Criminal Minds- The Hunger Games

Chapter One

Music was blaring from the speakers in the bar. It was a team reunion and everyone was there celebrating the many years they had worked at the BAU. Garcia, Haley, Jessica, JJ and Elle were all gossiping at one of the tables near the back, hands moving animatedly throughout the entire conversation. Morgan and Will were busy on the dance floor seeing who could attract the most women. Reid, Rossi and Gideon were having a debate over which of the three was the most intellectual, Reid pointing out that it wasn't even a competition. Jordon and Prentiss were tugging on Hotch's arms begging him to select one of them as a dance partner. Hotch stood between the two women shaking his head in bitter amusement almost wishing he was still at the office.

JJ was showing all of her baby pictures of Henry to the other girls when her cell phone began to ring, barely audible above the loud speakers. She picked it up and saw it was the office before excusing herself. Not tonight she thought to herself as she shook her head in disappointment.

"What have you got Strauss?" JJ asked as she went through the back doors of the bar. Because it was a windy night, she had to continuously tuck her hair behind her ears to keep it from blowing in her face.

"We've been called in on a case in Springfield. There have been ten people murdered in the last 5 days!" Strauss explained.

JJ shifted uneasily. Had she heard that right? Only ten people in five days! "I'll get the team right away." JJ hurried back to the table where she had been sitting only minutes before. The girls were still discussing how cute Henry was as they flipped through the pictures. "We've got a case and it looks like a bad one. Strauss needs us in right away," JJ explained. She hated ruining everybody's fun but tonight she simply couldn't help it.

"Oh come on not tonight. I'm only in town until Thursday and this is the only time we could get together before I go back to Alberta," Elle whined.

"Sorry Elle, Strauss's orders," JJ said sadly.

JJ gathered up the team from the bar and headed out. They arrived at the office around 10:30pm.

JJ filled the team in on the case. They knew they had to get there as soon as possible. By the time they arrived they would probably already have one or two more bodies.

They were on the plane by 5 o'clock the next morning. They all went home to get a little rest before they boarded the plane to prepare for yet another difficult case. Knowing it was going to be a hard couple of days; Elle, Gideon, Jordon and Will were asked to come along and help with the case. Jessica and Haley were coming too. They were going to visit their brother Mark who they hadn't seen in months. Because of the many video surveillance tapes that needed to be checked, Garcia was brought along as well. Last but not least, Strauss came for her annual inspection of the team, it was going to be a long case.

When they got there they split into teams, some going to the station, others going to the dump sites and the rest to victim's homes. Most of them had come back with little to share.

By early afternoon they had received a call informing them that another body had been found. This body was different though. Instead of being in a public place, the victim had been found in her own home. She was 56, way older than the rest of the bodies that had been discovered. Her daughter had found her when she came over for them to go shopping together.

Prentiss, Hotch, Reid and Morgan searched the house for anything that might give them a clue but they came up empty handed. Just when they were ready to give up, Rossi found an envelope labelled Aaron Hotchner. He handed it to Hotch, with a weird feeling beginning to settle in his stomach. How did someone know Hotch would be there?

Hotch opened the envelope and saw a single piece of paper in it. He pulled it out, unfolding it carefully. It read: PAYBACK SUCKS! Hotch read it again. What did that mean? Rossi asked what it said. Hotch read the short sentence aloud. Reid took the paper noticing really small writing on the bottom that he couldn't make out, he would have to analyze it more closely later.

They went back to the station and got Garcia to blow it up for them. When Garcia did, all there was an address. Hotch looked at it knowing the address looked like he should know where it was.

After a couple of seconds he realized where it was." Oh God," Hotch whispered as he pushed his way through the team and out the door. He started pulling his vest on over his clothes as he headed towards the SUV.

"What is it Hotch? Where is that place," Prentiss asked.

When Hotch didn't answer and headed for the door Morgan grabbed his arm and yelled "Hotch!"

"It's where Haley and Jessica are. It's the address for their brother Mark's house." All 12 of them somehow ended up going, Hotch driving like crazy down the highway. Although Hotch was driving far above the speed limit, Morgan was still right on his tail. The last SUV was farther behind due to Reid's more careful driving skills. Prentiss sat in the passenger's seat yelling at Reid to hurry as Jordan sat in the back quietly. When they finally got there, the rest of the team had already cleared the house and were standing outside. As they got out of the SUV they could hear screaming coming from the forest behind the house.

They all headed for the trees following the screaming. It felt like forever running through the many trees surrounding them. Finally they reached a little clearing in the middle of the forest where they saw Jessica and Haley. When they got closer, they realized that Tobias and Amanda, previous unsubs, were standing there with guns to their heads. They all stopped dead in their tracks.

"Well, well look who we have here. If it's not Agent Hotchner and his team. By the looks of it your team has grown a lot since the last time I saw you," Tobias said with a smile spreading across his face.

From the shadows behind them they could see another figure. "The more the merrier," Foyet said as he stepped into their view. All of the sudden a helicopter came into view, a rope ladder thrown down in front of Foyet. Tobias and Amanda walked with their backs to Foyet and their guns pointing at the team. When they reached the ladder, it was already way up in the sky with Foyet inside it.

Amanda and Tobias yelled and hollered at the helicopter. "Very funny Foyet, now get down here," they ordered.

When the helicopter was really high up in the air Tobias and Amanda started panicking and ran towards the direction in which Foyet had originally appeared. Morgan, Will, Rossi, Gideon and Prentiss ran after them while the rest of the team went to see if Jessica and Haley were alright.

It can't be much farther now, Amanda thought. Only a couple more minutes. She could hear people chasing her from behind. She thought they were far enough ahead that only herself and Tobias would get out and the rest would be stuck in here. Just as they planned from the start but then Foyet left them. Amanda looked up to see that the walls were coming down from above. She picked up speed seeing the clearing and knowing she had only seconds left. Just as she was about to step foot outside of the forest the big glass wall landed in front of her. She banged on the wall frustrated, knowing that she was now trapped in a forest with the people who hated her most.

The group that was following Amanda and Tobias stopped when they saw the glass wall in front of them, stretching as far as they could see in either direction. Wondering what was happening they were interrupted by a loud squeak. Then Foyet's voice came through a speaker, his voice booming over head. "Let the killing begin..."