Hellooo! Hopefully you're all enjoying the story but I just wanted to let you know that I'm leaving for Germany/Greece on Sunday afternoon and won't be able to update until at least Tuesday & I didn't want to leave you guys handing until then. Enjoy!

XXII

"Well, look who we have here!" Morgan beamed as he caught sight of the approaching party.

"Emily!" Reid shot out of his chair and made a b-line for the brunette, slowing only when he took her injuries into account, and hugged her tenderly.

"I'm not going to break, Reid." The brunette chuckled as she returned the hug with her one available arm.

"How you feeling kiddo?" Rossi placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and Emily smiled at the group.

"Better now." She approached the table and immediately dialed Garcia.

"Oui, oui mon amies?" the technical analyst's voice sounded.

"Comment vas-tu ma chère?" Emily asked the woman in flawless French, a small smile creeping on her lips.

"Emily!" Garcia squealed on the other line and proceeded to bombard the older woman with questions.

"Pen, I'm fine I promise." She assured her friend. "But we need to get to Mackenzie and for that, we need that big brain of yours."

"Oh, there is truth in that my lovelies." The woman cracked her knuckles on the other side of the phone. "Hit me with it."

"Okay, so we know that Hail had to have taken her somewhere he can control, somewhere he knows by heart." Morgan began.

"Garcia, check any properties he owns in-"

"36, nationwide."

"You've got to be kidding." JJ ran a hand through her still damp hair.

"It had to have been close; somewhere they could have gone to by car." Rossi said.

"What makes you think that?" Morgan asked the older man.

"If he wanted to leave, he could've done so months, if not years ago." Hotch explained. "There's something keeping him here."

"We assumed that that thing was Mackenzie." Reid stated. "Now that he has her, what's stopping him from leaving?"

"Unfinished business." Emily said, almost to herself.

"What d'ya mean?" Morgan turned to his partner who in turn, rounded on JJ.

"You remember what Hail said when we first saw him?" She asked the blonde. "About how business was going well ever since-"

"Ever since he rooted out the bad apples." JJ finished, her eyes widening as she understood where Emily was going.

"What did he mean?" Rossi asked the women who seemed to be deep in thought.

"Our victims!" Emily cried. "The brothers and Newton; they're Hail's bad apples!"

"And that's why he killed them." Rossi nodded his understanding along with the rest of the team.

"There had to have been more to that though." Hotch frowned in thought.

"Yea, you don't just carve someone's chest in because they cheated you out of a business deal." Reid agreed.

"Unless he was sending a message." Morgan added quickly.

"To who?" Reid asked and knew the answer before he finished. Mackenzie.

Three hours in and she had no progress to show whatsoever; not that she particularly cared. Mackenzie typed as slowly as she could without arousing suspicion and occasionally made a mistake or two that sent her back ten steps. Every time, she would mumble a curse to make it seem as though the process was a lot harder than she'd anticipated. Not that hacking into the FBI was easy; these people sure as hell knew what they were doing and didn't fancy intruders. One fatal mistake and she would say bye-bye to the programs she had spent three years building. Hail's lapdogs stood behind her, occasionally glancing over to make sure she wasn't trying to escape through the window and then returning to their game of poker. She rolled her eyes as she heard footsteps approach and the man himself enter the room.

"Any luck?" he leaned against her chair and breathed down her neck. She shivered in response.

"Adrian, this is going to take hours." She explained calmly. Sometimes the man could be so dense.

"It's been hours." He growled at her, angered at her inability to produce the results he expected in the timeframe he saw fit.

"It's been three." She informed him without looking up. "I haven't even gotten through their first-"

"I don't want to hear excuses, damnit!" he screamed as he twirled her chair around to face him. "What's the problem, huh? Why are you so distracted?"

"I'm not distracted, this is just a lot harder than-" Adrian slammed his hand down centimeters from her head.

"What is it?!" he cried, inching closer and closer to her. She held his gaze momentarily before dropping it to her lap. "Is this about Cassidy?" Mackenzie took in a shaky breath at the sound of the man's name. "Is it?!"

"You're damned right this is about him!" She screamed, forcing him backwards and standing to face him. "You killed him!"

"I had to!" Adrian approached her quickly but Mackenzie didn't waver. Tears had welled in her eyes and before she knew it, they were streaming down her face.

"You wanted to." She shook her head in disappointment. "There's a difference." Grabbing her by the shoulders, Adrian squeezed until marks were left on her skin.

"You're the reason he's dead. You're the reason they're all dead!" he shook her with every word. "If you had just listened to me and done what you'd been told, showing you what I can do wouldn't have been-" Mackenzie's open palm made solid contact with the soft skin of Adrian's cheek and the man released her. She glared at him menacingly before realizing what she had done. Her eyes widened as he rapidly approached her and grabbed a fistful of hair. Mackenzie cried out as he swung her around, his grip on her too strong to wiggle out of.

"I hate you!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. "I fucking hate you!"

"You're going to regret that." He told her right before tossing her across the room and into a pair of wooden shelves nailed to the wall. The wood splintered and showered on top of the girl as she fell into a heap. Adrian lifted her up by the collar and backhanded her, sending her back to the floor. "You hate me?!" he kicked her once, twice, three times in the ribs as she tried and failed to stand. "Let me tell you what's going to happen;" he knelt down and resumed his hold on Mackenzie's hair, hoisting her slightly upwards as she winced. "You're going to finish that," he pointed to the laptop and computer on the desk. "Log in with your beloved Agent Prentiss' password, find the information I want and put it on the black market under her name. Then I'm going to bring her here and we can have a little repeat of last time's party. Sound good to you?" Hail released her hair and Mackenzie crumbled to ball on the floor, too hurt to respond. "You have eight hours. Starting now." Hail signaled for Alek and the other man to leave with him and locked the door behind them, a grin growing on his face as he caressed the nail marks Mackenzie had left on his hand.

"Think she'll do it?" Alek asked his boss as they poured themselves a glass of scotch.

"I do." Hail took a sip from the glass Alek offered him and crossed his legs as he sat on the couch. Admiring the far off view of Manhattan from the window, Hail sighed before turning to the two other men in the room. "Watch her anyway."

"Watch?" Alek grumbled, clearly disappointed. The man had never made an effort to hide his desire for Mackenzie but knowing that she was Hail's kept her off limits. Under the impression that the recent bump in their 'relationship' signaled that his boss no longer harbored feelings for the girl, Alek didn't see the harm in asking. Before he could open his mouth though, Hail was on him like a lion on a gazelle, grabbing his collar and smashing him against the nearest wall.

"You wipe those fantasies from your mind, you hear me?" the dark haired man growled and felt his accomplice shiver in fear. "Today doesn't change anything. She is mine and once I get rid of that bitch agent, she'll come back to me just like she did last time."

"Of course." Alek nodded furiously. "I'm sorry." Hail released the man and reached out to straighten the wrinkles he had caused on the other man's suit. He patted Alek's cheek with a smile and said,

"No worries." As he returned to his seat, a thought struck Hail. "Maybe if you keep her out of trouble, I'll let you have some time alone with Emily." Although she was no Mackenzie and far too old for Alek's liking, the man grew excited at the mere thought of having an FBI agent as his plaything.

"Sounds like a plan." He grinned and sipped on his drink.

"What about you Christoph?" Hail gestured to the larger man in the room. Christoph shifted and averted his gaze.

"N-no thanks." He mumbled softly. Hail turned in his seat and examined the younger man. He was tall, about 6'3, muscular and blonde. Hail remembered seeing something about ex-Special Forces in his file and a dishonorable discharge because of a fight he started with his commanding officer. People like him were meant to be seen- or rather felt- not heard. Standing, he caught the man's shy blue gaze and narrowed his eyes.

"Something on your mind?" he asked calmly, fingering the rim of his glass.

"Just that…" The man trailed off into silence.

"No, please go ahead." Hail encouraged, genuinely interested in what the man thought.

"You didn't have to hurt her." Christoph all but whispered and Hail couldn't help but break into a grin. He chuckled at the man's soft heart but was enraged that someone so weak was under his employment. Turning around, Hail placed the glass on the table and shot a glance at Alek. The shorter man nodded slightly, understanding what Hail wanted, pulled out his Glock and aimed it at the blond.

"Christoph, I hate to inform you of this but-" Hail took the gun from Alek's hand, "You're fired." And pulled the trigger.