The sun was rising over the small one storey houses slowly but surely, kissing rooftops as it did. The glare caused Morgan to shift uncomfortably in the driver's seat of Hotch's SUV. Suddenly, as if pricked with a needle, he sat bolt upright, eyes darting every which way. He turned the key in the ignition to check the time: 6:30 AM. He only had half an hour to get back to the hotel the rest of the BAU was staying at. Not thinking about where he was or what he was doing there, he put the SUV in drive and sped towards the hotel.

Luckily he arrived there before anyone had noticed he kidnapped Hotch's truck. But then that got him thinking… why exactly did he do that in the first place? The answer wasn't coming to him. Confused, he shook it off as waking up late at night craving a cheeseburger. He walked into the conference room at 7 o'clock with a big mug of coffee in his hands.

'You look horrible,' remarked Emily, noting the dark circles under his eyes.

'I think he looks fine,' purred Garcia in her usual flirtatious manner.

'Yeah, I didn't sleep well last night,' he shrugged while taking a sip from the mug. 'And I've got an awful kink in my neck.'

Hotch stormed into the room a few minutes later with a worried look on his face. Apparently it also just dawned on the others that Reid and JJ weren't there.

'Does anyone know where Reid is?' Hotch asked quickly and quietly. 'And JJ, for that matter,' he added.

'You're sure they just didn't sleep in?' asked Emily, trying to sound optimistic.

'No, both of their doors were left open a little. I looked in and neither of them were there.'

Morgan's eyes suddenly grew wide. He remembered driving Reid to the Hickam house to look for his wallet. He remembered JJ coming along with them. And finally, he remembered falling asleep in the SUV outside of the house and waking up this morning at 6:30.

'Oh my God,' Morgan gasped. 'I know where they are.'

After explaining to the rest of the team what had happened the previous night, they all set off to the Hickam residence. It was agreed unanimously that Morgan shouldn't be left in charge with this again. Emily walked up the stone pathway to the front door of Hickam's house and knocked three times.

'Reid, JJ… you there?' she called out.

After a few moments of silence Hotch pulled out the key from his coat pocket and opened the door. Before anyone even walked over the threshold they held their breath. The house was a disaster. Curtains were torn off the windows, chairs and tables overturned, cupboards wide open, glasses smashed on the floor. All of a sudden everyone grew terribly worried. They called out Reid and JJ's names in unison, but no one answered from within the house.

'Morgan, you and Garcia go upstairs. Emily and I will check in the basement.'

With a disappointed look at Morgan, Hotch turned around and headed towards the wooden trap door located on the floor and went down. The basement, it seemed, was in no better condition than the rest of the house. Emily gasped at what she saw on the floor: a pool of what was apparently blood and a note written on a large piece of parchment, evidently one of the many pieces that lined the desks down here. It read: 'No one has to get hurt. Just tell me how.'

Hotch looked even more upset than before. This wasn't the first time someone on his team was held hostage. Himself and Reid, Elle, Reid… Reid again. Poor Reid, he thought. He was so young but had already had his fair share of bad situations while working with the BAU. And JJ, he thought, was fairly new to this whole thing. Could she pull through? Of course she could, he told himself instinctively. We wouldn't have hired her if we didn't think she could… but then a wave of guilt passed over him. We hired these people because we knew that they'd end up in situations like this at one point or another.

'What do we do now?' asked Emily, obvious tears forming in her eyes. She was fixated on the pool of blood on the floor in front of them, trying hard to believe it wasn't spilt from one of her colleague's veins.

'We're going to try to find the person that did this,' replied Hotch, 'before they can do any more harm to Reid and JJ.'

--

It was cold and dark. Mostly dark though, JJ thought as she propped herself up against what seemed to be a wall. The room she was in smelled musty and dirty as if no one had been in it for years. She didn't know where she was, how she got there, or where she was before hand. All she knew was that she felt oddly light headed and it didn't bother her in the least.

Suddenly, she heard something move a few feet away from her. She immediately stopped moving and tried to make out other sounds. There it was again; the same noise, as if someone else here was propping themselves up against the same wall as her. Quietly she reached for the gun attached to her hip. However, it was gone. Feeling weak and defenceless but bold nonetheless, she spoke.

'Stop right there! Show yourself!'

She was incredibly nervous and fearful in this instant before a familiar voice called out. "JJ, its pitch black in here. I can't even see my own hand in front of my face.'

She finally began to calm down. It was only Reid. 'I thought you were going to kill me,' she laughed softly. 'Where are we anyway?'

She began feeling the floor and walls behind her, becoming more disgusted the more she touched.

'I have no idea,' Reid remarked casually. 'We were in Hickam's basement then… that's all I can remember.'

Suddenly it all came back to her. The basement. The woman. The death threat. The glass bottle to the head. Wait, JJ thought. I was hit? She reached up to feel her head and sure enough it was damp. She brought her hand towards her face and licked it. It was definitely blood, she thought. That explained the light-headedness.

'Hey Reid,' she asked, trying to sound calm, 'do you remember if I got hit with something in the basement, or am I imagining things?'

She could hear him gasp. 'Oh my god,' he whispered. 'I do remember now. Are you okay? I think you lost a lot of blood back there…'

'Wait… back there? You mean here, right? We're still in Hickam's basement.'

JJ's heart quickened again.

'Umm, no. I don't think… I'm pretty sure this is somewhere different. I was feeling around the walls earlier and it didn't seem like the basement. I mean, I couldn't find the cupboards or the glass jars or anything. And besides, Hickam's basement didn't smell this bad.'

The sudden realization hit JJ full on. If she wasn't already sitting she surely would have fell down.

'This isn't good,' she muttered, 'This is definitely not good Reid.' She went to tuck her hair behind her ears but instead ending up brushing back the matted mess of blood. At least she wasn't bleeding now and they could at least be thankful for that.

'Okay, let's try to piece this thing together,' said Reid, faking a calm voice. 'We were in the basement looking for my wallet; Morgan was waiting outside…. Then the trapdoor slammed shut and someone came down asking us to help her... you started to ask questions and the woman hit you with one of those old jars…'

JJ let all this sink in. It was a lot to handle right now. 'How did you remember all this?' she asked him quietly.

'Remember? I wasn't knocked out for as long as you were… and I didn't lose any blood.'

Despite the seriousness of the situation she couldn't help but laugh a little. 'So we have no idea where we are. This really sucks,' said JJ hopelessly as she felt the cold wall behind her.

'I'm sure Hotch is up to something,' Reid said reassuringly. 'And at the very least I'm sure Morgan's in a lot of trouble.'

At this JJ managed a smile. It didn't last for long though because suddenly a narrow silver of light emerged from the wall farthest away from them. It was apparently a door they didn't know existed. A small, boney hand appeared from behind the door and flicked on a light switch. Suddenly the room was bathed in an eerie white glow. Reid glanced at JJ and noticed the bruises on her face and the amount of blood that soaked her hair and shirt. Before he could say anything a faint voice echoed throughout the cold, stony room.

'I've been,' the voice cracked, 'bad. I've been really bad. And I need some help.'

This voice sounded different than the one that had apparently kidnapped them. JJ felt sorry for the person on the other side of the door.

'We can help you,' said Reid, shifting uncomfortably. 'We know how.'

Suddenly the voice changed tones drastically. 'He lied to me! I've been used! And I've been bad. You'll help me. You'll help me or… you'll die!'

'Calm down,' said JJ soothingly, 'we said we would. Just tell us what's wrong.'

And with that, the person behind the door came into full view for the first time. Her long greasy hair hung in curtains around her face and her eyes were wide and sunken in. She was long and lanky, wearing oversized clothing and looked as if she hadn't showered in days.

'I've been tricked!' said the woman almost comically. 'Tricked like an animal! Doing his deeds… I need some sort of absolution.'

Reid looked at JJ for some direction but didn't get any at all.

'We've got the best doctors in America back where we're from, so if you just let us go…'

'NO!' shrieked the woman. 'I don't need doctors! I don't need your damn medicine or machines. I need to be… to become a sacrifice. That's the only way. I've been bad… and I need your help.'

The woman looked at JJ pleadingly before turning to face the door.

'And if you two don't kill me…,' the voice said in a sing-song tone, 'I guess I'll just have to kill you.'

The door shut and a cold realization washed over the unlucky duo, stunning them into a long silence.