This one took me a little longer than I thought. I'm not sure excatly what I think about it yet so I hope you like it!

Thanks to DeviousRobynno for reviewing the last chapter!!! :)

From Darkness to Light

A CM fanfic

Chapter 10

Back at the police station Brendon, the boy who had seen Kaylee being taken, had just finished talking to the sketch artist, explaining what he saw. Hotch and Emily were talking to the boy asking him if there was anything else that he could remember when Hotch's phone rang. He left the room and then came back.

"We gotta go." Hotch told Emily quickly, as he dragged her out of the room while telling a local cop to finish the interview.

"What's going on?" Emily asked, surprised at Hotch's sudden urgency. He just kept dragging her towards the front door of the police station. "Hotch." Emily said more forceful than before, while pulling her arm away from his grasp and stopping. "What happened?"

"J.J. saw the unsub." He said and then quickly added while walking away. "With Kaylee."

Emily ran to catch up to her boss and climbed in the SUV after him. "Where?" She asked.

"In a park." Was the simple response Hotch gave her as he sped away towards the park following Morgan and Reid.

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J.J. had gone back to the bench she had been sitting at, waiting for the rest of the team to get there, while thinking about what she'd seen and what she could have done to save Kaylee instead of letting their unsub get away with her again. She knew she'd done all she could, but if it wasn't her fault then whose fault was it?

Finally J.J. saw the flashing blue and red lights of her teammates SUVs as they turned the corner and came racing towards her. The vehicles came to a screeching halt and both Morgan and Hotch left their lights flashing and engines running as they jumped out, followed by Reid and Emily. J.J. got up and walked towards her friends.

"What happened?" Emily asked.

"I just sort of ended up here." J.J. started. "I didn't think anyone else was here so I just sat down. After a couple minutes I could hear a little girl saying she wanted to go home and a man telling her to play. I watched them and when she tried to run away I realized who she was. It was Kaylee. He caught up with her and was carrying her back to his van when I yelled at him and started chasing him. He was too fast, too far away and I was afraid I'd hit Kaylee if I shot at him." J.J. looked into the faces of her friends. "I let him get away. I'm sorry." She said sadly before turning and walking away.

"It's not your fault, J.J." Hotch called after her, surprised that she would think it was.

"Then who's fault is it, Hotch?!" J.J. snapped back, after turning around. "No one else was here and it's my job to help put these guys away and save little girls just like Kaylee!" She was losing it and she knew it. She was breaking down right in front of them and she couldn't let that happen. First she lets their unsub get away and then she breaks down. What will they think of her? Will they think she can't do her job anymore? Will Hotch send her for a psych eval the first chance he gets and keep her out of the field until he thinks she can keep herself together again or will they all just pretend it never happened, letting it become just another item on the long list of things they never talk about?

Before another word could be spoken Emily walked over to J.J. and put her arms around the younger woman's shoulders, leading her to a nearby bench where they could talk. Morgan, Reid, and Hotch simply stared at each other for several moments, dumbfounded.

Finally Reid spoke up. "What is going on with her?" He asked, surprise and worry in his voice.

"I have no idea." Morgan stated, also adding "I'm going to see where this guys van would have been parked." and he began walking to the opposite side of the park, towards a gap in the trees where it looked as though a trail might be located.

Meanwhile, Emily was trying to get J.J. to talk. The blonde had forced her tears back, willing herself not to cry and she now sat staring at Emily, waiting for the interrogation she was sure to come to start.

"You going to be ok?" was the first question to come out of Emily's mouth.

"Yeah. Thanks." was J.J.'s only response.

"I'm not going to try to make you tell me something you don't want to J.J., but you can talk to me. You know that, right?" J.J. merely looked away and seeing that as the only answer she'd be getting to her question Emily continued. "I'm pretty sure of what I saw back at the station and you don't have to talk to me, but you need to talk to someone. We can't help you if we don't know what's wrong, J.J." She finished as she got up and walked away to join Morgan and Hotch.

For several seconds J.J. remained sitting on the bench, wondering exactly how much Emily had seen in that police station bathroom and what she must think of her now. Eventually, J.J. rose and after crossing her arms across her chest she went to catch up with the rest of the team. Reid soon joined her, falling into step right alongside her. He looked down at her and while profiling her movements and reactions asked "Are you alright?"

"I'm ok." J.J. said, and after looking up and seeing his hurt expression at her earlier outburst and the cold, distant way she'd been acting she added "Thanks, Spence." and quickened her pace, leaving him behind her.