A/N: The disclaimer can be located in the first chapter. I'm sorry that it took this long to post, as I have been in the process of adding the final touches on the final chapter (I really wanted to have that completed before posting this; however, prolonging the inevitable seems wrong somehow).
Please R&R and more importantly--Enjoy the story.
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Hotchner isn't fond and even dreads the arrival of Special Agent Henrys—he knows it's inevitable. However, at the very least, while he awaits the visit, he can be productive. Get the team in gear, comb through the many files J.J. has miraculously managed to snag from her many contacts on the crime scene and forensic investigators. Sure as rain, just as he sets himself to review another file, the inevitable knock upon his door ensures.
"Come in." he says in his professional tone, as the doorknob turns and a tall agent enters the room. "Agent Henrys." Hotchner acknowledges the agent and closes the file, placing it upon his neatly cluttered desk.
"Agent Hotchner, to be frank I'm not in the least surprised by the reaction of your team." He pauses taking in the office. "I knew that your most likely course of action would be to assist in the investigation of the abduction of Special Agent Jason Gideon. However, by the intricate nature of the situation, you and your team can appreciate that it's probably for the best that you remain on the sidelines. You're too close, if you get my drift." He adds.
"I disagree and I know for a fact the team agrees with me. I gave my word that we would find him. I'm not going back on it." He states staring the superior in the eye. Refusing to back down Henrys shakes his head.
"Irrationality leads to mistakes, which in turn leads to unhappy endings." He sighs and leaves Hotchner to mull over their discussion. Assuming that meant that the team could move forward as they saw fit, he gathers the files and heads to J.J.'s office to finalise the best course of action.
"Has Gideon's abductor made contact?" Morgan inquires, fingering the file in front of him. Reid taps his pen impatiently.
"Not that I'm aware of. I was hoping for something." Hotchner sighs in frustration. "What I don't understand is why abduct Gideon in the first place."
"Take the head and what's left?" Reid looks up.
"They don't want to be caught." Morgan snaps.
"There was a lot of damage done to his office. Similar to ransacked rooms in other instances. Did forensics get any prints at the scene?" Reid inquires, as Elle skims through that report.
"Nothing more than partial. Says here that they're in the middle of running them through the system as we speak. The results should be quick if the abductor or abductors have records."
"Abductors." Morgan looks at the door where Garcia stands.
"Guys, I'm sorry. I just heard back from my contact over at the crime lab. It isn't good." Hotchner gestures for her to have a seat. She enters the room, opening the her file, which contains the print outs that they had been waiting for. "One of the guys is a Harvey McCain." She sits in the vacant seat.
"Obviously known to police. His record?" Reid rests his chin on the back of his hand and scribbles on the page in front of him.
"Um, rape, theft, nothing major in the sense of jail time. Seems to get off with a slap on the wrist." She fingers her glasses. "However, having said that, there is an outstanding warrant for his arrest. Apparently he's been involved with an Anthony."
"Last name?" Elle inquires.
"None listed. He's on our books as well. Virginia PD are in the process of questioning his wife at their home. I suppose we'll get a surname from her. That's all I have at the moment." She places her pink-feathered pen on the table. "I do have this." She pulls the grainy photograph from the file and places it on the table.
"I remember that dude!" Morgan exclaims. "Black Leather Jacket."
"This isn't part of his motive. He tortures, murders, and burns the evidence to the ground; he doesn't kidnap. Virginia PD didn't catch him?" Hotchner's eyebrows rise.
"Apparently not." Morgan replies gritting his teeth.
"Gideon had been sure that they would have apprehended him not long after. It's part of them, they can't just stop." Hotchner stops himself as a wave of fear washes over him, causing his stomach to fall into his shoes. Elle isn't as lucky and runs from the conference room to the nearest ladies room. Reid pales as does J.J. and Garcia looks towards Morgan briefly, only to catch a look of fear she had never imagined she would ever see from him.
Hotchner nods towards the door and follows Elle. He is well aware of the fact that he cannot barge into the ladies room, so he contents himself to stand just outside the door and waits for her to emerge. When she finally does reappear, she looks far worse than she had earlier that morning. He directs her to the makeshift break room and sits her in one of the chairs, then proceeds to put together a cup of coffee for her, and one for himself. Sitting beside her, she takes one of the mugs.
"Thanks." She sips the steaming liquid and finds the bitter sting that follows not as bad as usual. "I'm sorry." She leans forward and places the mug on the table and pauses— Hotchner reaches out and places a comforting hand on her shoulder. She stares at the carpet as if it's the most interesting thing in the room.
"Gideon is better at this then I." He says almost stiffly and Elle turns to look at him; his hand still resting on her shoulder— usually rigid, bearing a fantastic strength; however, its slightly slumped, which mirrors the fear in her brown eyes and the tension running throughout her body. He smiles warmly at her slightly puzzled expression, as it finally hits her. It is in this moment that Reid enters the break room.
"Are you okay?" his tone reflecting the concern etched on his young face, which seems to have aged within the past twenty-four hours. She doesn't answer as Hotchner takes the mug from her and rinses it with his own.
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just."
"I know. It's Gideon. Elle, we're all worried about him." Reid walks over to her and awkwardly places a comforting, gentle hand upon her shoulder.
"Thanks Reid." She smiles, pats his hand with her own and they rejoin Morgan and J.J.— Elle half expects to see Gideon sitting in one of the chairs, his thin wire glasses perched upon his thin nose, his head buried in a file ready to work through a theory, or already having the answer. Sighing, she sits herself beside Morgan and they begin the process of dissecting the information.
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Flashback
The sun is warm on his back as he stands on the edge of the dock looking down into the deep water preparing to dive. Once he hits the water, it's cool and refreshing as it caresses his skin and he surfaces, quickly wiping the water from his eyes. Treading water, he watches her as she sits on the dock beside the ladder timidly dipping her delicate toes, then her feet into the cool lake— all the while complaining that the water is far too cold for a swim.
"Get in here! It's beautiful!" he hollers, dunking himself under again. "Ah, a warm spot." He taunts her, matching her smile with a huge happy grin of his own, while she continues to dangle her feet just inches above the water. "If I get my hands on you, I'll toss you in!" he swims towards the dock. She laughs— its carried in a echo across the lake, and he marvels at the sight of the lovely woman, her raven locks catching the sun's warm rays, teasing him, daring him to follow through with his threat. Realisation that he's actually going to toss her in, she springs to her feet and heads back towards the cabin— with him not far behind, soaking wet. The towel left on the dock.
His pleasant thoughts; however, quickly dissipate with the annoyance of a ringing cell phone. Sighing heavily, Gideon slowly wakes, opening his eyes— he is reminded of his current situation and that time, which is still ticking onwards, a luxury he feels is quickly running out.
"Really?" a pause with a few grunts of understanding follow, "he wants us to leave FBI here unattended?"
"What'd he say?" the other whispers.
"He's going to what? You're serious? Got it. We're out of here." He flips his phone closed and turns to his partner. "The boss says that Tony's going to pay FBI, here a visit and, as a result, no longer requires our services." He explains.
"Well I doubt that you'd want to be here to see what he probably has in store for FBI." The other states and Gideon catches the flicker of fear in his eyes. Not a good sign, he knows this means whoever Tony is, he definitely means business— a fact that actually makes him nervous.
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Thursday:
Three days have past and deepens the sense of defeat running through the bones of the team members as Hotchner and J.J. still track, trace, and sift through Virginia PD's never ending reports on the man in the grainy photograph. Problem is, the trail runs stone cold after the arson/murder case they worked on two months ago. J.J. lets the file she's been reading fall to the table with a loud, drawn out sigh of utter frustration.
"I have checked with all of my contacts and it's official. We have absolutely nothing on this guy. He doesn't exist beyond that night. Finding Vincent was a piece of cake in comparison.
"Anthony Rogers." Morgan says from Hotchner's door.
"Rogers?" Hotchner and J.J. reply in unison.
"I just got off the phone with detective Newell and she has just finished speaking with his wife. A Hope Rogers."
"And?" Hotchner prompts him.
"She hasn't seen him in two months. Apparently, when they interviewed Nicholas Brooks; her name came up."
"Who's Nicholas Brooks?" J.J. stands.
"He claimed to be an associate of Anthony Rogers. Apparently Rogers hired him to have Gideon abducted."
"She has no idea of his whereabouts?"
"None, and Brooks won't give up Gideon's location unless the charges are dropped."
"Didn't she report her husband missing?" Hotchner asks while making notations.
"No. Apparently Rogers left strict instructions in the event of a 'disappearance'. Calling the cops definitely wasn't an option."
"Does she work?" J.J. asks, pressing the top of her pen against her lips.
"No. She's a housewife. He sends her money though." Morgan cannot stop the grin from ear to ear.
"What's that smile for?"
"Where does one go to do that?"
"A bank?" J.J. rolls her eyes, feeling as though they're wasting precious minutes.
"She just happened to have one of those cheques." He holds a photocopy out towards Hotchner. "Bank surveillance tape." He holds out a plastic bag. Hotchner smiles and shakes his head, happy to have something. Holding up his hand, he quickly picks up the phone and dials Elle's cell.
"You're at the station now?" he pauses and picks up a pen. "We need you to get that location." While he gives Elle the orders, J.J. walks over to Morgan, who sits in one of the chairs in front of Hotchner's desk.
"I'll get this to Garcia." She whispers and takes the tape to Garcia's domain.
As she walks down the hallway, she feels as though everyone's eyes are on her, and from the looks of condolences from the other teams, she feels a knot in her stomach tighten. They may or may not have gone through this experience, but they all appear to presuppose the worst-case scenario surfacing as the only logical conclusion. She puts that thought aside and taps the doorframe with hope.
"Entrée!" Garcia says in her usual perky tone, despite the fact Gideon's abduction is affecting her as much as the rest of the team. J.J. quickly enters the cool space and holds out the plastic bag with the tape.
"Surveillance tape from the bank Anthony Rogers got the cheque from."
"Really?" Garcia takes the tape and shoves it into one of the many slots and the images come up on the screen. "Comparing this image, which mind you is far superior to that grainy thing I had earlier." She pauses, pushing buttons here, clicking the mouse over sections there. "BINGO!" she smiles and prints out an enlarged photograph.
"Thanks so much Garcia." J.J. exclaims happily.
"One problem."
"What?"
"We don't know where the hell he is." She sighs and turns back to one of the many screens. "If we knew that, we'd be totally set and this would be over."
"And we could go back to the way we were." J.J. says under her breath, heading back down the hall towards Hotchner's office. "Here." She holds out the photo. Morgan looks down for a moment. "What?"
To Be Continued...