(A/N: The plot thickens! The clock continues tick as Kaitlin is left alone with the Surgeon who seems determined to make sure she doesn't make it out alive.)

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds belongs to it's legal owners

Chapter Eight:

"Garcia, I need you to look up the name Casey Ridenger." Hotch spoke into his phone as they walked towards the SUV.

"That's what I was just about to call you for, sir. Kaitlin was woken up and she got the person to take off his mask and she called him Leo. So I looked up any connections she might have had with anyone of the name Leo. It seems she knew a Leo Ridenger throughout most of her adolescent life, but it seems he passed away fifteen years ago in a car crash. So then I looked up the last name Ridenger in the Vegas database and it turns out that his parents owned veterinary clinics all over the country and they were seriously loaded. So here's where we get to your Casey Ridenger. He volunteered at his parent's clinics, had a serious interest in photography and he had some serious talent for photographing Kaitlin. After she moved it seems that he had to go therapy sessions everyday due to severe anger issues and threatening a kid at his school." She told him.

"I'm sensing a 'but' in there." Prentiss spoke.

"But after a therapy session when his parents came to get him, with Leo, there was a car accident and he was the only survivor. After that, he completely fell off the grid. Well he would have if he wasn't using his brother's name as an alias. The person that registered for that flat across the street from Kaitlin's parent's house was Leo Ridenger…or I guess Casey Ridenger."

"You said that the Ridenger's owned clinics all around the country are there any in the area?" Hotch asked.

"There are…wow…twenty in Virginia and Maryland, ten from Fredericksburg to Sliver Springs."

"Check for ones that have closed down." He told her.

"Five."

There was a pause and then JJ's voice was heard over the speaker, "Oh God!"


Kaitlin undid the buckles on her ankles and then quickly ran towards the gun that had been kicked to the side. She looked at the dogs whose cage was being lifted up then she quickly looked around for anything she could climb but saw nothing. She holstered her gun and looked at the shackles that bound her hands then the chain that was attached to them. She wrapped one of her hands around the chain and started climbing.

The cold metal bit into her thighs as she wrapped her legs around the chain to aid in the climbing. She pulled herself up, lifting the remains of the chain behind her which created a small swing. As she climbed she glanced at the cage that held the dogs back, which was almost completely removed. That's when the string of profanities, insults and death threats started slipping past her lips. Most of which would probably shock her coworkers and some of which even shocked her.

Soon she heard the snarls of the dogs coming towards her and she looked down then decided that there wasn't enough distance between her and them. She climbed faster and higher then she thought possible. But then her grip loosened for just a second and with a squeal she managed to grip it before completely falling. "That's it. If I manage to get out of this fucking mess I'm going to murder him." She muttered and returned to climbing.

She hefted herself onto the support beam and turned the mute button off. "Garcia?"

"I'm here." Her voice was quivering.

"I need your eyes…how many dogs are there?" Kaitlin asked.

"Nine." She whispered.

Kaitlin pulled the clip out of her gun, "Damn…only nine rounds."

"Can you deal with all of them with only nine rounds?" Garcia asked.

"Now that I have some more light I can do it with eight…" She bit her lip.

"Eight? What do you mean eight? You're about to do something dangerous aren't you?"

"Dangerous and stupid are my middle names, remember?" Kaitlin laughed hollowly as she began lining up her shots. "But don't worry it won't kill me…probably."

"Kaitlin…" Reid's voice came through the communicator.

"Yeah?"

"Don't miss."

She laughed and a smile formed on her face, "Reid, hon, I never miss." She took the first shot and the first dog went down, "Eight." Her second shot connected with another dog, "Seven." Then her third shot took another out, "Six." The fourth, fifth and sixth shots also connected, "Five, four, three." She shifted positions so she could get to her belt then took her seventh shot, "Two." With a twist of her hand her belt buckle came undone and she pulled the belt out of its loops again. She looked down again and took her eighth shot, "one." Then turned the safety on and stuck the gun in the small of her back.

Her hands moved like lightning as she looped the belt strap into the buckle but kept it pretty loose. She then grabbed the chain and created the swing like loop again. She slipped her feet inside of the loop and then gripped the top of the chain tightly as she began to lower herself down.

She got halfway down then she removed her holster and noticed that there was a dark liquid substance on it but decided it would be better if she didn't analyze it too much because whatever it was probably covered her as well. She looked at the holster and thought a silent goodbye to it then she lightly tossed it away from her. It hit the floor with a loud clutter and the remaining dog ran to it. As the dog began to chew on the holster she lowered herself to the ground then noiselessly dropped herself to the ground and just as silently approached the dog.

Her foot grazed something that clinked together like a set of glasses and she cringed. The dog looked up turned to face her and snarled. "Time's up!" She bit her lip and lifted the belt then started spinning it around like a lasso. The dog lunged at her and she sidestepped as she let the belt slip around the dog's neck. She snapped the belt and the buckle tightened the loop then a sickening crack was heard. The dog stopped struggling and its tongue lolled out of its mouth. "Zero." She whispered as she let go of the belt.

"Is it over?" Garcia asked.

"It's over; they can rest in peace now." She looked at the nine dogs sadly.

"And you're…?"

"I'm unscathed don't worry…" She looked down at her wrists, "Or at least I wasn't wounded from this anyways." She heard a latch come undone and had her gun out in a second. She watched as a pair of two white paws followed by white legs, close to the ground, slowly approached the area followed by a black nose and white mussel then finally a pair of ice blue eyes looking up at her. "Raph!"

She stuck the gun back into the small of her back again and she knelt down, "Come here, boy." Raph stood then walked closer to her until she could all of his tricolored coat and his furiously waging tail. She clapped her hands together, "Come on, Raph." He galloped towards her and tackled her to the ground, licking her face happily.

When he was finished he nudged her forehead and whimpered. She patted his side, "Don't worry, it's nothing." He got off of her and she began looking him over to see if he was injured in anyway then when she was finished she began to thoroughly petting him wherever her bound hands could reach.

When she finished he sat up again, "Alright Raph, where is Amarelle?" He stood and howled then there was a barking coming from somewhere that wasn't bathed in light. "Take me to her." She got up and they began walking into the darkness.

"Kaitlin, where are you going?" JJ asked.

"To find my dog." Her voice became cold as she thought about what she was going to do to Casey if she ever found out he hurt Amarelle.

As they walked throughout the darkness the slightest noise made her jump so she did the only thing she could think of to block out eerie silence, "Okay so I have one bullet left, so what am I supposed to do if a horde of zombies comes out of nowhere? Or worse zombie dogs!"

"What are you talking about? Zombies don't exist." Reid told her.

She let out a hissed breath, "Easy for you to say, you're all nice and warm in a BAU technical analyst's office while I am here walking in a large dark place that smells like death with who knows what around every corner."

"Death doesn't have a smell." Reid spoke again. "What you're most likely smelling is the decaying of bodies."

"One: that's not helping. Two: death smells like a St. Louis crime scene that still has all the bodies during the midsummer. And three: Ooh a light!" She paused for a moment, "Though ideas on how to fight a zombie horde with only one bullet would still be appreciated."

"First you need to wait until something really big comes, then pray that your bullet does enough damage to kill it. Second since you have a chain you might as well use it, I hear they're very useful for decapitating zombies. Finally, when facing off with any kind of zombie hoard, pray that you don't die." Garcia told her.

"Okay good advice." Kaitlin nodded as she picked up her pace and she began running towards the light. As she started to get closer she noticed that there was a cage with an open door around the light. Then when she was close enough to see inside the cage she smiled, there was her German shepherd nursing six newly born puppies. "Six…"

"What?" JJ asked.

"Amarelle is now the mother of six." She tried to get closer but the chain stopped her from going any further. So she simply sighed and sat down, there was no point in fighting it anymore, instead she simply watched as Raph sat down beside her as his head rested on her lap.

She lost track of how much time had passed, she responded when Garcia, Reid or JJ spoke but other than that she was silent. Until her stomach growled which caused her to groan, "Ugh…need to refuel…need granola bars…" Raph got up and she fell onto her side. She heard Amarelle bark an invitation to her. "I can't I'm too big for that…besides puppy breast milk probably isn't healthy for humans."

"You're talking to your dog again aren't you?" Garcia asked.

"Being held captive is a lonely business." Kaitlin watched as Amarelle barked again and nudged her food bowl. She looked at the dry kibble pieces and decided it was better than nothing so she tried to get to it but was unable to. "Raph, fetch the food bowl." She told him as she lay on her side again.

Raph went and took the food bowl then brought it to her. She took a piece and stuck it into her mouth. Her eyes widened, 'This taste!' She spat it out and then sat up, "Garcia, how many locations do you guys have the search narrowed down to?"

"Five, why?" She asked.

"Because what he's feeding Amarelle is a very rare type of food that they give to nursing mothers, to help the nutrients in their breast milk." Kaitlin grinned.

"So couldn't he just buy it at any veterinary clinic?" JJ asked.

"No, see for this particular type you need a prescription. And at the time of the dognapping we didn't even have a prescription in our house anywhere." She paused as she tried to remember the name then quickly spat it out when she remembered it.

"So they'd have to had it in storage somewhere. Okay I'm checking shipping right now." There was a pause then Garcia spoke again, "There are three, one for DC, one for Silver Springs and one for Fredericksburg…but only one of them still have power running!"

"Woot! I'mma be rescued soon!" Her stomach growled again and she spoke, "Please hurry…"

"That won't be necessary." She turned around with wide eyes and saw Casey standing there.

A growl emanated from Raph's throat and Kaitlin petted him, "Down boy." She then glared at Casey, "Don't you dare touch them, Casey or I swear to God I will murder you where you stand."

He knelt down in front of her, "Now why would I do that? After all I'm not interested in them." He tore her communicator off of her camisole strap and waved it in front of her face, "This, however, I am very interested in." He examined it closely, "It's no doubt the by-product of the brilliant minds of Dr. Spencer Reid and Penelope Garcia. I knew they were working on something, but a communicator? Who would have thought?" He dropped it and went to step on it but her hands covered it up just as his foot landed.

"Don't!" She cried. "Don't destroy it!"

His foot came down onto her hands again and she bit back a cry, "Why not? It's just a toy!"

"It's important!"

"WHY? WHAT'S SO IMPORTANT ABOUT IT?" He demanded as his foot came back down again.

"The fact that it was given to me by my friends! They worked hard on it! They worked so hard on something so incredible. It's my treasure so don't destroy it, please!" She pleaded.

He backed off, "Is that so?"

She grabbed the communicator and held it to her chest. Her hands throbbed and she knew that they were bleeding. Somehow, probably when he dropped it, the communicator lid was snapped shut. "Casey…stop this okay? No one else needs to get hurt. I'll go with you…I'll do whatever you want, so stop this please."

Suddenly he was in front of her and his hand was pulling her hair back so that her head was tilted towards him. "Do you think any of that matters to me anymore?" He snapped. "You're fifteen years too late for that now, Kaitlin!"

"It's never too late! We could leave right now and I know ways so that they'll never find us, just stop all this."

He smiled fully flashing teeth, which sent chills up her spine. "Do you really think you can stall me? I know all of your tricks. If you really want to stall I've got a better idea." His fingers knotted themselves into her hair and he began walking towards where the laptops were, dragging her by her hair.

When he turned to start dragging her she noticed a small silver key resting in his back pocket but her attention was brought back to Raph who was about to lunge at Casey. "Stay!" She told him. "Stay there boy, it's safer there." Raph sat back down and let out a low whine.

That's when Casey tugged on her hair harder, "Be quiet!"

Her hands went up to try to smack away his, "Be gentle, you ass, a woman's hair is her life!" Her right hand continued to smack his hand as her left slipped the key out of his back pocket without him noticing just as she had with Reid's wallet earlier.

When she got it out she looked to see if there were any telltale signs running through his body but she saw none. She smiled but quickly winced when the grip on her hair tightened again and she let her hands drop as she hid the key from view.

When they arrived in front of the cameras again he threw her to the side and she let out a hiss. "This is assaulting a federal agent just so you know add that to the seven murder charges. That's at least three life sentences…which you'll never live to see the end of." She laughed as she sat up. "I win, Casey."

He pulled out Reid's gun and the next thing she knew she was staring down the barrel of the revolver. "If you win then why am I the one holding the gun?"

"Touché, however, if you kill me my team will find you." She grinned.

"Not if I make it look like you came with me willingly." He took the communicator again and looked at her, "What number is Garcia's?"

"Don't call her name so familiarly!" She snapped.

He hit her with the revolver, "Her number!"

She laughed, "Lucky number seven but before you call her, tell me why first."

"Because you cried."

He pressed the number and there was a hesitant Garcia on the other line, "Kaitlin?"

"Sorry, she's a little busy, but you could do her a favor by connecting the rest of your team to this call, she has something to say." Casey told her.

"Do it, Garcia. I'll be fine just do what he says." Kaitlin told her.

"Of course." They waited for the others to pick up their phones.

The first was Hotch, "Hotchner."

"Hi Hotch, you've got me and Garcia, the others will be on the line shortly. Who's with you?" Kaitlin asked.

"Hey, Kaitlin…" Prentiss spoke.

"Hey back Emily." Kaitlin smiled.

The second was Morgan, "You've got me and Rossi, Garcia."

"You've got everyone but Reid and JJ here." Kaitlin told him.

"Ridenger! You let her go! Do you understand me?" Morgan nearly yelled.

"Derek, please." She pleaded.

Then finally JJ and Reid answered, "Reid here, you're on speaker Garcia."

"Reid…is JJ with you?" Garcia asked.

JJ spoke, "I'm here. What's wrong?"

Kaitlin laughed quietly, "It seems like I finally ran out of luck. So I have some things to say." She swallowed, "First off…let me just say that I love you all, you know that right?" She waited for them all to respond before speaking again as she started to try to use the key to unlock her shackles.

"Hotch, you taught me how to be brave and strong. So let me say thank you for that. Emily, you taught me that being fashionable and brave is possible, thank you. Derek, thank you for every good morning that made me smile when I was having a bad morning. Rossi, we haven't known each other for long, but thanks for always having a waiting ear to help out during a crisis." She felt the tears that had unconsciously built up in her eyes start to falling. "Penelope, thank you for teaching me how to properly troll the internet and for forcing me to go out sometimes." A hiccup escaped her mouth as she continued, "JJ, you put up with so much while you were pregnant but you still taught me how to hold a baby properly so thank you. And Spen-Reid, I don't even know where to start, thank you for teaching me how to play chess seems like a good start and for just being you. Thank you for everything."

She fought the sobs that threatened to escape her trembling body, "I need to ask something…can you make sure that my family knows that I love them?" She asked.

"We will." Hotch told her as Casey closed the lid on the communicator.

She looked at Casey again with as much hate as she could manage, "What now?" She made sure he was looking at her eyes and not her hands which were still struggling with the lock on the shackles.

"What do you think?" He asked as he clicked down the hammer. His index finger began to press down on the trigger when she heard the satisfying sound of the lock unlocking on her shackles. The shackles came off and she rolled out of the way just before the shot happened. She had her gun out, the safety off and pointed at him before he even realized what was happening.

"Don't move." She warned him. "You know I don't miss, after all you watched what I did to your dogs from the support beam. At this range there is no chance of me missing." She watched him look down at the shackles then over to her. "Now you're going to listen to me very carefully. You're going to put Reid's gun down on the ground then you're going to get on your knees and wait for my team to get here."

He began moving slowly but then suddenly he was facing her with his gun pointed towards her, "If I die I'm taking you with me." He told her.

"Strange I had the same idea, only I'm more likely to live from this." She smiled, "Now what?"

There was a long silent pause between the two and she swore she could hear his heart pounding from the adrenaline. She heard the approach of sirens but kept her eyes on the man in front of her. "Casey, I don't want to kill you so put the gun down." She pleaded, "If my team finds you like this they won't hesitate to kill you."

He smirked as he heard the doors being slammed open and yells of 'FBI'. "Looks like it's show time. How do you think they'd feel if they found you DOA when they were in the building?"

He pressed down on the trigger but she was faster then suddenly there was a bullet hole in his head and his body was falling backwards. "I'm sorry." She whispered as she got up and kicked the revolver away from Casey's corpse. She heard the sounds of boots hitting the cement of the floor coming closer and she called out, "Federal Agent! Don't shoot."