"Why's the bloody plane stopping!?" Lachlan demanded.

"Do I look like a fucking pilot?" Chloe replied sharply.

The plane engines revved, struggled, trying to regain forward momentum.

Growling low in his throat, Lachlan stomped into the cockpit, ordering, "Move the damn plane!"

"I can't," the pilot insisted, gesturing at the control panel where lights flickered erratically and alarms blared and droned. "Something's restraining us..."

Lachlan opened his mouth to, no doubt, shout obscenities, when a figure descended into view. "What's he doing here!?" he shouted.


Lights flashing, sirens shrilly whining, the SUVs screeched to a stop on the tarmac to find an unexpected scene playing out.

"Is that...?" Hotch asked, trailing off. He squinted at the far off figure hovering a few hundred feet in the air.

"It can't be," Rossi replied. "Why would it be? What interest could he possibly have in stopping McDermott?"

Hotch shook his head. He didn't have an answer for that. Stepping out of the SUV, he announced, "Lachlan McDermott and Chloe Donaghy, this is the FBI."


"You called the Feds?" Lachlan shouted.

"Why would I do that?" Chloe snapped.

"We know you have Declan," came Hotch's voice over the bullhorn, "To ensure his safety, we would like to trade: we will give you Ian Doyle and you send us the boy."

"No! This was not our deal!" Chloe insisted, attempting to block his path to the back of the plane where Declan cowered.

"No," he agreed, "But it just got interesting..."

"You're not leaving!"


The door to the plane was suddenly ripped off its hinges, skidding across the tarmac with a shower of sparks.

"It's him," Rossi said needlessly as if the rest of them hadn't already figured out exactly who they were dealing with.

Hotch nodded once. They hadn't been prepared for this development, didn't have weapons that would be of any use should things go pear-shaped. He leaned into the comm to warn, "Be respectful – he doesn't have to cooperate with us..."

"Erik Lensherr, show me your hands!" Morgan ordered, diverting his gun to take aim at Erik's chest in spite of Hotch's warning.

Emily emerged from the helicopter just in time to see Erik alight on the tarmac and, with one hand, lower the plane's steps. "Erik!" she cried out a warning.

He glanced over his shoulder at the sound of Emily's voice, but offered no sign that he'd heard or even recognized her. He turned back to the plane, holding his hands up to show he wasn't a threat. "I'm not here to hurt anyone," he called out.

"We aren't here for you," Morgan informed him, "We don't want to fight you."

"I get that a lot," Erik remarked drily.

"This is a Federal case," JJ called out, "You need to leave this to the authorities."

Emily shot Erik a warning look and he didn't need to be a telepath to know that she was none too pleased that he'd ignored her pleas and showed up anyway. But he wasn't about to let her walk into a situation this volatile and unpredictable without being there to ensure no harm befell her. He'd seen all too clearly what could happen...

"I'm afraid I can't do that..."

Anything further he might have said was interrupted by Lachlan marching Declan down the plane steps onto the airstrip. "Get over there, go on," he commanded the boy. He brandished his gun in Doyle's direction. "Bring Doyle here!"

Emily and Reid took Ian by the elbows, moving to lead him towards Lachlan and a sure death. Emily kept glancing at Ian, not sure what she was expecting from him, only that it wasn't the passive compliance he was showing.

"I want him here, on his knees!" Lachlan shouted, making Declan flinch.

They didn't get very far before Erik raised a hand, lifting Doyle into the air by his handcuffs. Emily and Reid stumbled back in surprise as their prisoner was suddenly thrust several feet in the air.

Lachlan rounded on Erik, gun aimed square at his chest as if it would be of any use. "You stay out of this!" he howled with rage. "Doyle is mine!"

"I'm not interested in your petty squabbles," Erik said disdainfully. "I'd be more than happy to leave the bastard to your mercy...unfortunately, he nearly killed my wife."

Reid glanced sharply at Emily, mouth hanging open slightly. She just shook her head – now was far from the time to open that particular can of worms.

"Hotch, are we really gonna let this happen?" Morgan asked over the comm link.

"We're not here to start a war..." Hotch said warningly. That wasn't really an answer and they both knew that.

Lachlan demanded, "Hand him over or I blow the boy's brains out..." He cocked the gun, aiming it at Declan's head.

With his other hand, Erik sent Lachlan's gun skittering across the tarmac.

At that moment, Chloe came staggering down the steps, gun in hand. With a trembling hand, she lifted her weapon, taking aim at Lachlan.

"Gun!" Morgan shouted.

In the next few moments, several things happened almost simultaneously.

Chloe fired off one shot. Blood loss and pain making her arm shake, the bullet whizzed past her target and towards Emily.

Erik's focus lost, Doyle came crashing down to the asphalt below, landing in a heap of limbs. Having spotted the weapon a split second before Morgan, he reacted first, diverting the bullet's path...hitting Doyle in the neck.

Reid fired at Chloe, missing.

Chloe loosed several more shots – one of which hit Lachlan – until she herself was gunned down.

Several bodies fell at once.

Emily dropped to her knees, pulling Declan into her chest protectively.

Time seemed to speed up then and chaos erupted across the airstrip in the wake of Chloe's swathe of destruction.

Erik jogged the distance separating him from Emily, dropping to his knees and inspecting her for any injuries.

"Erik!" she scolded. She attempted to push him away. "Erik, I'm fine!"

He ignored her interjections until he was satisfied she truly was unharmed, then pulled her into his chest, nearly crushing her with the intensity of his embrace.

"Erik," she grumbled, voice muffled by his chest. She pushed him back. "I told you not to come!"

"Emily, you almost died," he said plainly, refusing to be chastized for saving her life. "I stopped that bullet, in case you missed that part."

"You also compromised a Federal investigation," she pointed out.

"What's the government going to do to me that it hasn't already done?" he asked and she had to admit that he was right.

She sighed heavily, reached over to rest a hand on his cheek, and offered a soft smile. "Thank you," she whispered. "For saving Declan." She leaned in to kiss him, well aware of the half dozen sets of eyes watching them, but unable to bring herself to care in that moment.