Greetings friends! This is a lovely day because it's getting warmer and the snow is slowly melting which gladdens my heart immensely! I thought I would let everyone know that starting Monday, January 18th I will be in college classes again. This means less time to write stories for me. But rest assured, I will do my best to update as much as I possibly can. College is important but any chance to not do homework is even more important to me! Also, this chapter is a lot longer than any of the previous ones I've done but I hope that won't deter you from reading. I think that is all I had to say for now. Once more, all of you are my heroes and I thank you for taking the time to read and review this story! Kindness has found a truly wonderful home with all of you. Love,

Holly Sophia.

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Once he had personally explained to SWAT about the tragic death of their fellow agent, Rossi thought his night couldn't get any worse. The devastation and anger on every agent's faces was heartbreaking to behold and he couldn't get it out of his head. It was hard to concentrate on his driving but he forced himself to pay attention. Emily sat in the passenger seat next to him and Morgan drove the car behind them. They were on their way to question Otto Tabby about his involvement with the shootings tonight. After all, since everything went down in his storage unit he must have at least known something. Rossi glanced over at the woman beside him. She was trying her best not to look distraught but he knew she had been just as affected by this as everyone else had. Hotch's declaration of their secret relationship still rang fresh in his mind and he knew had to ask Emily about it. He wished her never had to but ignorance was a luxury he could no longer afford.

"Emily, can I ask you a question?" He ventured, trying to sound casual about it.

She shrugged one shoulder in an absent manner. "Sure. What do you want to know?"

He paused, trying to find the best way to ask this. "Why did you start a romantic relationship with Hotch?"

Her mouth dropped open but she quickly snapped it shut. She was floored that he had found out. "How did you…"

"Hotch told me."

"He told you?" Now she was shocked. "Why did he do that?"

Rossi sighed, attempting to be delicate with his approach. "He believes that his feelings for you emotionally compromised him tonight. He thinks that Agent Harper was shot because he was too busy protecting you and didn't notice anything else."

Emily stopped for a moment, thinking hard about this. "You don't really think that Harper died because of us, do you?" She turned her gaze on the older man. "Do you?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure Emily. I wish I could tell you that I don't think that but what else am I supposed to believe considering the evidence?"

"The evidence doesn't prove anything! None of you were there. You don't know what happened except that Harper was shot and he died! That doesn't mean Aaron and I are responsible!" Her eyes flashed angrily at him. Then she remembered who she was yelling at and instantly became embarrassed, lowering her gaze to her lap. Rossi continued to drive in silence for a little while.

"I understand that none of us were there Emily. But if you think about it logically, you and Hotch are together. He saw you were in danger and instantly reacted to protect you. Do you really think that Hotch was thinking about Agent Harper at that moment if all his mind was telling him to do was save you from harm?"

Emily thought for a long while before she answered. "What are we gonna do Rossi?"

"I wish I could tell you what you should do. But I can't Emily. You and Hotch will have to figure this out on your own."

She sighed in exasperation, hand to her head. "This all started in such a perfectly innocent way. We were just talking more at work, and then I offered to make dinner for him and Jack one night. After that it was like any free time I had was spent with Hotch. After a couple of weeks he kissed me. He acted so embarrassed about it but I told him I didn't mind—I actually really liked it. We started dating I guess you could say, but we kept it quiet so there wouldn't be any problems. Things have been great for the past three months. He was putting me on separate assignments from him so there would be no questions or compromising of judgment." She rubbed the corners of her eyes like she was tired but Rossi knew it was to keep from shedding any tears.

"And tonight, I guess he thought it would be safe to pair me with him. He had no idea that this was going to happen. He never would have taken me with him if he did. And now somebody's dead because of us." She sniffled quietly, biting back tears. "We really screwed up."

The car came to a stop in front a small, yellow house in a quiet neighborhood. Rossi cut the engine and turned to his teammate. "Emily, I know you're upset. But right now, we have to interview a suspect. We still have to find Reid and bring him home. Can you keep yourself together?"

She nodded, taking a deep breath. "I can do that."

"Good. We'll talk more about this later."

They both exited the large black van, Morgan following suit. The porch light was on at the yellow house but there were no other lights in the building. "Is this the right place?" Rossi asked Morgan, who glanced at his cell phone. "2448 Evelyn Price Street…yep, this is the place."

They walked up the sidewalk to the house. The whole neighborhood seemed eerily quiet to all three of them but their attention was focused on the task at hand. Rossi rang the doorbell and called out, "Otto Tabby, this is the FBI. We need to ask you some questions."

No one answered so he started knocking on the door. "Mr. Tabby, open the door. This is the FBI…we need to ask you some questions!"

Out of nowhere, a creepy, garbled voice said, "Sorry Dave, Mr. Tabby isn't here."

They all looked around but there was no one in sight. "Who is this?" Rossi demanded, watching for someone to appear.

"No one really."

"What do you want?" Morgan inquired, pretty angry with whoever this person was.

The voice snickered nastily. "I want to play a game."

"I don't think so." Emily replied with an edge to her tone.

"Oh come on! The BAU doesn't like to play games? That's all your job is really—playing mind games. Whether you know it or not, all of you have been playing a game with me for a little while now."

Rossi asked cautiously, "What game is that?"

"The one where you try to find Dr. Reid before he dies."

"You sick bastard!" Morgan snarled angrily

"Please, no name calling, Agent Morgan. That could entice me to not give you a hint."

"Hint?" Emily repeated, slightly bewildered.

"Yes, Agent Prentiss. A hint."

Rossi ventured another question. "What's the hint?"

The voice laughed manically, "You'll just have to go inside to find out."

"What do you mean?" Rossi asked. The voice didn't reply. The older man turned to Morgan and said, "Be my guest."

Rossi and Prentiss backed away from the door. Morgan took a few steps back from the door before he charged it, slamming his foot hard into the wood. It flew open easily, revealing a large, dark room. All three of them pulled out their guns, carefully entering the house. Emily fumbled around on the wall, finding a light switch and flipped the lights on. They quickly made a sweep of the house but found nothing. There was practically no furniture in the house or decorations of any kind. Just when they thought Reid's kidnapper had played a trick on them, Rossi caught sight of a table in the living room with a large yellow envelope laying on it. It was addressed to him.

"What do you think this is?" He asked aloud. Morgan and Prentiss came to his side, both equally as curious yet still wary.

"I guess there's only one way to find out." He slit the envelope open with his finger and reached inside. Carefully, he pulled out the contents. There were two pictures, one paper clipped on top of the other. The first was a picture of the team standing outside the storage units. On the picture was written in red ink, 'So close…' He pulled the paper clip off and slid the other picture on top. Fury filled him at what he saw. Emily gasped and Morgan said, "Oh my God."

The picture showed Reid, lying at a crooked angle on the floor, very bruised and bloody. A woman lay beside him, looking about as bad as he did. Above them written in red were the words, 'Yet so far.'

"When I find this guy, I'm gonna kill him." Rossi said, rage etched all over his features. "We're going back to the BAU. This has to end." It seemed his night could get much worse.

***

They arrived back at the BAU and Rossi practically barreled into Hotch's office. JJ stood in front of his desk, talking with him but their conversation immediately ended when they saw the look on Rossi's face. "What's wrong Dave?" Hotch asked, concern in his voice.

"This." Rossi dropped the pictures on Hotch's desk. JJ gasped, holding a hand to her mouth. Hotch looked very grim. "Where did you get these?"

"From the Un-sub. He left them at Otto Tabby's home." Rossi's anger was a force to be reckoned with at the moment. "We have to stop this guy Hotch."

Their team leader nodded. "Get the team assembled. We'll meet in the conference room in ten."

Rossi nodded, rushing out of the room. JJ quickly followed, pulling out her cell to make a call. Hotch pressed his face into his hands in frustration. He honestly did not know what to do. Not only was one of his people kidnapped and being tortured but he inadvertently caused the death of a SWAT agent and now an investigation was being mounted by Chief Strauss. He felt sure the world was coming to an end.

"Hotch?" Emily's voice drew him out of his mind. He looked up at his co-worker—his lover—and said, "Yes?"

"Are you okay?"

He looked at her for a moment, remembering the fact that just a few hours ago their relationship was a secret and not a danger to their team or anyone around them. "Honestly? No. This is a lot to deal with at once."

She nodded her understanding. "I know the feeling. What do you think we should do?"

"Chief Strauss has begun an investigation into Agent Harper's death at the request of SWAT. They want to know exactly what happened to him. She'll find out about us, I'm sure. Then our relationship will be blamed for Harper's death and we will undoubtedly be benched…possibly fired."

Emily sat down in the chair on the other side of his desk. "This is so screwed up."

He watched her, waiting for her reaction when he said what he had to say. "I'm going to take a temporary leave of absence."

Her head snapped up and she stared at him in un-belief. "What? Aaron, you can't!"

"Emily, I have to. It will take pressure off the department for this whole situation—make it look like they're dealing with the problem. Besides, it was because of me that all this started. I knocked you down instead of shooting the gang members chasing you. That's what got Harper shot."

"You can't be serious." A look of incredulity displayed itself on her face. "Taking a leave of absence will make you look guilty. It could potentially end your career Aaron!"

He looked so determined that Emily knew she couldn't make him change his mind. "I have to do what I think is right Emily…no matter what the consequences."

"I don't want to lose you." She whispered, looking at him with pleading eyes.

"You won't." He replied seriously. "I promise you won't."

They looked at each other for a long while before Hotch became aware of the time. "We have a meeting."

Emily nodded. "Okay."

He got to his feet and held the door open for her. She left his office, mind spinning. There had to be a way she could keep him from losing his job. There just had to be.

***

It was like something out of a horror movie. He saw Gia putting the tainted water to her lips and drink deeply of it. He thought he must be dreaming because the effects of the drug hit her right at that moment. The cup fell to the floor, shattering, and she began to writhe on the concrete, eyes rolling into her skull. He felt perfectly fine however, like he hadn't consumed any of the drugs. Something told him to act like he had though and copied Gia's movements, pretending the drug has subdued him. Now it felt definitely like a horror movie. A door slid open and he saw a man enter the room. Without even knowing if he were right, Spencer knew this man was his captor. His face was blurry but he was perfectly human. Spencer was terrified of being beaten again. All of a sudden, water was being poured onto his head. Maybe his captor was attempting some sort of water torture. Then his captor began saying his name, "Spencer, Spencer!" As he did so, his creepy voice shifted to Gia's high pitched, feminine tone. "Spencer! Spencer!"

***

"Spencer? Oh God, please be alright!"

Somewhere a woman's voice begged but he couldn't tell from where. His face felt wet. Slowly opening his eyes, he saw tears streaming from Gia's eyes and dripping onto his skin. Now he clearly focused on her dirty face looking down on him. "Gia?"

She started sobbing brokenly, "Thank God. I thought you were dead!" She buried her face in her hands, kneeling on the concrete. Pained, Spencer slowly got up and grasped her hands in his. "It's okay Gia. I'm not dead, I promise."

Gia couldn't help but laugh. "I know you're alive Spencer. I just can't believe it. It's almost unreal."

She reached her hand out and gently touched his jaw. He shivered from the touch of her cold hands. "Do you believe now?" He asked. She nodded. "Yes." Leaning, back against the wall, she turned to him and asked, "What do you think his plan is?"

"Besides killing us?"

She half-smiled at his unwitting sarcasm, "Yeah. Besides killing us."

"He seems to find a sadistic pleasure in draining us of our will to live. The beatings he administers are further proof of this; especially since they always occur after we eat or drink the drugged things he's given us. Soon we won't eat or drink just to avoid the beatings."

She tried to simplify what he just told her. "Basically he wants us to think food equals pain. Don't eat food then you don't feel pain."

"Basically."

Gia sat back, staring wide-eyed into space. "Wow. That is really twisted evil." Spencer nodded his head in agreement, wincing in pain as he moved to sit next to her. She looked back at Spencer and lowered her voice, "So what do you think we should do? Do we have a plan?"

Spencer contemplated. "Honestly? I'm not really sure. I don't even know what day it is or how long we've been here."

"Okay, let's think about this." Gia stopped, calculating figures in her head. "I was held apart from you for two days. If my internal clock is still running right it's only been a day or two since then. So…I think today might be Saturday."

"Only Saturday?" The thought was shocking to Spencer. It hadn't even been a week since that mad man had taken them. The impossibility was insanity. "Did your internal clock tell you that you were held apart from me for two days?"

Gia shook her head. "No, I had a window where he kept me. I could even see a black willow tree from where I was."

The moment she said this, Reid's mind began flying. "Did you say black willow tree?"

She looked at him curiously. "Yeah…why do you ask?"

"Black willow trees are native to Virginia. If you saw one then that means we may not have left the state of Virginia!"

"Is that a good thing?" Gia inquired, interested in Spencer's excitement.

"Yes. It means we're more likely to be found. That's always a good thing, right?"

She shrugged her left shoulder, nodding. "Yeah."

Spencer tried to be nonchalant as he asked, "You had a window?"

"Yes, I did."

"Could you see anything out of it?"

Gia shook her head, "No."

Now he was confused. "Wait, I thought you said you saw a black willow?"

"I did but that was all I could see."

The confusion on Spencer's face prompted Gia to expound on her statement. "I was chained to a wall Spencer. I couldn't just get up and look out the window."

"He chained you to a wall?" Spencer couldn't help the incredulous expression on his face. He noted the fact that Gia wouldn't look him in the face. "What else did he do?"

She struggled inside before she finally told him. "He made me listen to a recording of a woman being raped. Over and over again; everyday. Then he would beat me. I would cry and beg him to stop but he just laughed at me. I was blindfolded the whole time." She couldn't help it. The dam holding her emotions back finally and completely broke. Tears streamed down her alabaster face. "Do you know what the worst part is, Spencer?"

He shook his head. She took a deep breath then told him it all. "I think he raped me. I woke up after I had been kidnapped and my underwear and sweats were on the ground next to me. I was horrified and scared and cried myself to sleep thinking a psychopath had stolen my innocence." Spencer felt pain for her. It was only natural. He awkwardly reached out and touched her hand.

"I'm sorry." He attempted to sympathize with her.

"Don't worry about it." She wiped her eyes. "God, why am I so emotional? I went thru all the Academy training. After that I thought I could handle every worst case scenario the FBI could throw at me. But nothing could prepare me for this. Absolutely nothing."

He understood how she felt and decided to express it. "Yeah, I know the feeling. But the FBI training can only take you so far Gia. Eventually you have to learn out in the field on your own."

She sniffled, wiping her nose with the back of her hand. "I know. I worked in Kansas City for a whole year but I got less than three months of actual field experience. The rest of the time I was forced behind a desk."

"Forced?" Spencer echoed her.

Gia nodded. "My first supervisor was set to transfer to another field office three months after I joined. He had me out in the field, interrogating suspects, the whole nine yards basically. After he left, I apparently rubbed my new supervisor the wrong way because she never stopped hating me."

"She didn't hate everyone?" He questioned, attempting to keep her mind off the trauma she had experienced.

"No, I was the only one. There was even another girl on the team but I was the only one she picked on. That girl is barely adequate as an agent but I never got field time and she did."

Gia took a deep breath, trying to let out some of her pent up frustration. "Do you know what I hated most about that though?"

"What?" Spencer inclined his head in her direction, listening intently.

She looked peeved as she said, "I worked with my team for three months and made great relationships with them. When I got benched for the rest of the year, none of them did anything. The fact that she's an experienced and respected agent scared them into silence. They just stood by and watched the injustice happen. They're all cowards."

"People instinctually act in self-preservation Gia. They may have wanted to help you but the need to protect themselves came first." Spencer attempted to logically explain the situation to her.

"But if you're on a team," Gia countered. "You protect each other and look out for each other. Leaving someone to fend for themselves is absolutely wrong for a team to do."

Spencer nodded in agreement. "It is wrong. But we are human. To err is human. It's only natural."

"I know it is." Gia sighed. She leaned against the cold wall and closed her eyes. Suddenly, she looked at him. "Do you think your team is looking for you?"

He replied confidently, "I know they are."

"How can you be so sure?"

"They're practically my family. They won't stop until they find me."

Gia commented wistfully, "You have a good family."

The lanky man agreed. "Yes I do."

They stayed quiet now, feeling there was nothing else to be said. And truthfully, there wasn't. Not yet.

~*~*~*~

Limegreensoxs: Why thank you! I am glad to see you are a shipper of Hotch and Emily as well!

Heyya5965: She hadn't officially been transferred into a department yet before she was taken. She was new to Quantico and didn't know anyone there. That made her an extremely easy target because practically no one would notice she was missing. Yeah, for some reason Hotch seems to get the brunt of a lot of problems. Undoubtedly because he leads the team he has a lot to deal with. I am so glad you enjoyed the chapter!

Thanks to all of you who reviewed—it means a lot to me. I hope this chapter was up to standards but if not, please leave me a comment! Also, to The-vampire-act, I hope that you enjoyed the nightmare in this chapter. Your suggestions were extremely helpful to me and I appreciate your input very much! One last thing to add, please say a prayer, light a candle, or give a moment of your time to the people in Haiti who are suffering right now. They desperately need all the help they can get.

I love all of you and can't wait until the next chapter comes!!!