AUTHOR: LosingInTranslation (losingntrnslatn, Jennifer)
DISCLAIMER: Don't own anything associated with the show… I just like playing with the characters in it from time to time. Dance Monkeys! Dance!
RATING: T - Teen
SPOILERS: Through US Aired Episodes of Season 4
WORD COUNT: 1509
SUMMARY: The BAU is asked to investigate an unusual missing persons case that has a very personal connection to the team.

A/N: This is one of those monster epics I am so well know for in the CSI fandom. It is completely written and I am going through the edits with my betas as quickly as possible. There are a total of nine chapters, and I will post them as I complete the edits. It is most definitely a case file fic, with a lot of interaction between the entire team. I hope you enjoy it.

REVIEWS: Reviews are the way I know if people are enjoying the work or not. So, if you leave one, THANKS! And if not, I hope you found at least a little something to brighten your day, and thanks for taking the time to read.

Chapter 3

The flight to Coeur D'Alene was tense. No one knew what to say, and they certainly had no clue how to act. It was bad enough knowing Gideon was out there wandering around on his own, but this was different. There was the possibility he was really gone this time. And that was a reality none of them were prepared for.

The only thing that kept the flight from being a total waste was Rossi losing his suave façade with Garcia as she busted his chops about his lack of tech skills. Baby-girl was always good for a laugh, but watching her goad Rossi into a stuttering fit was well worth the price of admission. Of course, seeing Prentiss try to rescue him without looking like she was trying to rescue him was good, too.

As much as he wanted to join in on the fun, he had other priorities on the flight. Right after the briefing, Hotch had taken him and J.J. aside and asked them to keep an extra eye on Reid for the duration. Hotch was worried the kid would be too messed up about Gideon to think straight and would get himself in a world of hurt in the process. The looks he and J.J. had been exchanging since getting their orders let him know that they both agreed with Hotch.

Reid had his nose buried in a book on Chaucer, which told Derek everything he needed to know; Reid was struggling. "Whatcha got there, kid?"

"What?" Reid glanced up, that dazed and confused look heavily entrenched on his face. "This…oh…um…it's a book… A, ah, book detailing the modern literary references to Chaucer and an assessment on whether or not those references were accurate or effective."

Derek nodded and asked, "Something from your mother?"

"Ah, no. Though in actuality, she was one of the contributors to this particular work, before she got, um, sick, that is." Reid stumbled through his words, no different than any other time he was nervous, but Derek could see there was more to it when he finally admitted. "It was a gift…from a, ah, from a friend."

That was something new, but Derek was glad to hear there was at least a lady around him at some point. "Must be a special lady… Ya know, to know you that well."

"Yeah…" Reid nearly choked back the words that time, but he eventually ended the conversation with, "She was." Past tense: that said it all.

So much of Reid's life was about the past, and try as he might, Derek never could seem to pull the kid out into the light of the present. Thankfully J.J. sat down across from them to save him from anymore awkward conversation.

"Spencer, we've gotten some documents faxed over from the crime scene unit at the Coeur D'Alene field office." She handed him a small stack of papers which he immediately clenched in his fingers. "Garcia and I thought you'd best be able to tell if they were actually Gideon's. Hotch thinks it looks like his writing, but we just figured that you'd have a better-"

"Grasp on the idiosyncrasies of his writing style and word usage. Yes, I would." He put the book down beside him and picked up his laptop. Flipping it open, he pulled his glasses out of his shirt pocket and got down to work.

With the two of them staring at him for several minutes, Reid looked up and asked, "Do you mind? It won't be long before we land, and I want to have these ready by then."

"Um, yeah… Sure thing, Spence." J.J. got up tried to shake off his dismissal. Derek quietly followed her.

Once they were safely out of Reid's earshot, he took J.J.'s elbow and got her to face him. "Hey, don't take it personal. The kid's got a lot going on in that big brain of his. So, you know, manners aren't real high on his priority list."

Sadly, she shook her head. "It's not that, Derek. He's closing himself off…emotionally." The look in J.J.'s eyes told him exactly what had her so upset.

"Hey, now. There's no way. If he was using again, I'd know. And if I didn't, Prentiss sure as hell would." They all lived in the fear that Reid would backslide into his addiction, but with so many pairs of eyes on him, Derek was sure they would spot it. "I'm serious, J.J… If I have to carry him around on my back, I am not leaving him alone with this, okay? I promise."

"Just…please, don't let him fall like that. I don-…" J.J. looked like she was about to fall apart with only the thought, and it nearly broke his heart. "I don't think I could handle that…not again."

Derek laid a comforting hand along her upper arm and squeezed. "Trust me on this one. Never gonna happen with me on the job." She only nodded and walked back toward the cockpit to take another call.

When Derek turned around, he found Rossi giving him the head tilt, signaling that he had his own concerns. Slipping in behind the table, right next to Emily, Derek inserted himself into their conversation. In a voice meant to be heard by everyone, he asked, "So, Dave, what's your handle on the financial angle here?"

Once the nature of their conversation was understood by everyone else, he dropped his voice and continued, "All right, what's the deal with this family, guys? And why didn't we know anything about it?"

Dave shrugged in a non-committal gesture and explained, "Jason Gideon really was an enigma, Morgan. He let so little of his personal life into the job, we were all shocked when we found out he was even married, and the kid left us all bowled over. But then again, the bureau was a different place back then. Most of us kept our personal lives to ourselves, because we already knew too much about each other as it was."

Emily rolled her eyes as Dave's gaze flitted across her face. "Tell me about it. It borders on claustrophobia sometimes." She was careful not to make direct eye contact with Dave, but not so much with Morgan. If not for trying so hard, no one would have ever put two and two together. But for all of their smarts, they really were bad at hiding this one thing, simply because they were that good at it.

"Yeah, so what do you make of this daughter-in-law?" Derek directly addressed Emily, since she apparently knew the woman on some level.

"Oh, well, she and I went to college together. Her father is a higher up with the Mexican Federales, and they sent her to school in the States. She and I hit it off because she didn't have to always speak English with me." Emily nodded when she got blank stares from both men. "Okay, I really don't know that terribly much about her since college, but she works with groups my mother has sponsored off and on over the years, and so there's been some contact, whenever they needed favors to get someone out of jam. Mother worked the State Department angle, and I'd do what I could with Justice. Nothing against regs, just a little gentle persuasion now and then."

Dave shook his head and Derek watched as Emily's spine straightened a little tighter. "I think what Morgan wants to know is, do you trust her, Emily?"

"Oh, yeah. She hasn't got a dishonest bone in her body. And really, she's got no reason to lie, and every reason to get this thing sorted out and find her father-in-law. Preferably alive."

Emily's insistence begged Derek to ask about her reasoning. "Why would you say that? I mean, if she's the only surviving heir, and the property and all is in her husband's name, wouldn't Gideon's death be in her best interest?"

At first Emily stared at both he and Dave like they had grown a second head, and then it was as though a light went off behind her eyes. She called out to everyone in the cabin of the jet. "Um, hey guys..." With all eyes on her, and J.J. peeking in from the front, Emily dropped the bomb. "I think I forgot to tell everyone a really important detail."

"What is it?" Hotch's brow was barely over the bridge of his nose as he spoke.

"Lori wants to find her father-in-law for two reasons. Not just to give him the news about Steven…" She paused, working up the courage to leave them all speechless. "She's eight months pregnant."

The silence that fell over the cabin continued all the way to the field office. No one knew quite what to say, and they all had to re-think their theories about the case. Derek realized nothing about this one was going to be cut and dried.

No matter which way it landed, it was going to hurt, and it was going to hurt bad.