Set sometime in Season 7. No copyright infringement intended. Not making any money out of it. Etc Etc. Major crossover with Criminal Minds.


Connecting the dots

"Whatever happens, don't die" – Special Agent Joy Buchanan's only rule.

Hotch, Vance, Gibbs, McGee, Abby and Reid are watching on the plasma in MTAC the video Garcia sent them.

Emily and Derek, along with Tony and Ziva, left to check the ditched car.

McGee and Abby are working franticly to enhance the quality of the video. Abby glances at McGee briefly and sees that his hands are shaking a little, but he has a fierce expression on his face.

"He's not even trying to hide his intentions," says Vance, "stopping to a patrol car, killing the cop, not hiding his face," he looks at Gibbs and Hotch, who are staring at the scene before them, "he clearly wants us to find him, he wants us to know that he's going north."

"That's probably because he's not staying North," says Gibbs, frowning at the way he grabs Joy's hair and shakes her by it, "he probably wants us to lose his tracks, wants us thinking he's going north while he can go elsewhere, undisturbed," he turns to Hotch, "the first time around, how did you find him?"

Reid responds instead, "He used the abandoned houses of his own victims as his hideout," he shrugs, "as a real state agent, he had access to people's finances and real state properties, and he chose his victims according to his taste: they had to be single, lonely, no living relatives, and with an off the track property where he could set up as base for a while."

"Most of the time, he would setup an initial interview, investigate the victim, and if she had the necessary requirements, he would grab her and take her to his nest, where he would simply let her there to suffer whenever he could visit, or, in some cases," he shook his head, "until they starved to death."

"How many victims did he have?" Gibbs looks at Hotch and Reid, and sees their discomfort at the question, and insists, "how many?"

"We were aware of eighteen people missing, but when the LA BAU cracked all of his hideouts," Reid shakes his head, sadly, "the body count went up to twenty six."

"He had been kidnapping and keeping his victims captive for more than ten years, in different locations, and even different states," says Hotch, "and as his victims were lonely people, with no living relatives, their disappearance took a while to be noticed and reported."

"By the time they were reported missing, he had already crossed state lines and hid her in one of his hideouts," says Reid, "the cases never really raised any red flags as they were only missing, we never actually had bodies to start an investigation with."

"And you guys never connected the dots? Never seen the similarity between the cases?" Gibbs is furious at what he thinks of as the incompetency of the FBI.

"Even though he had contact with all the victims, he was patient," says Hotch, understanding the senior agent's frustration, "he sometimes waited several years after his first contact with his intended victim before snatching her, and sometimes he only spoke to them briefly on the phone, never having met them personally," Hotch looks at the replay of the video, studying how he coldly kills the cop without any remorse or fear, "by the time he actually kidnapped them, the trail was cold."

"How did you crack the case the first time?" McGee looks at the BAU agents, worried about his partner. Each new thing he heard about this criminal made his stomach twist with worry.

"He made a mistake," says Reid, with a smile on his face, "he didn't do his homework correctly, and one of his victims actually had living relatives. A very distant second cousin and they had not seen each other for many years. As soon as the word on the victim's disappearance reached her, she organized everything to visit and execute the estate. She was in financial problems, so she needed the money."

"She had the biggest surprise of her life, when she came to one of the properties, the most isolated one, and found decaying bodies hanging from hooks on the basement ceiling."

"Once the bodies were identified as the missing people from the case, things started to fall into place, and the net was getting tighter and tighter."

"When he realized that they were onto his crimes," says Hotch, "he decided to grab two of the LA team, forcing them into his games," he shakes his head, "the rest is history."

The men and Abby stay silent for a moment, not willing to drag out in the open what happened in LA, as well as what happened after the rescue mission.

"What are her chances?" mutters McGee, looking between Hotch and Reid, who shake their heads, "we can't foresee…" "no," interrupts McGee, angrily looking at the two agents, "you've seen this before, you've seen her," he gulps, and tries to blink away the tears on his eyes, "then, when you found her the first time," he looks at the two agents, begging for a chance, some hope, anything, "what are her chances of coming out alive?"

Gibbs looks at McGee worriedly, and he sees how he is struggling to keep a tight rein on his nerves.

Reid looks at McGee, he understands the Agent's worry, and tries to be as truthful as possible in his answer, "of all his victims, the ones who lasted longer were the ones who obeyed and complied with his orders and wishes. He is a very manipulative man, who believes he has the right of life or death over his victims," he looks McGee in the eye, and explains, "he killed mercilessly all the victims who did not obey him blindly, or that showed defiance towards him; as long as she does not rebel against him," he is still looking in McGee's eyes, "she might still have a chance."

McGee shakes his head, "she doesn't take orders that easily, she will fight him," Hotch nods, "I know, but she knows him, she had him profiled before, and she knows that her only chance of getting alive is to obey," Hotch glances at Gibbs for a second, and then puts his hand on McGee's shoulder, "I know Agent Gibbs is famous for his rules to live by, but," McGee lifts his eyes from his trembling hands and looks at Hotch, "Joy also has her own rules to live by."

"Really? She never told me that," says McGee, and Gibbs is also paying attention to Hotch.

"Actually, It's only one single rule, that she once told me that she would always follow," says Hotch with a thin smile in his face, "regardless of the circumstance, if there was anything in her power, she would follow that rule."

That picks Gibbs' attention, as well as the Director's, "what rule would that be?"

"Whatever happens," Hotch pauses to emphasize how serious he is, "don't die."


Reviews are food for my soul.

a/n: Next chapter deals with hurt and torture elements, if you don't like it, don't read it, and skip to the next. There will be a tiny element of supernatural in it, if you blink it you will miss it.

cheers.