CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE:
BIRDS OF A FEATHER
( aka 04x03: minimal loss )

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SOMETHING WASN'T RIGHT, AND it wasn't the poison that supposedly crept its way through each of their systems. Cyrus' face was blank but his jaw was locked, his eyes creased at the corners. He regarded the people crying with contempt but smiled upon the ones who opened their arms to God's early embrace. They were his in arms, devoted to a higher power, trusting there was more out there for them than what this Earth had to offer.

"Mothers, fathers, children, 'though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we fear no evil, for Thou are with us. And God will wipe the tears from their eyes, and there will be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. And there will be no more pain, for all of the former things have passed away.'"

Dallis' gaze landed on Jessica and Kathy. She couldn't see either of their expressions but where Kathy's head was bowed to her lap, Jessica lifted her chin for a better glimpse of Cyrus as he paced the altar steps.

"What do we do?" Emily whispered.

"Nothing," Reid replied.

Emily frowned at him. "We have to do something. These people just took poison."

Dallis shook her head. "No, they didn't."

And even if they had, they were weaponless and powerless. They had no way of helping them.

"Look closer at his body language," she said, to which Reid added, "Just after he told them about the poison, he waited for them to start to react, then he nodded to Cole and he started writing."

It didn't surprise Dallis that Reid had figured out the names of the other men. It was the last thing on her mind, but she supposed it was smart. Who knew? They might need that information if the tide suddenly turned against them.

"The names they're writing down are of the people who are crying," Reid concluded, crossing his arms close to his chest. "It's a loyalty list."

"So he knows who will follow him to the end," Emily's shoulders slackened with a sigh.

At the same time, Cyrus raised a hand, motioning for his audience to stay in their seats. "Be still, there was no poison. Instead, a test of faith, 'because your adversary the devil walketh about as a roaring lion choosing whom he may devour!'" His fury overflowed like fire, reflected in the stricken faces of those who had unintentionally exposed themselves with their fear. The tension was thick like the smoke of rising flames, but then Cyrus stopped yelling. "Watch each other for signs of weakness. You are your brother's keeper."

Dallis ran a hand along the side of her face. "There wasn't poison in those cups this time, but I wouldn't put it past Cyrus to really commit mass suicide if things start going off the rails. Look at how he quotes scripture from memory. He knows every single word in the bible. It's the only thing he understands for certain."

She went quiet as Cole approached them, one hand resting on the pistol at his hip. "Let's go."

They returned to the room Cyrus had put them in previously. It was cold without the light coming from the window, reminding Dallis of a coffin buried deep in the earth. It was her turn to pace but she stopped when, not even ten minutes later, Cyrus marched inside with a storm in his eyes.

"Which one of you is it?"

His gaze landed on her frozen form, sweeping across the perspiration on her forehead. She winced when his hand planted on her shoulder, forcing her into the empty seat beside Reid. He moved behind her. A moment later, Dallis heard the click of a pistol. Her head started to spin. A shiver ran down her spine. The cold air was the only thing she could think of.

"Which one of you is the FBI agent?"

"Why do you think one of us is an FBI agent?" Reid asked, schooling his features into just the right amount of surprise.

Cyrus regarded him curiously, then lifted the barrel of his gun towards Reid's forehead. "God will forgive me for what I must do."

Reid flinched back. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"One of you does."

If the air was cold, the metal of a gun pressing between Dallis' eyes was colder. One tiny move and her brain would scatter across the concrete behind her. For an instant, she was sitting behind the wheel of an ambulance. A bomb ticked away in her ears. She gazed down at hands stained with Garcia's blood. Everything she had suffered, just to get to this moment, another brush with death...

Then Cyrus spoke again. "Who is it?"

"Me," Emily said. "It's me."

No.

The gun lowered from Dallis' face. Without hesitation, Cyrus wrapped Emily's hair around his fist and dragged her from the room. Her legs kicked in resistance, boots scraping against the floor. Her cry of pain, of panic made Dallis lurch out of her seat.

"Don't move," Cole barked, pointing his gun at her.

But Dallis wasn't scared anymore.

She needed to get to Emily.

Cyrus might've believed only one of them was FBI but Dallis would be a selfish, cowardly woman if she sat back and let Emily face this on her own. Reid had taken Cyrus' interest -- whether that was his quiet composure coming across as submissiveness or the mere fact he was male, it didn't matter really -- but Emily and Dallis were bugs to be squashed beneath the toe of his boot. They were everything he resented in a woman -- potentially from his own mother? Dallis hadn't worked that out yet -- for he smiled in favour of Jessica's pretty smile and need for protection. He glared in the face of Emily's bravery, in Dallis' boldness when she threw herself at Cole and declared herself an FBI agent too.

"You think they are stupid enough to only send one of us in here?" Her laughter was mocking.

When they joined Cyrus, Emily was sprawled on the floor behind him with blood smeared across her face. It leaked from her swollen nose. The patches around her eyes would surely bruise. She could barely lift her head to realise Dallis had followed her, had done exactly what Rossi demanded she never do again.

Sorry, Dave. She could think of nothing else as Cole told Cyrus what she claimed. With one last disgusted glance at Emily's unconscious body, he gritted his teeth and lunged for Dallis, all but throwing her into the opposite room.

Unlike the storage space they'd left behind, this was some kind of office. His office. Dallis swallowed as he locked the door and rolled up his sleeves. Trying her best to maintain composure, she pushed herself onto her knees. She let out a sharp cry when his boot collided between her shoulder blades. As she jolted forward, her head bounced off the edge of his desk.

"Do you think it's brave to follow your friend into danger?"

When she wasn't quick enough to answer, his fingers ripped her hair at the roots, slamming her face into the desktop. She could feel him standing behind her, hips jutting into hers. She reached for the lamp on his desk and swung but he easily dodged the hit. Her nose cracked from the force of the wood colliding with her face again. The taste of blood on her tongue was metallic. Sour. Then there was a silver glint of a knife emerging through his paperwork. He sliced through her flesh with ease, a superficial wound to her forearm but a warning one.

"You're going to tell me what two FBI agents are doing lying to me."

Dallis bared her teeth in a smile, revealing the rivulets of red that leaked between the bone. "Do you see yourself as God, Benjamin?"

The weight of him suddenly ceased. Dallis was prepared when he threw her to the floor but she whimpered when he kicked her in the stomach. Again and again and again.

"I'm not going to tell you anything," she wheezed, curling her arms around herself like a shield. "Call me a masochist but I'm starting to like the pain."

But that wasn't the truth, not really. Every second she spent infuriating Cyrus was another Emily was spared. They'd uprooted his composure, threatened his security, and Dallis couldn't help but laugh even when his fist met her jawbone, then her eye socket, then the side of her head. Vaguely, she knew it was only a matter of time before she lost consciousness, and then a thought crossed her mind and burrowed in deep.

"'My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.'"

Dallis knew little of the bible but she picked up on things in the media and knew a few passages. Whether or not they'd mean anything to Cyrus was another thing, yet Dallis was a river overflowing. She wanted to crack his head open and understand how a man like him came to existence, then make sure he never hurt anyone again.

"'He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless,'" she continued, wrapping her fingers around Cyrus' wrist. "I'll follow my friend anywhere, but will your flock follow you for much longer, Mr Cyrus? When your so-called prophecies start to lose face?"

She was silenced with a punch to the mouth, another kick to the ribs this time, and Dallis knew nothing else until she opened her eyes in the dim mid-afternoon light to find herself moved to another room whose only other occupant was Emily.

"Oh, Dallis, why?" Her hand worked through Dallis' hair, untangling the knots Cyrus' fist had created. "You could've stayed with Reid."

Dallis shook her head then quickly regretted it. "I couldn't just leave you, and it certainly wasn't believable that the FBI only sent one agent in. At least this takes the heat off Reid."

Emily sighed. "What are we going to do?"

They weren't prepared when Cole suddenly came for them. He was merciless in dragging them to their feet, but instead of returning them to Cyrus he took them back to the church. Reid was standing on the other side of the room. He couldn't help but stare, glassy-eyed, at the dried blood on their faces, at the way Dallis routinely rubbed the shape of fingertips indented into her wrist.

"... It's come to my attention that some of our brothers and sisters have lost their faith in God. That they no longer love us. They want to abandon us." Cyrus was vindicated, bitter. He barely noticed Dallis and Emily's presence though Dallis had no doubt it was him who ordered Cole to bring them along. "When I call out your name, please stand."

Dallis winced when soft fingers pried her hand away from her wrist. Reid's touch ghosted over the red and purple flesh. He looked so boyish with his sweater and slicked-back hair. Dallis knew the new hairstyle was an attempt to seem older, more mature with his September creeping towards October and his twenty-sixth year becoming his twenty-seventh. It nicely framed his sharp jaw, bringing attention to the warm brown of his eyes, but Dallis would always know him as her dear friend. Her younger brother. One who she'd stand up for in a heartbeat even if he didn't ask her to.

"It's not as bad as it looks," she mumbled.

"I'm so sorry."

"Don't be."

"Guys," Emily frowned. "Look at who he's releasing."

Dozens of people were standing around the room, gazing at each other in apprehension underlined with hope.

"It's the ones who failed the loyalty test..." Reid trailed off, then steeled himself to leave their side. "I'll get word to the team. Wait for a sign from outside to indicate what time the raid will come."

Then he was gone.

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WITH NO ONE AROUND to stop them, Dallis made herself comfortable on the twin bed beside Emily. It was a tight squeeze and both women accidentally elbowed the other a few times too many with their arms pinned behind their backs by thickly wound rope, but Dallis was pretty sure she had a concussion and she was scared to close her eyes and let the cold consume her alone. She laid motionless beside Emily, watching as she nudged the heel of her boot between the blinds and the glass.

"If you can hear me, we know you're coming," she said for the fourth time in two minutes. "We can try to get the women and children down to the tunnel, but I need to know when you're coming."

At first, Dallis thought she was seeing things when a red light cut through the shadow onto the wall opposite them. "Emily," she murmured, lifting her head.

"Okay, okay, I got you," Emily gasped. "What time?"

The red light flashed three times.

"3am?" Dallis asked. "Lift the light up and down if that's a yes."

The light moved. Up, down. Up, down.

"Understood."

"Reid is on the first floor with Cyrus," Emily said then. "And please remember there are children here--"

Dallis' mumble of her name had them both falling silent. 3am was approaching fast but so was someone out in the hallway. Dallis dragged herself back to her own bed, grimacing at the rough sheets scratching against her sensitive skin, but she needn't have worried. It was only Kathy arriving with more medical supplies sent in from their team.

"I didn't get a chance to check on you earlier."

Her smile was thin but maternal as she perched herself beside Dallis. In her hands was a glass cup. She held it to Dallis' mouth and let her drink, then she did the same for Emily. Dallis was glad to swallow down the last of her blood. The water left her feeling refreshed, prepared. She sat there in silence as Kathy bandaged the cut on her arm.

"Cyrus is planning a mass suicide," she declared, making Kathy freeze.

"You made that 9-1-1 call," Emily stated what they'd long since figured out.

Kathy's eyes squeezed shut. "This is all my fault. None of this would have happened if I hadn't made that call."

"You were trying to protect your daughter."

She nodded. "There were other girls before Jesse. He would marry them in secret and after a while he'd take another, and we weren't permitted to speak of it. And so when she asked for my consent, I wanted to just take her and run, but I was afraid she wouldn't leave him."

"You wanted us to take her," Dallis said.

Kathy finished wrapping her arm, cutting through the bandage then pining it in place. "I wanted to save her from Cyrus."

"We can give you another chance to do that," Dallis and Emily glanced at each other. It was now or never. "The FBI is coming here at 3am. We need you to gather Jessica, the kids and the other women. Get them into the basement just before 3am."

"Why are you telling me this?" Kathy shook her head.

They were taking a massive risk, and if Dallis was thinking clearly, she would've wondered if it was a bad idea. Kathy could go straight to Cyrus and ruin everything for the team, but how else would they get out of that room and find the women and children without being noticed? They had to get through to Kathy.

"Because I have faith that you are a strong enough woman to do the right thing for Jessica," Emily declared.

Kathy said nothing, merely closing the door behind her, but she returned not even ten minutes later to cut through their bindings. "You were right. They are setting the place to blow up! I told Jesse that Cyrus wanted her to gather the women and children."

"Where is the man we came in with?" Dallis' mind went straight to Reid.

"He's in the chapel with Cyrus," Kathy ushered them toward the door. "It's 2:45 though. We've gotta hurry."

Out in the corridor, there were various red cans of fuel stationed beside sticks of dynamite. The liquid had been smeared into the grey carpet and Dallis grimaced as the heels of her boots sunk through the wet surface. She and Emily checked around each corner, guiding the women and children deeper into the building. They didn't run into a single person before reaching the basement. There, they found several SWAT members as well as part of their own team waiting.

"Emily, Dallis, are you alright?" Morgan was the first to get to them.

"They've wired explosives," Emily warned as Dallis brushed past her towards Rossi. He immediately lowered his gun and opened his arms for her.

"This is starting to become a habit," he muttered into her hair before releasing her and looking around. "Where's Reid?"

"In the chapel with Cyrus..."

"Okay, we've gotta get you both out of here."

Emily shook her head. Dallis set her hands on hips, determined to head back up those stairs as soon as the last of the women and children had gotten out safely. "Reid needs us."

"Dolcezza, you've done enough for him," Rossi insisted without much thought of who was listening. "Let Morgan find him."

Suddenly, Jessica was screaming and tearing back up the stairs away from her mother. Kathy, sobbing, raced after her but she was stopped by Morgan dragging her back. Dallis and Emily guided her outside. They emerged through the darkness just as the chapel behind them exploded. Blowing up the ones who remained inside, too.

Dallis froze, slack-jawed, adrift. She barely flinched when Hotch appeared, his relief so consuming that he drew her in for a hug and accidentally pressed down on her bruised back. He did the same with Emily, keeping the two of them close and out of harm's way while they waited. JJ joined them then, her hands clutched protectively over her stomach. She was about six months along and showing now, yet she refused to leave the field just yet.

Coughing with smoke-clogged lungs, Reid and Morgan walked out alive.

Nobody else was with them.

"Oh, Spence," Dallis rushed towards him. She threw her arms around his shoulders, squeezing him tight. She felt Emily press in beside her, unable to wait. The three of them had faced this together and beat the odds. They clung to each other, desperately needing this moment. "You're okay."

He soon pulled back, frowning down at her. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't you dare say that again," Dallis pointed a finger at him warning, but then she started to laugh and he forced a tired smile.

It was time to go home.

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DALLIS WASTED NO TIME stretching out on the couch once they made themselves comfortable on board the jet. Reid and Emily were talking quietly in the corner but the last of her adrenaline had crashed and burned. She tucked her rope-free hands under her head, ready to sleep the trip away, but then Rossi took a seat in the empty spot beside her.

"Hey," she yawned and went to sit up but he stopped her with a gentle hand ghosting over her shoulder.

"You can rest," he said. "I just want to sit with you."

So he did. Dallis let her eyes close, soothed by the warm pressure of his fingers tracing back and forth. This time, the darkness behind her eyelids was a welcome sight that led into a dreamless sleep.

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FOUR HOURS LATER, SHE found herself cooped up in Rossi's office. She was sitting in his high-back leather chair, gazing impatiently up at him as he stood between her and his desk, one hand holding her jaw.

"Are you done yet?" she asked.

He paused with the antiseptic swab hovering over her temple. "Does it look like I'm done?"

"Dave, Hotch had the paramedics check both me and Emily back in Colorado," she insisted, curling a hand around his wrist. "I'm fine, really. But I appreciate that you're so attentive."

She smiled, ignoring the pain it caused her swollen nose. She had no doubt she was a sight for sore eyes but her heart missed a beat when Rossi merely gazed at her face with devotion she'd already seen once in the past few days, in the expression of a girl who didn't really understand love but died for it anyway.

Slowly, she reached up, ghosting a hand over his chest. Testing the waters. Hopeful but not sure why. Just a crush, her mind screamed. Yet it hadn't gone away since.

Then his lips were on hers, and Dallis' hands instinctively travelled into his hair, making themselves at home in the salt-and-pepper strands. She groaned against his mouth, feeling her stomach knot as his facial hair scraped against her skin. Why did she love how it felt?

"Dallis," he whispered her name like a prayer.

Breathless, his kisses had trailed from the corner of her mouth to her jawbone, and it was there that Dallis stopped him with wide eyes.

What was she thinking?

This time, when he called her name, it was a plea that went unanswered as she left the room. Even when she made it home -- to her mother's house, at Hope's insistence -- she could taste him on her tongue. Every inhale of air encouraged the remnants of his cologne.

"Oh, my girl," Hope enveloped her in her arms, discarding the newspaper she and Anthony had been pouring over before she let herself in. Dallis caught a glimpse of the headline -- CONVICTED PAEDOPHILE WALKS FREE -- but then Hope was cradling her cheeks and Dallis' eyes pricked with tears. "It's okay, my sweet girl. You can let it out with us."

So she did. She clung to her mother like a child out of the womb, wailing for a sense of security she'd never truly find again, but she came damn close when Rossi kissed her and called her his sweetness and came for her even when she'd been so reckless with her life.

"I think you need a good night's sleep, Dally," Anthony patted her on the shoulder.

Hope accompanied her upstairs to the spare room and helped her change into a spare pair of pyjamas. She waited for Dallis to wash her face and brush her teeth -- she had no strength to shower, even though she desperately needed one. When Dallis emerged from the bathroom, she plaited her hair then sat back as Dallis crawled under the covers.

"You'll stay?" she whispered when Hope went to turn out the light.

Her mother's smile was stubborn. "Oh, I wasn't planning to leave."

So mother and daughter laid there whispering well into the quiet night, and Dallis told her about Dave. When she went to sleep, his kiss found her again, and Dallis let herself accept it like she should have when he gave her the opportunity. She didn't know if he'd extend it again, but for now she had him in her dreams.

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A/N: Me after publishing a Derek Morgan fic (go check it out), giving you some Dallis and Rossi angst and dropping a major hint y'all aren't gonna understand yet: