I Will Never Let You Go (A Maxcer Fanfic)

Are You Safe?

"Reid, where's Newbie?" Garcia asked, referring to Luke. As much as Garcia didn't like his presence at the BAU at first, he has definitely grown on her. So much so that when he asked her out to dinner one day, she greatly accepted. That was many months ago, and they've been going steady ever since.
"He went to the bathroom I think." Spencer answered, not looking up from the report in his hand. Simultaneously, Emily came out of her office and JJ walked into the bullpen.
"Roundtable now, it's urgent." Emily ordered.
Everyone filed into the room, none of them bothering to take a seat. JJ turned on the screen and brought up the news.
"There's been a bombing at a local mall here in D.C. There have been some deaths reported, some are injured. Very few have been able to get out. It appears that we are dealing with only one unsub. They are armed and are taking shots at people at random." JJ said.
There were already reporters outside of the mall, and in the background the sign could be seen on the side of the building. Spencer froze.

"Babe, are you okay?" Spencer asked. He noticed her hunched over their bed clutching her stomach as he returned to their bedroom. He went to her side, but she swatted him away. He was still concerned, but then she straightened with a goofy smile on her face and Spencer could see what was wrong.
"Popped a button on your jeans?" Spencer asked teasingly. Max grumbled.
"Yup, and now I can't get it to close at all. I might go to the mall today, get a pair of those maternity jeans that seem to be a godsend to some people."
"Yeah, I think it's about time you do that." Spencer said, rubbing her bump. She was twenty eight weeks along, and her stomach had grown a lot. Max had outgrown many of her tops months ago, but most of her pants still fit. She had hoped that she'd be able to hold out a couple more weeks with the pants she had, but it appeared that their growing child wasn't going to allow for that. Spencer helped her engineer a closure with a rubber band before he left for work, giving her a kiss on his way out.

Max always went to the same mall, and that was the mall that was everywhere on the news. Only the major exits of the mall had been hit and were still in flames. Spencer's heart started to race as he walked out of the briefing without an explanation. There was only one thing he was capable of paying attention to and that was getting Max on the phone and hearing her voice. With shaky hands, he clicked the call button on Max's contact. Several rings later, Max picked up.
"Spence. The mall." Max whispered, her voice shaky. He was calmer now that he had contact with her, and so he mustered up the courage he could to get into work mode.
"Are you safe?" Spencer asked.
"I'm in the maternity store behind racks of clothing. I have an eye on the door and windows. Every couple minutes there's a man in all black that walks by. Spencer, he has guns--" Max choked. She had heard the bombs go off, felt the ground shake beneath her causing her to grab onto a rack for support. She heard yelling, screaming, and gunshots. She sank to the floor, her heart pounding in her chest. Many of the people in the store around her had hidden themselves as well, some calling for help on their phones. Once the screaming had subsided, she could hear the echo of a man's voice. Max couldn't focus on what he was saying, all she could think about was Spencer and if he and his team would get them out alive.
"Stay where you are Max, put your phone on silent, I will call you back. We're coming to you." Spencer said. He sounded determined, and that made Max feel safer. She knew he and his team wouldn't rest until they were safe.

They pulled up to the perimeter of the mall in the SUVs, piling out and walking up to the D.C. police. There were some people who had been leaving the mall when the bombs went off; they were talking to reporters and the police about what they saw and heard. Spencer looked around the parking lot and it was mostly packed.
"If they wanted to take out as many people as possible, they picked the right day to do it." He said to JJ. She had her hands on her hips and was surveying the area as well.
"Do you think they knew it would be this crowded?" JJ asked. Before they knew who the unsub was and what their goal was, Spencer couldn't answer that question.
Spencer's eyes landed on a familiar car and from where he was standing he could see the license plate. It was Max's car. He kept his eyes fixed on it until Emily called him over.
"Max told you that our unsub was dressed in all black. Did she say anything else about them?" She asked.
"She said that there was a man walking past the stores in the center atrium, which she's in a store near it. She said that he has guns."
"Try and reach her again. Check up on her and see if she has anything else for us." Emily ordered. Spencer nodded and pulled his phone from his pocket. A few rings later, Max picked up. "Hey, I heard him running past causing a commotion about the police. Are you guys here?" Max said, her voice sounding weak. She'd been crying quietly as she sat in the store, listening to the voice of the man that had ambushed the mall, calling out to the hostages and laughing maniacally.
"Yes, but we need to know more about what's going on inside. You said there's a man, is it only him? You can hear his voice, does it sound old or young? Are you able to see his face or skin tone?"
"I don't think he's with anyone else. He just seems to be yelling and then shooting at random. He's been peering into the stores. The manager of the store i'm in has gotten in contact with some of the other stores in the center atrium. We know a bomb went off--"
"Yeah three of them. One on each of the side exits and the back exit. The main entrance that leads right into the center is unscathed."
"I can't remember finer details but I saw that he was white."
Spencer relayed the information to Rossi, then asked Max an off topic question.
"Did you find those pants you were looking for?"
"Spencer, is now really the time be worrying about that?" Max asked, almost sounding annoyed.
"I know it's not, I just wanted to take your mind off of all of this for a second." Spencer said softly. Max didn't feel better about the situation, but she appreciated Spencer for trying.
"Hey I gotta go. Keep your phone close. I'll call you when I can. I love you."
"I love you too." Max whispered, a tear rolling down her cheek.
Spencer ended the call, leaving Max to her own devices once again. Another pregnant woman scrooched closer to Max and whispered "Were you on the phone with the police? Are they gonna come in and help us?"
"My husband is with the FBI. They are right outside and they are figuring out how to handle the situation." Max said, wiping her cheeks.
Just then, the man that had been walking around stormed into the maternity store. He blasted two guns at some of the people and into the air. Max curled around herself as much as she could, hugging her belly. She clenched her eyes shut, not wanting to see lives being taken. This was one of the few times that Max was ever made aware of what Spencer did for a living. He found serial killers based on behavior, and risked his life taking them down. But then he dealt with situations like this; where there was no warning, there was no preparation. And as far as Max knew, they didn't know who this man was. Not yet anyway.
"Alright. Everyone out of the store." A man said, his footsteps getting closer and closer to Max. He crouched down next to her, brushing a hair away from her face with the blade of a knife, the sharp metal cutting into her skin just enough to draw some blood.
"Get up sweetheart, no more playing around."
Max knew better than to deny his order. Slowly, she and the woman around her stood up, both of them with tears streaking down their faces. Max could see other people in the store that were standing, but she could also see that some of them were on the floor, bleeding. Max took note that the ones on the floor, including the manager, appeared to have been on the phone right before they were shot, proven by that their phones were still loosely in their hands. Some of them were pregnant, which made Max feel sick.
"Move along, out of the store and against the wall." The man said, practically yelling. He was tall, had curly, greasy hair, and he sounded as if he smoked frequently. Those who remained complied, walking slowly to the exit.
Max looked around, seeing a lot of people down on the ground. Some were bleeding, looking lifeless. Others sobbed in huddles, trying to protect children. She looked across the way and saw the main entrance/exit to the mall's center atrium. The automatic sliding doors were glass, so she was able to see through them to the outside. The man paced back and forth slowly, watching the people he had held hostage. He had done the same thing to all the other stores: gone in shooting and then brought out those who he chose to live. Besides Max and the woman who asked about help getting here, there were five other people from her store that were left unharmed. Four of them were women, all except one appearing pregnant; the last was a man, who was clutching onto one of them tightly. They must have been husband and wife. Everyone had been crying, but that had since stopped from the shock. They didn't know why they had been let out of the store, while others were still lying there dead. Max wasn't sure of the reason herself, but she was certain the team would figure that out.

"I could only get so many out. The rest--" A sob broke out of an employee who had helped about a dozen people get out of the mall. Spencer and JJ were trying to interview, but the woman was hysterical. JJ put his hands gently on the woman's shoulders.
"You did everything you could. Now, could you tell us what the man looked like who came into the mall?"
The woman wiped her eyes. "He had on all black clothes, leather boots; and he had a shaggy hairstyle."
"Like his?" JJ asked, pointing at Spencer's hair. Given the circumstances, he didn't give a reaction.
"His was a bit shorter but yeah."
"Did he look old or young?" Spencer asked.
"He looked around twenty five. His voice kinda cracked as he shouted at people."
"What did he say?"
"After the bombs went off and we could finally hear him, I heard him shouting at people saying they "broke the rule". I was filing people out of the exit; I was the last one able to get out."
Spencer was hung up on what she meant by "broke the rule." JJ and him walked away from the employee while an EMT took a look at her. She had minor cuts and bruises from the rush out of the building.
"What do you think "the rule" could be?" JJ asked.
"I don't know. We can't see the victims, so we can't tell what they were doing before they were shot."
"Well, you spoke to Max and she said that after the bombs went off he had been walking past stores peering into windows. By that point, everyone in the mall knew something was going on. Now think, when you feel panic like this, what's one of the first things you do?
"Call your loved ones." Spencer said, it being the first thing that came to his head. It's what he did when he first saw the news back at the office.
"So maybe he's targeting the people who are on the phone. He doesn't want anyone leaking information." JJ speculated.
That created a problem for Spencer. If that was the case, if he called Max again, it would get her killed.