THIRD PERSON POV

Spencer left the BAU offices after calling Hotch and telling him of his suspicions that something was wrong. He began heading straight for Sarah's apartment. His brain was fired at a million thoughts a minute. Something wasn't right.

Everything from that phone call she took to the wording of what came out of her mouth. She hadn't been sleeping. Her finger picking had gotten worse. She probably hadn't even noticed it, but it was a nervous tick that she had that had progressed much more in the past few months.

He reached her apartment building and made his way to the second floor. He stopped in his tracks. Her door was open. Reaching for his gun, he carefully entered the apartment.

It was a mess.

Her belongings were scattered over the floor, there were broken dishes in the kitchen, her chairs were overturned, books torn apart, and curtains ripped from the windows. Spencer's breath hitched. He cautiously made his way to her room, praying for the best. The sight in front of him was unnerving.

The walls were covered in pictures. Pictures of her.

At work.

At the park.

At the coffee shop.

At the library.

On her bed.

There were pictures of her with Aaron, Caroline, Spencer, and one with a man who Spencer didn't recognize.

Her flower picture was thrown to the ground, revealing a now-empty safe. But the bed was untouched, except for the yellow rose.

"Shot in the head, a single yellow rose on the doorstep of their house…"

Spencer could practically hear her voice from the recording.

Nicolas…that was his name. Spencer knew that he was involved with this. Dialing Morgan's number, he listened as the phone rang.

"This is Morgan."

"Morgan. Has Hotch filled you in?" Spencer asked, trying to mask the desperation in his voice.

"Yeah, how are you doing kid?"

"I'm at her apartment right now. I don't think she's okay. We need to get a team in here, now," Spencer said, ignoring Morgan's question.

"Kid," Morgan said, trying to get Spencer to listen. "We have a team going out there, but if this guy has her, you know we have to turn it over to the Marshals, right?"

"Yeah," Spencer said, swallowing. "I know."

"We'll be there in 5 minutes. Sit tight," Morgan said, hanging up the phone. Even from just talking to Spencer, he knew that he was concerned.

Spencer walked around her apartment, looking for anything that could show that she was okay, that what he felt in his gut was wrong. But as he walked through the destroyed apartment, the feeling only got stronger.

He took a picture of the mysterious man in the photos, vowing to show Garcia the picture to see if facial recognition could be run.

"Spence," came JJ's voice from the doorway. They were here. Morgan, JJ, and Rossi.

"JJ," he said. "There's no sign of a struggle. As far as I can tell, she walked in and walked out of here."

"Hey, Spence, look at me," JJ said, putting her hand on his shoulder. "You can't be here."

"JJ, I'm not leaving."

"Kid," Morgan said.

"No! I'm not leaving just because I knew her. I mean, if anything, my personal insight to her will help us," Spencer rambled. The team didn't push anymore, knowing that he wouldn't listen. They began to analyze the scene, before all coming to the same conclusion.

Sarah had entered her home, saw the scene, and fled.

"Hotch," Morgan said, calling the unit chief, "I got you on speaker. Have we contacted the Marshals?"

"I called my contact over there, and he informed me that Sarah was indeed in Witness Protection. He also said that her handler was called to Stafford yesterday to get Sarah from a motel. When he got there, she was gone," Hotch said.

"What are they doing to find her?" Spencer asked.

"Well, right now, they are unsure if she was forced to leave or left of her own volition. They are trying to find security footage from the motel to see if they can figure out what happened…We've been ordered to leave the investigation alone. This is a Marshal issue."

"Hotch-"

"Reid, you know my hands are tied. I've asked for them to keep us updated, but other than that, there's nothing else we can do."

"So what? We just hope that guy doesn't have her while the Marshals try to find her?" Spencer asked. "We've been allowed to consult before, why aren't we allowed now?"

"Apparently, they already have another department consulting," Hotch said, his voice through the phone lowering.

"Who?" JJ asked.

"The CIA."

"Wait, why is the CIA interested in this case? I thought Sarah was a witness for a sex trafficking ring on the border?" Rossi asked.

"That's all I know," Hotch said. "I'm sorry. The Marshals are coming now, so you all need to leave now, or else they will arrest you. Get back to the office now."

The call ended and the team was silent. They awkwardly switched their gaze between Spencer and each other.

"Let's go," Spencer said, exiting the apartment. Everyone made their way to the cars, JJ volunteering to ride with Spencer.

"Spence," she said. "I am so sorry."

"I shouldn't care, right?"

"What do you mean?" JJ asked. Spencer exhaled as he turned on the car.

"She broke up with me yesterday, but I swear, JJ, I think this is connected."

"It probably is," JJ said, her heart aching for the boy next to her. "I watched the video Spence…She cares for you, and that video is from months ago."

"I know," he said. "But she didn't trust me enough to tell me."

"You know that she couldn't."

"I know."

"You know, we aren't going to stop looking for her, right?"

"Promise?"

"Promise."

They drove in silence with Spencer watching the building disappear from sight in the rearview. As they approached Quantico, Spencer gripped his phone as he made his way directly to Garcia.

"I think this guy is important. Whoever he is, he was in a lot of pictures with Sarah, I mean, Danielle. Whoever he is, we need to know who he is," Spencer said, handing the phone to Garcia.

"Got it, but Spencer, I don't know if I will be able to get anything from this," Garcia said, warning him.

"I know, but we have to try…please," Spencer asked, for the first time feeling the reality of the situation.

"Yeah, of course…Hotch wants everyone at the roundtable," Garcia said. "You all have to be briefed officially on Sarah." Spencer made his way to the room where everyone was already seated waiting.

"Let's get started," Hotch said, pulling up Sarah's picture. Hotch began to speak, everyone's eyes fixed to the screen. "This is Danielle Hansen, or, as we know her Sarah Bennett…"