This chapter is the last chapter I had pre-written, so I'll be working as I go from now on. But everything is pretty much mapped out in my head, so I should hopefully be able to update every other day or so! Please let me know what you think!

Their legs were sore and a few of them had twisted their ankles and scraped their hands on the loose rocks in the path. Their shoes weren't really meant for climbing, so this snowy incline was proving to be quite the challenge.

Molly was far ahead of them, having spent the last decade living at the base of the Alaskan Tundra. Emily had to call out to her multiple times, requesting that she wait. She was unarmed and ready to charge the men who were holding her son hostage. She should not have been the one to lead the troops.

"Do you still see the tracks?" Morgan called out. His main priority was making sure that they were going in the right direction. He wanted to trust that the terrified mother would use common sense when the time came for them to confront the kidnappers.

"Two sets...two sets..." Molly was muttering under her breath. "One set deeper...carrying Flynn...carrying..."

/

They knew that running was useless. There was no way that they would catch up in time, but they had to try.

"It's not in the profile!" Spencer called back to the older man, stumbling over a fallen tree. "They can't kill him. It's not what they want."

"There isn't a profile kid." As much as he hated to admit it, Rossi was not in the shape to be doing this. He started wheezing less than three minutes into their frantic trek. "We don't know anything about these guys."

He wasn't trying to be a defeatist by any means. But it wouldn't do them any good to even pretend they knew what the outcome would be. Even when they had complete workups on their Unsubs, they had to prepare for the worst case scenario. Otherwise their job would be far more painful than it already was.

Reid wasn't listening though. He wouldn't let this happen. They had tracked this kid down with absolutely nothing to go on. Sure they had worked with far less before this, but this was an abduction. If there was any chance this boy was alive with dangerous criminals after this long, then they would make sure it stayed that way.

/

Molly stopped suddenly, grabbing onto a low hanging branch for balance. She let out a few heavy breaths, visible in the cold air, and turned to Emily.

"I heard something." She whispered, letting her feet slide back a little. Hesitation flooded her as she realized just how unprepared she was. "Emmy..."

She didn't need to say any more than that. Prentiss nodded and maneuvered around her mindful of the ice. Voices from the ridge above alerted the group. Deep voices.

"Get behind JJ." Hotch whispered, edging up next to Emily with Morgan flanking from the other side. "Prentiss, if you see the boy get to him. We'll draw fire from the unsubs."

Molly swallowed and looked to JJ who was now blocking her path. "Will they kill them?" She wasn't scared, she was hopeful. She wanted these men dead. She needed them dead. "I can help. I'm a pretty good shot."

"No, you just worry about getting your son to safety." JJ kept one eye on the agents ahead. They were slowly and quietly climbing the last few feet of the steep incline. Even Morgan was managing to remain light-footed and somewhat nimble.

/

At some point, Reid lost Rossi. He had probably stopped to rest somewhere near the last brow. But Spencer wasn't feeling the exhaustion that would inevitably catch up with him the next day.

The tire tracks of the van were clear in the mud. He just needed to follow those.

"Not much further." He told himself.

/

Two men.

One stood in the grass no more than four feet away from where the agents were crouched. The second was pacing in front of a small rock formation. Behind him, a little boy with a mop of strawberry blonde curls and a dirty face sat bound and terrified.

"Flynn." Molly choked.

JJ reached back and held the woman in place, keeping her from doing what she would have done had it been Henry sitting on that rock.

"Molly Prentiss! Welcome!" The man near Flynn had a heavy accent and a rifle that looked like it had come straight from the Cold War. "Please, don't hide."

They all froze.

Hotchner glanced back at his team before letting his eyes drift over to Molly. Her eyes were wide but she looked more than ready to go to the men, if it meant saving her boy. He shook his head sternly.

"We're here for Flynn." The Unit Chief stepped up onto the cairn, gun raised. "Let him go and we can work something out."

"There is nothing to be worked out with you, Agent Hotchner." The portly man nearer them chuckled, taking a puff from his stub of a cigar. "We didn't take your son. We took hers."

Hotch didn't show the surprise and terror that clenched his gut. How did they know his name? And more importantly, how did they know he had a son? Lucky guess? "Put your gun away, and she'll talk to you. She doesn't want to see a weapon near her son."

"She's seen far worse I can assure you." The man held the rifle higher as though posing for a picture. "We won't shoot. Just let us see our old friend."

"Please." Molly moved around JJ and Morgan and tugged on Emily's sleeve. "Maybe I can reason with them." She knew what a long shot it would be. But she had a better chance than they did. As they said, it was her they were targeting. Her and her son.

Without waiting for their approval, she pushed past Prentiss and Hotch and stepped towards the men. Flynn sat up at the sight of her, his eyes lighting up. He mouthed 'Mom' and gave a side glance to the man in front of him.

"Hey buddy." She gave him a fond smile before turning to study the man holding him hostage. "Remi, is it? Remi Gusev?" She asked. "I knew your brother."

"You married my brother."

"No...I married her brother." Molly gestured Prentiss who had yet to take her eyes off of Flynn. "I married Nick. Phillip was a friend of mine though." He had only been a couple of years older than her, and despite being Alfred Gusev's grandson; he was always kind/

"Phillip was trash. Nicholas, he was my family!" His voice rose at the end. "And you shot him dead!"

Molly didn't flinch. She held her hand up slightly, so that Flynn would remain calm. She knew her son was pretty level-headed, but she had to do something to make him realize that she was there for him. "Remi." She breathed. "I know that was wrong of me. I shouldn't have killed him. But I did. I killed him. Not Flynn. Let him go and you can punish me."

"Your blood means nothing." The fat man growled with a slimy smirk. She could smell his foul stench wafting downwind.

She reiterated, desperately. "He's my son. His blood is my blood. What difference does it make?"

"He has his father's blood." Remi pointed out, ruffling the boy's hair. "Nicholas Prentiss' blood is far more valuable."

"Why are you so obsessed with him?" Molly demanded, eyes narrowed. "He was a horrible human being. I saw how he treated you all. He was a monster-"

"He was a good man." Remi argued, his voice even again. "You were too dumb to see that!"

"You're right! I'm dumb." She hadn't meant to upset him again. "I'm a stupid, stupid woman. But Flynn was only a baby. He wouldn't have wanted his father to die. He would have adored Nicholas!"

"Yes." He smiled and nodded slowly. "He would have worshiped his papa." He cupped his hand over the boy's shoulder and shook him lightly.

Molly cringed at the thought but didn't verbalize her distaste. Let this moron live in ignorance. "He's a good boy." She stepped a fraction of an inch closer. "He has nothing to do with this."

Emily wanted to reach out and stop her, but Aaron held her in place. It was obvious that the men weren't willing to attack Molly. "Do you have a clear shot?" He asked his agents quietly.

"I can try." Morgan edged up on a bolder he had been standing at the base of. No one was paying attention to them, so he could try to get a clear shot of him. The wind would make the trajection a little unstable though.

Remi let go of Flynn and took a small step back. "He's a good boy. He should hate you for what you did." He scowled at Molly and nudged the little boy with the toe of his boot. "Do you boy? Do you hate your mama?"

Please. Molly tried to tell her son telepathically. You hate me. Just say you hate me. I'll understand. You hate me. You have to hate me.

Her heart seized when Flynn shook his head and sniffled. "I love my mom." He said over his shoulder before looking back at her, "I love you." He shrugged, defeated.

"It's okay boy." Remi's face softened, and he lowered his gun from the child's head. "You have to love your mama. It's a flaw in little boys."

For a moment, it looked as though he were backing away. And that's because he was. But as he reached the edge of the cliff, he fired.

One shot.

Then he stepped backwards.

Time stood still. Molly watched, her feet stuck in the melting snow, as a hole tore through her son's chest.

She may have screamed. Her mouth was open and her lungs burned, but she heard nothing.

All she could focus on was Flynn's eyes. His beautiful hazel eyes. Wide and scared.

Hotch shot the fat man in the head as soon as he moved to follow his partner.

Morgan charged towards the edge of the cliff to see if he could get a visual on Remi. But the ledge about thirty feet down was empty. He had been ready to run.

JJ moved forward to see if she could help Flynn, but her legs were slow and shaking. She wasn't quite grasping what had just happened.

Emily just collapsed. She felt herself land on the hard rocks she had just been standing on, but it didn't register.

She could only watch as Molly also fell to the ground and crawled towards her little boy. Crying out to him as his mouth opened in closed, desperately trying to breathe around the blood filling his throat.

"Baby...Baby..." The woman whispered, pulling the boy towards her and struggling with the ropes. "It's okay. I'm here. Mommy's here."

Derek saw her fingers struggling to find their purchase on the bindings and pulled his knife out of his pocket. He knelt down next to them and unfolded the blade. "I got it. Hold on." He said gently, grateful that Molly moved her hand to allow him to work.

Hotch could be heard behind them, screaming into his phone repeatedly for paramedics. Did they even know where they were? Morgan wondered. Would they find them in time?

He obviously kept his concerns to himself. The devastated mother who was now pulling her son into her lap didn't need to know just how far away from help they were.

"Flynn, Sweetheart." Molly wiped the blood away from the corner of his mouth and kissed his cheek. "Look at me sweetie. Look at me."

He obeyed her, moving his dazed eyes away from the sky and towards her face. He smiled and reached up to poke the space between her eyes. "Missed you." He wheezed the sentence and coughed.

"Oh, I missed you too." She bit back tears. He didn't need to see her cry right now.

"I'm kind of cold." Flynn winced. His face was getting paler by the second and his lips were practically purple.

Morgan took off his coat and covered the boy. He could feel the blood from the chest wound soak through the thick leather in a matter of seconds. That's when he knew the paramedics wouldn't get there in time.

Molly knew too. It was clear in the way she peacefully rocked the child and kissed the top of his head. She didn't act like there was a life to save, because it wasn't theirs to save anymore. She didn't want his last memories to be her screaming over him and pressing on the wound.

"I love you. I love you." She murmured into his hairline over and over again. When his body began to grow limp, she leaned back and smiled gently. "My brave boy. I love you so much."

He tried to respond, but he was fading fast. Instead, he let out a breath and went back to staring at the dark clouds overhead.

The team watched her whisper and hold him until he was gone.

And once his eyes couldn't see her, she let wailing commence.