Chapter 8

The whole team at the BAU was working on Reid's case, so when a courier dropped off a small innocuous-looking envelope, none of them even looked up from their desks. They were all thinking of Reid. Except Prentiss who was thinking of Hotch and Hotch who was thinking of Prentiss. However they both tried to push these thoughts aside and concentrate on finding their youngest member. Rossi had gotten on the case admirably and was soon bringing his own unique spin to the mix. A fresh mind sorely helped as everyone else was succumbing to sluggish fatigue by now.

"Ok, I think everyone needs to maybe take a break. Go home, take a nap, shower," Hotch said to the rest of his team as they worked, "To be honest, there's not much we can do until we hear from the unsub again and everyone needs to clear their heads."

The results of Reid's coffee mug had come back and showed that the coffee was laced with a large amount of rohypnol.

"Enough to make a genius turn into a slurring, stumbling mess," Morgan had said, summing up the abduction succinctly. Since then the team had managed to create a detailed profile of this guy which they planned to release to the press once JJ was back. There was no telling when this would be however; Disneyland could be difficult to leave, especially with a very young child in tow. Without their media liaison's opinion, they would not notify the press or do anything that might put Reid in more danger.

Morgan and Garcia both left the offices uncharacteristically quietly, too tired and emotionally drained to even consider cracking jokes. Rossi went to get himself lunch, no doubt something greasy from a local deli. The rest of the people working in the bullpen had gone for their lunch, Hotch and Prentiss were the only two to remain; they were completely alone.

"You should go and get some rest," Hotch said to Prentiss, leaning down close to her and she sat at her desk, still working.

"I'll rest when Reid is safe with us," she replied stubbornly.

"Emily..." Hotch breathed into her ear. Hairs on the back of her neck stood up but she didn't move.

"You should sleep," Hotch continued, close enough that Prentiss could feel his breath on her cheek, but she still would not turn to look at him.

"I don't want to be alone," she breathed, and it was so quiet Hotch wasn't sure he'd even heard it. But he would have said what he was going to say regardless.

"No one said anything about you being alone."

That was all it took. She rose from her desk in one fluid movement and Hotch wrapped his arms around her. Safe. Warm. Her hands against his chest. She leaned into his neck and savoured the feeling of wholeness. Slowly, like a sun coaxing a lily to open its flowers, Hotch lifted Prentiss' face to his.

It was a slow, deep kiss. It was two jigsaw puzzle pieces sliding together with the ease of two things meant to be. They both stopped breathing. They didn't need to.

It was perfect until it was interrupted.

"Uhh excuse me, I have some mail here... are you guys the FBI agents here?"

Prentiss and Hotch both looked at the source of the interruption, breaking their embrace. It was one of the mail guys.

"Yeah, some courier dropped it off a few hours ago but no one came to pick it up, so I came to find who it belonged to..." He clearly had no idea what he had just stepped into. This earth-shattering moment he had interrupted did not even factor into his day.

"Yes, that's us," Hotch snapped his professional mask slipping back into place. He snatched the envelope from the young man and tore it open. It was addresses to the "FBI agents"; it was from the unsub. Prentiss looked over his shoulder to see what it was.

Hotch gently pulled a Polaroid picture from the envelope and turned it over. It was Reid, tied up and gagged and lying in a dog basket. The unsub had sloppily scrawled "FBI agent rolls over like a dog". It was crude but it got his point across most effectively. Hotch and Prentiss looked at one another, a gaze deep with concern.

"Uhh you guys might want to get a janitor in here, looks like he only cleaned like one spot last night," the mail guy apparently hadn't left yet as he yelled this across the bullpen, once again interrupting a poignant moment. Hotch and Prentiss had no idea that what he'd just said would point them to Reid and the unsub if only they looked a bit closer...