Hi everyone sorry this took so long. Was away in Turkey so hard to find time to write. Enjoy and please let me know what you think.

Chapter 4

"Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth" Henry David Thoreau

The next morning Reid headed down to breakfast to find most of the team already assembled with the files out next to their plates, he quickly filled his own plate before he joined the table. "Reid I want you to work on narrowing the comfort zone today" Hotch said "we are running out of time to find Stella Davis and we need to keep hunting but we don't have enough man power" Reid nodded "I can probably narrow it down more with Garcia's help, if she can give me more information about the past cases" Hotch nodded "we will set up a video conference with her when we arrive" he said.

Emily appeared just then with Livie right behind her "hey newbie" Morgan said leaning back in his chair "how did you sleep" he smirked in a way that made Reid think he knew something he didn't. Livie shrugged "not bad" she said "so the traffic didn't keep you awake" Rossi asked "because it usually does" Livie smiled "grew up in New York remember" she said "it was actually very comforting to hear traffic" she looked around "please tell me the coffee is better here than it is in the rooms" she said and JJ laughed as she handed her a cup "know how you feel" she said.

Livie took the cup smiling before she glanced at Reid and their eyes met and she grinned at him and he smiled uncertainly back before he dropped his eyes back to his plate as the talks continued.

"All the evidence suggests a team" Rossi said "and it is the usual team consisting of a dominant and a submissive" "they probably started their killing sprees in late adolescence, maybe around the age of 17, after that they kept going" Hotch said looking at the file, he looked up at Morgan "have Garcia find their first location and look at their records" he said "see if the police questioned anybody, then I want you, Emily and Livie to go to the neighbours houses and see if they can remember anything" Morgan nodded and headed off to call Garcia.

They all headed to the police precinct to check in with the police but upon finding that there was nothing new Morgan, Emily and Livie all headed off to interview neighbours whilst Rossi, Hotch and JJ all settled down to read the new case files whilst Reid tried to narrow his comfort zone with what Garcia told him and what the others told him from the case files. They worked solidly determined to find Stella alive.

XO

Morgan forced a smile onto his face "well thank you for your time ma'am if you think of anything else could you please give us a call" he held out his card to the old lady who took it before she shut the door and he groaned before he turned to look at Livie who was standing behind him. "Are all the neighbours going to be as unhelpful as the ones we have interviewed already" she asked and he sighed "most likely yes" he said and she smiled as they moved towards the next house where Emily joined them having had no such luck at her house and they rang the bell at the next house.

It was answered by a young women who looked at them curiously. "Hello ma'am" Morgan said politely "my name is Special Agent Derek Morgan with the FBI Behavioural Analysis Unit and this is Special Agent Emily Prentiss and Agent Olivia Beckett, we were wondering if you could spare us a few minutes of your time to talk about the abduction of Lucy Walters and the murder of her parents"

The women paused before she nodded and stepped aside to let them in. "What is your name" Emily asked gently "Sarah Ryan" she responded as she led them down the hall. "Did you know the Walters family well" Morgan asked "yes" Sarah said softly "my daughter Sophie is the same age as Lucy and they used to play together in the street all the time."

She stepped into a spacious living room where they saw a little six year old girl sitting on a bean bag hugging a toy horse tightly as she stared at the TV. When she heard them enter she looked up uncertainly with her big brown eyes curious. She was cute with long light brown hair pulled back into two pigtails and a sweet round face. "Sophie these people are with the police honey and they are here to talk to mommy" Sarah said softly.

Morgan looked at Livie and jerked his head towards the little girl. Livie smiled and nodded before she moved forward and crouched next to the little girl. "Hi Sophie, I'm Livie" she said softly and Sophie stared at her uncertainly "I like your horse" Livie said "does he have a name" "Shadow" Sophie mumbled quietly "oh that's a lovely name" Livie said smiling "do you like horses" Sophie nodded "I had a horse when I was little" Livie continued and she reached into her pocket to pull out her purse and she tugged an old dog eared picture out of a dapped grey horse and offered it to Sophie who smiled "she pretty" she mumbled "yes she was, she was called Skye and she was very cheeky" Livie said.

Sophie nuzzled her cheek against Shadow's face "I have a pony called Skye" she whispered "do you want to see" Livie grinned "yes please Sophie" she said and Sophie looked at her mother who nodded to her before she stood up and grabbed Livie's hand and dragged her into the next room where there were hundreds of toy ponies lying on the floor. She grabbed a white one and held it up to Livie "that's Skye" she said and Livie grinned as she stroked it before she knelt down "what's this one called" she asked and instantly Sophie brightened and she sat down and began to tell Livie the names of all the ponies.

Morgan turned back to the girl's mother "so Sophie and Lucy played together" he checked and Sarah nodded "almost every day" she said "we could barely tear them apart, if it rained then they would go to one of their houses and play for hours until we called them home" she sighed and looked into the room where Sophie played chattering to Livie "I don't know how to tell her she won't see her best friend again" she said softly, she smiled gently "I think that is the first time she has really smiled since … Lucy … died, she really misses her, that agent seems to know what she is doing"

Emily smiled "Livie has a little sister around that age so I think she knows how to look after her" Sarah nodded "did you know Lucy's parents well" Morgan asked and she shrugged "well enough, when we went to collect our daughters we always invited the other in for a drink so we talked regularly, Liz was kind and understanding, she always helped me out with Sophie if I needed… Sophie's father died" she explained "he was a Marine in Afghanistan" "I'm sorry for your loss" Morgan said before he gently continued "did you see Elizabeth Walters the day of her death" he asked. Sarah nodded "yes I had to work late and she collected Sophie for me from school and kept her till I got home, it was very late, Sophie was asleep on their sofa"

Morgan glanced at Emily "did she seem stressed or agitated at all" he asked Sarah thought before she shook her head "no she seemed fine, happy and understanding". "You said it was late" Emily said "do you happen to remember what time" "um about nine ish" Sarah said "someone didn't turn up for their shift so I had to cover for them until I could call someone in to replace them, I went straight over and picked Sophie up and took her straight home to bed"

Morgan nodded before he leaned forward "did you see anything suspicious when you picked Sophie up" he asked "anything out of the ordinary at all" Sarah looked at him "in what way" she asked and Emily stepped in "maybe someone standing there watching on the sidewalk or someone walking a dog you have never seen before or maybe a car parked nearby"

Sarah thought "no I don't think so" she said slowly and Morgan leant back defeated before perking up as she said "wait yes now you mention it there was something… a car… a car parked near their house that I had never seen before, I didn't think anything of it because I thought one of the other neighbours might have company but now I think about it I remember seeing two guys inside it". "Do you think you can describe them" Morgan asked and she shook her head "no I am sorry it was dark and the street lamp was out I could only see their silhouettes"

"What about the car" Emily asked "can you describe that" she thought again "it was dark coloured, I think it was one of those old station wagons with the large trunks do you know" "was there anything discernable about it" Emily coached gently and she closed her eyes thinking "it … had a bumper sticker… above the exhaust … of some kind of big cat, maybe a tiger… I don't know it was dark"

Morgan looked at Emily who nodded "thank you Ms Ryan you have been a great help" he said as he stood "yo kid time to go" he called and Livie looked up from where she was sitting with Sophie perched on her knee playing ponies. Slowly she stood up and moved back into the living room.

"Thank you Ms Ryan for all your help and could you please give us a call if you remember anything else" Morgan said and handed her his card, she nodded as she took it "thank you" she said "please catch them" "we will" Emily promised and she smiled "Sophie say goodbye" she urged and Sophie waved "bye Livie" she said shyly and Livie grinned "bye Sophie" she said "look after all those ponies ok". Sophie nodded and waved them out of the house. Instantly they headed back to their car as and Emily filled Livie in as Morgan called Hotch.

"Have you found something Morgan" their boss asked "yeah Hotch" Morgan said as he clambered into the car "we got something, we got a description of their car so put a BOLO out on a dark coloured Station wagon with a big cat bumper sticker" "good work you guys" Hotch said "come back now so we can debrief and release a profile" Morgan agreed and hung up gunning the engine "good job with the kid newbie" he said and Livie grinned "I actually had fun" she said and Emily laughed as they pulled away

XO

"We are looking for two unsubs" Hotch said staring at the police officers assembled in front of him writing down what he was saying. "They are male and the evidence suggests that they have been doing this for at least eight years so they are in our opinion at least 25 but could be slightly older or younger"

He looked over at Morgan who stepped forward to continue "these unsubs have been doing this for a very long time and this makes them a very effective team. The dominant unsub knows his authority and the submissive one does not question it. They are both physically fit enough to hold down the parents who struggle as they die. The dominant unsub is pretty meticulous as these victims are high risk victims, they were taken from crowded neighbourhoods quickly and efficiently so the abductions are well planned and organised. The dominant unsub kills the father who he views as the main danger, he wants to express his authority over them as he kills them and does not want his follower to mess it up. He is also the one who is most likely to actually abduct the girl, suggesting he gets some sort of thrill from the power he has over them. They were spotted in their car waiting outside the house of Lucy Walters hours before her abduction suggesting they are both very patient"

Rossi stepped forward to take over "these unsubs keep the girls alive as long as they are interesting to them so we don't have much time. Look for those who don't belong, who watch little girls in public places and keep your eyes peeled for their car as that is the only identifying thing we have on them"

The uniforms all nodded before they headed off to their duties. "Emily, Morgan I want you to go see if anyone else recognises that car" Hotch said "go to Elena James' house, take Livie with you, Rossi, JJ and I will go to Annabelle Matthews house" Morgan nodded "come on kid" he said and they all grabbed their coats and the keys and headed out the door. "Reid stay here, update Garcia on what we know" Hotch said and Reid nodded happy to stay and work with facts and figures rather than questions and answers as the rest of his team preferred to do.

XO

Livie was quiet in the back of the car as they drove back from their interview, Elena James and her family had lived just outside of Boston and it was a bit of a drive back into the city. Upon asking the neighbours about the car most of them remembered seeing it the night that the James family had been murdered.

"So how's things with Reid" Morgan asked and Livie looked at him "what" she asked blankly and he grinned slyly at her in the rear view mirror "mmhm I saw the two of you last night sneaking out for a walk, what happened there then" Livie rolled her eyes "we went to get coffee cus it sucked in the hotel that is all, he was going out and I was talking to my sister in the lobby and we ended up both going for coffee nothing more"

"Mmhm" Morgan said again with a twinkle in his eye "doesn't take forty five minutes to get coffee" "Morgan were you spying on them" Emily asked "no I just happened to be sat by my window reading a book and I might have noticed them leaving and then returning forty five minutes later" he said grinning. "Morgan" Emily scolded "leave her be"

Livie smiled "is it against the rules to go out for a walk and a talk" she asked "nope but be careful" Morgan warned "if Strauss catches on that you two have been getting close she will fire one of you, most likely you"

Livie nodded "I know" she said "but there isn't anything going on between us, we are just good friends" Emily looked back at her "hey" she said "we have all known Reid for a long time and we have seen him struggle to be understood, then you come along and somehow you understand him instantly and from what I have seen, he seems to understand you better than anybody else, I think you two are a little more than friends". Livie smiled gently before she looked out the window and her eyes widened at the same time she and Emily yelled "Morgan stop"

Morgan slammed his feet on the breaks and the car jerked sharply to a stop. Slowly he turned in his seat to face them. "What" he asked "you nearly gave me a heart attack". But Livie wasn't listening and she had already unbuckled her seat belt and was opening the door and before they could stop her she was sprinting across the road ignoring the blaring horns of the cars. "Jesus is she trying to get herself killed" Morgan swore as he leapt out followed by Emily and they leapt across the road holding up hands to slow the cars to they could cross. They found Livie staring down the bank on the other side. "Hey kid what the hell" Morgan demanded but Livie didn't respond she just pointed and they followed her gaze to see a dark blue station wagon parked amongst the trees. And above the exhaust they could see a bumper sticker in the shape of something feline.

Slowly Morgan pulled out his gun and began to head down the bank ducking behind trees. Emily and Livie looked at each other before they too drew their guns and followed him to the car as he checked it. "Clear" he said softly "do you think he dumped it" Emily asked peering in the back "no" Morgan said and she looked over to see him crouched next to Livie and they were studying the ground "tracks" he said looking up "heading into the woods"

They all looked at each other before slowly they all began to move away from the road following the tracks deeper into the woods. Morgan was just beginning to think that the car had been abandoned and that they were following a cold trail when he heard a sound up ahead and instantly he froze raising a hand signalling the others to stop.

Slowly they crept forward pressing themselves against the trees until they came to a clearing and they peered round the trees to see a man in a large hoodie tossing dirt into a hole hurriedly. And lying in the hole was something wrapped in a blanket, waiting to be buried.

Morgan looked at Livie and mimed for her to stay where she was and once she had nodded he looked at Emily and slowly they moved out from behind their trees and approached the figure.

"Don't move" Morgan said, his voice quiet and dangerous "FBI, make so much as a move and we will put you in that hole". The man froze where he was and they all saw him tense "ok" Emily said "I want you to drop that shovel now turn around and get down on the ground do you hear me" the man didn't move, he just stood there. "Hey" Morgan said sharply "do as she said now".

Slowly he turned halfway before suddenly he swung the shovel out spraying Morgan and Emily in dirt causing them to cover their eyes and in those few seconds they were disorientated, he bolted.

Cursing Morgan shouted "Livie stay with the site and call for backup" and then he and Emily took off after the suspect. They hurtled through the woods leaping over logs and fallen branches struggling to keep their suspect in sight. They both instinctively ducked as there was a loud crack and they saw him pointing a hand gun in their general direction. Cursing they both swung their guns up and fired at him and Emily saw him stagger and clutch his side but he didn't slow and fired at them before he swerved sideways and headed for the road.

They took off after him and they saw him pause before he ran out and caught hold of the side of a lorry leaping onto it as it moved past. Yelling Emily and Morgan both chased it shouting at the driver to stop before they slowed when they realised it was pointless. "Dammit" Morgan shouted as Emily reached for her radio and called it in, warning officers of everything they knew before she and Morgan moved back the way they had come towards their car before they ducked back into the trees to find Livie.

They found her sitting on the ground next to the hole, a dead look on her face but her eyes were angry and upset. "Hey" Morgan said moving over "what is it kid are you ok". She looked at him unhappily before she regained herself and she sighed "we were too late" she said softly and she looked towards the hole.

Slowly Emily and Morgan moved over and looked in, Livie had obviously looked but had covered it back up so Morgan slowly crouched down and reached into the shallow hole and carefully lifted back the blanket and groaned hearing Emily sigh angrily from behind as they took in the sight.

Resting in the shallow grave curled up on her side was a tiny little girl of five years old. She looked almost peaceful, like she was sleeping with her legs tucked underneath her and her hand curled up next to her chest. Apart from her eyes; wide open and unseeing. The way her hair was arranged around her, splayed out in strawberry blonde waves around her head framing her delicate features seemed so sweet and innocent. Apart from the fact that her hair was covered in blood staining her curls a brilliant red which was making them look matted and untidy. From where her head had been thrown against a wall, cracking her skull. Killing her instantly.

Slowly Morgan replaced the blanket over her before he slowly stood up and reached into his pocket and he pulled out his phone dialling his boss' number.

Hotch answered after one ring "Morgan what is it have you found something" "yeah Hotch" Morgan said looking back into the grave "you can call off the search for Stella Davis… we found her". "Is she alright" Hotch asked concerned and Morgan sighed "no" he said heavily "no Hotch… we were too late… she's dead"

XO

They waited until the crime scene unit arrived and were scanning the area before they headed back to their car and drove back to the headquarters. Livie barely spoke during that time and Morgan watched her in the rear view mirror "was that your first dead body" he asked gently and Livie looked at him almost blankly before she registered what he had said and she shook her head "no" she said "well my first dead child" she added "but not my first dead body"

Morgan looked at her "you know one day you are gonna have to tell us how you have seen so much yet have only just graduated from college" Livie smiled weakly "I will" she said "but not yet" and she returned her gaze to out the window and the rest of the drive progressed in silence.

When they arrived everyone was waiting for them in the room they had been given and they entered quietly and settled themselves in some seats. Emily noticed how Livie headed to a seat next to Reid and how their boy genius looked at her questioningly obviously concerned. She smiled reassuringly at him and patted his hand gently before she turned to Hotch as he asked what had happened and they told him all that they remembered "I think one of us shot him, or at least grazed him, he was holding his side as he ran off" Emily said.

Hotch nodded and looked at JJ "alert all hospitals and medical centres in the area and tell them to be on the lookout for someone with a gun shot wound" JJ nodded and slipped out of the room to make the phone calls. Once the door had closed Hotch looked back at his agents "did you get a good look at his face" he asked and all three of them shook their heads "he was wearing a hoodie" Morgan said "it covered his face"

"We need to identify him" Hotch said "they killed Stella Davis and that means they are going to be on the prowl for another victim tonight and we can't let them get another little girl" everyone nodded in agreement. "Reid where are we with the comfort zone" he asked and the young genius leapt to his feet "well I narrowed it down as much as I can without running the possibility of missing something. I made one for the last three cities that they were in too and used that to help narrow down this one"

He pointed to the map and to a large red circle "that is still a lot of ground Reid" Rossi said "I know but that is it, they have a large comfort zone, larger than any of their other comfort zones have been, it is like they are comfortable here, they know the area so they attack all over" he looked at them all. "What does that mean" Emily asked and Reid shrugged "I don't know yet" he confessed.

Hotch sighed and looked at his watch "lets get some food" he said "we will work a bit longer here before we head back, the ME said he wouldn't get the autopsy done until tomorrow morning at the latest" he stood up "I want you guys to carry on, I will get the food" he looked down the table "Livie would you like to come with me"

The young brunette looked up at him and nodded before she slowly slipped to her feet and grabbed her jacket following him out of the station.

Hotch waited until they were on their way back clutching bags of Chinese food before he spoke. "Are you ok" he asked and she looked up "I'm fine" she said softly "the first time is always the hardest" Hotch said gently "that wasn't my first dead body" she said ducking her head. "I know" Hotch said and she paused stopping and he stopped too looking at her as she gave a small smile.

"You read my file" she commented and he nodded "I had too before I could approve JJ's choice of you as our intern" he said, she smiled "I don't mind, I guessed you would of" she said and she fiddled with the bags before she looked up at him again. "So… you know what happened to me… right" Hotch paused before he nodded sadly "you have been through a lot" he said and she nodded "are you sure you are ok to work this case" he asked "I contacted the psychologist in DC before I approved you" Livie smiled "you spoke to Sweets" she said "bet that wasn't a short conversation". Hotch cracked a smile "he told me about how you struggled to get over it, how you were traumatised". "I got over it" Livie said "I am fine" he looked at her "seriously" she said "it barely bothers me anymore, on the anniversary of the day it happens yes it bothers me, but I am fine now Hotch I swear"

Hotch looked into her eyes, wide and pleading and he sighed "I shouldn't let you carry on" he said "but from what Sweets told me you are hard to stop" she grinned "I get that from my mom" she said and he looked at her "you can keep working on this case on two conditions" she hesitated eyeing him warily.

"I want you to promise me that if you ever feel like you are having a bad day, you come and tell me" he said "we are a family and we look out for our family" Livie smiled and nodded "I promise" she said "what is the other thing". He looked her straight in the eye "don't let this become personal" he said "don't let this become a vendetta" she looked at him long and hard before she nodded "I don't need revenge" she said "I got it ages ago, all I want now is justice for those who deserve it"

Hotch looked at her again before he nodded "ok" he said and slowly they continued their walk back to the station. As they walked he gently suggested "you should tell the others about what happened to you, they won't judge you, they will understand" she smiled at him "I will" she said "when I feel ready" he nodded at her and they entered the station and moved to their room to find Garcia on conference call typing furiously "what happened" Hotch asked a very pissed looking Morgan

"Someone broke into the impound lot" he said "they burned the car, the station wagon, all the evidence is gone" Hotch swore under his breath "Garcia" he asked "sir I am scanning through the security feed as we speak looking for whoever did this" she said "ah ha gotcha" she added "sending it to your tablets"

They all looked at their tablets as a video popped up showing a figure in a dark hoodie limping determinedly down the rows of cars before he flashed out of sight, a couple of minutes later he reappeared half staggering, half running in the opposite direction. "The police found a hole in the fence that he entered and exited through" Emily said "they tried to stop the fire but it was too late, but that is definitely the guy we saw in the woods, and it looks like we definitely hit him, he was struggling to walk"

Hotch nodded "Garcia can you get anything from that video on our unsub" he asked "erm not really the video is really grainy, I will see what I can do to try and clean it up, I might be able to give you a predictive height" she said "you do that" Hotch said and she nodded "I'll buzz ya when I have something, over and out" she said before she ended the connection.

"Well this is great huh" Morgan said "we don't need this, that car was all we had, I have requested any photos the crime scene unit might have taken but they didn't take many" Emily said looking grumpy. Livie looked up before she tugged her phone out of her pocket and after a few seconds in which she tapped at the screen she lay it down to show a picture of the bumper sticker. Everyone looked at her and she smiled sheepishly "thought it might come in useful" she said. "Good job kid" Morgan said and gave her a thump on the back "send it to Garcia and we can see what she gets from it" Hotch said and Livie nodded before she did as he asked.

They ate their food looking at the case files until the station began to empty around them. Then slowly they picked up their things and headed back to the hotel where they all retired to their rooms.

Livie sat looking at the files on the tablet she had been given when she joined the team, she flicked slowly through the pages before she stopped and then she found herself looking at the pictures of all the little girls they had killed. She stared at the images of their smiling faces before she sighed and exited those files. She clicked on another one. Her own one and found herself flicking through the pages and as she read it and saw the images she felt a few tears trickle down her cheeks at the painful memories.

She was startled by an angry banging on her door followed by the sound of Morgan shouting "yo kid get up we have to go". Frowning she slipped off the bed and opened the door "Morgan" she questioned "what is going on" he looked at her with anger on his face as he spoke and Livie felt her stomach clench as he told her the problem.

"They took another kid… but not just any kid… they took Sophie, Sophie Ryan, the little girl whose mother told her about the car … she's gone…"

"A simple child that lightly draws its breath and feels its life in every limb. What should it know about death?" Wordsworth

Hope you enjoyed that. Please review and I promise I will try to update soon

Feel free to message me with any questions or suggestions.

Thanks

Mysticgirl