Here it is and thank you all to are supporting my trials of going to Russia. I'd be more excited if I didn't have to meet his grandparents. And I'd be freaking out less if I hadn't already gotten his parents to hate me.

Sigh.

I don't know if I'll be able to update between now and monday, but I will try.

A special thanks to all those who are fueling my inspiration with reviews!
CMAli 1, Reidemption, jerseybelle
You guys are so wonderful for letting me know how you feel about all this ^-^

Hotch postponed the take off for another half an hour. He sat on his office couch trying to calm down Reid. The young man's face was contorted in a fear Hotch had only seen once before; the Hankel case. It tore Hotch's heart down the middle seeing those expressive brown eyes hollowed in such terror; like an animal trapped and waiting, trembling for the hunter to retrieve it. "Shh, Reid, it will be okay." He whispered, hugging onto the shaking form as tightly as he could.

"He'll kill me. Hotch-." He'll kill you. Reid's chest shuddered as he sobbed into Hotch's chest. Hotch rubbed his back soothingly and slid Reid's face against his neck, stroking his hair, kissing his ear.

"He won't touch you, Spencer. I won't let him." Hotch whispered, his voice husky; deepened by a torrent of emotion coursing through him. Fury, panic, sympathy, it all whirl winded out of control inside of him. The only thing keeping him in any state of calm was holding Reid close to him. "Maybe you and I should stay here, in Quantico, while they try to catch Jonathon?"

"No!" Reid looked up at Hotch earnestly. He quickly wiped his eyes vigorously, erasing any fearful tears that tried to escape. "Hotch, I'd probably be safer thousands of miles away in a city he doesn't know than here where he knows my usual routine. Please, Hotch, don't make me stay here."

Hotch stared at Reid, seeing the desperation in his eyes. The earnest pleading was so intense, Hotch could feel it inside himself. "I don't know, Spencer." It did make more sense to take Spencer away from the endangered place. In Virginia, Jonathon knew where Reid lived, worked, shopped, and preferred to eat. In Santa Cruz, thousands of strangers surrounded them in a place they rarely visited and knew little of. Jonathon wouldn't know where to start looking after hours and he wouldn't be stupid enough to try something at a crowded police station.

"Hotch, please?" Reid begged looking earnestly into Hotch's eyes. The pleading was so intense, Hotch was willing to give Spencer anything he asked; the moon, the Library of Congress, anything. He realized the young man was still curled up in his lap, his slender hands on his chest, his slender legs tucked against Hotch's outstretched ones. Hotch still had his arms wrapped securely around Reid's slim, toned waist. The older man swallowed and closed his eyes. It would be easier to say 'no' if they weren't so close against one another. He could feel Reid's heart beat, the blood pulsing through his veins. His sweet coffee coated sugar breath tickled Hotch's face. "Please, Hotch? If you're there I know I'll be safe."

His soft voice and breath sent shivers down Hotch's body and to his groin. How could he say no? "Fine Reid, but you are to stay under constant supervision. If you go anywhere, you are to take someone with you; preferably me or Morgan." It wasn't that he didn't trust Prentiss or JJ with his precious Reid, but he had seen Morgan tackle a man nearly his size without second thought, and both of them had prior experience with Jonathon.

Reid hugged Hotch quickly and smiled. "Thank you, Hotch!"

The weather was bright and sunny over Santa Cruz. There were few clouds and the ones that tried to conquer the sun were wisps of fluff. It was hard to believe that such a gruesome murder case would happen on such a picturesque, cliff-side town. Yet, there the FBI were, driving into the police station in ominous black SUVs. Hotch and his team stepped out, formally dressed and ready to tackle their next challenge.

It all screamed crime drama.

The police station was a large square room full of desks. The walls were off white and cut off from an entrance area that was more organized with warm tan walls, cherry wood desks and a matching waiting-bench ran along the left wall; the right wall had matching chairs for the non-criminal waitees. A young thirty-something manned the receptionist desks on either side of the bullpen entrance.

The bullpen for the police officers led off to a restroom on the back wall with the break room right beside it. To the right led to a staircase. To the left held a metal door. Beyond the metal door were holding cells for overnighters. The stairs led to a landing that surrounded the perimeter of the room. The chief's and deputy chief's office took up the back wall. To the right and the left were interrogation rooms. The remaining floor plan on the top, just off the staircase, was a conference room; which the BAU team took as their makeshift headquarters.

They had been acquainted with the staff and immediately got to work. Within thirty minutes Reid was going through a geographic profile while Hotch went through the victimology with Rossi as well as the Autopsy reports. JJ was talking with the chief; a Magnum PI sort of man, with close cropped graying hair in his mid-fifties. She went over what the statement for the media, which had been demanding answers. Prentiss and Morgan were sent to speak with the latest victim's family to see what they could gather.

For Reid the geographic profile was more difficult than usual. He had to account for the rising tides and sea-current directions from which the body was moved. It was a challenging case since the crime scene had been contaminated by the natural elements of water, sand, and wind. After being strangled nearly to the point of decapitation, the bodies were thrown of one of the cliffs and into the water. Some of the cliffs had ledges, from which the bodies smashed into and jolted off or were rolled off by the howling night winds. The excessive broken bones were what gave them the clue. The immense bruising on the two of the bodies showed that they were still partially alive when they were thrown over.

After landing in the water the body was eroded by sand and salt water and pushed away from the initial scene of the crime and onto the shores. For Reid, his job was to pin point an accurate location of where the bodies were thrown off from. So far, he had gotten his tidal, current, and wind direction information. Now it was the math part of his job.

Hotch and Rossi were able to gather it was either a personal killing or a man who had severe hatred towards the type of people he was killing. Each victim was, what psychologist would label as, typical. They were all emotionally, physically, and mentally sound. They were healthy young adults, all in college either nearby or at UCLA and visiting the area. All were, according to friends and family, very friendly and very popular. If anything, there only fault was not having an obvious fault.

"What do you think?" Rossi asked, flipping over an autopsy report and comparing it to another.

"I think this is going to be one long case." Hotch replied, sighing and rubbing the bridge of his nose. Going through friends and family there were no immediate connections to any of the victim's that would suggest making the killings personal for the unsub.

"Obviously, it's a very violent unsub. His victim's were near perfect. It's possible that the unsub saw his faults reflected by their perfection and that fueled his anger to a tipping point." Rossi offered with a shrug.

"And dumping the body over the cliff side?" Hotch asked, raising an eyebrow.

Rossi shrugged again and offered his usual smirk. "Too lazy to clean up?"

Somewhere a clock stroke midnight. Reid poked his head out of the conference room doorway and looked around the police station, down towards the break room. It had gotten late on him and he needed a coffee refuel. He was so close to finishing his geographic profile, he was determined to finish it now. He glanced around, looking for Hotch or Rossi or Morgan. None were in his sights. He sighed and looked down at the break room longingly.

It's only down the stairs, he thought, slightly exasperated. Hotch wouldn't deny me fuel. I'd be back in two minutes. And I won't leave the station. I'd still be in the vicinity. He hurried down the stairs and into the square room that reminded him much of the BAU break room at home.

He hurried to the coffee pots and poured himself a cup. Unfortunately nothing came out. He hesitated and looked at the model of coffee maker. I'll just make more. He concluded, after deciding he could figure out how to use the coffee maker before him. He searched around the cabinets and came to a note that read: Remind Chief to buy more coffee.

Reid groaned and looked through the pantry. He excavated the cabinets and pantry twice, but when he was convinced there was no coffee within arms reach, he gave in. He stood in the center of the room looking back through his memory of what they had driven pass that morning. There was a Starbucks down the road and although he didn't normally like Starbucks overtly roasted coffee, this was an emergency.

He went back into the bullpen and looked around for Morgan. When the man was no where in his sights, he tried looking around for Hotch. He climbed up the stairs and, halfway up, saw the man in question in a deep conversation with the Chief in the Chief's office. He pouted and decided to look around for someone else. A flash of memory reminded him the JJ and Prentiss had gone to the hotel to get their rooms. They hadn't gotten back. Rossi was no where in sight either.

Well, if Hotch is busy-. Reid chewed his lip, glancing up the stairs. The Starbucks isn't that far away. I wouldn't be long. I could get back before Hotch found out. Yes, but I don't want to disappoint him.

Reid sighed weighing the options. His eyes were beginning to become heavy and he would much rather have his profile done before going to sleep. He was so close! It shouldn't take long.

Reid hurried back down the stairs and out the front door towards the parking lot. He slid into one of the SUVs and disappeared down the road towards a brightly lit shopping center.

Morgan cracked his neck and stretched as he emerged from the interrogation room. The sudden apprehension of a suspect called him to an abrupt questioning. He had let Hotch know where he was running off to, but that's the only person he could catch at the time. Now after a two hour lock down with the suspect, it'd been decided that they were back to square one.

He walked towards their makeshift headquarters, pushing the door open with a brisk, "Alright, Pretty Boy, what do we have?" He paused just within the doorway, seeing the room empty. He shrugged and headed for the Chief's office to let him know they were out of leads. He knocked on the door and heard Hotch's voice on the other side. The Chief replied with an, "Enter."

Morgan opened the door and stepped in. "Wasn't our guy." He said shortly.

"Damn," the Chief said looking disappointed. "I'd like to get all this wrapped up soon." He said, shooting a look at Hotch who replied with a nod. "Well, has that young guy figured out where the crime scene really is?" He asked referring to Reid.

Morgan shrugged, "I don't know. Haven't seen him."

Hotch shot him a confused look. "What do you mean? He's in the conference room."

"He wasn't when I walked by."

"WHAT?"

Reid smiled triumphantly, looking down at the cup holder full of two grandee coffees extra sweetened and a few bags of coffee grinds. He was sure that would be enough to get him through at least tonight. And all and all it only took five minutes. He buckled his seat belt, cut the car on, and pulled onto the main road, out of the parking lot and drove towards the police station.

Hope Hotch hasn't noticed-. He felt his heart jolt when he heard the car phone ringing. He swallowed and hesitantly looked at the touch screen on the radio system. He immediately recognized Hotch's number and bit his lip. While trying to be a safe driver and answering his phone simultaneously, he located the touch 'answer' button. He reached over, taking his eyes off the road and rearview mirror for just a few seconds…

…never seeing the headlights blazing towards him from behind…

CRASH

Chapter 4- End

TBC