GAME
Chapter 8
Numbers

"The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in." - Morrie Schwartz

Morgan pulled Reid out of the line of fire and put himself between Reid and the UnSub. Quickly he checked his vital signs. Reid's eyes were closed and the hole in the right of his chest was bleeding heavily.

'Reid, can you hear me?'

Reid raised his hand slightly in response.

'I am going to get you back to the car, Kid.' Morgan said. 'I'm sorry if this hurts.'

As Morgan turned to Reid, more bullets whistled past his head. He flattened himself on the ground and heard Dave identifying themselves.

'I am Agent David Rossi with the FBI. Give yourself up, Lomax. You don't have a chance. Let's solve this peacefully.'

His answer was another bullet.

Jordan crawled over to where Morgan was trying to drag a semi conscious Reid to safety.

'I will get him to the car, Derek' she said. 'You are more use here than I am.'

Morgan nodded, and turned back to face the UnSub, his gun hand resting on his left wrist.

Jordan carefully lifted Reid off the ground at his shoulders, and dragged him back towards the cars leaving a smear of blood in he rough ground. He groaned in pain as she moved him out of the line of fire to the safety of the car. She opened the back door of the SUV and climbed is, keeping low. She gently picked him up and pulled him in after her. Reid's eyes were flickering open and shut as he fought unconsciousness. Jordan laid him on the back seat of the car.

'I'm going to get you to hospital.' she said, brushing his hair off his face. 'You are going to be fine.'

'I need to stay.' Reid said. 'Just let me....... get my breath back......'

Todd noticed a film of sweat on Spencer's face.

'I'm taking you to the hospital.' she said over his weak protests. 'No arguing.'

-0-0-0-

Garcia was very worried about Hotch. She felt the burning heat of his skin through her clothes, and his face was pale and dry. She touched his skin with the back of her hand. He opened his eyes as he floated on the edge of consciousness.

'Go.' he said softly. 'Finish.... the game.'

'I can't...... won't leave you, Sir.'

'Hotch.' he said with a weak smile. 'I'm giving you an...... order to..... finish the game.'

His voice was so quiet it was barely audible, and each breath was a soft cry of pain. Garcia tilted his head to one side and checked the neck wound, and was shocked to see it was swollen with hot red skin surrounding the bite. She stroked his hair.

'It's infected.' she said. 'I need to get you out of here.'

'It's..... bad?' he asked her. He struggled to keep awake, his eyes were glazing over and he fought the impulse to sleep. He guessed it had more to do with the infection than the shattered arm. 'Go alone ...... bring back....... help.' he said, squeezing her hand.

'I'll find a way out and take you with me.' she said, and looked around the room properly for the first time.

There was a key and a box to stand on, but no key hole. Gently she laid Hotch down on the floor and stood on the box, retrieving the key.

Now what to do with it?

She started her examination of the walls. When she got to the raised door where Hotch had been trapped, she wondered if the next level was here. There didn't appear to be any other doors.

She hooked her fingers under the edge of the door and pulled upwards.

The door raised to reveal a tunnel above the slab that had come down on Hotch. She was expected to escape down the tunnel. She couldn't see the end of it, it could be six feet long, or sixty.

She went back to Hotch, putting the key in her pocket.

'Please,' he whispered. 'Do you have..... some water?'

There was a bottle of water that had rolled down the ramp when she had. She got the bottle, and with her hand behind Hotch's head, she held it to his lips. He drank gratefully. He had a high temperature, and the water cooled his mouth. When he had finished, Garcia put the bottle in her pocket with the key.

'I've found the way to the next level.' she said. 'I'm taking you with me.'

Hotch tried to protest, but Garcia lifted him onto his feet and half carried, half dragged him back to the tunnel entrance. She climbed in with difficulty, feet first, and pulled the semi conscious man in after her.

'I'm going to get you out of here.' she said to him.

She worked her way slowly along the passage way. She was submerged in a primordial fear of becoming trapped in the narrow space and in an effort to banish the panic, she chatted to Hotch as if it was a normal day. She was getting no response from him, and suspected that he was unconscious now.

It occurred to her that after this, there would never be another 'normal day' especially where she and Hotch were concerned.

Suddenly the floor angled down steeply and she and Hotch tumbled through the darkness. Still clinging to Hotch she cried out loud, hoping that wherever she was going to land, she would be a level closer to the end of the game.

Although she imagined that the game would end when the UnSub said, and not before.

The fall ended as the tunnel opened out into another room. They fell from the ceiling height onto a hard floor, landing next to each other. Hotch was not able to prevent the cry of pain as he jarred his arm.

Garcia was with him in seconds.

'Hotch!'

Hotch was breathing short shallow breaths, trying to control the pain. His head was swimming and when he opened his eyes it was as if he was looking through a thick mist.

'Fine...' he managed to whisper to a scared Garcia. 'I'm..... fine.'

She touched his forehead, brushing his hair back with her fingers.

'You're burning up Sir.' she said in a frightened voice. 'What can I do for you?'

'I need........ water.' he said softly, his voice barely audible. Garcia got the bottle of water out for him. There wasn't very much left and she was afraid to let him have too much. She held the bottle to his lips and he drank gratefully. She tipped a little into her hand and cooled his face. He flickered a tiny pain filled smile at her and it broke her heart. She had to hurry.

'I need to check the room, Hotch. I won't be far away.'

He nodded slightly and closed his eyes.

-0-0-0-

Rossi and his depleted team had Lomax pinned down, but he refused to surrender, and getting a clear shot was not proving to be easy in the uneven terrain. Morgan tried to move around him, but Lomax was not stupid and was waiting for just such a move. A couple of shots whistled past him, and Morgan realised that although Lomax was pinned down, so were they, and it was not possible to get round him.

Rossi tried again.

'Throw down your weapon, Lomax. You can't win this.'

'I'm not trying to win this. I am making time for the game to be over.' he yelled back. 'Soon, though. The game can't be finished. They will die!'

Morgan let off a shot in anger. It harmlessly bounced off a rock.

Prentiss backed away from her position and went to join Dave.

'If you keep him occupied, I will try to circle round to the hangar.'

Dave nodded, and shouted again to Lomax.

'You have limited ammo, Lomax. We don't. We will win this.'

'Maybe!' he shouted. 'But not until your people are out of the game. They are going to die, FBI, and there's nothing you can do to stop it.'

Dave watched Emily back away, and he let a couple of shots off to cover her.

'We can try!' he said. 'We never give up.'

-0-0-0-

There was a door in this room, with eight key holes. Garcia didn't know whether she had to unlokck all of them, or some of them, or whether the order mattered. There was an envelope taped to the wall. Carefully, in case there was a trigger behind it, she opened it and took out the single sheet of paper without removing the envelope from the wall.

There was a short message:

CLUE - Leonardo of Pisa's rabbits, two ones or bees

She had absolutely no idea. She took the note back to Hotch.

Please be awake!

'Hotch, I need some help.' she said. Hotch opened his eyes.

'Help me to..... sit up,.... Garcia, I will..... think better.'

She helped him across to the wall and he leaned against it, sitting up but slumped forwards.

'I have a clue but I don't understand it.'

She read the note to Hotch.

'Fibonacci.' he said. 'A sequence...... of numbers. I don't know what.... the second part.... means though.'

He rested his head on the wall. His skin was white and dry with hot red cheeks. His eyes were swollen.

Garcia went to the door. 'What is the sequence, Sir.'

'Zero, one, one, two, three', he paused to catch his breath. 'Five, eight, thirteen...... uh.......'

'One two three five eight.' Garcia repeated. 'That's enough. There are only eight keyholes.'

She put the key in the first hole, turned it, then removed it. As she pushed the key into the second hole, there was a clatter as a cover fell from a vent opposite where Hotch was sitting, and in seconds, a swarm of bees filled the room.

Hotch curled his body round in an effort to protect himself from the angry swarm. Garcia felt them in her hair and it took all her will power not to pull them off. Quickly she turned the key and took it out, placing it in number three. They were on her hands and stinging her as she unlocked three and five. Only one more, and the stings were making her dizzy with the pain. She struggled to get the key in number eight. She was seeing double but after a second, the key slid home and number eight was unlocked; the door slid open.

She ran back for Hotch who was lying on his side, his arms and head crawling with bees.

Her body felt sluggish and she pulled Hotch towards the open door. She wasn't certain, but she thought enough stings could kill, and Hotch was already ill.

She pulled him through and the door closed behind them. Looking around the room they now found themselves in, she saw that there was a hose and tap on the wall facing her. She turned on the tap and hosed the remaining bees off her. She pulled her dress off and hosed bees from her underwear and from her hair. Her hands were red and swollen and her face hurt. Hotch was moaning in pain where she had left him.

'Hotch, this is going to be really cold, but I am going to have to do it. It might be a shock.'

Carefully she undressed him and washed his reddened skin with the water. She hosed the creatures off his skin and underclothes. He didn't flinch as the cold water hit him, and eventually all the insects were off both of them. There were just one or two sluggishly crawling around the floor.

Garcia wrapped her arms around Hotch. They were both shivering, but the cold had acted as a balm on their sore and burning skin, and just for a few minutes, even through the pain, Garcia enjoyed holding her boss close and stroking his dark hair.

-0-0-0-

Todd drove too fast back into town with her injured colleague. Reid was bleeding too much and she was afraid that an artery could have been struck. At one point she stopped and got in the back and considered calling an ambulance. But as he was already in the car, it was probably just as quick for her to drive. She used her jacket to push between his shirt and the wound, hoping it would slow down the bleeding. He was still semi conscious, and groaned in pain as she pressed down on the entry wound. There was no exit, so the bullet was still lodged in his chest.

He looked at her with wide hazel eyes as if to ask her to hurry. She briefly touched his face with the back of her fingers.

'We're almost there, Spencer,' she said, 'I hope you can stand my driving.'

He smiled at her wanly, but said nothing.