"Hate, it has caused a lot of problems in the world, but has not yet solved one."

- Maya Angelou

Jennifer Jareau had been a potential target since the start of the case. Victimology pointed towards her, save for the fact that the unsub killed in pairs. One victim would be blonde, blue eyed, generally JJ's height, whereas the other would be brunette. At first they didn't put it down to the unsub targeting one of their own - there were plenty of blue eyed, blonde haired women in the world - but when the murders kept getting closer to the workplace, when clues started to be left, it became crystal clear who the real target was.

The next problem was why? It wasn't the first time that the BAU had been the target of a criminal. The majority of the team had been temporarily victimised. However, the murders became more frequent. They didn't seem to stop, the unsub was devolving.

What no-one had expected was for Jennifer Jareau to be abducted.

They'd been examining pictures of the latest scene; it was the same as all the others, but it didn't take a profiler to see that it was starting to affect JJ. Whatever this unsub was angry about, she clearly blamed herself for it. The main idea was that it was a relative of a previous unsub. The blondes' bodies would be positioned with a gun in their hand, throat slit, lips stitched together. The other victims would have a gunshot wound to the stomach and chest, and every ballistics report claimed the same thing: the bullets that killed the brunette victims were fired from the guns that the other victims held. JJ has needed a break, and despite Prentiss checking if she was okay, she hadn't said a word as she'd left the room. At first, her girlfriend had moved as if to follow her, but she realised that JJ just needed some time alone. Maybe if she'd gone after her, Jen would be safe. Maybe.

They'd only realised something was up when she didn't return after twenty or so minutes. Emily had refused to accept the idea that JJ had needed more time than expected and the team knew better than to try and stop her. They even followed her down, instinct and gut feelings said that something was up. They were right. Nothing seemed different, not at first, the front of the building was exactly the same: agents were starting to leave due to the late hours, there were no suspicious people hanging around, and nothing that stood out as wrong. Anyone could have argued that the agent had simply gone home, or driven somewhere else - except for the fact that her car was still parked, and her and Emily always drove home together as was normal for couples. That proposed the question, where on earth had JJ gone?

That's when Reid noticed something. The car keys were placed on the floor next to their car, almost as if they had purposely been laid out. The key rings were all positioned perfectly to the side, there was no way they'd been dropped. And next to the keys? JJ's necklace. The necklace she always wore because it was her sister's. The chain was broken as if it had been forcibly pulled from her neck. Further inspection of the car showed a bullet tucked behind the wheel, away from most line of sights. The gun wasn't there, just the bullet.

Emily had been hard to calm down after that. She switched between despair and worry to a state of focus and determination that the team had never quite seen before. They soon picked up they shouldn't even attempt to stop her whilst she was in that state.

-:-

"Emily, you should try to sleep." it was Hotch, stood in the doorway of the bullpen. Emily was inside, staring at the boards around the room. Pictures of the victims were pinned up, alongside notes and crime scene photos. Prentiss didn't respond to the chief, not even blinking.

"Emily." Hotch took a step forward, glance moving to the clock. It was nearing one in the morning, three hours since JJ had disappeared. This time, Emily snapped out of it and looked over at him. It was as if she finally realised how late it was, running a hand through her hair.

"I can't." was all she said.

"Prentiss, I understand it's difficult. We're all here and we'll stay until we find her, but you can't offer use if you're fatigued. Get some sleep."

"Her picture is on the board, Hotch." Emily shook her head, meeting his eyes and nodding to the picture, "JJ is on the board of victims, she's a victim now. Look at what this guy does to all the others, what's he going to do now that he has her?"

"Emily, I assure you that we will not stop until she is back. We've known for a while that JJ was a target, we just didn't know when or if she would be taken. Your worry is understandable, but you can't help her if your head isn't clear. Get some rest and we'll continue in the morning." his tone made it clear that she shouldn't argue, and Emily didn't want to anyway. There were already pillows and blankets scattered around, various members of the team had visited home to grab supplies. They usually didn't do this, but they'd all agreed that this case wasn't important. Emily couldn't go home either, Hotch didn't want to risk her safety. With one final, upset look towards the board, Emily took a pillow and went to find an empty couch somewhere on the level.

-:-

"We know the unsub stages the crime scenes to look like one of the victims shot the other. Whether she did or not is unclear for now. He also sews her lips together, that could perhaps be symbolic for silencing her? Or literally, he's making it so she can't say a word." Morgan stood by one of the boards, a coffee cup clasped between his hands as his eyes scoured the photos.

"If JJ is the target, perhaps she knows something he doesn't want want her to know? So the unsub is silencing the surrogates as a message." Rossi suggested, leaning back in his chair. He noticed Reid shake his head at the idea, the young genius stepping forward and turning to the group.

"No, he did this when all of them were still alive. A common belief is that people in the government lie. I think he believes she was lying about something, he's stopping the surrogates from lying. In the most recent murder, he left a slip of paper in the back of each woman's mouth. "The worst of all deceptions is self deception." it's a quote from Plato. The unsub thinks JJ is lying to herself."

"About?" Hotch cut in, eyeing the agent.

"I don't know.. I think we need to look back at old cases, see which unsubs match the second of the victim pairs. Garcia, can you do that?"

"Boy Wonder, that's a long list." she piped up from the table, not even typing anything into her laptop, "I'm going to need something to narrow it down."

"Try unsubs with brothers or fathers living in the area."

Garcia typed it quickly, waiting for the results. An irritated sigh when nothing popped up made the hopeful looks turn to grave ones.

"Nada. Nothing. Zero." she was already close to crying, that much was clear, and it only got worse when Garcia saw Emily enter the room. The brunette looked as if she'd gotten next to no sleep, her hair was disheveled and her skin pale.

"Has there been a ransom yet?" she inquired, slumping into a seat. She knew statistics, she knew it would be even worse if her girlfriend was the target all along. And she knew that if she brought that up, Hotch or Rossi would say that 'if he wanted her dead, she would already be dead' and they would have found her already. She didn't care about that right now, she just wanted Jennifer back.

"Not yet." Hotch replied quietly. A ransom would give them time, maybe even a clue as to who this unsub was, "We know one thing, though, JJ's phone wasn't by the car alongside the keys and necklace. That means it's still with them. However, the GPS was taken off, we can't track them, but if the unsub is keeping her mobile, it could mean he wants to contact us eventually." he knew it wouldn't be enough to calm her completely, but the unit chief hoped it would settle his agent's mind even slightly.

"I hope so. Then we can nail the son of a bitch and get Jen home." strictly speaking, office relationships were forbidden for several reasons, but Aaron had turned the blind eye on Emily and Jennifer. For some reason, he just hadn't had the heart to force them apart.

"Prentiss, I need you to promise me you'll keep an unbiased mind in this, otherwise I'm taking you off the case."

"Hotch-"

"Do you understand?"

"Hotch, that's-"

"Agent Prentiss, do you understand?"

"I'm not going to promise anything. Do you understand how this feels? Knowing the person you love is in danger? I-"

She was cut off by the sound of a phone ringing sharply, interrupting the small dispute. Everyone's heads snapped in the direction of Garcia, it had been her mobile.

"Penelope, we've told you before that your phones need to be-" Hotch began, stopping when he saw the look in the tech analyst's eyes, "What is it?"

"Sir, it's - it's JJ. She's calling..."