❝ ah, yes, the marionette doll case. ❞

         NO RESPONSE WAS heard from anyone, which worried Penelope Garcia. She tried staying on the line for a few minutes, but still no reply. The blonde woman even tried calling them on their personal cellphones, but no one picked up. She called Special Agent Matt Simmons from the IRT to help her. They drove to where the team was supposed to go, following the same route they did. It wasn't until Matt abruptly stepped on the brakes when he noticed a bunch of spike strips laid out on the road. Then, the two found the team's SUVs, damaged and wrecked.

         When they got out of their own vehicle, they found Rossi walking up towards them. His steps were staggered and a few drops of blood ran down the side of his face. Penelope and Matt held him up for support. "Jag-off ambushed us." The man mumbled. "Didn't even see him coming."

          "All right, we gotta get you off that leg, okay?" Matt told. Rossi shook his head, "No, no. I'm fine. I'll flag down the cavalry. You go check on the team."

         "Yes, yes. The team, the team." Penelope muttered, walking off to the other SUV where Luke was helping JJ walk. "What can I do? How can I help?" She asked.

          "I can't see." JJ winced. Luke examined her, "Okay, I see it. You got some broken glass in your scalp, JJ. Just hold this until the ambulance comes, all right?" Penelope's gaze shifted towards the car they came from, seeing another person left in the right side of the back seat. "Liv?" She mumbled.

         She jogged up to the car, seeing her body move slightly. Penelope muttered a few affirmations in relief before opening the car door, "Liv? Olivia, c'mon." Then, Luke had come over next to Garcia to help. One of Olivia's arms were wrapped around Penelope as the other was wrapped around Luke. The Griffins woman grimaced each time her body moved, feeling an abundance of excruciating pain. "I know, I know, Angel. The ambulance will be here soon." Penelope softly assured.

Luke's name was being called out by Matt so they can both help Tara, leaving Penelope with Olivia. The woman had dark crimson liquid practically dripping off the sides of her face. And not only was her face bleeding, but so were her arms. It truly wasn't a pleasant sight to see. The last time Olivia has been in this much pain was when Devin Wyatt tortured her for hours a few years prior. "Oh, I'm so sorry. The ambulance will be here and they'll take really good care of you. They'll take all this glass out of you and they'll fix you up. Look, they're here, they're here." Penelope encouraged.

As Rossi told police enforcements what happened, he realized everyone was there in front of him, except for Emily. Reid found out what happened and met them at the hospital. Suddenly, the doors opened, revealing a few team members laid out on stretchers. He found JJ and walked with her as the EMT wheeled her to her room. "I- I need to call Will." JJ said.

"I did. He's on his way." Spencer assured her. She nodded, "Right, right. Oh my god, the twins. Did you tell them, too? Liv seemed hurt pretty badly."

"Yeah, I told them to stay put and that I'd call them once they can see her. Do you know where she is?" Spencer asked. She shook her head, "No, but I don't think they took her that far."

He left JJ in her room as he looked through the glass windows of each room until he found Olivia. When he did, there was a nurse in her room and the door was wide open. Both the nurse and Olivia turned their heads to the new presence in the room. "Via." He murmured. "Excuse me, sir. Are you with her?" The nurse asked as he nodded. She continued, "Fortunately she didn't get too injured, however a few of her bones are a little fractured. She may need to take some time to rest as her limbs are a little weak. And in the ambulance, they were able to remove the glass shards out of her scalp and arms. She will need to stay here for the time being."

With that said, Spencer thanked her as she left before approaching Olivia. Her eyes would shut every now and then in agony as soft winces escaped her lips. Her arms were wrapped in bandages and her forehead had layered squares of gauze on her head, blood trying to seep out. "What happened to the others?" She questioned.

         "They're in their own rooms, being taken care of." He responded. She then asked, "What about the twins? Do they know I'm here?"

         "Yes, I called them, told them to stay at the house until I was sure you're okay." He replied.

         "It's 4 a.m., they have school in 3 hours. I have to tell them I'm fine, so they can get some more rest." Olivia sat up on the hospital bed. Spencer was quick to gently stop her from doing so, "Via, you're fragile right now. I'll call them, you stay here and rest, okay?"

         "Okay, fine."

         Luke came into the room, tapping Spencer's shoulder, "Rossi's refusing treatment until he speaks to both of us." Reid glanced back at Olivia before leaving her room to go to Rossi's. The two men then left the hospital to go to the BAU when Rossi gave them specific orders.

Olivia sat in her original position on the bed for a few minutes as she took a glimpse at her hands. She lost some of her rings, but fortunately, the special, dainty heart-shaped one was still on her finger. She heard a few knocks on the doorframe and looked up to see JJ. "How are you feeling?" She asked her.

"Like that case we worked on four years ago when the unsub turned his victims into puppets. You?" Olivia answered. "Ah, yes, the marionette doll case. Weird memory to bring up, but oddly accurate to how we're all feeling." JJ grabbed a chair from the room and placed it next to Liv as she sat down.

"Hey, um, where's Tara and Emily?" Olivia asked. JJ just looked at her, "Um, I think they brought Tara down the hall. Did no one tell you about Emily? We're sure that Scratch took her during the crash. Garcia and Matt are trying to help her, and I think that's where Spence and Luke went, too."

Olivia rolled her eyes, "It wasn't enough he almost killed us, he had to take her, too?" The blonde nodded, "I just hope Emily isn't hurt too bad." And after a few minutes of talking, the two women fell asleep. JJ was the first to wake up when her husband found her in Olivia's room.

          JJ and Will started talking about what would be next for them after the incident that almost killed everyone on the team. Little did they know, Olivia was awake, listening to their conversation. It's not like she had a choice, they were in her room after all. She listened to the sweet things they said to each other and their realization that they didn't want to resign from their jobs. Olivia sarcastically spoke, "I love you both, but get a different room. This doesn't have to be the first thing I see and hear when I wake up."

         JJ smiled at her as Olivia continued to speak, "Is there any news on Prentiss?" JJ shook her head. JJ rotated her time between Olivia, Rossi, and Tara. While so, Penelope, Matt, and Spencer were working hard to find Emily as Luke came back to the hospital to check on everyone.

         Eventually, they found a lead and Spencer, Matt, and Luke were able to locate Emily in a warehouse. Spencer stayed with Emily to comfort her from the recent trauma she just endured the past few hours as Luke chased down Mr. Scratch. He ended up on a fire escape, shooting at him until the platform beneath him detached itself from the side of the building, his hands holding onto the ledge. Scratch pleaded Luke for help, but before anything else could happen, Mr. Scratch had fell to his death. And just like that, it was finally all over. The team no longer had to live in fear of the malicious man who had targeted them for years.

          Weeks had passed and Tara and Olivia were discharged from the hospital, and the others were allowed to come back to work after healing. Courtesy of Emily, they all arrived to the conference room of the BAU, including Matt. "I wanted to thank you for all your help." Emily told him.

         "Well, it was good to be of help. Ever since the IRT went down, I've been sitting on my hands, waiting for a new assignment." He spoke. Recently, the International Response Team has been disbanded due to the work of Linda Barnes. Olivia didn't know why, but she knew she had to be insane to disband a group of such amazing agents. "We should sit down tomorrow. We can talk about that." Emily replied.

        Emily continued, "So we all need to discuss what Peter Lewis' death means for this team."

         Penelope spoke up, "It means that hotch can come back." Emily and Rossi glanced at each other. "Yeah, we, uh, spoke to him. He was relieved that he and Jack were out of danger. They're out of Witness Protection, but um-" Rossi explained.

          JJ finished for him, when he couldn't find the words, "He's not coming back, is he?"

         "He loves being a full-time dad. He never got to do that before and let's face it, in this job-" Emily shook her head. Rossi continued, "There's always gonna be another Scratch, and he's lost enough."

          "We all have." Tara nodded.

          "Yes, we have. Which is why the director has ordered us to take some time off from handling cases," Emily informed. "but before we all leave, there's one last thing I need to say. Scratch got deeper into my head than I care to admit, and the only way I was able to stay sane was by repeating a mantra, two words. And those two words happened to be Wheels Up. It saved my life when I wasn't sure I was gonna make it, and it reminded me that you were out there fighting, so take your rest. You've earned it, but when we get back, I want you all to know that I will do my best to live up to what Hotch has done for you and this team."

          The last time Olivia had any contact with him was in the beginning of the year, when he tried to persuade her into coming back to the BAU. It worked, but she wasn't able to actually see him when she did. Hotch was a father figure to not only her, but almost everyone else on the team. Of course, they were all going to miss him. But if this was what's best for him and his son, then who are they to get in the way of that?

         With that being said, the team dispersed from the conference room. Olivia came home to see the twins finishing up cleaning the living room, which was something irregular coming from them. Olivia quirked her eyebrows at the sight to which Oliver explained, "We wanted to create less work for you to do when you came back."

          She smiled at the thoughtful gesture, letting them stop from cleaning the living room. "So, Spencer is actually out of prison and you're now also out of the hospital. Does that mean it's over?" Rosie asked. Olivia nodded her head, "Yes, it's finally over, thankfully." The three then spent their time catching up. Whether it was the twins telling everything she's missed while she was with Spencer and Cat, or Olivia telling small details of what happened with Spencer and Cat. They were just glad that they were finally able to have a moment of peace, without any worries in the way.

ANGIE'S NOTES ☺︎︎
so i did not add the wheels up scene bc i
find it could be triggering for some
people😕💔
anyways, get ready for act two bc A LOT
will be happening baes <3
ALSO, while i was watching the season 13
premiere for this chapter, I JUST WANNA
SAY STAN MONICA, STEPHEN'S WIFE🗣
bc that woman is literally the best character
on the show omg she deserves the entire
world