Previous part of Easier to Lie.

***

Chapter 10

Hotch collapsed onto his bed as soon as he closed the door to his hotel room. It had been a long and tiring day.

After spending hours examining yet more mutilated corpses, Hotch and Emily had gone back to base to help Morgan, JJ and Reid. Having finished that, they split the list into most likely suspects, and then presented them to Emily's friend, who claimed that she recognised no one. They then showed her all the people they thought least likely to have committed these crimes which again had proved useless. Eventually, they had left Charlie with a sketch artist so they could attempt to draw their suspect and JJ had conducted a press conference. The rest of the day had been spent searching the area for anything that might be useful and talking to the people the lived nearby, who conveniently had seen nothing. Not a single one of them.

His eyes were closing of their own accord now. He wanted to get up and have a shower but the bed was just so comfortable…

Knock knock.

Hotch bit back a groan. Maybe whoever it was would just go away…

Knock knock.

Or maybe not. With great difficulty, he heaved himself onto his feet and opened the door, doing his best to keep the look of annoyance of his face. It was Morgan.

"Hey, Hotch. Can I come in?"

"Of course," replied Hotch politely.

Morgan shuffled into the room and perched himself on the end of Hotch's bed. Hotch picked up the chair in the corner of the room and turned it to face the other man. Morgan was looking at him expectantly.

"Is there something I can help you with?" asked Hotch, curiosity winning over.

Pausing for a few moments, Morgan seemed to be collecting his thoughts before he answered.

"I think one of us needs to talk to Emily," he said finally.

"By 'one of us', I assume you mean me?" said Hotch raising an eyebrow.

Morgan grinned sheepishly, "Yea, I would talk to her myself but I don't think she'd listen to me."

"What makes you think she would listen to me?" Hotch folded his arms and peered at Morgan searchingly.

"She responds to authority," Morgan observed.

Hotch couldn't deny that Morgan was right. Even after all this time she still called him sir which showed that she was still keenly aware that he was her superior.

"Why now?" said Hotch suspiciously, "I was going to wait until this case is over."

"We have nothing to lose by talking to her now. She's trying but her mind just isn't on the case. Before I was talking to her and she just stopped speaking mid-sentence and started staring off into the distance," Morgan shook his head wearily, "We should talk to her now. This isn't healthy."

"Why Emily? JJ has been struggling too, and there's obviously something going on with Reid," replied Hotch in a low voice, he didn't want to risk Reid, who was in the next room, hearing them through the wall or something.

Of course, Hotch knew the answer to this. Something had happened between them the night before, and whatever their problems were, Hotch had full confidence that they would work through them together. He just wanted to make sure that Morgan was of the same opinion.

"JJ and Reid have each other," Morgan responded simply.

Satisfied, Hotch nodded. "All right then. I will go and talk to her now."

Looking intensely relived, Morgan smiled half-heartedly at him and bade Hotch good night before leaving the room.

Deciding not to delay the inevitable, Hotch took a quick drink of coffee, wishing it was something stronger, and then left his room and walked down the corridor to the room he knew Emily was staying in.

With only slight trepidation, Hotch knocked loudly on the door. He heard a creaking of springs and Emily making her way across the room. There was a distinctly puzzled expression on her face when she opened the door and came face to face with Hotch.

"Has Bryson called? Do we have a lead?" she asked, casting her eyes around Hotch as though she was expecting to see someone else behind him.

"No, not yet. It's only a matter of time though," Hotch assured her, "I came here to talk."

She hesitated, before opening her door wide enough for him to enter the room. Hotch lip twitched into an almost smile as he walked in and sat down in the same chair he had been sat in whilst in his own room and talking to Morgan. Apparently the people that designed this hotel weren't very creative, all the rooms where set out exactly the same.

He took a moment to scan the room. Emily had placed her gun on her bedside table, no doubt so it was in reaching distance at all times. Her television was switched on to what appeared to be a comedy programme judging from the overdramatic laughter he could hear at the end of every line. He recognised the programme as Friends, one Haley used to watch sometimes. There was currently a man running down the street shouting after a woman who was jogging.

"That woman looks like you," Hotch observed.

Glancing at the TV screen, Emily raised an eyebrow, "I would never have that hair cut."

Almost smirking, Hotch listened to the woman on the TV speak; she seemed to be called Kathy. "She talks like you too."

Emily smiled slightly, "I suppose we do have the same accent. I've never really noticed before."

As she gazed at the television, Hotch took a moment to study her. Her hair was damp, she must have just got out the shower. It was then that Hotch realised how much makeup Emily had been wearing lately, without it he could still see the yellow bruises that covered more than half of her face, almost healed but not quite. He could also see the faint white scar across her forehead from their first case after Gideon had left, when she had been hit over the head with a plank of wood. He felt a pang of distress as he remembered that it had also been the day that Haley had left him.

She became aware of him staring at her and folded her arms, it was a typical defensive stance.

"I assume you didn't come here just to talk about my likeness to a fictional character?" she said warily.

"Sit down, please," said Hotch, in a voice that suggested that what he had said wasn't a request.

Pursing her lips, Emily did as she was told and sat down on her bed to face him. Morgan was right, she did tend to respond to authority.

"We need to talk, Emily," Hotch said.

Other than her shoulders drooping almost imperceptivity, Emily's demeanour remained completely impassive. She was far too good at hiding her emotions. Even Hotch struggled to read her and that was not something that happened often.

"About what?"

Not willing to play this game with her, Hotch simply narrowed his eyes at her until she looked away, clearly uncomfortable.

"All right," she said, shifting nervously, "What about it?"

"I would like you to talk to someone about what happened. You clearly aren't coping as well as you pretend to and it's beginning to affect your work," Hotch told her, deciding to get straight to the point.

Emily's lips thinned, a clear sign that he'd hit a sore spot. "I can deal with this by myself. I just need a little time to adjust and then I'll be fine."

"You've had a little time already," Hotch pointed out.

"A little more time then," replied Emily, obviously trying hard to keep her irritation in check.

"You know, Emily, we're all here if you want somebody to talk to," said Hotch in the kindest voice he could.

"I know, and thank you…but I'd prefer to sort this out by myself," replied Emily, her voice wavering ever so slightly. Hotch could tell that she was far less sure of herself now than she was at the start of the conversation. Maybe if he could push her just a little more…

"Emily, you were abducted," he said sternly.

She flinched ever so slightly, "Yes, thank you. I recall."

"You were beaten senseless."

The flinch was more pronounced this time and Emily's face turned an interesting shade of grey, "Do you think I don't know that?"

"JJ was almost raped in-"

"Stop! All right, Hotch! I know," Emily interrupted desperately, her eyes glassy.

Hotch fell silent, but continued to stare at her unblinkingly. She was looking anywhere but at him. It took him a moment but he made up his mind quickly.

"Emily, if you don't sort yourself out by the end of this case I'm going to suspend you until you seek professional help," said Hotch, quietly but seriously. Her eyes snapped down and bore into his.

"You wouldn't-"

"Yes I would, and will," said Hotch quickly, in a voice that booked no argument. He stood up and tried to ignore the horrified look on her face. "I'll see you in the morning."

Then without looking back, he left the room, desperately hoping he had done the right thing.

***

Chapter 11

There was a very tentative knock on JJ's door. There was only one person who would knock like that.

"Come in, Spence," she said loudly, putting the case file down on the bed in front of her.

Cautiously, the door was pushed open and there stood Reid, a rather nervous expression on his face. He quietly closed the door behind him and came and sat down on the bed opposite JJ with his legs crossed.

"Hey, JJ," he said quietly.

JJ offered him a weak smile. Since he had told her about his drug problem, she hadn't been quite sure what to think. Of course, she wanted to try and help him as best as she could. She just wasn't sure if she'd be able to or whether she should tell the rest of the team. He seemed pretty adamant about keeping it between the two of them, so for now she would do as he wished.

"How are you feeling?" she said.

Seeming to deliberate his answer first he replied, "I've felt better. I haven't taken any…you know…yet."

"What do you mean 'yet'?" said JJ, folding her arms in obvious disapproval.

Reid looked alarmed, "You don't expect me to just quit straight away do you?"

"Yes. That's exactly what I expect," JJ told him under no uncertain terms.

"But… The withdrawal symptoms… I can't carry on with this case with them," said a horrified Reid. He looked so upset by the prospect that JJ took pity on him and used a kinder tone to speak to him with.

"Well what are you going to do then, Spence? Because now that I know, I can't let you carry on the way you have been doing," she said, leaning back against her headboard.

"I know," Reid said sadly, allowing his head to drop forward so she couldn't see his face. JJ fought off the overwhelming urge to pull him into a tight hug and tell him that everything was going to be okay.

Instead she merely said, "Spence?"

He looked up again, his eyes glassy with unshed tears, "I was going to keep taking a normal dose until the end of this case."

"And then what?" she didn't want to upset him, but JJ needed answers if she was going to help him.

"Then I'll start lowering my dose," he said definitively.

"What if we get another case?" JJ wanted to know.

Reid faltered, "Then I…I don't know. I could just keep doing what I'm doing…maybe…"

"Or you could take some time off," she pointed out, "Nobody would think any less of you if you took sick leave."

"But they would want to know why," Reid whined.

Sighing, JJ nodded her head in agreement, "We'll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it then."

Reid made a thoughtful noise and looked down to study his hands. JJ took this time to study the man himself. They had slept very little the night before in that barn and the strain was showing on Reid's face. There were big dark circles around his eyes and his hair hung lank around his face. If just looking at him wasn't incentive to not do drugs then JJ didn't know what was. She shuddered as she remembered exactly what had started his drug problem in the first place. That barn that they had been in last night…it had just been so similar to the one attached to Tobias' house…and where she had been attacked by those dogs.

Fear gripped her heart at the thought of what had happened, and coupled with the memories of what had happened last time she had been in a hotel room JJ suspected she was going to get no sleep at all tonight.

At this point, Reid began to rise to his feet, "I should let you get some rest JJ," he said softly.

"Wait!" she said quickly, and then mentally cursed herself for seeming so desperate, "Why don't you stay here for a bit?"

A momentary look of surprise crossed Reid's face, but he quickly complied with her request and sat back down.

"Sure, JJ. Was there something you wanted to talk about?"

No, there was absolutely nothing JJ wanted to talk about. She just didn't want to be alone again.

"Why don't we just watch TV for a bit?" said JJ, uncomfortably aware of how vulnerable her voice sounded.

Silently, Reid nodded. He then moved across the bed to sit next to her, his long legs stretched out in front of him. JJ was intensely grateful that he didn't ask her any questions, especially after she had just given him the third degree on what was obviously a very painful subject for him.

She picked up the remote control from the bedside table and turned on the TV. JJ leaned back and tried to make herself more comfortable as she flicked through the channels. She very rarely had time to watch TV recently, so JJ didn't really recognise any of the programmes that were on. But she practically felt Reid perk up beside her as they landed on a channel with a programme she did recognise – Star Trek.

"No, Spence. Just no," JJ said, amusement plain in her tone.

Letting out a dramatic sigh, Reid nodded and allowed her to continue looking. The next programme they turned to was CSI: Miami, but JJ dealt with so much pain and death every single day that she couldn't bare the thought of watching a television show about it for kicks. They finally settled on a light comedy that probably wouldn't require much thinking on their parts.

After a while, she felt Reid start to shift uncomfortably.

"You can leave if you want to, Spence," said JJ, trying to sound unconcerned and as though she wasn't terrified by the prospect of being left alone in this room.

Reid glanced at her for only a second before saying, "Not yet, I think I'd like to stay here a little longer if that's okay with you?"

JJ felt a lump rise in her throat. Even after all Reid was going through, he was still trying to protect her feelings by pretending that he wanted to stay with her. She tentatively reached out and clasped his hand in her own.

"I'd like that," she said so quietly that it was almost a whisper.

Moving closer to her, Reid squeezed her hand and smiled kindly. JJ let out a deep breath.

"I wonder how Emily is doing," she mused, trying to deflect attention from herself.

"Well last time I saw her she looked pretty angry," said Reid with a slight shrug.

"What? When was that?" asked JJ, casting her mind back to the rest of the day. As far as she was aware Emily had not been mad last time they had spoken.

"Just before I came in here. I saw her stalk off holding the keys to one of the cars."

***

Chapter 12

Emily was annoyed. No, scratch that. Emily was furious. How was she supposed to sort herself out with people breathing down her neck about it all the live long day? She just needed some space. Well not space per say, just space from her team.

Hotch couldn't suspend her. It just wouldn't be fair…

Taking a sharp bend, Emily sped down the road, fifteen miles an hour above the speed limit. She briefly contemplated that perhaps she might not be in the right frame of mind to be driving right now, but she dismissed this thought easily. As long as she didn't run anybody over it would be fine. She turned another corner down into posh looking housing estate and then put her foot down on the break pedal a tad too enthusiastically, causing her to jolt forward as the car came to a stop.

She took a brief moment to regain control of her breathing before getting out of the car and walking up the driveway of the house she had stopped in front of. Then before she could change her mind, Emily rang the doorbell.

It took Charlie less than a minute to open the door. Despite the late hour, she was still fully dressed with a pen resting behind her ear and a rather frazzled expression on her face.

"Emily," she said in surprise, "What are you-"

Before Charlie could finish her sentence, Emily had walked past her and into the warmth of the house.

"Please, come in," Charlie muttered sarcastically under her breath, shutting the door and turning around.

"Hey," was all Emily could think to say.

"Good evening," replied Charlie, surprise still evident in her voice, "I don't mean to be rude, but it's almost two o clock in the morning. Why are you here?"

"I-" Emily faltered, "I don't really know."

"I see," said Charlie slowly, "Emily…Have you been drinking?"

"What? No! Of course I haven't! Why do you always assume I've been drinking?"

"Because you usually have."

"Yes well…that's neither here nor there."

Emily could tell that her friend was biting back a smile in spite of her stern expression. For some reason she found that fact intensely irritating. Maybe this was a mistake.

"I'm sorry for disturbing you. This was stupid. I'll leave now," Emily said, quickly turning to go.

"No, wait," exclaimed Charlie. She moved forward and caught Emily's shoulder and much to Emily's horror, she flinched away from the contact, she just couldn't stop herself. Charlie quickly let go and looked at Emily properly for the first time with a considering expression on her face. "Go and sit down. I'll make us some hot chocolate."

Briefly, Emily considered ignoring this instruction and looked rapidly at the door with full intention of fleeing anyway. However something in the way her friend was watching her told Emily that Charlie wasn't going to let her leave even if she had to physically restrain her. So she nodded gracefully and walked to the room that Charlie was pointing to.

The room was expensively decorated. Two black leather couches sat at a ninety degree angle in one corner of the room with a black, circular table in between them. Opposite them at the other corner of the relatively small room was a shiny black television. Lining one of the walls that the TV was against were three tall, black bookcases filled with dark red leather bound books and on the other two walls that did not have a window, there hung three black and white paintings of odd shapes. In contrast to the dark furniture, the walls were a creamy white colour that perfectly matched the soft carpet under Emily's feet. She took her shoes off so as not to make the light carpet dirty and moved to sit on one of the comfortable couches. It did not surprise her how fanciful this room looked; having money was something Charlie had always deemed important. Emily had always been rich though so she had never really understood the importance of money to some people.

Soon, Charlie came in carrying two mugs of hot chocolate. She placed them carefully down on the table in between the two couches and then sat on the opposite one from Emily. For a while they sat in a slightly awkward silence, both blowing steam from the top of their drinks. In Yale they had grown very close but over the years due to their contrasting careers the two had drifted apart. Sure, they still exchanged phone calls and emails, but it just wasn't the same as when they were living together.

Emily was the first to break the silence, "Nice place," she commented.

"Thank you," replied Charlie rather fondly, "I bought it from a newly married couple who were going to have children and wanted to move to a bigger house."

Nodding, Emily's eyes swept the room once more as she racked her brain to try and think of something else to say.

"How is the case going?" asked Charlie after taking a sip of her drink.

"Frankly, we've hit a brick wall. Again," said Emily, quickly warming to the topic as it did not revolve around her, "I don't understand why we are having so much trouble catching this guy. We think he's in a psychotic break so someone should have reported him by now. It doesn't make sense that he has gone undetected for all this time."

"It is rather a conundrum," Charlie remarked, and then added, "I'm sorry that my sketch didn't help."

"That's okay," said Emily dejectedly, "They very rarely do unless the unsub has very distinctive features. JJ did the press conference and used it for point of reference anyway, so who knows. Maybe we'll get lucky and someone will call."

"Perhaps," Charlie agreed. "Which hotel are you staying at?"

"The Thistle," said Emily, "It's about a forty minute drive from here."

"I know where it is, and no, it most certainly is not a forty minute drive. How fast were you going exactly?" said Charlie, shaking her head almost imperceptibly in disbelief.

"I don't remember," replied Emily evasively.

"Of course not," said Charlie in a maddeningly patient voice. "So, which one of your team members incensed you so much that you stormed out of your hotel and raced across the city like a bat out of hell to come and bother me?"

Now that it actually came down to it, Emily wasn't sure she actually wanted to talk about this. Her eyes flicked around the room as she tried to think of something else to say. The stark colours around her were beginning to give her a headache.

"No one, what makes you think someone made me angry…?" Emily feebly trailed off at the end of the sentence, realising how terrible a liar she could be at times.

"Right, of course not," said Charlie sarcastically.

Suddenly, Emily snapped, "What is going on with this room? It's so cold and impersonal. You know, the colours black and white individually both indicate that a person is trying to hide from the world and distance themselves from the people around them."

"Yes, well now you're just lashing out aren't you," said Charlie, looking supremely unimpressed.

Emily clenched her fist, her fingernails digging into the palm of her hand.

"It was Hotch," said Emily through gritted teeth.

"Ah yes, Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome," said Charlie with a small smile, "What wrongdoing has he committed?"

"He said he was going to suspend me if I didn't start concentrating on the case properly!" said Emily angrily. She stood up and began to pace.

Charlie's eyes followed her progression up and down the room, "I'm sure that isn't all he said."

"No, he said that if I can't learn to cope with things by myself he's going to suspend me until I 'seek professional help'," Emily could hear the fury in her own voice but did nothing to try and calm herself.

Charlie didn't speak for a moment, something for which Emily was grateful, but then that question she was dreading still came.

"Am I correct in assuming that these 'things' you have to learn to 'cope with' have something to do with those faded bruises on your face and arms?" Charlie's voice was completely neutral, almost as thought she were enquiring about the weather.

Emily felt bile rise in her throat and she quickly swallowed and shook her head desperately, not daring to open her mouth just in case. All those feelings she had meticulously suppressed were beginning to rise to the surface. She tried to take deep steadying breaths to calm herself down. Just before Charlie could speak again, the phone rang. Charlie looked mightily annoyed while Emily thanked God for small mercies.

"You can go and have a look around if you like," said Charlie in an irritated voice.

Saying nothing, Emily followed her friend out of the room, and while Charlie picked up the phone in the hall, Emily moved to go up the stairs, her goal to get as far away from Charlie as possible without actually leaving the house.

From the top of the stairs, she could hear Charlie all but yelling down the phone, "I don't care how many nightmares you have, Rosemary! Quarter to three in the morning is not an acceptable time to call somebody!"

Emily felt her chest constrict and her attempts to keep her emotions in check was making it harder and harder to breath. She quickly moved to the furthest room and slipped inside, closing the door behind her with a sharp click. Through her blurring vision, she could see that she was in Charlie's study. There were papers scattered all over a dark mahogany desk, and upon closer inspection, Emily realised that this must have been where Charlie was when she had knocked on the door. She knew this because on the piece of paper in front of the chair, Charlie seemed to have stopped mid-sentence, and Emily knew that this was something the other woman was not likely to do unless she had a very good reason to stop. She was far too scrupulous when it came to her work.

Taking a deep shuddering breath, Emily raised her eyes to look at the rest of the desk. To her surprise there were a few photo frames on it. Two of which had pictures of herself and Charlie. One of them was from their first year at Yale, just before they had gone out to a party. Emily picked up the second one; it showed herself and Charlie on their graduation day, cap, gown and all. They both looked very happy.

Emily felt the first tear slide down her cheek.

She angrily tried to swipe it away, but it didn't matter how hard she tried, more just kept falling.

She didn't know how she got there, but soon Emily was crouched in the corner of the room with her face buried in her hands and the tears falling thick and fast. The more she tried to control herself and stop crying, the harder and more painful it became.

If possible, her heart plummeted even more when she heard the door open and the soft footsteps of her friend enter the room. Emily had developed rather a complex as a child about people seeing her in an emotional state. Her parents, especially her mother, had always told her never to show weakness in front of people because they would only use it against you later on. However, when she felt her friend arms warp themselves around her and pull her into a hug, Emily couldn't help but feel safe. She allowed herself to be comforted as silent sobs shook her body.

***

Chapter 13

It was a warm summer's day, and a gentle breeze tickled Hotch's face playfully. He lazed back on his blue sundeck chair and watched as Haley and Jack pushed a beach ball to each other on the soft patch of grass that was their garden. It had been a very long time since he had felt so content. Haley's laughter floated into the air when Jack tried and failed to throw the ball to her, causing it to land a few feet behind him, much to the poor boys confusion.

"Don't make fun of the poor guy," said Hotch, laughter in his voice.

"You're just saying that because he's taking after you. Yet another Hotchner who throws like a girl," teased Haley with a wide grin.

"Hey!" said Hotch, pretending to take offence, "I am an excellent throw, thank you. Much like my son will be with a bit of practice."

Haley smiled and opened her mouth to reply, "Ring ring."

"I – What?" Hotch said, furrowing his brows.

"Ring ring," Haley repeated. Somehow, the kind smile on her face suddenly seemed a lot colder.

"I don't know what you mean," said Hotch, abruptly feeling rather panicky, although he was not sure why.

"Ring ring!" it was angrier now.

---------------------------

Hotch woke with a start.

Ring ring.

Wanting a moment to wallow in self pity, but knowing he could not, Hotch made a grab for his phone.

"Hotchner," he said by way of greeting.

"Agent Hotchner? It's Bryson. I was told to call you if we had any new leads…"

"Yes, that's right," said Hotch quickly, "What's happened?"

"We got a call from an old woman who owns a small apartment building about six blocks away from where we found the latest bodies. She reckons the unsub has been living in one of her flats and she says he's just gone out carrying a backpack looking completely wasted," Bryson said, sounding slightly out of breath by the time he had finished.

Hotch made some fast calculations in his head and then said, "Set up a grid search of the area immediately. I'll wake my team and we will go and talk to the woman. Name and address please?"

Picking up a pen, Hotch noted down the details on a scrap of paper and then put the phone down, only to pick it straight back up again and dial Morgan's number. It rang out for rather a while before Morgan's groggy voice sounded down the phone.

"This had better be good," Morgan croaked.

"We have a lead. Get up," was all Hotch said, definitely not in the mood for small talk right now.

After mumbling something that Hotch was glad he couldn't hear, Morgan told Hotch that he would be ready in ten minutes. Next he called JJ.

"Hello?" said a voice that was most decidedly more male than it should have been.

For a moment Hotch was stunned, then in the background he could hear JJ say, "Reid, that's my phone."

The sound of the phone switching hands could be heard and then JJ said, "Hotch?"

Recovering quickly, "JJ, we have a lead. You and Reid be ready as soon as you can. Meet in the lobby."

"Right," said JJ. Before Hotch cut her off he could hear her relaying the information to Reid. How very interesting, however now was not the time to dwell on the peculiar sleeping arrangements of his colleagues.

He was rather hesitant about calling Emily, he had been rather harsh with her earlier and Hotch felt a tad guilty about it. But if nothing, Hotch was ever the professional, and he soon dialled Emily's number.

"Prentiss' phone," said a tired voice at the end of the line.

Why can't people just answer their own phones, Hotch thought angrily. He knew that voice but he couldn't quite place it…

"This is Special Agent Hotchner, I would appreciate it if you could put Prentiss on the phone," said Hotch, with as much patience as he could muster.

The person on the phone hesitated, "I'm afraid Emily is somewhat indisposed at the moment, Agent Hotchner. She should be here in a minute though. Is this about the case?"

Ah, now he knew who it was.

"Yes, Doctor Winters. This is about the case. Where is Prentiss?"

"Um…" Charlie sounded rather reluctant to tell him, "She is currently being, for want of a better word… sick."

Damn. Hotch did some quick thinking.

"All right," he finally said, "Don't tell her I called. I'll only call again if we need her."

"Are you suggesting that I lie to my friend?" said Charlie, sounding mildly surprised.

"It isn't really lying, you just don't tell her. Why? Is that a problem?" said Hotch, irritation creeping into his voice despite himself.

"No, of course not. I was just making sure I had the facts straight," replied Charlie with clear amusement.

Hotch cut her off and shook his head with annoyance. Then he went to get dressed.

In no time at all, he was walking towards Morgan, JJ and Reid, who all looked as tired as Hotch himself felt. He wasted no time.

"Come on, let's go," he said, trying to keep the weariness from his voice.

"Where's Emily?" asked Morgan without moving.

"I saw her leave a few hours ago in the car," said Reid absently, "Is she not back yet?"

"You saw her leave and you didn't try to stop her?" said Hotch in disbelief.

Reid looked surprised, "Why would I try to stop her?"

"Why did she leave at all?" asked Morgan, clearly puzzled.

"Now is not the time for this," said Hotch impatiently, "We need to go."

---------------------------

They pulled up outside the building that Agent Bryson had directed them to. One of the agent's men was stood outside, letting Hotch know that they were in the right place. The team filed out of the car and the man greeted them with a tired smile.

"Good morning, Bryson told me to meet you here and catch you up," he said, running his hand through his hair.

Hotch shook hands with him and said, "Good, what can you tell us?"

"Miss Andrea Webb called us approximately an hour a go to tell us that there has been a young man staying in one of her apartments for the last few weeks. She said that just half an hour before she called, he stormed out with a backpack and muttering to himself. She said it was only after he'd gone that she thought this might have something to do with the recent killings and then she phoned us," said the man.

"Thank you," said Hotch, as JJ knocked on the old woman's door.

"I'll go and help with the search then," said the man with another tired smile, "Oh, and Bryson left and extra car for you just in case you needed it."

Hotch thanked him again and then by the time Miss. Webb had answered the door, the man was gone. JJ was the first to greet her, and she introduced Hotch, Morgan and Reid.

Much to Morgan's amusement, the old white haired woman seemed to take an immediate shine to the good Doctor Spencer Reid. She was gazing at him with what could only be described as love in her eyes and when she spoke she spoke directly to him, causally ignoring Hotch, JJ and Morgan.

"Can you describe the man to us?" said Hotch, after she had explained the events leading up to her phone call to them.

"He is about six foot tall and has brown hair and brown eyes. Strong and well built," she said thoughtfully, her eyes never leaving a highly uncomfortable Reid.

"Um…" Reid began nervously, "Is there anything else you can tell us about him? Did you ever speak to him?"

"I spoke to him a few times, love. Very quiet he was. He'd get all twitchy and jumpy when people tried to talk to him. Nervous guy," said Webb, tilting her head slightly as though to get a better look at him.

"Okay, thank you for your time Miss. Webb," said Hotch, deciding to save the poor Doctor.

Reid leapt to his feet immediately, obviously desperate to be as far away from this woman as possible. Before he turned to leave though she grabbed his hand in her old, gnarled ones and stroked his thumb with hers.

"If there is anything else you need," she said in a low voice, "Don't hesitate to call."

Reid squeaked that he would, and then fled the house; an amused Morgan, Hotch and JJ close behind.

"Looks like you got yourself a girlfriend, Reid," said Morgan when they were out of earshot of Miss. Webb.

Even in the dark Hotch could see Reid's cheeks redden as he spluttered to defend himself.

"Okay, we need to split up and search the most likely spots are unsub will be heading for," interrupted Hotch, "Where would you go if you were looking for couples?"

"The movies?" suggested Morgan.

"It's like half past five in the morning, Morgan. Why would anyone be at the movies at this time?" said JJ shaking her head.

"No, Morgan is right. The unsub is quite possibly in a psychotic break and isn't thinking straight. He probably doesn't even know what time it is anymore," said Reid in his statistics voice, "How about the nearest park? He killed his first four victims in a park."

"Okay, Morgan and I will check all the nearby cinemas and Reid and JJ, I want you to go and find the nearest park or similar type of area. I'll call Emily and tell her to meet you there," said Hotch, fishing his phone out of his pocket. The other three agreed and they went their separate ways.

***

Chapter 14

The car journey passed in an invariable silence; both agents lost in their own thoughts. JJ drove because she still hadn't forgiven Reid for his little stint in the snow the previous day. She didn't fancy another injured limb and was taking no chances.

JJ suppressed a yawn as she glanced at the map Reid was holding to make sure she was driving in the right direction. It was utterly ridiculous that they were still looking for this guy; surely they should have caught him by now. By the looks of things he was no genius and Reid was fairly sure he was in a psychotic break. It should not have taken them as long as it did to finally have a vague idea of where to look for him.

Everyone was far to distracted, JJ concluded. They were all too wrapped up in their own problems to devote their full attention to the case. As soon as they had caught this unsub, JJ fully intended to go and sort things out between herself and Emily. They were both adults after all, and avoiding each other wasn't helping anything. Hotch would have to come to terms with the fact that his marriage was coming to an end. And most importantly, Reid needed to stop doing drugs. These things were no small feat, JJ realised, and they all had a long journey ahead of them.

Not for the first time, JJ's mind floated to Gideon. He would have known what to do. There was just something about that man that was soothing, he could solve people's problems with a few kind words and a sad smile. The thing was, JJ wasn't even mad that he had abandoned them. She understood completely. Sometimes their job could be utterly soul destroying, and doing it for as long as Gideon had was bound to have had some kind of adverse effect. If anything JJ simply felt sympathy for the older man and wished that he was having better luck with his life than the rest of his team currently were.

She shook her head in a feeble attempt to empty these thoughts from her head for the time being. While some crazy killer was on the loose, JJ decided that keeping her mind clear of distractions was probably the safest way to go.

As JJ slowed the car to a stop, Reid jumped slightly as though shocked that they had actually arrived at their destination. She chose not to comment however as the young doctor took in a deep calming breath. Obviously his own thoughts had been along the same cheery path that JJ's had been on.

"Maybe this isn't such a good idea," said Reid in an oddly high pitched voice.

"Maybe what isn't such a good idea?" replied JJ with a sigh, she was not in the mood for Reid's cryptic utterances.

"Us wandering off into the dark with a killer on the loose," said Reid after a brief pause.

"We are F.B.I. agents! We can't not look for a killer because…" then JJ trailed off, realising what he was getting at. Herself and Reid, looking uncomfortably similar to the unsub's preferred victims, sauntering around the unsub's favoured killing grounds possibly wasn't the wisest of plans. Damn it!

Neither of them spoke for a minute and JJ desperately tried to keep her fear at bay.

"We could call Hotch…" said Reid tentatively.

"No," JJ snapped, "If Hotch thought we were in danger he wouldn't have sent us here alone."

"Yes but Hotch isn't exactly fully focussed on the case right now, he probably didn't even realise" Reid pointed out.

"He said he was sending Emily to meet us."

Reid seemed to think about this for a moment, "Well then maybe we should wait for her."

JJ was all for this idea, but her innate stubbornness would not allow her to be cowed by this unsub, regardless of past experiences.

"No, we'll go and have a look around now. Emily will call us when she gets here."

"But what if…"

"Lightning doesn't strike twice, Spencer. We'll be fine," JJ tried to force as much conviction into her voice as possible.

Reid looked unconvinced but then reluctantly agreed. So they took the torches from the glove compartment and set off into the darkness.

Immediately JJ regretted her decision to leave the car, it was impossible to stop herself from jumping at the slightest noise or the rustle of leaves. And though she didn't see it due to the fact that she was to busy concentrating on controlling her own reactions, Reid was having the exact same problem.

This wouldn't be nearly as bloody frightening if it wasn't for all the trees, JJ thought angrily to herself. JJ hated the woods with a passion. But she kept walking forward, torch held firmly ahead and searching for signs of a deranged killer. She let out a small, nervous laugh as she realised that this was really both hers and Reid's worst nightmare. Her with the woods and him with the dark. She turned to express this thought to Reid – who wasn't there.

Her breath caught in her throat and she spun around, "Spence?" she choked out softly.

"You told Hotch what now?" said a furious Emily, as her friend sped down the road to where she knew the closest most likely target would be.

"I may have told him that you weren't entirely well…as an excuse for you not to answer the phone," Charlie said in a stilted voice, she obviously knew she was treading on thin ice right now.

"Why?" asked Emily, trying her utmost to keep a lid on her rising temper.

"Well if I had said you were just sleeping he would have told me to wake you up…"

"Of course he would have! This is my job, Charlotte!" Emily hollered, throwing her arms up in the air with exasperation.

Charlie flinched, but whether it was at the use of her proper name or the tone it was said in, Emily wasn't sure.

"I am truly very sorry. I just didn't want you dragging yourself around the streets of New York with a grand total of an hours sleep in the past two days," said Charlie, and whilst she sounded sincere, Emily knew she would do the exact same thing if the situation were to arise again.

Shaking her head, Emily let out a deep breath, "I hope you know I'm not getting you a birthday present for this."

Charlie shot her an appalled glance before taking a sharp bend, "See, this is what I get for being nice to people. I give and I give and this is what I get in return?" then a small smile curled her lip, "Besides, maybe after your case is over Mr. Tall, Dark and Hansom will be feeling guilty enough to help you through this sudden bout of sickness you have. Or don't have as the case may be…"

"Yes, nothing screams 'good times' like your boss attempting to nurse you back to health from a fake illness," Emily retorted sarcastically.

"Are you saying you wouldn't enjoy a little TLC from Agent Hotchner?"

"He's my boss! If you're implying I have romantic feelings for him…"

"Are you denying it?" said Charlie in that same amused voice.

"I do not fancy Hotch," spluttered Emily.

"Methinks the lady doth protest too much…"

"Grow up! We are on the way to a potential crime scene! In fact, why are you even here? This could be dangerous," said Emily, aware of how defensive she sounded and hating herself for it.

"Exactly, you think I'm going to allow you to go traipsing off alone in the dark in your fragile state?" Charlie told her, and then added, "Plus you don't know the way."

"I'm not in a fragile sta-"

"Spare me the lies please," interrupted Charlie, sounding genuinely annoyed for the first time during the conversation.

"You're staying in the car when we get there," said Emily, changing tactics.

"We'll see," was all Charlie said in reply, taking another bend.

Emily glared at her friend before turning her head to look out the window at the street lamps that seemed to be flying by. If she were honest with herself, Emily was rather glad she wasn't on her own.

After what felt like only a few minutes, but in reality was a good half hour, Charlie slowed the car to a stop outside a foreboding looking woodland area.

"That's not a park," said Emily, suppressing a thrill a fear.

"There is a park in the middle. From this side the trees aren't very thick so it will only take us a few minutes to get to it. Your friends came from the other direction and that's a longer walk so we'll probably get there the same time as them," said Charlie, peering out curiously into the darkness.

"Right."

Emily took a torch from the boot of the car, "There's only one of these," she said, waving it in Charlie's face, "You'll just have to wait here."

Even in the darkness Emily could see Charlie rolling her eyes, "Not going to happen. Let's go."

For a moment, Emily realised she couldn't move. For some reason her legs didn't seem to want to obey her. But noticing the knowing stare her friend was giving her, Emily forced herself to walk forward and not think about the crippling fear that had gripped her heart.

They walked in silence for a minute until Charlie said, "It's actually rather creepy in here at night…"

"I'm inclined to agree," replied Emily, her voice wavering ever so slightly.

There was a faint cry somewhere ahead of them.

"Did you hear that?" said Emily, this time completely failing to keep the fear out of her voice.

"Hear what?"

She heard the cry again, it sounded oddly JJ-like. Making a snap decision, Emily ran forward towards the voice, leaving a confused Charlie behind her.

Emily burst through the trees at exactly the same time as JJ.

"Reid!" JJ was shouting.

"JJ?" said Emily fearfully.

"Emily!" JJ cried, running forward and throwing her arms around the older woman with tears streaming down her face, "I don't know where Spencer's gone. He was right behind me but now I can't find him."

"Is this what they taught you at Quantico?" said an out of breath Charlie, who had just caught up with the two, "You hear potential danger so you barrel off into the darkness after it with no forethought?"

Emily ignored her, "How far back where you when you realised he was gone?" she said to JJ.

"I don't know," JJ sobbed into Emily's shoulder, "About five minutes running distance."

Suddenly, a strangled cry rang out through the trees and the three women looked up in horror.

JJ let out another heartbreaking sob and let go of Emily, "Come on! We have to go and find him."

Fully prepared to follow JJ back into the heart of darkness, Emily took her gun out and they both moved forward.

"Oh no you don't!" said Charlie, pulling back on the two agent's jackets, "You can't go in there on your own. Call your boss."

"You're right," said Emily, quickly fishing around in her pocket for her phone. Then without thinking, she shoved the phone into Charlie's hands, "You call him and tell him where we are."

Then with that, Emily and JJ ran towards the pain filled cry they had heard, leaving an annoyed Charlie behind them.

***

Chapter 15

Somewhere between the car and the park, Spencer had overtaken JJ and she was walking a couple of steps behind him. At least that was the case if the sound of soft footsteps following him were anything to go on. Spencer wasn't really thinking about that at the moment though, for he had only just realised that it was absolutely freezing cold. It didn't matter how tightly he pulled his brown jacket around himself, nothing helped to fight off the bitter chill.

He wished JJ hadn't insisted on being stubborn and wandering off on their own. In the dark no less. The only comfort Spencer was drawing was from the constant sound of someone, JJ, trailing him.

Spencer suppressed a yawn, he was exhausted. Not only had he not slept in a stupidly long time, but giving up drugs was bloody hard work. As if his job wasn't difficult enough as it was, there had to be all these other problems piling up on top of it as well. A holiday was definitely in order for the entire team at some point in the near future. A proper holiday though, not a suspension or a couple of weeks off to recover from work related injuries. Somewhere sunny where the likelihood of a sudden serial killing spree was small to none.

The heavy footsteps still followed behind him and Spencer moved his flashlight to look between the trees.

Suddenly there was a piercing cry somewhere to the left of him. Reid spun around to the direction of the voice.

"JJ, did you hear that?"

JJ didn't answer him.

The shout rang out again. Spencer's first reaction was utter bewilderment, it sounded exactly like JJ and it sounded awfully like she was shouting his name, but that wasn't possible. JJ was behind him. But then again, since when had JJ been so heavy footed?

Before he could react, two strong hands wrapped themselves around his neck, effectively preventing him from crying out. He tried to turn and fight off his attacker, however his erratic punching, kicking and biting was not enough to overcome the sheer brute force of the man holding on to him. Spencer tried to clear his head and think of a logical means of escape, but the panic and the fact that the man was now dragging him by the scruff of his neck through the woods prevented him from doing so.

"Stop struggling," the man said in a low voice, "Trust me. This is for your own good."

Spencer squeaked and tried to reply, but one of the man's hands had moved to cover his mouth, making it difficult for Spencer to breathe, let alone speak. So he took the time to study his captor in hopes of finding some sort of weakness. The man was tall and strong, but the thing that struck Spencer the most was the way his eyes darted around and the way he moved like a caged animal.

They were in a very small clearing now. The man threw Spencer down at the foot of a smallish tree before fishing a long coil of thin rope from his backpack and wrapping it around both the tree and Spencer. As soon as Spencer found his voice, he let out a shrill cry, hoping to let JJ know where he was. The man reacted quickly though and struck Spencer painfully across the face, effectively silencing him for the time being. He gasped in pain and tried not to whimper.

He closed his eyes for a moment and tried to clear his head, whilst he would much rather have rubbed his face where the large man had struck him, he instead found his voice and tentatively started to talk to the man.

"Who are you?" he said in a quite voice.

The man grunted and for a moment Spencer thought he wasn't going to reply, then, "You can call me Dylan."

"Why have you brought me here, Dylan?" Spencer said in the same quite voice, he didn't want to agitate his captor again.

"Where is your girlfriend?" said Dylan, look furtively between the trees.

Hesitating for only a second, Spencer replied, "I don't have a girlfriend."

This simply seemed to anger the man more, and he sprung towards Spencer again, obviously with the intention of hitting him again.

"Wait!" cried Spencer as loudly as he could, "Stop. The woman I was with isn't my girlfriend."

His shout seemed to distract Dylan for long enough for him to forget his anger, the manic glint in his eye remained though. He began to pace in front of Spencer.

"You don't have to lie to me, son. Just tell me where she is," he said in what he obviously thought was a kind voice.

"I'm here with you, so even if she was my girlfriend, I couldn't tell you where she was," Spencer pointed out, trying to keep his panic at bay. Although the likelihood of him being to reason his way out of this one was slim, he was still going to try.

"It's okay, boy. You can tell me. It will be for your own good. I promise. She'll only break your heart anyway," said Dylan, still pacing.

"Maybe if you untied me, we could look for her together," suggested Spencer hopefully. He obviously had no intention of leading this man to JJ, but maybe he could escape if he were untied.

Dylan shook his head sadly, "I don't think so, son. Why don't you just point me in the right direction and I'll bring her to you?"

Casting his mind about, Spencer tried to think of a way to change the subject, "What is your second name, Dylan?"

"Drayton-Corbett," the man grunted, then he added darkly, "Or at least it would have been."

"Would have been?" asked Spencer before he could stop himself.

"Yes," Dylan blurted out violently, "If that stupid whore hadn't ran off with our bloody dentist it would have been!"

"Who-Who's that? Your fiancé?"

"Yes," said Dylan, again using the same vicious tone, "She broke my heart, just like women always do."

"Is that why you are killing couples?" asked Spencer softly.

Dylan obviously did not like this line of questioning, for his pacing seemed to quicken and become more agitated, "I'm saving them from the inevitable heartbreak!" he cried, acting quite hysterical, "It hurts so much more than any physical pain, I'm doing them a favour!"

"Not all relationships end badly you know," Spencer pointed out.

The large man snorted, "Oh yea? You married?"

Spencer faltered, "Well no…"

"Your mom and dad still together?"

"No, but-"

"See! All relationships end with one person, usually the man, completely destroyed," interrupted Dylan furiously. For a second, Spencer feared he was going to hit him again, but instead he just kicked his backpack, sending some of the contents sprawling across the floor.

It was true that Spencer had never been in a successful relationship before, it was something he dwelled on often. He had had girlfriends, but they had been few and far between. He suppressed a sigh and the bitter pang of loneliness that often accompanied these thoughts. As he looked up to watch Dylan angrily throw his things back into his bag, something caught his eye. JJ and Prentiss where slowly making their way over to the clearing, being very careful not to be seen. He felt a surge of hope.

Dylan stood up again, bag in hand, "Well then, I'm off to look for your girlfriend-"

"FREEZE!" shouted JJ and Prentiss simultaneously, holding their guns in front of them, trained at Dylan's head.

Rather than freeze though, the man rapidly drew a long knife from his bag and pressed it to Spencer's neck, while spinning himself around so he was effectively using the tree and Spencer himself as a shield.

Spencer gulped.

***

Chapter 16

JJ watched in horror as the unsub pressed the sharp knife into Reid's neck, biting into his skin painfully. Thankfully it was not hard enough to draw blood. She mentally cursed herself for her earlier 'lightning doesn't strike twice' comment, she had clearly jinxed them. Not that she believed in jinxes and suchlike. If she did she might be inclined to believe that her and her team had been placed under some kind of bad luck curse. They had certainly had their fair share of misfortune lately.

"Drop the weapon," said Emily loudly, effectively rousing JJ from her macabre thoughts.

"There's no getting away now," added JJ, "Just let Reid go."

Even though it was still dark, JJ saw Reid look up to the sky, almost as though praying. If anything, this made JJ even more determined to save him.

"So your girlfriend came after all, boy," observed the unsub, shooting JJ an appraising look and sending shivers down her spine.

In response, Reid merely whimpered and adopted a pleading expression on his face.

Emily lowered her gun slightly, "What's your name?"

The unsub hesitated before saying, "Dylan."

"Okay, Dylan. Why don't you put down that knife so we can talk?" said Emily in a soothing voice. JJ marvelled over her ability to remain calm.

Just for a moment, Dylan actually seemed to consider doing what Emily told him too. However he obviously decided against it as he tightened his grip around Reid and said, "You'll just shoot me if I let go of him!"

"We won't hurt you, Dylan. We just want to talk," said JJ in what she hoped was an understanding tone.

Dylan didn't even seem to register what she was saying, "Your girlfriend's pretty, boy. But don't worry, once I'm through with her she won't be anymore. She'll be as ugly on the outside as she is on the inside."

JJ and Emily shared an alarmed look.

"Dylan, JJ and Reid aren't a couple," Emily pointed out, hoping to make the man see sense.

"Don't lie to me!" Dylan howled, pushing the knife just a little harder and causing Reid to give a small cry of pain as a small trickle of blood slid down his neck.

"Okay! Okay, just calm down," said JJ, holding her hands out in a sign of compliance.

"I am calm!"

JJ flinched as Reid made another small sound of pain. If they could just keep him talking until Hotch and Morgan arrived maybe everything would be okay.

"Dylan, there are three of us here. We couldn't possibly be a couple," JJ pointed out.

"Don't lie to me! I saw you two together before. I know that one," he gestured towards Emily, "only came afterwards."

"Look, we just want to help you. So why don't you put the knife down?" said Emily.

"I've an idea, why don't you put yours guns down and then maybe we can talk?" said Dylan, his voice becoming oddly high pitched and panicky. This was not a good sign.

The two women hesitated, they couldn't put themselves at such a disadvantage, but this man was obviously highly disturbed and was likely to kill Reid accidentally if he became too riled. They had no choice but to do what he said if they wanted Reid back in one piece.

"How about," Emily began slowly, "If just I put my gun down, then it will make us even."

After thinking for a second, Dylan nodded vigorously in agreement.

"But if I do this, then you have to move the knife away from Reid's neck," said Emily firmly.

"No! He'll escape!"

"He's tied to a tree," said JJ quickly, "He isn't going anywhere."

Reluctantly, Dylan nodded again and moved the knife forward so it was no longer actually touching Reid's neck. Emily held out her gun and then let it drop to the floor beside her with an ominous thud.

"Why are you doing this, Dylan?" asked JJ softly, maybe if she could make him think that they understood him, he would be more inclined to listen to them.

"I don't want to," replied Dylan, his voice breaking with emotion, "But I have to do this."

"No you don't, Dylan. You can walk away from this right now and come with us. We promise we won't hurt you," said Emily earnestly.

"You don't understand," said Dylan, his eyes now filling with tears, "I can't stop. I tried. I really did. I even went to a psychiatrist to see if she could help me."

"You didn't really stay long enough for the psychiatrist to help you though, did you? You ran away," JJ pointed out, making sure that her gun was still aimed firmly at his head.

"That's because her stupid secretary wanted to hurt me!" Dylan yelled, he was becoming angry again, "All women want to do is hurt us! You are evil!"

JJ suddenly regretted leaving Charlie back in that park. She might have been useful. Glancing sideways, JJ judged that by the faint look of annoyance on Emily's face that she was thinking the exact same thing.

"If you come with us, maybe we can take you back to the psychiatrist and she still can help you," JJ suggested. She of course had no intention of doing anything of the kind, but at this point JJ was willing to say anything to get that lunatic away from Spencer, even if it meant lying through her teeth. But apparently not even lies were going to change the unsub's mind, for he shook his head angrily at her.

"No! It's too late now. There's no turning back."

"So what are you going to do then?" said Emily, sounding resigned to the fact that there probably was not going to be a peaceful resolution to this conflict.

The man thought for a moment before saying, "I'm going to untie the boy," this sounded promising, JJ thought, "And I'm going to take him with me," then again, maybe not, "You are going to put the gun down sweetheart," fat chance of that happening, "And then you are going to watch me leave, and you aren't going to follow me because if you do I'll kill him."

"I don't think so, Dylan. We know who you are. We are the FBI, and it doesn't matter how far you run, we will find you. Your only option is to surrender," said JJ, narrowing her eyes. Beside her she felt more than saw Emily shoot her a warning look.

Something suddenly seemed to click in Dylan's mind. He screamed and flung the knife towards JJ and Emily, and at the exact same time a deafening shot was fired.

***

Chapter 17

Hotch lowered his gun and surveyed the surroundings with a quick sweeping glance. The unsub lay dead on the floor at Reid's feet. The poor boy had a look of utmost horror on his face as he stared immovably at the corpse.

"Hey, Reid," said Morgan, walking forward past Hotch to pull him back from the body, "You okay, man?"

Reid seemed to gulp a little before looking up at Morgan with frightened eyes, "Um…Yea I think so."

Taking in the bruises that were quickly developing on the boys face, Hotch suspected that Reid wasn't quite as okay as he was letting on. But he pushed this thought out of his mind for a moment and looked up to where JJ and Emily both sat on the floor, staring up at the long knife that had been embedded in the tall tree in between them, missing them both by a mere few inches.

JJ was the first person to gather herself. She pushed herself wearily into a standing position and then took Emily's hands and pulled her to her feet.

"Are you okay?" asked Emily, suddenly snapping out of her paralysed stupor.

"Yep, apart from the large bruise I think I'm getting from where you pushed me onto the floor," said JJ with mild tone of amusement in her voice, "How about you?"

"I'm good," said Emily with an apologetic smile. The merest flicker of understanding seemed to pass between the two women.

They then both turned to look at Hotch, who had watched the exchange with some interest. In the distance Hotch could here the sound of police sirens. When he had received a call from Emily's friend telling him that JJ and Emily had taken off into the dark after the unsub, who had conveniently kidnapped Reid, Hotch's first reaction had been to call the rest of the police force they had at their disposal. Just in case. He also had a paramedic waiting for them because at the rate things were going, it was a rare occasion when one of his team weren't injured in some way. Judging from the bruising on Reid's face, Hotch had been right.

He blinked in an effort to clear his thoughts and turned to look back at Reid, who was currently being steered off towards the sound of sirens by a determined Morgan.

"Who was he?" asked Hotch, fixing his gaze back onto Emily and JJ.

JJ shrugged, "Said his name was Dylan."

"He didn't give us a last name," added Emily.

Hotch felt himself nodding slowly. The gravity of the situation had suddenly hit him and he wasn't entirely sure what to do about it. Three of his agents could have died. Again. The sense of relief that flooded him was almost overwhelming. When he had seen the unsub with that knife, Hotch thought his heart had actually stopped. Nothing in the world could have prevented him from firing that shot to protect his team.

"You okay, Hotch?" said JJ, shooting him an odd look.

For a second, Hotch couldn't respond. But he quickly found his voice and said, "Come on, we should go with Reid to the ambulance. Are either of you hurt?"

"Nope," replied JJ firmly, "We're fine."

Hotch gave them a stiff nod and turned on his heel to follow his other agents. Behind him, he could hear JJ and Emily doing the same.

"Hey, Hotch," said Emily, speeding up to walk to beside him, "Have you seen Charlie?"

"No, but if she's still here she can follow the sound of the sirens," he said reassuringly. Emily nodded and looked just a tad guilty. He fleetingly wondered why, but decided not to pry.

"Thanks for saving us again, Hotch," said JJ from his other side, "What would we do without you?"

She grinned slightly. He disagreed with what she was saying, he was doing a terrible job of keeping his team safe, but he was glad she was in good enough spirits despite their recent trauma. It was the first genuine smile he had seen on her face for quite some time.

--

It didn't take them long to get out of those God awful woods, and JJ was intensely grateful when they finally broke through the thick foliage and out into the open air. She was ridiculously tired and right now all she could think about was going to bed, despite the fact that it was starting to get light again.

Reid was already being seen to by a paramedic, with Morgan hovering over him like an over-protective older brother. Spencer himself seemed a little shocked and was staring in front of him with widened eyes and his mouth agape. JJ couldn't believe they'd almost lost him again, things where getting just a little bit absurd now. They all needed to sit down and have a serious chat about keeping themselves in line. She wasn't sure she could cope with another episode like this. Her line of work was dangerous of course, and there was always going to be some unfortunate situations where people's lives would be in danger. But she suspected there was more they could be doing to prevent them from happening.

As they made their way over to share the details of what had happened with the local police force, an extremely irate looking Charlie stormed over to them. She glared at Emily with as much fury as she could muster.

"Don't you ever do that to me again!" she said angrily.

"I'm not sure I know what you mean…" said Emily, shifting uncomfortably.

"Oh, you've forgotten have you? Well allow me to refresh your memory," said Charlie, her voice slowly increasing in volume, causing Emily to visibly cringe and seek out JJ as though she could somehow stop this inevitable tirade, "First, you run off into the night towards the sounds of pained yelps, then after finding out that the source of these sounds were relatively harmless you decide once again to delve into the heart of darkness after more potential danger while there is a psychotic serial killer on the loose. Leaving me stranded alone in the pitch black no less!"

"Um…Well…" began Emily.

"In our defence, we did just safe Reid from a murderous killer," said JJ reasonably.

"It's true," said Emily quickly, "We did."

Charlie crossed her arms and glanced over to where Reid sat in the ambulance talking to Hotch and Morgan, she then let out a deep sigh, "All right then. I suppose I'll have to let you off just this once."

JJ smiled slightly at the look of relief that crossed Emily's face at this piece of news. Maybe it was pure exhaustion, but JJ was beginning to find this whole situation rather amusing. She was tipsy from lack of sleep.

"Hey, Jayje, you all right?" said Emily with a note of concern in her voice.

"Yes. I'm fine. I'm just glad this is all over," said JJ reassuringly, then she added, "But I'd quite like to go to bed now."

"Wouldn't we all," mumbled Emily in response.

Opening her mouth, JJ began to reply but was cut off by the sound of yet another police car pulling up to a screeching halt in front of them. JJ flinched at the noise and suddenly realised that she seemed to have developed a rather severe headache in the last couple of hours. The pain in her head increased exponentially when she saw who was getting out the car. The almost silent groan from Emily told JJ that the other woman was suffering from the same side effects, to a disease she was now thinking of as 'Regal-itis'.

A red faced, angry short man stepped out the car. Sheriff Regal surveyed all the activity around him with unbridled fury. He spotted JJ and made a beeline for her and she mentally cursed herself for standing within range of sight.

"Who's this attractive fellow?" muttered Charlie, eyeing the bulging vein on the man's forehead that looked like it was about to explode.

"Good morning, Sheriff Regal," said JJ as the man drew level with them, "Is there a problem?"

The man spluttered and squeaked ungracefully, "Yes there's a problem! Why was I not told before now what was going on? This is my case!"

"There was no time, Sheriff," said Emily diplomatically, "You were contacted as soon as someone was available to do so."

"That's just not good enough, we should have been told immediately," said Regal, now gesticulating wildly and looking rather crazed, in JJ's opinion.

"Look," Emily snapped, "We came here on your request. We did a job, and now we're leaving."

"You caught the guy then?" Regal snorted disbelievingly.

"Yes. Yes we did. He's over there in the woods," said JJ, pointing through the trees, "He's all yours. You can have him."

"You can have all the paperwork that comes with it too if you'd like. That can be arranged, can't it JJ?" said Emily, looking to JJ with a quirked eyebrow.

"Oh yes, that can certainly be done," JJ agreed, "We'll have everything sent over to your office as soon as possible Sheriff."

"But for now I suggest you go and find that body," said Emily.

"Yes, you wouldn't want him disappearing again after all," added JJ.

Regal's face had become so alarmingly red, that JJ wouldn't have been surprised if steam had started gushing from his ears followed by a high pitched squealing noise. He opened and closed his mouth like a demented goldfish and alternated between scowling at Emily and JJ, obviously unsure as to who he was angrier at.

"Go on then," said JJ finally, "You have a body to collect."

Holding his head high, Regal went to move past them in what he apparently thought was a dignified manner. JJ was having none of that though, she stuck her foot out without thinking and sent Regal crashing to the ground.

"ARGH!" he cried and he fell face first into a puddle of mud. JJ felt her mouth fall open in shock, she hadn't actually meant to trip him up. She almost didn't hear the barely restrained chuckles from the nearby agents, who were securing the scene, and she certainly didn't miss Charlie's outright laughing.

Regal leapt to his feet with a look of the highest embarrassment mixed in with a generous portion of anger, "You just assaulted me!"

Shrugging, JJ shook her head, "I didn't touch you. You just fell down."

"It's true. I saw it happen," added Emily, her voice soaked with sincerity.

"It isn't my fault if you have poor balance," JJ said with another shrug.

Dripping with mud, the horrified Regal looked to Charlie for support, who simply bore a confused expression and said, "Don't look at me. I clearly saw you trip over your own feet."

Regal threw his arms up in resentful rage and stormed away, but not before throwing JJ the filthiest look he possibly could.

After he was out of earshot, Emily turned to face JJ and said thoughtfully, "And suddenly this case all became so very worthwhile…"

"I think mud is a good look on him to be honest," replied JJ.

"Well, folks," interrupted Charlie while looking at her watch, "I have to be in work in less than three hours, so I'm afraid I shall have to depart. I don't think my clients would appreciate me turning up in clothes I wore yesterday and looking like I was just dragged backwards through a hedge."

Emily did a good job of hiding the fleeting look of disappointment in her face, but if JJ caught it then she was fairly sure that Charlie had done too.

"All right then," said Emily with a rather false smile, "Well it was nice seeing you. We should get together more often."

"We should," Charlie agreed, then she moved forward and shook JJ's hand, "It was lovely to meet you, Agent Jareau. You and Emily make an excellent team."

"You too, Doctor Winters," said JJ with a smile, "Thank you for your help."

Charlie turned to leave but Emily caught her by the arm and pulled her into a hug. Charlie stiffened for a moment but quickly returned it and shook her head in mild amusement, "Yes, Emily. I love you too."

They broke apart and Emily moved to stand beside JJ with an undeniably sad expression on her face.

"Call me when you get home," said Charlie softly, and then she turned once again and left.

They stood in silence for a minute, oblivious to the hustle and bustle that went on around them. Then Emily said quietly, "You know…You forget sometimes that this job doesn't have to be your whole life. It…It consumes you. I can't remember the last time I did something just for fun or just because I felt like it. Everything revolves around the job…"

Unable to think of anything to say to this, mainly because Emily had just expressed her own exact feelings, JJ simply reached out and took Emily's hand in her own.

"I just don't want us to turn into Gideon," said Emily with a sigh.

"We won't," said JJ definitively, "We're going to be fine, Emily."

Emily let out a short laugh and squeezed JJ's fingers in her own, "I think so too."

"Come on," said JJ, "Let's go and see how Reid is doing. I'm going to buy him a leash when we get back to the BAU…Do you know any good pet stores?"

"Ha, I know just the place. We can go before our next case."

"Fantastic."

--

"True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation." - George Washington

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