AN: Hey guys. This chapter is...well, you'll see. please don't hate me! Sadness is needed sometimes.
Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds and/or its affiliates. I do not own the Beatles and/or their affiliates. I do not own the soldier's prayer.
Prentiss opened her eyes, the sunlight blaring down on her. As she came to, she heard a loud, high-pitched scream. She sat up but stopped when she saw her left leg. Her pant leg was torn, and there was a large piece of metal lodged in her calf muscle. She wanted to scream, or cry, but couldn't. So, she laughed. She laughed until her stomach and face hurt and tears were coming to her eyes. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and turned around to see Hotch,
"Emily! Dear God, what the hell…" He said as his eyes widened at the sight of her leg. He panicked and started to look for some sort of solution.
"Hotch I'm fine! Just leave me here I swear it's ok!" She smiled at him, barely being able to speak through her chuckles. "I'm just in a bit of sh-shock!"
Suddenly, Rossi yelled,
"Agent Seaver would you PLEASE stop screaming?" He asked as he walked around the nose of the plane to where she was, Hotch and Prentiss watching him as he moved.
However, everyone froze when they saw why she was screaming. There was none other than Reid, laying motionless, with a thick, round piece of metal sticking out between his upper rib cage, right below his breastbone. Seaver, who was soaked in blood, looked up at Rossi, stopped screaming, looked back at Reid, and began to sob violently. Reid's pale, cold body and lack of reaction answered their silent questions. Rossi bowed his head, while Hotch felt a hole in his heart form. Prentiss, however, only laughed harder,
"Oh man you've got to be kidding me! Seriously? Dr. Reid is dead oh man that's a good one! You know, it's always us. First, the whole thing with Reid and Tobias Hankel, then Foyet and Hotch, then it was me and Doyle, then JJ and Hastings, and now, this! Just our luck!"
Hotch stared at her, trying to avoid looking at Seaver who was being peeled off Reid's body by Rossi, her bone-chilling shrieks ringing loudly through the trees. 'JJ.' He remembered. He turned around, walked past the main cabin of the plane and set out to look for Blake, JJ, and Morgan.
Xx
Blake had never been so terrified in her life, and as she paced back and forth, questioning everything she'd ever done in her lifetime to herself, she knew there was no way they were getting out of this situation. Morgan was crouched next to JJ, telling her that the most important thing for her to do was keep still, and that Hotch, Reid, Seaver, or Rossi would find them soon enough. JJ was crying out in pain, panicking, and ranting about how scared she was. Understandable, considering more than half her body was crushed under a large piece of the right wing of the jet. Soon enough, they all heard blood-curdling screams that must have come from Seaver, and Blake quickly realized that they were all closer together than they realized. Blake stepped a few feet away from the wreck, and called out,
"Hotch! Rossi! Reid! Seaver! Anybody there? Hello! Hotch? Help! JJ is trapped we need help!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. She waited…no response. "Hotch! Hotch!" She stopped when she saw a slight figure through the trees and heard a soft voice,
"Blake!" She heard Hotch call back.
Hotch stumbled up to her,
"Blake, is everyone alright?"
"Morgan and I are fine, but JJ, she…" Hotch rushed past her, practically running to JJ and Morgan.
Blake followed closely behind him, her heart hammering against her chest. Hotch saw a streak of blonde hair on the ground, however as he got a better view JJ, his heart dropped. He watched her struggle against the wing of the plane, and every time her arms gave out, his hopes of her survival decreased. He slowly walked up to her, hardly regarding Morgan, and his heart broke when her bright blue eyes looked at him with the strongest sense of helplessness he'd ever seen. Her voice trembled as she spoke,
"H-Hotch, I-I'm stuck."
"Shh, save your strength, I'm going to get Rossi and we're going to try and get you out, okay?" He said to her, trying to mask his fear.
She nodded, then laid her head on the ground and breathed deeply. Morgan looked at Hotch,
"Just Rossi? What about Seaver, Prentiss, and Reid?" He asked tentatively.
"Reid is dead. Seaver and Prentiss are hurt badly." Hotch replied, his voice lacking emotion.
Blake gasped and felt sick to her stomach, while Morgan slammed his fist against the wing, stood up, and cursed. JJ began to cry, her soft whimpers breaking the silence. They heard yet another scream, but this time it was deeper. 'Prentiss.' Morgan thought. He ran as fast as he could to the site where she, Seaver, and Rossi were. Seaver looked pale as a ghost, blood flowing out of a huge gash in the right side of her head. She was sitting on the ground next to Reid's body with her knees tucked against her chest, and she was shaking. Rossi was next to Prentiss, who was screaming out in pain.
Morgan couldn't believe what was right in front of him.
Prentiss was sitting there, Rossi holding her shoulders in hopes to stop her from moving too much, with a long piece of thick metal about seven inches long going straight through her left calf muscle. Morgan looked away, then headed into the main cabin of the plane in hopes to find some sort of medical care. He passed the cockpit and peered in to see how extensive the damage was, and his heart sunk when he saw that the radio transmitter was destroyed. The horrifying angle of the pilot's neck told him he died on impact. He stepped into the jet, and began searching through the mess for a first aid kit, their luggage, anything. Eventually, he found a small first-aid kit. He knew he needed gauze, wrap, and something to clean her wound. He looked through the drink stock until he found small bottles of vodka. He took them, the first aid kit, and a towel, and went back out to where Rossi was trying to keep Prentiss calm. She seemed surprise to see him,
"Morgan! Well hey you're alive, how are JJ and Blake?" She asked, clearly still in shock yet with a hint of a grave tone in her voice.
Morgan brought her up to speed as he had Rossi hold the top of her leg down while he began to work. He ripped her pant leg even further, so that her entire lower leg was exposed. Next, he laid the towel underneath her leg. Then, he took a small gauze pad, poured some vodka on it, and began cleaning the edges of the wound up. He wiped away dried blood, pieces of flesh, and she cried out as it stung while killing bacteria that had started to take over. It was red and puffy in some places, but there was no serious sign of infection just yet, and that was good enough for Morgan. Finally, he packed it with gauze and wrapped it up, being careful as to not press the metal into her leg any further. She breathed a sigh of thanks, and he turned so he was facing Seaver. He grabbed his materials, and slowly walked over to her,
"Ashley, uh, can I take a look at your head?" He asked quietly, turning away from Reid's body.
She didn't respond, so he simply crouched down next to her and started working. He cleaned the wound, then put pressure on it to control the bleeding. Her freezing skin told him she was close to losing too much blood, and the second he was done he needed to give her some fluids and warm her up. He finished fairly quickly, and when she didn't take his hand when he offered to help her up, he picked her up, and carefully carried her away.
Xx
Hotch and Blake wiped at the cuts on JJ's face with some paper towels that had scattered all around as they waited for Morgan to return with Rossi, Seaver, and Prentiss. They were all exhausted, and Hotch was describing the extend of Seaver and Prentiss's wounds when, as if on cue, the other four came stumbling up to them. Prentiss was hopping on her good leg while using Rossi as her base of support, and Morgan was carrying Seaver, who was clearly in a state of shock. Prentiss had tears steadily flowing from her eyes, an obvious result of not only her overwhelming physical pain but emotional as well. Rossi helped Prentiss sit comfortably, and Morgan set Seaver down next to her. Prentiss put her arm around Seaver and watched as Blake, Hotch, Morgan, and Rossi prepared to help JJ. Morgan cleared his throat, and spoke up,
"Alright, here's how this is gonna work. Hotch, you stand on the far left, over there, Rossi, be on his right, right…here. Blake, stand just to the right of JJ, and when we've lifted this enough, you're going to help her out, clear? I'll stand over here, on the far right. Whatever you do, Blake and Rossi, do not lift it so that it rocks backwards because you will then crush her legs even further. Everyone understand?"
They all nodded and took their positions, and Prentiss held her breath as she watched. Hotch looked at all of them,
"Alright everybody ready? On three. One, two, three!"
They all pushed the wing up with all their might, but hardly got it two inches off the ground. JJ's timing had been pretty good, but there just hadn't been enough room for her to do anything. They all breathed heavily, then took position yet again. This time, Rossi counted off,
"One, two, three!"
Again, nothing. Morgan turned to Blake,
"Alright, Blake, instead, I want you to grab JJ, and just constantly pull on her starting on 'three'. JJ, I need you to try and wiggle yourself out of there as quickly as you can, okay?"
Both the girls nodded, and Blake bent over, took JJ's hands, and gave a look that she was ready.
"One, two, three!" Morgan bellowed.
They all grunted and Prentiss watched in amazement as the heavy wing lifted nearly ten inches off the ground. Blake pulled on JJ and JJ tried her best to push herself out. She was nearly halfway out, when the worst happened.
Morgan and Hotch's arms gave out. Without warning, the wing came crashing down on JJ, and a sickening cry escaped her body as it crushed her. She was now crushed from the lower abdomen and below, and she began to cough up blood. She gasped for air, and tears filled her eyes as her body fought the excruciating pain. Blake knew something had ruptured, and JJ was now bleeding internally. Hotch, Rossi, and Morgan all stopped and looked at JJ with horrified expressions on their faces.
"Guys p-please, stop! It's f-f-fine, just stop!" JJ sputtered, blood starting to come out of her nose as she spoke.
Prentiss, Blake, and Seaver began to cry as the fate of their friend became obvious. Hotch looked at Rossi, shook his head, and crouched down next to JJ. He took her left hand and looked her in the eyes,
"Jennifer Jareau, listen to me. You are a fighter, and you are the strongest woman I know. You have been through so much, and I need you to know that I'm proud of you. Just…just hold on, okay?" He said to her, his voice cracking at the end. JJ simply nodded at him as everyone sat around her. Prentiss moved closer, placed JJ's head in her lap, and started to stroke her hair. She fought back tears, and began to sing softly,
"Blackbird singing in the dead of night,
Take these broken wings and learn to fly,
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise.
Blackbird singing in the dead of night,
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see,
All your life,
You were only waiting for this moment to be free."
JJ looked up at her,
"Em…just…let me go…" her voice was barely audible, and everyone knew it was time to say their goodbyes.
Rossi spoke next, and he said one of his favorite soldier's prayers,
"To fallen soldiers let us sing,
Where no rockets fly nor bullets wing,
Our broken brothers let us bring,
To the mansions of the Lord.
No more bleeding, no more fight,
No prayers pleading through the night,
Just divine embrace, eternal light,
In the mansions of the Lord.
Where no mothers cry and no children weep,
We will stand and guard though the angels sleep,
Through the ages safely deep,
The mansions of the Lord."
"Amen" JJ whispered, trying her best to smile at him.
They sat in silence, all touching JJ in some way, as they asked for her pain to be over shortly. JJ spoke as loudly as she could,
"Will you all t-tell Will and H-Henry th-that I love them?"
Hotch simply nodded as he watched his friend's body slowly start to shut down.
JJ closed her eyes, let out one last cough, and sighed,
"I love you guys. Th-thank you…"
Her breathing ceased, and finally, Jennifer Jareau was at peace.