Bullet Kiss

"Drive faster!"

"Nydelia." Derek briefly looks at me and back to the road. He stiffly says, "You know I'm driving as fast as I can."

"Not fast enough." I did not have time to lower my voice.

Derek tightens his grip on the steering wheel and coughs. "Listen Delia, Reid is smart. Nothing like a bad hostage would hurt his skull."

I roll my eyes and look out my window. I sniff. "You know as well as me that the unsub is a psychotic narcissist who would kill the moment she knows we're in the same building as her."

He keeps his composure. "But she needs an audience. She wouldn't kill if she knows people aren't looking at her. Reid being in that building was just bad timing."

I notice that now we are pulling up at the location Penelope gave us. It's dark and isolated but that didn't give me the creeps or chills as much as thinking of Spencer like this. I look at the building and shake my head. The warehouse's windows are pitch black. No sign of light or life is visible. I look at Derek and he's staring at me. Behind his shades, I can't know what he's feeling. The silence and the wait is killing me.

I fold my arms across my chest. "He was only there because I asked him to go. For fresh eyes on the case. It's my fault."

While Derek unlocks his door, he lets out a sigh. "Nydelia, listen to me when I say Spencer will be okay because he will be okay." His face relaxes the moment he adds, "And after we find him, you could tell him how much you love him."

Derek comes out of the car and levels his gun above his waist. As I follow, I give him a look. "What do you mean by that, Derek?"

He leads us into the warehouse. He's smiling now and obviously more relaxed than me.

"What do you mean by that, Derek?" I press again, much more determined to know his thoughts.

He lets out a small laugh. "Oh come on, Nydelia. The whole team knows about you and Reid. You're both aching for each other's parts but you both are just too naive to realize it yourselves."

I point my gun ahead of me, following his lead. "Aching for each other's parts? What does that even mean, Derek?"

He only snickers at me.

I look ahead and notice that Derek is ahead of me by fifteen feet. I see the veins popping on his hand as he tightly holds on to his gun. It's cold and it's annoying but not as annoying as Derek and his blunt statements.

I try to ask him again but Derek hushes me with his finger as he gets an incoming call from Rossi. "Yeah, what's up, Rossi?"

"The unsub is most likely in an enclosed area. Hotch and I are in the front. You and Nydelia are in the back, I assume?"

"Yeah, we are. Just got into the warehouse."

"Okay. Keep me updated. And don't shoot. We need her for questioning. She may also have Reid at gunpoint so be wise."

Derek hangs up and looks at me. His eyes are deep and and his lips are tight. "We should split up. I'll head down towards the basement," he says while motioning a hand to the stairs leading down under, "and you could circle the halls right here."

I shake my head while tightening my grip around my gun. "You could go ahead and circle this floor. I'll go to the basement and call you if I have something."

"You sure?"

"Yeah." I nod, pursing my lips together.

I start to walk down the stairs before Derek can object. My feet are twitching and doing this thing where they weigh a hundred pounds. I feel the darkness around here choke the air out of my lungs. I feel my chest tighten at the thought of Spencer. Was Derek onto something I wasn't aware of? What the hell was he talking about?

My heart stops. Thud!

Oh my god.

I trip on my shoes. I never trip on anything. I inhale a heavy breath and continue walking down the dark spiral of steps.

My thoughts are shaken the moment I see an illuminating light trace the circumstance of a rusty door. As I clutch onto my gun, my hands shake harder. My breath quickens at the thought of Spencer's present state.

My heart is pounding faster the moment I hear Spencer's modulated voice. Assuming Spencer and the unsub are down near an old laboratory, I inch closer to the room and follow the source of life. The kid is, with no surprise, telling our unsub about the statistics of deaths that happen in a basement. His voice is clear. I can't hear a hint of terror in his speech. My stomach drops the moment I hear her say something. The unsub isn't fond of this new information so she yells at him and threatens to shoot. Her tone suddenly changes the moment Spencer is silent.

"Who's there?" She yells from behind the rusty door. She knows.

"FBI!" I yell, quickly masking the terror in my voice.

She doesn't respond.

"Open this door!"

The unsub remains quiet. Spencer's mouth is shut too.

I narrow my eyes. I am not going to live another minute of knowing Spencer's life will be in danger. I suck in my anxiety, step back, and kick the door open with my dominant leg.

It hurt but it's worth it.

Spencer is locking his arms above his head, facing the entrance. While the unsub is holding his neck between her arm, her right hand is pressing a gun to his rosy cheeks. His light brown eyes are wide and full of strain. His mouth opens but he instantly closes it because of the unsub's comment.

"Don't be so happy, Dr. Reid," the unsub flatty says.

I don't want this. I hold my head up and aim my gun between her eyebrows. She's open but she's not stupid.

"Let me see your hands! Palms toward me! Drop the gun! Drop the gun! Drop the gun!"

The unsub doesn't listen. She wears a smile on her face. She is covered in dirt and blood. She’s stroking her gun against Spencer's face while she’s watching me closely.

"You are done, Jenkins. The building is surrounded." She's still smiling. I repeat through my teeth, "You're done."

She doesn't flinch.

"And you know when you're behind bars? The only one who'll remember your fame will be you and the thick air around you."

She growls at me and pushes the gun deeper in Spencer's face. She's boiling but she doesn't break. Yet.

"If you shoot, I'll shoot. And all this, whatever you planned, will be for nothing."

Her face is turning red. "Shut up," she hisses.

"You'll be nothing."

She arches her head to the side. "I said shut up."

"Nothing like the piece of dirt you really are."

She raises her gun away from Spencer and points it at me. Finally. "Shut up!"

I lick my lips and aim for her arm. As I let out a shaky breath, I pull the trigger. And she screams. So does Spencer. She shoots his thigh while she cries from the pain of my bullet. Spencer pulls his head back and bites down on his lower lip. I shoot Jenkins's other arm and see her rolling to her side. As she's screaming and calling me names, I kick her gun out of her right hand.

The victory is swept under my feet the moment I hear Spencer groan. I'm practically rushing over to Spencer with a small frown on my face.

"Oh my god." I put pressure on Spencer's right thigh while I repeat those words. "You won't stop bleeding! Spencer, stop bleeding!"

He tries to get up but I push him on his back.

"Nydelia, it's only my thigh, not my head or heart. I'll live."

As I'm processing his words so quickly, I can't really tell if he's panicking or not. Or was that me? Spencer cups my bloody hands into his hands and stops me from holding his wound. I widen my eyes and shake my head at him.

My voice is shaking. "Y-you have a hole in your leg. And it's my fault. I shouldn't have pushed you on this case." My lips quivers, "What a stupid case."

I hear Derek, Rossi and Hotch near the stairs, while they are calling out commands and asking about the status of the my whereabouts. I want to call back at them but Spencer's bloody state is clouding my mind.

He continues, "But you found me, Delia. You lead the team to me and you found me." He shows off a weak smile. "I would still be with that creep if it weren't for you."

"I thought you were a goner." Saying it outloud hurt as much seeing him in pain.

While he blinks slowly, his eyelashes are moving to the beat of my heart. A smile is forming on his red lips. He whispers, "You can't get rid of me that quickly, Delia."