The world's not falling apart because of me... [OTA; multiple threads welcome]

[savesherself]

[Sort of wibbly-dated to whenever the rescue groups got back. ...wibbly-dated is totally a valid term.]

With most of the rescue parties in the barracks and probably on their way to a well-deserved rest, the Doctor has managed to get the stream to himself... and he's glad for that. Cross-legged by the edge of the water, he's trying to clean the

Comments

[didntblink]

Hotch still felt unease at having given the old woman his blood. Anyone who wanted blood for services most definitely was not to be trusted. There hadn't been enough time to organize people, to make it so only a few people had to give blood, and that was a failure on his part. But JJ hadn't needed to give blood. That much made him feel better.

This place, these barracks, hadn't made him feel any better about being in this wood, which according to some at least was as much an...individual, entity or some such thing. It was a lot to take in and process. But Hotch knew that time was against them. It always was. So instead of resting, though he probably needed it, Aaron was walking around, and he was considering leaving the barracks again. And this time his feet led him right to the gate, and Aaron looked out.

[didntblink]

There were many aspects of this place that seemed more up Reid's alley than anyone else's on the team. But Hotch wasn't certain any of them were able to explain all of it. Even the aspects that weren't the place himself. Hotch had taken part in a recon mission with a computer program. He had conversed with more than one computer program that looked quite human and physically present and thinking for itself. And they'd had genders, or something like it. And there was the girl Hotch suspected of being a werewolf, among other things.

"Agreed," Hotch smiled a little. Honestly, as long as Ian Doyle was kept out of this place, Emily was actually potentially safer. So far there had been mechanisms of coping with this place to stay alive. Well, not everyone was here, so far, but he wasn't sure how the candles really worked. "How have you fed yourself?" Hotch asked, as it occurred to him when he thought back on the fact she said she had been there for months.

[savesherself]

"Good question," she mutters. "There's a building with supplies that gets restocked once a month - I'm guessing by friendly locals, but I don't think anyone's actually seen whoever's doing it. But no one's gotten sick from it or anything, so I guess it's safe..."

Prentiss shrugs. It's weird, and a little unsettling, but when it comes to weird things in the Wood, mysteriously appearing food is pretty low on the list.

"Have you picked out a cabin yet? I think there's one next to me and Reid that's free..." She grins, and adds, "Or I could trade you Reid for JJ, if you'd rather share with him."

[didntblink]

An unknown food supply was not that trustworthy, but the forest, from what Hotch had seen, didn't exactly seem to be teeming with enough to feed them based off scavenging. And he didn't know what to make of the animals, from his limited interactions. The place was getting stranger and stranger really.

Honestly, Hotch hadn't thought about where he was going to sleep. Traveling on the road for jobs, he had sometimes had to sleep in his car. And really, when he needed to, Hotch was able to sleep anywhere. Sleep, oh, he was exhausted but really hadn't thought about it. "I'm fine sharing with any of you," Hotch replied, "Whichever makes everyone most comfortable." Two people per cabin was safer, and Hotch trusted all three of them. He didn't have Morgan's problem of sharing with Reid, but he was also fine with sharing with a female agent.

He smiled a little, as he remembered how the BAU used to be. "Back when the BAU was starting, we all shared one desk," Hotch told her.

[savesherself]

"That many alpha males in such a small space, I'm surprised you all survived," she answers with a teasing grin, some of her earlier tension slipping away. Nothing's changed, not really. They're still lost, and the forest is still full of strange monsters and magic and things none of them have any way to understand... but having Hotch and JJ here makes it feel like they've got the team, if incomplete, rather than just a pair of lost agents out on their own.

Emily pauses, and then turns a little, beckoning for Hotch to follow her. "C'mon, I'll show you where we are. We can ask the other two where they want to be - I don't mind sharing with any of you guys."

[didntblink]

Survival was a relative term, Hotch thought, as he remembered how many lives had been ruined working in the BAU. It wasn't an easy place to work, though Hotch was determined that everyone on his team got through it, as much as that was under his control. "We worked more cases on our own," Hotch pointed out, "Eased the tensions." And they were so determined to simply work the cases, to show it was possible. None of them had been willing to give up the BAU to get a desk, or an office, of their own in another department.

It felt a little like when they were on the road, to have a place to be together, as a team. Unless they were cramped for some reason, they all had their own rooms, but he didn't want his own place here. Seeing her FBI windbreaker, Hotch was impressed with how instantaneous their kidnappings were. "I'll guess Reid didn't have his go bag in hand either," he commented as he walked with her. His hadn't made it that far. They had been working nonstop to find Emily, and here she was.

[savesherself]

"Unfortunately, no," she sighs. "I think he was in the office when he was... taken."

Prentiss hates the way that sounds. It makes them into victims, but she doesn't know of another way to look at it. She shakes it off, and keeps walking until she reaches the cabin she shares with Reid, and the empty one next to it, where she stops, and gives Hotch a quick once-over. It's not really ever easy to tell when he's tired or drained or anything, but if he was wandering in the woods before he found his way here...

"How long have you and Jaje been here? If you need to sleep, you can take my bed for now - the other cabin's empty, but it's probably going to need a little cleaning before you can actually sleep in there."

[didntblink]

The office in Quantico was a bold place to take an FBI agent. But honestly, with how many people and...other beings or...such had been taken, Hotch supposed it probably had not been a terrible challenge. The whole team had been within fifteen feet when Hotch had been taken. He had thought both he and JJ were take together until determining her memory was okay and everything Emily was now saying

[savesherself]

"If anything comes up, you'll be the first to know," Emily promises with a quick smile. "Reid might come in, but I'll try to make sure he knows you're here so he's quiet about it." She doubts he'd sleep through anyone coming into the room he's sleeping in - she certainly doesn't, and she has a hell of a lot less reason to be paranoid than Hotch - but a warning might make sure he's not too disturbed by the interruption.

For a moment, she wavers, some small part of her reluctant to let him out of her sight. It's silly, but things in the Wood are so rarely certain, and so often illusions or tricks, and in the back of her mind she can't help but wonder if he might not disappear as soon as she leaves him alone.

She shakes it off after a moment, and smiles again, this time gentle and fond and so very relieved just to have him here. "Sleep well, Hotch."

[didntblink]

Reid was worth waking up for, if he came in. It was good to see people he knew, and besides, if someone stepped in, even Emily, he was going to wake instantly, at the least. He was a relatively light sleeper the last year, anyway. But being in a strange place wasn't going to help it. And someone had his blood, which was distinctly not a pleasant feeling. Given the world, here at least, contained werewolves and other such things, he didn't know what was going to happen with it.

But he was exhausted, and the bed looked more inviting then than a five star hotel ever had. But he still wasn't undressing. He didn't have pajamas, and if anything happened on short notice, he needed to be dressed. "Thank you, Emily," he looked at her again, quite hoping she hadn't been an illusion brought on by sleep deprivation. That would be simply cruel.