AN: Thank you again to all who are reading this. Some of the action does finally begin to pick up as the climax of the story approaches. Again, this is fan fiction so I may have taken a few liberties, but I am trying to make this as realistic to Criminal Minds as possible. Reviews are welcome!

Christina was woken up by a splash of water to the face.

"Wake up, your big day has arrived. It's time to see if you are worthy or if you're just like the others. Hopefully you won't disappoint me." The figure in the ski mask chuckled as he leered down at her.

"What are you talking about?" Christina whispered hoarsely.

"Here, drink some water, you're going to need it." He said as he pressed the bottle to her lips and forced her to drink. At first she tried to resist, but when her parched lips came in contact with the liquid she began to swallow it down in gulps. Finally after a moment he pulled the bottle away.

"Good, now get up." He ordered. Christina paused, taking a breath as she prepared herself for the pain she was sure she would feel.

"Why are you doing this? I don't understand."

"It doesn't matter."

"No, I want to know." She glared defiantly. The figure pulled back, painfully rising to his feet as he debated whether it would be worth it to indulge her.

"I know who you are." Christina blurted out. The man paused, staring deep into her eyes.

"You think because you're wearing a mask it will help disguise you from me but it doesn't, I know exactly who you are."

"Oh, really?" the figure challenged as he stepped forward.

"Of course, we met at the gym. We talked, you seemed nice at the time. I never did anything to hurt you…"

"Don't!" the man lunged forward and grabbed her face roughly.

"Don't play games with me, and don't you dare say my name!" he shouted as his fingers painfully dug into her jaw.

"Then tell me why! Why this, why me!" Christina shouted back, ignoring the pain in her jaw.

"Why! I'll tell you why! Because you're all alike. You take everything for granted, you're entitled. If something minor goes wrong in your life you think it's the end of the world. You think you've battled adversity! I gave the functionality of my leg for people like you! This is the thanks I get? Well it's time for you to see what real adversity is like."

"It was your choice to go to war, that's something you have to live with. You can't take that away by torturing and killing others!"

"I only kill them if they are weak. That's what this whole thing is you see, a test to see how strong you are. To see if you could possibly endure some of the things I have had to go through, that you take for granted daily. And you know what? Not surprisingly so far everyone has failed in the end. Maybe, you'll be different, but I doubt it." He said, roughly releasing his grip on her face.

"You think just because I haven't gone through what you did that I haven't faced adversity? I have! I'm a single parent struggling to make ends meet while having my brother room in the same house. Do you think things went the way I planned them? Hell no! But I'm working through it the best I can, I'm facing it head on, as you should be."

"Don't you dare lecture me about how I should be handling things!" he roared as he slapped her.

Christina whimpered as she rubbed her cheek.

After a few moments of tense silence she spoke again.

"Listen, do I think you got a raw deal? Yes, probably. Do I think you've been under appreciated for the sacrifices you had to make? Again, probably. But please…I'm begging you…don't do this. I have a young son, I don't want him to grow up without a parent." She hated to beg, she really did, but she was desperate. She knew where things were headed, what things were coming to.

Today was the day she either left this place alive, or died and never got to see her son again. Her options were almost gone so she was left to try to appeal to the human side of this man, if he had a human side. Boy, did she pray that he still had a human side left in him. The figure turned to look at her, giving her another long look.

"You'll see your son again, if you pass the final test."

/

Once Cole had a promise from Eric that he would maintain Cole's anonymity for the time being, he filled the producer in on some of the vital details. Eric responded by promising Cole he would have someone at the precinct within a half hour and if parts of the story checked out, then he would make it the top story on the noon time news.

Cole was satisfied with this response, as he hoped Christina's case would finally get the publicity he felt that it deserved. Now it was on to stage two of his plan. He exited the bathroom and immediately Jennifer walked over from nearby to meet him.

"We have to go." She said to him seriously.

"What do you mean?" he asked, trying to act confused.

"They want you out of the precinct for the time being. It's for the best, we're at a critical stage." JJ tried to explain.

Perfect Cole smiled internally to himself.

"I…I guess I understand. I shouldn't have lost it back there, I'm sorry." He looked at her with his attractive eyes.

"It's a little late for that now, but for what it's worth I understand. You haven't slept and you're stressed." JJ looked at him softly.

"I've tried, I just can't."

"I know, come on, I'm taking you home." She said, guiding him towards the door.

"Do you mind if we stop for coffee first? I need something to keep me going. I'll buy you one too if you want."

JJ looked at him a little uncertain as they made their way outside.

"I don't know, I'm supposed to take you straight home. Can I trust you?" she asked as they got into one of the FBI SUVs.

"I promise, it'll be quick and I won't run off. If you're worried I can grab the coffee while you sit in here. You can trust me." He said as she started the engine and they began driving. JJ stayed quiet for a moment.

"Please…?" Cole asked, sounding a little like Aiden had a day earlier. This made JJ laugh.

"Ok, fine we'll get coffee."

They drove a little longer until JJ found a Starbucks. They pulled into a parking space and JJ went to undo her seatbelt when Cole put his hand on hers, stopping her. His fingers lightly traced hers and JJ felt a tingle shoot through her hand.

"I'll get it, stay here." He said, giving her a look that made the car feel a lot warmer than it had been a few seconds earlier. JJ finally unhooked her eyes from his gaze and pulled her hand away.

"Ok…but make it quick…if you run I'll track you down." JJ said as she tried to regain her composure.

"Don't worry, I won't." Cole smiled as he unhooked his belt and stepped out of the SUV.

"How do you want it?" he turned and asked her.

"I'm sorry?" she said, snapping herself out of the other world her head had just been in.

"How do you want your coffee?" Cole smiled charmingly.

"Uh, grande low-fat latte, two sugars."

"Got it." Cole closed the door and JJ watched him stride inside.

She knew she was going out on a limb in letting him go in there by himself. She couldn't see inside too well, especially if he stepped to the condiments station which he would have to do. She trusted he would do the right thing, though. He really seemed like a nice guy, he just wanted his sister back.

If she were in his shoes she would probably do all the same things he had done, she couldn't blame him. He hadn't given her a reason not to trust him, and she didn't think he would start now. Now, if only she could get her damn heart rate to come back down. She didn't know what it was about Cole, but he had a charming effect on her.

/

Cole entered the Starbucks, not too surprised to see there was a long line, even though it was after ten in the morning. The place was always busy. No matter, everything was going exactly as he had planned.

His heart was racing as his mind contemplated what he was doing. He felt kind of bad, Jennifer was really nice; he liked her, he really did. He knew what he was about to do could really screw her, especially if things went bad.

But for as much as he liked Jennifer, he loved his sister more. He would do anything for his sister, even if it meant doing this. Even if it meant momentarily making Jennifer happy, only to later make her job incredibly difficult and to never have her talk to him again; it was a sacrifice he was willing to make.

Cole waited patiently, his hand instinctively going to the bottle in his jacket pocket. His fingers fiddled with the cap as he slowly made his way to the front of the counter. Finally, it was his turn to order. The barista made the coffees, took his money and he was off to the condiment station to finish their coffees.

As Cole made it to the station he took a quick glance outside, making sure Jennifer couldn't see him. When he was satisfied, he slipped his hand back into his pocket and pulled out a couple of pink pills from the bottle he had acquired from the drug store a day earlier.

Discreetly, he dumped the pills into her latte and stirred it in with her sugar until he was satisfied it would all be dissolved. He had never done something like this before, and while a part of him told him what he was about to do was very wrong, a stronger part of him told him that it was necessary.

He needed to distract Jennifer for a little while and what better way than this? It would satisfy them both. He wasn't going to hurt her after all. And, she didn't have a boyfriend and she was clearly attracted to him. He would help give her the release he was sure she hadn't experienced in a while.

All this would do was to help him to convince her to go along with what he wanted.

What he wanted first and foremost was his sister obviously, so he needed to distract Jennifer anyway. He was just going to use her attraction to him to his advantage for an hour or two; that was all. If things didn't work out the way he planned then he would stop. He wouldn't force things.

Cole looked around, glad that for a brief moment he was by himself at the condiment station. He reached back into his pocket, pulling out the bottle labeled "Women's Libido Enhancement" and chucked it into the garbage can, throwing some napkins in on top to help cover it.

He grabbed the two cups and walked to the door, making his way back to the SUV. He walked to the driver's side and JJ rolled down her window.

"See, I promised you I would come back." He smiled as he handed her the latte.

"My trust in you remains intact." She smiled back at him. She took a sip of her latte as Cole circled around to the passenger side. He opened his door and took his seat.

"How is it?" he asked after watching her take another sip.

"It's a little sweet, but it'll do, thanks." JJ replied as she put the SUV in gear.

"No problem." Cole answered, taking a sip of his own drink.