Eros

Chapter 17- Or Is It...?

"Limb!"

The cold was numbing, and the soil underneath her fingers was soft, almost as if it were inviting her in.

"Kevin!"

Her head spun, and she feared if she opened her eyes, she would empty what little contents her stomach had left.

"Limb!" A woman's voice cried out.

Why were they calling out 'Limb'? She stirred, her senses slowly returning and the heaviness laying over her mind subdued. No, they weren't crying out 'limb'-- Someone was calling out her name...

"Lynn?!" This time, a man's voice yelled out, though slightly fainter than the other voice in the distance.

The ground was damp, and somehow felt warmer than her. The leaves beneath her fingers could almost be gathered around her like a blanket, ready to be tucked into bed. She had a pillow, though it strangely rose and fell beneath her neck- but it soothed her, the repetition almost lulling her back into that strange and heavy sleep from before-

Skeletons with their ribs like arms reaching outward, towards her. A decaying body, no- her body, dirt covering the skin and getting in every dead pore-

She bolted up, causing a sharp pain to spread from her chest to her head, and she cried
out. Where was she?

Kevin lay underneath her, passed out, and her arms trembled as she tried to pull the excess blanket underneath him to cover her, feeling cold. She turned it around so no dirt or leaves would go onto the large red cut that ran up her body.

"Lynn! Hollar is dead!"

A woman's voice cried out and Lynn started again. It was the BAU. They'd found them! She sobbed and raised her voice as loud as she could in return.

"H-here! We're over here!"

Her chest strained with her yell, but she continued to cry out as she saw Agent Prentiss appear a few yards away from her, and the thoughts of being found, buried under the forest floor disappeared.

"Oh my- We're going to get you out of here ok? Is Kevin alright?"

"I don't know-" She tried to sit up as Prentiss approached, but turned lightheaded when the blanket fell, revealing the Sheriff's work.

"Woah, just take it easy Lynn," Prentiss said, pushing her back down and helping cover her with her jacket for shock.

"Morgan! Hotch- they're here! They need medical help-"

Her heart raced as her head began to spin once more, and though Prentiss loomed over her, she couldn't help but slip away once more, as a familiar face entered her vision and faded out just as fast.

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She stirred in her bed, unable to remember when she had fallen asleep in the first place. The covers were soft, but they felt strange, unfamiliar- this wasn't her bed.

The last bed she was in- her hands bolted up, remembering how the ties around her wrists had held her down, but nothing restrained her down this time.

Her eyes finally opened, revealing the hospital room and a man sitting by her bedside.

"Mike?"

The older man woke at her voice, and broke out in a smile, and he knelt at her side. He held her hand up to his face, and she could feel the tears sliding down his cheeks, his blue eyes brimming with an emotion indiscernible between joy and guilt.

"I'm so sorry, Lynn," he managed to choke out, his shoulders shaking.

"I should have told you about your parents and Harriet sooner- you deserved to know."