After the small panic attack of Kate and the further unpacking of boxes, Kate invited them to stay over for Chinese that night, her threat, thanks for helping her out getting settled in.
"Sounds good. I'll order something. JJ why don't you invite your husband and your kids?" Kate suggested before turning to Hotch and suggesting he brings Jack over.
"Sure, I'll give them a call." Both of them said, disappearing to call whoever they had to call. Kate looked up the local Chinese and ordered enough food for a small army.
'It should be here in 20 minutes." She informed them, pulling out several wine glasses and the bottle she'd bought that morning. "Will and the kids are on their way," JJ informed her, accepting the glass of wine handed to her.
When Will arrived with the kids and the nanny brought Jack over, the Chinese had already been delivered and was waiting to be dived in.
"Can I hold him?" Kate asked, smiling at the little baby in JJ's arms. He seemed such a cute little boy.
"Of course. You can." JJ said, handing her son Michael over to Kate, rocking from side to side with the little baby in her hands she couldn't help but smile and reach out to take his small hand.
"Oh my god. You're such a beautiful baby, Yes you are." Kate couldn't help but coo at the small child in her arms. He was so cute, she had never been one to want children, but once she was holding a baby she would always become a bit broody.
"You're a natural," JJ commented with a grin on her face.
"No, god no. I would and am horrible with kids, ask my younger siblings." She pointed out with a raised eyebrow, before turning her attention back to the small child in her arms.
"No, you are great with them, you'll be a great mum one day. I can tell, call it instincts." JJ argued, making Kate look up and she realised every pair of eyes was on her.
"I had four younger siblings. I'm sure it's all down to that." Kate quickly said. "So If you ever need a babysitter, you know where to find me." She added, looking back at Will and JJ.
"I'll remember that. " Will said in his southern drawl that took some getting used to for Kate. "I'll put him in his car seat, while we're eating," JJ said, starting to get up. "No, it's fine. I don't mind holding him while we eat." She reassured JJ.
"You'd rather be with the adults right." Kate smiled down at the five-month-old. All in all the day and night had been a huge success. She loved getting to know her team better and despite her promise to herself. She was growing incredibly close and open towards the team.
During the week she had off, the first three days she'd continued putting everything in its place. By the fourth, the team was back on another case and she had to remain back. Will had called her in a worry that the nanny had gotten sick and if she could possibly watch Micheal for the day.
It wasn't like she had anything else to do so she said yes and watched over Micheal for the day.
By the fifth day, she was out of her mind with boredom. So instead of reading and doing things, she settled herself in front of the TV watching one of her most favourite show the British Sherlock series.
She had just refilled her glass of wine when she heard a knock on the door. 'really, now?' she thought to herself as she put her glass down with a sigh and stood up to go and see who was at the door.
Pulling her door open she was greeted by the face of Rossi. "You're back?" Kate stated with a smile on her face as she moved aside to let him in. "Yes, we caught the guy this morning, rescued the last two victims." He informed her, hanging up his jacket on the hook by the wall.
"I'm happy to hear that. I hated not being able to work this week." Kate noted, walking further into her place. "When did you come back?" Kate asked, picking up her glass of wine before heading into the kitchen, holding up the bottle she saw him nod and took a glass out for him and filled it.
"we just got back, I volunteered to come and check on you, the rest had places to be." He explained with a smile and Kate couldn't help but roll her eyes and chuckle softly.
"Oh, so do you want some food, I still have some over from the chicken and leek dish I made?" she asked him, chances were that she would have to throw it away if she didn't give it to him.
"I'd love to if it isn't any bother." He said, sitting down on one of the highchairs by the kitchen island.
"I wouldn't suggest it if it was." She told him with a pointed look as she pulled it out of the fridge put some on a plate and put it in the microwave. "So you excited to come back tomorrow?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Hell yea. I've been losing my mind here. I read a dozen books, put everything in place, watched Michael the day before yesterday and today I spend my entire day in front of the Tv. I can't wait to go back to work." She told him, taking a sip of her glass of wine.
"You a fan of Sherlock?" she heard him ask, nodding his head to the paused image of TV. "I have to keep in touch with my British roots." She told, amusement laced in her voice.
She heard him chuckle as she put his cutlery in front of him. "You want to eat here or at the coffee table?" she asked him with a nod in the direction the living room. "Yes, I'd like that." He said, picking up his cutlery and glass. "I'll be there in a sec.," she told him, waiting for the microwave to finish. When it did she headed towards the living room and put the plate in front of him.
"Want to continue looking?" she asked him, nodding her head at the TV. "I don't mind." He said, starting to eat the dinner Kate had given him. "God this is amazing." He complimented, the food melting on his tongue. It seemed Kate was an amazing cook.
"Thanks." She smiled, crossing her legs under her as she focussed on the TV and her colleague next to her. "You really didn't have to come all this way to check on me." She finally said she was touched that her new team was so concerned about her. It warmed her heart to know that even within a week of arriving in DC, she had gotten a bond of friends.
"I didn't mind. I'm alone at my place otherwise and I wanted to check how you were doing." Rossi assured her with a small smile. What was it about this woman that made her so distrusting and questioning about everything. In the field, she was an amazing assured person, but in private she seemed very unsure of herself. He would love to hear the story behind all of that.
"you hung it up?" he questioned, noticing the medal he'd seen helping her place get ready. He thought it was strange seeing how she had reacted so uncomfortable with them finding it. He hadn't imagined her hanging it up.
"It reminds me of a failure." She told him in a simple tone and he understood that he shouldn't continue to ask her further. But he promised himself that he would find the story somehow.
"so do you guys always share bedrooms on cases. I heard JJ complain about having to share a room with a snoring Morgan this week." She asked, chuckling to when JJ had been texting her about a snoring Morgan.
"Ha and he says I snore." Rossi chuckled with a shake of his head. "and some cases yes. I'd say fifty-fifty. Cause we only book when we get a case, sometimes there aren't many rooms available. Then we share rooms." He explained and Kate nodded her head in understanding.
"Makes sense. I remember when I was a tour guide and the bookers made a mistake. It used to be a mess. It became handy to talk so many languages." She told him with a chuckle. No matter what had happened, she had loved being a tour guide, absolutely loved it.
"So you can imagine when we try to get six rooms at a hotel sometimes very last minute." He pointed out and she nodded her head.
"The food was amazing Kate." He commented, patting his stomach. "I'm glad you liked it. Would you like some scones, I made a fresh bunch this morning, seeing that I had nothing else to do." She told him with a snort as she got up and went to the kitchen to get the plane in the sink.
"I'd love one." He said and she nearly jumped up as he stood behind her in surprise. She handed him a scone and took one for herself as they continued talking for a while. When he decided to head home she let him out and headed up to bed herself.
The next morning Kate prepared herself for her first day back and headed out towards Quantico. She had brought the prepared scones she'd made the previous day and drove the 50-minute drive towards Quantico.
Riding up to the sixth floor she entered the bullpen and her colleagues were waiting for her by her desk. "hey guys." She grinned, glad to be back with this bunch. Never in a hundred years had she expected for herself to settle this quickly, but she loved it.
"How are you feeling?" JJ asked, giving her a hug. "I'm good, ready to go back to work." She told her with an exaggerated sigh and chuckle. "Thanks again for watching Michael," JJ said and Kate waved her hand. "I don't mind at all, he was an angel all day." She told her going around the team.
"I made these during my boredom. I hope you like this, their scones." She said, pulling out the box filled with them. Putting them on her desk she chuckled when everyone reached in and took one out. "these are amazing." Everyone noted and Kate couldn't help but smile.
"Kate, I have some paperwork for you to fill out," Hotch said, handing her the file. She wanted to complain about the procedures but she could, she was glad to be back and not be stuck at home.
"they joy of paperwork." Kate chuckled, sitting down at her desk to start filing the incident report. Ten minutes later she finished and she went to Hotch's office and handed it back to him.
"I would like you to take a look at this, A small town in New Mexico has asked to take a look at this, just take a look at it and report back to Artensia PD.
"Okay, I'll get right on it," Kate noted, leaving his office and heading towards her desk. "So we, Garcia and I were thinking, you're new here and haven't really met anyone outside of here." JJ started from beside her, their desks attached to one another.
"and?" Kate chuckled, looking up at the file she'd just received to look over, it didn't mean because they weren't called on a case they didn't give in their own thoughts to cases all over the states. Their job was much more than flying to places and catching serial guys. Sometimes it was just helping the local PD look over a case or analyse serial killer, letters, threat assessments. That's what made her job so great, it was diverse.
"we were thinking off going out tonight, just the three ladies." She suggested with a wiggle of her head and she started nodding her head. "I'd like that." She agreed with a nod of her head.
"Deal." JJ grinned before both women turned to their own task for now. When they noticed Garcia rushing in and into Hotch's office. JJ and Kate let out a small groan, knowing their plans were about to change.
"Come on, we have no time to debrief here. Garcia will debrief us on the plane." Hotch called out as he stormed out of his office, knocked on Rossi's. By that time they'd gotten their go bags and were already on their way to the jet.
They settled down on the jet and waited to board and then Garcia's face appeared on the screen. "Michael Hanson, 7 years old went missing this morning in San Francisco. He was abducted right in front of his school, pulled from his bike." Garcia started informing them.
"That's balsie." Kate muttered, looking down at her iPad. "exactly, right in front of the school." Rossi agreed. "Last week they discovered two boys, same age, buried just out of San Francisco," Garcia informed them.
"Hey, you okay?" Kate asked, seeing the bothered look on JJ's face. "It just reminds me…" she paused to take a deep breath. "Henry," Kate noted with a nod her head.
"Yea, he looks a lot like the little boy." JJ pointed out, staring at the picture of the now missing boy on her IPad.
"I know, let's get him back okay." She muttered with a small smile in JJ's direction. "Let's make the monster pay." JJ agreed with a nod of her head.
"So, do the local police think these cases are somehow related?" Reid asked, going through his paper version of the case so far.
"No, at this moment they see it as two different cases," JJ said, looking up at Reid.
"what makes them say that?" Kate questioned, furrowing her brow, they discovered two young boys, just before another disappeared, that seemed very related to one another.
"I think we should consider it anyway. It's too much of a coincidence to find two young boys around the same age dead and for another one to disappear." Kate noted with a shake of her head, singing softly.
"Indeed," all of the agreed. "What's the family history, Garcia?" Hotch asked, looking at the screen.
"The family is a model family. The father's a successful lawyer, the women were working at the same DA's office before giving birth to her mum, now she's a stay at home mum. The boy is a model student, never in trouble." Garcia informed them. "No family is perfect, there is some dirt to be found," Kate noted, looking at the screen.
"He's a DA lawyer, he defends the victims, I don't think we could rule out a revenge abduction from a prosecuted convict," Rossi noted, looking up at the team.
"Okay, JJ, Kate, you guys interview the parents. Rossi and Morgan, you guys go to the crime scene, talk to his teacher, classmates while you're at the school. Reid and I will go to the office and set up the office." Hotch ordered them as they nodded their heads.
It took them five hours to get to San Francisco, arriving they're they headed to their designated locations. Driving towards the parent's house, Kate couldn't help but sigh when they noticed all to press stationed out of their place.
"great," JJ muttered next to her. "No comment, unless we can say anything useful," JJ told her and Kate nodded, knowing that she had been the press liaison in the past.
Getting out of the car, the press stormed onto them, bombarding them with questions. "No comment." Kate and JJ told them at once as they made their way into the house. "You want to take the lead?" JJ asked her just before entering the house.
"Sure," Kate whispered, before greeting the police officer stationed to wait with them. "Mr and Mrs Hanson, I'm SSA Gainsborough, this is SSA Jarreau, we're with the FBI, could we ask you a few questions?" Kate asked them with a soft tone.
"Yes. What questions do you have?" Mr Hanson asked in a pacing manner, his hands running through his hair.
"The days leading up to the kidnapping was there anything unusual? Did you get the feeling you were being followed or watched?" Kate asked them, looking between the distraught parents.
"No, not at all, everything was normal." Mr Hanson replied, running his hand through his hair again. Nodding her head she looked at him and asked: "You're a DA, is it possible that someone wanted to take you back for a case you worked on?" Kate asked, knowing from experience, her sister was a DA and she had gotten her fair share of threats.
Somebody that would like to hurt you through your son?" she added, tilting her head to the side.
"I'm a defence lawyer, of course, I have enemies, but I never thought they would come back to haunt me." He said, throwing his hands up in frustration.
"I'm not saying it is. I'm just suggesting we should consider that possibility." She told him in a soft and reassuring tone.
"Did Michael tell you something seemed off? Did he get the feeling he was being followed or watched?" JJ asked them from beside her.
"No, he knew not to talk to strangers. he always came home straight after school." The mother said, sniffling from the couch.
"Please just bring back my son. That's all I want. Promise me you'll get him back to me." His mother asked, looking between JJ and Kate.
"Ma'am with all due respect. I can't promise that I wish I could but I can't. we may not like it, but we have to consider the possibility that we may not find him alive." She told the parents, she didn't like being so blunt, but she couldn't promise things like that. She'd made that mistake once and she had learned not to make empty promises, it was a bad thing to do.
Swallowing she watched as the mother burst out in tears. From the corner of her eye, she could see JJ giving her a pissed off glare, but she had learned the hard way, truth was more wanted than false hope.
Though he was crying the father turned to her and whispered through a taunt voice. "I appreciate your honest Agent. Thank you."
Turning around they headed to the backyard to update Hotch and the team, but before she could raise the phone to her ear, JJ stormed up to her and she was not happy. "Who gives you the right to bring take away their hope. That's the only thing they have." JJ muttered through gritted teeth.
"What happened?" Hotch asked voice sounded in the distance and Kate realised that he must have heard the outburst. Putting him on speaker they heard him repeat the question.
"She told them that she couldn't promise to bring him back to them, that they should consider the possibility of not finding him alive." JJ beat her to it and Kate sighed.
"Is that true?" Hotch voice came over the speaker. Now she was getting angry, she had been used to working a certain way, she was not about to justify the actions she had just done.
"Yes, I did. I won't promise them to bring him back alive. I can't. I did that once and I regretted it afterwards." Was the only thing she told them, her eyes pausing on JJ before looking down at the phone.
Look two of us don't have to stay here, do you need me here at the house? If not, I would like to go in the field." Kate said in her pissed off tone, she was not ready to explain herself at all. She didn't want to open her past up to all of them just yet and she wanted to do something productive.
"Head over to the school. Maybe you could help Rossi and Morgan." Hotch said and Kate agreed, leaving JJ behind and heading towards the school.
Arriving at the scene of the crime she noticed a local detective standing beside Morgan and Rossi on the lawn of the school. Walking over to them she gave them a small smile.
"Detective, this is SSA Gainsborough. Kate this is Detective Moore " Derek introduced them to one another as Kate shook his hand, before leading her further up the lawn and towards the building.
"We're going to interview the parents of the children soon, maybe you could help us?" Morgan said.
"I heard what happened at the office. You want to tell us what happened?" Rossi asked as the detective left them behind.
"JJ and I had a falling out. She didn't agree with something I said to the parents. I stand by that choice. I won't lie to the parents and I won't justify my actions if that's what you want." She told them, before walking off towards the detective who led her to a room so she could start questioning the parents and children.
Two hours later, most of the parents that had seen the abduction had been interviewed between the three of us.
Walking through the hallway she met Rossi and Morgan towards the exit. Shaking the hands of the parents she'd just talked to, she waved goodbye to their daughter and turned to Rossi and Morgan.
Taking a deep breath, she apologised; "Guys, I want to apologise for my behaviour. I didn't mean to lash out like that."
"It's okay. You probably have your reason to have said that to the parents. The boy reminds JJ of her son. Ignore her for now." Rossi assured her with a small smile.
"Thanks, I appreciate it. I've got nothing here." She told them with a small shake of her head. "All they saw was a black van with tinted windows, no plate. They saw somebody pull Michael in the van from the space underneath it. These guys might be fools to do this here, but they are smart." Kate added, sticking her hands in her pockets.
"Yea, I know. They told us the same thing. Has Garcia been able to see anything on the traffic cams?" Rossi asked.
"I'll call her now," Morgan said, taking out his phone. "Hey baby girl, have you been able to lift anything of the traffic cams?" he said, it took her a while to get used to all of that endearment the two of them used.
"you know you did the right thing, right? With the parents, I understand why you did it." Rossi said to Kate when Derek stepped away. Nodding her head, she sighed.
"Thanks, Rossi. I really appreciate that." She whispered, turning her head towards the exit of the school. "So, are you settling in?" he asked her, getting her attention again.
"Yea, I am. It'll take me some time to get used to living in London, but it's something I have to accept now." I told him.
"Good, if you need anything, I'm here." Rossi said, "thanks, I appreciate that." She nodded her head at him.
Morgan came back and updated them: "Garcia says that there aren't any cameras at the school, but there are one 2 blocks away. She couldn't get a clear image of the driver so, nothing there."
"damn it," Kate muttered under her breath, she hated cases with kids. "Has she started with the possible suspect when it comes to the father. Ex-cons must have been released and hold a crutch against him, for putting him away." Kate asked them with a small shake of her head.
"Garcia was looking into it," Morgan replied.
"We should probably head back to the office." He added, walked out of the school and towards the SUV. 20 minutes later they arrived at the office. "Anything?" they asked, walking into their temporarily Morgan asked, entering the office.
"JJ did a press conference, a tip line has been set up and the description and picture of the van have been released. But so far no leads have come up." Hotch noted with a sigh.
"What about the 2 bodies they found?" Kate asked they hadn't been brought up since arriving in San Francisco.
JJ stormed into the room and announced: "a child's body has been found on Pacifica State Beach. Not far from the previous dump site"
"Okay, Rossi, Kate Head over there. JJ, Morgan go to the previous dump site, these cases must be related." Hotch said, looking between the two team. With a nod, they were off and headed towards the dumpsites.
"I really hope it isn't the body of the boy. But no other children have been reported missing." She whispered more to herself than to Rossi as they drove towards the new dumpsites.
"Is it him?" Rossi asked walking up to the cops already at the scene.
"No, it's another boy. The body hasn't been here long." The detective informed them.
"What makes you say that?" Kate asked him a bit confused.
"The young couple that found him, had passed here not a half an hour before that. They were doing it, in the bushes." The detective said, with a grin and a nod in the bushes behind them. Rossi and Kate followed his line of sight and chuckled with a shake of their head.
"Rossi, why don't you go interview them?" Kate asked him with a smirk in their direction. "Why don't you join me?" he questioned with a smirk of his own. Thank god that they could still see the humour in some things in their line of work. The last thing they needed was to lose their sense of humour as well.
"Well, somebodies has got see the body." she pointed out, growing serious again for a but as she nodded to the tape.
"We've got the body covered. The ME is on his way." The detective told them with a small smile. "Damn it." She muttered.
"You'd rather look at a dead kid, than interview a horny couple," Rossi asked her with a chuckle. Tilting her head to the side she shook it no.
"Well, from what I've heard they won't be that horny anymore," Kate told him in a smug tone as Rossi laughed a little, getting strange looks from the people behind the crime scene tape.
"If we can't laugh anymore, I don't know if we can handle these cases anymore," Rossi noted with a shake of his head as they started walking towards the couple. "I know." Kate agreed with a sad smile.
"Hello, I'm SSA Rossi, this is SSA Gainsborough, we're with FBI. Can we ask you some questions?" Rossi asked, looking between the man and the woman. "Sure, anything we can do to help." The guy said with a sheepish look.
"when you walked down the beach the first time did you notice something? Somebody walking on the beach, the feeling you were being watched?" Kate asked them with a small suggestive shake of her head.
"No, I wasn't really focussing on my surrounding, I had other things on my mind." The boy replied, Rossi and Kate shared a small glance at each other, trying to not burst out laughing.
"I think I saw a black van when we're walking towards the bushes. I thought I could see somebody in it, but I didn't think about it at the time." The woman said, hiding behind the man.
"I thought he was waiting on somebody." The girl said. Finally, we had something to go on. "Could you describe him, good enough for a sketch artist?" Kate asked her, turning the attention to the ashamed girl.
"Yea, it thinks so." She replied with a nod of her head. "You can drive along with these officers here when we're done here," Rossi noted, nodding over two officers before walking up to them to arrange a sketch artist.
"The van was gone when you came back?" Kate asked them, tilting her head to the side.
"I don't know, we never got that far when we saw the body. We called you and waited like they told us to do." The women told them with a shake of her head.
She tried to remember if a black van had been there when they arrived, but she couldn't. "just a sec. I need to talk to my partner." Kate told them, holding up her hand, before walking up to Rossi. "What is it?" he asked her.
do you remember seeing a black van, when we got here?" she asked him with a tilt of the head after nodding to the parking place hidden behind the corner.
"not that I can remember, a lot of cars were parked in that parking lot " He noted and Kate nodded her head.
"Would it be possible that they are still her watching?" she asked him.
"If they get off on the grief and or attention, there's a big chance." He replied with a nod of his head.
"I'll ask the detective to start photographing the crowd, we've got." She noted, looking at the crowd behind the crime scene tape. Walking over to the detective she said: "Would it be possible for you to photograph the crowd. We are thinking one of the unsubs might still be here."
He immediately nodded his head and turned to one of his officers. "Maybe let them write down the plates of cars and possibly photograph the car." She told him in a discreet manner.
"I got them to write down the plates and take pictures of the car as well. Garcia might as well see if there are any sex offender or child molesters here at the moment. It could be nothing, but at least we would have something to work on that." She told Rossi with a small shrug of her shoulders.
"According to the ME the suspects sexual abuse on this boy as well, these cases are related," Rossi noted with a nod of his head.
"they have to be, there are too many coincidences for that." Kate agreed, after checking the scene they headed back to the station
"This is what the girl thinks the UnSub looks like," Kate said, walking into the office they were using, she'd been sitting with the couple as they put together their unsub, while trying a cognitive interview on both of them, they might have seen more than they thought.
"I did a cognitive interview, the girl said that she remembered seeing a plate with a B and a 9 on it, it's not much. But at least it's something." She tried, filling a glass with water after hanging up the sketch of their unsub.
Sitting down next to Reid, she glanced through the new files of the two other found boys. 'Garcia was really a blessing for this team. This program signalled what had been updated and not read. That made it so much easier to not reread everything.' She thought to herself, scrolling through her IPad.
"We should start with a preliminary profile, at least now we know that the cases are related, the dead boy we found has been identified as a missing child from San Diego. So what do we know?" Hotch asked, looking around the office.
"They are well organised, you don't abduct a kid like that in front of the school with hundreds of eyes on you, they are experienced. They have a lot of experience to pull a stunt like that." Kate noted with a small shake of her head.
"Yea, at least one of them has to me a dominant, but could both of them be molesting these kids?" Morgan guessed, taking notes.
"Maybe we should let Garcia check any cases like this in the state of California," JJ said from the opposite side of the table.
"They must know and be comfortable in San Francisco. I think they might be locals here." Reid noted.
"Okay, let's deliver the profile. I'll warn the deputy to gather his officers. Be ready in 30 minutes." Hotch said, getting up and walking out. For the next half hour, we put all of our heads together. 30 minutes later we were standing in front of the police office."
"Okay, listen up. The FBI will tell you what you're looking for, take note and listen attentively." The deputy said.
"We are looking for a highly organised and experienced team. Chances are they connected over their shared love of boys, maybe in jail, maybe on the internet. The team exits out of a dominant and submissive partner." Hotch started, making sure to make eye contact with everyone.
"The submissive partner will be the one who drives the car, takes care of the child and disposes of the child. He's the awkward one, he isn't social, and he'll likely see his partner as his only friend, maybe even as a mentor. Chances are he's younger than the dominant partner." Reid continued.
"The dominant one is the guy next door kind of type, he's able to make everyone comfortable around him, you wouldn't expect him to be a paedophile. Chances are he's a married man with children himself." JJ fell in.
"It highly likely they are from San Francisco, they got the last boy from San Diego, but returned here, they're comfortable here, know the area. They keep the children alive for about a week to play with them, after that they got bored with them and kill them." Kate continued, looking at the cops sitting in front of them.
"They will keep the boy somewhere remote, where they can do their thing unnoticed. A place where you can't hear anybody scream, so check out remote buildings, cabins." Rossi told them with a suggestive shake of his head.
"We have a sketch of the submissive partner and have been told the license has a B and a 9." Morgan finished, motioning towards the picture on the bulletin board.
"Any questions?" Hotch asked them.
"Yea, how do you know that both of them is molesting the child?" an officer in the back asked as he stood up.
"The autopsies from the previous two boys have discovered two sets of DNAs on them, not one," Morgan replied.
"what makes you guys believe he keeps them alive for a week?" Another one asked.
"the last body we found was reported missing a week ago in LA, the first examinations suggest the child had been dead for three to four hours," JJ informed them.
"Okay, get to work!" The deputy screamed at his people, before walking to the BAU team. "Will you be releasing the profile to press?" he asked.
"Yes, SSA Gainsborough will update them in 15 minutes, downstairs in the entrance of this Police office," Hotch said, which was a surprise to Kate more than anything. She hadn't expected to have to give a press conference and he certainly hadn't told her that she was about to do one before this.
Giving the deputy a smile they returned to their office and Hotch pulled her aside. "You ready for this? Have you done a press conference?" he asked her, tilting hi head to the side.
"I've informed the press before and they did it for me, but I've never done one myself." She admitted in a bit of a nervous manner.
"we had to stay anonymous back in Mi5. But I'll be fine. There isn't much I can do wrong right?" she half stated, half asked him with a shrug of her shoulders.
"Okay, so just tell them who you are before you give the profile and the sketch. That will earn the trust of the people. Answer a few questions if you want, you don't have. Just trust your gut." He told her with a tight-lipped smile.
She hadn't done a press conference before, anonymity was key at both Mi5 and Mi6, yes behind closed doors she had informed the press. But most of the time it had been the local detective doing that.
Knowing that she had her first press conference she headed to the loo, before going down to meet and talk to the press.
"Good evening ladies and gentlemen." Kate started, making sure to keep an eye on every single one of them.
"I'm Supervisory special agent Gainsborough of the FBI. I'm here to inform you about the people having kidnapped Michael Hanson. We are looking for a team of two men." She paused to get a hold of her nerves.
"One of the men is a next-door kind of type, social, open, charismatic, involved in the community, there's a chance he's coaching children and has children of his own. The other man are the awkward, creepy type. If you see him, you'll want to get away from him, he's shy, withdrawn and children will probably be scared of him." She told them with a tilted head.
"This is a picture of one of the UnSubs were looking for. Do not approach these men on your own, if you do see them call 911 immediately." She told them being very expressive about that one part.
"I'll answer some questions now." She said, looking around the room before pointing out a woman. "SSA Gainsborough, Do you have any leads to go on, outside of the profile?" The woman asked her.
"We have a few leads to go on." She told her a bit evasively.
"One more question?" Kate said, pointing out an older man.
"Is there any evidence of sexual assault?" he asked. Thinking quick on her feet, she hadn't discussed to make this public, making the decision to rather have this added later on than to be sorry she answered. "Sorry, that's an aspect that's only disclosed to the investigating agents and officers."
Turning around she let out a breath, she didn't realise she had been holding she headed back upstairs, being met by her team.
"You did great. Well done." JJ said with a small smile. It was the first time she had spoken to her since their small outfall, she hated being not okay with people.
"Thanks" Kate smiled softly.
"It's late, we all should head to the hotel, get some rest. Start fresh tomorrow morning." Hotch suggested. Looking at her watch Kate noticed it was close to midnight as did the team. Going back to their office they gathered their stuff and started heading for their SUV.
Entering the hotel, Hotch walked up to the reception desk. It was strange that she wasn't doing it. Her last team had always let her take care of that, seeing that it had been her job for seven years.
"Seems like were sharing rooms again. So…" He stated, looking around at the team in front of him, apparently, he was letting them decide who was sharing a room.
"And you know the rules." He warned, he looked at Kate to inform her of the rules and she held her hand up. "I've been informed." She told him.
"I'm not sleeping with Rossi again; last time I didn't get an hour of sleep," Morgan said in a joking manner, but Kate had heard he could indeed snore very loudly.
"I'll share a room with JJ," Reid said and JJ agreed with a nod, accepting the key card of Hotch, they headed towards the elevators.
Okay, that leaves us four." Hotch said, looking between her, Rossi, Morgan.
"I'll share a room with Kate if Morgan doesn't want to share," Rossi said turning to her with a glint in his eye. "Something seemed up but she would go along with it for now.
"fine by me." Kate agreed, she was more tired than anything anyway and the only thing she wanted to do was sleep.
"Okay then, here are your key cards," Hotch said, giving them each a key card.
"I hope we are as lucky as in Utah." He stated and Kate couldn't help but give him a strange look. "Most of the time there's only one bed." He said. "Oww." She whispered with an understanding nod.
Entering the room she noticed there was only one bed. Not one to bear about it, she just put her bag down. She trusted Rossi well enough to share the bed with.
"If you want I can take the couch." He suggested, nodding towards the couch in their room. "No it's fine, we all need our rest to catch these sons of bitches." She told him with a shake of her head.
"Okay then. Do you want to drink something?" he asked, opening the fridge.
"Sure, a bottle of water please." She told him, rolling her neck to get the stiffness out of it.
"So what's going on with you and Morgan?" he asked me.
"Would you mind if I showered?" she asked, pointing towards the bathroom attached to their room.
"no of course not." He told her as she went to the bathroom to shower and get ready for bed. Walking back into the bedroom in a tank top and legging she noticed Rossi working on the couch, the file on his lap.
"I'm going to take a shower now." He said, getting up with a small smile. "Do you mind if I read for a little while?" she asked him, pulling a book from her bag.
"Of course not." He replied with a wave of his hand. She heard the shower start and started reading her book on the bed.
She was startled when she felt someone sit down on the other side of the bed. She hadn't heard him come back from the bathroom and nearly jumped through the ceiling.
"That's an old book, what is it?" he asked, noticing the oldness of it all.
"It is, the book is almost 300 years-old." She told him with a smile, looking up at him. "It's the second edition of Edmund Spenser's Amoretti." She added with a tilt of her head.
"He's an amazing writer, isn't he?" he asked, Kate was more surprised that he knew Edmund Spenser.
"Yes, he is. How do you know him?" she asked him with a surprised tone.
"You're not the only one who enjoys art and good books" he told her and she couldn't help but smile at him.
"Do you mind if I work a bit?" he asked her, picking up the IPad and case files.
"Sure, I don't mind." She told him, returning to her own book.
they both read and worked until 1 am and then went to bed. If Rossi snored, she didn't hear it and had a good night's sleep.
The next thing she knew there was a knock on the door. "if that's Morgan again, I'll shoot him in an important part of his anatomy." Kate muttered under her breath, pushing the sheets off of her and finding her way to the door.
Behind her back, she heard a silent chuckle and mumble: "I'm not stopping you kid." Rolling her eyes, she pulled the door open roughly, jutted her hip to the side and tilted her head to the side.
"Really?" she asked him with a raised eyebrow. Morgan could only grin back at the apparently not morning person and a new addition to their team. It was so easy to get her riled up in the morning.
"You're really making a habit out of this aren't you?" she asked him with a bit of amusement, Derek's grin only grew wider and she pointed. "and enjoying it?" I
"Yes, I sort of am." He admitted with a chuckle. "Hotch got a call, they discovered the van, we need to go and take a look at it." He told her with a nod towards the elevators.
"Fine, let me get dressed, I'll meet you downstairs in 5." She told him, closing the door in his face, this really was becoming a habit between the two of them. Kate wasn't a morning person, it had gotten better during her touring guide years. Jet lag could be a horrible thing to get used to, she had seven years to get used to it.
But Kate would never become a morning person, not at all. "asshole." She muttered under her breath as she sought her way to her go bag.
She heard two voices at that moment. "Indeed." Came from towards the bed where Rossi was still in and the other was; "I heard that." From the other side of the door.
"You were supposed to." She muttered, knowing that Morgan was still on the other side of the door.
"Sorry, he woke you up." Kate apologised, looking towards the bed where Rossi had lit the night lamp on his side of the bed. It made it easier for her to look through her go bag and get her things.
"Don't worry about it. I can head into the office and start working." Rossi noted, getting up as well as Kate disappeared into the bathroom, brushed her teeth and got ready for the day.
Walking out of the bathroom, she pocketed her phone and threw her tablet in her briefcase. Strapping on her gun and backup gun. "I'll see you in the office, Rossi." She said, walking out of the room and rushing down to see Morgan with a cup of coffee.
"you know, next time I might shoot you." She told him, accepting the cup and walking towards the waiting SUV's.
"You're so not a morning person." She heard him snicker behind her, before throwing him a glare over her shoulder.
"No, how did you figure that?" she questioned rounding the car to the driver's side and opened the car. Derek had been on the receiving end of the very not morning person called Kate. But Kate thought he could have it worse, she only had to think about her best friend Adelaide for that prove.
Sitting behind the wheel she took a big sip of her much-needed coffee and leant back against the head rest. "thanks for this." Kate muttered, the caffeine improving her mood a little bit. "You're welcome. I've learned your not much without your first cup of coffee.
"So where did they find the car?" she asked him, putting the cup in the cup holder as she started the car.
"not far from where they find the last body." He told her and Kate nodded her head before heading in that direction.
"They must be keeping Michael somewhere in that area. What did Garcia found out about it?" Kate asked, looking at Derek from the corner of her eye.
"Not much," Derek told her and the both of them couldn't help but let out a sigh. "Maybe we can search the area with dogs. It's their comfort zone." Kate suggested with a small shake of her head, she wanted to find that boy and prevent him from going through something that was going to scar him for the rest of his life. "or arrange a search party in that part of the woods." Morgan added with a thoughtful expression as he watched Kate driving to where the van had been found.
"we could suggest it to the team." They agreed with a small nod of both their heads.
Arriving at the scene, they headed towards the agents there.
"Good morning Detective." They greeted the officers.
"Morning agents. CSI is still processing the van, so far nothing, wiped clean, plates in the back, corresponding to the description." The detective noted with a bothered sigh.
"Thanks," Kate noted, walking past him and towards the van.
"Detective Moore, would it be possible to photograph the visitors," Derek noted with a nod to the crime scene tape.
"What are you thinking?" Kate asked Morgan with a thoughtful expression
"I think we're running out of time. They're ditching the van, They'll want to get rid of Michael and go under the radar until it's safe." Morgan stated, facing Kate standing beside him.
"yes, that's what scares me. It's getting hot under their feet. I think your idea of a search action might be the best option." She told him with a deep sigh. "Let's go back to the office and set the search party up," Morgan noted as they started walking towards the car again.
When they arrived at the Police station, they headed into their put up the office, the eyes of their team on them as they entered. "And?" Rossi questioned, looking up at their two teammates.
"Nothing, the car's wiped clean. The officers photographed the crowd again. So nothing again." Morgan noted, letting himself drop into one of the chairs. They were all bothered by the non-progress they had at this point. Michael had gone missing just over 24 hours and they weren't anywhere close to finding him.
"We figured they must be close to that location though. It's the dumpsites of the boys and of the car. There's a wooded area not far from the scenes with some cabins. They could hide a body, Morgan suggested a search party." Kate noted, leaning against one of the side tables, another cup of coffee in her hands.
"Hotch, we profiled these man as experienced, but I wouldn't call three boys in four weeks experienced. Isn't there a chance there are more bodies buried out there. We checked missing person reports of children, there are more missing boys with the same description. Maybe we should search the first dump site for more bodies." Reid suggested with a thoughtful and bothered suggestion, the last thing they wanted was to dig up more dead children, but the thought that they could bring some piece of mind to parents was the important thing.
"I hate to say it, but I have to agree with the kid." Rossi pointed out, dropping his pen.
"Maybe we could sweep the dumpsite with underground radar, while Morgan and Kate start leading the search party in the woods." JJ suggested, her head tilted to the side.
"Not a bad idea. You, Reid and Morgan, take the lead on the search." Hotch said and both of them nodded their head in understanding.
For the two hours Morgan, Reid and Kate started mapping out the area, dividing the woods in the area to have a better-contained search plan. They decided where to set up the command post, the local police had gotten cadets from the police academy. The entire area would be blocked off, nobody was getting out or in.
Passing by the scene of the first two bodies, they noticed JJ, Rossi and Hotch uncovering more bodies to their great regret.
Heading to the command centre, they noticed the much K9 and units.
"Okay, Listen up," Morgan called the attention of everyone present.
"You've got a copy of the profile, a copy of the sketch and a picture of the boy. Please be careful, we suspect they are highly dangerous, they're not willing to get caught and go to jail. If you think you have found them, please let us know. A SWAT- team is as you can see present at every command post." Morgan updated them, motioning to the SWAT-Agents waiting to be put to use.
After searching for three hours, Rossi and Hotch had joined the search party but without result so far. "Maybe they aren't even here," Kate noted, wiping her brow as she stopped to take a sip of her water bottle. Running around the woods with their vest in this hot weather was not an ideal thing.
"Yea, it's already two in the afternoon. The longer this last, the lesser the chance we might find him alive." Morgan agreed, pausing to take a sip of his own bottle.
"Do you have service?" He asked her, holding up his phone, to try and find a signal. "No, I don't," she told him after checking her own phone.
"I would like to call Hotch, ask if they have found anything?" Morgan stated, eager to find this young boy and bring him back to his parents.
One of the rangers walked over to them and said, holding out a phone for them: "SSA Morgan, Gainsborough there's a person on the line for you, SSA Hotchner."
Taking the phone, they put some distance between them and the team with them. "Yea, hotch?" they answered.
"Reid was right, we found at least six more bodies so far." He said, remorsefully. Shaking her head, she pinched the bridge of her nose and kicked a pebble further down the woods.
"Okay Hotch, we've been searching for three hours now. Nothing so far in our area. The dogs can't find a scent. We just stopped to eat something, we'll continue searching till dark if we have too." Morgan pointed out with a small sigh of his own.
"Okay guys, we'll continue searching here in our area," Hotch told them, leaving Morgan and Kate to their own area.
"we should probably move on," Kate said to Morgan, wiping her hands against her thighs. Another two hours later and the two dogs with them started barking and pulling towards the right.
Warning the other people that they had found a possible lead, they started searching the area and came upon a house. Although SWAT was on their way to them and the discovered house. Chances were they knew they were there because of the barking dogs.
"You want to wait on SWAT?" Kate asked Morgan, nodding towards the dogs who probably gave away their presence.
"No, not really. It could be the difference between life and death." Morgan noted, they stepped a bit back and discussed the plan with the officers with them. "We're not going to wait on SWAT, they probably know we're here because of the dogs. Chances are Miguel doesn't have much time left, he could be dead by the time SWAT gets here." Morgan informed them, looking at Detective Moore that had joined their search area, they decided to go ahead.
Morgan gave the signal and they ran up to the cabin. It only took Morgan one kick for the door to fly open. Starting to sweep the first room, before heading forward. They were walking towards the third room when the fourth one was thrown open, their two suspects running out. "GO!" Kate yelled rushing towards the door they had run from and discovered the lifeless body of Michael. ran to the cottage. Morgan kicked the door open.
Falling to her knees and checking for a pulse, she realised his heartbeat was incredibly weak, they'd probably tried to kill him moments before. Shrugging her jacket out, she laid it on him and pulled her in her arms, hoping to give him some warmth. He was without clothes and incredibly cold.
She could hear the sirens and helicopters moving above them as she rocked the boy back and forth in her arms. Making sure to check for his pulse, getting up with the help of the cops, she started walking outside when the sirens got closer and closer.
"How did you get here so fast?" Kate asked, seeing the SWAT team heading into the woods, an ambulance driving up and the rest of the team running up to her.
"How is he?" JJ questioned, rushing towards her to help support the boy in her arms. "He's alive, weak pulse, possibly hypothermia." She started informing him, looking at the EMTs having joined them.
"Okay let's get him on the stretcher." The male EMT said, guiding Kate towards the ambulance. Putting him down on the stretcher and watched as the EMT started putting an IV on him, an aluminium blanket over him. When he was stabilised, she helped to push the bed in the ambulance and looked back at her team. "Go with him, Rossi joins her," Hotch ordered as both of them got into the Ambulance.
"How did you guys get here so fast?" Kate asked, looking back at Rossi. "there was a road leading here." Rossi explained, looking down at the dirty and naked Michael. "Can you get that blanket?" the female EMT asked, pointing above Rossi as she started working on Michael.
"He's in a pretty bad shape." The women informed them as she started attaching all sorts of things to the boy. "Can we help?" Kate asked, looking at the women, wanting to do more than sitting by and do nothing.
Just then the monitor made a sound they had hoped not to have heard. "Can you start CPR?" the women asked, reaching for the breathing bag and intubation kit. Getting up Kate did exactly that, hoping that he would pull through, he hadn't made it this far to not survive now.
arriving at the hospital they had gotten the boy back and both Rossi and Kate watched as the EMT's handed the boy over to doctors and remained back in the hallway, having followed them towards the room, they started working on him.
Half an hour later, the parents rushed into the waiting area, hearing the commotion, Both Rossi and Kate headed that way. "My son?" Kate heard Mrs Hanson yell. "Mr and Mrs Hanson," Kate said, getting their attention. "My boy? Did you find him?" the other asked, running up to both of them.
"We did, the doctors are working on him right now, the doctor promised to come and update you when he can." Rossi told them, leading them towards two chairs off the side. "we want to see him." Both of the parents said.
"I know but you need to lead the doctors do their job," Kate told them in soft and a comforting tone.
"How is he?" the father asked, looking at the two agents. "We can't tell much Mr Hanson, the doctor will inform you soon," Kate told him.
three hours later the team couldn't help but smile as they saw the family Hanson reunited with one another. Michael wasn't out of the woods yet, but he was slowly getting there.
"Let's go home," Hotch noted with a smile.
So that's the next chapter. Let me know what you think.