A sudden snowstorm came in while the BAU have been investigating a case in a mountainous area of West Virginia, catching just about everyone by surprise. Spencer and JJ had gone to check something for the case when it hit, and on the way back to the police station, which is a few miles away, the weather got so bad they ended up crashing the car. Neither are hurt, but the car isn't going to be much use anymore, which means they have to walk back to the station in the ever worsening conditions.
It's extremely hard to see more than a few feet in front of them, and as the two of them slowly make their way through the blizzard.
"JJ are y-you all r-right?" Spencer yells to be heard over the howling wind.
"F-freezing, but otherwise a-alright," she replies as they continue walking, unknowingly heading farther from the road and into the forest.
Meanwhile at the station the team is worrying about the whereabouts of the two youngest members.
"Has anyone heard from Reid or JJ?" Hotch asks.
"I got no bars," Morgan says.
"Me too. I think the blizzard is screwing with the cell towers. Plus the service isn't great up here to begin with," Prentiss says.
"Once we can reach her, we need to have Garcia track their phones," Hotch says.
"I don't think we can wait that long. We have no idea what's going on, for all we know they could be freezing to death right now. We have to go search for them now," Gideon says.
"I agree with Gideon," Morgan adds.
"As much as I want to find them now, it's too dangerous for us to go out looking for them now," Hotch says.
"We can't just leave them out there!" Prentiss exclaims.
"We don't even know that anything is wrong, they could just be waiting out the storm," Hotch replies.
"Screw this, I'm going out there to look for them now," Morgan says storming off, followed by Gideon and Prentiss. Hotch sighs, although he is happy to be looking for them, and follows after the others. They all get into an SUV and head up to where Spencer and JJ had been going, although it's slow going in order for them to be safe as they look for the others.
Spencer and JJ stumble blindly through the snowstorm, completely lost. They realized they had walked off the road, but trying to go back the way they came didn't work at all.
"JJ I think we should stop walking" Spencer says.
"Why?" She asks.
"Because we have no idea where we are and the more we walk the harder it'll be for the team to find us."
"But Spence, do you think anyone is out looking for us right now? It's too dangerous!"
"I know but I trust that they are looking for us, and that's really all we can do at this point. And I think the storm is dying down a bit."
"So you want us to just sit and wait then?"
"I guess so," Spencer says as they go sit under a tree, as the storm rages on.
"We need to stay really close, to keep as warm as we can," JJ says. Spencer nods in agreement, and they huddle close while hoping they'll be found before it's too late.
The team finds the crashed SUV and fears the worst.
"Oh God," Prentiss says as they run over to it, relieved to find it empty.
"They must've tried to walk back after the crash. Heat was probably no longer functioning so they figured it was probably better to walk back instead of trying to wait," Hotch says. The storm has died down a bit, and now they can see much better.
"The two of them probably ended up walking into the forest. They couldn't see, so they may not have noticed right away, and by the time they did there was no way they were getting back here. We'll need to split up to increase our chances of finding them," Gideon says as he walks towards the forest.
"Alright. Prentiss go with Gideon, Morgan come with me," Hotch says to which the others nod.
As Hotch and Morgan head into the forest Morgan says," Hotch if we find them and they're actu-"
"They're going to be alright. Just don't give up hope," Hotch says, cutting him off. Morgan nods. The team heads into the forest, calling for Spencer and JJ.
The snow is still coming down, but not nearly as heavily as before. However, Spencer can tell that JJ cannot last out here much longer, and neither can he. He takes off his jacket and wraps her in it, hoping it'll help her make it through.
"Spence no, you need it," she says weakly.
"I'll be fine," he replies, knowing it's a lie.
She argues a bit more but neither has the energy to get into it, as things are looking bleak. It's so cold and Spencer just wants to close his eyes and sleep for a bit, but knows there's a good chance he'll never wake back up if he does.
"JJ we have to stay awake," he says.
"I know, I will," she replies.
They both know it won't last long. The two of them are exhausted and freezing. They're losing hope. Spencer knows that if the team doesn't find them soon, it'll be too late.
Snow crunches under Morgan's boots as he quickly moves through the forest, desperately hoping for some sign of Reid and JJ. He calls out for them, but the only sound in return is the howling wind.
The team frantically searches through the forest, when suddenly Morgan sees what looks to be a person or persons behind a tree, just as the snow is starting to pick up again.
"Hotch! I think I found them!" He yells, running towards them. He finds the two of them huddled together under the tree, unmoving.
"Reid! JJ! Come on, give me something!" Morgan screams, trying to get some sign of life from them.
"Hotch hurry!"
Spencer's eyes weakly flutter open and he manages to look at Morgan, who sighs with a small bit of relief.
"Hey kid. Let's get you guys out of here," Morgan says.
"H-hey M-morgan. Make s-sure JJ i-is o-okay pl-please," Spencer says before losing consciousness it seems.
Hotch arrives then and says,"Gideon and Prentiss are meeting us at the car. Grab Reid, I'll grab JJ. We need to make sure we don't get lost in here, but we have to hurry. The storm is getting bad again."
Morgan nods and they grab the two of them and make their way back to the car, which they soon reach.
They climb in and throw blankets over JJ and Reid as Prentiss begins driving down the road.
"How are they?" Gideon asks, extremely concerned.
"Reid spoke to me for a second before losing consciousness, JJ never moved or reacted," Morgan says.
"But both of them are breathing," Hotch adds.
"Alright. Prentiss we need to hurry," Gideon says.
"I'm going as fast as I can, but the storm is getting worse and the road is dangerous," Prentiss says. The team hurries to the hospital, hoping they made it in time.
Spencer slowly awakens, quickly realizing he's not dead and he's seemingly in a hospital.
He opens his eyes and sees Gideon and Morgan sitting in the room.
"Is JJ alright?" he asks, surprising the two of them.
"Well it's good to see you awake, pretty boy. And JJ is fine, she asked the same thing about you as soon as she woke up too," Morgan said with a grin.
"I knew you'd be alright, you did good." Gideon adds with a smile. Spencer nods before feeling his eyelids droop.
"I'm so tired guys," he says.
"Then get some rest, kid. We'll be here when you wake up," Morgan tells him and Spencer is pretty much out already.
