"You can't just show up unannounced Isla, Hotch will kill you." She shook her head in my direction as she tightened her grip on the steering wheel.

"Yeah, well, Hotch can shove it," I responded sternly, "Spencer's missing and if he thinks for a fucking second I'm not going out there to save his ass he really doesn't know me." I shook my head and glanced out the window. At this point it was nearly five, which meant traffic was beginning to clog the streets. Anxiously, I pulled my phone from my back pocket to check the time, biting my lip once I realized how close we were cutting it. "I wish we took one of the SUV's," I mumbled, throwing my head against the back of the seat grumpily.

Garcia slowly pulled forward, giving me a sad look. "I know you're like super bad ass mama Isla right now, but jumping into a federal investigation you aren't even apart of is very bad. I mean, like obviously between you and me I totally respect you and support your decision, but for the record I gotta say, this is bad." She clenched her teeth together and shook her head.

"You're not wrong," I responded with a sigh.

"Like you could get fired for this," she added.

"Wouldn't be the first time."

After that we sat in silence. Garcia reached over to turn the radio on quietly, giving me an eyebrow raise. I nodded my head in response and watched her adjust the volume. As she leaned back the sound of Frank Sinatra's voice rang out through the speakers, instantly souring my already anxious mood. I closed my eyes and let out a breath. At this point, despite how confident I seemed, all I really felt like doing was crying.

"You okay?"

"Not really," I responded with a shrug.

She reached over and grabbed my arm, giving it a tight squeeze. "We're gonna find him."

I rolled my eyes and stared out the window. As much as I wanted to believe her I had to look at the facts. Right now, Reid was definitely at a disadvantage. Sure, he was smart and his knack for survival was impeccable, but based on what we already knew so was Mooney. The man had a literal cult following and if Reid was included in his overall plan it was only a matter of time before Mooney used his power to finish it.

When we arrived at the airport I felt my heart pound violently against my chest. I reached across the centre console to give Garcia a hug before racing out of the car. As I ran, I clutched my stomach tightly, and pushed my way through the doors. Like usual, the airport was packed full of bodies, all moving to get to various destinations. I let out a groan and pulled my phone from my pocket again, cursing once I saw the time. At this point it was obvious I was going to miss my flight.

I tapped the screen of my phone and bit my lip, debating my desperation level. At this point I'd pretty much do anything to get to Vegas, so instead of giving up like a normal person I strode to the security line and furrowed my brow. Once there, I quickly flashed my credentials to the guard, giving him a stern expression. "SSA Isla Rafferty," I stated warmly, "I hate to be that guy, but I'm needed in Vegas for a very important case and I'm running late. Mind if I cut in?" I raised my brow, watching the man's face transition from intense to confused. Awkwardly, he shot his coworker a quick glance; both of them sharing eye contact before the second one merely shrugged and ushered me forward. I pressed my palms together and bowed my head thankfully before moving through the line.

When I got to my gate I let out a sigh of relief, handing the attendant my passport. Quickly, she gave it a scan before handing it back and smiling. "Enjoy your flight Ms. Rafferty." I smiled back and rushed through the hallway, feeling a patch of sweat form across my forehead. I wiped it with the back of my hand and let out a heavy breath, feeling the anxiety of rushing around slowly fade. Somehow, regardless of legalities, I'd managed to make it, which was the most good news I'd had all day.

Not long after entering the plane I found my seat. Instead of booking coach like I normally would I decided to just go all out and get first class, figuring if I needed to suffer I might as well do it in style. I threw my bag into the overhead container, making sure to grab my headphones before closing everything up and sitting down. When I did I let out a groan and adjusted myself in my seat.

As I waited for the plane to move, I plugged my headphones into my phone and called Hotch. While it rang, I glanced at the empty seat next to me, wondering if I'd somehow managed to luck out on the seating chart.

"Hotchner."

"Hey, any news?"

Hotch let out a heavy sigh, which I immediately knew meant trouble. "Isla, I know y-"

"With all do respect, sir, I know you think that me tagging along is a bad idea, but right now I don't give a shit. Spencer's missing and you and I both know regardless of my current title I'm an asset to the team." I figured if I stood my ground I'd get results. As much of a hard ass as Hotch was he also understood that sometimes rules were meant to be broken, which somehow gave me hope.

"I'm assuming you're on your way?"

"I'm on the plane right now," I responded with a smirk, "also, if you get a call from airport security just ignore it."

"I'm not even going to ask."

"Good. It's probably better that way."

Somehow, despite the situation, he managed to chuckle. I smiled in response and glanced into the aisle, which housed a flight attendant who angrily stared my way. Silently, she signalled for me to hang up the phone and with a sigh I nodded my head. "Hey, uh, I gotta go. Flight's leaving."

"What time are you arriving?"

"Probably around eleven," I responded, eyeing the attendant who was still staring me down.

"I'll have someone pick you up."

"Thank-you, I'll see you when I get there."

"Sounds good."

After that I hung up the phone, giving the attendant an exaggerated look of annoyance. She returned it by rolling her eyes and walking away, leaving me more annoyed than before. Once she was gone I switched my phone to airplane mode and turned on some music. At this point the excitement of the day had basically worn me out, which was probably a good thing. With Reid gone I hadn't been sleeping lately so maybe now was a good chance to catch up.

I buckled my seatbelt and leaned back my head, adjusting myself in my seat one last time before closing my eyes and steadying my breaths. As I did, the intercom came on. "Ladies and gentleman, my name is Leah and I'll be your chief flight attendant. On behalf of Captain Martin and the entire crew, welcome aboard flight BA2490 non-stop service from Washington, D.C. to Las Vegas, Nevada..." 

I zoned out after that. With a yawn, I turned up my music and closed my eyes, moving my head to the edge of the plane. Thankfully, at this point my fear of flying had basically evaporated off the face of the earth so when we eventually took off I felt okay.

During the flight I fell asleep and when I woke up, I shot out of my seat. Tiredly, I pulled out my headphone and looked around. As I did, I let out a yawn and grabbed my phone, blinking at the light from the screen as I adjusted my eyes. At this point it was nearly eleven, which meant we'd be landing soon. I let out a sigh of relief and opened the window , glancing down at the scene below.

Even though I'd never been to Vegas I knew immediately I was looking at it. The bright lights of the downtown strip danced through my vision, causing me to smile slightly. For a while I stared in awe, imaging how busy it probably was.

Not long after the annoying flight attendant from earlier came over to inform me to close the window. Instead of fighting I merely did as she asked, flashing her my fakest smile as I leaned back in my seat put my headphones back in.

By the time we landed I was shaking in my seat, waiting for the seatbelt light to go off. When it did, I jumped out of my chair and grabbed my stuff, carefully brushing past the various bodies that sat in front of me. On my way out, I thanked the attendants and ran down the hall, pulling out my phone to call Hotch who unfortunately didn't answer. As I entered the actual airport, I called Morgan, biting my thumbnail as I continued my stride.

"I'm literally right in front of you," he stated with a laugh.

I stopped in my tracks and narrowed my eyes, scanning the sea of bodies in front of me until I spotted him standing, his arm darting into the air once we made eye contact. I raised mine back and hung up the phone before running towards him with open arms. He pulled me in for a hug, letting out a loud groan as I crashed into his chest. "How you doing, kid?"

"Awful," I admitted, clutching the back of his shirt.

"Yeah, me too."

I looked up and frowned, watching his expression slowly sadden. "Any updates?"

He let out heavy breath and shook his head, moving his body from mine. He settled himself into my side, wrapping his arm around the length of my shoulders as he guided us through the airport. "Not much. I'm sure you saw the picture of Kane, though."

"Yeah, what the fuck is that about?" I asked.

"Kane's name is actually Liam Masters. We got in contact with a couple of former cult members who appeared in the same photo Garcia sent over and apparently after an altercation with Mooney he just disappeared."

"Did they say what happened?"

Morgan merely shrugged. "No, but I'm guessing based on his lifestyle choices it wasn't good."

When we made it to the to exit Morgan pushed open the door, motioning me ahead. As I walked, he placed his hand on the small of my back, ushering me in the direction of his vehicle. Once there, we hopped inside and threw on our seatbelts. "So, we got a cult leader offing disobedient members, a weird connection to the man who nearly killed me, and a kidnapped FBI agent." I listed off the facts, while Morgan started the vehicle. As I spoke he shook his head and glanced out the window, scanning for opening in the oncoming traffic.

"Doesn't look great, does it?"

"Not really, no." I palmed my eyes and let out a sigh, feeling the vehicle move forward. At this point we basically had nothing -at least in my eyes. Obviously there was a lot more to it, but not knowing the proper profile made things difficult. "Wait, how did Spencer get taken anyways?"

"After Mooney's house was raided back in Europe they uncovered a lot of his journals and instead of keeping them hidden the information got released to the public. In them, he not only talked a lot about Gods and the number ten, but the Threefold Death stuff too, which is what led Reid to believe it was him once we saw the actual bodies. After that, Reid started coming up with all these connections that just made sense so we started contacting previous members to try and ask them questions."

"I'm assuming none of them talked?"

"Basically," Morgan sighed, "a lot of them claimed that while they didn't participate in that lifestyle anymore they still believed that Mooney was a good man."

"Of course they did." I rolled my eyes.

"Everyone except for one guy. Quinten Palmer."

I raised my brow curiously, signalling him to continue.

"According to Palmer, Mooney was trying to expand his craft by participating in sacrificial rituals. At first he started by killing small animals, things like cats and squirrels, bu-"

"But eventually that led to people," I responded dully.

Morgan nodded. "Palmer said that once Mooney killed his first victim he left the cult."

I narrowed my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest. "That's weird that he'd just let him leave though. If the Threefold Death thing is about disobedience, wouldn't abandoning your leader be a direct violation of that?"

"You'd think," Morgan replied, "however, after picking up where Reid left off we found out that it was typically used as a punishment for people of a higher rank."

I scrunched up my face in confusion. "Like authority figures?"

"Something like that. According to old texts it was mostly used on kings and heroes, which fits victimology."

"How so?"

"All the people we've identified so far have worked in law enforcement."

"Heroes," I stated, "so, does that mean Spencer was a target this whole time?"

"I don't think so. After we talked to Palmer, Reid posed the idea of going undercover. Obviously I tried to nix the idea, but Hotch let it happen." As he spoke he looked over in my direction, furrowing his brow curiously at the mention of Hotch's approval. Even though it pissed me off I tried to stay calm about it, knowing Hotch was merely doing his job. "Once he got in there we lost contact."

"So they figured him out?" I snapped.

Morgan let out a heavy sigh and turned his attention to the road. Silently, he shrugged his shoulders and turned into the lot. Once parked, he shut off the vehicle and turned back to face me, offering a sad look. "I know you're mad, but don't let it get in the way, okay?"

I rolled my eyes and tore off my seatbelt, feeling his gaze intensify. "Fine, I won't," I eventually mumbled.

"Good," he stated, "now let's go find pretty boy."