A/N: The town of Socorro does exist. The commune does not. But it could! Socorro is known for its artists so it just seemed they would be receptive to a place that the original founders envisioned. :o)

Sorry it took so long. Finished it, reread it, decided I hated how it ended. So I rewrote the resolution. Lol

Enjoy!
-AR

It had taken every once of will power she possessed for Emily to say goodbye to her daughter on Monday morning. Even knowing she is in the States and if needed could drive to get home did nothing to calm the irritation in her. When Hotch sees her gathering some files at her desk he makes his way over to her.

"Emily, I hate that this happened to any of us but especially to you. It's not right and I do apologize."

She sighs. "She was still sleeping when I said goodbye. Probably a good thing because I cried more this time than the first time I left her at home after she no longer needed nursing. It would have scared her." She takes a deep breath. "But this is my job, Hotch. I'll be all in mentally by the time we get there. You have my word."

He gives her a supportive smile. "Of that I have no doubt, Prentiss. I just wanted you to know I understand what you're dealing with. If at any time you need to step away to call home, do it. Center yourself when needed."

Emily nods. "I will. Thank you."

He gives her a pat on the arm and goes on up to his office to grab a couple things. After JJ finishes packing her briefcase she walks over to Emily.

"All okay?"

Emily smiles. "Yes. Fine. Hotch was just apologizing for taking me away so soon. Told me to take a break if I need to while we're out there."

"Good. You actually seem a little more settled for that talk."

"I am," Emily admits. "It helps to remember that this team is always behind me. No one will think me weak if I have to talk to a 15 month old to make it through the day."

JJ chuckles. "Very true." She takes her wife's hand. "Come on. I need a lift to the runway."

"What a coincidence," Emily says as she slips her briefcase strap over her shoulder, "I happen to be headed that way."

Smiling, the two head out to get settled on the airplane and await the rest of their team.

Once they are on their cross country journey the team starts to review the information that had been sent to them overnight. All are saddened by the pictures of men, women and children all dead for reasons as yet unknown. Two hours and 2 carafes of coffee later, the last tablet is set down. The agents all exchange looks.

"Merry Christmas to us," Morgan mutters. The others nod in agreement.

Hotch and Rossi move to the middle of the plane. Rossi sits beside Morgan on the couch as the unit chief remains standing. Hotch looks at Reid.

"Reid, run down what we know about cult leaders."

Reid sits up straight. "According to Joe Navarro's 'Narcissists Among Us' there are 50 commonly accepted traits that can be found in all cult leaders. The key traits for us are that they are notoriously egotistical. They are power-hungry and have a belief that they have all the answers, sometimes actually believing they have been given divine messages showing them their path to glory. All tend to be incredibly good at reading people and are able to hide their narcissism enough to draw in willing followers. Most people don't realize that they've been had until they have put in many years of service to the leader. The die-hard followers never lose their infatuation with the leader as they tend to be the most easily governed by a need to feel included, which the leader has exploited. Leaders use a variety of means for control including sex, drugs, establishment of a reward-punishment system in which the punishment is viewed by the collective while the reward is a special event between the leader and the follower."

"So he can isolate people while making the others crave that special attention," JJ confirms.

Reid nods. "Exactly. He also will take away the ability of his followers to come and go as they please, especially if he feels they are not completely following his doctrine. That is the man we need to locate."

"How do we do that?" Garcia asks.

Hotch looks at the analyst. "You may be our best hope for that. Somewhere in their computers or in the DVD's or videos that are kept in the office is the man who turned a simple commune that's been around for 40 years into a death camp. Look for anyone giving speeches regarding end of time declarations, government persecution rants, or declaring himself or herself a deity or messenger of a deity."

"Right. Okay. So anyone who thinks he's the next Jim Jones," Garcia says with a nod.

"Exactly," Hotch says. He looks to the team. "It has been cold enough the bodies haven't broken down very much but they still want to get them out today to start autopsies, confirm identities, and start family notifications. There's a good chance some families may already be arriving if they had loved ones on the commune. The local sheriff called in the National Guard to establish a perimeter around the place. It's 1500 acres so there's still a chance a reporter or someone else could sneak on the property. Keep your eyes open for anyone that doesn't belong there." He looks at JJ. "Any idea what you want to do?"

JJ looks down at her tablet. A photo of a mother holding her little girl even in death is front and center. She rubs her stomach and looks back at Hotch.

"Families deserve answers as soon as possible. There are what, 12 housing units? Guess that means 3 for each of us."

"Does it strike anyone as strange that a commune that has been around this long only has 12 housing units?" Rossi asks. "I mean at some point couples would want privacy."

Morgan nods. "That's true. And a place like that should have been all about that." He starts to flip through the pictures on his tablet again. "Okay, right here." He holds it up. "Does that look like maybe house foundations?"

The others nod. "Morgan, check those places out after we finish with the dorms. Try to determine if they are houses and, if so, when they were torn down," Hotch orders.

Morgan nods. "Will do."

"Let me just say again, if at any time you need to step back to collect yourself, do so. This is going to be tough for all of us. Let's get answers and get home."

The others nod in agreement. Hotch and Rossi go back to their seats as the others settle in for the rest of the flight, all contemplating what they will need to do to get answers in regards to hundreds of deaths.

After the team lands in Albuquerque they drive south towards Socorro. After about 50 minutes on I-25 they take state roads west to the commune, which sits about 20 minutes northwest of Socorro and midway to Cibola National Forest. As their 3 SUV's pull up to the gates, a National Guard member walks up to the window.

"Sir, media is asked to report to Socorro for- -"

Hotch holds up his badge stopping the recitation. "Sheriff Derringer is expecting us."

The young man nods. "My apologies, sir. He let us know you were coming. You can imagine we've had more than one media outlet trying to get onsite. Even caught a few cameramen out in the hills trying to get here on foot. Truth is this place is big enough 1 or 2 may actually slip by."

"So we've heard. Just do your best, Sergeant, that's all you can ask of yourself."

The man nods. "Will do, sir. Good luck with what you're doing, too. This just all…it just doesn't make a damn bit of sense."

"Things like this never do," Hotch assures him.

The sergeant steps back and gestures to his men to let the SUV's through. As they pass through, Emily takes one hand off the steering wheel and takes her wife's hand.

"You okay?"

JJ nods. "I will be. I just…I have to help find answers if I can. I just can't understand how she could just…just hold her little girl as she died and not fight to save her."

Emily nods in agreement. She had wondered the same thing about the same picture. Garcia sits up and pats JJ on the shoulder.

"If you all need a break, come see me, Sparky and the guys."

JJ turns around, a grin on her face. "You brought your troll doll?"

"Yep. And my other little friends. I knew I'd need them to talk me off any possible ledges. I decided after that crap in Long Island I would never leave the BAU without them again."

JJ smiles. "Good call, Pen. Thanks."

"Well, here we are," Emily says as she pulls up beside Morgan's SUV. She takes a deep breath. "But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, 'Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God."

Garcia frowns. "What was that, Princess?"

Emily gives a sad grin. "That was my Catholic schoolgirl coming out. Mark 10:14, 'Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.' Guess I just want to say a little prayer of some sort for all the children."

JJ kisses her wife's hand. "Well said, honey. Well said."

The three women get out and join the guys near a tent where Hotch is talking to the sheriff.

"Sheriff Derringer, these are SSA's Morgan, Rossi, Jareau, Prentiss and Dr. Reid. Also our analyst is Penelope Garcia who will be checking out the computers and other electronics."

Derringer shakes each person's hand. Well, except Reid's, who doesn't shake hands. "Damn glad to have you all here. I've known Skinny Pines for near 20 years. He always said this was a place of peace, art, and love. Never saw anything to contradict that belief. Few times there was trouble out here it was just someone who tired of the commune life or who didn't realize that you really do have to work to make a go of it. Slackers didn't last long. All this," he waves a hand back towards the buildings, meaning the death, "just doesn't make sense to me. Pines wasn't about this…this death and shit."

"Good to know," Hotch tells him. He gives him a rundown of who is doing what to start the investigation.

Derringer nods. "Sounds good. Each building has a guard outside of it overnight just in case any of those damn reporters gets through the perimeter." He points to the tent. "This here is a serenity tent. I'm an alderman at my church and when I told my minister what was going on he offered to set this up. You need to step away you can go in there for a drink to get a bite to eat or just to clear your head. He's a trained psychologist so if you need to talk you can do that, too. Heck, you all probably don't need this but I have to say my men and I will." He slowly shakes his head. "We haven't ever seen anything like this anywhere but news reports and textbooks."

"Most people haven't," Hotch concedes. "Glad you saw the need for a place to decompress. We'll all appreciate it by the end of this investigation."

"No problem. Well, you all go do what you need to do. Agent Garcia, if you like I'll show you to the office."

"Sure. But I'm not an agent. You can call me the Supreme Empress of All Things Known and Unknown in Cyberspace…or just Garcia, whichever you prefer," she says with a wink.

Derringer gives a chuckle, something he wouldn't have believed possible a few minutes before. "Right. We'll go with Garcia. Right this way, ma'am."

The agents grin as Garcia follows the sheriff to the office. Hotch turns to his team.

"Any last questions?" No one has any. "Then let's get to work."