B for Beck

by Assbitch67

Beck has had her life planned for her whether she liked it or not... But for some reason it all just keeps going to shit. Maybe it has something to do with her ability to kill a full grown man with a paperclip and snipe a grape inside a shot glass from nearly 6 miles away. But, hey, the cute Doctor at the BAU that doesn't know how to carry his Revolver seems to tolerate her.

6. Breakdown

Breakdown

•••

"Breakdowns create breakthroughs. Breakthroughs create more breakthroughs. More breakthroughs create friction because idiots be jealous or don't get it or protect their little corner and act out of spite. So you breakdown for another breakthrough. If you're about to break, go for broke. If you're not breaking, you're not really living." - Richie Norton.

—

"Argh!"

The armored fighter dove forward towards Beck, moving like a bull charging towards the red flag. Beck being the red flag in the equation.

With grace and ease, the woman swerved to the left, making sure to leave her right foot in the man's path while she maneuvered her way out of it. She peered over her shoulder, watching him fall face-first onto the blue mat beneath them.

"Hm," she hummed, unamused.

"Rah-" Beck's head whipped around to her left, watching as another armored fighter charged towards her, closer than the last had been. She knew she couldn't move her way out of this guy's path, but seeing as he was moving faster than the other one had, she was able to use it to her advantage.

The agent used her lightweight to launch herself onto the armored man, using his left padded knee as a stepping stool, allowing her to wrap her legs around his right shoulder behind his head. She then used both of their momentum and swung her entire body weight back down to the floor. With his speed and her weight, he was flung forward onto his back and she landed beside him on hers. But while she had been expecting it, he hadn't. He hit the floor with a 'hmph!' Already disgruntled, he didn't see the agent lying on her back beside him lean over and hit him square in the throat using the space between her index finger and her thumb.

Beck left him gasping for air as she launched herself back onto her feet using the momentum of her legs being thrown up into the air and landing on the balms of her feet.

Just in time too, seeing as two more armored men from across the mat were running at her, one a few feet behind the other holding a large wooden staff.

This time, Beck ran directly at them, more specifically, she was running towards the man with the staff seeing as he was so perfectly aligned behind the first man's flailing arm. She ran forward and let the first man's padded arm catch her mid-air as she launched her legs forward in a powerful kick that knocked back the staff man a couple feet after it hit him square in the chest.

Using that same force, Beck landed on her feet and twisted her grip onto the arm of the first armored man and swung him around. Tearing him off of his feet and sending him pummeling into the staff man that had been trying to regain his footing. The pair of them falling off the mat and into the wall of the gym.

"Hey!"

Beck turned to the side to find yet another man with a staff. This guy wasn't armored at all, in fact, he was some agent also training in the Quantico facility. She knows so because she'd seen him before while she was weight lifting just a couple of days ago... she'd caught him staring at her ass though, so she didn't argue when he seemed to be challenging her.

Beck stalked towards him, not bothering to return the smile he was sending her way from across the mat.

"I'll go easy on y-" he had started to say before Beck swung her arm at him. He blocked her with the staff. She swung again, and again, and again, gauging how fast and which direction he blocked her from. While they did this dance back and forth, she was also pushing him backwards until they were at the edge of the mat because she'd not only just been watching his hands and how they handled the staff, she was also watching his feet and how weak his footing was.

He took notice of how far they'd gotten and immediately tried to stop them. "Hold on now- woah!" He gasped when Beck took his moment of weakness and kicked the center of the staff he had been holding in front of him at a horizontal angle. It snapped under the weight of her kick, allowing her foot to hit him directly in the chest and knock him down and off the mat. "Oh-!" He landed on the floor with a wince.

She rolled her eyes at him, snatching up the two broken pieces of the staff and turning back to the mat where the four armored men she'd knocked down moments ago were standing in a semi-circle waiting for her, all of them holding staffs this time.

Finally... a challenge.

Beck walked forward until she was standing a few feet away from their little line of defense. They all hesitated when she failed to get into a defensive position or even charge offensively. She just stood there... waiting. Even her shoulders weren't tense as she grinned at each of them.

"Well," she began. "You gonna hit me or not?"

That's when all Hell broke loose.

The two armored men on the side came charging first with their staffs, Beck blocking them one by one as they jumped around her creating a full encasement around her. That's when things got fun for her.

She took out the ones with the shitty hand-eye coordination first. With one, she wrapped her arm inside the arm of another fighter and was able to twist one side of the staff from out of his grasp, giving her the opening she needed to back-hand him with the staff. He fell to the ground groaning.

She didn't get to celebrate her victory long because after that, she had to use both pieces of staff to block herself from being hit by the staffs of two of the armored men. She was able to hold them off before pushing them away just as the third came down through the middle at her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and hoisted her up around her middle.

Beck cried out as she threw the full force of her body in the direction he was pushing her until they both fell forward. Beck landed in a perfect somersault on the ground, her legs catching the armored man before he could fall on her and using that force to kick him up and over her hand. She landed crouched, facing forward, while he fell haphazardly onto his back off the mat behind her.

She threw her head up, the bangs falling out of her face to reveal two final men with staffs in the center of the mat. Beck charged forward. Using a previous move she had before, she used the right padded knee of the first man to the left so she could jump above the armored man to the right. Mid-air, she swung one piece of the staff at his head, causing him to stumble a bit while the other kept running due to his misled momentum.

Beck turned to the armored man she just hit only to have him wrap his arms around hers, keeping her grounded. Beck was forced to look up only to find herself inches away from a man with an angry, pinched up face. He growled at her, she growled back. He slammed his forehead into hers and she only blinked... unphased. She then slammed her forehead into his and watched him try to roll his eyes back into the correct position.

She smirked before taking advantage of his loose grip and climbing her way up onto his shoulders and twisting herself around in a meticulous circle, dragging him with her by his shoulders. But just before they fell to the ground, she caught herself onto her feet and yanked him around in a flip until he landed onto the ground with a loud thud.

After he was dealt with, she glanced up and saw her final opponent standing idle on the other end of the mat... holding her two pieces of staff.

Bastard.

Beck snatched up the staff from the man she'd just knocked down and walked to the center of the mat until they were completely lined up. She didn't move until he started sprinting at her, then she started sprinting towards him.

They were on a collision course until they were a few feet away from crashing into each other. He went up with the two pieces of wood, and she slid down onto her knees. While he swung just above her head, she swung the staff at his knees. His legs were swept out from beneath him just as Beck twisted around, still on her knees and caught herself on her feet. The armored man was still in the process of falling when Beck swung the staff around again, this time, hitting him square in the face. So while his legs were flying one way, his upper body was falling another way until he was flying legs up onto his back.

He landed with a satisfying crunch and Beck stood above him with not even so much as a bruise on her. The only evidence that showed from the encounter was the drops of sweat rolling down her face, the back of her neck, and her arms all exposed in her tight tank top.

Beck twisted the staff in her hand until it rested on the back of her neck, both hands clutching it on either side of her body as she glanced around the room at her accomplishments.

"Nice working out with you guys," Beck called out to all of them as she noticed them all starting to stir from their places spread out around the mat. "Thanks again for the invite," she added smugly. Truthfully, she wouldn't have accepted the Narcotics Unit's invite unless they hadn't told her that smug little phrase 'we'll go easy on you.' But after they had during her casual weight lifting, she just had to take the opportunity to knock them all on their asses... and so she had.

"I had fun," she chimed before tossing the staff off to the side of the mat and making her way back to where she left her clean set of clothes. She was almost to edge before she heard clapping off to the side of the open space.

Beck's head whipped up only to find a bright blotch of color right beside a splash of gray with brown hair. Beck strained her eyes to find that it was none other than Penelope Garcia and Emily Prentiss that were clapping for her as she sauntered off the mat.

"You were... amazing!" Garcia gushed as she continued to clap. "The thing you did with your legs- your arms- oh my goodness- you're flips!" Beck grimaced slightly at all the attention, but Garcia persisted. "I think you're who I want to be when I grow up."

Beck laughed at that one. She hadn't really gotten to know Penelope Garcia outside of a few brief interactions, but Beck knew she liked her immediately after her 'spank me' incident the last case.

"Are they alright?" Prentiss's eyes trailed towards the men still all sprawled out on the mat.

Beck shrugged. "I think their ego is recovering more than their wounds. They'll be fine," she brushed it off. "Is there a case?" She turned to them expectantly.

"No!" Garcia gasped as if she'd said a curse word or something. "We do not use the 'C' word outside of work hours... You may jinx our sweet beautiful time off and away from creepy murderers."

Beck narrowed her eyes. She made a mental note that Garcia's reluctance towards the job pointed to the fact that she was recruited rather than joined willingly. Something she'd have to look into.

Beck had been doing that a lot since her last entry on Hotchner to Strauss, gathering clues. Granted, not a lot of them were centered around Hotchner, but she figured if there was one way to get to Hotchner it was through his team. Which was exactly where she was starting.

Prentiss chuckled at Garcia's remark. "No, there's not a... case-" Garcia groaned. "But we're all headed for lunch and we wanted to invite you along."

The brunette beamed down at the shorter agent. And if Prentiss's smile wasn't wide enough, Garcia's certainly was. She looked about ready to kidnap her the moment she said 'yes.'

Beck wasn't usually one for social gatherings, especially considering her last team never had any. But she figured this type of thing would be good for her to build up some trust with the other members of the BAU while gaining intel on their dynamic with each other as well as with Hotchner. So... despite her comfort... she eventually answered, "Alright... just, uh... can I shower first?"

"Oh, please do," Prentiss said, wrinkling her nose. "No offense." Her and Garcia breaking out into laughter.

Beck chuckled. "None taken." She had just pulled her satchel of clothes over her shoulder with the intention of heading off on her own towards the showers, but as she started her way towards the locker room, she noticed Prentiss and Garcia had fallen into step with her. Garcia even going as far as hooking her elbow with her own.

"We're going to a lovely little French café and bakery in the city. I've never been yet, but I've never had a brioche before and I've been dying to ever since Emily told us about where she spends her Sunday mornings," the blonde gushed, tightening her grip on Beck's arm despite the clear discomfort the other woman was displaying at the gesture.

Beck fought the urge to pry Garcia off of her as she led her towards the locker room. "I have no idea what a brioche is," she admit.

Prentiss and Garcia both laughed.

—

The French café Garcia and Prentiss had driven her to was half an hour away back in DC. It was quaint, small, warm, and full of people.

For a moment after the trio pulled in, Beck debated cancelling last second. Forcing herself to vomit on cue and pretend she had caught something from her Thai last night. But these profilers... they would've seen right through her and Beck didn't want to have to confront that. She hardly wanted to confront this lunch date either, but here she was... walking in through the front doors of the bustling French café, the smell of freshly baked bread and savory cheese hitting her like a freight train.

"Oh..." Garcia practically moaned, the smells hitting her as well. "It smells like I heaven. I want to be buried in these smells when I die. My ashes, after I'm cremated, better smell like this."

Prentiss chuckled as she did her best to try and push through the line that was forming at the hostess stand, Beck following her and Garcia as she pushed through the people. "JJ said they already had a table," Prentiss explained once they broke out of the line and stood before the large dining room. "Oh- there they are."

Beck followed to where she was pointing and spotted a group of three seated at a booth across the restaurant. As the trio got closer to the table, Beck was able to make out who the three people were. Seated at the far end of the booth facing the door was Morgan, seated across from him was JJ and to her right was Reid.

Reid...

Beck hadn't spoken to him too much since the last case a few days ago. He'd spared her a few smiles then and again while they sat opposite of one another at their desks, but she'd been actively trying not to spark up a conversation with him after she'd left him that little note that detailed quite a few things in her life. The crash. Her family. Her bike. And her little aversion to Greek mythology.

She'd never told anyone these things before... at least not to anyone she wasn't related to. Except for Hawks...

But Reid wasn't Hawks. Reid was... Reid.

She could've chosen anyone on the team to crack the door open for just a little bit. Morgan was a stand-up guy, but... there was that heavy suspicion he always held in his eyes when confronted with someone new. She could tell he was working on it, but she couldn't take the risk of him finding something out he shouldn't have. She hadn't gotten to know Prentiss too much, but she recognized someone else with secrets. Garcia was a bubble of joy, but just a little too bubbly for Beck's taste. Even JJ was nice enough, maybe a little too nice.

But Reid... Reid was... nothing like anyone Beck had ever worked with before. He had no secrets, nothing to hide from the rest of the team or the rest of the world. He had that curious look in his eyes whenever she caught him staring at her, but it wasn't laced with any kind of suspicion. And he matched her wit, her intelligence... And he had that childlike sparkle in his eyes because he wasn't her, not exactly. He'd seen shit, but he hadn't let it affect him because he still saw good in the world.

And maybe that's why Beck chose to give him little clues to work with while he attempted to solve her puzzle. She figured he'd get frustrated and give up somewhere down the line or at least piece together only a fraction of who she was or maybe just even the version of herself she wanted him to see. But either way, it was... pleasant to share something with somebody that wasn't out to get her in some way. What was the harm?

She smiled at him as she took the seat in the booth beside Reid, Garcia and Prentiss sliding in on Morgan's side across from them. Beck chuckled at the way Garcia snuggled up under Morgan's arm resting a top the back of the booth seats. She really was a feely kind of person, but it seemed as though everyone had already kind of gotten used to it by the looks of it.

"You guys have trouble finding this place?" Prentiss asked as she set her bag down at their feet.

JJ chuckled. "No, but we did have trouble getting this table. We got it just before you guys got here."

Garcia gaped, "How long have you guys been here?"

"An hour," Morgan replied. "Hey," he leaned around Garcia to address Prentiss. "Next time, I'm picking where we get Sunday brunch."

Beck chuckled nervously. "Is this a normal thing? Team brunches?" Yet another thing she has to get used to? Great...

"Not usually. Most of the time I come here alone," Prentiss threw a pointed look to Morgan, a smug grin playing at her lips to signify her joking tone. "But Garcia insisted."

Beck turned to glance at the beaming blonde between Prentiss and Morgan. "Well, I thought it would be a great idea to finally get to know you better-"

"You looked up my file. Don't you know everything about me?" Beck chuckled, but she knew the answer. Of course she didn't... because you blocked out half of your file specifically so people wouldn't know.

Garcia winced. "A poor choice on my part- sorry about that," she apologized sheepishly. "What I mean is: we just wanted to give you a sort of... proper... BAU... welcome... brunch?" She smiled by the end of her word jumble as if everything was clear. It was not.

"Also because you can't get much out of a file that's been so redacted," Morgan chimed in, the pointed look he'd been giving Prentiss now directed towards her.

Beck's eyes fell to the table as she shrugged. "Classified matters and all that jazz, I guess. I don't really have the jurisdiction to unseal those files though, so..." Beck glanced back up at them. They all wore their own skeptical expressions, each one as disbelieving as the next. She was bullshitting people who professionally caught bullshitters. But, she needed them to see what she looked like in a minor lie so she could do better to hide it with an actual lie. Progress.

"Well, maybe crashing Emily's brunch was a good idea after all," JJ chuckled awkwardly. "I ordered everyone's drinks already. You got the hot chai with almond milk, right?"

Beck nodded. "Yeah. You remembered," she leaned over Reid to give the blonde a lopsided grin as a waiter approached and set down a series of colorful mugs in front of each of the people at the booth. That's when she noticed...

Everyone else had ordered straight coffee.

"Hot chai with almond milk? Ooh, I'll have to try that out sometime," Garcia exclaimed as she sipped down her coffee.

"Also an interesting order," Reid mused from beside her. "Is there a reason for your aversion to the standard whole milk usually used in chai lattes?"

Beck shrugged, humming after the first sip of her drink. Oh, she sure needed that. "Mm... I don't know. I had one on a trip to China a while back. Introduced my vegan sister-in-law to them when all she had was almond milk in her house... one thing led to another and I've never looked back," she smiled as she took another long sip. As she drank, she noticed no one raised their eyebrows or pulled their lips into that grimace she'd come to recognize with the CTU members when they'd take a mental note of anything she'd reveal to them.

"This isn't the CTU. The less the team knows about you, the more inclined they are to dig to find out. It's not because they want to use what they know about you against you, but because they just want to know you're someone they can trust."

Hotchner's words played in the back of her mind.

"How much sugar's in that one?" Beck peered over at Reid, particularly his light brown coffee.

Reid frowned. "Enough." Beck chuckled.

Then a cellphone buzzed- JJ's. Everyone at the table turned and watched as she glanced down at the screen, a frown forming as she glanced back up at everyone, a familiar grim look on her face.

Everyone collectively groaned, the sounds of mugs being set back down onto the table one by one was no longer a comforting one for Beck. She actually wasn't minding this whole brunch experience... but...

Prentiss sighed, "This was fun while it lasted."

Garcia whimpered as she watched everyone start to climb out of the seats. "But... our Welcome Brunch-"

"They'll be other times, Babygirl. Right now we've got a case to work," Morgan assured her as he helped her slide out of the booth right behind Prentiss.

Beck frowned, trying to chug as much as her latter as she could before wiping the excess from her lips. "Speaking of which," she began as they started for the door. "Where are we headed this time?"

"Uh," JJ frowned at her cell. "Hotch wants us to meet him at... Potomac Mills?"

The group collectively furrowed their eyebrows. Beck was the first to comment on the odd location as they exited the bustling café. "A Welcome Brunch and shopping spree at the mall? Guys, you shouldn't have," she sarcastically quipped.

"There's a case at the mall?" Reid asked, just as confused.

JJ shrugged. "An abduction. A little girl was reported missing from there twenty minutes ago."

"Just like Jessica Davis," Morgan remarked as they crossed the street together. Beck frowned. The girl on the news. She'd heard it in passing on the news a few nights ago while she made herself toaster strudels for dinner for the second time that week. A little girl was taken from the mall, found dead three days later... She couldn't imagine what the little girl had gone through and now that she was getting the opportunity to actually catch the bastard now that they were being called in on the case made her walk just a little bit faster.

As they made their way to the curbs across the street where two neatly parked SUVs sat waiting for them, Garcia paused momentarily at the door of one. "Should I head back to the BAU?"

"Hotch says he needs you on the scene. Something about security cameras," JJ replied as she climbed into the driver's side of the first SUV, Prentiss walking towards the second one. The group split off then, Prentiss, Beck and Reid in one car, JJ, Morgan, and Garcia in the second car. As Prentiss hit the gas, Beck began to nervously tap her bobbing knee.

Tap. Tap. Tap-hold. Tap. Pause. Tap. Tap. Tap-hold. Pause. Tap-hold. Tap. Tap-hold. Tap. Pause. Tap-hold. Tap. Tap-hold.

—

Beck was eternally grateful that there would be no need for the jet for this case. It took them only ten minutes to get from the café to Potomac Mills where Hotchner was spotted anxiously waiting near the broad entrance, surrounded by dozens of officers and yards of yellow police tape.

It had already escalated... And from the looks of it, most units were centered around the mall as if they had it shut down to keep the abductor from leaving. He must've still been inside with the girl... Katie Jacobs was her name, according to Reid's brief rundown on the ride over.

Beck was out of the car before Prentiss even finished parking. The rest of the group filing out of the cars and approaching up the entrance towards where Hotchner was. Beck was the first to ask, "What do we know?"

"We're about to find out," he answered as he fell into step with them, the team entering the building as a unit to find a series of officers already waiting for them. The broader built paritally bald one at the center was seemingly the one in charge. "Jim," Hotchner greeted him.

The man held out a radio to the Unit Chief, not wasting a second before he began his debriefing. "We've been in lockdown for almost twenty minutes. My team's already in motion." Beck nodded, ah, so he was with the Bureau.

She took the radio she was handed from a few of the agents beside this Jim character, securing hers on her hip, polar opposite of Reid who put his behind his back where she had her gun holstered.

"Another female," Prentiss exclaimed. "Same age, same time of day, taken from essentially the same location."

"What makes you sure Katie Jacobs is still in the building?" Morgan prompted the question Beck had been wondering herself since they'd pulled in.

Jim turned to him. "The mall's got cameras installed at every entrance an exit. Surveillance video confirms Katie entering the building, but no sign of her leaving," he explained. "Security paged her over the intercom, and their initial sweep came up empty."

"So that could either mean someone with extensive knowledge of this mall had found an exit that maybe your team doesn't know about or they've gotten her stashed away tight," Beck remarked.

Hotchner bowed his head slightly. "Let's start with the working theory first," he chastised her. She frowned.

They'd been on thin ice with one another since the Denver case. She was still pissed off about the move he pulled with the Press Release and the consequences that it had, and he still failed to recognize what he'd done. They were at a standstill and hadn't spoken since the end of the last case... Which was kind of inconvenient because Strauss had been riding her ass since her last entry report on Hotchner about the last case. One part of her was focused on doing her secondary job, the other just wanted to do her primary job and forget Hotchner even existed, but even Hotchner knew interactions like these were inevitable while he was Unit Chief...

For now... Beck had to mentally remind herself.

"Whoever killed Jessica Davis last week left that mall with her because he wanted time with his victim in privacy," Reid explained.

Hotchner turned away from Beck and back to the circle of agents. "Assuming it's the same offender, he wouldn't stray from his M.O.. He wouldn't leave her without his victim."

"So," JJ began. "If Katie's still under this roof, so is her abductor."

Beck crossed her arms over her chest. "At least that's what we're hoping." She didn't need to look to her left to know Hotchner was glaring at her.

"Garcia," he quickly changed the direction of the conversation. "Report to the mall's security office." The blonde nodded, grabbing all of her supplies she'd had stashed away in the SUV prior to arriving before rushing off. "Reid, Morgan, I want you to find the Head of Security. We need all data from every search team." The two male agents both nodded. "Prentiss, JJ, you guys start with Katie's parents." Beck had to refrain from groaning as he finished listing off assignments, leaving the best for last. "Ryder," she turned to her name being called. "You're with me."

Beck sighed. Of course she was.

"We'll treat the mall like a neighborhood," Hotchner continued to Jim and his agents as the rest of the team began to split off into their groups, Beck begrudgingly staying behind. "We'll separate into areas of control. Come on."

That's when Hotchner and Jim started towards the escalators near the center frame of the mall, Beck trailing behind the two men. They'd nearly made it there when she noticed Hotchner slowing his pace as though he was trying to fall into step alongside her. Oh, great... a lecture, she rolled her eyes just as he approached.

She wasn't surprised when he started talking. "I want you to pay close attention to this case, Ryder. I know you're used to a very cut and dry, tactical way of approaching abduction cases within the CTU, but this is different," he explained.

Beck frowned, "Different how? A kid's still missing and the bastard that took her is in here somewhere doing God knows what- if he's even here at all."

"He is. We have to eliminate the slim negative aspects in the case. Like the fact that there more than likely isn't an exit Katie Jacobs and the Unsub might have slipped out of. If we focus on those small improbable details, it takes our attention from profiling the main focus and more probable situations," Hotchner stated. "Do you understand how this case is different now?"

Beck grumbled a little as she answered, "Yes."

"Good. Then pay close attention." And then he was off, walking in front of her once more. She felt like a student all over again.

Beck had finally caught up with Hotchner and Jim as they approached the escalator. She had to push her way through a couple of the mall patrons that were being escorted from the upper-levels of the mall by police officers to make it onto the moving steps.

"If this monster so much as looks at me wrong once me get him..." Jim started only to trail off, the dark tone indicating his intentions.

Hotchner didn't seem to bothered by his words as he replied, "I read the Jessica Davis report. I know you found the remains last week."

"Twenty years, never seen anything like it."

Beck frowned. She hadn't seen that report. Hadn't even been notified the BAU was even given a report on the case. She had to hear it from the news. Had everyone known about the previous case before she had? Prentiss sure had a lot of knowledge on it herself, as did Reid. Certainly not something they just got from a single news report.

If they had read it, why keep it from her?

You're looking too much into it, she reminded herself as they continued up the escalator. Or maybe they don't completely trust you... the other part of her brain whispered.

She shook it off.

"Can't get the image out of my head," Jim continued. "I joined the Bureau to rescue people, not stand over another dead kid today. I couldn't handle it." Neither could Beck.

"Well, hopefully you won't have to," Hotchner reassured him as they made it up to the second floor finally.

As Beck glanced around at their surroundings, she realized just how packed the place was. So many people... "Had no one seen anything?"

"No," Jim replied. "It was like one second Katie Jacobs was here, the next she wasn't... It's all chance, ya know?"

Beck tilted her head up to glance at the taller agent. "What do you mean?"

"Wrong place at the wrong time. No logic. No sense," Jim explained. "How does a parent reconcile that?"

How had hers?

Beck blinked and one second she was in a bustling mall and the next she was in a wet, tropical jungle back in Vietnam again. She didn't remember when she'd been taken, but she had to wonder sometimes... how had she gotten there? Did her parents ever know? Had she gotten kidnapped herself? Were her parents alright? Did they ever recover from losing her?

"They never do," Hotchner answered Jim's question, the sound of his words pulling Beck back to the present.

Shake it off, she told herself as she blew some air out of her lips, her bangs blowing up at the gesture.

"So," Beck got back into her correct mindset after passing by a group of kids being escorted downstairs. "Where exactly are we supposed to start?"

"Well, my team is beginning the process of canvasing the mall, but with how large it is, it could take from anywhere around two to three hours," Jim explained. Beck inwardly groaned. They didn't have that kind of time, especially if this was the same offender as Jessica Davis. If he was desperate and efficient enough, he'd do what he pleased with her here- if they even still were there- then leave them to find the body and by then they'd be left with nothing but a dead little girl on their hands. "We were hoping you could help by telling us where to look. Or at least where to start."

"The key is to check into places that are close to exits," Hotchner explained. "The Unsub is trapped inside with us, if he's stashing Katie Jacobs somewhere, it would have to be close to somewhere where he knows they can easily escape if the opportunity presents itself."

"What makes you think they haven't left already?" Beck prompted.

"Because if this is the same offender, he'd want time with her," he answered. "He wouldn't risk it all just to give up now. And even if he did-"

"He'd kill her escaping on his own so not to get caught," Beck concluded. She turned to Jim. "We need to narrow down that canvasing time. Check anywhere that you even think someone would be hiding. Dressing rooms in every store, closed stores, the supply closets in restaurants at the food court- even back at the arcade. Everywhere."

Jim hesitated at the shorter woman that was now throwing orders at him. He glanced past her to Hotchner, Beck following his gaze and catching the Unit Chief give a miniscule nod as if telling him to listen to her. After the confirmation, Jim went off with his team.

But just as he was walking away, Hotchner's phone buzzed. He glanced down at the screen and furrowed his eyebrows.

"What is it?" Beck asked.

"Garcia found security footage of Katie leaving the arcade where her and her cousin were," Hotchner replied.

"And? She see who took her?"

Hotchner's frown deepened. "No. Which means we have to rely on the parents to try and identify anyone in the frame they might've noticed before," Hotchner explained before starting off towards where she assumed the security office was.

Beck trailed after him, "Right... the parents."

—

When her and Hotchner arrived at the security office, JJ was already waiting outside with a man and woman. They both looked on edge... Beck determined immediately these must've been the parents.

The blonde mother was frail, just a little bit taller than Beck herself but just her arms and protruding collarbone highlighted just how fragile this already short woman was. Her eyes were wide and red, she was holding a hand to her chest and another onto her husband's arm as if they were her two lifelines. The father was looking around left and right as if he would be able to find his daughter if he just looked hard enough.

Beck tapped onto the side of her thigh nervously... She'd never spoken victims before. Or at least not in this capacity. She'd spoken to get information from people- suspects, friends of victims, old bosses, coworkers, potential victims, even parents of victims. But... it was always easier to speak to a family after they no longer have to hold their breath anymore because they've been told the truth. These people were holding onto every breath they took it seemed because Katie Jacobs was alive... and it was her job to find her now.

Suddenly, her shoulders just got a lot heavier.

"Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs," Hotchner greeted them. "I'm Agent Hotchner, this is Agent Ryder," Beck nodded to them, not really sure if anything else was appropriate. "We'll both be heading this investigation." Beck blinked, but didn't give her surprise away by turning to Hotchner. But... she was surprised. Her? Heading an investigation? With him? This had to be some kind of a sick joke. Wasn't he just treating her like a student back at the first floor?

"Do you know where Katie is?" Mrs. Jacobs asked, her eyes welling with tears as her voice cracked.

"Not yet," Hotchner answered truthfully. "But we're doing everything we can to find her. Right now, we're going to need you to take a look at something." Hotchner's hand lifted as he gestured to the glass door that led into the office. JJ opened the door for them as the group went in.

Beck could see Garcia seated at the desk nearby, her little set-up already brought to life as she was focused intently on the screens before her. Beck had never gotten to see her in action, but she wasn't expecting her to be so efficient. She definitely gave Califax a run for his money.

"Garcia," Hotchner said as they all grouped around her and her screens.

The blonde glanced up at them as if shocked to see the parents there, but she didn't bother to say anything as she turned right back to her screen to pull up a blurry black and white image of sorts. Beck strained her eyes just enough to see the crowd of people from some kind of security footage. Then Garcia clicked a few buttons and it enlarged to point out the back of a little brunette girl's head, her hair pulled up in pigtails and her head turned to the right just a bit. She was a miniscule shape in the sea of people, it was a miracle Garcia was able to find her so quickly.

"This image was captured moments before your nephew reported Katie missing," JJ told Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs.

"Oh, God..." Mr. Jacobs sighed.

Hotchner leaned in slightly to address them. "I know the angle's limited, but is there anything or anyone in the frame that you recognize?"

Both the parents leaned in, straining to see anything. "Uh... no," Mrs. Jacobs voice broke. She shook her head as her husband confirmed his answer as well, "No."

Beck glanced across the table at JJ, a sullen look on her face. This wasn't looking good for that little girl in the video and both of them knew it.

"Katie has asthma," Mrs. Jacobs exclaimed frantically. "She needs her inhaler." She was starting to spiral and Beck noticed the signs of someone looking at every wrong thing that could go wrong in an already shitty situation. She was starting to understand why Hotchner had told her to stay away from that kind of mentality now.

"H-How could someone have just taken her in front of all of those people?" Mr. Jacobs asked to no one in particular.

"There are a lot of possibilities," Beck answered honestly, biting her tongue soon after realizing it probably wasn't something this man wanted to hear right now. He wasn't an officer, he was a worried parent he needed reassurance. "But we're doing our best to narrow it down," she quickly amended her statement.

Mr. Jacobs turned to her defensively. "How do you plan on doing that?" Great... she opened her mouth and was now posed with a question she only had witty and unhelpful answers to.

Thankfully, JJ- God bless her heart- stepped in with an assist. "We're retracing Katie's steps. We're going over surveillance footage. We're searching every crack and crevice under this roof." And coming up empty, Beck thought to herself.

Mr. Jacobs was still not satisfied with the answer. "I want to be out there looking for my girl," he stated, turning to Hotchner as if he was going to give him permission.

"I'd want to be doing the same thing," Hotchner stated. "But when an abduction is reported, the parents are debriefed...separately. It's more efficient that way." Beck had to wonder why... Was he intending to use some kind of interview tactics that they used on suspects on these two parents?

"Alright," Mrs. Jacobs' whispered softly.

"Right this way," JJ led the woman away to a separate room off down the hall, leaving Hotchner and Mr. Jacobs standing over Garcia still.

"Mr. Jacobs." Beck watched as Hotchner led Mr. Jacobs outside of the office in the opposite direction. Now it was just her and Garcia... and that image of Katie Jacobs walking towards what could possibly be her death- NO! No... Stop thinking of the negative improbabilities and focus on what you have, she tried to remind herself as she took a deep breath and rested her hands on the edge of the desk.

Garcia turned to peer over at her. "Case getting to you?" She asked, but Beck's eyes were caught on the image on the screen.

She moved to peer over Garcia's shoulder to get an even closer look. She saw a little girl there, her head turned to her right looking... upwards. Not high enough to be looking at a billboard or a store sign, but high enough to possibly be looking at a person beside her... But that didn't make sense. Her body language was relaxed, her facial expressions neutral. Not even a hint of concern or curiosity or fear.

"What?" The blonde asked, bringing her back to the present. "You see something?"

Beck tapped on the edge of the desk. The phrase no negative improbabilities replaying in the back of her mind as she answered, "No... Nothing." She leaned back from the desk and crossed her hands over her chest. "JJ said the cousin was the last one to see her leaving the arcade, right?"

"Yeah. Prentiss is with him, the aunt and the uncle near the food court right now. Why?" She persisted. Huh, she was a little too curious for Beck's comfort. But just because she asked all these questions didn't mean she would be getting any answers.

"No reason," she replied before walking off towards the food court.

—

It looked as though Prentiss had already began questioning the boy as Beck approached through the food court. As she walked, she could spot all the officers standing on each corner of every hall, their eyes scanning every person and patrons that were still being escorted down. This all felt so surreal... an entire mall of people trapped in a building with a missing girl and her abductor still and it could've been any one of them.

"So, Jeremy, I'm gonna ask you a few questions about what happened before Katie went missing," Prentiss was leaned down in front of the young boy dressed in all black seated a top one of the tables, his feet propped on the chair beneath him where his eyes were glued while his mother anxiously rubbed and patted his back and his father- a nearly identical twin to Mr. Jacobs- stood glaring down at his son over Prentiss's shoulder. "Is that okay?"

Beck approached as Jeremy nodded.

"So, when you and your cousin were going in and out of stores, did anybody try and talk to her?" Prentiss prompted the young boy.

When he didn't answer immediately, his mom's hand came up to tap his shoulder. It was an odd gesture... Almost as though she were pushing an answer out of him.

He did eventually answer, slowly... hesitant. "I... don't think so." He was clearly uncomfortable. His mother and father there weren't helping in the slightest.

"Did somebody maybe compliment her hair or open the door for you guys?" Prentiss continued with her questioning despite the looming presence beside her.

That's when Mr. Jacobs- the second Mr. Jacobs- chimed in, "He wasn't exactly paying attention."

Defensive, Jeremy immediately turned to glare at his father. "Yes, I was!"

His father scoffed, "Yeah."

"Take it easy on him," Beck piped up as she took a step forward, Prentiss turning with wide eyes and finally taking note of her presence off to her side. "He's a kid. He shouldn't have been solely responsible for another child's wellbeing to begin with and no one is faulting him for what happened to his cousin," she stated, sharing a glance with Jeremy before turning back to his parents. "By the way, why were Jeremy and Katie by themselves?"

Prentiss glanced at her sidelong, her eyes slightly widening at the implications and words spewing from her mouth like hot acid that were eventually going to hit the wrong spot. But... Beck had a suspicion and she wanted to roll with it. And she definitely wasn't going to let the kid get trampled on because of his parents' mistakes.

"Well, my brother and Beth had left to go to a furniture store across the mall. They had been talking about getting a new bed for Katie for a few months now," Mr. Jacobs explained. "Susan and I were off at different stores and we figured Jeremy and Katie would be fine on their own. I mean... it's an arcade and it's crowded- we didn't think anything would happen because we thought Jeremy would keep an eye on his cousin like he was supposed to."

Mrs. Jacobs- Susan- was on the verge of tears as she glanced up at them, "You'd think after all my years in retail, I'd hate the mall, but... it was convenient."

"She was right next to me, I swear!" Jeremy exclaimed, directed towards his father.

He turned away, angry and unconvinced, but Susan continued with her rant. "And then we split up, because I- I had to shop for my husband's birthday."

"And that's when you got lost in that video game, right?" Mr. Jacobs jibed at his son. Beck was half ready to deck him in his smug face if he insinuated that this was Jeremy's fault one more time while she was in his presence.

Susan continued to sob, "I should have stayed near the kids."

"It's not fair!" Jeremy shouted back to Mr. Jacobs.

"And now I wish we never left the house this morning," she continued, turning away as the tears streamed down her cheeks, completely ignoring her husband's blatant anger directed towards her son when moments ago she'd been comforting him during questioning and now was pretending as though they weren't actively arguing in front of her.

Mr. Jacobs frowned. "I'm sure that's how my brother feels, too."

Susan sighed, taking a step away, her back to the group as she anxiously paced. Jeremy's head was bowed down to his feet once again, curling up with the weight of what his father believed to be his fault.

Beck watched as Mr. Jacobs took a step away from his son, she turned to her right and Prentiss seemed to take the hint as she side stepped to try and continue to keep him from Jeremy as Beck stepped in.

"Sir, maybe we should speak to Jeremy alone..." Prentiss offered.

Mr. Jacobs shook his head. "You know, this may all be a mistake. Katie might just be lost, maybe in some bookstore or something. She loves to read," he mused. "Ah, she could just be in a corner, just, you know... Or maybe playing dress-up in a store or something."

Beck sighed as she heard Susan sob into her hand.

They all knew what he was saying wasn't true. And the chances of this being anything other than a kidnapping were slim to none. And that wasn't a negative improbability.

"Mrs. Jacobs," Beck addressed a still crying Susan. She turned her head slightly to stare at her through the tears. This felt wrong to ask of her while she was in this state, but they needed answers. "Is it alright if I speak to Jeremy alone? We won't go far, but I think it would be better if he wasn't so..." she peered over her shoulder at Mr. Jacobs who was still staring off into space. "...crowded."

Susan gave a tentative nod. "O-Okay."

Beck glanced down at Jeremy as she held out her arm to guide him elsewhere. "Come on, kid. Let's take a walk." Jeremy seemed all too eager to get away from his parents as he leapt off the table and followed after the agent. He trailed close beside her as she lead him to the opposite side of the food court towards a series of tables near a jewelry store. "So... Your name is Jeremy, right?"

"Yeah..." he answered awkwardly, his eyes watching his feet as they walked.

Beck smiled at him as she gestured to herself, "Beck."

"You have a boy name?" Jeremy asked. She fought the urge to roll her eyes. What was with people having an issue with the name? She thought it was pretty unisex.

She ignored his question.

"You're an only child? No brothers or sisters?" Jeremy shook his head, his shaggy hair shaking it in a manner that reminded Beck of Dr. Reid. "Huh. I wish I was an only child sometimes. I grew up with three other siblings... No cousins though. I wished I had cousins instead of siblings sometimes because cousins are basically siblings that don't live with you, aren't they?"

Jeremy spared her a small smile. "Yeah," he replied, this time a little chuckle in his voice.

"And Katie doesn't have any siblings either... You're basically her older brother from another mother... and father, huh?" She mused. Jeremy frowned at the mention of his missing cousin, but he nodded nonetheless. "Still older brothers and older cousins alike shouldn't be left to be solely responsible for their family. It's why we have parents... My dad was a hardass, too."

Jeremy turned to her, his eyes wide at both her use of the word 'hardass' and the insinuation that his dad was one... which he was.

Beck chuckled at the look on his face. "Yeah. But I think my older brother had it harder. The guy had was in charge of babysitting me and my baby sister. Sometimes I helped, but... I didn't always like watching my baby sister. Can I tell you something?" Jeremy glanced up at her, the curious glint in his eyes giving her all the answer she needed. "Sometimes we'd leave my baby sister alone by herself while my older brother and I went outside to play basketball. She'd be by herself in the house and if something had happened to her while we were out having fun, we wouldn't know... because we weren't exactly paying attention. But, hey, who could blame us- we were two teenagers watching a two year old."

Jeremy's lips turned into a sort of grimace as he juggled with her situation with his own. Everything she'd told him was true, though... because she knew Jeremy's truth. The kid wasn't at fault... but something about the way he just wore the guilt on his face even after they were away from his parents told her he knew who might've been at fault.

"Jeremy." He turned back to her. "The first thing you should understand is that what's happened to your cousin isn't your fault. Got it?" He nodded. "Good."

"Ryder." Beck and Jeremy both turned at the sound of her name being called by someone approaching. Sure enough, marching down the hall towards them was Morgan and Reid.

"Hey," she greeted them in a friendly tone. She glanced down at Jeremy and noticed his eyes had fallen back to the ground... Damn, just as she was getting somewhere. "Jeremy," she pulled his attention back up to her, but she could see him still throwing anxious looks towards Morgan and Reid. "These are a few of my friends; Dr. Reid and Morgan. They're just gonna ask you a couple questions. That okay?" The teenage boy nodded. "Come on. Let's take a seat over here."

As she led him the rest of the way to the tables nearby, Beck noticed the looks Dr. Reid and Morgan were giving her as Jeremy took a seat down at the table in front of them. She took a step back to allow Reid to sit across from the teenager and that's when she caught his hesitant look, almost as though he was curious to know what she had said to him or maybe how she had gained his trust fast enough for him to let his guard down around her if only for a moment.

Beck hung back with Morgan while Reid took a seat from across the table where Jeremy sat, his hands on the table and his eyes glued to his fingers as he idly twitched.

"Jeremy, we asked your mom and dad if we could talk... privately," Reid began tentatively. "Thought it might be easier that way."

Jeremy frowned, but still refused to meet his eyes. "'Cause my dad thinks this is my fault," he muttered bitterly.

"No," the Doctor quickly reassured the teenage boy. "Jeremy, your dad is just super upset right now, because times like this, people get... really emotional." Beck noted the way he was tiptoeing around using big words... like 'times like this' instead of 'kidnappings' and 'really emotional' instead of 'defensive to the point where they become assholes.' And by the look on Jeremy's face, he didn't seem to appreciate being spoken to like he was a child.

"Hey, Jeremy," Beck took a step forward, the kid's eyes finding hers almost immediately as she crossed her arms over her chest and glanced down at him. "Let's not think about your dad right now. Or your mom. Why don't you-" Beck took his hands from off the table and put them into his lap so he wouldn't have anything to look down at and distract himself while Reid was attempting to speak with him. "-just tell us everything you remember, alright?"

Jeremy swallowed hard, his tiny Adam's apple bobbing slightly as he nodded.

Morgan tapped on her shoulder and she took a step back for a second so he could lean down to talk to the kid.

"Hey, kid..." he began. Jeremy turning from Beck to him. "The moments right before a kidnapping like this are the most important. You gotta understand you're the only one who can help us with that." Beck commended him for taking note of the kid's facial expressions at Reid's word usage and keeping it real with him.

Jeremy had finally broken free from his defensive shell, his eyes fully on Morgan as he replied, "But- But I can't remember."

"Jeremy," Reid leaned in. "All we need is the last thing Katie did or said before you realized she was gone." Then, suddenly, Jeremy began to shake his head in a frantic motion, his eyes bulging wide and his breaths heaving.

"Jeremy?" Morgan prompted the kid. "Jeremy? What-" Suddenly, the kid was out of his seat, grasping hold of his chest as he struggled to breathe. "What? What? What is it? Talk to me. What?"

Beck rushed forward, her hands finding Jeremy's shoulders as she shoved him back down into his seat. "Can't... breathe," she heard him wheeze.

"Ssh," she hushed him as she pushed his head between his knees. "Just sit down, close your eyes and take deep breaths, alright?"

"What's happening?" Morgan asked from behind her, her hand still gripping Jeremy's shoulder tight.

"What's... Why can't I...?" Jeremy heaved in between breaths.

"You're having a panic attack," Reid explained from beside Beck.

"Ssh," Beck hushed to no one in particular. She saw Jeremy turn his head at the sound of Reid's voice, but she quickly shoved his face back down between his knees. "Don't worry about them, just focus on breathing. In and out, alright? In through your nose..." Jeremy took a ragged breath in. "...hold it... five... four... three... two... one..." he held it, his hands shaking on either side of his legs. "Now breathe out through your mouth... five... four... three... two... one..." He let out a heavy exhale, but went just a little bit faster than her counting.

Beck wasn't paying any mind to the two men pacing around behind her as she gave Jeremy's shoulder a squeeze. "You ever heard the song Seven Nation Army, Jeremy?" He gave a small nod, his breaths still ragged as he tried to keep up with his breathing. "Remember the beat?" Beck began to pat on his back with the hand that had been gripping his shoulder. "Bum. Bum-bum. Ba-ba-bum. Bum." Pat. Pat. Pat. Pat. Pat. "Bum. Bum-bum. Ba-ba-bum. Bum... Can you hum it for me?"

He hesitated for a second before catching up to the beat of her hand on his back. "Mm. Mm-Mm. M-m-mmm. Mm," she heard his soft hum beneath his breath going along to the beat. "Mm. Mm-Mm. M-m-mmm. Mm."

"Good job," Beck praised the kid. "Just focus on the song. Don't drop the beat."

"Mm. Mm-Mm. M-m-mmm. Mm."

"Bum. Bum-bum. Ba-ba-bum. Bum."

As Jeremy continued to hum, she could hear his breaths slowly getting back to a normal pace. Slowly, she took hold of his wrist with her hand that wasn't keeping beat on his back. She pressed her thumb to his pulse point and could feel his heart rate getting down to a normal BPM... It was working.

Of course it would... You're a little expert on these types of things, right?

The little bitchy voice in the back of her head whispered mockingly. She was getting kind of annoyed with that part of herself, but it was better than hearing John Summers, Olivia Hopkins, and Bruno Hawks inside her head like she used to.

Once Jeremy's breathing and heart rate were completely back to normal, her pats turned into a soft grip on his upper arm. "Let's take a break, yeah?" Jeremy nodded, his head still idly dangling between his knees. Beck turned to glance up at Morgan and Reid that were staring down at her, their expressions even more perplexed than when they'd first approached her and the kid earlier. "Let's take a break," she said. It sounded almost like an order and maybe it was...

They listened.

"I've gotta go tell Hotch," Morgan exclaimed. "Ryder..." she glanced up at him and noticed he was gesturing for her to follow.

"I'll be back in a little bit. If you feel your chest hurting again... hum and focus on breathing, okay? It helps if you tap, too," she gave him a friendly smile as he glanced up to meet her gaze. She demonstrated her tapping her fingers on his knee a couple times before she got up to her feet to follow after Morgan and Reid. "What is it?"

"Didn't know you were so good with kids," Reid remarked.

"I'm not," she immediately deflected. "So... what are we making of this?"

"Acute Stress Disorder," Dr. Reid answered.

"Seriously?" Morgan gaped at the Doctor. "You think he's seen something that traumatic that it's given him an anxiety disorder?"

"Would explain the signs," Beck muttered, her eyes still on Jeremy a few yards away. "His loss of memory... the way he's distanced himself from what happened... his dissociation to the present when he looks down constantly. He's guilty about what happened, but it can't just be because he took his eyes off his cousin..." Beck turned back to the two men. "He knows something."

Reid and Morgan shared a loaded look before turning back to her.

"Alright, we gotta go tell Hotch now," Morgan stated.

"I'll stay with the kid." Beck was making a move to head back to Jeremy when Reid took a side step into her path. Beck halted as he explained, "I don't think that's the best idea."

She furrowed her eyebrows slightly. "Why not? I've gained his trust, he'll be more willing to speak to me."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Reid grimaced. "He's nervous around you... Granted, he's more anxious around Morgan and I because he's associated us with the police, but we could easily gain his trust faster."

"And why's that?" She prompted.

"Because we're guys and he's a thirteen year old boy that's suddenly in close proximity to..." Reid trailed off, his lips pursed as he swallowed hard.

"To... what?" Beck asked, still lost as to what his point was.

"Well, you... you're, uh... you're..."

Beck's confusion only grew further, as did her concern for the Doctor. He looked like he might've been having a stroke for a second as he stammered for an explanation. She then turned to Morgan for answer. "You've got any idea what he's getting at?"

Morgan only grinned. "I do, but I just wanna see what he'll come up with," he chuckled.

Beck turned back to the Doctor who was now openly scowling at the muscular agent beside her.

"Well?" Beck prompted.

"What I'm trying to say is that Jeremy is a pubescent teenage boy and you are..." he shut his eyes for a second as he tried to come up with a suitable response. "...a very attractive woman..." Beck raised a single eyebrow up at him. When she turned to side-eye Agent Morgan, he was covering his smile with his hand. "You being so close to him could distract him even more."

At this point, Morgan was nearly cackling into his fist. He tried his best to keep it in, but Beck could see his shoulders shaking.

"Fine," she relented, putting the Doctor- who was red beyond belief- out of his misery. "I'll go check in with Hotchner. But Morgan- you've gotta suffer with me."

"A trip through the mall with a... very attractive woman-" Beck rolled her eyes, Dr. Reid threw his head back in embarrassment. "-sounds like a date to me. Later, Romeo," Morgan threw over his shoulder as Beck lead him away.

She could hear Reid groaning as they left him behind.

Morgan chuckled beneath his breath after they'd gotten a decent distance away. "An IQ of 187 dwindled down to a blubbering mess when presented with a member of the opposite sex," he shook his head.

Beck couldn't help but chuckle at his joke. It was a little funny seeing Dr. Reid- a man with three PhD's and genius level IQ- struggle to find a way to describe her. And he thought she was the riddle here. "Yeah, he sure does have a way with words," she mused.

"And you've definitely got a way with kids," Morgan replied. "You've got, what, three siblings?" Of course he'd find a way to segway the discussion from Dr. Reid's lack of social skills when it came to women to her personal life. He was good, but not very subtle.

"Four if you count my sister-in-law," she replied, relenting to the questioning. He could've been asking worse questions, so what was the harm in these minor ones?

"You got a lot of experience with dealing with kids then?" She could practically hear the underlying question that he really wanted to ask- you got a lot of experience dealing with panic attacks, too?

"Uh, yeah, I guess," Beck answered as they made their way down the escalators. "My younger sister is still fifteen, my baby brother just turned four and my brother and his wife just had a baby girl a few months ago."

"You've got quite the family," he mused. "I've got two younger sisters myself. They're close in age though so I wouldn't say I helped raise them or anything, but I did look out for them. How about you?"

Beck shrugged. "My older brother and I used to have to babysit our baby sister when we were teenagers, but I'd already moved out by the time my baby brother was born. I try my best to be apart of his life, but... work is always demanding, huh?" She asked, adding a little light-heartedness to her statement as they walked off the escalator together.

"Yeah, I get that," Morgan nodded. He didn't press the topic further because as soon as they turned the corner around the escalators, they spotted Hotchner beside a woman in a pantsuit with schematics of the building. Beck deduced this must've been someone from mall security. "Hotch," Morgan called out to grab his attention.

The Unit Chief turned and saw them approaching. He dismissed the security woman before giving them his full attention.

"Our guess is Jeremy either heard or saw something that could be useful," Morgan began to explain their findings. "But the guilt has manifested itself into an Acute Stress Disorder. The kid can't remember a thing."

"And when we tried to press him, he hyperventilated and had a panic attack," Beck chimed in. "He knows something, he's just blocking it out for some reason."

Hotchner tilted his head, perplexed. "Take him back to the scene and do a cognitive interview," he instructed.

Morgan nodded, agreeing without question. Beck wondered how someone with as much trust issues as Morgan could somehow still follow someone's orders so willingly. Her answer: history. Or mutual reassurance. One of the two.

As Morgan left, Hotchner addressed her. "Ryder, with me." Beck fought the urge to roll her eyes... Of course. With him. Like a child.

"Is there a reason you're toting me around like a lap dog, Agent Hotchner?" She eventually pressed as he led her through the many armed officers that were still running around the mall on look-out for Katie Jacobs. "If this is about Denver-"

"It's not," he cut her off swiftly, both in conversation and physically when he swung around to stand in front of her just before they reached the elevator nearby. "I'm not punishing you by keeping you close, I'm trying to help you."

She raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I understand this is your first victim-heavy case," Hotchner explained. "The CIA doesn't exactly deal with the tears and the hyperventilating and the broken families in cases like the ones we deal with and I just want you to understand how to approach this case in the best way possible... how to approach these people." Beck crossed her arms over her chest... Oh, if only he knew how well she dealt with Jeremy earlier... But she also had to think about how annoying his mother and father had been and how close she'd been to knocking the air out of Mr. Jacobs. Hotchner, once again, had a point. "Just... stay close."

He had a point, she did need a couple pointers when it came to 'victim-heavy' cases as he called it. And he was correct in assuming the CIA never really handled shit like this. The closest she'd come to anything like this was when her and John Summers were once assigned to a crooked politicians family in Kazakhstan... Of course, they were there to hold them hostage until the CIA was able to apprehend the politician a few days later, but it was still an entire week of Beck and Summers just idly watching over this family... keeping them safe and keeping track of the situation because neither Summers nor Beck really wanted to have to harm this woman and her three children if things went sideways, but... it wasn't past them if they needed to.

Beck reluctantly nodded.

"Thank you," he replied, turning back on his heel to continue their walk towards the elevator.

"If you're going to have me stuck to your side," Beck began as they stepped inside the metal box. She recognized the very different circumstances from their first private discussion... how they both opted to take the stairs instead of the elevator on that first case a few weeks ago in Portland. "Could you at least tell me where you're dragging me?"

The elevator doors opened on the second floor after a couple of seconds and they stepped out. "Beth Jacobs is about to make an appeal to Katie's abductor over the PA system to illicit sympathy and maybe even a reaction from him," Hotchner explained. "If he's still here, he's trapped and he's probably panicking right about now. She needs to attempt to convey to him that she's not an object to be taken... Hopefully, she'll stop the abductor from killing Katie prematurely if he is thinking of doing so right about now." Shivers ran down Beck's spine hearing him discuss children and death in the same conversation.

"Those kids were dead either way."

"Well... here's to hoping," Beck muttered as they approached Jim, who was already standing over the balcony's edge, overlooking a crowd of patrons from the mall that had been herded into small areas like these while the mall was being searched. "Anything the search teams find?" She prompted the agent in an attempt to forget about Hotchner's words.

"Nothing yet," he answered. "But we're taking your advice... checking in small places kids could get lost or wander into by accident. We've only gotten so far. All the abandoned stores we've checked have been empty, dressing rooms..."

Beck's frown deepened. This wasn't getting any easier. There were only so many places someone could stash a kid in the mall... "This Unsub definitely has to have extensive knowledge of this mall to know where to hide himself and Katie... We should check mall records for anyone fired recently... or even someone who could still work here with even the slightest record."

Hotchner shook his head. "No... it wouldn't make sense to."

"Why not?" She persisted.

"Because it doesn't match the MO of the first abduction that occurred at a different mall. There was no prior knowledge needed other than entrances and exits," he replied. "I'd understand if perhaps he started with a mall he had a previous history with, but not if he strayed farther from his comfort zone only to return to it... It doesn't make sense."

Beck pursed her lips as she looked out into the sea of people... None of this was making any sense. If it was just a random Unsub that had no prior knowledge of the mall like Hotchner was presuming then he wouldn't be this good at hiding. And if he was just that- random- than maybe Jeremy wouldn't seem so keen on blocking out the memory of what and perhaps who he saw...

"Maybe this isn't related..." Beck muttered.

"Ryder," she turned to glance up at the Unit Chief. He raised an eyebrow at her and she understand what he was mildly scolding her for now. She bowed her head... Right, right. Negative improbabilities...

But was it really so improbable?

"My name is Beth Jacobs..." Beck glanced up at the ceiling at the sound of Mrs. Jacobs voice echoing through the mall emitting from the PA system... it had begun. "Forty-five minutes ago, our daughter Katie went missing... She's only six years old."

Six... Max would be six in two years.

She shut her eyes and shook away the thought.

No, she persisted mentally. You didn't think about your family back with the CTU, this job is no different than that.

Then again, maybe it was...

"Last month, she started first grade," Mrs. Jacobs continued. Beck could practically hear the tears and desperation from through the speaker system. "Katie is our only child, and we love her very much. We just want her back safe."

"Pay attention to any overly sympathetic people..." Hotchner muttered beside her, his eyes trained on the people below them. "People who look a little too invested into what she's saying. Frantic movements... nervous ticks. They could be pacing or even just staring off into space."

Beck nodded, her eyes searching the crowds for anything like what he described as Mrs. Jacobs went on.

"The other day... Katie told me that she was ready to ride... a big girl's bike... without training wheels," Mrs. Jacobs sobbed. "And I promised her that she could do that on her birthday."

There were a few winces from the crowd of people down below. Pained expressions... Other mothers clutching on tight to their own children... So Beck focused her gaze on the stragglers. Men who were hanging off to the side or even close to the middle, but not close to many people... There were a few. Most looked agitated that they were stuck there, others looked concerned, but none... overly concerned, as Hotchner had put it.

"Please, whoever you are... I hope you're listening," Mrs. Jacobs's sobs now morphed into a persistent voice, the sadness and desperation now replaced with a tone that made her sound as though she was demanding for her child to be returned safely to her. "We just want our daughter back to us safely."

Beck's eyes trailed across the balcony where she spotted Reid, Prentiss and Morgan all standing across from them. Their backs turned as they faced the food court. There she could see Mr. Jacobs pacing slightly, Jeremy at the table with his head bowed, and Susan Jacobs patting his arm idly as she stared down at the table in front of her.

Hm... that was odd...

NO! Beck grimaced. No negative improbabilities.

"Katie is just a little girl," Beth Jacobs continued. "She's just a little girl who deserves another birthday."

"Sir."

Beck, Jim and Hotchner all turned to find an agent approaching. Beck recognized her as someone from Jim's team that had been there when they'd all first arrived. She noticed this woman was holding a purple shirt in her hand as she approached.

"Beth Jacobs was able to provide us this," she held up the shirt. "For the search dogs."

Jim quickly pulled on a glove as he took the shirt from the agent. "Are they already downstairs?"

"Yes, sir," she answered.

"Good." And with that, Jim was off.

"Agent Hotchner?" The agent stuck around. "Your Technical Analyst is asking for you back in Security. Something about video footage."

Hotchner nodded as Beck started off to Security. "Thank you," she heard him throw over his shoulder as he followed after her.

When Beck walked through the Security office, she immediately spotted Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs off in another office, JJ seated across from them. Beck frowned, she definitely didn't envy the blonde's job right now as she made her way across the many monitors to get to the one where Penelope Garcia was seated, pink strands of hair and polka dot dress standing out in the dark, sterile atmosphere.

"What'd you find?" Beck asked as she stood leaning over her left shoulder. Garcia jumped slightly at her appearance then glanced over to her right to find Hotchner mirroring the other agent's position over her shoulder as they both glanced at the screen.

"Well," she began as she pulled up the footage she had of yet another crowded hallway just outside the arcade. "I was able to dig up a bit more footage of of Katie moments before she vanished."

"Anything?" Beck prompted, her eyes narrowing as she attempted to find the familiar pink pigtails she'd seen in the first image of her in the crowded hallway.

"Only seven seconds I was able to decipher," Garcia explained. "But it's seven more than we had."

"What are we looking at?" Hotchner asked.

"Surveillance footage I retrieved off a second camera on the first floor," she answered. "It shows Katie exiting the arcade-" she pointed to the screen as it zeroed in on a little figure with pigtails in her hair moving through the crowd. "-follows her movements through the crowd. She went North-" a second frame appeared, her figure growing farther and farther away until-

UNABLE TO LOCATE MATCHIN SUBJECT

The red message on the next frame read as it appeared in bold letters.

"...Until she disappears," Hotchner frowns.

"Criminy. I still can't make out who she was with," Garcia sighed.

"Seven seconds..."

"All the images I could find, sir-" Garcia tried to explain until he cut her off, finishing his initial thought. "...That's all it takes for a child to disappear."

Meanwhile, Beck's eyes were still strained as she attempted to piece together where she was and what the map she'd looked at earlier of the schematics of the mall matched up.

"Where is she going?" Beck prompts. "Why leave the arcade? Are there any bookstores? Clothing stores? Her uncle said she likes to read and play dress up, could she had left the arcade and gotten snatched up from Point A to Point B?"

"If Katie was alone, the only stores in the vicinity she would be walking toward would be furniture, stationary, or bedding," Garcia stated.

Beck groaned, Hotchner concluding, "Nothing that a six year old would leave an arcade for." There went that theory. "Unless... it wasn't a store that caught her eye."

"What- you think someone lured her away with bait?" Beck prompted as she glanced over Garcia's head at him.

"I once followed Todd Cortel the entire length of Silver Beach because he had a kite," Garcia reminisced beside her.

Hotchner nodded, "The right bait might lure her away from the crowd." He pulled his weight from off the desk and started off to the office exit, but Beck stayed put once more... Her eyes still straining to see what direction Katie's little figure was going.

She was six... Beck didn't exactly have the normal upbringing she might've had, but she knew when Alice was around Katie's age, she already knew what 'Stranger Danger' meant. Beck had to assume that Katie knew what that was, too, so why throw it all out of the window, unless...

"...or the right person..."

The words left her mouth like a whisper. Garcia turned to peer at her from through her wide-set glasses.

Beck's eyes were still focused on the direction Katie's head was facing. "Are there other cameras facing the Southwest from the direction Katie is headed?"

Garcia shook her head. "No- I mean, there are, but the mall never turned them on because they were just outside of stores no one would really care enough to rob," she explained.

"Are there any other stores that have fake cameras set up like that? Any other area in the mall where there are blindspots?"

"Uh... One, but it's on the second floor outside a dress shop... Why?"

Beck tapped her finger on the desk...

It's not another negative improbability. This is real... Tell him.

Beck didn't answer as she tore herself away from the desk and rushed after Hotchner. She had just caught up to him as he was leaving the office. She jogged up to his side and fell into a fast-paced walk beside him. "What if we're looking at this wrong?" She prompted.

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it-" she began. "Katie is lured away from her cousin in one of only two places in the entire mall where there is a blindspot and is currently missing despite the teams having searched every crack and crevice of this place. And you said that the MO doesn't line up with the Jessica Davis case because why stray from your comfort zone then return to it so soon after. But what if this has nothing to do with the Jessica Davis abduction at all and is just being framed to look like it?"

Hotchner halted in his steps, Beck following in suit as he turned to glance down at her. "Ryder... these negative improbabilities-"

"It's not an improbability," she insisted through clenched teeth. "You're right, I haven't had much experience with these types of cases so I don't know what to expect from them. But I do have experience with putting together puzzles. It's why the CIA kept me around for so long because I analyzed every last detail and came up with the most probable way a problem occurred and the most efficient way to solve it with what we have. And what we have here are a bunch of tiny clues that aren't adding up and it all points to this being something completely different than what we initially thought."

Hotchner looked conflicted, his jaw clenched as he searched her eyes for any hints of skepticism or even a little hesitance. She displayed none. She was hardset on what she knew and what she found. And it was his turn to trust her after what happened last case.

"Hotch." Both Beck and Hotchner turned to see Morgan rushing over. "The dogs got something over here."

Beck and Hotchner jogged after him to where there was a small gathering of officers, Jim beside a search dog beside him. In his hand was a locket that had apparently been inside a turned over trash can they'd been sifting through.

"What'd you find?" Hotchner asked as they approached.

"Some necklace in the trash," Jim answered as he handed the golden chain with a sparkling heart at the end of it towards an officer standing by with an evidence bag. "Bag it and label it in case there's any connection."

"Wait-" Beck took a step forward as she grabbed a hold of the bag now containing the locket. She'd seen it somewhere. "Isn't this..."

"Katie's necklace," Hotchner concluded as he held up one of the fliers they'd been passing around with her face on it. Sure enough, dangling around her neck was a sparkling heart.

Beck strained her eyes as she examined the necklace in her hand.

"What is it?" Morgan prompted from behind her.

"It's real..." she muttered. "The gold... the diamonds..."

Jim furrowed his eyebrows. "Which means...?" Beck knew what that meant.

She turned to glance up at Hotchner from over her shoulder.

She had been right. And from the look on his face, he knew it.

"We need to get back to the parents."

—

"Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs," JJ began as she sat across from Beth Jacobs- who hadn't gotten any better as the time went on- her husband standing up behind her with his hand on her shoulder. "We found something and we wanted to know if you could tell us about it... See if it means anything."

Hotchner turned to face Beck, nodding for her to set the evidence down in front of the parents. Beck gently laid the necklace in the bag out in front of them and stood upright once more. "The dogs found this in a trash can a few halls down from the arcade..."

Beth Jacobs took a ragged breath in as she stared down at the piece of jewelry. "She found it in the schoolyard about a year ago..." she mused.

Beck furrowed her eyebrows, so did JJ. "This is 24-Karat gold, and the stones are real," the blonde stated.

"Whoever lost it would have been looking for it," Hotchner explained. "Is there any reason that Katie would have lied?"

Beth shook her head. Mr. Jacobs immediately answered, "No."

Beck narrowed her eyes at him... Her negative improbabilities were looking a whole lot like less of an improbability and more like she should already be taking Hotchner's job right about now.

"How far do you live from here?" JJ prompted them.

"About a mile," Beth answered.

"Is it alright if we maybe take a look around?" Beck asked tentatively.

Beth glanced up at her, her eyes narrowed as she replied, "...of course not."

Mr. Jacobs, as per usual, got defensive. "What do you think you're gonna find there?"

Beck opened her mouth, but quickly clamped it back shut when she realized she didn't really have an answer that wouldn't put them off. Because right now all she had was: 'because we need to find out who would have given Katie that necklace and why she lied about it because it may not be related to Jessica Davis's case and Katie Jacobs may have been kidnapped by someone you know which is why your nephew is forgetting what happened and why your brother and sister-in-law are acting suspicious and why Katie is being kept so hidden and how easy it was for whoever kidnapped her to get away with her so easily without being seen.' But... she realized that probably wouldn't have been the best thing to say to two very anxious parents.

Thankfully, Hotchner put her out of her misery as he responded to his question while he was leaned over the table, carefully overlooking the necklace in the bag. "It's just protocol." As he picked up the bag to peer at something inside, he must've noticed something because just as soon as they'd walked in there so urgently just a few minutes ago, he was suddenly itching to get out so soon. "Excuse us," he said, gesturing with his head for Beck to follow.

She obliged, trailing after him until they reached the hallway outside where Morgan and Jim waited.

As they gathered around, he lifted up the bag for the group to see. "The clasp is damaged," he pointed out. Beck strained her eyes to see what he was referring to, and sure enough... the little clasp at the end of the necklace looked as though it had been stretched and dented... "Like it was ripped off of her neck," Hotchner finished her thoughts.

"Then they tossed it in the trash," Jim added.

Hotchner frowned down at the necklace as he came to terms what Beck had been saying a few minutes ago. "If the abductor just wants to fulfill his urge and move on, he wouldn't take the time. This-" he shook the necklace in the bag. "-is motivated by rage."

"This is personal," Beck concluded.

"David Westerfield kidnapped Danielle Van Dam out of revenge when her mother rejected him," Morgan chimed in. Beck would've rolled her eyes had they not just cracked an important piece of the case wide open. Dr. Reid and Agent Morgan's and their little serial killer facts... They needed an intervention.

"You were right." Beck turned to her left to see Hotchner glancing down at her. "This may not be related to last week's abduction after all." It only took him this long to realize it, but now that he did, she felt a swell of pride in her chest as she took hold of the necklace in her hand.

"So, what now?" Jim prompted them.

"Morgan," Hotchner addressed the agent across from him. "Take Reid, go check out the Jacobs' house, specifically their family dynamic. I'll have Garcia run a background check, see if they have had any run-ins with people, any skeletons in their closet that may be coming back to haunt them... ex-boyfriends, vengeful ex-coworkers, mistresses..."

"Can you run one on the aunt and uncle, too?" The words left Beck's mouth, but her eyes hadn't left the necklace clasp.

"Why?" Hotchner asked.

"A gift... for you, nhà tôi..."

She hid her shudder as she turned to glance up at him. "Just a hunch," she answered truthfully. She'd been right so far... he should know well to trust her by now. And he did...

It would be his mistake later on, though, wouldn't it? A voice in the back of her head whispered. Kind of like how you trusted Hawks?

"Alright, but it's not the top priority," Hotchner relented before turning back to Jim. "Have your men keep working with the search dogs, see if they can come up with anything else." Jim nodded as he headed in another direction. "Morgan," Hotch turned to him.

He nodded. "I'll go get Reid. I'll get Garcia to send me the address," he called over his shoulder as he left.

"Ryder, we're going to go speak with Paul and see what he may know," he instructed. "But I want you to hang back and analyze how the discussion goes. Don't speak- just listen."

Beck wanted to groan as they made their way back into the office. "Is this going to be one of those learning experiences?"

"It is," he answered honestly as they made their way over to the blond behind her computer screens. "Garcia, I need you to run a full background check on both Beth and Paul Jacobs."

Garcia furrowed her eyebrows as she threw a concerned look up over her shoulder at him then to Beck then back to him. "Ser- Seriously? You think the parents have something to do with this?"

"We don't know what to think, yet, we just need to know whatever they're not telling us," Hotchner replied.

"Okay..." she said in an uneasy tone as she turned back to her computer screens and started typing away.

"And could you also look into Susan and Richard Jacobs as well?" Beck chimed from behind her.

She shook her head slightly. "It could take some time to get everything, but I'll let you know what comes up."

"Thank you," Beck told her with as much sincerity as she could muster. Hotchner moved around her towards where JJ was seated with Beth and Paul Jacobs. Beck could sense as she quickly caught up with the Unit Chief that this was going to get a little dicey.

"Mr. Jacobs," he began, his first sympathetic tone he had had towards the parents now replaced by his usual monotone voice. "Can we please speak privately?"

Mr. Jacobs threw a worried glance to his wife before reluctantly walking out of the office, Hotchner behind him and Beck behind him.

"We just have a couple of questions we want to ask you," Hotchner began as they left the threshold of the office. As soon as they'd gotten a reasonable distance from the glass door entrance, Mr. Jacobs stopped to turn around and face the pair. "Are there any families in your neighborhood that you don't get alone with?"

Beck frowned, almost mirroring the expression on Mr. Jacobs' face at the question. "My neighborhood?" He asked in confusion. He was confused because he was asking questions about things that he wouldn't think pertained to Jessica Davis's abductor. Beck was confused at how mundane the question was.

"Or an employee that you might have fired?" Hotchner continued. Beck's frown growing deeper as she stood behind him. What was he playing at?

"No," Mr. Jacobs immediately answered.

"Or... any child Katie might have upset?" This was a little bit of a jab, but it was still relatively tame. Why had he needed her to spectate this?

Mr. Jacobs faltered for a moment. "Hold on, hold on, hold on... Where you going with this?"

"Katie's necklace was ripped off of her neck and thrown into the trash, Mr. Jacobs," Beck chimed in from behind Hotchner. She figured he wouldn't mind if she helped out a little in the questioning. It wasn't like he was using any hard-hitting questions yet like 'was your daughter being molested?' That was the question Beck had been dying to ask since she found out Katie'd lied to her parents about the gift...

Once upon a time, you lied about a gift, too...

Beck inwardly winced. Now was not the time.

"What does that... what are you getting at?" Mr. Jacobs questions persisted.

"It means it's personal and it's possible that you may know the offender," Hotchner answered.

He shook his head in disbelief. "Nah. That's crazy," he scoffed. "I mean, w-why would anyone-" He cut himself off abruptly, letting out a heavy sigh, rolling his shoulders back and looking away from her and Hotchner. Huh, Beck took note of that. Maybe he had someone in mind... "No. No, uh... we get along with everyone in our neighborhood, and, uh, Katie loves all of her- all of her friends at school." Beck deflated. Or maybe he'd just come to the terms that being overtly offensive wasn't going to get them anywhere.

"I mean, I, uh- I taught my daughter well," he concluded with a sad grimace.

Hotchner stared at him for a moment, unmoving until he finally spoke after a brief pause.

"Why would you say, 'I've taught my daughter well,' and not, 'we've taught her really well'?"

Beck peered over his shoulder, a small smirk playing at her lips as she watched Mr. Jacobs falter at the question like he had before.

"You know what I mean," he replied.

Ah, she saw what Hotchner had done there... Got him to let go of that defensiveness so he could get him to open up and make that little slip that could've very well been a clue. Mind games... Fun.

Hotchner didn't seem to buy his lame excuse as his eyes continued to bore into Mr. Jacobs'. Beck knew that glare, she'd been on the receiving end of it more times than she could count in only the few cases she'd been on with him so far. She knew that anyone average that had never been used to people looking down on them 24/7 would be put off by this 'Hotchner-Glare,' but she'd been immune to it. She couldn't help but enjoy Mr. Jacobs shift uncomfortable beneath this glare right now, though.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" He asked wearily.

"Are there marital issues that I should know about?" Hotchner prompted the man.

His eyes narrowed. "Are you kidding?"

"Are either of you having an affair?" The agent pressed.

Beck glanced anxiously between Mr. Jacobs and Hotchner when she began to notice the twitching of Mr. Jacobs' fingers... like he was getting ready for an altercation.

"You son of a bitch!" Mr. Jacobs shouted, taking a step towards Hotchner. Beck took a step forward to, as if moving to block him, but was halted when she noticed the agent's hand splayed out behind his thigh as if telling her not to make a move. "My daughter is missing, and you wanna turn this around-!"

"I know that," Hotchner cut him off firmly, not raising his voice any higher than a scold, maintaining his composure despite the angry man shouting in his face. "And I'm concerned with finding her, which is why I've asked you the question."

Almost immediately, Mr. Jacobs deflated. The anger having evaporated after he realized that Hotchner really was just here to help and was doing his job. Beck had to wonder that if this was Hotchner's endgame, why not just immediately tell him the reasoning behind the questions instead of waiting until after he almost threw a punch to his nose.

Beck wouldn't have minded to see it- but she wasn't a complete asshole, so she probably would've stepped in after the fact.

Slowly, Mr. Jacobs took a deep breath in before turning back to Hotchner. "My family means everything to me," he stated, deflecting as if that was a good enough answer.

"Finding Katie is everything to us," Hotchner retorted as he continued to press into Mr. Jacobs.

Eventually, Mr. Jacobs relented with a small nod. He seemed almost annoyed as he answered, "No... we are not participating in any affairs."

Hotchner nodded. "Okay," he replied. And just like that, Mr. Jacobs was off the hook it seemed. Hotchner turned to jerk his head at Beck, motioning for her to follow after him as he led her away from a distraught Mr. Jacobs.

Beck was still reeling as much as he was by the time Hotchner had led her a decent distance away from Mr. Jacobs and the security office.

"Okay..." she started slowly. "What the hell was that? You irritated the shit out of him for a single answer that we don't know if he's even telling the truth about?"

Hotchner shook his head. "That's not what it was, which is exactly why I wanted you to analyze the interaction," he explained as they continued their way through the busy hallways of the mall. "I drew a reaction out of him to show his state of mind when pushed to a certain breaking point. Katie's abductor- or someone with even trace amounts of guilt- would've broken completely and admitted it. But with Mr. Jacobs, he's merely desperate. Which means we can rule him out for any kind of foul play."

Beck furrowed her eyebrows. Huh... Mind games.

"So? What now?" She prompted as they made their way towards the food court where Susan, Richard, and Jeremy Jacobs all remained seated at the tables. "We repeat the process on the rest of the Brady Bunch?"

Hotchner opened his mouth to reply when his phone suddenly began to ring. He answered on the second ring. "Yeah?" There was a pause as Hotchner faltered in his steps just before they reached the family where Beth Jacobs, JJ, and Prentiss had already joined them. Beck watched his eyes scan the the Jacobses before replying into the receiver, "Most likely by somebody under the same roof... She didn't because her father didn't buy her the necklace."

Beck raised an eyebrow when Hotchner turned to look down at her. She realized that she might've been right about the hunch she had about the family and the necklace. She didn't take pride in that... she knew what it meant.

"Get back here as soon as you can," Hotchner called into the cell before hanging it up just as Prentiss approached.

"What do we do now?" Beck asked.

Hotchner addressed Prentiss. "We need to separate the boy and his father. Two rooms. Now." Prentiss nodded, turning back to the tables to fetch Mr. Jacobs and probably tell JJ the strategy before they'd separate Jeremy.

Beck eagerly turned to Hotchner. "Where do you want me?"

He raised an eyebrow at her, clearly taking note about how quickly it was that she accepted her role as a student in this case. She wasn't too mad about it now, she understood that this was something she wasn't an expert it and, truthfully, she wanted to learn. Especially when she was picking it up so well.

"You're with me, again," he answered. "We'll be with the father and I want you to watch everything he does- especially his hands. Manipulators- especially child groomers- tend to use their hands as a means to oversimplify and communicate with children which could easily be used to exploit the child. But-" he stood in front of her, blocking her path and forcing the agent to look up at him. "I need you to maintain your composure as well. You almost stepped in with Mr. Jacobs, you can't do that again. I don't even want you to make any snide remarks or comments. Just sit and listen. It's not ideal, but I want you to learn-"

"I get it," she cut him off swiftly. "Be quiet and analyze. Not that hard to wrap my head around, I'm not four." Hotchner pursed his lips, a scowl on his face. "Next you're gonna start making hand gestures to break down my next task, huh?" She chuckled, but his frown didn't budge.

So much for attempting to crack a joke to lighten the mood.

—

"Mr. Jacobs," Prentiss approached, leading Richard Jacobs along behind her as they started back towards the hallway nearby that doubled as a supply closet almost. "Right this way."

"We just wanted to ask you a couple questions in private," Hotchner explained, opening the door for them to step through. Prentiss went in first, Richard Jacobs went in after her, and Beck hung back off to the side until Hotchner shut the door behind them.

"What's going on here?" Richard immediately asked, growing just as defensive as his brother had been when Hotchner had started questioning him. Beck wondered if it would be similar to what she had seen before from Paul Jacobs.

Prentiss made her way around the table in the middle of the room, /Beck close behind as she tried to blend in with the wall on the end of the room. "We're questioning Jeremy in another room." Beck shifted uncomfortably at the thought of the BAU profilers using the same little mind tricks on the kid that they were using on the adults in the Jacobs family. Yes, he knew something they could need, but he was still a kid and she doubted he did anything that could've led to what was happening to his cousin.

His father, however...

"I know that," he bit back. "Why?"

Hotchner made his way around the table to stand beside Prentiss. "We suspect that he may know something." Alright, it wasn't a complete lie, but he made it seem much more urgent than it really was. Jeremy knew something, but no one blamed him. The Unit Chief's tone made it seem like perhaps they were putting blame on Richard's son... and perhaps that was exactly what they needed to gauge a reaction from him.

Sure enough, Richard Jacobs furrowed his eyebrows in concern and confusion. "About Katie?" Beck noted that he almost sounded more concerned for Katie in that moment than he did his own son that they had just implied was a suspect in the kidnapping of his niece... Hm. Her mind was stuck on the necklace residing in her pocket right about now, how it suddenly felt like fifty pounds.

"From you, Mr. Jacobs, we'd like to know more about your son," Hotchner explained.

Immediately, it was like the defensiveness switched off to reveal a complient little robot. It was almost as if Mr. Jacobs relaxed immediately upon being told that he wasn't being suspected of anything. Of course, it was a normal response, but not for someone that was just told that instead their child was a suspect... He was willing. "What would you like to know?" He asked as he shoved his hands into his khaki pant pockets. A little too willing.

"What Jeremy's interests are," Prentiss began as she walked towards the side of the table, getting a little closer to Mr. Jacobs.

Richard blinked and took his left hand from his pocket as he tried to form an answer. "Uh, computer?" He sounded unsure. "He likes to be on the computer. Spends hours at a time." Interesting. Beck could probably name about three other things the kid was interested in from the short amount of time she spent with him. Video games, classic rock, pretty girls.

But not his father... A single example coming from a man that gave a very descriptive list on things that Katie liked a few hours ago. Playing dress-up. Reading.

The necklace in her pocket got heavier and her anger was beginning to grow more and more at the pieces of a jagged and wicked puzzle began falling together. She relished in being right, but this was one of those things where she wished she hadn't been.

"What's going on?" Richard asked, finally getting concerned when Prentiss's glare didn't let up at his less than helpful answer.

"Who does he socialize with?" She pressed.

He shook his head. "I don't know. Kids at school, I suppose."

There was a tense pause just before Hotchner finally decided to speak up. "You... live under the same roof, but you can't name any of his friends?"

The defensiveness came back into Richard's demeanors once more, both his hands falling out of his pockets. "He spends hours in his room," he exclaimed, his hands moving around as if to express how exasperated he was of his son's antics. "Listening to that metal music I don't understand." Blaming his son's lack of relationship with him on the fact that he's a teenage boy that enjoys and does anything else that normal teenage boys do. Father of the fucking year, huh?

"Has he always been this distant with you or is this something new?" Beck could hear the double meaning in her words that translated to have you always ignored your son?

His and came up to touch his chin as if to express his cluelessness. "Well, I guess... I guess it's always been like this." Oh, so he is just a shit father? Noted. "That's why I don't find it odd." Beck's teeth grit. It's not odd because you've grown accustomed to ignoring your son and pretending you give a shit about things he does only when it badly reflects upon you. Beck clenched her fist then unclenched it again. Fucking prick.

"Well, we did some checking, and, uh..." Hotchner trailed off momentarily as if the express hesitation. They wanted him to believe he was a victim as much as Katie, Beck noted in his tone. "We found out that Jeremy, at the ripe age of 13, has a record."

Now, usually in this case, the parents would be getting defensive of their children. They'd begrudgingly admit to it, yes, but then they'd immediately throw up a defense about how it's unrelated to this case and that their child is completely innocent. Beck knew, she didn't need experience with families to detect that- she watched Law & Order: SVU.

But... Richard Jacobs didn't do that.

Instead he nodded. "For stealing, six months ago," he even clarified for them. "We knew that."

"And... that didn't strike you as odd?" Hotchner prompted.

Richard shrugged. "He stole earrings for a girl he liked," he explained. Beck wondered that if they posed the question about the necklace if Richard would try to pin it on his son, too. But then he followed up his explanation with an even richer gem. "When I was his age, I- I probably did the same thing." There it was.

Prentiss turned away from Richard, her eyes finding Beck's. The agent could practically see the gears turning in her head at what to make of all these little clues Mr. Richards was dropping. Beck watched with anticipation. What were these two planning?

"He must have really wanted to make an impression on her, make her feel special," Beck could hear the implying tone in Hotchner's voice when he said the words... Beck repressed a shudder at the thought that perhaps Mr. Jacobs probably said the same things to Katie...

The necklace got heavier.

"Because we checked the record, and they were very valuable," Hotchner continued.

Richard nodded, "We reprimanded him."

"What was her name?" Hotchner prompted.

"Who?"

The dumbfounded look on his face made Beck almost want to abandon her post on the far side of the room, grab him by his neck and put the pieces of the puzzle together for him. He was giving them everything and he had no clue.

She shifted her weight onto her left foot, Hotchner peering back at her as if silently telling her to stay put. God, she felt like a dog.

Prentiss turned back to face Mr. Jacobs. "The girl Jeremy liked so much he stole for," she reiterated, taking steps closer to him.

"I-" he glanced nervously between Prentiss and Hotchner. "I don't know. We're his parents- he's thirteen years old." God, what a shitty fucking excuse for such a shitty fucking parent. "If he hadn't been arrested, we probably wouldn't even know that he was interested in girls." Why would he add that to the mix? Was he covering his own ass at this point or pointing them towards his son by mentioning his attraction to girls as a pubescent, impulsive, teenage boy... He wanted them to suspect Jeremy.

Hotchner nodded. Beck was a little thrown off when he abruptly stepped out of the room a for a few moments.

When he returned, the air in the storage room was tense. Mr. Jacobs wasn't as defensive, he probably figured he was giving them everything he knew on his son right about now... selling him out to protect his own ass.

"Mr. Jacobs," Hotchner began as he walked over. "Have a seat."

Richard Jacobs hesitated momentarily before complying. He took a seat at the table, but neither Hotchner or Prentiss did the same. Another tactic? Maybe, but Beck pushed herself off from the back wall to listen in a little closely. This was the good stuff.

"Did, uh, Jeremy and Katie spend a lot of time together?" Hotchner pressed. He phrased it as though he were giving Mr. Jacobs another chance to either defend or give up his son in some sort of way, but Beck came closer when she noticed Hotchner's hand at his side beckoning her over.

Sure enough, with a relaxed posture in the chair and both of his hands visible and up in front of him, he exclaimed, "Our families spend a lot of time together. He likes his cousin."

"Does that make you jealous?"

Beck held her breath, watching closely at Mr. Jacobs' reaction to the question.

"What?"

For a split second, she thought she saw something close to guilt flash within his irises, but it was quickly replaced by confusion. A plastered face over a man attempting to cover something even he knew was wrong... Oh, how right she was about this necklace now weighing down in her hand that clutched it within her pocket.

He nervously turned to Prentiss, to Beck, then back to Hotchner.

"Why would it?"

Hotchner turned to Beck, a silent go-ahead for her to use what she found.

"Why would it?"

Beck was almost too happy to get rid of that growing weight in her pocket and deposit it in a neat placement on the table before Richard Jacobs. It was splayed out for him to see. The light on the necklace reflecting just right as the diamonds and gold glistened. The only thing out of place on there was the strained clasp... not to mention how beautiful it was for such disgusting implications for what it meant.

Mr. Jacobs stared at it, his lips pursed and his eyes downcast. His hands went dormant. One at his side, the other at the edge of the table. His fingers weren't tapping the way Beck's were against her sides.

"We found that in that trash," Preniss explained. He didn't react, so she continued. "How is it that you know your six year old niece likes to read books and play dress-up, but you don't know the first thing about your own son?" Her voice remained steady through her question, not raised or hoarse as she said what needed to be said. She was making the implications clear now, no longer giving Mr. Jacobs the room to ignore the words between the lines. They knew what he was.

Hotchner added in, laying it on thick, "Typically molesters only pay attention to the children that they're grooming, ignoring even their own."

Prentiss crossed her arms over her chest, Hotchner leaned forward towards Mr. Jacobs off the edge of the table, and Beck lingered close behind him, glaring at the back of his head as though she were willing for him to choke on his tongue.

"Katie wore that necklace... because you told her to. Because you told her she was special," Prentiss hissed out the word as if it were acid on her tongue. "As if the sexual abuse wasn't enough." This time her voice did grow in volume. Now they were playing hard-ball, because suddenly Richard Jacobs' eyes got wide and he plastered on that doe-eyed look she came to know as the one he put on when he was about to pretend to be something he wasn't.

"Was that when it started?" Hotchner prompted.

"When what started?" There it was... the cluelessness.

Hotchner didn't let up. "When you gave Katie the necklace, when she started wetting the bed, when her parents came to you and Susan wondering why their daughter locker herself in her room- was that when it started? Is that when the molestation started?"

Richard stood from his seat, anger exuding from every pore of his skin as he viciously exclaimed, "This. Is. Ridiculous."

Beck made a move to push him back into his seat, but Hotchner meticulously place himself in between her and Mr. Jacobs. He let him walk around, and in turn he moved with him. Beck watched the little dance, more specifically the way Hotchner was now moving his hands now that Richard Jacobs' stayed twitching at his sides.

"You couldn't help yourself, could you?" Hotchner ask, his hands reaching out as if he were attempting to convey his understanding to this monster as if what he was could be understandable.

"You're crazy!" Mr. Jacobs shouted, making a gesture with his fingers twirling near his forehead. Huh, some habits died hard, but now Beck could see where Hotchner was getting at.

Beck watched as Mr. Jacobs kept trying to back away from Hotchner gaining on him. His words persisting, as were his movements. He was pushing him to the edge, both literally and metaphorically. "Like so many girls before, you started spending more time with her and telling her she was special."

"I- I wanna get out of here," Mr. Jacobs attempted to deflect. His path to the door now blocked by Hotchner and his way backwards blocked by Prentiss. "I'm not listening to you!" He shouted through Hotchner's statements.

"You knew it was sick- your brother's own daughter," Hotchner shouted as he grew closer. Beck had never seen Hotchner this uncomposed and unprofessional, but maybe this was just another mind game. Or maybe this was his own anger and disgust boiling over so he could get under Mr. Jacobs' skin.

It was working.

"Shut up!" Mr. Jacob pointed his finger angrily at Hotchner, directly mirroring the way Hotchner was doing to him.

"Did she outgrow your preference?!"

"Shut. Up!"

"Did she get too old for you?!"

And finally...

"NO!"

A break...

No. It was just him.

He was broken.

"No..."

As his own admittance dawned on Richard Jacobs, his breath heaved as he regained his composure. Hotchner almost immediately went back to his nuetral expression and monotone voice... So it all really was just a mind trick.

Beck narrowed his eyes, wondering how Hotchner managed to stay so... emotionless. Especially with a job like this. Did he not ever let his emotions get in the way of what he did? There were times at the CTU where she had to do what she thought needed to be done, but she still showed some form of remorse, anger, frustration. Maybe Hotchner felt all of them and just never let it show.

Huh... something he was better at than her.

"I may have done some things that... you couldn't possibly understand." Beck openly flinched at his words and the implications that came with them. She turned her head away from Mr. Jacobs, too disgusted to even bear the thought of seeing the determination in his eyes and how he believed in the things he was saying. That these... these things were in any way justifiable. That his sick fuck thought that molesting a little girl- his own niece was something that could be understood.

She drew a hand up to her mouth to keep from barfing.

"...but I would never hurt Katie."

Beck wouldn't be silent any longer as she turned her mouth away from her hand, her eyes still downcast so not to look at him as she replied, "You already have."

There was a tense silence before Beck snatched up the necklace from the table when she noticed Hotchner starting for the exit. Prentiss pulled the chair out for Mr. Jacobs, gesturing for him to take a seat then following after her.

Hotchner stopped just before the door, turning back to face Mr. Jacobs sitting idly at the table, frozen and stiff as though it was all crashing down on him and he was so suffocated by the consequences of his actions, he wasn't sure what to do now.

Good, Beck thought bitterly.

"Whoever ripped the necklace off Katie did it in a rage," Hotchner explained to the two agents in a hushed whisper. "And he just seems..." he paused, his eyes focusing on him for a moment. "...broken." And with that, he walked off towards the exit, leaving Prentiss and Beck beside on another.

"Broken," Beck scoffed. "That's a tame way to put it."

Prentiss didn't react. She must've been just as disgusted.

"How could someone even live with themselves after something so fucking twisted?" She asked out loud. When she glanced up at Prentiss, though, it looked as though a lightbulb had gone off in her head. "What?" Beck furrowed her eyebrows.

She didn't answer. Instead, she turned back to the monster still frozen to his seat a few yards away. "You know, for probably the most stressful day of your life, I haven't seen you light one cigarette." Hm... an odd observation for her to make. Where was she going with this?

Beck still wasn't sure, even after he answered, "I quit... over a month ago."

Prentiss looked confused, almost as though she were going to ask another question before stopping herself. That lightbulb in her head just got increasingly brighter when she turned back to Beck. "Katie's necklace was ripped off in a rage... someone knew about what he was... doing to her. What that necklace meant."

"Alright," Beck nodded, still unsure of where this was going.

"Susan Jacobs had said she'd left the kids alone to shop for her husband's birthday present... She told me she was getting him an engraved lighter," Prentiss explained. "But if he quit over a month ago-"

That same lightbulb abruptly switched on in Beck's head.

"He wouldn't have a need for a lighter and Susan Jacobs would know that if her and her husband weren't separated due to marital issues..." Beck trailed off, her hand going into her pocket to touch the broken clasp of Katie's necklace. "Marital issues that involved her husband's sick obsession with Katie."

Prentiss and Beck locked eyes for a moment, then they both dashed out of the room. Prentiss was already dialing up Garcia to ask about that background check she'd pulled on Susan and Richard Jacobs.

—

All Beck saw was red as she marched through the metal tables in the food court. Her eyes trained on the brunette woman with a bob cut, her hand on Beth Jacob's shoulder- God, what a fucking image.

Morgan and JJ saw her headed down a warpath, Prentiss not far behind her, and rushed over. Morgan held a hand up to try and stop to ask her what was going on, but Beck didn't have the time.

"Woah, woah, woah- what's happening? What's-"

Beck pushed through the pair, continuing her way towards Susan Jacobs that had now spotted her walking over. Beth and Paul stood to their feet, Susan by their side. Their eyes were all wide, confused and concerned with the deadly glare this FBI agent was sending in their direction, unsure of what to make of it.

"Susan Jacobs?" Beck prompted.

Beth and Paul turned to their sister-in-law, unsure of why the agent was so forceful when addressing her and confused about what was going on. Susan, however, plastered on that same look she recognized in her husband... pretending to play dumb as she glanced back and forth between Paul and Beth then back to Beck.

"I don't..." she began, only for Beck to cut her off.

"You're with me. Let's go," she stated, leaving no room for argument as she gestured for her to walk. Susan kept throwing nervous glances over her shoulder to Beth and Paul who were calling out.

"What's happening?" Beth prompted just as JJ, Morgan, and Prentiss rushed over, seeing how the situation was about to escalate. "Did you find Katie?"

"Is this about Jeremy?" Paul asked just as Morgan blocked his path the further Beck began dragging Susan away, her hand firmly gripping her arm. "Susan, what do you know?!"

Prentiss was by her side as they escorted the woman away. Beck could faintly make out Beth's cries and shouts the further they led her, but all Susan was asking was what this was about... what was going on.

Neither of them answered her.

By the time they made it to the makeshift interview room, just down the hall from where her sick husband was being held, Susan had kept her mouth shut and her composure solid.

Prentiss led her inside and left her there while Hotchner approached the pair out in the hallway.

"What did you find?" He prompted them as soon as he was close enough.

Prentiss began, "I was going over the timeline of events in my head and remembered the reason the kids were left alone at the arcade was because Susan had mentioned she'd gone to buy Richard a birthday present, she'd said she was getting him an engraved lighter."

Hotchner visibly frowned, "He doesn't smoke."

"We know. He said he's been clean for a month," Beck exclaimed. "But it goes to show they've been separated due to marital issues... or at least withdrawn from one another. It would explain how easily Katie went with whoever was with her, why whoever ripped the necklace off knew the implications of it, why Jeremy repressed the memory of his cousin's abductor. It's her, Hotchner."

"Then," Prentiss added on, as if what they had given him already wasn't enough. "Ryder had Garcia run that background check on the Jacobs'... come to find the retail place Susan Jacobs had mentioned she'd worked at is in this mall. She knows the place like the back of her hand. It's her. She took Katie."

"Alright," Hotchner relented, he pursed his lips while thinking of the next strategic move. "Now you just have to get her to tell you where she hid Katie... Ryder." Beck raised her eyebrows... was he serious? "She won't respond to being bombarded by multiple people, but if you can push the right buttons-"

"I can get a reaction out of her that will reveal her true state of mind," Beck finished the explanation he'd given her before after what he showed her his technique with Paul, then with Richard. Now he was trusting her to do the same with Susan.

"Ryder," Hotchner drew closer to her, his voice low. "Susan is someone that is going to deny what she's done to the end. It's the reason why she's been able to keep her composure for so long and lie through her teeth. Because she's become so detached from what she's done... You need to get under her skin, and I'm trusting you to do that without letting it get to you. Do you understand?"

Beck nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Good."

Beck took a deep breath in, taking her time as she turned back towards the door and walked in. As soon as she entered, she threw a brief glance over her shoulder to Hotchner and Prentiss waiting outside. They were counting on her to do this... so was Jeremy and Paul and Beth... and Katie. They all needed her to get this out of Susan...

Susan Jacobs.

And Beck had thought Richard Jacobs was a monster. Susan was a different breed of evil, and that was coming from someone like Beck who'd seen her fair share of evil.

Sure, Susan Jacobs didn't strangle children, slash the throats of women, burn puppies alive, or bomb entire villages of people. Hell, she didn't even molest Katie herself. No... instead she pretended to be the perfect wife, the perfect mother, the perfect aunt. All she did was pretend and pretend and when shit started falling apart because of what her husband was, what he was doing to their niece, she thought the best way to solve this... problem, was by kidnapping and probably killing their niece instead of turning in her husband and revealing what he really was.

Beck wasn't too religious, but there had to be a special place much worse than prison for someone like her when her time was finished up here.

As Beck approached, Susan turned to her, her eyes glassy and wide... Practically mirroring the expression her husband wore before Hotchner tore him to pieces. "Is this about Jeremy?" Beck clenched her fist.

"No, Susan," Beck began in a calm, collected voice as she made her way around the front of the table. "I think we both know what this is about." Carefully, Beck reached into her pocket and pulled out the gold and diamond necklace.

Susan, of course, maintained her mask, unlike her husband had when they'd shown him the necklace. She didn't say anything, but somehow, the silence was telling.

"You know... I got a gift like this once, too. Long time ago," Beck mused as she stared intently at the piece of jewelry dangling from her fingers. "It was an older man; gave me this pretty bracelet he'd taken from another woman before me and had decided to keep." The light glistened off of each individual diamond. Beck could see her reflection off certain parts of the glass and she repressed a shudder at the thought of the things that this necklace had probably reflected off of before this moment. "Turned out to be useful in keeping me quiet, tamed. I'm guessing you can piece together what exactly it was he was keeping me quiet about, can't you, Susan?" Beck looked down at the woman seated before her.

She wore that same doe-eyed look, but Beck can see the fear behind those eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about." She was being found out and now she was trying just a bit too hard to sell the whole 'victim's supportive aunt' thing anymore. Beck knew what she was.

"No, of course you don't. You choose not to..." Beck chuckled darkly, her fingers twirling the necklace in her hands. When she looked back to Susan, she noticed her eyes glued to the dancing light on the stones as she spun it. She thought she saw something close to rage hidden away in those glazed over eyes. "How long have you known?"

Susan's eyes found hers, back to the confused look.

"Was it when her mom confided in you about Katie wetting the bed? Or when Paul had mentioned Katie locking herself away? Or maybe you've known since that first night after Richard snuck away to her bedroom that first time and told her not to make a sound-" Susan flinched at that one. Oh, now they were getting somewhere. "Or maybe you know when he bought her this necklace." She threw it down onto the table between them. "Either way- you knew."

Susan shook her head slightly, "I don't know what you think I knew, but I promise-"

"You promise?" Beck cut her off, raising an eyebrow as she crossed her hands over her chest. "Promise me the way you promised your husband to stay with him through sickness and in health? Tell me, if you two are such a happy couple- why didn't you know he hasn't had a cigarette in over a month, Susan?"

Susan's face went stoic at the question. Yeah... There goes your alibi, you fucking cunt. "Richard and I are working things out-"

"Working things out?" Beck scoffed. "Is that what you're calling 'a disgusting and half-assed attempt at stopping my husband from molesting his niece by kidnapping her and leaving her for dead'? Because that's what you did, Susan." Beck uncrossed her arms and began to slowly make her way around the table to where Susan sat. "Instead of turning in your husband for being the sick animal he is, you decided to take things into your own hands by kidnapping your niece and shoving her in a dark corner somewhere, attempting to make it look like what happened to Jessica Davis on the news a few days ago... Didn't work out the way you planned, now did it, Susan?"

She was frantically shaking her head now, growing more anxious as the agent grew closer, stepping around the table towards her. "I don't- I didn't have anything to do with-"

"You know what," Beck cut her off, not allowing her room to even speak. Yeah, that outta piss her off seeing as she had been ignored by her husband in exchange for her niece this entire time. Maybe that would get her pissed off even further. "I think she's actually alright. Katie is probably just snuggled up somewhere in a dark corner... possible a cabinet. With some nice rope tied around her wrists keeping her in place, maybe even some duct tape over her mouth to keep her from calling out to anyone."

"I don't understand-"

"My younger sister has asthma herself," Beck remarked matter-of-factly. "Ya know, one time when we were wrestling, my brother jokingly put a pillow over her face for too long and nearly suffocated her... It was only a for a few seconds, but imagine what duct tape over an asthmatic little girl's face does for hours on end." Beck was directly beside Susan now, she leaned up against the table, her legs crossed at the ankles as she stared down her nose at the woman. "If we find Katie... and she's dead... mm," Beck hummed, a disappointed frown on her face. "How do you feel about solitary confinement, huh?" Susan turned away, her jaw clenched. "You think you'd enjoy being shoved up in some small, dark place. Maybe you'll finally know how Katie felt... all those long, dark nights with your husband-"

"That's enough," Susan grit out.

"No, I don't think it is," Beck retorted, her voice still steady. "I mean- the poetic irony of it all. Your husband does unthinkable things with that poor little girl in the dark-" Susan winces, she continues. "-then you shove her away into a dark cupboard somewhere? First him, now you- a family affair. What were you gonna do if it came back to bite you in the ass like it is right now? Throw Jeremy in the mix? Make it a full family of fucked up psychos."

"I didn't do anything to Katie!" Susan shouted. One would consider this a break, but Beck knew she had only scratched the surface. She could do better. She wanted to rip back the flesh on this woman's body and dig the knife deep before she twisted it.

"No?" Beck prompted, pushing herself off the table to walk over to where Prentiss had set down what Reid and Morgan had taken from the Jacobs' house that led them to what Richard Jacobs had been doing to Katie. She took the disgusting piece of evidence and slammed it down on the table in between her and Susan. "Explain this."

Sitting on the table facing Susan, was a doll. But not your average blonde, bimbo Barbie doll. This doll had had it's hair all cut down in frayed pieces on it's balding head, a bread wire wrapped around it's red neck that had been colored red with fake blood. Black marks and 'X's covering the mouth and the right eye, and the clothes tarnished and ripped.

Susan looked ready to gag as she asked, "What is that?"

"Her, Susan... More specifically how your husband made her feel," Beck answered, cherishing the way Susan crumpled into herself at her words. "Dirty... Pathetic... Weak..."

"Stop..."

"Tainted..."

"I said stop."

"Tarnished..."

"That's enough!"

"Disgusting!"

"Please! Stop!"

"Dead!"

Susan was openly sobbing at this point, but Beck wanted more. The flesh was pulled away, but now Beck was bringing out the knives and lemon juice to rub in the pain a little bit more. Susan would never be able to feel what Katie was feeling now or had been for the past few years or however long this had been happening, so Beck was making the most of this right now.

"Richard molested Katie- raped her- made her feel like this inside-" Beck shook the doll in her face once more as the tears streamed down her cheeks. Beck then slammed the the doll back off to the side as she leaned forward towards Susan. "-then you went and raped her all over again."

"N-no," Susan hiccupped, shaking her head, looking away from Beck's withering glare.

"You were the only other person who knew! And instead of saving your niece- your family- from your disgusting husband, you blamed her for what he was- a monster."

"No- NO!"

"Then you kidnapped her, hid her away, to try and protect your marriage! Not your family, not even your wicked husband- but your pathetic marriage that was in shambles long before Richard ever laid eyes on Katie. Because that's what he is and always has been, and you aren't ever going to change that, Susan," Beck hissed through her clenched teeth, her fingers tapping away at the surface on the table faster than ever before. "And you're just as fucked up as he is because you'd rather deny what he is and let everyone else suffer than face up to the fact that you'll never be anything but a cover story for what your husband really is..."

"Oh God, please-" She openly sobbed, snot trickling over her open mouth as sobs wracked her body.

Beck fought the urge to grin at the sight and sounds of this woman falling apart at the seams because now she'd pushed the knife in deep.

"A fucking pedophile," she spat at the woman.

"No!" She screamed. "God- please, just stop it!"

"You want me to stop?" Beck prompted, slamming both of her hands down on the table with a loud BANG that echoed off the walls of the room and caused Susan to flinch away. "WHERE IS KATIE?!"

"ALRIGHT!" There it was... the bottom of the empty flood gate Beck had just blown right open. Susan sniffled, her entire body shaking, her eyes downcast and glued to the doll at the end of the table as she whispered, "The supply closet behind the furniture store on the second floor..."

Beck withdrew herself from the table, her heart pounding in her ears as she pulled herself away from the intense moment she'd just had with Susan Jacobs. Her blood was rushing, the noise in her ears that felt like the sensation she used to get on the highway when the back windows were down in the car while she was driving... It was almost too much to bear being around this woman blubbering, trying to apologize to an inanimate doll after nearly killing her niece.

She had to get out of there.

Beck stormed out of the room, away from Susan Jacobs, away from that necklace, that doll... leaving straight out of the door. She paused when Morgan, Reid, JJ, Prentiss and Hotchner all turned to her the minute she walked out. Beck made her way to Hotchner, speaking loud enough so Jim and his team could hear as well. "Supply closet behind the furniture store, second floor."

Jim immediately ran off with his team, Hotchner and Morgan hot on their trail. Beck remained dormant, watching them go. Normally, she would've rushed to be apart of the action, but right now... She just felt drained. Exhausted. Like she wanted to barf and scream and punch something that would punch back all at the same time. These overwhelming emotions kept boiling up until she just started to run.

She ran and ran and ran, until she made it to the mall parking lot outside. There, she made it to the SUV closest to the front and climbed inside. She didn't have the keys, but she couldn't go back now. She picked the door lock to get in and hotwired the car to get it started. Hotchner was probably going to give her shit for leaving before they got the little girl in custody, but Beck couldn't care... not right now.

Caring felt like such a heavy burden, one that her shoulders were too heavy to carry at the moment.

Beck hadn't even registered that the reason why everything was blurry and why she had a headache as she pulled onto the freeway headed towards Reagan Airport was because of how hard she was crying not to cry. She sniffled, wiping away the welled up tears in her eyes with her sleeve and cracking her neck to ease the pain of her jaw momentarily as she kept on driving.

Just as she was pulling the car up towards the parking garage at Ronald Reagan, her phone buzzed...

She pulled it out and read the contact.

Agent Asshole

Hotchner. She declined.

She pocketed the phone once more and it didn't ring again until she was getting ready board her flight.

She could hear the ringing over the sounds of the PA: "Ten o'clock flight, nonstop to San Antonio International boarding in ten minutes." This time when Beck pulled out the phone, she saw a new contact name popped up on the screen.

The Good Doctor

She declined after the third ring. And about five seconds later she got a text.

We found her. She's alright.

Beck pursed her lips... Was she alright? Beck doubted it as she turned her phone off completely and started towards her gate.

—

General Phillip Ryder was your classic Texan military family man. Working twelve hours a day, six days a week, twelve months a year, and maybe a vacation if the missus demanded one. He worked tirelessly, but not because he had to financially, but because he enjoyed what he did... That was until he needed a break by the end of the week to focus on the smaller, enjoyable things in life. Like, for instance, the Cowboys games he loved so much.

Since before he became Papa Ryder, Phillip would pop a squat on his couch every Sunday waiting for his boys to come out onto the field while he popped open a cold Bud Light and gnawing on some finger-licking ribs. That was the ideal Sunday for Phillip Ryder.

Only today... Elizabeth Ryder had different plans.

"Ay, dios Mios! You drag your feet any slower and I'm gonna have to call Life Alert on you!" Mrs. Ryder chided at him as she dragged him through the busy walkways at the Flea Market that was open every weekend and bustling especially on Sundays. Eliza hadn't gone in months, but now that she wanted a new rug for her study, he had to be dragged along to help.

"Come on, Phillipe-" she loved to call him by his Spanish name, despite the fact that he was born in Fort Worth, Texas. "Hurry! I don't want to miss the sale they have at the carpet place!"

"I'm going as fast as I can, Eliza," Phillip groaned.

There was a giggle from behind him. "You're walking slower than Max," his teenage daughter, Alice, smirked at him from over her phone that was shoved in front of her face as she walked past him. "And he's a baby," she added just to rub salt in the wound of the fact that he was an old man.

"I'm not a baby!" Little Max shouted as he came barreling past Phillip's legs, nearly knocking him off his feet. "I'm 'dis many!" The kid shouted, holding up four chubby fingers to show his sister.

"Mhmm," Alice hummed, unaffected. "Come on, Max, let's go check out the game shop." Her younger brother ran at her at a speed too fast to be considered human. Alice scooped him up in a way that reminded Phillip of the way his older daughter, Beck, used to do for her when she was Max's age. "Maybe by the time we get done at the game shop, Daddy'll be up the hill!" She giggled.

Phillip jokingly glared at Alice's back as he watched her saunter off with her baby brother on her hip. Eliza cackled at her daughter's antics, still waiting for Phillip to catch up to her on the inclined asphalt leading to a new section of the market. "This is elder abuse," Phillip grumbled, causing his wife to go into another fit of laughter.

And that was how General Ryder's Sunday was spent; his wife dragging him through a busy marketplace from one in the afternoon following church, until late into the night.

It was coming up on ten when the Ryders pulled into their driveway. And it wasn't until Phillip had put the large truck into park at the front of the house did he realize something was off, he just couldn't pinpoint it... At least not right away.

The family had made it to the front door when Phillip realized what it was. Alice, bless her little heart, looked exhausted as she helped her mom carry in all the goodies she'd gotten from the market while Eliza carried an unconscious Max in her arms. Phillip was right behind his girls and little boy when he stopped just short of the porch, his eyes catching the glint of the porch light reflecting the open window leading to the kitchen. Huh.

"Eliza," he called to his wife as she unlocked and opened the door with her one hand, Alice walking in front of her to get inside.

"Yes, honey?" she called over her shoulder.

"Did you leave the kitchen window open?"

She turned to face him this time, glancing around the porch pillars to see where he was looking, and sure enough... "No," she answered wearily. "I opened it last night, but I... I could've sworn I closed it this morning before we left for service."

"Hm..." Phillip hummed to himself. That was interesting... he'd never known that window to ever be open unless Eliza was cooking, or... No, that couldn't be it. Phillip glanced over his shoulder at the street in front of the house. Nope. No motorcycles or even any cars in sight aside from their neighbors'. "It's probably nothing," he brushed it off. "Come on," he ushered his wife inside. "I had a long day. Missed the game."

Eliza made a sound, "Ah... Siempre preocupado por esos Cowboys." She shook her head, back to her carefree self as she walked into the house, Max drooling down her shoulder.

As his wife went to lay their son down on the couch while her and Alice began to unpack the stuff they'd gotten from the market, Phillip went to shut the window in the kitchen. As he locked it, he got that weird feeling pricking at the back of his neck, like someone was there... watching them.

Careful so not to alert his wife and the kids in the living room, Phillip slowly walked in the direction of his study off to the side of the kitchen. When he entered, all the lights were off and it was hard to see anything but shadows created from the small amount of light coming from the street light out in the street seeping in through the window. Phillip couldn't see anything, but just in case, he grabbed the pistol he kept hidden beneath the desk counter where he usually sat and had just began to holster it when he heard a voice from someone unseen off in the corner.

"You're not seriously gonna shoot your oldest daughter are you?"

Out of habit, Phillip cocked and aimed the weapon in the direction of the voice. He wasn't going to shoot, but he kept the weapon aimed at the darkness up until the light flickered on next to the plush leather couch beside the large bookshelf at the end of the study. Seated, with her legs kicked up over one of the arms, was none other than an all too familiar young woman. He put the safety back on and lowered the weapon.

"I mean- I'm technically adopted, but... still," Beck smirked. She thought she was so funny.

"Technically," Phillip began as he holstered the gun back beneath the desk. "Colleen is older than you..." Oh, yeah, he was funny, too.

Beck rolled her eyes at the technicality of her sister-in-law being older than her. "So that's how you play this?"

Phillip laughed at his oldest daughter's antics. "You know I could never shoot you," he teased.

Beck chuckled as she pulled herself from off the seat and made her way over. "Of course not. With your eyesight?" She scoffed. "You're lucky you picked up the gun and not the stapler."

Phillip dropped his head as he let out a heavy exhale. "Remind me why I let you stay for... How many years was it?"

"Eleven," she answered immediately. "And it was because you were scared of what might've happened to me if you didn't let me stay."

"No. It's because your mom and I love you," he clarified as he took his daughter by her shoulders and brought her forward so he could press a firm kiss to the top of her head- which was easily accessible to him, seeing how he was about four to five good inches taller than her. "Plus, you were pretty good at helping babysit your siblings... kick Jacob's ass every once in a while when he deserved it."

Beck chuckled. "He was always too easy to take down," she mused, her head bowed and the smile on her face fading out with her voice.

Immediately, Phillip picked up on her demeanor and realized there was a reason she decided to camp out here in his office for him to find her... There was a reason she snuck in instead of just knocking. There was a reason why she came unannounced. Beck was never one for coming right out and asking to talk, but thankfully, Phillip was good at reading between the lines to know when Beck had something on her mind.

"Anyone is easy for you to take down," Phillip chuckled with a shake of his head as he walked around the desk to take a seat in his leather office chair. "So, you wanna tell me why you broke in here? This about your new job?"

Beck glanced up at him through her bangs, her legs moving to side, allowing her to lean against the edge of his desk. Something he'd scold her for doing as a teenager, but he'd let it slide now... "You know about that?" She didn't sound too surprised despite the question she asked.

"You know I'm still friends with a few higher-ups within the Bureau," he replied. "They tell me you're with the Behavioral Analysis Unit... A little different, even for you."

"Different is definitely one way to describe it," she chuckled humorlessly. "Instead of war mongrels and corrupt politicians, I hunt down serial killers."

"A nice change for once," he mused.

She scoffed. "It's... a change, that's for sure."

Phillip narrowed his eyes at his daughter. "But something's bothering you..." It was always difficult to get this girl to open up about anything... It was like leading a horse to water and sometimes they'd choose not to drink, other times they'd take a sip- but Beck was a horse that never drank more than she could handle. It was just difficult to gauge where she was at some days.

"It's just..." she trailed off, her hands falling down to the desk. Phillip took note of her little finger tapping in Morse off to the side. She never let up that habit... "This job... it gets to me sometimes."

"When you first started with the CIA, you said the same thing," Phillip noted.

"Yeah, but when I was with the CTU, my job was black and white with a little bit of gray area in between every so often. Eliminate the bad guys, save the good guys, and get rid of witnesses if need be. Cut and dry- just not always simple," Beck explained. "But with the BAU... I have to get into the minds of some of the sickest people on the planet. Figure out how they work, why they do what they do, to find them..."

"You find it disturbing?"

Beck shook her head. "Not in the way you may think, no," she answered truthfully. "What gets to me is that, I've only been doing it for sometime and I'm starting to realize that maybe Hawks was onto something with me..."

Phillip's fists clenched and unclenched at the name. Ever since what happened last year... Phillips had never been more infuriated at someone he thought they could trust. Just as much as Beck trusted Hawks, Phillip had too. His betrayal affected both of them heavily, but more Beck than he, so he tried to do what he could to comfort her, but it seemed she was just trying to push it away... Until now.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean... he told me we could've been unstoppable, and I realize now he was right," Beck explained. "When I look at these people I'm tasked to hunt, tasked to infiltrate, analyze, break down until they're a sobbing mess... I point out everything wrong with their plan, their psyche... and I'm good at it. So good, that when I start to think about it even further, I realize I have the skillset, the knowledge, the... the power and agility and means to kill dozens- hundreds of people if I wanted to... and no one could ever stop me... So, why don't I?"

Phillip frowned. This was... not what he'd been expecting from a girl who spent most of her time living under his roof living like a shell of a soldier. Sometimes I made jokes that Beck was given to them as a plant that shrunk back into it's shell and was now regrown as a flower again. She was so... hard-set, so focused on her missions and her orders. And now that her trust was broken, something in her shifted and she began to realize that orders weren't everything. But without being told what to do and what not to feel in order to remain efficient, her emotions were beginning to blossom in a way Phillip had never seen before.

"Beck," he began as he rose out of his chair and made his way around the desk to stand in front of his daughter. "You're a nerd."

Beck's stoic expression was broken by a breathless laugh that caught her off guard almost as much as his odd statement. "W-what?" She chuckled.

"You're a nerd. You can recite every line from any Star Wars movie. You would spend hours of your time making origami armies out of your old textbooks. You can name every character in any of your siblings' favorite kids shows. You can kick anyone's ass in Mario Kart. And you still make house visits to your folks years after you've already moved out," Phillip listed off, his hand coming up to brush the hair at the sides of her head back. She gave him a sad smile in response to all of his words.

"You're more than what anyone intended for you to be," he told her. "Your mom and I have spent years trying to help you understand that. That's why we took you in. Because we loved you and wanted that precious little girl that came in with half her body covered in scars and nothing but ghosts in her eyes to know that whatever happened to her before, whatever Hawks and the CIA was training her for in the future, she would always have the choice to be the person she wanted to be."

"Who is that?" She prompted.

Phillip shrugged. "Now that is for you to figure out, little miss," he replied. "But to me, you'll always be My Nerd." He raised her hand from off the desk and planted a kiss to the back of it.

"Thanks, General," Beck told him with as much sincerity as she could spare after such an emotionally exhausting day.

"Always a pleasure, Agent," he chuckled. "Now go clean up and say 'hi' to your mother, she was half scared out of her mind when she saw the open window and I don't want her to have a stroke before our thirtieth anniversary."

"Oh, yeah- aren't you guys headed to some Greek island for that?" Beck asked as she jumped up from off the desk.

"It's called Milos," he corrected her. "And, yes, we leave for Christmas next year. You still able to babysit?"

Beck shrugged. "Eh... maybe. You know how it is; new job, different hours."

Phillip quirked an eyebrow, his hands shoved into his jacket pockets. "So you're in this job for the long haul?"

She smirked in response, "Yeah... I guess I am."

Phillip nodded, a swell of pride forming in his chest at how well his little girl had turned out. "Alright. I'll go upstairs and set up the big surprise for your mom. Start clearing out your old room for you to stay for the night. You're staying for the night, right?"

Beck nodded. "For sure. Just as long as Mom is making carne guisada on flour for breakfast."

"I'll see if I can negotiate with the Colonel," he jokingly replied. He was starting on his way back out of the study when he realized Beck wasn't following him. He turned back to find her staring down at the computer at his desk. "You coming?"

She spun back around to face him. "Uh, yeah. I just remembered I have a report to file that I forgot to get to before I left. Is it cool if I...?"

Phillip nodded. "That's alright, but if you get any bugs on my computer-"

"I won't," she insisted.

Phillip nodded once more, turning to head out and leaving Beck in the study to do her work. As he left, he realized just how much he missed having that fun little squirt he remembered before the CTU and Hawks stuck their claws in her. He recognized the problems she faced with this new job, but something had to be going right for her... Because he'd never seen her so open about her thoughts and feelings before just then and he wasn't sure if he should've been concerned or on his way out to DC to thank whichever superior that hired her on for their positive impact on his little Agent.

—

Beck took a seat at her father's desk. She didn't want to stay too long, she knew her mom and siblings were probably upstairs anxiously waiting to see her after she'd been MIA for a while.

But... it was hard writing a report on a case where Hotchner had done nothing but walk her through what to do step by step. There was actually nothing negative about his performance, save for the perpetual stick forever stuck in his ass.

Then Beck realized, she didn't have to always appease Erin Strauss, especially when it came to a case like this.

Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner

He was his usual dickish self... Nothing further to report.

Entry date- 10/24/07

Erin Strauss could kiss her ass just this once because Aaron Hotchner finally managed to help her learn something valuable about this job.

That she was going to need a lot more than just determination.

—

A/N: This chapter felt a lot shorter than it actually is, but, oh well. Glad I was able to get it out a lot sooner than I'd expected and I appreciate anyone and everyone that left feedback and comments.

I know there wasn't a lot of Beck/Spencer interaction this chap after what happened last chap, but this next chap 0-0... be on the lookout. Also- INTRODUCINGGG PAPA ROSSI TO THE MIXX.

Rossi is like... one of my favs, mostly because I just love how iconic this man is. But just because I like him, doesn't necessarily mean Beck will. Can't wait for next chapter.

Let me know what you guys think of this one. ;)

- Ally.