Disclaimer: criminal minds in not mine. So here we go, my first chapter for my first criminal minds story, a slow burn Reid/OC, hope you like X

She spat out a mouthful of blood, her resolve hardening. They would get nothing from her, not even if they beat her senseless. Pain would never get her to give up any information or make her talk. She had been in this situation before and all it did was piss her off, not want to make her open up.

"So... Agent..." The notorious, usually invisible drug lord appeared from the shadows, finally showing his face, the face she had been tracking down for the last six months, "why don't you tell us exactly what and how the FBI got so much information on us so we can tie up any loose ends and I'll make it quick. Quicker than your friends"

His smirk made her body coil with anger, her sharp gaze flitting down to the floor of the busted up bar they were currently in, agents Carter, Lyons, Parker and Miles laying strewn in awkward positions, dead. The gun shots making them bleed out.

The drug lords two lackies tightened their grip on her arms, holding her still as she kept her expression neutral, not showing emotion. That's one thing she had learnt on this job - showing fear or pain was a weakness, one most likely to get you killed.

"Hmmmm, tempting" she murmured sarcastically, "but I'm going to have to stick with no. So go on" she urged, "do it. Shoot me. Because you ain't getting nothing from me"

The drug lord, some rich Mexican gangbanger, nodded to another of his lackies and he stepped forward, ploughing his fist straight into her stomach and she hunched over in pain, biting her lip to stop from making any noise. She was sticking to her guns, not showing weakness.

Weaknesses got you killed.

"You're young" he remarked, "and you look smart. So do the smart thing and tell me what I need to know otherwise I can make your world full of pain"

She huffed out a breath, jerking her head to push some sweaty hair from her face, standing back up straight to face him head on.

"I already said no" she repeated, "all you need to know is the FBI will be all over your ass soon enough and that's good enough for me"

His ageing face scrunched up into a displeased snarl, his dark hooded eyes glinting through the low light and for a second, just a second, she almost flinched.

Those were the eyes of a monster.

"Kill her" he demanded, nodding to his faithful sidekicks, not even sparing her one last glance as he turned and walked away, his cane banging off the wooden floor as he went and the one that punched her, a big brute of a man, stepped in front of her, holding a gun to her forehead as the other two tightened their grip on her arms so she couldn't move, moulded between their two bodies and she did the only thing she knew she could do.

She head butted the gun from his hand with enough force to send it spinning through the air, no doubt giving herself a concussion and although it was reckless - the higher probability of the trigger being pulled and killing her anyway - but it was a last resort. She was going to die regardless, may as well take a chance.

And it worked. She startled them for a second, just a second, which gave her enough leverage to kick out at the man on her right knee joint so it cracked loudly, twisting herself from his grip and grabbed his gun from the waistband of his trousers as he fell, turning to the man on her left and shot him promptly in the chest without a second thought, not even flinching.

It was all about survival.

The one in front made a grab for her but he was too slow and she was quick with her reflexes, raising the gun so it fired a bullet straight through the middle of his forehead and he crashed to the floor, dead.

There was just one problem. The man whose knee she fucked up clearly didn't stay down for long because she heard the click of a gun cocking and barely had time to move sideways before it went off, the bullet successfully catching the back of her shoulder and she fell to the ground, the pain not registering until the man made a grab for her, lifting her back against his chest into a chokehold as he began squeezing his thick arm against her neck, cutting off her oxygen supply.

"Stupid FBI bitch" he cursed loudly, "I'm going to enjoy this..." She could feel his smirk as she flailed in his grip, her entire body being swept with pain as he vision tunnelled, "I'm going to enjoy feeling your last breath"

There was no one to help her. No back up. No more agents. They were dead. Her fellow colleagues didn't expect another check in till 2pm, quantico time - another three hours away. She was all alone in an undercover operation exposed and unless she wanted to die here, she had to think of a clever way out.

... If only her brain was working properly, her lack of oxygen making her lethargic and delirious but somehow, somewhere, she found the strength to dig her nails into his wrist, being nothing short of ruthless as she ripped at the skin until it bled, giving her neck enough room so she could smash her head back against his nose and he let her go, leaving her to drop to the floor.

"Feisty" he remarked as she crawled across the floor, trying desperately to reach for the fallen gun but he grabbed her ankle, holding her still as he crawled up her body but she didn't stop fighting. She reached and she reached, her fingers stretching as she grasped at the gun, hoping to hell it was loaded as she twisted her bloodied shoulder, leaning around and pulling the trigger so he fell sideways to the floor, dead. A bullet straight through the eye hole.

"... Ow" she was dizzy and in pain, pushing herself to sit up as she cupped her shoulder, trying to stench the blood flow but it stained her top, dripping down her skin.

She was the last agent standing in amongst a total blood bath.

That's why undercover operations were always so high risk - they had to depend on the individuals cunningness and smarts as backup was not always in the immediate vicinity, their survival instincts sharp.

It saved her this time... Just not her friends.

She stumbled to her feet, her wound bleeding heavily but before she could move two steps ahead, a crack of a gun shot was heard and she couldn't even register where it came from, let alone what it was until it was too late.

The light faded, the darkness enveloping and welcoming her with open arms.

Hotch paused the tape just before he knew it would go black, turning to face his team.

"We have four dead undercover CID agents and one missing" he nodded to JJ, instructing her to pass out the files on the agents to each member of his team, "agents Carter, Lyons, Parker and Miles are the four dead, Agent Ryan is the one in the tape. She's currently missing in action, presumed dead"

"How big of a bust was this supposed to be?" Morgan asked, scanning through the files.

"They were undercover for six months, working towards taking down a notorious drug lord and criminal mastermind. It was a huge job, but somehow it got leaked"

"Suspected double agent?" Prentiss asked, "feeding back classified information to the bad guys?"

Hotch nodded solemnly, "CID are working that end, we've been tasked with coming up with a profile to find this gangs whereabouts. Agent Ryan could still be alive" he pointed out, "there is no evidence of death as of yet"

"The second shot was the same shoulder hit" Reid spoke up, "it's entirely possible that she's still alive given that the blood flow has been stenched properly"

"How long?"

Reid made the calculations quick in his head, his expression unwavering, "fourteen hours. If it hit a major vessel... It's too late"

"It's already been three" Hotch glanced down at his watch solemnly, "the directors are wanting to keep this strictly under wraps for now. They just lost four good agents and one is missing due to an inside leak, they want time to try and minimise the damage and public outrage. Wheels up in twenty"

He stalked from the room, his expression sour and the others closed their files but Reid frowned as he glanced at the down at the open file, agent Ryan's picture staring up at him.

"You okay kid?"

"Yeah I just... I know her name" he explained to Morgan, his brows furrowing, "Quinn Ryan. It sounds familiar"

"It should" Morgan nodded, "she singlehandedly took down a group of terrorists wanting to make another 9/11 happen. Of course it never made the public news, not wanting to cause terror but since then nearly every department in the FBI have been vying for her. Even Hotch considered her after Elle left"

"If they wanted her dead, they would've killed her and laid her body out like the others as a message to us. They didn't. They took her because they want something which means she's still alive"

Morgan smiled, "good profile kid. So let's go save her life"

A/n) lol another story I know but I love criminal minds so hey ho lol... I hope you all enjoyed this opening tease and please please review, they mean the world and see you soon x

face claim - zooey Deschanel :)