Author's Note: See, I told you I wouldn't make you wait forever for this. I'm trying to keep the story moving with regular updates. I hope you enjoy it and stick with it. Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed my last chapter. You really have no idea how much that motivates me. Read On!

Hotch stared down at the now silent radio in his hand. The transmission from Rossi had surprised him with its sudden clarity. But the relief was short lived before his voice started breaking apart and crackling until it disappeared into static entirely. Hotch was elated to know that they were all alright and that they were now in a cabin somewhere instead of a downed airplane in the storm. However the news created a whole new set of problems. Morgan and Prentiss were already up on the mountain and judging by the swirling patterns spiraling around on Milo's computer screen, the storm was closing in on them. They also had no idea of where this cabin was. Hotch was able to make out that it was a mile from the crash site, but it which direction he didn't know. They would still have to find the plane first, and then narrow down the search area from there.

"Orders?" Milo broke the silence, finally looking away from the computer at up at Hotch.

"We need to let the search team know."

Milo nodded and picked up the radio mike from the radio base on the desk and handed it to him. His action was halted by the sudden burst of the door and the wind spit Mason into the office. Mason rubbed the moisture from his face and up into his cropped hair with his hands before shaking his head and entering completely with heavy steps.

"What happened?" Hotch asked immediately, momentarily forgetting about the radio.

"Dropped them off," he answered dryly.

"Dropped them off?" Hotch repeated with a scowl.

"Weather was freezing up the rotors. Figured we should avoid another crash, so yeah, I dropped them off. Where's the blonde?" Mason glared at Milo.

"Hotel." Milo answered.

Mason shrugged and ran his eyes quickly over the room. He found nothing of interest and turned back toward the door.

"Call me when they need a pickup," he grumbled over his shoulder and tromped back out into the snow.

Hotch frowned and turned back to the desk in time to see Milo roll his eyes and busy himself with wiping a smudge from his screen.

"Any idea where he's going?" Hotch asked.

"Closest pub probably," Milo answered, "sure beats having him sulking around here though, trust me."

"How so?"

"Mason isn't the most patient of men."

Milo sat up in his chair, puffed his chest out and dropped his head low before letting out an imitation voice much lower than his own as he moved his arms around as if they were bound by muscles.

"Neanderthal no like waiting," he imitated the pilot, "I strong like bull, smart like tractor. Shut up and push your buttons, Weasel."

Hotch watched the odd behavior with amusement. It was obvious the tech didn't think too highly of his colleague as he blurted out phrases Mason must have used with him in the past. After a few seconds Milo sat slouched back into his chair and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I take it you disagree with the way Mason does things?"

"Mason isn't happy unless he's got something to punch," Milo scoffed, "He's a moron."

"Yet you work with him anyway."

Milo shrugged, "he's a necessary evil I guess."

"How long have you worked with him?"

"He comes and goes. Depends on the job and if we need a pilot to get us there. He generally disappears during most of the work," Milo motioned to the closed door, "but it sure beats him stomping around whining about being bored."

Hotch was about to agree with him when his cell phone vibrated in his pocket. He set down the radio mike and retrieved the phone before pressing it to his ear.

"Hotch, I've got everything I can find on our criminal colleagues," Garcia's voice rattled into his ear.

"And?"

"Milo is an interesting fellow. He's got a short rap sheet starting back when he was sixteen. It's mostly petty crimes; your typical thefts and hoodlum activities of a delinquent teen. He did a short stint in juvenile detention after using his neighbor's credit card to purchase a computer monitor. In 2003 he was arrested in New York for hacking into numerous ATMs and withdrawing nearly 24 thousand dollars. He served 90 days and was released on a bond posted by his father. The NYPD's Organized Crime unit was looking at him in affiliation with a local organization in early 2009, but he just sort of vanished off the radar. Only thing I've got on him since 09 is an address for a studio apartment in DC."

Hotch had paced across the room as far away from the man in question as he could while he listened to Garcia. There was nothing really spectacular about the man's past that explained his connection to Cassi. He didn't have time to dwell before Garcia was tapping away at her keyboard and changing her line of information to the other man in question.

"Mason is a completely different story. He served eight years in the US Marine Corps as a pilot before he was dishonorably discharged in late 2000 for Conduct Unbecoming. Shortly after that he got his first arrest in a domestic violence where he was convicted of assaulting his wife Melissa. He later received two more arrests relating to assault and battery along with a weapons charge when arresting officers found a gun on him after a bar brawl. Here's the interesting part though, like Milo, Mason's criminal activity seems to just stop cold. His last known record filed in 2010. So they either both had a sudden change in heart and decided to become model citizens…"

"Or they met someone who could cover it all up," Hotch finished for her.

"Hotch?" she spoke quietly after a short pause while he thought, "any news on the team?"

Hotch mentally kicked himself, "Rossi was able to contact us again. They're all alright and are holed up from the storm in a cabin somewhere."

"Oh thank god," she breathed in relief then paused, "what about Emily and Morgan?"

"I haven't told them yet. Before I lost contact with Dave I was only able to get that they were about a mile away from the plane. We won't know where to start looking until they find the plane first."

"Ok, what do you need me to do?"

"There's not really much we can do other than watch the storm. Milo's got communications and trackers on the search team so it's really just a waiting game until they get to the plane."

"I'm good at the waiting game," she said softly, "I'll pick up some hot food and be back there in a jiff."

Hotch smiled, "Perfect."

Emily stumbled for what seemed like the hundredth time as her foot sank deep into a snow covered hole. Her nose was numb and her cheeks were raw from the constant beating of the wind. She could barely make out the silhouette of the woman in front of her through the swirling snow despite the goggles keeping her eyes clear. Morgan was at her side, helping her balance as she found her footing again.

"Are you alright?" he shouted in her ear.

She nodded and brushed off his balancing hands. The weather had turned quickly after they had set foot down on the mountain and had gradually gotten worse. They'd been walking for nearly two hours now and things were quickly leading into near whiteout conditions. Cassi had trudged ahead silently, leading with years of experience guiding her steps. She had stopped to wait for them to catch up numerous times and each time dug a little deeper into their morale.

Emily found solid footing once more and looked up in the direction she'd been following. A slight panic gripped her when she could no longer see Cassi's back and she turned to look at Morgan.

"Can you see her?" she shouted.

Morgan shook his head no and nudged her forward.

"Keep going," he encouraged, "She'll wait for us eventually."

Despite his words, Morgan was nervous. How the hell was he supposed to keep an eye on her and keep them safe if he couldn't see her ten feet in front of them? Cassi had the GPS and therefore was the only one that knew where they were going. The only comfort he had was the radio strapped snuggly against is throat. If they lost her entirely, they wouldn't be completely abandoned. Hotch and Garcia were on the other end of the radio and could guide them back together. He was just about to call out on the radio to her when her shadow appeared through the fog in front of them once more.

"How much farther?" Emily asked the moment they had regrouped.

Cassi looked down at the GPS and handed it to her. Emily wiped the snow from its screen and her heart sank. They weren't even halfway there. How could that be? They had been walking for hours. Morgan took the device from her hand and he's posture screamed his disappointment.

"We've got to stop," Cassi said, finally breaking the silence she'd held through the extent of their hike.

"What do you mean stop?" Morgan fumed, "We're not even halfway there!"

"It's getting too dangerous to keep going. Visibility is close to zero."

"So use that," Morgan pointed to the rappel rope across her chest, "tie us together so we don't lose each other."

"Why, so I can lead you both straight off a cliff that I can't see?" she replied.

Emily watched as the two glared at each other in a battle of wills. She understood Cassi's reasons for stopping, but she wanted what Morgan wanted. It wasn't right to stop when they were still so far away. She took the GPS back from Morgan and did a quick calculation.

"Cassi," she yelled, pulling the other woman's attention from Morgan, "we're almost to the halfway point. Let's get to the top of that ridge and then we can stop. Please."

After a moment, Cassi nodded and pulled the rope from her shoulder, unknotted it and handed one end to Morgan.

"Okay, but space yourselves out. If someone goes down it's up to the others to pull them back up."

Emily nodded her thanks as Morgan was already moving to knot the end of the rope around the harness around his waist. Once it was secure, he walked backwards until she could just barely make out his shadow, giving them space in the rope before Emily looped it through her own harness and handed the other end to Cassi. Cassi glared at the end uncomfortably for a second before walking away while tying the end around the harness at her back. Once the slack was out of the rope, Emily started forward.

They had only made it 100 yards before their radios squawked in their ears.

"Morgan, it's Hotch. Do you copy?"

"Yeah Hotch I copy you." Morgan answered.

"I just made contact with Rossi. Everyone is alright but they're no longer in the plane."

Morgan stopped walking, "What do you mean they aren't in the plane?"

"The connection was bad, but they somehow found a cabin about a mile from the crash site. They're holed up out of the weather but I don't know where. I have Milo and Garcia working on finding the cabin that falls within the search area."

"So we still need to get to the plane before we can narrow down which direction to go for the cabin?"

"No we don't," Cassi's voice broke in as the rope at Morgan's waist went slack. She collected Emily as she trudged down to his side to regroup again. "They're likely in a small hunting cabin which won't show up on any records. They're usually little more than a single room and not really owned by anyone. Tell Milo to bring up the satellite images of the area from the spring."

"Got it" Garcia's voice took over, "Searching the area for anything manmade. I got it! There's what looks like a small cabin about six miles east of your location!"

"Give me the coordinates."

Garcia read off the latitude and longitude of the cabin and Cassi typed it into the GPS unit, holding it low for the others to see. The new location popped up on the map and Cassi's shoulders dropped.

"What, what's the matter?" Morgan asked, picking up on her body language.

Cassi pointed at a small blue line across the map.

"Ok, it's a river. What's the problem?"

"Look around Derek," she groaned, "Do you have any idea how cold that water will be if it's not frozen."

The question was rhetorical, but he answered it anyway.

"Pretty damn cold. You're the so called expert in this though, I'm sure you'll figure it out."

"Morgan!" Emily scolded. Taking his anger out on the woman wasn't going to help their situation any.

"We're stopping now," Cassi ordered. "We're nowhere near halfway anymore. The others are safe from the storm now which is a lot more than I can say for us at the moment. We need a new plan, and we can't do that standing out here yelling at each other while the storm gets worse."

Her tone told him that she was done discussing it. She turned her back to them, walked a few feet away and swung her pack off her shoulders. Emily gave Morgan an apologetic look before joining the other woman. She understood his frustration, but there was very little they could do about it. The storm was getting stronger and if they didn't start working together, none of them were going to make it through it.

Morgan finally swallowed his anger and joined the two women as Cassi retrieved the pop up tent from her pack and tossed it on the ground. She then directed them to clear as much snow from the area as they could, forging a deep impression in the ground and creating small barrier walls with the snow they removed. In a matter of minutes they'd cleared out a three foot deep, five by five area and Cassi retrieved the tent. With a quick pull of a string, the tent sprang open, catching the wind and nearly knocked them over as they fought it to the ground. Emily quickly tossed their bags inside and climbed in, using her own weight to hold it to the ground as Morgan and Cassi secured it with four large stakes.

Once they were all inside Emily pulled her hood and goggles from her head and was surprised at the difference in her senses. Despite the wind whipping against the sides of the thick nylon, the lack of ice pelting her face made her instantly warmer as her cheeks began to thaw. Her eyes fought to adjust from the tinting of the goggles to the bright red canvass of the shelter around them. Morgan plopped down next to her and pulled his feet up to rest his hands on his knees. Cassi stood on her knees opposite of them and pulled her hood, cap and goggles away before rubbing her now bare hands over her face and through her hair. None of them were ready to talk yet. They were physically exhausted and the new sudden change of plan wore on their mental states as well.

"Here," Cassi finally broke the silence, pulling two packets from her bag and tossing them to them.

Emily turned the packet over in her gloves and read the label. Hand warmers. She frowned at the packet. Her hands were still in her gloves. They felt fine, sweaty even. She looked to Morgan who shrugged and set the packet on the floor between his feet. Emily sighed at his refusal and pulled her gloves from her hands. She was surprised to find her hands burning an angry red and lifted them to her cheeks experimentally. The digits were ice cold against her cheeks and the sensory distortion scared her. She quickly followed the instructions on the packet, shaking the liquid inside and held them in her hands as they heated up. Morgan, having witnessed her actions and discovering his hands to be in a similar state, followed suit and the two of them ended up sitting curled up quietly with their now stinging hands tucked into the packet filled pockets as they thawed.

Cassi ignored them entirely as she silently dug through her pack making a mental list of what she had that she could use in the event of a river crossing. She would never voice it to anyone, but if there was one thing she hated more than anything else, it was water. She hoped above anything else that they would be able to find a natural crossing and minimize any to all exposure to the water. However years of experience told her to never rely on wishful thinking and to always have a plan. Unfortunately, there were very limited options for them to weigh. They had the rope, which would be the most useful. Their suits were mostly water resistant, but wouldn't stand up against a full submersion. As much as she hated continuing on without a set plan, there wasn't really any planning she could do until faced with the obstacle. She was glad Rossi, Reid and JJ were alright and safe in a hunting blind somewhere, but now she worried that she'd put Morgan and Emily in danger by agreeing to bring them up there. These people always seemed to throw a wrench in her usually flawless activities. Their lack of trust in her made it that much harder. Emily masked her distrust well and she was sure when the time came for fast acting, she wouldn't think twice about doing what she was told. Morgan however was another beast. He made no attempt at hiding his feelings towards her. So far he had questioned every request she'd made of him and became defensive any time she approached them. She understood his reasons, but hated how unpredictable that made him. She just hoped that when the time came to act fast, he would listen to his instincts and not his brain.

Rossi watched the thick flurries of snow whipping around the foggy window of the cabin. The room was warm now, heated by the roaring fire and presence of five people in the small space. JJ had fallen asleep on the bed shortly after they had treated the injuries to her foot with a basic first aid kit. Reid was sleeping, sitting up against the wall next to her. Though their injuries were fairly minor, the hike to the cabin in the deep snow had exhausted them. Rossi was tired too, but his brain couldn't seem to shut off. He was worried about Morgan and Prentiss. They had come to their rescue only to be stuck out in the horrible weather while he sat semi comfortably in a warmed cabin. The couch sunk next to him, pulling his attention away from the window and he offered the young pilot a small smile.

"I'm really sorry Agent Rossi," Kyle said quietly.

"For what?"

"Well, for crashing the plane for one," he groaned. "And for the drugs."

"Where were the drugs going Kyle?"

The kid let out a deep sigh and stared down at the floor in front of him.

"I just fly them. I don't know where they go after that. I leave them on the plane and they're unloaded by the dock workers."

"How many boxes were on the plane?"

"Twenty-two," he sighed again, "they aren't gonna be happy when they don't show up."

"We can help you out Kyle. You'll do a little bit of time for smuggling, but I'm sure we could get a judge so go a little easier on you if you turn over the names of your supplier, and the buyer."

"I don't know either of them. I just fly them. The business stuff all goes on behind me. I just drop them off, and my check is waiting for me there."

"I thought you said those drugs were seized in a raid?" Dan's voice came over their shoulders from the small kitchen, "are you really FBI?"

Rossi turned in his seat to face him, "You're right Dan, I lied. We are FBI, but we didn't know the drugs were on the plane. But as of right, you can consider them as seized evidence. Someone will come back to collect them when its safe to do so."

Dan frowned and Rossi turned back in his seat.

"How much would something like be worth?" Dan asked quietly.

"Close to 150,000 if they found every box and none of it was ruined," Kyle answered.

Rossi stared out the window again, listening to the howling wind beyond it until his ears picked up on familiar sound of metal on metal and closed his eyes. This was the last thing they needed. He took a deep breath and spoke without looking back at him.

"What are you doing Dan?"

Dan held the rifle steadily in his hands, aiming just under the Agent's skull.

"That cargo's worth a lot of money," he answered quietly, "and nobody knows its here but you."

Rossi finally turned his head to look at him.

"Think about what you're doing here Dan," he reasoned, "our team is coming for us. When they reach the plane, they will discover the drugs."

"Maybe," he shifted, "I'll take my chances."

He moved in closer, ignoring Kyle's smaller frame sitting next to Rossi, "Take out your gun and put it on the table."

Rossi slowly did as he was told, glancing over at his sleeping friends instinctively. They were still sleeping. They were useless to him now if he decided to fight.

"Ok Dan," Rossi set the gun down and lifted his hands, "Nobody needs to get hurt here."

Dan ignored him and rushed around the couch to pick up the gun he had discarded. Then he risked a quick glance around the room, settling over the two sleeping Agents.

"Get up," he ordered Kyle.

Kyle did as he was told though his eyes pleaded with Rossi. Dan led him over to the bed before giving him orders."

"Get their guns."

Dan looked back to Rossi, desperate for a way out or anything to get him out of this mess. Rossi just nodded his head slightly. Kyle took a deep breath and reached around JJ for her weapon. The movement of his hand on her gun jerked her from her sleep. Instincts told her to reach for the glock despite her grogginess. She became instantly awake when her hand made contact with warm skin and she jerked away.

Kyle panicked at her sudden waking. He ripped his hand away, still clutching the gun. The movement pulled Reid from his sleep instantly and he blinked against the strange scene. Kyle stood white faced over JJ holding her pistol in his loose hand while Dan stood back further, with a hunting rifle trained on Rossi, and a pistol in his other hand pointed straight at him.

"I'm gonna need your gun Agent Reid," Dan called out, smiling.

"What's going on?" Reid asked, pushing himself up straighter against the wall.

"You're gun," Dan repeated, "get rid of it."

Reid slowly pulled his gun from his holster and handed it to Kyle. Kyle now held a gun in each had and appeared to have no idea what to do with either of them.

"Go put them in the footlocker," Dan ordered, keeping the rifle pointed at him.

Kyle slowly listened and shuffled over to the chest. Inside he eyed the 2nd rifle among its contents. He took a few deep breaths, convincing himself that he really had nothing to live for. The drug dealers would kill him for sure. On the last breath he spun around, lifting JJ's gun into the air, aiming for Dan.

Three loud cracks of gunfire shattered throughout the small room, drowning out the sounds of the brewing storm with explosive shots and light thuds of bullets piercing skin and muscle.

Author's Note: You guys/gals called it! Of course friendly Dan couldn't be that simple. Next chapter coming soon! Click that button and let me know what you think!