"Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% of how you react to it"
-Charles R. Swindoll-

A soaked Derek gives an unidentified body CPR. "Stay with me!" he yells. But who is Derek attempting to revive? "Wait, wait" Derek says breathlessly as he looks around at his surroundings. "Where's Maya? Where's Maya?!" Derek screams out before looking back down at the unidentified body continues to give them CPR. "Come on. Where's Maya?" Derek mumbles to himself while still trying to save the person even though all he's thinking about is Maya...

THREE DAYS EARILER...

"Let's get started" Aaron calls out as him and Rossi enter the room where Garcia is about to present the new case. A woman, who is unidentified, plunged off a roadside cliff in Lake Worth, North Carolina. But the only thing that shocked people about the case was that woman survived the fall. "Local Sheriff found her" Garcia informs and Maya sighs as she flips through the crime scene photos on her tablet. "No one her age was missing from the town?" Derek wonders but the answer was no.

"So why do they need us?" Rossi wonders. Another woman, however, was found three years ago -- and had similar stab wounds. "Raped repeatedly and tortured," Reid observes before the team concludes that the women are victims of the same man.

_____

The team is now on the jet, on their way to Lake Worth, North Carolina to work on the case furthermore. Maya went to retrieve some coffee when Derek had joined her, setting his cup near her which she filled for him. After Maya filled both her and Derek's mug, she set the pot back on the small table and looked over to Derek who was staring at her, and she noticed he seemed to do that a lot. It was like he wanted to ask her something or tell her something but he just... couldn't.

"We should get back to the team" Maya states, snapping Derek out of his trance before taking a sip of her coffee and pushing past him, walking towards the rest of the team who talks about the new case. "No one from town is missing which means he most likely picks his victims up outside Lake Worth" Reid observes as Maya sits herself on top of one of the small tables on the jet.

The 2008 Jane Doe was found in the woods over here, and the most recent victim was found on the south side of the lake that heads out of town" Reid states, showing where on the map the bodies were located. "Then the unsub has to hold the victims somewhere in between those locations" Maya declares as she looks over at the map, laid out in front of Reid.

"How long do we think he held his new victim?" Rossi wonders, looking around at the group. "The bruises are free which means they're fresh so... he couldn't have had them for more than eight days" Maya answers before taking another sip of her coffee to awaken her. "And her body is dehydrated suggesting he wants to keep them weak" Derek says as he reads the hospital notes. "But he underestimated her. When she had the chance, she ran" Hotch states.

"What about that 2008 Jane Doe. Could that have been his first victim?" Seaver wonders. "If this unsub is a sexual sadist, he has to have about dozen more victims we don't know about" Maya answers, making sure Seaver understands. "They usually have a ruse that helps them abduct the victims as well" Derek adds on.

_____

Meanwhile, Derek and Maya search the woods. "You must've seen this kind of thing in Philly" Derek advises as him and Maya walk with the Sheriff. "That's exactly why I left" The Sheriff states as the four of them come across the blood in the road where the woman had fell.

"She hit the ground pretty hard, what was she running from?" Maya asks as she looks from the blood then up at the cliff while shielding her eyes from the sun. "There's nothing but forest up there. The dogs picked up her scent going this way" Sheriff answers and points to the direction the dogs caught the scent which goes towards town, but the Sheriff adds her scent soon tapered off.

"Then let's go this way" Maya points to the opposite direction before resting her hands in the back pockets of her jeans. "How come?" The Sheriff asks before Derek explains that the unsub knew might've known the Jane Doe escaped and if he did, he would've taken forensic countermeasures to throw the police off guard.

The group goes in that direction and it's not long before they find a freshly dug hole in the ground with more remains. In fact, they soon discover more graves going back at least 10 years. The unsub, in other words, has been busy.

_____

The team heads back to the station while the police get to work on the graves that have been recently found. Garcia then calls to report that two young women have recently gone missing while driving from college to spring break. One matches the description of the most recent victim. The other is named Marcy. "She wasn't saying, 'He has mercy,'" Hotch notes. "She was saying, 'He has Marcy.'"

"I got the lab reports" Maya calls out as she walks into the room, shutting the door behind her and handing a copy to each member of the team. "It says that there were 3 graves and they contained blond woman in their late teens" Derek recites as he reads over the report.

"So, he has a type" Maya states as she looks over at the board, seeing the teams progress with the case.

"Maybe he was hurt by one" Maya suggests. "Sexual sadists have rage, and based on Angela's wounds, my moneys on hurt" Rossi agrees. "But look. Raleigh is quite far which means he goes to great lengths to abduct his victims" Maya states as she points to the areas on the map.

"Do we have a list of locals with sexual records?" Hotch wonders before Maya swiftly hands him the paper and Hotch immediately calls Garcia and has her check to see if any of the suspects with sexual offenses had any prior outside of Lake Worth.

Garcia looks up names of sexual offenders in the area and finds that one, Marcus Talbot, he's currently teaching art classes at a nearby high school, but his superiors didn't do their homework, Garcia notes.

Hotch then orders Maya, Reid and Derek to go Talbots house while him and Rossi head to the school.

_____

With her bullet proof vest and her gun in her holster she steps out the car with Derek and Reid and starts walking towards Marcus Talbots home. She raises her guns as the three of them walk towards the house and she decides to take the back. She quietly opens the door and steps inside with her gun raised.

Maya looks over every corner and any place anyone could hide and realizes that the place is clear, so she heads outside to Derek and finds him at some sort of greenhouse.

"Place is clear. The Sheriff is checking the basement though" Maya informs as she walks into the greenhouse taking a good look around before seeing Derek look at the ground with curiosity. "What are you look-" Maya starts off until she looks down at the ground and spots a bloody shirt. She then lays her gun in her holster and hands Derek a surgical glove which he uses to raise the shirt so he can get a good look at it.

Later, the police bring over dogs to sniff the place out so they can find the girl since they are sure that Marcus has took her. Maya looks at the pictures around Marcus's house and can't help but think they're quite strange and have some sort of story, but she just doesn't know it yet. "What's up?" Derek asks as he walks beside Maya, noticing how serious she's looking at the picture.

"Nothing, it's just- this photo. It tells a story, every photo does, and you always try to know the story. I don't know the story of this picture" Maya says as she continues to stare at the photo of a young girl, but you can't see her face and it looks as if it's been edited, why? "Maybe, you're thinking about it too hard. It could just be a picture" Derek states as he shrugs his shoulders.

"Maybe..." Maya trails off.

"Guys, I don't think he had Marcy or Angela here" Reid declares and both Maya and Derek furrow their eyebrows in confusion as they meet Reid in the living room. "He could have a secondary location?" Maya asks as she looks at the large bookcase placed in Marcus Talbots home. "You know, trophy or not, it's pretty careless to keep Angela's clothes. He's plagued by a fear of chaos and obsesses over any disorder" Reid observed as he fixes what Derek misplaced.

"Look, he has no sense of entrainment besides, Music and these books. There's no TV or computer" Maya analyzes as she takes a look around the room and doesn't see TV set up or even a desk large enough for a laptop and she goes right back to the photo she was looking at on the wall.

"What's up with you and this picture?" Derek asks before Maya takes the picture off the wall and shows it to Reid and Derek. "This picture was taking professionally. It means something to him or else he wouldn't have it on display. There's no name on this photo of who took it so what if... he did" Maya declares and Reid tilts his head and begins to think she's onto something.

"You can barely even see her face in the picture though" Derek states and Maya nods her head. "Maybe because she didn't want to be seen or he didn't want her to be known. It's like she's a secret" Maya states before setting the photo on the ground, up against the wall.

"Then there has to be more like it" Reid observed as he looks around the room and moves around the house, finding his basement where Maya and Derek follow him.

They travel all the way down into the basement and are met with another door which Derek opens before allowing Maya to go before him. She enters and her eyes go wide. They have found a photo lab with 50-some photos of young woman.

"I knew it" Maya mumbles as she fixes her surgical gloves on her hands and grabs some pictures off the wall and looks at them.

"He must've hung up his favorite one and we don't even know who she is" Maya states as Derek gives Rossi a call.

Moments later, the three of them, Maya, Derek and Reid, hear one of the dogs barking outside and rush to the situation. They make it to the dog and see him start to dig which confuses Maya, but she continues to watch. "No, no no" Maya says as she shakes her head while looking down at the fresh grave dug in front of them.

"This is a fresh grave" Reid observes as he inspects the soil.

"This isn't Talbot. It's too messy and by the look of his house he's clean and organized" Maya rants as she points from Talbots house and back to the freshly dug grave. Something is wrong.

"Talbot seems like a guy who knows what he's doing. He wouldn't abduct a bunch of girls and leave multiple pieces of evidence lying around in his house and on his property" Maya states as she looks around at her surroundings knowing Talbot didn't take these girls or bury these bodies.

"Someone's framing Talbot," Reid concludes. "Yeah, but who?". Good question. Another good question: Who would know Talbot had a hidden criminal history and a connection with the missing girl?

_____

That night, the team gathers at the station trying to put the pieces together since they've been wrong all along about who the unsub was even though the Sheriff wants to end this and arrest March Talbot as of now, but the team won't let him because they know this isn't how the original unsub operates so there's no way it could be Talbot.

The team is on the right track and whoever is doing this has to have a similar background or story to Talbot. It's clear Talbot has a secret but so does this unsub.

The only thing the team has to do is get Talbot to talk and figure out who this unsub is because Talbot knows him even if he doesn't realize it....

Maya and Rossi entered the interrogation room with a sense of purpose, their expressions a blend of determination and intensity. Talbot, seated nervously before them, couldn't hide the fear in his eyes as he awaited their next move.

"We're not here to interrogate you," Maya stated calmly, her voice carrying an undercurrent of authority as she leaned forward in her chair, locking eyes with Talbot.

Talbot, still reeling from his recent ordeal, couldn't help but voice his apprehension. "But I was just grilled about kidnapping and murder. What do you want from me?" he wondered aloud; his tone laced with unease.

Maya's fake smile didn't reach her eyes as she replied, "We want your cooperation. Someone framed you, and they had access to everything, including your home."

Despite Maya's attempts to reassure him, Talbot remained hesitant. "I don't have to help you after what you put me through," he retorted, his frustration evident.

Maya's laughter filled the room, sharp and biting. It was a laughter devoid of humor, echoing off the walls before gradually fading into a tense silence. "You have multiple pictures of young girls in your home, in your basement. Those you took for sure," Maya accused, her words hitting Talbot like a cold slap. "And don't think I'm unaware of your little peephole incident. You may not be innocent, but neither is the person framing you."

The weight of Maya's accusations left Talbot speechless, his defenses crumbling under her relentless scrutiny. Behind the one-way glass, Derek observed with a satisfied smirk, knowing that Maya's tactics were yielding results.

Maya and Rossi pressed on, delving into the details of Talbot's interactions and visitors over the past five months. Talbot, faced with overwhelming evidence and Maya's unwavering determination, relented and provided the names they sought.

Since they've been given the names, Garcia is now able to compare Talbot's list with another list of church members and discovers five matches, but none have records. Reid then arrives with a coroner's report that shows traces of lead in the victim's body. It could be consistent with stained glass and one of the five men on Garcia's list, restaurant owner Robert Bremmer, works with the stuff.

"He travels all over the state to craft fairs," Garcia explains. Turns out that Bremmer's wife and stepdaughter were killed a number of years ago in a car accident. The stepdaughter is blonde and looks an awful lot like Marcy.

Garcia continues to delve into Bremmer's past and discovers that he was accused of abusing his 10-year-old stepdaughter. The mentally unstable mother tried to flee with her daughter, but Bremmer tracked them down. The mother then drove her car into a nearby lake in a misguided attempt to escape her husband.

Hotch and Rossi race to Bremmer's house, where they find stained glass depicting a drowning blonde girl and quickly deduce that Bremmer plans to drown himself and Marcy in the same lake.

_____

Bremmer, who drives a terrified Marcy in an SUV. "We can all be together now, Rose," Bremmer tells Marcy. The car slows as it approaches a police checkpoint. Maya and Derek roar up behind Bremmer and quickly step out the car with their guns raised. "Robert Bremmer, step out of the car!" Derek demands but Bremmer doesn't seem to move. "Now!" Maya demands harshly but she doesn't see any other type of movement before he steps on the gas and starts driving away.

"Ugh!" Maya groans as she and Derek start to run after Bremmer's car which races down the street. The SUV races for the lake and plunges into the water. "No! no, no" Maya mumbles as she stops at the edge of the lake and sees Derek dive in.

"Maya! Don't go down there!" Hotch shouts as him and Rossi abruptly stop the car and rush out, but instead of listening Maya dived down as well, taking a large breath beforehand.

Derek swims down after the car and pulls Marcy from the passenger-side window. Just then, Bremmer opens his eyes and grabs Marcy's legs. Out of nowhere, Maya shows up and pulls Bremmer away with all the strength she had underwater. Bremmer widened his eyes and swam out the window which pushed Maya farther away.

Maya tried to reach for her gun all while managing to keep up with swimming at a normal pace, but she looked down and her gun was gone. Moments later, Derek administers CPR on Marcy.

"Stay with me!" he yells as he pushes down on her chest. "Wait, wait" Derek says breathlessly as he looks around at his surroundings. "Where's Maya? Where's Maya?!" Derek screams out before looking back down at the unidentified body continues to give them CPR. "Come on. Where's Maya?" Derek mumbles to himself while still trying to save the person even though all he's thinking about is Maya...

Maya was still underwater in the lake, and she felt the water about to enter her lungs and she knew she couldn't stay down here any longer so right before she tried to swim up. Bremmer grabbed onto her leg and dragged her down. He wrapped his hands around her neck and pushed her up against the truck, making sure she stayed in that position. Since he didn't have Rosie, Maya was the closest he was going to get.

Maya began to kick her feet rapidly as her breathing picked up and she was now drowning but there was nothing she could do especially with Bremmer's hand on her neck. She looked around panicking before she noticed a tie around Bremmer's neck. As fast as she could, she ripped the tie off and tightened the tie around Bremmer's neck making it harder for him to breath.

"Hotch! Where's Maya?!" Derek shouts out as he continues to help Marcy knowing he still had a job to do. "I told her not to go down there" Hotch states angrily as he watches the lake intensely.

Maya felt water enter her lungs and she knew that wasn't good so she used all the strength could and tightened and kept on tightening the tie around Bremmer's neck. Anything to make him weak until she felt Bremmer's grip loosen, and she knew that was her chance.

So, she slowly but surely raised her foot and kicked him away, watching as he fell deeper and deeper into the lake.

Although Maya felt herself becoming weak, she still swam up. She swam to the surface and let in a large gasp of air the same time as Marcy and they both were going to live. "Maya!" Derek called out as the medics came to check on Marcy, so he quickly ran to Maya who was crawling out of the water, coughing harshly while also being soaked.

Maya removed her vest and tossed it to the side as Derek grabbed ahold of her hands and pulled her further out of the water, breathing rapidly. "It's okay. You're okay" Derek reassures as he watches Maya grip his arm for safety.

Derek pushed Maya's hair out of her face and they both couldn't help but look into each other's eyes. Maya formed a smile on her face, and it was genuine. Suddenly, the two began laughing as they looked at their surroundings before looking right back each other. They always looked to each other...

"There is always light. If only we're brave enough to see it. If only we're brave enough to be it"
-Amanda Gorman-