Here's the third story in the "You Won't Get To Heaven Alive Series". Doyle's actions are going to reverberate through the team in more ways than one as he makes his last ditch effort to bring Emily out of hiding. But our team isn't about to lie down and die when it comes to taking down the bad guys.

I do want to give a very special shout out to Tamara Champlin who was gracious enough to let me use her song "You Won't Get To Heaven Alive" as a title for this series. You are an amazing woman and an incredibly gifted singer/songwriter. I am blessed to know you.

I don't own Criminal Minds.

Song prompt: "Sweet Glow of Mercy" by Gary Chapman

Sweet Glow of Mercy

Aaron Hotchner stood looking at the mangled wreck that used to be a car. The fire had been put out but the stench of burnt flesh and gasoline still lingered in the air. Glancing around at the members of his team, he tried to gage their thoughts, but he couldn't. How could he when he wasn't sure what he was feeling?

The Fire Chief came over to where Hotch stood. "If it brings you any comfort, she never felt a thing."

No, Hotch thought ironically, the fact that Erin Strauss didn't feel anything as the car blast that shook the Hoover Building took her life didn't bring him an ounce of comfort. In fact, it sickened him to the core of his being.

"What did you find?" Hotch asked.

"It was a crude device…basically an IED," the fire chief explained. "It was hooked up to the ignition." He showed the remaining piece of the device. "Who ever rigged this knew what they were doing."

Morgan took the piece of tattered metal in his hands. "The IRA and militant groups use a signature like this. It's definitely their 'calling card' to let us know they are watching." He handed the metal back to the fire chief.

"You'll get my report by morning, Agent Hotchner," the chief said and turned away.

"Goddamnit!" Morgan bit out. "I knew this was going to happen."

"Morgan…"

"I told you, Hotch, I told you that that bastard was going to do something to hurt us. First Seaver, now Strauss. Who is next? Me? You? JJ?"

Hotch shook his head. He tried to find something to say, but the words wouldn't come. He looked at the wreckage that had once been an expensive Lexus. The fight he had had earlier in the day still rang in his ears.

"Agent Hotchner, I've been on the phone with Interpol and they said that Agents Prentiss and Rossi still have not shown up to the consulate."

"Yes."

She tapped her index finger on the oak desk. "I am sure that you had something to do with the deliberate disobeying of a direct order."

Hotch squared his shoulders. "Yes, ma'am, I did."

"Do I want to hear your reason?"

"Ma'am, I firmly believe that Agents Prentiss and Rossi have had their cover compromised. There was word that Doyle showed up in Cannes looking for them."

"How did that happen?"

"We don't know. There may be a mole at Interpol. We are still looking into it."

"Where are they now?"

"Somewhere in Southern England. Their car broke down and they had to take refuge in a cottage. The owner had to go out of town and let them stay there while he is gone."

"How do you know he isn't the mole?" Strauss asked matter of fact.

"I had Garcia run a background check on him. He's no one to be suspicious of; he is a widower with three grown children who live in Liverpool and London. He has no political ties."

"You need to get them out of there and back to the States!"

"We are doing our best. Right now…it doesn't seem safe to move them; especially when Doyle may know where they are," Hotch argued. "The results could be tragic."

"I talked with Ambassador Prentiss," Strauss supplied in an off handed way as though she was permitting Hotch a glance into her business. And maybe she was just to be cruel.

But he knew her tricks, and he wasn't fazed by her revelation. There was something between the two women he couldn't touch - just like there was something between him and Dave. He didn't hold that against Strauss, but in a way he felt sorry for her. Her dislike for him had turned into a hatred for the team and an obsession to ruin him.

"What did she have to say?" Hotch asked evenly.

"Emily hadn't contacted her."

"You let her know that Emily is alive?" Hotch sputtered in barely concealed anger.

"I had to. Her daughter's life is in danger and there is a mad man after her. Ambassador Prentiss has a right to know that Doyle may be after her."

"Do you realize what you have done? If Doyle has her on his list, he could use this news against her. This could severely jeopardize Emily's chances of getting out of England safely."

"She needed to be aware of the danger of Doyle knowing Emily being alive could pose. You would have done the same thing."

Hotch shook his head. "Honestly, I wouldn't have. If Doyle knows that Emily is alive, his focus is going to be on her. Because we don't know if he even knows who Emily's mother is, it would have better for us to keep that news to ourselves."

"I disagree."

"Ian Doyle is intent on finding his son…no matter what the cost. He thinks that Emily may have told us where Declyn is, and because of that, he's going to do what he has to - even if that means torturing each and every one of us to death. And when he has eliminated the last remaining link to Emily, he's going to torture her until she confesses what she knows."

Strauss swallowed hard as she digested Hotch's words.

"Agent Prentiss will never be in that predicament."

"She wasn't…until Dave went to Italy. But that was an honest mistake. We didn't have the intelligence on Doyle and his whereabouts until he decided to strike. He is trying to draw her out into the open."

"Are you saying that Ashley Seaver was a method to his madness?" Strauss asked incredulously.

Hotch shrugged. "She was no longer with the team and was not a full fledged profiler. She wouldn't have been privy to Emily's past the way we had. Emily was shutting down by that point and wouldn't let any of us get close enough…so Ashley knowing enough to put her life in jeopardy…" Hotch leveled a hard look at the woman across from where he stood. "I don't see that happening."

"But it's a possibility?"

"Doyle needed to throw us off and get Emily to blow her cover."

"But it didn't work," Strauss finished.

"No it didn't. So, he's going to keep going until he brings her out."

"You said the Ambassador is not on his list."

"No, what I said was that we don't know what information he has in regard to Emily. But it's highly likely, at this point, he may have found out who her mother is. He can't go after the obvious, so he's going to go after the most unlikely: Seaver and Ambassador Prentiss."

The silence hung like a heavy weight in the air.

"You need to warn her that she needs to have her guard up," Hotch cautioned.

"She's supposed to be traveling from a meeting via automobile in the morning. I will call her before I leave."

Hotch kept his face blank. "Thank you."

"Have you heard anything else on Agent Seaver?"

"She's still critical. It appears her brain stem was injured. The doctors are going to do what they can to reduce the swelling, but they don't have many options."

"Keep me updated."

"Yes, ma'am." Hotch turned to leave.

"Agent Hotchner," Strauss called out. Hotch turned around to give a blank look at the woman who had put his team's lives in jeopardy.

"Yes?"

"What I do…this job…isn't a deliberate attempt to piss you off. There are rules and guidelines that must be followed or else the results could be detrimental to everyone. My job is to protect my agents." She waited for a reply that didn't come. "I do care."

"I want to believe you, but as you once told me: Actions speak louder than words."

And that was the last thing he had said to her before he left her office. He had never been so angry at someone who wasn't an UNSUB. He had hoped to get alone somewhere to think about what had transpired and just forget.

But that was never going to happen.

"You knew this was going to happen," Morgan repeated.

Hotch's eyes never moved from the scene. "We need to work on getting Emily and Dave back."

Morgan went to speak but stopped. He wanted to shout and call Hotch out on the carpet, but something stopped him. Maybe it was that look of defeat and loss like he had failed…again.

"Answer me this," Morgan started.

"Go ahead."

"Would this," Morgan nodded toward the wreckage, "have happened if Emily hadn't faked her death?"

Hotch blinked back the sudden rush of tears that filled his eyes. His lips twitched.

"Yes," he croaked out.

"Then we need to get this bastard."

Hotch nodded in agreement.