A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, I had to really work on this one! It's a filler chapter, but helps me set up for later! Please review, it helps get me thru work! Seriously, it does…
Aaron Hotchner stood outside the burned barn, deep in thought. Hours ago, he had watched the medical examiner take the body of what was believed to be the missing FBI agent. He had sent the rest of the team back to the hotel, ordering them to get some rest. They were no good to JJ if they couldn't function. If the body was JJ, an exhausted team would make mistakes finding her killer, mistakes that could let him go free-once they caught the bastard.
If the body was not JJ, an exhausted team could cost her her life. And like hell he was going to let that happen.
So, with an expected argument, he stood one step ahead of them and compromised. They had to go back to the hotel for a minimum of four hours, what they did that time, was up to them. He had originally said six, but agreed down to four. In all honesty, he just needed to be by himself, to worry about JJ.
JJ.. God, what if it was her? They had been so close, they were there, had gotten to her. Just not in time. Deep down he knew it was her, he knew the body they had found was that of his agent. There had been no reports of any missing people made that matched the limited description of the body they found. Only JJ matched it. It was the barn they had seen in the video, it was the stall they had seen JJ chained to, everything matched. So now, he had to wait for the results from the medical examiner and hope that it was not JJ.
Then again, was that selfish of him to think, to hope? If it was not JJ, where was she? Undoubtedly suffering, sick, hurt, at the hands of a psychopath and more than likely- terrified. FBI agent or not, she was still a human being and still feeling emotion. What went through her mind, Hotch didn't want to think about.
He took a deep breath and forced himself to focus on two people: JJ and Steven. He had to find them both, and he wouldn't rest until he did.
"Agent Hotchner?" He looked up to see an officer approaching him.
"Yes?"
"We've got something." The officer smiled. "Dog found it."
Hotch's heart rate picked up, they had been using the dogs to locate JJ, in and around the barn. One cadaver dog inside the barn and a small perimeter around it that would slowly begin working out. And another dog, a search and rescue dog named Bruce who had the sole job of searching for JJ. Not her body, but a living person.
"Which dog?" Hotch asked daring to hope.
"Bruce."
