So I have to start off by apologizing. I know I promised an epilogue to Within Inches and this new story was actually that epilogue. It started to take on a life of its own and made more sense to be its own story. I do hope to write an epilogue eventually, but until then I hope you enjoy this story. It is going to be pretty fast paced and bumpy the whole time so hold on!

Please don't hesitate to let me know if the interest is there! Happy reading!

Oh and I do not own Criminal Minds or the characters. Of course if I did Emily Prentiss would not have been pushed to the background so much and she would still be there.

The Carver

"Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from indomitable will."

-Mahatma Gandhi

Loose pebbles scattered and flew up from the violent attack of tires as the FBI issued black Denali barreled down the abandoned road. The sirens shattered the still and silent air, and the flashing red and blue lights bounced off the passing trees illuminating the blackened night. Emily turned her head from the road briefly as the flash of blonde hair caught her attention.

JJ had pulled her hair tightly behind her head and then met Emily's dark eyes. "How did this happen?"

"I don't know," was all she could respond.

"Hotch and Morgan are okay." Reid interjected from the back. "They weren't in the house and we figured it out before the bomb detonated."

Emily felt her stomach turn at the thought of what happens when the monsters decide they are ideal targets. They had enough to deal with to separate themselves from the evil they hunted down, but when it penetrated through and attacked their core it was where she had to draw the line.

"It was only a matter of time before Tanner had figured we were onto him." JJ added.

"I know," Emily shook her head in disbelief and narrowed her eyes as if it would help to focus better, "but for him to deliberately set a trap for us brings this whole thing to a new level."

No one disagreed with the comment and the intense silence and concentration returned. A sudden blur of light came from off the road and streaked past them.

"That's him!" Spencer called out.

"Hold on!" Emily warned as she slammed the brakes and at the same time cranked the steering wheel to spin them around. The tires bit hard into the turn and even with the warning the other two were helpless to the force and their bodies were thrown to the side. Emily quickly countered the wheel to battle a spin out as they fishtailed. Once successfully straight she pumped the gas to test the traction before she floored it determined to not let the small red square of light retreat further into the distance.

"They're setting up a roadblock at the bridge." Garcia's voice suddenly appeared and cut through the tension filled cab.

JJ looked over to Emily and swiped an errand strand of blonde hair that had freed itself and fallen across her eyes. "Why would he risk going this way?"

"This is the only road in and out of town," Reid groaned as he righted himself from the g-force that had thrown him into the door. "He has no-where to go," he added in hopes to ease the urgency to catch up to the speeding cycle.

Emily didn't respond and kept her focus on the closing gap to their target. Her eyes followed the movements of the motorcycle as it began to weave back and forth in a taunting manner.

"What the hell is he doing?" She asked in confusion.

A brief flash of break lights answered the question and a plume of dust was kicked up when the motorcycle swerved onto the shoulder then turned off the road.

"Shit!" Emily cursed but reacted quickly. The SUV jolted and the tires squealed in response to the sharp turn.

"Hotch, he turned east down a dirt road roughly two miles from the bridge." JJ relayed to the trailing agents.

"This road was not on of the maps." Spencer said with frustrated confusion. He looked over to the folded paper beside him, but opted for the handle above him for support as they bounced down the uneven ground.

"He knows what he's doing." Emily said under her breath.

JJ turned her head to the brunette and raised an eyebrow. "What's that?"

"He knows this place inside and out." Spencer said and leaned forward towards JJ. He placed a strong hand on the material of the passenger seat to stabilize him. "He saw the blockade and may see this as his chance to get away."

"Not if I can help it." Emily said and tightened her grip on the molded plastic.

The larger vehicle had little advantage to the nimble cycle as it cut through the rough and rocky terrain. The narrow road weaved around blind turns and rose and fell over steep hills. The undulations and potholes were unforgiving as it tossed the occupants around. The trees grew thicker as the road narrowed more and the darkness that surrounded created a claustrophobic feeling the deeper they drove. Visibility became nearly impossible and the lights that reflected off the cloud of dirt created in front of them only made it worse. The occasional flash of red let them know they still had a tail on him.

Emily began to negotiate the crest of another hill when the view cleared briefly to reveal the man's loss of control. The bike suddenly became unstable underneath him and shivered from one side to the other. He tried to turn the handle bar but the front wheel twisted as it collided with a large rock and abruptly halted his forward movement. He was immediately ejected out of the line of sight but returned just as fast and landed hard back onto the path.

"He's down! Look out!" JJ yelled and pointed through the dust-covered windshield.

Emily pressed the brakes hard and swerved away from the path in an attempt to miss the person that lay writhing on the ground. She tried to cut back sharply when she realized too late that their new direction was headed towards the solid mass of the hill.

Continue? Would love to hear from you!

As always thank you for reading!