Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to the TV series, Criminal Minds.

Full Circle
Part 11

By N. J. Borba

Emily crawled through the musty venting system with as much speed as possible, and tried hard not to think about Derek being left behind. She tried not to imagine him with a broken neck after the way she'd used his head as a stepping-stone to enter the vent. Most of all she tried not to think about their impromptu kiss. True to their agreement, once inside the narrow vent-shaft, she hadn't looked back. She probably couldn't have if she'd tried, considering there wasn't much room for maneuvering in the air duct. Emily had learned that the hard way, having to back her way out of a few dead-end turns already. There was also very little light to guide her through the dusty maze and her body had already been sore enough before having to move around on hands and knees.

She made a hasty left turn and quickly realized it was another dead-end. Emily swore inside her head as she heeded Derek's warning, knowing that even the smallest sound might give her away. After a better right turn and several more yards of crawling, Emily paused when she heard voices from somewhere below. She glanced around and found a large vent-screen a few feet forward on her left. As she peered through the slats, Emily could make out three figures. She instantly identifying the two young men she'd seen before; one blonde, one with darker hair. There was also a golden-haired female, who she figured to be Teresa Meyer. Even through the slats and from a distance Emily could see the resemblance to her father, Charles.

The fair-haired boy seemed upset, pacing back and forth. "I can't believe you left my brother there to die, Teresa. I'd expect that much from Simon, not you," he glared at the other man before eyeing Teresa again. "I need to go check on Daniel."

Emily watched Teresa lower her head. She looked ashamed. But it was the other boy who spoke up, the one Emily guessed was named Simon. "Kyle, we can't let you walk out of here, you know too much. You could go to the police. Teresa will pay you more. She can get you as much money as you need to finish school, your brother too."

"No. I don't want money," Kyle remained focused on Teresa. "I'm sorry I ever agreed to all this in the first place. I told you Simon would get carried away, didn't I? He doesn't care about you, Teresa. He's using you. I won't tell anyone, I swear. I won't go to the police. Please, just let me go check on my brother and I'll be back."

Simon approached Kyle with a weapon in his left hand. Emily had never seen them with a gun before. And the weapon looked vaguely familiar. She suddenly had a feeling Derek hadn't told her everything about his attack. If they had his gun then it was most definitely loaded. "I think Kyle has become expendable."

Teresa looked distressed. And her voice didn't hold the kind of power it had with its mechanical disguise. Emily could tell she was trying to keep calm, but not doing a very good job of it. "I can't let you hurt him, Simon." She stepped in between Kyle and the weapon. "No one was supposed to get hurt. I just wanted Lauren and Emily to know how much their meddling hurt me, but... Kyle is right. Not at this cost."

"But Emily Stewart guessed who you are, and she's seen our faces enough to identify us," Simon protested.

"Which means we should turn ourselves in," Kyle suggested. "Maybe they'll be lenient like she said. More so than if we kill two more people; one of them an FBI agent."

"No," Simon maintained.

"I don't know," Teresa shook her head as she walked away from them. "I don't know what to do."

Emily quietly removed herself from the screen. Teresa's hold on reality seemed tenuous, which meant she was liable to do anything. Although, Emily got the feeling that Simon was more of the mastermind behind everything going on. Whatever the story was, she still needed to get help. Emily turned right again and followed the duct several more feet before she finally spotted the top of an access ladder. She scrambled forward and hung her head over the ladder to look around. The area below was a stairwell, lit by more tube lights and a flickering green exit sign. Emily carefully managed to turn around and descended the ladder feet first. She rushed to the exit door, but paused with her fingers around the handle. She was afraid it might shut and lock her out, preventing her from returning for Derek.

A quick look around the stairwell revealed nothing she could use to prop the door. Emily decided to climb the stairs and was pleased to find that they lead to a large loft area, which housed a bunch of old pieces of wood. She grabbed the smallest block she could and rushed back down the stairs. Emily did her best to open the door as quietly as possible, and was thankful that it didn't squeak. She stepped outside and was instantly assaulted by a driving rain that pelted her. The weather was of little importance, though, as she propped the door and made sure it would stay open. Satisfied with that small accomplishment, Emily quickly surveyed the area. The sun had already risen, but dark clouds hung low, casting a dreary light on her surroundings.

She and Derek's plan hadn't been very detailed; get out and get help. Now she found herself standing outside a large building in the pouring rain, with a line of thick trees to her right and what looked like a lake in the distance to her left. Straight ahead she could see there were several more similar buildings all in a row, but there didn't appear to be anyone in sight. Emily remembered the building's abandoned quality and realized there might not be anyone around for miles. She set off along the paved road, her feet bare and cold as she ran, hoping for some sign of civilization. Taking one's shoes was fairly typical if you didn't want a person to run. What her abductors failed to consider was that she'd been chasing after a toddler for over a year, under just about every condition imaginable.

Finally, she heard a noise over the rain. "A vehicle," Emily whispered to herself, picking up the pace. She passed another building and looked left. There, between two of the structures, was a vehicle. The red, crew-cab truck was driving away from her and Emily ran as fast as she could to catch up. Luckily the driver wasn't going terrible fast, probably due to the weather. Within a minute she was running right along side the truck. Then she passed it up and placed herself directly in front of it, waving her arms and yelling to get the driver's attention. Emily had to jump out of the way as the truck skidded, having tried to stop too short a distance in the rain. She stood by the driver's side and read the wet sign on the door. It was for a construction company.

The window lowered and a middle-aged man with a dark beard stared out at her. "Are you completely crazy, lady? I can barely see in this rain. I could have run you over."

"Do you have a cell phone?" Emily asked, cutting to the chase.

"What?" He regarded her appearance for a second. "Are you in some kind of trouble, lady? Who beat you? Should I call 911?"

"No," Emily knew that a vast majority of police officers were more apt to shoot first and ask questions later. She really needed the BAU. They were better equipped to deal with someone like Teresa and her friends, to talk them down if possible. And even as upset as Emily was about being taken and held by the girl, she knew Teresa needed help. She'd rather the girl get that help then end up six feet under. "I just need to use your phone to contact someone. Please?"

The man grabbed his cell. "Sure, here," he open the door, motioning her forward so she could partially get out of the rain. Then he handed her the phone.

Emily huddled toward the warmth she felt radiating out of the truck's cab and quickly dialed a number. "Come on," she held the phone to her ear as her whole body shivered. "Please tell me you haven't changed your phone number in three years."

xxx

Reid arranged the pictures chronologically from oldest to most recent. Several minutes later he placed them in reverse order and studied them again. He was trying to decipher some sort of pattern within the images. Nothing was working, though. But he still felt certain the pictures were trying to tell him something. He was upset that he'd fallen asleep for several hours during the night, and more upset that no one had woken him until just a half hour ago. Reid had to admit he did feel refreshed. But it was already eight in the morning, which meant Derek had been missing for over twelve hours; Emily for more than two days. They were running out of time. He continued to stare at the pictures even as he listened to the conversation behind him.

"After what happened here last night, I kind of doubt Teresa would be stupid enough to show up for her classes today. But on the off chance she does, I've got a team on campus," Casey reported.

"Good," Hotch nodded. "Garcia still hasn't been able to locate Kyle Collins and we've got nothing on any Steve or Scott that might be helping Teresa. Either Daniel didn't remember the name right, or he was lying to us. I'm more inclined to think the former. And the two locations Teresa's family finally suggested turned up nothing."

Spencer could almost feel their eyes boring a hole though his back, willing him to find the break they needed to locate Emily and Derek. He put the framed items back into the original arrangement, just as they'd been on Teresa's bedroom wall. After hours spent trying to find a pattern, Reid focused on the middle picture. It almost seemed too obvious, but maybe sleep really had helped to focus his mind better. The center photo showed Teresa at age four or five, she was smiling and sitting on her father's lap. But Reid finally looked past their faces and noticed that they were sitting on a dock beside some large body of water. Spencer plucked it from the group and turned it over. He tore open the back of the frame and, instead of the one photograph falling out, two did.

"Uh... guys," Reid caught everyone's attention as he picked up both photographs. "I think I might actually have something here." It wasn't Teresa or her father in the second picture, but another little girl and her daddy. "It's Derek and Beth," Reid held the item up, showing it to his team members and Casey. "And it looks like they're at a lake, same as the picture of Teresa and her father."

Casey examined both images. "I'm pretty sure that's Pioneer Park on Lake Washington," he pointed out. "I take my boys fishing there. It's not all that far from here."

JJ looked over Reid's shoulder at the picture. "Lauren Kupfer's body was found on the shore of Lake Washington."

"Yes it was, further north," Rossi remembered.

"Are there any kind of industrial areas around the lake?" Hotch asked Casey.

"Sure," the agent answered, getting a feel for where he was headed. "But wouldn't a residence be easier for them to access?"

"Maybe," it was Dave who replied. "But not easier to hide someone, a person who might be shouting or screaming for their life. An old warehouse, manufacturing plant... those would be good hiding places."

Hotch already had his phone out and connected to the one person who could most quickly find such a place. "Garcia," he greeted the woman. "I need you to search for industrial parks, manufacturing companies, any type of warehouse facilities along the shore of Lake Washington, or even very nearby. A place that could be used by our UnSub to hide out."

"Bad guy hidey-holes, I'm on it..." she quickly typed in the parameters of her search. "I've got five possibilities. Three are newer, built within the last fifteen years."

"Try the other two first," Hotch suggested.

"There's a plastics manufacturing facility toward the north, been there for over forty years, still in business. And I've got a lumber mill also to the north, about twenty-five miles from where you are now. There's a notice of sale on the property..."

"Are you talking about the old Switzer Mill?" Casey asked.

"That's the one," Penelope confirmed.

"I know where that is," the agent informed Hotch. "It's a huge facility, multiple buildings. Aside from mill work they did custom cabinetry, mass produced wooden furniture and one-of-a-kind designs. But its been vacant for nearly five years."

"I found the bill of sale," Garcia interrupted. "The land and buildings were purchased earlier this year, and there was a zoning change granted. They're due to gut and remodel the buildings, turn them into mini-storage units," she read the use proposal document. "It looks like work is officially due to start on the project next week."

The Unit Chief thought it was likely Teresa had found at least one unoccupied building there to use. He ended the call as the team silently and efficiently funneled out of the house and into their SUV. Hotch drove, with Rossi in the front passenger seat; JJ and Reid in the back. Casey took point in his own vehicle, punching through the rainy morning commute with his siren. They were about half way there when Hotch's phone rang. He glanced at the screen, keeping one eye on the road. "Anyone contact a Richard Houghton about this case?" he asked, not recognizing the name. All heads shook a negative response, but he answered anyway. "Hotchner."

"Hotch, thank God..."

"Emily?" He couldn't quite believe what he was hearing and switched to speaker mode so the others could listen. "Emily, where are you? Where's Derek?"

Her voice sounded a bit distance for a moment as she asked, "Where are we?" Hotch heard a man's voice in the background. She came back louder. "The place used to be something called Switzer Mill."

"We know where you are, we're already on our way," Hotch assured her. "We're about fifteen minutes out."

"Good," she replied. "Derek helped me get away, but he's still trapped in one of these buildings. There's a construction foreman here, Richard. He'll be parked at the end of a large green metal building. I'm going to leave him here so you can count how many buildings down I'll be. There are eight, the eighth being the one Derek's still trapped in. It's a brown metal structure with white gutters and trim."

"Emily, you need to stay where you are with this Richard guy," Hotch directed.

"I can't just leave Derek in there by himself," she countered. "This was all about taking me, and if they realize I'm gone I'm afraid that Simon kid might kill Derek. But I'm not going to let that happen. Here..."

Hotch shouted into the phone. "Emily!" The was nothing but silence for a moment. "Emily!" he tried again.

"Um, hello," a male voice finally replied through the line. "That woman, Emily? She just took off, running in her bare feet out here in this rain. Not to mention she looks like hell with those bruises down the side of her face. Should I go after her?"

"Damn it," Hotch groaned as he followed Casey along the freeway's shoulder for a short distance, trying to skirt a backup of vehicles. They drove as fast as possible while being careful on the slippery road. "No," he finally replied, hoping to deter the man. They really didn't need anyone else caught up in the mess, especially not an innocent bystander. "Please, sir, just stay where you are. We'll be there soon."

xxx

Emily wiped raindrops from her face as she jogged back, counting the buildings off in her head to be sure she got the right one. When she reached it, Emily turned and made her way toward the corner access point. Thankfully she found her block of wood right where she'd left it, still propping the door open. She breathed a little easier knowing Hotch and the others were already on their way. All she had to do was try to keep Teresa and her thugs away from Derek until the team arrived. She had a feeling Teresa and Kyle could be talked down, but she wasn't so sure about Simon. He looked and sounded like trouble. She grasped the door handle and was just about to kick the block of wood away when she felt a hand clamp down over her mouth.

"I don't want to hurt you," a male voice whispered in her ear. "My name's Kyle. I'm going to let go now, but you shouldn't..."

She didn't wait to hear any more of what he had to say. Instead, her left elbow connected with his stomach and her foot came up to kick him in the groin. Then she spun around and punched him in the nose. Emily watched the boy stumble backwards onto his butt. "I suggest you stay down," she spat. The fingers of her right hand tingled, but were still balled into a tight fist, almost daring him to come after her again.

The young man groaned. "I guess I had that coming."

"You deserve a lot worse," Emily growled. "But I'm kind of in a hurry." She reached for the door again.

"Wait," Kyle got to his feet, but stood hunched over and held one hand beneath his bloody nose. "I can help you, if you'll let me."

Emily sighed, but didn't turn around. "I don't think that's going to work since I know you've been helping Teresa."

"Exactly," he replied. "That's why I got caught up in this mess in the first place. I wanted to help her, because I think Simon is trying to make her do things that she really doesn't want to do. She's pissed about her father and the affair, but she'd never do this all on her own. Simon befriended her in our Civil Procedures class and started ear-wigging her into thinking that revenge was the way to go. And Teresa is far too trusting. I tried to dissuade her, though. When that didn't work, I stayed close to keep her out of trouble. I even tried to get my brother in on this, so he could help me take down Simon. Now my brother's been shot and could be dead. And I'm sorry for what I did to you, but I do want to help," he concluded.

She turned around and glared at him, still digesting his convoluted story. But Emily recalled that he hadn't been as ruthless in his attacks against her as Simon. She'd also already suspected Simon was more than a mindless hooligan. "So, you really did all this to help her?" Emily asked, hoping she wasn't going to regret her curiosity.

"Yes, because Teresa is my friend, one of the few I've ever had. And I also did it for the money, at first. Ever since our parents died I've been trying to carve out a better life for myself and my brother," he replied, dropping the hand that had been against his nose. The blood flow had already stopped. "I was hoping to look out for Teresa, but I did need the money."

"I see, so murder along the way... that's how you climb your way out of a bad situation?" Emily shook her head. "You know what, I don't have time for this." She reached for the door again.

Kyle moved to block her. "You came back for the FBI agent, didn't you? To help him? Even though you should have gotten away while you had the chance."

Emily grabbed two fistfuls of his shirt. He was a good couple of inches taller than her, but she got in his face nonetheless. "That FBI agent is the father of my child and also the man I..." Emily couldn't say what she really wanted to, even without Derek around. She honestly didn't believe she had any right to still love the man she'd hurt so badly. "You're the one who should get away while you can. There's a whole team of FBI agents on their way here right now." Emily let go, pushing him away.

"Good," Kyle replied, not backing down. "Maybe they can tell me how my brother is. That agent friend of yours shot him, not that I can blame him for that. Danny probably did something stupid, but..." he trailed off. "I tried to get Danny to help against Simon, like I said before. But I also wanted him in so Teresa could pay him too. I figured as long as Danny had the money, mine and his, maybe he could survive. And then I could take the full blame for whatever happened. That way at least one of us would get a shot at a decent life."

Emily sighed, pissed off at herself for letting the kid's story start to get to her. "Kyle, you..."

"You probably escaped through the air vent," the young man guessed, persistent to a fault. "But I can lead you back to your friend an easier way. We won't even run into Simon and Teresa. I swear I want to help."

"None of this is going to change the fact that you killed an innocent woman," Emily tried to take an even harder line with him.

Kyle shook his head. "If you mean Lauren Kupfer, I didn't kill her. Neither did Teresa. The two of us got her away from Simon and left her at a park on the other side of the lake from here. When we saw the article about her death, we knew Simon must have done something to her."

"And I'm just supposed to believe you?" Emily scoffed.

"Believe that my brother could be dead right now, or dying. Believe that I have a vehicle parked behind this building and I could be long gone by now, but I'm willing to stay and help you because I believe it's the right thing to do. I just want this all to be over. And then I want to make sure my brother is okay."

In the back of her mind Emily feared he might be setting a trap for her, but her gut was telling her that Kyle didn't want to hurt anyone. Emily followed her gut. "Walk in front of me," she directed.

He did as instructed, guiding her into the building. They walked silently through dimly lit corridors and the kid was good as his word. They reached Derek's door in about a third of the time it had taken her to get away through the air vents. Kyle pulled a knife and Emily instantly removed it from his hands. He looked over at her. "I just need to pick the lock," Kyle calmly relayed.

Emily had gained a lot of skills over the years working in law enforcement, but lock picking was not one of them. She handed the knife back, but watched him like a hawk and shoved him inside the room as soon as the door was breached. Emily didn't close the door, though, fearing it would lock them inside again. She set her eyes on finding Derek, but the room wasn't very big and he was nowhere to be seen. "No," she lamented, running her hands through the wet hair that had matted against her scalp. Tears mingled with the water drops running down her cheeks. Emily turned to Kyle. "Where is he?"

He shrugged. "I swear, I don't know."

She closed the gap between them and went for his knife again. Kyle let go of it willingly, holding his hands up in a show of surrender. But Emily wasn't in the mood to be as nice. She held the weapon against his neck. "If this is all some trick, I swear I will make you regret it."

"It's not a trick," Kyle gulped. "Maybe... maybe they took him to the courtroom area Simon set up for Teresa. Where we were holding you before," he suggested.

With the tip of the knife, Emily pointed toward the door, directing Kyle to take the lead again. They marched out of the room and down another long hallway with doors on either side. When they finally emerged into the open area, Emily ducked behind one of the pieces of rusty machinery that she remembered seeing before. The broken windows above were letting rain in, which formed small puddles on the concrete floor. She located Derek, who was duct tapped to the same chair she'd spent the last few days in. Simon and Teresa were standing just a few feet in front of him; Teresa with the gun in her hands, Simon beside her whispering something in her ear.

"I can't do it," Teresa replied.

Emily slipped the knife up the wet sleeve of her blouse and held it there with the curled fingers of her right hand. She shot Kyle a warning look, silently telling him to stay hidden. Then she strode out into the middle of the space, making her presence known. "What can't you do?" Emily addressed Teresa, sensing that Kyle had been right about everything. Simon certainly seemed to be using the young woman's fragile emotions to fulfill some twisted agenda of his own.

"Kill," the girl replied.

"He wants you to do his dirty work for him." Emily continued forward. She noticed that Derek's head was bleeding again and he didn't seem terribly happy to see her. Emily took a chance and knelt down in front of Morgan, hoping that Simon would stick close to Teresa and keep trying to pull her puppet strings. "The team is close," she whispered for Morgan's ears only.

"Then what are you doing back here?" Derek questioned.

She carefully removed the knife from her sleeve and stealthily began to saw the tape holding his left ankle in place. It was the only location she didn't think Simon could see from where he was standing. "So, you can risk your life for me?" Emily challenged. "But I can't do the same for you? That's a nasty little double standard you've got going there." She smiled, despite the dire situation.

Derek wanted to both hit and kiss her in that instant. "Emily..."

"Both of you shut up!" Simon shouted. "And get away from him!"

His booted foot connected with Emily's hip, sending her to the ground on her stomach. The force of the hit caused her to drop the knife and it skittered across the floor, just out of reach. Simon caught her by the hair and bashed her head against the concrete, reopening the cut along the side of her face. Then he flipped her over and pinned her arms with his legs as he removed the roll of duct tape that he'd been wearing on his wrist. He quickly bound her wrists and ankles before Emily could even focus. Derek kicked out with his freed leg and scooted the chair across the floor toward Emily. Simon easily knocked the chair over, Morgan and all. Then he picked up the knife and moved toward Teresa, positioning himself behind the young woman. He held the knife against her throat.

"Shoot him," Simon pointed down at Derek.

"I can't," Teresa maintained. She looked Morgan in the eye. "I couldn't shoot you last night, either. I heard you apologized to Emily and Beth. I know you love them. I could see that at the park on Sunday when I took your picture; the way you played with your daughter, and how you looked at Emily. I was upset at her for telling my mother about my father's affair. But my father never did what you did, he never apologized for his failure. I swear I didn't want anyone to die. I just wanted them to know that someone cared about my family. Even if my father didn't."

"I believe you, Teresa."

Emily turned her aching head toward the familiar voice. "Reid," she whispered, wanting to jump up and hug the man when she spotted him standing across the room. She glanced around to see the rest of the team and another agent she didn't recognize. Emily brought her hands up and used her teeth to catch a corner of the tape. She ripped it off, realizing Simon was an idiot for not lashing them behind her back. She further noted her surrounds, seeing that Derek was lying on his side just a few feet away. Emily listened to Reid as she attempted to unbind her feet without drawing attention to herself.

Spencer wore a bullet-proof vest like the others, but he didn't draw his weapon. After spending hours studying her things, Reid had concluded that Teresa wasn't violent, nor did she want revenge as Derek had originally thought. "There's a huge difference between wishing someone harm and actually hurting them. I don't believe you're a killer, Teresa," he insisted. "You're angry at your father, but none of this is going to change what he did to your family. If you drop the gun now, we can help you."

Teresa stared at Reid for a long moment. She was just about to lower the weapon when Simon wrapped his free hand around the gun. His actions further trapped Teresa against his chest as a shield. "I told you I'd hurt your family if you didn't help me, Teresa. I plan to keep that promise once I'm done here," he leveled the weapon on Derek again and squeezed the trigger.

Having freed herself completely, Emily dove toward Derek as the gun went off.

To Be Continued...