Author's Note:

Thanks for the support! Keller became Kester at some point and I didn't notice until now. The woman whose name begins with Ke shares Rossi's position but is younger. Look for an end note.

Chapter Ten:

A large white truck blocked four lanes on the Reseau Bridge. The front was angled towards the guard rail. Nina Kemp was leaning against the passenger door with a gun to her head. She looked perfectly calm in a gray pants suit and white blouse.

The local police had set up barricades around the truck preparing for the worst. The team found Kevin Lynch on the scene with bullet-proof vest looking tense. Smith ordered everyone to stand back and walked past the barricades. He put down his gun and raised his hands.

"You have our undivided attention Dr. Kemp now what do you want?"

"Congratulations, Ian. You did an adequate job finding them. But you know the other team would have found you quicker if roles were reversed."

"You haven't answered my question Dr. Kemp," he steadily.

"You have to admit there is a certain amount of love in what I have done. I have nurtured the fantasies of so many people. And look at your group. Three people came to your aid out of love for this team."

"I see only madness in your desire to torture both teams," he said. "Do you think mine should be envious of the team you're holding captive? I think every team has their strengths and I have just shown mine by capturing you."

She smiled. "You think you've won haven't you?"

"I think the team is a heck of a lot closer to safety than they were twenty minutes ago."

"Then you have underestimated me Ian. I have a gift for nurturing the most violent tendencies in people along with the desire for relief. I am in pain Ian and this has always been the endgame. My daughter is dead. I need to leave an impact bigger than hers so that she can be remembered through me."

She took a deep breath and screamed: "NOW!"

The truck smashed through the guard rail. Kemp then shot herself in the head while still wearing a serene smile.

Lynch screamed. Smith called for emergency crews to the river. The rest of the team rushed past the barricades and watched as the truck sank. The light turned on in the cab and there was a splatter of blood.

Callahan and Blake burst into tears. The clung to each other and Prentiss hugged Lynch who was shaking with emotion.

Keller approached Smith who was watching as the truck submerged completely.

"Something doesn't feel right does it? She said.

"Either Marston, Graff, or Nichols are in that truck. She convinced one of them that life was meaningless without out their loved ones."

Jones joined them. "Or all of them," she said. "They could all be in that truck."

Marlon joined them also. "It has to be Nichols, he was the one living with the grief the longest. She had to have convinced him that pain he was living with would never go away no matter how hard he tried to move on."

"The same argument could be made against that," Keller said. "He had lived the longest without a loved. He to have built something from his grief."

Smith walked away from the gap. "They're still alive. I know they are." He pulled out a radio. "Keep the traffic barrier up. Search every vehicle and have your guns ready."

Prentiss looked to Smith. "You think they're alive."

"I know it," he said firmly.

Lynch instantly let go upon hearing this. "Let's find them," he said with resolve as his body shook.

Smith led the team while Keller hung back, keeping Blake, Callahan, and Lynch from getting too close.

They methodically searched every vehicles. Most of the occupants were terrified but cooperative. Van doors were slammed shut and truck doors were pulled down with equal rage. It was starting to feel like Smith had been wrong.

Then there was the sound of bullets.

It was three lanes over down to rows from Prentiss. A state trooper had been shot dead and the gunman was now aiming wildly. The agents took positions behind vehicles as both men emerged and shot from behind the doors.

"Give up," Smith said. "It's over!"

"Not until our clips are empty!" the man who used the name Jason said.

Smith barely dodged a bullet.

Prentiss rolled behind a vehicle, leapt up, and shot the man they mostly knew as Gideon squarely in the chest.

Smith signaled to Jones and Marlon. Smith kept firing Marlon and Jones weaved around vehicles. Prentiss saw the signal and kept firing too.

Marlon shot him in the leg and Jones shot him in the back of the head. The circled around to look for any other shooters. Marlon crawled into the cab and pulled out the keys. He handed them to Smith and took aim at the truck as a precaution.

They were laying tightly next to each other in neat a row. They were all wearing shock collars. Hotch was closest to the entrance.

"Please, don't hurt my team," he said weakly as he used his hand to block out the light.

"Medic!" he shouted and then approached Hotch.

"Aaron it okay," he said gripping his hand. "It's over, you're safe."

The medics and Keller's group arrived at the same time.

Hotch was able to slowly get up and out of the truck. Prentiss caught a glimpse of J.J. next and rushed towards her. J.J. pulled away from the medic and fell into her arms. They both began to cry.

Rossi was next and Callahan rushed forward to give him a hug. Tears silently fell down his cheeks as he embraced her.

Penelope came next with her hair covering her face. She let out a squeak and then a sob when Lynch latched on to her.

Lewis came and fell into the medic's arm without looking at anyone. Morgan lurched forward and started to beg to speak with his wife.

Blake and the medics rushed into the van to find Reid. A stretcher was brought in. The pulled him out with Reid holding on to Blake's hand.

There were so many tears. Keller held on to Jones by the side and she grabbed on to Marlon. Smith joined them.

"Let's go home," he said.

End Note:

This is not the end. I have one more chapter for this story. I also know next nothing about Minnesota aside from the fact that had a town and river I was looking for.