Hello everyone! For those of you who celebrate, Merry Christmas! For those of you who don't, Merry-Just-Another-Day-Only-No-Stores-Are-Open-So-You-Can't-Get-Anything-Done. I've been working on a little something special for the holidays, but I'm hoping this can still be enjoyed by those who don't celebrate it. The plan is for this to be a three night event. The first post being tonight, of course, Christmas Eve. The next should show up tomorrow, depending on what time the relatives scatter, and the last installment will show up on the 26th. If I don't post tomorrow, I promise it's only because everyone gathered and no one went home early. If that's the case, it will show up on the 26th. Thank you for reading, and have a safe holiday / Saturday.

Chapter 1

The Grifter

Melinda walked through her small Colorado town, coming up on the Christmas tree that served as a doughboy in town center. The lampposts above her were adorned in christmas lights, and the whole town lit up for this time of the year. It was sacred here, which was also why the streets were dead. It was Christmas Eve and people around here took that seriously. Plus, it was only three degrees out, so that could have something to do with it, too.

Melinda liked the cold, though, and the two feet of snow only added to the nostalgia. It made her feel at home, reminding her of the best and worst days of her life growing up, but her past is what made her who she was. Sometimes she had to go back and metaphorically walk through it to remember how lucky she was now. The colder the night, the better the time for that, so bundled in her long red jacket, she took a turn into the park directly across from the town tree, heading for her secret place; the place she went to think and remember.

In a town this small, rarely did anyone go off of the beaten park paths, which meant they never had a chance to find her place. It was just these two pine trees, but the way they twisted together allowed for a warm space to form beneath them, a shelter of its own kind, and bared a reminder of where she had been. It was just a few minutes walk from the town Christmas tree, and she swore, if she looked hard enough, she could just see the lights from it through those two trees.

As Melinda made her way through the thickened tree line, she was completely unaware that the FBI was just on the other side of the clearing from her, attempting to move as quietly as possible, ready to go after anything that moved through the trees.

"Hotch, I want to find Reid as much as you do, but we have to be realistic about this. He's been gone for almost eight hours. His jacket, gloves and scarf were left behind. The police left the investigation an hour ago due to the cold, and I think we should do the same. It's too cold for us to safely be out here any longer and, let's be honest, we're probably looking for a corpse. I think we should go back and resume this in the morning before anything happens to the rest of us." Morgan spoke quietly, not wanting to spook the unsub, if he was around. At this point, they were on a wild goose chase and taking a lot of guesses. Being profilers and knowing this unsub, they all knew the chances of Reid being alive were almost none, especially in this cold. As much it killed Morgan to say what he just said, he was a professional first.

"I'm not leaving until we find Reid. We don't leave agents in the field. If you would like to leave the investigation, then leave. If anyone else wants to go with him, I'll expect your resignations on my desk first thing Monday morning." Hotch spoke in his harsh tone, angry and not thinking about anything but finding Reid. He had done the one thing that agents, especially team leaders, were trained specifically not to do; he made things personal. He stopped thinking logically, and could only think about what Reid meant to him, and about the things he'd never say. This was his way of showing he cared.

"Whoa, Hotch, come on. You know me. There's is no one in this world, aside from his mom, that is closer to Reid than me. The last thing I want to do is leave him out here, alive or not. Like you said, we don't leave agents behind. But Reid also wouldn't want us to kill ourselves to find him, and that's what's going to happen if we stay out in this cold any longer. I haven't been able to feel my feet for the last two hours. Don't tell me you can feel yours." Morgan fought back, trying not to let his emotions get the best of him. He couldn't begin to imagine the things he would do to the unsub once they found him and Reid. Forget leaving Reid out there all night, knowing that if he wasn't dead now, he would be by morning. The blame he'd put on himself would be far worse than anything he could do to the unsub.

"I lost feeling in my hands three hours ago. I couldn't properly shoot my weapon if I needed to. Hotch, I hate to say this, but Morgan is right. If this was anyone but Reid, we would have left with the police. We've been out here for nearly six straight hours. We need to get out of the cold." Rossi stepped in, trying to talk sense into Hotch, but his face was unchanged. "Aaron, think about Jack."

"I am, and I'm thinking that if it were my son out there, how I'd want a better excuse for leaving him unfound overnight than 'we got cold." Rossi pulled back from Hotch, turning to Morgan and shaking his head. There was nothing more he could do. Hotch had made up his mind. "Prentiss, do you have anything to say about this?"

"No, Sir." She shook her head, not wanting to get involved. Although, for the record, she agreed with Morgan and Rossi.

"All right, then we split up. Dave and Prentiss, you guys go to that way, Morgan and I will go this way." The teams did as they were told, three not agreeing with their direct orders. If they would have known how close they finally were to Reid, they would have changed their minds about the entire thing.

Just through the clearing, a dozen or so yards from where Melinda was headed to her secret place, the unsub pulled Reid from beneath the haven of the two twisted trees, a rifle to his back. Reid was cold, hypothermia trying to set in, while his body worked to fight it off. Had it not been for the cover of the trees, he was sure he would be in full set hypothermia by now. Still, it took him a few tries to get to his feet, his legs too cold to function properly; too weak.

This only upset the unsub. He had never had anyone fight back, and although that wasn't what Reid was trying to do, his legs were betraying him. Reid knew from profiling this unsub that he was prone to outbursts when met with resistance, or when he didn't get his own way. Reid knew he was in trouble, that the unsub's mental state was deteriorating quickly, and that he had reached his peak of de-evolution. He was going to die, because no one was there to help him. Anything he said would only get him killed quicker, so he kept quiet, trying to find any last minute harebrained idea to get him out of this. It was his only chance.

"Do you have any last words?" Reid shook his head, afraid any word out of his mouth would get him shot before he finished it. He had seconds left. "Good. I like 'em quiet. Now say goodbye."

Reid swallowed hard and closed his eyes. He waited for the gunshot. It didn't come, at least not at first. What he heard instead was the sound of footsteps, like someone was running. Then there were a few other noises, ones he couldn't make out or recognize. He opened his eyes slowly, just in time to hear the gun go off. Immediately, he stopped breathing, if only out of instinct as to what had happened. It took him a few minutes to recover and realize that he wasn't shot. In fact, there wasn't a gun to his back at all anymore. He was still in the process of trying to make heads or tails out of what just happened, when a voice broke in.

"Are you okay?" From behind him came a women in a long red jacket. Her face was pale, soft and beautiful, and her voice was that of an angel. Maybe he had died after all. "Hey, are you okay?" Then she shook him lightly and he felt it, and he knew for sure he was still alive."

"If I'm alive, then I think so. What...happened?" Just beginning to get his bearings, Reid started to move, turning around to where the unsub was once at his back. Now he was on the ground, laid out flat, and the gun was a few yards from him, like it had been thrown.

"I happen to know a thing or two about kicking some ass." Reid turned his head from the unsub, to the girl. A women that small taking down a guy that large didn't add up for him, but he wasn't going to question it. Not out loud, at least.

"Are you crazy? You could have been killed." He wanted to be thankful, but it was mouth over matter in this case. He couldn't believe anyone would do what she must have just done. Who would run into a situation where someone had a rifle held to another's back, risking their own life, unless it was their job and they had to?

"Probably, and you don't think about those kinds of things when you have no one to miss you. You have people who would have missed you, and that's what mattered." There wasn't much that Melinda had in life. She lived day by day, and when she saw a person or a situation that needed her, she ran, not walked, into it without a thought to her own life. She knew that, for most people, there were others who relied on them, who would have a body to bury. In her life, it was just her. She saw the bigger picture in that.

"How do you know that?" Melinda motioned her head to right where Morgan and Hotch had just arrived, pausing for a moment to survey the situation and figure out what was going on. They didn't recognize Melinda, and they didn't know if she was okay to approach.

"Do you have any handcuffs?" Reid had just looked up to Morgan and Hotch, trying to let them know that it was okay to come to him. He knew why they were hesitant.

"What? Why?" It took him a minute to catch up to her, as he was too busy signaling his team.

"Because I didn't knock him out all that hard. He's probably going to start moving any second." Reid shook his head, but Morgan and Hotch hadn't moved. Instead, Hotch was speaking to Rossi and Prentiss via the communication device on his cuff, giving them instructions to come from behind and approach the situation gently.

"He took them." It was then that it registered with Reid that there was no reason for her to ask him that. He was in work clothing, but it looked like civilian clothing to everyone else. His brain immediately started to profile her, wondering if he should be worried about the mysterious stranger, too. Maybe her saving him was all a rouse. "I'm sorry, but why would you think I would have handcuffs?"

"I can spot a cop from a mile away, although you were a little trickier, because you're not what I think of when I think of a cop." She moved from where she was standing, spotting Prentiss and Rossi attempting to sneak through the trees. She ignored it for a minute, just long enough to pick up the gun. "Here, just in case he tries to get up before your friends get here. It's time for me to go."

Reid wanted to call after her, to thank her and ask her the million questions that were stirring in his mind, but before he had a chance, he was surrounded by Rossi and secured by Prentiss. She used her device to call to Hotch and Morgan, who were looking on. Reid was safe. They could come to him now.

"Reid, are you okay? Did she try to hurt you?" Rossi's attention turned on Reid, questioning him about the young girl, as he finished cuffing the unsub.

"No, she saved my life." He said it loud, hoping that Hotch and Morgan wouldn't approach her with force, although he knew at least one of them was going to go to her to question her. She was out of place in the situation, and as Morgan approached Reid, afraid he may break into a hug and relieved, Hotch went after her.

"Miss! Excuse me, Miss! This is a federal investigation and I'm going to need to speak with you. I'm with the FBI." Something about the way the girl calmly walked away told Hotch that she wasn't involved in this. They also hadn't profiled the unsub to have a partner. He called after her, giving her a chance to show her true colors, but he made sure that he was close enough to her before he did call out, in case she did try to run.

"I didn't do anything. I saw someone who was going to be shot and I stepped in. That's all I know." She turned to face to Hotch to give him an honest answer, and then turned to walk away. She didn't want a big deal made out of this. She just wanted to go on her way.

"What are you doing out here in this kind of cold, this late at night?" Melinda whipped back around as Hotch approached her, standing close enough to grab her arm if she tried to move again, which is exactly what she knew he'd do. She'd had her share of experience with police.

"I happen to like the cold. I was going to my secret place to think, which just happened to be where your agent was almost killed at." This was now a place she couldn't go back to. It was tainted, and it wasn't her place anymore.

"What's your name?" Hotch had an odd feeling about her, but he doubted she was dangerous. Still, what she said and didn't say would tell him that, and being as she was now part of this case, he had to interview her.

"Melinda. Yours?" She answered simply, strongly.

"I'm FBI Agent Aaron Hotchner." He wanted her to know he was from the FBI, to reiterate it, hoping to intimidate her into telling him the truth. "Melinda what?" Hotch's frightening demeanor made her uncomfortable, but he didn't waver, although he had realized that. He wasn't going to break in fear of losing his unspoken hold on her.

"Melinda. Just Melinda." He looked at her sternly. He was questioning her innocence and she knew this. She wanted to be forthcoming enough to let him know there was nothing to question. "I grew up in the system. I was left in the hospital at three days old. My mother gave a fake name; no one ever found her. The nurses gave me a first name, but didn't know my last name, and none of my social workers cared enough to give me one either. I was a number to them. They told me that when I got adopted I would find a last name."

"And you never got adopted?" One of the most important parts of an investigation was finding out who someone was before you could profile their involvement or lack thereof.

"I didn't give it a chance. I grew up in a state home and was sent to live with two separate families who were supposed to be interested in adopting me. I was so young, but I still remember knowing that the state home was better than life with these people. As soon as I got enough sense in my head, I disappeared." Melinda answered him, giving him no reason to doubt her. Besides, she was old enough now that there was nothing he could do. She couldn't be a ward of the state any longer.

"How did you know how to take down someone with a gun like that?" He was skeptical of her explanation. She had no training, like he had expected. She had to know what she was doing to diffuse the situation. Anything else would point away from her innocence.

"When you live on the streets you learn to protect yourself. Sometimes it's literally life or death." Her answer was sketchy, at least to Hotch. He pressed on, needing to know if he could clear her or not.

"Then how is it that you're still alive?" It seemed possible, but unlikely, that someone would learn to protect herself enough to survive the streets from a young age.

"Well, Mr. FBI Man, promise you won't arrest me?" His face didn't change, which, she didn't expect it to. "I was a grifter. I learned how to grift when I needed it, and stayed on the streets when I didn't. I didn't take money, though. I took a warm bed and meals, and I did a lot of lying, a lot of identity switching to make sure I didn't go back to being a ward of the state."

"You're not a stupid girl." He was surprised at what he was hearing, but no longer looking at her as a suspect. Hearing her story, she profiled as the type who knew a little bit about everything, and could make her way through anything.

"Did you expect me to be when you heard I lived on the streets?" She didn't take offense, but it was easy to know what she was thinking. Everyone else thought it.

"I'm a profiler. I spend my life figuring people out. Someone on the streets usually profiles as uneducated." Hotch was honest with her, not wanting her to be offended by what he said, but instead to understand it.

"I was educated. Well, in fact. Like I said, I learned to grift early. I went to school, I just lied about who I was and moved on when the lies started to unravel. I graduated cum laude." Melinda notated the look on Hotch's face. He was focused only on her, the wheels in his head turning. "You're profiling me now, aren't you?"

"It is my job. I'm going to need you to walk me through exactly what happened before I can let you go." She nodded, walking back towards the scene of the crime. She just wanted to get this over with. Although she could tell Hotch meant her no harm, police still made her uncomfortable after her years on the lam.

"There's not a lot to tell. I was walking this way like I am now, going to my secret place. I saw your agent with a gun to his back, and I just reacted. I knew the man with the gun he hadn't seen me, so I charged at him. It was the only thing I could think to do. I surprised him and knocked him clear over. He was too stunned to move at first, so I kicked him in his head and chest to make sure he stayed down, and then I picked up the gun and threw it as far from him as I could. That's when it discharged. Really, Mr. FBI Man, it was just luck." She talked as she walked, taking him through her earlier steps. He watched the ground, seeing that her footprints indicated she was running, and as they approached the scene of the crime, everything seemed to fit.

He had no reason to believe she was involved. She actually had done their job for them. Had she been guilty, she would have had the time and the gun to kill Reid with before they got to him. Instead, she handed him the gun to put to the unsub and simply walked away. And she was cooperating.

"It's Agent Hotchner, and I just have one more question for you, and then you're free to go." She looked at him, well aware that there were four other sets of eyes on her now, all wondering what was going on. "Although I can't condone your carelessness in deliberately involving yourself in a dangerous situation, we would all like to know how we can thank you for apprehending a criminal and saving an FBI agent's life."

"Just say thank you." She shrugged. It seemed to simple to her. "And like I told your agent over there, it's easy to get to involved when you have no one who will miss you. He clearly has all of you."

"Thank you. Is there anything we can do for you? Is there anything you need that we can help you with?" She shook her head. She had everything she needed, and that was good enough for her. She knew he was only asking because he assumed she was still homeless, still grifting.

"Can I go home now?" Since her secret place was ruined, and even she was starting to feel the windchill, she just wanted to enjoy Christmas away from drama and law enforcement. She didn't want a big life.

"Yes." She turned on her heel to walk, and Reid knew this was his last chance to stop her, to thank her and ask her what he wanted to ask her, but before he got a chance, he was interrupted again.

"Hotch, we need to get him to the hospital. He's close to hypothermia and he has some mild frostbite." Melinda was only steps away when she overheard this. It forced her to hesitate, debating if she should get involved or not, but at the end of the day she always did the right thing.

"The closest hospital is almost two hours away." She turned back to them, letting them know what they were in for. Most towns had a hospital, but this one was a little different.

"There isn't one in town?" Morgan was in the process of taking his jacket off to wrap around Reid, who was shivering violently. Everyone had been so worried about apprehending the suspect, chasing down the mysterious girl, and waiting for the police to come and take the unsub away, that Reid got mixed up in the mess and came last. Now they would have to wait for the police to come and get the unsub before they could get him into any kind of warmth.

"There's a clinic, but the doctor is away for Christmas. Things work a little differently in a town this small." Reid interjected, putting in his two cents about his own predicament.

"Guys, I'm fine. I don't need to go to the hospital, but I do need to get something to eat. In case you didn't know, kidnappers don't usually feed you." Reid was getting antsy standing there, needing a lot of things he wasn't able to get with them awaiting the police. He was trying to hurry things along, hoping at least someone would leave the scene to get him into the warmth. The last few minutes since he had been found were feeling like hours.

"You're not going to find anywhere to eat, either." The snow began to fall harder around them, the windchill picking up. She looked down at her watch as she spoke, seeing if the weathermen were right about the midnight snow.

"Why not? This town may be small, but it seems to have no shortage of bars. Bars usually serve food." For the first time in the history of weather predicting, they had been right on. She smiled, noting the picture perfect start to Christmas, in a less than perfect situation. It was the good she wanted to remember.

"But it's midnight. It's Christmas. This town takes Christmas very seriously. You won't find a business open until the 26th." You wouldn't find people wandering the streets either, or anything but the Christmas lights on the tree in town center, and the decorations adorning the streets, bringing life to the town. Welcome to small town America.

"Reid, I still think we need to get you to a hospital. We can worry about food once we're there." Morgan paused for a moment, unsure of how they were going to do that, and also wanting Reid out of the cold now. "Damn it! Where are the police?"

"How are we supposed to get him to the hospital? We weren't exactly provided with vehicles. The police said it wasn't in the budget. They said we could walk everywhere. They were wrong." Rossi broke in, playing on what Morgan already was wondering himself. He was frustrated at the situation, and a little angry. To try and calm the obvious anger and panic, Melinda walked toward Reid, stopping in front of him.

"You can walk everywhere here, which is why I don't own a car, but I still think I can help you. Let me see." Melinda started to inspect Reid, everything from his bare fingers where the frostbite was starting to form, to his earlobes that were much of the same, to the way he was acting. "We need to get him out of the cold right away, before he goes into hypothermia. Lucky for him, the frostbite isn't that bad. I can treat it and I can get some food into him."

"How do you know how to treat frostbite? With all due respect, he needs medical attention." Morgan was focused on the big picture, not what they had to work with here, whereas that's all Melinda could focus on. She knew she couldn't just leave these town strangers to their own devices.

"He also needs out of the cold. I grew up on the street, where there was a lot of frostbite and no money to pay for medical help. You learn." She started to walk away, not liking all the questioning she was receiving. It was always questions. No one ever trusted her. Just like now when no one was following, so she called after them, and decided not to stick around to see if they followed. "Come on, before he catches his death and you need more than a hospital."

"We can't leave him here." The him that was being referred to was the criminal, and there was hardly anything threatening about him. Prentiss and Rossi had been making sure he didn't escape the entire time Melinda had been talking to the whole team, and he had yet to move a muscle. Of course, when one woman wipes the floor with your ass, you're probably not going to defy another.

"We'll pass the police station on the way to my place. It's the only thing that is open on Christmas, so you can drop him off there. If you wait for the police show up here, he'll be in full fledged hypothermia. Don't get me wrong, they're good people, just slow. In their defense, they don't see a lot of crime here." This time, when Melinda turned around, she was going with or without the team. She had said all she could and the rest was up to them.

"Come on, Dirtbag. Let's go." By the sounds behind her, Melinda knew they were going to follow this time.

The snow continued to fall, adding to the feet already on the ground, the sky fogging over and covering the stars. And there they were, all in a line; the former homeless grifter leading the pack of five FBI agents, one who was a victim in a sick game that ran deeper than Melinda knew just yet, and a criminal in handcuffs. They looked as lost, weary, and out of place as Joseph and Mary on their trek to Bethlehem. Not everyone walking on this night was innocent, though, but through an act of fate, one had been saved. And that, in itself, was its own Christmas miracle.