A/n hello all! I'm so excited by all the positive feed back you've all been kind enough to give me. The muse is happy too. She likes reviews and story alerts!

Disclaimer: See first chapter

Warning: See first chapter

Taking the first steps

Detective Sorenson led the team into the noisy bullpen of her precinct. Most of the officers were either on the phone, doing paperwork, or booking prisoners. A couple of the detectives were staring at the agents with marked curiosity and distrust.

They headed all the way to the back of the barracks, and into a small, and poorly lit conference room. Metal chairs sat on a concrete floor. "Home sweet Home, ladies and gentlemen," The detective quipped. "Unfortunately… this is one of the oldest police barracks in the city. We don't have many comforts, just really bad coffee and day old donuts."

Despite the situation everyone smiled, except for Hotch, but Emily thought that maybe his eyes were less hard than ten minutes ago.

"We've worked in worse conditions," Rossi told her.

"I'll just bet ya have. Now… we got a Richard Levinson from the Las Vegas Sun that's been callin' me at least twice a day since the second victim was found."

"JJ will talk to him. She's our mother bear when it comes to the press." Rossi told Detective Sorenson. JJ grinned.

"You look like a wolf that just killed dinner," Detective Sorenson observed with a wink.

"JJ's a little scary, but she gets the job done." Morgan remarked and was smacked on the head by JJ who was sitting next to him.

"What did I do?"

"You know…" JJ said.

The others laughed. "Alright… Detective what did you want to tell us." Hotch settled the team, but a tiny smile crossed his face.

"Maxwell Hayden was picked up at the airport at ten am this morning. The driver of the Red Cab that picked him up is unknown to the dispatch operator that was on duty at the time. The cab was pre-scheduled to pick Hayden up and take him to the Luxor. When he missed the welcome lunch meeting two hours later, he was reported missin'. The driver that was supposed to pick him up has gone missin' too."

"Did anyone at the airport get a look at the driver?" Rossi asked.

"I talked to security… They sent over their tapes from the time frame we need."

"JJ… Make sure Garcia gets them," Hotch ordered.

"Yes sir…"

"We also learned that the first victim was a resident of our fair city. Her boyfriend told us that she was supposed to have returned from a business trip in Washington DC …"

Reid sucked in a deep breath and went white as a corpse. "You okay slim," Detective Sorenson asked. Her eyes were dark blue, and the careless mirth that had inhabited them fled, as she watched the young agent struggle to control his emotions.

"I'm sorry… it's a little strange to think of Harper Hillman in DC."

"You okay Reid," Morgan asked.

"Yeah… let's just talk this through." He dismissed their concern with a wave of his hand.

"That's alright with me, slim." Detective Sorenson said. "Now… Ms. Hillman disappeared two months ago the same afternoon she arrived here from DC. Her body was found two days later. The second victim, Alexa Lisbon, disappeared two weeks later. She was found in another alley two days later. Brent Howard lived here in Vegas, and he disappeared from his home one week after Ms Lisbon was found. He was unmarried and worked as a stage hand at Bally's. He was found twenty four hours later, tied to a telephone pole one street east of the Strip. Jerome Carter was taken three days later. He was also employed by Bally's as a dealer. He was found one day later tied standing up to a fire escape in an alleyway just off the Strip. Allen Preston was an up and coming lawyer for Barnes, Silverstein, Lamb, and Cohen. He was supposed to meet his girlfriend for dinner four days ago and didn't make it. He was found less than twelve hours later. The killer tied him to a the emergency exit of the stage doors at Bally's."

"He's escalating rapidly." Reid observed.

"Yes… I'd say we're not going to find Maxwell Hayden alive." Rossi sighed.

Reid's head lifted from his file and he narrowed his eyes at the senior profiler. "I don't think we should…"

"Reid…" The older man snapped. "Now is not the time to indulge in blind hope. You know what the profile is telling us. He's a mission based killer. He's taking out everyone that was involved with the attack on you."

"Dave…" Hotch turned on his friend.

"I'm tired of babying Reid. The fact is that this killer is going after these people because of Reid. We need to know what Reid knows about the un-sub."

"I don't know anything…"

"Back off Rossi…"

"Come on Rossi, I'm sure that if Reid…"

"He's not keeping anything from us…"

All of the team was speaking at the same time except for Reid, who was just sitting there staring at the picture of Maxwell Hayden.

"Enough…" Detective Sorenson shouted them down and then went a little pink in the cheeks, "Sorry, but y'all were gettin' pretty loud and we aren't getting anywhere."

"The detective is right… Dave is right too…" Hotch held his hands up to stave off the next round of yelling from the team.

"We have to be objective, or we won't find him." A soft voice said. They all turned to look at Reid. His voice was cracking badly. "Let's do what we need to do."

His eyes were shining, but he blinked back tears before they fell. His lower lip was trembling and he bit it hard.

"Okay… let's split up and get to work." Hotch said.

--

JJ had opted to get a press conference ready for that night at 6 pm. Hotch and the locals thought it was best to try and warn the rest of the football team by going on air with a preliminary profile. There were details that would have to be suppressed, but JJ knew how to spin the press to their advantage.

The three women left the room together. Detective Sorenson leaned into Emily and said. "How do you work with Slim around all the time?"

"What…" Emily asked looking very confused.

"Slim… Dr. Reid… He looks like a strong wind would blow him away, but he's cute."

"Um… well… I guess…" Emily started to answer.

"You guess… Woman… Are you blind?"

"No…"

Morgan strode up to Emily. "Come on Prentiss… it's you and I since JJ ditched me for the press."

"Oh yeah…" Emily followed Morgan and looked back at the detective when they reached the door. The red haired woman winked at her and then disappeared back into the bull pen.

--

The man stood in front of Maxwell Hayden. "You were the big man on campus, you dated one of the prettiest girls in school. You thought you were so tough… didn't you!" He shouted down at the man tied to the metal chair in front of him. His fist flashed out and crashed into Maxwell's face.

Hayden couldn't even moan anyway. His face was battered nearly to jelly. There was so much blood, he looked as though he'd been in a car accident, a brutal football game and attacked by a mountain lion all at the same time.

"You make me sick!" The man hit Maxwell again.

"Look at you… You bastard…" The sound of a fist on flesh echoed through the room. It was the only sound, except for the man's hard breathing.

"I shouldn't kill you. I should make you suffer the way you made Spencer suffer."

He let the knife in his hands catch the yellow light that fell on both of them. It glinted off the polished silver of the blade like starlight. The knife was so sharp it could cut through paper and hair, or sever the jugular to the bone.

Maxwell began to moan and twist in his chair. "You're still as fit and strong as you were in high school. You were over six feet tall and two hundred pounds. Spencer was a twelve year old kid who didn't have a chance against you and your Neanderthal friends. Did you think for one moment what you were doing? Was it fun for you? Did you get off on it?"

"I… I didn't… Why are you…?" Maxwell tried to speak, but he could only whisper through cracked lips.

"Shut up!" The man shouted and raked the knife across the man's cheek opening it to the bone.

Maxwell wailed and tears began to roll over the bruises and blood on his cheeks. "Yeah… you should cry. Spencer Reid is twice the man you are. He was twice the kid. You hated him because he was smarter than all of you."

Maxwell tried to summon his voice and the man hit him again and again. Maxwell was unconscious when the man decided that it was time to kill him.

The blood was warm and red. He laughed when it spread over his hands. "Now… you will do something with your life. You'll bring me one step closer to Spencer."

He untied the dead man and pulled him to the floor and the trap that lined it. It was time for Maxwell Hayden to be found!

--

The team had quit for the night. Hotch had forced Reid to go to the motel that JJ had booked for them after he and Rossi returned from talking to the coroner. They had found that the women had been manually strangled then made to look like hangings. There was nothing else they could add to the investigation, though. Emily and Morgan had struck out as well. They waited after JJ's press conference, but the unsub didn't bite this time.

Reid thought about this while sitting at the small desk at one end of the room, looking at more crime scene pictures. The double bed behind him called to him, but he ignored it. Sleep was something he was going to live without. There had to be something that he was missing.

There was a knock at his door. He thought about ignoring it, but the person didn't go away. Then he heard her voice through the door. What was she doing here?

He opened the door, and Emily stood there looking frazzled and angry at the same time. "What took you so long to answer the door?"

"Emily… I know we haven't had much time to talk…"

"I'm not in the mood to talk Spencer Reid." She pushed him away from the door and slammed it shut behind her.

"Emily… Rossi's in the next room and…"

"Shut up Spencer!"

She grabbed his tie and pulled him in for a kiss. He pushed back against her after several breathless minutes. "Emily…"

"I told you to shut up…" She said, panting for breath. "I'm not interested in your brain, or anything you have to say. I don't care about the case or anything else. I'm only interested in your body Spencer."

She pushed him down on the bed. They wrestled each other for control while ripped clothing hit the floor. She wanted it hard, fast, and brutal. He let her do what she wanted because she was the only one that could make his brain shut off and stop obsessing.

When he thought he could speak again, he said "Well… I wonder what Rossi will say about that."

Emily was laying half on top of him and half on the bed. A sheet was twisted around her body, and one long leg peeked out from it, the other was tangled with his legs.

"I don't care what he thinks. I'm still mad at him for earlier."

"He did the right thing."

"I don't care… I wanted to smack him silly. And you… what was with the blind date stuff this morning? I had to listen to Morgan speculate about you all day while we were driving around talking to families."

"I'm sorry… I had to think of something, or he would have started to talk about some new woman I just had to meet."

She stirred uncomfortably at his tone. "I'm sorry… I know you want to tell the team and Hotch."

"I want to shout it from the roof tops. What's wrong with that?"

"I don't know anymore." She admitted. "I just know I will fight to the death for us and our jobs. I love you Spencer Reid."

"You make me feel whole again." He hugged her tighter and kissed the top of her head.

"I'm sorry this is happening Spencer. I wish I could make it go away. I also wish you had told me sooner."

"I didn't want to make you feel bad for me." He was stroking her hair. She loved that and it always made her sleepy.

"I don't mind…" She was yawning.

"I just want to forget. I want to escape from all of it. I'm so tired of putting on a happy face."

"Then forget… Use me to forget. Do whatever you want. I don't care." She pulled herself up his long body and kissed his jaw.

"I need you Emily… so much…"

"I know…" She said. Her voice was barely above a whisper. He pulled her face down to meet his lips.

"Let me love you… I want to love you." He murmured.

"Yes…" She sighed and let him flip her over.

They would escape together, if only for awhile!