"healing is about accepting, not forgetting." 

- kamilla tolno.

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗥 𝗚𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗦 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗔𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗢𝗢𝗠 𝗠𝗜𝗥𝗥𝗢𝗥, 𝗖𝗢𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗗 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡, 𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗣𝗘𝗗 𝗠𝗔𝗗𝗗𝗢𝗫 𝗥𝗘𝗜𝗗'𝗦 𝗙𝗔𝗖𝗘 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗢 𝗔 𝗚𝗛𝗢𝗦𝗧𝗟𝗬 𝗙𝗜𝗚𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗔𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗥𝗨𝗡𝗘𝗧 𝗣𝗨𝗦𝗛𝗘𝗗 𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛 𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗗𝗔𝗠𝗣𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗗 𝗛𝗔𝗜𝗥. The smell of coconuts still clung to the locks of brown, causing the male's nose to wrinkle up in retaliation. Humidity from the lasting bits of the hot water that had just been streaming from the shower head, making small droplets that danced with one another down the bathroom mirror and eventually clearing up so that Maddox could see his reflection inside of it.

The agent hummed a soft tune to himself as he pulled open the door to the bathroom, a towel whisking down below his waist as he made his way through his one bedroom apartment towards where his clothes lay against the comforter of his twin sized mattress.

He had planned to take his one year old German Shepard, Rocky, out for a morning walk around their neighborhood. But, it seemed like the universe didn't want to align with that choice of plans, for just as he was slipping his black t-shirt over his shoulders the sound of buzzing met his ears. Halfway stumbling with one arm in and one arm out of the piece of clothing, he reached over to grab his cell that was sitting on his dresser, fumbling for a few seconds before flipping it open and keeping it pressed between his clothed shoulder and cheek.

"Griffin, what's up?"

"Cancel your plans, we've just got ourselves a new case," the voice of Griffin Howell cut across the speaker. "I'm picking you up in fifteen minutes, don't make me wait."

Maddox suppressed a laugh as he slipped the remaining bit of his shirt over his right arm. "Does this mean we're getting coffee too?"

"When do we not, James?"

There was another sarcastic chuckle from Maddox, an exchange of goodbyes, before the call was over with and Maddox was left to turn to the dog that now sat behind him on her haunches. With a soft exhale, he leaned down to scratch behind her ears.

"Sorry, sweet girl, we're gonna have to take a rain check on that walk."

His response was a small whine as the tan and black furred dog shoved her cold, dampened nose against the palm of his hand. The blue eyed man suppressed a small laugh, leaning down to press a soft kiss to the animal's snout, nose wrinkling up as Rocky returned it with a sloppy, rough tongue to his cheek. Using the back of his hand he wiped away at the wetness the dog had left behind, straightening himself up to take a hold of his cell phone once again.

It wasn't long before the sound of Griffin's car pulling up in front of the apartment complex caught his attention, the following buzzing sound from his phone only further proved that it was time to leave.

With a small glance towards Rocky, his lips parted to breathe out quietly. His hand rubbed at the animal's head before the agent turned to the door with a look of firm determination painted across his features.

━━━━━━━━━━━━

The bureau was clustered with the rush of attempting to prepare for the latest case, but Maddox's blue eyes were still able to find the warm brown ones of a woman sporting a white, long sleeved blouse. Her lips pulled upwards into a small smile of recognition as she caught sight of both Maddox and Griffin from across the room, hurrying over to fill them in on the current case at hand.

"Morning, sunshine," Maddox remarked as he placed a light kiss on Rose William's cheek. "And here's your coffee."

Rose's response was to roll her eyes as she took the Styrofoam cup of warm liquid from the brunet in front of her, shifting just enough so that she would bump against him in a joking manner.

Griffin frowned comically. "Hey, what gives? I picked you up, bought us coffee, and I didn't get that type of greeting."

Maddox turned to him with a hiked eyebrow. "Correction, I paid for mine and Rose's coffee."

"I drove us there."

"Okay, dumb and dumber," Rose silenced the two men in front of her with a glance between them over the lid of her cup. "Who cares who drove who where and who bought what. We have a case on our hands."

At the mention of a case Maddox's eyes hardened, becoming nothing more than ice cold holes that stared back at the female. "What do we know so far?"

"Nothing much yet," Rose's lips pressed into a thin line after every sentence. "Apparently they're calling him the "Seattle Strangler." There's been four victims in the time span of four months. He only keeps them alive for seven days."

The three headed in the direction of Jason Gideon's office, Rose leading the way as her shoes clicked against the marbled floors below them. They soon all stood in the doorway of the small room with four other people standing in front of them ━ Jason Gideon, Derek Morgan, Aaron Hotchner and Spencer Reid.

Upon catching the eye of his younger brother a small smile tugged at Maddox's lips, his head moving ever so slightly in a greeting nod. Spencer returned it, though his was accompanied by a rather awkward, crooked smile.

Derek Morgan's gaze shifted towards the doorway at the sound of footsteps before he held up a photo of a female with strawberry red hair, a huge smile accompanying her bright face.

"Twenty two year old Heather Woodland."

"Before she left for lunch, she downloaded an email with a time-delayed virus attached," Aaron Hotchner informed. "The killer's virus wiped her hard drive and left this on the screen."

Gideon took a hold of the photo that Hotch was holding up, Maddox watched as he read the writing over before heading towards the wall that was to the left of him.

" 'For heaven's sake, catch me before I kill more. I cannot control myself.' "

Maddox's eyes drifted to the framed photo that everyone was currently gazing upon, eyebrows knitting together as he realized it was the exact same inscription. He was shaken out of his trance by the voice of Hotch speaking up once again.

"He never keeps them for more than seven days, which means we have fewer than 36 hours to find her."

Derek turned towards Gideon with furrowed brows. "They want you back in the saddle. You ready?"

At this sentence Maddox saw Griffin portray the same amount of surprise that he was currently feeling on the inside. The male's dark eyes were widened ever so slightly as he glanced up between Rose and Maddox, who both shrugged as a response.

"Looks like medical leave's over, boss." Spencer spoke up from where he sat behind Derek.

"They sure they want me?" Gideon questioned, voice betraying the facial expression he held.

Hotch nodded briefly. "The order came from the director."

As he turned his gaze back to the photo Gideon spoke again. "Well, we'd better get started."

━━━━━━━━━━━━

"His first victim was 26-year-old Melissa Kirsh. Stab wounds, strangulation."

Maddox blinked a bit as he gazed at the cream colored folder that his younger brother currently held, leaning over the seat as Rose stood beside him with her chin resting on his shoulder to see the photos as well.

He casted her a small grin. "Shortie."

"Shut up."

A quiet, hushed chuckle escaped from the blue eyed agent, soon ceasing once the voice of Derek began to question Spencer about what he had stated.

"Wait, wait. Back up, back up. He stabbed her ... and then strangled her to finish her off?"

"Other way around," Gideon corrected. "Why do you think he started using the belt with the second murder?"

"Strangulation with your bare hands is not as easy as one would believe. He tried, probably found that it took too long..." Spencer's voice trailed off as his gaze returned to the folder, eyebrows now furrowed.

"So he stabbed her instead?"

"And realized it would be hours cleaning up the blood." Hotch remarked on Morgan's previous comment.

"Next time, our boy's got a method -- the belt."

Gideon nodded in response. "He's learning, perfecting his scenario. Becoming a better killer."

Sitting at his spot from across Spencer, Griffin grimaced in disgust. "God, I want this guy's head on a stick."

━━━━━━━━━━━━

Maddox fell into step beside his younger brother and Derek once he had retrieved his bag from the conveyor belt, making sure to give a small nod of greeting at the man working behind it. The male looked up as he heard Derek begin to speak about Gideon, his eyes narrowing in the slightest as he paused to look at him.

"He never stands with his back to a window. When I was between him and a doorway, he asked me to move."

Reid looked at the older male with a small frown. "That's hyper vigilance. It's not uncommon in post-traumatic stress disorder."

"Just how much disorder are we talking about?"

Maddox set his jaw, the muscle visibly tensing. "People deal with trauma in different ways, Morgan. We can't judge him for how he deals with things, we haven't been through it."

Though, what he hadn't noticed in his fit of anger was that Hotch had come up behind them during the conversation and had heard his not-so-nice response.

"James."

He ducked his head at the scolding from his superior, mumbling a quiet apology towards him before he followed after Gideon and left the three standing alone with one another. But not before he heard what Hotch had to say to Derek.

"Morgan, it's been six months. Everything's okay."

Inside the bullpen of the FBI building, Maddox was met with the greeting smiles of about twenty or so agents, of which he tried his best to return.

"This is Special Agent Gideon, Special Agent Williams, Special Agent Howell, Special Agent Morgan, our expert on obsessional crimes, Special Agent Reid ━ "

Gideon's correction caused him to pause. "Doctor Reid."

"Dr. Reid, our expert on, well, everything," Hotch continued on before he gestured towards Maddox. "And Special Agent James, our expert on hostage situations."

"And after two years busting my butt in this office, I hope you remember me."

At this comment the office fell into a small spell of chuckles, but it soon ceased as Gideon spoke up and brought them back to the horrible reason they were all there in the first place.

"He's willing to travel with the body."

Hotch turned to him. "Then he drives a vehicle capable of concealing one."

Maddox stepped up towards one of the boards in front of him with a soft exhale. The photos of Anne Cushing, the second victim, stared back at him with lifeless and cold eyes. His brows furrowed together as his gaze shifted between the photos spread across the wide board, attempting to make sense of all of it. He had completely zoned out on the conversation happening behind him, so when Griffin spoke up beside him he nearly jumped.

"So, what do you make of all this, mister hostage negotiator."

Maddox sighed as he returned his gaze to the photos. "Well, in terms of forensics psychology, there's generally a few main motivations for kidnappings. Sexual gratification, turning the kidnapped into a sort of sexual slave. And then there's the more extreme cases when the kidnappers may torture or even kill their victims when they no longer see a use for them. And then there's also the ransom kidnapping.. but I don't believe this is our case here, since there's been no ransom for any of the other four victims, and I don't see our guy changing his act up so suddenly."

Griffin nodded in acknowledgment of the other. "Me either."

"People take hostages during periods of rage and profound loss. Gender-based kidnappings can happen as well. People, usually mentally disturbed, who have sexual deviancies often target people just based on their sex. That could be our case here, but I'd need more information to figure out an exact motive."

A small smile formed on Griffin's lips as he gently nudged the elder's side.

"You're not too bad at this, Mads."

Maddox rolled his eyes with a chuffed laugh passing by his lips. "I would sure hope so, considering I work for the FBI."

The two turned their heads at the sound of Morgan's voice, Maddox suddenly throwing himself back into the surrounding conversations.

"An accurate profile by four o'clock today?"

Gideon barely looked up as he walked past them. "That's not a problem."

The absent way he spoke made Maddox's brows furrow together with his head tilting slightly. He shrugged a bit upon meeting Rose's eyes from across the room, her own lips pressed into a thin line of anticipation.

"Agent Gideon, where would you like to start?" Hotch questioned the other.

As he pointed at a photo on the board of victim #2, Anne Cushing, Gideon spoke. "Let's start at the site of the last murder."

━━━━━━━━━━━━

Maddox barely suppressed a laugh as Spencer jumped back when the dog in front of them and Aaron Hotchner barked, glancing over at the other with an amused gleam in his eyes and raised eyebrows.

"Sandy, no, no, no. I'm so sorry." a man, David Woodland, spoke as he took a hold of the dog's collar.

"No, it's okay. It's what we call the Reid effect." Hotch gave a small glance in Spencer's direction. "Happens with children, too. I'm Agent Hotchner. This is Special Agent Dr. Reid and Special Agent James."

David casted his gaze towards the younger Reid brother. "You look too young to have gone to medical school."

"They're Ph.D.s. --three of them."

"Are you a genius or something?"

"I don't believe that intelligence can be accurately quantified--but I do have an IQ of 187 and an eidetic memory and can read 20,000 words per minute." Spencer paused as he saw the look David, as well as his older brother, were giving him. "Yes, I'm a genius"

Sandy barked once again, Maddox laughing softly from his spot where he rubbed at her head alongside Hotch.

Hotch smiled a bit at the dog. "Sandy, you get a lot of attention, don't you?"

"Yeah, Heather loves this dog. I feed her when Heather's away. Usually, she's fine, but ... lately, she won't eat. It's almost like she can sense something's wrong."

"Not sense. Smell. Our apocrine sweat gland releases secretions in response to emotional stress."

"Sandy's worried because she knows you are." Hotch clarified for Spencer once he saw the confusion sweep over David's face.

"My dog gets the same way, it's natural for animals, especially dogs." Maddox added on.

Spencer was busying himself with a stack of magazines that were laying on a dresser. "David, does your sister drive a Datsun Z?"

"No, but she's in the market for one. How'd you know?"

Spencer held up one of the magazines to reveal the cover, causing Sandy to bark loudly.

David turned and began to take the animal out of the room. "Come on, Sandy."

Maddox approached his younger brother with a small frown on his lips, gingerly taking the magazine in his hands as Hotch stepped forwards to be standing between the two.

"There's an immediate relationship established between a buyer and a seller, a level of trust. If I want to coax a young woman into my car..."

"Offer her a test drive." Hotch finished.

Maddox gazed down at the glossy cover of the magazine with a small spark of hope igniting in his chest. "Bingo."

━━━━━━━━━━━━

"Okay, then how 'bout the fact that on one hand, we have paranoid psychosis ... but the autopsy protocol says what?"

Maddox's gaze shifted to focus on Derek as he spoke, before returning it to Spencer who was currently twirling around in the officer chair he sat in. The older couldn't help but to smile, remembering distant memories from their childhood where Spencer would be so obsessed with Maddox pushing him down the hallway in his own office chair.

Spencer's voice shook him out of his trip down memory lane. "Adhesive residue shows he put layer after layer of duct tape over his victims' eyes."

"He knows he wants to kill them, but he still covers their eyes." Derek responded. "He doesn't want 'em looking at him, apparently. Okay, but then he takes the body and dumps it right out in the open, murder weapon nearby."

"Not the MO of a paranoid convinced he's being watched or surveilled. "

"Paranoid psychosis, but behavior that's not paranoid. "

Hotch decided to toss something into the growing conversation "Maybe he's schizophrenic."

"Maybe we just don't have enough for a complete profile." Derek returned bluntly.

"We have enough to narrow our list of suspects."

"We're looking at less than 12 hours to find this woman."

"We don't know exactly what ━ "

Derek silenced him quickly. "Hey, Hotch, we don't know anything!"

Maddox blinked a bit in surprise at the sudden outburst, opening his mouth to tell Derek to calm down a bit, but before he could do so Gideon had silenced them all.

"All right, enough."

A beat of silence.

"Let's tell them we're ready."

Derek glanced over at Maddox with a stunned expression on his face as Gideon turned and left the room. Maddox met his gaze with one that portrayed slight alarm and worry. He could see both Rose and Griffin looking between one another beside him.

"Reid. You're good with this?" Derek questioned Spencer. "We've got a woman who's only got a few hours left to live, an incomplete profile, and a unit chief on the verge of a nervous breakdown."

The door swung back open as Gideon rushed in to grab a few papers sitting on the desk and Maddox watched as Griffin flushed red with second hand embarrassment.

"They don't call them nervous breakdowns anymore." was all Gideon spoke before leaving again.

"It's called a major depressive episode."

"I know, Reid."

Maddox watched Gideon step into the middle of the room from where he leaned against the wall behind him, arms folded against his chest. His eyes were narrowed ever so slightly, just enough to give him the facial expression of someone who wouldn't be open to tolerating any kind of mistakes when it came to this case. And he wasn't.

As Gideon spoke, Maddox listened intently and began to make a mental list of the characteristics the unsub could hold inside of him.

━ White

━ Late 20s

━ Easily blends in to a crowd, not someone you'd notice

━ Previous criminal record; auto theft?

━ Organized killer; smart, hygienic

━ Car is in good condition; Jeep Cherokee with tinted windows

━ Sexually inadequate

━ Paranoia stemming from a childhood trauma; possible death of parent or family member

━ Will inject himself in to the investigation to feel powerful and in control

"━ in fact, I know ... you have already interviewed him."

Gideon's sudden statement made Maddox's train of thought pause as he furrowed his brows together in confusion, attempting to remember anyone and everyone the team had already interviewed. Anyone that seemed to fit the profile just given.

He could only hope they weren't too late.

━━━━━━━━━━━━

Anger ebbed and flowed throughout Maddox's consciousness, teeth gritted as he and Spencer turned up empty handed after searching through Richard Slessman's living space. Heather wasn't there like they suspected she could have been, and he felt utterly hopeless once again.

He kept his head lowered as he followed after his little brother to speak to Gideon.

"She's not here and there's no sign she's ever been here."

Spencer nodded. "We can arrest him with probable cause, but we won't be able to hold him."

Maddox sighed heavily as his gaze trailed down a hallway and into the kitchen, where he spotted an elderly woman and a younger one holding a baby on her hip. He almost felt guilty for disturbing their evening, but after realizing what they were here for, the remorse slipped away as quickly as it had come.

"Slessman's been at the top of the suspect list." Spencer added on.

Gideon's gaze was focused on the same area Maddox had just been looking at. "'Is that the mother?"

"Grandmother." a brunette female, Elle Greenaway, replied. "The mother died in a fire when he was thirteen."

"Probably not the only fire in his childhood." Gideon remarked as he walked past her and towards the kitchen.

Spencer glanced around the room with curiosity. "Before his "Son of Sam" murders, David Berkowitz set a multitude of fires."

"Exactly how much is a multitude?" Derek questioned from behind him.

"According to his diary, 1,400 and . . . "

"88."

Both Maddox and Elle spoke at the same time, causing Maddox to turn and glance at her. The two locked eyes and exchanged small grins of acknowledgement.

The moment was soon ended by Gideon's voice. "Luring him out was your idea, right? Greenaway?"

"Elle." Elle corrected him briefly. "I don't send a SWAT team into a house with children."

Maddox found himself smiling at that.

"Hotch says your background is in sex offender cases. What can you tell us?"

Elle nodded. The last four murders show he's an anger-excitation rapist. He'll keep a victim for a couple of days. He probably records or videotapes them so that he can keep reliving the fantasy."

"You okay with Hotch being in on the interview?" Gideon questioned with a hiked up eyebrow.

"I'd like him to lead, actually."

"Fine. But hold off. Slessman's done time, and he knows the process. And all you will get now is a demand for a lawyer." was her response before Gideon turned and left them alone.

Derek laughed a bit from where he stood off to the side. "Next time, show a little leg."

Elle glanced over at Maddox as Derek headed up the stairs, earning a small shake of Maddox's head as he gave her a smile.

"Ignore him."

With that statement, the two brunet's headed up after the stairs behind Derek.

"Morgan, the only time you're gonna see a little leg from me is when I'm about to kick your ass." Elle's sudden remark made Maddox choke back a laugh.

Derek grinned a bit at the female. "I still teach hand-to-hand over at Quantico if you need a little brush-up training."

"Seriously," Elle replied. "I want that opening at BAU. You got any advice?"

"Just trust your instincts."

Derek gave Elle a small nod before heading off, returning to whatever he was in the search off. That left both Maddox and Elle alone again.

"You seem really good at what you do. Just keep it up and that spot will be yours."

Elle turned to him with a small smile. "Thanks."

"Anytime." Maddox returned the smile as the two of them headed in the direction of the attic, Maddox holding open the door as Elle headed up the stairs in front of him.

As he reached the attic area, he took note of the three other people in the room, Hotch, Gideon and Spencer.

"What kind of game is this?"

Elle's question made Maddox become aware of the small game board that his brother was currently kneeling in front of.

"In China, it's called Wei- Chi. Here we call it "Go". It's considered to be the most difficult board game ever conceived."

"Chairman Mao required his generals to learn it." Gideon pointed out.

Spencer nodded. "It also looks like he's playing himself."

"How can you tell?" Elle asked.

Spencer reached out to spin the board, the small object swirling in circles for a few moments before stopping. "This might provide an advantage, actually. Go is considered to be a particularly psychologically revealing game. There are profiles for every player -- The Conservative Point Counter, The Aggressor, The Finesser."

"What kind of player is Slessman?" Hotch inquired.

There was silence as Spencer examined the board with furrowed brows before he returned his gaze to Hotch.

"Extreme aggressor."

━━━━━━━━━━━━

Maddox entered the second floor bedroom to see Derek and Rose looking over a laptop, Rose's eyes were narrowed slightly as her lips pursed.

"Okay, here we go."

The electronic hummed and a deadbolt defense login flashed on the screen in green letters.

"What's the number six at the bottom of the screen?" Elle questioned as she looked between the two.

Derek turned to her. "Number of password attempts before the program wipes the hard drive."

"There could be an email or a journal in the computer, something that tells us where Heather is." Elle suggested. "Do you think you can break in?"

"In six tries?" Derek scoffed as he shook his head.

"This dude's good. I hate him." Rose muttered as she gazed at the screen in front of her.

Gideon was suddenly interested in the conversation. " 'Try again. Fail again. Fail better.' "

The look of absolute bewilderment and confusion that crossed both Rose and Derek's faces was enough to make Maddox crack a grin despite the circumstances they were currently under.

"Samuel Beckett." Spencer responded to the two of them.

Derek blinked at him. " 'Try not. Do. Or do not.' "

Spencer turned back to Gideon. "Yoda."

"Wow, never took you for a Star Wars fan, Morg." Maddox retorted, eyebrows rose in a look of comical amusement.

"There's a lot of things you don't know about me, Chuckles."

Maddox feigned offense. "Actually, it's detective chuckles, if you don't mind."

Derek's response was to let out a small laugh, shaking his head as his lips pulled back to reveal his teeth as he smiled at the other. Maddox returned it with a toothy grin of his own, so caught up in the moment they were sharing that when Gideon suddenly spoke up he almost got whiplash from turning his head to look at him.

"I wanna talk to him."

Maddox's brows creased in worry as the male walked out of the room, turning to glance over at Spencer with a questioning look. But, all he received back was a small head shake.

━━━━━━━━━━━━

"A second unsub."

Maddox glanced over at Elle as he walked side by side with her on the stairs of the FBI building, Gideon and Hotch in front of them.

Gideon nodded at her. "It's not unusual. Remember Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris?"

"1979. They outfitted a van to rape and murder girls in California." Elle replied.

"We're looking for someone who fits a similar relationship?" Hotch inquired, eyebrows raised.

"They're not equals. Slessman's smart, but he is a submissive personality."

Elle furrowed her brows together. "So number two is the dominant."

"Authoritative, arrogant." Gideon added on.

Hotch nodded. "Probably not as smart as Slessman."

Maddox glanced up at the group standing around him. "He probably took Slessman under his wing and taught him everything he knows."

Gideon gave him a small nod of recognition. "He's like the schoolyard bully recruiting a good underling -- he'll be protective of Richard. He'll make him feel like he owes him."

"If Richard's been up in the attic fantasizing about being an extreme aggressor, this guy showed him how to do it. " Hotch agreed.

"He helped him take the first step."

"I think we should interview him, use this as pressure."

Gideon stopped to look towards Elle as she spoke. "No, no. We need leverage. A name."

"From the suspect list?"

"That'll take too long. There's gotta be a faster way."

Hotch turned to them. "There is."

━━━━━━━━━━━━

Maddox stood with Elle and Gideon in the small office-like area, his brows furrowed and lips pressed in to a thin line as he watched the screen in front of him that showed Hotch talking with Mrs. Slessman, Richard's grandmother.

"Well, there was ... there was this one young man. I think his name was Charlie." the elderly woman's voice came over the mic, making Maddox's interest pique.

"Cross-reference Charlie for the second Unsub." Gideon spoke up.

Maddox held his breath as Elle typed in a few things, soon receiving a result and turning to the two other males.

"Charlie is probably Charles Linder. He was Slessman's cellmate and received a dishonorable discharge from the military."

"He's bigger, tougher." Gideon responded. "He could have protected Richard in prison. Where were they incarcerated?"

"Cascadia."

Maddox looked between the two with a look of genuine hope. "That's less than a mile from here."

Gideon nodded at them.

"Let's go."

━━━━━━━━━━━━

Maddox never liked going to visit jails to begin with and Cascadia County Correctional Center at night only seemed to make him more on edge. He assumed it was just being surrounded by a bunch of people that he knew had more than likely hurt or killed innocent people that made his stomach flip.

"Anyone who can tell us more about Slessman?" Gideon questioned the warden that was standing beside them.

"Tim Vogel was the security guard covering Slessman's block." The warden pointed across the building towards another man. "That's him over there. I'll get him for you."

Maddox gave him a small smile and nod of gratitude as he walked past him to go retrieve Vogel. "Thanks."

Elle rejoined the two of them a moment later. "That was Hotch. Linder's name came up on a police report."

"And?"

"He's dead━ car accident, two months ago."

Gideon was silent for a few moments before speaking once again. "Linder is dead."

"Too bad you guys came here for nothing. I mean, talk about scum. I can't remember how many times I put Linder in solitary for causing trouble with us."

Maddox didn't like Tim Vogel one bit. He couldn't understand what it was about the man but something was off putting about the way he held himself. He seemed to be too full of himself for Maddox's liking.

"You'd think the inmates would try to stay on our good side, right?" Vogel remarked. "Especially since half our job is protecting them from each other."

"You protect them?"

Vogel turned to face Gideon. "If you're a little white guy? Especially in a prison like this."

"Linder's 6'4". You talking about Slessman?"

"Oh, yeah." Vogel nodded.

Maddox's brow furrowed as he glanced over at Elle and Gideon, their faces portraying the exact same way that he felt. But, he didn't say anything.

"Thanks for your help."

As Gideon spoke, Maddox barely heard him. He was too distracted by the fact that the keys Vogel used to unlock and open the door had a large silver colored "Z" attached to the chain.

━━━━━━━━━━━━

The night air made goosebumps appear on Maddox's arms and he mentally cursed at himself for leaving his jacket behind at the precinct.

"He befriended Richard, protected him, made him feel like he owed him." Gideon spoke as they walked.

Elle looked between the two of them. "He fits the profile. And did you see them?"

"The keys."

Maddox clenched his jaw. "I knew there was a reason I didn't like him, and it wasn't just because he was an arrogant asshole."

Back in the car Maddox watched from the backseat as a red Datsun Z pulled out of the parking lot. He furrowed his brows a bit, squinting to try and see inside of the vehicle, but the darkness of the night and shadows of the car he sat in prevented him from doing so and he sat back against the car seats with a sigh leaving his lips.

As Elle pulled out of their hidden parking spot to follow after the Datsun, Maddox took notice that Gideon was on the phone in the passenger seat.

"Hotch, I just found your leverage. His name is Timothy Vogel."

Maddox's lower lip was pulled back by his teeth as he chewed at it nervously, staring straight ahead through the windshield at the headlights of the Datsun Z that was in front of them. He almost felt nauseated, knowing they were so close yet still so far.

"There's something wrong. We gotta pull him over." Elle's voice shook him out of his thoughts. "I can feel it."

"You wanna know the word repeated more than any other in your file?" Gideon questioned her. "Impatient. You wanna stop him, you give me a reason."

Elle paused for a moment, seemingly searching her brain for some sort of response that would seem good enough for Gideon. Maddox watched her with furrowed eyebrows from the back seat.

"His behavior." She eventually spoke. "When we left him, he was nervous, unsettled. But now he's stopping at every stop sign. He's using his blinker at every turn. He's slowing at yellow lights. This is not someone who is rushing to kill and dump a body. "

Gideon hesitated and Maddox swore he held his breath until he spoke. "Okay. Do it."

The sound of a siren met Maddox's ears accompanied by the flashing red and blue police lights. He shifted in his seat to place his hand on his gun holster, watching as the Datsun slowed to a stop. As Gideon and Elle climbed out of the driver and passenger's seat, he followed suit with his gun drawn and aimed.

"FBI. Put your hands up where we can see them!" Elle called out as they approached the stopped vehicle. "Put your hands through the window now!"

There was no answer, no sight of any hands being put through the open window. Maddox clenched his jaw, the hold he had on his gun tightening.

His voice was seething with anger as he spoke. "Now!"

A pair of hands slipped through the window after this, palms facing the night sky.

Elle exchanged a small glance with Maddox before speaking again. "All right, with your left hand I want you to open the car door from the outside."

The driver of the car did as he was instructed to do, reaching down to open the door from the outside. But, before he could step out or make any sudden movements Elle had moved forward to grab him, pushing him to the ground and earning a cry from the driver.

"It's not him!"

"Where is he?" Gideon glanced down at the drive that laid on the asphalt. "Where is he!"

The driver looked up at them. "Who?"

"Vogel!" Elle responded sharply.

"I don't know!"

Maddox gazed down at the man that laid in front of him with cold, unforgiving eyes. "What're you doin' driving his car, huh, wise guy?"

"He came up to me in the garage after our shift ended." The driver explained helplessly. "He asked if he could borrow my truck."

"What kind of truck?" Gideon pressed.

A sickening feeling overcame Maddox at the mention of a truck. He understood that it could only mean one thing. The one thing he was so fearful of this whole entire case.

He glanced up between Elle and Gideon with widened eyes. "He's gonna dump the body."

"What's the make?" Gideon's voice grew more hurried and angered. "What's the make!"

"Dodge! Dodge Dakota!"

━━━━━━━━━━━━

"Gideon, Heather's alive."

Derek's voice coming across the speaker of Gideon's phone made Maddox's heart leap into his throat, finding it almost unbearable and impossible to swallow.

Gideon furrowed his brows. "How do you know?"

" 'Cause we're watching her right now."

A chill ran throughout Maddox's body, goosebumps rising on his skin as he felt the sickening feeling of panic ebb and flow into his veins. A part of him was relieved that Heather was still alive, they still had a chance to rescue her. But, the other part of him felt sick to his stomach as he pictured what the others were seeing on the other end of the line. Just thinking about how Heather must be feeling was enough to make his blue eyes sting with hot, angry tears. But, he shook his head and let himself fall back into reality, to where Gideon was now on the phone with Hotch.

"Hotch, he's gonna kill her. He's heading there now. We need a location."

"I don't have enough time to get it out of him." Maddox overheard the voice of Aaron Hotchner through the cell phone's speaker.

Gideon's voice was grave as he spoke. "Find something, Hotch, or that girl is dead."

━━━━━━━━━━━━

After what seemed like hours upon hopeless hours and a quick, brief phone call with Hotch, Maddox climbed out of the backseat to stand on the ground of the shipyard. His brows were furrowed and his jaw was set as he surveyed the area with his blue eyes vexed. A chill ran down his spine but he knew that it wasn't due to the cold wind that was whispering through the cloudless night sky.

But, he couldn't stand still for long, because soon enough Gideon was walking down the brown, olden ramp that was in front of them with his gun drawn and something urged Maddox to follow after him with his own pistol aimed in front of himself.

The blue eyed agent held the gate door that led to the fenced off area open with his shoulder, allowing Gideon to pass by him while he covered for him and kept his weapon aimed at the shadows around them. Stepping after him, his attention was grabbed by the sound of a woman crying out. He jerked his head around just in time to see Tim Vogel holding Heather Woodland against him, a gun in his hand pointed directly at the terrified woman.

"Stop." Gideon spoke from beside him.

"Get back!" Vogel shouted in an angered reply. "I'll shoot her."

Maddox swallowed hard to keep his voice calm and at bay, despite how much he wanted to scream at the top of his lungs at the unsub in front of them. "Hey, take it easy, alright? All we want is the girl to be safe."

"If I were you, I'd aim the gun at me. You shoot the girl, you got nothing."

Maddox's gaze shifted over to Gideon with a 'what-the-fuck-are-you-doing' expression plastered on his face, but he kept silent.

Vogel hesitated. "Get back!"

"Shoot me instead. Come on." Gideon remarked. "What, are you a lousy shot?"

Maddox watched with panic rising in his throat like oncoming bile as Gideon moved his gun off to the side and spread his arms as if inviting Vogel to do target practice on his body.

"Fifty feet away. You got a perfect shot. Shoot me."

Maddox gritted his teeth. "Gideon."

"You think I'm stupid?" Vogel questioned.

"I think you're an absolute moron." Gideon replied. "I know all about ya, Tim. You're at the gym five times a week. You drive a flashy car, you stink of cologne, and you can't get it up. Not even Viagra's workin' for ya. You know what that tells me? That tells me you are hopelessly compensating, and it's not just in your head. It is physical."

Maddox fought the urge to tell Gideon to stop it, to be quiet and let him handle the negotiation. His heart hammered inside his chest out of pure fear of what could happen if Gideon said something out of line to Vogel. Which he, unfortunately, assumed was going to happen.

"What did the girls call you in high school? What'd they come up with when you fumbled your way into some girl's pants, and she started laughing when she got a good look at just how little you had to offer?"

Vogel was visibly angry now. "Shut up!"

"Short stack? Very little Vogel?" Gideon gave a small, amused smile to Vogel. "I got it. Tiny Tim."

In a sudden fit of anger, Vogel shoved Heather away from him and aimed at his gun straight at Gideon. Gunshots rang from over Maddox's shoulder where he saw Elle was positioned, meshing in with his own weapon's bullets ringing out that caused his ears to buzz for a few moments. But, after seeing Gideon be hit by Vogel's bullet spray and fall against the railing, he was quick to shove his weapon back into it's holster and drop down beside him. His blue eyes were wide as he searched for the injury, soon finding it and moving his hands up to apply the slightest bit of pressure, enough to staunch whatever blood may leak out but not enough to cause Gideon anymore unwanted pain.

Elle ran over to look at both of them. "Are you two okay?"

Gideon looked up at her with a pained smile. "I'm fine. Go look after the girl."

Maddox nodded briefly at her. "We're good."

He watched as Elle sprinted over to Heather and gathered her in her arms, cradling her head as she sobbed loudly, her cries breaking Maddox's heart. As the sirens in the distance began to grow closer, he turned his gaze back over to the wounded man beside him.

A shaky, albeit prideful, smile grew on his face. "Next time leave the negotiation to the actual hostage negotiator, huh?"

━━━━━━━━━━━━

The sound of the ambulance's engine was softly humming behind Maddox as he stepped away from the paramedics who had been so persistent with checking him over once they saw the blood smears on his fingers, even after he had told them it wasn't his. Fortunately, they were able to clean the crimson color off of his skin.

A heavy breath passed by his lips as his fingers brushed through his brunet hair that was damp with perspiration from the moments just before. But, he felt a sense of pride and hope. Heather was alive and the paramedics said that she was more than likely going to make a full recovery, which he had let out a sigh of relief at.

The male turned to watch as the EMTS put the woman into the back of the truck, a small smile placing itself on his pink lips. He stayed in that position until the ambulance sirens turned on and the truck drove off, soon becoming nothing more than a white speck. He was shaken out of his trance by a familiar voice sounding from behind him, turning around to see Spencer standing there.

"Mads, hey." Spencer tried to hide his worried emotions by picking at his cuticles. "You okay?"

Maddox offered his younger sibling a small, comforting smile in hopes to ease his nerves. "Yeah, yeah, I'm alright."

"Okay, good." Spencer nodded briefly. "I just saw you over at the ambulance and I didn't know if you . . ."

Maddox shook his head as Spencer trailed off, reaching out to tousle the other's hair. This action caused Spencer to let out a noise of annoyance and duck away from his older brother's hand, but he smiled nonetheless at him.

"I hate when you do that, you know."

Maddox threw his head back in a laugh. "Why do you think I do it then?"

━━━━━━━━━━━━

The words of the novel Maddox was trying to read were becoming a muddled blur of words as the male struggled to keep his eyes open. Exhaling heavily, he sat the book down on the seat beside him, just in time to see Hotch approach Gideon and sit on the armrest of the chair across from him.

"Hey, Hotch." Maddox's voice caused the dark haired male to turn to look at him. "How's Haley doing?"

Hotch gave him a small smile. "She's good, James."

Maddox smiled at this response, feeling satisfied with it. He considered Haley Hotchner the sister he always wanted but never got. The two of them had met through a mutual friend when Maddox was a plus one to Haley and Aaron's wedding and they had instantly hit it off. Now that Haley was pregnant, Maddox was always offering to help the both of them out the best he could.

"You picked the baby's name yet?" Gideon questioned.

"It's funny." Hotch responded. "Haley liked the name Charles, but, you know all I could think of was... "

"Manson." Gideon mused.

"Then there was Henry."

"Lee Lucas."

"Uh . . . Jeffery."

"Dahmer."

Hotch chuckled. "There's just too many of them."

Maddox's lips grew into a grin, eyebrows raised. "You can always just name him Maddox."

Gideon and Hotch both turned to gaze at the male, who held up his hands in defense with the same shit-eating grin on his face.

"Okay, okay. No naming the baby after me, got it." He laughed softly as he shook his head. "I'm gonna try and get some rest though, wake me up when we land."

He took the novel in his right hand and his jacket in the other as he got to his feet, already feeling tired as he looked for an area where he could take a nap, soon spotting an empty place beside Rose who was asleep on Griffin's shoulder, soft snores leaving both of them.

But, just as he was about to make his way over to the pair, Gideon's voice stopped him.

"James."

He turned to look at him. "Yes, sir?"

"Good work today."

A smile adorned Maddox's features at the compliment. "Thank you."

With the conversation ending, Maddox headed over to take the empty spot beside Rose. He placed the book in his lap before covering his upper half of his body with his jacket, moving to curl into himself and the piece of clothing.

Knowing that Heather Woodland was safe and alive was enough to put a smile on his face as he drifted off to sleep by the hum of the plane engine. 

"i've never met a strong person with an easy past." 

- atticus.

nyx speaks!

and chapter one is done! i know there wasn't a lot of derek and maddox interaction here but i sort of wanted to show you maddox's character more in depth!

also please do not ship rose and maddox or rose and griffin, etc. rose is a lesbian and griffin is gay and younger than maddox so they're like brothers. maddox and rose basically have a derek and penelope relationship and that's as far as it goes, it's strictly platonic!

anyways i hoped you all enjoyed, ily! <3