A/N: My apologies to all my faithful readers for the chapter delay. I tried to change my story's direction when it appeared the last chapter was not received as well as the previous ones and struggled with it for far too long. So instead, thanks to the wonderful words of encouragement I received, I decided to turn back to my original path and here is the result. I hope you enjoy!

CW

It was during cases like this when Derek missed having the unrivaled computer skills of his Goddess at the team's disposal. They tried, but they couldn't yet bring themselves to permanently replace her, even with Strauss on Hotch's case to do so. When you've had the best, it was next to impossible to settle for less. It pained Derek to admit that maybe if they had, the new analyst would be here now and just maybe, they might be a little further ahead. Maybe. Just because someone was computer savvy, didn't automatically mean they were good enough to find a viable lead for the team to use. But it looked like this time, they were going to have to take that chance and pull someone from the tech pool to help out. Glancing at his watch, he rolled his eyes and groaned. He knew it would be at least another hour before they could get someone in. Time was running out and they weren't any closer to finding the missing women and children then they were when they started.

With a heavy sigh, Derek grabbed his empty cup and went to get some more coffee. They were working on their third or was it fourth – pot and he'd lost count of the amount of cups he'd consumed, but right now it was the only thing keeping him going and he'd take what he could get. He leaned against the counter with a freshly filled mug wrapped in one hand, his other stretched out along the edge of the counter. Staring sullenly at the dark liquid, he was lost in his thoughts and didn't hear Emily come in, or when she called his name. She finally resorted to a light hip check to get his attention and only his quick reflexes saved them both from wearing the hot drink.

"Oops, my bad!" Emily said without an ounce of believable remorse.

Derek stared at Emily like like she'd grown two heads. "Okay who are you and what have you done with Emily Prentiss?"

She made a face at him and then sighed, before scrubbing at her face with both hands. Blowing out a breath, she rubbed her arms briskly. Then with a sheepish grin she met his questioning eyes. "I guess I'm feeling a bit hyper because of all this caffeine in my bloodstream without the benefit of food to tamper the effects. I feel like I'm crawling out of my own skin and not in a good way."

"There's a good way to feel your skin crawl? You know Prentiss, I don't think there's too much caffeine in your bloodstream, I think caffeine has completely replaced every drop you ever had. I also think finding you some food has just become a matter of national security."

"Very funny Morgan, this from the man who turned drinking coffee into a religion and the coffee pot his temple to which he bows and prays with reverence."

With a small self-depreciating smiled he shrugged, knowing she was right. "As far as deities go, it's never let me down so until it does, I'll happily keep right on praying." He could detect the slight bitterness in his words the second they left his lips, but he made no effort to apologize or retract them. Instead with his coffee in hand, he left the break room and returned to the Conference room with renewed determination.

A half hour later Reid jumped up from his seat and strode over to the board, his actions grabbing everyone's attention. His eyes ran quickly from picture to picture, his fingers and lips moving silently, but at a rapid pace.

"You got something Kid?" At this point Derek would gladly take anything Reid could offer and run with it.

"Yes, I don't know, maybe..." Reid began, his mouth trying catch up to his thoughts.

"What is it Reid?" Hotch mildly demanded.

"I was just noticing that aside from the twins, that every girl and woman is a different age," Reid began, almost absentmindedly.

"We already knew that, so what`s your point? Victims are rarely the same age. Maybe in the general vicinity of each other or a specific age group, but most often not the same age unless it's accidental," Rossi stated.

"Yes, ordinarily I'd agree, but this is different. There is exactly three years difference between each victim. And I'm talking exactly as in almost to the day. They were all born in the same month." He turned and looked expectantly at the group.

"Could explain why these particular victims were chosen. Something about that month might be the Unsub's stressor. In what month Reid?" Hotch asked.

"Umm... in July, but not only in the same month, Hotch. All the victims' birthdays fall in the first week."

"That's pretty specific, Reid. No wonder these abductions have taken place over the course of a year. It would have taken an inordinate amount of time to find not only victims with specific features, but to find ones of specific age and birth date? That's not just a case of patience. That's obsessional to the max," Derek stated slightly stunned. "With that kind of level of specifics, I'm surprised the Unsub didn't take even longer then he did."

"Maybe he did," J.J mused aloud. "Just because these victims were matched from the DNA found in the container, doesn't mean they were the only ones or that there isn't more victims. Who knows how long the Unsub's been at this."

"She's right. Christ, we wouldn't have even known about these victims if it wasn't for that raid. The thought that there could be more women out there being sold off to the highest bidder is enough to turn even my stomach." Prentiss gripped her pen in her hand and pressed the curled fist to her lips in a bid to control her anger.

"Well boys and girls, it looks like we've finally got ourselves a honest to goodness, bonafide lead," Rossi said.