"Take time to gather up the past so that you will be able to draw from your experience and invest them in the future." – Jim Rohn

Gideon wore a perplexed and somewhat annoyed expression at the sight of SSA David Rossi entering the room. An expression that only darkened when Rossi spoke in the familiar, arrogant tone, "Well Jason, it's been a long time hasn't it?"

Without any indication that he heard the man, Gideon's eyes flickered away from Rossi and unknowingly looked straight at Hotch through the one-way window. "Where is the rest of my team?"

There were no traces of concern in those words. Detecting this shot chills up the spines of both Morgan and Hotch.

But not Rossi. Instead it sent a feeling of rage and disgust through him. These emotions were evident as he answered, slapping his hands on the desk, "Your team? Your team? No Jason, I believe you mean the team that you abandoned for five years; the team that's forgotten about you because they have me."

"You're wasting your time, David," a strange calmness suddenly set in Gideon's behavior. "I didn't attack my team."

On the other side of the glass, Morgan couldn't tear his gaze from his former teammate. Seeing Gideon questioned this way made the younger man feel like he had fallen into the Twilight Zone. His shoulders grew tense as he finally managed to turn to his superior who stood next to him, "Hotch, there's something that's been bugging me."

Unlike his friend, Hotch was unable to even glance away from the interrogation. "What is it?"

"Back at the office when Reid first found that package, Emily and I were there. Both of us felt like something was up but when we tried to tell Reid, he got pissed and left."

-FLACKBACK-

"He's right, Reid. I mean... on top of that, why talk about plans and not mention any specifics? And... you know, I know I don't have your eidetic memory but-"

"Forget it," There was no anger in Reid's voice but the emotion was clearly raging through him as he snatched the letter from Morgan. "You guys don't get and that's okay but... I'm not going to let you take this away from me. Gideon's coming back and that's all that matters right now."

Suddenly feeling like that had let Reid down somehow, Morgan and Prentiss back off without another word. The tension was lifted in the next few seconds when JJ walked back out of her office and through the cubicles among her friends.

"Well guys... I'll see you all tomorrow, bright and early."

Her smile carried across the room and locked on Reid who quickly grabbed his things. "JJ! Hold on. I'll walk out with you."

Once the two younger teammates had walked out of the office, Morgan turned to Prentiss curiously, "You don't have an eidetic memory but what?"

Following a reluctant sight, Prentiss shook her head and answered, "It's just… I mean it was only for a few seconds but… I remember seeing Gideon's goodbye letter once when Reid first got it. And… I don't know… I just… I don't think the handwriting in that letter is the same."

-END FLASHBACK-

Morgan's guilt ridden eyes fell to the floor. "If I had just listened to that one thing Prentiss said…"

"Derek, blaming yourself isn't going to help you or this case," While Hotch's words seemed callous, he grasped Morgan's shoulder reassuringly and continued, "If Prentiss was right about the handwriting, the only person who will know for sure is Reid. Maybe the thrill of receiving word from Gideon blinded him into overlooking the differences. I want you to go back to the hospital and see if by chance Reid had the letter on him when his car exploded. I don't like the idea of getting him involved when he's in such a fragile condition but it's the only chance we have right now."

"And if it's there?"

"Show it to Reid." Hotch paused, needing to think. "Do NOT let it slip that we have Gideon in custody or that his mother is missing. We need his mind in this." Having heard and understood his orders, Morgan made his way to the door. "And Derek… be careful."

While driving alone, many questions and concerns raced through Derek Morgan's mind. He was relieved to be the only one in the car as on occasion he would shout curses and hit the steering wheel. The loss of Prentiss had been horrible enough but when Morgan realized he could have prevented it, that shot all his confidence. Whoever the bastard was that did this was going to pay. If Morgan had to see it with his own hands, someone was going to pay.

Just as he was about to his frustration out again on the car, Morgan's phone rang and the name of his 'God-given solace' appeared among the blue glow. "Tell me you got something good, baby girl."

"Derek," her voice trembled behind a patch of static, "I don't think it's Gideon."

Raising an eyebrow, Morgan glanced at the phone and hesitated before asking, "Why? What'd you find?"

"Well. The thing is. I worked my magic and managed to have a piece of evidence from one of the crime scenes brought here to the office and I have sitting in front of me, one of the defused bombs."

"Okay? And? Did you get a print?"

"No print needed, my love. It's something much bigger than that."

"Garcia, no time for games. What did you find?"

"Funny you should mention games. Remember how a few years ago I helped you put a bomb together that was like Tetris?"

At that moment, Morgan wasn't sure how to feel but the name slipped from his lips. "Adrian Bale? Garcia, are you absolutely positive?"

"Without a doubt, sugar and here's the damning evidence. Apparently six months ago, there was a prison break in Boston and three inmates escaped. Care to guess who one of them was?"

"Why weren't we told about this?"

"I called the prison and evidently when they saw that Gideon was no longer part of the BAU, they made no effort to contact us."

It took everything Morgan had to not blow up after receiving this news. He did his best to remain calm and reply, "Alright, Penelope… this is what I want you to do… call Hotch, tell him exactly what you just told me. If Bale is on the loose, I'd say it goes without question that Gideon's not our un-sub."

~ Author's Notes ~

I'm unsure about whether or not I like this. It's just that I feel a confrontation between Gideon and Rossi would be plain epic on the show and I don't think I could ever mount up to that. So that's why I cut off what went on between the two. That is just way too much to live up to. So whatever you guys think might have happened, I'd be interested to hear!

For those of you who don't remember Adrian Bale, he was The Boston Bomber. He is seen in the episode, 'Won't Get Fooled Again.'

Also, this is the first chapter that I've tried using a flashback sequence. Hope it was alright and not confusing at all. I opened the flashback with some dialogue from the first chapter so that you would hopefully remember the moment, then instead of following JJ and Reid, I stayed with Morgan and Prentiss.

READERS PLEASE READ:

Last thing, I have no idea how many chapters this is going to be. We've still got a ways to go, so no worries. However, I have already been thinking about what my next fic will be about. There are two ideas that I have dancing in my head. But I do not know which one to go with. If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to ask for some input from you, my readers.

Would you prefer another Reid-centric story or one that revolves more around Morgan? I suppose giving you the titles of these two ideas couldn't hurt, huh? The story I have in mind for Reid will be entitled, 'Sheep in Wolf's Clothing' and the story for Morgan is called, 'Can't Kill Heroes'.

So tell me, which of those two strikes your fancy more?