A/N: Merry Christmas guys! At least, it's Christmas here in Australia, so depending on where you're reading this from maybe I should be saying Merry Christmas Eve!

Well, either way, I really hope you enjoy this chapter! And please review, as a Christmas present?

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 7

They saw the fire in the distance long before they reached it, the smoke rising up into a billowing cloud above, an ugly dob of grey in the otherwise clear blue sky. Swirling fragments of dust surrounded them as they sped down the gravel track.

Prentiss had a lump in her throat, which only grew as they neared, since the majority of the building was obviously alight and burning fiercely. Morgan's driving skills had allowed them to cover distance remarkably fast, and they skidded to a halt outside the ablaze cabin even before the ambulance or fire brigade, parking right beside the other identical but empty vehicle.

Prentiss and Rossi both had their doors open before the SUV had even stopped, already running the second their feet hit the ground. Morgan didn't even bother to switch off the engine before he followed close behind. It was sweltering outside, the two story building still completely engulfed in the roaring flames.

Scanning the expanse between the cars and the rapidly melting property, it didn't take long for Prentiss to notice two figures lying motionless, only metres apart. She bolted towards them, her heart in her mouth, heeled boots skidding along the gravel in her haste. She knelt down beside Hotch, whose eyes were closed and face littered with fresh, still bleeding scratches. Rossi joined her moments later.

Morgan simultaneously rushed to Reid, who appeared to be in a slightly shape. He was completely dazed, and started at the touch of Morgan's hand on his shoulder. Blinking profusely to clear his blurred vision, he gazed around, stunned.

It took him a couple of moments to recall how he had ended up sprawled across the dirt, though thankfully he was barely injured at all, and even managed to hoist himself into a sitting position with a little assistance from Morgan.

"How are you feeling? Are you hurt?" Morgan asked as Reid rested his dizzy, heavy head against his muscular shoulder.

"Feel tired. Head hurts," Reid stammered, holding a hand to his already bandaged head. It had started to bleed again, though thankfully not heavily. Then suddenly he remembered the urgent phone call he'd received just prior to the explosion. "Hotch. How's Hotch?"

"He's unconscious," Prentiss called to across to Reid and Morgan over the roaring of fire whilst she continued to shake Hotch's shoulders gently in an attempt to wake him. Rossi inspected his injuries, and was relieved to notice the thickly padded vest had prevented any serious injury to their leader's torso. However, as he pulled the vest off as gently as he could, then unbuttoned the once white shirt beneath, dark purple bruises were already starting to appear. He couldn't help but think that, had Hotch not been wearing the vest, he might not have even been breathing now.

"He - he was up there," Reid stammered, pointing towards the entrance to the building, which was now barely visible behind the glowing blaze. "The explosion threw him down here, and then he blacked out. I was further away so it just knocked me over."

"That makes sense," Prentiss nodded. "All Hotch's injuries seem consistent with a fall rather than the explosion itself." She suspected Reid was downplaying his own injuries, since he had obviously been unconscious when Morgan had reached him, and was concerned for both him and Hotch. Then suddenly she realised with horror that JJ was nowhere to be seen, and gasped aloud.

"Reid, do you know where JJ is?" Morgan asked urgently, catching on to Prentiss' train of thought as their eyes met. He whipped his head from side to side, searching amongst the ash and smouldering debris, but there was no sign of her.

"I - I don't - I don't know," he stammered, resting most of his weight against Morgan's side just to stay in an upright position. His head throbbed painfully, his eyes drooping with exhaustion and the weariness of his aching body

"Reid, I think you should lie down again," Rossi suggested, noticing the dazed look in the young genius' eyes. He was too drained to resist, so relented as Morgan helped him lower his head gently to the ground.

"An ambulance should be here soon, just try to relax. Rossi and I are going to look for JJ," Morgan reassured him, realising just how traumatic this experience would be for Reid. Sure, they had all seen a lot in the many years they'd worked for the BAU, but Reid had absolutely no recollection of these experiences. Essentially this was Reid first case, and it was a traumatic one to say the least. Even Morgan, who had full memories of all their horrifying close calls - he along Hotch's entire family with the Reaper, Prentiss with Doyle, JJ and her family with the Face Cards, Elle with the Fisher King, Reid himself with Tobias Hankel - was scared. Hotch unconscious, Reid clearly more injured than he was letting on and JJ missing, most likely inside a burning building.

Once they were sure Reid understood and was coping okay, they glanced for a moment to check on Hotch and Prentiss before sprinting up to the door of the still burning house. Prentiss merely nodded in understanding, urging them inside with her meaningful gaze and silently promising that she had the situation with Reid and Hotch under control. Once they'd had this encouragement they didn't waste any further time, well aware of the danger JJ was currently in.

"JJ!" Morgan called, entering the smoke-filled hallway without hesitation despite the risks. Thankfully the fire hadn't enveloped the front of the building as of yet, though flying embers and the rapidly moving flames still posed a high threat.

"JJ? JJ, are you in here?!" Rossi yelled over the loud crackling of fire as he followed closely behind Morgan. They both covered their faces with their arms, trying their best to protect their eyes and lungs from the harmful smoke and flying embers.

However, smoke soon completely filled the air before them, and despite their best attempts to keep from breathing it in, both were wheezing and coughing after taking just a couple of steps inside. They had to squint to see through the thick haze, and sweat had begun dripping down their faces as they moved closer and closer towards the centre of the blaze. Time was really of the essence now, since the house had now been burning for close to fifteen minutes, and was constructed entirely of wood. At any given time it could collapse in on itself, burying them and JJ beneath two storeys worth of scorching hot scaffolding.

The pair made careful progress down the hall, checking each room they passed, Morgan on the right, Rossi the left. The place was huge, with at least five rooms just in this front section of the property. Their likelihood of finding JJ and then all three of them leaving alive was becoming slimmer and slimmer by the second.

Rossi almost missed the third room completely, since the door had swung almost completely closed and a haze of smoke made the distinction between wall and door near impossible. However, at the last moment he registered the round silver door handle, glinting with the reflection of fire, out of the corner of his eye. Moving back a step, he pushed it open, revealing what appeared to be a bedroom inside. Half the space was already enveloped by flames, though the section containing the neatly made bed was still in tact, for now at least. And there, almost invisible behind the billowing smoke, was the faint outline of a body with heeled boots and long blonde hair.

"MORGAN! She's here," he cried as he ran to her. He had to literally drag her delicate, unmoving frame from the path of the fire is it came closer and closer. Morgan reached them, gasping at the sight of his friend. She was covered in ash, her cheeks blackened and her hair filled with grime. Her eyes were closed, though they were thankful to notice the rise and fall of her chest that meant she was still alive, though her breaths seemed shallow and wheezy. The leg of her trousers was ablaze, and Morgan ripped off his shirt without a second thought to extinguish it. Then he collected her limp body up in his arms, running from the room just before it was engulfed entirely by the fire.

He and Rossi stumbled down the hall and finally outside, just as two ambulances and several fire trucks sped up to the property. They stumbled down the stairs and eventually collapsed onto the ground beside Prentiss, Hotch and Reid, coughing and spluttering whilst gulping at the clean air their lungs so desperately desired.

Prentiss hurried over to help them rest JJ carefully onto the dust. Hotch had regained consciousness whilst they had been inside, but he could barely open his eyes, let alone sit upright. Reid dragged his pain riddled body closer to the group, until they were all huddled together on the ground.

"Is she - is she - okay?" Hotch gasped quietly, barely able to breathe, let alone speak. He attempted to sit up, groaning at the sheer effort and pain, though Prentiss rest her palm against his shoulder to prevent him from injuring himself further.

"She'll be okay," she reassured, simply to convince him to lay still. From her limited knowledge he appeared to have fractured a couple of ribs, even with the thick, protective vest, and his arms were littered with deep cuts and bruise. One was bent at an odd angle, immobile at his side, presumably broken. However, as leader of their team, he still felt responsible for the safety of them all, even when he himself was seriously injured. The distressed look on his typically emotionless face was disconcerting, though couldn't hide his worry for JJ in addition to the intense pain he was experiencing.

The ambulances had parked just metres from them, and two men hurried from the vehicles to them. Immediately they surrounded JJ, whose pulse was becoming fainter and fainter beneath Morgan's fingertips. Another paramedic, a woman this time, carried a stretcher beneath her arm, and the three together lifted JJ as gently as possible onto it before rushing her to one of the ambulances. Moments later it sped off, red and blue lights flashing and siren whooping.

Hotch was loaded onto a second stretcher, whilst Rossi, Morgan and Prentiss half carried, half dragged Reid to the ambulance. As it too sped off into the distance towards the nearest hospital, the three agents watched in stunned silence, still barely grasping the enormity of the events that had occurred in the last twenty minutes, which had felt like a full day at least.

Tears of terror, worry, stress and exhaustion began to drip one by one down Prentiss cheeks. She was simply unable to hold them back any longer. Her hands were shaking violently, and her legs felt suddenly light, as though they could no longer hold her weight.

Noticing her distress almost simultaneously, Rossi and Morgan embraced her into a group hug. It didn't take long before they too had tears in their eyes, the trauma they were still facing becoming too overwhelming to disguise. Sure, most of them had been injured on a number of occasions in the course of their work, but never had a single Unsub taken out half their team. It had all happened so suddenly that it was only now they could properly process it, as Hotch, Reid and JJ were rushed to receive urgent medical treatment. They had seriously underestimated their opponent, and had now learnt their lesson once and for all. Never would they make such a detrimental and dangerous mistake again.

At some point whilst they'd been distracted by the injuries of their friends, the fire brigade had extinguish the blaze, leaving only the blackened skeleton of a building that had stood tall just hours before. The trucks and their crews left shortly after, leaving the three agents alone, looking battered and exhausted from their ordeal.

They trudged to the car, physically and emotionally drained. Morgan and Rossi were covered with soot, their faces and hair streaked with the stuff. They would have laughed at their ridiculous appearance had the situation been different, but they just couldn't distract themselves from JJ, Hotch and Reid. Prentiss' hair was ruffled, and sweat was dripping down all of their brows from the intense heat. The sleeve of Rossi's black blazer had nearly disintegrated completely, having caught fire at some point and somehow putting itself out without its owner even noticing. Morgan's shirt was half burnt from putting out the fire on JJ's leg, and Prentiss had droplets of Hotch's blood on her sleeves and hands.

All in all, they made a rather dishevelled bunch as they climbed into the SUVs, Rossi taking the one Hotch had driven, Prentiss and Morgan together in the other, preparing themselves for another long, silent and worry-filled drive to the hospital.

Less than a mile from them, seated in an old rusty truck concealed behind a wall of trees and shrubbery, sat a man with a smirk spread across his ageing face. It had been from here that he'd waited expectantly but patiently for the team of agents. He had been slightly disheartened when only three agents arrived in their SUV, and even more so when just two had made their way inside the house. However, the thrill of pressing a single button and watching the entire place go up in flames had still sent a rush of adrenalin down his spine.

The chaos that had ensued was certainly entertaining; there was no doubt about that. It appeared that the two male agents, including Dr Reid himself, would survive, unfortunately, though the blonde girl looked at least unconscious from this distance.

But whilst this little payback on his enemy had been fun, he discovered to his surprise that he still far preferred being up close, able to listen to his victims agonised scream and watch as they writhed in pain. Whilst explosives caused much more damage, they seemed much less personal. He had no control over any of it. He couldn't watch the life flutter like a freed butterfly from the prison of their eyes, or their bodies turn pale as the blood drained from their wounds.

He smiled at these memories. Who'd have thought that a purely scientific endeavour would turn into something so… exhilarating?

Originally his plan had been to live legally; giving up his previous con man and fraudster ways for the safety and security of a legitimate job. This, he decided, would have to involve his passion - Ancient Egypt. But eventually science alone wasn't enough. He needed to experiment, to experience the ways of these people for himself rather than simply read about them.

And so this whole new adventure had begun. He had discovered his one true passion. Far from being on the right side of the law, he had now discovered his life's purpose, the one thing that trilled him more than anything else.

Just after the final two SUVs drove into the distance, there was a thumping noise from the rear of the vehicle, and a muffled scream, though it sounded more like a whimper. He smiled to himself. This would be his last mummification, he decided. He was done with playing and taunting the FBI. Whilst it was entertaining, it wasn't his true purpose in this world. After this woman was disposed of he would leave the state, perhaps even the country. Then he could pray on whomever his heart desired.

But first he had once last score to settle. And this time none of them would survive. He would be there, in person, to make sure of that.