Thank you to those people who reviewed the last chapter! You make me want to get this story finished!
Don't forget to have a look at the Profiler's Choice Awards for CM fanfic, which can be found on ilovetvalot's forum, Chit Chat on Author's Corner. There is one category for best OC – if you've read How Far Away the Stars and liked it, give a thought to Marguerite. (I feel bad for pimping my own fics now!)
If you want more good HP fics to read (that aren't mine!) do check out my C2 – 'Hiding from Strauss' – you can get to it through my profile.
And maybe I shouldn't say this yet, as I didn't tell her I was going to, but Sussi Ray and I have teamed up to write a short multi-chapter under the name of Ray Maks. We'll hopefully begin to post in the next week or so!
Enjoy, and please review...
Where the Blue of the Night
"Dum spiro, spero."
("While I breathe, I hope.")
- Latin proverb.
Chapter Forty-Seven
November 10th
The girl was trembling more than JJ had thought was possible for a human to do. She was thinner than she remembered, a result of several days trapped with possibly little or no food, but she looked okay. "We have to get out of here. Is he out?" JJ said, using her arms to push Sophie away from her so she could better assess what state she was in. The pain in her back was still there, and she knew she needed to use the bathroom, or a bush, or anywhere, as soon as they were somewhere that was safe to.
"He's gone to buy you a present from a mall. But I don't know how far the nearest mall is," Sophie said, her sobs subsiding. JJ was almost bowled over by the girl's resilience. "We seem to be in the middle of nowhere. I walked around the house and it's just woodlands and fields."
"Is your cell phone working?" JJ said, knowing that he had hers.
Sophie shook her head. "I didn't have much battery left and it ran out early on." They had begun to walk up the stairs, JJ realising that speed was needed now. Her hearing seemed to have become acute and she was listening intently for every sound, seeing if she could attribute it to him.
She didn't notice the interior of the house, following Sophie to the front door which the girl quickly worked out how to unlock, and then they were outside, the fresh air seeming like a medicine no doctor could prescribe.
Sophie had started to run towards a clearing of trees that were dense in their thickness, and evergreen. It was a logical plan; to get away from the building and then decide what to do next. With no phone and no idea of where they were they were in a bit of a predicament, and JJ wasn't sure how clear her thoughts could be. She was racked with pain now, the infection in her kidneys, and she felt nauseous and feverish.
JJ kept up with Sophie as best she could, trying to ignore the electrical shocks that was becoming unbearable. "Sophie!" she said, trying to keep her voice low. "You carry on – I'll see you there."
The girl disobeyed the instructions immediately, stopping in her tracks. "What's the matter?" she said, when they were close enough. Sophie then slowed her pace to keep with JJ.
"I have a water infection. It's something I'm susceptible to, and with no water, and I haven't been able to use a bathroom - "
"As soon as we have cover I'll keep guard," Sophie said, reminding JJ of being back in fourth grade and having a bathroom door guarded by her friends. "I found some things of his in the room where he was hiding me."
"What like?" The trees were closer now. They would be there in a few seconds.
"Details about explosives. There was one in the house, under the bed where I slept. It had a number on it so I think there are more. He had details for putting bombs in cars, and in buildings. He'd written down addresses to – like he'd made a list."
"Can you remember where?" JJ said, the shadow of the trees now creeping over them.
Sophie nodded, slowing down as they stepped under the branches. "I memorised them."
They were now concealed in the woodland, little daylight pouring through. JJ bent double, a searing pain shooting through her and causing her to gasp.
"Go behind that bush," Sophie said. "There's been no sound of an engine. Go and then we'll be able to come up with what to do next."
JJ nodded, stepping away from Sophie. The girl was right – this woodland was the first place he'd start to look as it was the most obvious area to hide. They couldn't stay there. JJ crouched down, releasing her bladder and wincing again at the pain as she passed water. She imagined there would be blood in her urine and she cursed her weakness. "Can you hear any streams or sounds of water?" she shouted to Sophie, holding her head in an attempt to not yell out.
"I think so," Sophie said. "If we can find water, we can follow it downhill – it will probably lead to civilisation."
JJ tidied herself up as best she could then stepped from behind the bush. "And I can get a drink," she smiled at the girl. "We'll be safe by sunset." She wasn't sure if she believed herself or not, but she had to be strong.
Sophie shrugged. "Maybe. At least it's not raining. What did he do to you?"
"Nothing much," JJ said. "He made a lot of accusations. And he has a remote device on him that I think is a detonator. He's probably targeting the rest of the team."
"He's obsessed with you," Sophie said. "I suggested he went to buy you a gift. I knew he'd be out of at least an hour – but it must be more now. I fell when I got out of my room and I don't know how long I was out for."
"Unconscious?" JJ said, a mixture of concern and admiration filling her. She was trying to ignore the temperature that was now raging and the feeling of nausea. It wasn't easy.
"I guess. We should get moving."
JJ nodded, then froze, the sound of an engine purring quietly somewhere in the distance.
...
"We're sending the bomb squad to Lobelia Avenue but we're heading to Linney Lane – Clark's mother's old home. There's no way he would want us to get hold of JJ," Hotch said, his voice filled with the quiet determination that he relied on in times of crises. "He's trying to lead us into an explosion. Let's go."
"Hotch," Reid said. "Llewellyn's already nearby."
"What's he doing there? Is he on his own?"
"He has a team nearby, I think. But he was curious about the place, so he went to check it out. He's stayed on foot since JJ went missing," Reid explained, hoping he wasn't getting Llewellyn into trouble.
"Has he slept?" Hotch said, a strange question since Reid knew Hotch had had less than an hour's sleep himself.
"Llewellyn doesn't seem to need sleep," Rossi said, pulling on his thick overcoat which Reid was rather envious of. "We'll take two cars, Hotch. You and Emily, and Reid and I. Let Emily drive so you can talk, we don't have time to do it now."
Hotch nodded. "Reid, call Llewellyn and tell him to make his way over there, but not to act on anything until either we're there, or he has other back-up."
Reid pulled out his phone and dialled the number. "Llewellyn?" he said as Llewellyn answered. "How far off Linney Lane are you?"
"Five minutes on foot. It's the only place he can be. We started the search for JJ quickly we should have picked up on his vehicle. He had to have taken her some place close," Llewellyn said. "I'll meet you there."
"Excellent," Reid said, hanging up.
It seemed they were finally making progress.
...
He knew he hadn't left the door open. He knew also that he hadn't broken a window that morning. It meant only one thing; one of them had escaped. If it was Sophie he could live with it, she was unnecessary to him anyway, except as a bargaining tool if he'd needed it, and it would save him a possible trip to Canada, although he'd kind of decided against that.
He wanted so much. He wanted Jennifer to love him like he did her. He wanted to be a part of the BAU, the team he'd watched for so many years. He wanted to live a life he knew would be perfect, a life he deserved. A life he was owed. And now one of them was not abiding by the rules that needed to be followed for him to achieve that goal, that right.
He paced into the house and checked Jennifer's room first. He was going to bring her out of their later, show her what he had bought and watch her try it on. All the way back he had fantasised about her wearing the jewellery he had purchased; that and nothing else. It had made him uncomfortably hard and he had wondered how much longer he could wait.
Her door was open, unlocked.
Jennifer had gone.
Anger boiled inside of him. He didn't think how she had managed it; her knew she was magical anyway, and was capable of anything, but he didn't think she wanted to escape. She loved him, he knew she did. He was certain.
Then he went to Sophie's room and found it locked. He didn't bother to check inside; she wouldn't have been able to escape. She was a good girl.
He was upset now; Jennifer should know they were meant to be together. She'd told him so when she'd spoken to him at the academy, when she'd smiled at him as they passed in the corridor. He could tell she wanted to be him, and now she'd gone. She was a tease, like they all were. Like the girls at school had been.
He ran up the steps and back outside, looking round to see where she had gone. She wouldn't be far, couldn't be far. She wouldn't leave him. She was just testing, seeing what she meant to him, how far he would look.
A hand found the butchered remote control in his pocket. She knew what would happen if she messed about: the car, the station, a house he was sure they'd be at, Sophie and himself would all be gone. All the people she loved would be gone because of her. They'd be on their way now to his old marital home, and he was sure LaMontagne and the child would be with them, unable to resist the temptation of trying to persuade her to come home with them. In one fell swoop they would be gone. He didn't doubt that his plan would work, that they might be somewhere else, because he knew luck was on his side. It had to be after all this time. It owed him.
...
The rain that had been incessant for the past few hours had stopped, making visibility clearer and walking easier. Llewellyn glanced up at the sky, a perfect blue slipping from in between the clouds. He felt a little strange, shiver kept creeping up his spine and outwards, even into his face. He had wondered if he'd trapped a nerve, or if it was something psychological. When he'd spoken to his girlfriend earlier he'd told her he loved her for the first time and then realised how weird he must have seemed.
He could see a glimpse of the outhouse in the distance, just past a thick clump of woodland that went on an acre or so to his right. Everything looked too still, too inanimate. The only thing that was moving was the sky, more accurately the clouds, the winds that were too high in the atmosphere to be felt were whipping the whites and greys about like soup in a blender.
Llewellyn didn't rush. He needed the time to assess what was happening there, if anything. After all, this might not be the place where JJ was, or Sophie. It could be somewhere else entirely.
The trees were on his right, evergreen needles all in place, awaiting the time of year when they would be celebrated, a pagan symbol adopted by another religion he didn't believe in. And then keen eyes caught sight of movement.
He froze, maintaining a stillness that only scared animals could achieve. Keeping his eyes fixed where he had noticed movement he began to define edges and lines that were familiar. Blonde hair and pale skin.
"Agent Jareau," he said, an undertone that would carry but wouldn't alarm. He didn't sense panic, nothing overt anyway, so he figured Dan Clark wasn't there. "Agent Jareau," he said again, taking a step towards her.
She was looking at him now, her mouth slightly agape. Then he noticed the small girl he'd seen in photos. She seemed more aware of him, her eyes shining, and she stepped towards him.
"He's back in the house, or around it somewhere," Sophie said, now next to him. "I heard his car a few minutes ago. JJ's in some pain – what shall we do? Do you have a car?"
"Miles away," he said quietly. "But the rest of her team are on their way. Do you know how to shoot?"
"I'm from South Dakota. What do you think?" she said, too sassily for someone of her age.
Llewellyn bent down to his ankle and looked up at her. "Ever fired a semi-automatic?"
"Probably. One of mom's boyfriends collected pistols. He used to take me out to shoot cans," she saw what he was taking out of his ankle holster. "Yep – I've used that before."
He gave it to her, then passed her his cell. "You have to stay here. Get yourself and JJ into a bush somewhere and hide. Turn the phone on silent and text Reid. A short text at first with where you are, then more information after that, the most relevant first. You got that?"
She nodded, and he noticed that JJ was sweating and looking too pale. She was in no fit state to do anything. "Shouldn't you stay with us?"
"Yes," Llewellyn said. "But I want to see where he is first. Then we know how to approach. What else do you need to tell me?" He knew there was something.
"He has a device on him for controlling explosives remotely," JJ said, her voice quiet. "He's threatened to use it. I suspect he will when he realises he won't get his way."
Llewellyn nodded. "We've cleared a bomb already from the vehicle Hotch and Prentiss were using, and we took a tracker out of Rossi's phone." She would know about that already, but it was as well to remind her, to reassure her. "Where might the others be?" He looked at Sophie rather than JJ; she seemed to have more to say.
"On himself," she said. "He'll have one on himself. And there's one in the house under where I slept. Then on this list he made there were plans to put one in a bull pen somewhere – but it was general, no name. And another on a road that was the name of a flower – Lobelia, I think."
"Okay," he said with a brief nod. "Get hidden. Do not show yourselves until I tell you to, even when I come back. If he sees me, he may well follow. I've no doubt he'll know who I am."
"You should wait here," JJ said. "You need back up."
"I'm not going to do anything rash, I just want to get more information."
He walked away, a strange sense of calm falling over him, and the woodland became a little lighter. He could see the clouds still moving overhead, pushed around by the winds they still couldn't feel.
Llewellyn had an idea of where the bombs would be. Clark would be planning on them entering the ex-wife's house, the police station and the house where he had been keeping JJ and Sophie. He had no intentions of surviving, Llewellyn had work that out already. Clark knew underneath everything that he was doomed, because that was what his life had always been like, and as soon as this wave of delusion was over, he'd be looking for the easiest way out, while causing the maximum amount of pain. Knowing where Clark was now, and keeping him pinned there, would benefit everyone, even if it meant a little bit of danger for himself.
...
Sophie heard footsteps she knew were not Llewellyn's. Her heart pounded, but she remained still, trying to keep calm. She peered out and saw him stood next to where JJ was hiding. He hadn't seen her because he wasn't looking for her; he still thought she was in the house.
"I've bought you a present, and this is how you thank me?" he said, yanking her out of the bush with enough ferocity to make Sophie wince. "Get up and walk, else this," he pulled out the remote controlled type thing, "Will make sure your friends and that little girl in my house will be as good as dust."
JJ said nothing, just stood up weakly, and Sophie remained still, her hand wrapped around the gun and her intention to use it solid.