A/N: Thought about Zugzwang today... I can never re-watch that episode again. Personally I think that's worse than Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (Of course that's my opinion) Alchemy is also where I got inspiration for Reid's depression/ suicidal thoughts.. They way Rossi just knew... MAGIC!

Still Zugzwang just killed all my hope for Spencer to be truly happy. He didn't even get a chance to hug her! Welp... He still has Morgan! Speaking of Morgan... Naah let me just stop thinking about that one episode... Who's up for season 9! (hopefully more Reid, and more team bonding)

I don't own cm or their characters..

Anyways.. short chapter! Starts turning things around

It wasn't adding up. None of this. Rossi's theory seemed to die out. There was no way to just put Reid as the final piece. Maybe it was hope that made them believe that it was so simple. Now that they all thought of it, it didn't exactly make sense. It didn't matter though. Nothing about this case made sense. Dale and the mistress just popped up out of nowhere and ruined their vacation and Reid and JJ's life. It was becoming stressful. Derek-who miraculously was able to try and stay calm- was beginning to fidget again. Emily was getting to the point where nail picking wasn't enough. Garcia looked as if she's been crying for hours. Dave seemed disappointed. Even Hotch seemed to look slightly worse for the wear.

Erin Strauss knew they wouldn't pull it off. Since they didn't know it, she gave them 24 hours. She knew they wouldn't listen to her if she outright said it, so she decided that letting them figure it out on their own would be better. She watched as Morgan left the room in a fit of fury. Garcia came out of her office and followed Derek. Prentiss went out to grab some extra tea. Rossi and Hotch were in a deep discussion and Erin decided to take advantage of that moment. She quickly walked towards the conference room and entered. Hotch and Rossi both looked up rather annoyed.

"You guys don't have anything," Strauss said as she watched their faces fall.

"We have-"

"You have a bunch of theories, yes. I know. Do you have anything that will get you any closer?" She interrupted Rossi.

"Not exactly but-"

"No buts. You don't have anything. You guys know that you are possibly risking their lives trying to find a lead that you're just not going to figure out? Why don't you guys take it up with someone on a higher level?" Strauss asked also cutting Hotch off.

"Erin, we are doing our best. We can do this if we are given the right amount of time. Your pressure hasn't exactly helped my team gain a peace of mind right now," Hotch said quickly.

"Your team wouldn't have a peace of mind either way it went. You are all too emotionally attached. You have less than twelve hours. You still haven't slept which may leave you with 34-5 more hours left," Erin said as she walked out of the room.

Emily walked in soon after. "What was that all about?" Prentiss asked. "She said we have 12 hours left. And after we sleep less than 6 hours," Hotch said grimly. "Why is she even still here?" Prentiss asked. "To watch us, that's why," Rossi said as his phone began ringing. Rossi excused himself to answer the phone.

"Rossi," Dave answered calmly.

"Hey, Rossi. This is Will. I couldn't call Penelope, but the sitter says Garcia picked Henry up," Will said. Rossi frowned.

"When was this?" Rossi asked.

"A few hours ago," Will said eerily calm.

"And you decided to call me?" Rossi asked raising an eyebrow.

"I already called Hotch today, so I decided to call you. Like I said Garcia didn't answer," Will explained.

"Alright, I'll go ask her," Rossi said.

Rossi motioned to Emily which she stood and came to him with a questioning look. "Get Garcia," Rossi ordered. Prentiss nodded and left to retrieve the Analysts who was most likely in the hallway with Derek.

A minute later Garcia came along with Prentiss and Morgan. "What is it Rossi?" Garcia asked. "Did you pick up Henry during your lunch break?" Rossi asked. Garcia quickly shook her head no.

"Okay, Will, Garcia didn't pick up Henry," Rossi said as Garcia started looking worried.

"Um, are you sure?" Will asked.

"Yes, we are," Rossi said. He heard Will curse on the other line and he could hear the man walk out of his house.

"Who were your bad guys again?" Will asked.

"A man and a woman," Rossi replied.

"The hell?" Will muttered. Rossi looked at his cell phone in confusion.

"What's wrong?" Rossi questioned.

"I just got a letter and a package. I'm opening it right now," Will muttered.

"Will, bring that letter and package back to us. It could be evidence," Rossi demanded.

"Um...okay," Will muttered as he hung up.

Rossi looked worried and rather confused. "Rossi what's going on?" Morgan asked feeling more worried than angry. "Henry was picked up by someone and now there's a package," Rossi said.

"You think they left another note?" Garcia asked.

"Yes... They did, but there was a package," Rossi said as he walked back to the conference room to inform Hotch of the newest update.

After a good thirty minutes Will walked into the bullpen rather quickly. "Here!" Will said handing everything to Morgan. Morgan raised an eyebrow at Will's behavior and walked into the conference room. "He brought it. But whatever's in here has mad him rather upset," Morgan stated.

Rossi opened an envelope. "There's two letters," He stated. Garcia picked one up. "This is JJ's handwriting!" Garcia said in a giddy scared shock. It was the type of shock when the victim is able to call the police. "The other seems from our UnSub. This time it was handwritten," Hotch said. "Which shall we read first?" Prentiss asked. They paused for a second. "JJ, she might give us clues," Morgan said.

"Rossi! Read it out loud!" Garcia exclaimed. "Okay, okay," Rossi said as he unfolded the letter.

"Dear Will,

I must be honest with you after the past year or so. Strangely, I've been feeling trapped. I felt like you were expecting so much from me. You ask me to sacrifice everything to be with you. Of course, I say no, but you always seem to get upset. You say that I love my job more than I love you. Honestly, you were half-correct. I loved my job more than I loved spending time with you, but not because of what I do, but who I work with. My team is like your family. Very close and quite dysfunctional. I don't plan on changing that anytime soon.

You also say that you sacrificed a lot already just to be with me and Henry. I would like you to remember, I didn't ask you too. When I called you with the news about my pregnancy, I was only telling you because I felt that you had the right to know. I was thrilled when you decided to come and stay, but emotions change. I came to realize that the night Henry was born.

I know you're confused, so let me explain. When I saw you hold Henry, the picture didn't look right. For some reason I felt that you shouldn't have been the father of my first son. I realized I didn't love you. I loved one of the people that missed Henry's birth. That's why you say me cry. Someone was missing. Honestly, that hurt. Eventually he came. And the moment I put Henry in his arms, I knew that I was right. You shouldn't have been the father. It should've been Spencer.

I know you were always wary about Spencer and I's relationship, and I told you that there was nothing to worry about. I guess I didn't know how I really felt about him.

So, long story short, this is my goodbye. I took Henry, and Spence and I are doing fine. We got our own little place.

Sorry and maybe we will see each other again, JJ."

Rossi finished, his eyes wide in horror. "Um, okay. I think that our UnSub forced JJ to write this!" Morgan exclaimed in shock. That was a little too much for him. He wasn't one for those touchy feely emotions. "I don't know, Morgan. This is in fact, JJ's handwriting and JJ writes in this style," Rossi said studying the print. "But she loves Will!" Prentiss exclaimed. Garcia stayed quiet, which caught Hotch's attention. "What do you think Garcia?" Hotch asked his eyes staring daggers into Garcia's. "Um, nothing. Just uh, crazy story?" Garcia tried to lie. "Nice try Mama, but what are you hiding?" Morgan asked. "Yeah, Garcia. This is relevant to the case," Prentiss said. Garcia didn't want to betray JJ's trust and ruin JJ's relationship. "Guys, please don't jump me on this," Garcia practically begged. "Garcia if you know something then it's best to inform us. This case is a matter of life and Death. Not to mention the possibility that our UnSubs kidnapped Henry as well," Hotch demanded. Garcia finally broke down. Only because Hotch was right. Henry may be in danger.

"Okay, a few years ago, when Gideon was still around. JJ and Reid sort of went on a date. When I asked Reid, he claimed it to be a friendly outing. When I asked JJ, she claimed it was a romantic outing. Okay so Reid doesn't always catch on. Anyways, I guess JJ had a little crush on Reid for some time. He didn't seem to feel the same way, so when she fell for Will, she put that behind her. Recently, like an hour or two before she was kidnapped, she basically admitted that she still had feelings for Reid. I encouraged her by saying she still had a chance, but she said she wouldn't act on her feelings because Reid has Alex and she didn't want to mess up his chance at happiness and she admitted that she didn't even like Alex, but I didn't exactly ask why and now JJ and Reid are missing and this letter makes me feel-"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, baby girl. Slow down. Relax," Morgan said soothingly. Garcia took a deep breath and nodded. This was something she couldn't do. Tell people's secrets.

"So, JJ had feelings for pretty boy?" Morgan asked with a slight smile.

"Morgan don't be a beef head. Of course she did! That's what I just said," Garcia said slapping Morgan slightly on the arm.

"Okay, okay. My bad," Morgan said in surrender.

"One more thing, Garcia. JJ didn't like Alex? Did she at least hint to why?" Rossi asked feeling like he was getting another inkling.

"Well, she didn't exactly say it, but she made it obvious. Why? I don't know," Garcia answered.
"If you guys remember, every time you put JJ and Alex in the same room, they tend to show some type of tension. Like at the hospital and then when we all went out at the blues club," Morgan pointed out. "Right, I remember the hospital and JJ admitting to attacking Alex verbally at the Blues Alley," Prentiss chimed in.

"You guys thinking what I'm thinking?" Rossi asked. "No, we are not telepathic," Garcia stated. "I'm thinking that maybe JJ was onto something," Rossi said.

However, that idea was shut down when a furious Alex slammed open the door. "Where is she?" Alex demanded crossing her arms looking every bit of pissed.

"Alex, what's going on?" Morgan asked as if they hadn't read JJ's letter.

"Why do I get a letter from Spencer practically dumping me when last time I checked he was in a coma?" Alex snapped, throwing the letter at Morgan. "Is today throw evidence at Morgan day?" Prentiss mumbled under her breath. "It's night," Alex snapped and Prentiss raised her hands in mock surrender. "It's okay, though. I don't exactly give two fucks," Alex said as she walked out of the conference room. "I wonder how she's going to feel when sh watches the news either tonight or tomorrow," Rossi mumbled. Prentiss couldn't help but giggle at the thought.

"Okay, shall I read this, or should we just finish the other package," Morgan asked. "Go ahead and read it," Hotch permitted. With a nod, Morgan unfolded the letter and began to read out loud:

"Alex,

I don't know if you have noticed, but I've finally awaken. I've come to realize something I've never known before. You're most likely reading this because I left and didn't get a chance to tell you in person. I just wanted to tell you that I found the one person for me. You know her very well. It's no secret to many of my teammates as well. I'm sorry that this is so short and there's not much of an explanation, I would prefer to do this face to face. When I get the chance, I will. So have a wonderful time, and until I return, we can talk the rest of this out.

Sincerely, Reid."

"Oh, no first name. This is serious," Prentiss said with a shake of her head. "Garcia, I thought you told us Reid didn't return the feelings?" Hotch asked. "Well, I thought you guys didn't believe the letters in the first place," Garcia said. "This is Pretty Boy's handwriting as well," Morgan said. "So what's going on? They were kidnapped. They didn't run off together," Prentiss said. "Time to read what the Un Sub has sent Will," Rossi said handing the letter to Hotch.

"Hello BAU Members, Family, and Friends,

This is Dale. Brandon Dale. I hope you know I will keep running until I'm tired. I did kidnap your wonderful agents. I got my revenge, however, Dr. Reid has a way with words. He apologized in the most sincere way. It made my heart swell. I learned more about how he felt and realized we had a lot more in common than I thought. My way of apologizing to him was allowing my mistress to get him a place to relax for the rest of his life. She is really rich. He refused to leave without the blonde woman and she couldn't leave without her baby. So, we gave them what they wanted. He's healing miraculously. They also decided to write a letter to their significant other. We let them do that as well. My vengeance with Dr. Reid has been resolved and maybe I'll pay him a visit. We are now eye to eye on everything. I gained a new friend. Sorry for all the problem I caused for you all.

Forgive me, Brandon Dale."

Hotch finished. "Well, we now know that the mistress is rich," Morgan said. "They're on an island. My guess would be Kill Devils Hill in North Carolina," Prentiss said. "The time frame would fit," Hotch said absent-mindedly.

"Garcia could you possib-"

"Hey guys! I think your UnSub just kidnapped another person!" Will said running into the conference room. The men automatically stood up. "Do you know who?" Hotch asked quickly following Will out of the room. "That short girl who looked really pissed," Will said raising an eyebrow.

"Shit!" Morgan cursed. "Wait, guys. If Dale let Reid go, then why kidnap someone else?" Emily asked. "He said he was going to keep running from us. He's daring us to chase after him," Rossi said. "This will hit the news big time," Garcia said. "Not just that, but they're most likely going to assume JJ and Reid was a scandal among the bureau," Hotch added.

They all stepped outside where the skid marks were visible. That was all. Now they had the same but new case on their hands.

A/N: Can you guys guess the truth?! How can you explain the letters? You know this is exactly what Strauss needs! More Reid in next chapter...