Walking into the conference room the team looks up and sees JJ there.

"JAYJAY!" Garcia squealed and rushed to gather her best friend into a tight hug.

JJ laughed. "Hey PG! All right you guys, come in and sit down I'm assisting you on a case or you're actually assisting me," she offered.

Filing into the room, the team took their seats and tuned into the blonde woman standing in front of them.

"Recently in Vermont there's been a string of killings. All involved have had something to do with drugs, human trafficking, and guns. We think it's the mob doing this. They could be getting ready to move to another state and we need to stop them. But we're not sure, so we need you guys to help profile him or them and figure out what's going on."

"I thought you only did local state stuff? All these crime scene photos are evidence of Italian or Sicilian mob involvement," Derek commented as he scanned the photos of the crime scenes.

"Well they moved their work over here," JJ said before adding, "We also have photos of the head honcho."

While the team flipped thru the pictures, Derek asked, "Who's the blonde girl and the kid with him in this one photo?"

Hotch, JJ and Rossi all paled. They missed a photo on everyone's iPad. They had found out it was Christi and she was currently trying to get away from him with her son as she figured out who he was and what he did and she couldn't take the risk.

"His wife and her son from a previous relationship. At the moment we're trying to get her relocated and away from him. He's a dangerous man and her life and her son's is at risk."

"Hey Morgan is that your kid? He looks a lot like you!" Ashley giggled as she heard he was player and had witnessed him the past five years going from one girl to another ever since he lost his fiancée.

"Shut up Sever!" he growled in a playful tone. "Will we be able to talk to her?"

"No!" JJ, Hotch and Rossi all said quickly. Too quickly.

"Why not!"

"She's in hiding and wants to just leave as quickly as she can with her son."

"Well we need to talk to her and you guys know that!"

"I agree with Morgan," Reid concurred.

"Yeah, we really should talk to her," Ashley said.

"Well three against three! Maybe we should ask Director Strauss about this," Garcia remarked.

"No," Rossi grunted but there was little weight behind his retort. Still, he refused to put his daughter's life in danger again. She was trying to get away from everything and start fresh. They hadn't found the guy originally going after her and he didn't want to plan an actual funeral for her. Parents were supposed to go before their kids not the other way around.

"Well I think we should! We need to talk to this women and get information outta her! Who knows maybe she knew the entire time and just never told all of you! She could be going there to build up the mob and all the connections!" Derek demanded. He got up. "I still carry some weight around here and I'm taking this to Strauss."

Stalking out of the room, he climbed the stairs and walked down the long corridor to the office of the woman who literally held the fate of the BAU in her hands.

He knocked tentatively on her door and waited for the invite.

"Come in," the voice called out from the other side of the heavy oak.

Stepping inside, he looked at Erin Straus with a blank expression. "Chief Strauss."

"What is it Agent Morgan?"

"We seem to have a situation. JJ approached us with a case and we have a person of interest that might be able to help us shed light on how the organization is being run and set up. Agents Reid and Seaver - along with myself - believe that it would benefit the case to talk to her. Agents Jareau, Rossi, and Hotchner are against it. I know that I have stepped down as acting Unit Chief, but at the same time, I know that I still have some pull."

She sits back and watches as her son runs around plays with their dog. "What are you requesting exactly, Agent Morgan?"

"I need to talk to the woman."

"Are you requesting going over the senior agents and disobeying an order?"

"Yes, Director."

"What are the consequences if you were to do so?"

"The woman is in hiding."

"That does pose a problem. Does she want to talk to authorities?" Strauss asked carefully.

"She may not want to, but she needs to. If she isn't behind this, she knows who is. She may be protecting the life of a child, but there are many other lives at stake here. She holds the key."

Strauss leaned back and looked at the agent. Of all the people who had come and gone at the BAU, Derek Morgan was still the one she could count on to not let her down.

"Alright, you have my permission to question the witness. Tell Agents Hotchner and Rossi if they have a problem with it, they are to come to me. Is that understood?" she asked.

"Yes Director."

"That will be all," she dismissed him.

Turning around, Derek opened the door and closed it softly behind him.