(Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters)

I am trying hard to better the quality of my writing but having to write 6k words each week for two fanfics on top of work and potentially more uni, it's hard. And quantity has unfortunately been coming over quality. So I've decided to only update when I think the chapter is of good quality and quantity.

Because of this, you guys have had to deal with a very long delay. I can't believe how quickly the time has gone. I have totally finished uni now, works still clawing me away but I'm back. Hopefully another chapter soon but I can't say when.

If you're reading, thank you for continuing to follow this story and for putting up with this wait. I appreciate you so much.

That being said, enjoy the chapter.

"Slowly... slow now."

Ed slid a little but righted himself, fixing the gun ahead of him again. He dug his heels into the mud with each step as the men in front of him endured the same slippery slope down the hill. The rain had drenched the ground, making the mud thick and sloppy and near impossible to walk on. Ed chuckled when his youngest son, hobbling on one foot, slipped, his good foot falling from under him. Sean caught him and helped him regain his balance but Ed didn't slow down. He grunted at the pair to move, hopping over the deep gauge Myles had made in the mud, like a neat plow-line in the bank.

Ed brushed his finger against the trigger and a smile twitched at his lips at the steely cold feeling against his finger tips. He aimed it at the head of his bigger son and he stared at his dirty blonde hair, flicking out at the bottom. Ed remembered Aaron having the same haircut when he was nine and Ed smiled as he remembered the feeling of that dark brown hair against his palm. The feeling vanished, the cold gun replacing memories of Aaron's soft hair. Ed repositioned the gun at Sean's sandy replica of hair.

"Careful," he said, squeezing one eye shut to be sure he had a clear shot if it came to it. He didn't miss the way Sean's shoulders tensed, as if he could feel the barbell of the gun staring into the back of his head. "Not too fast," Ed muttered.

Sean glanced at his younger brother who was leaning heavily against him. Sean had his arm around the younger man, keeping him upright and steady as they moved down the muddy embankment. Spencer was pale, his skin nearly green as he swallowed slowly. He was panting, watching his good foot tread carefully through the mud. Sean held him tight enough to keep the other foot off the ground. Despite Spencer's light weight Sean was sweating and his arm ached, his bicep tensed but held against the pain.

"Bit further now, boys." Ed tucked the gun under his arms momentarily to clap his hands, causing Spencer to jump. Ed laughed, smiling gleefully at the trembling young man ahead of him as he retook his hold on the gun. Sean held Spencer tighter, keeping him from slipping down the bank.

"I can't do this," Spencer whispered, wincing when his casted leg touched the ground briefly. Spencer wobbled, the opposite of what he had intended when touching the ground. Sean held tighter when he felt the lapse in Spencer's balance.

"Yes, you can." Sean said as he took another step and guided Spencer to him. He held Spencer's hand tightly over his shoulder, pulling his wrist slightly like a rope on a pulley to keep Spencer vertical.

"We just get down here and we'll figure it out."

Sean lifted his eyes from the ground and looked through the thicket of trees where a lake lay waiting for them. Sean knew that there would be no figuring anything out once they got to the gently lapping water nibbling at the flat stretch of mud at the bottom of the embankment. When they got there that would be the endgame for Ed. Sean knew it. Spencer too but he was too focused on keeping himself from falling flat on the ground.

Sean grit his teeth and took another step which took him off the embankment and on the flat ground. He tugged Spencer down with him and he put both his arms around Spencer when the young man teetered sideways.

"I got you," Sean said quietly, throwing Spencer's arm back around his shoulder. The sound of feet landing behind them startled Sean foward. Spencer grunted as he was pulled forward but he froze when he felt Sean stiffen beside him. He glanced around and saw Ed pressing the gun to the back of Sean's head.

"Please," Spencer started, tilting his head to look at Ed imploringly. His eyes were stinging, hot tears collecting at the corners of each eyelid.

"Move," Ed said and he glanced quickly at Spencer, looking him up and down before flexing his fingers on the gun handle.

"Move, Sean," he said, his voice rising as if he was going to burst into song.

Sean took a step forward, moving his head away from the guns threatening clasp.

Sean looked down. The water was at the tips of both his shoes.

"Keep going, Sean."

Sean squeezed Spencer's wrist and stepped into the water, submerging his shoes and Spencer's one bare foot. He heard his brother inhale sharply.

Sean turned, hobbling around to face their father. Spencer struggled on his one good foot. "What now," Sean said. He glared at the gun in his fathers hand and then at the man himself. "What now, dad?"

Ed still had a smile glued to his face as he lowered his free hand to his pocket. He kept the gun raised and trained on Sean who watched it closely. Ed pulled his phone from his pocket.

"Was Aaron alone?" he asked, switching the phone on with one hand. Spencer narrowed his eyes on the phone. That wasn't the flip up pay as you go phone he'd had before.

Sean looked down at his feet uncomfortably. Spencer looked away from the phone which Ed was holding upside down. "Sean?" he said in a quiet voice. "You weren't really planning on going alone?" he whispered. Sean didn't look up from his feet and Spencer felt a bolt of anger tremble through him. He pinched Sean's hand hard where he was holding Spencer up.

"He will kill us," Spencer hissed.

Ed was laughing at them now. He'd also managed to turn the iPhone the right way up.

Sean lifted his head up a little but he didn't look across at Spencer who was gazing at him desperately. "Aaron wants to kill him," he said. "I-I backed out, I knew it was stupid but it's different for Aaron."

"It's suicide and he knows it. He doesn't care if he dies as long as-" Spencer paused and nodded at Ed who was still chuckling. "He goes down with him."

Sean shook his head. In a small whisper he said "I'm sorry" but Ed's loud voice broke into their conversation.

"Myles," he said, loud enough for Spencer to lift his head, as if the name still belonged to him. "Remind me of you big brothers number."

"No."

Ed cocked his head to the side. "Tell me no again," he said, his voice low and sinister. "And your brother gets the bullet."

Spencer looked at Sean, his head hanging once again. The sound of the gun cocking pulled Spencer's gaze away from Sean. "Alright," Spencer said quickly. He licked his lips, thinking fast. "Alright... it's... it's..." Spencer glanced at Sean who, with his head down, was staring at the gun aimed at him.

Spencer thought of giving him Garcia's number. She could trace the call in seconds. But was her number blocked to unknown callers? Or Derek... maybe Derek could talk sense into Ed. Spencer recalled Derek punching walls and yelling at unsub's and he swallowed thickly. Derek would get them killed. Besides if Ed heard Morgan's voice he'd hang up and shoot Sean.

Not enough time to track. Not enough time to dissuade.

There was nothing else he could do. Spencer swallowed and slowly recited Aaron's number. He watched Ed type it in, the man frowning at the touch screen phone. Sean glanced at Spencer and gripped his hand tighter.

Ed rang Aaron's number while Spencer looked down at his feet and watched the water move gently around them and he held his breath.

Aaron furiously flicked the wipers on, the rain too much for him to see through his window. He sped up through an amber light, wincing as he saw red flash behind him soon after.

Aaron ducked his head to get a better look through his windshield when his phone rang.

He turned the wheel sharply and sped down the next road. He ignored his phone. He couldn't let the team or Sean talk him out of this.

There was a beep and Aaron glanced at his phone to see an answer phone message had been left.

Aaron looked up at the road when his phone began to ring again.

No caller ID. Aaron glanced from the window to the phone, his heart pounding before he answered the phone.

"Dad."

Aaron's phone was shaking in his hand. There was a pause on the other end and Aaron could hear a soft whooshing sound which made him frown.

"I have the boys, Aaron."

Aaron's heart felt as if it stopped.

"Come to Stafford's Pike and we can have some father son bonding. How about it kiddo."

"Why?"

"I want to see my boys."

Aaron grit his teeth, willing himself not to explode with anger at his father. "We had an agreement to meet-"

"So you could bring your cop buddies? No. No I have leverage now, son. So when I say come alone I mean it. Or one of these two gets it. I really couldn't care which."

"I was coming alone," Aaron hissed.

"We'll aren't you a good boy. Coming to kill me?"

Aaron didn't answer.

"That's what I thought. Come alone and unarmed."

Ed hung up the phone.

Aaron stared at it for a moment, so focused on the phone that he jumped when a car passed by. Aaron steadied the phone and started to type Staffords Pike into his safari. He glanced at the road as the results loaded. Rain was pelting the dark tarmac and his wipers struggled to keep his view clear.

Aaron looked down as his network connection pushed through the poor weather and showed the location. Aaron squeezed his eyes shut when he saw the minimised map splashed with blue.

Stafford's Pike is a Sandy lake. Perfect for family-

Aaron dropped his phone onto the seat beside him as his head hit the wheel and he sobbed

"God damn it, Hotch!" Morgan slammed his phone into the table, effectively cutting off the monotone voice from the answerphone. Morgan looked up slowly. Rossi was watching him.

Rossi shook his head. "I knew he'd do something like this," he said quietly, still shaking his head. He looked away from Morgan who pulled his hand away from his broken phone. Rossi sighed, rubbing his face roughly. "We should have taken him off the case when we found Spencer. How could he be so stupid."

Emily and JJ came into the conference room then, the sheriff trailing behind, a scowl on his face.

"He didn't say anything to my men," the sheriff said, repeating what it looked like he'd told Emily and JJ already since their arms were crossed and Emily was shaking her head.

"He preaches against this kind of thing," she said. "But the rules are different for him."

"I can't believe it," JJ mumbled. They'd found CCTV of Sean and Spencer. They knew already that time was precious and ticking away on them.

"The only thing I can think of is tracking him," Morgan said. He reached into his pocket for his phone as Rossi turned slowly to the board with victim pictures pinned to it.

"We could profile him," he muttered as Derek pulled up Garcia's number and called her, putting her on speaker.

"We already know him," Emily said.

"We think we do." Rossi turned back to his team as the phone made its first dial tone. "But there are things not one of knew about him before this case. He is the only one in control of his fate right now. If-"

The ringing cut off, Garcia's voice cutting into Rossi's speech.

"I'm here! Talk to me please, I've had radio silence for over an hour."

"Garcia-"

"What's happened? I know somethings happened because of your voice, Derek why do you sound so sad?"

"Baby girl," Morgan paused, exhaling slowly before continuing. "I need you to track Aaron's phone. I don't care if you break laws to find him, just find him."

"Is he in trouble?"

Garcia was already typing, Derek could hear her fingers tapping across the keys.

"It's a long story," Morgan said and he glanced at Rossi who was watching anxiously. "He's the only one we can track and he's the only one stupid enough to listen to his dad."

The key-tapping paused and Garcia's voice came through, shaking nervously. "D-Derek?"

"I will explain as soon as we find him."

The typing resumed. "He's moving."

"Where?"

"He's on a street called Glenvue... he's turned onto the main road. I-I can tell you exactly where he's going if you start driving."

Morgan turned to Rossi and Emily, and JJ too who had dropped her coffee to listen.

"We keep low, and quiet," Morgan said. "If that bastard raises a gun on Reid, Hotch or Sean then you take the shot."

The three remaining agents nodded.

Morgan began to move toward the door when Garcia's scared voice piped up. "Where's Spencer?"

Aaron slammed the door of his SUV shut and ran to the small black car parked ahead of him against a grassy bank. Aaron gabbed the handle with wet, rain-splattered hand and tugged. The car was locked and Aaron's hand slipped from the handle. He glanced around slowly, rain wetting his hair and causing it to stick to his forehead. He pushed wet strands from his eyes as he looked down through the trees. There was a muddy bank sliding down to the lake below which Hotch could barely make out through the heavy wet tree branches. Aaron glanced back at his car and then at the bank.

From where he stood he could see the lake shimmer under the onslaught of rain.

Aaron checked his holster and also his phone which he held in his palm tightly. After a deep breath Aaron pocketed the phone in his sopping jacket and he started toward the trees.

He ducked first and slid several paces down, his shoes doing nothing to keep him in one place. Aaron grabbed a branch and took another step forward, picking grassy spots to walk over where the slick mud wasn't thick. Aaron jumped through a stream made carved by the rain water and he grabbed a tree when one of his feet tried to move with the water beneath him.

He could see the sand just a few feet away. As he grit his teeth, preparing for the last slide down, Aaron noticed a footprint. It was a barefoot, marks made out in the mud for each toe. Aaron lifted his head, squinting out at the water which was still hidden by trees.

He pushed off from the knobbly tree he'd been grasping onto. He stumbled down the rest of the bank and fell to his knees in the sand when his shoes left the mud.

He had no time for relief when he heard something. Someone. Aaron shut his eyes for a moment, pinching his fingers into the sand to remind himself what was real. He heard the voice again and Aaron slowly raised his head. Several metres away Aaron saw his father who was smiling smugly.

He glanced at the lake where his two brothers were, Spencer huddled into Sean, unable to hold himself up and looking weak and pale.

Aaron pushed his palms hard into the sand, giving himself enough momentum to get his feet under him again. He stood up, keeping his eyes on Ed as his shoes adjusted to the soft sand.

"Aaron," Sean mumbled, twisting a little to get a better look at his older brother. His hands remained on Spencer, holding the younger-man up. Both of Sean's feet and one of Spencer's, the other trembling in the air, the cast dirty and wet, were submerged in the lake where gentle waves were moving around their ankles.

Aaron stepped forward, looking back at his brothers when Ed lifted a gun. Aaron's gaze shot back to him and the small black handgun firmly in his hand.

"Aaron." Ed's lips moved up into a wide grin. Aaron glanced again at Sean who was looking at the gun. The wet black barrel was aimed at Spencer's head. Sean shifted, moving his body in the way for the gun while still holding onto Spencer.

Ed motioned his other hand between them all, laughing as he did. "Can you believe this, son?" he said, gesturing between himself and Aaron. "Me and you. Like old times."

"Let them go," Aaron said. He glared at Ed who continued to be amused by the whole situation.

"Why would I do that?" Ed asked with a smile. He looked at Spencer and his eyes briefly met with Sean who was trained on his gun. Ed lifted it slightly so he was aiming at Sean's head rather than his chest. Ed looked back at Aaron slowly, a smirk still ripe on his sneering face. "Why would I let them go after I've worked so hand for this?" Ed made a face and bent his knees a little as if he was a spoiled child not getting their way. He smiled again and tilted his head at Aaron.

Aaron kept his expression flat, doing so by keeping his eyes off of his brothers, he couldn't look at them without losing his composure.

Aaron paused, watching his father smile and hoping the effort was hurting his face. "You're free," Aaron said. "You're clearly smart enough to escape and remain hidden. Why did you come back?"

Ed frowned but his smile didn't slip. "This was always the plan," he said.

"You could have been a free man," Aaron said.

"That's not as fun as this," Ed said, his eyes flicking between Spencer and Sean. He turned the gun to Spencer who flinched. Ed laughed. "This is what happens when I'm not there to raise you," he said, motioning his gun at Spencer. "You grow weak and sickly. But not you, Aaron. My influence clearly worked on you."

"You have nothing to with with my upbringing," Aaron said, his brow low over his eyes. "Our mother raised us. And you beat and tortured Spencer and left him in that state. If you want to claim anything then claim the abuse you've submitted us to all our lives."

Ed's smile fell a little, becoming a tense straight line against his face as he stared at Aaron with a vicious glare. Aaron breathed in deeply and panted, recovering from the effort and emotion that had gone into his statement.

Ed grit his teeth, his smile drooling downwards, his lips warping angrily with his tensed teeth. He glanced at the two brothers, the youngest still struggling to hold himself up as the elder held him weakly.

"You were my favourite," Ed mumbled, slowly looking away from his younger children and back at Aaron. "I only wanted one. Just one boy."

"You didn't deserve any of us," Sean said but Ed wasn't looking at him. He stared at Aaron who kept glancing at his father's shaking gun.

Ed licked his lips slowly, rain water trickling over them and off his chin.

"Just you and me again, kid," he said, his smile growing slowly. Aaron's chest began to rise faster. He glanced at his brothers where Ed's gun was pointed. "This was the plan," Ed said. "Us against the world, Aaron. Just us."

Ed looked at the gun and Aaron could see his finger pushing down on the trigger.

Aaron's head snapped in direction his brothers were and his body moved at once when Sean's scared eyes locked with the gun.

"NO!-"

Aaron lunged toward Sean and Spencer. Sean tried to jump out of the way but with Spencer at his side he couldn't get far. They both flinched when the gun went off, too slow to make any significant movement.

The gun went off again as Aaron slid against the sand, his fingers clawing to get back up and to his brothers.

"No! No please no!"

Thanks for reading. longer chapter because of delays. I had the busiest weekend but I knew I had to go big with this chapter.

We're nearing the end.

See you soon, stay safe.