Chapter 6

Hotch put his head in his hands and massaged his temples; the team had stayed working all through the night and it showed. All night long they had gone over and over the video of Reid and the faceless unsub, analysing anything they could glean from what was shown on the screen. They had come up with a fairly decent profile though, even without their resident genius. He prompted his team to go over some of the more important points they had learned.

They knew he was clever but irrational; he had managed to kidnap an incredibly intelligent profiler without leaving a trace but he was clearly unstable and very angry. He also had a fixation with "FBI agents" as he had mentioned them numerous times. Obviously he felt that he had been wronged by an FBI agent in the past and he was now displacing that anger onto Reid, and indeed the whole team. He clearly thought he was better than people in the FBI and the way that he degraded Reid by calling him a dog and putting a collar on him showed a slightly sadistic and egotistical streak. Overall, he was one -

"Sick, sick puppy," Garcia squeaked, tears shining in her eyes as she looked up at a screen capture of the video that was on the board in the conference room.

"And soon he's gonna be one screwed puppy. Once we find him, he is gonna fry for this," Morgan said, teeth clenched and the hand balling up into a fist. Despite the current situation, Garcia allowed herself a little smile; she loved it when Morgan got physical.

"I think we need more coffee," Prentiss said with a sigh as she rose from her desk and made her way to the kitchen. She hadn't heard Hotch get up and follow her but she didn't jump when she heard his soft voice behind her.

"How are you doing?" he said, the question laced with concern.

"About the same as everyone; tired, exhausted, worried... It doesn't feel right that we're all here without him," She replied, pinching the bridge of her nose and closing her eyes. No matter what she did she just couldn't get Reid's face out of her mind, his expressive eyes so filled with fear.

"He'd be able to solve this in minutes," Hotch said, and though it pained him, he smiled at Prentiss because he knew it would lift her.

Prentiss returned his smile with a shy one of her own, then set about making the coffee. Hotch came to stand beside her and he began to help her, doing what was needed without saying a word. Is this what our mornings would be like, Prentiss wondered, if we were together? She couldn't imagine a man in her kitchen, helping her, keeping her company; she'd been alone for so long, meaningless one night stands being her only outlet for intimacy. And they meant nothing. She had started to think she was unlovable, incompatible, not made for a life of love or marriage or happiness. Then she had realised that this stable, loyal, powerful man whom she worked with was just like her. He never spoke about his private life and, since Hayley, Prentiss suspected that he didn't give love a thought. His life was based on facts and cases and evidence; love was none of these things, it was flimsy and breakable. But when he had returned Prentiss' gaze she knew that he felt it too. There was something strong between them that felt real. Prentiss couldn't imagine a man in her kitchen; but she could imagine Hotch there.

Hotch started retrieving mugs from a cupboard and the clinking of china woke Prentiss from her thoughts.

"Can you grab me Reid's mug?" she said without thinking and when Hotch turned to look at her, she became flustered and started babbling, "It's stupid I know, I just wanted - to feel close, I guess to him, I'm sorry - "

"It's not stupid. I completely understand," Hotch said truthfully. His earnestness almost brought tears to Prentiss' eyes; he was so good and honest and he understood her. She silently cursed herself that these feelings were becoming all-consuming as her team were working on a case to retrieve their friend from the clutches of a mad man. She felt guilty for not devoting all her thoughts to Reid.

"God, my timing sucks," she muttered under her breath.

"I can't find his mug," Hotch said scanning the mugs for Reid's distinctive mug among the rows of plain ones in the cupboard.

"Huh, that's weird, he so precious about it, he always has to clean it and put it away right after he uses it..." Prentiss said, genuinely puzzled.

"Did you check his desk, I thought I saw one on there..."

Prentiss didn't even wait to hear the end of Hotch's sentence, she rushed out to the bullpen and right over to Reid's desk. He always put his mug away, like the way he always called if he was going to take the day off; and of course he hadn't done that yesterday... He was abducted from the BAU! In no other circumstance would he neglect his little ritual, she was almost certain of it. Sure enough, when she got to his desk, she saw the empty, dirty coffee mug on the table. Reid's favourite mug was a birthday present from JJ one year and it had "Kiss Me I'm A Genius!" written on it. It was unmistakeable. And here it was. Prentiss picked it up and sniffed it, instantly recognizing the slight faint tinge of something other than coffee. Reid probably hadn't noticed; his love of coffee would have made him glug it down, weird smell or not.

"Hotch! Hotch!" Prentiss called, and sure enough he came running in. Morgan and Garcia both poked their head out of the conference room and tentatively wandered over to Prentiss, "His coffee - he was abducted from here and I think he was drugged! Can we get this coffee analyzed for anything?"

The BAU team sprang into action, Morgan flying to Reid's desk, trying to pin point any other clues that might have been left behind; Garcia grabbed the mug from Prentiss' hands and teetered out of the room towards the lab in her bright pink heels; Hotch merely stared at Prentiss, his eyes glowing with pride. He could have kissed her right there in front of everyone. She had never looked so beautiful, so fierce and determined, adamant on rescuing her team member. She's just like me, Hotch thought as his dark eyes burned into her identical eyes.

Just then David Rossi came strolling into the bullpen, breaking any romantic tension instantly.

"What'd I miss?" he asked jokingly, "I tell you, I would not have complained if that holiday stretched on for another 2 weeks..."

"Reid has been kidnapped," Hotch stated simply.

"Of course he has," Rossi said, not missing a beat, "What can I do?"