Commencement

Chapter 11

For a moment, they each wondered if their head injuries had caused them to become disoriented inside the building. Maybe they'd inadvertently exited into another parking lot, and could still circle around to find their car where they'd let it. But Reid was nearly certain that there had been nothing on the other side of the structure. He recalled an image of it backing upon a wooded area, and hadn't sensed that there would be enough depth behind it to accommodate another lot.

"I don't understand," said JJ. "Did he move it, and then come back for us? But I don't see another car. How did he get here? Why?"

Reid's brain had been sorting through the possibilities at as quick a speed as it could muster, considering its recent rattling inside his skull.

"It's possible he moved both cars, and then came back, but I don't think it's likely. I think we have to assume he's not alone. He's got to have at least one accomplice, and maybe two."

No longer even entertaining the possibility of their intruder having other than evil intentions.

"Two of them? Or even three? Spence, we have to get of here! I didn't mind our chances against one, but I don't think we're in any condition to take on more."

He nodded grimly. "Agreed. The question is, which way? The road will be quicker and more direct, but…"

"But we'd be out in the open, and easy to pick off. Could we stay behind the buildings?"

The one they'd been in was at the far end of the road in the small industrial park.

"It would give us some cover, but it might also be obvious. Once they realize we're not in the building anymore, they'll be on the lookout."

JJ was insistent. "The only other alternative is the woods, and even if I was kidding back in the day, they're not my favorite place to be when I'm being stalked by an unsub."

Try being in them after being marched through them by an unsub, thought Reid. More than a decade later, and it could still make him flash back.

"Okay, behind the buildings it is."

It would still require traversing a patch of wooded area between each of the widely-spaced structures, but they would be able to hug the backs of the buildings for much of their trek. Using his crutch once again, Reid was able to move fairly quickly on the level ground of the parking lot. He was slowed a little bit by the softer ground of the lawn beside the building, and he came to a complete stop when his ears picked up a new sound.

"JJ!" Calling ahead to her, in a loud whisper.

She stopped, and turned. Without the background noise of her own motion, she could hear it, too.

"A car!"

When she stood in place, and he realized that she intended to wait for him, Reid waved her on.

"Run! Get into the woods!"

"I'm not…."

He hobbled as fast as he could in her direction.

"It's not going to help anything if they get both of us. Please, go!"

He knew he was right, and that she would see the logic of it. But when he realized that she still hadn't moved, he brought his gaze upward to meet hers, and realized she'd been waiting for him to do so. Their eyes locked as they spent an all-too-brief moment communicating fear, and hope, and all of the things they might never have a chance to say to one another, all of the things they'd so long felt, but not been free to express. All of everything. And then JJ turned, and ran into the woods.

It had probably been no more than ten minutes, but it felt like a lifetime.

JJ had found cover behind some brush growing at the base of a tree, only about twenty feet in from the tree line. It had been effective in hiding her, but it had also been effective in obstructing her sight of the patch of lawn where she'd left Reid. As she'd run from him, she'd looked over her shoulder long enough to see Reid change direction, and realized he was trying to divert them from her.

She'd heard the vehicle pull up, then heard the engine idling for a while before she heard it turn off. It had been almost a full minute before she'd heard a door slam…

No, wait! It was two doors slamming! Spence was right, there are two more of them, at least. Unless…

Unless the vehicle they'd heard had actually held their colleagues, coming in search of their two missing members.

But they would have called EMS by now, wouldn't they? Unless they're just really slow responding out here.

Still, she had to know. She hadn't heard voices, which could be either a good or a bad sign. And she hadn't heard gunshots, which was definitely a good sign.

I think.

Cautiously, she stepped out from behind her bush and scanned the distance between herself and the edge of the lawn, slowly turning 360 degrees, until she'd taken in the entire landscape. No sign of the intruders.

And no sign of Spence.

But she could see the parking lot, and noted that the new arrivals had come in a silver SUV. At least she'd answered the question about whether the vehicle had been carrying their friends. It had not.

She couldn't be sure how long a reprieve she would have. It would be slow going for those inside the demolished building, but if they didn't feel the need for silence, they could easily determine that their targets had escaped. That might take only a matter of minutes.

And that's exactly what we are, now. Targets.

She had two choices. She could take advantage of the predators' temporary diversion, and make a run for the main road, bringing back help, or she could look for Reid. Logic told her to run. But something else kept her feet steadfastly in place.

JJ had long taken pride in her ability to be rational, to take a step back from a crisis, and evaluate it without emotion. That ability had abandoned her only a few times….when Henry had been endangered, and Will, when she'd flashed back on her captivity and torture, when she'd been forced to relive her sister's suicide….and now, when another of the people she loved most in the world was in danger.

This time, as in those others, her heart won dominance over her mind, and would not permit her to leave Reid behind.

He had to be somewhere nearby, and she was as certain as she could be that he'd not met up with the enemy.

But that doesn't mean he isn't in trouble. He could have fallen, or his leg….

His leg could have opened up, and bled him out. The thought put her feet under her, and got her moving. She sidled through the glade, moving toward where he might have entered the small forest if he had kept on his trajectory.

Reid tried not to look at the fabric of his trousers, but his eyes simply would not stay away. He'd kept up using the crutch until the sound of the vehicle had been too close. Then, he'd made a mad dash, running full out on both legs, his course made longer by his attempt to deflect from JJ's path.

He'd felt it before he'd seen it, the renewed sensation of wetness over his thigh, this time running down his leg. As soon as he'd reached the boulder, he'd circled behind, and then sunk down against it, taking the weight off his leg. He'd tightened the tourniquet once again, and then leaned back, panting.

Once he'd gotten his breathing to slow, Reid took stock of the situation. He ran through the same logic sequence JJ had, concluding that the people after them had gone inside the building, but might soon be out. And then he ran through the same illogical sequence she had, and knew, as well as he knew anything, that she'd not left without him.

Which means we've got to find one another, or we'll never get out of here.

So he pushed away from the boulder, and struggled to his feet, keeping his weight off his left leg this time. Part of him wished he had a way to hide the recurrence of bleeding from her, and then another part of him heard her chastising him about it.

Don't know why that should be surprising. She's definitely a part of me, by now.

A truthful, honest part of him. He'd so long felt protective of her, even after she'd long since proven she didn't need protecting, that it was hard for him to let go of it. It had become part of his nature. But the part of him that was inhabited by JJ reminded him that people who care about one another as they do are honest. They don't hide things. Maybe from the rest of the world, but not from each other.

Okay, okay! I won't try to hide it. But that doesn't mean I have to bring it up, does it?

He'd been holding his internal conversation as he made his way through the woods. He thought it best to go deeper before moving in what he presumed was her direction, lest his movement draw attention. He was careful to follow a path that allowed him intermittent glimpses of the sky, and the direction of the sunlight….which he noticed was changing rapidly in angle.

It must have taken us longer than we thought to get out of there. Or maybe I was sitting longer….

Trying to remember if maybe he'd fallen asleep against the boulder, or passed out. The fact that he couldn't be sure concerned him.

Maybe I had more of a head injury than I thought. Or maybe I lost oxygen, before JJ revived me. Or maybe I'm losing too much blood…..

Whatever it was, the angle of the sun bode ill for the idea of them getting to safety before darkness.

She'd taken a few steps in the sideways direction, then realized that her movement might make her more noticeable to the people inside the building.

For all I know, they've found a window, and are watching me.

So she moved more deeply into the woods, and resumed her movement in the direction where she hoped she would find her best friend.

You have to help me find him! Please, God, let me find him, and get us out of this! We can't have come this far, only to lose everything! Forget my career! I don't care about it anymore! I just care about finding Spence, and getting home to my family!

Her demand had become a prayer, and her prayer had become a litany of images of that small circle of humans who were most important to her, of a thousand moments, some so mundane as to have been inconsequential, had they not been shared with those she loved. Her prayer morphed from one of petition to one of gratitude.

And I just want this one more thing to be grateful for! Okay, finding Spence AND getting out of here. Two more things. You've got two more things in You, don't You?

She was about to argue her case with the Almighty when her peripheral vision caught something. There had been any number of small animals moving about in the woods, but this was different. This was….waving at her!

JJ covered the ground between them with the speed of a long-time runner, arms widening as she saw him drop the crutch and open his own. She ran into his open arms, and held him close, feeling herself brought into a tight embrace.

On the scale of things, they'd been apart for a miniscule amount of time. But the circumstances that had driven them apart, the fact that their lives had been at stake, and whatever it was that lay between them, all of the things they'd not said to one another at the moment of their parting…..all of that, and more, went into their embrace. When JJ felt tears come to her eyes, she buried her face into his shoulder, and felt his palm on the back of her head, bringing her deeper.

They stood that way for a long moment, until Reid felt the tension leave her grasp. Then he pushed her back, and made sure he had her eyes.

"There will be time. We'll have time."

We don't have to talk about it. Not now. Or, if you want it that way, not ever.

JJ wiped at her cheeks as she sniffled. "Okay."