"We are not who we used to be"
-Harry Styles-

"So, I put his face in the data base, and I think I found something. His name is Elijah Louise and he's 51 years old. He was arrested for a DUI when he was 21, 25, and then 36" Garcia explains. "Has he ever had any restraining orders?" Derek asks and Garcia starts typing on her computer until she comes up with the correct information.

"Wow, um, he had 2 but they expired. One was from a women named Lola Nickels, she stated that Elijah was staring into her bedroom multiple days out of the week and repeatedly following her to work everyday. The second one was, Jessica Williams, she kept finding love letters in her mailbox and one day Elijah made his move but she rejected him" Garcia explains as her face starts to turn pale as she reads over the new information she's found.

"What?" Maya asks, "The two women are now dead and have been for 6 years" Garcia states and Derek shakes his head disappointingly before Hotch's phone starts to ring and it's Kate on the other line.

"I just seen the news, I'm coming into work" Kate says and the team can hear her rustling up her things over the phone. "No, I told you stay back. This is a tougher case than most" Hotch explains, but Kate scoffs over the phone, disappointed that she can't come and help.

"Listen, 6 years ago, this waterpark closed down due to bankruptcy and its 4 hours away from where you guys are now. You need all hands-on deck" Kate states and Reid furrows his eyes in confusion before they relax in realization, "That's why he gave us 6 hours to find her."

6 HOURS TO FIND NATALIE

Kate arrives at the office while Rossi and Hotch call the paramedics and local police to start heading to the waterpark where Natalie should be at. The waterpark was called splash valley, and it was an indoor waterpark, so it's a large building. A large enough building to keep someone hostage and not get found for days, weeks, even months.

Maya has just finished packing her go bag and starts putting on her vest. Derek comes to her and helps her adjust it before he notices her hands violently shaking as she zips up her go bag. "Hey, hey. Come here" Derek says softly as he takes Maya's hands in his and holds them gently while Maya tries to control her breathing.

"You have to calm down. I know that we have to find Natalie, but you have to make sure you are in the right head space when you do find her, okay?" Derek explains as he grabs Maya by her chin and gently lifts her head up to look at him. "We're going to find her" Derek promises and Maya nods her head slowly before Derek places a reassuring kiss on her cheek and pulls her in for a hug before the rest of the team starts heading towards the elevator.

The clock is quickly running out.

Maya notices Kate carrying a go bag and quickly rushes towards her, retrieving the go bag in her hands so Kate doesn't have to lift that much weight. "What are you doing?" Maya asks and Kate sighs, "I'm coming with. I can't let you guys go in their without me. I want to help you" Kate insists and Maya instantly shakes her head, not wanting anything bad to happen to Kate if things go sideways.

"This is an intense case, and this man obviously doesn't care who he hurts. If you got hurt trying to help me save my sister, I'd never forgive myself" Maya states, looking into Kate's eyes as she rests her hands on both of her shoulders.

"Then I won't get hurt" Kate states as she walks past Maya, not staying behind as she and the rest of the team go out to the water park.

_____

"Ahh!" Natalie screams as another sword pierces through the wooden box. She looks down at her stomach and notices blood leaking from her white buttoned up shirt, indicating one of the swords has slightly sliced the lower part of her stomach. "Please! Just let me go!" Natalie screams as the two swords are brought out of the box, giving her more room to move around.

Natalie looks around the wooden box and places her hands on either side as her breathing picks up. She swallows a large lump in her throat but it only makes breathing a lot harder. Sweat beams down Natalies' face as her chest moves up and down quickly. Her eyes flutter as she tries to concentrate on her surrounding, but she only feels the walls closing in around her, making it harding for her to breath and focus.

"Let me- Let me out- please, let me out" Natalie begs as she kicks the wooden door in front of her but it doesn't even budge. Suddenly, another sword quickly pierces through the box, catching Natalie off guard and causing her to move to the side, only to have her upper arm more expose which causes the sword to slice the side of her arm, and rip the material of her arm sleeve.

"Ah-Mm" Natalie cries out as she puts her head up against the back of the box and breathes heavily, secretly hoping and praying that someone, anyone will find her.

"I knew you wouldn't be able to handle this" Elijah states from outside the box, grabbing Natalie's attention. "How do you think anyone could handle this!" Natalie screams as she holds the side of her arm, tears continuously dripping down her face. "It doesn't matter if I'm a women or if I was man, no one- not even you- could handle this messed up game you're playing!" Natalie states as she sniffles in her tears as Elijah stands outside the box, tauntingly dragging the sharp edge of the sword around the box, the sound echoing through Natalies' mind as the screeching continues.

"Please... just let me go" Natalie begs quietly until another sword is slammed through the box, resting right in front of Natalie's face, causing her eyes to widen and stay in place, not wanting to move an inch.

5 HOURS TO FIND NATALIE

The team is driving in 2 separate cars, Maya, Reid and Derek, who is driving, and Hotch, JJ, Kate, and Rossi, who is driving, in the other while some of the local police and paramedics follow behind. Derek and Rossi flick on their sirens and start to quicken the pace as they drive on the highway, the paramedics and local police catching up.

"Do you remember when Maeve died and I wasn't myself for awhile?" Reid asks as he looks down at his hands whilst nervously fidgeting with them. Maya looks to the back seat where Reid is and nods her head, "Yeah, yeah. I remember" Maya states honestly, remembering when Reid locked himself in his apartment and didn't come to work for weeks because of his grieving for Maeve. It was weird seeing him like that, but he eventually got better which was a good sight to see.

"I wasn't truly happy until I met Natalie. I found someone else who had the same interests as me. She's smart and funny and beautiful and I don't see Maeve in her... I see Natalie" Reid confesses as he lifts his head, locking eyes with Maya, who curves her lips into a loving and genuine smile, happy to hear Reid admit it.

"Even when she left the BAU, we made an effort to talk to each other. She actually wanted to talk to me. She even let me rant on the phone to her about- anything" Reid recalls, his lips forming a smile as he recalls all the moments him and Natalie spent on the phone after she had left the BAU. "And when we find her, you can talk even more, kid. You two can have an endless conversation" Derek voices, looking over to Maya, who smiles over at him before Derek forces his eyes back onto the road.

"Yeah... I hope so."

Suddenly, Maya's phone rings and she quickly answers it as she sees it Hotch and Garcia, indicating it's a group call. Maya puts her phone on speaker and sets it up in the phone holder at the front of the car. "Garcia, we need more information on this guy like hobbies or his life when he was younger" Hotch voices as the sound of the keys on the keyboard click over the phone.

"When he was a kid, his father was also a big drinker and went to jail multiple times for having several DUI's. When he was 8, his mother took him to a circus and he got lost..." Garcia trails off like she can't believe what she's about to read next. "What, Garcia?" Hotch questions, urging Garcia to finish her sentence. "His mother took him to a circus and she lost him for 27 days before filing a missing persons report. When the police found him, he said that a man took him to a circus and played sick games with them like stuffing him in a box and putting knives through it" Garcia explains and Maya shakes her head in disbelief.

"He's putting Natalie through the same games he went through and he probably did that with his other victims like Jessica and Lola" Reid announces before Derek steps on the gas. "Has he broadcasted again, Garcia?" Kate asks, "Not since we last saw him" Garcia answers before the team disconnects from the call and know they don't have long and Elijah can kill Natalie whenever he wants because that's how much power he has right about now.

1 HOUR TO FIND NATALIE

The team, along with the paramedics and local police, arrive at the abandoned waterpark. They look at the large building as they arrive and Maya widens her eyes, hoping they'll be able to find Natalie in time.

"We have to spilt up and cover more ground!" Hotch warns as he takes him, Rossi and JJ, along with a group of local police while Maya, Reid and Derek, along with a group of local police, take their weapons out of their holster and proceed towards the Right building while Hotch and his group proceed to the Left.

_____

"Ugh!" Natalie grunts as she is tossed to the ground. Elijah has let her out of the box, not caring about the number of cuts he has caused on her body. "No one is coming for you!" Elijah shouts as Natalie has tears continuously traveling down her face, despite the urge to hold them in. She couldn't. She was living her worst nightmare and there was nothing she could do about it except try and fight her way out of it.

"No one will ever ever find you!" Elijah shouts as he bends down, grabbing Natalie by the collar of her shirt and wraps his strong hands around her neck, watching as her eyes go wide while her throat closes up from his tough grip. "S-Stop-" Natalie chokes out as she slaps his hand multiple times, trying to get him to let go but he didn't. Instead he pushed her back onto the wall, watching her body tiredly slid down the wall and she let out struggling coughs.

"Why are you doing this?! I don't know you at all! You want to prove a point, fine, but don't use me to do it!" Natalie shouts at the top of her lungs before she forces herself to stand to her feet, not wanting to know he's getting to her. Elijah clears his throat roughly as he tilts his eyes, keeping his eyes close as he recalls moments from his past that flash into his mind religiously after Natalie begged him to stop. He couldn't help but imagine his 8 year old self screaming, crying and begging to be released and when he was found, he was never the same.

He wants all of his victims to experience the same kind of pain, but now he's tired of doing the same trick over and over again. He's ready to let this part of his past go and get taken away, no matter how long it is. He saw Natalie and knew this had to be his last go around before he finally gave up.

Natalie realizes Elijah is in some kind of trance and rushes past him, grabbing one of the swords off the table and notices her blood on the end it. She shakes her head, forgetting about the blood and rushes towards Elijah, catching him off guard as she drove the sword in through back, and blood instantly pouring out his stomach.

"Ah..." Elijah groans as Natalie quickly removes the sword from his back and watches as his body drops to his knees, groaning in agony as he slowly turns around, looking to Natalie whose eyes widen with shock and fear as she drops the sword onto the ground, the sound echoing throughout the room.

"It doesn't matter if I die, you'll never be the same. Just like me" Elijah confesses as he can taste the blood forming in his mouth. Natalie sniffles in her tears before looking down at Elijah, "This was never about proving a point, was it? You just wanted to let your anger out on women you thought were weak... but why?" Natalie asks as she bends down to Elijah's level, staring him directly in his eyes as her breathing is heavy.

"Because you were weak when something happened to you, huh?" Natalie asks, as a sigh of realization escapes her. "You were weak and you want me to feel the same. Well it's not going to happen" Natalie confesses before Elijah forms a smirk on his face.

"It already has" Elijah breathes out, his eyes fluttering tiredly. "I... broke... you" Elijah confesses before Natalie burst out into laughter, tears streaming down her face as she does. All the pain in her body was gone. All the exhaustion and desperate need to get out of this situation was gone. She altered to a different form, to the point where she didn't even recognize herself. Shes laughing in the face of a killer... an abductor... a weak man with determination.

"You can't break someone whose already broken" Natalie states before she watches as Elijah's body falls to the ground, a pool of boood surrounding him as his body lied limp on the ground and suddenly, she heard multiple footsteps rushing into the room and when she turned around she was met with flashlights and the barrels of multiple handguns until one of the handguns lowered, revealing Reid with a shocked but relived expression on his face.

"We found you" Reid mumbles to himself as he rushes to Natalie, who is instantly to her feet and wrapping her arms around Reid's neck, stuffing her face in the crook of his neck, and gracefully inhaling his scent. "We need a- body bag" Maya says softly into her microphone before she walks over to Natalie, who slowly pulls away from Reid and rushes into her sisters arm.

Maya smiles as the hug grows tighter and tighter, the urge to never let go is fueling through the sisters, but they do and Maya holds Natalie's face in her hands as she admires her features despite the exhaustion and wet face from all the tears, she looked beautiful.

"Let's get you home..." Maya states as she is handed a blanket by one of the officers and wraps it around Natalie's body as she reassuringly rubs her back and gets her outside safely... that was the only goal.

Case Closed.

"However far we wander, we bring a piece of each other with us"
-K. Tolnoe-