"Burned?" Clara questioned once she had gotten back to the police station the next morning. The latest girl who had gone missing yesterday was found decapitated and her body was burned.
"That is quiet the escalation." Rossi said.
"Yeah but I guess the theory is more believable now." Derek pointed out and Clara looked over at him. He had been against it yesterday and now all of a sudden he was on her side? "She kept the faces intact and applied makeup, like the others." He said.
"Then what was different about this girl?" Clara asked.
"Finally someone asking the right questions." Garcia's voice came from behind Clara. She turned quickly to find Hotch had his phone on speaker. "Our latest vic's name is Julie Shaw." Garcia said. "And what's so special about her you ask? Well for starters she was openly gay and had one thing in common with the other girls." Garcia said and paused.
"Do you wanna tell us what that one thing is?" Rossi asked.
"Well since you asked so nicely, All our vics were on the same athletic council at the university." She sighed. "And were friends with the vice president Shelly Colby." Garcia said.
"She wasn't on the list of people we talked to..." Derek said.
"Because Shelly hasn't been attending classes for the last month." Garcia said with a bit of a huff.
"Why?" Derek asked quickly.
"The school didn't give me a reason but I spoke to one of her relatives and they said Shelly was just rejected by Harvard."
"Oh God..." Clara shook her head. Everyone looked to her as she ran a hand through her hair. "That's our stresser."
"How could you tell?" Garcia asked from the speaker and when Clara looked up she noticed everyone else's questionable looks.
"Well have any of you ever been rejected by Harvard?" She asked with a laughed and they all shook their heads. "Trust me... that's our stresser." Clara rolled her eyes.
"Garcia does Shelly have an address?" Hotch ordered quickly.
"Uh she has two last knowns." She answered and after a few keyboard clicks she spoke again. "178 Greentree Ave, apartment three and 90 Parkveiw road." She answered.
"Alright." Hotch hung up on Penelope. "Rossi, Morgan and Walsh I want you to go to Park view the rest of us will go to Greetree." He said as everyone headed for the door
Rossi drove quickly to Parkveiw and when they saw the house they all knew Shelly was inside. "Big enough to keep the girls..." Rossi said to himself. He took point as Morgan and Clara followed him into the house. The house was all but dark, only the light from the windows shined through.
"Shelly Colby!" Morgan's voice rang out as he cleared the kitchen. "FBI!"
Rossi went up stairs and checked the rooms. Clara made it into the kitchen just as Morgan headed into the living room. She looked around and started to feel like something was off. Rossi had not come back from upstairs and Morgan was quiet. Clara gripped her gun tight as she walked slowly into the living room. She took another step and almost slipped back. She looked down quickly and that's when she noticed the smell.
"Morgan!" She called out quickly when she noticed the gasoline that was coated on the ground. She ran into the living room only to meet the end of knife.
"I knew you'd ind me eventually." Shelly's anger voice called from the middle of the room. Her hair was a mess and her think eye makeup was forced down her face by the tears. She was shaking and crying. Shelly had somehow knocked out Derek and he was laying unconscious next to her with a gun pointed to his head. As Clara looked at him she could tell he was also covered in gasoline. She sighed as Shelly pulled out a lighter.
"Shelly come on we only want to help you." Clara said softy as she heard Rossi's footsteps behind her.
"How many of there are you!" Shelly snapped once she saw Rossi.
"David go outside." Clara turned her head and asked nicely. "I just want to talk to Shelly, we don't need to make this worse." She whispered.
"I can't." Rossi shook his head.
"Please... if we all want to make it out of this unburned I suggest you let me handle it." She said and Rossi huffed as he walked back slowly. She knew Hotch would reprimand her later but right now all she cared about was getting Morgan and Shelly out of this. "Shelly, my name is Clara." She smiled kindly and lowered her gun. She kept it in her hands tightly but didn't aim.
"What do you want!" She screamed. "Can't you just leave me be!"
"I can't do that Shelly." Clara shook her head. "I want to help you."
"How could you possibly help me!" She yelled. "You don't know me! You don't know what it's like to be me!"
"I do know what it's like to be different." Clara added. "I know what's like to be rejected and I know how much you are hurting but Shelly... hurting others won't help."
"Those girls were asking for it!" Shelly yelled. "They pretended to like me and when I made my move they laughed at me!"
"Julie didn't laugh at you." Clara said. "Did she?" She asked.
"Julie was a liar!" Shelly yelled and her hand started to shake as she lit her lighter.
"Maybe she was, I didn't know her but you have hurt a lot of people Shelly." Clara said. "Not just those girls... but their families as well. Now I know you didn't mean for that but right now if you drop that lighter we all go up in flames and you would hurt even more people." Clara said taking a deep breath.
"You don't know anything." Shelly was now overly emotional, tears started to flow heaver and her voice was cracking.
"I do." Clara nodded in between breaths. "I know what it's like to be rejected by Harvard." Clara nodded. "I applied there when I was just a little younger than you and I didn't get it." Clara slowly took a step forward. She looked down and noticed Derek started to move. He was awake but couldn't more. The blood gushing from his head was probably the reason. "I know exactly how you feel and I know what it's like to not have anyone to talk to..." Clara sighed.
"How do I know your not lying." She huffed.
"I am many things Shelly but a liar isn't one of them." Clara shook her head. "But you have to find a way to deal with rejection and sadness that doesn't result in hurting people... it won't make you feel any better."
"I'll only be hurting myself!" She yelled as her hand shook. The flame in the lighter was bright and one wrong move she could set everyone and everything on fire. Clara looked down and around again and noticed the large cans in the corner of the room. The gasoline was lined up to each can and Clara could only assume they were meant to be a way to blow up the house. "Then it would all be over!" She yelled.
"You drop that and the two of us die with you." Clara said as she started to get desperate. "My partner by your feet... his name is Derek." Clara started and hoped she could appeal to Shelly's humanity. "He is getting married in one month to the love of his life. They want to have a family. Derek has two sisters and a mother who love him very much. If he dies so does his chance at a happy ending, and his fiance will never have kids." She sighed.
"Why should he be happy when I'm not!" She yelled.
"I agree with you but there is something else." Clara said. She slid her hand into her pocket to get her phone and when she flashed the screen saver Shelly saw the picture of Adrian. He was sitting at a piano playing with a very happy smile on his face. "That's Adrian and he is 15." Clara sighed as Shelly's eyes filled with more tears. "I'm the only family he has in the whole world... he is a lonely child and his mother and father are dead. You kill me and that boys chances of knowing what it's like to be alone are going to grow." Clara sighed.
It was quiet for a minuet. Shelly looked at Clara and then down at Derek. "No." She shook her head. "If I can't be happy then no one should be!" She screamed and as she was about to drop the lighter Clara aimed and shot her in the shoulder. Shelly yelled out in pain as she fell back. Clara had hoped her grip on the lighters handle would be lost but it wasn't.
"No." Clara whispered as she raced forward to try to stop her from lighting the path but she was too late. Shelly lay on the ground looking up at Clara who raced to Derek and her side. Shelly picked up the knife and jabbed it into her chest. Clara tried to stop her but the path of gasoline was quickly set on fire and it was racing toward the cans. Clara grabbed Derek by the shoulders and dragged him back. She didn't have time to reach the door but there was a small thickly walled closet down the hall and Clara thought that would be their best option.
Derek was heavy and she struggled but she couldn't let go. She had seconds to spare as she slid him into the closet and just managed to get the door closed with her back just as the fire reached the can. In the blink of an eye the entire living room was on fire and then the cans exploded. Clara pressed her back against the door and felt the house shake. She reached the knob to stand up but it was very hot and it singed her skin he moment she touched it.
Sirens could be heard from outside as the whole team watched as the house exploded. They were all frozen in shock as the firemen rushed in. Hotch was beyond pissed that Clara had sent Rossi out but once he saw the house catch fire he knew she was trying to lower the risk of them all dying. He took a deep breath as the firefighter pulled out the first body.
"Stab wound to the chest and single GSW to the right shoulder." The paramedic called out. Hotch rushed forward to see who it was and let out a sigh of relief when he saw it was Shelly.
"Will she make it?" Hotch asked as they wheeled Shelly to the ambulance.
"She has god chances." The medic nodded.
Hotch and the rest of the team turned their attentions to the house. They could hear someone screaming from inside and everyone started to panic.
Clara could feel the heat from the door and along with her hand it started to burn. She looked around and knew she didn't have much time until the flame got through the door. She looked down at Derek who still couldn't move and sighed. His shirt and bullet proof vest were soaked in gasoline. So she acted quickly. She ripped his vest off and pulled his shirt off. A few first degree burns would be better than his whole torso catching fire. However she made the mistake of throwing his soaked shirt on her shoulder. She didn't even realize until she kicked the door open and the shirt caught fire.
Clara screamed out in pain as the shirt on her shoulder caught fire quickly and burned through her own shirt. She held her breath as she pulled Derek to his feet and dragged him out. She made sure to avoid he flames but as she shielded him from getting burned she didn't protect herself that well. The shoulder of her long-sleeved blouse had burned away and part of the middle did as well. She had cursed herself for not wearing anything under and once the shirt had burned off completely all that the flames could get to were her back, stomach, and bra.
Clara could barely see through the smoke but she could see light. "Hello!" A loud and low voice called out.
"Help! Over here!" Clara yelled and when she looked up again she saw a firefighter. "Take him... he's hurt." She said pushing Derek toward him. She fell back and with all the smoke the firefighter didn't even hear her or see her push Derek. All he saw was a man falling toward him.
The firefighter took Derek and threw him over his shoulders and left Clara behind, she didn't even make another call for help. Clara was breathing heavily and the smoke was starting to hit her. She fell to the ground barely able to breathe. She crawled toward the door but by the time she took one stride forward a beam from above had come crashing down on her. She screamed out in pain again as the beam fell across her back pinning her down. Clara had lost sighed of the firefighter and any light from the door. She started to panic and with all her strength tried to push the beam off of her.
"Head wound!" Hotch had heard a firefighter call as he ran from the house. Everyone could tell it was Derek who was thrown over his shoulders. Once the man had put Derek on a stretcher he opened his eyes.
"Morgan you alright?" Rossi asked quickly.
"My head hurts...where's my shirt?" He asked and when he sat up he saw the house. "OH god... where is Clara!?" He asked right away.
"Who?" The firefighter asked quickly.
"The girl I was with where is she!" Derek yelled.
"Sir there wasn't anyone with you... you passed out and I grabbed you.." He shrugged.
"There is another agent in that house." Hotch said quickly. He turned and noticed that the other firefighters had stopped going in and two were running away. "Get back in there!" He yelled.
"The structure has been compromised." The chief said from behind him.
"I still have an agent in there!" Hotch yelled.
"And I'm terribly sorry but I can't put my guys at risk." The chief said.
"What!" Derek yelled as he jumped from the stretcher. "That's your job!" He yelled as he started to feel dizzy. "Get back in there! What if she is passed out or being crush to death!" Derek's heart started to beat quickly.
"Then you have my sympathy but we can not help." The chief shook his head with a sigh. "I'm sorry. We have our own protocols to follow."
"Hotch..." Derek turned and Hotch looked just as mortified as he was.
"I..." He started. For the first time in a long time Hotch didn't know what to do.
"What do we do?" JJ and the other rushed up.
Clara could feel her skin heating up and no doubt it was burning as she lay with a beam across her back. She struggled as much as she could but once the smoke hit her lungs it was getting harder and harder to breathe and move. "No... No not like this." She begged. "Please." She said as she tried and tire to push the beam.
When the thought of her death scared Clara. The tears started to collect in her eyes and fell. The tears were cold while the heat raised around her. The panic started to set in and her breaths were shallow and unsteady. While she struggled she couldn't help but scream out in pain and fear. Her life started to flash before her eyes and she could believe how quickly it went by.
Her mother, father, John, Bobby, Jessica, Ellen, Jo, Ash, Penelope, Spencer, Derek, JJ, David, and Arron. All their smiles started to flash by her and the tears continued. Then Adrian's face flashed and she screamed. "No..." She screamed again as she finally pushed the beam off. She was no longer crushed but she couldn't move anymore. Sam's voice started to call for her.
"You can't give up." He begged and she closed her eyes as she pulled her arms forward and started to crawl. "Come on Clara! They need you!" He begged again. "Please!"
Clara was so close to the door that she could feel the fresh air but as she reached forward to roll down the front stairs another beam fell in front of her and cut her off. "NO!" She cried as tears continued to fall.
"Clara..." Sam and Dean's voice started to call to her as she pushed her body away from the flames that started to get closer. Her shoulders and back were already pretty badly burned.
"Please..." She whispered out one last time before her eyes slowly started to roll back in her head. Once they had closed she tried not to panic and just tried to be at peace. She took in a few short breaths before her air was completely cut off and she started to suffocate.