RUNAWAY
CHAPTER THIRTY...!
❝ DON'T LET HIM WIN , SEASON
SEVEN ❞
WORRY spread through Detective Will LaMontagne like a wildfire.
Sat in the backseat of the of the Unsubs' Vehicle, with The King driving, and The Queen sat in the passenger seat, utterly terrifying thoughts penetrated his mind. The last he checked, Jennie had been left in the Community Bank while it blew up, as the criminals forced him into their car, needing him for some form of leverage. But other than that, he had no clue on the current status of the teen girl.
All he could do was hope she was okay.
"Change in location. Get back to Pennsylvania." The female unsub told her partner, after her phone call.
The words had struck bitter, as the man glared at the woman momentarily, before dramatically pulling the vehicle over into an alleyway.
"I'm not going anywhere, until you tell me the plan."
For a flickering moment, Will could see the woman fight back a smirk, before raising her gun to her partner's chest.
Shots fired.
Will flinched at the blaring noise, leaning into his seat, "What are you doing?"
The unsub spared the dead man in her driver's seat one last glance, before bringing the gun over to the detective, "He talks too much. Go ahead, Officer. Get him out."
"And do what? Just leave him here?"
"Yes please."
The man paused momentarily, watching the woman beam sickly at the thought of the dead man, while the detective's breathing got heavier by the minute.
"I can't drive. I'm injured." Will told the woman, his hand being pressed on his prior gunshot wound. Although, really, the shock he was in had nearly overruled the pain.
With his words, the unsub fought back another smile.
"That's what she's here for."
Will's eyebrows pinched in confusion, before the door beside him opened on cue, revealing Jennie Hotchner, in the grasp of Matthew Downs.
"Hi, Will." Matthew smiled sickly to the detective, using his free hand to pat the man on his shoulder. In the other, his fingers dug into the skin of Jennie's shoulder, his grip tightened.
Will's eyes glanced back and forth from the girl and the male unsub. Meanwhile, Jennie had done her best to avoid the man's gaze. She felt weak; vulnerable — traits that she had always wanted to stray away from. She was embarrassed of herself. And the utter embarrassment caused her to not be able to look Will LaMontagne in the face in that very moment.
She hated people seeing her like this.
Before the detective could even think about saying anything, Matthew reached beside the man, grabbing the box labeled 'First Aid Kit' from the floor, and handing it over to Jennie.
"Work your magic, my friend."
Will's eyes widened slightly, processing the situation. There was no way they could go to an ER without the feds catching them, so she was their last resort. They wanted Jennie, a 19-year-old girl who still slept with the same blanket she's had ever since she was born, to patch up his excruciating wounds.
The wildfire of worry was spreading.
—
THE unsubs watched carefully as Will moved to the concrete floor beneath him, while Jennie kneeled next to him, opening up the aid kit.
"Will." Her voice was hushed, but it's fragile tone was still audible, "Will, I don't know what I'm doing. I don't know how to do this. I don't know."
"It's okay." The detective tried to reassure her, "It's okay, Jennie. I'll guide you, okay?"
Jennie only shook her head, her thoughts being too loud to keep inside her mind, ultimately causing her to begin to ramble as she began to tend the wound.
"I mean— I've patched up wounds before, but it's usually for Jack's torn up stuffed animals. And in case you haven't noticed, you're not a torn up stuffed animal!"
"Jennie—"
"I know, I know—" She continued, now applying firm pressure onto the wound, "I'm not helping with your heart rate. Which, by the way, I can feel beating very rapidly. I mean, like, duh. You were shot. So, it's kinda inevitable. But also— it feels like it's gonna beat out of your chest. Oh my God— can that happen? Can your heart beat so much that it pops out of your chest? What if your heart just shoots out?!"
"Jen—"
"Okay, I'm gonna need you to keep that heart in your body. Okay? Keep it in. Because— I really don't know what to do in that situation. I'm only up to season two of Grey's Anatomy. I still don't know what they mean when they talk about 'pushing one of epi'! What the hell is epi?! Not to mention, I just stopped right before the episode where the bomb is in the guy's butt. God— why did I stop right before that episode?!"
"Jennie."
His voice finally stopped the loquacious rambling, causing her to meet his eyes.
"You— You did it." He chuckled out, somewhat breathlessly, looking down at his (now-covered) wound, "You patched me up."
"I did?" She looked back at the wound, to see it now firmly bandaged. In the midst of her nervous rambling, she had bandaged up his injury to the best of her abilities "Holy shit, I did."
Maybe her nervous rambling wasn't always a bad thing.
"And now, " The teen looked down at her hands, "I'm covered in your blood. Wow. Talk about bonding experience."
"Jennie."
"Right— sorry. Bad time."
—
"What's wrong?"
"Will's license is gone. They know where we live."
—
JENNIE was now sat in the back of the vehicle, with Matthew in the passenger seat, and Will in the driver's.
Following their plan, the unsubs had forced Will to let The Queen, Izzy, into his home. By doing this, Henry was left, supervised by a woman who had shot nearly ten people in the span of one morning. Afterwards, he and the teen girl were stuck in the car with Matthew Downs.
Oh, and not to mention, due to previous outbursts, the unsubs had placed zip-ties over her wrists, having her arms practically glued together.
When Will finally glanced at the rearview mirror, he had to fight the urge to widen his eyes, seeing the girl try to discreetly reach for her phone, that she had previously hid under the seat. Her eyes focused on Matthew, making sure he wouldn't turn around to see her with the device, before they switched back to Will in the mirror.
She couldn't say anything, knowing that any little noise would pique Matthew's curiosity, and ultimately cause him to look at her. Instead, she only nodded at Will, indicating that she knew what she was doing.
Swiftly, with her phone hung low, she opened up her messages, and began to type 'he's leading us to the big bank', in hopes that the team would see it, and meet them there. However, with her phone hanging low (so Matthew wouldn't see it), it was too far to be in her eye-level, causing the teen to base her typing strictly on muscle memory. And with the zip-ties on her arms, it made the task immensely difficult.
That ended up causing the text message to look a bit different than she wanted it to look like.
FROM : JENNIE H. — TO : GROUPCHAT
hes leadingb us to thd big bamksw
FROM : KEVIN L. — TO : GROUPCHAT
What
Before Jennie could sigh at Kevin's response, the voice of Matthew interrupted her.
"Stop here."
He spoke, looking out the window, seeing the frontal of the most populous bank in Virginia. Jennie looked out the tinted window, instinctively biting her cheek as she saw how many people were in the building.
"Stay put, alright?" Matthew smiled sickly at the girl, his hand on the car's door handle, "This will be quick. I'll be back soon."
"Oh, goody-gumdrops." Jennie muttered sarcastically, avoiding eye contact with the man by looking out the window. She knew it was evidentially idiotic to display her annoyance towards the man in such a scoffing manner, but at this point— she could've cared less.
Honestly, if Matthew Downs really wanted to kill her, he could've done it by now.
Shortly after, the unsub and Will had left the vehicle, and walked into the bank. Matthew had kept a firm hand on the detective's shoulder, guiding him to where he wanted him to go. The sight only made the girl's stomach flip.
"Stupid Matthew" She muttered to herself after a long pause, as she leaned back into her seat, "Stupid Izzy. Stupid Face-Cards. Stupid— everything. Everything is so stupid."
She sighed, as her head hit the seat. A thousand thoughts penetrated her mind, and yet— not one was helpful for her in this situation. Not one thought could guide her into safety. Not one could save her.
Her eyes began to glisten as she shook her head, speaking quietly to herself, "Shit. What are you doing, Jennie?"
Really— what was she doing? The girl who once drove an awaiting explosive ambulance was currently sitting hopeless in a criminal's vehicle. She had spent her life, trying to make sure the bad guys she encountered always got what they deserved. Making sure that they never came back. Making sure that no matter what— they never won their game.
After everything, was she really about to let Matthew Downs win?
It took her a second to come to her conclusion.
But— no. No, she wasn't.
After an extended moment, she finally came up with a plan. She had brought her knees up to her chest, untying the shoelaces of her black Converse All-Star's. There, she threaded the lace into the zip-ties on her wrists. Subsequently, she turned and laid her body on the leather seats of the car. It was an utterly confusing thought process, but she did her best to piece it together in her mind.
"Shit." She sighed, processing her plans, as her back hit the seats, "This is gonna hurt."
Swiftly, she then kicked her feet away from her chest, ultimately jerking off the zip-ties in the process.
"Mother of—" She winced at the pain from the tight grip being ripped off of her wrists, before sighing heavily, "It is so scary I know how to do that."
She then brought herself back up to her normal sitting position, attempting to open the car door. But, of course, it was locked.
Really, she should've guessed.
She bit the inside of her cheek, as she looked around the interior of the car, trying to think of her next plan of action. Thankfully, one came to her mind when her eyes landed on the head rest of the seat in front of her.
"You may have not finished Grey's Anatomy, but God knows you've watched your fair share of crime films." The teen girl reminded herself, quietly, as she wasted no time to unfasten the headrest off of the seat.
There, with the headrest in her hands, she then used all of her strength to smash it into the window.
A thick beat of silence filled the air, before chuckling in utter surprise and relief as the glass broke into cinders.
"I'm so mad no one saw how cool that was." She muttered to herself, the adrenaline beginning to rush through her body, before she began to climb out the window.
Before she could completely leave the car, she made sure to take the headrest with her.
Who knows? She might need it for later.
—
"Hotch, I got the suspect running out the East wing!" Morgan yelled into his piece, before quickly running after Matthew Downs out the bank.
—
JENNIE hadn't even noticed how far away she walked, until she realized the bank was no longer in her view. She really didn't know where she was going, but she only hoped she'd find something quickly.
Walking down the chilly streets of Quantico, she received several odd looks from people walking past her. She wasn't too surprised. I mean— a wounded girl walking around with a leather headrest, with her shoelaces untied, wasn't a sight you see everyday.
She seemed too lost in her own thoughts to think properly. That is, until she had bumped into an older woman in front of her, ultimately snapping her back into reality.
"Oh. Are you okay, honey?" The stranger asked, her voice gentle towards the teen.
"Yeah, I'm—"
Jennie cut herself off, seeing something in the distance. When she looked closer, her eyes widened, a familiar face causing relief to hit her.
"Derek."
Despite how confusing it was for the stranger she had bumped into, Jennie wasted no time to swiftly run over to where Derek Morgan was. The utter relief had washed over her completely, so she didn't even take account to the fact that the man was running into an alleyway.
That is, until she followed him into said alleyway, to see the man struggling with Matthew Downs.
The two were in a brawl, practically. When Matthew tried to climb up the fence nearby, Derek had dragged him down. And when Derek had tried to restrain the man, Matthew had pushed him against the garbage cans. Everything happened so fast, yet seemed to be moving in slow motion.
Jennie didn't know what to do. But when she saw Matthew pin the agent against the garbage cans, with his hands choking his neck— only one bittersweet thought sharply penetrated her mind.
Don't let him win.
Her grip tightened on the headrest in her hands, with her knuckles turning lighter, as she swiftly made her way over to the two.
Thud.
She did in fact need the headrest for later.
Matthew stumbled back due to the object hitting him in the head, and in that moment, Jennie's adrenaline had shot through the roof.
She wanted revenge.
"I am so sick and tired of this bullshit." The girl thundered, continuing to hit the object against him between every couple words, until he finally fell to the ground. Morgan watched with wide-eyes, with a hand on his neck as he tried to regain his normal breathing pattern.
He watched Jennie Hotchner, the girl he watched grow up, just knock someone out.
Like— actually knock someone out.
After a brief pause, filled with Morgan trying to process the situation that had just happened, Jennie sighed as she tossed the headrest onto the ground beneath her.
"Please tell me that counts as self defense." The teen finally inquired, breaking the silence, panting slightly due to the fight, "Because I really can't afford to go to jail right now."
At the joke, he could only sigh in relief.
"JenJen, oh my—" Morgan exhaled while chuckling softly, swiftly moving over to her, and pulling the girl into the tightest hug.
In the man's arms, Jennie could finally find herself feeling the sense of safety that she had missed all day. Her eyes squeezed shut, as she soaked in the longing moment.
Honestly, she didn't want the hug to end.
But when it did, Morgan briskly moved over to Matthew, placing handcuffs over the man's wrists, before beginning the signature 'you have the right to remain silent' speech. Although, he made sure to make a mental note stating that once Matthew was behind bars, Derek Morgan would give Jennie Hotchner the longest hug known to mankind.
Meanwhile, as the agent took away the unsub, the teen had sighed, rubbing a tired hand over her face, leaning against the wall. At this point, her eyes had sunk, the day's events making her utterly tired.
That is, until she heard a relieved voice walk into the alleyway. And suddenly— she was awake again.
"Jennie."
She knew that voice.
It was the voice of her favorite person.
"Dad."
Without a second to spare, the teen turned around, and swiftly rushed over to the man, as he impatiently pulled the teen into his secure embrace. He held her tightly, the smell of her perfume hitting his nose, and offering him a sense of comfort.
He had missed her so much.
"Honey." His voice was slightly more vulnerable, she could tell. It was the voice mixed with worry and relief, along with sorrow and guilt. It was the voice that never failed to make her eyes glisten. It was the voice that always made her lean more into his hugs.
Subsequently, the father pressed a long kiss onto her forehead, utter relief filling his body, before holding her again, her head placed under his chin.
And as she stood there, in his arms, she couldn't help but allow her eyes to begin to fill with water.
It was over.
It was all finally over.
—
AUTHOR'S NOTE |
FINALLY I FINISHED THIS CHAPTER PLEASE
i'm so sorry for the long wait 😭 life has been hectic and season finales are always some of the hardest to write— but here we are!!! thank you so much for being so patient!! i promise quicker updates are coming soon
i'm also half asleep rn so i can almost guarantee there are quite of mistakes in this vv rushed chapter. i am begging you to close ur eyes and pretend you do not see it!!! 😁 thanks !!!
okok that's it for now!! thank u for reading & see you next chapter!! (which is halfway done & will hopefully come out tmr 🙈🙈)
word count.
2901.