When Liv faced a loss that would rewrite her entire life, she stepped away from her work. A year and a half later, she returns to the BAU in search of normalcy; so she can finally move on. On a new team, Liv is immediately thrown into the game of ca...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
✺✺✺
The moment the team linked a common treatment center used by both of the victims, the rest of the case came in a flurry of puzzle pieces falling together. Old footage helped them put a face to the unsub; a light haired woman that conveniently always trailed behind the girls down the hallways of the establishment.
The unsub's name was Jane, and while her usual residence was nothing notable, a cabin that used to belong to her parents was of greater interest. For someone who didn't own it, it was too predictable that she never missed a electricity bill, let alone anything else.
The wheels of the team of SUV's screeched as they skidded across asphalt, pedals to the car's floor in an attempt to make it to the site where Molly was being held in time. When the car halted to a stop, Liv piled out of the car along with Morgan and Reid, hands grabbing hold of her gun as they approached the cabin. Morgan called at the front door, warning Jane that the FBI had arrived and to open the door immediately. His strong kick sent it swinging and the treading sound of their shoes filled the empty house. No one was there, except the dead body of Lyle on the floor, who they had seen alive at the station only a matter of a day.
"Nobody's here, she must've took Molly and ran." Morgan announced.
"Her car is still here." Prentiss said in response.
Liv's eyes looked out the window and fixed on the distant sight of rippling water. "To the lake. She means to end this."
They all took the only possible lead they had and filed out the door. Then, the only sound they heard was the crunching of earth beneath their shoes, and the growing, soft panting of their breathless endeavors.
They continued until the lake was far closer than before, Morgan peering around a tree at the top of the hill, that declined into sparkling blue waves.
"I see movement." Morgan called to the rest of them quietly, and when he did, Liv too spotted a head of light hair down in the shallows of the water, holding a limp body in her arms. They quickly flooded in to surround her, knowing that she knew there was no way out.
"FBI, let her go." Prentiss instructed in a stern, commanding voice. "Move away from the girl, and get your hands above your head."
Jane was soaked waist up in the water, holding the unconscious body of Molly to her chest, and what looked to be a knife placed over her heart. Half the team was on the overpass that extended above the lake, guns pointed, and Liv followed Morgan as he circled around down to the shore.
"She'll drown if I let go!" Jane shrieked back, growing frantic at the growing presence of the agents. She started pulling back, further into the water as if she had any chance to evade them.
"No, she won't." Prentiss answered her. "Move away now."
"Jane, put it down!" Derek called out sternly. Liv's feet where glued to the sand, a strange sense of adrenaline making her ears ring slightly and her grip on her gun uncommonly steady.
What happened next was a blur of mess, and before she knew it, Liv was in the water. Molly, while in Jane's grasp, had regained consciousness and bounded out of her arms suddenly, causing any clear shot they had before on Jane too high risk. She heard the splatters of police behind her, narrowing in to detain Jane as quick as they could. When Molly leaped, Jane hand yanked her left arm in attempts to bring her back closer.
"Drop it!" Liv called as she thrashed through water, trying to beat the time of Jane's armed hand. Jane, not phased by their pleas, had her eyes set elsewhere, her knife still pinned under her white knuckles. Liv knew what she was thinking.
Jane was a person who craved control. No, more than craved it. She couldn't live with out it. She had known the fight was over before they even got to the lake. And if Jane no longer had the power to control Molly's life, controlling her death was second best. There was no talking her off the ledge. She had made the jump far long ago.
Before Liv did anything, she caught the wild, terrified look in Molly's eyes, the poor girl who was too injured and weak to continue fighting.
Don't engage, you need back up.
Derek was in a frenzy of shouts behind her, and she considered that backup enough. Now, she was only thinking of Molly.
Today you survive, and tomorrow you'll be safe.
Liv was similar in height as Jane, her tall stature leveling with hers. The second Liv lunged for the knife she held before it could come any closer to Molly, Jane was set into the utmost panic. She thrashed it towards Liv trying to ward her off, leaving Liv ducking its blade and attempting to twist her wrist and disarm her.
Something was wrong. Was it because the water had made their skin to slippery? Was it because Jane was stronger than her? She didn't know, but the panic set in the moment she realized she had failed. Jane wasn't holding Molly anymore. No, now she was just fighting for herself.
Was Jane ever really the control freak? Or was it Liv? Is that why she constantly found herself in the worst positions just to try to save a life? Is that why she had no self preservation? It had only been seconds since these events had unfolded, so soon ago she had still been planted on the beach.
Had her actions not been driven by desperation, but logic of what this job had taught her best, perhaps she would've been quicker. Her vest shielded much of her abdomen, but it did not span far enough to protect the sides of her where Jane was driving a knife between her ribs.
Liv's shoulders were shoved off of her, pushing her below the water's surface. She heard the echo of a gunshot. Too late.
Her hand reached for her side, anxiety setting in when she realized how high the knife had made it's home. Was it too close to her heart? Had it punctured a lung?
She didn't know which, if any, but she did know she was already feeling too weak to find grasp of the lakes floor and stand herself up. Instead, she allowed herself for only a split second to just float underneath the crystal surface.
Her desperation for control was killing her. Maybe Hotch was right, every time he grew angry at her recklessness and lack of forethought before she jumped. Maybe he had seen it all along and she was just too stubborn to believe it, too scared to face the truth. Yes, there was a reason it was always her at the end of this sword. Perhaps Hotch never resented her; only resented the fact that she valued her life next to nothing.
Two hands grabbed at the thick material of her vest, yanking her up with such a strength, she was not surprised to hear Morgan's voice accompanying it. She gasped at the break of air, letting Morgan carry her weight until she could feel her back against the mix of sand and dirt.
She couldn't seem to get enough air, like with every breath was a desperate attempt to fill a torn bag. Morgan was above her, saying something, but it took a second before she could focus on what he was saying.
"-coming now, we're gonna get you out of here. Don't close those eyes, pretty girl." He said, his desperately soothing demeanor not quite masking the seriousness and panic. "You hear me?"
Liv blinked back, quickly trying to nod her head in confirmation. She saw things flying above his head, no, everywhere. And not things, but spots in her vision that seemed to be growing bigger.
She didn't want to listen anymore, it was making her head pound and her eyes were growing tired anyway. Before her consciousness was lost, she couldn't help but question the seed of fear she felt in the pit of her stomach.
