Unshed Blood | Criminal Minds

chapter seventeen - planning

- CHAPTER SEVENTEEN -

THIRD PERSON POV

SOREN HALE had been staying with Agent Rossi for other a month, and since then the agents had been working on other cases whilst working on the other Hale case during their free time. Meanwhile, Soren was being guarded in Rossi's mansion with Agents and Security surrounding the building, she knew that if she tried she would be able to get out but she didn't want to risk being left exposed outside the home.

Rossi had been keeping Agent Aaron Hotchner up to date with everything that was going on in the home, but with Soren staying clear of Rossi and not speaking it was hard to update him on anything. So, they continued working more cases but the thought of the threat that Soren had imposed was constantly in the back of their minds.

Whilst the others worked on a case, Derek had been informed that he needed to go and check in on the agents that were looking after Soren. He arrived at the mansion, furrowing his brows when he noticed that it was silent, with no movement.

Derek's guard went up as he drove in, his phone on speed dial as he pulled into the home. The lights were turned off and the driveway was dark. He stepped out of the car, his hand holding onto his gun as he slowly opened the front door, the entire home was dark as he carefully walked through the home with his gun drawn and the flashlight on.

He walked throughout the home, his steps slow and silent until he reached the top floor of the home. Derek opened the doors slowly, checking every room until he came across the last one, Rossi's room. He walked inside, checking around until he noticed a box that had been moved from the closet and away, he walked closer but paused when he saw a security code that was attached to the door.

He knocked, checking that no one was in there before he grabbed his phone and dialed Rossi's number. "Hey, Rossi. I just got here and the entire place is dark, a box has been moved from your closet but I need the security code to get into the room."

"Where's the agents and security?" Rossi asked, holding his phone to his ear as Hotch and Reid stood on either side of him, both exchanging confused expressions.

"Not a clue, Soren is no where to be seen either." Derek informed him.

Rossi sighed, knowing exactly what had happened. "1989, but listen, I prepped Soren on what to do if someone did come into the house. She'll be in there, but I believe that she will be too panicked on everything going on that she won't recognize it as being you."

"What the hell..." Derek muttered as he typed in the code, he opened the door expecting to find Soren in the corner of the room curled up but the next thing he knew was that someone had wrapped their legs around his neck, Derek grunted as he dropped the phone and wrapped his hand around Soren's leg to attempt to pry her off.

Soren raised her elbow, connecting her elbow with Derek's head as he called out for her to stop. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't fight her off, so eventually he looked behind him, his vision blurred as he fell backwards, knocking her off him as she groaned.

But that didn't stop her, she lunged for him again and that's when Derek noticed the blood that was trailing down her nose and the top right hand side of her forehead. He took a step back, trying to find his gun that was on the floor when Soren noticed it first, she grabbed it, wrapping her hands around the handle of the gun as her eyes focused in on Derek.

He froze, standing in front of the gun that Soren was holding as she remained as calm as ever before. "Soren. I'm SSA Derek Morgan, you've met me before, I work with Agent Rossi."

"Liar! He sent you, I know he did!" Soren yelled, her eyes wide as she took a step closer to him.

Derek knew who she was talking about, she thought that Arlo had sent him to kill her. "Your father didn't send me, I promise you that, Soren. But I need you to drop the gun, please."

She shook her head, refusing to drop the gun as Derek made the impulsive decision to jump forward, wrapping his hands around the gun too quickly for Soren to react as she dropped it, along with her knees dropping to the floor as she cradled her stomach.

Derek tucked the gun back into his waist, before he rushed over to where Soren was crying on the floor, her hand wrapped firmly around her stomach as she stared at the ground. He didn't know what to do as she was so unpredictable. "Soren." He called out her name as he kneeled in front of her. "Look at me. Soren, look at me."

She looked up at him through her lashes as the tears trailed down her cheeks, she felt completely and utterly exhausted. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, you don't need to apologize." Derek shushed her as he placed his hands onto either sides of her cheeks, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Soren, who did this too you?"

"I don't know who they are, I've never seen them before." She hiccupped as she took in a deep breath. "I fought them off, they're dead. I know you all warned me that if I did something like this you would lock me away, but I was only defending myself, I promise."

"I believe you." He said sincerely, his brown eyes staring into her blue eyes. "I'll need to call my team and ambulance as you are bleeding, okay?"

"Okay." Soren nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes as Derek picked up his phone to call the team. He did it quickly before he returned to her side, helping to get rid of the dried up blood from her face before everyone arrived.

The BAU team arrived in under fifteen minutes after making the arrest for their last case, walking through Rossi's home as they found the dead bodies of four men, all with wounds to their heads. They continued walking through the home until they found Derek and Soren being helped by the paramedics as they finished checking her over as the paramedic left the room.

"What happened, Soren?" Rossi asked as he stepped over the broken furniture in the room.

Soren looked at him, maintaining eye contact as she spoke. "Four guys broke in, I don't know where the agents or security you had here went but they got in. I was about to head upstairs when one of them grabbed me, long story short, I got away from them and hid where you showed me before."

"Are you okay?" JJ questioned sympathetically as she stepped closer to Soren who smiled softly at her but nodded, not giving a verbal response as they all knew she was lying, the woman looked completely drained of all life. Her nurturing side came out as she kneeled in front of her, brushing the dark strands of hair away from her face. "Do you know the men that did this?"

Soren shook her head. "Probably some guys my father has contacts too."

"Arlo planned this?" Emily repeated, her eye brows raising in shock.

Soren shrugged. "He will think of me as traitor, and in order to get rid of a traitor you have to take them out. Which is what he attempted-" She said, before she stood up, groaning as Derek followed her steps, grabbing onto her arm to help stabilize her as she thanked him with a smile. "-To do tonight, clearly, he failed."

"We need to have you taken to a remote location where no one knows where you are." Hotch concluded, his face remaining stoic as he furrowed his brows.

Suddenly, Derek had an idea. "Hotch. I have a home that I just finished renovating, no one knows where it is and I had Garcia hide it from the public, she could stay there?"

Hotch contemplated the idea for a moment, he trusted his team and Derek's judgement. "Fine. But, we can't have armed agents surrounding the home, we'll have them check on you ever couple hours. Is that okay, Soren?"

"Yes, no one pasta nights with Rossi though." She grinned as she looked at the older man who smiled back at her. "Let me just grab my things."