Chapter 6: Broken Mirror

Ariadne POV:

"So what happened with you and JJ at the Redskins game, huh?"

Good lord. It was too damn early for me to listen to this. I rolled my eyes at Derek's question. The three of us, Derek, Spencer and I had met each other in the parking garage and decided to walk in together.

Although it was proving to be a mistake. I did not want to discuss Spencer's date with JJ. Call me selfish if you want, I still didn't want to hear about it.

Spencer had a bunch of brown folders secured in his hands and Derek and I were walking arm in arm. Once in a blue moon Derek decides to actually dress like he works for the FBI, so today he's in a suit and tie. I on the other hand have vowed to never put on a pants suit, ever.

I can rock a lot of things, but that's not one of them.

I'm wearing a long sleeved black shirt with a sweetheart neckline, a light beige knitted sweater over the top, and black skinny jeans with knee high boots. I've elected to not have any heels on today, I didn't feel the need to actually dress up. Today just felt more like a casual day.

"Top secret" Spencer tells Derek. I know that he's probably going to tell me sometime in the near future, one of the many perks of being the best friend. Or in this particular case one of the downsides.

I could hear the clicking of heels behind us, "Derek" one of the female agents, whose name I never bothered to figure out, called out to my brother interrupting the conversation we were having. She shouldered her way in between Spencer and Derek so that she could gaze into my brother's eyes. "I put the transcript from the last prison interview on your desk."

Derek just looks confused, "Mm okay, it wasn't classified rush. You could have sent it inter-office." Spencer had dropped behind us after being pushed out but I was still attached to my brother's arm.

Oh great, another woman to fawn over my brother like he was god's personal gift to them. The only woman I thought was okay to have flirting with him was Penelope.

She gives my brother a look before walking away, "I could have." You can tell she wants to turn around to see if he's still watching her.

He wasn't.

Two other office interns walk by us and stare at Derek while Spencer takes his place at his side again. The three of us watch as the two women giggle when Derek sends them a smile. I do wish he wouldn't encourage them.

"Must be tough man" Spencer jokes.

Derek chuckles and lays a hand on Spencer's shoulders, "Not really."

"What do you mean? You don't even do anything and these women are throwing themselves at you" Spencer says in slight awe.

I make a disgusted sound in the back of my throat. God just the thought of women throwing themselves at Derek gives me the chills.

"Strictly off-limits, Reid" Derek tells him firmly. He's got this rule when it comes to dating in the workplace. I happen to think it's a smart one.

Spencer just looks slightly confused, "There's no code of conduct that says agents can't socialize."

I really wish there was though. That way it would be against the rules to fall in love with him, which would have helped me not to do so.

"Yeah, well my code of survival says never mess with a woman who carries a gun. I'm already risking it with Ariadne over here." Derek looked completely serious while saying that. I let go of his arm and let him walk to his desk alone.

"Don't you know big brother that I would never use my gun on you? It's the floozies you date that need to be careful" I tease him. I receive a pair of eye rolls for the comment, yet there were no objections.

All of a sudden Greenaway comes barreling into the bullpen like a bat outta hell, barely missing crashing into Spencer. As she makes her way closer to me I tense up making it so that when she passes she clips my shoulder and stumbles a bit. She turns and sneers at me before scurrying away into Hotch's office.

It's the little things that truly make my day.

I went over to my desk and put my messenger bag down on the floor. I looked down and saw the pile of paperwork I still had to finish filling out, just basic case reports and any additional notes I had while observing in the field. It was a pain in the ass and I always ended up putting it off until the last moment.

"Reid, Morgan's one and two" I lift my head up when I hear Hotch call us, "Document's up on the screen regarding the kidnapping of Trish Davenport."

I sigh picking my bag back up and following behind my brother as the three of us made our way up the stairs and into the conference room.

"Have you read them yet?" Spencer asks Hotch as he walks up the stairs. He better watch where he's going, the last thing I want is for him to fall down because he wasn't paying attention.

"Yeah I got a copy from the document examiner." Hotch informed us.

It doesn't surprise me, somehow he always knows all the details before the rest of us even know that there's a case.

"What's it say?" Derek asks as we file in behind Hotch and Greenaway. Everyone's pretty much on edge and anxious to know as much as possible since this was a kidnapping case.

"That we've got until eight o'clock tonight."

Well it's a good thing it's still early.

We made it into the conference room and we all walked up to the screen in order to the letter than the kidnapper had sent.

Spencer decided to read it out loud, "You will follow instructions carefully. You will do this to ensure the safety of your daughter. You will wait for the call. You will answer the call at eight o'clock pm. You will write down the instructions and follow them to the letter."

Have I ever mentioned that I hate people telling me what to do?

"That gives us less than nine hours to get to Connecticut, work up victimology on Trish Davenport and prepare her father for the ransom drop" Hotch told us looking at each of us to make sure we understood.

"How do we know the letter's real?" Gideon ask from behind us. That's a good question, I just assumed that it would be considering the fact that the kidnapping hasn't been made public yet.

"Uh…" Hotch presses a button and the writing zooms in on the screen. "The handwriting is a match for Trish's. He dictated it to her, and they found saline on the paper."

"So she was crying" I surmised. That poor thing, I can't imagine what she's going through right now.

"He never says 'I', he doesn't say 'I will call' he says 'you will answer the call'. He's distancing himself from the kidnapping. If he said 'I', he'd be taking responsibility for it." Derek points out while studying the letter a little harder.

I don't see how he could distance himself from the kidnapping. I mean if you kidnap someone it's your fault plain and simple, you don't get to pass off that blame.

"There's also another missing element. There is no mention of the police. Normally ransom notes almost always forbid police involvement. So is he expecting law enforcement to get involved?" I couldn't tell who Hotch was talking to or if he even wanted an answer to his question so I remained silent.

Gideon however had something to say on the matter, "Well, if he's expecting us, let's not disappoint him."

Everyone started to leave the room to go collect their go bags but I kept looking at the letter for a couple more minutes.

I wasn't concerned about playing whatever game this guy had in mind, I wasn't concerned about him in the slightest. I just wanted to make sure that we didn't disappoint Trish.


I swear most of my time is spent on this jet. I'm almost positive I'm here more than I am at my own house.

Hotch had his laptop open with a clock on the right hand side of the screen that displayed the time. 1:08 pm. That means we had a little less than seven hours before the call was to be made.

"Everyone familiar with the father?" Hotch asks us while he leans his head back so that Gideon, Spencer and I could hear him.

I was on the couch by myself, Gideon and Spencer were sitting opposite of each other in some of the chairs, Derek was in front of Hotch, and I could care less about where Greenaway was if we're being honest.

Spencer than fills us all in about everything there is to know about Trish's father. "Evan Davenport, U.S. attorney, executive assistant, southern district New York. Widower, assigned U.S. Marshals three times in the past ten years due to death threats."

Well if I didn't know anything about Mr. Davenport before I certainly do now.

"Is the protection detail still current?" Derek asks, his face firmly planted in a file.

Hotch nods his head, "Around the clock, but Trish declined protection when she turned eighteen." I don't understand why someone would ever decline having protection, especially when their own father gets death threats consistently.

"Too bad for the boyfriend" came a muttered response from my brother. He's right, a little morbid, but right. Because Trish declined security there was no one there to protect her and as a result she was kidnapped and her boyfriend was murdered. That was going to be a heavy burden for her to bear.

"What I still don't understand is the reason why he was killed. I mean what was the purpose of it?" I ask form my position on the couch. I didn't ask anyone in particular, I figured one of them would give me an answer.

Turned out to be Derek. "Well if I want to kidnap someone I know I have to take out whoever's with them."

You know any member of law enforcement would make for the best kinds of criminals. They always know what to look for and how to go about avoiding suspicion.

"It says here that she's got a sister. Name's Cheryl. Any problems? Were they close?" I look over at Derek when he asks this. I don't know how we're supposed to have the actual answer to that.

"Yeah" Spencer says as he pulls out a photograph to show the rest of us, "They're identical twins."

Well that's just great. A thought slams into my head all of a sudden and its implications threaten to give me a headache.

Are we even sure that we've got the right twin?


Gideon, Hotch and Spencer all went to Mr. Davenport's home while the rest of us went to the crime scene where Trish was taken.

When we pulled up we saw a couple other cops cars and officers and detectives all over the place. But the one thing that really stood out was the fact that Cheryl Davenport was lying face up on the ground in the middle of the dirt road.

Greenaway had a look of sympathy on her face, as if she understood, while Derek and I looked at Cheryl as if she had lost her mind.

"What's she doing?" Derek asked one of the officers incredulously.

"Lying on the road."

Wow. Thank you officer I never would have guessed that that's what she was doing. I'm so glad to know that there are such observant people like you keeping the streets safe.

"Yeah we got that Sherlock, the question is why is she lying on the road?" I said exasperatingly. It's so hard to find good help nowadays.

"She's trying to get a feel for what happened to her sister" One of the female detectives told us.

"By lying on the ground?" Derek asked with the classic 'are you joking?' look. We were thinking the exact same thing. What in the world is she gonna get from the dirt?

"The girl spent her teenage years perfecting ways to ditch her bodyguards" The male officer starts.

"We're just happy she's in our line of sight" the female detective finished his thought from beside us.

Derek, Greenaway and I all moved closer to Cheryl, done speaking with the unhelpful officers. Derek lifts up a hand and motions it to Cheryl with a confused look. "Cheryl Davenport?" He calls out to her.

"Shhh!" She tells us as if she's not lying on the dirt road. "Just a minute. No, I'm not crazy. I'm lying here for a reason."

Well you coulda fooled me.

Derek begins to look around him as if he can't believe that all these officers have just let her do this.

All of a sudden she begins to sit up, looking around wide eyed. She stands and take a couple steps towards us before she stops to point to the ground. "He dragged her from the car. This is where she fell. Trish is a fighter, she wouldn't have gone quietly, not even with a gun pointed at her."

Greenaway just turns to look at Derek and I, "She's right. There are nail marks on the car seat."

"So you believe your sister's still alive?" Derek asks looking at her skeptically.

She continues to stare at us wide eyed, "I know she's still alive" she insists.

"You know the way, twins know."

Cheryl and I both roll our eyes at Greenaway's statement for two completely different reasons.

"Not the 'I can feel my twin's pain' crap. If you stick her with a needle I don't cry out." Cheryl corrects her. "But if something is bothering her, if something is wrong, I can feel it. Even from a thousand miles away at college"

Aw hell nah.

Derek and I both looked over at each other at the same time. We didn't mess with that whole mumbo jumbo shit. Gave us the creeps. We both walked away after that statement.

We ended up walking over to the blood stain located on the ground and Derek kneeled down beside it. I could hear Cheryl and Greenaway continue their conversation.

Hey on the bright side of things I finally found a use for Greenaway. She can do all the things I don't want to do.

"My feeling is that my sister is still alive" Cheryl says loud enough that everyone within ten feet of her can hear.

Derek nods his head respectively in order not to seem like he's discrediting her.

I mean if her believing in the power of twins is what gets her through the kidnapping of her sister, then by all means, believe away.

Derek then gets into his zone and begins to walk around, moving some of the plants around and whatnot. He recreating the scene in his mind, going over all the various possible scenarios. I've seen him do it all the time.

I can hear Cheryl ask Greenaway about what he was doing and I waited to see what she was going to come up with.

"He's trying to get a sense of the kidnapper through his behavior by role playing the events."

Okay, so she wasn't too far off there. That's a first for her.

Cheryl scoffs, "That doesn't sound very scientific, does it?"

"And somehow knowing exactly when your twin is uncomfortable when you're a thousand miles away is?" I ask her without turning around.

So I'm a little defensive when it comes to Derek. Sue me.

Derek exhales loudly, I'm not sure if it's because he's onto something or if Cheryl's starting to annoy him as much as she is me.

"Ok, she was rarely without the boyfriend." Nope, the sigh was because he was onto something. "Well, I know in order to get to her I got to take him out. He was collateral damage. Or was he? Shot was to the face. That's personal." As Derek spoke he kept walking and looking around. The more he did so the more Cheryl followed him with her eyes, worry bleeding out of them.

I could understand why she was so concerned. No matter what she might have "felt" coming from her sister, it was still one thing to think and another to actually know and see how things played out.

"Kill the boyfriend…get him out of the way so I can get her…" Derek stops to turn around and look Cheryl straight in the eyes, "alone."

Way to be ominous there big brother.


We took Cheryl back to her father's house so that we were there when they got the call. Gideon and Spencer had helped to set up a phone tap so that we could all hear the unsub but he couldn't hear the rest of us.

Derek and I had gone into the kitchen when Greenaway ambushed us. "You think Cheryl's a whack job because she claims she can feel her sister's anxiety don't you?" She says coming right out with it.

"I never said whack job" Derek tells her, defending himself.

We might not have said it, but we were thinking it.

Spencer comes walking in to join the conversation, "Actually there may be a physiological basis for it."

Derek sighs and hangs his head before addressing Greenaway, "Don't ask."

"Reversed asymmetry monozygotic eggs split late, between nine to twelve days. The DNA matches right down to the very last stranded code, and there's sporadic documentation of shared physiological pain."

Greenaway looks giddy at Spencer's explanation, probably because she thinks it proves her right somehow.

"So you believe it?" Derek asks giving Spencer a deadpan stare.

"No, I'm just saying it's possible. I don't know everything. I mean, despite the fact that you think that I do." He says innocently.

"Possible or not Spence it's still creepy as shit" I tell him. I notice that Hotch has walked into the kitchen sometime during our little squabble.

Derek points at me, "What she said. And by the way I never said that. When have I ever said you know everything?"

All the flippin' time Derek.

"Every day since I met you" Spencer says with a small laugh and a smile.

"This morning on the ride over" I pitch in.

"Yesterday when he beat you at cards." I quickly turn to face Hotch. Who knew that the stone himself could crack a joke? "Um… we've got one minute" he reminds us before heading back out to the family room where everything was set up.

Derek just looks at the rest of us, "Anybody ever heard of sarcasm?"

"Mm-hmm" Greenaway, Spencer and I all say at the same time, walking in the direction that Hotch had gone.

As we made our way into what looked to be the family room I noticed two agents standing ramrod straight by the door dressed in black and white suits. God could you imagine how uncomfortable that must be? To have to stand up with your back completely straight lest you accidently relax and bust a seam?

I snickered as I passed them, suckers. Yeah that's right look at me all comfortable and shit, still able to do my job and everything.

Spencer and Gideon were seated by Mr. Davenport and the rest of us elected to stand around the table. You could almost feel the tension in the room skyrocket as the clock chimed, alerting us to the fact that it was now eight o'clock.

"Remember, keep your voice even and calm and agree with everything he says." Gideon calmly advised Mr. Davenport, who was wringing his hands together.

The clock chimed once more before stopping enveloping us all in the anxious silence.

"He's late" Mr. Davenport breathed out, fear written in the lines of his face.

Hotch was quick to reassure him, "He'll call. Just try to relax, this is his strategy. He wants you on edge."

I'd say he's doing a bang up job on that so far.

The telephone rang suddenly, startling all of us out of our thoughts. Mr. Davenport took a sharp breath in and sat up straighter while the rest of us put on our headphones so we could listen into the phone call.

"You try to keep him talking to reveal something about Trish or himself" Gideon told Mr. Davenport right before he pushed the button to answer the phone.

"This is Evan Davenport." Good it looks like he took Hotch's words to heart. He sounds calm and collected.

"Hello Mr. Davenport."

God this dude's voice gave me the creeps.

"Are you the man who has my daughter Patricia?" Even though Mr. Davenport's voice was steady his hands were not.

"I have your daughter." Well we already fucking knew that so a fat lot of good that information is.

"Can I ask you-"

"You may ask me nothing" The unsub firmly states. "This is not an interrogatory, you will listen only to my instructions. But I will not give them to you."

Huh?

"I don't understand-" Mr. Davenport begins only to be cut off yet again.

"I do not want to talk to you, Mr. Davenport." The unsub then began to breathe a little harder while we all looked up at each other in confusion. "I want to talk to her. I want to talk to Cheryl."

Slowly everyone's heads turned to look at the girl who was frozen in place. She looked as confused as the rest of us so I knew that this was not something she had counted on.

Immediately Gideon hit the mute button so that we could talk in private. Mr. Davenport moved his chair back and looked at all of us in a panicked confusion, "What's he doing?"

Derek leans down to sit on the edge of the table so that he can draw Mr. Davenport's attention away from the phone. "What most of the offenders we catch try to do, establish dominance."

"How long can we keep him on hold?" Greenaway suddenly asks from her position next to Cheryl.

I turn to look at Hotch and Gideon knowing that it was ultimately going to be up to them. Hotch's eyes don't stray from the phone but he begins to shake his head, "We can't put her on."

"Why not?" Cheryl demands, "I want to help. I'll talk to him."

At this point I think that putting her on the phone would cause more harm than good. I mean we don't even know why he wants to talk to her. Letting her get on the phone is just giving him more power in this situation and that's the last thing that we want right now.

"Cheryl doesn't have the authority that Davenport holds. He shouldn't want to talk to her." Derek points out.

"The fact that he does is what's most concerning about the whole thing." I said looking over at Gideon who was surprisingly silent.

"I think that she should speak to him."

And just when I thought Greenaway couldn't possibly get any stupider she goes and proves me wrong. I let out a deep sigh and just stare at her, wondering how on earth she managed to get this far in life if those are the kinds of solutions that she comes up with.

"Do I need to repeat myself? I want to talk to Cheryl. Put her on the phone. Now." The unsub commanded, reminding us all that we didn't have the time to debate whether or not we're going to put her on the phone with a kidnapper.

Gideon, who's still staring off into space utters a simple "No."

"I think she should speak to him. He wants to talk to her. The more he speaks, the more he reveals." Greenaway continued to try and convince us to follow her idea.

Surprisingly it's Derek who folds first. "Elle is right Gideon."

I make a small choking sound in the back of my throat. "Please dear god if you love me at all never utter those words again" I mumble looking over at him.

"He has my sister!" Cheryl bursts out, taking a step towards the table.

Gideon finally turns his head to focus on Mr. Davenport and he repeats his previous statement. Gideon would not let Cheryl speak to the unsub.

This is not the answer that Cheryl wants, however it is the one she's getting.

"I'm waiting." This unsub is really starting to piss me off.

Okay so time for plan B, fake it till you make it. I walk over to Gideon and nod my head at the phone indicating that he should give it to me. He looks up at me for a second to determine if I'm serious and I motion with my hand for him to unmute the phone.

Greenaway looks upset that no one's listening to her but once again I couldn't care less about what she wants. She is at the bottom of my list of things to worry about.

Gideon presses the button and I place my hands down on each side of the phone so I can lean my weight on the table. "This is Cheryl."

Silence was the only response I received.

I looked up at Hotch, clearly this wasn't going to work but the least I could do was try to get some sort of reaction. "Hello, this is Cheryl" I try once more.

"I have Patricia by my side. I know her voice, therefore I know her sister's. Get off the phone, I want Cheryl. I'll give you sixty seconds, if you don't put her on the phone I will hang up and you will never hear from me or Patricia again."

Listen here you short pathetic excuse of a man, who the hell do you think you are speaking to me like that? 'I want Cheryl', she's not some toy that you can have just because you want it.

I open my mouth to say something that would have undoubtedly angered the man but a hand on my shoulder stopped me. Gideon looked at me and shook his head before he muted the phone again. "Prep her" he told me before getting up and motioning to Cheryl, "Come on over here, please."

"Fifty seconds." Oh great, it looks like this guy is going to be giving us a verbal count down.

Cheryl rushed over to where I was standing, Greenaway following behind her. I don't know what for, it's not like I was going to let her give Cheryl any advice. Who knows what whack thing she'd end up telling her to do.

"This guy's arrogant" Greenaway starts to tell Cheryl. I knew she'd try to kick start this little learning session.

I stepped in front of Greenaway blocking her view of Cheryl and helped to guide the girl into her seat before taking over. "Completely disregard her," I nodded my head in Greenaway's direction, "You need to make sure that he feels like he has control over the situation as much as it may pain you to do so. Let him lead the conversation, don't start one and don't tell him any personal things about yourself, just stick to the topic of your sister."

"Forty."

"Make your sister a real person, use her name, and make him realize that Trish is real and not just an object." I continue as Cheryl nods her head at my words.

"Thirty-five seconds." I glare at the phone. He could stop counting now, we all knew how long a minute was.

"Talk about her" Greenaway buts in, trying to make sure that she got something in before the time was up. "Let him get to know her through you."

Even though Greenaway had started talking Cheryl's attention never strayed from me. I looked her straight in the eyes, "Do not do that. Do not give him anything personal, no matter what he says. If you don't know what to say just look at me and I'll walk you through it."

"Twenty-five seconds."

I look over at Greenaway and dare her to say something else. Seems like I found another one of her weaknesses, she gives terrible advice.

"Twenty seconds."

"You got this?" I ask looking back at Cheryl. If she wasn't ready I wasn't going to make her get on the phone. We could always find another way to get this done.

Cheryl takes one last look at her father before she looks down at the phone with determination in her eyes. "I'm good."

I turn my body around to face Gideon and nod at him, letting him know that we were ready to go and I pressed unmute.

"This is Cheryl."

The response was immediate. "Hello Cheryl. How are you?"

I noticed Spencer taking notes out of the corner of my eye as the conversation continued. Cheryl looked at me silently asking if this was a question that she could answer. I smiled encouragingly. This was not on of the personal things I was talking about.

"I'd be a lot better if I knew that my sister…Patricia's okay." This is good, she's remembering what I told her and using Trish's name.

There was a pause before the unsub continued, "I can tell you have a lot of empathy Cheryl. You care about others."

Okay this was starting to get into the personal level that I didn't want her to cross.

"Yes, I do. And it sounds like you understand." Cheryl had a bit of a stutter when she spoke but under the circumstances it was understandable.

"You mean that I empathize?"

By this point even Hotch, who had seemed to be doing fine, looked a little creeped out by how this guy spoke.

It made me think of a snake, with the slight hiss that they all seem to possess.

Poor Cheryl didn't quite understand what this guy's point was. "Yes" was all she could manage.

"I do. Very much. I empathize. I empathize with you Cheryl." In the middle of his sentence Greenaway held up a pad of paper that had the words 'you want Trish back' written in all caps. I don't know why she couldn't just leave it alone, Cheryl was handling this just fine. "I know you want to be with your sister" the unsub continued, not knowing what Cheryl had just been instructed to say.

"Yes. I-I want Trish back." Cheryl said firmly.

"Good." It came out breathy and the chills I previously had came rushing back with a vengeance. "Tell me what you want Cheryl. I'm very interested. Tell me all about yourself. What's your favorite color?"

I quickly hit the mute button, "Do not answer that. Remember no personal answers, don't give him anything real about you. Continue with Trish." And with that I unmuted the phone once again.

Cheryl nodded her head as if she understood but it was apparent by her next words that she didn't quite get the gist of what I had told her. "If I tell you, will you let me talk to my sister?"

I shook my head at her, reminding her that once again she was not to hand this man anything personal. The unsub chuckled in response to her question, "Maybe. Maybe not."

There were unshed tears in her eyes when she looked over at me for direction. 'Orange' I mouthed at her, seeing the look of understanding dawn on her.

If she had to tell him about herself I was going to make sure that none of it was real.

"I like orange."

"Really? I wouldn't have thought that'd be the one." That's cause it's not you jackass. "You continue to surprise me. Do you like chocolate Cheryl?"

Once again she turned to look at me and just like the last time I told her exactly what to do. 'Lie. If the answer is a yes than tell him no, if it's a no then tell him yes' I wrote on the pad that Greenaway had handed over to me.

This whole thing would have gone smoother if he couldn't tell the difference between our voices.

Apparently if you don't answer within the nano second of him asking the question he becomes irritated. "Do…you…like…chocolate?" Each word was punctuated as if he were speaking to a small child.

"No" Cheryl was quick to tell him. It was easier for her to answer him with the false answers, knowing that he would not actually find out anything about her. Before he could try and ask something else Cheryl turned the topic back to Trish, "Please, let me talk to my sister."

There was a long stretch of silence and we all practically held our breath in anticipation.

"All I want to do is hear her voice. Please." Cheryl pleaded, hoping that it would be enough to convince him to put Trish on the phone, letting us know that she was still alive.

The sound of a door creaking caused all of our eyes to dart to the phone. Cheryl sat up straighter, not knowing what to expect. "Hello?"

"Cher…" came a weak voice from the other side of the phone.

The tears that had previously been unshed fell down the cheeks of both Cheryl and Mr. Davenport at the sound of their missing family member. "Trish!"

"Cheryl is that you?" There was a slur in her voice, indicating a number of things. She could be tired or cold, she could even be drugged.

Cheryl breathed out a sigh of relief and lent down closer to the phone as if she could get closer to her sister in the process. "Trish, it's me. I'm here" she reassured Patricia, "Are you okay?"

"Cheryl, I can't…" Patricia voice began to sound more panicked, as if she was becoming more aware of her surroundings the longer she talked to Cheryl.

The rest of us looked at each other, knowing that while we finally had confirmation that Patricia wasn't dead we still didn't know where she was or who had her.

The stress finally got the better of Cheryl and she began to yell, "Where are you? What do you see?"

It was painful for me to watch this. I knew that I was in the same position as Cheryl I would have felt so helpless.

"I…I see the moon."

All of a sudden the creaking sound was back and I sucked in a sharp breath at the look of horror on Cheryl's face. "Trish! Trish!" She yelled helplessly into the phone.

"Have five hundred thousand ready." The unsub was done with the family reunion.

"Let me talk to her!" Cheryl cried out. I placed my hand on her shoulder, knowing that it was the best I could do at the moment.

"Five hundred thousand is what I'm owed." The unsub repeats, no longer talking to Cheryl. "The Davenports will wait by the phone. You will receive a call with precise instructions in exactly fifteen minutes." And with that he hung up.

Instantly Cheryl let out a sob and ran from the table, her father following after her. While we all felt awful for them we had to move on, more determined than before because Patricia was alive.

"Were you able to trace it?" Gideon calmly asks Spencer. I have a feeling he didn't, otherwise that would have been the first thing he said when the call was over.

"No," Spencer says confirming my suspicions, "He's probably using a disposable cell phone. They're impossible to trace." Gideon nods his head as if he was expecting it.

"She said she could see the moon." Greenaway adds as though it's something significant.

"Yes thank you Greenaway, we were all there for that, I don't think any of us missed it. However you seem to have missed the fact that she sounded high out of her mind. To her a lightbulb could have looked like the moon." I was too tired to try dealing with her anymore.

"She was definitely sedated" Spencer said from his seat.

"If he's keeping her drugged it might mean he's not very strong. He might have to keep her weak just so he can dominate her, or keep her quiet." Derek says while looking over at me. I didn't know what to do beyond this point. I mean all we really could do was wait for the instructions to see what was next.

I wanted to pull my hair out. This was not how things were supposed to go at all.

"Has Davenport told us everything about his staff?" Gideon double checks with Hotch.

"Oh, yeah, we have detailed reports but we should probably revisit background on household staff, aides and current docket" Hotch lists off.

Gideon's mouth drops open slightly at the amount of things they'll have to recover. I just hope it's not going to be an all hands on deck sort of thing. I'd much rather they have me doing something else. I'd even take notes like Spencer to not have to review all those files.

"Guys, she wasn't blindfolded." Derek says tersely while looking around the room to make sure that he had everyone's attention.

She's seen his face.

And that means he has no plans to let her live once he gets that money.


It had been about ten minutes since the unsub last called and we had been using the time in between to analyze everything that had been said through Spencer's meticulous notes.

"He said owed." Gideon started while staring down at the paper in front of him which held the entire script of the conversation, "Five hundred thousand dollars."

Spencer moved to stand near Gideon so he could read the words as well. "His demands sounded scripted, like he was reading it to us."

Nobody says 'that is what I'm owed' naturally. It just doesn't roll of the tongue.

"But the rest of the conversation wasn't. He was his most relaxed just talking to Cheryl." At Derek's words I'm reminded of the look on Cheryl's face when she was asked what her favorite color was. Confused disbelief. A look that I'm sure most of us shared at the time.

"Which is disconcerting because not once in his original set of instructions did he mention her. It was completely out of left field for us but he had it planned from the start. This guy is one step ahead of us in a game we don't understand, and we have about three minutes to figure it out." I exchanged a look with Derek while I spoke. We didn't have enough time to sort through all the questions that surrounded this unsub.

"Well we're just gonna have to improvise then" Gideon said. "How quickly can you get the money?"

I look over to see who Gideon's talking to and I see Mr. Davenport standing in the entryway of the room. I just hope he wasn't in here when I mentioned that the unsub was a step ahead. That kind of talk doesn't typically inspire confidence.

Greenaway had followed Cheryl into the kitchen like two minutes ago and I felt like I could breathe easier. Now whether or not it was because I was glad Cheryl wasn't here to listen to all of this or because I was generally ecstatic for any time away from Greenaway, I wasn't sure.

No, sorry that was complete bullshit.

It's totally because I can't see Greenaway's face. I don't know why I try to lie myself like that.

The phone ringing brought me back in the moment.

I couldn't believe that five minutes had passed so quickly. I moved to take my place by Derek's side and waited for Mr. Davenport to answer the phone.

"Everything will be done by Cheryl." Are the first words we hear as soon as Gideon hit the answer button. "Cheryl will gather the money packets. Only she will touch the money."

I felt the strong urge gather the money myself to see if there was anyway that he would really know if anyone else touched it. I mean what could he do? Throw a fit?

"Cheryl will make the drop. If she is wired, if you use a look-a-like, Patricia dies. Cheryl will get in her car, no one is to be in the car with her. No one is to follow her, no air surveillance, no car surveillance of any kind will be tolerated. I will give directions over a cell phone as Cheryl drives. She must make the drop at exactly three a.m. She will follow each instruction to the letter." And with that he hung up.

Ha!

If this unsub thinks for one second that even half of those things are going to happen than he's crazier than I thought.

"We can't let her go alone."

No shit Hotch. That was never part of the plan in the first place.

"He said if he sees anyone-"

Hotch cuts Mr. Davenport off before he can restate everything we just heard. "I know. One car, unmarked. Tinted windows."

We all turn to watch Mr. Davenport as he looks over at Hotch resigned. "If he sees one of you and Trish dies… If my daughter dies…" Mr. Davenports tone darkened and my eyes narrowed in response.

If he was trying to threaten us for looking for a way to help save his daughter and keep the other one safe I swear his day is about to get a whole lot worse.

I turn to look at Cheryl, "What kind of car do you drive?" A plan was formulating in my head and by the looks I was receiving from the rest of the team I could tell they noticed.

"A yellow Volkswagen Beetle."

I grinned and turned my head to look at Gideon, "I have an idea."

My plan was great, but there was a slight chance it was gonna hurt.


The car turned right and the momentum caused my shoulder to go crashing into the metal siding.

As I groaned I heard a chuckle come through my ear piece. That jerk. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up Derek. Laugh while you still can because as soon as I'm out of here I'm coming for you."

It only served to make him laugh harder.

"Don't be getting angry at me sweetheart, you're the one who volunteered for this position."

My idea sounded a whole lot better before I actually put it in motion. I mean, hiding in the back of the trunk with a blanket over me so that I'm undetected? Brilliant.

Getting tossed side to side every time we turn or hit a bump in the road? Not so much.

"Sounded a lot better in my head" I muttered to him underneath my breath.

"Well this way we have eyes and ears both in the car and outside of it, so it works." I had forgotten that Hotch was on the com as well. The man is so silent most of the time that you can forget he's in the same room as you.

The car started to slow down and I could tell that we were here. The rental car lot that Spencer had found using the coordinates that Cheryl had been given. She was either supposed to switch cars here or this was where the drop would be happening.

I felt the car come to a stop and Cheryl put it into park. I finally allowed myself to relax and lean against the back of the seats as I pulled the blanket down in a way that it still covered the top of my head but my face was now free to look around.

Instead of the normal clip that I use that goes on my pants I chose to wear a shoulder holster for my gun so that I could have easier access to it.

"You know my guess?" I could hear Derek begin to talk over the connection, "One of these cars has a set of keys already in the ignition with a disposable cell phone sitting right in it."

God I hope not. I don't want to have to go into an even smaller trunk. I might just choose the backseat next time.

There was a deep sigh on the other end of the line, "Five minutes to go."

In the front of the car I could hear Cheryl's breath beginning to speed up the closer to the drop time it became. I wish I could have been up there to give her some comforting advice but we couldn't risk me being spotted.

"He's probably going to have her drive around for over an hour just to make sure no one's following her. And then the ransom drop."

"Listen Derek" I begin, whispering so that Cheryl couldn't hear, "If you could lay off of all the depressing ways this could go down I would greatly appreciate it. I don't know how Hotch likes to roll but I'd like to maintain the slightest bit of positivity. Thank you very much."

It was getting to be extremely hard to focus when Derek kept talking about the million different ways that this whole thing could go wrong and how many ways we could fail.

"I'm sorry, but something's not right about this." The firmness in Derek's voice sets me on edge even further. "What if he was watching us or listening to us?"

Hotch was quick to shut him down, "The local office did a bug sweep."

"Oh come on, you heard that ransom call. It was way too simple."

I clear my throat, trying to get their attention, "What are you saying here Derek?"

Before he could answer Cheryl's phone rang.

"All right, you're the unsub. What would you have done differently?" Hotch and Derek can't hear Cheryl's phone from my earpiece so they continue talking, while I try to listen into the instructions that Cheryl is being given.

"I would have said don't involve the police or the media. Five hundred thousand dollars, no consecutive serial numbers on the bills. No marked bills. No new bills. No tracking devices in the money bag…"

Derek's voice begins to fade as I hear Cheryl open her car door. I unholster my gun and use my other hand to silently pop open the trunk about a half an inch so that it's unnoticeable.

"Why didn't he say any of this?" Hotch's voice is faint, the pounding sound of my heartbeat drowning out his words.

Cheryl takes a couple steps away from the car and I slowly lift the trunk open enough so that I could tuck and roll straight out.

Between the silence on Cheryl's side and the worrying conversation on my brother's side I was beginning to become concerned that there was something off about this whole thing.

"Hotch this was never about the money" Derek says frantically.

Right after he says it a car engine starts up.

"It's not a ransom drop."

That was enough to kick me into gear. I instantly let the trunk fly open the same time I hear Derek say, "It's a second kidnapping!"

I roll out of the trunk and take off towards Cheryl, Derek and Hotch running out of their car as well. "Cheryl drop!" I yell.

"Get down! Stay down!" I can hear Derek's feet hitting the pavement behind me.

Cheryl does what I tell her to and she drops into a crouch on the ground and a car door slams shut and goes to peel out of the lot.

I raise my gun and aim at the back tires and try to take them out but the unsub speeds away with only bullet holes in the bumper.

Derek comes to a stop beside me and Hotch goes to help a terrified Cheryl stand back up.

I look up at Derek, both of us holding our guns out in front of us. "Forget everything I just told you. How about we list all the ways this could go wrong before we go ahead with a plan."


We had to call everyone to let them know what had happened and like I thought Mr. Davenport just about had a stroke over the phone. Cheryl had to calm him down the entire ride back, assuring him that she was alright and that she was on her way back to the house in one piece. I drove Cheryl's car this time, seeing as there was no reason I would have to be in the trunk anymore and Cheryl was too shaken up to properly drive.

We had to race back because we wanted to make sure we were there when the unsub called again. And after ruining his last attempt it was safe to say that we were all hoping that it would cause him to lose his composure enough to reveal something about himself or where Trish was.

Derek was the first in the house and swiftly went to Mr. Davenport to tell him that Cheryl was still alright. As soon as all of us were in the house and the door had shut the phone began to ring.

Right on time.

Derek waited until everyone had gathered before he hit the green button that allowed the call to come through.

"That was fun, wasn't it? A little running around, getting our pulses racing" the unsub sounded a little winded. I wonder if he just got back to wherever he was hiding as well. "Are you there Cheryl?"

Immediately Derek stuck up his hand, indicating that she was not to speak at this moment.

"Are you there?" The unsub asked more firmly. "Tell me you didn't feel a slight tingle, a thrill run up your spine. Huh? But those clever and cunning FBI agents deduced my little plan just in time-they figured it out. If they hadn't I would have had you both. The whole set. The matching pair."

"Why are you doing this?"

I whip my head up to look at Cheryl but she's too focused on the phone. I thought we had a plan where she wasn't going to talk. Derek on the other hand looks frustrated as he once again puts his hand up and silently tells Cheryl to stop.

"Because you asked me to Cheryl. You asked me with your glances. The way you talk. Those little gestures." The unsub was actually getting somewhat frustrated as he spoke.

Spencer starting shaking his head and mouthing 'no' at a quick pace, motioning with his head for Derek to mute the phone.

"What are you doing?" Cheryl's attention is drawn away from the phone and she is forced to look at us.

"Do not answer this man." There was real anger inside Derek's words this time. But then again if I was telling her something multiple times and she wasn't listening to me I would be mad too.

"You asked for this. You asked for it Cheryl!"

At the unsub's words Cheryl ripped Derek's hands away from the button and I fought the brief urge to hit her for touching Derek.

"What do you want?" She yelled into the phone. Derek clenched his jaw and held his hand to his mouth in order to keep himself from talking.

"What do I want?! You! It may not be today, it may not be tomorrow, but I promise you we will be together."

The dial tone was all we heard next.

I walked over to a fuming Derek and I grabbed his hand so I that I could place mine in it. The simplest of touches between us could calm the other down in an instant. It was quite remarkable when you really thought about it.

I look over at Mr. Davenport. A fat lot of good he was. You would think that he would be one of the first to try and calm his daughter down and make sure she didn't say anything to the person who tried to kidnap her.


Gideon had been the one to address the father and daughter about the new rules put in place after that fiasco of a phone call. "We can't let Cheryl speak with him any further."

For reasons beyond me they both looked confused, "Why not?"

"Because Cheryl you were given instructions not to talk and you did. You became unpredictable and that could endanger your sister even further."

My words were harsh but necessary. Cheryl needed to understand that when it comes to sensitive situations if a professional tells you to stop, you stop, you don't continue what you were doing just because you can.

"That, and it's only feeding his psychosis to allow your interaction." I almost cracked a smile at Spencer's explanation. He had basically let it slip that we were all in agreement about the main reason she wasn't allowed on the phone. Which was that we had all concluded Cheryl could no longer be trusted. "Was Trish involved in any serious relationships prior to the kidnapping?"

Cheryl looked down and Mr. Davenport's face turned grim, "With the boy that was killed. They were together for two years."

"Trish didn't want me to tell you." For the love of all that is holy please tell me that you didn't leave anything out Cheryl. "They were getting engaged."

Gideon let out a deep sigh. Information like this was important to know, and we just found out when we should have known hours ago. "Well, that certainly could have been the unsub's stressor."

"What does that mean? Will someone please tell me what we're dealing with here?" Mr. Davenport looked upset, it had been a long day for the man.

A stalker Mr. Davenport. We are dealing with a stalker who has set his eyes on your daughters.

"De Clerambault's syndrome, otherwise known as erotomania. The belief that someone, usually of a higher social status but not necessarily a celebrity, is in love with you. Erotomanics believe that the objects of their affection are subtly professing their love for them through looks, gestures-"

"Glances. He said 'you asked me with your glances'." Gideon says interrupting Spencer.

That's why Spencer had freaked out during the call. He was telling us to get Cheryl off the phone right then and there because he had just figured it out.

"The unsub truly and full-heartedly believes that Cheryl and Trish are in love with him. They don't tell him this with their voices. No, with gestures and looks. He's obsessed with them."

Cheryl looked beyond scared at the end of Spencer's explanation and her father wasn't doing much better.

"In essence what we are saying is that he is the most determined kind of criminal, and will not stop until he has Cheryl." As I speak I look Cheryl dead in the eyes, hoping that now she might understand why we didn't want her to talk on the phone anymore.

Spencer, Gideon, and I left the Davenport's so that they could process what they had just been told and we met with the rest of the team in the kitchen so we could figure out where to go from here.

"Crime of obsession. Your specialty, your lead Morgan." I guess Hotch was going to let Derek take point on this one. I mean it makes sense, after all Derek is the one who figured out that the ransom drop had really been a ruse to try and get Cheryl too.

"I think we should recheck everyone on Davenport's staff against the profile of a stalker." Derek says while he casually leans up against the counter with his arms crossed.

Gideon is off to the side just peeling an orange, listening to the conversation.

"Aren't stalking behaviors pretty diverse?" Greenaway your specialty is sex crimes, why don't you stick to that and let the rest of us worry about this.

She's acting as though there aren't several things that various different kinds of stalkers have in common.

"There's overlap. Narcissistic inflated sense of self-worth, history of bad relationships, just to name a few." Derek tells her, confirming my previous thought. "At this point we can say that he's probably white, obviously male. Sophisticated speech patterns."

I bring up something that's been on my mind since the first phone call. "He may sound sophisticated but it's in a strange way. He speaks the way he thinks a sophisticated person would, meaning that he's not. I think he's just trying to sound smarter than he really is and it's starting to show."

"Whatever position of authority or level of success this guy has, he had to struggle for it." Derek concludes.

There's a brief silence and if I'm reading Hotch's face correctly he's about to say something depressing.

"We also have to face the possibility that by now-"

"Trish may already be dead." I look over at Greenaway and scowl. Was it absolutely necessary to cut Hotch off? Did she just have to be the one to point that out?

God this chick really gets on my nerves.

I see Greenaway go to reach out to Gideon's hand to grab an orange slice that he had and I yanked it back. I gave her a deadpan stare when she looked back at me, trying with everything in me to convey to her that she obviously didn't have any manners.

While we were staring at each other Gideon had apparently doled out the remaining orange slices to Hotch and Derek. Greenaway looked put out and I just rolled my eyes at her. There was a hand in the corner of my eye that reached out to me and I turned to see Derek hand me an orange slice. A smile lit up my face and I took it, silently thanking my brother for grabbing me one.

And because I'm me I turned around to take a bite of it right in Greenaway's face, relishing the dark look she gave me in return. Let this be a lesson learned. Don't try to take something, if you wait it will come to you.

Look at me being all philosophical and shit.

"So far he's called every play. I say we apply some pressure, make him sweat." There it is ladies and gentlemen, the great gift of the Morgan's. We can agitate anyone at any time or place and we enjoy it.

"Well there's only one way to do that."

Don't leave me hanging Gideon, tell us what you're planning over there.


Okay so if I thought that my idea with the trunk was good than Gideon is a frikken' genius. Now I'm sure that Cheryl and Mr. Davenport are going to hate this, which is also why we didn't tell them about it in the first place, but it's a plan that is really right up my alley. In fact if I wasn't on damage control I would have asked if I could have been the one on the phone.

Gideon was seated in front of the equipment and I had placed myself in between him and the others, knowing that this could get bad really quick.

And once again the phone rang.

Gideon let it ring for a while and you could see the tension grow in Mr. Davenport until finally he reached to answer the call. "Hold on, hold on, hold on" Gideon told the man before he stood up and let the phone continue ringing.

The rest of the team made eye contact with each other hoping that Gideon's plan was going to work and that we weren't making a huge mistake.

Gideon answered the call and promptly hung up.

"What are you doing?" Mr. Davenport asked, too shocked to be upset.

Gideon didn't answer and the phone rang again. And just like last time Gideon watched it ring.

"Agent Gideon…" Mr. Davenport was now looking at the rest of us to try and see what was going on. However we all had straight faces, not letting them detect anything from us.

Gideon waited a few more seconds before he hit the answer button, "Hello?"

Immediately the unsub goes on to speak. "Tell me there was a technical issue with the line, because if you actually just hung up on m-"

And he hung up again.

Heh, this was going to be better than I imagined. I hadn't thought the unsub would be agitated yet, and here he was. It was only going to get worse from here.

"What the hell are you doing?" Mr. Davenport's question went unanswered for the second time.

The phone rang and it was Cheryl who was beginning to lose her nerve right about now, "Aren't you going to answer it?"

"Why is he doing this? What is he- What? You're going to drive this guy crazy. Just answer the phone." This time it was Hotch who was trying to get Mr. Davenport to calm down and stop talking. Gideon needed it to be quiet but I doubt they're going to be able to.

Greenaway was put on Cheryl watch but judging by the fact that Cheryl was trying to come over to the phone I would say she wasn't doing a very good job of it. "Somebody has to answer it!"

Cheryl's yell is what sets off her father and pretty soon both of them are yelling for someone to just answer the ringing phone.

Finally Mr. Davenport lunges for the phone but Derek and Hotch each grabbed one of his arms before he could make it to me. When he lunged Gideon actually got somewhat frustrated and decided to let him know, "Don't touch it!"

"He knows what he's doing" Derek tells him as they hold him away from Gideon and I.

Gideon decides that now is a good time to pick up the phone, "Davenport residence."

"Are you out of your mind? You do realize, you do understand, that I'll kill her?! Do you-"

Click. This unsub is about to throw the world's largest tantrum right about now.

Cheryl had tears in her eyes and was taking short staccato breaths in a feeble attempt to keep herself from crying. We didn't have a chance to wait long because the phone began to ring once more.

Gideon smiled, this was the one he had been waiting for. He had hung up enough times to do more than frustrate the unsub and we were all hoping that he would be angry enough that he would forget to filter his words.

"You're killing my daughter!" Is what I hear right before Mr. Davenport escapes Derek and Hotch momentarily. This time it's me who grabs him and holds him back while Derek readjusts his grip on the man. "Pick up the phone! Pick up the phone!" He continues to yell as he is forcibly dragged backwards.

"Get him quiet." Gideon tells the rest of us over Mr. Davenport's unintelligible yells.

Cheryl begins to sob and collapse in Greenaway's arms at the sight of her father being held down while yelling. It's truly a terrible sight, unavoidable if they wanted Trish back though. "You're killing her!"

And then with the calmness of a thousand patron saints Gideon turns to Mr. Davenport, the blankest look I've ever seen adorning his face as he says, "Mr. Davenport, get a hold of yourself."

While I'm staring at Gideon in slight wonder, Mr. Davenport has been reduced to tears behind me and by the lack of scuffling I'm assuming that he has also stop struggling against Derek. Which is in his best interests of course. Not much can get past Derek, the man is a brick wall when he wants to be.

Gideon waited until the only sound that could be heard was silent sobs and he finally answered the phone.

"She is dead!"

Cheryl let out a shriek and collapsed at Greenaway's feet in a fit of anguish. The only reason the rest of us were so calm was because we knew that he was bluffing. This man wanted Cheryl so that he could have a "complete set", meaning he wouldn't do anything to damage or hurt the one twin he did have.

"You hang up on me again and I rip her open!" The unsub screamed from the other side of the phone.

Normally this would be the point at which Gideon decided that he had gotten the unsub right where he wanted him, but for some reason he was still pushing with this one, "I'm sorry. You must have the wrong number."

When he hung up this time it was different. This time the rest of us, including myself, weren't too sure that this was the best course of action anymore. There is a difference between upsetting an unsub and throwing them into a homicidal rage.

"Oh come on Gideon…" Derek breathed out, beginning to feel as if this had gone too far. We didn't know the unsub well enough to be able to make a definitive statement about what he would or would not do if pushed too far.

Earlier I knew he was bluffing about Trish being dead but I had to consider the fact that if Gideon kept this up that the unsub's previous words might become a reality.

The phone did not immediately ring this time and the effect was devastating. Cheryl had been lifted and supported by Greenaway and was crying her heart out in her arms. Mr. Davenport looked as though death itself would have been more preferable as he took in shuddering breaths.

"You killed her" He whimpered, looking directly at Gideon.

I could not fault him for reaching this conclusion. However if that is the outcome of this entire night than the blame would not fall solely on Gideon's shoulders. The rest of us were just as responsible for going along with the plan. In effect Mr. Davenport had just addressed us all, and his words hit home.

"No sir" Gideon told him. He was the only one of us that was still one hundred percent sure that this was still going to end the way we planned.

"Oh, yeah. Then what- What the hell do you think you're doing?" When he said this you could practically hear the regret and defeat in his tone. He truly believed that his daughter was dead.

Gideon spared the man a small smile, that I'm sure he did not actually appreciate at the given moment, and said "I'm saving your daughter Mr. Davenport."

He turned his head and let out a watery chuckle, as if he couldn't fathom why Gideon actually thought that this method was helping his daughter.

At last the phone rang again and a collective sigh of relief passed through all of us.

"Have a little faith." Gideon told us all before he answered the phone. Hopefully he was done hanging up now. I doubt the Davenports would be able to handle another round of this.

"Put Cheryl on the phone." The unsub's whole tone of voice suggested that this was in fact the calm before the storm and that shit was really going to start flying on his end if he did not get what he wanted.

Gideon made a tsking sound and spoke nonchalantly, "No. You're finished talking to Cheryl."

The unsub scoffed. "Listen to that tone of authority. Just like your published work, Agent Gideon."

I turn my head towards the phone. We never gave him our names.

"Fascinating to hear the same arrogant quality in your own voice. You are a bit of a pedant, Jason, a bit didactic?" I turned my head to stare at Hotch in shocked confusion, a look that was reflected back to me. It was one thing to know his last name, but to know Gideon's first name was another thing entirely. I did not like where this road was taking us.

"Well that's a very interesting conclusion" Gideon goes on to converse with the unsub, like he's not the slightest bit worried about this recent development. "You sound intelligent, and you certainly sound educated, and… we both know that's not true."

"Oh I know all about all of you. The ambitious Agent Hotchner? Do you wanna be director of the FBI someday, Agent Hotchner? Would you step on Jason Gideon to get there? I think you would. Posttraumatic stress is a very good excuse. Even your sick, pregnant wife can't get you to leave your post."

Gideon looks like he's just hit the jackpot while I'm inching my way closer to the phone, fighting my instincts to hang up. This information wasn't common knowledge and I didn't know how or why this guy knew it but I didn't want to stick around and find out.

"Jason Gideon, an expert in the criminal psyche, yet unable to diagnose the autistic leanings of the very insecure Dr. Reid. Well, maybe he can make money counting cards in Las Vegas."

He did not just go there. I can feel my fingernails bite into my skin from where I clenched my hands into fists. I was gonna give this guy a lesson in true fear when I got my hands on him.

"The lovely Elle was promoted too soon. She doesn't have what it takes to make it in the BAU's club." On that we can agree. But his comments about Spencer still make it so that he's at the top of my list of people I'm going to put the fear of god into. "You're no threat to me, you're no threat to anyone." Greenaway looks pissed off at this, but it's not like she can say anything about it.

The unsub then moves onto me, "The beautifully damaged Ariadne Morgan, an empty little doll playing the role of solider. She desperately looks for a place to belong, so she clings to her older brother in an attempt to find a home."

You know what? It's not as bad as it could have been, he's technically not even wrong.

"And token Derek Morgan wants to be taken seriously, but he is just a pumped-up side of beef." Derek lets out a sarcastic chuckle but I do not. In fact I'm pretty sure if I could have I would have reached through the phone and strangled the man on the other end.

You want to talk shit about me, that's fine. But I draw the line at Spencer and my brother. By this point I was standing directly over the phone and Gideon was looking at me in confusion.

"I know who you are, I know how you think, and I know what to do next! Do you?"

Before he could hang up I spoke. "Hello this is the damaged little doll speaking. If you knew how I thought than you would have been able to get Cheryl, but you didn't, because you're not smart enough to know how we think. That's why you lost. You talk a big talk, now let's see your walk."

I disconnect the call before he could respond to my taunt. I wasn't going to let him think that he had somehow one upped us.

There was a good thirty seconds of silence before Mr. Davenport decided to voice, what would be no doubt a lot of questions. "What the hell was that? Why did he say he knows what to do next? Is he going to hurt my daughter?" The last question was asked with a shaky voice while tears made their way back into his eyes.

Gideon shook his head in an effort to comfort Mr. Davenport. "He was grandstanding. We have learned more in the last five minutes than in the last twenty four hours."

This however did not comfort Mr. Davenport because he got to his feet and tried to move past Derek and Hotch to reach Gideon. Key word being tried. "Oh, really?" he asked once he finally accepted that he wasn't going to get past, "Well, I don't understand. Why is he focused on you right now?"

"Because we are interfering in his relationship with the girls" Derek explains to him.

"He said he knows all about you." Yes, thank you Mr. Davenport. What is it with him always wanting to remind us of things that just happened? We heard it all the first time, didn't miss it somehow.

"He knew all about Greenaway, that's for certain, but he didn't know all about the rest of us. That's just what he believes." I can help but chime in. Insulting Greenaway has become ingrained in me at this point, it comes effortlessly.

"He profiled us Mr. Davenport, he was trying to show us how smart he was" Derek goes on to try to explain to Mr. Davenport what had just happened. "But it seems like Ariadne," Derek motioned his head in my general direction, "may have ruined that for him in the end."

Damn right I did.

"Oftentimes the best profilers are the unsubs themselves. They're the ones who are able to walk into an arcade full of children and pinpoint the boy or girl that can be led out quietly." I felt like Spencer had been unusually silent before his comment. I couldn't help but think that it might have had something to do with that last phone call.

I looked over to give him a significant look, hoping that he would understand the meaning behind my words, "For the most part they make good profilers, but not all the time, and certainly not now. This unsub was wrong about a lot of things but spoke as if he wasn't in order to come off with more confidence. And he's definitely not the best because he just gave away his entire game play."

Mr. Davenport looked confused but Cheryl was smart because she looked over at Gideon for the answer to the unasked question swirling in her eyes.

"He told us how to find him."

It was like Gideon's words sparked a fire in Mr. Davenport because hope lit up in the man and determination came flooding back to him as he turned to stare at Gideon, waiting for him to go into further detail.

Yeah good luck with that. Gideon likes keeping people in suspense.


"You said you knew how to find him, that you were gonna save my daughter." Mr. Davenport had gotten tired of waiting around for answers. He walked towards Gideon, however I was still standing between them so he really only ended up getting in my face. "Why don't you get out there and do something? What are you standing around here for? Everybody's standing around here, looking around." He got louder and I could see Spencer go to stand from his position at the table and Derek begin to take a step towards us.

My boys were protective. It was sweet, but I could handle Evan Davenport just fine.

"Mr. Davenport-" Gideon begins to talk but Davenport's not in the mood to hear anything other than what he wants to hear. Which is that we are about to leave to go rescue his daughter this very second.

"No. Don't, don't condescend me. Don't patronize me." He said motioning to lift his finger to point it in Gideon's face over my shoulder.

He had only gotten his hand raised about halfway before I was shoving it back down to his side. "You would do well to calm yourself sir" I told him coolly.

Another agent, whose name I think was Shyre or Shyer something like that, swooped in to lead Mr. Davenport away from us, "Evan, everybody is doing the best that they can. Come on, let's take a break."

The rest of us waited till the room had cleared out before we began to talk about everything that had occurred over the past half an hour.

"For the suspect to know that much about us, he has to be one of us." Derek is the first one to make the connection, and it's for that very reason that we waited until no one else was in the room. It's a big accusation to make and not everyone takes too kindly to it.

"I'm gonna have Garcia do a search of the New Haven FBI field office. The guy we're looking for knows this house, he knows the family." Hotch tells us, putting together a plan for us to follow.

"There's seven hundred agents in New Haven and another seventy in satellite offices. Davenport knows quite a few of them." How on earth did Spencer find this kind of stuff out?

I mentally winced for Penelope. That was a lot of people to have to sort through and I glad I don't have to be the one to do it.

"While we're narrowing the list, Cheryl can't stay here." Greenaway buts in, "If he's one of us he has access, weapons, and you bet he's got a strategy."

Well the solution to all that is quite simple really.

"So what I'm hearing is that we can't trust anyone but each other and that Cheryl needs to be moved to a safe house in the meantime. I'm going to take a wild guess and say that half of us go with her and half stay here to hold down the fort."

Hotch maintained eye contact with me to the point where I began to have some self-doubt. I was moments away from fidgeting when he finally spoke up. "Elle's going to go with you and Derek to take Cheryl to the safe house. Is that going to be an issue?" Hotch wasn't upset in anyway, he was genuinely curious as to if it was possible for Greenaway and I to work together.

"That remains to be seen Boss Man" I smirk, "It's going to be a learning day for all of us."

I didn't even let Greenaway's chuckle wipe the look off my face. Hotch realized that this was the best that he would get out of me at the moment and just shook his head before walking over to Gideon to discuss what they would do next.

"Let's get ready. Elle why don't you go get Cheryl ready. Reid you can come help Ari and I get the car loaded up." Derek said rounding us up to divvy up the responsibilities between the four of us.

I remained in my spot until Greenaway had walked out of the room before I grabbed Derek's arm as he went to pass by me. I waited until he met my eyes so that he could see how serious I was in this moment. "You know he was wrong don't you? You are so much more than just the side muscle. I've been watching this team for quite a while and we wouldn't be able to do half or all of this if it wasn't for you." Without turning my head I addressed Spencer as well, "And don't think I forgot about you back there. You're the heart and soul of this team Spence, don't ever forget that."

Two hands made their way to the top of my head as both of them ruffled my hair affectionately. "Alright enough" I tell them, ducking to escape. "We've got an unsub to lure out, so let's show some hustle. I wanna be in my own home by tomorrow."


The drive to the safe house hadn't been all that bad to be honest. Of course it had some bumps, which had mainly just been Greenaway thinking that she was going to ride shotgun. That thought had only lasted a hot second before I had corrected it.

Some of the other agents were accompanying us but we knew that we could only truly trust each other with Cheryl so we planned for her to always have at least one of us with her at all times. The BAU still had primary authority so telling them that we needed to stay with Cheryl wasn't going to be hard.

We pulled up to the safe house, which was actually a really nice looking house on the outside, and all the men flocked out to escort us ladies inside. Derek was the only one who didn't act as though we were all damsels in distress. I mean two of us are FBI agents, and as much as I am loathe to admit it there is no way that Greenaway could be an agent if she lacked the skills needed to protect herself in some capacity.

The New Haven agents went and secured the outside perimeter and the interior of the house while my team and I escorted Cheryl into one of the tiny rooms.

Greenaway was explaining to Cheryl how these situations typically go when my phone started buzzing. I pulled it out of my back pocket and saw that it was Spencer who was calling. I quickly hit answer and walked back out of the room so I didn't disrupt anyone.

"Hey Spence, sorry I forgot to text you, we literally just got here like a minute ago." I started talking the second I answered, not giving him time to freak out on me and give me another patent Spencer Reid lecture about the importance of communication.

I only forgot to call once and he has never let me forget it.

"That's okay, I was just getting a little worried because it just seemed like it was taking longer than usual."

I let out a quiet laugh, "Well we did have to drive without headlights in the middle of the night. You know how cautious of a driver Derek can be."

"I happen to think that he is a very good driver, too many people don't actually pay the proper attention when they drive, did you know that? That only around a third-"

"Is that Reid?" A voice from behind me asked, and I almost jumped right out of my skin. I turned to see Greenaway standing behind me. "If it is him I need to talk to him about something." Taking note of my suspicious look she was swift to defend herself, "It's completely legitimate. It's a question about the unsub."

I handed her my phone without a complaint, which earned me a look of mild shock before she snapped out of it and grabbed the device I was holding out to her. She needed my phone not for herself but for Cheryl and that is the only reason I gave it over without so much as a word.

"Hey Reid, its Elle. I want to run something by you real quick. So the New Haven agents did a bug sweep right when we arrived and yet the unsub seems to know all about us. Do you know what non-local interaction is?"

Knowing Spencer, he does.

Spencer had obviously replied because Greenaway was steamrolling into her next point. "How can he be holding Trish prisoner and still know exactly what we're talking about? There's gotta be a listening device, I mean they swept the room but brought in their own equipment."

There's silence before he head flies up and she locks eyes with me in a panic. I knew exactly what her eyes were saying as soon as I saw them, and it didn't spell out anything good for us.

"Greenaway please tell me you're not saying what I think you're saying. Please tell me that we didn't just bring the unsub with us to the safe house."

Greenaway looked as panicked as I was. "I think we did. But…I might have an idea."

I suppose her plan is better than no plan.


I was sitting on the bed with Cheryl while Greenaway hid behind the door. We didn't have time to find Derek and we didn't want to risk calling him if the unsub was nearby. Cheryl was understandably nervous but had calmed down significantly when we told her that both of us would be in the room with her the entire time.

There were footsteps outside the door and I gave Greenaway a nod to indicate that she should get ready for a possible confrontation. There was a knock at the door before it creaked open and revealed Agent Shyre, who took the lead on this case.

I was honestly not expecting it to be him. He had seemed so normal.

He looked surprised to see me, "Oh, um I was-I was just wondering if I could have a moment with Cheryl alone?"

"I'm sorry sir but I am under strict orders not to leave her side. But you're welcome to talk to her here, just not alone."

I could see a spark of fire in his eyes as he tried not to explode at me. I wanted to cuff him here and now but I didn't actually have any proof at the current moment. I needed to get him as angry as Gideon did earlier.

"I really only need a moment with her. It's okay Cheryl knows me, she'll be safe with me."

Yeah I really doubt that buddy.

"You want me out of the room so that you can what? Take her like you did Patricia?"

His eyes widened at my question. "No! What are you talking about? I'm here to help keep Cheryl safe." He tried to smile at me as if that would charm me into leaving and forgetting my previous accusation.

"You see I told you that you weren't smart, I told you that you didn't know how I think and it's pretty obvious at this point that I was correct." I watched as his hands clenched into fists and a vein in his neck began to pulse. "Did you think that we wouldn't take every precaution when it came to Cheryl's safety? I told you to show us your walk and so far it's not very impressive." Now I held his entire focus, not an ounce of it was on Cheryl.

He dropped all pretenses as he began to sneer at me and take a few steps closer, "You stupid bitch. If it wasn't for you and Hercules out there I would have had her by now." He pulled out a pocket knife and clicked it open.

Bingo, that's close enough to a confession for me.

Greenaway stepped out from behind the door and held her gun up to his back, "Put the knife down."

The storm in his eyes grew but all emotion dropped from his face. He was pissed that there was two of us who had outsmarted him. He raised him arms up and slowly turned to face Greenaway, while he did that I unclipped my own gun and took aim. Cheryl was cowering in the corner of the bed.

"You don't understand. You don't understand my relationship with these girls-" Shyre tried to explain his way out of all of this.

"I said put the knife down." This may have been one of the only times I've actually seen Greenaway look deadly serious.

Shyre went to lean down to put the knife on the floor before he sprung up and darted at Greenaway, throwing her against the wall and knocking her gun to the floor.

I sent a warning shot into the wall right above his head causing him to come to a complete stop. Before he could even turn around Greenaway had kicked his feet out from under him, grabbed her gun, and stood back up aiming at him.

"Now that you've got that all out of your system I'm going to ask you one time, where is Trish?"

He remained silent and I realized something. There is no way that Derek wouldn't have come running once he heard all the noise that we had just made.

"Greenaway go find Derek, I've got this guy. He has to be outside or something. He'll want to be here to bring Shyre in." I didn't want to tell her that I was slightly worried but I wouldn't leave Cheryl in here with just Greenaway. I was the one who had the best chance at subduing him again and I knew that Derek would want me to stay and keep Cheryl safe.

Greenaway gave me a nod before clipping her gun back to her hip and walking out of the room.

I didn't have to wait long before I found out where Derek was and why he hadn't come running.

"He's over here! He's fine, just unconscious. It look like he's been tazed." Greenaway yelled from somewhere deeper in the house.

My heart shuttered in my chest and it seemed that somehow the room got a little bit darker.

"Cheryl go help Greenaway. And shut the door behind you." The lack of emotion in my voice motivated the girl to leave the room like someone lit a fire under her ass. However she did as I asked even in her haste to escape what was about to be a really volatile situation.

"Now…" I regarded the man on the ground with sharp eyes, "you and me are gonna have a little chat about Trish. But don't worry, you might not remember most of it by the time we're done."


I watched from a distance as the medics wheeled Trish out of what looked to be an abandoned building. Mr. Davenport and Cheryl were right by her side as they spoke to her. Derek had to be taken to the hospital for a quick check up to see how he was doing after being tazed.

Gideon and Spencer had gone into the building to help get Trish back, and hung back while the family drove off with the medics. Greenaway was milling around here somewhere and Hotch was waiting in the car doing god knows what on the phone.

"Hey, how did you guys get Shyre to give up Trish's location?" Spencer asked me when he and Gideon got closer.

I gave him a smirk, "We got creative."

"Speaking of which, does anyone care to explain why Shyre had a busted lip, a black eye, and bruises all over?" Gideon asked while staring directly at me. I don't know why he bothered asking the question in the first place, clearly he already knew it was me.

That guy tazed Derek.

My brother was found unconscious on the floor of a safe house. And the man who caused it was still in the vicinity, unfortunately for him.

I just looked at Gideon and cocked my head slightly to the right. "I have no idea. He did get in a slight scuffle with Greenaway and she had to put him on his back, but other than that I don't know what would've caused it."

I didn't bother sticking around, knowing that he would just try and pry the truth out of me. I'd talk only if and when I wanted to. I hooked my arm around Spencer's and I led us both to the car while Gideon followed from behind. All we had left was to collect Greenaway and go pick up Derek before we could head home.


Before any of us could actually go to our respective houses we had to fill out some paperwork about the case. Gideon, Hotch, and Spencer had all finished theirs and had left for the night. I had finished mine a couple hours ago but Derek had a large stack on his desk so I had decided to stay and help him.

Derek was replacing his bandage when Greenaway had made her way over to us. "You all right?" She asked, watching as Derek grunted his way back in to his seat. "You took a taser hit."

I couldn't help but stare at her. Did she think that he had somehow forgotten that he had been tazed?

"Yeah, I know I did. So what?"

"Wow you two are like the same person" she muttered underneath her breath. I was filled with unexpected pride. My brother was my biggest role model, so for someone to tell me that I was just like him meant the world to me.

"No one expects you to finish the Davenport file tonight."

I appreciate the fact that she's so concerned for Derek, but he wouldn't be here unless he wanted to be.

Derek chuckles but I'm the one who answers her, "Better to do it now than later. It's still fresh on his mind and he'll get more of the small details correct."

"Ain't nothing like fifty thousand volts in your back to keep your motor running right." Derek leans back, suddenly becoming serious, "You know, I'm just…I'm lucky as hell that bastard didn't gut me when I was unconscious."

A shiver runs down my spine at the very thought of that.

"Have you lost your faith in me dear brother? For you to even think that I would have let Shyre do anything more than mildly incapacitate you is the real tragedy of this situation." I casually play off the fear that his words caused me.

I was here so that Derek wouldn't have to worry about anything.

I stood up out of the chair I had brought to Derek's desk, "I'd like to speak with you Greenaway" I motion towards the doors and she begins to head in that direction. "Derek when I get back I'll take half of that ridiculous pile of files on your desk."

I don't wait for his answer as I walk over to where Greenaway is waiting for me. I take a deep breath in before addressing her. "I wanted to tell you that while I'm grateful you helped my brother today, it doesn't change things between us."

She scoffs and shakes her head, "I don't understand why you still don't like me. I mean what is it? Are you scared of a little competition? Too used to being the only girl here?"

I leaned in closer to her face. It had been a long day and I wasn't interested in letting her rile me up any further. "It's not about whether I like you or not. It's about the fact that I don't think that you belong on this team. I welcome a healthy competition with people who can actually endure the game, and I don't think you can. That's what this is about."

She clenched her jaw as she glared at me. "Don't worry yourself about me, I'll be just fine. I can handle more than you think."

She's too concerned with making sure that nobody ever views her as weak to understand what I'm trying to say. "Yeah well your eyes tell a much different story. One day, I don't know when, but one day you're going to see something or go through something that you're not going to be able to handle. I can tell by the look in your eyes when you do this job that whatever that thing may turn out to be, will absolutely ruin you." I take a pause so that she can truly hear my words. "And contrary to popular belief I don't actually want that for you. But even more than that, I won't let whatever breaks you end up hurting this team."

I turn my head so that I'm looking at Derek's back, "If that means I have to throw you to the figurative wolves than I will. There is nothing I won't do for them. It would do you some good to never forget that."

I began walking back to Derek, leaving Greenaway by the door. I picked up my half of the files and sat back down, giving Derek a small smile.

The smile that he gave me in return reassured me that what I was doing was going to be worth it all.


A/N: I'm really sorry about the late upload. I had some health problems and even ended up in the hospital earlier last week. Typically it would not take me this long but my recovery took longer than expected.