AN: Slightly longer chapter, next update should be Wednesday, please feel free to review!

Christina groaned as she tried to roll over onto her back. Her head was pounding and her vision swimming as she tried to regain her bearings. She felt a warm trickle trailing from her forehead and down the side of her face. Her body hurt, even more than it had before which she hadn't thought would be possible.

"That was a nasty spill, you should've listened to me." The man said as he knelt down beside her.

Christina tried to look at him, but he looked blurry from what little she could see. She mumbled something that she thought made sense, but when he didn't respond she guessed that it hadn't. Her brain wasn't functioning right, she probably had a concussion.

"Damn, look at you, you're getting blood on my floor." He exclaimed after he pulled her head from the floor.

"Get up! You're bleeding everywhere." He ordered as he pulled on her hair.

Christina tried to stand, but she felt too weak. She couldn't focus, she didn't know what was happening.

"Get up!" he yanked on her hair again. When she didn't move, he kicked her in the gut. Christina flinched and gasped, but she still didn't move.

"How pathetic, you're giving up already. So much for living for your son, that didn't last long." He taunted.

"Don't talk about my son!" she grunted out in fury.

"What's it matter to you, you're obviously ready to give up, you couldn't even make it down the fucking stairs!" he continued to taunt.

"You pushed me."

"Not my fault you couldn't hold your balance. You didn't do what I told you."

"I tried." Christina choked out weakly.

"Well you didn't try hard enough." He chuckled. "I think you're ready for me to end you." He reached down and grabbed her by the throat, squeezing her wind pipe.

"Please, no, I'm not ready." She gasped for air.

"I don't believe you." He squeezed harder, feeling the air leave her.

"Give…me…another…chance."

"I don't think you've earned it."

"Please…"

The unsub considered his options as he held his grip around her throat. It would be fun to see how much farther he could push her. It would also be a pain in the ass to dump her and find someone else so soon. According to his schedule she still had the rest of the day, he had nothing else better to do. Maybe she could still prove him wrong and outlast the others, even if he doubted it. Finally, he released her, sending her back down to the floor gasping for air.

"Ok, prove me wrong, get up." He ordered as he looked down at her.

He watched intently as she struggled to her feet, whimpering in pain when she put too much wait on her sore ankle. Finally she stood unsteadily in front of him, a defiant glare on her face even though one of her eyes remained swollen shut. His lips curled up into a smile at the site of her. She was one determined woman, he would give her that.

"Ok, let's walk." He said as he put his hand on her sore shoulder and led her once again.

They made their way through a couple of rooms before he opened a door leading to a dark staircase. Christina's heart dropped. She felt like she was going to hyperventilate. She couldn't do this again, especially not after last time. The man reached over her to flick on the light switch.

"Come on, let's go." He ordered as he pressed into her back.

The stairs were unfinished and wooden, and they were steeper than the previous staircase. Christina knew she had to make it down the stairs without falling or being pushed. She had no doubt that at the bottom of the stairs was a concrete floor as the basement looked unfinished just like the stairs.

Christina took a deep breath, knowing she was about to feel some intense pain, but knowing that she didn't have a choice. After a few more seconds passed she hopped down the first stair. Tears trickled down her face and her legs became more and more weak as she hopped down each sequential step.

On the third from the bottom it felt as though her ankle was going to give out. She pushed through it, picturing Aiden. She was doing this for him she reminded herself. Finally, she made it to the bottom, tears streaming down her face while she sweated profusely.

"That was impressive, good girl." The unsub whispered as he pushed her forward.

Christina felt like she could barely move, all her strength was sapped. The man continued to lead her across the room, seemingly not noticing. They stopped in front of a heavy metal door, and Christina could only dread what was behind it.

"Here is your next test." He said as he opened the door to the walk-in freezer. She immediately began to shiver as the cold air hit her.

"You'll stay in here until I'm done setting up your next test." He explained as he pushed her in, not worried that she could get into trouble as her arms and legs were still tied.

Christina wanted to argue, wanted to plead with him, but she was too sore, too exhausted, and she knew it wouldn't make any difference. As the door locked and the cold darkness enveloped her, she could only wonder how long she would be made to stay in the frozen room.

/

JJ let go of some of her inhibitions and kissed Cole back. Even though it was against her better judgment and went against rational wisdom. She gave into her rising desires.

Cole pressed himself closer as they continued to kiss. He ran his hand through her long hair as she reached down and stroked his chest; their lips dueling for dominance. Eventually, they had to stop to gather their breath.

"Wow, you're good." He grinned, his hands behind both of her ears, cupping her head.

"You're not so bad either." JJ breathed, her body wanting more but her brain making her hesitate. He continued to stroke her hair.

"How about I show you the rest of the house?" he smiled at her.

JJ hesitated for a moment, more than aware of where this was leading, that she was giving into her baser desires. She was torn, this wasn't what she did. This went against everything she stood for. Between the stress of the case, her worries for Aiden growing up motherless, memories of her own sister's death, and Cole's own pain, this presented the perfect escape, if only for a short time. After a moment, she bit her lip.

"Cole, I can't, we can't. As much as I want to, this just isn't right, this isn't me." She backed away from him. Cole approached her anyway, taking a step forward for every step she took back.

"I don't understand, are you messing with me right now?"

"No, no. I would never…it's just…maybe after the case, not right now." She struggled, her body now backed against the kitchen wall by the doorway. Cole kept encroaching anyway, pressing his body into hers, pressing her into the wall.

"Cole…please." JJ whispered as he cupped her face, their eyes frozen on each other.

"I know you want this…stop being so guarded." He whispered into her hair as he turned her head and kissed her neck.

JJ felt tingles run through her body as his hand slid under her blouse, his fingers lightly dancing on her stomach. She gasped out loud and arched into him when he unexpectedly plunged one of his fingers into her navel.

"Cole…" she breathed.

"I want you." He groaned between planting furious kisses on her neck.

"After the case, maybe." She tried again.

"I know you want this, Jennifer, you want me. I saw it in your eyes the first time we met." He smiled.

"What do you want from me?" she gasped as he pressed himself into her.

"For you to say yes. I need this, take my mind off of things for a little while." He whispered, his breath heavy.

JJ felt herself on the verge of caving to him. She was so turned on, it would be so easy to just say yes. Cole tried to persuade her with another dominant kiss on the lips. His fingers carefully began to unbutton her blouse from the bottom up. JJ didn't notice until the kiss broke and she felt the air on her exposed stomach.

"Tell me yes." He whispered into her throat as his hand gripped her butt once more.

/

The group turned to see who was coming down the driveway towards them. It was the crime scene techs which meant thankfully they should have some answers soon. The group greeted the two young men as they stepped out of their vehicle carrying a briefcase full of tools. Hotchner immediately directed them to the back of the truck, while Rossi grabbed a few plastic bags to put the bloody tools in.

"What do you think?" Hotchner asked one of the techs after a few minutes.

"Well what I'm doing now is a quick field test. It won't give us a lot of answers until we get the samples back to the lab. However, if you asked me to speculate, I would guess that the blood is indeed human."

"How do you know?" Hotchner asked, curious.

"Well it's hard to tell simply by looking at it. Generally human blood and animal blood have similar coloring and consistencies. However, if you actually test the blood, the bacteria and antigen structure within the blood is different, which is why different types of animals have different types of blood types, just like humans." The tech explained.

"So the field test came back as human?" Hotchner questioned.

"Based off the results we have so far, yes. But it is a crude test and it is prone to inaccuracies at times. Especially if a person was to have suffered a cut or something, and the human blood mixed with the animal's blood, we've seen it before with hunters."

"How soon until you can have a definitive answer?"

"It shouldn't be too long, once we get back to the lab. Once there, we can run more detailed tests and also compare the blood to your victims' blood to see if there are any matches."

Hotchner nodded.

"Good, please do so as fast as possible, we're really short on time." Hotchner explained.

"I understand. We have our samples. We'll just pack up the tarp and we should be good to go."

As the techs finished their work, Hotchner walked back over to Rossi.

"What do you think Dave?"

"I think Eric Jacobson is our man, you?"

"I think it's looking pretty good. Call Morgan and Prentiss, tell them to meet us back at the precinct. As soon as we get the results back, we should be able to get a warrant and go after this guy."

"Are we all set here?" One of the officers walked over and asked.

"Actually, I need you both to stay here in case Eric Jacobson comes back when we leave. If he does, take him in for questioning. Be on guard, if he sees you he may try to attack you, although he'll be more likely to run."

"And if he does attack us?"

"Use whatever force is necessary to bring him down, but don't kill him. We still need to be able to find Christina if she isn't with him." Both officers nodded their understanding. Hotchner turned back to Rossi as he hung up his phone.

"Let's go Dave." Hotchner said as they walked back to their SUV.

"Morgan and Prentiss met with Chris Banks. He claims to have an alibi that one of his friends there corroborated. They called the precinct and the locals are looking into the details of his story. In the mean time they were able to get Harlan to station two officers to surveill Banks' house and follow his movements."

Hotchner started the engine and backed the SUV out of the driveway.

"We're getting close Dave, I know it."

/

Cole moved his lips off JJ's throat, moving to her cheek, down her jaw and to the tip of her chin.

"You taste so good." He mumbled into her skin as he continued to ravish her.

JJ was getting close to losing her self control. She let his lips wander as she tried to regroup herself. She hadn't really expected this, although if she had paid a little more attention then she knew she really shouldn't be so surprised this was happening.

JJ had always been a little awkward when it came to guys, she didn't know why. She had a hard time of reading what their true intentions were, they were sneaky. It didn't help that she had a soft spot for people, and sometimes it was taken the wrong way or led her into situations like this. Never on a case though, this was a first.

Now, although she really wanted to give in to him, to get the release she hadn't experienced in a while, she knew she couldn't. She knew it would cause problems and make things impossibly complicated. So she planted her hands firmly on his shoulders, using just enough strength to push him back a couple inches so she could slide out from beneath his grasp and walk away.

As he watched her walk away flustered, Cole felt a desire to keep trying, he wasn't one to give up easy. He knew she was being difficult, and he was impressed that she was so strong willed. But he also knew that if what he gave her worked, then she wouldn't be able to resist him forever, it was only a matter of time. He just had to build her up a little more. Following her, he reached out and placed his hand firmly on her shoulder.

"Cole…" she started as he pulled her hair to the side and pulled the collar of her blouse back.

She whimpered as he placed his lips on her skin and sucked on the base of her neck. As he sucked firmly, his teeth grazing her, JJ knew it was going to leave a mark. Luckily it was in a spot where her blouse would hide it.

"Cole, stop." She said a bit more firmly as she pulled away from him again.

Her hands went to her blouse. Her fingers moved to redo the buttons he had opened when he reached around her again, pulling her into him.

"Why?" he asked as his fingers took the button from between her fingers, stopping her.

"I'm not like this, I don't do this." Her voice quivered as his free hand gently trailed down her taut stomach towards her waist.

"I don't doubt that. But you were giving me these signals, I thought this was different." He said as they moved towards the couch. JJ sighed, this was going to be hard to explain to him, she thought.

"Cole, I do find you attractive. I really do. I also feel for your situation, more than you realize. I know what it's like to worry about a sibling…to lose a sibling." Her voice trailed off softly.

"Do you want to talk about it? You listened to my story, the least I can do is listen to yours." He offered, seeing an opening for opportunity.

"It's a long story." JJ answered dismissively, wishing she hadn't blurted out the sibling part.

"We have plenty of time, I'm not going anywhere obviously." He tried as he helped her take a seat on the couch.

He sat down beside her, his hand lightly stroking her hair. This time JJ didn't move to stop him. She was too torn by her conflicting and overwhelming emotions she had for Cole, for the memories of her sister, everything.

"I'm sorry, I just don't like to talk about it. Just know I lost my sister when I was young, I know some of what you're going through." She turned to look at him, trying to hold back the tears in her eyes.

"Was it…was it like my sister's situation?" Cole asked, pressing for her to answer. JJ shook her head no.

"Hey, Jennifer, you can tell me. I want to be here for you like you were for me." He said softly, stroking her cheek.

JJ took an uneven breath, unsure of why she was going to give him the answer he wanted, why he would care. This was personal, it was private. But maybe if she could tell him, it would help them both. She wasn't sure what she was thinking or what she was doing. What was compelling her to do this, to open herself up to him, a man she hardly knew? She felt so vulnerable at that moment.

"She committed suicide." JJ finally blurted out as she pushed back more tears.

"Damn…I'm so sorry." Cole answered quietly. "I can't imagine what that's like."

"Please, I don't want to talk about it anymore." JJ said softly.

"Then we won't. At least now I understand where you are coming from." He said as he ran his fingers slowly through her hair. She remained silent, too focused on trying to stay strong and to keep from crying.

"Just know Jennifer, it's not your fault." Cole offered as he tried to console her. She turned to meet his eyes and smiled slightly.

"I know, thank you. Whatever happens to your sister, hopefully you will realize that too." JJ replied as they sat together in an emotional, awkward silence.

Cole moved his hand from her hair to her cheek, and around to her chin, caressing her face.

"I'll help take away your pain if you help take away mine." He whispered as he stared into her eyes.

JJ felt her resolve begin to waver again. She felt her walls beginning to crack. He moved in, his lips only an inch from hers. As they breathed each other in, Cole pressed his lips to hers. JJ melted into his touch, kissing him back. The alarms in her brain went off, telling her to stop as her body told her it needed more.

"Please, I need you, Jennifer." Cole said seductively, breaking the kiss.