"There are no extra pieces in the universe. Everyone is here because he or she has a place to fill, and every piece must fit itself into the big jigsaw puzzle." - Deepak Chopra
"So now it is time to disassemble the parts of the jigsaw puzzle or to piece another one together, for I find that, having come to the end of my story, my life is just beginning." - Conrad Veidt
"The world is a giant puzzle that hasnt been put together yet, and were trying to find the other piece of this puzzle that goes with us" - unknown
After leaving the conference room Hotch went to his office. Shutting the door he took out some report forms from a file cabinet next to his desk and sat down. He started filling out the paperwork on the basics of the case, a request to use the jet, and got a receipt list started. Once he had these done he filled out a mission statement sheet to take to Strauss. Technically he would need her to sign off on this case but if it came to it he'd get Reid or Garcia to forge her signature and approve the case. He left out any mention of Gideon just in case, he hoped she wouldn't find out either at least till it was over. Putting the reports in a new file he pulled out his go bag and placed it on top. Then he went to deliver the mission statement to Strauss. He wouldn't talk to her just leave it for her to sign, they still didn't get along even though she'd let up slightly after Foyet. With that done he headed to JJ's office. When he got there JJ was by the fax machine and was separating papers that were coming through. He knocked on the door jamb to alert her of his presence. She turned her head and nodded at him.
"Did you get us invited into the case or are we starting it for them?" Hotch stepped inside the office.
"A little bit of both, the locals had something started but put in a request for the local branch to look into it. They hadn't had the chance yet so I told them we'd take it, so we are in but starting fresh. The agent I spoke with said he'd inform the local police, but I'm going to give them a call and smooth things over when all the files come in." JJ wasn't paying too much attention to Hotch as she explained. She knew he wouldn't take offense as she had her hands full with arranging the incoming paperwork.
"Good, this is a positive start, I have a feeling we're going to need a lot of their help in the future." Hotch stood by the door as the fax machine finally stopped.
"I just hope this case doesn't take too long. Those kids don't need to go through that again. When do we leave I'd like the chance to see Henry if possible before we go?" JJ finished separating the papers and slipping them into a folder before turning to Hotch.
"At least another two hours, we have to wait for Prentiss and Tesla to get back and make sure she's ready to go. Also I want to have as much information as possible with us on the jet. As long as you're here when it's time and you have all your calls made I don't see why you can't go see Henry." Hotch knew what it was like to want to see your child before leaving. All the cases he'd gone on and missed seeing his son before was hard. To be honest he'd missed a lot of things with his son. He'd tried to be there and now that Hailey was gone he tried harder but sometimes he still felt it wasn't enough. He'd contemplated getting a web cam for Jack and Jessica so he could see him at night instead of just calling from the road. He'd have to ask Garcia to help him hook it up but it would be worth it.
"Thanks Hotch, I'm just going to call the local Las Vegas police and I'll get going. I'll be back before but give me a call if you need me earlier." JJ sat down and started looking up the number she needed. Hotch left her office and went to Rossi's.
CMCMCMCMCMCM
Rossi was on the phone when Hotch got to the slightly closed door. From the sound of it the call was not going well.
"No I didn't say…I know you….Could you just…No don't…hang up" the last was said slowly and with an edge of annoyance. Rossi set the phone back in its cradle and leaned back in his chair. "You may as well come in Hotch." Rossi pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a sigh before sitting forward in his chair again. Hotch pushed to door the rest of the way open and walked in, sitting in a chair across from Rossi.
"I take it whatever you were trying didn't work out the way you planned?" Hotch didn't grin but the expression of it was in his voice. He didn't show much emotion but he let his guard fall slightly more when he was around Rossi.
"No but it did give me some other ideas. Has anyone been out to Gideon's cabin since he left?"
"Reid went back about a month after we officially noted Gideon off the team, but I don't think so since then. What are you thinking?"
"He left Reid a letter and no one has really been back so we don't know if he may have come to check on the place. Maybe he has someone do it for him. Why don't we get Reid to leave him a letter there? It's a long shot but he might get it, if not there's no harm in it."
"That might work, I'll see if it fits in before we leave. Anything else?"
"Yes, you probably thought of it, we might all have but…this unsub. It could be one of the original officers or even a victim who's the copy cat."
"The thought did cross my mind and the officer part may have crossed Tesla's. But I think she might consider the fact it could be one of the over victims hard to accept right now. As professionals we have to be up front with her about it, but I doubt she'll take it well."
"I think we should wait to discuss this until we get to Nevada."
"Alright. The jet leaves in about two hours, do what you have to till then" Hotch got up to go back to his office. On his way he bumped into Morgan who had the copied files ready in a binder. Hotch took his and walked down to the bull pen to talk to Reid.
CMCMCMCMCMCM
Having left Garcia to her work Morgan went over to the giant copy center where various machines were spitting out all kinds of papers. After looking them over he found two currently duplicating the information for their case. He knew Garcia was very busy and so where the other team members but he didn't have an assignment having done what Hotch asked already. So to be useful and stay on Garcia's good side for the case he began collecting the completed work and putting it in order to the original file. There was a copy for everyone and with the amount of paper being produced it looked like they were going to be carrying around a small tree's worth each. Deciding note binders would be better suited he went to a supply cupboard close by and pulled out what he would need; note binders, sticky note flags, and pads for case notes, along with fresh pens. He was never one to be to organized but there was just so much information it was necessary. He spent the next half an hour putting it all together and waiting for the machines to stop. When he was done he carried the heavy load to his desk, placing a binder on Prentiss desk as he went by. Then he took one to Reid's desk where the genius was staring at the computer.
"What are you looking at?" he leaned over Reid's shoulder to look at the screen causing Reid to pull back a bit in surprise.
"Don't do that Morgan. I'm looking at basic backgrounds on the victims" Reid huffed out. He'd been so focused Morgan had caught him off guard.
"Relax I didn't mean to scare you…much" Morgan grinned at him. He like to tease Reid when he could, sometimes to try and lighten the mood or take his mind off or something. "Here's the file Tesla brought. Anything interesting here?" Morgan perched on the edge of Reid's desk as he handed over the binder.
"Not much, this is just a basic rush search. Most of the victims don't have any major notes so a lot of it is coming up empty. One or two have some traffic tickets and except for one with a juvenile record this is kind of slow."
"We can get Garcia to look into the juvie record later. Keep looking I'll be back" Morgan got up to go hand out the rest of the binders. He caught JJ on her way out to meet Will and Henry for a goodbye lunch. She accepted the binder but asked him to put it on her desk, she wanted to spend as much time with her men as possible. He understood that and nodded. When he got to her office he saw her go bag in her chair and set the binder on top. Leaving her office he ran into Hotch and gave him a binder as well before going into Rossi's office to drop off the last one.
CMCMCMCMCMCM
Reid was scrolling through several screens on his computer when Hotch came up to him. He always approached Reid head on if he could. Sometimes the genius started when anyone approached and he was concentrating on something else to hard to notice right away. "How is the search coming?"
"Slowly, nothing much to really report on right now," Reid looked up at Hotch.
"Good I have a favor to ask. If you feel up to it, write a note to Gideon. Just say that we have a case that needs his urgent attention and we'll be in Nevada. He can contact us by cell, or through the local F.B.I. if he doesn't want to see us in person. We have about two hours until the jet's ready to go. You think you can take the note to the cabin and be back? I'll have Morgan continue your search while you're gone. If you don't want to do it I'll find someone else, but I thought I thought you might like to do it."
Reid gave it a moment's thought his brows furrowing in concentration. Slowly he nodded, "I can do it. Not sure he'll get it but it's worth a try. Do you want me to leave out Tesla?"
"No I don't want him to know just yet. It might fail but if not I don't want it to change any decision he might make. I want him to talk to us on his terms not because he feels he has to. Or I don't want him to avoid it if he's ready to talk because of her situation."
"Alright, I'll be back before it's time unless there's any major traffic. But I'll call you on the way back, just to check in." Reid started looking around his desk for a pen and paper.
"Good, I'll see you then" with that Hotch left Reid to write his letter and he went back to his office to read over the binder of note more carefully.
CMCMCMCMCMCM
Morgan had given the last binder to Rossi who nodded thanks and went back to Reid who was busy writing something down. He would pause every now and again before resuming. "What you doing now pretty boy?"
"Hotch asked me to leave a note at Gideon's cabin just in case he checks there. I need you to keep an eye on the computer while I'm gone. I doubt much more is going to come up but just to be sure."
"Beats waiting with nothing to do. JJ took off to meet up with Will and Henry and Prentiss and Tesla should be back in an hour or so." Morgan went over to his desk to sit down. "Tell me when you're ready to go."
"I'll be done in a few minutes," Reid went back to writing the letter. True to his word he finished and was putting the letter in his messenger bag five minutes later. "See you on the jet," Reid called to Morgan who was moving to his desk as he walked to the elevator. Morgan just chuckled and sat back to watch the computer do its work.
CMCMCMCMCMCM
Prentiss hit a bit of traffic on the way back to Quantico but it wasn't a stand still. Tesla had been staring out the window but she turned to Prentiss when she got board of looking at other cars. "How is working with Gideon?"
Prentiss frowned, she was unsure how to answer and had to think. They had told her Gideon had been gone for a while, but where or why. Or even that he wasn't coming back, at least not it the foreseeable future. "It was kind of challenging and a bit nerve racking at first, but I got to know him and just do what came natural. I guess you could say we have a good working relationship." She used present words as to not tip Tesla off. Hotch could handle that bridge when they came to it. She didn't at this moment and probably wouldn't want to do it later either. Her personability skills weren't always the best, but she always tried hard. Tesla kept looking at her but didn't say anything for a few more minutes.
"Does he, does he have a family? I looked him up but I didn't dig to deeply after I found out what he did. Until all this stuff with the copy cat I didn't really think about it. Then I just thought I'd meet him and he could tell me but…"
Prentiss nodded in understanding. Again she had to think about how to answer but it didn't take as long as last time. "It's hard on us to have relationships with this job but he has a family more or less. We, the team, are his extended family and he was married. But I suggest you ask Hotch or Rossi about that, they would know more."
"Oh sorry to make you uncomfortable. I just have to know things some times, I'm curious about everything. It's either really good or annoying my friends say. Curiosity killed the cat and all but hey I'm not a cat so… you get the picture." Tesla smiled as she explained.
Prentiss could understand, at least to some degree. "So these friends of yours, they the ones you managed to find?" She changed the subject to one she could get answers from.
"Yes, I mentioned I found a few of the other kids, not all of them, just about half with Amy missing and Marcus dead not included. We get together twice, sometimes three times a year if possible. We talk about our lives now and try to find the others. We don't talk too much about the past, especially what happened in those woods." Tesla looked down at her hands then back out the window. It was a sign to Prentiss she was done with questions for now. They drove slowly along for miles before finally picking up some speed after a few of the major exits for the bigger cities.
They were almost back to the F.B.I. building when Prentiss stomach gave a small growl, not quite loud enough to get Tesla's attention. "Did you eat breakfast?" Prentiss stole a look at Tesla.
"Not really" Tesla continued to stare out the window.
"All I had was a muffin with coffee myself. Why don't we stop and get something, we don't have to be back for another forty-five minutes."
"Okay, whatever is good for me, I'm not picky."
"Good because I'm not to into fast food places like a lot of younger people are."
Tesla laughed a bit and turned to give Prentiss a smile. They looked for places as they drove along skipping over places like McDonalds, Wendy's and Subway. Finally Tesla spotted a café that looked promising and they pulled up and went inside to eat. The food was decent and they ate and were back on the road in good time. They made it back to the BAU offices with ten minutes till meeting to get to the jet. Hotch, Rossi and Morgan were already there and JJ would meet them at the jet. Reid showed up about six minutes after Prentiss and Tesla, apologizing about traffic and almost being late.
"Alright every get you bags, let's leave." Hotch ordered the team who all got duffel bags from their desks. On the way out Rossi got JJ's bag from her office as he passed. He tucked the binder of notes and a case file from the desk and chair in the bag as he walked to the elevator. They did talk as they got to the garage and climbed into a black SUV after stowing their bags in the back. The drive to the private air port was quick and silent. As they unloaded from the SUV JJ came over to meet them.
"The jet's ready to go once we get on. The flight should only be a few hours, we'll arrive in Las Vegas sometime in the early evening" JJ informed them as she retrieved her own bag from the SUV.
"The faster the better so we have plenty of time to set up and brief the local police," Hotch Started the team towards the waiting jet. They all filed up the steps and into the jet going to familiar seats.
Tesla was slower, taking everything in as she boarded. She looked around at how the team sat and interacted as the jet began to taxi to the runway. She finally picked a seat next to JJ facing a small table and sat down as the jet took off down the runway. She shifted in her seat when it left the ground but settled as the jet leveled off. Despite the sleep from the previous night and not do much physical activity so far during the day she found herself falling asleep. Not long after she drifted off the nightmares began.
CMCMCMCMCMCM
Spencer took up his usual spot laying on the couch as the jet started moving. He had gotten back from delivering the letter to Gideon's cabin. He'd been nervous when he got there, not knowing what to expect. Had Gideon been back at all? Could he be here now or in the area? He'd gone inside after standing and staring at the door for several minutes. No one was there and it looked like no one had been there for a while. However there were covers over most of the furniture, so at one point someone had been in. He'd left his letter exactly where Gideon had left him a letter a little over two years ago. As the jet steadily brought them closer to his home and their case he found himself nodding off. It happened from time to time on a case and he left it happen. As he fell asleep he started to dream and to remember.
(A little longer chapter this time…Okay so now the case/hunt for the unsub really begins. Sorry if this seems broken up I was away for the holiday and came back with writers block. Which I have chased away at 2 in the morning… Kinda choppy sorry, the next chapter will be smoother and include flashbacks. Thanks for reading, don't forget to review.)