Seattle, August 2014

Hotch met the two female agents as they stepped out of the car at the dump site. He looked even more serious than usual.

"This is bad," he said. JJ frowned - she knew how little inclined to exaggerations he was and knew that if he said it was bad, it really was - but Alex, who didn't know this, merely put on the protective gloves and asked;

"Where's the body?"

"How bad?" JJ asked Hotch, ignoring Alex altogether.

"Bad," he replied and pointed to a wooden area. Alex walked off, certain she would be in the clear; she had seen dead bodies countless times before, and she had only had coffee for breakfast at that.

Still, she wasn't prepared for the stench that belched out from the plastic wrapping when she peeled it away to have a look.

"Oh my God," she said in a half-choked voice and pressed the back of her hand against her mouth while turning away for a few seconds to regain control. JJ, who was right behind her, took an involuntary step back and looked like she had bitten into a lemon.

The body was badly decomposed, almost liquefied, and it was impossible to tell what injuries it had sustained. The autopsy might be able to tell, but Alex certainly wasn't. She winced and shook her head.

"Hotch isn't one for big words, is he?" she asked.

"No," JJ said and moved forward to get a closer look. She put one hand on Alex's shoulder, and while Alex wasn't sure if it was to offer support or just to steady herself, or possibly a bit of both, she allowed herself a brief moment to relish it before going back into agent mode.

"JJ, were any of the abductees married or engaged?"

JJ thought about it for a few seconds.

"No. One was single, and two had boyfriends, one steady and one on-again-off-again relationship, but no marriage or engagements. Why?"

"Because she is wearing a wedding band," Alex said, pointing to something shiny among the remains.

They looked at each other.

"Is there another victim we don't know about?" JJ said.

"Or is this the hypothetical wife and mother?" Alex replied. JJ nodded slowly and straightened up. As she did, she removed her hand from Alex's shoulder, which the older woman was disappointed about but wouldn't admit.

JJ was just about to call for Hotch when he came over by himself, talking on his cell phone. He hung up just as he reached them.

"A patrol car picked up a badly abused woman a few miles away. They have identified her as Sarah Smith, the latest abductee. They've taken her to the hospital. Blake, I want you and Dave to go over there and see if you can talk to her, try to find out as much as possible, but most important where she was held."

Alex nodded, and as she headed back to the cars where Rossi waited, she gave JJ a brief glance. JJ returned it, but the hand that had rested so comfortably on Alex's shoulder just a few moments ago was now busy twirling her own wedding band, as if she tried to remind herself to whom she belonged.

But you were mine first, and I want you back, Alex thought and was horrified over how possessive she felt. Like she had a right to feel that way.

"She refuses to talk to any man, including doctors," the nurse said apologetically to Rossi. "You could at least try," she continued, turned to Alex, "but don't expect too much. She's badly hurt and she's terrified."

Great, Alex thought. I'm not really the type of person people choose to open up to, and she's the best chance we've got at finding this guy. What if I screw this up? It'll be Amerithrax all over again. Agent Fuckup. Bye BAU, hello desk job in field office in Utah or something.

As if he could read her mind, or at least her mood, Rossi said;

"If she won't, or can't, talk, she won't. There's nothing anyone can do about that. Just do your best. And remember that you have an advantage."

"That I'm a woman?" Alex said. "I don't think that's enough to establish trust at this point…"

"You're an older woman," he pointed out. "Probably around her mother's age. That might calm her."

"Except I'm not really the motherly type," Alex muttered, but knew she couldn't put this off any longer. Every minute counted. Suddenly inspired, she shrugged out of her jacket and handed it over to Rossi.

"Looks less formal," she explained. He nodded and suppressed a smile. Agent Blake got the hang of it quickly.

The young woman - barely more than a girl, really - in the hospital bed was covered in bruises and her glazed, heavy-lidded eyes told Alex she was doped up on a lot of painkillers. Hopefully they helped, but Alex had been pretty beaten up a couple of times in her career (not to mention after a few reckless childhood adventures) and she knew it usually still hurt. You just didn't care as much about the pain when you were semi-high.

"Hello Sarah," she said, keeping her voice as soft as possible. "My name's Alex, I'm with the FBI. We're going to find the man who did this to you."

Sarah gave Alex an empty stare and said nothing. Alex decided that was at least better than being told to leave. She pointed to the visitor's chair.

"May I sit down?"

"Sure," Sarah replied in a raspy, slightly slurred voice. "But I can't help you."

"You'd be surprised to know how much the smallest detail might help," Alex said. "You can start by telling me what happened before you were picked up by the patrol car?"

"I ran," Sarah said, sounding as if she thought Alex was a complete idiot. "He forgot to lock the door."

"The door? You were held in a house?"

"Yes. No. More like a cabin."

"Okay. When you got out, what did the surroundings look like?"

"It… I don't know. Woods. Trees. I just ran, I thought at least I'd be able to hide in the woods if he came back, but he didn't so I just kept going, it felt like forever and I fell and I got up and I kept running and the woods just never ended…!"

"But they did. And you're safe now," Alex said soothingly. "You're doing great, Sarah."

"I don't really know more until I got out on a road and kept running, and then I met a police car and stopped it, and…"

"Okay, easy," Alex said. "Rewind a little; back at the cabin. Did you see anything that might indicate where it was? Anything at all?"

"No," Sarah said and began to cry. "I'm sorry, I just… it's all a blur and everything hurts and…"

"Alright," Alex said and stood. "I'll let you rest."

"There was one thing I noticed," Sarah said, just as Alex reached the door. "I don't know if it helps or not."

"What was it?"

"There was a canoe. On blocks, like it was being worked on or something."

Alex nodded.

"That helps a lot."

She picked up her phone and called Hotch.

"She was held in a cabin, and there was a canoe on the property so it's probably in the immediate vicinity of a lake, but that's about all she could tell me. She's heavily medicated and I think she has dissociated from much of the events."

"Okay. Good job. I'll tell our tech analyst to check for lakes and the owners of property around those, and we'll meet back at the station."

When Alex hung up, she was so focused on her own thoughts that she bumped into a woman in the corridor.

"Excuse me," she said, and the woman turned around. Dark blue eyes stared into hers and she wasn't sure who was more surprised. They regarded each other for a moment before the other woman spoke.

"Hello, Doctor Blake. It's been a while. Do you remember me?"

Alex had to swallow before she could speak.

"Hello, Agatha."

"Are you aware that Jen is in Seattle too?" was Agatha's next question, and she fired it off as if Alex was on trial.

"We're working together," Alex replied and looked around for Rossi. Agatha's sharp glare made her feel tiny and insignificant, like an insect. It was the same glare she had been subjected to ten years ago, the last time they met.

"I'm surprised she can stand being around you after the way you treated her," Agatha said, but she didn't sound too hostile. Only critical.

"I'm not proud of what I did, if that's what you think," Alex said.

"I hope not, if you were, I'd have even less respect for you. I suppose you had your reasons…" she shrugged, "the husband, for example. But it's cowardice to not even stand up for your actions."

"I know."

"I know you know. But do you realise how much your actions hurt several people?"

"I was hurt too," Alex said quietly.

"You were included in those 'several'," Agatha said. "I understand if you had to break it off, but the way you did it…" she shook her head. "Not very mature."

"No, it wasn't," Alex agreed.

"I'm glad you realise that much, at least. I really want to say it's nice to see you, but I'm not entirely sure about that."

At that moment Rossi came up to them. As if this was her cue, Agatha walked off.

"Who was that?" he asked. Alex bit her lip and tried to regain her composure.

"Someone I knew a long time ago. Not important to the case."

"Could Sarah tell you anything?"

"Yes, I hope it can lead us to where she was held captive. I'll bring you up to speed in the car, Hotch wants us back at the station, so we'd better get going," she said and brushed past him. Rossi looked after her for a few seconds and then said;

"Alex? The exit is that way."

He pointed in the opposite direction. Alex turned around.

"Yeah. Right. I knew that."

Rossi wondered what had gotten Blake so distracted; he was certain it had to do with the redhead she had been speaking to, but she didn't seem willing to let him in on it, so he decided to let it slide and just followed her back out to the car.

A/N

Hello… *waves sheepishly* I'm sorry for taking a hundred years to get this story updated. I was put off by how case heavy this chapter was and just couldn't seem to get it together, so I shoved it aside and did a lot of other (*cough*easier*cough*) stuff instead. I'm not overly pleased with the result of this chapter until the ending either, but at least the project is on the road again. :)