A.N. Just a short chapter to move us along. Apologies for the longer-than-usual delay. But yes, I had a nice vacation.

Commencement

Chapter 9

The two profilers made silent eye contact. Each knew they couldn't continue their trek without making a great deal of noise, which would alert the other person to their presence. What they didn't know was whether or not that would be a good thing.

JJ had only moved a few steps forward. It might be possible for her to retrace her steps back to Reid without displacing any more debris. Not quite certain, she looked the question to her partner, who nodded his assent. Each of them held their breaths as she traversed the few feet of rubble, and landed next to Reid at the fountain. They could whisper now.

"Do you think he heard us?"

The tone of JJ's voice told Reid she had come down firmly on the side of 'foe', and he was inclined to agree with her.

"We were stopped at the fountain for a while before you started out. He might have heard a little debris moving, but he could have dismissed it as just some settling. I doubt he heard us speaking. We've been keeping it pretty low."

JJ agreed. "Not to mention that he would probably not be shouting, if he knew we were here. He'd want to catch us unaware."

Reid wasn't so sure about that. "I couldn't make out what he was saying. It's possible he was shouting at us."

"As in taunting, or threatening? Or as in calling out to see if we need help?"

Reid could only shake his head. "There's no way to know, until he gets closer. I think we're going to have to let him."

JJ tried to sound more confident than she was. "Okay. At least we have our weapons."

But I can barely grasp mine, and Spence can't stand without his crutch.

JJ looked up at Reid, and knew he'd had exactly the same thoughts. She set her lips into a grim smile, mirroring the one he was giving her.

It had been four minutes, and all they'd heard were the intermittent sounds of one object hitting another, followed by a cascade of light debris. Whoever was in the building with them didn't seem to be making any effort to disguise his presence.

"Does that help us?" asked JJ.

Reid didn't think so. "Either he thinks he's alone, or he plans to be, once he's done."

His companion shivered at the thought. "Maybe we should hope we're wrong, this time. Maybe he's not disguising himself because he's here to help."

Reid looked down to where she was huddled beside him. "Seriously?"

JJ shrugged. "Just hoping. Not believing."

"I think he's getting closer. But I also think he's talking to himself, not to us. Do you hear how he gets softer, sometimes? There's no return voice, so I think he's definitely alone. But I don't think he's been shouting at us."

JJ was skeptical. "He had to have seen the SUV in the parking lot. He has to know we're here."

Reid acknowledged it. "But he probably thinks we're dead, or too injured to resist him."

"Well, he's got another think coming." I hope.

Reid looked down at JJ's newly bandaged hands.

"Do you think you can grip your gun?"

"I'm going to have to, right? I'll make it happen. But what about you? You can't stand without support. How will you balance?"

He gave her a grim smile. "I do my best shooting from the floor, remember?"

She restrained a snort. "How could I forget? I really thought we'd lost both of you that day."

"Hmph. I thought I was supposed to the non-believer."

He grinned when she gave him a sarcastic smile, then got down to planning.

"I'm not going to be able to see over the debris pile, so I won't have a shot until he's close. And, as much as I know you'll want to, I think we both realize you'll have trouble handling your weapon, which means we can't rely on a distance shot. I think we're going to have to let him get very near to us. Maybe even draw him in."

"I'm all ears. What are you thinking? Should we call out to him? Throw something?"

Reid spent a long moment contemplating the possibilities and risks. He hadn't felt lightheaded since he'd first stood erect, which was promising. But that didn't mean a substantial jarring of his leg wouldn't end up in a virtual volcanic eruption of blood. So there was still a significant element of risk, the degree of which, by his calculation, was unknowable. Which part he wasn't about to share.

"I think we should just let him approach us. That will give us the element of surprise. And, if he doesn't become aware of us, we'll still have other options …. you know, like making it to the parking lot and getting the hell out of here."

Because even if we've concluded that he's alone in this godforsaken ruin of a building that doesn't mean he doesn't have friends outside. Which also means that maybe the parking lot isn't our best option, but…

JJ had heard none of his inner ramblings, though she was most certainly aware they were taking place. She'd known him too long, and too well, not to realize he'd waited just a beat too long to respond to her. But she played along.

"Sounds good to me. I'll handle the pedals, and you can steer." Reminding him of the state each of them was in.

"I know. But we can try."

"We have to."

They'd been whispering, taking breaks to listen for the approach of the interloper. A crash here, a bang there, and, with increasing clarity, a punctuating four letter word. The man approaching them was angry, maybe frustrated. But was he murderous?

"He's getting closer. He can't be more than a few yards, now," whispered JJ.

Reid simply nodded, indicating that the time for speaking had come to an end. He cupped one ear to indicate that they should continue to listen for their presumed enemy. Then he became perfectly still, entirely focused on his sense of hearing.

His acoustic nerve picked up a hard grunt, followed by a loud profanity. Reid listened even more intently, trying to discern if the interloper was injured, or merely annoyed. The next sound was of an object scraping against the floor.

It sounds heavy, like furniture, maybe a desk.

Reid hadn't seen any such objects between the fountain and the office, but he also hadn't traversed the distance himself. He decided it was worth breaking the silence, and leaned close to JJ, his lips only a few centimeters from her ears. She felt his breath as he whispered to her, and it made her shiver.

"Was there furniture in the way? I think I heard him moving something, which might mean he's gone into the office."

JJ shook herself back to the moment, wishing she had her partner's eidetic memory as she tried to resurrect what she'd seen on her several trips back and forth from the area.

"I don't think so. At least, I don't remember anything. But I was focused on finding something to help us, not on my surroundings."

Even speaking so softly, she sounded frustrated with herself at being unable to help. Reid put an arm around her and squeezed.

"That's what's gotten us this far. We would have been lost, if not for what you did. I absolutely would have been lost."

Remembering all of the times he'd felt the same way, over the past decade and a half. Not the least of which had happened during the time of his imprisonment. Over the few years intervening, he'd several times tried to tell her about how she'd saved him, and how she'd made him care about being saved, but even his extensive vocabulary had never quite provided him with the right words. Nor would it this time. This time, a hand on her shoulder would have to suffice.

JJ felt his support, and returned it with her eyes.

"And I would have been lost without you."

Her words laden with meaning that went far deeper than their situation would allow her to ponder. That would be for a different time, she thought, even while realizing that their time together was rapidly running out.

Maybe more rapidly than we think.

So she forced her mind back into the moment, and the potentially dire situation in front of them.

"Should I look? I can cover my head with something. If he sees movement, maybe he'll think it's just debris shifting."

The last thing Reid wanted was for her to put herself in specific danger, but they both knew his balance was too precarious for him to try it. So, however reluctantly, he agreed. He found a piece of insulation and put it over her head, masking the giveaway blonde hair.

"Stay low. Only rise up as far as you need to."

JJ tried not to roll her eyes. "I never would have thought of that."

"Sorry. Habit."

He'd been looking out for her as long as he could remember, even well before she'd come to realize it.

She relented. "Good habit. Don't break it."

With that, she took a resolute breath, and inched upward. Reid kept one hand on JJ and one on his weapon. When her sight line broke the surface of the rubble, she stopped, her head immobile, her eyes scanning the debris-laden path between them and the office. There was no sign of furniture in the hallway, and no sign of their new arrival.

JJ came back down.

"He's not there, and I don't see anything heavy between us, apart from those beams. If he'd moved one of them, we'd have heard something fall."

Reid agreed. "So he must be in the office. Which means we have a chance to try for the exit."

The slowed tempo of his speech told her he wasn't quite certain of the plan.

"You don't think we should go?"

"No, I do think we should go. I'm just trying to calculate the odds of us getting there without alerting him. It's not going to be easy."

JJ shot her best friend a look. "Easy? Since when have either of us found the easy way to do anything?"

He gave her his lopsided smile. "You've got a point. But we haven't always made the best decisions."

"Our worst decision ever was to separate. We're not going to do that again. But I think we need to try getting out, Spence. As you pointed out, neither of us is in the best position for a gun battle. If we can get to the SUV, maybe we can avoid it."

Reid considered it further. "I guess you're right. If we have to, we'll fight him. But if he wants to come after us, he'll have to contend with the rubble too. Unless he's got a weapon, we might be okay. And, if he does….well, we'll just have to beat him."

"So, we go for it?"

"We go for it."