"She didn't raise the knife to kill me. She raised it to see if I'd still bleed." —Jason Cole
Location: Abandoned Farmhouse Cellar – 12:52 PM
For the first time in over a decade, Jason and Ash stood face to face.
No screens. No taunts. No blood games. Just two ghosts finally breathing the same air again.
She hadn't changed much. The eyes were the same—brilliant, focused, unhinged only at the edges. Her hair was shorter. Her smile sharper.
Jason didn't raise his weapon.
Ash didn't flinch.
"I wondered if you'd find me," she said, stepping into the room like she owned it.
"I didn't find you," Jason said. "You left a trail. You wanted this."
Ash tilted her head. "Don't insult me. You of all people know I don't want anything I don't plan to take."
Jason clenched his jaw. "Then say it. What is this? Revenge? Closure?"
"No." She pulled a small knife from behind her back—held it loosely, blade down. "This is truth."
Jason didn't move. "You're not here to fight me."
Ash smiled. "Of course not."
Then she lunged.
Quantico – BAU Headquarters – 1:03 PM
Garcia slammed her hand down on the table. "We found her."
Hotch turned sharply. "How?"
"She used her own backdoor into our surveillance system. Classic narcissist move. She couldn't resist checking if we were watching her. I traced a packet bounce through a satellite link—back to an agricultural dead zone in northern Virginia."
Reid peered at the coordinates. "Jason's already there."
Morgan swore. "He's alone."
Garcia nodded grimly. "Not if we move now."
Farmhouse – Cellar – 1:09 PM
The blade cut past Jason's ribs—shallow but deliberate. Ash backed away, watching his reaction.
He barely winced.
"Still the same soldier," she murmured. "Still bleeding on the inside and pretending it doesn't matter."
Jason didn't answer. He just circled her, keeping his breathing steady.
"You trained me," she said. "Taught me how to see the lies in people's eyes. Taught me how to make fear a tool. But what you never taught me was how to stop."
"I tried," Jason said.
"You left," she hissed. "You buried me in that desert with Rourke and his filth, and you walked away."
"I buried a murderer,"
Chapter Fourteen: Wolves in the Garden
"You don't bury the past. You plant it. And one day, it grows teeth." —Ash
Location: Abandoned Farmhouse – Cellar – 1:10 PM
Jason didn't flinch as the blood from the slash along his ribs soaked into his shirt.
"I buried a murderer," he repeated, voice iron-flat. "You were gone, Ash. The moment you enjoyed what they did more than you hated it, you stopped being someone I could save."
Ash circled him, the knife dangling casually from her fingers.
"I didn't enjoy it," she whispered. "I understood it. We were made to break people, Jason. You were just better at pretending you weren't."
Jason's breath slowed. Focused. She wanted him angry.
"You're wrong," he said. "I was made to end people like you."
She lunged again—low, fast, smart. But Jason wasn't just fast. He was trained. He ducked under her swing, grabbed her wrist, and disarmed her in two brutal movements. The blade clattered to the ground.
They stood inches apart.
Breathing.
Not speaking.
"You're not going to kill me," she said.
"No," Jason answered. "But I'm going to stop you."
Ash smiled. "Then you better hurry."
Outside – Farmhouse Perimeter – 1:14 PM
Two black SUVs tore across the overgrown field, kicking up mud and grass. Morgan and Hotch jumped out first, followed by Reid and a tactical support team.
Morgan surveyed the building. "We go in quiet. Assume Jason is in deep."
Garcia's voice crackled in over comms. "You've got five minutes before the press drones spot you. She hacked one and redirected it your way. This is the last card."
Hotch nodded. "Move."
Farmhouse – Cellar – 1:15 PM
Ash backed away from Jason, laughing softly, even as blood trickled from a cut on her forearm.
"You never could finish things," she said. "Not back then. Not now."
Jason leveled the pistol at her head. "You're done. Surrender."
Ash tilted her head, smiling. "I already did."
Jason froze.
Her eyes darted past him—to the stairs.
Boom.
An explosion rocked the foundation. Smoke surged through the cracks in the walls. Jason spun, covered his face, stumbled as the shockwave hit him.
Ash vanished.
Upper Floor – 1:17 PM
Hotch and Morgan forced their way through a broken side door just as the dust settled. Reid followed, gun drawn, scanning every angle.
"She rigged the place!" Morgan barked.
"She's buying time," Hotch growled. "Fan out!"
They descended into the cellar through a secondary stairwell—guns raised.
Jason was just getting to his feet, coughing through smoke, blood streaking his shirt and face.
"She's gone," he rasped.
Morgan caught him before he fell. "Damn, man. You look like hell."
"She said she surrendered." Jason blinked the haze away. "It wasn't about killing me. It was about timing."
Reid looked up, alarmed. "Then who did she really come here for?"
Jason froze. "JJ."
Quantico – Federal Safehouse – 1:26 PM
JJ sat on the couch, still under surveillance, flipping through old case files trying to quiet the noise in her head. The looping image of herself at the Hoover steps—betraying Jason—still burned behind her eyes.
Then the power cut.
Complete blackness.
She stood immediately, hand on her holstered weapon.
"Agent Jareau?" the guard's voice called from the hallway.
Then a thud.
She moved to the door, opened it—slowly.
The guard was down.
Unconscious.
Standing over him—Ash.
Wearing JJ's smile.