Title: Salutarem Via

Summary: After an international mission comes into light, Reid has to face the fact that his team will now need to know one of his biggest secrets: his life way from the BAU.

A/N: Hello, internet. I am back with another chapter, though there is still no Reid in this. Don't you worry, because there is Emily. She will make her appearance in the end of this chapter. I know a few of you have been wondering when she was coming back seeing as Manny (someone else that will be in this chapter) worked under her. Well, you will find out what has been happening in INTERPOL.

You also get to see Blackwell again. Yay! I actually love writing him. He is mean and egotistical and maybe even a little dim. I adore him, and I hope you like him too or at least love to hate him.

Read and enjoy the chapter. Please review. I would actually love to know which of the original characters is your favorite. Let me know by review or by PM. I want to know which types of characters interest you and which types I should just avoid. This story has a lot of characters, and I want to make sure I am not boring you with any of my own simply because I love them.

Still no beta, so bear with me and all of my mistakes. Now, back to the story.

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds. That lovely privilege belongs to CBS, though I am tempted to sell my soul to the devil just to buy it off them and do the show justice. I get frustrated at the show runners sometimes. I think we all do.

Chapter 8: So the Fight Begins

"It gives me strength to have somebody to fight for; I can never fight for myself, but, for others, I can kill."-Emilie Autumn

He knew Adelaide had been disappointed with him. He hated that particular feeling pumping into his system. It distracted him from the job at hand.

And as the voice sneaked behind him, he was glad he was not distracted, "So...you're back again. I hope you at least get paid to babysit me."

Turning around, Javier playful eyed Manny, "Yep, babysitting you is the best job I have had in a long while. I'm embarrassed to say that. How was your night?"

She walked toward the kitchen. Pulling the fridge door, she called back, "Oh, my night was the best. I watched some movies, ate some takeout. I had this big idiot watching my every move. It was completely creepy." She moved to the breakfast bar where Javier currently read his paper with orange juice in one hand and leftovers in the other, "But, when you're this beautiful, a creep or two is expected. How about you big guy? How was your night?"

Peering through his lashes, he responded, "Oh, nothing special. I had to work all night. Didn't sleep a wink. I have this really snippy client, completely ungrateful for her position. She is something else. Let me tell you." He whistled to make his point clearer.

Manny gulped down her breakfast, and quickly left him behind in the kitchen heading for the living room. Of course, he thought she should be thankful for her rescue except now she was useless to the cause. Adelaide would never put Reid in this place. No, Reid would be so anger with her that she would never even consider dragging him away from the case, dragging him from the possibility from catching the bad guy and saving everyone from certain death. Of course, he also was not a moron who simply searched for information without really thinking about the consequences of her actions until it was too late. He would have thought of every outcome and prepared for everything.

Now, he had to deal with the fallout of her own stupidity. She should be appreciative of Addie's kindness. She could have let her die. She should have let her die. It was the reasonable thing to do, but Adelaide was the best person on the planet. Her compassion for all of them would not allow her to just sit back and watch everything burn for the sake of her own life. It was what made her fantastic at her job. She was thorough and precise.

A deep voice renewed her reality, "Hey, Manny, I didn't mean anything by that. I get it. You got cabin fever. I would hate all of this. I don't want to be here babysitting you probably even more than you don't want to be babysat. It's just that I have to do this and you're not making this any easier."

Manny raised her eyebrow, "Well, then let's not be here. Let's go out there and kick some ass. Let's find them and make them pay for all the damage they have done. I have the information we need to arrest them or we could just kill them. Either way is perfectly fine with me. I just want to be out there doing something to help instead of being trapped here doing nothing."

Javier sighed, "I can't because if you go out there you will die and that can't happen. Addie is already unhappy with me, so I don't want to add another thing to the list of reasons why she should be furious with me. I don't need that."

Manny settled herself on a the couch burying her face in her hands. With shallow breaths, she looked up, "Why do you care about what she wants? Why do you care about her feelings and how she wants things? Why? Why do you care about her so damn much?"

He ambled to her gentling answering her questions, "Because she is a good person. I care because she didn't have to give me the job of looking after you. I care because I should be taking care of her, bringing her takeout, keeping her safe. I care because instead of doing all that she told me to go and get you and keep you safe. I care because no one on this planet is kinder than Adelaide. I care because right now she doesn't know who to trust, but she still sent me away. I care because she does, and if she cares I know it's important. I know it matters. I care because I owe it to her to care."

"What did she do for you that made you so god damn faithful to her, Ortiz?"

Javier smiled, "That's a story for another time."

"If we both make it out of this, will you tell me?"

"Maybe," he walked away from here after that. He went straight to his spot of the breakfast bar. He needed air to breathe. He needed Addie to calm him down. He was a mess before he went in from the interview with her. He lost hope in humanity. He was certain that everyone just wanted to use him for their own personal gain, but his friend insisted that he meet with this intellectual playing high-level bureaucrat from the DOD. He absolutely needed to talk this girl, so he forced himself to the interview.

She was something special, something extraordinary. How she managed to remain kind and selfless with the type of job she held was beyond him. She gave him hope that nothing was as bleak as it looked. She gave him the love he lost for life a long time ago. She gave him faith in humanity. Most importantly, she gave him a reason to keep fighting the good fight against all of the injustice in the world.

Six days flew by without a result. Six days and another couple died. Six days and another couple had gone missing. Six days and they were all exhausted sitting in a conference room with no tangible leads. Six days and all any one of them could think about was the fact that they needed Reid to solve this case.

JJ bravely said it, "I can't help but think that maybe we need Reid for this one."

Morgan nodded his agreement. Both Hotch and Rossi hated to admit that one member could have so much influence over their success on a case. They were supposed to be a team, yet right now all they needed was Reid to bring one sick monster to justice.

Glover stared, "I know his a genius, but he can't be that good. I mean Rossi alone has been doing this for about the amount of years he has been alive."

Rossi acknowledge that, "That may be true, but I can already think of at least ten cases we could not have solved without Boy Wonder, and that is just from the top of my head."

Glover scanned his team's faces. They all expressed the same thing, "Come on. I have been a part of this team for about a month now give or take. He has been away for most of that time. We have been solving cases without his input just fine, so we can solve this one."

Hotch appreciated Glover trying to rally everyone together, but he knew a hopeless case when he saw one. They all thought to much in the box. They needed someone who thought just a little differently to crack this case wide open. They needed someone who understood their unsubs better than any of them ever could. Reid was that person.

A phone buzzed. Morgan answered, "Hey, Babygirl. Give me some good news."

Garcia sighed, "Well, my Chocolate God, you may want to leave because this is most definitely not that news. The Millers were clean just like the previous couples, though the did have a daughter. She just turned three about nine days ago. Claire Miller was raped and stabbed. Anthony Miller was castrated and shot. This scene paints the same disturbing picture as the last two. What I can tell you is Lewis West and Marley McGuire tell us a little more. Marley and Lewis have been dating for the past two years. Lewis West was twenty-four years old and a boxer. He put up a fight. Though the blood found was not in the system anywhere, I can tell you that he was severely wounded."

JJ asked, "Is that it, Garcia?"

"No, my lovely blonde. Marley McGuire has recently graduated from Seattle Pacific University which if any of you have been paying attention is where Allison Silverman worked. Maya Finn-Davis had just visited their campus. She was considering getting her Masters there as I found her application on her computer. I think, my lovely crime fighters, I have found your connection."

Hotch detested this next part, "Garcia what about the Millers. Not one of them was a student or an employee."

"Well, Bossman, Claire Miller worked at a bank near by. She could often been seen on campus taking a walk during her lunch break."

Morgan talked first, "Well, at least now we know where he is picking his victims."

Hotch focused on Garcia, "Is that it? Do you have anything else, Garcia?"

"Sorry, loves. That's all on my end."

Glover sprang up from his seat, "Well, it looks like we have new scenery to cover."

Morgan nodded at him also leaving his seat. He spoke, "Hey, Babygirl. Can you do me a favor?"

"For you, mon ami, anything?"

Morgan slid into his jacket readying himself to join Glover on a road trip, "Can you give Reid a call? I have been trying put he won't pick up. I'm thinking you may have a better shot at it. I want him to look at this case. We're missing something, I know it, and I think he may be able to find whatever we're missing."

Garcia sighed, "This is most definitely something I can do and with great pleasure. Garcia out."

Hotch turned around to face Glover, "Okay, You and Morgan need to drive out to Seattle. Look into their case filings. He is obviously stalking the women. If we are lucky, maybe one filed a stalking report that fell through the cracks. JJ, I need you to talk to the family's again. There has to be a reason why he picks them from Seattle and drives them all to Kent. Rossi, go back to the medical examiner. Lewis West's body should tells something different compared to the others."

Mind wandering, Hotch closed his eyes. His thoughts conjured up a picture of a beautiful girl with pigtails and a pretty pink dress. He would find this man and end him just for that little girl who now had to grow up without the love and guidance of her parents. He finally made the mistake Aaron Hotchner had been needing. He gave them an incentive to never give up, a reason to go in with guns blazing.

Cruz's stomach churned as he walked toward Director Blackwell's office. These meetings never meant anything good. They meant something very, very bad. After everything that happened in Texas, he had expected this call. The thing was that happened months ago.

Mateo Cruz was a man smart enough to know that this was personal for the director. If it was personal, Cruz acknowledge the possibility that his leniency with his most successful team was about to bite him in the ass. He was about to get a stern talking to about the BAU.

He knocked twice and did not have to wait long before a voice boomed, "Come on in Matt."

Swiftly, he walked to a chair in front of the wooden desk. He showed no signs of distress or worry, no signs that he knew what was about to happen.

Blackwell began the conversation, "Well, I am not a believer of pleasantries or beating around the bush. I will just be blunt. Cruz, we have a massive problem. You have not been doing your job correctly. Now, I have given you plenty of time to adjust to it, so now it is the time to discuss the problems that you have yet to fix."

Cruz masked his true feelings with a scrunched up forehead, "I don't understand. What problems? We have one of the highest success rates in the Bureau. All of my subordinates are not just merely competent, but they are the best in their fields. We receive glowing reviews from all of the LEOs we encounter and all the other departments we have coordinated with. I don't see where the problems would be?"

"I don't find you to be a stupid man, Cruz. I am well aware how astute you can be, so I imagine you know exactly to what I am referring. Either way, let me be frank. I do not approve of the way you have been handling Team A from the Behavioral Analysis Unit. You have been granting them too much leeway. You need to reign them in. Shorten their leash, or I am going to have to rearrange some things."

"What exactly do you want me to do?"

Leaning into his chair, he smiled, "I want you to send bring in Agent Kirk from Human Trafficking. I want her to replace Dr. Reid."

Cruz snapped his neck to take a good look at Blackwell. With fire in his stare, Cruz refused, "No. I will not let Reid get replaced with some newbie that will not be able to do the job half as well. They are my number one team. I refuse to ruin a good thing. Come on. They just got a new member whom I am not entirely sure will work out, and you want to add another new member. Are you trying to end their impeccable record."

"I believe it was not too long ago that they did not find a bomber that killed a lot of civilian lives. I am forced to think it may be time to change the dynamics of that team."

"No."

His eyebrows squeezed together and his eyes formed slits, "You do not understand. Dr. Reid has been asked to transfer over to different departments many times over. Though I don't claim to understand how he thinks, I believe it is time for him to accept that promotion."

Cruz stood up, "I am not going to allow for you to just break that team up for your own amusement. I have no idea what you have against that team, but you just can't..."

Blackwell interrupted, "Are you saying that Dr. Reid has not done extraordinary work worthy of a promotion? He is going to be the head of another department."

"Of course not. I just..."

He pulled himself near his desk, "Well, then...If you are not going to announce Dr. Reid's promotion, I am forced to assume someone is hindering his career. If that is the truth, then fowl play is at hand. I am going to have to fire someone to make sure that nothing awful is happening."

Cruz's mind ran faster than normal, "If Reid does not want the promotion, and I can prove that no one was meddling in his decision-making will you let this go?"

"I guess I will have to."

He straightened up, "Okay." He marched out of the office to the elevator. He had to warn the team without being direct. He needed to be subtle. He should thankful that Blackwell had the decency of telling him because now he had a goal in mind. He had a goal for which he would fight tooth and nail.

No one had heard from Manuela for over a week now, and Emily became worried. She did not like the fact that one of her subordinates was missing with no trace of where she had gone.

Emily strutted into Manny's office hoping for some sort of clue of her whereabouts. Nothing screamed out to her, yelling that they were the answer. All that she saw was the research she conducted before she disappeared. Papers scattered all over her desk about a bombing in the states: location, number of deaths, a list of investigators. What stood out was the list of all possible targets for the next attack.

Giving herself a mental note to call Homeland Security about this possible threat, she carried on looking for her answer. Emily glossed over profiling her employee, but she was getting extremely desperate.

Sitting on Manny's desk chair, Emily closed her eyes. Think like her. Where would Manuela Ferro hide sensitive information? Where would she put the important things she finds that may or may not be part of her assignment? She had been acting strange. Why had she been acting strange? Think of her background. She was practically a spy for the government until she came here. Here, all she did was paperwork mostly. She gave up being active in he field to be an analyst for INTERPOL. Why would she do that? She's not old enough to be forced out of combat. She choose not to be in the frontlines. Why? Why would she do that?

It took Emily ten minutes to notice the similarities to her own past. It took her even longer to be able to profile Manny correctly to find the same drive stashed away on the left side of her desk on the bottom drawer. Manny was naturally intelligent, but she also had years of experience in this line of work. She knew all the procedures. The first place anyone would look would be the safe each person had in their office. She would never risk someone finding it there. Manny was right handed, so the next place would be that side of the desk. Nothing would be there. She was paranoid, yet she did not exhibit the fear most people did in this situation. Not the way Emily did when Doyle came after her.

She knew someone was coming, but she knew she had an escape, and out. Is that why she was missing? Did someone she trusted give her asylum?

It did not matter? Emily grabbed the drive. She fixed herself to be more comfortable as she place the drive into the computer to see whatever information that was worthy of Manny's sacrifice. Or her merely her disappearance Emily reminder herself. Manny could still be alive.

As she scanned through it all, Emily's heart pounded. She recognized all of this. Manny had been CIA, and this was the mission that ended her. She knew that feeling. There were codenames and listings of agencies involved. Operation Casurus was both successful and unsuccessful. The team stopped three major terrorist attacks around the world by infiltrating the network, but they were not able to kill off that branch completely.

She did a double take when her eyes fell on the fact that one of the team members was from the Bureau. Not many people from the FBI qualified for this type of operation. She could only think of a few from her time there that could be considered.

Some of the bombs this branched used were the same as the bomb attacks that happened not that long in the United States. She scanned the desk for the research Manny had on those attacks. They did not catch the culprit, but the FBI was behind the investigation. She skimmed through the names again. Her old team was the lead. They hardly ever go home without the criminal behind bars or behind dirt.

Her eyebrows rose and mouth opened more with every passing thought. Some of the few FBI agents qualified for Operation Casurus were with this team. It no longer was about Manny. It was personal. She planned to skip the call to Homeland Security and go straight to the source. She needed to call Hotch and she was beginning to assume Hotch needed her to call.

Picking up her cell, she flashed through her contacts. Finding the number, she clicked on the name she wanted. Ringing and more ringing, she finally said, "Hey, I need the jet. I am headed to DC. I have information they may find interesting. And before you go there, I am going." She hung up before any argument could commence.

She stalked with all the files to her own office. Placing them on her desk, she wen around it to find a vital piece of equipment. She felt the gun in her hand and pumped it. Manny was an employee, and if she stretched it a friend. Her team, though, her team was her family. No one was going to hurt her family. If they were a part of this, she was ready for battle no matter how long it would take. With fire in her eyes, she fought in wars before this. Difference was this was not about survival but about love.

She could kill for love and leave without nightmares haunting her.