Thank you everyone for the warm and constructive feedback for my first Criminal Minds story Parallel Lines. Here is my second attempt! I'll try to upload a chapter a day at least, and please feel free to read and review at your pleasure.

Haven

Chapter 1- A Request for Help

"I appreciate you meeting with me on such short notice, Agent Hotchner," said the young agent as he entered the room. "We certainly could use your help on this one."

Hotch nodded as he motioned for the young man to sit down in the chair opposite his own across the desk.

"It's a long flight from San Antonio," he replied. "I gather it's something a little more complicated than what you're used to, Agent Jerrod?" The young man shook his head, his red hair glinting slightly in the glare of the office lighting.

"Normally, it wouldn't be much of a problem, but with the latest developments, we simply don't have the expertise that you guys do. At a minimum, we need some advice."

"Why don't you start at the beginning," reasoned Hotch. He tried desperately not to lead the agent. He didn't want to put words into his mouth. Agent Jerrod, seeing his impatience, nodded slightly.

"Right. First take a look at these,"

Agent Jerrod spread a series of satellite and aerial images over Hotchner's desk. The first one was dated two years ago, and the rest were dated every month, starting at six months prior to the present time.

"These images shows the town of Red Rock, here," said Agent Jerrod, pointing to a small intersection of a few roads surrounded by a few residential structures, and one or two larger buildings, most likely hotels. The surrounding area contained mostly rolling farmland, and quite a few isolated groves of trees. "The problem area is actually about twenty miles to the north, near these large buildings."

Hotchner picked up the oldest aerial photograph.

"It looks like some large barns," he said. Where was the agent going with this?

"Yeah, you're right. Originally the two buildings were used as a type of communal storage facility for the local farmers. About a year ago, however, the buildings and surrounding acreage were bought by a real estate development firm called Allen Holdings."

"So far, I'm not seeing a cause for concern," said Hotchner, his eyes showing puzzlement.

"I'm getting to that," replied Agent Jerrod. "I just wanted to give you a little background."

Hotchner sighed and nodded his head. He stole a not so subtle look at his watch.

"About six months ago, satellite images and aerial photographs started to reveal a lot of activity entering and leaving the area of the two buildings. There were a lot of trucks entering and leaving the complex, but no signs of development or construction."

"You think that someone is stock piling weapons?" ask Hotchner leaning forward. Some of the indications of such a situation did present themselves. But there were other explanations as well. Agent Jerrod shook his slightly in confusion.

"There's not enough evidence to support it," he replied. "And then there are the kids."

"Kids?" Hotch's eyes narrowed, his voice sharpening.

"Yeah. About two weeks ago, the locals started seeing kids, mostly teens and pre-teens hanging around the outside of the buildings. They don't belong to the locals, and some of them are figuring that they're part of some sort of cult."

How many?" asked Hotch, taking a second look at the latest aerial photograph.

"So far, about a dozen different kids," said Agent Jerrod.

"Any sign of them being ill treated?" Hotch still was trying to figure out why Agent Jerrod had flew all the way up from San Antonio for this. So far, the only thing he saw evidence of was some sort of retreat for teenagers out in the country. Even if his profiler's mind saw something suspicious, there wasn't any direct evidence of it.

"Not that we've found," he replied with a shake of his head. "We haven't been allowed into the compound."

"So you've had contact with the owners?"

"Well, we've had some contact with the person who runs the place. He calls himself Brother Michael. His real name is Michael Chanceton. As far as we know, he doesn't have any religious training, and hasn't registered as a church, at least not according to any record we've found."

"So you think that these kids are being held against their will? Brainwashed?"

"I really wish I could tell you what I thought, Agent Hotchner," he said with a shake of his head. "But here's the kicker. Brother Michael has invited the FBI, and only the FBI to come in and tour the facility. We're going to have complete access to everything, and my guess is that they're looking for a clean bill to present to the locals."

"You have qualified agents in San Antonio," said Hotch handed the pictures back to him. "Some of them have been trained by our group. Why don't you make use of their expertise?"

"Agent Hotchner, they're working on other cases. Believe it or not, there are a lot of crimes in and around San Antonio. My superiors don't feel comfortable taking them away from active cases if this turns out to be nothing." Agent Jerrod swallowed, and folded his hands in his lap.

"Look," he continued. "I'm not asking you guys to fly down there if you don't want to. If you could just advise me on what to look for when I visit the place. Or perhaps we can set up a video monitoring system. Bottom line is I have a bad feeling about this place, and I don't want to overlook something that is important."

Hotch sighed. He wished it was that simple. Often it was the experience in recognizing nuances that came through years of study and work in the field that were useful in situations like this. A few hours of lecture and study wasn't going to cut it.

"I'll bring this to the attention of the team," he answered, gathering the images together and placing them back into the folder. "Give me what you can on this Michael Chanceton, and we'll look at it. If we decide to take this case, we'll need to accompany you to the complex. What day is the visit scheduled?"

"It's scheduled for the day after tomorrow. At 10 AM."

Hotch nodded. That didn't give them a lot of time for preparation.

"Why don't you start for San Antonio, and start making preparations."

"So you'll help?"

"I'll see what I can do."