When Rossi made the positive ID, Morgan's fist connected with the wall. When Rossi said he's been dead less than a week, Morgan felt the air leave the cabin. And when Rossi said he was going to call in CSI, Morgan left the cabin.

He reached the car, leant his forearms on its roof, interlocked his fingers and rested his head on his hands. He was losing it. And Derek Morgan never loses it.

"The locals are coming," Rossi's voice approached from behind Morgan and the dark agent spun around, trying to hide the despair, anger, sadness and guilt he felt.

"Did you call Hotch?" Rossi asked and when Morgan looked at him, he could see that just like Morgan, Rossi was fighting for control over his emotions.

Morgan shook his head, daring himself to open his mouth and reply verbally but, not trusting himself to adequately contain his emotions, he remained silent.

Rossi pulled out his phone just as sirens could be heard in the distance. He punched in the numbers and set it to speaker. He held it up in front of him so that the phone was now between himself and Morgan.

"Hotch," their unit chief answered.

"It's Rossi and Morgan," Rossi said quickly.

"I'll put you on speaker..."

"That's not a good idea Aaron," Rossi interjected.

There was a pause. "What did you find?"

"Jason's dead." Rossi's voice held no emotion, no sign that he was affected by the murder of his old colleague. "His skull was smashed – like the others."

"Are you sure it's him?" Hotch's voice matched Rossi's in lack of emotion. Morgan noticed that he now spoke in a whisper – the others must be close.

"His wallet was still on him," Rossi said.

"Hotch, he's been dead a week at most," Morgan said.

"Where was he?"

"His cabin."

There was a pause and Morgan felt an uneasiness to it.

"Gideon's cabin is on the other side of the state," Hotch said carefully.

"The woman at the truck stop told us this was his cabin," Morgan replied.

"What's the address?" Hotch asked.

Rossi gave it to him.

"Maybe he has two," Morgan suggested.

"Hold on," Hotch said and then his voice became more distant as he evidently spoke out to Garcia and asked her to check the address. There was a muffled reply and then, "That cabin belongs to Samuel Gary Simpson."

"Same initials as his alias," Rossi pointed out. "What about his other cabin?"

The sound of sirens could now be heard.

"Garcia," Hotch again spoke away from the phone. "Didn't you say Gideon's cabin changed hands?"

Again, a muffled response.

"I need you both here," Hotch's voice had taken a slight dip. "The cabin is owned by a Saul Sampson Grahams."

Xxx

Hotch flipped his phone shut and turned around to face the rest of the team. He moved further into the room, having opted to speak to Rossi and Morgan from the other end of the room in order to keep the conversation as private as possible whilst still being close enough to Garcia to keep her on hand.

Every fibre in his being wanted to race down to the parking lot, get into his car and get his agent back. But there was protocol. He had to brief Prentiss, JJ and Garcia. He had to debrief Rossi and Morgan. He had to come up with a strategy. He estimated that Rossi and Morgan would halve their ETA , but he was only somewhat satisfied that fifteen minutes, plus the hour it took to drive to Gideon's cabin, wouldn't make much of a difference.

"What was that about Hotch?" JJ asked.

Hotch looked around the table where JJ, Prentiss and Garcia sat, watching him with concern. How was he to tell them? He was having a hard time swallowing what he had just learnt himself.

The last few hours had been a nightmare and Hotch felt like banging his hands against his head. He had to keep his emotions in check – if not for himself, then for the rest of the team. He had to be short on the phone with Rossi and Morgan – although Rossi would have naturally seen right through him – because there was no time for emotion, no time for grief. At least no while Reid was still out there. They could grieve later. But it was getting harder to quell the storm that was raging in his head and chest.

"Rossi and Morgan found a second cabin that belongs to Gideon," Hotch started, suddenly now petrified that once he said it out loud, he would no longer be able to contain the loss he felt for his friend and old colleague.

"Gideon has two cabins?" JJ asked. "Why would he have two cabins?"

"No, no," Garcia interrupted. "He sold his cabin to Saul Sampson Grahams and the other one that Morgan and Rossi went to belongs to a Samuel Gary Simpson."

"Wait a minute," JJ stood from her chair, realisation on her face. "Gideon's credit card was under the name of Gordon Simon Stewards."

"They all have the same initials," Prentiss pointed out. "That can't be a coincidence."

"I don't think it is," Hotch said, wanting to explain his theory on the initials but becoming increasingly antsy that he hadn't told them yet.

"What did they find in the cabin, Hotch?" Prentiss asked – the perfect opening.

Hotch swallowed. "Gideon was in the cabin," he said and watched as their faces fell when they realised from his own face that nothing good was about to come out of his mouth. "He was murdered. Like John Usher, Ben Garrett and Rachel Sanders."

He watched their reactions closely: Prentiss' eyebrows shot up her forehead, her eyes wide and her mouth slightly open. JJ stood, a blank expression on her face that slowly crumbled into one of absolute despair and horror. Garcia's mouth was open and she was taking in breaths that suggested to Hotch that she was fighting the urge to cry though tears were already falling from her eyes.

"Agent Hotchner?" a voice from behind Hotch sounded uncertain and the Unit Chief turned around to face the intruder, fully prepared to reprimand him for interrupting such a sensitive moment.

Anderson stood by the door, looking very uncomfortable and nervous.

"What is it?" Hotch tried to make his voice hard and unforgiving, but instead it came out unemotional and stoic – like always.

"Section Chief Strauss wants to see you in her office."

Hotch could not believe his luck.

"I'm busy," he said simply, making to turn back to his team.

"Sir," Anderson sounded scared. "She insisted."

"It's okay Hotch," Prentiss, it seemed to Hotch, had gotten over the initial shock and was now back to doing what she did best: compartmentalising. "Go."

Xxx

The first thing Hotch thought when he saw Strauss through the big glass doors was I really don't need this.

Strauss sat at her desk, bent over files and reading diligently. When Hotch knocked on the glass doors, she looked up, waved him in and took off her glasses.

"Ma'am," Hotch addressed her as he walked in to stand opposite her.

"Agent Hotchner," she stood up. "I've just gotten off the phone with Sherriff Lancome. Can you explain to me why two of your agents tried to leave a crime scene in the hands of two rookie cops?"

"I instructed them to come back to Quantico as soon as possible," Hotch replied, looking his superior straight in the eyes to show no fear. "They're needed here."

"They were needed there," Strauss said. "What was so urgent they could not properly search the scene? Have you located Agent Reid?"

Hotch shook his head. It appeared that Strauss did not know about Gideon yet. "I have a theory," he said.

"A theory?" Strauss did not look so impressed. "Aaron, I need more than a theory. You left West Virginia and Maryland – they've been on my back all day wanting to know what the hell is going on."

"Erin," Hotch sighed. He needed to tell her but the repercussions of that could either benefit him and the team or severely hinder their ability to help Reid. "Gideon was murdered."

Erin balked, her mouth opened and then closed. Finally, after a moment of indecision, she sat down, seeming to regain herself.

"That's where Rossi and Morgan were," Hotch explained. "Gideon had two cabins. He's been using aliases and I think the other cabin is where the UnSub is holding Reid."

"I have to take your team off this Aaron," Strauss said. "I can no longer justify your involvement to the Director anymore."

Hotch shook his head fiercely. "Erin, this is our case," he said adamantly. "Don't take this away from the team."

Strauss looked conflicted. "You have to cope with the death of one of your colleagues," she said softly. "And what will the consequences be if you walk into the murder of another."

"Reid is still alive," Hotch didn't feel so sure anymore, but he had to hope.

"And if he's not?"

Hotch didn't answer right away. He had refused that thought to stay in his mind for more than a second. Reid wasn't dead.

"We'll cope," he said simply.

Strauss stared at him, looking him up and down and Hotch waited with bated breath for her answer.

Xxx

A/N: Whoa, I updated! I've been super busy! I'm writing a thesis so I've been slightly focusing on that. I wanted to let you guys know that I will be going overseas (yay!) at the end of the month and I'm hoping to have at least one more chapter up before then but if you don't hear from me in a while it's not because I've stopped writing, it's because I'm exploring other cultures!

Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed my last chapter. Judging by the responses I got, I should stop being a sook and get on with it LOL Thanks for lifting my spirits and I think I just needed a bit of love to get re-motivated. So thanks to tannerose5, People Person I'm Not, Guest, Annber03, Sophie, Marcallie, Alipeeps and aspiegiraffe.

In case anyone is wondering: everything will be answered eventually and everything will make sense if it doesn't yet. And sorry if you loved Gideon and not into death fics with major characters but I don't view him as a major character anymore and I kinda don't like him anyways :) Reid will reappear in the next couple of chapters.

Oh, who saw "Prisoners" and thought that this was like an extra long Criminal Minds episode? LOL

Thanks again! xx