Prologue

Manila, Philippines- September 27, 2011

A small camp was placed outside of the hotel as shelter for American tourists who had not been able to fly back to the States yet. Hotch, who was in the passenger seat, was relooking over the case file when General Landers asked, "I guess you're not a fan of Agent Indigo."

"I'm not a fan of her methods," Hotch muttered without looking up.

"Yeah, I could understand that. The lady tends to do things to the extreme. Back when she was teaching pilots, she decided instead of teaching pilots survival skills in a classroom setting; she rounded them up with no warning and dropped them off in the middle of nowhere. By the time those poor boys made it back to Langley, two needed to be hospitalized. Her methods are incredibly extreme, but she is a good person and a great CIA agent."

"Has she ever been disciplined for her actions?"

"A few times, but her superiors understood that she meant well in the long run."

"Agent Jareau and I each have a child. My son shouldn't have his father disappear like that," Hotch answered. He thought back to the death of his ex wife, Haley that occurred a few years prior. Hotch prayed that his brother would be able to explain to his six year old son that his father was ok.

"I'm sorry and I do apologize for that. It was an incredibly poor decision and I promise she will be disciplined," Landers stated as a platoon of Marines ran past the SUV, "Like I said, I will get your team in and out here as soon as possible." He suddenly pulled the SUV over to the side of the road and parked. The team left the SUV and entered the crime scene.

They entered into what was once a popular coffee shop. Reid stepped over a charred chair and walked to the counter. The counter and a few pieces of rubble were the only things that had survived the explosion.

"A witness stated that he saw a white male in his late twenties walk into the café around 9:00am. He had a large package that he had under his arm when he entered. A few minutes later, he walked out without the package and got on a motorbike. Ten minutes later, the place explodes," Landers commented. He watched Prentiss and JJ step behind the counter.

He continued, "Twenty-six people died. Twenty of them were American citizens. The point of origin was by the window, but it doesn't match up with what we found to be the blast radius. "

Prentiss stated, "I don't think I have ever seen that happen. They appear to be highly intelligent to pull that off. "

"Are you saying that we aren't smart enough to keep up with these guys?"

"No, General. What Agent Prentiss was trying to say was that this seems to be the work a group of people that are extremely efficient and smart. There is a high possibility that all of the members have some form of higher education and military experience. It seems like they have this planned down to the teeth; how do you attack U.S civilians and outsmart three hundred and forty U.S troops?" Landers stared at him with a confused look on his face before saying, "Inside man."

"I have looked at all of these attacks. They were done where the U.S military is not concentrated. Whenever you moved your troops or changed tactics, someone alerted this group about it. You need to look through all of your men. Focus on those who had been in this area before either for vacation or multiple tours. Whoever is helping them could have possibly switched sides after seeing what the military has done," Hotch finished, "Is there anything else you need us to see?"

"No, that was much faster than I expected. You guys are good. I guess, we can head back to base and get you in the air within the next hour if possible." Hotch, Prentiss, and Reid nodded and started to walk towards the entrance of the café. Rossi put his sunglasses in his pocket and glanced out a large hole in the side of the building. Something isn't right, he thought, it just got really quiet.

Suddenly, a bullet flew through the window and hit Rossi in the shoulder. He fell to his knees while Morgan dashed to his side. The rest of the team pulled out their guns and scanned the area for a shooter. Hotch aimed his gun to the rooftop directly across from them. Whoever the shooter was, he was gone.