Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Criminal Minds. All other characters are fictional.


Hotch sat in his office, staring out the window and into space. Where the hell did you go, JJ?

It was three days since JJ had gone missing, and the trail had gone cold. The fingerprints turned out to be that of Morgan, Rossi, and some unidentified person. Not in the system. Just their luck in this investigation, as it was turning out.

After canvassing the street and parking garage for any witnesses, they almost had a lead. A fellow FBI agent from a different unit remembered seeing a man sitting in a parked car for a little bit too long that morning. But he couldn't remember a face, license plate number, or even a definitive color of the car. Dark, he had said. Hotch was frustrated to no end over this. All that good FBI training and the guy couldn't even recall the color of the freakin' car.

Courtesy of the security tape from the parking garage, they were able to relive the moments as JJ was kidnapped. It was difficult to watch, bringing back memories of watching Reid when he had been captured by Tobias Henkel.

They saw JJ cross the garage, arms wrapped snugly around her, sipping her coffee as she went. Saw her stop at her car door, pausing just long enough for someone to sneak up behind her and grab her. Saw her as she fell, passed out, and was dragged away.

And this is when their luck screwed them once again. The guy had parked in one of the only spots that had limited visibility from the camera. All that the screen had captured were feet and tires. No license number. No face. Every time they watched it, Hotch wanted to shout at the screen, "JJ, behind you!"

Garcia was a mess. "My baby girl," she kept saying. She had come to work the past two days with a pale face, hair down and straight, no jewelry. Hotch had found her crying in front of her computer twice now. And those were just the times he had caught her. He had a feeling he would be signing a purchase order for a new keyboard soon.

Emily was understandably distraught. Blaming herself entirely. Her repetitive line over the past three days was, "I should have gone with her….I should have gone with her….I should have gone with her…"

The guilt was weighing heavily on her. Guilty for not going with JJ, guilty for not checking to see if JJ got back, guilty for letting two-fucking-hours go by before realizing she was missing. Hotch did his best to console her. Remind her that there was no indication whatsoever that it was unsafe for JJ to walk alone to her car, in the daytime, at Quantico. Emily was having none of it, though. Hotch knew she hadn't slept in 3 days, hadn't even gone home that he was aware of. She was working constantly, intent on catching a lead, finding JJ, righting her wrong.

Reid, Morgan and Rossi….well, they were the epitome of self-loathing. Hotch knew the guys, like himself, were very protective of the ladies on their team. It hurt them to the core to know that something happened to JJ and they weren't there to help her. Protect her. Save her. Hotch hoped the time would come when they could be there for her. Will we ever get the chance to save her? They were grasping at straws. In three days, their investigation had gone nowhere. They were bewilderingly back where they started from, and no closer to finding JJ.


Someone else who was bewildered to be back where he started from was Carl. He found himself again sitting across the street from the blonde's office building at Quantico. It really was the last place he wanted to be. He knew they would be looking for him. He had enough sense at least to borrow a different car for the day.

He had only just begun to enjoy his recent fortune when he received a message from the prince by way of his nephew. Something about his new purchase not being happy. Wouldn't shut the hell up. Wouldn't stop crying. Wouldn't stop trying to escape. Oh, Carl was assured, the prince was enjoying her immensely. She was everything he expected and more. But she needed a little more incentive to be "good". And she also needed an attendant. She had rejected all the women he had given her. Wasn't talking, wasn't eating. And the prince knew that kind of lifestyle would not bring him a healthy son. And sons were what the prince needed right now. He was trying to build his own dynasty, after all. Carl was to do as he was asked without compensation, or he would find himself minus a very important body part.

That was the message Carl had received just that morning. And after just having an intimate moment alone with said body part, he was acutely aware of its value to him. Carl was told to fetch a female companion for the prince's new trophy; someone from her old life. Someone who could help calm her, tend to her, and provide a little, ahem, motivation for her to be well-behaved.

Carl had seen the blonde a number of times out with two different women. One was the brunette gal she had been with for coffee the day he had taken her. The other one was a plump, unique individual. She wasn't hard to miss, that was for sure. Not the kind that blended in with the crowd. Carl didn't care which one he got, he was just going to get the first one to go out alone. Thing was, they weren't going anywhere alone.

He squeezed his legs together, just to feel himself still there. He really had to get one of these gals. This time more than his life depended on it. This time his manhood was on the line.


Hotch assembled his team at the end of the third day. In his office. The bullpen was too open; there were too many other people passing through. He wanted a little more privacy. Everyone gathered in, and stood waiting.

"Okay, everyone, here's the deal," Hotch looked around the room as he spoke, making eye contact with each one deliberately.

The weary faces looked back at him somberly.

"We have all put forth a valiant effort the past three days, trying to get a lead on JJ. As of now we have nothing."

Hotch paused, took a deep breath, then added, "I know it doesn't seem right to you all to take a break when JJ is out there somewhere, but that is exactly what I want you to do tonight. Go home. Get some sleep. Come back to tomorrow rested and with fresh eyes. "

Hotch expected protesting, but everyone was silent.

Garcia started crying. Again. Morgan put his arm around her.

Prentiss looked to Reid. His face said everything. He did not want to stop.

Emily reached out and touched Reid's arm. Even in her guilt she was able to say, "He's right, Spencer. We'll start again tomorrow." But she said it only for Reid's sake.

Disheartened, everyone began to disassemble. As Rossi reached for the door to open it, Hotch called out, "Oh, and you guys make sure Prentiss and Garcia are escorted to their cars tonight."

"Will do, boss," replied Morgan, with his hand on Garcia's back.

Hotch watched the team leave, hoping he was right about getting a fresh start tomorrow. But the pit inside his stomach and the dryness in his mouth wasn't giving him a good feeling about this case.


Carl waited in his car in the parking garage, watching as all the people filed to their vehicles to head for home. His eyes scanned all the suits and briefcases. Everyone seemed to look the same.

There! He spotted one of them. She was being escorted to her car by a big, tough-looking black man. Carl wasn't in the mood to mess with him. He kept an eye on them while holding a look-out for the other one. He watched as they talked beside her door for a minute before she got in. The black guy waited for her to start up her car and then patted it on the trunk as he walked away.

Whoa, wasn't expecting that. He thought the guy would at least wait until she drove off.

Carl watched her back out and join the line of cars exiting. He decided she was as good as the other one, and he wasn't going to let this chance to get her alone pass him by. He pulled into the line a few cars behind her, and settled into a nice position to follow her home.

At her apartment building, he was able to jump out of his car quickly and just made it under the parking garage door as it was closing. After that, it was a piece of cake. He grabbed her as she was scanning her key card to access the elevators. She was a little heavier than the blonde had been, and he had to drag her further, but he managed to get her in the trunk. Her brown hair covered her face, and he brushed it back before he injected her with the tranquilizer. He touched himself for reassurance. Hopefully now this job was done for good, and he would get to keep all his body parts.