Caution to the Wind

Chapter 12

Chapter Summary: Sometimes it takes a fatal car crash, an abduction by a psychopath, and some powerful drugs and hallucinations to get two idiots to admit that they love each other. Follows S13E1, "Wheels Up."

When Tara opened her eyes after the crash, she saw him. Mr. Scratch was leaning through the passenger side window, whispering in Emily's ear as he dosed her with his drugs. He opened the door and pulled her out of the car while she was barely conscious. Tara wanted to stop him, wanted to fight back, but she was pinned in her seat, and she couldn't move. She whined and groaned in pain and summoned all her strength as she freed herself from her seatbelt, crawled out of the car, and braced herself against the door. She grabbed her side as she doubled over in pain. Something was definitely broken or damaged, but she couldn't stop. She had to save Emily. She took a few unsteady steps forward as she focused her eyes ahead to see where Scratch had taken her, but they were long gone.

"Emily!" she screamed out into the night, "Emily! No, Emily!" Emily was gone. Tears streamed down Tara's cheeks as she stumbled along the shoulder of the highway muttering, "Emily, Emily, Emily..."

She felt her knees buckle under her as she collapsed onto the pavement, still mumbling Emily's name. Her body felt limp, and her vision was blurred, and she shivered, even though the night was warm. The next thing she was aware of was Matt Simmons from the IRT standing over her, telling her she was going to be okay.

"Luke! Luke!" he called out, "Tara, can you tell me where you're hurt?" he asked as Luke came rushing over to them.

"I think I'm going into shock," she choked out.

"Okay, alright, I got you," Matt said, covering her with his shirt.

"Tara, we're gonna warm you up," Luke said, "You're bleeding internally, but we'll get some blood to your brain."

"You're gonna want to go to sleep, but we can't let you do that," Matt said, "You've got to stay with us, okay?"

Tara nodded. She heard sirens approaching and Luke yelling, "Over here!" She tried to talk, tried to tell Luke and Matt that they had to save Emily, but her mouth was so dry that nothing came out. The paramedics moved her onto a stretcher and loaded her into an ambulance, and it wasn't until the doors were closing that she was finally able to speak.

"Emily," she whispered, "You have to help Emily."

Emily blinked her eyes open and looked up into a bright, glaring light. She was lying in a hospital bed, but she wasn't in a hospital. She didn't know where she was or how she'd gotten here, but she remembered a crash. She knew that must have something to do with all of this, because her body was in pain, and she couldn't move, but then, what happened to the rest of her team? She saw a figure emerge from behind a curtain, and as she focused her eyes, it suddenly hit her. Scratch.

"Well hello, Emily," he said.

"Son of a bitch!" she cursed.

"It's nice to meet you, too, finally," he said.

"Did you grab all of us, huh?" she asked, "Are we all here? Luke! JJ!"

"No, it's just you," he replied, "Your team is fine, by the way. Excuse me, I take that back. The truck I drove into your team did kill SSA Stephen Walker. Whiplash. Tragic—Leaves behind a wife and two children, I believe."

"No!" Emily sobbed.

"That's good," he said, "Get it all out."

"I will make sure you fry for this," she hissed.