Hey! Here is another chapter! I'm still working on the next one and with school starting next week, it may be a little while before the next update. Please be patient! Let me know what you think. Enjoy

Chapter 9

Another Step Closer

The sun was shining down on them; cascading with its pounding and relentless heat. Sweat dripped down her back. Her heart pounded beneath the confines of the bullet proof vest.

All was silent and still.

She stood in the open; visible to all that surrounded her. Including crosshairs of a gun; including the intense stare of her boss, still crouched down in cover just a few feet from her.

The gun felt heavy in her hand, the metal burning against her skin. It hung loosely at her side; she knew aiming would do her no good; she didn't even have a target. And even though she had two sets of eyes on her, she was blind with knowing where to look.

She licked her lips in nervous anticipation. She made the first move. It was his turn to respond. His move in an intricate game of chess, where one option could take down the king and another could put you in jeopardy of losing all you had.

And so she waited.

It wasn't long before a voice rang out from the shadows of the dense tree line before her. "You took everything from me."

His voice was calm and collected. Two things that did not bring her any comfort; a stable mind was one that was harder to deal with. It meant he was good at chess.

"We can talk about this face to face, Owen."

"We have nothing to talk about. You already admitted to killing him."

She licked her lips again. "I didn't have a choice. I-"

"There is always a choice." This time his voice was angry and hard; he was losing patience and the game had only just begun.

"Owen, I swear to you, if I had another option then I would have taken it."

"You're lying. Just like the rest of them."

Now she was getting somewhere. "Like who?"

"What do you mean who; those other girls." She could tell by his voice that he was getting closer to the edge, an edge that she didn't want him by, because if he went over now, she would be going with him.

"Those girls that you and Ben killed, is that who you're talking about?"

"Shut up! You don't get to call him that; you don't get to call him anything!" His voice cracked with emotion.

And then she saw him. His dark silhouette with the sun behind him; his hand stretched out in front of him, gun in hand and pointed directly at her.

She forced her eyes to lock with his; everything else around her blurred. His features were strong and his eyes were dark blue swirls that were captivating. Ironically she thought that under any other circumstances, she would have found him to be attractive.

But now he was all that stood between her and a bullet. She had faced this situation before; she knew what if felt like to have a barrel in your face, to feel the hot breathe of a suspect breathing down your neck.

This time it was different; she was different.

He slowly started walking towards her; his features sharpening as the light fell on him. He had sounded so on edge and tense, but his appearance gave nothing away; he looked poised.

She heard movement behind her, having almost forgotten that they weren't alone. And apparently, Owen did too. His gaze shifted to the truck; rage visibly building inside him.

Without second guessing herself, she took a step forward; slowly raising her hand in a slight surrender.

It was enough to draw his attention back to her, as well as the aim of his gun. "Easy Owen, I'm not going to do anything."

"You did when you killed Ben. You did something then, didn't you!?"

He moved in closer but she stood her ground, she needed his focus on her; it was their only chance. "I didn't have a choice then. He came at me; I'm telling you the truth. I didn't want to hurt him. You have a choice, Owen. You can lower the gun and walk out of here."

He scoffed and gritted his teeth. "We both know that's not true. We killed women together; they were liars and when you lie, bad things happen. So don't you dare lie to me."

"I'm not saying we're going to have a perfect ending; I just meant that no one has to get hurt."

"Like Ben did, huh? Does taking a life bother you, agent? Does it haunt you? Cause I'm right here, just shoot me and get it over with. You can add another monster to your list."

"I won't hurt you Owen. No matter what you do, I won't shoot." She kept her voice calm. The voice at the back of her head telling her that she didn't have to take a shot; Hotch would.

Swiftly, Hash closed the distance between them and before she knew it, he was an arm's length in front of her. Gun outstretched.

"Then take off the vest."

All emotion was gone from his face and voice. He was cold.

She swallowed hard but didn't say anything. All she had to do was keep his focus. Just a little bit longer; it had to work.

"I said, take it off." His teeth gritted together at every word. "Put the gun on the ground and take off the vest, agent."

Without taking her eyes off him, she bent partially over to the ground and laid the gun at her feet. She blinked in the bright sun and licked her lips. "You don't have to do this, Owen."

He took another step closer. "We both know I'm either leaving here in cuffs or in a body bag. If I'm going down, I'm sure as hell bringing you with me."

She clenched her fist, hoping that Hotch would catch her signal. Taking in a ragged breathe, she thought to herself, it was now or never.

Hearing the sound of quick footsteps on gravel behind her, she knew Hotch was making his move. "Prentiss! Now!"

Moving as fast as she could, Prentiss ducked down and grabbed the gun at her feet. Two shots rang out from behind her. But it wasn't enough to take him down.

Hash's heavy boot collided with her shoulder and sent her tumbling over so she was lying on her back.

Even with blood rushing from a bullet hole in his stomach, Hash fired three shots in Hotch's direction.

Emily reached for the gun that had flown out of her grasp when she was knocked backwards. She didn't have time to look back to make sure Hotch was okay.

It had to end now.

Sorry for another little cliff hanger! But it ended up being a good spot to cut the chapter. Reviews will make me write the next chapter faster ;)