Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any related aspects, which belong to their respective owners. No money made.

Summary: Duet partners of a certain violinist are murdered after their first performances. The BAU are asked to help find the killer.

Rating: M

Warnings: Violence, sexual themes, yaoi, language

[Criminal Minds] The Essentials [Hotch/Reid, Reid/OMC, OMC/OMC]

Rondo [A musical form where the principal theme is repeated several times.]

"Come out, come out, wherever you are…"

He was after her. His voice was high-pitched, a sing-song tone that raised the hair on her neck and made her shiver.

Liu. This man's name was Liu. Mei Xing remembered the man in brief glances; the late nights when Older Brother would return home tired from a performance of some kind, leaning heavily on the taller man's frame… the times when the two would come home laughing like schoolchildren, and she would be asked to serve them tea… in fact, the three of them had eaten together on more than one occasion.

But, to think that he would be behind her and Older Brother's kidnapping… Why? She'd never felt any sort of animosity from the man…

But there was that one time.

Yes. That one time that Older Brother had forbidden her to speak about. The time that they hadn't gotten back until the early morning- not unusual in itself- but upon their arrival, there were two things amiss.

Liu usually drove a Mazda Miata. It was a convertible, red and flashy, and it suited him. Mei Xing thought it a bit too gaudy for her taste, but was told quite firmly that it was "appealing to young women," when she'd mentioned her opinion to Liu.

That early morning, they'd arrived in a Toyota. It was a pickup truck, she'd recalled, and she'd rushed out when she'd realized who the occupants were.

Liu was as he always seemed: humorous, cheerful, joking- but her brother had been a different matter entirely. The second thing unnatural.

36 hours.

It had taken 36 hours for him to wake up.

Mei Xing had been scared. Liu had seemed calm at the time, making routine visits, patting her on the back, and assuring her that everything would be fine, that Wai Li would regain consciousness soon enough… but those 36 hours had scarred her.

When Older Brother had woken up, he'd looked at her with dazed eyes that cleared, slowly, and told her, slowly, never to speak of those 36 hours to anyone.

She'd obeyed without question.

And now, as Mei Xing ran, trying to stifle her breathing, she remembered those 36 hours and, even more than that, the look on Liu's face when he'd told her that everything would be fine, that her brother would be awake soon.

"This place is a freaking maze."

There was silent, unanimous agreement from Reid, Hotch, and Rossi. Morgan had taken the lead in their search through the basement and Rossi pulled up the rear. Guns drawn, senses on full alert, and the sound of their steps echoing down hallways, Reid mused that they did, indeed, look like a party of online RPG players.

Just, with Glocks and bulletproof vests rather than swords and magical staffs.

"Stop," Hotch whispered forcefully. Everyone froze.

Footsteps. Not their own.

"To the right. Go, go!" They rushed down the narrow corridor, unsure of what they'd find there and not yet wanting to know.

"Have you ever heard of someone who was blackmailed for being gay?"

JJ stalled in her answer. "I'm sure it's happened before. I guess, for some actors or celebrities? Maybe some politicians, too?"

Stationed in front of her numerous screens and keyboards, Garcia nodded to herself. "That's what I thought, too. But I was looking over everything you've sent me on this case and I thought that was the one thing that seemed… I don't know, fishy?" She fiddled with a lock of blonde hair hanging over her ear. "So I looked into the correspondence between Wai Li and his father, again…"

Prentiss adjusted her headset, which was linked to the other two women's. "You found something new?"

"Well, kind of. Not exactly. But get this. There have been a bunch of 'deliveries' made to our little musician ever since his arrival in America. Or, at least, confirmations of deliveries. I don't know if Reid missed that in his process of mass and rapid translation, but I'm pretty convinced that there's been a trade-off. Money for… something."

Silence.

"Garcia, can you look into this as much as you can? That's… we might really need this information. It can't hurt. And there are too many secrets here anyway." JJ paused and turned to Prentiss, who looked equally as resolute. "We need to start getting some answers."

Wai Li sat on cold tile, alone and restless.

How to get out of here. How to find Little Sister and ensure her safety. How to exact punishment on Liu.

He realized that he'd been shaking unknowingly. He didn't know how long he'd been that way.

How to never, ever, let this happen again. How to break away. How to find the truth.

He'd been crying, too. He whispered, "Stop," to himself.

Stop, stop, stop.

How to stop his addiction once and for all.

[A/N] Yeah. How many people saw this coming? I did. Hahahahahaha.

So? What is Wai Li addicted to? The obvious answer is the right one. The "strange feeling" Reid described upon first meeting him?

That's not love, it's indigestion, sweetie.

So... yeah. Very short chapter, I apologize, but the next section didn't fit very well into this chapter so I didn't include it. Also, the BAU don't get very much screentime... Mei Xing's flashbacks hogged most of it. OTL|||

Sorry for the slow update time! But please believe me when I say I will not abandon this story, ever. If a story of mine is in-progress, it actually is. I will not stop until it is complete, no matter how long I take. "The Essentials" will continue until the bitter end. : )

Thank you very much for reading, and continuing to read.