The room the two agents burst into proved to be a sparsely furnished living room. They could immediately see that no one was there, but they could hear noises coming from the adjacent room, which they assumed was a bedroom.

"Roger Steadman – FBI!" Morgan called out. "Come out with your hands where we can see them!"

"You can't escape," Rossi added. "We have the place surrounded."

"FBI?" the voice echoed through the apartment. "Yeah – Right!"

"Why don't you put your hands up and come out and see?" Morgan suggested. "We can talk things over when you get out here."

"Talk?" the voice echoed through the apartment. "I'll show you what we are going to talk about."

There was movement in the doorway and then a terrified woman, who Morgan and Rossi recognized as Niki Bedford, appeared. Immediately behind her, with one hand holding her shoulder and the other holding a knife to her throat was Roger Steadman.

"There is nothing to talk about," Steadman told the agents. "I have her and either you let the two of us leave here unharmed or I will slit her throat."

"Okay, Man," Morgan spoke up. "We understand - You are in control here. But just take a minute and think about it."

"I'll tell you what you are going to think about," was the reply. "You are going to think about how this woman and I are going to be getting out of here."

"Niki," Morgan carefully enunciated. "Her name is Niki." He could tell that the young woman was terrified and was concerned about what she might do.

"We understand that you want to get out of here," Rossi contributed. "However, you need to understand that things like that don't just happen. We are going to have to get with our people on the outside to make arrangements."

"Then, do it!" the man demanded. "Just get on your phone and call them or whatever. And, make it quick!"

"Okay," Rossi held up his phone so Steadman could see it. "I am calling now." He pushed a speed dial button.

"Hotch," Rossi spoke into the phone. "We are up here with Mr. Steadman and we have a bit of a situation."

"Yes, Ms. Bedford is here also," Rossi spoke into the phone. "And, at the moment she appears to be okay."

"Right," Rossi continued his conversation. "I'll check and see exactly what he wants." Rossi looked expectantly at Roger Steadman.

"What I want?" Steadman echoed. "I want to get out of here – I want – I want," he hesitated and looked around frantically.

"I want a helicopter!" he suddenly declared. "And a pilot, and lots of gas!" He tightened his grip on his hostage.

"Hotch, did you hear that?" Rossi spoke into the phone. "Yes, I'll tell him that."

"Okay," Rossi told Steadman. "We can arrange that for you. However, you do realize that that is going to take some time, don't you?"

"And, in the meantime?" Morgan asked. "Are you hungry or thirsty? What about if we get them to send us in some food? And something to drink?"

"Eat?" the man questioned, surprised.

"What about you Niki?" Rossi questioned. "Are you hungry?"

"Um – m – m –, yes?" the young woman spoke up for the first time. "I – I did miss lunch today."

"So, Niki here is hungry and you are hungry," Rossi summarized. "Let's see what we can figure out."

"You aren't going to trick me or anything!" Steadman warned him. "I have a hostage here."

"We realize that, and we just want to keep everyone alive and well," Morgan told him. He slowly lowered his weapon. "See, I'll put this away."

"What about him?" Steadman nodded towards Rossi. "He still has his gun pointed at me."

"This is going to have to be a group effort," Rossi told him. "I'll lower my weapon if you'll let Niki go."

"Oh No!" the man declared. "The minute I do that you'll charge right over here and grab me and that will be the end of it!"

"Well, how do you want this to end?" Rossi asked. "You've been pretty lucky so far. Maybe, with a little cooperation, you can continue with that luck."

"Lucky?" the man spit out. "You consider losing my family because of my good-for-nothing stepfather lucky? And, he is still out there – Walking the streets, free as a bird!"

"Now we are getting somewhere," Rossi told him. "Is that the reason for all this?"

They heard the sound of sirens outside as various law enforcement vehicles approached the area.

"Hear that?" Morgan questioned. "That's the local police coming."

"Now, this is where it is going to get interesting," Rossi told him. "We have things under control here, but they don't know that. And, we don't know what they will want to do when they get here. They may have a completely different idea of how this should go down."

"But you're the FBI!" Steadman told him. "It says so right on your vests. You're in charge!"

"Maybe and maybe not," Rossi told him. "You have to realize that we are in their jurisdiction and that we are outnumbered."

"They may not care about helping you get out of this," Morgan continued. "They might just go in for a 'quick' solution to this problem."

"In other words – " Steadman's words faltered.

"Yes," Rossi told him. "Now, let me ask you again - How do you want this to end?"