A/N: Hello everyone! So excited that I am able to press on with my writing and bring you the first part of my next chaptered piece so soon after finishing the other one. And best of all, I had fun writing this so I think I am truly back.

You'll note the size of this offering isn't at my usual level but it is simply me setting the scene. I am hoping to have the first 'proper' chapter out by the end of tomorrow.

My reviewers definitely deserve all the kudos I have to give. I honestly didn't think anyone would still be waiting for me after the amount of time I was away and yet there you all were, waiting to read what I had to offer. I doubt any of you has any idea how much your wonderful words truly meant to me because there aren't words enough to adequately thank you all. Many, MANY thanks go out to HGRHfan35, greengirl82, HPforever-after and Hazmatt, who also gets additional thanks for picking up on something in Coming Home that I hadn't explained all that well. (You will be happy to note that I have since re-worded the paragraph specifically referring to Reid's relationship with Austin and the piece has been re-posted with the changes)

Rated M for violence, torture themes, drug use, coarse language and sex scenes. (yes, this is going to have a little bit of everything)

PLEASE NOTE: This is NPH 18. If you aren't already following this series, I recommend that you make your way to my author profile page and start with NPH 1, as some or all of this will not make sense otherwise.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Criminal Minds at all, although they do own me and I do own Carrie and Toby, Chloe and India, Kelly and Brad and Ben.

Arabian Nights – Chapter 1

"Is she alive?"

"Just barely, I think. I had to go further with her then I did with any of the others. She was...well let's just say she was resistant to the idea of change."

"But she'll pull through and take her place?"

"Oh yes; she understands what's required of her. I made sure of that before I left to get you."

"Good. We don't need another rogue in the house stirring up the others."

"I hear you sir and I made sure of that."

"Good. Let's go check out my newest pretty."

New Section

The pretty patterns in the ceiling were the only thing keeping her from noticing her pain...though maybe if the pain got through her senses it would put her out cold like it did in books and in the movies...

New Section

"Another letter Phil. How many does this make now?"

Phillip De Tritt sighed tiredly. "This letter is unlucky number 66 and that is just from the surrounding three states. One of the letters arrived with a note suggesting we check out Idaho because he vaguely recalls hearing of a similar letter earlier in the year before we started putting everything together. Which means there are probably loads more we don't know about."

Cassie Alongee sighed as well. "Well shit. Do you know, I'm pretty certain I used to find this job fascinating and helpful to society; now I'm just tired and I'm pretty certain we barely dent anything let alone the burden these creeps place on our world."

"I think you'll find we're all more tired than usual considering the scope of our current one and only case. Despite that exhaustion though, we should continue to press on without ceasing. Sixty-six missing women in four, possibly five, states is a lot of women and we definitely owe it to all of the families to keep looking."

The six people in the room nodded agreement to Alex Jackson's statement and doggedly returned to the tasks they had been assigned. They were certain that it was a losing battle, but that wouldn't stop them from pressing on forward no matter what.

New Section

"Hey boss; you have a minute?"

"A very short minute Teddy."

"Right, right. Uh short, okay. I can do short."

"You're running out of time as we speak."

"Right, sorry. Uh, one of the FBI branches out of California is asking about the weird letter we received right after Michelle de Lucca went missing at the start of the year. They want to know if they can either have the original or else a decent copy of it. Seems it may be linked to some other letters they've got and a case they're working on right now."

"So send them a copy of the letter. Not the original mind; make sure you double-check it before you send it on; we can't be losing valuable evidence in what is still an open case like we did last time."

"Right, okay. Um, should I send on copies of the other 13 letters we have as well since they all appear to be linked?"

"Might as well if they're working on something bigger than just us. Doesn't hurt to curry a little favour every now and then with the big leagues by going above and beyond what they've asked for."

"Great. Thanks boss."

New Section

"What are you looking at with such despair Phil?"

Phil looked at Alex and wondered how his boss always managed to stay positive in the midst of often overwhelming odds. He'd been heading up the division of the California branch of the FBI that handled the larger and more complicated cases for more years than any one person should be in such a demanding and often tragic environment; far longer than all the rest of them combined, it seemed on some very long days. With an internal sigh, he wondered if the man would be willing to share that 'how' with him and as he caught sight of the package on the table in front of him again, he resolved to ask him very, very soon.

"Boise, Idaho had received a letter and they sent us a copy as I requested. The despair comes from the other 13 letters they sent along with a note explaining that they had received these letters in conjunction with an abduction around the state once a year, every year for the last 11."

"And the other two letters?"

"Turns out the woman taken at the start of the year was kidnapped along with her two best friends. Three women taken all at once and not a single witness to the abduction. Then their three families receive the letters right on schedule telling them they'd never get them back and not to worry because the women were going to be taken care of for the rest of their lives by someone who would truly appreciate how exquisite they are. So we have another fourteen women to add to our list of the missing and the whole thing stinks like cow crap."

"Okay, so we are going back another three years on what we already thought we had and we have more missing women, which is something we expected, just not in this scope. Not the best news I've heard today but not entirely impossible to deal with. So why do I think you aren't done with the bad news?"

"The guy who sent me these has a cousin in another police force who also mentioned similar letters. He is contacting him to get him to send on what he has to us."

"Oregon, Utah or New Mexico?"

"Geogia."

"Georgia! But that's...that's..."

"Exactly."

"Fuck."

"Exactly."

End-

A/N: I'll leave it there to whet your appetite for more and hopefully have chapter two out on time as promised.

Please review with the conveniently placed link right under these words. I love to know what you think and it makes me type faster and update quicker (and hopefully it'll help keep the block away too).