Chapter 27

Her ears rung so loudly, she could hardly tell which way was up. All she knew was that she was moving but not of her own volition. Her eyes half open, JJ began regaining some of her hearing. She could hear leaves crunching as whoever seemed to be carrying her accelerated their pace. She had also begun to smell the distinct scent of smoke. Before she could fully open her eyes and assess the situation, JJ felt herself begin to fall. Branches and bushes scratched at her body as she rolled down a hill, unable to stop herself until, finally, she landed with a thud.

Agent Cavil had long since said her goodbyes to any rational thinking. From the moment she was told that Adam was dead, every fiber of her being had been dedicated to finding Jeremy Parilla…and now she had him.

Cavil was the first to reach the house- or what was left of it. Fire raged all around her and it was growing more and more difficult to see given the amount of ash and smoke in the air. Her lungs burned as she coughed, frantically looking around in the hopes of finding any of the three people she was looking for. From the corner of her eye, she saw a tall figure- most likely a man- also searching. She opened her mouth to call out to him, assuming it was one of the BAU, before she saw the figure bend down and toss a body over his shoulder. Like a bullet fired from a gun, she was off, chasing the man who had killed the only person she had ever loved. Ignoring the aching pain in her chest as well as her shoulder, Amy cried out his name as she approached. Parilla, caught off guard by her rapid advance, had no time to stop the inevitable as Amy crashed into him at full speed. The two fell to the ground hard and Amy found herself slightly regretting the course of action as her entire body screamed in protest. Shoving past the pain, Amy was on her feet in an instant, searching through the smoke once again.

"Who the hell are you?!" A raspy, clearly annoyed voice demanded. Amy spun on her heels and took in the shadowy figure in front of her. The smoke was thickening as the fire raged only a handful of yards away and Amy knew it wouldn't be long before it reached them. She just didn't care.

"Don't you remember?" she growled. "Don't you remember how you killed someone to get to Leila? Or was his life just that insignificant to you?" Her rage, suppressed for days, boiled to the surface as Parilla approached.

"Oh," his lips formed a slight grin, "I knew I should've killed you then."

"Yea, you probably should've." Amy was quick to point her gun at him, finger already on the trigger.

"What, you're going to shoot me? An unarmed man?" Parilla scoffed. "We both know you don't have it in you."

"You don't know shit about me." Amy growled. "Maybe before you killed Adam, I couldn't. But now…I guess we'll find out."

"Fine then. Do it." Parilla's grin was gone, replaced with a snarl akin to a rabid animal. "I knew this could only end one of two ways so just get it over with." Amy paused, her mind running a mile a minute as she weighed her options. She could kill him in cold blood and, most likely, get away with it. The BAU wouldn't question it. Besides, they weren't around to speak up against her even if they wanted to. Her internal debate was cut short as a loud rustle caused her to instinctively turn on her heel. She saw nothing but forest and recognized her mistake even before Parilla threw his form against her. The two were back on the ground, Parilla using his superior weight to his advantage. He knew she couldn't have gotten out of that car without some injuries. It was just a matter of finding them. As the two struggled for control of the gun, Parilla saw the bandages keeping Cavil's shoulder in place. The grin he shot her before digging his elbow into the joint would haunt her for many nights to come. She let out a scream but continued to fight, raising her uninjured arm to land a solid punch against his temple. Parilla groaned as he fell to the side. Cavil was quick to roll on top of him, now using both hands to secure her weapon before it went off. Parilla panicked, seeing the gun pointed directly at his chest, and rammed his knee up against the woman's chest. Cavil cried out again as her broken ribs protested angrily. Just as her grip on the weapon started slip and Amy was sure he would gain control of it, a loud cry sounded from behind them.

"Parilla!" she heard Agent Morgan shout. At the sound of his voice and the arrival of the rest of the BAU, the man froze. Amy quickly snatched her gun out of his hands and, keeping it trained between his eyes, rose to her feet.

"Are you alright?" Agent Hotchner appeard behind her, helping the brunette to her feet. Amy could only nod, a hand pressed against her chest as she struggled to breathe.

"Where's Leila?" JJ's voice surprised the group as she could be seen making her way up the small hill she had rolled down. While Morgan, Hotch, and Cavil kept their guns on Parilla, Reid ran to his best friend. The former blonde smiled kindly at him before offering the hand he extended. When she was finally up the hill, JJ's demeanor changed immediately, her eyes narrowing at the sight of the man on his knees.

"With Rossi. They're making their way down the other side of the mountain now." Morgan explained. JJ and Parilla continued to stare at one another even as she nodded her acknowledgement to Morgan.

"I wonder," he began, "which one of you is it going to be?" As the four agents stared down the man, they each wondered the same thing. What now? One by one, eyes darted to JJ in search of an answer. The woman's face was red- whether from the excursion or anger, no one knew- and her jaw was shut tight. The others could see just how hard she was fighting with the issue at hand. They knew that no one, aside from maybe Cavil, wanted him dead more. Just as the man opened his mouth to taunt them some more, JJ whipped out her gun and pointed it at his head. Nostrils flaring and teeth grinding, she approached the man.

"You," she breathed, "almost ruined everything. You almost took my sister away from me after I swore I would never let that happen again. I trusted you and this is how you repay me?!"

"Jennifer," the sound of her name from his lips made JJ cringe, "you know everything I did, I did so we could be together."

"Listen to me very carefully." JJ chewed her lip as her anger flared, the hand holding her gun trembling. "There never was a 'we'. We were never going to be together, regardless of what you did. And do you want to know why?" JJ could've sworn that she saw tears brimming in his eyes. "Because you're a sick, murdering, psychopath who gets off on hurting innocent women."

"Do it then." Jeremy hung his head, leaning slightly closer so that the barrel of JJ's gun rested against his forehead. "If we can't be together then I don't really care about what happens to me. Besides, don't I deserve it, JJ?" She swallowed hard, her finger inching closer and closer to the trigger as he spoke. "Come on. You know you want to. They're not going to do it, that's for sure. Look at them- they don't have it in them."

"JJ." Hotch lowered his gun and took a step towards the woman. "He's not worth it." It seemed as if she didn't even hear him, her hand steadying slightly as she continued to contemplate her options.

"Don't you want revenge? Revenge for all those women? For Kira?" the name struck a chord within her and JJ let out a slight gasp.

"Don't you dare say her name- any of their names!" she demanded, pressing the gun harder against his temple. Hotch and the others shared a glance as the situation showed no signs of deescalating.

"Why not?" Parilla teased. "Is it because you feel responsible for what happened to them? What about Robyn? Did she make it? Is she going to have to live with all of those memories of me? Of how I touched her? Kissed her? Made love to her?"

"You sick son of-"

"And let's not forget little Leila, now." He continued, pressing button after button as he watched JJ unravel. "I wonder how we would've occupied ourselves if we had more time together. She's not you but I suppose she would've done nicely. After all, she is kind of hot for a-" Before anyone could stop her, JJ wound her arm back and slammed her gun against Parilla's temple, knocking him to the ground. The BAU and Cavil saw that coming a mile away and assumed that he did as well. However, Parilla's only reaction was a bout of amused chuckles as he slowly stood back up.

"If you ever say my sister's name again, I'll do so much worse than kill you." JJ snarled. "I'll send Robyn a little present to mount on her wall like a trophy and I'm sure as hell not talking about your head." She saw Jeremy swallow hard and, before he could say something more to entice her, turned her back to him.

"What, that's it?" he cried. "You're just going to walk away?! I'll just plead insanity. It won't be that hard to prove!" He shouted at JJ's back as she made her way towards where she knew her sister would be waiting. "I'll get out and I'll start all over again! Is that what you want? Are you willing to risk it?"

"No." Another voice, Cavil's, caused everyone to freeze. "No, I'm not." Without hesitation, Agent Cavil pulled the trigger, her well aimed shot hitting Parilla right in between the eyes. The man was dead before anyone was the wiser. The BAU, aside from JJ, spun on their heels to face the woman, their own guns now aimed at her. Amy was quick to raise her hands defensively, her eyes still locked onto the corpse of Adam's killer. She was as still as a statue, not an ounce of regret or fear showing through her armored exterior. Hotch approached her, taking the gun from her hand as she shut her eyes briefly. She had expected this wave of relief to wash over her the moment he was dead. Instead, there was nothing but silence. She had crossed a line in an attempt to avenge Adam's death but, in the end, he was still gone. Nothing could change that. Her mind shouted at her, screaming that he had a point. He was a threat to society- a threat that needed to be put down. No one spoke as Hotch gently eased her back, away from the body and towards the sound of approaching helicopters. JJ waited until they reached her to continue walking down the mountain. As Cavil walked beside her, the shorter woman reached out and squeezed the tips of her fingers. The men of the BAU saw the exchange and knew exactly what their friend was trying to communicate.

Thank you.