"Had I not created my whole world, I would certainly have died in other people's."
-Anaïs Nin
/
One-by-one, they boarded the jet with heavy feet and droopy eyes. It was nearly three in the morning and they had a long flight ahead of them. That is, if they were able to get off of the ground in the first place. The pilot told them that traffic control was flip-flopping on the flying conditions with the blizzard that was forming. In the last hour alone, they switched between yes and no at least eight times.
The team didn't care. They felt that sitting in the seats and waiting would somehow get them home quicker.
Garcia had flown in on a commercial flight that morning, to join her team. She was bored in Little Rock and she didn't want to return to Quantico without them. Hotch was more than happy to cover the expense himself if Strauss made a stink. He had always been superstitious about arriving back with the same amount of people they left with.
Although-he rolled his head to glance at the couch to his right-he hoped there wasn't anything in the imaginary superstition handbook about coming back with more than they left with. Elizabeth Prentiss would have refused going back to Virginia in a regular plane-even if it were in first class. So of course, no one suggested it.
They would just have to have a crammed flight home. If anything, it would be cozy.
Once nearly everyone was seated, Emily poked her head in to inventory what spots were left. Her shoulders relaxed when she saw the seats next to and across from Aaron were vacant.
"Okay...easy does it." She whispered, clutching Molly's hand and helping her up the steps that led to the entrance. "You feeling okay?"
It had been a repeated question for the past three days. More than half the time, it went unanswered-because Molly could only say 'No, I feel like hell' so many times-but the redhead always tried to acknowledge her with a brief nod or a tight smile.
Five minutes. That's how long it took to bring her back to life.
For five minutes, Hotch and Rossi performed rigorous CPR on a woman who for all intents and purposes, should have been dead. But they were persistent. Not once did any of the team let it enter their minds that she wasn't going to survive. For some reason, that just never became an option.
An ambulance met them in the parking lot of the Veteran's Home, and took her to a nearby hospital-Molly nearly bolted off of the gurney when one of the paramedics suggested that she be treated at the retirement facility. But Hotch, who helped Emily push the terrified woman back on the cart, flashed his badge and insisted that they go elsewhere.
They would not make Molly in the same building as Laramie again. Her initial visit with him had done far too much damage to her psyche.
Surgeons repaired the damaged joints and ligaments in her shoulder-they had been stunned to see that only a couple of pieces of shrapnel remained implanted in the bones, when there should have been at least fifty more shards. Her ankle had a couple of minor breaks from her pencil dive into the shallow river, but they allowed her to travel back with a boot and have the operation to repair it done in Virginia.
Otherwise, she only had some cuts and bruises (a lot of which were on her ribs). She wasn't even hypothermic, as Emily had been. The doctors said it was due to the resistance she had built up from living in the Alaskan Tundra.
"Damn it." Molly grunted when they were halfway down the aisle. She placed her hands on the seat-tops on either side of them and wiggled her right leg. The squeak of metal filled their ears as she tried to adjust the damaged prosthetic.
Reid had grabbed it from the dam after the rest of the team were hurrying ahead with the barely conscious Molly in Derek's arms. It was lodged between two of the larger and gnarlier branches, but after some maneuvering (and a few tiny cuts with his pocket knife) the limb was freed from its prison.
Molly had actually laughed out loud when he came into her hospital room with it. A few of his teammates were amused by the sight as well. He had just looked so uncomfortable holding the titanium leg in his arms.
But when she put it on that morning, while waiting for her discharge papers, she actually looked up at the young genius and smiled softly. "Thanks." She sighed. Though it was short, it was genuine. She really didn't know what she would have done if she'd had to travel with a brace and a stump.
As soon as the debilitated contraption was adjusted, Molly straightened up and nodded to Emily who was frozen in her tracks. The whole team kept vigilance on her for the past 72 hours, as though if she were left on her own for more than three seconds, she would run off and cut off the first arm that reached out to stop her.
In reality, she was exhausted. More than anything else in the world she wanted to finish her list. But her body-and mind-wouldn't allow it.
"Sit here." Emily sat Molly in the seat across from Aaron before edging past him to plop down in the spot by the window.
Rossi, who had been reading his book quietly in the fourth seat, didn't even lift his eyes when they sat down. Prentiss was relieved by his discretion. She loved her team with her whole heart, but they were all prone to staring when they were at a loss for words.
And with Molly, it was impossible to even come close to the right words.
Hotch reached under the table and clutched Emily's hand. It was still cold. She had only spent one night in the hospital being treated for hypothermia. It was luckily a mild case, but it still scared him. All thoughts of scolding her for her actions in the river fell from his head when he visited her in her heated room.
She was pale with purple and red splotches marring her arms and neck, but she still looked like his Prentiss. His Emily. And he could never be stern with his Emily.
Silence filled the small space for ten minutes. Muffled voices from whatever slasher flick Garcia and Morgan were watching came from their shared set of headphones and every once in a while Dave or Spencer would flip a page in their books, but it was all white noise to them.
"Oh, thank God!" Derek couldn't help but exclaim when the jet finally began taxiing.
The rest of the group murmured their respective sounds of relief, only half-listening to the pilots announcement regarding their ETA and weather conditions.
Prentiss leaned back against the headrest and took a deep breath as she closed her eyes. She only opened them when she felt the unmistakable lurch in her stomach that only came with takeoff. But instead of rolling her head to stare at the town they were departing-she always loved watching the city lights fade beneath the clouds-her gaze fell on the sleepy redhead sitting diagonally from her.
If she used what little imagination that remained in her exhausted mind, she could pretend that Molly was just a regular sister-in-law. She was so normal looking-despite the lacerations on her face and the sling holding her arm. No one would have ever guessed that she had just spent nearly two months amputating limbs across the nation.
"We need to continue our discussion." Elizabeth's voice cut through her thoughts. Apparently, they disturbed Molly as well. She cringed and opened her eyes in tiny slits to look from Emily to her mother. The Ambassador was propped on the corner edge of the couch with her elbows rested on her crossed knees. "About what happens next."
"Mother, please." Prentiss sighed, resisting the urge to bury her face in Aaron's shoulder.
"Please what?" Elizabeth demanded, keeping her voice low so as not to disturb JJ who was sleeping in the spot next to her. "Darling, we'll be landing in Virginia in just a few hours and we have no idea where she'll be going!"
"She'll stay with me."
"And what will she do while you're at work? Or away for a case?" The older woman tilted her head with pursed lips. "Who will watch her?"
"I'm an adult." Molly muttered, fully opening her eyes and leveling a look at her. "And I'm right here."
"Yes. Yes you are an adult." Elizabeth nodded. "You're an adult who just suffered from a severe psychotic break. Do really think that it's a good idea for you to be left alone more than forty-hours a week?"
"She won't be alone." Prentiss interceded. "She'll be with Sergio."
Molly's brows arched. "Who's Sergio?"
"Her cat." Rossi said, still not looking away from his novel.
"Oh Emily, for goodness sakes!" Elizabeth huffed and leaned back and rubbing her forehead. "This isn't a game!"
"Well, do you have any suggestions?" Emily demanded, moving her glower from Rossi to her mother.
"Yes. She can stay with me."
The familiar sound of silence filled the back area of the jet. Aaron bit back a smirk at the wide-eyed look of panic that crossed Molly's face. She didn't even try to hide it as she looked between the two Prentiss women.
Emily stuttered a few times before clearing her throat and starting over. "Um, I'm sorry. With you?" She leaned around Hotch to get a better look at her matriarch, who had surely lost her mind.
"Yes, why not?" Elizabeth appeared to be offended with the skepticism in the faces that surrounded her. Even Dr. Reid, who had turned around in his seat at the front of the craft to listen in, appeared shocked. "I am her mother-in-law."
"You threatened to have me thrown in a Federal Penitentiary if I ever stepped foot in Virginia." Molly reminded her.
The Ambassador's eyes flickered back and forth as she tried to recall said threat. "Well, I obviously retract that embargo." She said flippantly. Her shoulders sagged and she decided to take a different approach. "I'm semi-retired, I have nowhere to be, and the house is large and quite secure. You can't tell me that it's not a better arrangement."
Emily cringed and considered her words. She absolutely hated it when her mother was right. As she looked up at Molly, she already felt guilty.
Molly groaned. She didn't have a choice in any of this. She knew that. If it weren't for her immunity-both diplomatic and CIA enforced-she would be on her way to a state run mental institution right now. Of course, she would be seeing a therapist twice a week for the next year and she was going to begin the overdue process of retiring from the Assassin's Unit. Emily had told her that they were going to give her as clean a slate as possible.
Knowing that she had won, Elizabeth smiled a genuine soft smile, at the young woman. "We can retire together darling."
They were meant to be sweet words of camaraderie, but they'd sounded vaguely threatening in Molly's ears.