyone else.
Before Noah could get his knife in position, Lou already had flung hers out of her gloved hand.
It had been one of her special blades. Not the ones she used at the barn for practice. These blades were more accurate, and more deadly. She didn't think how deadly the weapon was when she grabbed the knife from the concealed pocket on her thigh. She had a bunch of other items within her thigh pocket, but she knew the handle on the blades, screwed and unscrewed the metal so much she knew how long it would take to assemble and disassemble. All she thought was no one else would feel the wrath of Noah's blade. She knew the blade would stop him, and be the most successful at stopping him.
The sharp metal entered the centre of Noah's forearm quickly, coming through the other side.
Lou heard his silver blade hit the marble before his screams echoed into the foyer.
She had never heard him scream in such a guttural manner.
She had heard him yell at her, be vicious with her, but it was a painful scream that was animalistic and raw.
She could feel the pain radiate off of him like harsh steam.
He grabbed onto his arm, realizing that Lou's blade had been embedded into his skin. His eyes flashed to hers before disappearing back into the darkness, clutching his wound. She couldn't let the sounds of Noah's anger get a hold of her as Emily was scrambling to grab Zion off of the stairs. Lou went in to help, and although Zion had been twice her weight, she did everything she could to make sure she could hold him up. She had to. The man got on a plane for her to protect her, risked his job and his pending marriage for her. She had to do everything to protect him back. He was family.
When the three of them got to the bottom of the stairs, Lou realized that the house was quiet.
They stood in front of the open doorway, in the front foyer, standing for a brief moment, assessing the situation and how it was… quiet. It didn't help that the front entrance was not only big and grand, but the lights turned off as they approached the threshold, causing the only flecks of light to be coming from the moonlight beaming through the open doorway. It illuminated Emily, Zion, and Lou in a white light, however it caused the entire house to be much darker.
And much more eerily quiet.
Emily could feel the energy of the home a bit off.
She pulled Zion and Lou towards the front entrance to leave.
She didn't want to take any chances.
"Come on. Quickly."
Lou heard a soft, pressurized release of air come from deep within the home.
The professor pulled away from Zion and Emily, taking a step back and turning to look into the black hallway.
The noise confused her.
She had never heard that sound before.
"Did you hear that?"
Emily did, but she didn't know what it was.
She knew, whatever it was, it was dangerous.
"Lou, move."
The sound of a metal latch releasing hit her ears.
Another sound that was unfamiliar to the Manor.
"What…"
Before she could register what was happening, the three of them heard something shoot out from the dark hallway with a big boom. Lou could hear a rope whipping through the wind. She knew what the sound was like (it sounds like when Joyce threw those clackers at me to try to stop me from running away from her when I worked at the college) but it hadn't made any sense…
Why did that sound register in Lou's head in that moment—
Lou felt a thick rope around her legs before she could stop it.
She looked up at Emily, for the first time feeling utterly helpless.
The rope tightened before she could move.
It immobilized her within a second.
Noah did also have a trap waiting for her.
But it wasn't in the library.
"Em—"
Lou couldn't hold her screech back as the she was yanked hard, her legs sweeping underneath her. She saw Emily's hands reach out to her to grab her, but Lou knew she was moving too fast. Her head bounced off of the floor hard, as much as Lou tried protecting her head. There had to have been something pulling her at a fast speed. She couldn't hold her screams as she was pulled further and further. It must have been a grappling mechanism of some kind; her mind was trying to work out what was happening to her, working through the horror as she was about to be dragged deeper into the Manor.
That's why Noah wanted her to come through the front foyer.
He had this waiting.
To drag her directly to him.
Under his full control.
"Lou!"
She watched as both the small figures of Emily and Zion struggled to follow after her, but she was being pulled too quickly, and far into the deep, dark hallway. She looked for anything to stop her path: a chair, a column, a statue… but Bennett purposely cleared the floor, having no obstructions in the path. She knew she had to stop eventually, but her head had been spinning, and she couldn't control anything. The tugging felt as if had been going on for quite some time, Lou didn't know if it had been seconds or minutes she was being tugged. She couldn't track where she was in the house because she didn't know how fast she was going and in which direction she was being pulled.
For the first time, she was confused to where she was in her own home.
Exactly like Noah planned.
The rope finally stopped pulling her, however Lou did not stop until she rolled into a wall.
Pain shot up her entire back, and Lou cried out in agony.
"Ah, just what I've been waiting to hear."
Her eyes looked up in the darkness, not able to see anything.
I must be in one of the board rooms in the back of the house. No windows in there.
Or… the laundry room? There are blackout curtains in there…
Maybe Mom's resting room? It was always dark in there…
Where am I?
"Hopefully, there'll be more of that sound."
He hummed along, and Lou was shocked. Noah was humming. The man practically hated music. What was he doing that was causing him to hum?
Realization hit Lou, realizing not why he was humming, but what he was humming.
'We're off to see the Wizard, the Wonderful Wizard of Oz.'
It answered her question right away.
"Don't you like it?" She could hear Noah patting his hands on a sheet of metal. "I know you can't see it currently, but it is quite magnificent. I had a similar mechanism to lure my targets in… You always did wonder how I was so successful on my missions. However, I did do an… upgrade, shall you say-" he laughed to himself, "-after doing some research on you to catch up over your past few years. Quite boring until your sweet little Tinman decided to entire your life. Although being chased by a delusional individual is nothing new to you, it is nice to learn from other's failures. I intend to use this weapon a lot more."
I was right.
The rope that pulled me.
He's…
He's trying to mutilate my memories.
By bringing back traumatic events.
Starting from when Spencer and I first met.
"This item is really fun. I tried it on Judeau once, to test it out. Safe to say if I had pissed off that woman, it certainly would cause you to be truly upset."
He sighed.
"Didn't want to be caught in one of your traps again. And yet, here I am, with two extra holes in my body that I had not planned for, and one hole I am assuming you did not account for. I'm starting to like this Lou… the one without a plan. She's much more interesting if you ask me."
She may not have been able to see him, but she could hear him getting closer, and felt his presence come near her. She instinctively went to one of the weapons in her thigh pocket, but she felt her wrist being grabbed before she could even withdraw the weapon. She gave out an involuntary yelp.
Noah had night vision goggles on, purposefully keeping her in the dark.
"My, my… Lucille. You really want to use a knife on me? Again? Have I had that much influence over you?"
He laughed again, this time attempting to catch his breath from the rigorous laughing.
"Don't try that again, Little Lou. If you attacked me again, where will you run off to? You can't hide where you are if you don't know where you are."
Bastard. He's keeping me in the dark on purpose.
He brought her hand up to his face, where she could feel his breath on her palm. He took a long whiff off her wrist.
"Smells like sadism. I like this version of you."
Noah let go of her wrist enough to give Lou room to punch him square on the nose.
After all, he did technically show her where his face was in the dark.
The manic chuckle that came from Bennett didn't ease Lou.
"Good. Morning. Lou. Richardson!"
She could hear him jumping in his spot.
Out of… joy?
"I was expecting some push back, but this is just… Christmas! It's Christmas morning!"
He kept laughing as he walked away from her for a moment, before coming back to her. His voice was different. Higher pitched, more excited.
Lou had never seen him this deranged.
It truly frightened her.
"And what do we do on Christmas morning?"
Lou didn't think she would have to answer that question.
"We… wake up!"
She was confused by how Noah's manic mind worked.
"And what do we do before we wake up?" His high-pitched, silly voice asked.
Noah had waited for a moment before speaking.
"This one you answer." He said, giggling an absurd among.
She didn't want to, but she knew if she played along it would better her chances.
"I don't know."
When Noah spoke next, his voice went back to normal.
"We go to sleep."
The towel at her nose was the last thing she felt.
"This is for destroying my blade hand, Elena."
And the last thing she thought?
Chloroform.
[ + ]
Spencer Reid was thoroughly reminded of how well of a driver Garcia was in that moment.
Penelope had spent some time in London and driving on the left side of the street seemed completely and utterly natural to the technical analyst. She insisted she drive (saying that she grabbed the keys out of Morgan's hand seemed a bit abrasive), and the technical analyst was at the front of the rescue parade. The speed in which she was going, however, was unnatural, as she whipped through the countryside with full force. She had the whole tactical team following her, but Penelope Garcia had been leaving the other cars in the dust, speeding through, following her well-detailed navigation system. She didn't let anything distract her from weaving through the trees, following the road in front of her. Morgan sat in the back behind her as JJ was right beside him. They were all quiet, focused, ready to bring the Professor back to her Doctor.
Spencer turned his attention back to the windshield. He steadied his nerves as best as he could.
The team had a visual on all three of them.
Correction.
Four.
Elena had been first. She shot out of the forest quickly, following the lake into the side of the home. As if it was clockwork, three minutes later, Zion appeared from a similar position, disappearing on and off camera until appearing to go through the same window Ellie had. Three minutes after him, Emily entered from the opposite side of the home, through the back garden. But what truly shocked Spencer was three minutes after Prentiss, it was Charles Richardson who managed to back an SUV onto the driveway and sneak into the building, being seen by the drone within the last second of entering the Manor. It gave him a slight bit of comfort to know that her father at least had been there.
But just in the slightest.
He saw how esteemed Charles Richardson had been in his file.
Excellent skills in language and linguistics, evident as he was a successful young lawyer at an early age, disciplined in Aikido, skilled in archery and fencing, and had also been an Olympic level swimmer. Educated among the highest schools, was among the highest regarded people in the political landscape… and if Elena's intelligence was any guiding point, it was mother's guidance with her father's tenacity which excelled towards raising a daughter to be quite a knowledgeable and regarded person, just like her father.
Which only made his stomach turn after realizing they truly were the same person.
Capable of dropping off the face of the Earth, manipulating the world around them.
He pushed past the anger.
Not now.
After all of them had piled into the SUV (with Rossi and Hotch in a separate vehicle along with Dexter and Caroline), Garcia now had a break in the trees, and when he got a full look at the Manor in person, Spencer could see why it had been referred to as such. It was an intimidating building, with a long, stretched out driveway (with the fountain elevating the roundabout at the front of the home). As Garcia got closer, the team noticed that there had been a car sitting outside of the home, and Spencer got to see the back of Charles Richardson's head as they were approaching. The ambassador turned his head to the sound of cars rolling up his driveway.
Penelope pulled the car into a hard stop. Reid and Morgan were out of the car before she put it into park. JJ was already around the SUV, right beside Morgan. Spencer ran ahead, towards Charles.
"Reid," the ambassador said in a tone that let Spencer know Charles was scared. But also, super protective. The large man had used his frame to shield whoever had been sitting in the car behind him. The doctor managed to look inside of the black sedan, realizing that the woman sitting in the back had been the spitting image of Elena.
Or rather, the other way around.
"Missus Richardson?"
Spencer was in disbelief.
Elena found her mother.
Alive.
Elena got her mother back.
She did it.
Elena's mother was alive and found safe.
It was too good to be true.
The older Richardson took her first look at Spencer, and it threw him almost off his feet. Although everyone who knew the Richardsons spoke about how Elena and her father behaved completely the same, he had been taken off-guard at the third Richardson's appearance.
They look the same.
Elena and Antoinette look the same.
"Pleasure to finally meet you," the woman said, her tired eyes closing from staring too long.
"Now go do what you came her to do, young man, and save my daughter."
He didn't have to be told twice.
Morgan, JJ, and Reid had gathered quickly up the driveway.
"Antoinette?" JJ asked, taking a look into the car.
Reid nodded, to which JJ gave small smile.
"She did it. Lou did it."
Spencer didn't want to celebrate so soon.
He could feel something wasn't right.
It was too…
Quiet.
"Let's find Elena first."
"Good call," Derek said. JJ nodded in agreement.
It brought Spencer a bit of confusion at first, to see a grand entrance completely opened, without being able to see directly into the home. It had been too ominous, and Spencer's brain had been on high alert. He had been assessing every small detail (moonlight illuminating the room, indicating that the electricity is removed on purpose), but his mind had been on one thing only.
More specifically, one person.
All three of them were heading towards the open door when they all heard it.
Elena's screech echoed throughout the Manor, the sound coming from the front door.
JJ had felt the sharp pain.
Morgan had felt the terror.
But Spencer?
He had never heard her voice like that.
To hear Elena scream destroyed him.
I...
I was too late.
If we were just a few seconds earlier…
I just missed her.
He bolted to the front door, just in time to see Emily enter into the moonlight, attempting to hold a ragged Zion vertical. Morgan and JJ had gone straight into the foyer, clearing out the room as best and as quick as they could. The Mossad agent had been beaten, welts starting to form all over his body. Spencer noticed that Rossi and another agent had been right beside him now, a frustrated and worried look on his face. Spencer recognized David was upset with Emily still, attempting to mask his emotions. They are were filled with emotions, but they would deal with Emily's actions later.
"Broken collarbone," the former spy said, trading Zion off to Rossi. The agent nodded, grabbing onto Zion.
"Tikvah, nice to meet you. I know your father."
The Mossad agent sighed before slowly walking with him. "Who doesn't?"
Spencer and Emily looked at each other face to face.
To watch Emily's own face break just by the sheer sight of him ripped him a part.
Emily knew he would be angry…
But this?
"Reid, I—"
"Where is she?"
He didn't sound like himself.
The anger that came out of him was something he had no control of.
Everything he had been holding in came out in that moment.
He may not have been able to see his own face, but he could see all of the faces around him, looking at how they responded to him.
He wasn't lashing out at Emily, nor at anyone.
Truly, the only person he was angry at, was himself.
But the only person that he wanted to unleash that anger upon had been the person who was causing all this pain.
Noah Bennett.
I hope you're dead by the time I find you.
Emily shook her head. "He…"
"Emily, where is Elena?"
"He took her," Emily broke out, worry beginning to seep through her.
Morgan had been walking towards JJ, who had called to come back to the agent and the doctor, as there had been a shouting match beginning. The second Emily said those words, Derek and JJ stopped where they were, the utter fear of realizing what position they were in.
Spencer once again was in a position where someone he loves could lose their life,
But this time, it meant so much more.
Not just to Spencer.
Morgan's voice was powerful as he approached Emily. "How?"
"He… it was dark. And there was this thing…"
"What thing?" JJ prompted.
"I don't understand it!" Emily yelled, trying to sort through her thoughts. "It was a rope, with some kind of hook, and… and it- it shot out and yanked her back!"
Morgan looked at JJ, who were startled by this information.
Noah Bennett was capable of weaponizing machinery.
And currently had said machinery in the home.
Emily looked at Spencer again, her own eyes filling with tears.
"I tried stopping her. I tried getting her out of there. She wouldn't listen."
Spencer shook his head, his anger exuding from him.
He knew Elena wouldn't listen, not if it came down to saving the ones she loves. He still wondered why he met Elena, why the universe put them together. That was when he realized that she was there to teach him to open up, to be vulnerable again, to choose to open his heart to someone fully. Which is why he was so angry with her, to have him open up to her, to bring them that much closer, only to drive a wedge between them in order to protect him and his vulnerability.
But he knew better than to take it out on Emily.
"She wouldn't have. Not if it meant protecting us."
Reid had his weapon ready. He was only going to fire if there was a gun right back in his face.
"You coming?" He asked Emily.
The spy nodded, wiping her tears quickly before removing her gun from her holster. JJ and Morgan had already gone through entering the dark manor. Reid and Emily were right behind them, clearing out the grand foyer. The team had gotten the schematics of the entire home via Penelope finding schematics and Caroline mapping out the area, however Elena had given Spencer a debrief of all the hidden tunnels and passageways many months ago, when she had been explaining the model of her mind palace. He never thought he would be grateful for those mundane conversations.
He never thought he would be grateful just to even know someone as special as Ellie.
The four of them silently moved through the main floor, having only the moonlight aid them in finding their way through the maze of the Manor. There had been multiple sitting rooms, and smoking rooms, and quite the large amount of different green wallpaper throughout the entire house.
Spencer figured out quickly that the Manor was where Lou first had the idea that she was in the world of Oz, that she was Dorothy, in Emerald City, with the Wizard teaching her all the tricks, Glinda the Good Witch protecting over her, Toto at her side on an adventure…
He stopped where he was, his heart hurting at the thought of Elena not being able to experience her life like that again.
Would she get to see her Tinman again?
"Reid?"
Morgan was right beside him.
"You good?"
Spencer nodded, clearing his thoughts before walking forward again, clearing the next few rooms.
They had turned a corner to find the end of the hall had been lit. All were cautious arriving, to which Emily walked out front with familiarity. Spencer knew the grand dining hall had been where the light was originating from. Following behind Morgan, JJ kept behind them all, bringing in the rear. As Spencer eyed the broken chain, his confused look was answered by Emily.
"Antoinette had been kept in here."
They quickly scanned the room, JJ, Emily, and Spencer entering the room further while Morgan kept back, holding cover at the front. He watched his three teammates efficiently, making sure they had their back covered. Morgan hated being in the position of protecting another part of his team. He couldn't afford to lose another family member. Little Lou was at the mercy of a man who wanted to torture her, and he finally got his hands on her. It made him sick to his stomach to know that they had been so close to getting Lou back to safety, and they had missed her.
By seconds, they had missed her.
A thought hit Derek in that moment, overwhelming him with guilt.
He didn't get to teach her how to protect herself.
He managed to teach JJ, Prentiss, Kate, hell even the kid had so many opportunities to learn his teachings. He was robbed of the opportunity by Lou herself.
No, Derek corrected himself.
Bennett robbed me of that.
While he was frustrated, he could comprehend that she thought what was doing what she thought was right (she was wrong, but Derek wasn't going to hold it against her because she was always right about almost everything else). But he knew he had to wait to be angry with her. He had to make sure she was alive and well before he could berate her for being so selfish and selfless at the same time.
Derek took another look in the grand dining room, watching as his teammates were walking back to the entrance, showing they had cleared the area. No sign of Bennett or Lou. He looked down the hallway, stepping into the middle of the way as he attempted to look down each way. No matter which way he looked, it was pitch black in each direction. He couldn't help but notice, out of every room in the home, this room had been lit up very brightly.
It left him uneasy.
"Clear?" He asked to the three individuals inside the large room, to which JJ nodded.
They had been halfway heading towards him when they heard a small release of pressurized air, causing each one of them to freeze in place.
To JJ, Spencer, and Morgan, that sound was unfamiliar.
But Prentiss knew exactly what that sound meant.
She heard the metal latch release before she could get her words out.
"Morgan!"
The boom ricochet off the walls, and Morgan turned to look back down the dark hallway. As if it were a horror scene, a three-pronged hook attached to a thick cable wire shot out directly towards him, wrapping around his torso. He could barely breathe before the wire tightened around him, the hook locking into place around the wires. The three other agents watched their teammate being dragged from their purview, being shot down the hallway. They all made it out of the room just in time to see Morgan disappear into the darkness.
They would have followed Morgan down the hallway if their attention hadn't been diverted.
"Now…"
Emily, JJ, and Spencer all looked to one another, realizing that the voice that spoke was Noah Bennett.
The shock on their faces did not come from hearing his voice.
It came from hearing the voice echo from inside the room they just cleared.
They all turned to face the man, standing in the centre among the broken shackles.
All of Spencer's anger that he had been bubbling through, all of the pain that he had been suffering, was worth the moment he had being able to stand face to face with Noah Bennett. He knew that was what Bennett wanted, to be able to have the upper hand over Spencer, to be able to have control over him as a bonus to having control over Lou. It made him boil… practically seethe at the sight of Bennett. The only thing calming Spencer down was seeing Bennett for the first time having a haggard appearance.
There was some satisfaction in looking at Noah in that moment. Bennett had thrown on a bulletproof vest after being shot, his left shoulder had been bleeding profusely. Spencer deduced quickly that it was a bullet hole, intended to have landed in his heart rather than into Bennett's shoulder. Figuring it out quickly, he knew how Elena was when it came to guns and deduced it was not an action done by her, and by the look of Zion, it must have been the Mossad agent's doing. Bennett's eyes had been manic, his appearance dishevelled. Spencer went as far as to think Bennett looked worse than he did. Upon further inspection, he noticed that there had been a knife wound in his arm. The length of the cut had coincidentally been the same length as the blade that he found in the barn. The blade that had Elena's scent all over it.
He would have been making a guess, but he figured Elena was the cause of all the blood.
Spencer had a small moment of pride before it was wiped clean.
Noah's creepy voice drawled out through the dining hall.
"Whose turn… is it next?"
Sooooo... you know how I said that the chapter was broken down into two parts?
...I lied...
Part Three coming next month!
xoxo N
Next Time: "When I say run, you run."