Блейк Пирс - Once Buried

The robots came back to life. The female figure stayed in the open, while the hostiles disappeared behind the barriers.

Then two hostiles appeared from behind the barriers, hovering menacingly around the female figure, who wobbled back and forth with seeming anxiety.

Bill knew that the trick was for him and Riley to fire at both hostiles as soon as they had a clear shot.

It was up to him to call that moment.

As he and Riley carefully aimed their weapons, Bill said…

“I’ll take the one on the left, you the guy on the right. Fire when I say ‘Go.’”

“Got it,” Riley said quietly.

Bill carefully monitored the movements and positions of the two hostiles. He realized that this was going to be hard – much harder than he’d expected.

The very second one of the hostiles drifted away, the other hostile placed himself dangerously close to the hostage.

Are we ever going to get a clear shot? he wondered.

Then, for just a fleeting moment, the two hostiles both drifted about a foot or so in opposite directions away from the hostage.

“Go!” Bill barked.

But before he could pull the trigger, he was seized by a rush of images…

He was dashing toward an abandoned building when he heard a shot ring out.

He drew his weapon and ran inside, where he saw Lucy lying prone on the floor.

He saw a young man moving toward her.

Instinctively, Bill fired at the man and hit him.

The man spun around before he fell – and only then did Bill see that his hands were empty.

He was unarmed.

The man had only been trying to help Lucy.

Mortally wounded, Lucy lifted herself up on her elbow and fired six rounds at her real attacker…

…the man Bill should have shot.

A shot rang out from Riley’s rifle, snapping Bill out of his flashback.

The images had come and gone in a mere fraction of a second.

One of the hostiles tilted over, dead from Riley’s shot.

But Bill himself stood frozen. He couldn’t pull the trigger.

The surviving hostile turned menacingly toward the woman, and a recorded shot rang out over a loudspeaker.

The woman buckled over and stopped moving.

Bill finally fired his weapon and hit the surviving hostile – but too late for the hostage, who was already dead.

For a moment, the situation seemed horribly real.

“Jesus,” he said. “Oh, Jesus, what did I let happen?”

Bill stepped forward, almost as if he wanted to rush to the woman’s aid.

Riley stepped in front of him to stop him.

“Bill, it’s OK! It’s only a game! It’s not real!”

Bill stopped in his tracks, shaking all over and trying to calm himself.

“Riley, I’m sorry, it’s just that… it all came flooding back for a second and…”

“I know,” Riley said comfortingly. “I understand.”

Bill slumped over and shook his head.

“Maybe I’m not ready for this,” he said. “Maybe we’d better quit for the day.”

Riley patted him on the shoulder.

“No,” she said. “I think you’d better see it through.”

Bill took a few long, slow breaths. He knew that Riley was right.

He and Riley resumed their positions, and Bill again said into the microphone…

“Hostage situation. Go.”

The same action resumed again, with two hostiles lurking dangerously close to the hostage.

Bill breathed slowly, in and out, as he peered through his sight.

It’s only a game, he told himself. It’s only a game.

Finally, the moment he was waiting for arrived. Both of the hostiles had moved ever so slightly away from the hostage. It was still a dangerous shot, but Bill and Riley had to take it.

“Go!” he said.

This time he fired instantly, and he heard the sound of Riley’s shot a fraction of a second later.

Both of the hostiles buckled over and stopped moving.

Bill lowered his weapon.

Riley patted him on the back.

“You did it, Bill,” she said, smiling. “I’m enjoying this. What else can we do with these bots?”

Bill said, “There’s a program where we can advance toward them as we shoot.”

“Let’s give it a try.”

Bill spoke into his microphone.

“Close quarters.”

All eight of the hostiles began to move, and Bill and Riley advanced toward them step by step, firing in small bursts. A couple of robots fell, and the others scurried about, becoming harder to hit.

As Bill fired away, he realized that something was missing from this simulation.

They don’t shoot back, he thought.

Also, his relief at saving the hostage felt strangely hollow. After all, he and Riley had merely saved the life of a robot.

It didn’t change the reality of what had happened last month.

It certainly didn’t bring Lucy back to life.

His guilt still haunted him. Was he ever going to be able to shake it off?

And was he ever going to be able to get back to work?

After their target practice, Riley was still worried about Bill. True, he’d recovered quickly after freezing up that once. And he’d actually seemed to enjoy himself when they started firing at close quarters.

He’d even seemed cheerful when he left Quantico to go back to his apartment. Still, he wasn’t the same old Bill who had been her partner for so many years – and who had long since become her best friend.

She knew what he was most worried about.

Bill was afraid that he might not ever be able to come back to work.

She wished she could reassure him with kind, simple words – something like…

“You’re just going through a rough stretch. Happens to all of us. You’ll be over it sooner than you think.”

But glib reassurances weren’t what Bill needed right now. And the truth was, Riley didn’t really know whether it was true.

She’d suffered her own spells of PTSD, and knew how hard recovery could be. She would just have to help Bill work through that awful process.

Although Riley went back to her office, she actually had little to do at BAU today. She didn’t currently have an assignment, and these slow days had been welcome after the intensity of the last case in Iowa. She wrapped up the few details that needed her attention and left.

As Riley drove home, she was feeling contented at the thought of dinner with her family. She was especially pleased that she had invited Blaine Hildreth and his daughter to join them tonight.

Riley was delighted that Blaine was part of her life. He was a handsome, charming man. And like her, he was fairly recently divorced.

He was also, as it turned out, remarkably brave.

It was Blaine who had shot and badly wounded Shane Hatcher when he had threatened Riley’s family.

Riley would always be grateful to him for that.

She had spent one night with Blaine so far, at his home. They’d been fairly discreet about it – his daughter, Crystal, had been away visiting her cousins during spring break. Riley smiled at the memory of their passionate lovemaking.

Was tonight going to end the same way?

Riley’s live-in housekeeper, Gabriela, had fixed a delicious meal of chiles rellenos from a family recipe that she’d brought from Guatemala. Everybody was thoroughly enjoying the steaming, lusciously stuffed bell peppers.

Riley was feeling deep satisfaction with a very good dinner and wonderful company.

“Not too picante ?” Gabriela asked.

It wasn’t too hot and spicy for American taste buds, of course, and Riley was sure that Gabriela knew it. Gabriela always exercised restraint with her original Central American recipes. She was obviously fishing for compliments, which came quickly and easily.