✓ | delphinus ( reid )

ix

"touch my neck and i'll touch yours, you in those little high waisted short"

layla took a step back from the desk, causing them all to look over at her.

"if he's one of the unsubs we have to go now. we have the address, reid and, and jj are there. with no backup!" she said, trying not to panic.

emily placed a hand on her shoulder, "relax girl. we don't know he's one of our guys for certain."

layla nodded, "you're right. they're fine right?"

morgan nodded, "reid and jj are alright ramsi."

she nodded, "we still have to check it out though."

they rode in the vans all the way to tobias' house, all the way until there was no cell service. layla spent the whole ride worrying about reid and jj, two of her closest friends. the cars stopped and the local police, along with the team all hopped out and took out their guns. layla walked with morgan, who was near the front.

an officer tapped morgan on the shoulder, "there's a barn around back."

"prentiss, ramsi, c'mon," morgan waved layla and emily towards the back.

they went around the house and found the huge, rusting barn. morgan went in first with layla and emily covering him. their flashlights shined, illuminating the barn. morgan's flashlight showed a dog, lying dead. it was one of the dogs that killed that girl. morgan continued walking towards the dog, and he shined his light onto the mattress the girl had been killed on.

"oh damn," he muttered, looking at the blood that coated it.

"fbi! don't move!" someone called out.

morgan, emily and layla all turned to see jj pointing her gun.

"jj oh my god," layla exclaimed in relief.

morgan and emily called out her name to make her lower the gun.

"don't move!" she yelled out again, unable to see who it was.

"jj, it's derek, ramsi and prentiss. don't shoot, it's ok," morgan called out, keeping his light shining on her face.

jj lowered her gun, her face a look of shock and fear. layla walked over to her, trying not to run over and hug her.

"are you hurt?" morgan asked.

"tobias hankle is the unsub," she said in a monotone voice.

layla walked slowly up to her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"yeah we know," derek replied.

"i'll call an ambulance," emily offered.

"we just thought he was a witness," jj said, shaking her head.

"i had to kill them," she said, gesturing to the dogs.

"jj where's reid," derek asked, making layla's brief sense of relief disappear.

"they just completely tore her apart," jj said, obviously in shock, "there's nothing even left-"

"jj, please. where's reid?" layla asked softly, cutting her off from her rambling.

"we split up. he said he was going to go in the back."

layla sucked in a breath. she shut her eyes tightly to try to regain her composure. morgan started towards the back, at a faster pace than he would normally, to check for reid. before layla could follow after morgan, the ambulance pulled up. layla walked jj outside and someone hopped out to check on her. emily walked over to layla.

"hey, is there any sign of him yet?" layla asked her.

"we got every one of our units on the road." the detective answered.

as soon as the detective had heard jj was found, he headed back to the barn.

"he won't make it far," the detective concluded before running off to do something.

"you can't find reid?" jj questioned.

layla turned her head to the side, unable to answer.

"not yet," emily replied, trying to stay optimistic.

morgan approached the ambulance and layla sucked in a breath hopefully.

"prentiss, ramsi," he tilted his head away from jj and they followed him just out of jj's hearing range.

"i think reid followed him into the corn field," morgan said.

"so he's okay? just lost?" layla asked, biting the inside of her cheek, willing it to be true.

"it looks like somebody got dragged," derek finished, not having the heart to answer layla directly.

"yeah? you sure? we're on our way now," the detective said into his phone, causing the three agents to turn his way.

"hey, what's going on?" emily asked.

"the sheriff two town over. he just gave directions to a man who fits hankle's description. it's to a motor lodge in fort bend," the detective answer.

once again, a feeling of slight hope filled layla. maybe getting caught made hankle make a rookie mistake and they'd be able to catch him.

"let's get gideon and hotch," morgan said to layla and emily.