1430 West Avenue
Jay was in a daze as she and Crow were lead to the Cage. The Watchers pushed the crowd back to make a path for them whilst others had attached chains to their wrists and used them to jerk them forward. All around them the crowd was cheering. The noise was deafening and the lights illuminating the Cage were blinding, but the Ghosts barely noticed.
Crow also seemed to be in a bit of a trance, as though his mind wasn't quite with it. Even when one of the Watchers shoved him forwards so that he almost fell, he just stared dumbly around him. Their eyes wandered aimlessly throughout the crowd as the Watchers removed their chains and retreated. Jay rubbed her wrists absentmindedly.
Only when the door to the Cage clanged shut did they snap out of it, reality hitting them with the force of a freighter. The noise was overwhelming but their eyes were focused as they faced their opponents, sizing them up.
The one of the left was about the same size as Crow, although his shoulders were much broader and more heavily built. The one on the right was about 6'4" and built like an ox. Jay glanced at Crow. He nodded at her, she nodded back. Both turned back to their opponents and bounced on the balls of their feet in readiness.
Hotch was sat with Morgan, Prentiss and Santiago in one of the SUVs listening to the feed from the parabolic mic. One of the techs in the surveillance van must have adjusted the settings because the background noise of the crowd died down and they could hear orders being barked in Russian. Outside the SUV, they could still hear the roar of the crowd from within the warehouse.
"The fight is about to start." Prentiss said, listening carefully to the feed.
Santiago nodded and brought his radio to his mouth, "All units, prepare to move in." But then he frowned and squinted towards the warehouse. He motioned for Hotch to pass him the binoculars. Looking through the binoculars, he cursed quietly, "Shit."
"What is it?" Morgan asked quickly.
Santiago ignored him and spoke urgently into his radio. "All units hold your positions, I repeat, hold your positions."
"What the hell, man? The fight's about to start; what are we waiting for?" Morgan demanded angrily.
Santiago turned to face him and passed him the binoculars, then directed his gaze to a man who had just walked out of the building and was now talking to another man standing watch outside. Both had strips of cloth with letters on them tied around their upper arms. "See the armbands they're wearing. The letters on them indicate which Lieutenant they work for. The man on the right, has W1DC written on his. He is a Watcher for the Washington First."
Morgan nodded, seeing the letters on the man's arm, but then gave him a look as if to say 'so what?'
"The Washington First must be on site. We can't go in until he leaves; the whole reason we've had to wait this long to take down the Boston Lieutenants is because we need to take them all out in one go. Arresting Washington now would be disastrous." Santiago explained patiently.
Hotch nodded in reluctant agreement. "He's right, Morgan. We can't risk a repeat of 2010."
"So what, we just leave her in there to kill or be killed?" Morgan retorted angrily.
"She's survived this long, Agent. She just needs to hang on a little longer." Santiago said calmly. Morgan just shook his head in disgust. They had no idea what they were talking about. He had been inside that cage. His had only been training fights, but that didn't make the bruises or the cuts any less real. He could only imagine the fear that must be driving the Ghosts within that warehouse.
