Nathan Harris, Owen Savage, Adam Jackson. Three names scribbled onto a scrap of paper and left on her desk. Stephanie held it up, reading the names over and over again, wondering what it meant.

"Some people have to save everybody," Amanda said, then taking a long drag off her cigarette. "That's Dr. Reid for you. Trying to fix the world."

Stephanie mulled over this for a few minutes. "He's not happy unless he plays the hero?"

"Not at all. Far as I can see he's not after glory. It's simply something he must do."

"What do you mean?"

"I think it's like those serial killers that you people talk about and he simply cannot help himself. You know how the victims they target are surrogates for someone that caused them pain. Except in reverse, of course. Like he couldn't save someone so he tries constantly to make amends." Amanda paused to take another puff. "Shame he doesn't know a lost cause when he sees it."

"You're saying there's nothing he can do then, for Adam?"

"I take care of Adam. He doesn't need Dr. Reid." Amanda tapped ash from the tip. "You came here for understanding, well that would be the answer you need. Who is he so desperate to save? Shouldn't be too hard for someone in your line."

Stephanie shook her head. "Actually, I specialize in linguistics and cryptography. I don't really know that much about profiling."

Amanda looked surprised. "Than why on earth are you with the BAU?"

Stephanie opened her mouth to respond but quickly shut it with a puzzled expression. Amanda leaned back, wearing a satisfied smile.

Why am I here? The conversation had left her unsettled. The phone on her desk rang, startling her from her thoughts. No doubt it was Hotch; he and the others having jetted off to Los Angeles on the trail of the latest monster leaving her and Garcia behind. She answered it.

But it was Morgan and not Hotch. "Hey mama, how you doin' this morning?"

She sighed. "Oh I'm just tired."

He cut her off. "Listen I'm faxing something to your end. Make sure Garcia gets it."

She blinked. "Don't you have some work for me?"

He responded, sounding a little irritated, "Yeah. Take the fax to Garcia. The machine in her office is apparantly gone down."

"I got it." There came the sound of a dial tone. She stared at the reciever for a minute before slamming it back on the cradle. "Now I'm a trained monkey," she said bitterly.

She snatched up the fax as it came out and stormed over to Garcia's office, going inside without so much as a knock. She was greeted with the usual icy glare.

"What do you want?"

"The others sent this over for you," Stephanie said holding it out.

Garcia snatched it from her hand. "Great, now get out of my office." She smiled inwardly that the girl had been put to such a menial task.

Las Vegas

Georgia woke abruptly. She sat up on the couch, alarmed. It seemed some small noise had occured and roused her. A second later the security alarm began screeching. She looked around at the front door. A pane from the window beside it had been broken and shards of glass lay scattered on the floor around it. The phone rang. She answered it to hear the reassuring voice of an operator from the security company.

"Some one tried to break in, I think. Broke the window. I'm not sure if they're gone or not."

"We're sending the authorities."

"Thank you."

A few minutes later a squad car arrived. Georgia stood shivering on the doorstop watching them pull in. A message had been sprayed on the front door. Just a token of my appreciation- love, Maia. It was written in bold black letters that Georgia didn't feel she needed to point it out to them. The message meant nothing to her and she passed it off as the antics of a drunken teen. On the other hand, her patient was FBI. Perhaps some freak had thought this would be worth a laugh. Or maybe there were more sinister intentions.

A chorus of howls went up in the distance. Georgia was startled at first but put it from her mind as this was closer to the desert than to the casinos and coyotes were common here.

"I'm a private physician. My patient is an FBI agent. He may have been the target," she told the officer.

"It's possible. I'll need to speak with him to determine if that may be the case."

She shook her head. "He's unresponsive."

The officer sighed. "Alright then. I'm afraid there isn't much more I can do here then."

She nodded and watched them go. She had never been one to be easily frightened but now a chill crept up her spine and didn't abate until the sun rose.