Desiderium: longing for something that has been lost

Chapter 24

"people often believed they were safer in the light, thinking only monsters come out at night. but safety--like light-- is a façade"--c. j. roberts.

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Las Vegas

February 21, 2008

3:08 pm

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In the end, it was JJ who came across the paper they had prayed was there. She held the paper with shaky hands and looked up at Emily who had arranged herself to sit in a complicated pattern. 

"Em, was Robert Hayes one of the names?" She knew full well that was one of the names, but she needed confirmation. Her heart was pounding and she was almost waiting for Emily to laugh and say..

"Yeah, it's one of the names." Emily turned and looked at her, taking in her shaking hands and short breaths. "You found him." 

It wasn't a question. JJ nodded and handed her the page. 

"Hotch!" Emily sat up straight, her eyes scanning the page. "We got our original killer.  I'm going to run a deep dive on any and all relations to him." 

Hotch came in, his one free hand resting on the back of her chair. "Garcia said he had a family?" 

"Yeah, divorced five years before he disappeared." 

He nodded. "Run the male relations first." He leaned in, his eyes darting back and forth as she ran some names. 

JJ got up from the ground. "How many sons did Robert have?"

They both answered at the same time. "Two." Hotch glanced over at Emily, and stepped back. "Ethan, and Sean Hayes. Ethan was the oldest." Emily continued, her eyes darting up to look up at JJ. "From what I can see, Sean Hayes left a few years after his father disappeared, and went to school, but Ethan? He.." She clicked around some more, muttering under her breath. "God, Garcia makes it look so easy. It looks like Ethan worked odd jobs for decades after his father's disappearance."

Hotch looked at Rossi. "What job is he working at now?" JJ pulled out her phone, ready to call. 

"Ah, Rodrigues Auto Shop off of Huntridge Street." 

JJ nodded and called up the shop. 

Rossi leaned up against the table. "Does he have any properties that we should be aware of?"

"Yeah, he has a house leased to him way off in the desert." Emily looked up at the two of them. "It's isolated for miles."

JJ got off the phone. "Owner said Hayes hadn't showed for a week, and before that was barely showing then. He was going to fire him today." 

Hotch nodded. "He's our guy." Adjusting his sling, he looked at his remaining agents. "Bring them back."

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Morgan had no idea how long they had been there, or how much longer they would be there, but what he did know is that all time stopped when Spencer was stabbed for the last, final time. 

Someone screamed, (begged, please, please, don't do this) and then one eternity later, the knife plunged deep, deep into his stomach and tore right before jerking back out.

Spencer jerked, a wrinkle appearing in his forehead. He breathed unsteadily for a few awful moments, then let out a god-awful cough, ragged and reeking of death. 

Morgan closed his eyes as he saw the thick blood slide out of his mouth. He was dying, oh god he was dying. Morgan was breaking his promise, and he was dying. He promised him, he promised him he'd be ok, that he'd get to go home.

He was such a failure. 

That damn damn man circled behind him and smiled as he listened to the wheezing breaths. "You hear that Agent Morgan. That's the sound of my victory." Morgan couldn't take his eyes off of Spencer's pale face. 

He slowly tilted Spencer's face and untied the blindfold, letting it flutter to the ground. Holding his head up, he knelt beside him, and closed his eyes, smiling at the slowing, rattling breaths. 

"Look him in the eyes, Agent Morgan. Look him in the eyes and tell him you failed him." He brushed a piece of hair behind his ear, and wiped some of the blood off his face. "Go on, tell him." 

Morgan felt his heart crack. He brought his eyes up to meet the glazed over, drooping eyes of the man he had met only days before.

Oh, he thought sadly, his eyes are hazel.

"You better hurry Agent Morgan." He brushed a hand through his hair and Spencer let out a tiny sigh. "He doesn't have much time."

"Kid?" There was no response, no that he expected one. "I'm so sorry." His voice broke and tears started rolling down his face. "None of this was supposed to happen, and I've only known you for like," He let out a laugh. "maybe three days? And I'd do anything to trade places for you." He watched as his eyes slowly drooped close. "It's ok pretty boy, it's ok now. Just rest." 

Morgan watched as he slumped over, head resting on his chest. Beside him, Garcia started wailing, and cursing out the still figure. 

"Well, sometimes, the ending of a game is a hell of a lot more anticlimactic than it's cracked up to be." He stood up, and faced the two. "Now agents, it is your turn to die." He leveled a gun at Garcia's head. 

"It was fun my sweet, but," He shrugged. "All good things must come to an end." 

She stared him down, eyes red, and mouth quivering. 

He switched the safety off, the click echoing around the room. "Any last words, baby?"

"Fuck off." 

 He eyed her, mouth quirked up in an inquisitive smile. "Charming."

The gunshot echoed through the room.

__________

The sense of urgency had never been higher for the remaining three agents. Hayes property out in the desert was a drive and Emily was more than happy to test the boundaries of the SUV's. 

The other two clung to the safety bars as she maneuvered around rocks and sand pits. 

Hotch had to stay behind due to his sling, but he had demanded that they update him as soon as humanly possible. 

The house grew on the distance, and the squad of SUV's and police units raced towards it, kicking up dust. This was going to be a hard, quick entrance, no hostage negotiation could be done here according to Rossi. 

The house was old, falling apart at the beams, the exterior looking like a stiff breeze could blow it over. And yet as Emily forced the door open, she felt her heart flutter inside her like a butterfly. The interior would stand for decades. 

She raced through the house, clearing it level by level, praying that the next door she threw open would reveal her colleagues. 

Her foot scuffed over a ring, and she knelt to look at it. Basement. "I'm going downstairs, someone cover me." She announced her movements over her shoulder, and moved. 

The fear hit her like a truck, and she swallowed thickly, moving it to the back of her mind until she could deal with it later. 

She moved quickly through the maze of rooms, sweeping the rooms until she found herself looking at Morgan's tear-filled eyes, and a gun pressed to Garcia's head. 

She didn't even think. 

The gunshot echoed through the room.