Author's Note: I'M BAAAACK! I am so sorry for the giant hiatus on this story! My job has been crazy and I started doing a lot of film/tv production work, some of which I'm also past my deadline on, eek! I know some of you are upset that I left it hanging for so long, and I truly am sorry. I thought about pulling it down so others wouldn't get into it too, but some people got really upset with that idea as well. I finally managed to have a few days to myself and I'm making myself use them to stay home and write! Hopefully as a result I'll finish this thing soon.

For those of you who have followed my story arc this far, thank you so much for sticking with me! I have made some great friends through this site. If you just found this story and read this far into it, thank you, and I'll try not to leave you hanging for too long! Also, my readers are the best!

Since it's been so long since I've updated this story, I'll give you a recap of what's happened: Rossi, Reid and JJ crash in the Alaskan mountains on a bush plane full of cocaine. Hotch, Prentiss, Morgan and Garcia resorted to calling in for help from Cassi, who you will know well if you read my story Bullseye. Cassi showed up with two of her "colleagues", Mason and Milo. Morgan, Prentiss, and Cassi, are on the mountain fighting the storm trying to find their friends. Rossi, Reid and JJ are found during a break in the storm by a local hunter, who is more interested in the cocaine than helping the agents. When I left you, a standoff at the cabin ended with 3 gunshots and the search party had to bunker down to wait out the storm for a while.

Her ears were ringing. Three shots fired inside the small confines of the cabin. JJ had felt the tension in the room growing between the two men and rolled herself from the bed to floor just in time. A stray bullet that may or may not have struck her head in her previous position was now lodged deep into the log wall behind the bed. The young pilot had not been so lucky. On the floor she now met his wide, pain filled eyes as he lay in a growing puddle of blood and struggled to breathe. But where had the third bullet gone?

She blinked away her shock and pushed herself up to her knees. Across the room Rossi was flat on his back, groaning. Kyle's wild shot had missed its mark and had hit Rossi instead.

"Rossi!" she shouted, causing Dan to spin toward her and wave his gun at her.

"I just want to make sure he's okay," she raised her hands in surrender, "please?"

"Go," Dan mumbled, giving her permission.

JJ crawled to his side and quickly scanned over his chest. She could clearly see a hole in his jacket but there was no blood that she could see.

"I'm okay" Rossi hissed.

JJ let out a breath as it dawned on her. She'd forgotten they were wearing their vests underneath their jackets for extra warmth. She silently thanked their luck that they were. Now, in the hands of an armed, greedy drug smuggler, there was no chance they'd be taking them off any time soon.

"Check on the kid." Rossi groaned as she helped him sit up.

JJ looked to Dan for permission. When he nodded she crawled over to the pilot and grimaced at the blood she had to avoid slipping in to get to his side. Kyle was not as lucky as Rossi had been. The rifle bullet had struck him center of the chest and she could tell just by the crackling sound of his labored breathing that his lungs were filling with fluid. He gripped a hand in her jacket, instinctively trying to ground himself.

"It's okay," she spoke quietly and ran a hand over his forehead, "you're okay."

It was a blatant lie and he knew it, but she didn't have any other words. In a city with access to a short helicopter ride to a hospital he could maybe survive the wound. But out in the Alaskan wilderness with no possible rescue for hours if not days, it would take a miracle. The fact that they were alive at all after the crash had JJ closing her eyes and biting back sadness for the kid. They'd used up all their miracles. Out here in the wild, it had been a kill shot. Still she held his hand and stroked his hair all while talking softly to him that things would be alright until his hand finally loosened its hold on her jacket and he sputtered his last breath only minutes after.

JJ gave one last side look to the young man who had made mistakes, but didn't deserve to die from them, and then turned a bitter glare up to the man who'd killed him.

"He brought it on himself," he growled at her, "if he wouldn't have tried to be the hero, he'd still be alive."

She didn't dignify him with an answer. She simple glared at him, making her distaste in him very apparent.

"Get back over there," he motioned toward the couch where Rossi, and now Reid were sitting. She hadn't seen Reid move.

She pushed herself up to her feet, grimacing and almost falling as she put weight on her injured foot. Dan reached out to grab her arm but she pulled it out of his grasp and chose to hop the few feet to the couch instead. She plopped down between the two men and they each stared up at their rescuer turned hostage taker. Regardless of the gunman, they were stuck there anyway. Trying to escape out into the snow would be no safer than facing the armed killer. On the flip side, Dan also was stuck there with them with nowhere to go. They were at a stalemate. The only move either of them had was in Dan's favor. They had a rescue team coming for them, but Dan knew they were coming. Morgan and Prentiss wouldn't have a clue what they were walking into.

The storm hadn't let up at all in the two hours the rescue team had been sitting in the tent. In fact it only seemed to be getting stronger. To make things worse, it was starting to get dark out which meant that the rescue team was stuck for the night, which only made the tension in the group stronger. After another hour of bickering they'd finally all just accepted the fact that they were stuck there and pulled their sleeping bags from their packs. They knew there was a possibility that they'd have to spend at least one night on the mountain, they'd just hoped they'd be a lot closer to their friends by the time they had to pack it in.

Emily climbed through the small opening she'd made in the tent, trying to prevent as much snow from blowing inside as possible as she crawled inside. The inside was lit by an LED lantern now and Cassi and Morgan had laid all of their sleeping bags from the packs while she was out. She noted that hers had been placed strategically between theirs. Not only had she been their mediator throughout the day but even in their sleep they'd placed her as a literal barrier between them. She sighed to herself. She was too tired to care.

"Well mark that off the list of things I never want to have to do again," Emily said as she entered.

She'd put it off as long as she possibly could, but eventually she just couldn't anymore. Peeing in the woods was bad enough for a woman. Trying to do it while an Alaskan snowstorm tried to blow you over was another obstacle entirely.

Cassi flashed an amused smirk at her. She understood. Morgan just grinned and shook his head before plopping down to sit on his sleeping bag. Emily sat down as far away from them as possible to avoid getting the sleeping bags wet from the snow melting off of her as she removed her boots and snowsuit. Now, in only her thermals, jeans and fleece sweater she really could feel how cold it was inside the tent and she quickly moved to her sleeping bag and crawled inside.

Morgan relayed to Hotch where they were and that they had hunkered down for the night before pulling the radio mic from his neck and tucking the whole radio inside the sleeping bag beside him. The cold sucked the energy from the batteries and he was determined to make theirs last as long as they needed them to. Emily rolled onto her side to face him as he pulled the sleeping bag hood over his wool cap. The downside to keeping his hair shaved was that his head had no insulation from the bitter weather.

"This sucks."

Even in the dim light he could see her breath as she spoke.

"That's stating the obvious," he smirked.

"When we get down I'm soaking in a hot tub for a week."

He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Oh you're so not invited," she grinned

"I've heard that before."

"It's as true now as it was then."

He chuckled and she smiled, happy that he had loosened up at least a little since they'd landed on the mountain. She knew he was just frustrated and worried about their friends. They really didn't have much to smile about at the present time, but she was glad that she could at least distract him for a moment.

"Get some sleep Emily," he said finally, "I have a feeling we're going to need it."

She nodded her agreement and turned back onto her back to stare up at the red canvass above her as it shook against the constant wind. Soon the rhythmic howling wind and Morgan's light snoring, combined with the exhaustion of little sleep and the days hike had her drifting off to a sound sleep.

She woke only a few hours later to the sound of shuffling to her right. She blinked up at the top of their shelter for a moment before her brain drew her eyes to the source of the sounds. Cassi was sitting cross legged on top of her sleeping bag, digging through her pack.

"What are you doing?" Emily whispered, sleep not quite cleared from her throat.

Cassi's eyes shot up to her and she frowned, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up."

"Why are you awake?" Emily ignored her apology.

"I, uh…I couldn't sleep." Cassi mumbled, "I figured I would go over some of the maps and see if I can find an easier route to the cabin. Preferably one around the river. Is the light bothering you?"

Emily eyed her curiously, and shook her head no. The flashlight she was using to light her small area of the tent hadn't even registered to her. There was something else in the way she stumbled over her words and the look in her eyes when she'd first realized she was being watched that Emily couldn't quite put a finger on. It was a familiar reading of body language that finally clicked. Emily had woken to the same feeling more times than she could count.

"Bad dreams?" she asked and Cassi's eyes widened just a fraction of a twitch in surprise, telling Emily that she'd guessed correctly.

"How'd you know?" Cassi asked after a moment's silence.

"I'm familiar with that feeling. It comes with the job."

Cassi nodded, "I can imagine."

Emily gave her a moment before asking, "Do you wanna talk about it?"

Cassi winced inwardly and shook her head, "No, not really. I just need a little distraction for a bit to clear my head. You should go back to sleep. We have a long way to go tomorrow"

Cassi could feel Emily watching her even though she remained silent. Even as she studied the map on her lap, she couldn't really focus on it until she could feel like she was alone again. She turned her head to confirm that Emily was indeed still watching her and on her other side Morgan still slept soundly. With a sigh she set the map down and flipped the switch on the flashlight, plunging them into darkness.

"I don't like water," she said quietly.

"Ok…" Emily's response held a tone of confusion and she added, "I don't like onions."

Cassi smirked at Emily's sarcastic take at I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours: confessions addition. She took a deep breath and tried to figure out the best way to explain before speaking. She had never told anyone about her personal demons before and she didn't quite understand why she was going to tell Emily about them now.

"When I was a kid I didn't have the same experience with water as most kids," she started, "I didn't go to pools in the summer or take lessons to learn to swim. It wasn't a fun thing for me. It was actually quite the opposite."

"You can't swim?" Emily asked, now worrying about the possible river crossing.

"Oh no, I can swim just fine," she took another deep breath and explained, "The life of a terrorist isn't like being raised in a normal home, obviously. You were taught how to ride a bike and played sports in school. I was taught how to withstand torture techniques and effective ways to kill people. Water can be a big key player in both."

Emily wished she could see Cassi in the dark. By the shame her voice held she imagined her shoulders had slumped and she hung her head as she tried to explain her not so irrational fear.

"I'm sorry," Emily whispered. She didn't know what else to say.

Cassi snorted, "You've got nothing to be sorry about Emily. And don't worry about tomorrow. If we have to cross a river, we cross the river. I would just really prefer doing it without getting wet. Hypothermia is not nearly as fun as it sounds."

Emily frowned to herself. Hypothermia didn't even sound a little bit fun. She could do without getting wet and she didn't have a fear of the water. In fact, she loved swimming. The thought brought another question to her mind and her curiosity got the better of her.

"Without lessons, how did you learn to swim?"

"Actually I did eventually get lessons. Though I was in my teens before I finally got it down," Cassi answered, then her tone dropped, "Eric taught me."

"Eric Foster?"

"Yeah," Cassi smiled at the memory, "though he was Eric Forester back then. There was a lake near the compound we lived in. He used to sneak away to play there and I guess he got tired of watching me thrash around like a fish every time they threw me in the water, so one day we broke out and he took me with him. At least by that point I was really good at holding my breath for long periods of time. Once a week we would go down to the lake and just swim until I eventually figured it out."

"Did his father ever find out?"

"If he did he never reacted to it. Though I'm pretty sure he suspected something when he threw me in and one day I didn't sink."

They sat in silence for a while, before Cassi slid back down into her sleeping bag. The short conversation had given her a better memory to distract her from the nightmare she'd woken from.

"Thanks Emily," she said quietly.

"For what?"

"The distraction. I've never told anyone about that before."

"I'm glad you told me." She sincerely was. It was a glimpse at the person behind the so called monster and that part of her wasn't a monster at all. She was just a damaged woman forced into a life she never wanted. Suddenly the room seemed tense again, their minds both filled with deep thoughts of days that couldn't be changed.

"I have a confession too," Emily whispered, once again breaking the tension.

"Okay…" Cassi whispered back, turning to face her.

"I don't like snow."

Once again Hotch was perched at his place by the window, peering out into the night. The wind was dying down and he could now make out a few of the lights from the building across the landing strip. Garcia had arrived back at the office an hour before nightfall and had brought with her an assortment of fast food that he could feel sitting heavily in his stomach and clogging his arteries. She and Milo were now sitting in front of their respective computers forcing small talk about their systems and equipment, only half of which Hotch understood.

"Hotch?" Garcia pulled his attention from the window, "why don't you get some sleep?"

He was tired but he wasn't about to leave Garcia alone with Milo. Not only did he not trust the man but he had no idea where Mason was or when he'd return. He knew he needed to sleep but just hadn't been able to force himself down onto the dusty old couch just yet.

"I will," he gave her small smile, "It's not as late as it looks. The days are short here."

"It's after eleven," she pointed out and he had to look at his watch. He'd been staring off into space a lot longer than he'd realized.

He sighed and moved to lay across the couch, feeling awkward in the presence of Garcia and a stranger. Neither of which seemed to pay him any mind as they quietly continued their conversation as he slowly drifted into a light slumber.

"Ok," Milo finally said, slouching back in his chair, "I'm officially impressed."

"By my systems or my amazing abilities to manipulate them?" Garcia grinned in response, gloating.

"Both," he admitted, "Cassi said you were good, but you're good."

"Is it safe to assume that you're to blame for all of the run around in DC with Sikes and all that?" she asked boldly.

"Uhm, well, partially," he admitted, surprising her, "I really just do what I'm told."

"How did you get involved in all of this anyway?" she finally asked what she'd been wondering since his arrival. He wasn't like Cassi and Mason. He was about as unobtrusive and laid back as a person could be. He didn't fit the puzzle.

"Oh, that's a long story," he answered.

Garcia motioned to their surroundings with her hands, "I've got time."

Milo snickered and kicked his feet up onto the desk and intertwined his fingers over his stomach, settling in.

"I don't even know if it would makes sense if I told you. I'm sure there's a lot about it that I don't know, and even more that I can't tell you."

"Try."

"Well, I was a dumb kid wasting my time and talents on small time hacking jobs, breaking into ATM's and making low life police files disappear for money. I pissed off some people. Some really bad people. I'd be dead now if it weren't for Cassi. I had a run in with some messengers in a smoking alley of a club one night about fsix years ago. They pulled me back into the back alley and gave me a pretty good beating before she showed up, though I'm sure they'd have killed me had she not. I blacked out and when I came to I was in a swanky apartment that I didn't recognize and she was standing over me like a bloody creeper."

"So you took the job because you owed her for saving you?" Garcia filled in.

"Not right away. She bandaged me up, and sent me on my way without a word. It wasn't until a few months later that she found me again at a café in New York. Scared the hell out of me when I look up and she's just sitting there in front of me, hundreds of miles away from where I'd last seen her. She offered me a job running papers and tracking online accounts. She offered me a hell of a lot of money and promised I wouldn't have to worry about the thugs anymore."

"You took it," Garcia said and this time nodded.

"I would have been a moron not to. It was easy work, and I didn't have to look over my shoulder all the time anymore."

"What about now?"

Milo's grin disappeared, "Now, I'm not the one looking over my shoulder."

"Well this team doesn't give up on anything so she's going to have to keep looking," Garcia said proudly.

Milo chuckled, "of that I have no doubt."

"So what Mason's deal?" she asked, changing the subject away from one that was bound to become very awkward for both of them if continued.

"You mean besides what you read in the background check you ran on him when we got here?" he winked at her knowingly, "he's a big jerk."

"As opposed to your charming personality?"

"Are you saying I'm a jerk?"

She rolled her eyes in response and turned her attention away from him to glance at the computer screen in front of her. The icons of the search party were still in the same spot they had been for the last hour. She hoped they were sleeping as well as they could be in their situation. Now more than ever she prayed the storm would let up and they could reach the cabin in the morning. She couldn't bear the thought of them having to spend another night in out in the elements. She wanted her team together and safe.

Next to her Milo seemed to understand her sudden change in demeanor.

"They'll be okay," he offered quietly.

Garcia turned to him with a frown. What did he know? He didn't know them. They were her friends, not his.

"This is what she does," he added looking down to his feet, "she's good at this."

She swallowed the bitter annoyance she had. It was uncharacteristic for her. She was judging the man that she didn't know just by the company he kept.

"Sorry," she finally replied, "understand that I don't have a lot of friends. This team, these people…they are more than my friends. They are my family."

"I know," he answered still looking at the floor and he shrugged uncomfortably, "Cassi's the only person I've got."

Author's Note: I know it's not as long as my chapters in the past but I've been out of the writing game for a long time. Be patient I'll get there. I won't promise another chapter is right around the corner because obviously I haven't delivered in the past. I will promise that I'll try though! Please review and let me know your thoughts. Even if you just want to scold me for taking so long. My readers rock!