"We're heading out to North Dakota. This is going to be a bad case, Penny, I can feel it. No matter what the outcome is, no one will be happy. I'll see you when we get home."
"Sounds like a plan. Stay safe, don't take any unnecessary risks. I love you."

"I'll try. I love you, too." He hung up the phone and stepped onto the plane. Everyone was waiting for him and he told the pilot to take off, then took a seat next to Rossi, slipping the phone in his pocket.

"How's Penelope doing?" he asked as the plane took off.

"Coping, getting a little better every day. The nightmares are getting worse, though, and her therapist cannot figure out why. Her sleep cycle is out of whack, since she doesn't want to sleep because of them. Something has to give, and soon. Otherwise, she's going to be on a night/day cycle and we'll never see each other."

"Hey, can we focus on the case? We're already five victims behind this guy, and I don't want to lose any more because we weren't ready," Emily snapped, rolling her eyes at them.

"Emily, I thought we were past this. It's been three weeks since the funeral…"

"So? We have a job to do and owe it to these people to catch the unsub. Now, what details are we going to be focusing on once we hit the ground?"

"All the women that have been taken are blonde, between twenty and thirty years old, unmarried. The abductions have happened all over the state, which is why no one out it together sooner."

"Well, with a population as small as seven hundred thousand, in a relatively large state, it would be hard to put together," Reid said, looking at the data Matt had supplied them with before they'd left. "So, where was the first body found?"

"Just outside of Minot, which is in the northern part of the state. Janelle Tompkins, 25, was taken from her house in Bismarck one week ago. She was not the first woman to go missing, so we have to wonder if there are other bodies out there."

"And Serena Kane?"

"She went missing yesterday. Same m. o. as the other abductions, taken from her home during the night, door kicked in, but no signs of a struggle. It appears though, that the unsub cut himself on something and tried to clean it up. The police found trace amounts of blood in the bathroom that did not belong to Serena. Matt was running the blood through the databases to see if there were any hits, but hasn't found anything yet," Morgan said.

"Give him time, we can't expect him to be so quick. We became spoiled with Penelope, and until she's back, we have to make due," Reid said steadily, looking at Emily. She blushed and turned her face from him to stare out the window. "Why are we landing in Bismarck if the body was found in Minot?"

"The central location of the city. Everything is far away in North Dakota," JJ replied.

The rest of the flight was spent in silence as the team studied the materials given them. Aaron found his focus shifting from the case to his wife. What he'd told Dave had glossed over the fact that she was not getting enough sleep and medication had not worked. The pills Dr. Brice had prescribed had had no effect on Penelope, and so she'd stopped using them after the first week. She had not slept well at all last night, and Aaron knew she was going to crash sooner rather than later.

The wheels touched down in North Dakota and they got into the waiting SUVs. Driving to the police station. There they met the chief of police who showed them where to set up. JJ did that while Morgan and Reid decided to go talk with the police who had originally worked on Janelle Tompkins' abduction.

"We need to go up to Minot to check out the condition of the body and look at the burial site. Rossi and Prentiss, you're with me. It's a two hour drive, so be prepared to stay the night, depending on how long we take," Aaron said, walking out of the building and getting into one of the SUVs.

Rossi and Prentiss joined him moments later, a frown on the latter's face as she got in the back. Aaron plugged the address into his GPS and began the drive, not saying anything. Then he did a double take at the date, and his jaw clenched a little as he struggled not to break down in front of them, in front of her. Suddenly, the nightmares made perfect sense to him, and he was sixteen hundred miles away from her.

Rossi noticed the look on his face and said, "Hotch, why don't you and I go look at the crime scene? Emily will be able to interview the medical examiner without us holding her hand." He looked in the rearview mirror and cocked an eyebrow at her, as if daring her to contradict him.

"That would be fine, Sir," she steadily replied, and he nodded at her. The drive fell back into silence, each one preoccupied with their own thoughts. Finally, Aaron pulled into the police station at Minot and they got out, stretching a bit after the long drive. Then Aaron led then inside and the sheriff greeted them.

"You'll probably want to head out to the scene now. Lieutenant Cramer here will take you out there," he said after the introductions had been made. Aaron nodded at the lieutenant and followed him outside once more, with Rossi on their heels.

"She was found about twenty minutes outside of town," Cramer said. "Hope you don't mind another drive."

"That will be fine. You can fill us in on what to expect," Aaron answered.

"Sure. It was lucky we found her at all. A local hunter was chasing his prey – didn't get a clean shot on his antlerless elk – and had to track it through some deep woods. He tripped over the arm of the poor girl while he was looking for the elk. This guy did not bury her very deep, and the wolves had begun to eat on that arm. I do not relish telling her parents this."

"Then don't. Just tell them that they need to remember their daughter as she was, not how she is now. Have their mortician pick the body up and prepare it for the funeral, and make certain that she wears long sleeves," Rossi said. Cramer nodded and went back to explaining.

"The hunter had to trek back into town to get one of us. There's no cell service that deep in the woods. We brought her out and the medical examiner took her back to town while we cordoned off the crime scene. We identified her pretty quickly, thanks to the coverage of the latest kidnapping, and that's how we connected all five women. I mean, it's not like being blonde is that uncommon of a trait here, we're nicknamed Norse Dakota, after all, but these women look so similar that we couldn't help but make the connection."

"Have your men searched the are looking for other grave sites?" Hotch asked.

"No. I wanted to, but the sheriff said to wait, not to compromise the scene any further than what nature would already do. Do you think the other bodies might be out here, too?"

"Perhaps. We should have some of your men come out and start searching the surrounding area after we take a look. It never hurts to look, after all," Rossi replied.

Cramer parked in a gravel pullout and got out of the vehicle, and Aaron and Dave followed him. "It's going to be rough going for a while once we get off this path here. Just follow me, and you should be all right." They nodded and went single file into the woods. Cramer hadn't been lying, the terrain was rough, and they stumbled a bit, catching themselves on trees as they went.

Finally, they reached the crime scene and they pulled on a pair of gloves, then began to take a look around. Aaron looked at the tree they had found her beneath, then reached out his hand to touch the trunk. There was something carved there, but he wasn't sure what, given the half light of the woods. "Cramer, do you have your flashlight on you?" he asked, holding his hand out expectantly.

The officer placed it in his hand and he flicked it on, holding it above his head as he examined the scoring on the tree. It was an odd symbol, something he'd never seen before, with Janelle's name underneath. There also appeared to be more writing started, but it abruptly cut off. "Rossi, take a look at this."

Aaron held the flashlight so Rossi could see the carving. "Do you have any idea what that could mean?"

"No clue. We need to come back at first light to look at the other trees. If the others are over here, they'll have carvings on them, too."

"How do you know that?" Cramer asked skeptically.

"This tree shows the killer is ritualistic, that to him there is meaning behind these killings that we don't know about yet. Once we get pictures of that carving, our technical analyst will be able to run it through the databases and figure out what it is and what it means," Aaron replied. "Let's get back into town and see what Emily found out."

Cramer nodded and led them back to the waiting car. Aaron continued to think about the symbol carved on the tree. The bad feeling he had about the case was growing, quickly. Whatever Emily had discovered from the medical examiner, it wasn't good, not by a long shot. Cramer pulled into his spot at the precinct and they got out and went inside.

"I've called the rest of the team and they'll be here in the morning," Emily said as they entered the building. "We need everyone here. This is going to be bad once we release the profile." She looked unnerved by whatever she had seen that day. "I've booked us room in the Fairfield Inn and checked us all in. We should head there now, I've reserved the conference room. I don't want these details getting out to the general public yet." They nodded and got in the SUV. Prentiss drove to the hotel and they got out and followed her to the conference room.

She sat heavily in one of the chairs and passed each of them an autopsy report. She stared down at the table as they read, and Hotch felt bile rise in his throat. "She was still alive when this happened?" he asked, his voice barely more than a whisper.

"Yes, near as the medical examiner can figure. It's called the blood eagle. It's one of the most painful ways to torture someone. What are we dealing with out here?"

"I can't even begin to fathom the depravity of this individual, however, this makes it clear we are dealing with an extremely ritualized killer. We just need to find out what's driving him. I believe the symbol will be the key to unlock part of this."

"What symbol?"

"The tree she was buried beneath had been recently carved with her name and a symbol and something rather hurriedly carved, as if the unsub had been interrupted before completion." Hotch made a quick sketch of the symbol on the back of his copy of the report. "Do you recognize this at all?"

Emily stared at the symbol for a minute. "It seems like I've seen it somewhere before, but I can't say where. So, what do we know about this unsub now?"

"He has a strict timeline. He takes a woman, keeps her a week, and then buries her body beneath a tree. He then carves on the tree and moves on to the next girl."

"Which means we have five days to find Serena."

Aaron nodded and stood up, pacing the room. He glanced at his watch. It was nearing nine back home. "I need to make a call," he said, pulling out his cell. He dialed home and Penelope picked up a few seconds later. "Hi, it's me. Is Jack still awake?"

"I was just putting him to bed. I can wake him up if you want me to, Aaron."

"No, he has school in the morning. Just tell him I love him in the morning. How are you doing?"

"I'm exhausted, babe. I can't seem to fall into deep sleep and with you gone, it's going to be worse, I can feel it. How's the case going?"

"Badly. I'm glad you're not working this one, I really am. I don't know if I'm going to get much sleep tonight myself."

"I love you, Aaron."

"I love you, too, Penny. Remember, call me anytime the nightmares get to be too much. We've horrid cell service in the forest, but when we're in town, you'll get right thru."

"I will, I promise. Good night, sweet prince."

"Good night, dear heart." He hung up and sat back down, looking back through the autopsy report. "There has to be something we're missing here."

"Maybe it will come to us tomorrow when we're back in the field. You look dead on your feet, Hotch. Go get some sleep," Rossi said. "Emily, give him his room key."

"Yes, Sir." She held out the small paper sleeve to Aaron and he gratefully accepted it, leaving the room while trying to stifle a yawn. "Does she get nightmares every night?" she asked quietly, not looking at Rossi.

"Ever since the funeral, yes. Aaron feels they're building up to something since they just keep getting worse."

"Oh." She stood up and gathered her papers, then handed Rossi his room key. "See you in the morning." She left the room and Rossi was alone. He gathered up the rest of the papers and headed off to his room, opting to take the stairs and think about the case.

The next morning, Reid, Morgan, and JJ met them in the lobby and followed them into the conference room where the staff had set up a small breakfast. "You may want to eat before you look at the autopsy report. It's not pleasant," Rossi said as he picked up a bagel and bit into it.

They all grabbed something from the table and quickly ate, washing it down with coffee, then they took a seat. Emily passed the three their copy of the autopsy report. JJ's face lost all color as she read the details of what the young woman had gone through. "Her lungs were cooked?" she asked, her eyes filling with quick tears.

"Yes," Emily replied. "The coroner said that she was still alive when it began."

"Why the excessive torture?" Morgan asked, an angry look on his face.

"It's a ritual," Reid said. "The Norse used it on their enemies. It's one of the most horrible ways to die, ranking up there with crucifixion."

Aaron took out his report and showed the symbol to Reid. "Do you know what this is?"

"It's a rune, one of the Elder Futhark, if I'm not mistaken." He pulled out his laptop and connected to the hotel's Wi-Fi. Quickly, he looked up runes and found the one Aaron had drawn. "It looks like it is Mannaz, carved in what's known as the markstave position."

"And what does that mean?"

"Nothing good. A few interpretations are mortality, blindness, and expect no help now."

"Wonderful. The unsub is toying with us in a way we wouldn't even be able to decipher if it weren't for Reid. Where does that leave us?"

"I think we'll know more once we search the woods. There's something out there key to this investigation. Are we all ready to move out?" Aaron asked, and they all nodded. Moving as one, they left the conference room and got into their SUVs. Aaron led the other vehicle out to the turnout and parked. Two other police cruisers were already there, and they got out, meeting around one car.

"The terrain through here is pretty rough, so keep a single file line until we get to the first grave site. We'll go from there," Rossi said, beginning to move out.

Aaron's cell went off and he hung back from the group, not wanting to lose the signal. Seeing Penny's cell number, he answered and immediately put her on Face Time. "Baby, what's wrong?"

At first, all he could hear was hysterical breathing, broken with intermittent sobs. "I can hear him, Aaron. But, but I can't find him, Why can't I find him?"

He stared at his wife, quickly ascertaining she was not fully awake, was still stuck in her nightmare. "Honey, you have to wake up, listen to me. Wake up and talk to me."

She gasped and her eyes fully opened, looking at him. She started crying heartbreaking sobs once more and lowered her head. "I couldn't find him," she whispered brokenly. "It's all my fault."

"No, it's not your fault, dear heart. You did nothing wrong, nothing."

"He would have been born today, if I had been able to carry him to term."

"I know, I know." He brushed away a tear and looked down for a moment. "I have to get out in the field now, my love. Oh, how I wish I could be there with you right now, but I want you to call Erin. She'll help talk you through this, and I know she'll drop everything for you, like I wish I could. As soon as I get back to where I have good coverage, I'll call you back, I promise. I don't want you to be alone toady, at all. See if she'll take you to lunch, or to the park, just get out and do something with her. I love you, baby."

"I love you too, ma chroí. Be safe in the woods, they're dark and deep."

"And I have promises to keep." He smiled at her and she managed a ghost of her sunny grin, then he disconnected the call. Moving off into the woods, he failed to notice Emily following him, her eyes wet with unshed tears. Once they were at the first grave site, Aaron went up to the officers near the tree, while Emily went up to Rossi, pulling him aside.

"Sir, I think I need to go back to Quantico. I-I have unfinished business to take care of there."

"Can it wait until after we've finished this case?"

"I don't think so."

"At least finish the day out with us." She nodded. "What brought about this sudden change of heart?"

"You see too much, Dave. I went back to the SUV to grab my sunglasses, when Hotch got his call. My God, Dave, she's so lost, so broken. But they love each other." She looked down at the ground. "I've been so stubborn this whole time, letting my wounded pride drive a wedge between us. She did nothing to deserve this. I just hope she can forgive me."

Rossi patted her on the back. "I'm sure she will. She's capable of great love. Now, let's get to work."

They walked up to Reid and Hotch just as Reid was saying, "This is an ash tree, Hotch."

"Does that mean something?"

"Wait, the ash tree was sacred to Odin, wasn't it?" Emily asked.

"Exactly. But how do you know about that and not runes?"

"American Gods," she replied, blushing slightly. "So, if our first was found under an ash tree, it stands to reason that the others will be, too, especially since the unsub is so ritualized."

"All right, split up and look for carved ash trees. Reid, you and Morgan with me, JJ and Emily with Rossi." They nodded and moved out, with Rossi's team heading east. It wasn't long before they found another symbol, along with the third victim's name. Rossi called Hotch over the walkie-talkie and they waited for the others to get there. Hotch brought a group of the local police and they began to clear the ground. This grave was deeper than Janelle's, but she was lying on the same blue tarp Janelle had been found on.

One of the officers made to turn her, and Emily looked away, already knowing what they would find. She heard JJ gasp and felt her brush by, then the sound retching filled the air. She felt for her; she'd had the same reaction at the coroner's office. The other team members blanched and Emily noticed one of the cops swallowing hard in an attempt not to throw up. The officer gently rolled her back over and excused himself to find another tree.

"Okay, that's our second victim, the other two have to be out here somewhere. We'll continue east," Hotch said, not looking at the woman in the grave.

"Actually, east-northeast. This one was on a slight curve from the first," Reid said, appearing glad to have something else to focus on.

The team stuck close together, somehow drawing strength from the shared horror of their find. "Over here," JJ said, pointing to another ash tree. "There's a symbol and the name." Knowing what would be buried under there, they moved on to the next tree. It was soon found, along with symbol and name. Reid looked out into the forest and began to walk towards another ash tree.

"Guys, we may be a few steps further behind the unsub than we initially thought. There's another symbol on this tree, but no name. Most likely, there are seven more like this."

"Why would you say that?"

"The runes are broken up into three sets of eight for a total of twenty four. The most recent four graves have all been from the second set of eight. This just proves what I'd been fearing – that our unsub is only half way done with his work. We have to find Serena before she becomes the next victim."

Aaron took one look at the tree and shook his head. "How could we have missed eight other missing women? We need to get back to town and have Matt run our parameters through the missing persons database and see what he turns up." He wiped his face wearily, turning to look at them. "Let's go, there's nothing more we can do here."

The drive back to town was silent, each person lost in their own thoughts. They gathered in the conference room of the hotel and Rossi dialed Matt, putting him on speaker phone. "Matt, we need you to search the missing persons database for women who have disappeared in North Dakota. Narrow it to show blondes between the age of twenty and thirty. Go back about six months."

While Matt looked up their data, Emily moved over to a secluded corner of the room and made flight arrangements for the following morning. "Yes, the earliest flight out, please."

"We don't have a direct flight to D.C., however I can get you to Minneapolis and then on a connecting flight to D.C.. Would that be all right?"

"That would be fine."

"All right, your flight leaves Minot at 5:30 tomorrow morning. Your connecting flight takes off at 7:45 and you'll land in D.C. around 12:30."

"Great." Emily gave her credit card details to finalize the confirmation of the flights and then hung up. She rejoined the rest of the group and saw on the laptop that Matt had managed to find about two dozen women who fit their description.

"We have to narrow our parameters. What do those five women have in common that we may have looked over initially?"

"Janelle was uncommonly tall. 6'1", if I recall correctly," Emily said, slipping her phone in her pocket.

"And Serena is 6' even," Reid said.

"Matt, filter these twenty four for a height of 5'10" and taller," Hotch said, watching as the pictures began to fade away, leaving them with eight women. "We'll need to get the dental records of these eight here in Minot as soon as you can, Matt." He nodded and signed off, and they stared at the eight women who remained. Their smiling faces were haunting to Emily, and she shivered, rubbing her arms.

"You all right, Em?" Morgan asked.

"I'm suddenly not feeling all that well. I'm going to go up to my room to rest for a little bit." Hotch nodded and she moved off, going up to her room and lying down. She closed her eyes and all she could see were the faces of those women, smiling, not knowing what was going to happen to them. Nausea roiled in her stomach and she got up to get a glass of water. She sipped slowly, trying to calm down, but it didn't work. She ran for the bathroom and heaved into the toilet, the water burning her throat as it came back up.

She wiped her face with a towel and swished her mouth with mouthwash, trying to clean the taste of bile from her mouth. There came a firm knocking at her door, and she looked through the peephole to see who it was. Aaron was there, a slight frown on his face.

"What can I do for you, Sir?"

"I know you're going home, I don't blame you. This is going to be a very rough case. If you can, check in on Penny, but don't tell her any of the details on what we're working on out here. She couldn't take it on top of everything else."

She took it for the olive branch she didn't deserve. "Of course, Sir. And, I'm sorry for –"

"Save it for my wife," he said shortly. "She's the one whose forgiveness you need. If you get it, then we'll talk."

She nodded and looked away from him. "If you don't mind, I'd like to get some sleep now. My flight leaves early in the morning." He gave her one last appraising look before turning on his heel and going to his own room. She shut the door and went over to her bed, slumping down on it. She wondered what she was getting into and if there would be forgiveness waiting for her at home.

Emily set her alarm for too early in the morning and then packed her few belongings in her bag. She changed into night clothes and crawled beneath the covers, asleep before her head hit the pillow.

After a restless night, Emily's alarm woke her much earlier than she wanted. Grumbling under her breath, she got dressed and stuffed her night clothes in her bag. She made her way down to the lobby and turned in her room key.

"Ready to head out?"

She jumped a little and turned. "Rossi, you startled me. What are you doing up so early?"

"You need a ride to the airport and I'm an early riser. So, are you ready?"

She nodded and followed him out to the SUV, getting in. He drove quickly, and since there was no traffic at that time in the morning, they arrived at the airport with time to spare. He walked her in to the check-in counter and patted her on the shoulder.

"You're doing the right thing here."

"Am I? What if she won't forgive me?"

"Then you'll have to live with that and earn back her trust and forgiveness. You know how tender her heart is, and how she wants to believe the best of everyone. You shook that in her, made her question her friends at a time when she should have been leaning on them."

Emily nodded, soaking in his words. "I should probably check in now. Thanks, Dave."

He left her and she checked in with no problem, getting her boarding pass and going through security to sit by her gate. She pulled out the book she'd started in her room to unwind after the case and began to read. Soon, though, the flight was boarding and she got on almost first since she had a first class ticket. The first flight was quick, up and down, and she spent the short layover getting breakfast. The flight home was longer, and she was able to get the Shirley Jackson anthology almost completely finished.

Once Emily landed in D.C., she had a cab drop her off at her apartment, where she left her bag and grabbed her keys. She made it out to her car and behind the wheel before a wave of nerves hit her. This was really going to happen. She let out the breath she'd been holding and started the vehicle, backing out of her parking spot and onto the road.

The drive to the Hotchner home was much shorter than she would have liked it to be. She parked two blocks away to give her some time to focus on what she would say to Penelope. Nothing came to mind, and she found herself standing on the doormat in front of the door, palms sweating.

Hesitantly, Emily lifted her hand and knocked on the door. She heard movement in the house and knocked once more. Finally, she heard the lock turn and watched as the door slowly opened.

Penelope took one look at her and said, "What are you doing here?"