counting stars | criminal minds [discontinued]

6 | B O M B E R

[4.1]

"you two caused me a lot of emotional distress this week"

Florence heard the explosion before she felt it. First, came the loud roar that filled her eardrums. Next, she felt the heat on her back. And lastly, the force of it sent her flying to the ground. It all happened in a matter of seconds.

Her ears were ringing as she slowly rolled on her back. Florence held her head and stared at the big ball of fire that used to be an SUV. It took her a moment to process the fact that it had exploded. She touched her forehead and felt blood from where she hit it on the concrete. Had she been any closer, she would've been in much worse shape.

Florence scrambled to her feet and took a cautious step towards the burning car.

"H - Hotch?" she called out, but it was weak and barely above a whisper. She took another hesitant step, but then her knees locked up, too scared to get closer and find his body. "Hotch?"

Finally, her ears stopped ringing and she could hear the alarm of the car going off. For a moment she wondered how it was still functioning. The next thing she heard was a man shouting over the noise.

"Sir, are you ok?"

Florence turned and relief filled her chest when she saw Hotch standing a few yards away from the car. There was another guy there, checking on him. Florence ran over to them and grabbed Hotch's arm — he didn't even seem to realize she was there.

"You a cop?" the guy asked, eying Hotch's gun.

"Call 911. Tell them... that a federal agent..." Hotch trailed off and ran towards the burning car. Florence tried to hold him back but he ripped his arm from her grip. "Kate!"

"Ok, so you want me to say—" the guy stopped talking, realizing that Hotch wasn't going to keep talking to him.

Florence chased after Hotch, leaving the guy to call 911. Hotch was trying to get through the fire and find Kate, not caring about his own safety. Another small explosion went off from the reaction, startling her, but she kept going. She grabbed Hotch as tightly as she could and pulled him back from the fire.

"Hotch, get back!" she shouted, not knowing if he could even hear her.

"Kate!" he continued to shout, trying to get closer to the car.

Florence squinted her eyes and tried to spot Joyner through the flames, but she couldn't spot her. "Hotch! She - she's not there!"

Florence looked around, trying to see which direction Joyner must have been thrown by the blast. Several yards out, in the middle of the street, was where she helplessly laid. Florence grabbed Hotch's shoulders and turned his body towards her.

Immediately, he ran towards her. Florence moved to follow him but paused. She didn't know if she wanted to see what condition Joyner was in — she had been closest to the blast after all. Eventually, she swallowed her fear and ran towards them.