PANOPLY OF FEAR
Chapter 11
Things Ending

Peter S. Beagle once said, "Heroes know that things must happen when it is time for them to happen. A quest may not simply be abandoned; unicorns may go unrescued for a long time, but not forever; a happy ending cannot come in the middle of the story."

CDC had been at the Kid's Club for the day, and confirmed that that was the source of the outbreak, and had checked out everyone who worked there on the last day that Chloe Fair was in; the day that Tisha Berno died. They were all clear, which was expected since she hadn't showed symptom until she left. There were no traces of the raw virus in the kitchens, but all the same, the place was closed down. Permanently probably. None of the staff was screened; otherwise it was unlikely that Chloe would have been able to volunteer. Putting the kids in danger was the consequence.

"But what alternative do these people have?"

"That is not our problem, Ma'am." Jean Page had said. "All workers, voluntary or otherwise, need to be screened."

"These people need somewhere to take their children." The Club Leader said, tears in her eyes. "We run this club free so that these parents can work."

"As I said, that is not our problem."

"A lot of these women will turn back to prostitution if I have to close the Club. Have you ever been poor? Do you have children?"

"No." Page said, and walked away.

"Bitch!" she muttered under her breath

-0-0-0-

Emily was dazed by what Morgan had said. He knew? And had profiled the three of them perfectly. She got out of the car without saying anything. She unholstered her gun and she and Morgan hurried to the door of the unit.

It was a single prefabricated building that had once been a doctor's surgery. It was securely locked, so Morgan shone his torch through the window.

"Empty." He said. "And no-one has been here for a while."

"Ok." Emily said. "Where next."

They were back in the SUV, Emily driving this time. They had a ten mile drive to the next place. Morgan got the details up on the GPS.

"Disused abortion clinic." Morgan said. "It was smashed up in an anti abortion riot three years ago.The building is still owned by Women's Health Care Inc."

Emily didn't say anything. Morgan could see the strain on her face as she drove towards the next place on Garcia's list. She was never chatty while she was driving, but this silence un-nerved him.

"Speak to me Emily." He said, turning in his seat to face her. "We will find him. You know that, don't you."

Without taking her eyes off the road, she nodded slightly.

If we don't find him, I don't know how I would manage to carry on. I still haven't told him...

She felt tears in her eyes as the barriers she had worked so hard to build started to crumble like weathered sandstone.

-0-0-0-

The message came through at about four. The quarantine was over. Tisha's parents were taken to the CDC hospital, the medics told Dave that they were going to call an ambulance for him.

"No, I'm fine." Rossi limped carefully out of the medical room. "I have work to do."

He waited until the school was clear and while Adejua checked the classrooms, he went out to face the press.

As the microphones surged forwards, he took a step back, remembering what happened last time. He raised his hands as they all shouted at once. They quietened down as they realised that Rossi was going to give a press release.

"The quarantine is now over." He began. "Everyone is clear except two adults, the names of whom will be released after the families have been informed."

"What about the ones that started it?"

"We have established that the school is not the Hot zone. The actual Hot zone has been dealt with, and the FBI is closing in on the terrorists responsible."

"Where is the Hot zone?"

"There will be another press release later, the time to be announced."

He turned and walked away. He felt nervous with his back to the crowd, and was glad when he had reached his car and got in. He called Morgan.

"We have reached the third place. We are going to check it out now."

"Keep the phone open, Derek. I'm coming over to back you up."

He cut the call before Morgan could protest, and drove through the mob of journalists and parents. He just wanted to get away from the school as quickly as possible.

-0-0-0-

Edward Fair sat in his car and ate the sandwich he had brought with him. It occurred to him that he hadn't given either of his prisoners anything to eat. But there again, it would have been a waste as it turned out. He was disappointed that the vaccine hadn't worked. He had wanted to get his team vaccinated before the next outbreak. He was going to have to get another test subject. But he also needed to develop a new vaccine.

He needed some fresh Hotchner blood.

He finished the sandwich, brushed the crumbs off his hands and returned to the clinic building.

An abortion clinic. It broke his heart when he thought of all those white babies being murdered here. Very few black ones. That was how they were taking over the country. He needed to change the status quo; he had to win the country back for the white race.

With determination in his heart, he slipped the key into the padlock.

-0-0-0-

Spencer was rocking. It was difficult, but it was the only comfort he could give. He sang softly to Aaron, who hadn't moved since he crawled onto his lap. His head was starting to ache, and he hoped it was stress and not the first symptoms of Ebola. He wanted his hands free so that he could embrace Aaron and his voice was cracked with emotion. He couldn't see Aaron's chest move, or feel his heartbeat any more.

If he dies here on my lap, how will I ever live after today? How can I ever love and breathe and live?

He knew that he couldn't. His life was over. There was nothing left for him now Aaron was dead.

He hung his head and cried; his tears fell onto Aaron's upturned face, mixing with the fresh blood weeping from his eyes...

...those eyes...

He lifted his head as he heard the padlock open. He turned towards the door. It was Fair returning.

He came over to Reid and Hotch. "What the hell is going on here?" He bent down and pulled Hotch away from Reid by his leg. Hotch's head hit the floor with a sickening crunch and Fair dragged him away. "You some kind of pervert?"

He kicked Spencer hard in the side just below his rib cage, He made a sound as air left his lungs, and he bent forwards.

"Do you enjoy hurting people?" Reid gasped.

"Not usually, but perverts are different. You two were lovers, weren't you?"

"We weren't. We never would have been." Reid said looking up with tear filled eyes.

Edward Fair smiled. "But you wanted him. Maybe now he's dead you can have him."

Reid blinked in shock. "If you think...?"

"You will do as you are told. My family will be here soon. I think you could entertain us before you die. And if you don't, out of gratitude for your life, you will want to do everything you can to make us happy."

"I will n-not violate him." Reid stammered, still not believing what he was being told to do. "I refuse to hurt him more than he is already."

Fair stooped down and grabbed Spencer's jaw and pulled his face towards his. "I think you will." And he kissed Spencer on the mouth, holding him by the back of his head. When at last he released him, Spencer gasped for breath, coughing and gagging. He leaned to the side and threw up on the floor.

"Do what you want to me." He said. "I will not violate Hotchner. He is too important to me. I would never hurt him."

"We'll see." He said, and went to his bench where he was working earlier. He picked up a syringe, and a needle off the floor. Pushing the needle in place, he knelt beside Aaron.

"I need arterial blood." He said, and stuck the needle into Aaron's Femoral artery. Spencer watched for any reaction from Aaron, and saw him flinch as the needle stuck home. He watched the thick diseased blood flow into the syringe. Fair pulled the needle from the skin, and a few drops of blood ran down the inside of Aaron's leg and onto the floor. But Reid wasn't watching that. All he could think about was the tiny flinching movement Hotch had made when the needle was stuck into him.

He was still alive. Weak, but alive.

Fair walked to the bench, and emptied the blood from the syringe into a glass container.

He put the container into a haemolyser, and pressed a button.

Reid called to Aaron, whispered his name, pleaded with him to acknowledge him. He watched the body of his friend, willing him to move, to live, but there was no response to his voice.

"If you can hear me, Hotch, I need you to keep going, to live..."

There was nothing for a minute or two, the only sound being that of Edward Fair working on the other side of the room. Then Aaron coughed.

It was an awful sound, bloody and thick, and Aaron coughed blood in clots onto the ground. Reid prayed that this was not the death throes of his friend; he needed this man to live more than anything else. His own heart seemed to have stopped beating.

"Aaron, please live..."

The sound of the door opening again, and Reid froze.

"Hey! Eddie!" Chloe called. "What do you have for us?"

Kay and Neil followed her in, but they both sat down. They didn't say anything, just sat as if they were waiting for something.

Edward smiled hello at his little sister, and hugged her.

"I thought we could have some entertainment with the Doctor over there, and the corpse. Seems they were lovers!"

"Really? So what is the entertainment, Bro?"

"You'll see!" He called to the other two. "Hey, how about some fun?"

He went and knelt beside Reid. "Now remember what you need to do to save your life. " He said. "We start now."

He unlocked the cuffs around his wrist, and pulled him up so that he was standing in front of him. Then he pushed Reid towards Aaron. Reid pretended to resist, but allowed himself to be dragged to Aaron's side. He was pushed down to his knees next to him.

He bent down and touched Aaron, and whispered to him, "Aaron, I'm going to get you out of here." He gently lifted Aaron and turned him onto his front. He thought he heard a weak cry of protest. He knew what Reid was going to do. Aaron's hand shook as he tried to catch Spencer's. He moved out of his reach. He didn't want them to know Aaron was still living.

He looked up at Fair. "I need my feet free if you want me to do this."

Fair stood up from where he was sitting with Chloe, Kay and Neil. Reid was pale and looked beaten. That was exactly what he wanted. Soon the new vaccine crystals would be ready, and phase two would start. He smiled as he bent down and removed the cuffs from Reid's ankles.

Before he could move away, Reid kicked him in the face and ran.

The door was still open, and he ran towards it. Fair was on his feet in a second. Reid heard the sound of a gun cocking. He hesitated and turned. Fair was pressing the Hotch's gun into his neck.

"You move, he's dead."

"He can't be any more dead than he is already." Reid said. "How is shooting a dead body going to make me do what you want?" In side he shook with fear. He was gambling Hotch's life, and he wasn't sure of the odds in this game. "I'm leaving."

He turned back to the door. Freedom was inches from him.

The gun fired.

He had time to say sorry in his heart for Hotch, for losing the gamble. But then the sudden jar between hid shoulder blades, and his legs folded under him, and his last thought before the world went black was, "You're going to be ok, Hotch. This will be worth it..."

...and all knowledge and devising slipped away and he sunk towards the welcoming arms of death.