Thank you to all those who have reviewed the last chapter – Ramona, Kezelle and Ecda, thank you too for reviewing, I'm sorry I couldn't respond individually!

I've taken a few liberties with geography in this chapter. Pennington County is a real place, but not all facts about it are accurate – a bit of artistic licence.

I've also tried writing a little from Reid's perspective – not the easiest thing to do, so I'm sorry if it doesn't seem 100% like him!

Calverville Point, South Dakota

'He that would live in peace and at ease must not speak all he knows or all he sees.' – Benjamin Franklin

Chapter 2

Reid knew that there was a one in an 11 million chance of being killed in a plane crash. He knew that statistically there was more chance of dying on the way to the airport than on the plane. He knew that a person would have to fly once a day, every day for 15,000 years to be statistically involved in a plane crash. He also knew that Morgan would have the basis for mockery for several weeks if he knew that Reid thought about these statistics every time the plane began to wheel down the runway. Reid had learnt to hide his fear well.

"Reid?" he heard Emily say, offering him a toffee to suck. He took one, smiling his thanks. Strawberry Bon Bons; a traditional British sweet. Emily had developed a penchant for them in recent weeks, and they had proven sufficiently chewy enough to help the ear popping on take offs and landings.

Everyone was looking through the files, with the exception of Will - and Henry of course. They were sat at the back of the plane, both asleep. Reid noticed that JJ looked a little less tired, her eyes were brighter and her shoulders more relaxed, so he could assume that she was glad that Hotch had called Will.

Reid returned to the first file, the one with the four girls. He looked over their photographs from before they were abducted, spreading them out in front of him on the table. All were the same age; junior year of high school. Two were blondes, one a brunette and the other had auburn hair. This UnSub was unconcerned with hair colour. They were around the same height – 5'7, and the same weight – 114 to 120lb; slim and tall. They were pretty girls, the ones that he would be too nervous to talk to, and probably the ones that would be nominated as Homecoming queen.

"He has a type," Reid said, as the plane finished its take off. He could still feel the pull of gravity as they rose higher, but it was becoming gentler. He knew that most incidents occurred during take-off and landing. He was safe for now. "Beautiful girls of a certain build and age. Probably the popular girls in their class. I suspect he's choosing victims because they remind him of someone he was rejected by."

Morgan looked up and nodded. "That seems clear, Reid. But we've got a lot of men who will have been rejected by a pretty girl in their time. Hell, even I was."

Reid laughed nervously. "Even you, Morgan? I would have thought it was you doing the heartbreaking."

"No, kid. There was a girl in my sophomore year called Gracie Andrews. I was short and skinny back then, but boy, did I have it bad. She laughed at me in front of her friends when I gave her a bunch of flowers I'd picked on the way to school, and I felt like a heavy-weight boxer had punched me in the gut," Morgan said, drawing Prentiss' attention as well as JJ's.

"What happened after?" Reid asked. His own dating experiences had been few and far between. He tried to learn from Morgan's exploits when he could do so without seeming obvious, hoping that they may help should he ever meet someone he was keen to pursue. As of yet, that hadn't really happened. Nerves always got in the way.

"I buffed up and she was my date for the high school prom in our senior year." Morgan looked back down at the files.

"Did you try to get revenge? You know, stand her up?" Reid pushed for more.

Morgan looked up again and laughed. "Hell, no. I had her eating out of the palm of my hand and that was enough. We had a very nice night."

Reid saw Emily roll her eyes, but she said nothing. Hotch was sitting next to her, seemingly asleep, and Reid figured that she probably didn't want to wake him simply to tease Morgan. Besides, they were meant to be reading through the files. He took a quick glance out of the window and saw clouds beneath them. They did look beautiful, and for a moment he was mesmerised by them.

"The town is going to be running scared," JJ said, her voice low and tone serious, breaking Reid up from his clouds. He noticed that everyone had put down their files, probably having just read the autopsy reports; they hadn't made soothing reading. "These girls have been taken at random, it seems. Isabel Malone was abducted while running with a friend in the park; Amy Stewart was taken after getting out of a cab on her way home from a friend's house; Nichol Tarmey went missing while on her way home from school – she never got on the bus; and Jenni Appleby never arrived at her dad's one Friday after walking there from her mom's house. We are going to face a tough time from the local media."

"The fact there's no consistency with the abduction points may indicate that he is taking the girls at random when he gets the opportunity," Emily leaned forward a little, peering across Hotch. Reid smiled, he could tell she was anxious to join in the conversation, but really didn't want to wake their boss.

"There could be some consistency. We won't be able to tell until we plot them on a map. For example, both Amy Stewart and Jenni Appleby's father live near parks. The UnSub could be hiding in there as a means of cover," Reid said. He'd not had time to find the other two points before they'd left.

"There's also going to be kids rebelling. If parents are trying to enforce curfews it may mean that kids are sneaking out," Morgan said.

Prentiss leaned forward a little more, keeping her voice low. "And curfews and over-protective behaviour may enrage the UnSub as well, causing him to devolve."

Reid looked back at the file and the photographs; the smiling faces. He had kept the crime photos in the file, not wanting to display them. The girls had been tortured and raped, and finally killed with a knife. Isabel Malone had been stabbed 127 times. It was frenzied and uncontrolled, very different from the clearly well-planned and organised UnSub who had abducted them.

"This is not good." Reid heard Prentiss mutter as she placed the file down on the table in front of her. She was sat across the gangway from himself, Morgan and JJ. Rossi was being surprisingly quiet, seemingly deep in thought as he read through the notes the detective had sent Hotch.

"It never is." Hotch's voice said quietly, his eyes still closed. Reid looked over to him, wondering if he had actually been asleep, or was just listening to their conversation with his eyes closed.

"The killer's like two different people," Reid said, his voice now louder as Hotch was awake. "He's calculated and well-planned when abducting the girls, but the final kill screams disorganised. He must take some care of them as the autopsies suggest he keeps them alive for two weeks before killing them."

"Maybe he's replaying some event with them. They stop responding the way he wants them to, and he finishes them off," Morgan said. "He's a sexual sadist. From their injuries it seems as if he is binding them and subjecting them to pain in whatever way he can think of. The first two victims have signs of a lot more abuse than Nichol or Jenni; theirs appears to be focused on their hands, legs and feet. He's found a method now. He's going to want to practise it."

"We've got eleven days if the UnSub doesn't deviate from his established pattern," Hotch said, his eyes now open. "He waits two weeks until after the body has been found before taking the next girl."

Reid absent-mindedly flipped a coin from his pocket between his fingers, before becoming aware of Morgan staring at him. He put the coin away as slight turbulence rocked the plane. That didn't worry him, although it did make his empty stomach roll.

"He may escalate rapidly once he knows we're involved," Rossi said, finally resting his file on his knee. He had been the only one still reading through the file when the conversation began. "Or he may remain oblivious to the investigation."

Reid thought for a second and then shook his head. "He must be watching the local media. Otherwise how would he know that the bodies had been discovered?"

"It could be a coincidence, Reid," Hotch said. "It may be that the bodies are dumped days before they're found and it's a three week break between him losing one girl and needing another. Post mortem results also show that he's kept them for a week or more after they died. In the two weeks without he may mourn their death, or have mementoes that he focuses on until the urge is too strong and reliving the torture and kill isn't enough."

"We need to be prepared for all options, but I think it's best if we keep as low a profile as possible while we're there," Rossi said.

"JJ, can you call Detective Winters and ask her to make sure her officers keep it quiet that we're assisting on the case. If she needs to announce why we're there then she's to tell the media that we are investigating the missing men," Hotch said. "Which means that we will have to do that as well, but for today, at least, our sole focus should be on the girls."

JJ checked her watch. "It's 5.20 now, which makes it 6.20 in South Dakota. I'll leave it another ten minutes or so. Detective Winters probably needs all the sleep she can get right now with all of this happening in her town."

Hotch nodded. "Thanks, JJ. I've lost all track of time. Right now it feels as if it's almost lunch time. What do you know about Calverville Point, Reid?"

Reid leaned forward so he could see all of the team clearly, including Rossi. He'd quickly surfed the internet after Prentiss had nudged him out of the briefing room, finding out as much as he could about the area. "Calverville Point is part of Pennington County. The county's population is around 102,000, a good size considering that the adjacent counties are around the 2,000 mark. Calverville Point has a population of around 22,000 – it is not a small place population or size wise. In fact it covers an area of 320 square miles so things are quite spread out. The main source of industry is farming with its production of flaxseed and sunflower seed being the second largest in the states, although tourism is quickly catching up. There are also several breweries in the area which employ nearly eight hundred people, as well as an electricity service station which has another two hundred employees. Interestingly, a new handbag factory has just been established, which has led to 400 new jobs, so the population may be slightly higher than I've quotes. It is significantly increased by nearly 10,000 students at the Black Hill University, a recently established college. There are four high schools in total, and so far one girl has gone missing from each." He stopped, realising he hadn't really taken a breath.

"When we get there, Reid, I'd like you to start a geographical profile. He's holding these girls somewhere. There's a lot of land to cover, so the quicker you can narrow it down, the better," Hotch said. "Given the age of the victims, the UnSub could be anywhere between 20 and mid-thirties. The amount of rage in the actual kill, and the mess he made of the first two victims, suggests he's inexperienced, so we could be looking for someone who may have harboured sadistic tendencies for several years, but has never acted on them until there's been a stresser."

"And given the type of victim, this could be something as trivial as splitting up with a girlfriend. It may not be the girlfriend he's angry at, but someone like we said before, who has rejected him," Morgan said, reopening the file. "I'm going to take a closer look at these autopsy reports, Hotch. There's something here that's bugging me and I can't put my finger on it."

Hotch nodded. "The ME's office is in the same building as the precinct. When we get there I'd like you and Reid to begin victimology. Rossi and JJ, someone needs to interview the victims' parents. Prentiss and I will go straight to the dump sites. I know we're all exhausted, but we need a head start on this one. I suggest everyone gets some rest until we land. It's going to be a tough day."

Reid sat back, pushing his hair behind his ears. He felt surprisingly awake considering he'd only had around three hours sleep. After getting home he'd gone online and visited the chat rooms he'd been missing from for a good few days, rejoining the old arguments about which was better: Star Trek or Star Wars. Something else he'd not tell Morgan about.

He looked again at the photographs and descriptions of the girls, squinting at them to make sure he was correct. "Hey, guys," he said. "This may have been picked up already, but all four girls have brown eyes."

Prentiss reached back into her file for the photos and studied them. "Your right," she said. "It hasn't been mentioned before. If that's key to him, he's getting pretty close to these girls before he abducts them. This isn't some distant stalker."

"Either that, or their images have been available publically; school newsletters or the internet," Hotch said. He put down the papers he was now holding and Reid noticed that he had started to go through the second case. "That's Garcia's first job. JJ, can you call her please. I haven't done so yet but we need her as soon as possible now."

JJ nodded, retreating to the back of the plane where Will and Henry were still sleeping. Their presence had created a different atmosphere on the journey so far; the hushed voices had not just been for Hotch, but for them as well. It was an added calm that even had even affected Reid. Maybe Henry being around, however little, would help them all sleep better knowing that there was a silver lining to the dark cloud over Calverville Point.

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Emily really wanted to stretch her legs. Cramp had set in around thirty minutes ago, just after Reid had given them his speech on Calverville Point, and by now she was enduring a quiet agony. Rossi was asleep in the seat facing her, his oversized briefcase that screamed new book was packed under the table, blocking any chance of moving her legs toward him. To her left sat Hotch, immersed in his files, a frown deepening the lines on his forehead. Stretching her legs in his direction would pretty much mean putting them on top of his and she didn't want to disturb him.

"Prentiss, are you okay?" Hotch said in an undertone. With the exception of Reid, who was deep into a book, the team were asleep.

"I have cramp in my leg. I need to stretch."

Hotch looked up from the file and caught her eye, giving her a brief smile. "You just had to ask." He put the file down on the table and stood up in the aisle, offering a hand to help her up.

"Thank you," she said with a sigh. "If Rossi hadn't put that damn bag there..."

"We'll swap seats," Hotch said. "Then you can stretch your legs into the aisle. Chances are the cramp will come back."

She shook her head. "You've longer legs than me, Hotch," she protested, checking to see if Reid had noticed their conversation.

"Not by much. And besides, I've no aversion to kicking Rossi's briefcase out of the way, or him for that matter." He slid past her without waiting for a further response, and she gave him a smile, now able to sit with her legs stretched. She felt a little uncomfortable, and for the second time that day, the funny feeling of anticipation emerged, of butterflies dancing in her stomach.

She made them flutter away by looking at the second file, which was decidedly thinner than the first. The names of six men were listed on separate sheets, underneath each were basic details: date of birth, address, occupation, family details and description. There was no connection between any of them; four were from Pennington County and had been in Calverville Point the day they had gone missing, others weren't from the area at all; one had been there to take photographs, the last there on a hiking trip. Physically, they were different too, ranging from attractive to not-so; 6'2 to 5'7, slim and wiry to overweight with diabetes.

"Did Detective Winters tell you any more about these men?" Emily said, looking at Hotch who had been on the same page as her.

"Hardly anything. It's taking a major back seat due to the girls, as you'd expect. The only reason Winters mentioned it is because the last disappearance is the mayor's son. I'm not sure if there's even a case; we need to look closer into the backgrounds of the men and their state of mind," Hotch said. He put the file down and fiddled with his tie.

"Maybe we should ask Garcia to do a search for other disappearances in the area, going back further than six months. There's no particular pattern to them going missing either. Maybe if we look further back we might spot something," she placed her own file down as well, puzzled at his agitation with his tie. "What's the matter?"

He looked embarrassed. "Something seems to be digging in the side of my neck."

"And it's not Strauss' dagger?" She reached up automatically without thinking; her nature was to help, and to her surprise he let her undo his tie enough to pull it round to the place he'd indicated was digging in. "Here," she said, showing him a plastic tag that hadn't been taken out of the tie when it was bought. It had pushed through the material of the shirt into his skin, irritating it.

"Thank you," Hotch said, taking a quick look at Reid who was still buried in his book. He began to pull up his tie, not meeting Emily's eyes. "Haley used to take care of taking tags of clothes. I'm just not used to being as thorough yet."

Emily nodded, picking up the file again. She'd noticed that every so often Hotch would share something with her about Haley. She didn't pry for it, it was always volunteered information, and never very much.

Silence descended on them as the plane began to gently drop. She looked across at Reid who was now looking anxiously out of the window and offered him a Bon Bon. She knew he hated the descent as much as the take-off; they all knew. But nothing was said. He took the sweet and gave her a small smile. Emily wondered if Reid had noticed her helping Hotch with his tie. He had looked engrossed in the book, but that could have been a cover. If he had noticed, she wondered if he was profiling Hotch as much as she was.

The plane's passengers began to wake, including Henry who treated everyone to a few ear piercing screams before succumbing to his mother's whispered words. Emily looked across Hotch and through the window as the plane began to land at Rapid City, seeing the vast farmlands with the mountains in the distance, and searching for all the secrets in between.

Please review! Thanks for reading,

Sarah