A/N: As you can see, I'm trying to make up for slow updating and all my absences in the last few months by updating as frequently as I can manage. Apologies if you don't get an update til after the weekend; I actually have plans for once. ;)

HPforever-after, I swear you read like Reid-fast; I swear I'd only just loaded the chapter and your review came in. Thanks so much for the boost you gave to my ego in getting in so fast with your lovely review. For the rest of you, thank you so much to miaa29, Hazmatt and Wtiger5…you will all just have to wait and see about Austin. ;)

Rated M for violence, torture themes, drug use, coarse language and sex scenes. (yes, this is going to have a little bit of everything)

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Criminal Minds at all, although they do own me and I do own Carrie and Toby, Chloe and India, Kelly and Brad and Ben.

Arabian Nights – Chapter 8

"Right then, I've got a message from SSAIC Hotchner regarding vehicles. They'll be here in about ten minutes and they are bringing extra vehicles for our usage. We need to be out the front and ready to go as soon as they arrive because we are going to be working from the Baltimore field office and they don't want to stop longer than they have to."

"Why are they coming here?" Phil asked.

"Apparently one of their techs was able to trace the vehicles that were the most likely matches to the vehicle used in the kidnapping. Most of them have been cleared but the last was seen here in Baltimore. They are coming to follow that up and see where it leads. My guess is that if we catch a break, they want to be on hand to follow it up immediately and this city is closer than Quantico to the last known siting."

Alex nodded and they fell in behind Clare as she walked across the large open room towards the door at the other end of the airport. Stepping outside was a shock for all of them.

"When did it have time to start snowing? We were only in there for five minutes."

Cassie shot Mirkal a pitying look and patted his shoulder as he pulled out his extra jacket. Though he'd lived in the US for the last 10 years, he originally hailed from New Delhi, India, where it never snowed; it simply got cold. He had once admitted to the team that the entire reason he had settled in LA had to do with the warmer climate and lack of snow; he was not a fan of the powdery white substance that fell from the sky.

They'd all teased him at one time or another about his dislike of snow and they had all done their best to help him come to an understanding of just how much fun snow could be, but despite all that he was adamant; he just didn't like snow.

They weren't outside more than 5 minutes when the first of a long line of black cars appeared. The first two cars and the last two slipped out of the line of cars to pull even with them while the rest continued on to park further down the pick-up area.

The passenger door on the first car opened and they watched a man get out and open up the back door of the car and they continued watching in surprise as a small boy scrambled down out of the vehicle.

"Henry, we've had this conversation before. You don't take your seatbelt off; you wait for me or for your mama to do it for you."

"But daddy, mama's not here and I need to go potty real bad."

The driver got out of the car closest to them and they could immediately hear the sound of a couple of babies crying. He too went and opened up the back door of his car and a couple of young boys scrambled out.

"Hey Hotch, you want me to take the boys with Henry to the bathroom?"

"If you could that would help hugely Will, thanks. Are you guys okay to go with Will and Henry." The two boys exchanged a look before looking back up. "I promise that I will be right here when you come back out. I'm not going anywhere, not for any reason."

The boys exchanged another look before hugging him around the waist and then following Will into the airport terminal. He peered into the back of the suddenly silent car and smiled just slightly. Brad was there with a bottle of formula in each hand and was feeding the girls at the same time. The sight of that warmed something inside that had been frozen solid since Emily was taken; enough so that he was able to turn to the team waiting for an explanation.

"I'm SSAIC Aaron Hotchner; call me Hotch. Sorry about all this, but we didn't have time to find sitters; it was just easier to pile the kids into the cars and go."

Alex stepped forward and held out his hand. "SSAIC Alex Jackson; we've spoken on the phone."

Aaron nodded. "I'll introduce my team properly when we reach the Baltimore office. The only reason we stopped at all was for the children's sake."

"That's good. Are they ready for us?"

"More than; we have all the resources and people-power we need to make this work and then some. All we need to do is get there."

"Excellent. We only received part of the fax you sent thanks to the storm. Have there been any new developments?"

"None just yet. Kevin is still combing through the traffic camera footage that has been sent to him in order to figure out where the van went once it hit the city limits. Hopefully he'll be successful but if not, well, we don't really have a plan."

"Right then; so who's in charge?"

"That was the one thing my boss was adamant on. We are to follow your lead in all things; we're just far too close to the situation. I'll warn you now though, we'll be riding you all hard to push things forward. None of us will just let this one happen as it happens. We want our women back too much."

"That's understandable. However, my team comes first for me so if you ride us too hard, we will be having words. You aren't the only ones who want to crack this, and fast, but I won't let you hurt anyone in the process."

"That's probably a good thing. If we get them back at the expense of someone innocent of the situation, Emily will have my hide and then some."

"Emily?"

"My wife. We sent her information and that of the other ladies through with the rest of the info. Didn't you get it?"

"Like I said, the fax was interrupted due to the storm we were skirting so we missed the bio's. We'll go over everything when we get to the station."

He nodded and turned to Brad as the doctor appeared with both girls. He took India and settled her to his shoulder and began to burp her much as Brad was doing with Chloe when Will returned with the boys.

He correctly interpreted the anxiety he could see on the boys faces. "Didn't I say I'd be right here when you returned?"

They nodded with wide eyes and scrambled back into the car as the wind whipped up little snow flurries. He tucked the blanket a little closer around India's body as she burped loudly and praised her softly as he tucked her back into the car seat. He left Brad doing the same with Chloe and indicated two vehicles behind him.

"We should go and get this thing moving. Every moment we stand here is a moment where eight women I hold in the highest regard are in the hands of the unknown. We need to go and change that."

"I agree," Alex said as he nodded to his team. He smiled just slightly as Mirkal attempted to bolt with his three heavy bags in hand, knowing the warmth of the car was nearby. "We'll follow you to the station and we'll do our best to crack this wide open before disaster truly has a chance to strike."

Aaron nodded agreement and climbed back behind the wheel, waiting only long enough for the other team to load up before he pulled away from the airport and started the trek across the city.

It was almost 20 minutes later that they reached the field office. The storm was really raging by that point, so they moved quickly into the building and completed introductions while Will and Brad saw to their guest ID badges and those of the children.

"So this is half of my team. SSA's David Rossi and Derek Morgan and Dr Spencer Reid." He gestured first to the three men standing on his right and then turned to gesture towards Kevin. "This is TA Kevin Lynch. He doesn't work for my team specifically; his wife is our normal technical analyst and was kidnapped with the other women so he's stepped into her shoes in the interests of finding her asap.

"Then you've got Will LaMontagne and Brad Anderson. Will's wife JJ is a permanent member of my team and Brad's wife Kelly is firstly my wife's maternity replacement and will later stay on as JJ's maternity replacement. Then you have my son Jack and my nanny Carrie's son Toby and the babies; two are mine and the other is Morgan's."

Alex nodded around to everyone and started introducing his team. "This is SSA Phil De Tritt. He is my right hand man and has been my primary for accumulating the letters in this case, as well as liaising with the various law enforcement agencies across the country as they send in the information they have on their investigations into their local disappearances. I definitely couldn't have done this without his help.

"SSA Cassie Alongee is the team's linguistics expert and handwriting analyst."

"We'll set you up with Reid and the two of you can work on that." Cassie looked Reid over and raised an eyebrow as she nodded cautiously. Aaron smothered a genuine smile. "Trust me, he's a lot smarter than he looks."

"Hey!"

Everyone laughed and some of the terrible tension that had been floating around for the last few hours eased a bit.

Alex finished chuckling and continued. "SSA Sampson Bates is our medical expert."

"Medical expert," Derek said doubtfully as he shifted Ben on his shoulder.

Sampson grinned engagingly as he pulled his long, thick brown curls back from his face and tied his hair up. "Not just like, you get shot and need patching up, medical. I'm a fully trained counsellor as well so I ensure the teams mental health is always on track. When you handle the types of cases we do, week in week out, sometimes with little movement for months, you need someone who can listen to you vent and help you safely deal with feelings of frustration, anxiety and grief. Much as your Dr Reid would do for all of you."

"Actually, I'm not a medical expert at all. I hold in Mathematics, Chemistry and Engineering and B.A.s in Psychology and Sociology and I'm currently working on my B.A. in Philosophy. I don't do medical."

Alex and his team gaped openly at the young man in the wheelchair who had just firmly put Sampson in his place.

"Kid, we really need to get Austin back for you; that was only just short of abrupt."

Reid shrugged and muttered, "No one wants Austin back more than me," before he turned his chair out to face the window.

Jack followed him over to the window and patted his shoulder. "I want Austin back too, cause she's lots of fun like mummy and reminds me of sunshine and smiles too."

Aaron swallowed as pride in his son welled up as Reid smiled slightly at Jack and nodded agreement as the child took his hand. Toby wandered over to stand on his other side and the three became immersed in watching the snow fall.

Alex cleared his throat and asked in a slightly husky voice. "Is Dr Reid for real or is he just joshing with us?"

Dave said dryly, "Some days I think we all wish he were joshing with us; unfortunately it's all true, as is the IQ of 187, the reading speed of 20000 words per minute and the eidetic memory. It's truly sad how some days I feel so dumb even though I know I'm not."

Everyone chuckled again and Alex continued on with the introductions. "SA Clare Fielding is in charge of all our travel needs including, but not limited to, flights, car hire, hotels and where we eat. She's an absolute genius."

"How are you at planning honeymoons?" Dave asked only half in jest.

Clare grinned. "That was actually my specialty before I decided to change fields so when we get your lady back, I'd be happy to sit down with both of you."

He blinked in surprise, then nodded his thanks and put his hands in his pockets as a thoughtful look came over his face.

Alex gestured at the last two men standing with them. "SA Eric Winterfields is a good agent and genuine smart guy and all-rounder."

"Not quite as smart as your doctor but I get by," he added softly as he shifted back a step. Well aware of his shyness, the last guy stepped just slightly to the side and in front of him, drawing all eyes.

"This is our technical analyst, Mirkal Renhwah. He keeps us updated with all the very best and latest toys and types faster than anyone else I've ever met."

Mirkal lifted a hand in a wave as Aaron nodded around at everyone. "I'll say it for everyone; thank you so much for coming over here to help us get our better halves back. It means more than we will ever be able to adequately put into words."

"If I were in your position, I'd be hoping another team would come to do the same for us so truly, it isn't a bother at all. And besides, you had already agreed to help us out; how could we not then do the same when you have need of our assistance?" They all fell silent for a minute as understanding flowed before Alex continued, "We should head upstairs and get set up. The faster we get into this, the faster we'll find your ladies."

In complete agreement, they all turned to the lifts as one body. Two lifts and three floors later, they walked into a near silent command centre where all eyes were glued to a massive tv screen taking up half of a nearby wall.

Pulling even with the agent at the back of the room, Aaron showed his badge and nodded at the screen. He didn't have to ask.

"A pileup on an interchange just outside of New York City caught an internationally wanted terrorist. A traffic helicopter caught the crash itself and has continued to record everything since."

They all moved to focus in on what was being reported.

"If you are just joining us, we are coming to you live from the air over one of New York City's quietest interchanges, where an international terrorist wanted in over half a dozen countries has just been apprehended by the local chapter of the FBI after a 15 car pileup has virtually closed all 6 of the inbound city lanes." The camera view shifted from the mangled pile of cars to pan over the massive line of cars that was continuing to lengthen. "This accident happened barely 10 minutes ago and already you can see the traffic is backing up for at least a mile…wait a second, Jim are you seeing this?"

A second later, the camera zoomed in on a van sitting behind a sports car. A 4WD sat on the one side, a couple of motorbikes showing two bikies in the process of turning from their conversation to look at the van were behind it and a large truck ran along the side of them all.

And as they all watched the camera zoom in on the van, they saw the sliding door on the side closest to the truck open up and several women all but fell out the side as a man appeared right behind them brandishing a large knife, a look of utter fury on his face.

"Penelope!"

"JJ!"

"Teresa!"

"Look out!"

End-

A/N: Stay tuned to this author for more on this breaking news story…

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