The BAU Badass

Chapter 19

You arrived at the lake. You saw a black car with an open trunk next to some of the trees near the water. The children had to be here, they had to.

You recalled the unsub's words from just a few minutes ago, "It's too late now"

Before Morgan even stopped the car, you had opened your passenger door and rushed out towards the lake. You heard an ambulance on its way and saw someone rushing behind you in the corner of your eye. You spotted some bubbles surfacing in the middle of the lake and didn't hesitate to dive into the water. You heard some protest from someone behind you but you couldn't care less. You had to save these boys.

You opened your eyes underwater, searching for movement, for a body, for any sign of the children. You spotted something– a body. You watched underwater as the body was slowly sinking to the bottom of the lake with rope around the child's wrist. You swam as fast as you could downwards reaching for the boy. You felt your lungs struggling to find air somewhere. You've never been a great swimmer.

You grabbed the child, locking your arms under his armpits. Pushing your feet off the ground, you tried to swim up to the surface. When you reached the top, you gasped for air as you pulled the unconscious child up with you. You swam back to the land with the boy as Morgan was reaching out his hand to grab the child and Reid reaching out to grab you.

"Take him, he's unconscious. Call the paramedics!" You shouted through your coughs as Morgan carried the child out of the water and began CPR.

You rejected Reid's helping hand and refused to get out of the lake until you found the other boys. You didn't see any of them while you were underwater saving the boy who was now with Morgan. Where the hell are they.

Before you had a chance to go underwater again to search for them, you saw a few bubbles surfacing on the other end of the lake. That had to be where they were. You quickly swam to the other end, almost out of breath. You once again submerged underwater to look for the boys. This part of the lake was deeper, but you spotted both boys at the bottom again. You took a deep breath on the surface before going back underwater and swimming deeper into the lake.

You locked each of your arms with each boy's arm, now between the two. You pushed your legs from the bottom of the lake and continued to swim up, struggling to carry both the boys' weight up with you.

You didn't know if you would make it to the top, your lungs were giving up and you needed air.

You were two meters away from the surface, about to give up, to let your lungs fill up with water, but you couldn't. You needed to save these children. They had parents praying for them, waiting for them to come home. You couldn't be the reason they didn't live. You used up all your strength to push them up to the surface, catching a glimpse of someone on the grass hovering near the water to help take the kids up. Your brain tricked you into thinking you were close enough to the surface where there was air and you inhaled water by accident. You pushed the kids up to the surface knowing the person there could pull them out before they sink again. More water filled your lungs while you watched the boys get pulled out from underwater, and suddenly you began to sink, getting farther and farther away from the boys above you. Your vision blurred a little and you felt yourself about to fall unconscious, but not before you felt someone reach for your hand and pull you up.

You began to choke up water when you resurfaced. Reids worried face and wet hair were facing you as you realized he was the one to pull you out. You wanted to say thank you, but you couldn't make out any words as you were still coughing up water.

Finally, Reid pulled you up on the land and climbed out of the lake after you. You spotted some paramedics surrounding the unconscious boys you had saved. The first boy you pulled up a few minutes ago was now conscious. He had a blanket around his shoulders while he talked to a police officer on the other side of the lake where u had last seen him.

After a few minutes of coughing, you could breath normally again. Your eyes met Reid's and he sighed in relief.

"Thank you," you whispered to him as loud as you could. Two paramedics rushed to you and handed you both blankets, you were shivering.

You had saved the kids. And Spencer had saved you.

________

After Hotch had told you how brave you were and how well you did on this case an hour after the events had occurred, the team was informed that the unsub hadn't died. His name was Robert Gillespie. He was going to spend the rest of his life in prison for the kidnapping and attempted murder of three young boys (who had all survived thanks to you).

You were in the hospital where the victims were being treated and their parents wanted to meet the agent who saved their kids. They cried into your arms as they hugged you and thanked you a million times.

Reid was worried and made a doctor check on you, but the doctor said the same thing you had been reassuring Reid for an hour now: you're fine. After hearing it from the doctor, Reid believed it.

Now that all the boys were okay, the team was heading back to the hotel. It was 5PM and the team wanted to celebrate the positive outcome of the case later tonight, especially since Garcia was here and she loved celebrating. You weren't sure if you wanted to go with them because you were tired. This was your first case back from the whole Mateo incident and it was pretty intense. You decided you would nap and decide later if you were up for celebration.

___

You woke up from your long nap at 7PM, the team was planning on going out at 8PM. You decided to go with them. After all, you did save three kids and wanted to celebrate.

Before you had time to change into the emerald green dress you planned to wear tonight, there was a knock at your door. You opened it and saw Reid standing in front of you with a smile on his face.

"Hey," you smiled at him, gesturing for him to come in as you closed the door behind him.

He took a seat on the edge of your bed.

"How are you? This case was intense and I wanted to make sure you're okay. Do you want to talk?"

He had asked you a million times how you were doing after the Mateo incident, but this time it didn't bother you. You didn't hear pity in his voice, you heard love. He was asking because he genuinely cared for you, and that made you happy. You couldn't help but smile at him, he was always there for you even when you didn't know you needed him.

You didn't respond to him. Instead, you walked over and sat down next to him. You wrapped your arms around him and gave him a hug. He hesitated for a moment but hugged you back.

"Thank you, Spence. For saving me, and for everything else. I don't know what I'd do without you" you whispered while still in the hug.

Spencers POV

"I don't know what I'd do without you" she whispered into my ear. I want to hold her like this forever. I want to tell her I love her. But I don't. I don't say anything. I just hug her tighter, never wanting this moment to end.