Erin was pulled out of her deep sleep by the sound of voices above her. There was something different about the air that morning, something that told her a sea change had happened, and for the first time in five long days, she felt a faint flicker of hope flame to life in her breast. Sitting up, she swung her legs off the bed and stood up, creeping over to her bag and hurriedly making certain that everything was still there.
The sound of footsteps changed above her, and she tensed a little as she listened to pounding of multiple running feet against the floor. A wide smile crossed her lips as she let her guard down, knowing that she was about to be rescued. She wondered if her David had come for her, or if he had been left behind, for fear that he would be a distraction to whatever team had been chosen to rescue her.
The door flew open, and she stared at the steps, wondering who would come flying down the stairs first. "Kitten! We haven't cleared the basement yet, you could get hurt!"
A soft laugh escaped her lips as she saw the woman's legs appear. Erin's gaze ran up her body until she was staring at her face, seeing the wide smile there, the tears that were creating tracks in her carefully applied makeup. "Erin!"
"Penelope," she breathed out, opening her arms. The woman launched herself into them, and Erin couldn't stop the anguished cry that burst from her lips as Penelope squeezed a little too tightly around her injured ribs.
"What did they do to you, sweetheart?" she breathed out as she looked into her face. "Oh, god, Erin." Turning her head, Penelope opened her mouth once more. "David, get your fine ass down here and see to your lover! They hurt her!"
Again, she heard the thump of feet and then, she could smell the familiar scent of his aftershave, and her knees began to buckle a little. Reaching out, she clutched at Penelope's shoulders, trying to keep herself upright. "I'm almost there, bella. Hold on," he barked out, the stairs winding him, like they always did.
She nodded a little as she started to cry, closing her eyes so she could hide some of her weakness. And then, he was lifting her up in his arms, cradling her close as he possessively kissed her. Erin wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him tightly as the kiss lingered. "You found me," she finally breathed out, and he nodded.
After settling her carefully on the bed, he crouched down to look at her. "Do you feel all right?" She shrugged a little. "What?"
"My bruises ache. And I only had about half a glass of orange juice in the last twenty four hours. I need to be seen by a doctor, and then I want to go home and sleep in your arms."
"That sounds wonderful, Erin." He leaned in and kissed her once more before settling himself beside her on the bed. "Kitten, would you pack everything up here? I seem to recall seeing these things at Erin's house."
"Yes, Mary brought them over for me. Don't bother with the toiletries, I'm going to find a new scent and buy entirely new product. I can't stand the smell of Paris, Amor any longer." She shuddered and cuddled close to her beloved. "Maybe I'll even let you pick one out for me, David," she said softly, burrowing her face into the crook of his neck.
He nodded a little, and she sighed as she heard Penelope gather up her things. From upstairs, she could hear other people milling around, and she wondered who else had come to rescue her. David must have read her thoughts, as he murmured in her ear. "Aaron and Derek came along with me and Penelope. JJ had to work with Reid and Callahan to make Cruz think that we were out doing something that didn't break every protocol in the book."
"That was nice of them." She began to feel tired once more, even as the men mentioned came down the stairs and joined them. "Hey."
"Hey, yourself, Erin. You're not supposed to scare us like this. We almost lost you once." Derek closed the distance between them and cupped her chin softly, staring into her eyes deeply. "When I find them, I will make them suffer for hurting you like this." Erin let her eyes close softly as he rubbed his thumb back and forth over her cut, the sweetness of the gesture bringing tears to her eyes once again.
"I just want to go home, Derek. I suppose that you'll have to call the paramedics, though, to take me to the hospital."
"Yeah, it is the one protocol we can't break, unfortunately." He chucked her chin softly before standing once more, and she looked up at him, a sad smile on her lips. The sound of feet once more creeping around upstairs had her stiffening in fear and she looked frantically to Aaron, knowing she would get clear answers from him.
"Aaron?"
"It's just us, Erin," he said tightly as he drew out his gun. Derek and David did the same and she shrank into her lover in fear. He turned his face and kissed the side of her head before standing to join the other men.
"Kitten, I need you to take Erin into the bathroom and close the door. We have no idea who it is up there, and she doesn't have her weapon on her."
"I know that Aaron has his backup gun strapped to his ankle, David. I can defend myself." Some of her fighting spirit was rushing to the forefront, and she lifted her chin, as if daring him to contradict her.
"And I just about lost you for the second time, Erin. Let me be a chauvinist jerk today and we can argue about it before we go to sleep tonight."
Erin let her shoulders slump as she nodded, getting up to head over to Penelope's side at the bathroom door. Just then, Cathy appeared at the top of the stairs, a gun in hand. Like a deer in headlights, she froze and stared at the woman, unable to make her mind work, to make her legs move. "How did they find you, bitch?" the woman bellowed as she stalked down the steps, her eyes never leaving Erin's.
"I don't know, Cathy. They're the best profilers in the world, though. You must have made a mistake somewhere."
"I don't make mistakes. But now, it does look like I'll have to clean up this mess that Mary made. We should have just gone with my idea in the first place and taken down the real target, Rossi there. None of this would have happened had I done that." Erin wondered how close her beloved would let that woman get to her, and then she heard the telltale click of three weapons being made ready to fire.
"Step away from Erin, and no one will get hurt," Derek bit out and she smiled a little at the defensiveness in his tone.
"I don't think so, buddy." Cathy raised the gun and pointed it right at her heart. Still, Erin couldn't move, even when she heard the shots ring out. A loud gasp of pain tore out of her lips as she felt the bullet penetrate her arm, and she instinctively slapped her hand over the wound in an effort to stem the flow of blood.
"Where are the paramedics?" Penelope yelled as she ran over to Erin's side, also applying pressure to the wound. "Do you think it hit the bone?" she asked as she used her free hand to smooth Erin's hair out of her face.
"I don't know. Was anyone else hit?"
"Just that woman. Rossi nailed her right between the eyes. You'll never have to worry about her hurting you again."
"Thank God," she murmured, fighting to stay awake. The blackness clawed at the side of her vision, though, and she gave in, too weak to fight unconsciousness any longer.