Philophobia

Five; Burned Out

April 29th, 2010
3:04 pm
Virginia Route Sixty-Six
Virginia

One black Chevy Tahoe sped down the highway, a second trailing behind. Both were going slightly over the speed limit in an attempt to reach their location. The first car was driven by Hotch. Eliza and Reid sat in the back. Originally, it was just Eliza, but Hotch had insisted that Reid sit with her in the back to calm her nerves. In the second car, Rossi was driving. Morgan was in the passenger's seat, JJ in the back.

The silence of the car Eliza was sitting in made her wish she'd entered the car with JJ, Morgan, and Rossi. She hadn't spent much time with Hotch, and he intimidated her.

"We're about ten minutes away," Hotch informed the back row.

"Thank you," Reid replied. He turned to Eliza, who was looking out the window. He could see her foot tapping lightly, her breathing slightly faster than the normal person's. "You okay?"

"Yes. Why do you ask?" She asked, turning to face him.

"Your breathing is slightly faster than usual," he stated.

"How would you know that?"

"I'm a profiler," he muttered.

"I'm not usually allowed out in the field. Clyde says I'm too precious to lose."

"You've never been in the field?" Reid looked surprised.

"I have, I just hate doing so."

"Everything is going to be fine," Reid smiled. Almost subconsciously, Reid grabbed her hand, lacing his fingers through hers. Realizing what he had done, he tried to pull his hand away, but Eliza gripped his hand tighter. Their hands remained interlocked until the car pulled to the front of the apartment building.

"Ready?" Hotch asked as he unbuckled his seatbelt.

"Yes Sir," Eliza replied, unlacing her hand from Reids and unbuckling her own seatbelt. She got out of the car as Hotch did, leaving Reid alone.

"Let's go!" Hotch called as he knocked on the window. By the time Reid got out, the other car had pulled up behind theirs. JJ, Morgan, and Rossi were chuckling as they exited the car. With Eliza and Hotch inside talking to the landlord, they approached Reid.

"Have a nice ride?" Rossi asked.

"Of course he did! He was sitting in the back seat with his London love!" JJ smiled.

"Hotch WAS in the car though. Couldn't have had too much fun!" Morgan finished. They began laughing again as Eliza and Hotch exited the building.

"Apartment 13. Floor seven," Hotch informed the group. Once the bulletproof vests were on, the team began ascending the staircase to floor seven. As they did, they heard a scream followed by footsteps.

"HELP ME!" the voice called again. It was a women's voice. "PLEASE HELP ME!" Hotch held his finger to his lips, informing the team to be silent. They nodded, allowing Hotch and Morgan to begin climbing the stairs before them. The two had only made it up a couple of stairs before a woman ran into their arms, almost knocking Hotch off his feet. "Please...please," she begged, "please, they're going to kill me!"

"Who is?" Morgan asked softly.

"PLEASE!" she screamed again.

"Doyle, Reid, take her outside," Hotch instructed the two. They nodded, taking the girl into the front hallway. "Doyle, before you go."

"Yes?"

"Is that..."

"Yeah."

April 29th, 2010
3:14 pm
Apartment 13, the Marshell Apartment Complex
Haymarket, Virginia