Happy almost Halloween. Barely edited, but I wanted to get something posted before Halloween. I apologize in advance for any errors.

House of Mirrors- High-Flying Adventures

Cole smiled at her as Benjamin went to retrieve her from the audience. "Thank you, my dear. I promise you won't be sorry." But as she approached the stage, Benjamin to her left side, she realized that she already was.

"Ladies and gentlemen, tonight you will see something of a most astounding nature. With the help of my four friends and my lovely new assistant, you all are about to embark on a high-flying adventure." Cole smiled brightly and threw his hands up in the air as he spoke. JJ couldn't help but frown at the whole charade. She had a bad feeling about what might happen next.

Then, as if on cue, Cole dramatically threw his hands back down and music started filling the air. One by one, two women accompanied by two men started a well-rehearsed acrobatic show from above the crowd. They followed each other as they performed a few basic tricks- spinning around swing-like bars, flipping from rope to rope, and even occasionally doubling up and relying on each other to stay up in the air. Eventually the music died, though, and the four performers halted their acts.

"My friends here consist of Genevieve-" He halted so that the petite woman could wave. "Sarah-" A dirty-blond with thick red lips and a matching red outfit smiled. "Silas-" The brown-haired man smiled at the crowd before he did a showy flip on his bar. "And Clement." Finally the last man nodded his head, his tight-fitting black suit clinging to him in a way that looked very uncomfortable. JJ studied the four acrobatics performers carefully and easily deduced that Silas was the youngest- and by the way that Sarah and the others kept glancing over one another they were nervous. The liaison suddenly regretted coming up even more now.

"JJ, do you want to know what you will be doing for this special event?" Cole asked. JJ just nodded, unsure how else to respond. Before she knew it she was being led over to a large table with different levers laying on top of it. Each one had a different number and a different color. "The ropes hanging from the ceiling seem to be loose," Cole frowned less than sincerely. "The unfortunate part is that we don't know which ones. So as they perform for us, it's your job to find out which levers control which ropes and pull them down or up to tighten them. The fun part is that you have to guess which levers control which ropes. Do you think you're ready?" Before JJ could respond, however, Cole was already walking off the stage.

Suddenly music started playing, and the four acrobats frowned from above. The special event wasn't fair- how was she supposed to complete it successfully without hurting one of them in the meantime? "Don't worry about us," JJ heard one of them-Silas, maybe- call out to her. The others nodded in agreement; whatever would happen next wasn't the blonde's fault- it was Cole's. The sentiment did little to ease her anxieties, however. The liaison still found herself dreading the first wire break. Her fears, she knew, were about to be put to the test. She took a deep breath and watched as the second left wire broke. JJ's hands slid over the lever closest to her and pulled it. Unfortunately nothing happened, so she quickly pulled it back and tried the next one. Still nothing. She repeated the pattern one more time before the wire finally snapped into place mere seconds before Sarah grabbed hold of it. 'Thank god,' she mumbled in her head, making certain to take mental notes of which lever controlled which. Her relief soon disappeared, though, as the farthest line to the right snapped. The performer, Clement, was already heading there. A bit more haphazardly she pulled levers to and fro, but not fast enough. Clement fell from the broken swing, but luckily enough Genevieve was close enough to catch him. The youngest performer swung to the closest swing after Genevieve took the one opposite if him.

The music started quieting, something that almost made JJ feel a bit better. It was almost over, at least. She'd just have to do the best she could in the meantime. Soon enough another swing broke, but JJ remember which lever fixed it quickly. Thankfully she was correct and saved the acrobat from falling. Over the course of the rest of the song three more swings broke, but the liaison easily found them now that she knew what each lever controlled. Finally the music halted- the act was over. The four acrobats gave a showy bow before scurrying out of view. Cole made his way back to the center stage and offered JJ a smile. "Very well done," he praised. "I am quite impressed. Take a bow!" The blonde bitterly glared at the ringmaster, but she knew she didn't have any other choice than to oblige to his wishes. After her bow Benjamin escorted her back off stage. This time he didn't take anyone back with him- not yet, anyways. "Pay attention on stage," he whispered to the BAU agents. "It's in your best interest."

"Ladies and gentleman, that concludes the first quarter of the show. After sitting here for three hours, I'd assume you would all enjoy a break, yes? Please enjoy our concessions and bathrooms for a while as we set up in the next room for the second quarter. Thank you all for coming- We'll all see you in a bit!" Cole then tipped his hat to the audience and left. From behind the curtains came Derrick and Benjamin heading straight toward the group. The two men nodded grimly at each other before they revealed the knives they had hidden behind their backs.

~* House of Mirrors *~

"Agent Rossi, I demand to know where the rest of your team is," Unit Chief Erin Strauss snarled, her eyes darting from Will LaMontange to David Rossi. "Vacation is over. It's time to get back to work."

"Funny you mention 'It'," Rossi grumbled. 'Maybe if the psycho-clown was here, he could tell you what's going on'.

"I don't find this funny, Rossi, and neither should you. Now tell me- what's going on?"

The two men exchanged worried looks before nodding. The team would get help now- they were going to be saved. "JJ and myself wanted to take Henry to the circus, and we thought- since Reid and Garcia are their godparents- why not invite the rest of the BAU?" He paused in his narration, sighing before carrying on. "It was a bad idea." Unfortunately the man found himself unable to continue. Henry was safe, but his wife and her team weren't. The only reason he wasn't overwhelmed with guilt was because it meant his son was safe.

Rossi caught on to Will's lack of response and sighed. He couldn't blame him for it- if he was in Will's position he was more than positive he wouldn't want to share the grim tale, either. "It wasn't a circus after all. They were using it as a cover to get people to enter. The man in charge called himself Cole, but I'm still not positive I understand what he plans on doing with the team."

"You drove to this circus, correct?" Strauss sighed.

"Yes, ma'am," Will nodded.

"We could drive there again, but I highly doubt they'll still be there by the time we get there," Rossi supplied. "We may have been able to escape, but they were prepared to fight us. There are many people apart of this 'circus', and they've all been trained." The older profiler frowned, hoping that they'd be able to find their friends before it was too late. The problem, however, was how to profile criminals whose victims and any other witnesses besides themselves were still with them? They had no evidence or any other way to profile them besides what they already knew. They'd have to go back to the scene and hope someone got sloppy when they left in a hurry.

"We'll call SWAT and have them search the grounds. If they have in fact left then we'll look for evidence and go from there. Rossi, you'll be working with local police and whichever agents from the bureau we find available. Both of you will be questioned before the investigation starts, however. Is that understood?" Rossi and Will both nodded, knowing there was no point in arguing. "Good. Now, when you're both finished, I will allow Will to be briefed on anything we find concerning the investigation due to his past experience with law enforcement and his connection with the case. Ii cannot allow you to take part in the investigation, Will, and please don't take that for granted. I'm already breaching protocol by keeping you updated- don't make me regret it," she warned sternly.

"Yes, ma'am," Will nodded. "I appreciate it, thank you."

"Don't thank me," she sighed, "until after we've found your wife."

The sound of a phone ringing filled the air, and Strauss couldn't help but sigh. "Excuse me, I have to take this."

"Of course," Rossi nodded. "We'll make our way to the interrogation rooms now."

"Very well," she agreed. "I hope we can solve this quick and fairly painlessly." She then reached down and picked up her phone. The two men took that as their cue to leave, but before they could shut the door behind them Strauss added, "And good luck." Rossi and Will turned back to see a ghost of a smile flutter across Strauss's face. Rossi smiled back and offered an appreciative head nod. Will just kept a straight face and turned his head back to the door. His wife and her 'family' was missing- how could he even attempt to smile under the circumstances?"

Rossi shut the door behind them and placed a supportive hand on Will's shoulder. "We'll find them, you know that, right?"

Will nodded his head, though his eyes gave away the fact that he was lying. "Right, of course."