Greetings, all! I realize I haven't updated anything in ages, or started anything new, either. But here's my excuse, and I know a good portion of you will understand: I watched Sherlock. And now, basically my life is ruined. So I do apologize for that. But here's a new chapter for this story - more to follow... at some point. Thank you all for reading and favoriting and reviewing - please, please continue to do so. I really appreciate any and all feedback. Hope you all enjoy! =)

Rachel checked the time again as she waved off the waiter for what felt like the hundredth time of the night and scowled. Spencer was forty-five minutes late and she was starving. He'd usually never be this late and not at least call to let her know. When the waiter returned ten minutes later, she heaved a sigh and ordered her dinner. If he wasn't going to do her the courtesy of calling her to let her know what was going on, she wasn't going to wait to eat.

She hadn't heard from him since he'd called to let her know that he'd made reservations for their dinner tonight. She hadn't worried, though, because he'd sounded so busy when they'd talked, and they'd gone longer than two days without talking before—although admittedly not recently. When her food arrived, however, she pulled out her phone and dialed JJ's number. "JJ? Hey, I'm really sorry to disturb you, but I don't suppose you know where Spencer is? He was supposed to meet me for dinner more than an hour ago, and I haven't heard from him since Wednesday night."

"You haven't—No, I don't know." JJ sounded exhausted, and also… flustered? That wasn't like her.

Rachel pursed her lips. "Oh. Well he's not answering his phone either. You really have no idea? It's not like him to be this late and not call me."

"I wish I could help you, Rachel, but I honestly don't know where he is. I wish I did. You have no idea how much."

Rachel frowned. "What's that supposed to mean? Is he lost?"

"Nothing. It's not supposed to mean anything. Look, I have to go. We're really busy with this case and I can't really talk right now. I'm really sorry, Rachel. Really."

JJ hung up, and Rachel looked quizzically at her phone. They were still working on the case and didn't know where Reid was? That made no sense. JJ had to be keeping something from her—although that didn't sound right, either. Well, she'd just try another way. She dialed another number and held the phone up to her ear. "Penelope. Hey, it's Rachel. You got a minute?"

"If it's a really fast minute. I'm kind of swamped right now. But what's up?"

"Do you know where Spencer is? I've been trying to get ahold of him and he's not answering his phone."

A pause, then, "Well, this case is keeping us really busy. He probably can't get to his phone right now."

"But he was supposed to meet me for dinner and if he was running late or couldn't make it he would have called. Do you think you could at least let him know that I'm trying to reach him?"

"I'm not with him right now, but why don't you try JJ?"

Rachel sighed. "I already did. She said she didn't know where he was."

Another pause. "No, I don't know where he is. I have to go, okay?" Garcia hung up abruptly, and Rachel was left futilely repeating Garcia's name into the phone.

She sighed, frustrated, and shoved her phone back into her purse. Something was definitely wrong. She stood suddenly, pulled a few bills from her wallet and dropped them onto the table, and hurried out of the restaurant to the parking lot. She climbed into her Ford F-150 and twenty minutes later pulled up to the police station. She marched towards the door but was stopped when she heard her name called. She turned to see Hotch walking towards her, and hustled over to meet him. "Rachel. What are you doing here?"

"Hey, Aaron. You know where Spencer is?"

Hotch shook his head. "No, why?"

She took a deep breath and replied sharply, "I haven't heard from him in two days and he stood me up at dinner tonight without so much as a call. JJ and Penelope won't tell me where he is, and now you're trying to tell me you don't know where he is? You're his boss! What the hell aren't you telling me?"

After only a moment's hesitation, Hotch nodded tersely. "You're right. Come with me." Rachel followed him, practically having to run to keep up with his long strides. As they walked, Hotch began to fill her in. "We were looking into a man named Carson Rawlings as a potential suspect for a serial murder case we were working on. Wednesday afternoon, Reid and Will went to interview him, and from what Will's told us, they'd barely made it in the door when Rawlings knocked them both out."

They pushed through the precinct doors and made their way towards the room that had been set aside for the BAU. "When Will came to, Rawlings and Reid were gone. Thursday morning, Will received a delivery. That disc," Hotch pointed to the disc in its case that had been bagged and tacked onto the evidence board, "Which showed Rawlings demanding that Reid tell us to drop the case in return for his location. When Reid refused, Rawlings tortured him. This morning, we received another disc." he pointed to a second disc, which sat innocently on the table, surrounded by stacks of papers—some printouts about Carson Rawlings, some from Rawlings' house. Hotch continued, "This one is along the same lines as the first one."

Rachel crossed her arms tightly. "You don't have any idea where he is?"

Morgan and JJ joined them without saying anything as Hotch replied, "Initially, all we knew from the videos was that he was somewhere close—he has to be familiar with the site where he's keeping Reid and the surrounding area, and he couldn't have gotten far if he had time to make the video and have it delivered to us first thing the morning after he took Reid—and that Reid's alive. We've learned more since then, but what you need to focus on is that Reid's alive. He's alive, and as long as Rawlings sees Reid as a bargaining chip, he'll keep him alive. You can stay here at the station if you want, or you can go home and we'll call you as soon as we know anything. It's up to you."

She stood silently for a long time before she asked quietly, "Why didn't anyone tell me? He's had him for two and a half days and no one thought to tell me that he was missing?"

JJ put a hand on her shoulder and Rachel glanced up at her, startled by her presence. "We didn't want you to worry, and we were hoping to get him back in time for you dinner date. I'm sorry we couldn't."

Rachel shrugged out from under JJ's hand and sank down into the chair that Morgan pulled out for her. "I'm not going anywhere until you find him."

Hotch nodded. "That's fine."

JJ pulled Hotch aside and spoke quietly with him for a minute before Hotch nodded. JJ moved over to crouch beside Rachel. "Hey, what if you went back to the BAU and waited there with Garcia? That way you'd still hear everything as it came in, but you'd be a little more comfortable."

"And out of the way, right?" Rachel remarked wryly. "As long as I won't be in Penelope's way, then I guess that's fine."

JJ nodded. "Great. I'll drop you off right now."

Half an hour later, JJ knocked on Garcia's door and guided Rachel inside the office and into Garcia's extra office chair. "You gonna be okay, Rachel?" Rachel nodded silently, and JJ sighed. "Okay. I promise, as soon as we find anything out, you'll be the first to know." Rachel nodded again, and JJ exchanged a look with Garcia before she headed out the door.

Garcia moved over to Rachel, slipped an arm around her shoulders and gave her a quick squeeze. "We'll find him, Rach. You know we will."

Rachel didn't respond, and Garcia returned to her screens for a while before she heard the other woman ask softly, "Did you see the videos?"

Garcia stopped what she's doing for a long moment before she responded simply, "Yeah. I saw," and goes back to typing madly.

There was another long pause, but then Rachel wanted to know, "What did he do to him?"

Garcia swiveled around in her chair, a look of profound sadness on her face. "Oh, you don't want to know, Peaches."

"Yes, I do. I'm a big girl, Penelope. Just tell me." Her voice was deathly quiet, and for a moment, Garcia wondered idly if she should offer her some water.

After a long while, Garcia heaved a sigh. "Fine. The first day, he… he—do you know what waterboarding is?" Rachel paled, but nodded without saying anything. "That's what he did."

"…And yesterday? What did he do yesterday?"

Garcia shook her head vehemently. "What, are you a glutton for punishment? It was horrible, okay? Don't make me go over it again," she snapped, her already-frayed nerves giving in under Rachel's inquisitiveness.

Rachel's voice sounded very small when she spoke next. "It's not for me. I just… I need to know… what he's going through. Please."

Garcia slumped in her seat, defeated. "He… He… burned him. He had a metal… stick… that he put in the fire… And he burned him."

Rachel's eyes flickered shut briefly, and she drew her knees up to her chest and hugged them against herself protectively. "You have to find him."

Garcia almost didn't hear the words, they were said so softly. She reached over and took Rachel's hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. "We will."