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, my wonderful, fantastic, amazing, readers! The team finally knows what happened during Operation Casurus. Is it what you expected? Was it a disappointment? Did it live up to the expectation? Please let me know. I want to write something that you will all enjoy. Your input really shapes the story. My original outline of this is completely useless now, because of your reactions helped me form it.

Thank you so much for your support. All of you have been incredibly kind and generous. I could not express how much I have come to love all of you. Words do not exist for me to be able to express my gratitude which is a terrible thing for a writer to say.

Now, I am going away for a week long camping trip with my family, so I will not be able to update during that time. I will try to get to the next chapter as soon as I get back, but that may not happen. I have got a wonderful job for the summer (being a nanny is better than an office job, but I am exhausted by the end of the day). Talking about my job, I am sorry to inform you that updates are going to be every ten days to two weeks between chapters. I know that sucks, but life tends to hate me. I would much rather spend all my day writing. Alas, that cannot be.

Now, get ready for Reid to find out that they all know. Also, Reid is going to discover that Addie is missing. It is not going to be pretty.

Please review and PM with any questions, comments, or concerns. Like I said, this is for all of you and I want to make it as good as I possible can.

Disclaimer: I do this with every chapter, but it still breaks my heart. I do not own Criminal Minds in any way. That right belongs to CBS, though sometimes I think they abuse such a right.

Chapter Fifteen: Releasing the Secret

"All friends have secrets. We're like three-dimensional shapes on paper; we all have hidden sides. And there's some secrets we don't even reveal to ourselves."- Nenia Campbell

Mateo Cruz hated the politics that came with a position of power. Tucked away from the chaos of the team plaguing his thoughts, Cruz paced in his office. He wondered of what to do with the information at hand. He could not lose this team to the ignorance displaced by the director or maybe it was arrogance. He always confused the two. Now, all he had to do was somehow appease the big boys upstairs enough without actually giving in to their demands.

How on earth was he suppose to do such a thing?

He wanted, no, he needed to keep this team together. They were doing work that no one else could do, and he was going to keep them together for as long as he could. Unless one of them personally asked to be transferred over to another department, Cruz was not going to keep them apart for anything.

He knew it was going to be difficult. As soon as he finished his meeting with the Director, Cruz took it upon himself to look more deeply in Reid's file left by Strauss. It was during his investigation that he realized how complicated this actually was. Just telling the team of the challenges ahead would not cut it. Reid was in higher demand than a simple trade in department employees.

God, it was stupid of him to think otherwise. Reid was a genius with an impeccable record within the Bureau. It would only make sense for other agencies to try to take him. It just was so many offers from so many different places. Not to mention, all of the classified cases Reid had a hand in solving. Most of those cases were out of his jurisdiction and level. He did not have access to that type of sensitive information, so he still knew nothing as to why Blackwell held a hatred for the young genius. The problem was that he could indeed imagine what happened between the two of them.

Blackwell was notorious for being easily rattled and power hungry. He fancied himself better in everything than he was which only added to his insecurities. Narrow-minded and pig-headed, anything that challenged his perception of the world around him especially himself was hated by him. Thinking that he was the most important person in the FBI, Reid could have earned such abhorrence.

Seeing all of this made him wonder why they sent JJ to Afghanistan instead of him. He would have done well over there. He held a comprehensive understanding of how other agencies worked and how inter- agency collaboration functioned, more than JJ. He would not have been so shell-shocked. No learning curve needed, he would have decreased the time they were on duty. With that in mind, his vast knowledge about a variety of topics, unique set of skills, and a record to be envied should have put him on the top of the list of recruits.

And, he was. He just was not on the list for Operation: Classified. Cruz assumed that Erin Strauss had a personal hand in sending JJ to a place where she clearly did not belong. Reid on the other would have been accepted with some reluctance yet that would have faded.

Cruz shook his head. None of that mattered now. He kept digging into Reid's thin file. The more he searched, the more unsure he became of what to do. Reid was on many other lists as it turned out: list for so many other department consults, other agencies consults.

He was the secret weapon that he heard about when he first received the offer from the Bureau.

He heard of the FBI lending some sort of genius to crack the uncrackable. Faster than a computer and smarter than anyone out there, FBI snagged him up on lucky chance. The CIA had hoped to grab him for a special project and NASA wanted him for engineering innovation for a space exploration mission that was coming up. NSA wanted him to crack codes for them, while DHS flirted with the idea of sending him an offer as well.

He chose FBI on a whim, because Jason Gideon toured for requirement on CalTech's campus during the time Spencer Reid needed guiding. Gideon saw him and childishly called dibs. With his influence, he got what he wanted. Eventually, Gideon got bored with his new genius toy and the world kept turning. Now, he was gone and Reid was more desirable than ever.

He wished he had more power over his personnel than he did, but he recognized his limitations within the current situation. There was not much he could do for Reid other than warning him about the upcoming transfer.

He had a feeling that a man with that many secrets had someone on the other side to facilitate any and all problems that may arise for him.

It took almost two hours for them to incorporate the new information into the profile. The time was split in fourths. The first fourth was used to console Manuela after reliving one of her most horrific memories during her career. The second half hour was used to take the new information and somehow create a plan to get ahead of the enemy. The last hour was spent in silence as they all attempted to simulate the notion of a deadly side to their rather innocent Doctor.

It shattered their perception of him. Spencer Reid was to stay as simple and as boring as possible. He was not to evolve into something other than a caricature of the overgrown boy genius. They never accessed the layers to his person. He was a mystery that they never had the pleasure to solve.

Or, was it the inclination?

They all speculated that maybe this was all on them. that they just never took the time to explore Reid outside of the version that was most accessible to them. Maybe, Spencer was more than willing to share with them all the parts that completed everything he was, and they merely ignored all the opportunities to walk into those dark spaces of his life.

Two hours spent exploring what they should have explored years ago. As the team wallowed in the quiet, Javier and Manny settled in the corner of the room. Manny hugged herself tightly trying to disappear, while Javier was on the phone.

"Okay, okay...I'll take the next flight out."

Javier whispered, "No! Addie wouldn't want that. This looks like an elimination. If you fly out, they might try to take you out. It is safer for you to be in California. I'm calling in case this goes south, Dash. I want one of you to know what actually happened. I can't call Eloise or her husband, and you better believe I don't want to call Col. Lancaster to tell him his baby girl is missing. Just stay put...And stay out of trouble. Got it?"

"Got it. Take care."

"Thanks. You, too."

Before Javier hung up, Dash's voice warned, "Hey, Ortiz?"

"Yeah?"

"You better bring her home in one piece and that piece better not be in a casket, you got it?"

Images raced through his head of Addie in a beautiful white dress surrounded by elegant wood as people mourned her. Grief stirred inside him in a way he thought was not possible for someone like him anymore. He simply ended the conversation there without replying to Dashiell's comment.

A new resolve in him, Javier sauntered away from the corner and faced the team. "With the information we gathered down at Pentagon, Adelaide Lancaster has been missing between seven to nine hours. What are we going to do about that?"

Not knowing how to answer, Hotch sighed realizing that he needed to be the one taking the reigns once more, "I think we need to go over what exactly happen. Take what we know and apply it to the notes that Manny and the others have collect." Looking at Ortiz, he knew that they both dreaded the next part, "And, well...we have to tell Reid."

Not one of them wanted to have that job. Reality kicked them out of their nervous energy. One of them had to tell him. It was not until Manny started laughing that any of them realized how still the atmosphere became at the idea of Reid knowing.

Manny laughed. It was hardy and full and wicked. The laugh rang in the air with a genuineness that threatened the sanity of all of them.

What happened?

Manny laughed and laughed and laughed. The team just stared at her. They all just stared not knowing how to react to the strangeness of the laughter.

Emily stepped forward and faced her, "Manny, what's...what's going on? What's so funny?"

Delusion in her brown eyes, Manny smiled, "She was right. She was right. They messed up. They messed up, and they're going to lose."

Slowly placing her hand on Manny's upper arm, Emily questioned, "How did they mess up?"

Shiny and bright, her face showed hope, "Salutarem Via took her. They took Addie. That's how they messed up, because they took her again. Reid's never going to stop now. He will hunt them all down until they have nothing left, because they took her."

She shot up and ran out the door, "Hey, you?" She pointed to a tall man, well-dressed. She ran right up to him. "Anderson, right?" Seeing him nod in confirmation, she continued, "Where's Dr. Reid?"

Always in his professional manner, Anderson responded, "He was in the tech wing for a while, but he just went into the interrogation room. Locked the door and asked not to be disturbed. He actually told me to tell you that he should be out in an hour. He'll come find you when he's done."

Manny smiled and thanked him before swiftly making her way toward the conference room once again. There, she announced, "He's still interrogating him. Maybe, he'll come with a better idea of what to do with whatever he gets out of the bastard."

The rest of them mulled over the idea that Reid would be so affected by the disappearance of a single individual, but they did not know the relationship between the two of them. The love they shared. Rossi was the only one that flirted with the idea of romantic interest between the young doctor and the missing girl. He knew that there had to be more.

No one vocally questioned it as they witnessed the change of demeanor in Manuela's countenance.

Working further on the information, Manny resurrected her focus to rescue Adelaide out of the depths of the darkness. More willing to share intimate details of Operation Casurus, they were able to narrow down the head of the Salutarem Via to three possibilities: a head of an oil rig, a genius in charge of security, and a weapons dealer wiggling his way into a bigger score.

Addie did most of the work. She had been working on it for as long as she knew they were closing in on them. With diligence, she assisted them from captivity. Manny and Gracia both spoke genius and together they deciphered all of Addie's writings. Javier helped whenever they other two did not understand her shorthand. Knowing her personally allowed for him to be of use beyond just his own expertise. The team morphed that information into a comprehensible profile.

They hoped this would be enough to grant them permission of a rescue. Reid deserved a win.

The man in question used those hours well. He shimmed his way into Nolan's consciousness and jammed his own presence into his mind. He stood strong and permanent, unyielding to the taunts that the prisoner threw.

Anxiety stripped the confidence Nolan once possessed. He was more willing to speak at least through his body language. His voice had yet to betray his master, although both of them recognized its arrival would be soon.

Silence was a constant companion giving them pauses to breathe down their anticipation, their aggravation. The passing of remarks was kept short. They liked it that way.

It was not until Nolan dared to peek at his watch that Reid noticed something off about his attitude toward him.

Annoyed, Reid spit, "Do you have somewhere to be?"

His old graces appeared again, "Oh, no! Dr. Reid, I do not, but you do. And I am afraid to report that you are very late...very late indeed." He sat back and smirked. Proud that he hit a nerve, he congratulated himself with a job well done as Reid face contorted in confusion.

Quickly that confusion evaporated as the truth sank in his mind. He sprang out of his chair and hurried himself off toward the conference room.

He needed to see her. With no air filling his lungs, he rushed. God, how he needed to see her. Gasping, heart pounding, and blood pumping, he navigated the halls rapidly and unaware of everything that was not her.

He arrived at the room, and before anyone had any chance to verbalize their findings, he greeted them with an urgency that could not be misinterpreted, "Where is she?"

They all blanched at the croaking coming from his mouth, desperate. Quiet grew with the stillness of all of them as they were too frightened to speak on the matter. Playing dumb, they waited for clarification.

Impatient for reassurance that his worry was for not, Reid insisted, "Where is she? Where is Adelaide?" Still nothing sounded from their lips, so he turned to the person who would no better than any of the others, "I sent you for her, so JJ...Ortiz, where. Is. She?"

Nothing came. No answer. No reassurance. No easiness. All that was left was what he dreaded from the beginning, what he knew would come. It dawned on him that she was missing, and he was meant to find her.

His worry deepened and it showed on his face.

His brows rose and his mouth was agape. He was running out of time. Nolan said he was late. He needed to find her, and he was running out of time.

With his new expression, Javier mustered the courage to finally reply, "She's missing, but we have been able to narrow down the field to three suspects. Not to mention that we have been able to get through most of Addie's notes. We got some names of the other possible players. With that information, we could have a viable suspect in questioning by the end of today." Afraid of looking Reid in the face, he trudged on, "We are going to find her."

Only half listening, Reid absorbed what they gathered while he wasted his time interrogating an useless excuse of a human being. Reading the notes and the profile at his usual lightning speed, he discovered a few discouraging details.

First, Addie was most likely in the hands of three other individuals plus whoever was in charge of the group as a whole: Hassim, a soldier that found religion only to take it to the extreme; Jonas, an intelligence agent looking for some sort of redemption; and Adil, a military man dishonorably discharged with a reputation for tormenting others. All of them would be perfect targets for brainwashing by the bossman who was still had no name. Second, all three of her probably captures had no ties to the United States, so he had to get Nolan to tell him where they were which turned out to be more difficult than expected but not impossible. Third, the profile was similar to the one he gave years ago, so he was not completely ignorant of it. Fourth, according to the files, each of the three people took pride in only keeping their prey for less than twenty-four hours before disposing of them. They were efficient and well- trained especially when concerning with Adil. If he was the one responsible for Adelaide, they had to find her in less than eighteen hours with little to no hope of her survival. Last, Addie had been missing for almost ten hours already leaving them with less than eight hours to reach her.

Furry burned the air and marked his face with an unreadable mask. Imprinting such angry on the room's hot atmosphere, he embarked on a reckless decision to reveal another well-guarded self. Much in the same fluid motions as he entered the room, he exited it.

Frozen, the team was to stay in the room until Manny quickened her movements to match Reid's announcing, "Spencer, you can't go in there, not like this. You have been emotionally compromised. You can't make rational choices right now. You have to cool down."

Eyes demented Reid stopped his steps just to turn to see Manny with his team in tow, "No, I am going in there, and I am going to get some straight answers."

Uncovering some bravery, Manny retorted, "You have lost your mind, if you think I'm going to let just waltz in there and ruin all of this just because you are angry."

With a calm, stern voice, Reid demonstrated his dominance over them, "You will do no such thing. I'm in charge of this case. I give the orders, and you follow them. It is not the other way around. Now, you want to see. Go behind the glass. I don't want to see you. I don't want to hear you. You are going to act like you aren't even there, all of you. Do you understand?" Not waiting for a response, Reid simply marched on.

They all followed his orders and faithfully watched from behind the glass pondering when this Reid was formed...when Reid stopped needing to be babied by them...when Reid became more than just their sweet genius.

Keeping his calm, Reid seethed in relative silence. He walked into the room without slamming doors or throwing punches. He had completely control of his faculties. He just sat down and glared at Nolan whose smirk was splashed on his rugged face.

Sing-songing, Nolan dared to say, "Well, look who's all caught up. Took you long enough. I wonder what's happening to her, right now. Jonas would have her for what eight hours, nine hours. She's probably all covered with new scars screaming." He watched Reid react to his words, hands twitching ready to form a fist and attack, "You remember her screams. I mean Dabir paid the price, didn't he? You did beat him to death, because of what he did, so I'm just wondering what will happen to us when you find her dead."

Unable to process his actions, Reid lunged forward, "Want me to show you?"

Nolan flinched slightly before laughing, "Oh, Doc, why do you act so high and mighty? Look at you, resorted to violence." Once Reid released him from his grip, he continued, "You and I are not so very different. You just like to pretend that you are, but keeping your true self locked up and secret doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. It's still inside there waiting to come out."

Reid breathed as he settled himself, "You think you're so clever, but we have already established how unoriginal you are, how stupidly slow. So, answer me this...where are they keeping her?" He just shrugged his shoulders. "Where is she?"

Nothing but a sly smile was given. Reid pressed on, "I know you are keeping her alive for a reason. Just tell me where she is, and we can all be on our way. You are already never seeing the light of day, but do you want to spend it in a prison filled with regular low-lives or do you want a one way ticket to a lovely bay."

With just glazed eyes and that unmoving smile, Nolan was unresponsive. No other choice in sight, Reid pushed the table aside. The part of himself he buried the moment he knew of its existence surfaced. Nolan with the rest of the team was to see the secret he did not want to admit even to himself.

The pain, it did more than sting. It hummed with a ferocious melody all over her body. It sang with every proud beating that coursed in that room for the last few hours. It crooned with a harmonious arrangement of slaps and moans. It serenaded the occupants of the room with yelps and groans but most significantly with sour taunts and smirks.

Adelaide refused to be broken down to a pile of bruised information. She refused to be more than just swollen parts and a pretty face.

Her face was never touched.

She wondered if that was an order or if the big fellow wanted it to stay intact for whatever he had planned for her when the other one was done. The other was not done. He had been at it for the last couple hours, and she had said nothing. She had given him nothing. Not a lick of information passed her lips.

She knew that they knew she was valuable. No information and she lost her worth beyond what she could offer them with her body. She needed to keep her cool.

She resigned herself to the possibility of dying days before all of this occurred. Still, she had faith that Reid would be able to at least find her body if it came to it. His heart would not survive another wound, yet she hoped he would find a way to keep going.

Blinking her pain away, she steadied herself. The light was much too bright permitting the throbbing to intensify tenfold. She groaned as the ache materialized once again.

Jonas sat down in front of her. "You are wake. Good. We need to take care of those wounds. You also need a shower. Adil hates to work with dirty meat." Not thrilled with the idea of handing her over, he received new orders to do so. Adil had rules to follow, but he knew she was not going to be alive for much longer. Still keeping his tone indifferent, he commanded, "Open you mouth."

Everything blurred after that. Addie recalled cold hands prying open her mouth and her swallowing whatever was placed inside. She remembers being treated and cold water with the stinging of soap washing over her cuts and bruises.

Then, she recognized the chilling voice, "Hey, Sweetcheeks. I'm impressed. Ten hours with Jonas and nothing. I can't say I'm disappointed. It just means that you and I get some alone time. I mean you are weak, so it will be short, but I promise I'll make it extra special."

After that she was just overwhelmed with past memories wishing Reid could murmur encouragements into her ear.