The sky had turned a dark blue since they had gotten underneath the fence. They could barely see a few feet in front of them. It was definitely going to make traveling very difficult, but they couldn't stop. It was likely that Brian and Ray were searching for them right now. If they were going to stop they had to find a safe shelter that was well hidden. Lying down next to a tree just wasn't going to work this time. Reid was doing good to keep a good pace even though his body ached. He wanted to stop, but he knew they didn't have a huge window of time considering that they were on foot and Brian had a car. It would be easy for them to catch up. He glanced back at JJ who was again struggling. He pitied her, but also had the nagging feeling that Brian and Ray were getting closer. He couldn't carry her again either because he didn't feel as strong as before.

"Come on, Jayje. We have to keep moving. They could be catching up and we have to make it at least a significant distance away before we stop. I'm sorry…I know you're in pain, but…we have to go." Reid urged.

JJ nodded, sweat covering her face. He could see the guilt in her eyes, but they really did need to keep going at a good pace. It was important. Her pace picked up after that, she was really pushing her limits to keep up with Reid.

It seemed like they hadn't gotten much further before JJ started to slow down again. There was no way they were going to make it as far as Reid would have hoped, but he wasn't going to leave her either. He knew they had to stop soon for JJ's sake though. He slowed down to walk beside her and put his arm around her waist to help her along.

"We'll stop after we make it over this hill, okay? Do you think that you can do that?" Reid asked her.

JJ gave him a small nod as she looked at the large hill that they were starting to climb up. He wondered if she would have said yes to him no matter what kind of pain she was feeling. He was pretty sure that was the case, but at least she looked confident and at least determined to make it over despite what her body was telling her to do.

Reid gave her a smile as they climbed, "You're being really strong JJ and I'm really proud of you. I don't think that I would be able to do what you're doing. No one could, except for you because you're JJ and you're tough."

"Thanks." She said, quietly. It didn't seem like she was in much of a talking mood. She was concentrating on just getting over this hill so that she could stop.

It took them a substantial amount of time, but they eventually made it over the hill and to the other side. They found a nice spot in between four trees that was hidden. No one would be able to see them from the road. They laid down together to stay warm and also to feel safe. He hoped that this would be their last stop before they finally got to see their team members again.

Watching and waiting. It was the only thing they could do. The video played on, following JJ and Reid on their journey through the woods. It made Emily sick to her stomach to watch this.

To watch her friends suffer.

She could see that JJ was limping painfully and seemed to be falling behind Reid, who wasn't going that fast himself. Their pace was getting slower and slower.

Reid noticed it too and stopped to let her catch up. He told her to get on his back and she tried to refuse the help, because she was too proud, but he didn't let her. Not this time. She slowly climbed onto his back and he started to carry her along.

Emily felt pride welling inside of her. Reid wasn't going to leave her behind and she found comfort in that. She knew that whatever happened, they would take care of each other. In curiosity, Emily looked at Will for a reaction. His posture was slumped like he was still disheartened from their earlier finding. She looked into his eyes and, unlike his body language, they were full of admiration. Reid was, after all, carrying his wife to safety. It was a bold move, especially for him.

The team watched as the pair approached the fence, uneasiness building with every moment. It was like a scary movie where you know that the killer is behind the door, but that one 'courageous' girl decides to go check on a noise they heard and you yell at the screen, telling them not to go in there. But they can't hear you and Reid and JJ couldn't hear them.

Reid looked around, but then came to a realization. The realization that they knew only their genius would have figured out. He knew what Brian was doing and it had only taken him a few valuable minutes to figure it out. He told JJ their situation and the shock was evident in her eyes. He thought quickly, eyes landing on the fence.

JJ followed his gaze and asked what he was thinking, but he barely gave her an answer. He was a man on a mission. A mission to get them out. He led her over to the fence and started digging, JJ followed his lead.

Emily had noticed before how skinny JJ seemed to be and it had worried her. It was clear on her face how malnourished she actually was, not to mention the fact that she had a bacterial infection. But even though all of that seemed harmful to her health, as she watched JJ squeeze through the hole in the fence she was thankful for all of it…that it had given her the chance to escape.

A couple more handfuls of dirt later, the noise of a car was roaring loudly from somewhere behind Reid. They dug faster and Reid managed to slip out aswell. A few minutes after the two disappeared into the woods, Ray came up to the fence. He called for Brian, once again panicking, but as Brian arrived he was completely calm. Their conversation ended with threatening message that they knew was meant for them.

"We'll find them. It's just bigger hunting grounds, that's all."

The feed cut off.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Will stood up again to face the team. There was urgency in his voice. He was getting desperate for answers, for leads, for new information…

For JJ.

"It means that he's going to keep looking for them. The confidence in his voice tells me that he knows the area well, but they do have a better chance than they did inside the fence." Hotch tried to sound optimistic, but it just came out in a stony monotone. Optimism wasn't his thing.

"We just have to hope that they'll find a good hiding spot somewhere." Morgan let out a sigh.

Emily shook her head. "Hope isn't enough." She breathed.

All heads turned towards her.

Morgan tilted his head in confusion, "What?"

"Hope isn't enough." Emily repeated with a little more firmness. She stood up and exited the room. How could they just expect to sit there and wait? They were the FBI for god's sake. They were supposed to help people and they usually did, but when one of their own was in danger all they did was sit there and wait? It was pathetic and she hated every minute of it.

As she stormed towards the bathroom, a strong hand clamped down on her shoulder. "Emily…" Morgan's voice sounded apologetic. "I-"

"I know. You're sorry, but the thing is…" Emily shook her hand and turned around. "I don't want to hear that. I don't want to hear that you didn't mean it that way or that this is the only thing that was can do because those are both lies. I'm going to call Garcia and then maybe, just maybe we can help Reid and JJ because you seem to think that they'll miraculously make it out on their own."

"I don't."

"What? You don't believe in your team mates abilities?" Emily started, irrationally. She was barely aware of what she was saying. It just rolled off her tongue easily in a heated rage.

Morgan sighed, "You're stressed and taking out your anger on me."

"Stop profiling me!" Emily turned on her heels and stormed off. She just wanted some alone time without him following her. She needed time to think. Two of her best friends were missing. What she really needed was time to breathe.

But Morgan followed. "Hey!" He called, his own voice sounding angry. "You do realize that this little tantrum you're throwing isn't helping Reid or JJ either, don't you?"

Emily froze, balling up her fists. She wanted to turn around and give him one hell of an argument or even a mouthful of her fist, but she knew that this was going too far. So she took a long breath in and then slowly made her way down the rest of the hallway. She turned a corner and then stopped, thankful to be out of his view. Burying her hands in her face, she sank to the ground.

But she didn't cry.

All she did was soak in the peace. For those few minutes that she sat there, she felt at peace. And a few minutes was all she needed. By the time she stood up she felt refreshed. She felt like a woman on a mission, in honor of Reid. She was going to call Garcia right away and see if she had found anything. She turned the corner back to the wide hallway only to find Morgan in the same spot that she had left him in, unmoving.

His eyes shifted towards her when she back into view.

Emily didn't want to apologize. She didn't want to mend the bridges just yet because she wasn't entirely cooled down. She walked down the hallway, gave him quick look and then stepped past him. She could practically feel the tension in the air.

"Emily…" Morgan started as she stepped by.

She kept walking.

Surprisingly JJ was the first to wake up the next day, but only because of the sun shining through a small gap in the trees and straight into her eyes. She scanned her surroundings, not remembering much of what had happened last night. All of the events just blurred together to create a haze of memories that she couldn't quite recall. So instead of trying to remember...she just stared up into the sky.

The sun coming up gave her more than consciousness.

It gave her a sense of certainty. The sun was going to rise, no exceptions...and she held onto that. It gave her hope.

The more time she spent awake, she worse she felt. It was like the pain was waking up with her, settling back into its place. Her stomach, her head, her arms and legs, everything. Everything hurt, but it was the internal stuff that was causing her the most discomfort. She could feel her fever starting to set in again and she felt like she needed to throw up. No, she was going to throw up.

JJ managed to get to her feet and exit the little sanctuary between trees that they had found. Outside of it she crouched over, but all she could do was dry heave due to the fact that she had no contents in her stomach. Each cough sent a shuddering pain through her body. When she was finished, she was left sitting on the ground trembling and leaning against a nearby tree.

Out of nowhere, she heard a noise behind her: a twig cracking, but it was enough to spook her. She whipped her head around, but there was no one there. Maybe it was all in her head. Was that one of the symptoms of infection? Hallucinations? Or had she imagined that too? Maybe she was just going crazy, PTSD could set in early right? Or maybe she had just heard a noise, it was more simple than she had thought. Fear coursed through her. If it was Brian or Ray she wouldn't be able to outrun them or out climb them. She'd most likely just get caught, but maybe Reid would get away. He could make it without her.

JJ glanced around and got to her feet despite the protest from the rest of her body. She used the tree to support her for a few seconds and then started walking. The moment she turned around the tree she ran straight into someone. It was a man, she could tell by his chest, but she didn't see his face. A scream escaped her, but a hand clamped over her mouth and stopped that quickly. _

"Hotch, I'm telling you! Someone needs to talk to Emily. She just yelled at me for no reason." Morgan told his boss, like a kid telling on one of his class mates.

Hotch gave him an annoyed look, "You really think we have time for that Morgan? I'm sure she's stressed and she has the right to be, but the only person that I would think could get through to her…is JJ. And she's not here right now so why don't we work on that instead of sitting here talking about your problems?"

Morgan paused, "I just thought-"

"You thought wrong, now come on. We're going down to talk to Brian and Ray's wives. They're claiming that they don't know what's going on, but I think they're lying." Hotch stated, making it known that there was no question about it.

"Just us?"

"Yes, just us. Rossi and Prentiss are trying to help Garcia look through some possible properties that Ray and Brian may be using." Hotch said before walking out of the precinct and out to their SUV. He got in the driver's seat while Morgan climbed into the passenger's.

Morgan felt really guilty about their earlier argument. Hotch was right, Emily was just stressed and he had no right to question that. So he decided to try to break the awkwardness. "Hey Hotch, I'm sorry about earlier, I just-"

"Don't worry about it." Hotch cut him off.

"O-okay." Morgan was thrown off, but he tried to focus on the case. They needed to figure it out before Ray and Brian caught up to JJ and Reid in the woods.

It took them 20 minutes to drive down to the neighborhood.

There were police cars lined up on sidewalks, examining in the crime scene still. They had the CSU there pulling prints and blood samples, but Morgan and Hotch both knew that neither of those things would get back in time to help them.

They approached one of the houses, confidently. This was going to help. They had to tell themselves that.

Hotch knocked and a police officer opened the door. "Agent Hotchner?" He held out his hand and Hotch shook it, "Brian's wife is right in there." He pointed to a room and then left them alone.

They entered, looking at the woman. She looked completely composed, there was no way she could be this put together if her husband had taken two FBI agents if she didn't know. They sat down across from her.

"Hello, Mrs. Kale. I'm Agent Hotchner and this is Agent Morgan. We're here to ask you some questions about your husband, Brian." He started, nodding.

"Alright." Lauren said, calmly. "What do you want to know?"

Hotch glanced at Morgan, "What is he like at home?"

"He likes things done his way. I do the cleaning, cooking, and laundry. He's very big with sports and things like that. We eat dinner at the table together, but after that he's in front of the TV. He's a man, what do you expect?" Lauren looked at each of them.

"Did you notice any recent changes with him? Maybe something that happened and caused him to be different." Hotch suggested.

Lauren shook her head.

"Okay, what about when Reid and JJ got here? Did he say anything about them?" Hotch asked carefully.

Lauren shrugged, "He may have mentioned something about new neighbors. He wasn't home much though because he was at work."

"Where does he work?"

"He's a mechanic at a garage."

"Alright, how about the night of that dinner party? Did he say anything about that?" Morgan asked this time, narrowing his eyes. Now they would know if she was lying or not because they'd been listening in.

"Well he didn't like JJ much; I could tell that from the moment she walked up. He barely acknowledged her, but later during the party. I look over and see them arguing. I watched them go outside, but I didn't really think anything of it. Later that night Brian told me he slapped her. I was so angry at him, but before I could really talk to him about it we had to go find a stupid dog. We came home and went straight to bed. I forgot about it." Lauren explained.

"How about the other party?"

"I lost him during it and never found him."

"How long have you two been married?" Hotch asked, changing the subject.

"Four years."

"Did you notice anything out of the ordinary before now? Maybe a long time ago?" He asked.

"Nope, nothing. I'm sorry." Lauren didn't look sorry. She had a blank expression on her face like she didn't even care at all. She knew. She knew everything. If Hotch wasn't sure before, he was sure now.

"Alright. Thank you for you time."

"I hope you find them, Agent Hotchner. They seemed like nice people." Lauren nodded at him.

"They are." He concluded before walking out of the house.

Morgan sighed, "Well…that was weird."

"She knows…" Hotch shook his head, "She knows everything. She probably knows where Reid and JJ are, but we don't have time to pry it out of her. We don't have time for anything!" He exclaimed, feeling like a failure.

Morgan looked at him, sympathetically. "Hotch, man…" He trailed off.

Before Hotch could say anything else, his phone rang. "Hello?"

It was Garcia.

"Hotch. I found it! Ray's brother has some farm property just outside the city. I already sent the address to your phones. Rossi and Emily are already on their way." Garcia told him, "Now bring them back to me."

"We will." Hotch ran towards the car with Morgan following. He didn't even know what was happening, but he still ran because he did know that whatever it was, was urgent. And if it was urgent then it had to do with Reid and JJ.

So he ran.