The Waste Land, 27/?
Title: The Waste Land
Rating: PG-13
Fandom: Criminal Minds
Characters/Pairing: Team-centric - gen
Genre: Drama/Suspense
Summary: Part Three: George Foyet has returned. His isn’t going to let the BAU forget his legacy. Ever.
Warnings: Character Death
The Waste Land
Part Three: The Reaper’s Gambit
And then-the watcher at his pulse took fright.
No one believed. They listened at his heart.
Little-less-nothing!-and that ended it.
No more to build on there. And they, since they
Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs.
Robert Frost - Out, Out-
To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
William Shakespeare
Chapter One - Ode to my Family (JJ)
Sleep catches her once or twice throughout the day, but never for very long. Every time she wakes, Will is still sitting by her side, and when he notices that her eyes are open, he’ll flash that charming Southern smile of his.
‘Any news?’ she groans, as she wakes for what feels like the thousandth time. His expression is a little more serious now.
‘Agent Morgan was in here briefly,’ he reveals. ‘They’ve found Reid, and he’s alive, but that’s all I know.’
JJ blinks.
That’s good news. It’s not “Reid was never actually kidnapped in the first place, he just got caught up reading periodicals at the local library” but it’s better than “Reid’s dead.”
‘Find someone,’ she rasps. ‘Hotch, or Morgan…I need to…’
It’s kind of ridiculous; not even confined to a hospital bed can she pull herself away from the job. It’s like there’s some kind of mysterious magnetism, forever pulling her towards it. No escape.
What’s even scarier is that she doesn’t mind so much. The job is her life, just as much as Will and Henry are. At the same time, though, she’s not Hotch - if it comes down to a choice, then it’s not even going to be a difficult one. Hopefully, though, that’s not a decision she’s ever going to need to make.
Ten minutes later, Will returns with Morgan, whose brow seems as though it’s permanently creased. ‘How’re you doing?’ he asks her, in a strained voice.
‘Think I’m going to need to take some field leave,’ she replies, in a much weaker voice than she had intended. ‘What happened?’
Morgan hesitates. If it were Hotch, hesitation would have been a major warning bell, but Morgan isn’t Hotch - he has a completely different style to the Unit Chief. Things would be different with Morgan in charge. Weird, but different.
‘We got a phone call…from the Reaper. He killed our unsub, and left a message.’
JJ can feel her eyes widening. ‘Reid?’
‘He’s fine. He’ll have a few scars, but that’s the job, right?’ JJ doesn’t even need to ask to know that he’s talking about both mental and physical scars, because Morgan’s right. That is the job.
The Reaper, though…They’d prepared for this eventuality, but it had fallen to the wayside after the revelation that they had been dealing with a copycat. To know that he’s back, after everything they’ve already been through.
It sucks, to put it lightly. Really, really lightly.
There’s a reason why they usually have at least three or four days between cases. Try as they might to prove otherwise, the team is only human. They can’t function like this - if two agents hospitalized is what they get from a copycat, then she can only imagine what’s going to come out of the Reaper himself.
The Reaper seems a fitting name.
Harbinger of death.
The question really is, “whose death?”
‘Reid said that the Reaper told him he’d kidnapped some girls - we’ll know more when he’s conscious. Hotch wants to give him a cognitive interview.’
JJ almost laughs. ‘Is it likely that he’s even forgotten anything?’
‘We’ll see,’ Morgan says grimly.
JJ tries to pull herself into a seated position, trying not to wince at the pain that shoots through her abdomen. ‘The doctor says I can get out of here by tomorrow - I can help.’
Her suggestion is met by immediate dismissal from both Morgan and Will.
‘You’re still recovering, JJ,’ Morgan says, while Will simultaneously declares, ‘Over my dead body.’
JJ rolls her eyes. It’s just her luck to be with two of the most protective men she has ever met in her lifetime. Still, she doubts that Rossi or Hotch or any other member of the team would have a different response; that’s family for you.
‘I’ve booked a hotel room; you’re going to spend the next seven days resting, chere,’ Will assures her, though it’s not much of an assurance. As much as she enjoys resting, she’s not sure she can do it while the Reaper is on the loose.
‘And we’re going to post a guard on your room,’ Morgan adds. ‘Chances are, he’s going to go after one of the team.’
‘Is that what the profile says?’
‘That’s what the profile says,’ Morgan confirms.
It’s not a particularly comforting thought.
Rating: PG-13
Fandom: Criminal Minds
Characters/Pairing: Team-centric - gen
Genre: Drama/Suspense
Summary: Part Three: George Foyet has returned. His isn’t going to let the BAU forget his legacy. Ever.
Warnings: Character Death
The Waste Land
Part Three: The Reaper’s Gambit
And then-the watcher at his pulse took fright.
No one believed. They listened at his heart.
Little-less-nothing!-and that ended it.
No more to build on there. And they, since they
Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs.
Robert Frost - Out, Out-
To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
William Shakespeare
Chapter One - Ode to my Family (JJ)
Sleep catches her once or twice throughout the day, but never for very long. Every time she wakes, Will is still sitting by her side, and when he notices that her eyes are open, he’ll flash that charming Southern smile of his.
‘Any news?’ she groans, as she wakes for what feels like the thousandth time. His expression is a little more serious now.
‘Agent Morgan was in here briefly,’ he reveals. ‘They’ve found Reid, and he’s alive, but that’s all I know.’
JJ blinks.
That’s good news. It’s not “Reid was never actually kidnapped in the first place, he just got caught up reading periodicals at the local library” but it’s better than “Reid’s dead.”
‘Find someone,’ she rasps. ‘Hotch, or Morgan…I need to…’
It’s kind of ridiculous; not even confined to a hospital bed can she pull herself away from the job. It’s like there’s some kind of mysterious magnetism, forever pulling her towards it. No escape.
What’s even scarier is that she doesn’t mind so much. The job is her life, just as much as Will and Henry are. At the same time, though, she’s not Hotch - if it comes down to a choice, then it’s not even going to be a difficult one. Hopefully, though, that’s not a decision she’s ever going to need to make.
Ten minutes later, Will returns with Morgan, whose brow seems as though it’s permanently creased. ‘How’re you doing?’ he asks her, in a strained voice.
‘Think I’m going to need to take some field leave,’ she replies, in a much weaker voice than she had intended. ‘What happened?’
Morgan hesitates. If it were Hotch, hesitation would have been a major warning bell, but Morgan isn’t Hotch - he has a completely different style to the Unit Chief. Things would be different with Morgan in charge. Weird, but different.
‘We got a phone call…from the Reaper. He killed our unsub, and left a message.’
JJ can feel her eyes widening. ‘Reid?’
‘He’s fine. He’ll have a few scars, but that’s the job, right?’ JJ doesn’t even need to ask to know that he’s talking about both mental and physical scars, because Morgan’s right. That is the job.
The Reaper, though…They’d prepared for this eventuality, but it had fallen to the wayside after the revelation that they had been dealing with a copycat. To know that he’s back, after everything they’ve already been through.
It sucks, to put it lightly. Really, really lightly.
There’s a reason why they usually have at least three or four days between cases. Try as they might to prove otherwise, the team is only human. They can’t function like this - if two agents hospitalized is what they get from a copycat, then she can only imagine what’s going to come out of the Reaper himself.
The Reaper seems a fitting name.
Harbinger of death.
The question really is, “whose death?”
‘Reid said that the Reaper told him he’d kidnapped some girls - we’ll know more when he’s conscious. Hotch wants to give him a cognitive interview.’
JJ almost laughs. ‘Is it likely that he’s even forgotten anything?’
‘We’ll see,’ Morgan says grimly.
JJ tries to pull herself into a seated position, trying not to wince at the pain that shoots through her abdomen. ‘The doctor says I can get out of here by tomorrow - I can help.’
Her suggestion is met by immediate dismissal from both Morgan and Will.
‘You’re still recovering, JJ,’ Morgan says, while Will simultaneously declares, ‘Over my dead body.’
JJ rolls her eyes. It’s just her luck to be with two of the most protective men she has ever met in her lifetime. Still, she doubts that Rossi or Hotch or any other member of the team would have a different response; that’s family for you.
‘I’ve booked a hotel room; you’re going to spend the next seven days resting, chere,’ Will assures her, though it’s not much of an assurance. As much as she enjoys resting, she’s not sure she can do it while the Reaper is on the loose.
‘And we’re going to post a guard on your room,’ Morgan adds. ‘Chances are, he’s going to go after one of the team.’
‘Is that what the profile says?’
‘That’s what the profile says,’ Morgan confirms.
It’s not a particularly comforting thought.