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Ramirez shifted in the brown sling chair that was one of three sitting against the wall of the outer office of the Director.

His eye that wore the eye patch itched a bit. Agent Curtis had said he'd have to keep light out of it for another three days and it would be as good as new. It didn't hurt anymore, but even if it had, he looked at it like punishment for helping Calloway. He should have come to see the Director at the first sign there was trouble.

The Director's secretary broke into his thoughts. "He will see you now."

She opened the office door and Ramirez entered with shaking hands. The office was large with a leather couch at one end and a glass coffee table. The large desk at the opposite end was oak with a dark mahogany colored finish. On the wall behind the desk was a picture of the President of the United States. To the left was a portrait of Abraham Lincoln, and to the right, George Washington.

"My secretary tells me you have something very important to tell me. She said it has to do with Section Chief Strauss and your Unit Chief." The Director said from his chair.

The man behind the desk sat in a black leather office chair. He was medium height and build with graying black hair. His dark eyes bore into Ramirez like a high-powered drill. He wasn't smiling.

"Yes sir, I can explain everything."

"I can give you thirty minutes," the Director said.

----

Jordan strolled by Emily's desk and dropped a file on it. She headed back up to JJ's office without stopping to speak to her new friend. Her path took her past Strauss's office. It was almost six pm, but the Section Chief was at her desk. Jordan had just passed her office when Strauss called to her through the open door.

"Agent Todd… A minute of your time," It was a command not to be ignored.

Jordan stifled the urge to turn and run as her heart rate began to skyrocket. "Yes ma'am?"

"Come in and sit down. Close the door!"

Jordan closed the door and sat down in the chair that was positioned in front of Strauss desk like an electric chair.

"What can I do for you ma'am?" Todd asked, after resisting the urge to clear her throat nervously.

Strauss tossed down the file she'd been perusing and pulled off her glasses. She pinned Jordan with a searching stare and waited for long moments before speaking.

Jordan was able to keep her eyes on the Section Chief only because she knew that when this was over, Strauss would be gone.

Finally Strauss said. "Where is your team?"

"Hotch and Rossi are pursuing a lead about Dr. Reid."

"What kind of lead?"

"We received a tip that he'd been in Las Vegas. His mother lives there in a sanitarium. Hotch contacted them, but they hadn't seen him. Hotch feels that the people that kidnapped him may be operating out of that area."

"Really?"

"Yes ma'am."

Her heart was pounding so hard that Jordan thought Strauss would hear it or see it thumping in her chest. She kept her hands as still as she could in her lap while she lied through her teeth.

"You're doing excellent work as Agent Jareau's replacement. You wouldn't want to do anything to put a black mark on your record here."

"No ma'am," Did her voice just start shaking?"

"Don't let Agent Hotchner influence you into doing anything that would put your position in jeopardy."

"I don't know what you're talking about ma'am."

"I'm advising you to step carefully. Agent Hotchner has an unhealthy influence over his team. The fact that Dr. Reid has apparently dropped out of sight without telling anyone where he was going is a good example of what is wrong with this team. It concerns me that there has been so much turmoil on his team in the last four years."

"Permission to speak frankly ma'am?"

Strauss motioned her to go ahead with one hand. "I have no intention of staying in the BAU. I look forward to going back to counter-terrorism."

Strauss raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure that's what you want?"

"Being here has taught me that I don't belong with profilers. This job belongs to JJ and she's good at it."

"I appreciate your candor Agent Todd."

"I'm just being honest."

"You'll let me know if there is anything I should know before Agent Jareau returns from her maternity leave."

Strauss was maintaining direct eye contact with her. She kept her eyes straight ahead out of sheer will. "Yes ma'am," Her words didn't stutter but her heart felt like it was going to stop in her chest.

"Good. I knew that I could count on you."

Strauss went back to her files and Jordan knew she'd been dismissed. She got up and managed to leave the room without falling over on her shaking legs. She snuck a quick look at her watch and nearly fainted with relief. Strauss hadn't thrown her completely off schedule. She'd just shut JJ's office door when her phone beeped. She read the text message there and headed for the elevator.

Emily was at her desk with her head bent over her files when Jordan pushed the up button. Jordan only glanced at the bullpen out of the corner of her eye while she waited. The car finally arrived and she stepped inside and pushed the button for the fourteenth floor. The elevator seemed to stop on every stop before she got off one floor below her goal.

She bypassed her old office and was grateful that it was getting late as most of the agents she might know were nowhere in sight. She stepped through the first door to her left and disappeared.

---

Emily picked up the file that Jordan left on her desk and read the contents. She looked at her watch and then went back to the CSI report on Reid's apartment that she'd already read five times. The other files on her desk were calling for attention, but there was no way she could work on any of them.

She looked at the clock again about five minutes later. It was time to move. She picked up her phone and sent a text message to a familiar number. Another message came back to her phone and she sent a second message to another number.

She was bent over her desk and a different file when the elevator doors pinged. It was time to go do what she needed to do. The elevator was empty when she entered it and pushed the button for the lobby. Her hair had been in the same pony tail for two days and it felt greasy when she let it fall to her shoulders, but there was no time for primping. She flipped open the top two buttons of her dark blue blouse.

"You are so going to owe me for this Reid." She muttered under her breath.

Just remember that you'll all be better off when Strauss is taken down for this.

That was a very nice thought that put a big smile on her face as she exited the elevator and made her way over to her target.

"Hello Agent Prentiss," Jasper leered at the cleavage she was showing.

Jasper's face was as unfortunate as his name. His forehead sloped so that he resembled a throw back to the Cro-Magnon eyes were tiny and muddy brown. His ears were large and stuck out from his head. His skin was covered with acne scars and when he smiled small children cried. He was very tall and thin, but stronger than he looked. There was nothing attractive about him and Emily cringed on the inside.

"Hello Jasper," She said leaning over the desk. She rolled her eyes at his inability to yank his eyes away from her chest. "What'cha doin'?" She said flirtatiously.

"I'm trying not to die of boredom." His eyes were still crawling over her cleavage.

"Yeah, it's pretty boring upstairs too."

"I thought you were looking for Dr. Reid?"

"How did you know about that?"

"The grapevine…"

"Yeah, well it looks like Dr. Reid just ran away. I can't say I blame him. This job is very stressful."

He finally met her eyes. "I'll bet it is."

"I just don't know what I can do to relax these days." She ran a finger around the shiny surface of the desk leaving smudges in lazy circles.

She heard Jasper swallow hard. He was almost drooling when she reached over and grabbed his tie. "Is there some place private we can go?"

"Um…" He swallowed very hard. "Yeah… Just this way," He pointed the she let him lead her to a closet down the hall.

---

It's all in place sir. The cameras are down except for the lobby. I have a tape looping for Jasper till Emily distracts him. They should be coming off the elevators in two minutes."

"What about the cameras on the fifteenth and the sixth floor?"

"They're down, but not for long. I can keep out the tech guys indefinitely, but it's better to let them think they fixed the problem without actually checking the cameras."

"Good… I'm going to get on the phone with the Director. Do you have that file put together for me?"

"Yes sir, "Garcia handed him a disc.

"I've got a couple of things that need to come out into the open." Rossi said.

"Keep them under wraps for a little while Dave. If this doesn't work, then we'll use what you have."

"Alright, I'm going back down to the basement. Morgan was getting pretty antsy down there. He wants to… Well I think you know what he wants to do to Lynch."

"Part of me wants to let him beat Lynch senseless, but I can't."

"Yeah, I'd help him…"

Hotch gave him a look and Rossi shrugged his shoulders. "I wonder if playing by the rules this time is the way to go."

Hotch didn't reply and Rossi left him alone. He looked down at the phone in his hand as Rossi's words replayed in his head. Would playing by the rules do more harm than good?

How many times have you played by the rules and someone you care about gets hurt?

There were too many times to count. Maybe it was time to do things differently for a change. This was the last time he'd let someone try to break the most vulnerable of them.

He opened his phone and dialed a number. "It's Hotch… I need your help."

---

Reid's phone beeped. He let go of Austin long enough to read the text message on the screen. "It's time to go. Jordan will be here in two minutes."

"Are you sure this isn't a trick?"

Her dark eyes were full of fear he'd seen before in Georgia. "It's okay. I trust my friends to get us out of here."

"Okay… Let's get the hell out of here."

They waited, and the two minutes seemed like twenty, but finally a knock sounded at the door. "Ready?"

"Ready," She smiled at him and he opened the door.