Oh man you guys! Last chapter! Nice and long for you! :D
Hope you like the conclusion!
Hotch walked out of the hospital room, making a beeline for the nurses' station. He attempted to control the shaking in his fingers as he straightened his tie. The fear of what had happened to JJ overwhelmed him slightly.
"Excuse me," he said forcefully, catching a nurses' attention. "What happened to the patient in room seven fourteen? Jennifer Jareau? Where is she?"
The young nurse sitting at the computer sighed and said, "I'll look it up, just a moment." She was chewing gum, and popping it in an annoying way that made him want to order her to spit it out. He fixed his tie again, trying to stop the feeling of it choking him. He waited impatiently as she looked through the computer.
"She was admitted an hour and a half ago with a concussion, she's confined to bed rest for a few hours and is ordered to take it easy," the nurse said, popping her gum again.
"But that's the point!" Garcia exclaimed, coming up to the counter. "She's not in her room!"
"And there was evidence of either some sort of struggle or hasty exit," Reid put in.
"What?" the nurse exclaimed. She walked around the counter, heading towards the room they had just vacated. Garcia groaned in frustration. After a few seconds the nurse came running back, saying, "I'll call hospital security and we'll get this figured out!"
"No!" Hotch said forcefully, stopping her. She froze and looked back at him as he pulled out his credentials and showed them to her. "We'll take it from here."
She stared at his credentials, mouth agape for a few seconds, before saying, "Um… Of course."
"So you didn't see anything strange?" Hotch questioned her. "You didn't see her leave?
"No," she said, rubbing her arm. "If any one of us had seen her, we would have stopped her. She was on bed rest."
"Did she have any visitors?" Reid asked quickly.
"No, not that I can think of," she said. There was a few seconds pause, before she suddenly exclaimed, "Wait! Yes she did! There was an older man, really white hair and glasses. He was bringing her flowers!"
"Did you catch a name?" Hotch asked hopefully.
"He was wearing a nametag," she said slowly. Something like Dave or Dan or…"
"Doug!" Reid exclaimed suddenly. "I should have put it together!"
"Thank you for your assistance," Hotch said to the nurse, before leading Reid away slightly. "Who's Doug?"
"When I visited the coffee shop earlier, the one on Eleventh Avenue, there was this guy who started talking to me out of the blue. He seemed interested in my job and said he was willing to listen if I wanted to talk," Reid explained.
"This was the first time you've met him?" Hotch questioned, and Reid nodded.
"And he called me by my first name, too."
"Okay. He has to have something to do with this. Let's each take a different part of the hospital and ask around. We'll see if we can locate him, because JJ will probably be with him."
Reid and Garcia nodded, each claiming a different floor to go and ask around on. Hotch took the stairs down to the third floor, Garcia going down to the second and Reid to the ground floor.
JJ turned on her heel and ran as fast as she could back into the building. She could hear Gabrielle behind her, screaming, "Come back, you idiot!" JJ could hear her running behind her, and she was prompted to run faster.
She ran into the darkness, moving as fast as she could. She kept hitting her bare feet on things that were scattered along the hallways. She winced each time but kept moving; knowing she probably faced a much worse fate if she was caught.
She turned down a few different hallways, hoping to lose Gabrielle. As she turned into one she could just see off to her left, she paused. She didn't hear the heavy footsteps following her anymore, and she almost sighed in relief. She sank down to the floor and put her head in her hands, trying to force the tears back.
After a minute, she wiped her face off on the hem of the hospital gown and stood back up. Right now she needed to focus on getting out of this basement and getting help. Her eyes were adjusted by now, and she miraculously found herself in the same hallway she had been in before, the one that had the door leading up to the ground floor.
She quickened her pace, the burn on her leg starting to protest a little. She stopped for a brief second to look at it: it had been bandaged up and no doubt been covered in some sort of anti-bacterial paste or something. But it was starting to pang every time she took a step.
Continuing down the hallway, ignoring the twinge in her leg, she moved as quietly as she could. When suddenly she was flying forwards toward the ground for the second time that day. She collided with the floor, and it made her become conscious of a pounding headache.
She began to get back up but was stopped by the pain in her head, which gave a vicious throb every time she moved. She tried again, but as she put her left hand out it landed on something small and hard with a very smooth texture. She picked it up and examined it, discovering that it was Brandon's pocket knife. It must have fallen out of her pocket when she tripped on the wire the first time, and now after tripping a second time she found it again.
Suddenly the footsteps were back behind her, and she heard Gabrielle call, "JJ? Where are you, honey?"
JJ suddenly felt a rush of anger, and she stood up despite her head screaming in protest. She quickly slipped inside a door that was open to her right. She could hear Gabrielle coming closer and closer, taunting her all the way. She heard doors open and close, and gained the satisfaction of knowing that she was checking every room.
Her heart started thudding faster and faster and she came closer. Finally, as she heard a door rather close open, she flicked open the pocket knife and grasped it firmly, preparing herself for whatever might happen. She leaned against the wall next to the door to steady herself.
After a moment, Gabrielle came sauntering in, walking right past her. JJ pushed herself off of the wall and catapulted onto Gabrielle's back. Gabrielle immediately screamed and started fighting back. There was a furious struggle for a few seconds, where the knife Gabrielle was wielding managed to slice a pattern across JJ's forearm. She hissed in pain, and Gabrielle was able to shove her off.
JJ stumbled slightly, again finding the wall to steady herself. For a brief second they made eye contact, before Gabrielle flung herself wildly forwards. JJ managed to grab hold of the arm holding the knife and direct it away from herself. Gabrielle's other hand had found her neck, and the sudden lack of air caused JJ to panic slightly. She thrust the pocket knife still clutched in her hand forward, gasping in relief as it connected with Gabrielle's side and her airway cleared again.
JJ pushed the knife down as hard as she could, causing the tiny stab wound to open into a much larger slash. Gabrielle gasped and slid to the ground. JJ yanked the pocket knife back out of her side, shuddering slightly and wiping the blood off of it.
JJ made eye contact with her again, and almost felt sorry at the pain in her eyes. But she quickly remembered why she was in that position, the anger still coursing through her. She shook her head and walked out of the room, leaving her there for the moment. She would get her help once she was safe.
JJ looked both ways down the hallway, forgetting which way the door was briefly. But she set off to the right, hoping it was the right way. She could tell that the concussion she was nursing was taking its toll on her. She slowly started making her way up the corridor, before a rough voice startled her.
"Hey!" it screamed after her. She whirled around and saw Seth striding up the hall towards her. She stood her ground, waiting for him to catch up, knowing there was no way she could outrun him. He looked almost insane, and dangerous.
He suddenly sprawled on the ground like she did, cursing. She took the opportunity and lunged forwards. She kicked out, getting a rewarding "oomph" in return. She kicked him a few more times before she balled up her fist and punched as hard as she could, connecting with his jawline. He managed to sit up and make his fist connect, sending her head reeling.
She punched out blindly; feeling her fist slam solidly into his nose and feeling it break under her hand. She stood up and kicked out again, watching his head fly back into the very solid wall. He let out a groan before sliding down to the ground, eyes rolling back. She watched for a minute in which he remained still, a small pool of blood beginning to form underneath his head.
She slid back down in a sitting position, again holding her head. Each encounter she had doubled the pain radiating from the base of her skull. But she got up and kept moving. She didn't know how well she had knocked Seth out, and didn't want to be around if he woke up.
She stopped again as for a third time she heard footsteps behind her. She moved into an open room and waited, peering around the dark corner. She saw Doug come into view. He was looking in most areas as he came, and once he came upon Seth he swore and dropped down to his knees. He examined the the man for a few seconds, before looking back up. He didn't seem fazed at all.
After a few more seconds he kept moving, and his attention was caught by a set of double doors off to the side, and he pulled them open. He peered down them for a few seconds before walking through them. JJ quickly found an old broom and shoved it through the handles, effectively trapping him wherever the doors led. She was thankful she didn't have to physically attack him, as she was starting to feel a bit weak.
She dragged herself back down the hallway again, hoping that any other unfriendly people showed up. She managed to reach the foot of the stairs leading up to the main floor, and she was on the verge of walking up them when a loud bang sounded and a bullet whizzed past her right ear.
Whirling around, almost fast enough that she lost her balance, she saw that Brandon had come after her. There was blood on his hands, no doubt from the two colleagues she had already subdued. He had a manic gleam in his eyes as he advanced even further.
"You bitch!" he shrieked at her. "How dare you attack them? How dare you!"
She opened the door closest to her and moved in as fast as she could, hearing another bullet shoot out at her. She felt a sudden searing pain in her calf as she tried closing the door against him. Looking down, she saw that the bullet had grazed her and there was a thin layer of blood beginning to run down her leg. She leaned against the door, barricading herself against the crazy man standing outside. Yet, it was the man she still loved.
"Brandon! Listen to me!" she called tearfully. "You don't have to do this! Just put the gun down and we can talk!"
She heard him laugh darkly before he slammed his entire body weight against the door, causing her already weak legs to give out. She flew backwards, sliding across the floor as he stormed in. He stomped over to her, holding the gun tightly in his hand, staring at her in furious silence.
"It's too late to talk," he said finally, standing over her. "You've lost that privilege."
"Please," she begged, staring up at him. He held pure hatred in his eyes. She didn't understand how six months of her time had been spent with him, and she hadn't seen any of this. A tear rolled down her cheek. "Don't do this."
He laughed cruelly at her. He pointed the gun down at her head. "Say goodbye, Jayje."
"Anything?" Hotch asked, walking up to the two agents who were talking, gathered on the ground floor.
"The secretary at the front counter says she saw Doug go downstairs," Reid answered grimly, indicating a door behind him.
"Okay, we've got to go check down there," Hotch said firmly. "Garcia, you stay up here and call the rest of the team."
Garcia nodded and pulled out her phone, while Hotch and Reid pulled out their guns. "Should we get vests, just in case?" Reid asked nervously.
"Probably. We don't know what they're capable of," Hotch responded.
"But what if she's in danger right now? What if it would take too long to get to the car and back?" Reid pointed out. Hotch stopped and thought for a few seconds.
But before either of them could do anything, they heard the distinct sound of a gun being fired through the door they were gathered around. Garcia gasped and dropped her phone, it clattering to the ground at their feet.
Reid immediately lunged for the door, yanking it open and running down the stairs. Hotch shouted after him, and sprinted after the young agent.
Reid hardly had to think about what to do. A little ray of hope had started blooming inside of him when he had found out that Doug had gone downstairs. She was probably just being held down there; they'd get to her in no time. She'd be fine.
Then he called Hotch, told him to come down to the ground floor, told him that he knew where Doug went. He paced nervously in front of the door until Hotch and Garcia made it down. He told them what they knew.
They had pulled out their guns, preparing to storm the basement. He faltered a little bit, thinking of the protection he didn't have wrapped around his chest. But the gunshot made him forget.
It also made that little ray of hope shrivel up and die, like a flower bloomed too early and attacked by frost. It sent something like a bucket of ice water cascading over his insides.
So he reacted without really thinking about it. He immediately ran down the stairs to find her. He had to make sure she was okay. He didn't know what she'd been through, but he knew what it was like to be shot at. This only intensified his desire to get to her side.
Hotch shouted after him, but he ignored it. He didn't think about his own safety at that moment. Only his friends. That seemed to happen to him a lot.
He heard Hotch running after him. As he made it back to level ground, he paused and listened, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness of the basement. Hotch, who was now standing next to him, pulled a flashlight out of his pocked and shined it around, the beam of light illuminating a small patch of hallway.
He listened quietly for a few seconds, hearing a rumble of a male voice. Reid crept towards the open door he heard it coming out of. After a second, he heard another voice that made his anger level rise.
"Please," JJ whimpered. "Don't do this."
Reid reacted immediately. He flew at the door and stood in the doorway, horror spreading as he saw the scene before him. 'Brandon' was standing above a crying JJ, a sneer on his face and gun trained at her forehead. He raised his gun without a second thought. JJ looked up at him just before he took aim and fired.
JJ looked straight into the barrel of the gun pointed at her head, almost unable to take her eyes away from it. The few tears sitting on her eyelids blurred her vision somewhat.
A sudden noise from off to her left distracted her and she managed to rip her eyes away from the metal contraption in her face. She saw a figure standing in the door, and she watched as it raised a gun and pulled the trigger.
Brandon immediately jerked and fell, landing on top of her. The wound on her leg screamed in protest as his elbow made contact with it.
She breathed a sigh of relief as the figure from the door took away the pressure of her attacker. She wiped her eyes, allowing her vision to clear up.
"Spence?" she asked, grabbing at his arms, which were helping her sit up.
"Yeah. I told you I was coming to get you," he smiled at her. She laughed and threw her arms around him.
"Thank you," she said, now crying in happy tears. Relieved that her nightmare was finally over.
He pulled away and handed her his pair of handcuffs. She gave him a curious look as she wiped her eyes again. "I figured you might want to be the one to cuff him." He nodded over at Brandon, who was holding onto his wounded leg for dear life. Hotch was now holding his gun and glaring at him from the doorway.
She smiled and used Reid's help to stand up, walking over to the wounded man. She jerked his hands behind his back, securing them tighter than necessary. "Brandon Waters, or whatever your real name is, you are under arrest. You have the right to remain silent. So shut the hell up," she sneered at him. He just glared at nothing in particular.
A sudden thud and groan of pain came from the doorway, and she and Reid both whipped their heads around just in time to see Hotch land a solid punch to Seth's already broken nose. Seth whirled around and fell to the ground, where Hotch trained his gun on him.
Hotch wiped off the corner of his mouth, which had split open where Seth had attacked him. Then he secured Seth's arms with his own pair of hand cuffs.
JJ smiled again. "Hotch," she said, gaining the team leaders attention. "There's another man named Doug trapped in a room down the hallway, and a woman named Gabrielle with a severe wound to her abdomen in a room a bit farther down."
"I was right! Doug was involved!" Reid exclaimed. JJ looked at him, bewildered.
"You know who he is?" she asked.
"Yeah, he started talking to me in that coffee shop on Eleventh Avenue," Reid explained.
"That's where he met me too!" JJ said. "He said I looked worried, and I talked to him about how I was on my way to the hospital for my boyfriend's knee surgery," JJ explained, glaring over at the panting and cuffed man.
"He tried to talk to me about work," Reid said, nodding.
"How did the woman get the wound?" Hotch asked, a corner of his mouth tugging upwards.
JJ picked up the pocket knife from where it had flown out of her hand and flicked it open, grinning.
"Remind me to never get you angry," Reid said, eyeing the blade.
The next second, a blur of color came bursting past Hotch. Garcia flung herself at JJ, hugging her tightly. "Garcia," JJ said in a muffled voice. "I'm okay. Just a few cuts and bruises."
"I am so sorry for not believing you!" Garcia said, lip quivering a little. "I had all the information I needed if I had only looked him up!"
"It's fine," JJ said soothingly.
"Garcia, did you call the others?" Hotch asked, interrupting the moment.
"Yes sir, They're on their way over now," Garcia answered. She shivered slightly as she looked over at the two handcuffed men, sending them the fiercest glare she could muster.
"Can we please leave this basement?" JJ asked. "I've had enough of it to last a lifetime."
"Of course," Hotch said, walking over and dragging Seth to his feet. Reid walked over and did the same with Brandon. JJ was helped up by Garcia, who supported her out the door and up the stairs. As she emerged back into the light of the hospital, she took a deep breath.
She looked over to Brandon, who had a scowl on his face and remained silent. He was going to go to jail. That thought made her smile again.
"Garcia?" she asked, gaining the tech analysts attention.
"Yeah Jayje?"
"The next boyfriend I get, you're running a background check on him."
"Believe me my beautiful blonde bombshell, I'm planning to. You want me to or not."