FF: Slow Surprise (Criminal Minds) JJ/Emily 13/14 NC-17
“Hey there, need some help?” Emily offered as she spotted Kevin crossing the street, two hefty satchels bearing down his arms.
He smiled weakly, and then gave in, offering one to Emily. She took it, nearly dropping it as coins shifted and rattled in the canvass bag. “Appreciate the help. We ran out of change this morning and Penelope wanted me to get more before the weekend rush tonight. It’s uh, pretty heavy,” he laughed.
Emily hitched the bag higher, carrying it like a sack of potatoes as they crossed the street. “Glad to help where I can. I needed the distraction anyway before I got JJ too riled at me.”
“Uh, oh, in the dog house?”
“I said I’d pay for the material for her new dress, and it was like I’d just shot her dog.” Kevin laughed. “What?”
“I remember having a conversation with Penelope like that once upon a time.”
“Good, then can you tell me what I did wrong.”
“It’s her pride,” Kevin smirked. “You pricked it, offering to pay.”
“But…”
“Nope, don’t argue,” he teased. “Just accept it and move on.”
“That makes no sense-”
Kevin stopped short, the bag of coins dropping into the dusty street with a clatter. “Penelope!” Emily glanced over, dropping her bag of coins and dashing after him.
In the shadow of the buildings, dragged to the back of the alleyway between the saloon and the next building, Kevin knelt beside Penelope’s body, his hands pressed tight to her chest, trying to stop the bleeding. “I think she’s been shot…”
Emily glanced around in a panic, searching for an unseen enemy and caught a glimpse of a tiny Derringer pistol lying in the dirt. It was a lady’s protection, only carrying one shot, but could be deadly up close. “I’ll get Reid.” Emily tore out of the alley, running through the throngs of people walking up the streets and sidewalks, before bursting into the clinic yelling for Spencer. The young man spilt a half-cup of coffee down his front but barely seemed to notice as Emily panted, “Come quick, Penelope’s been shot.”
“I’ll grab my bag. Go get Morgan.”
The news spread quickly, and by the time Emily had found Morgan, there was a crowd gathering around the alley as the saloon girls and patrons gathered, whispers and cries echoing among them.
“Help me get her up, I need to get her back to the clinic,” Spencer instructed, showing far more calm than Emily felt as she and Morgan and Kevin helped lift Penelope up, carrying her through the town as others shouted to clear the way. In the confusion, no one noticed the stage coach left idling outside of the general store. And no one noticed the man skirting the edges of the building, easing toward it.
No one except Erin Strauss.
She came around the corner, seeking to discover the source of the town commotion, and nearly ran full on into the stranger. It would have taken nothing more than a simple nod and apology, and she would have been on her way, but the man roughly shoved her out of the way, cursing and muttering something that sounded like “filthy whore.”
“Excuse me, sir-” the words were barely out when she saw the hand print in blood on his shirt sleeve. She turned, glancing at the crowd down the street standing just outside the clinic and tried to back away but it was too late. The man’s hand clapped over her mouth, dragging her up against the empty stagecoach, his other hand around her throat, squeezing.
“What’s going on out here-”
The distraction was barely enough, but Strauss managed a weak cry for help as Hotch walked out of the store, eyeing the street for signs of his missing wife. He turned, eyes landing on the man attacking Strauss. Instinctively, he reached to his side for a gun he no longer carried and found nothing but empty space. In less than a heartbeat, the stranger smiled grimly and swung out, catching Hotch on the jaw and knocking him down. Stunned, he tried to lurch back up to his feet only to be kicked in the face, the man’s spurs catching his chin and opening a wide cut. Squirming, Strauss got free from her attacker’s grip just long enough to scream hoarsely before he grabbed her and slammed her head against the stagecoach.
It gave Hotch just enough time to tackle the man, knocking all three of them down in a dizzying pile out into the street.
*
“How can I help,” Emily offered as the men laid Penelope gently on the table.
“Bandages, quickly, and get the chloroform. I’m going to need to extract the bullet,” Reid ordered without question. Emily rifled through the cabinets for the instruments as he cut away Penelope’s lace blouse, trying to clean the wound in her upper chest.
“What happened,” Reid asked gently, but all Kevin could do was simply shrug his shoulders, trying to stay out of the way.
“We found her… we found her like that.”
“Who could have possibly-”
The clinic door opened; Prentiss recognized Myra from the bar, and even more, recognized the look of panic. “What’s wrong?”
“Something’s going on out at Hotchner’s store. Better come quick.”
Emily barely looked up as she doused a bandage with chloroform and held it over Penelope’s face. “Reid?”
“I’ve got it… Go see what’s going on.”
Emily followed Morgan out, both of them breaking into a run as they spotted another group of people gathered around Hotch’s store, Rossi’s voice carrying through the crowd.
“Come on, you don’t want to do this.”
Emily pushed through the crowd just enough to see Rossi holding a gun on a stranger who alternately had a gun pressed to Hailey Hotchner’s temple.
“Get back!”
Emily pulled her gun as well, frantically looking around the street to find no sign of JJ and Hotch collapsed and unconscious on the ground. Morgan skirted the crowd to get to him.
This one was smarter than Harry had been. He kept Hailey in front of him as he backed up against the stagecoach. There was no room for a shot, no matter how good of a shot Emily was. Not from that angle. “Everyone back!” He screamed, scaring the crowd back a half dozen feet, Rossi and Prentiss keeping a distinct distance even as they kept their guns on him. For her part, Hailey seemed preternaturally calm, her eyes on Emily’s the entire time.
“Everyone just stay calm,” Emily said quietly, soothingly. “Just stay calm… Why don’t you tell me your name? Why are you doing this?”
“Like you don’t know,” he taunted.
“Are you the one who shot Penelope?”
“The saloon whore,” the man scoffed. “Didn’t figure anyone would miss that piece of trash.” Morgan lurched at him, but Rossi managed to keep him back. Just barely.
“Why?”
“Why do you think?” A maniacal smile; a step closer to the coach. “She saw the necklace and she knew… I saw the look on her face. She knew what I’d done. What I am.”
“You son of a bitch-” Morgan growled, looking ready to rip the man limb from limb. The only thing that kept him back was the terrified look on Hailey’s face with each step the man forced her to take.
“You’re gonna put your guns down, or I swear to God I’ll put a hole in her head!”
Hotch groaned, shoving himself up from the dirt, the side of his head bleeding down his face. “Hailey!”
“Stay back!”
It was the glint of steal that caught Emily’s attention in the chaos.
Hotch stumbled to his feet as the man dragged Hailey backwards another step, screaming for them to put their guns down.
“Okay! Okay! We’ll put our guns down,” Emily said calmly, lowering her gun as her eyes met Rossi’s, silently begging him to trust her. Reluctantly, he lowered his gun.
The man laughed, dragging Hailey one more step backwards.
And right into JJ’s sightline.
One shot. The man never even saw it coming as he turned, the maniacal smile still on his lips as he tried to drag Hailey one more step and JJ fired, the bullet striking right between his eyes.
His body dropped like a puppet with its strings cut; Hailey stood trembling, blood-spattered but whole. The next moment and Aaron was beside her, his arms wrapped tight around her waist, holding her desperately.
JJ slowly lowered the pistol, the hand that had so steadily fired it merely seconds before trembling down in the aftermath. And then the gun was gone, replaced by Emily’s hand holding hers in a vice-like grip as she swayed unsteadily.
“Whoa, it’s okay… I’ve got you,” Emily crooned, wrapping her arms tighter around JJ’s waist. “Just take a breath.”
“I’ve never… never killed anyone before.”
“You managed it just fine this time, darlin’,” Prentiss assured, smiling in relief. “You managed just fine.”
*
JJ sat beside a sleeping Penelope as Reid tended to Hotch’s cracked skull and Mrs. Strauss’ battered face. She’d volunteered to watch over the other woman so that Kevin could close down the saloon for the night. Across from her sat Emily, who refused to leave JJ’s side and currently was gently rocking a sleeping Henry in her lap while Hailey sat beside her, clutching tight to Jack.
Things had happened so quickly, JJ had barely had a moment to react. One second she was rushing after Hailey to see what the commotion was outside the store, the next she was watching Aaron be knocked unconscious and Hailey dragged into the street by a raving madman. There’d been no time to panic, no time to think, only act.
She’d grabbed the boys and shoved them into the storeroom and bolted the door despite their cries and confusion. The gun that Emily insisted be purchased had yet to arrive but JJ knew Aaron kept one under the counter by the till. It seemed to take forever to find it, to make certain it was loaded. The yelling had continued from the front of the store, so JJ had gone out the back, circling around the building until she was behind the man and Hailey. Her eyes met Emily’s and she’d known what had to be done, known what she had to do. It wasn’t easy, but it was necessary. She’d taken a breath, flashing back to that day she’d stood with Emily shooting at debris, and adjusted her grip, squeezing the trigger slowly.
And just like that it was over.
Beside her, Penelope stirred, groaning in pain. Reid had been vague on the details but from the look on his face everyone knew it had been an incredibly close save.
“Kevin…”
“Shh, he’ll be right back,” JJ assured, helping Penelope sit up a bit on the pillows. She offered water without needing to be asked, smiling gently as she held the glass to the other woman’s lips. “Go slow. You gave us a scare.”
“That man… that man was at the bar… he had her necklace…”
“We know,” Prentiss assured. “It’s okay. He’s been dealt with.”
Penelope swallowed down the water, coughing to clear her throat. “You… you shot him?”
Emily’s eyes flickered to JJ. “Not me.”
“You did?”
“He took Hailey hostage,” JJ explained. “And he shot you and attacked Aaron… of course I shot him.”
Penelope reached out, squeezing JJ’s hand tightly. “Thank you.”
JJ squeezed back, smiling. “You do what you have to do for family.”
Penelope gazed down at the bandages wrapped tight over her chest and sighed melodramatically. “Well, that’s gonna leave a scar. Now how am I supposed to ply my wares?”
“Oh, I don’t think you’ll have a problem with that any time soon,” Prentiss teased, nodding her head toward the door as Kevin walked in with a giant bouquet of wild flowers. Hailey and JJ grinned knowingly. “What do you say we leave these two alone, huh?”
Kevin smiled as the women walked out, trading places to take up JJ’s former seat as he put Penelope’s flowers to the side. “Hey, so you remember when we were back in Cheyenne and you said, ‘Kevin, let’s go north. It’s quiet up there.’ Turns out… not so quiet.”
Penelope laughed and then winced, settling for a smile of contrition. “I called that one wrong didn’t I?”
“Might be you’ve called a few other things wrong too.”
“Kevin-”
“You’re marrying me, and I’m not taking no for an answer.”
“Is that right?”
“It is.”
“Well then I guess it’s a good thing I decided to marry you already.”
“I guess it is then.”
“Does this mean I gotta be a respectable woman now?”
Kevin looked affronted. “I’m marrying myself the finest saloon mistress in the whole United States. You become respectable and all bets are off woman.”
“That’s what I was hoping you’d say.”
Part Fourteen