The sound of a helicopter overhead caught Erin's attention, and she tightened her hand almost painfully around Alex's. "Do you hear that?" she whispered harshly, watching the woman nod slowly. "See, I knew that they would find us, and that everything would be all right."

"We're not rescued quite yet, Erin."

"I know, but that sliver of hope has started to grow in size." Alex nodded and squeezed her hand back before shaking it a little. Erin relaxed her grip a little as they continued to listen carefully to the noises around them. It seemed as if the helicopter was hovering above the house, which meant that they were searching for John outside the house, and she wondered just where he was. "I'm thinking that the fact he hasn't set off the bombs yet is that he's still somewhere in the house. Would you agree?"

Alex nodded again. "That seems to be the most logical outcome, since his ego doesn't account for suicide by cop. If I had to hazard a guess, John is hiding somewhere on the second floor, since that will give him the upper hand when they break in to get to him. You still have your phone, yes?"

"Yes."

"Can you get it out of your pocket?"

"I can try." Erin was reluctant to let go of Alex's hand, but she knew that it was necessary if they were going to make certain that they were rescued and kept their friends safe. Still, her arm shook from exertion as she tried to contort it in such a manner as to fish the device from her cardigan. Finally, on the sixth try, she was able to grab hold of it, and she turned it off airplane mode. A number of notifications started to come through, and she ignored those as she unlocked the device and then gave the voice command to call Penelope on speaker.

"Erin?!"

It was a relief to hear the younger woman's voice and still, it took a few moments before she was able to answer her. "Yes. Alex and I are alive, thanks to you. I know that you sent the helicopter and sent the team to our location."

"Yes, well, you were smart enough to text Rossi. I'm just so glad that you weren't caught!"

"John was otherwise occupied with Alex. Now, the reason I'm calling. John is somewhere in the house, but we don't know where. The helicopter has him spooked, though, near as we both can figure. Since we're trapped down in the basement, we think that the only reason we're still alive is that he is trying to find a way out of the house without getting captured or killed."

"Why would…."

"Erin's not telling you that we're strapped to explosives, and so John won't set them off as long as he's in the house with us. Which is why he's most likely trying to find a way out. He's not the type to be taken alive or dead."

"What? You should have led with that, Erin! I need to contact the bomb squad and get them on the way."

"No, what you need to do first is call Agent Morgan and let him know that we're safe, for the moment, and he needs to take the utmost care when it comes to entering the house. Have him try to find a blind spot along the perimeter and use that to his advantage. Tell him that under no uncertain circumstances is he allowed to let David or Aaron anywhere near the house, because my children need at least one of their parents to survive this fiasco. And I know that they'll protest, which is why you need to get Agent Jareau to stay behind as well. It's not that Doctor Reid and Agent Morgan are expendable, it's that they'll have clearer minds without worrying about what their children will be told."

"You know that no one will agree to that, Erin."

"But you have to try. Please, Penny, just try."

"I will, Er – " Her words were cut off suddenly, and Erin looked at her phone to see that the battery had died.

"I guess that's the end of our contact with the outside world for a while. I should have conserved my battery a little better."

"At least you were able to contact Penelope before it died. And trust you to look out for the parents on your team."

Erin shrugged a little as she dropped the phone back into her pocket before taking hold of Alex's hand once more. "It's true. My mind has been divided between my family and my job ever since we knew that it was John who was after me. So I know that the same must be true for Jennifer and Aaron and my David. I know, it's selfish of me, but I want those families not to hear the worst. Especially after what I went through with Foyet."

"I understand," Alex replied soothingly as they stiffened, hearing footsteps on the floor above them. There were multiple people, from the sound of it, which told Erin that the team had breached the house. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as the first sound of gunshots filled the house above them, telling her that the firefight had begun, and she clutched tightly to Alex's hand as the sounds continued above them.

"How long do you think this will take?" she choked out, and Alex shook her head. "I hate not knowing. I hate being blind like this."

"I feel the same way. But we're going to get through this together." She nodded and tried to take a few deep breaths in order to calm her racing heart. Alex squeezed her hand a few times, the only indication that she was just as discombobulated as Erin was. "When we're home, what's the first thing that you're going to do?"

"Hug my babies. But the first thing I'm going to do when I'm set free from this damned chair is kiss David, and then hug you. Maybe not in that order. It all depends on how things go down. And I know that we'll get you back to James as soon as possible, I promise." Erin wanted to say more, but another hail of bullets began to spatter the air, and her grip on Alex's hand tightened as they looked upwards at the sound of a door being kicked down.

"That was Morgan," Alex muttered, and Erin nodded. "How much has he cost the Bureau in doors over the course of his career?"

"Too much," she wryly replied, grateful for the opportunity to find a moment of levity in their captivity. "But I'm hoping that the door he just kicked down was the one John was hiding behind. I hope that they take him alive. I want him to suffer in prison for a long time to come for what he did to us. Does that make me a bad person?"

"No, it makes you human. And what John did to you was so far beyond that pale that he should rot behind bars until the day he dies." Erin rubbed her lips together as she nodded. "Take my mind off all this. Tell me a story about your children. I feel like I'll go mad if we just listen to what's happening outside our control."

"Of course, Lexie." She tapped her thumb against Alex's hand as she thought about the perfect story to tell her to keep their minds of what was going on above them.