Hi!!! It's short but it's the perfect place to stop. You'll understand when you get there. Have fun reading!!

Susanne

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

The five BAU members poured over the computer screen. Just barely, on the left side of the screen, Reid could make out a prone figure on the shoulder of the highway. How Garcia could identify the figure as Hotch, given the grainy nature of the image, Spencer wasn't sure. But somehow, he too knew intuitively that the dark haired figure was their boss and friend. Relief flowed through him. The image proved that Hotch had escaped from Mary. Hopefully that meant he was in much better hands.

"What does the next image show?" Rossi asked. As much as he wanted to keep that image on the screen, he wanted to know what happened next.

"There's a time lag in the satellite images. It's not like it's an area where they're worried about terrorism attacks or anything else of a high alert nature," Garcia responded. "The next image isn't for ten minutes. By then Hotch is gone."

"Show it to us anyway," Morgan asked. There might be something there. He was hoping desperately that there was something there. "Please, baby girl."

With a few taps on the keyboard, Garcia pulled up the next image. As she'd said, the prone figure was gone. Penelope could almost feel the air being sucked out of the room. Then Reid became very still over her left shoulder. "What's that?" he asked, indicating a blob on the far right hand end of the image.

"I'm not sure," Penelope admitted as she expertly zoomed into the indicated pixels. Her heart leapt into his throat as the image slowly cleared.

"Isn't there more bandwidth than shows on the screen?" Reid asked as he saw what seemed to be the back end of a car. At the moment all they could see of it was the driver's side of the bumper, the license plate was off frame. "I remember you saying that before."

"You're right, there is usually. I just need a moment to check to see if there is more," Penelope said as her fingers flew over the keyboard. The image shifted slightly to the right. "Oh my God!"

OOOOO

"Boy! Am I glad to see you," Dave stated in a quiet voice. He wasn't so thrilled with the circumstances, however. The two of them were locked in a room. Hotch was secured, spread eagle, to a metal bed frame. In deference to his injuries, Thomas had made Michael put a mattress on the frame first. Dave was currently tied securely to a metal chair in the middle of the room.

"Who are you?" Hotch asked. At least Dave assumed it was Hotch since he was the only other person in the room at the moment. The voice from behind him sounded too quiet and unsure of itself. Those were two traits he'd never attributed to the Unit Chief before.

"Dave. You met me after Mary kidnapped you, Dr. Reid, Matt and my brother," Dave said. He'd known in the mess hall that the dark haired man didn't recognize him. What had caused the amnesia was a mystery that he wasn't sure he had the time to figure out. But he was willing to try. He knew Mary hadn't kidnapped Matt but he didn't have the time to get that detailed. All he wanted to do was to get Hotch thinking before the compound members came back.

Lying on the bed, feeling every pain in his body, Hotch contemplated the younger man's words. He knew Dave had appeared familiar to him. Otherwise he wouldn't have stared at him so hard. Unfortunately his words brought a series of images burning through his mind. The images were so intense and ugly that they drowned out everything around him. All he was aware of was pain and shame.

"Hotch?" Dave called out over his shoulder. He was facing toward the door and away from the bed. It made a frustrating situation all the more so. Behind him he could hear the older man's breathing. It was hitched and laboured. Dave could almost swear he heard Hotch groan quietly. "Hotch!!"

"Who is 'Hotch'?" Michael asked casually as he walked into the room. There were no windows, not even on the door. As a result, Dave had no real idea of how long the two of them had been in the room but it couldn't have been more than an hour or so.

"He is," Dave responded, glaring at the man. He knew he had to tread lightly with these people. They weren't white supremists, thank God, but he had the feeling they could be just as fanatical about their beliefs. "What have you done to him?"

"Why, we've spent a great deal of time and energy trying to help him heal. How do you know him?" Michael wandered casually around the room, as if this were nothing more than a conversation between old friends. Dave noticed, however, that he seemed to take a great deal of joy from speaking behind him. The back of Dave's neck itched, knowing the man was behind him and he was completely helpless to defend himself or Hotch.

"We have a mutual acquaintance," Dave said. Carefully, he was staring ahead at the door. The last thing he wanted was for Michael to know that he was unnerving him.

"And who would that be?" Michael inquired. He was standing over Hotch, looking down at the man. Sweat was gathering on Hotch's face as he relived things that had only seemed like nightmares not that long ago. His body responded with remembered pain as he was attacked again and again by Mary and then Doug. It felt like he was drowning in a sea of fear, revulsion and pain.

"The reason why you had to fight so hard to help him heal," Dave hedged. He wasn't sure how much these people were up on current affairs. He knew he didn't want to tell them that Aaron was an FBI agent. That would just put both of their lives in further danger.

"I see. If that is how you met, then why are you not injured?" Michael asked. He'd left Aaron on the bed, suffering through his torment, and moved around to face Dave. He wanted to see the man's face as he asked these questions, to gauge his level of truthfulness.

"Oh, but I am," Dave responded, trying to put as tortured a face as he could on. "My wounds are all on the inside."

"Somehow I doubt that," Michael said. Nonchalantly, he placed his right foot on the front of the chair, between Dave's legs that were tied to the chair legs. He wanted to intimidate the man, to put him off balance. If he had to resort to physical violence, there were a few members of the compound that would do the work for him, happily. "What is his full name? I know it's not 'Hotch'."

"Aaron Hotchner," Dave said. He was careful to keep his face neutral now that the man didn't believe him about his 'internal' injuries. The easiest way to keep the story straight was to tell as much truth as he could. Even if they had access to the internet out here, which he doubted very much, Dave was hoping the FBI had the sense to keep the identities of their agents a secret.

"And what does Aaron Hotchner do in life?" Michael asked as he leaned forward so his face was only six inches from Dave's.

"He takes care of his friends and tries to help keep order in the universe," Dave said. How long could he keep this up? Surely by now Jared knew he was missing. Surely by now, Jared had contacted the other members of the BAU and given them a rough idea of his whereabouts.

"You are rather vague in your answers, Dave," Michael said. "Is there something about Mr. Hotchner that you don't want us to know about?"

"I'm sure there're things about both of us that I don't want you to know about. It would take all the mystery out of life and be an invasion of our privacy," Dave growled. He didn't want to piss the guy off but he was feeling vulnerable with Michael's foot where it was.

"Are you sure about that, Dave? I have some friends here that are very good at making people talk," Michael said. He leaned a little closer. The toe of his boot was resting lightly against the other man's genitals. Just a little pressure would be enough to cause a great deal of pain. For a few moments Michael considered it. Luckily for Dave, he was a pacifist at heart.

"You do know that I haven't come in here by myself, right? There are people outside your gates waiting for me to check in. If I don't you're going to have all kinds of trouble raining down on your head. Is that how you want to play this?" It was a bunch of bullshit but it was worth a try. Dave was very familiar with pain but it wasn't something he went out of his way to experience. Besides, he wasn't sure how much more Hotch could take. While they'd been talking, he'd heard the older man's breath become more ragged and shallow.

"I have people checking the woods beyond the gates. If you had people with you, we would have found them all ready," Michael countered.

"Well, if you and your backward members had found them, that wouldn't make them very good at their jobs, would it?" What the hell, it wasn't like he had anything to lose at the moment. Dave just wished he could check on Aaron.

"Enough. I'll come back in a few hours and see if you are more in the mood to tell me what I need to know then." Frustrated beyond all belief, Michael left the room. Almost instantly two very big, very mean looking men entered through the door.

"Who are you?" Dave asked, a crooked grin on his lips. "Tweedledee and Tweedledumb?"

Apparently neither man was much into reading the classics. Or maybe they were and that was why they took offence to the names Dave had given them. As blows rained down on his body and head, Dave decided he should learn to hold his tongue a little better. Hopefully this was all going to be worth it and Jared was going to come in to save the day. Otherwise, both of them were in big trouble.