A/N: I hope you enjoy this, I hope it turns to be, a cute story about growing up as individual, partner and moving on from the bad things that happen in life.

CHAPTER I

They had received the call a few days back, right in the middle of a case. Lucky for Weller, he didn't have to make the decisions anymore, otherwise he would've lost his objectivity and had chosen to put all of his team's efforts in this new problem.

Reade called them all to his office, and scrutinized Kurt's face for a few seconds while the rest filled the room. He could tell the man was conflicted, cases that involved kidnapped kids were tough for him due to the lack of control he had over the situation, but as the Assistant Director, Reade had assess the situation from the little information he had in order to lead his team into the right direction.

"I sent a team to take care of the case we were investigating. New York police asked for us to assist in this massive kidnapping" Reade informed in a cautious tone.

"Massive?" Patterson was the first to speak for all of them. A massive kidnapping was very tricky.

"The children are held captive in-"

Weller stopped listening to the details, as far as it concerned him, several children were held hostages until their parents paid the ransom and that's all he needed to know, his mind started to buzz with memories and tactical plans to get them back all safe.

From the other side of the room, Jane stared at her husband in silence, hands sweating for the pain his blank expression didn't display, but she could perfectly recognize the way he pursed his lips when he was holding his emotions back. He had his demons, the ones that kept him shaking in cold sweat in Jane's arms at night when things were tough at work; before their marriage, his nightmares featured lost children, some of them had Jane's eyes, which made everything worse, but he would always wake up in her arms, feeling her heart beating in her chest, reassuring him, whispering that everything would be okay. So Jane could imagine what he was thinking as Reade briefed them all and prayed for her husband's demons to stay at bay.

Weller drove in silence, his eyes fixed on the wet road, pressing the gas pedal with fury.

"Kurt" Jane's soft voice brought him back. "You're speeding"

"Sorry" He apologized, his jaw clenched. He wanted to get there as fast as his SUV could take him, he knew that when it came to kidnappings, each second mattered, especially when they had no information on the wellbeing of the children.

Jane couldn't shake the memories of the orphanage from her mind, it hurt every time she thought about the precarious conditions the kids were kept in, but she had learned to move on, she had managed to escape those crowded and filthy rooms in her dreams, all the heartache she now felt was for her husband.

"They're gonna be ok" She whispered, studying his expression

"What if we're too late?" His voice sounded distressed and nonchalantly.

"We won't, we'll get them all back" Jane affirmed.

"How do you know?" Kurt looked at her in silence. She could tell he was holding back the tears of frustration, trying to manage the anxiety.

"I just know" Jane put her hand on his knee and gave it a gentle reassuring squeeze.

The place was worse than they had imagined. The abandoned warehouse was once a condemned building for danger of collapse. A few feet away there was a filthy river that probably was used as a sewer from any waste that came from the inhabitants of the building.

"Okay guys" Patterson's voice broke through the comms. "I'm looking at the layout and it's not good. The whole place is a maze and you'll need backup."

"We can't wait for them" Weller snapped.

"It's too risky" Added Reade in a firm tone eyeing Weller.

"We need to go now, every time we waste, we put the kids at risk" Weller's tone was defiant but stood at bay by looking down.

"Okay, Patterson, is there a way you can guide us through the place?" Jane intervened before they lost more time arguing with each other.

"Yes, give me a second"

"We don't have one"

"Kurt" Jane mumbled.

Weller held Jane's gaze for a while and then looked away. He was being irrational, letting his temper overpower him and he knew it.

"Okay, I got it, please stay alert" Patterson guided the team through musty and thin corridors, they made even the bravest person on earth feel a little claustrophobic. There was no way a scared kid could make it out on its own, it was too dark and there were too many turns to get lost and never be able to find the exit.

They moved as quickly as possible, trying to stay away from the fragile walls and putting special attention to the floor that had broken glass here and there.

"Isn't it strange that we haven't encountered anyone yet?" Weller asked in a whisper.

"They must be inside with the kids" Zapata replied from the back.

Reade stopped in front of a rotten door and blasted it open with his body.

The first shot came as soon as Reade hit the ground. Using their thermal lenses, the team was able to distinguish between the kids and the assailants in the middle of the chaos inside of the dark room.

Jane and Zapata barricaded themselves behind a bed while Reade took down one of the suspects who held a little boy as human shield. All of the sudden, the place was filled by several flashes that came from Weller's rifle, he was shooting at a dead body, letting all of his anger and frustration out before stopping when there were no more bullets to fill the body with.

"Jane, how many kids have you counted?" Zapata approached with a tablet in her hand, her eyes stuck on the screen.

"Nine"

"There should be eleven" It was just then when Zapata scanned the room with her eyes trying to hold back the tears. The room was big enough to comfortably fit a hundred people, each on its own bed, but there were only four beds for eleven kids and none of them had a decent mattress. "I want to leave this place as soon as I can"

"Found him" Reade approached with a scared and malnourish boy on his arms.

"That still leaves one kid missing" Weller pointed, eyes sweeping the place.

Jane turned to Zapata and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You two go, Weller and I'll take care of this"

At plain sight the room seemed empty. An FBI squad had walked through the remaining corridors in search for any other loose kid or kidnapper but couldn't find anything, which meant that the remaining child was still there with them, somewhere.

Jane realized there was a small vent next to one of the guard's desk and walked towards the wall following a strong instinct.

"Jane?" Weller followed Jane across the room and saw her take the lid off the vent just to find a scared little girl with her face strained in tears.

"Hey" Jane greeted her in a sweet voice. The girl looked at her and backed off, pouting at the strangers. "It's okay, I'm not gonna hurt you" Jane sat on the floor and smiled, offering her hand to the girl. It took them at least ten minutes before the girl crawled her way out of the vent and threw herself into Jane's arms.