"If you are one of those people who can't handle it anymore, know people are out there who really care, before you make that final decision. Talk to somebody." Walter Koening

JJ was the first to arrive back at the bull pen. "Hotch, what's wrong? You sounded so hopeless on the phone. Talk to me!"

"She's gone, JJ." He didn't look up from his hands, which were clenched in his lap. "Her car is still next to mine, and there's blood on the ground. If I lose them..." He broke off his thought and looked up at her. "I should have gone after her this morning."

She took a seat next to him and put a hand over his. "You still don't know if someone took her. Maybe she cut herself on something and had to go get stitches."

"No, it's more than that, I can feel it."

"So, tell me again why we were called back to the office. Is there a new case?" Morgan asked as he sat down next to JJ.

"I'll go over it when everyone is here," Hotch replied tonelessly, straightening his tie. A strained silence settled over the room as Reid and Prentiss entered together, followed closely by Rossi.

"All right, everyone's here. Now explain, Hotch."

He took a deep breath, looking at JJ. "I think Garcia's been kidnapped. Neither JJ or myself have been able to get ahold of her."

"Very funny, Hotch. She's most likely in her office, working on some new program."

"Actually, she went home this morning. She did not look well at all, and when I asked her what was wrong, she just said she was taking a sick day," Reid said, looking at Hotch. "So, what aren't you telling us?"

"I might as well show you." They followed him out into the parking garage and over to where their cars were. "As you can see, Esther is still here; she would never leave her car here if she were sick. Then, there's the cloth caught on the edge of the door – Penelope was wearing that dress this morning. And, finally, there's the blood spots on the ground. That worries me, incredibly."

"Why?" Prentiss asked.

"Because she's about six weeks pregnant," JJ replied. "She told Hotch and me this morning. Knowing Garcia, she'd do anything to protect the baby. Something must have gone wrong for the unsub to hurt her. So, what's are next move?"

"We're well within the first 48, so we need to gather as much evidence from here as we can. Morgan, I need you to dust for fingerprints, take samples of the blood down to the labs to have analyzed, everything. Reid, you locate the security tapes and see if you can find anything on them. Emily, you and JJ probably know Garcia the best – try and think of some places she might have been going to that would have attracted a kidnapper."

"And you, Aaron?" Rossi asked.

"I need to get ahold of Strauss. We need time off to find Penelope."

"I'll come with you. She seems to get along with me better than others."

Hotch nodded, and they all went back inside to work on their tasks. Rossi followed Hotch into his office, closing the door behind them. Aaron sank wearily into a chair, burying his face in his hands.

"She's carrying your child, isn't she? That's what has you so worried."

"Is it that obvious?"

"Only because I know about the relationship. I take it you want to keep the paternity a secret for the moment?"

"At this point, it's for the best. Only you and JJ know about our relationship, and I'd rather Morgan work with us than be angry at me for the duration of the case." He looked up into Rossi's eyes. "Could you actually talk to Strauss? I'm afraid she'd be able to connect everything in a heartbeat given how I'm feeling at the moment."

"Certainly. What are you going to do?"

"I don't know. I had the nanny bring Jack over to Jessica's for the night, so there's nothing for me to go home to, is there?" He turned to stare out the window.

"So, what happened earlier to upset her?"

Hotch swung his head around to stare at Rossi. "Am I just some kind of open book these days?"

"Only to me," he replied, giving Hotch a pointed look.

"Morgan and I got in a small argument yesterday, and Penelope was upset with me. Then, JJ sprung the new on me this morning about the baby, and I don't know what happened. I went to ask her if it was true and she just went off on me."

"Did you smile when you asked her if it was true?"

"I'm sorry, what?"

"How did you ask her to confirm her pregnancy? Was there any warmth in your voice? Did you give any indication at all to her that you want this child?"

"Of course I want this child! This is the best thing that's happened to me in so long…"

"And you were waiting for the other shoe to drop. Well, it has, and we'll be here to bring her back. We're not about to lose all three of you."

"Thank you, now if you'll excuse me," he got up and left the room. He looked down into the bull pen and saw JJ and Emily conferring and making notes. He made his way over to Penelope's office and quietly let himself in, taking in the still very much there presence of her. Going over to the couch, he laid down, hoping beyond hope that something would come over her computers to tell them where she was. He had to be there when the message came was his last thought before drifting off to sleep.

When he woke in the morning he noticed that someone had covered him with a blanket, and that JJ and Emily were sleeping in the room as well – JJ on the floor in front of the monitors, Emily in Penelope's chair and looking very uncomfortable. He cleared his throat and they woke up with a start.

Emily cracked her neck as she sat up in the chair. "We couldn't go home either, Sir. Not when she could get a message to us at any time." She smiled encouragingly. "And this means we're on time for the shift. Did you get ahold of Strauss yet?"

"Dave was going to handle that for me. I haven't heard how it's gone yet."

The office door opened, revealing Rossi, Reid, and Morgan. "I figured you three would be in here. We brought coffee with us. Any weird computer messages?" Rossie passed the coffee cups around and leaned against the desk.

"Nothing here. Any word from Strauss?"

"Yes, actually. We have one week to devote to this. After that, it goes to the local police to be dealt with. She actually seemed rather understanding."

"That's because Baby Girl is the best computer tech we've ever had. Of course she wants her back," Morgan said, a frown on his face.

"Well, we should move this to the conference room and plot out what we know so far," Hotch said as he moved towards the door.

"Should one of us stay here, just in case?" JJ asked, biting her lip. Hotch nodded at her and she tried to smile at him as her eyes filled with tears.

The rest of the team moved into the other room and Reid cleaned off the white board. Almost reluctantly, he affixed Penelope's picture to the corner of the board. "So, what does the timeline look like?" he asked.

"I spoke with her at 9:30 yesterday morning, confirming her pregnancy. She said that she wasn't feeling well and was going to take a sick day."

"She passed by me a few minutes later, looking ill," Reid said. "Did anyone see her later than that?" The rest of the team shook their heads. "So, that puts her last known sighting at 9:35 yesterday. Had she been fighting with anyone lately? Any strange changes in behavior?"

"Not that I know of," Morgan quickly replied. "Although, obviously she was seeing someone to end up pregnant."

Emily butted in. "Not necessarily. She could have used a donor – maybe she just decided it was time to have a child."

"But if she is seeing someone, maybe they had an argument that turned violent. We shouldn't rule that out," Morgan shot back, glaring at Prentiss. Rossi looked at Hotch, but he remained silent. Now was not the time. The focus needed to remain on Penelope.

Around noon, JJ joined them, carrying a bundle of papers. "The test results came back from the blood we found in the parking garage."

"And?"

"There's reason to be cautiously hopeful. The blood that was found was not Garcia's. It belongs to an unknown male. Therefore, I think it's safe to assume that while Penelope was able to injure her assailant, he didn't harm her. That seems to suggest that the unsub knows her and does not want to harm her. So, what does he want?"

"Traditionally, kidnappers want money. Is there anyone close to Garcia who has access to the amount of cash that he could ask for?" Reid asked, looking around the room. They all shook their heads.

"Dammit!" Morgan exclaimed. "Why does it feel like we're getting nowhere? There has to be something that we missed, some clue that's eluding us. No one just disappears from an FBI building without a trace!"

"Unfortunately, neither the fingerprints you found at the scene, nor the blood, was a match to anyone in the system. This unsub has either never been caught before stepping one toe out of line, or this is his first crime. If it is his first offense, most likely he'll make some mistakes that will lead to our finding him." Prentiss looked around the room, a small smile on her lips. "Don't worry. We'll find Penelope and make this bastard pay."

Despite her optimism, the rest of the day dragged on for Aaron and the rest of the team. There was nothing to do – no new clues had been found, despite Morgan combing over Esther for anything he might have missed, and no ransom letter had appeared. JJ and Emily had gone back to Penelope's office to await any message from her.

At the close of day, they all drifted into his office, looking a little lost. As he looked around at his team, he sensed their need to stay together. "So, supper at my house tonight?" he asked softly. They all relaxed a little and one by one they nodded.

"Just let me call Will and have him bring Henry by. Do you want him to swing by and pick Jack up as well?"

"Thank you, JJ. That would be wonderful," he replied. She stepped out into the hall, phone in hand. "Reid, you want to ride with me?"

"Sure," he answered, gathering his things and following Hotch out of the office. Once again, he could tell they were following him. It was reassuring to him that they could be so open to coming together like this. He'd once thought that they couldn't take much more, that they couldn't remain a family of sorts. This new crisis was proving him wrong once more.

As soon as everyone was at his home, Hotch realized that there wasn't a whole lot to eat besides hot dogs and macaroni for Jack. He and Henry would be okay with that, but it looked like it would be takeout for the adults. "So, we have the really good Chinese place, the really good Thai place, the really good pizza place, and the really good Korean place. Take your pick," he said as he handed around the menus. Everyone ordered and the food soon arrived. While the others sat down at the table, Hotch uncorked a few bottles of wine and got out glasses for all the adults.

Their mood had lightened somewhat by the time the meal was over, and after he and Will had put the boys to bed in Jack's room, they all went to the living room, each claiming their own spot on the couch and chairs. Hotch lit a fire in the fireplace and handed the remote to Morgan. "See if you can find something funny for us."

Morgan flipped through the channels, finally stopping on BBCA. They were showing an old Monty Python's Flying Circus episode, and the team all settled in to watch something more absurd than what they were going through.

"Do you think we should wake them?" he dimly heard the next morning as he slowly woke up.

"I think he's already waking up," he heard Emily reply as he opened his eyes. "See, I told you. Good morning, Sir. Reid and JJ went to get us some supplies for breakfast. The shower's free now, though I don't know how much hot water s left, sorry. Oh, and Jessica will be here in 45 minutes to take Jack to school."

Hotch sat up a bit straighter, and saw his son sleeping on his lap. Smiling down at him, Hotch gently shook him awake. As his son blurrily opened his eyes, he asked, "Dad, where's Aunt Penny? Why did you have a party without her?"

Aaron took a deep breath and pulled his son up so he was sitting on his lap. "Aunt Penny had to go on a trip unexpectedly. She'll be home soon. Now, you need to get ready for school." Jack nodded and slipped down, then ran upstairs. Aaron stood up himself and followed his son upstairs, going to his own room. He pulled out a suit for the day and then took a quick shower.

While he dressed, he could smell breakfast cooking. Instantly, he was reminded of the first time Penelope had cooked for him, and a wave of sorrow swept over him. Emily was right; he would make this bastard pay when they caught him. After straightening his tie, he opened the bathroom door and made his way downstairs. Jack was already at the table, eating a plate of pancakes drowning in syrup.

"His teacher is going to hate me," he said as he sat down. JJ handed him a plate and he dished out some eggs and bacon. Reid handed him a mug of coffee and he took a sip.

"You know, the studies are still inconclusive as to whether or not sugar makes children hyper," he said in reply as he filled up his own plate. When everyone was finished eating, he and Rossi filled the dishwasher while Morgan and JJ put away the leftovers. Right at eight, Jessica showed up to bring Jack to school, and the team left to get back to work.

The traffic that morning was worse than normal, and they walked in to the bull pen a little later than normal. "Hey, Hotch, there was a package delivered to the office for you this morning. I signed for it since you weren't here yet," one of the other office mates said as they all scattered to their desks.

"Thanks Margaret." He went up to his office and looked over the package. There was no return address on it, and he didn't recognize the handwriting on the label. He opened the door and called the team into his office. "Morgan, you have some experience with packages like this. Would you?"

"No problem, Hotch." He pulled on a pair of gloves and carefully peeled off the tape that sealed the box. Slowly, he opened the flaps and looked inside. "Oh my God," he said under his breath as he backed away from the package. Opening the door to the office, he called out, "Margaret, who delivered this?"

"The regular delivery guy. Why? Do I need to get anyone up here?"

"No, I was just hoping it would have been someone new," he responded. Hotch hadn't moved to look in the box, not wanting to see what it might contain. Morgan came back over and pulled out two objects – Penelope's glasses, the ones she'd been wearing the day she'd gone missing, and a CD. "I'll take these down to get analyzed, see if there's any new information we can get from it," he said as he handed the disc to Hotch. "Do not look at that until I get back. We should all look at it together." Hotch nodded and watched him leave.

"Let's go to Penelope's office to watch this. She has all the equipment we might need," Rossi said.

"That's a good idea," Hotch replied and they all made their way there. A few minutes later, Morgan joined them and Reid opened one of the computers' CD-ROM drives. A folder popped up, showing one file on the disc, and Reid clicked on it. The quality was grainy, but everyone could make out Penelope sitting on the ground, her hands tied behind her back. She was saying something, but the camera did not pick up her words. Suddenly, the camera zoomed in on her face, and everyone could see how terrified she looked before the room went black.

Over the blackness, a muffled voice could be heard beginning to speak. "By this time, I think you're beginning to miss your sweet little computer tech. Don't worry, I'll keep her safe, just as long as you do what I ask. First, a test of loyalty to her. Tomorrow evening, 9 p.m., I want you, Aaron, to come to the Delta Bridge Warehouse. Bring Derek Morgan with you, if you want, but no one else. I'll be watching you."
The video ended and Aaron took a look at his team. JJ and Emily were openly crying, while Reid was already working on some sort of plan. "You with me, Morgan?" he asked, already knowing what the answer would be.

"Hell yes, I'm with you. But I wonder what's going to go down tomorrow? I mean, we didn't even get a ransom demand."

"There's no way of knowing," Rossi replied. "At least we'll be one step closer to finding Garcia."