The door of the basement was opened. Bruce walked in with a gun, and Hotch covered him from behind.
The team members made judgments and speculations based on various clues and gave a profile of the Unsub. Garcia found the person and address in the database that matched the criteria they gave. They immediately rushed over and scattered with the police on the first and second floors of the house, as well as the backyard and the garage to look for the suspect and the victim. Bruce found a basement.
The area of the basement was not small. The torchlight shone everywhere in the slightly dark basement. Bruce and Roland cautiously searched every corner of the basement from both sides, one on the left and one on the right.
"Safe." Hotch's voice came from not far away.
Bruce paused for a moment and shone the flashlight on the wall. He saw a few photos on the wall beside him, all of which were of blonde girls with blue eyes. Except for the two at the top and bottom, the other photos were marked with a red cross. Bruce's eyes fell on the photo at the bottom. It was Lily. It seemed that Lily had not been killed. Bruce was slightly relieved.
"Hotch." Bruce greeted him.
Hotch immediately came over and saw the photos. Bruce pointed to the front where there was a door.
The two carefully approached the door. Hotch held a gun in his right hand and put his left hand on the door handle. He gave Bruce a look.
When Bruce was still a contractor in the reincarnation realm, he once joined a team. It was not a temporary alliance between contractors who were assigned to the same world, but a team that signed a team contract to experience the same derivative world together. The team members strengthened different but complementary abilities in order to form a strong fighting force under all kinds of conditions.
At that time, Bruce's position in the team was high agility close combat, which meant that he had high attack and was flexible but low health. It took Bruce a long time to integrate into the team. He believed in the command, believed in the close combat with high physical strength, believed in the support, and believed in the long-range. Together, they defeated many powerful enemies that they could not do even if only one person was missing. When signing the contract, they had to pay ten times the penalty for breaching the contract, which gave them the initial foundation of trust. After that, they cooperated again and again, and the companionship of life and death. They were even willing to do what seemed to be certain death to fight for a chance of survival for the team.
For high agility melee fighters, compared to agility and attack power, perception was more important. Every battle for high agility melee fighters was akin to dancing with the Grim Reaper. As long as the enemy managed to land a hit, it could be fatal.
Bruce couldn't remember how much he had to go through in order to develop his perception of danger to the extreme, and even form a body judgment that could predict danger. This kind of perception even took precedence over thinking. But what he still remembered was how long it took him to get the Sniper and the Mage in the team into a trustworthy range of danger perception, so that he could focus more on dealing with the enemy in battle, and not let his body instinctively guard against bullets or spells coming at him from behind. But in the end, he did it.
Just like how every dream might not have a happy ending, every trust could lead to betrayal. Giving trust meant giving the other party the right to hurt you. After going through countless dangers together, the team finally fell apart. Bullets from teammates shot into his chest, and he finally escaped death and began to walk on his own path.
Bruce glanced at the gun in Hotch's hand and nodded to him. Hotch opened the door, and Bruce took the lead and walked in with his gun. It seemed that he was observing the room, but Bruce's attention was actually on the gun behind him. Even if he knew that the person behind him wouldn't shoot at him, he couldn't control himself at all.
Just like how he rejected every like-minded person who wanted to go with him after that, he said, "Sorry, my body can't trust you anymore." Then, he struggled to make up for his lack of physical strength.
"FBI, Mark Thomas, put down the gun in your hand." Hotch's voice sounded.
Mark Thomas was the owner of this house. He was a doctor by profession. Three years ago, he divorced, and his daughter was awarded to his mother. He was also the suspect they found based on the profile. Of course, the photo on the wall outside proved that he was the serial killer.
The room was not big, and they were only a few meters apart. There was a light by the wall, and they could roughly see the situation in the room. A girl was fixed in a strange position on a self-made operating frame. Her forehead, upper body, and legs were taped. Her arms were stretched forward and tied to the frame, and her neck was connected to a strange catheter. The good news was that she hadn't lost consciousness. When she saw them barge in, her face showed a surprised expression. "Bruce … Wu wu …" It was Lily, but her voice was weak.
"Shut up." The man turned to Lily and pointed the gun at Lily's head. His expression was agitated. "Put the gun down, or I'll kill her."
"You won't do that. Your work isn't finished yet. This is your last chance." Hotch pointed the gun at Thomas. His expression was serious, and his voice was slow.
"Yes, my work, my work … Just one last step." Thomas looked at Lily with some infatuation, and then said to the two of them, "Who is Bruce?"
"Me." Bruce took a step forward.
"Put the gun down. Come here." Thomas touched Lily's head with the gun. "Immediately, put the gun down and walk over slowly."
Bruce slowly crouched down and placed the gun on the ground. Then, he raised his empty hands and slowly walked over to the other side. Hotch was still pointing the gun at him vigilantly.
"If you do anything, 'Bang!' You know it."
"I won't do anything." Bruce moved very slowly to avoid provoking the murderer. "Can you tell me about your work?"
Thomas gave a sick smile. "My work is to let them stay in the best moment and preserve it. That way, I can have them forever."
"The best moment?"
"Yes, the best moment. When they are dressed up and hug you with a smile, they are like angels."
"Is that why you abandoned the original ones? Those girls will only be afraid of you? " Bruce was already in front of Lily. If he moved forward a little, he would be able to touch Lily's tied arms. The light in the room was a little dim, and only then did he see Lily's situation clearly. The catheters on both sides of her neck were connected to needles. Blood was drawn from the right catheter, and the left catheter was injected with a dark yellow liquid.
Bruce narrowed his eyes slightly, restraining his urge to attack immediately. He couldn't guarantee that the gun beside Lily's head wouldn't hurt Lily, but it seemed that he didn't have much time left.
"Fear, they shouldn't be afraid of me. They used to admire and rely on me so much! Humans are too fickle. Only by becoming my work can they stay with me forever. " The man seemed to have thought of something, and he lost control of his emotions. He yelled at Bruce, "So, your mission is to make her smile."
Bruce squatted down slightly so that he could look directly into Lily's eyes. "Everything will be fine. Lily, be strong. You will be beautiful and immortal, won't you?" He looked at Thomas. Bruce couldn't meet Lily's teary eyes.
"Yes, immortal. As long as you keep her at a certain temperature, she can stay with you much longer than you think."
"Am I lucky enough to know this formula? Your exclusive formula? "Bruce asked.
"Oh, so you admire my work too. Of course, you don't know how many experiments I did before I succeeded. It's right there, the topmost one. I sorted it out separately." Thomas turned his head and gestured to the workbench at the side.
At that moment, Bruce took a step forward. He grabbed Thomas's arm and raised it up. A dagger appeared in his other hand, and he slit the man's throat.
Bang! A gunshot rang out, and the bullet hit the ceiling above. The man collapsed to the ground.
Bruce immediately went to Lily to comfort her. "It's okay now. I'll put you down first."
He quickly removed the syringe by Lily's neck. Bruce saw that a lot of blood had been drawn out from the canister. He said to Hotch, who was about to check on the man on the ground, "He's dead. Hotch, Lily needs help."
There was a commotion outside. Someone had probably heard the gunshot. Hotch glanced at Bruce and ignored the man on the ground. He put away his gun and walked out. "I'll call the ambulance."
Bruce put Lily down from the stretcher. The girl collapsed in his arms. "I'm so scared, Bruce."
"It's okay, it's okay. You'll get better." Bruce comforted her softly.
"But I'm so cold." The girl's voice was so weak that it was almost inaudible.
Bruce cut his wrist and put it next to the girl's mouth. "Drink it, Lily." There was a special factor in his blood. This was the embodiment of his super regeneration ability. However, once this factor left his body, it would lose its effect very quickly.
Bruce knew that although he couldn't give Lily super recovery ability like he did, his blood could at least prevent Lily's condition from deteriorating. She would survive, especially when he didn't know what had been injected into Lily.
When the paramedics placed Lily on the stretcher, Bruce had already wiped the blood from Lily's mouth. The wound on his wrist was gone, but his face was pale.
Lily held Bruce's hand tightly. Even when they came out of the dark basement and reached the ambulance, Lily still didn't let go.
"Lily." Bruce bent over. "You'll get better soon. We've already informed your parents. You'll be able to see them at the hospital."
"Bruce, can you give this to me?"
Bruce saw Lily reach out and grab the silver chain that was exposed from his neck when he bent over. "Of course." Bruce took it off his neck and placed it in Lily's hand. It was a silver round object. "Happy birthday, Lily." He kissed Lily's forehead.
"So, what is that?" Prentiss asked with a smile as the ambulance left. "A pocket watch? I noticed that you didn't bring a watch. " Every person who was rescued would make them feel more relaxed, and strengthen their conviction to continue walking forward.
"No, it's actually a compass." Bruce also smiled gently.
"You don't bring a watch but a compass? It feels weird. "Prentiss shrugged." But it's great that we can save the girl. "
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