Were you waiting for this? The end has arrived!
I want to thank you very much for reading this story and reviewing it. Your interest and reviews mean the world to me. (And your threats too! Come on, the-vampire-act, put the wolves to rest) Warning: Character death...
Disclaimer: In my mind, they're mine, mine and only mine...
Without further ado, the last chapter...
As always, ENJOY!
Chapter XVII
"Jonathan Sturz, drop the device and surrender!" Aaron Hotchner's voice flooded every corner of that tiny room which was packed with tension.
Emily Prentiss looked around the poorly lighted room. No bed, just a small brown and clearly filthy couch on one side. There was an old plastic table by a window and on top of it, a Dell laptop. At the bottom of the screen of the personal computer, there was a clock with red numbers displaying the time.
01:50:15
01:50:16
And behind those numbers, she could see the live image of the elevator interior. Prentiss' eyes focused on the skinny young man sitting on the floor, with his back to the wall and his eyes firmly locked on the roof of the enclose compartment. Prentiss could only wonder how scared her friend was.
01:50:20
Then her eyes reluctantly unglued themselves from the screen and lay on the man with hauntingly bloodshot eyes in front of them. The man was wearing a stained black shirt and grey sweatpants, nothing on his feet. A stubbly beard of several days' growth added to his scruffy look.
01:50:45
"Why should I?" asked the UNSUB in an arrogant way. "You're already here. This ends here for me, why don't go down with a big blast?"
"It doesn't have to end like this" argued Aaron Hotchner, giving one studied step forward towards the man, who at the same time gave one step back, shortening the distance between his body and his computer.
01:51:02
"I think we both know I won't leave this place alive" calmly stated the sick man that had been tormenting the BAU team for the past five hours.
"Mr. Sturz, I know I'd feel lost if I lost my son, but you don't have to kill any more people." Hotch tried to reason with the man.
"So you have a son, agent?" asked the UNSUB.
"Yes, I do" honestly answered Aaron.
01:51:33
"Well, imagine what you'd feel if you had him by your side one minute and lost him the next" explained the man.
Hotch remembered what he felt when Foyet had threatened to kill Jack. Sturz was right, losing his son was unthinkable, he'd be devastated.
01:52:00
"Look, I'm really sorry for your loss, but you can stop the killings here. No one else has to die."
01:52:15
"No, you're wrong. I'll teach you all a lesson, I'll show you what it is like to lose a loved one" said Jonathan Sturz, anxiously.
"You can stop this right now. It's not too late" argued Hotch, taking one more step forward, his gun aiming at the man.
01:52:45
"You're wrong again. It's too late for me" stated the UNSUB. And then, moving a few inches back and pointing at the screen with the hand holding the device, he added: "And it's too late for them."
Aaron Hotchner realized the man was beyond reasoning. They had to act soon before it was in fact too late.
Strayer University – Interior
SSA Derek Morgan and the bomb squad agents ran inside the deserted building towards a room with a sign on the door reading: "Authorized personnel only. Elevator controls."
As they entered the room, they saw a red light flickering intermittently on a panel on the wall showing that the number two elevator was stuck on the fourth floor, the last stop before crashing down to the bottom of the shaft where the bomb silently lay.
Morgan then noticed a door to one side. "Where does that door go?"
"It goes directly to the elevator shaft" answered Agent McFay.
"I want to take a look inside" informed Morgan. Agent McFay grabbed a key from the wall and unlocked the door.
The FBI agent opened the door and got his head inside the small, dark compartment.
First, he looked up and saw the exterior floor of the elevator hanging four floors above. And then he looked down and saw the explosive device in the middle of the shaft's floor. He studied the artifact from his spot some feet above. Derek saw red, yellow, blue and green wires entwined together. He recognized the kind of bomb as soon as he saw it. To dismantle it, he'd need to cut two wires connected to the core of the device at the exact same moment.
But from where he was, he couldn't make out which wires. When the time came, he'd need to go down there to figure out that before the elevator's last fall.
By that time, he already knew they'd not have time to open the doors of the elevator to take the hostages out of the building before 2 o'clock. Their only hope was for Hotch, Emily and Rossi to control the UNSUB and for Morgan to dismantle the bomb. Unfortunately, Reid and the other two young people trapped in there would have to withstand another four-floor fall before the end of their nightmare.
With one last look inside the shaft, Derek Morgan took one step back in the elevator controls' room and closed the door, not knowing if he'd ever have the chance to go back and save his friend.
01:53:15
"So, Agent Hotchner, how will this end?" asked Jonathan Sturz in an eery voice, clearly enjoying the situation.
The words "suicide by cop" flooded Hotch's mind.
"You do realize that the clock is ticking, right?" continued the USUB in an unbearable monologue. "Whether you, this pretty lady here" pointing at Prentiss, "or these two agents shoot me, I'll die, but first I'll make sure I press this little button here." The man moved his hand in the air to show them the device, as if he thought the two FBI agents and the two SWAT agents hadn't noticed it before. "And BOOM, bye-bye elevator. It'll be my final victory."
01:54:05
Without uttering a word and mastering his stern look, Aaron Hotchner took once again one slight step in front of him.
Stepping back, the UNSUB unknowingly made a fatal mistake. He placed himself right in front of his computer, standing right next to the window.
01:54:56
And then, the BAU Unit Chief said: "Wrong, our victory."
Jonathan Sturz never heard the flying bullet that crashed the window and found its place in his temple, the bullet shot by the sniper appointed on the roof of the next door house, following Rossi's orders.
In a split of a second, as the UNSUB started falling to the ground, Hotch launched himself forward, stretching his arms, to try and catch the device in the hand of the, by now, dead man before it reached its final destination.
With the grace of a rugby player tackling an opponent, Aaron fell down with a thud. To everyone's relief, the detonator's downward flight got to an end, resting on both of Hotch's hands.
01:55:10
"Is everyone alright?" asked Rossi through Hotchner's earpiece.
"Nice catch" said Prentiss trying to help Hotch to his feet.
Then he answered Rossi's question: "The scene is secured." The FBI agent carefully handed the device to one of the SWAT agents.
As soon as his hands were empty, he grabbed his phone and called Morgan.
"Hotch, tell me you have him" said Derek over the phone, too tense to even say "Hello" or, the usual, "Morgan" greeting.
"Go!"
01:55:59
No more words were needed. The phone call ended.
Aaron Hotchner looked at Prentiss and they both left the building without sparing a look back to the corpse sprawled in a growing pool of blood on the floor.
01:57:16
Outside, Rossi was already waiting for them by the SUV that would take them to Strayer University.
Now, it was up to Morgan to save Reid, Linda and Sebastian, with only less than three minutes to two o'clock.
Strayer University – Interior
01:55:15
SSA Derek Morgan had been pacing around the room, trying to remain calm and focused on the task ahead. He tried to get his emotions in check, and stay relaxed, forbidding himself to explore the "what if" scenarios he would have to face if he couldn't dismantle the bomb in time.
He failed miserably.
As soon as he felt his phone vibrating, he answered, pushing all those thoughts to the back of his head.
"Hotch, tell me you have him."
"Go!"
01:55:59
No more words were needed between the two members of a team that worked together like a Swiss watch.
Derek quickly hung up and tossed his phone on a table by the door.
"Okay, guys, this is it. Let's get these people out" determinedly stated the FBI agent.
01:56:20
Agent McFay opened the door to the shaft and allowed Morgan to go down. "Good luck, sir."
Derek nodded and started his way down using the iron ladder attached to the wall, covering three steps at a time.
Anxiously trying to reach the bottom as soon as possible, he gave a jump and landed with both feet on the floor. He checked his watch. 01:57:00. He had three minutes to put an end to this mad reality.
With extreme care, he approached the device with a measured step. He crouched down by its side taking the pliers out of his pants' right pocket. His eyes studied the bomb bit by bit.
Two wires, one blue, one green, stuck out of the right side of the device, like a bicolor rainbow, and ended in the middle of it, connected to the center of two charges of C4, from where another pair of wires, one red and one yellow, stuck out to end at the left side of the artifact. Lowering his head to the floor, he checked the bottom of the bomb.
01:58:00
After this quick assessment, he lifted his upper body knowing exactly what he needed to do. First, he had to cut two of the wires at the top; the ones connected to the detonator. And then he had to cautiously cut the straps at the bottom and take the bomb out of the way of the elevator, or the C4 charges would explode under its crashing weight.
01:58:40
Derek closed his eyes and breathed deeply to calm his nerves and steady his shacking hand.
"Let's do this." He said to himself.
Morgan took the pliers to the center of the bomb where the four wires were entwined together.
"Sir, you have one minute." Agent McFay's voice was heard from some feet above.
Ignoring the SWAT agent, Derek lowered his head until his eyes were at the same level as the device. And then he saw it.
Only the green and the red wires were connected to the C4. Without losing one more fraction of a second, he first cut the green wire and then the red one.
01:59:20
Morgan let out a sigh of relief, trying to relax his tensed muscles. Now, it was time for him to cut the straps and take the C4 charges away from the next stopping point of the elevator.
"30 seconds!"
He brought the pliers closer to the straps at the bottom and tried to cut them. One of the straps gave way, but another one remained almost intact.
"Come on, come on. Damn it!" Sweat covered Morgan's black T-shirt.
He tried again and heard the sound that indicated him that the C4 charges were free and ready to be moved.
01:59:50
The FBI agent put the pliers back in his pocket and used both hands to lift the bomb. Quickly, but avoiding any sudden movement, he got to his feet and gave one step back towards the wall.
But then, he heard three beeps coming from some floors above; to be exact, from inside the elevator.
"Time's over! Get out!" McFay desperately shouted.
All their efforts had been in vain after all? Morgan looked up and saw the floor of the elevator coming down towards him at great speed. He heard Linda's terrified screams and then everything...
...went black.
That's it. Thank you, guys!