Laughter rung throughout the room, startling the seven prisioners.

"The boys? JJ, don't you worry about them. They're in a good place." Upon hearing those words both JJ and Hotch broke down, not caring about anything other than the fact that their children were. . . gone.

"I suppose we'll do a show and tell, huh boys?" said the man, staring gleefully down at the two weeping members, and noticing the tears on everyone's faces. None of the prisoners heard them properly, they were too busy thinking of the two young children. They did notice, however, when they heard the clattering of small feet on the stairs. The last door opened, revealing Jack pulling Henry forward by his hand. The effect on the room was immediate: JJ sprang to her feet, wincing as she pulled her injuries, springing forward to gather both Jack and her son in a tight embrace.

"Oh, darlings, I was so worried." she sobbed, squeezing them to the point where they could barely breathe. Once she let go, Jack stepped forward to hug his father, unsure of how best to do it with Hotch's hands tied behind his back.

"Dad? What's going to happen?" He asked quietly. "I've been keeping an eye on Henry, they're been letting us watch TV upstairs. But its nighttime, Daddy."

"Jack, listen to me, we're in a lot of trouble. I need you to listen very carefully and do exactly as I tell you, okay? Can you do that?" He could see the fear in his son's eyes. Henry might be too young to understand what all the blood and bruises on the adults meant, but Jack certainly understood.

"Yeah, Dad."

"You do whatever they tell you, but no matter what do not leave Henry. Keep an eye on him, and stay out of trouble okay? If you see a way to escape, take it. But only if you're absolutely sure that you won't be caught, and take Henry with you. Okay, Jack?" There was no response from his son, Jack simply leaned forward into his father and kissed him on the cheek. As one of the men stepped forward to take him away again, he shouted one last thing to his father.

"I promise, Dad, I promise!" Before he was taken up the stairs again, shouting for Henry. The three year old in question was sitting in his mother's lap.

"Mommy, where Daddy?" He asked quietly, guessing that this was a time to be quiet.

"Daddy's gone, baby. He had to go to heaven." answered JJ, holding her son as close to her as humanly possible, ignoring the pain in her abdomen.

"When he coming back?" Asked Henry innocently. Tears filled his eyes as his mother explained that he wouldn't ever be coming back. She rocked him back and forth, trying to give him a little bit of comfort. When the men stepped forward to take him away, she clutched Henry closer to her chest.

"Please, just give us some time, let me keep him." she begged, sobbing as she held her son to her.

"Trust me, little lady, you don't want him here." With that he was torn away from her, kicking and screaming and brought back up the stairs, presumably to watch TV with Jack. JJ fell into herself, sobbing as she lost her son again. Emily reached over to wrap her arms around JJ once again, trying to give her an ounce of comfort in their horrible situation. None of the team could find any words to say, there was no way to convey their sympathy so instead they sat in silence, leaning up against each other.

"Are we going to make it through this?" Whispered JJ, laying her head down on Emily's shoulder, searching for some kind of contact. Before anyone could answer the man who appeared to be in charge came forward and ripped Emily's arms away from JJ, forcing her to stand up and march away from the group. Hotch, Emily and Derek lurched to their feet, preparing to fight for their friend if need be.

"Let her sit back down, man, we're all listening to you." pleaded Derek, not wanting to know what they had in store for his blonde partner.

"Please, she's already lost so much, just let her stay." begged Emily as she took a few unsteady steps towards the man and JJ. Hotch stood silently, waiting with the others for what would happen next.

"From now on, you don't get her, and she doesn't get you." Even as he spoke, Emily and Derek were inching closer to him, trying to get close enough to pull JJ to them. "Anything you do wrong, I take out on her, understand?" His words caused them all to freeze, not knowing what might set him off and make him hurt JJ.

"I'd sit down if I were you." he said to the three standing adults, and they followed his directions, falling back onto the floor in defeat. "And now to take care of your earlier indiscretions. . ."

The first punch killed them all, each of them flinching as the sweater fell off of JJ's stomach, exposing her cuts and showing them all the new blood falling from them. The second punch knocked her to the ground, curling up into a ball to protect herself. The first kick made it hard for her to take a breath. The second kick made her gasp out in pain. Feeling unsatisfied with her responses, the man in charge had two other men hoist her up and hold her arms behind her back. When he punched her jaw she gasped louder as the blood trickled down from her lips. One more punch to the abdomen had her screaming out in pain. They dragged her away, locking her out of their sight in one of the rooms.

"Don't worry, if she screams again, you'll hear it." cackled the man before he walked away, leaving the six remaining captives looking deathly pale in the middle of the room.

"At least the children are okay?" They all turned to look at Garcia in surprise.

"How can you even say that after what they just did to JJ?" gasped out Reid, staring at her as though he had never seen her before in his life. He felt bad for his anger when she started to cry. Derek leaned against her, trying to remind her that he still loved her.

"Baby Girl, it's okay. I know its tough. JJ is a strong woman, and she'll make it through this. We just have to do everything that we can to make sure that they don't hurt her anymore. Henry needs her, and so do we." he said, speaking to all of them at the end. "And you're right, at least the boys are okay and we don't have to worry about them."

"These men are professionals, they won't be easy to trick or persuade. It's most likely that them men in charge of this operation have no issues with them using force against us, but, like most people, abhor it when violence is used against children. So in all likelihood -"

"Reid. Stop." interrupted their boss.

"They won't hurt the boys at all. . ." finished Spencer, unable to keep his mouth shut due to the stress of the situation. Seeing that Derek was occupied with Garcia, Spencer turned to his other friend, Emily. "Does it make me a bad person that I'm glad it's not me being beaten? I don't think I'd be able to handle it, but I think that she can."

"No, Spencer, it doesn't make you a bad person. We're all really stressed here, but you're right. If it were you being beaten right now, we'd all be a lot more worried. What Derek said is the truth, JJ is strong and hopefully she can make it through this." The brunette answered quietly, staring into Spencer's eyes and hoping that he could see the truth and compassion in her words.

"Thanks. . ." he said, leaning up against her in a way that mirrored what JJ had been doing minutes before.

They spent the rest of the day sitting in that circle, sometimes switching places to have something to do, and someone new to talk to. Garcia never left Derek's side, and Emily never stopped trying to pick the locks on her handcuffs. Rossi and Hotch devised plan after plan to escape, and threw out plan after plan. Spencer did his best to compartmentalize his mind like Emily did, trying to disassociate himself from memories of his previous kidnapping. None of them ever stopped thinking about JJ, whose screams they could hear if they didn't react fast enough to their commands, or simply if the men decided she'd been quiet for too long.


All mistakes are mine. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed and/or favorited/followed this story, it means a lot to me. PS- I don't own any of this. Please review!

Sya