Chapter 4.

JJ was sitting in her office, sorting out the requests for BAU's help when her phone rang. She picked it up and answered it absent-mindedly, "Agent Jareu."

"This is Agent Higgins from Quantico. I have been instructed to call you in case Agent Hotchner misses his lectures. He is now one hour late and nobody can reach him."

JJ had sat up straight when she heard where the call was from. Now fear gripped her and she was holding to the desk in front of her to be able to sit up.

"He left here two hours ago. Have you tried his mobile?" JJ asked against all hope that they would have dialled a wrong number.

"Yes, we did", and the Agent rattled off Hotch's number to confirm it.

"Thank you for letting me know," JJ said and hung up. She sat at her desk in turmoil, not knowing which way to turn first.

"This can't be happening. This can't be happening..." went around in her head, when she finally jerked into action and ran into Dave's office.

"He's been taken again!" JJ shouted at Dave the moment she stepped into his office tears streaming down her face. She didn't need to specify who.

Dave sprang into action, while JJ fell onto his couch. While Dave gave orders to the team, who were aghast that something had happened to Hotch again and who fell like they had let him down thus sprinting into action without hesitation, JJ sat feeling blank and lost, feeling like she needed to go to million directions, but couldn't decide which way to go first.

Dave came back and saw the uncharacteristic behaviour of JJ. He sat down next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"We will find him and bring him back to you." Dave reassured her trying to make her look him straight in the eye.

"However I will need your help. Do you think you are up to contacting the local police force and the emergency services to see if they know anything?" Dave continued knowing that he had to give JJ something to do, before she broke down.

JJ nodded her head in a daze, and went to her office to make the necessary calls. Dave looked after her worriedly, he had never seen the blond agent so affected. He decided to go to Garcia and ask her to also look out for JJ. Maybe if she had enough people to support her, JJ would pull through. Dave worried that Hotch's second kidnapping might be too much for JJ. He knew how much JJ meant to Hotch and knew that the man wouldn't survive if JJ decided that she wanted to leave. Dave doubted that she would,but thought that some extra support would help JJ to stay strong.

XXX

Hotch woke up in a soft bed. He was feeling wonderfully relaxed and warm and the bed truly was amazingly comfortable so he decided to lie there for a while to enjoy the feeling.

His eyes flew open.

"Where am I? What happened at that car?" More and more questions flooded his mind as he looked around to take in his surroundings.

Hotch was lying in a bed in a small room with white painted walls. The lighting was dim and coming from a lamp on a table next to his bed. On the opposite wall sat a green sofa. On the other side of it was a bookshelf, which was overflowing with books and in front of it was a coffee table with magazines on it. There was a door ajar and he could see into what looked like a bathroom. There was also a door, which was closed and next to it was a flat screen TV facing an exercise bike.

Hotch was still. He was listening to any sounds, but couldn't hear anything else than the air conditioning. He couldn't smell anything either.

Hotch carefully sat up and checked himself to see that nothing obvious had happened. He felt fine and after his little self check concluded that nothing had been done to him while he was unconscious. He was wearing a white t-shirt and scrubs, no socks and no shoes.

He took few steps to the door and tried to open it. It was locked. Hotch pounded on the door, hoping that someone would come, to shed some light into what was going on. Nothing. Silence fell again.

Hotch looked around his room and bathroom, relieved himself and went back to bed. He felt helpless, but at the moment there was nothing he could do until he met his captors. He felt a slight stirring of air on his cheek and turned to look at the air condition vents just in time to see faint mist coming out. Almost immediately he felt his eyes turn heavy and his limbs felt like lead. He fell asleep again.

XXX

The next time Hotch woke up, the lighting was up to a bright level and there was food waiting on the bedside table. He looked at it suspiciously, but at the sight and smell of food, his stomach decided to betray him and grumbled loudly. Hotch sighed, if someone wanted to poison him, it was doubtful that they would have gone to these lengths to make him comfortable in the first place. He took a bite of the sandwich and then ate hungrily everything that was on the tray.

Hotch then got up to go to the bathroom and by the time he came back, the room was dark. Then the light in the bathroom went dark. Hotch stood there all senses heightened waiting for something to happen.

After few moments of silence and after it became obvious that nothing was happening, Hotch turned so that one hand was on the wall and he tried to remember the layout of the room. He started walking hesitantly forward. His balance wasn't that good yet and in the dark he almost fell over several times.

He finally bumped into the bookshelf, dislodging few books, which thumped very loudly onto the floor. He walked past and finally sat down on the sofa. The bed would have been more comfortable, but he was already exhausted and his legs ached due to the concentration he had to maintain to be able to walk in the dark and still keep himself upright.

After few moments the lights came back on again. Hotch sat still on the sofa, trying to listen to any sounds and trying to make any sense of the situation.

A knock sounded on the door startling Hotch. When was the last time kidnappers were polite enough to knock on the door of the prisoners cell?

The door opened outwards and a man in a white coat stepped in with a masked bodyguard behind him. He looked vaguely familiar to Hotch, but he couldn't quite put his finger on why.

"My name is Doctor Hoffman. You might remember me?" the man said coming to sit on the sofa. He clearly looked unwell, pale with dark circles under his eyes.

All of the sudden the face and name clicked into a place.

"You are the genetic engineer at the hospital", Hotch said stunned.

"Yes, or rather I should say that I was. After what I have done there is no going back. But I hope to live long enough to finish this." Dr. Hoffman said sounding defeated.

"I'm sorry we had to do it this way, but there was no other way to go about it." He continued.

Hotch stared at him, "What are you talking about? And what do you want from me?"

Dr. Hoffman started and looked at Hotch, "Please, do not be alarmed. We do not want harm you in any way. On the contrary we want to keep you as healthy as possible. That's why we provided you with the exercise bike while you are here."

"And how long are you planning to keep me here and what are you planning to do with me?" Hotch kept pushing, thinking that there must be something odd going on. And it didn't bode well that this man was clearly identifying himself. How would they ever let him go if he knew who was behind whatever was going on.

"It should only take a few weeks, maximum a month. We are monitoring your progress and it needs to be done more continuously and over a longer period of time and in more controlled environment. For example just now the light in this room was switched over to infrared light." The doctor replied.

"I don't understand. I understood that there is no other method of monitoring what's going on with me than the monthly tests on motor functions and with sensory testing that Dr. Thompson was already doing." Hotch commented confused.

"And why did you need to kidnap me? Why couldn't you just ask?"

"Or where you the ones who kidnapped me the first time in the hospital? Did you do something to me?" Hotch was starting to connect the dots. He was also getting angry.

"Why did you have to do all this? Why couldn't you let me recover in peace?" Hotch was getting angrier by the minute.

The man next to him on the sofa looked sad but determined.

"I will try to explain everything as well as I can, but now I need to go and you need to rest. If there is anything you need, press this button." Doctor Hoffman said passing a small device to Hotch. He got up slowly and turned to leave.

"I hope that you will co-operate with us. It will make everything go faster and you will get back home to your family sooner. Do not fear, we don't want anything with your family, they are safe. Now rest." The door closed after the two men, leaving Hotch even more confused.

The man calling himself doctor Hoffman seemed genuinely unhappy about the situation, but at the same time convinced that he was doing something that needed to be done.

Hotch lowered himself on the bed, lifting his aching feet up. He was staring at the ceiling trying to make some sense into the situation and before long, he fell asleep.

XXX