Thank you for the reviews and messages – it is always very nice to get them – and in return, here is chapter 12!

Thank you to First Time Reviewer (don't let it be your last!), Kim, Atie and schokokaffee. If you normally review but just didn't get chance to review the last chapter, I'll send you the extra scene on your next review, so I know I won't spoil that chapter by having sent it to you before you'd read Chapter Eleven.

They'll be another extra scene in a few chapters – when one will fit into the story.

Thanks to Chiroho for the beta!

Where the Blue of the Night

"Remorse for what? You people have done everything in the world to me. Doesn't that give me equal right?"

- Charles Manson

Chapter Twelve

November 5th

Reid sat at the table in the conference room, a map of the area in front of him. He was looking at two things; a geographical profile of the person who seemed intent on terrorizing them, and any links between the houses from where the children had been taken. Usually, he would have concentrated on just one at a time, but his mind wasn't allowing him to do that right now.

The connection between the houses of the abducted children was straightforward; they were all near parks. Alfie Fletcher lived on one of the roads that led to Bruntwood Park; Evangeline Dwyer was two streets away from Alexandra Park; Amber Livesy lived next to Woodbank, and Matthew Horsfield's house backed on to the Cale Green. This meant he was assuming that the four cases were related, but given that there was a clear link between Evangeline and Alfie's disappearances with the letters, he thought it was a safe assumption to make.

He'd mapped out the team's houses in blue, and also circled Alfie Fletcher's street. If their tormentor did work for the FBI and was based at the Academy, then he was also likely to live in the area too, or currently be based there. Reid's mind began to whirr, streaming through the different possibilities. Whoever it was knew enough about explosives to not make mistakes – something that would be difficult for a first time bomber; that suggested he had some form of training, or had worked for the FBI's explosives unit. He was also good with computers, having hacked into the personal files of the BAU members as well as private email accounts. Reid stood up, leaving the conference room and locking the door.

Hundreds of FBI agents, and support workers, had been trained on explosives. Through firsthand experience, the induction training, or just through reading the available manuals; similarly with computer knowledge.

Reid pushed open the door into Garcia's hideout. She looked up and raised an eyebrow, appearing paler than usual. "Is everyone alright?" she said. "How's Emily..."

"She's asleep in Hotch's office," Reid said. He'd noticed she was jumpier than usual, asking each time she saw any of them how the others were. "Garcia, do you have access to details of everyone who works here?"

She nodded. "I do at the moment. I don't usually – well, officially anyway. What do you need me to find?"

"No 'computer goddess of genius' today?" he said, concerned by her lack of predictability.

She shook her head. "The genius still resides, but is lacking in humour while her friends are being targeted by some insane madman. What do you need me to look up?"

"Anyone who has had explosives training, or has been involved with that team at some point, and also has enough computer knowledge to be able to hack into secured systems," Reid said, knowing that somehow she would be able to develop perimeters for her search out of that.

"Okay, you have three hundred and eighty seven names. I can print them..." she looked up, her eyes almost mocking him.

"Narrow it by age. We're looking for someone between thirty and fifty."

"You've lost a hundred and two names. Anything else?"

Reid thought for a moment. "Yeah, people who have been based here for at least twelve months." They'd already agreed that their stalker had been following them for some time, possibly more than a year and likely to have been significantly longer. It was almost as if he had been building up his momentum, planning the events in great detail, and simply having to look for an appropriate time and place to carry them out.

"That takes you to one hundred and ninety six. And out of them, one hundred and twelve are male." Garcia looked up at him again. "I'm printing the list. Is Hotch still in with Strauss?"

Reid nodded. "I guess they've got a lot to discuss. Thanks Garcia – this is useful." He looked at the sheets she'd passed to him. They contained names, dates of birth and basic information including address, marital status and education history. Unfortunately none of them had stalker written next to their name, but somewhere, they would find something that told them the same information.

Reid realised the conference room was unlocked after trying several times to turn the key to get in. On entering, he saw Rossi looking up at him smiling in amusement. "How many doctorates, and you still can't tell whether a door's locked or not?"

Reid glared at him, sitting back down in front of his map. "All the children that have been abducted lived near parks," Reid said. If you plot them on a map, it's clear to see."

Rossi looked over at where Reid was pointing and nodded. "He's hunting them," he said. "All are from affluent families, with good security around the house which makes it a challenge. He justifies what he's doing – if he wasn't meant to take these children then the security would prevent him from doing so. He watches them, probably befriends them so they trust him, and then takes them when he can no longer restrain his urges."

"You're completely ruling out Jennifer Keeley with this theory," Reid said.

Rossi nodded. "I know; but for me, she was never in the picture anyway. I have a list of her relatives here, and her most recently dialled non-commercial numbers. We do still need to get a hold of her, even if it's just to rule her out. And we need to bring in the parents of Amber and Matthew as well. These letters play a part – it can't be a coincidence that both Alfie's mom and the Dwyer's received them prior to the children being taken.

"Is it another form of justification?" Reid said. "If you watch anyone for long enough, you'll find some things about them that aren't what you'd agree with. Maybe these letters are a warning - that if they don't change their ways they will lose the child. He points out what they're doing, and if it's not rectified then he sees taking the child as being justified."

Rossi nodded. "I think you've hit on something there, Reid. Now we've just got to work out who it could be, and in an area with a population that's not exactly small, we've got our work cut out."

Emily had been asleep for just over an hour when Hotch came back into his office. She didn't stir, and he didn't expect her too. As tough as she was, as they all were, she needed to rest. However, just over an hour was all she was going to get right now.

"Emily," he said, putting a hand on her arm and giving it a gentle shake. Her hair was mussed and her shirt untucked, the blue material riding up above her waist showing a sliver of pale skin. "Em, you need to wake up."

She began to stir, slowly and sleepily. Her eyes opened, unsurprised to see where she was. "Has anything happened?" she said, sitting up and rubbing the corners of her eyes.

"No. I've just spoken with Strauss. We're all meeting in the conference room in ten minutes. I figured you'd want to freshen up."

Emily nodded. "I think that's a good idea. Do we get to stay at home tonight, or are we being relocated?"

Hotch raised his eyebrows, giving a small shrug. "We'll have to discuss it as a group. I'll see you in there." He put a hand on her shoulder as he went to leave, the only gesture he allowed himself. When he'd heard that the vehicle she and Rossi had taken that morning had been involved in an explosion, the sense of anger and fear had been excruciating, and he'd had to control the urge to lose himself in her as soon as he'd seen that she was alright.

Now his emotions were repressed even further; Strauss knowing about them put them under the spotlight. Any sign of unprofessional behaviour could easily lead to Emily being moved off the team. He'd taken a chance telling her to sleep in his office, but seeing as JJ had done the same thing a few weeks ago, he figured he'd just set a precedent.

"Hotch," Reid's voice hit him as he walked into the conference room. "We've come up with a few things." He was taken through a conversation Rossi and Reid had had just a few minutes previously. "What do you think?"

"It seems viable," Hotch said. "Did Janine come up with anything of interest?"

"A list of names a mile long," Rossi said. "Fortunately for us she has a good memory. Garcia's running checks on the names she's provided. W e made need to send a couple of the agents on loan to the team into the park to do a bit of surveillance."

Hotch nodded. "There shouldn't be a problem with that. But wouldn't we be best to target a park which isn't connected with any of the children that have already gone missing? If he is developing a pattern, he won't choose the same area twice."

"There are six more parks within a five mile radius," Reid said. "That would be a lot of ground to cover. If we look at the probable time of death of Evangeline Dwyer and Matthew Horsfield, we know he keeps them for around two weeks before disposing of the bodies in a secluded, rarely used area. He is probably too preoccupied with Alfie right now to be selecting his next target."

The door opened and Emily and Morgan entered, sitting down in their usual places. "Why does he keep them for two weeks?" Morgan said, having caught the last part of the conversation. Why that length of time?"

"A number of reasons," Rossi said. "If he has a relationship with them, two weeks could be the time it takes for him to 'fall out of love'. They could have become violent towards him and aggressive, which he'll take as a sign of their rejection and punish them. It may be that he fails to feed them, in which case they may be at the point of death anyway. The post-mortems from Evangeline and Matthew don't show any one particular cause of death. Both had multiple fractures – that was all that could be said with certainty."

Hotch felt everyone's eyes draw to him. Footsteps told him that Garcia, JJ and Kevin were on their way. Once they were seated he could inform them of what Strauss had suggested they do. He wasn't sure how it was going to go down, or even if they would agree that it was a sensible plan. For him it was the only option; he had to keep his team safe.

Silence was his starting point. He did a quick, almost habitual evaluation of people's moods. This helped him determine what sort of tack he had to use when putting a case forward, or right now, in suggesting something that might not be well received. Morgan looked the most relaxed he had in a week or more, now his own inner demons had been soothed; Rossi was the same as usual, probably the most predictable; Reid would be factual as always, but Hotch could tell that he was itching to get back to his life outside the BAU, a life no one else shared; JJ seemed stronger today, strength being drawn from her family; Emily was generally flexible enough to deal with whatever was thrown at her; Garcia was more worried that usual, the spark she normally fired that kept them all going was missing. and that concerned him more so than anyone. However, she did have Kevin, who was slightly separate from all that was going on, laid back and grounded. Hotch was glad of his presence for more reasons than just his technical ability.

"As you know, Agent Mansfield was found murdered in his own apartment this morning. We have reason to believe that the person who killed him is the same UnSub who is targeting the BAU," he glanced round them. A tense atmosphere had descended. "Although the attacks on us haven't been intended to kill, it's clear that these attacks may escalate. Our UnSub doesn't stick to just one mode of attack – explosives – as previously thought.

"We've already discussed the possibility that he might be an employee of the FBI; an agent or someone supporting them. This seems likely, given what he knows. Today's attack suggests that he is close enough to be able to track our moves even when they are not planned in advance, so after a long discussion with Chief Strauss we are putting forward to you the possibility of moving everyone involved with the team to a safe location while we find out who is behind these attacks, and the murder of Agent Mansfield."

"I wouldn't have thought hotels were a safe option," Kevin said, rather quickly. "It would be easy to hack into a hotel's database and find out which one had been checked into. You have the possibility of switching each night, and having people stay in separate places, but again, it's not impossible to track people down, even if they're using pseudonyms."

"You're right," Hotch said. "And we're also talking here about not using the BAU as a base of operations. We have to disappear off the grid to make it harder for us to be targeted."

"But isn't that going to make it harder for us to catch him?" Reid said, looking confused. "If the attacks stop, we can lose the trail."

"The attacks aren't going to stop," Morgan said. "He's obsessed; with us, and with completing his mission. He already has an end goal in sight, and he won't stop voluntarily until he gets there. If we make it harder for him to carry out these plans, he's potentially going to make more mistakes trying to get to us."

"Then can we not just say we have a case in Ohio or somewhere?" Reid said, surprising Hotch. He was being the most reluctant so far.

Rossi shook his head. "If he works here, in this building, then he will know within hours that we arn't away on a case. After today's explosion and Mansfield's murder, news is going to get round about what's happening. If we stay here, we make ourselves sitting ducks."

"If we didn't have the Alfie Fletcher case, then most of you would be instructed to take a vacation," Hotch said. "However, we don't have that luxury and we can't abandon the hunt for a possible serial killer." He paused. "I'm not suggesting that we stay in a hotel, or even that we separate. We need a base that is also somewhere to stay."

"The FBI has numerous properties in the area, but they'd be easy to find," Rossi said. "It would have to be some place that wasn't owned by the Feds."

Hotch shook his head. "There are properties that are off the grid. However, the one that Chief Strauss suggested has just been acquired by the FBI, but isn't in its database yet – it is a safe house. It's thirty miles west of where we are now, and was a disused farm that has been restored over the past twelve months. It's big enough to hold us and members of Agent Mansfield's team who have been considered possible targets as well."

"Is there a pool?" It was Morgan, of course.

Hotch shook his head. "No, but there is a sauna, I believe, that's been installed where one of the sheds used to be. I cannot make you go; it's your choice, but I strongly recommend that you do."

"What about interviewing people, Hotch?" Morgan said. "We need to speak with the parents of the other two children. I was going to have them brought here this afternoon."

There was no murmuring or conferring amongst the others; they were waiting for his answer too. "We have a few options on that score. The first is that you go ahead as planned – which is what I suggest you do. The second is that you go to them, taking two agents from Agent Boyd's team with you who will stay with the vehicle. The third is that you go straight to the safe house, and then we will arrange a meeting point with the parents, cutting out the possibility of any surveillance on the plans."

"I'll have them come here," Morgan said. "But do we have anything in mind should we need to go places or meet people?"

Hotch nodded. "We have to continue with both investigations. Agent McAllister's team are investigating Mansfield's murder. They're using the lab here at Quantico, and should have forensic information for us within twenty-four hours. They won't know our location, nor should anyone else for obvious reasons. Is there anyone who feels that they should stay here?"

No one responded.

"Sir?"

"Garcia?" Hotch said, looking at Penelope.

"I have my night at the helpline – they rely on me to be there..."

"Pen, I don't think that's going to happen," Kevin answered for him. "He's sure to know you do that. It's too much of a risk."

She looked upset, but Hotch knew there was nothing he could do. Hopefully they would catch him soon, and normality could be resumed.

"A set of directions will be printed off for each of you. Cars have been sourced that don't belong to the motor pool, and hence can't be tracked. You'll be given GPS coordinates to walk to pick up your vehicle in pairs, taking your go bags with you. The directions you will get will all be different, and won't be a direct route. It is doubtful that we'll be followed, or there will be any attempt to harm any of us while we're out in the open. I need to know who you're travelling with, and then you need to let me know when you leave. Please find me in my office within the next half hour. JJ, can I have a word?"

He left the others to talk about what had just been said, JJ following him out of the door, looking determined. He went straight to his office, closing the door once she had entered.

"Hotch," she said. "I have Henry and Will to think of – I know you have Jack, but..."

"Jack's in Montreal with Haley," Hotch said. "And this is why I wanted to speak with you. There's room for Will and Henry at the safe house, and I recommend you all head there immediately, taking Reid with you." He hadn't told her, hadn't decided yet if he should or not, that she, along with himself, were possibly the main target for the UnSub. There had to be a particular person that he was focused on, and JJ profiled as a potential target.

She nodded. "Okay. But I'm going to need a little time to get everything together."

"That's fine. You should leave now; maybe get Will to pick you and Reid up from a coffee house or cafe somewhere, but not from here, and deviate on your way to the pick-up point," he said. He opened up the briefcase he hadn't let go of yet since his meeting with Strauss and pulled out a set of directions that were handwritten, accompanied by the GPS coordinates. "JJ, you'll have time to rest and be with Henry in a place where we can guarantee your safety better than anywhere else.

"How furnished is it?" she said. "Is it suitable for a small child?" He heard the worry and concern in her tone.

Hotch nodded. "Strauss said that it's fine. The Bureau is unsure exactly how to use it yet, but it was designed for the use of high value assets should they need to go into hiding, hence the space."

"I'll call Will and make sure he can free himself up to collect us – and I'll let Reid know," she said, heading for the door.

"JJ," he said, stopping her. "I wouldn't be suggesting this if I didn't think it was necessary. Mansfield's death has shown us just how serious this UnSub is."

She gave him a weak smile before closing the door, leaving him to wait for the rest of the team to inform him of their plans.

The image of the stain stayed with her; she wasn't able to shake it from her mind. It was probably nothing, or so she kept telling herself, but something told her it wasn't.

She sat in the living room, watching a rerun of Doctor Who, waiting for John to get home from fishing. It had seemed a long afternoon, and she'd thought of calling John, and meeting him and his friend at the place where they'd gone to fish. It was cold outside, and windy, but the idea of fresh air had taken her fancy. When she'd called his cell phone it had gone straight to voicemail though. Not that she was surprised. If you were fishing, you wouldn't want your phone ringing and scaring the fish.

Martha Moore sat back in the chair and drank the coffee she'd been nursing. A key sounded in the lock, and she heard John's voice call through the house.

"I was wondering where you were," she said, standing up to go and greet him. "I've felt a bit lonely this afternoon."

"I know," he said. "I got your message when I got a signal to my phone. We've had a great day – brought you back some fish that will go well if you baked it. But if you don't want to cook it tonight, then I'll cook it on the grill tomorrow."

She smiled. "It'd be nice having you cook something for me," she said, the image of the streak of blood coming back into her mind. "There was a shirt in the laundry that had some blood on it. Did you cut yourself?"

He looked at her in surprise. "No," he said. "Oh, wait a minute – it was when I was shaving. I cut myself there," he pointed to a scab on the side of his neck "and probably wiped my hand on the shirt. I hope it comes out."

Martha nodded, satisfied with the explanation. "So," she said. "Shall we go out for dinner tonight?" It was nice to have him home, her husband.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter – do let me know!

Sarah x