AN: SURPRISE! Ahh, sorry I have been so absent. Can you believe I actually followed my dreams of acting…and was CAST! I just finished filming… where get this… I was the lead!

No I have not abandoned you. I'm still here.

Eric looked over at Callie, who was still sitting in the corner. "Will you shut up already?" He moved closer to her throwing a cloth at her. "Stop crying and wash your face."

Callie didn't move.

"You need to get yourself together so we can leave."

She grabbed the cloth. "I'm not leaving!"

"Yes, you are. You're coming with me. You're my daughter. No one is going to hide you from me again. Especially not your bitch of a mother."

Callie flinched at the tone in his voice.

"She took you from me and then had the gall to take you to that caveman's house. She is not a good mother. She's trying to replace me."

Callie looked at him, confused.

"No worries, though, Callie. Soon you'll never see her or your Chocolate Thunder again."

XXXX

Penelope sat in the back seat of the SUV as her team talked about their game plan. Thankfully, with the help of the clerks, they were able to pinpoint where Eric had been staying. Once they got the building, Hotch was able to get a warrant to talk to the landlord in getting the correct apartment.

Penelope watched the screen in front of her on the computer. There were two heat sensors showing two bodies in the apartment they were watching. One was a taller individual, and the other was clearly a small child, who appeared to be sitting on the floor.

She understood they were getting their plan together, but it was hard for her to sit there and not run up the stairs and get her little girl back.

"Everything is going to be okay, Bella," Rossi said to her. "We're ready. We were just taking the extra precautions because of his previous attitude."

"I know, Rossi. It's just…" She looked outside the SUV to see Derek putting on his vest.

"Penelope," Rossi started. "Everything is going to be okay. We're gonna get your little girl back. And when we do, you'll finally stop running and living in fear. You have a permeant family now."

"Thank you," she whispered.

XXXX

"Alright," Derek said. "So our game plan is to play the "delivery man"? How do we know he hasn't seen Reid before? Clearly he's been watching us." They figured Eric would open for a delivery man.

"We're not using Reid. We are going to have another agent act as a delivery person. Once Eric opens the door we'll go in." Hotch turned toward the layout of the apartment. "We have to play this carefully so he doesn't try to go after Callie."

"We are assuming he has guns, correct?" Prentiss asked.

Hotch nodded. "Unfortunately, yes. His level of violence with Garcia shows he is capable of that type of escalation. Although, I don't believe he would turn that heat onto Calliope, we need to be prepared for anything. We have two ambulances staged a quarter of a mile away. As soon as we make of fist move, everyone will be in position."

"I want a mic," Penelope said getting out of the SUV.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Baby Girl," Derek said moving over to her.

She glared at him. "That's my girl in there, Derek. I'm tired of not being any use right now. I won't do anything to jeopardies the mission but I have to at least listen to what's going on. I'm about to pull out my hair. My little girl is holed up in an apartment with a crazy man who has physically put his hands on me more than once, threatened me, and stalked me. I am not going to just sit by here and wait, with zero knowledge as to what's going on inside."

Derek pulled her into his arms. He kissed the top of her head. "I'm sorry, Pen. I'm so sorry for all of this. I love you."

"I love you, too, Derek. But that doesn't stop the fact that I will be listening."

"I don't recommend it, Garcia," Hotch said, holding out the earpiece. "But as a parent, I get it."

Twenty minutes later, everyone was in position. Derek and Hotch were in the hall behind a cart, waiting for Eric to open the door. They sent one of the other agents to act as a delivery man, with a package addressed to Eric.

Derek waited in position until suddenly Eric opened the door to sign for the package when the rest of the team sprang into action. Hotch was through the door first, Derek right behind him.

"Daddy!" Calliope cried.

He turned to see Eric holding Callie in his arms with a knife to her throat. "Step back," he said as he pulled the girl into his arms tighter.

"Daddy, you came for me!" Callie cried.

"Yes, Callie Monster," Derek whispered trying to calm her. "Daddy will always come for you. Like I told you, I'll always protect you and Mommy," Derek said in the direction of Eric and her, but he refused to take his eyes off of Eric. He had one goal and that was to bring his girl home.

"Protect her? Are you really always there to protect her?" Eric looked at him. "I don't think so, Agent Morgan. Are you really protecting Callie when you're off fucking her whore of a mother? Do you even know where Callie is when you fuck that bitch? You think she is in her room, but is she?" Eric snarled.

Derek glanced at Callie. She looked so frightened.

"Let me ask you this, Chocolate Thunder, has she improved in the sack or does she still suck worse than a virgin on prom night? You know it took me forever to get her to figure out a blow job. You think with how fat she is; she be a pro at it." He shrugged. "Guess I was wrong."

"Shut your mouth," Derek spat.

"Or what?" Eric asked bringing the knife closer to Callie's neck.

"You won't hurt her," Derek said. "You've only been doing this to get Callie back. You want her."

"Yeah, I want to sell her to the highest bidder," Eric laughed.

"Callie," Derek said. "Do me a favor and keep your eyes closed don't open them until I say it's okay."

She nodded her head and closed her eyes as Eric pretended to swipe the knife across her neck once more.

Derek felt anger rush through him. "You might as well put the knife down. You're not getting out of her alive."

Eric looked at him for a moment before a creepy smile appeared on his face. "Then neither is she."

XXXX

Penelope felt her heart sink as she heard the gun shots. She pushed past all the agents and made her way upstairs to the apartment. She didn't know how she was able to get their as fast as she did but nothing was going to stop her.

"Daddy!" she heard as she rounded the corner, only to see Callie rushing into Derek's arms. "Daddy, you saved me. You saved me from the bad man!"

Penelope ran to them pulling them both into an embrace. "Oh baby!" she said as she cried into her daughter's hair. "I'm so sorry, baby. I love you, so much."

"Mommy, don't cry." Callie pulled back from her mother's embrace to look at her. "Daddy protected me just like he said he would."

"Yes," Penelope said. "Your daddy did protect you."

Callie looked at Derek, her eyes wide. "I love you, Daddy." She threw her arms around his neck, holding on with everything she had.

"I love you, too, munchkin." He turned to pull Penelope into his arms as well. He kissed the top of Penelope's head and then Callie's. "I'll always love and protect both of you."