Poison (Criminal Minds)

Chapter Four

 “Hi, Li” said JJ, the first one to recover. She jumped up to shake the woman's hand.

“Hi, um . . .”

“JJ.” The women smiled at each other. It suddenly occurred to Derek to introduce himself. He jumped up.

“Hey, I'm Derek Morgan” he said, sticking out his hand. Li shook it.

“Nice to meet you, Derek” she said, smiling.

“I'm Aaron Hotchner, but everyone calls me Hotch” said Hotch, standing up. Garcia and Rossi introduced themselves as well. The team sat down, and Li did too.

“So, Li” Hotch said. “I'm going to assign you to JJ, she can teach you everything you need to know about the BAU. Our current case is about a team member of ours who was shot and killed in a cemetery. We're working on a profile, so you can just observe for now.” Li nodded.

Derek hated her. He had no right to, but he did. Spencer and Emily should still be here. They should have some normal, serial killer case. They shouldn't be dead.

–

“I'm so sorry, Emily.”

“It's my fault.”

“It hurts, Emily.”

“I miss you.”

“I love you.”

–

He cried. What else could he do? There wasn't anything else to occupy his time. He couldn't focus on anything for more then a minute or two. He was dying. He knew it, and he almost hoped it would just happen already. He knew what it felt like to die, but he always came back, just in time. He wondered, now, if it was worth the effort to come back. What was the point of struggling, if this moment would come eventually?

A door opened into his cell. He did his best to wipe away the tears. No point in letting his captor see how weak he was.

“Hi” said the kid that walked into the cell. “I'm Vincent.” Just a kid, maybe fifteen or sixteen, with a tray with food.

“Why are you keeping me alive?”

“The Commander wants more information” Vincent replied. “You'd best give it to him.”

“What if I don't?”

“He'll kill you.”

“He'll kill me anyway. I've seen his face.” Vincent had a bit of a country accent. He wondered if the kid was a different kind of captive here.

“I won't let him” replied Vincent. He saw conviction in the kid's face, but there's nothing Vincent could do.

“I'm going to die, Vincent. Distance yourself, don't get attached to me.”

“The Commander promised that you'd be okay.”

“He lied.” He saw tears rise to Vincent's eyes, and he shut his own. “I'm tired. You can go.”

“I brought you a sandwich. And some water.”

“Thanks.” He heard the tray being set on the floor, and the door opened and closed as Vincent left. He started to cry again. He just couldn't take this any more.

–

“You look like a strong little boy” said the woman. Vincent liked her. She looked kind.

“I am” he said proudly. “But I'm not little. I'm eight.”

“I heard you're really good with computers” she said. He nodded.