Disclaimer: Since no one got me the rights to Criminal Minds, I am still without ownership. But what else is new.

AN: Hope you like, please review. Because when I open my email and there is a message from fanfiction telling me I have a review, it makes me happy.

Last Monday night, 72 hours seemed like a lot of time to find a boy. 60 of those hours have passed, and they were no closer to finding Rodney Jones than they had been at the start. That wasn't totally true, they had worked the profile, and worked suspects and were down to three possible, but time was running out for the boy and Emily was starting to feel the strain of a sleepless night. The precinct was buzzing with quietly working officers, hunting down suspects and leads, trying to beat the ticking clock to the limit above Rodney Jones' head.

They had hit the ground running, looking for any signs that would lead them to Rodney and his abductor. Deep down, she knew that Rodney was probably already dead, the autopsies showed the boys had been dead 12 hours before they were found, which left them just under thirty minutes to find him alive. The clock on the wall was methodically ticking its way to two am, and stress and panic were welling up inside her.

The team had left the precinct hours ago, for the comfort of their hotel rooms; she had stayed behind, the nightmares still to fresh in her mind to allow any form of rest. So she stayed and worked, rechecking suspects they had passed over. They were the best in the world at this kind of thing, and the fact that they weren't very close, was alluding to the fact that they might have missed something. She didn't want to think that that was true, but it was possible. They had been off before knowing that the profile was just a clue to who the unsub actually was. That finding him was the key that made everything make sense.

Morgan and Rossi had slowly slipped into their angry phases, not finding Rodney was causing so much stress on their nerves that short words and tones showed how angry they really were. It was endearing to her, knowing that the team was just as passionate about solving this, and finding Rodney as she was.

JJ and Reid had drawn closer to each other as the hours slipped by, working closely together, helping each other through their emotions. She had noticed that they shared small gestures, holding hands for a brief second, soft touches here and there, and yet were able to keep it purely professional in front of the local PD.

She, on the other hand, hadn't done any of those things with the man that she had loved. She hadn't kept her promise to him on the plane that she would be there for her if he needed him. Hotch had slipped down the anger spiral faster and faster as time slipped away, leaving a bitter scared man in his place. She had kept her eyes on him the whole time, watching him, and though it hurt her to see him like that, she had done nothing to go to him and help him.

Shaking her head, she pushed the file in front of her away. Normally she was so good at compartmentalizing that she was becoming frustrated with herself. There was a saying that she loved, 'men are waffles, women are spaghetti.' She was more like a waffle, taking all the troubles life threw at her and sectioning them off, allowing her to focus on whatever problem lay at hand. Ever since her brush with crazy, she's been more like spaghetti, everything slipping together, creating one big mass of a mess, causing her mind to go haywire.

It wasn't just about her incident, a lot of her current emotional state had to do with Aaron, and the way she felt about him. It had been growing in her for years, slowly gaining control over her heart, and mind in a way that she hadn't experienced in a long time. She'd been in love before, given her heart to a man before, letting herself be thrown into chaos for the pursuit of unrelenting happiness with another. She knew what happened to her when she fell in love. She got in trouble. Sure she had been only fifteen then, but it had lead to shaping a large part of how she acted around men.

Loving Aaron was different. She had been intrigued by him instantly. The stoic way he made his emotions known, they way a room instantly paid attention when he spoke. She respected him, and enjoyed being around him. She could even look past his faults, which were actually endearing to her. His protective streaks, his attention to minute details, his ability to read a person up and down in less than a minute, were all things that she admired. Aside from the things she admired about him mentally and emotionally, she was intensely attracted to him physically.

His wavy dark hair, rarely looking dishevelled, but only adding to his appeal when it was, his beautiful brown eyes, dark as his hair, but holding so much secret. His muscled body, tense and able to chase down a suspect and take him down if needed. His youthful face, hiding his age behind a mask of stubble and an air of superiority she knew was false. Though lately shades of grey had found their way onto his temples, she knew that he was still as youthful as he had been years ago when they had first met.

As she stood and caught sight of him laying on the small office couch, half on the worn leather love seat, legs dangling over the arm of the chair. His arms were crossed over his chest, eyes closed, and head lolling to the side. He looked awfully uncomfortable, and yet at the same time a strange sense of peace had settled over his face, and she wanted nothing more than to do all she could to keep that look in place.

Having decided that she was done with files, and suspect searching, she moved to leave the precinct, to watch the stars. She knew they shone bright in Texas, and since there had been no rain here for the last seven months, she was sure that the sky would be bright and clear, opening the entire sky up to her.

Walking past Aaron, she picked up his discarded jacket, and covered his upper body with it. Looking down at him, she smiled to herself, the spaghetti thoughts of him circling her mind. She stood quickly and made her way out towards the expanse of sky that was calling her name. Before she took two steps toward her destination, Aaron's whispered voice called her name, and she turned to look at him.

"Thank you Emily." His voice was sleepy, and quiet, and the peace that had settled on his face, had disappeared, replaced by the emotionless plane that normally resided there.

Moving back towards him, she leaned closer to his still stretched out frame, taking the whole loveseat up. "You're welcome." He made motions to get up, to propel himself into a sitting position. She placed her hand on his shoulder, the warmth of his body heat radiating through her. She had broken so many promises regarding him; why not add another, touching him. After the plane, she had imposed a hands-off rule, and she was doing a really bad job of not breaking it. "No, stay sleeping."

"What time is it?" His question was punctuated by a yawn, and a stretch and visions of waking up beside him, seeing his fresh look in the morning flashed through her head. Shaking them free, she checked the clock.

"Just about three in the morning." Though she had asked him to stay sleeping, he had pushed himself into a sitting position, stretching his shoulders once again.

"Awesome." She could hear the sarcastic tone in his voice, and she laughed in a small voice. Sarcasm wasn't something he usually employed and she found the notion of it amusing, even the action of it. He patted the worn leather beside him, and offered, "Sit, please."

"No. Really, I was just heading outside to stargaze." She hoped that he would lay back down and go back to sleep. But her hope was dashed when he stood up and stretched again, yawning a second time. Sleep was hard to come by, and obviously when it did come it was hardly enough to give the amount of rest that was needed.

"I'll join you." He moved to stand beside her, discarding his jacket on the couch, and loosening his tie. As they started walking toward the door and to the awaiting heavens, he placed his hand in the small of her back, effectively leading her. Normally if a man did that, if anyone did that, to her she would be greatly offended, and subtly moved herself away from the controlling touch. But she didn't sense that from him. The action itself warmed her once more, and sent shivers down her spine. The meaning sent her mind in a tailspin. She didn't think he was trying to control her, or manipulate her, but the touch was intimate and familiar, and they were neither of those things in conjunction to each other.

Once outside, they stood side by side, leaning against the green railing. They stood in silence for several minutes, the sound of crickets and the occasional howl of a coyote reaching them. The flat Texas landscape, illuminated by the full moon, and silhouetted with the occasional cactus was beautiful. The stars shone brightly from the cloudless sky, the constellations clearly illuminated, and the light of the moon filing the dark void. It was cooler than she expected, but there was no breeze to speak of, and the air was thick and heavy, covering them with silence.

"Strange isn't it?" His voice hit her softly, and she couldn't understand what he was talking about.

"What's strange?" She turned to look at him. His profile, so close to her, revealed a lot. His face wasn't impassive, and he looked as if there was the weight of a world on his shoulders. She knew that he was thinking about Haley and Jack, and even the boys that they were here to protect.

"That we are surrounded by this beauty. The stars, the moon, even the crickets, and still know that there is unspeakable evil living here." He stopped talking, and something crossed his face, which she couldn't understand. She had learned long ago to accept, and enjoy the little things in life.

"It's like that everywhere we go Aaron. We know that the world is full of evil. But we also know that the sun will still rise tomorrow, wither or not we stop that evil." She wasn't arguing with him. She knew that he knew that, too.

"True. So, what are you still doing here?" He turned and suddenly they were face to face, the soft moon light illuminating his features, and she saw a small smile playing across his lips. She wanted so bad to keep that smile there, but she knew that in the next few hours, without finding Rodney, it would take a lot to bring that smile back.

"Can't sleep. Might as well get some work done, right." She laughed inwardly at herself, realising that it was his M.O. to work until it was done.

"Get anywhere?"

"No. Just going over suspects we've been over, checking to see if we've missed something." She felt that they had, even though they were the best.

"I think you're right. We should have found him by now." His voice took on a faraway tone, and she knew that he was thinking about the same things she was thinking about.

"I know." Looking at her watch, she sighed, disappointment welling inside her. "And Rodney's time is about out."

"I think we've lost him Emily. I think he's already out of time." His voice, though still far away held sadness and anger.

"I think you're right." Her tone matched his, and they lapsed into silence once more. They turned away from each other, and were once again facing the void that was space. The universe was unlimited, and yet they had found ways to explore it. However, they still couldn't find a way to stop people from hurting each other.

After several minutes of silence a vehicle pulled into the parking lot. The dark SUV pulled in, and Morgan stepped out. Emily watched as he walked towards them. He stopped and leaned against the railing beside her, he smelled clean, and his clothes had changed, but he didn't look any better rested than she felt.

"Hey guys." Morgan bumped fists with Emily, and they shared a small smile, and he nodded at Aaron. Again they lapsed into silence, this time with Morgan. It was a comfortable silence, and enough time had passed that the sky was becoming lighter, and the moon was sinking towards the horizon. To the east, the sky was lightening to gray and light blues as the sun was making rise to control the expansive Texan sky.

Again, a nondescript black SUV pulled into the lot, and this time Reid and JJ got out, and walked towards them. Emily and JJ hugged, and the men all shared handshakes. Silence filled the air, and all five of them leaned against the green railing.

"According to the profile, Rodney is dead." Reid's soft voice filled the silence, and Emily looked to him. He stared out at the sky facing east, watching the ever growing expanse of starless, sun lightened sky. JJ's hand was on his back, and Emily admired him for saying the thing they were all thinking.

For the third time a SUV pulled into the lot, this time carrying Rossi. He joined them, again to a chorus of silence, and handshakes. He too leaned against the railing, joining their team. They stood in a line, joined by the impending sunrise, and the quickly fading stars.

"We have to stay now." Rossi's voice too spoke the truth that they were all thinking, yet afraid to say. Emily sighed, and inched closer to Aaron, brushing her shoulder against his. Broken promises aside, she enjoyed the closeness and contact.

"Yeah." Morgan's voice joined the fray. "If he stays on script, he'll take another boy on Saturday."

"We'll be ready for him." Aaron's voice was empty of the sadness and fear that had been there previously, and full of the determination that he poured into every case.

"Then let's get to work." Rossi was the first to move away from the railing when JJ spoke up.

"Wait." She stepped back and placed her hand on Rossi's arm, holding him back. "The sun is just about to rise. Stay, ten more minutes." He obliged and moved back to the railing. Emily smiled at her friend, and reached her hand over and placed her hand on Aarons arm. The move was small and inconspicuous.

All facing east, they watched as the sun filled the sky and chased away the last vestiges of night that occupied the sky. The stars had all but vanished. The symbolism wasn't lost on Emily, and she better appreciated the beauty of the sunrise, knowing that within a few minutes they were going back to work, to find the man responsible. They would have other sunrises, but they all knew that Rodney Jones would never again see a rising sun.

As one they moved inside, got coffee, and started back at work. They'd had a contingency plan for this situation, and they were putting it in place. It seemed as if all of Texas was ready for the showdown that was coming, and was giving them all that they needed to find them. State police, the Rangers and the entirety of the Mount Springs P.D. were out and ready for the manhunt that was about to take place.

"The Rangers of the state park have set up a grid in the forest where the other bodies were dumped, and all of us. FBI, MSPD, State Police, and Rangers will be there, working the grid to find this man." JJ's voice had her calm, controlled media voice. Emily wasn't surprised that she had commanded the attention of a room full of gun totting alpha males. Of course it helped that she was beautiful, but still.

Aaron's voice cut in, and the rooms' attention and focus shifted to him. "We aren't sure if Rodney Jones has even been killed. The profile suggests that he is dead and his body will be dumped before 4pm. It is now 7am."

Morgan jumped in, again commanding the attention of the room. "Even though we hope we are wrong, we will be there in the woods, waiting for the unsub. Remember if he does dump the boy and gets away, he will take another on Saturday."

The chief from the Mount Springs PD stood up, "Okay, we all know what to do. Let's find this guy, before he has the chance to do this again."

Instantly the room became active and loud as the gun toting alpha males placed their hands on their guns and moved towards the door, heading towards the door. Grabbing her jacket, she made a move to leave the room when Morgan's filled the air. "BAU, meet with me first please." Instantly five heads swivelled towards the back of the room, and Emily fought the rush to the door, and made her way towards him. He waited until they were all there, and the room was clear before he spoke.

"JJ, organize the search with the sign in log. Work with Garcia checking backgrounds and whatnot. The usual." She nodded and Morgan continued. "We all know what will happen if we don't stop him."

They all nodded and moved to make their way towards the door, and towards the forest. Emily ended up in the truck with Reid, JJ, Rossi and Aaron, and the drive was spent in silence, each thinking through what was about to happen. Sandwiched between JJ and Reid she watched Aaron as he drove. His face was controlled, and his body had taken on its 'ready to fight' look. They were all wearing ear pieces and bullet proof vests, the profile pointing towards the unsub was ready to go down fighting. Citizens had asked to be a part of this search, but had to be denied because of the possibility of danger. Then it hit her.

"Guys what if we got it wrong?" All heads turned to her, and she caught Aaron's gaze in the rear view mirror.

"What do you mean?" His look was questioning.

"What if the reason he's able to spend so much time with them isn't that he's self or unemployed, it's that he works a 12 hour shift?"

"You mean like a cop." That came from Rossi, and Emily could see the cogs turning in all of their heads.

"It's possible. With the degree of control that is evident, and also the remorse. A lawman would feel bad about breaking the law, but could handle his urges when they came." That was from Reid. Always with the possibilities. He truly was a real live cyborg.

"It makes sense. Always taken on a Saturday afternoon. Always dumped in the afternoon." Aaron agreed.

"Like when he's coming on shift." JJ was a profiler, even though she didn't have the credentials that they had, the team couldn't operate without her.

"From Mount Springs?" Emily didn't want to voice this, but knew that it was an issue that they had to discuss. They were only five minutes from where they were going. She noticed that Aaron had obviously thought the same thing, as he'd slowed the truck down, giving them maybe an added minute.

"But what about the history. Everything points to this not being his first crimes, and that he knows the town well, as if he's lived there his whole life." Reid spoke again, his adherence to the profile both a virtue and a fault. They had to adapt the profile to the case, and right now the case was telling them that they might be looking at cop. Which was never a pleasant thing, in profile or not.

"It could be that the unsub grew up here, moved away then came back. We've only been looking at violent offenders in the Mount Springs area. If he did his practise elsewhere, then moved back home for a familiar hunting ground. It's not unheard of." Emily knew her words could be interpreted as defensive, but she knew that this was part of their roundabout to finding the unsub.

"Okay JJ, all the law enforcement is being set up at the gate to the park. They are all signing in; get Garcia to run them through state and national databases for name changes. There is no way that he would be hired if he has a record. Also, check for fraudulent ID's, it's possible that he'd simply adopted and ID and went from there." That came from Aaron, the leader in his voice coming out.

Rossi spoke next, tightening the Velcro of his jacket tighter around his chest. "I'll hook up with Morgan when we get there. Fill him in."

Emily knew that the possibilities were endless, and that they were treading a thin line here. Chasing evil is what they did. Chasing evil with a gun is what makes them special. Stopping them makes them what they are.

**

Aaron's day was getting longer and longer the more time that had passed. The park, though naturally protected, was open to the public, with hundreds of ways into and out of the park, and that was only counting foot paths, ATV trails and driven roads into the area. Someone with an off-road vehicle could take an unlimited number of ways into the park, and get out the same way.

He knew, in his head and heart that they were going to find Rodney Jones' body today, it was just a matter of time, and when that time came, they would be ready to take him down. Though his gun was in his holster, his finger trigger was itching to squeeze something. Preferably a gun aimed at the guy, but he would take what he was given, and right now it was a walk in the sparse Texas woods with Reid, and a man who was killing children.

He snapped the branch he was carrying and threw it to the ground. He and Reid had drawn the quadrant where the first boy was dumped. They were sceptical that they would find him, and for that he was grateful. No matter what he'd done and seen these past few days, every time he looked at Rodney Jones, thought about him, or even said his name, Jacks face popped into his head. Was he safe, was he scared, was he having fun, did he miss him? A never ending cycle of questions and images of him ran through his head.

"Do you think Emily is right?" Reid's voice floated to him from behind, his youthful voice questioning and light. The nature must be doing well for the boy. The fresh air and sun probably affecting the way he was thinking.

It was a good question though. He often thought Emily was right. Even when he knew she was wrong. He trusted her, had ever since the first case they worked together, and that continued. He was glad for her presence in his life and thankful each day that he had the privilege of knowing her. Though he was sure Reid was speaking more to their latest idea of the profile, he agreed with her. Had thought the same thing himself, pushing it aside. It hadn't been part of the profile, so it hadn't been a real thought.

"Yes. I do. Even though that means you and I are walking the woods where he disposes of the bodies, and we know about him. Which puts you and I in danger."

"Quite the optimist you are." Aaron chuckled at Reid's words, and picked up another branch.

"Keeping it real man. Keeping it real."

"You know since you and Morgan effectively switch jobs, you've also switched personalities. It's rather disarming you know. He's on his way to becoming a one woman kind of guy, so when are you going to become a ladies' man?"

"You know Reid; since you and JJ have gotten together you are more bold. I like the change." He did, he liked that Reid was more willing to stand up for himself, and especially JJ.

"Uh... Hotch."

He had been walking without looking back, keeping tabs on the kid, and hadn't noticed that he'd fallen behind, stopping by an out cropping of rock and a lone cactus tree.

Turning he walked back towards Reid, the dead foliage crumbling under his feat.

There, what he saw made his heart sink, and his stomach reflex. It had been a long time since he's wanted to throw up at a crime scene, and this was a lot less bloody and messy than he had ever seen.

Speaking into his wrist com, he sighed and tried to get a grip on himself, "This is Agent Hotchner, quadrant 6, grid section 7. We've found Rodney Jones."

He knew that the closest people were more than five minutes away, and suddenly he didn't want to have a grip on himself. Once again he snapped the branch in his hands and threw away the pieces. With the wood came a string of explicit's and curse, and a large amount of rage. Getting the emotion out, he felt a tiny amount of freedom enter his body. He didn't care what it would take to stop this man. If he had to move to this dinky city to stop this man he would do it.

Suddenly, after punching a nearby tree, Reid's voice once again came to him.

"You know, you shouldn't bottle all that emotion up. When the pressure builds and explodes, it isn't very good for you. Or trees, if you punch them." He laughed again, so Reid was turning into a comedian.

"I'm sorry Reid." He was. He didn't know how to explain what he had just done. Usually he had such a control over himself that he didn't show any emotion. In the last minute he'd showed Reid that he was a very angry person.

"It's all right Hotch. This one is tough."

They fell into silence and Aaron felt better knowing that Reid wasn't judging him. It had been a long time since he lost control like that, or rather had allowed himself to lose control. He was running on little sleep, much like the rest of his team, and now that they had found Rodney dead, another clock was hanging over another boys head, and they had just under 48 hours to find and stop the guys that did this.