Disclaimer: I don't own them but they are on my Christmas list.

AN: Thank you for all the reviews, they are much appreciated. My apologies for a short-ish chapter tonight...My brain has shut down a bit and refused to write any more. Enjoy :o)

Chapter 4

Wednesday 16th December

JJ knocked on Hotch's door before stepping through into the office. "Yes JJ?" He asked looking up from his desk.

"We are needed in Baltimore." JJ watched as Hotch nodded before heading out of the office and along to the conference room, signalling to the rest of the team to assemble on her way. She handed out the files as the team arrived.

"Baltimore has a problem. Four children have gone missing over the past two weeks."

"Hold up…four children are missing and we are just hearing about this now?" Morgan asked.

JJ nodded. "It seems the detective in charge had initially assumed it to be a case of a them running away from home. The first two had a bit of a reputation for being problematic and so they just assumed they'd got mixed up in something and run off."

"Ok, wheels up in 20 minutes. We can continue with the briefing on the plane." Hotch ordered. "Garcia, pull all the information that you can on the victims and then cross reference to see if you can find any common links between them."

"Consider it done my captain."

The team all filed out of the room to gather their belongings, each of them hoping for a speedy and positive resolution to the case. Cases with kids were always harder but when this close to Christmas, it made every member of the team focus on the one goal of bringing them home for the holiday.

"We have four children missing. Different ages, genders and ethnicity. So far the Baltimore PD haven't been able to establish any links between the children." JJ filled the team in on what they had been sent in the original file.

"Ok my jet powered crusaders, I have investigated our victims and the only link I can find between them is that they were all prime candidates for Santa's naughty list. Disruptive at school, problems with the police…Certainly not the best behaved in the world. Other than that they attended different schools, only Tommy and Karris were at Parkville high but in different classes and didn't appear to know each other."

"Thanks baby girl."

"No problemo. Garcia out."

"Ok, when we land JJ you and Reid head over to the station. The press will be all over this when they hear of the latest case and we need to be ready for a statement. Reid I need you to go over where the children have been over the past few weeks and see of there are any common locations that they would all pass. Morgan and Rossi head over to talk to the parents of the first two children. Prentiss and I will speak to the most recent two."

The team then settled down to review their case files in the remaining time of the short flight.

The team had met with the parents of the missing children and so far had no leads on how they could have all met. None of the parents had noticed any out of character behaviour in any of them and there had been no sightings of anyone watching the children prior to their disappearance.

As Emily and Hotch pulled up outside the station, their hope was that the others had proven to have a more successful day. As they entered the room assigned to the BAU team they could see a similar look of hope reflected in the eyes of the other team members.

"Anything?" Hotch asked, casting his gaze around the faces in the room.

"Nothing that wasn't already in the police reports." Rossi answered.

"Reid?"

"They all lived in a similar area but other than that I can't find any common area their paths crossed in the days preceding their disappearance."

"This doesn't make sense." Morgan started. "They are different genders and ages. Most cases involving kids there is a preference for at least gender."

"One at elementary school, one at middle school and then two high school. It's a very wide age bracket so unlikely to be linked in a sexual nature." Rossi observed as he studied the pictures of the victims on the wall.

"Ok, it's getting late. We should call it a night and then start with the schools in the morning." Hotch watched as his team filed out of the room, decidedly deflated. None of them wanted to be picking up a case this close to Christmas especially one of this nature and to be no further forward despite all their efforts was disheartening.

JJ got into her room at the hotel and headed straight into the bathroom for a shower. It was the same after every case with kids, a hot shower seemed to wash some of the feelings of despair from her body. She stood under the jet of water, her eyes drifting closed, and just cleared her mind of all the possible scenarios. Allowing the water to wash away some of the tension she held in her body.

Stepping out of the shower, she made her way back into the room and opened her bag to retrieve her sweat pants and a t-shirt. As she unzipped the bag, her eyes caught sight of a flash of red. She smiled lightly as she lifted the gift out of her bag. Her mind momentarily wondering who had access to her office, the break room and her go bag. The thoughts were pushed aside as she sat on the edge of the bed. Lifting the tape off the end of the present, she glanced inside.

She lifted out the item and taped to the front was a label…JJ, when I first met you, you were Idgie…Able to charm any detective and beat anyone hands down at bar games. Then you seemed to lose your way much like Evelyn…You lost that spark that made you JJ. I hope you will find your way back with the help of Towanda.

JJ felt her smile falter slightly as she read the note. The realisation that she had lost the spark that made her who she was settling in. She hadn't even realised it until someone else had pointed it out to her. Looking at the cover of the DVD case she looked at Ruth and part of her realised she shared more in common with her character than she cared to admit. She read the note once more and then spoke quietly into the empty room, "Towanda."

As JJ settled herself down on the bed she couldn't stop her mind from wandering to who it was that knew her so well. It wasn't long before she drifted off to sleep with a slight smile playing on her lips.

JJ was woken by a knocking on her door. She opened her eyes and rubbed the sleep from them as she made her way to the door. She looked through the spy hole and upon seeing her visitor opened the door. "Hey Em."

"Oh did I wake you Jayj? I'm really sorry. I'll let you go back to sleep" Emily started to back away from the door as she rambled.

JJ reached her hand out and placed it on the brunette's arm to stop her from retreating. "Stay for a while. I'm awake." When she was sure the brunette wasn't going to leave she dropped her hand and stepped back into the room.

Emily followed her in, her eyes glancing around the room. They settled on the DVD sitting on the bed and suppressed a smile so as not to let on she knew anything. "I'm really sorry for waking you JJ. I just wondered if you wanted to grab some food?"

The blonde looked down at her clothing. "I'm not in the mood for changing but do you fancy ordering in?"

Emily smiled at the blonde's suggestion. All her concerns that the younger woman wasn't going to be interested in anything drifting away. "Pizza?"

"You read my mind." JJ settled herself back on the bed and caught sight of her gift from earlier. She cast a quick glance to the brunette who was on the phone ordering some pizzas. She watched for any reaction on the brunettes face as she moved the DVD to the bedside table. Seeing none, JJ decided she had eliminated at least one person from her list of suspects. She was surprised by the feeling of disappointment that flared inside her at that deduction. There was no time to dwell on the feelings as Emily had come to sit beside her.

The rest of the night was filled with talking and laughter between the two women. All worries of the case forgotten at least for a few short hours.