Title: Flawless
Author: Rubiks
Pairing: gen
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its characters.
Authors Note(s): Each of these chapters will be told from a different persons perspective. It's set a couple of weeks or so after episode five of season three (Seven Seconds) before Rossi joins the team. Also, please ignore any gaping plot holes and geographical inaccuracies as I have never written fanfiction before and have never been to America so this is all a bit new to me.
Summary: The BAU are called in to investigate a series of kidnappings in the state of California, but what at first glance seems to be an average case takes an unfortunate turn when two of the team go missing.

***

Chapter 1

The small girl slept relatively peacefully. Despite it being a very warm night her bedcovers were pulled tightly up to her chin and under them her arms where wrapped protectively around her overly thin frame. She couldn't have been more than six years old.

The man leaned against the doorframe. To anybody within twenty feet of him it would have been painfully clear how drunk he was. Even if they couldn't smell the alcohol on his breath then they would be able to tell by the way he swayed and staggered as he moved towards the girl's bed.

As though sensing the approach of a predator, the girl stirred and blearily tried to open her eyes. But the man had closed the door over, just letting enough light in the room to cast an eerie glow around. Not enough for the little girl's eyes to adjust quickly enough to see the man draw level with her until he had clamped his large hand over her mouth. The girls eyes widened in horror. She was too shocked to move.

"If you make a sound," the man threatened in a low voice, "I will kill you."

It didn't matter if she made a sound. Her mother wasn't home to hear it anyway. Tears sprung to the girls eyes. She knew what was coming next. The man began to untangle the blankets that the girl had so tightly wrapped around herself-

Emily Prentiss woke with a gasp. She quickly scanned her bedroom, almost as if she was expecting to see the man from her nightmare hiding somewhere. Quickly realising this was ridiculous, she sat up and tried to regain control of her erratic breathing and steady her shaking hands. This was quite an easy task for her as she was very used to controlling her emotions and distancing herself from them. She needed to be in her line of work.

Looking at her clock, which read just after five, Emily decided that it would be easier to get up than attempt to get back to sleep again before work. She began to shiver as she forced herself to get out of bed. It was nearing the end of November and it was beginning to get very cold.

She opened the door to her bathroom and switched the shower on to the hottest temperature she could stand. Before she stepped under the cascading water she glanced at her reflection in the mirror above the sink and cringed. The bags under her eyes were becoming more prominent and there was only so much makeup could do to cover them. It wouldn't be long before the rest of the team noticed; they were world class profilers after all. Although, everyone else seemed to be dealing with their own issues at the moment and possibly wouldn't be paying much attention to her anyway. Reid in particular appeared to be having certain personal problems that he wasn't sharing with the team and his ailments were far more noticeable than her own. Satisfied with her own reasoning, she began to wash her hair feeling slightly less grim than she had done moments before.

Perhaps she was being paranoid, but Emily was sure there had been a sudden increase of cases involving children. Defenceless and confused children. She defied anybody to keep a completely clear head whilst dealing with that kind of twisted reality. Even Hotch seemed to be showing the strain, although Emily was fairly certain that was more to do with his wife than the cases.

After washing herself until she felt clean again, Emily quickly got dried and dressed to try and stave off the cold air that surrounded her. She suppressed a sigh when she looked at the clock and realised it was still only half past five. This was becoming far too regular an occurrence recently. She thought she'd grown out of the nightmares that plagued her sleep a long time ago.

It was going to be a long day.

Emily was on her third cup of coffee by the time JJ emerged from her office with a new case file clutched in her hand. Morgan looked up from his desk and grimaced slightly. Catching his eye, Emily nodded and they both stood up and made to follow JJ into the briefing room. Reid however, who was sat only a few feet away from the two agents, continued to stare down unseeingly at the piece of paper in front of him. Morgan rolled his eyes.

"Reid," he said, looking pointedly at the boy. Reid didn't react and a brief look of annoyance flashed across Morgan's face.

He picked up a piece of paper from his desk and screwed it up into a ball.

"Hey, genius!" he said loudly before launching the paper ball at the boy's head.

Doctor Spencer Reid looked up as the ball made contact with his forehead and bounced off, landing harmlessly on the floor. The expression on poor Reid's face was one of utter bewilderment.

"Did someone say my name?" he said, sounding puzzled.

Feeling sorry for him, Emily quickly answered before Morgan could reply with a scathing remark.

"Yes, JJ wants us in the conference room," she said, inclining her head slightly to the open door behind them.

Reid made his mouth into the shape of an 'o' and obligingly got up and followed Emily and Morgan into the conference room where Aaron Hotchner and JJ were already waiting.

JJ smiled at them as they entered the room and sat down. She pointed her remote control at the screen behind her and four pictures of four different women flashed up on the screen.

"California," JJ began, "Several women snatched from their homes in the dead of night. The first two were taken within a month and a half of each other, then next one a month after that and the most recent one two weeks after that. The husband reported her missing last night."

"Victimology?" Hotch asked.

"Garcia is working on it but nothing so far. The only connection between the women seems to be that they are all successful and attractive," she pointed to the first woman, "Carly Jenkins owns a wedding planning business," she pointed to the second two, "Katie Mills and Jordan Berry are lawyers at different law firms," she pointed to the last woman, "and Martha Black is a doctor. Ages range between twenty-five and thirty-five. Carly Jenkins is the only one married."

"And no bodies have been found?" piped up Reid.

"No," JJ replied, "Only kidnappings."

"So he's either keeping them somewhere or their bodies have just been well hidden," Emily mused out loud.

"Let's hope it's the first one," Hotch said standing up, "Wheels up in an hour."

Emily had never been especially fond of planes. As a child she had spent a lot of time going from one country to the next because of her mother's job. She associated flying with leaving another home.

Hotch, Morgan and Reid were sat around a table discussing the kidnappers possible MO, by the sounds of it they weren't getting very far. JJ sat in a corner talking on the phone. Judging from the deepening frown on her face, Emily guessed whatever the other person was telling her was not good news. Sure enough, after putting her phone down, JJ walked over to the group.

"A body has been found. Jordan Berry, the third woman to go missing. There are signs of beatings and the cause of death was asphyxiation," she said pursing her lips, "They are uploading the details to Garcia."

"Okay, when we land I want Prentiss and Morgan come with me to the crime scene and Reid, you go with JJ and set up at the station," Hotch said, looking to each agent in turn.

Everyone nodded in agreement and spent the rest of the flight trying to get some rest for what was bound to be a hard day ahead.

***

Chapter 2

It took Hotch a moment before he realised they had actually landed. Much to his own annoyance he had spent most of the flight thinking about Jack and Haley when he knew he should have been thinking about the case. It was hard not to though, he had barely seen his son in two weeks and he Haley was avoiding his phone calls. If he didn't know any better he might think she was cheating on him, there were certain signs that pointed towards it, for example random phone calls to his home that would be cut off as soon as he picked it up. But no, Haley wouldn't do that to him. It was too painful even to think about. Not that he didn't deserve it if she was. He knew he had been an awful husband to her over the last couple of years.

Hotch stood up and left the plane, walking behind Reid who seemed to be stumbling slightly. It was probably because he had only just been woken up by Morgan. Hotch made a mental note to check the boy was okay at a more appropriate time though.

As usual, the current head of the investigation was there to meet them with a couple of rental cars. JJ was just finishing the introductions when Hotch drew level with them.

"- And this is our unit chief Special Agent Hotchner."

Hotch shook hands with the man, "Detective Cooper," he said by way of greeting.

"Please, call me Jason," Cooper replied, addressing the team. Hotch felt a brief pang of loss at the name but it passed quickly and the team split up to go and do their respective jobs.

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

When Hotch, Prentiss and Morgan arrived at the crime scene the media was already swarming around like a plague of locusts. Hotch inwardly cursed himself, he should have brought JJ to deal with the press. This was what came from allowing himself to be distracted from his work with thoughts of his personal life.

They were shown to where the body was lying behind a dumpster and as always Hotch looked at it with an almost clinical distance. Extensive facial bruising, by the looks of it done in anger.

"The markings around her neck," Morgan said, indicating the woman, "Hand marks. It looks like the unsub used his bare hands to strangle her."

"That means he was strong," Hotch said in agreement.

"Are there any signs of sexual assault?" Morgan asked, looking to Detective Cooper.

"None that we know of yet. You'll have to wait for the coroners report."

Hotch nodded and took a moment to take in his surroundings. They were in an ally just off a very busy road. It was quite likely that many people had seen something that couple help them, but in a place like this everyone was too busy to notice or care about the things going on around them that would not directly affect them. This made it difficult to narrow down what type of vehicle the unsub had driven because it wouldn't matter either way.

Prentiss seemed to have noticed the same problem because she said, "There's a shopping centre just around the corner so nobody would look twice at anything parked nearby that could be potentially out of the ordinary."

"She was wrapped up in a black bin bag so anybody who saw him could have easily thought he was just taking out the trash," Cooper said, disgust evident in his voice, "The only reason we found her as soon as we did was because the owner of this bakery," he indicated the building they were stood next too, "came out and almost tripped over her."

"This all suggests that this guy's opinion of women is that they are expendable, so why is he keeping them for so long before he kills them? In cases like this the women are normally kept for a much shorter period of time before the unsub moves onto his next victim," Morgan mused.

Hotch tried to ignore the small voice in his head telling him that it was possible that they just hadn't found the other bodies yet. If they were all well hidden then it could take a while for them to be discovered.

"Go and talk to the man who found the body," Hotch said to Morgan, who nodded in response, "Prentiss and I will go and talk to the victim's family and then we'll meet back at the station. Do you have an address?"

The detective nodded and took out a little notebook from his shirt pocket. He ripped out one of the pages and handed it to Hotch who took it without a word. He didn't really feel like making small talk or keeping up with his manners at the moment, he was still berating himself about his oversight of not bringing JJ with them. Out of the corner of his eye Hotch could see one of the reporters trying to slip under the police tape with a camera in his hand. However, instead of marching over there and giving the reporter a good telling off like he oh so wanted too, Hotch merely turned around and stalked towards the car they had been provided with, only mildly aware of Prentiss following behind him.

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

Hotch pulled up outside Jordan Berry's parents' house and got out the car. He had spent the entire car journey trying not to think about his son and probably his soon to be ex-wife, which of course meant that he had spent the entire car journey thinking about them. Thankfully, Prentiss seemed to have noticed that he was in no mood to talk and hadn't tried to strike up a conversation.

They walked to the front door and Prentiss rang the door bell.

A short woman answered the door. Her eyes were red rimmed and her face tear stained, but when she spoke her voice was quite steady.

"You must be from the FBI," she said before Hotch could introduce himself, "Come in."

She ushered them both in and sat them down on a couch, "Would you like some tea?" she asked politely.

"No thank you, Mrs Berry," Hotch replied, "We are just here to ask a few questions about your daughter."

The woman nodded and sat down opposite the two agents, "What do you want to know?"

"When was the last time you saw your daughter?" Prentiss asked.

"The weekend before she went missing."

"Did she seem agitated at all? Was their anything out of the ordinary that you noticed? Maybe she told you she had just started seeing someone?"

"No, she seemed perfectly fine. Busy as she always is-was," the woman faltered slightly but kept speaking, "As far as I know she wasn't seeing anyone. Too busy with work to deal with relationships she said."

"What else can you tell us about her?" said Hotch.

Mrs Berry looked thoughtful, "She was very career driven and very good at what she did. But she still always made time to come and visit us often. She was very capable. I just don't understand how this could have happened."

The woman was beginning to look tearful. Hotch caught Prentiss' eye and she nodded slightly, they both know it wouldn't help to press this woman for anymore details.

"Thank you, Mrs Berry," Hotch said softly, "You've been a great help. If you think of anything else, you can reach me at this number."

Taking out a card from his pocket and handing it to the grieving woman, he stood up and made to leave. Before he and Prentiss left the house, Hotch turned around and said, "We're truly sorry for your loss."

The woman nodded tearfully and closed the door as they walked down the path together.

"It's not much to go on," Prentiss said as they got back in the car.

"No," Hotch replied, glancing over at her before switching the engine on.

He paused for a brief moment to study her face. There was a peculiar, almost glassy look in her eyes.

She noticed him looking and raised an eyebrow, "Is there something wrong?"

"No," he said shortly, putting his foot down on the car pedal.

Driving had always felt therapeutic to Hotch, whenever he was feeling particularly stressed he would take the car out for a drive to calm his nerves. It was why he took these minutes of silence to muse over his team. Prentiss was probably just tired, nothing she couldn't handle herself, so Hotch decided not to mention anything about it to her. Reid on the other hand was beginning to worry him, he was drinking more coffee than any one person should be able to, he had a perpetual look of distance on his face and he seemed to be a lot jumpier than he had been before.

Keeping an eye on his team's psychological wellbeing had always been a large part of Hotch's job. Something he felt he had never been particularly good at. He had let Elle down in a big way last year, and it didn't matter how many times Gideon said it wasn't his fault, Hotch knew it was.

He suppressed a sigh and kept on driving.

***

Chapter 3

"Goddess of the virtual highway speaking. How may I help you, mortal?"

"Hey, Baby Girl. Do you have anything for me?"

"Not this time my lovely," Garcia said regretfully.

"Oh come on Doll Face, you gotta have something?"

"Afraid not. There are no connections that I'm finding between these women."

Morgan suppressed a sigh, it was a rare occasion when Garcia didn't come through for him. If this wasn't a sign that the case wasn't going to go as well as they were hoping then he didn't know what was.

"Okay then Baby Girl. Well keep looking for me, and try to focus on Berry and Mills. With them both having the same job it's possible that there is going to be something there."

"Got it. Garcia out," and with that she had put the phone down.

"She didn't have anything?" Hotch asked as Morgan turned around to face him.

"No," Morgan said, feeling slightly irritated although not quite sure why, "But if there's something there Garcia will find it."

Hotch nodded. He seemed focussed enough, but something told Morgan that maybe Hotch's mind was elsewhere. He just didn't seem to be quite with it at the moment. He was probably thinking about Jack and Haley. Morgan couldn't help but feel a certain amount of sympathy for their unit chief.

"Hey, guys?" Reid said, popping his head around the corner, "They're waiting for the profile."

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

They had delivered the profile of a man in his mid thirties, strong and capable. Someone unnoticeable in a crowd. Someone who probably hadn't had much luck with women. Someone who had recently split up with a girlfriend or wife that would act as a stressor.

Now Morgan was on his way with JJ and Prentiss to talk to Berry's boss at the biggest law firm in the city. They both looked far too miserable for Morgan's liking. Sure, this was turning out to be a bad case, but he wished everyone would stop looking so depressed. It made for a stressful work environment. He decided he was going to make it his personal mission to put a smile on at least one person's face by the end of the day.

"Can you believe Garcia didn't have anything for us?" he said.

"What?" said JJ, turning around from her seat at the front to look puzzled at Morgan.

"Just when I was beginning to think that women had more uses other than cooking and cleaning," he continued.

"Excuse me?" Prentiss said from the driver's seat.

Okay, so this probably wasn't the best way to go if he was aiming to cheer them up, but drawing them into a mock argument was the best thing Morgan could think of off the top of his head.

"Yea, I was beginning to believe that women might possibly have some skills outside the kitchen and then my baby goes and lets me down."

"I'm going to tell Garcia you said that," Prentiss said with a flicker of a smile, "We'll see if your opinion of women stays the same after Quantico is filled with pictures of you dressed up as one."

"Ouch. That was a low blow," Morgan said dramatically, putting his hand to his chest as though physically wounded.

"I'm sure she already has some on her computer," JJ said offhandedly, "If I call her now then I'll bet she can have the place covered by the time we get back. I particularly like the one of you in gold stilettos."

Morgan was horrified and not entirely sure if she was joking or not, "I'm sorry. I take it back."

"Ah no. What has been said can never be unsaid."

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

Morgan, JJ and Prentiss walked through the doors of a large law firm. There was a very pretty blonde woman working behind the desk of the reception. Morgan caught her eye and she smiled slightly causing him to suppress a smirk.

"Hello," she said in a very nasal voice, "Is there something I can do for you?"

"Yea, we're with the FBI," Morgan said, taking his badge from his jacket pocket, "We'd like to speak to Jordan Berry's boss."

The secretary looked stunned for a moment, but she quickly recovered and picked up her phone. She exchanged a few brief words with whoever was on the other end and then hung up.

"I'll take you up to see him," she said, shooting Morgan a winning smile. It was a shame that her voice was so annoying, he thought. Out of the corner of his eye he saw JJ roll her eyes at him.

They followed to woman to an elevator, where she pressed the number thirteen button. Morgan gulped slightly. Since the incident with Reid on one of their previous cases he had become rather wary of elevators, though he would never admit that to anybody. He tried not to look relieved when it came to a stop on the top floor.

A man stood there to greet them. He was short and stocky looking, and Morgan thought he looked rather out of place in the uncomfortable looking suit he was wearing.

"I'll take you to Mr Davenport's office," the man said in a gruff voice. He didn't sound like he should be working there any more than he looked like he should.

Morgan heard Prentiss thank the secretary for her help and he turned around to smile at her. Her cheeks flushed slightly and she quickly got back into the elevator. Once again he saw JJ roll her eyes and shake her head slightly disbelievingly.

Following the man at a brisk pace, the three were led to Davenport's office. The man knocked loudly on the door.

"Enter," said an educated voice.

The man opened the door and let the three agents walk in.

Jack Davenport looked to be in his mid forties with dark brown hair that he had combed down. He sat at his desk with a pen poised over a piece of paper that he had obviously been writing on.

"Thank you, Lester," he said in the same post accent, "That will be all."

The man grunted and left the three agents alone.

"Hello, Mr Davenport. Thank you for agreeing to speak to us," JJ began, "I'm Agent Jareau and this is Agent Prentiss and Agent Morgan."

Davenport put his pen down and regarded the three closely. Morgan rather thought he had look of a childlike curiosity on his face.

"Please, sit down. I take it you are here to talk about Miss Berry? I was very upset when I learned of her death this morning," Davenport said sincerely, "She was an excellent lawyer."

"I'm sure she was," Prentiss said with a nod, "Did you notice any unusual behaviour on her part before she went missing?"

Davenport gazed at her musingly before saying, "Not that I recall, but to be honest I saw very little of her. We pretty much let our staff have their own free reign in cases. People here keep themselves to themselves. I'm not particularly friendly with anybody."

"Do you recognise any of these women?" JJ said, taking out three pictures to show the man.

Morgan studied his face intently, but Davenport genuinely seemed puzzled by the pictures.

"Why, no. Should I?"

"How about this one?" Prentiss persisted, pointing to the picture of Katie Mills, "She is also a lawyer."

Pausing a moment to look at the picture more closely, Davenport shook his head, "Not that I recall. I suppose I may have seen her in a court room somewhere but if I did I do not remember her."

It was unlikely they were going to get anything more helpful out of this man, Morgan thought, so he decided to bring the meeting to a close.

"Well thank you for talking to us," he said standing up, "If you think of anything else please contact us."

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

It was getting late and the team had decided to call it day. They weren't making much progress and everyone was becoming rather agitated over it.

The hotel they were staying at was close to the police headquarters, but not the main hotel in the middle of the city that would be filled with tourists. It wasn't a fantastic place but Morgan thought it looked relatively clean. Besides, he had slept in much worse places before.

"We have four rooms between the five of us," Hotch said, producing four card keys from his suit pocket as they walked into the foyer.

Morgan was about to offer to share a room with Reid, but when he looked up the boy genius was looking at the floor and avoiding eye contact with him. He continued to stare at Reid until he started to shuffle his feet uncomfortably. Morgan made it his personal mission to find out what was wrong with him when this case was over.

Luckily, JJ said, "We'll share," indicating Prentiss, "As long as Morgan carries our bags to our room."

"What?" Morgan spluttered, temporarily distracted from his worry, "Why me?"

"Payback," JJ said with a grin.

Rolling his eyes Morgan put his hands up in defeat, "All right, you win."

Prentiss snorted as Hotch handed her the card key, "Come on, packhorse."

"You see the way they talk to me?" Morgan said, earning a small smile from Reid.

"Stop complaining," JJ said playfully, "We're only walking up three flights of stairs."

"We're taking the elevator," Morgan said firmly.

"Why would we take the elevator when we can make you walk it? Surely you'd enjoy it more. Carrying heavy objects is the only thing men are useful for anyway," Prentiss said with a raised eyebrow.

Morgan groaned, "How long are you going to make me suffer for that?"

JJ and Prentiss looked at each other with comically similar evil smiles.

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

Someone was knocking on his door. Loudly. Morgan groaned and rolled over to look at the clock next to his bed, it read six o clock. He didn't need to be up for another half an hour.

Grumbling he rolled out of bed and staggered over to the source of the banging, rubbing sleep out of his eyes as he went. When he pulled it open there stood a panicked looking Reid.

"You'd better have a good reason for waking me up, Reid," Morgan said darkly.

"It's JJ and Emily," the boy said quickly, sounding slightly out of breath.

"Yea, what about them?" Morgan replied, not liking the sound of where this was going.

"They aren't in their room. I think they've been taken."

***

Chapter 4

"Emily! Wake up," JJ said grasping the unconscious woman's shoulders and trying to keep her voice steady.

In response Prentiss merely twitched slightly and tried weakly to pull herself from JJ's grasp.

JJ bit her lip and looked around the room they were being kept in for the umpteenth time since she had woken from her drug induced sleep. In was the most peculiar place she had ever been in her life. If she didn't know any better she would be convinced she was still dreaming. They were in a beautifully decorated bedroom, complete with a wardrobe, bed, chest of drawers, full bookcase and an en suite. The only thing the gold and cream themed room seemed to be missing was windows. The door was in the corner of the room and much to JJ's dismay it was made of a heavy wood with no handle on the inside. It was enough to make anybody feel claustrophobic.

She sat down on the bed next to Prentiss and buried her face in her hands. How could everything go so wrong in such a short space of time? First Elle had a complete breakdown, then Reid had been kidnapped, then Gideon's girlfriend had been murdered causing him to abandon the team and now she and Prentiss had been taken by who JJ could only imagine was the unsub. When had everything become so personal?

Lifting her head up in an attempt to regain some of her composure, JJ turned back to Prentiss, who was now mumbling incoherently under her breath and still twitching every so often. JJ wondered what she was dreaming about.

"Come on, Emily," JJ said softly, "Wake up."

It was probably selfish of her, because Prentiss was better off asleep than awake and fully understanding the position that they were both in, but JJ needed her to wake up. She didn't want to deal with this by herself.

Much to her relief, Prentiss' eyes flickered open. A brief look of panic crossed her face and was quickly replaced by one of utter confusion as her eyes darted across the room.

"Where the hell are we?" she said groggily when her eyes finally rested on JJ.

"I have no idea," replied JJ.

Prentiss closed her eyes very briefly. When she opened them again her usual look of distant detachment had returned. All signs of confusion and panic gone. JJ wondered how anybody could mask their emotions so well, it seemed to be general trait of the entire team.

"Am I still dreaming? Or hallucinating?" Prentiss asked hopefully.

"I wish you were," JJ said, her eyes fixating on the door in the corner. Prentiss lifted her head to follow JJ's gaze and groaned as she saw what she was looking at.

"I know," JJ said with sigh, "I already tried to open it but it won't budge."

"Typical," Prentiss replied, raising her hand to rub her head. JJ saw that there was blood matted in her hair that she hadn't noticed before.

"Are you okay?" she asked, concerned.

"I'll be fine," Prentiss replied with a weak smile, "Are you okay?"

"I've had better days. Do you remember what happened? I was asleep…I woke up just as someone covered my mouth with chloroform."

Prentiss looked blankly at the wall before saying in a very slow and stilted voice, "There were two of them. They had a key to our room. I don't think they were expecting anyone to be awake because they stopped for long enough for me to try and get my gun. They both grabbed me though and that's when you started to wake up. So one of them went after you and the other must have hit me on the head with something because I was making too much noise."

"Do you think it's the unsub?" JJ said, trying to keep the fear out of her voice. She had seen what this man had done to Jordan Berry.

"Possibly," Prentiss replied, turning her head to face JJ, "If it is I think we got the profile wrong."

That would make it harder for the others to find them, JJ thought. They needed to come up with an escape plan.

"How are we going – What?" JJ stopped mid-sentence as Prentiss' eyes widened slightly and she looked away as though made uncomfortable by something.

"It's nothing," she said a little too quickly.

JJ folded her arms in annoyance, "Tell me."

"No, doesn't mat-"

"Emily!" JJ said in a tone that booked no argument.

Prentiss hesitated before saying, "When did you change your clothes?"

"What are you talking about?" said JJ, trying to keep the annoyance and confusion out of her voice, "I didn't-" Then she realised what Prentiss meant. She had been in her pyjamas when the men had attacked them. Now she was wearing the blouse and pants she had set out on a chair ready for when she got up in the morning. A wave of nausea swept over her and she shuddered. Dressing someone while they were unconscious was just too creepy.

"Why…Why would someone do that?"

"I don't know. It's possible that the unsub wanted you 'looking your best'. Ted Bundy sometimes used to dress his victims first…" Prentiss trailed off and turned to stare at the wall again. By the look on her face JJ guessed that it had only just occurred to her how dire their situation could potentially be.

There was a sudden snapping sound from the corner of the room that made JJ jump. Someone was unlocking the door.

***

Chapter 5

It was unreasonable for anyone to expect him to get over his abduction and torture at the hands of Tobias so quickly. At least this was what Spencer told himself as he shakily reached into his bag to locate the well hidden vials of dilaudid.

Before he had seen Morgan try to catch his eye when Hotch had declared that two of them would have to share a room and Spencer's heart had almost skipped a beat. It would be virtually impossible for him to have given himself his daily injection under Morgan's watchful eye. He was intensely grateful that JJ and Prentiss had offered to share instead.

The withdrawal symptoms were starting to show. His hands shook when he wasn't explicitly trying to stop them and his body felt feverish and sluggish. Spencer still rifled through his bag searching for the elusive drugs with his heart in his mouth. He couldn't find them. Panic seized his mind and Spencer tried desperately to control his erratic breathing. They had to be in the there somewhere.

Finally, after what felt like an age but in reality was a mere forty-five seconds, Spencer's fingers felt the cold glass in stark comparison with the soft material of his clothes. A huge wave of relief swept over him as he almost stumbled over his bag in his hurry to get to the bathroom.

Carefully and precisely he measured out the exact amount of the drug he would need to sooth his anxiety and withdrawal symptoms. He had become so used to this process that it took no time at all. It was actually injecting himself with the liquid that was a slight problem. His hands were shaking too much to line the needle up with the vein he was aiming for. With a soft cry of frustration he dropped needle on the floor where it rolled over to the other side of the small room. Thankfully it didn't break.

Spencer took a calming breath before picking it up again and successfully injecting himself with the dilaudid. He felt warmth flow through his entire body and he let out a contented sigh. A million statistics flew through his mind telling him how wrong he was to keep up his addiction, but Spencer didn't care. He had tried to stop many times, but the consequences of doing so were far worse than the potential consequences of continuing. The last time he had attempted to quit the withdrawals had started to affect his job and people were beginning to notice.

A pang of guilt gripped Spencer's heart as he thought of all the members of his team that he was lying to. He would tell them he was fine but he didn't think they truly believed him. The only reason he suspected he hadn't been confronted about his problem was because everyone was so wrapped up in their own issues that no one had the time or force of will to talk to him about it. The looks Hotch and Morgan were giving him earlier suggested that they were going to talk to him about it soon though. Spencer knew he was going to have to make more of an effort over the next few days to show them that he was okay and then maybe they would leave him in peace.

None of that mattered though. For now Spencer was just going to enjoy the sensations the drug was causing while it still lasted. He climbed into bed and drifted into a peaceful doze.

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

Spencer woke up slightly earlier than he would have liked to. The heating in his room seemed to be on full blast because even when he got up out of bed he was still uncomfortably warm.

Making a quick decision, he began to dress with the intention of going for a quick stroll outside to cool down and get some fresh air to prepare himself for the day ahead. Yes. Clearing his head seemed like a very good idea. Blow away the cobwebs as his mother would say when he was young.

He left his room quietly, slipping his key into his pocket as he went. As he passed the room he knew JJ and Prentiss were sleeping in he was surprised to note that their door seemed to be ever so slightly ajar. Not enough for him to see in though so he kept on walking. As he got to the front foyer he was also puzzled to notice that the manager was not there to take his key from him as he normally would be. So Spencer shrugged slightly and walked outside into the cold morning air.

He inhaled deeply and then watched with interest as his breath came out in a stream of fog. Spencer had never particularly been a fan of the cold. He was too wry and skinny so the chill would seep into his bones, causing him to freeze a lot faster than other people. It was for this reason that he only stayed outside for a couple of minutes before deciding that he would go back to the comfort of his hotel room.

As he stepped through the door back into the hotel room he realised that the manager still hadn't returned from where ever he had gone. Spencer walked up to the front desk to see if he could spot him anywhere. What he saw made his mouth drop open in horror. The manager lay on the floor behind the desk, face down in a pool of blood.

Spencer gasped and quickly ran around the wooden table to feel for the man's pulse. There wasn't one. Fear gripped his heart and he spun around looking for the attacker. He wished he had brought his gun with him.

Seeing nobody, he ran over to the stairs to wake up the rest of his team. They would know what to do. The first door he came too was JJ's and Prentiss'. He knocked loudly, causing the door to open slightly because it hadn't been closed properly. Spencer peeked in through the gap and felt his eyes widen in horror for the second time in only a few short minutes. He pushed the door open properly and stepped in.

The book that Spencer had seen Prentiss reading earlier was lying on the floor next to a wooden chair that had been tipped on its side. Next to it was the remnants of a smashed lamp that had unmistakable traces of blood on it. There were definite signs of a struggle and no JJ and Prentiss to be seen.

Spencer felt his breath catch in his throat and he turned and sprinted as quickly as he could the Morgan's room which was just down the corridor.

***

Chapter 6

It made no sense. No one in their right mind would have a bedroom somewhere with no windows and then have a door that would only open from the outside. This room had been specifically designed for this purpose. Whatever the purpose was. Emily tried not to think about it.

The loud snapping noise that the bolt on the other side of the door made caused her to flinch slightly. As if her head wasn't already aching enough as it was, the unsub seemed to be making as much noise as he possibly could in opening the door. Emily saw JJ jump beside her but manage to keep her face neutral as she stared at the door.

Emily took a deep breath and stood up using the wall behind her to steady herself. She didn't want to be at the disadvantage of being sat down when the unsub came in. JJ seemed to understand what she was doing and stood up also. Finally the heavy wooden door swung open and in strode Jack Davenport, followed by another man that was of a slightly stronger build. Emily recognised the man stood beside him as one of the ones that had attacked them and brought them here. She narrowed her eyes at Davenport. On the plus side, at least they knew that the rest of the team had spoken to him before, if her and JJ where lucky they would make the connection fairly quickly.

"Why have you brought us here?" JJ demanded when niether of the men said anything.

Davenport smiled serenely and it sent shivers up Emily's spine.

"See, I told you they would be awake," he said, turning to the man behind him who shrugged in response.

At that point the other man that had attacked them walked through the door carrying a padded armchair with him. Davenport sat down in it regally and gazed at the two women intently. One of the men turned to close the door over. He was very careful not to close it completely though or they would all be trapped in there. Unless Davenport had yet another accomplice hidden somewhere outside.

"What do you want, Davenport?" Emily said, folding her arms.

The man looked thoughtful for a moment before saying, "I want the perfect woman."

"What are you talking about?" JJ said angrily. Emily shot her a warning look and willed her to keep calm.

"Everything in my life is perfect. Or at least it was until wife left me. Now I'm looking for the perfect woman to replace her," Davenport had an odd glazed expression on his face.

"Is that why you've been kidnapping women?" Emily said, "So you can find the perfect woman?"

"Exactly."

"Well I hate to break it to you but there's no such thing as a perfect woman," JJ said, folding her arms and mirroring Emily's stance.

Davenport's eyes flashed with anger, "Yes there is. I just need to find her."

"Why did you kill Jordan Berry?" Emily said softly.

"She was asking for it! I loved her! I said I would take care of her but she betrayed me and tried to kill me when my back was turned!" Davenport said, standing up in fury.

Beside her JJ took a reflexive step backwards, but Emily held her ground.

"Where are the other three women?"

The man seemed to calm down slightly, "I killed them," he said with a shrug.

There was a sharp intake of breath behind Emily and JJ stepped forward again, "Why?"

"As soon as I saw you two I knew that one of you had to be mine. So I got rid of those other women so my primary focus can be on you and Emily, my dear Jennifer," Davenport said as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Emily felt her heart sink. This did not bode well. She caught JJ's eye and wondered if the same look of mortification was reflected in her own face.

Davenport turned around and said something quietly to one of the men behind him. Emily suddenly recognised him as the man they had seen in the law firm. He actually worked with Davenport. She suppose it made sense that he kept his 'associates' close by. The man in question left the room without a word and then Davenport turned back to Emily and JJ.

"You mustn't look so frightened my dears. If you behave yourselves only one of you has to die," Davenport said almost kindly.

"Oh that's a comforting notion," Emily said sarcastically.

Suddenly Davenport moved forwards. Each of his movements radiated cold fury. Emily let out a choked gasp as his strong hands wrapped around her throat and she was pushed roughly against the wall. She was dimly aware of JJ saying her name and of her being held back by Davenport's hired thug as her already injured head slammed against the solid wall. Emily struggled for breath and tried to pry his fingers from her neck but he was too strong.

"I don't appreciate sarcasm, Emily," Davenport said, pausing after every word, "Now, are you going to behave yourself?"

Even if she had wanted to reply she couldn't have done. Instead she tried to kick him, which just further infuriated him. He withdrew one of his hands and slapped her hard across the face before letting go of her completely. Emily slid to the down the wall and took deep shuddering breaths as she massaged her neck, which was quickly developing dark bruises.

"Leave her alone you bastard," JJ said through gritted teeth, still struggling against her captor.

Davenport looked over at her and said remorsefully, "She made me do it."

"You're crazy," Emily breathed. Then she mentally cursed herself, keeping her mouth shut when the situation called for it had always been rather a problem for her. Thankfully Davenport either didn't hear her or chose to ignore her. Emily didn't miss the horrified look that JJ gave her though.

The man who had left the room had reappeared with what looked like a bucket of water, a sponge and a mini bottle of vodka. The kind of bottle you get on a plane.

"Now," Davenport began, looking at Emily who tried and failed to look him straight in the eye, "I was going to clean you up myself, but you've annoyed me so you'll have to do it yourself. We don't have any proper disinfectant for some reason so you are going to have to use alcohol."

The three things where placed down beside her but Emily ignored them, choosing to glare just past Davenport's head instead. She was finding it increasingly difficult to keep her eyes open though.

Davenport finally moved away from her and looked at the two women fondly, "I have another body to hide so I'll see you two girls in the morning. Maybe you'll feel more agreeable after you've had a good nights rest."

Emily seriously doubted it. She wisely kept that particular thought to herself though. Davenport finally seemed satisfied and nodded his head towards the man holding JJ. He let go of her and she stumbled forward, obviously not realising that he was the only thing keeping her upright due to her continuous struggling. The blonde half crawled, half walked to where Emily sat leaning against the wall. For some reason that made Davenport smirk, and before he left he turned around again and said, "You really should see to that head. I don't want your injury to decide which of you I get to keep."

With that the three men had left and the door had swung closed with a resounding slam that seemed to echo through the room. Emily let out a breath she hadn't realised she was holding and raised her head to meet the tear filled gaze of JJ.

"Why did you provoke him," she said in a shaky voice.

Confused, Emily said, "What are you talking about?"

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" JJ demanded, picking up the small bottle of vodka and unscrewing the cap.

"Of course not," Emily said, finally taking her hands away from her neck.

"Lean forward," JJ instructed.

Emily complied. She then pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them protectively. She could tell JJ was annoyed with her and felt slightly guilty about it. She wasn't going to play this lunatics game though. A sharp pain in her head as JJ located the injury and poured some of the alcohol that would clean it on roused Emily from her musings. She tried not to flinch away when JJ began to clean the blood away with the dampened sponge. Eventually, JJ stopped and moved the bucket to the other end of them room.

"You need a couple of stitches in that. It's going to take a very long time to heal otherwise," JJ said in that professional voice she always used when she was trying to control her emotions. Emily had never really realised how much of an act that voice really was until Reid had been taken earlier that year and JJ had managed to maintain it even after Emily had scared her witless by simply entering the room.

There were then a few minutes of silence and even in her uncomfortable position on the floor Emily felt herself drifting off to sleep. At least she was before JJ spoke again.

"I need….I need you to stop antagonising him," she said biting her bottom lip, "I don't want him to kill you in a fit of rage before the team come to rescue us just because you refuse the play the victim."

Emily was about to argue with her, but then she saw the look of silent desperation in JJ's eyes. Instead she merely said, "Okay then, JJ. I'll try not to make him angry."

JJ nodded and then quickly changed the subject. The next hour was spent making plans about what they would do at Davenport's next visit.

***

Chapter 7

This could not be happening. At first Hotch had refused to believe that Reid was telling the truth. He was already up and dressed when the boy had come pounding on his bedroom door and had followed him to JJ and Prentiss' room with a certain amount of scepticism mixed in with trepidation. Reid had looked awfully haggard and tired so perhaps he was just imagining it and his mind was playing tricks on him. Whilst he would rather that Reid had not lost his marbles and become overly paranoid, Hotch preferred that idea to the one that two of his agents had gone missing. Yet again. It was Hotch's job to look after his team. He had failed Elle and had been determined not to let it happen again. Then he had failed Reid and allowed him to be taken, but he felt slightly less guilty about that considering he was the one that figured out where he was being held. But if JJ and Prentiss had gone now Hotch was going to seriously have to consider re-evaluating whether or not he was in the right job.

He followed Reid into the women's room where Morgan was already stood with his fingers interlocked behind his head. Hotch's heart sank.

"Reid," he said, falling instantly into leader mode, "Call the station and have them come over. Tell them we're looking at a double kidnapping and a homicide. Go downstairs, wait for them and make sure no one goes near the manager's body."

Reid nodded and almost jogged out of the room to follow Hotch's orders.

"Well they've definitely been taken," Morgan said, speaking for the first time, "I doubt Emily hit herself with the lamp."

"How do you know it was Emily?" Hotch said looking down and the broken shards of the lamp stand on the floor. Not that it matter who it was.

"Her book," Morgan said simply, pointing to the Kurt Vonnegut novel lying on the floor next to the upturned chair.

Nodding, Hotch walked further into the room to look at it from all angles.

"There must have been two unsubs," he said musingly.

"What makes you say that?" Morgan replied tiredly.

"It's unlikely that Prentiss was still conscious after a hit to the head and we can assume JJ will have been knocked out somehow too or she would have made more noise," said Hotch.

It was going to be very important for Hotch to keep his objectivity now. He must stop himself from becoming too emotionally involved or it would affect his work. He tried to swallow all the feelings of failure and guilt and focus all of his energy into figuring out who could have taken his agents. The fact that the unsub had taken the two female members of the team suggested that it was the unsub they had come looking for in the first place. Letting JJ and Emily share a room had just made them an easy target. Kept them together so it was less work for the unsub to kidnap them both. Hotch could have kicked himself.

Morgan walked to the side of the bed and bent down to pick up a white handkerchief off the floor using a plastic bag he had in his pocket. He brought it closer to his nose and sniffed.

"This is chloroform," he said, confirming Hotch's suspicions.

"Put it in the bag and give it to Cooper to send to forensics when he gets here."

Morgan nodded and Hotch felt an inexplicable surge of anger. He was going to kill this unsub when they found him. For now however he had though he chose to clench his jaw and walk out of the room to find Reid.

"Hey, Hotch," Morgan said, jogging behind him, "You know this isn't your fault don't you?"

"I know," Hotch said without breaking his stride.

Morgan was a good profiler though and Hotch knew that he wouldn't believe him no matter how convincing he sounded.

"I mean it's not like you could have sat outside their door on the off chance that the unsub would target them," came Morgan's voice again from behind him. He still hadn't caught up with Hotch.

"I know," Hotch said again, marching down the stairs.

He could almost feel Morgan rolling his eyes in annoyance behind his back but Hotch chose to ignore it. He was in such a state of angry disbelief that he walked headlong into Reid, who was only saved from falling backwards because of Hotch's quick reflexes. He reached out and caught the boy's shoulders before he fell and pulled him upright.

"Sorry, Reid," he said as Morgan finally caught up with him and stood beside him.

The boy merely nodded and quickly stepped backwards as thought being in such close proximity with Hotch was making him highly uncomfortable. Hotch added this onto the list of reasons why he needed to talk to Reid after the case. As if Hotch didn't have enough things to deal with at the moment.

"Erm, we have a problem," Reid said tentatively, not seeming to dare to look up.

"Yea Reid, we know," Morgan said, "JJ and Prentiss are missing."

"No…I mean…We have another problem," Reid said, flinching slightly.

"Yea well I think we have enough–"

"What is it Reid?" Hotch interrupted before Morgan could finish.

"Two more bodies have been found. Detective Cooper thinks that it's two of the women that went missing. He thinks that it's Carly Jenkins and Katie Mills," Reid said very quickly, as though it wouldn't be as much of an issue if it took him less time to say.

Hotch mentally cursed. The unsub was escalating. Things were not looking good for JJ and Prentiss, wherever they were. It was highly likely the same unsub, the two women fit in with his victimology. Outwardly, he simply nodded at Reid.

"Detective Cooper is coming over with some men to look at the crime scene here," Reid continued.

"Good," Hotch began. Then turning to the man stood beside him he said, "Morgan, I need you to call Garcia. Let her know what's going on and see how she is doing with the connections. We need her to work fast."

"You got it," Morgan said, taking his phone from his jacket pocket. He pressed the number one button on his speed dial and brought the phone to his ear.

"Hey Baby Girl," Hotch heard him say as Morgan walked away to somewhere more quiet. The detective and his men had arrived and Detective Cooper was walking towards them.

"This is bad business, Agent Hotchner," Cooper said darkly.

"It is," Hotch said, not really paying attention. He was too busy planning his next move.

"The other bodies were found in the same place. The coroner places the time of death only a few hours ago," Cooper said.

"I'd like to go and see the dump site," Hotch said with a nod.

"Hey, Hotch," Morgan said holding his phone up, "Garcia thinks she's got something."

***

Next part of Flawless.