A/C I give my greatest gratitude towards everyone who contributed a review. I hope you are all enjoying this fanfic, despite the ongoing tormenting of your favorite character. But we all know that the more they are involved the better )
Special thanks to MeadowLark4491 for a few ideas that will be showing up in the next few chapters.
The cold stream of nighttime air engulfed the thick forest. The remaining leaves on the ground blew around in the cover of darkness. On the highway near the forest the blinding lights of many SUVS and police cars remained idle as the cars were parked. The remaining BAU came out of them along with the officers. The freezing bite of the cold chilled their spines along with an all too familiar scenario. How long had it been since they had been missing Reid and JJ at the Hankel Farm, two or three months? But this time they were both gone. Without any idea who the unsub was and why he was personally attacking the team they didn't even know if they would be found this time.
Gideon and Hotch reached the opening of the forest first. They stood there for a moment gazing into the place where their agents had experienced so much fear, or even death. Hotch looked over at Gideon for a scarce second. His face looked like carved stone. His eyes were glass orbs filled with crystal tears that did not make it down his face. Gideon had felt from the moment he read the note that it was directed towards him. This was all for him. The torment; the guilt; the suffering, all of it was to make him suffer.
"How are we ever going to find them in here?" Gideon questioned not really talking to Hotch but more to himself.
Morgan was just getting out of the car with Garcia following close by. They had briefly informed her on what had happened and she immediately insisted on coming leaving someone else to mind her computers in case they needed any information. It had been enough for her to see Reid being tortured before her very eyes, but now one of her best friends was missing as well. She didn't know what she'd do without JJ popping in her office with coffee and a smile each morning.
"Don't worry baby girl, we'll find them," Morgan said "We always do."
Garcia just nodded trying to reassure herself in her mind that what he said was true. She looked over and saw Prentiss gathering some flashlights and organizing the police officers. She decided to head over that way since they were deciding where to search.
Hotch and Gideon had reemerged from the brush to join with everyone else. They were all overwhelmed with fatigue and concern, but they needed to search. Prentiss nodded at Hotch to take over after she went threw the basics of the case and everything.
"Okay, we all know it's late and this is a pretty big forest, but please bear with us. Two of our federal agents are missing and could be in the hands of the unsub. Even if you only find one thing it could help towards finding them. Agent Prentiss has already arranged the search teams so let's go."
Morgan realized that himself and Garcia hadn't been told where to go. "Hey Hotch, who are we with?" he asked.
"You're going to be with Officer Cole here," Hotch said nodding towards the man who stood next to him. He looked young and fresh out of the academy. Morgan could see the tingle of excitement running threw him and remembered a time where any case had excited him.
"Alright let's head out then," Morgan said with a sigh. He gave Garcia a little pat on the back and they were off into the darkness.
The other groups of search teams went in different directions trying to spread out as much as possible. The police officers had little hope of finding them and were just thinking about going home to bed. The members of the BAU pushed them along and were the automatic leaders of each party.
Gideon was the most persistent out of all of them. His search party was fairly large and he insisted that they kept going the entire time. Many of the officers wanted to take a breather at times, but Gideon reminded them that a psychopath might be in there and they would not want to be left behind.
For what felt like weeks they searched all over the gloomy woods. A thin layer of fog lined the floor and hovered around their ankles. The cold wind whipped them all straight across the face leaving them with a burning sensation. Checking their cell phones they saw it was past midnight. Before, they had decided they would return to the highway at 12:30. Gideon had only just studied the crime scene where the pool of blood was located along with the footprints. The evidence had been collected in daylight, but Gideon wanted to get the feel of the scene. Knowing that they would head back empty handed was depressing. Everyone in his group was already discussing it. Suddenly a gun shot rang throughout the wilderness. Gideon's heart froze over like a lake in below zero temperatures.
"What the hell was that?" one of the officers exclaimed in fright.
"Come on we need to head towards where we heard it," Gideon said already walking in that direction.
"Oh that's smart, head towards the lunatic with the gun," another one muttered under his breath.
The other groups also headed towards the gun shot. Everyone except for Morgan's group, they were already in that area. When they all got there a devastating scene awaited them. Officer Cole lay on the ground, dead with a gunshot wound to the head. Morgan and Garcia were nowhere to be found.
Some of the officers cursed aloud mourning for their friend and coworker. Hotch, Gideon, and Prentiss only looked at each other in appalling shock. Prentiss looked the most disturbed for once at this scene. Her breathing started to get uneven and then she fainted. Neither Hotch nor Gideon could blame her; it was too much for any of them. Four of their FBI agents, dear friends, were gone.
Hotch and Gideon tended to her and tried to awake her and slowly but surely she opened her eyes in a daze. They were filled with tears.
A rustling noise came from the deep in the woods. Everyone gathered around the body quickly drew their guns and pointed them in that direction. Garcia emerged and automatically put up her hands in a surrendering manner.
"Hey, it's just me," she said hastily, "I heard a gun shot…" she began before seeing the body. "Oh dear…"
"Garcia, where's Morgan?" Hotch asked her standing up.
"I don't know, we lost Officer Cole and then we got separated in the dark because my flashlight went out," said Garcia. "You can't find him?"
They all were quiet. Even though Garcia hadn't been taken, they still had Morgan gone which was just as bad.
"There's no point of searching in this darkness," the head officer said, "we should head back and come back tomorrow."
"But what if he's just lost," Garcia said quietly.
"Does it look like he's just lost?" Prentiss asked miserably pointing at the dead officer. "He's been taken, just like Reid and JJ. And who's to say it won't be one of us next?"
