Killer Queen

Chapter 8

     "We've got a location on the car!" Garcia exclaimed through the phone. "Old warehouse a few miles out. It would have been the perfect hideout for this psycho. Close enough to each of the crime scenes, and two cars in the parking lot."

Immediately, the team sprung up, ready to go out. Hotch was the first out of the door, going straight to the driver's seat. Everyone else wasn't even buckled up when he pulled out of the police station with tires screeching. Emily and Spencer shared knowing glances. Hotch seemed to be treating Logan like his own daughter, even if she wasn't biologically related to him.

Each of the team members were on edge at the drive that felt like hours to most of them. The kid had truly grown on them all. Spencer was convinced that she had childhood trauma, which gave her such a spirited personality. She had just learned to brush off anything bad that ever happened to her and make a joke about it to make it seem like it didn't phase her.

Hotch pulled into the parking lot quickly, everyone getting out as soon as the car stopped. More federal agents pulled up with bigger guns and vests. Everyone hid behind the cars while some of the agents got ready to bust down the doors. A scream echoed through the air, coming from the inside.

Finally, the doors burst down and federal agents went in, followed by the team, guns at the ready. Another scream like the last filled the silence, this one closer and longer. They were getting closer, and Hotch was getting more anxious, as was the rest of the team.

They rounded the corner of the first long hallway to a large room with plenty of tools laying around everywhere. Hotch was already imagining the worst, until he saw Logan. Everyone's guns went up to the woman standing over her with a knife.

Logan was being held down by a man, James, as Hotch remembered by his picture. The woman, however, he didn't recognize. Logan already had a few cuts on her skin, some of her blood collected in a small bowl in James' hand.

The woman quickly looked up and held the knife to Logan's throat. "Don't make me do it," she threatened.

"You don't want to hurt her. Whatever delusion you're thinking is reality, she has no part in it," Hotch tried convincing her, turning to James. "And you? You don't want to do this either. Whatever fantasy you're living in, it's not real. So put down the knife."

She smiled, slowly shaking her head as she chuckled under her breath. "Mortals. You don't understand. This is a sacrifice to God. He deserves the best, doesn't he?"

"Sacrifices were always done with animals. What makes you think you need to sacrifice a kid?" asked Derek, his gun aimed at the woman.

"It must be done." She turned back to Logan, continuing to mutter the four words over and over.

Logan was visibly shaking, but she opened her mouth to speak. Hotch cursed in his mind. Her talking would only make the process go faster.

"Lady, did you have childhood trauma? Because I think if you did, that's why you created this fantasy that you were stronger than a normal human. That you were a god once. So that you knew you could crush anyone who came in your path if you needed to."

The woman shut her eyes quickly. "No, you don't know anything about my life."

"Really?" Logan raised an eyebrow, a smile coming to her face, despite her situation. "I think we're a lot more similar than you'd like to admit. Were you abused as a child? Raped? I was. Okay?"

She continued, ignoring the knife that was dangerously close to her throat. "I never had real parents. Mom? Dead. Dad? Never knew. But I lived with my 'uncles'. They weren't even related to me a little bit, except for Parker. But I was always being hit, verbally abused, smacked, kicked, punched, and so much more. But when I turned 13, the rules changed. Most of them went from verbal and physical abuse to sexual abuse. I thought my birthday was supposed to be special. Instead, it seemed like an all-you-can-eat buffet for the pedifiles."

"That's not going to change anything," snarled the woman, the knife digging so deep it drew blood. "My fantasies are real. I am Jesus. My awful parents have nothing to do with that."

"I think they do," cut in Derek. "Tell me, do you have any solid evidence that you are actually Jesus? Have you ever come back from the dead?"

The woman looked at him with wild eyes. "My spirit has. I've gotten messages through dreams from God himself. He told me to do this. And then to sacrifice a child, it would make everything alright. HE TOLD ME HIMSELF!"

Logan flinched at her raised tone. Her eyes were darting from the walls to every person in the room, and back around once she looked at everyone. Even a blind man would know she was terrified.

"This is irrational," warned Hotch. "Have you actually read the bible? Ten commandments? You shall not murder. Why do you think someone who told you not to murder want you to atone for your past murders with another one? It's completely contradictory, and doesn't make sense. Think about it."

The woman stopped shaking, lifting her head from her bowed position. "You're right." Everyone seemed to let out a deep breath that they were holding.

"Okay, then put down the knife," Derek ordered.

She looked at them, smile dropping. "You're right. There's no way he'll forgive me. And no way I'll forgive myself." Before anyone could process it, the knife in her hand flew up to her own throat. Logan choked, finally being able to breathe without being afraid of having her throat slit.

A collective gasp was heard through the F.B.I. agents as they all jumped slightly. Hotch's eyes widened and Derek took a cautious step forward. "Think about what you're doing."

The corner of the woman's mouth turned upwards slightly. "I am. This is the only way, now." She glanced over at James, who was staring at her in shock. "I am sorry I have to leave you on this Earth by yourself, dear brother." With that, the knife slid across her throat in one confident movement and she was dead.

James screamed, leaving Logan to catch his sister as she fell. Hotchner put his gun away and he rushed to the girl's side. She looked like she was getting a better hold of her breathing, even though her neck was still bleeding.

As soon as Logan caught sight of Hotchner holding her body, she grinned. "Well, hello there."

"I need an ambulance, now!" Hotch shouted. "It's okay. You're going to be okay."

"Of course I will. Didn't think you were going to get rid of me that easily, did you?" laughed Logan. A smile came to Hotchner's face at the joke. "I made you smile! Big D, did you see that? I made Agent Aaron Hotchner smile for probably the first time I've known him!"

Derek chuckled as he put handcuffs on James. "Good job, kid. You'd be the first of us."

Logan grinned proudly. "Personally, I think I should get an award for that." Even though she was making jokes, Hotchner could tell how much the event had taken a toll on her. Her eyelids were starting to close and everything she said was only half-enthusiastic as she usually was.

"Hey, how about no more jokes for the time being?" he told her. "I need you to save your strength for later."

"For what?" Hotch gave Logan a look, and she surrendered. "Alright, alright, fine. BTW, I wasn't lying earlier, dad. Everything I said was...completely the truth."

That was the first time Hotchner felt truly guilty about lying to her about being her father. Sure, he had felt guilty about it before, but when she used the word 'dad', everything changed. But Hotch simply nodded, pushing the feeling aside for later. Logan needed a father-figure, and her real dad certainly wasn't around to do that for her.

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I'm so sorry this update took so long, I've been super busy, even though it was a break from school. No matter how odd it sounds, as soon as I get back to school, I'll be able to update regularly. Thanks for reading and I try to update soon!