Hotch's POV:
You've begun to become antsy, you haven't had any contact with Reid at all and that makes you nervous, at least when he'd been with Hankel you'd had some form of contact with him, albeit one-sided. Reid's been gone for three days now, and you have nothing to prove that he hasn't been fatally injured yet. It drives you mental just thinking about it, of course you can't let it show, that would severely impair the team's undoubting faith in your ability to remain calm and bring him back. You cannot fail. Garcia hasn't called you yet with updates your searches into Lila Archer, something about the whole situation has you suspicious, and you don't really think that Maggie is the one responsible, but why would Lila emulate Maggie in her thoughts? Could it be that Lila secretly enjoyed having Maggie look out for her, and she was traumatized by Maggie's arrest? Yet, that doesn't seem right either...what was her trigger? Was...was Reid her trigger? You know that he hadn't contacted her since Hollywood, and had since found Austin, another short-lived attraction. Perhaps Lila knew about Austin, which would explain her anger towards Reid, and how all of the kills leading up to his kidnapping had resembled him immensely. In fact, you would bet that Lila still had strong emotions for Reid since her victimization that she was unwilling to let go of, deep emotions for her saviour who had seemingly moved on.
Time passes quickly for you, and soon you receive a phone call from Prentiss announcing that she believes she has found the warehouse where Lila has Reid. It seems unlikely to be this easy, but you suit up anyway, instructing Rossi and the remaining team to do so as well. Hastily you drive out to the warehouse, so close and inconspicuous that it seems like the perfect hide-out, and there you meet with Prentiss and the waiting SWAT team.
Emily's POV:
It seems unbelievable when you find the warehouse so quickly, the first one you checked, the one you thought most unlikely – was in fact the one being inhabited. At present you weren't sure by who, but you had a pretty good guess already – Lila Archer. Seeing the twisting forms moving across the walls made you believe that she was really in there, and so you did not hesitate to call Hotch with the news, having promised him that you wouldn't go in alone with Morgan. He picked up on the first ring, and you felt yourself shudder when you heard his customary greeting.
"Hotch, have you found the warehouse Prentiss?"
"Looks like it sir, there's movements inside, although I can't really tell how many people are currently in the place, and it fits her M.O. – abandoned, unsecured and completely hidden in plain sight."
"Alright, I'll meet you out there with a SWAT team in five, tell Morgan to cool it- I don't want him bursting in from frustration."
"Got it sir."
"See you Prentiss"
You hang up the phone, jittery from your conversation with Hotch, nervous and anticipating Reid's return home. Once he is safe and relatively unharmed, you wouldn't mind focusing your attention on other matters. But the time for that is not now. Slightly ashamed of the direction of your thoughts, you focus on the case, berating yourself slightly for losing focus in the first place. Morgan is standing around looking testy, so you decide to cool him off a bit until Hotch arrives.
"Morgan. Hotch said that he'll be here in five, do you want to talk tactics until then?"
"Alright princess, how about we do a soft entry through the front and back doors, the loading areas for the warehouse can me smoked so that any escape attempts from there can be easily extinguished."
"O-kay" you say, splitting the word into two syllables as you mull over his tactic. "What if we did a soft entry from all sides, smoking only when necessary to quench escape attempts?"
"In that case we'd need to branch off into teams first. We should devise that immediately so it is prepared for when Hotch arrives."
"Gotcha. Okay, I'll go with Hotch, you can take Rossi, and the SWAT team can split off into branches amongst themselves."
"Sounds good Prentiss. Aiight, see you soon, Imma go call Garcia."
He stalked off into the dense trees surrounding the warehouse and plucked his phone from his pocket. You watch him dial the numbers and raise the phone gently to his ear. Thinking on it, you guess that he's probably a lot more frustrated than he's letting on, knowing that Reid could be in there, and he can't go in and get him without the backup of his superiors first.
It took less than five minutes for Hotch to arrive on scene, already vested up and ready for the tactical entry into the warehouse. You split into the teams that you and Morgan had previously agreed on, and await Hotch's signal to enter the warehouse.
Hotch's POV:
Upon arriving at the warehouse, you can already tell that Prentiss and Morgan have plooted out the tactical assault and are ready to proceed. Thrilled that you'd been paired with Prentiss (she's a cautious partner you tell yourself) you move forwards and signal for her to move ahead of you. Taking your cue before you even make it, she glides silently before you and flattens herself against the wall and peeps into the small basement window. Shaking her head, she looks directly at you, looking for more instructions. You signal for her to lie low so that you can assess the situation from the rear windows. Looking in, you see no movement, save a shadow on the back wall, and decide that it should be safe to enter from this door without being harmed. You motion for Prentiss to join you as you both slide on your bellies towards the door, keeping out of sight of all windows. The way her body moves is jammed into your head, and it takes all of your concentration to block out the unneeded information your brain has chosen to gather.
Creeping in, the two of you cross the alien threshold, keeping your eyes peeled for all any and all movement. Your guns are pointed in front of you, the torches you hold swinging lances across the otherwise dark area. Nothing. Motioning for Prentiss to take left you both begin to call out clear for each room, relieved that you hadn't found Reid in a bad position, yet anxious that you hadn't found him at all. What you did find astounded you.
Morgan's POV:
Wary of how little there is to do around you until Hotch comes, you decide to check in on Garcia to see if she's found any new leads. The phone keeps ringing and ringing, yet she doesn't pick up. Maybe she's just really busy right now. You try again and this time, she picks up.
"You have reached the all knowing oracle, speak and be heard"
"Hey mama, got anything new for me?"
"Derek, I wish I did, but so far all I've been able to find is evidence that Maggie is Lila, or lack of evidence of Lila's existence."
"Explain please, in English if you wouldn't mind." You smile.
"Okay, so there's a bunch of evidence which says that Lila is dead, her bank records have been clear since she took her personal break off the film. Maggie's, on the other hand, has been rife with activity."
"What if Lila is using Maggie's accounts because she believes that she is Maggie?"
"That would explain a lot muffin. I'm going to continue my work now, bring him back Derek."
"You know I will mama."
You set your phone down, shove it into your pocket and hope that what you said to Garcia is true. While you're thinking your morbid thoughts, the sound of a car pulling up roars from behind you and you turn around to find Hotch looking at you through the windshield. He nods his head, and you immediately start talking tactics with the SWAT team, conveying yours and Emily's plan. Once the plan has been shared, you split into your teams and begin your entry into the building. Rossi moves forwards, easing into a gentle but fast pace, then flattens against the wall and opens the door relatively quietly. You step in behind him, and periodically both of you shout "clear" when you reach an empty room. You swing the beams of your torch to and fro, finding nothing but empty spaces and used syringes. Looks like you've come across a user's palace. From your earpiece you can hear Hotch's breathing, a sound crackles and he's speaking to you
"Morgan, I don't think this is the right warehouse. We need to exit as quickly as possible without raising any alarms."
"Sir, Rossi and I will exit soon, are you and Prentiss clear?"
"Ah, no. I need you to round up all of the SWAT team, once you've done that update me so that Prentiss and I can exit."
"Right. On my way out now sir."
You spin on your heels and find Rossi behind you looking slightly alarmed.
"what is it?" you whisper to him
"a meth lab on this side- I believe it connects to the other side where Prentiss and Hotch are" he whispers back furiously.
"Damn it." You curse. "right, we have to exit in a calm and orderly fashion as fast as we can, otherwise Prentiss and Hotch aren't safe to leave the building."
"gotcha. I'll call in the SWAT team."
As Rossi calls in the SWAT team, you try to think of possible reasons why Hotch would want you to evacuate a meth lab- if it was empty that is. Then it hits you, the lab is probably run by someone who – at the moment – has Prentiss and Hotch in a threatening position. Jeez, they could never get a rescue attempt the easy way could they?
Sorry for the long wait :/ thanks to everybody who commented, PM-ed me and favourited – I really appreciate all of it. It seems that the BAU family can never catch a lucky break can they? I think I'll probably end this soon – but who knows? As always R&R! :D