Losing Grip (Criminal Minds) [[ON HOLD]]

Bang, Bang

Chapter One.

“This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang, but with a whimper.”-T.S. Elliott.

“Joseph, put the gun down.”

Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner had a tone that would cause the toughest man to shiver to his core. The gun in his hand was held firm and straight at the man in front of him, causing the shaking man in the flannel shirt to think about what he was doing and why he was in this position. His eyes quickly filled with hesitation, allowing Aaron to take a cautionary step forward, yet as soon as the hesitation appeared, it vanished and faded.

Joseph Greene had always been the shady one. Never sociable, never involved, he kept to himself. He believed in a delusion that he chosen by God to kill Satan's army, to crush the rebellion. He had murdered seven people thinking that they spoke against the Lord, and now the FBI had cornered him.

“Joseph, put the gun down and come with us,” Spencer Reid's voice was much softer and more welcoming that Aaron's but the underlying tone of demand was similar. His voice was etched with intelligence, which was shown in his dark eyes. His features were much less stress ridden than those of his co-workers and he was incredibly handsome. In his mind, he was comparing their profile to the UnSub, a loner, defensive, unsure and delusional.

“And why would I do that? So you can kill me? You'll send me to Hell, you're demons, sent from Satan to capture me for killing his army,” his paranoid voice stuttered, he was panicking.

“We are not demons, we're men. Ordinary humans, like you,” Spencer stated, his guns steadiness matching that of his fellow agents.

“I am not an ordinary human, I am a prophet of the Lord and you are demons!” In his hand, the gun stopped shaking and became steady. Things were becoming increasingly dangerous, the barrel of the revolver now pointed at Aaron. They weren't wearing bulletproof vests, this fact made a lump rise in Spencer's throat. They thought that Joseph was just a witness, and this had happened to Spencer before. Last time, he ended up being kidnapped and developing a drug addiction, these situations never ended well.

A loud bang, intruded his stream of thoughts as he turned to look at his team member. Hotch has been shot! He thought in horror. But, to his surprise, Aaron mirrored his expression, there wasn't a wound on his body. Then it hit him. Like a train travelling one hundred miles per hour. He had only experienced something close to this pain once before, and that's when he was shot in the knee. But this time was worse, much worse. Sliding to the ground, he clutched just under his ribs, his hands covered in blood. Noises became incoherent and muffled. He heard what sounded like a shot from a gun from about a mile away but in reality came from right beside him. Out of the side of his eye, he could make out the blurred silhouette of Aaron Hotchner. He was speaking, but it sounded like Spencer was under water and Aaron was shouting,”It's going to be okay-just, just stay with me.” But unable to focus, Spencer blacked out.

Pulling out his cell phone, he hurriedly rang 911. “This is Special Agent Aaron Hotchner, I need an ambulance. Shots have been fired and a federal agent is down.” Hanging up, he didn't even mention that the UnSub had been shot in the leg. He didn't care that he could get in trouble for doing that his main focus was Spencer. “Oi, hey, why didn't you tell them I'm hurt?” Joseph seethed in pain.

Picking up his gun, he turned to Joseph,”If you don't be quiet I'll shoot you again!” Moving his attention back to Spencer, he applied pressure onto his wounds. He was hopeless. Ringing the team, he demanded they come and collect the UnSub, not mentioning that Spencer had been shot. They would find out when they arrived at the hospital with Joseph, he just wanted the ambulance to arrive quickly.