AN: Sorry about the missing piece at the end of the chapter that several reviewers pointed out. Thank-you for doing so, and I have fixed it.


BAU, Quantico, Virginia:

"I told you that it would be safer for you to stay in Chicago while we take care of the situation," Hotch said, as he stepped off the elevator onto the sixth floor of the BAU, only a step behind Morgan.

The bullpen was empty at this time of day, almost seven p.m. on a Friday evening. The offices were all dark. The only light on in the rooms around the perimeter of the floor was the conference room that Morgan and his team met in. Though the blinds were drawn, the light seen through the open door indicated that the room was in use.

"You really expect me to hide out in Chicago during all this," Morgan said, as he strolled along the upper walkway around the bullpen. "This from the guy who didn't even wait for back-up when he went after Foyet. Hell, you didn't even have your very own personal Terminator following you around," Morgan said, glancing over his shoulder and pointing to the FBI agent who was following him and Hotch.

At six foot five, and the build of an NFL linebacker, Agent William Franklin was easily the biggest man currently in the room. Usually assigned to the D.C. field office, Agent Franklin was one of the two agents assigned to watch out for Agent Morgan for the duration of the current situation. The other agent, SSA Fred Perkins, was currently patrolling outside the building, watching for any unauthorized persons lurking around outside. Given the fact that the BAU was located on a secured military base, Morgan thought that action was overkill. Knowing that anything he had to say on the subject would fall on deaf ears, the profiler hadn't even bothered.

"This isn't about me," Hotch said, not about to get into a conversation about his actions while they were searching for Foyet.

Morgan opened his office door, and placed the bags he was carrying just inside the door. Pulling the door shut, he continued to the conference room.

"Look, I'm not about to hide out in Chicago trying to stay safe. Put more of the people I care about at risk as this guy tries to get to me through them. I don't think so. One way or another I'm going to help find this guy, the only choice you have is if your going to let me help the team or I ditch my "body guards" and look for this guy myself."

"The fact that he was waiting for you at the airport means absolutely nothing to you, does it?" Hotch asked.

"Sure it does. It means I owe you a new car window," Morgan said, referring to the shattered passenger side window in Hotch's personal SUV from the bullet that had been fired at him, as he and Hotch had made their way to the car from the airport. The profiler was hiding behind his tough-guy persona, and making light of the incident because it was easier than admitting that the near hit had scared him to death.

"Like I really care about the window," Hotch muttered as he followed Morgan into the conference room. Franklin took up a position at the rail separating the bullpen area from the rest of the room, opposite the conference room.

Rossi looked up from where he stood on the far side of the table from the entrance to the room. He took in Morgan, as the agent strode across the room and sat down in one of the empty chairs across from Rossi. The dark skinned agent looked exhausted and he leaned back in the chair he was sitting in. The older agent moved his gaze from Morgan to his boss.

"Do I even want to ask what happened?" Rossi ventured, having heard most of what the two had said from the moment they stepped off the elevator.

"Whoever this guy is, he either followed me to the airport, which means he knew Morgan was arriving, or he was waiting at the airport for Morgan to get back. Either way, he took a shot at him in the parking lot and hit the back passenger side window of the SUV. Franklin and Perkins got a glance at the suspect fleeing but weren't able to pursue."

"So our UnSub either isn't a good marksman, or felt rushed when he made the shot."

"Or the shot was only a scare tactic," Prentiss ventured as she entered the room, walking past Hotch.

"No. If your smart, you don't take a shot at a federal agent as a scare tactic. If you're going to shoot, you're going to try making the shot count because you can be sure they're going to try shooting back," Hotch replied. "Where were you?"

"On the phone with the crime lab guys who agreed to put in some extra hours for us. What they can tell us for sure is that the material came from a sweat shirt. As far as they can tell, it was a Georgetown University Sweatshirt as the blue is the same color of the logo's on the school's clothing and could possibly be a part of the bulldog logo."

"So we're looking for someone that has some kind of connection with Georgetown University?" Morgan ventured. "Former student, professor or some other kind of staff or possibly a parent with a kid at the school."

"Which could be how they tracked down Reid," Prentiss said. "He still gives lectures over there."

"Anyone know when the last lecture Reid gave there was?" Hotch asked. As he looked around at his team members he was met with three shaking heads, and two guilty expressions. The guilty expressions were from Emily and Morgan, whom Hotch figured felt they should know a detail like that about their colleague. Rossi appeared deep in thought.

"Maybe Garcia would know?" Morgan ventured.

Hotch nodded. "The lecture would be public knowledge. If the UnSub was at the last lecture, then he could have followed Reid home to find out where he lived."

"But if the UnSub was looking for Morgan and Gideon, why follow Reid."

"Reid was the easiest member of the team for the UnSub to locate. He's been published numerous times, does the lectures at Georgetown," Hotch speculated. "It's a fairly safe bet that if you can locate an agent you know works or worked with who you are looking for that you can figure out how to find them from that agent."

"And if you've watched them enough, and did enough research, you could also be fairly certain as to how your targets are going to react if you attack the agent you've located. If you know your target isn't in town, what better way to get them back in town then to put someone who means something to them in the hospital," Rossi said, expressing the thoughts that had been churning around in his head for the last few minutes.

"Are you saying Reid was attacked to get me back here?" Morgan asked, the guilt he was feeling evident in the tone of his voice.

"It makes sense. The UnSub was clearly waiting at the airport for you. Now he either found out you were coming back and found out what flight you would be on or, and I think this is more likely, he was merely waiting for you to make an appearance. He either knew or found out you were out of town, by attacking Reid he knew you would come back."

Morgan slammed his fist down on the table, making the files arranged in piles on the table jump. "I want to catch this bastard."

"We will," Hotch said confidently. "So let's figure out what we know and what we need to do next."

"I've got that tech Lynch running a search for possible parolees or recent escapees from cases the BAU were involved in during our target years," Rossi said. "We've got most of the files sorted," Rossi said looking down at the piles of files on the table. "Like we discussed, cases in which Morgan and Gideon weren't both involved directly in the apprehension and interrogation of the UnSub we can safely eliminate," Rossi said gesturing to a group of four piles, Gideon's medical leave having added extensively to those piles. "That leaves cases that weren't solved, ones that ended in a conviction, and ones that ended with the death of the subject none of which we can eliminate at this time," he continued pointing out each group of files as he went.

"If the subject is dead or in jail, how can they be behind this?" Morgan questioned, not following Rossi's logic.

"We could if we knew for sure we were dealing with a UnSub we have faced before, which is the presumption we're working on right now. We're operating on the presumption that this UnSub blames Morgan and Gideon for ruining his life by stopping whatever it was they were doing at the time. What if we're only half right about that?" Rossi said, The elder profiler glanced at Prentiss, encouraging her to pick up the explanation. It had, after all, been her original brainstorm.

"What if this guy isn't someone the BAU tracked down and caught. What if it's someone related to one of the killers that was caught, like a son. Someone who holds us responsible for them growing up without their father," Prentiss said. She was purposely not singling Morgan out, wanting to know they considered this a problem that affected all of us, though all signs indicated that their UnSub held Morgan and Gideon accountable for whatever it was he was seeking revenge for. "If that's the case whether the UnSub in that case was killed or is in jail doesn't matter."

"So the UnSub does blame them for ruining their life, though indirectly not directly. We're not looking for someone who is the subject in one of these files but rather has a link to someone in one of these files."

"If that's the case, the UnSub could be a student at Georgetown. If he heard about one of Reid's lectures that could have been what suddenly set him off on his vendetta," Morgan commented.

"Let's narrow down our search by eliminating the cases where the UnSubs had no offspring," Hotch told the three other agents gathered with him. "I think its more likely this UnSub is revenging a death more than a parent who has been incarcerated, so let's start looking through those files."

Once they had some names, Kevin Lynch could start running those names and see what got turned up. They would be looking for someone who had been in their teens at the time of the case - young enough to be near college age now, but old enough at the time that they had developed a close bond to the parent at the time of case. A bond that had suddenly been severed by either the death or apprehension of the parent. A loss that this currently UnSub linked to the federal agents who either had shot him or arrested them. That hatred would have appeared in some form, protests against law enforcement methods, or the government in some way, before now. Hotch knew that it was that belief and the link to Georgetown University that would lead them to finding the UnSub. The question was, could they do it in time to keep anyone else from getting hurt.

The profilers all reached for some of the files in the appropriate piles to begin their search. It was a long shot of finding the UnSub through this method but for now it was all they had to go off of.

As he opened the file on top of the stack he had grabbed, Hotch thought of something. "Dave, where's Agent Jackson?" he asked, realizing the agent from IA Strauss had assigned to work with them was no longer there. Jackson had been with Rossi and Prentiss when he had left for the airport.

"Decided to call it a night and went home. Said he'd meet us here at eight tomorrow morning, though he didn't seem at all happy about it and to call him if we got any important leads. I didn't mind seeing him leave and I didn't think you would either," Rossi replied.

"Isn't Jackson with Internal Affairs?" Morgan asked. All three of his teammates nodded and from their grim expressions Morgan was able to figure out they had gotten stuck with him. Probably courtesy of Strauss. "This whole situation just keeps getting better and better," Morgan muttered, glancing over his shoulder, Through the door, he caught a glimpse of Franklin's arm, as the agent kept watch out in the main area.


Gracemont, Oklahoma:

With a final hug, Jason Gideon stepped back from his niece, who was in the front seat of the Dodge Neon, and shut the car door. He didn't think Vanessa could quite comprehend everything that was going on, but she could sense that he and her aunt were bothered by something. Sense there urgency. Jason had a feeling that awareness was the only thing keeping the girl from protesting more about being taken away from the place she now called home right before the Halloween Party she had been talking about non-stop for the last week.

~I'll make it up to her,~ Gideon thought, not quite knowing how but sure he would figure out a way eventually.

As Vanessa buckled the seatbelt, Jason turned toward his wife. Unlike Vanessa she understood exactly what was going on. Jasmine knew about his past. Knew that when he had met her, that he had been running from that life. Searching for the part of his soul that his job had taken away from him. It had been Jasmine that had allowed him to find that part of him again. Allowed him to be able to trust in people and love someone again. Had given him the strength to start believing once more that there was some good in humanity. That the bad guys didn't always win.

Except here he was, once again faced with the possibility of losing all that was good in his life. Of that darkness shattering the life he had built here in Gracemont. Looking around, Jason knew that this was something that he didn't want to lose. This was something worth fighting for. Something worth immersing himself once more in the hell he had left behind three years ago.

"Come with us," Jasmine said, her eyes pleading once again, as he put his arms around her. "We'll sell the house and the nursery and go somewhere else. We'll start over somewhere where the guy won't find you. As long as I'm with you, starting over doesn't matter."

"I can't do that, Jas. Please understand that. I love you. I love the life we've made here together. If I let him make me run from this, then the next time, running will be even easier. It will get easier until running has become a way of life. I ran one time, and now that I've found myself again, I'm not about to run again."

Jasmine nodded, a sad smile to her face. She understood what her husband was saying. Understood the darkness that was within him and knew even before she had asked what his answer would be.

"Stay safe and come back to us," she told him, wrapping her arms around her husband and holding him close.

"I will. I'm doing this so that we will have a future together," Jason told her. He felt Jasmine nod her head against his chest.

As the two broke away from their embrace, they shared a long deep kiss. Then finally, stepping out of the shelter of Jason's arms, Jasmine headed for the driver's side of the Neon. Jason watched her as she got in, fastened her seatbelt, and with blowing him one last kiss pulled out of the driveway. He watched the silver Neon drive into the distance, on its way to Kansas. With any luck, Jasmine and Vanessa would be safe with Jasmine's parents. The UnSub wouldn't know to look for her there and if Jason had anything to do with it, he wouldn't even get a chance to try hunting them down.

The UnSub was already in the D.C. area. As he appeared to be after both Morgan and himself, the reasonable thing to do would be to finish with Morgan before he came looking for anyone else. The fact gave Jason the jump on this guy. Before the UnSub came looking for him he planned on going hunting for the UnSub.

Turning, Jason headed into the house. He needed to gather what he would need for his trip back to D.C. So far he had spent all his time worrying about what needed to be done to protect his wife and niece. Now that they were safely away, he needed to focus on the task at hand.

Heading to the bedroom he shared with Jasmine, Jason went to the closet and pulled out an old worn bag. His old go-bag. The only bag he had taken when he had left the D.C. area. When he had run away from what his life had become. He hadn't used it since settling here in Gracemont, but now it was time to head back. To face what he had run away from.

Jason started hurriedly gathering things he would need for his trip back East. He planned on coming back so he only needed the necessities. Clothing and toiletries to get him through the days he would be away from home. As he pulled things from his top drawer his eyes fell upon an envelope.

Pausing in his packing, Jason took the envelope out of the drawer. His name and address, in Spencer Reid's neat precise handwriting, was written on the front of it. Inside, was a letter that he didn't need to look at to remember the words after having read it so many times. It was the only letter he had received from the young man who had been like a son to him. Recalling his conversation with Aaron from earlier that day, he wondered if it would be the last.

There had been days over the years that he had missed every member of his former team. The team he had walked out on. Had disappointed. The person who had most often come to mind though had been Spencer. He had left at a critical time for the young man and yet he never had a doubt that Spencer had overcome those demons he had been struggling with at the time. There had been too many people surrounding him who cared about him for that not to be the case. Yet, Jason often found himself wondering how the young genius was doing. What kind of person those events had forced him to become.

Knowing that he had no right to do so, Jason had sent the first letter to Reid back in September. He wasn't sure how the letter would be received. Would Reid open it or toss it in the trash unopened? With the end of September approaching and no reply letter forthcoming, he had sent a second letter, hoping that maybe this one wouldn't be ignored. Jason had just given up receiving a reply. Was coming to the realization that his time with the FBI really was a part of the past, he had received this letter from Spencer.

The letter wasn't all upbeat and Jason hadn't expected it to be. He knew the young man would be angry and hurt at some level with how Jason had chosen to walk out of his life. The former profiler wouldn't have been surprised if Spencer had told him he didn't want him back in his life. That he wanted to be left alone. That hadn't been the case though. The letter had ended with Spencer telling him that though he wasn't sure he could ever trust him again, that he was willing to continue their correspondence and let things go where they may.

Folding the envelope, Gideon stuffed it in the front pocket of the button down shirt that he wore. The current situation was his fault. By walking back into Spencer's life, he had helped make the young federal agent a target. Facing this situation was the only way he could help ease the guilt he felt as well as the only way to protect his new family.

Grabbing an well worn, over-sized khaki bucket hat, Gideon put it on his head. Grabbed his sunglasses from on top of the dresser and after throwing a few more things in his bags headed out of the room. He refused to be the hunted. Though he had been trying to deny it for the past three years, Jason Gideon knew that deep down, part of him would always be a hunter. It was time for the hunter to resurface to protect the ones he loved.


BAU, Quantico, Virginia:

The only sound in the room was the rustling of papers as the four profilers plodded their way through case files. It was slow going and though new piles were being formed, the old piles had barely been dented. The sound of footsteps made them all look up to see Technical Analyst Kevin Lynch come into the room.

"Please tell us you've got good news," Morgan said wearily, as he added yet another file to the stack of files containing subjects with no known offspring. The fact that the UnSub could be an unknown offspring of one of these monsters had crossed his mind, and he was sure the others had considered it to. The task ahead of the was just so daunting as it was that none of them had wanted to put voice to that possibility.

"Well, depends on how you look at it really. The search came up with no escapees from your team's past cases," Kevin told them. "Good news for the general populace but not much help for you all I'm afraid," he added, apologetically.

"It's okay. Not every lead actually pans out," Hotch told the techie. He was about to say more when his cell phone rang. Looking down, he saw JJ's number. "Dave, why don't you bring Kevin up to speed on the new angle and what we're going to need from him next," Hotch said, getting to his feet.

Dave nodded as the unit chief left the room. As he walked through the doorway, Hotch answered the phone. "Hotchner."

"Hotch, I've got some good news for you. Spence is awake."

Hotch found himself letting out the breath he hadn't known he was holding. "How is he?"

"Overwhelmed I think would best describe it. It took quite awhile to calm him down when he found himself restrained. When I finally did clam him down, he was having trouble remembering what happened, which for someone who never forgets anything, must be very unnerving. Both the attending on duty and one of the hospital's psychologists are in with him now."

Hotch nodded though the blonde he was talking to couldn't see the gesture. It was the first piece of good news he had all day and the relief of hearing it was making him realize just how tired he was getting. He glanced down at his watch - it was quarter to nine at night. It had been twelve hours since he had walked into the office that morning. He was sure his team was feeling as exhausted as he was.

"I'll be there shortly, JJ," he told her. He was determined to get her to head home to her son for the night. It was going to be a battle and he knew better than to even suggest it to her over the phone. This was a battle better fought in person and with Will as back-up.

"Okay. Did Morgan get in?"

"Yeah. He's here at the office with me. I have a feeling he'll be coming there with me." Hotch also had a feeling he wouldn't be the only one.

"Okay. I'll see you when you get here then," JJ said, before ending the call.

Hotch headed back to the conference room, relieved to have some upbeat news to report for once today. It was also time that they called it quits for the day. They all needed to get some rest. To be able to clear their minds as tomorrow looked like it was going to be another long day. A long day, which was only going to get more complicated with the addition of Agent Jackson who had already demonstrated how he felt about this assignment. Jackson had his own agenda and actually helping them solve this case wasn't it.