Denying Reality

Of Devils and Demons

Dreaming is an act of pure imagination, attesting in all men a creative power, which if it were available in waking, would make every man a Dante or Shakespeare. - H.F. Hedge

"I'm not sure if I trust this Dom."

Arthur was sitting across from his best friend and long time partner. They were each sporting professional looking suits and matching drinks: bourbon over ice. It had been a long and confusing week.

For some stupid reason, the old 'Dream Team' (as Eames' had joked once) accepted one final job from the last client they ever thought possible. The Behaviour Analysis Unit located in Quantico, Virgin. Yes, Quantico. And anyone who was at all learned knew what that meant. FBI.

"Ignoring the fact that they are paying us to perform highly illegal activities," Arthur continued, before he was interrupted by a man leaning himself back on a barstool, directly in front of the two seated at the table. He jumped off and skilfully, whilst holding his beer in one hand, lifted and turned a chair from another table with his other hand and finally sat down, straddling the seat backwards.

"Arthur, darling. Either way, there is no use in bothering yourself with worrying about this. We have no choice in the matter really. Do you actually think denying the feds would do us any good?" Eames injected, taking a long swig from his beer and turning his head to Cobb to see his response. Yet it was Arthur who responded.

"I really could care less whether you think it appropriate or not for me to worry. And despite the fact that we couldn't deny this job even if we wanted to, does it not bother you slightly that we are going to be delving into a mind that is dangerous and more corrupt then we have ever dared to fathom?"

At this statement, Cobb finally glanced up from his glass and revealed what he was thinking about the whole situation. He was trying to keep his resolve. Dom had never wanted to be apart of extraction, inception, or any kind of mind manipulation again. He had finished his last job two years ago and finally had his family back.

He wasn't going to lie to himself though. The love for the dream world was still there, and once a month, his old team and himself had messed around in each other's heads, exploring and sharpening their skills. It was harmless and recreational, as well as educational. But they had agreed a long time ago; after such an intense driven mission, they had retired wealthy and content men and women.

Although, Yusuf and Ariadne aided other extractors with their respective skills, architecture and chemical compounds, from time to time. Yet, they never went under again, with any intent to steal or any other involvement of an illegal nature.

"Even though Eames is right," Cobb began, pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and fore finger, "I can't help but worry as well Arthur. And I'm not sure any of us are going to realize how damaging this mission will be, until we actually have to experience it."

Arthur nodded his head slowly, exhaling deeply. Eames nervously took another gulp of his drink and excused himself to go grab another from the bar. Dom knew he had to protect his team from what they were going to have to endure, but a part of him didn't know how he was supposed to protect himself.

"I do know one thing. Ariadne does not need to go under this time with us. I don't think she should have to see the kinds of things we are going to have to witness." Arthur said with a hint of fear. Before Cobb could respond, a short and petite brunette woman came up from behind and gave both of the men a start.

"With all do respect, I think Ariadne can decide what she can and cannot handle. If you can do it, I can do it Arthur."

"The time it actually takes for the light to travel to our earth, to our actual line of vision, is at a much later time then the actual light beam itself. So in all actuality, the stars we look at in the night sky could actual be burnt out by now. It's the closest thing we have to time travel – seeing into the past."

Dr. Spencer Reid was sitting on top of Derek Morgan's desk, lazily playing with a pencil between his fingers and absently trailing on about something or other. Derek slowly nodded while reading over some paper work, pretending to be interested.

Suddenly, noticed by both men, JJ began walking towards the desk, and signalled to the briefing room once she noticed their eyes looking her way.

"Saved by the bell." Morgan mumbled under his breath, quietly enough so not to hurt Reid's feelings.

Emily Prentiss, a fellow agent, laughed as she walked past her colleagues. She had been listening into the conversation from her desk, slightly interested, but mostly amused.

"If you keep at him like that Spencer, he's bound to retain a fact or two by the end of this year." She joked, poking Derek in his side while winking at the confused genius.

"Keeping at him like what?" He asked raising his eyebrows, innocently and slightly nervous. For a genius, Reid had a small issue with keeping up with social jokes and norms.

Luckily enough, before anyone had to explain to the young agent, they had made it to the room and took their usual seats around the round table, ready to be filled in on their next task.

The rest of the team was already seated, including their tech analysist, Penelope Garcia. Usually, when she was asked to come to the briefing meetings, they knew they were dealing with someone particularly heinous.

"Hey Baby Girl, looks like you're joining us for this one." Derek flirted, giving Garcia a wink and a reassuring pat on her shoulder. Yet, he could tell right away that she knew more than he did, because her eyes were filled with a serious look of fear… and a hint of excitement. The fear was natural, yet usually more subdued. But the excitement… that was never something Penelope would feel when it came to their line of work.

An older looking man, who went by the name David Rossi, gave Garcia a once over before speaking up.

"Now that's a look we don't see on you everyday. Well not when it comes to non-recreational work habits you partake in here. What's up?" Rossi questioned, slightly humoured at her growing uncomfortable stance.

"They never warned me about how evil you mind readers were going to be when they offered me this job." She piped up in a dignified manner, sticking out her tongue at both Rossi and Morgan.

"I thought you told me that it was more of an ultimatum. Like… take the job or rot in prison." JJ laughed. Garcia and JJ were close friends, since they were the only 'non-profilers' on the team. It gave them a special kind of bond.

"Well remind me next time not to offer you my favourite pen when yours explodes in your jacket pocket Miss. Know-It-All." Penelope quickly shot back, with a small smile playing at the corners of her mouth.

But before there were anymore playful arguments, the final member of the team, and boss, stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. Everyone quieted themselves and turned to face him. Again, since they were all skilled enough profilers, they could tell Agent Aaron Hotchner's demeanour was anything but normal.

"JJ, brief them on Jake Spagelli." He spoke strong and forceful, and to anyone who didn't know him, Hotch would have been viewed as the utmost of intimidation.

"But Hotch, I've been keeping up with Spagelli. We had to leave D.C. because there was nothing we could do, and there hasn't been any new evidence or witnesses." Spencer spoke up, whilst getting nods and sounds of agreement from the rest of his team.

"We all know that Spagelli is a dead end… by our means and the police task force." Hotch stated simply, yet ominously. Garcia's eyes flashed with the same look of mixed emotions again, and Derek noticed, but was interrupted by JJ beginning her briefing at Hotch's signal.

"Eight women were found within the city of D.C. raped and brutally beaten. They were all in their late 20's to early 30's. They also were all white skinned and brunettes. The first five women were killed over a span of five years, averaging one a year. But the last three were killed within a time frame of six months. This is why we were called in three months ago. They feared the unSub to strike again and soon."

JJ began to click the button on her laptop and pictures of the eight different women popped up. First, them alive and well. Second, them beaten yet alive. And finally, them obviously not alive anymore, and buried in damp forest ground.

"Like always, he kept them for the same amount of time. Four days. On the second day, like clockwork, he would send photos and/or video to the family or loved ones of the abducted women. Like you've all seen, and you can see now, they were pictures of them still alive and being tortured or shots of their broken bodies. He would then demand a ransom." JJ continued to speak until she was interrupted.

"Yet he just enjoyed giving the family hope to rip it out from under them again, because two days later he would give them directions to the site in which he buried the young women. We know all this. Why are we replaying the same information we were briefed upon only a few months ago." Morgan spoke up, obviously a little irritated with the seemingly waste of time. Hotch gave him a stern look, yet by this point others were questioning what was going on as well.

"And we know who the guy is! So unless we have any new evidence linking Jake Spagelli to the murders we all know he did, what are we doing? Or did we guess the wrong guy?" Prentiss added. Reid shook his head, in doubt of their mistake, and also in doubt of any new evidence that he wouldn't have heard about already. He was keeping close contact with the police force about this case.

"Neither." Garcia slipped out. She quickly slapped her hand over her mouth before looking to Hotchner apologetically. He sighed in resignation before signalling JJ to turn off the clips.

"I just wanted you to be briefed again, to make sure all the information is fresh. You are going to have to study this case again like you did when we were first assigned to it." Hotch finally said, before running his hand through his hair. "We have a new method to find Spagelli guilty."

The whole group went silent, waiting for Hotch to let them know what this new method was. Of course, except for Garcia. The rest of the crew was entirely stumped. They went about every way they could to get Spagelli to give up information, yet they came to realize that he was a pathological liar and a complete psychopath, not to mention highly intelligent. Thus, he knew there was nothing linking him to his crimes, and he only gave them lies to throw them off and confuse them even further.

But even though there was no physical evidence linking Spagelli to the crimes, they all were one hundred percent certain that he was the unSub. There was no doubt in their minds whatsoever.

"Well what is the new method Hotch and why are you being so secretive about it." Rossi asked, raising one of his eyebrows in a questioning manner.

"I trust my life, my family, and my future to this team. And I know you do the same for me and this team in return. Yet, what I am going to ask of you is beyond sacrifice and duty. So please understand, no one is obligated, no matter what Strauss says, to go through with this assignment if they don't feel comfortable or safe doing it." Hotch held his nerves in quite gracefully, only once slipping up by swallowing a little too hard between sentences.

"I think I speak for the whole team when I say, we are with you no matter what, one hundred and fifty percent." Morgan said with strength and conviction, eyeing everyone at the table which prompted very self-assured nods. No one would doubt Hotch, or his morals.

"Well, I'd advise you to wait until you hear how illegal this will be before you sell your souls to the devil." Garcia accidentally let slip again, mimicking her previous actions of slapping her hand to her mouth.

"This stuff is absolutely grotesque. Why would anyone willingly deal with these kinds of vile people?" Eames muttered to himself, looking over the folders of pictures and police reports.

The whole group was sitting in a hotel room, trying to learn as much as they could about the up and coming mission before they set off for Virginia in a few hours.

"Well someone has to do it." Yusuf muttered back, half reading, half day dreaming about less disgusting things to keep his mind saner.

Both he and Eames were sitting at a desk together in the corner of the room, while Cobb occupied the couch on the adjacent side. Arthur was sitting at the corner of the queen bed, with his legs crossed and a folder balancing on his knee, while Ari was lying on her stomach on the ground, with papers spread out all around her.

"It really makes you wonder how the inner workings of his subconscious could vary from someone of our nature." Arthur said absent minded, not really paying attention to anyone else, other then peaking occasional glances at Ariadne when he heard her breathing hitch or a small gasp escape.

"I think I'm content with not knowing about this monster's subconscious." She said quietly to herself, so no one could hear. She didn't want them to doubt her ability to distance herself from the gruesome details and focus on the job at hand. Especially when it was such an important job.

"You know," Cobbs spoke up, putting down his folders and reaching down to his suitcase to rummage in it for something else, "I think we should take a break from this man and focus on a few of the other's we are going to have to associate with. We need to know who we will be working with if we want to make this mission go as smoothly as possible. Especially since most, if not all of them, will be coming under with us."

Everyone agreed with various nods and grunts of approval, knowing how important it was to know what the other dreamer's could be bringing into the project. Cobb, of all people, knew the dangers of an untamed subconscious.

"Well, it seems the resident techy on the team, and the girl who works with the press are the least important. Well at least when it comes to our job. They aren't the profilers. So we won't have to know too much about them." Cobb began, pulling out more folders that he finally found them from his suitcase. He began to toss a different one to each member on his team.

They all took about ten minutes to read their information before Cobb finally spoke up again. "Yusuf, who do you have?"

"Special Agent David Rossi, Cobb." Yusuf began, scanning over the information quickly before summarizing. "There isn't too much that seems to be a potential risk. He's a noted profiler. He's been in the business since it began picking up, and he retired quite a few years back, but came out of retirement when this BAU team needed him. It says there was some unsolved cases that caused him some emotional turmoil, but in the past few years, he's gained some closure in that respect. Nothing too damaging."

"Remember, we don't know how damaged these psyches might be. They have seen horrid things and probably experienced countless traumas. They have been in this field for a long time, and that doesn't include their jobs before. Don't underestimate the possibility of demons hidden as simple experiences." Cobb warned before giving Eames a nod, signalling to him that it was his turn to read.

"I've got a nice looking young woman by the name Emily Prentiss. She had some weird relationship with someone who had been murdered a few years back. It did some damage for sure. Some religious views that conflicted with her job and experiences that may have caused some trauma. She's quite new to the team though, and she wasn't in any profession like this before, so she might be a safer bet when it comes to our bait idea that we talked about earlier. She also fits the killer's kind." Eames finished, yet he shuddered inwardly at what he said by the end. He suddenly didn't feel all too comfortable with the possible plans they had tossed around, to succeed with the job.

Especially when there was a face he could put the 'bait' to.

Arthur began to speak up next, knowing that Cobb was getting around the room to him anyway. "I've got Special Agent Derek Morgan. There is a lot that could cause issues, so I'll outline them briefly yet I'll make sure to delve into them deeper later. He was molested as a child by a man who had been murdering some children as well. He was accused for these murders during his time with the team, but his they helped catch the real killer. His father was a cop, and killed in the line of duty in front of his eyes. He has a bad habit of being hot headed and jumping into situations without proper procedure. He also looks to get personally connected to a lot of cases, sometimes too much. It can be assumed that he has some real emotional damage done."

"I can't believe the things these poor people have gone through." Ari said solemnly. They could tell that who she had read was effected strongly as well. "I have a young man only a few years older than me. His name is Dr. Spencer Reid. They call him Dr. because he has three Doctorates and is working on a fourth. He is certifiably a genius. Yet, he is only in his mid twenties, and has had a horrible upbringing. A father who left him, a mother who is in a mental institution for schizophrenia, and an abusive childhood when it came to bullying. Since he's been in the BAU, he was abducted by a schizophrenic killer, held hostage for days, tortured, and kept on drugs. After he was saved, he had a drug issue for a little while but is now clean. As far as I can tell, he's a little socially awkward as well, which sometimes can hinder his judgement or affect him strongly with cases. That's about all I got right now."

Everyone was quiet for a minute or so after Ariande had finished her reveal of the young genius. Not only were they saddened by the lives these people had had to live, but they were selfishly worrying about what they had gotten themselves into. And at the moment, only Cobb knew of the final member of the team, who had a can of worms he would be bringing to the table as well.

"Aaron Hotchner is the leader of their team. Without saying much, I will say he may have some extremely violent demons. A psychopathic killer, who had a vendetta against the man, murdered his wife whilst on the phone with him. Luckily, their son had hid long enough for Hotchner to get to the scene, and it was then that he beat the man to death with his bare hands. There is no doubt that he will feel guilt for his wife's death, so lets all prey that we have no issues with this… since we all know how damaging it could be." Cobb slowly closed the folder and inhaled a deep and wrecking breath.

Memories of Mal flooded through his brain, and he only wished that this Aaron Hotchner had forgiven himself like Cobb had to do, or this was going to be worse then he ever imagined.

So, let me know if you guys like it enough to continue reading it. I'll try to update as soon as possible.