Enjoying Your Company //

chapter thirty nine

Vanessa's POV:

I paced the police station, waiting for my team. Scratching at my arm, feeling stir-crazy. I still haven't gotten use to the unrest. The waiting. The patience this job requires. I walk to the table, taking one of my pills and tossing it back with some water. I close my eyes, trying to slow my breathing when I heard a door open. I spun around as the familiar faces of my team walked in. Spencer walked over to me. His lips peeled sideways, shaking his head. I ease my arms around him, feeling him slowly fall around me, his face into my neck. The rest of the team flooded around us leaving a wake of disappointment. I kept close to Spencer that night, feeling his mind in a distant, far away place. Uninformed about what happened, I could only assume that Jessie had bit the bullet, and Kylie's parents were going to get a heartbreaking call. I glanced to Spencer who was reading next to me, his eyes lingered on the same page longer than usual. I extend my arm putting my hand on him, watching a smile curl onto his face before continuing onto the next page. A little wave of relaxation tumbled over me as I watched him gain a little piece of himself back.

"Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live." Norman Cousins.

Washington, DC
The echo of footsteps bounced off the pristine white walls of the hospital. The doctor's pace quickly turned in to a run as he approached one of the patient rooms.

"What the hell?" There was a guard tending to another, two more dead in the corners of the room. Blood everywhere, and an empty patient bed.

"Call 911 now!" A guard begged. The doctor stammered over himself before rushing off to the phone.

"This is Dr.Overlem at DC Memorial Hospital, Lukas Elwood has escaped."

Quantico, Virginia
Vanessa's POV:

The jet landed and we gathered our things when Hotch's phones went off.

"Aaron Hotchner." Hotch answered his phone, his face fell. "Nobody move." He demanded, holding up a stern hand. We all held our breath. "You're sure?" Hotch's eyes landed on mine. Erupting a loud silence to ring through my ears as we wait in anticipation. "Okay, thank you."

"Hotch?" Dave started.

"An hour ago, Lukas Elwood escaped from DC Memorial Hospital, killing three guards."

"What?" Spencer whispered, turning over to see me. I felt nothing, glaciated.

"Vanessa, you are hereby placed under protection by the FBI." The entire team looked from Aaron to me. "You don't go anywhere without someone assigned to you. You are not to go home, you are not to leave Quantico until cleared to do so. Do you understand me?" I couldn't speak, simply nodding my head, feeling Spencers hand touch mine.

"Good. Everyone, get ready."