A/N: Because the team disappeared from July 29, 2010 to July 29,2011, any of the events that happened in the sixth or seventh seasons do not exist in this story, like the Doyle incident.
Before anyone could say another word, Anderson stepped out of the room. At the close of the door, he sighed, his mind flashing back to the heartbroken and guilt-ridden expressions on each team member's face. He took a second to listen for anything-any noise- coming from the room, but all he heard was silence.
Worry about them later. Let's check on Penelope. He sprinted over to the living room where he found Douglas slowly wrapping a pressure bandage around Garcia's wrist. She was now covered with a blanket and was staring blankly at the ceiling.
"Hey, you. Thought I'd lost you there," he softly said to her. Garcia's lip trembled as she reached a hand out to him. "I'm sorry about the accident," he continued, squeezing her hand, "We'll get his bastard and then go to a beach in the Caribbean."
Garcia smiled and whispered, "Team?"
"Don't worry about them. I kind of yelled and told them that they can't come near you for the next two days." Garcia frowned and Anderson added, "Hey, they need to get themselves together- you have done so much for them and they need to appreciate that. "
"Okay. Every-thing hurts."
Anderson placed a hand on her forehead. "I know and it'll get better. Here's what I need you to do for me, Penelope. I need you to rest-sleep is more like it. You're no good to anyone running on empty."
"Been…running…empty…since they went missing."
"Well, then let's make sure you don't start running into the negatives." Both agents exchanged smiles when Garcia nodded and closed her eyes. As the technical analyst drifted off to sleep, Douglas looked over to the dining room door. "Are they still in there?" he asked.
Anderson groaned and muttered, "Yeah- I'll get them going."
When he returned to the dining room, he found all six agents sitting quietly in somber moods. JJ held her head in her hand, her mascara stained face staring at the evidence bags. Prentiss and Reid sat next to here, arms linked, with Prentiss resting her head on the youngest agent's shoulder. Morgan sat across from Reid, rubbing his wrist as he stared at a picture of him and Garcia. Rossi and Hotch sat at the opposite end of the table, both staring at the empty fireplace.
"All of you upstairs," Anderson told them. He received six tearful looks. "I know that I gave you all one massive guilt trip and you want to sit here and feel sorry for yourselves, but you can't. You all need to go to your rooms and sleep."
"I don't think I can," Reid said quietly.
"Yes you can and you will. I want all of you in your rooms resting. Don't try to do anything stupid; I will be checking in every twenty minutes. Come on, you all tried to check out of the hospital at least a month ahead of schedule. Do any of you honestly feel like you're physically up to date?"
No answer.
"I need an answer."
One by one, each agent answered, "No."
"That's what I thought. I don't mean to be hard on all of you, but I care about Penelope- a lot. She lost her family all in one day and I was there to help her through it. Now, before I hand her back over to you all, I want to make sure that she'll be in good hands. Now go."
JJ winced before whimpering, "We-we don't-"
"Deserve it? Trust me, you all deserve to be taken care of and loved, just like Penelope. Now, don't make me say it again-upstairs."
Hotch hesitated before asking, "My son-"
"He's with Agent Jareau's boyfriend and son at a different safe house. They'll be here in the morning," Anderson answered. He pointed and motioned upstairs. Once the team started complying, he sighed. "Thank you. "
2:47am
Rossi turned onto his side and crossed his arms. He had been laying wide awake in his bed for four hours. He was exhausted- Rossi never wanted to sleep more in his life, but he just couldn't.
His mind was racing again- it wasn't really about the danger he was in, it was more about Garcia than anything else. In the four years that he had known her, he only saw a bright, loving woman whose innocence kept everyone on team sane of mind. He had never once considered what would happen if any of them had died on her, let alone six. Not once had he thought of how Garcia would cope if her world had fallen apart.
Burying us-all of us! I can't even imagine how I'd feel burying just one of us. Rossi turned back onto his back and sighed. How does one make this up to a person? We've saved each other before, but not like this. She saved all of our lives by not letting us go.
"No…."
Rossi tensed up at the words coming from Hotch, who he was sharing a room with. Rossi turned his head to see Hotch tossing and turning as he was lost in a nightmare-no, a memory of the kidnapping…
A Year Ago
Hotch looked over to see Colmanshire standing at the door entrance. The man was tall, physically defined, and gave off an arrogant personality. Morgan suddenly yelled out, "Let us go, you son of a bitch!"
"Manners, Agent Morgan. Manners," Colmanshire answered. He stepped closer towards the team and chuckled, "I can't believe it. I took down what was supposed to be one of the best teams in the FBI!"
"Let us go," Morgan repeated through gritted teeth. He quieted when Rossi tugged on the handcuff they shared, signaling him to quiet down. Hotch shifted his sitting position and stated calmly, "I'm sure we can work something out. If you let us go-"
"Let you all go?" Colmanshire kneeled next to JJ and brushed away a strand of her hair. She scooted over towards Hotch and glared back at Colmanshire.
He chuckled at her response and said, "None of you will ever see the light of day again. I caught you and now you all belong to me."
"You can't-"
"I can do whatever I want, Agent Hotchner," He walked over to Hotch, "Now that you all belong to me, here are a few rules: you will respect me as your owner. I will punish every disrespectful comment, word, look- all of it! Secondly, you will all be addressed by your first names and will answer 'Yes, sir'. Thirdly, you will accept the fact that you all are nothing but items-my new trophies and nothing more. Do you all understand me?"
"That's crap!" Morgan exclaimed. Colmanshire took a knife and slashed Prentiss across the face. He stopped at the satisfaction of the team begging, "Leave her alone! Don't touch her!"
Colmanshire turned to Morgan and asked, "Let me say this again- do we have an understanding?"
"Yes," every agent answered. Colmanshire smiled in contentment and said, "Alright then, first order of business." He pulled out a zip tie and tied them around Hotch's ankles. He then punched Hotch in the face and disconnected the chain links that had connected Hotch to JJ and Reid.
"What are you doing?" Hotch exclaimed as Colmanshire started dragging him towards the front door. Amongst the protests from the rest of the team, Colmanshire exclaimed, "Say goodbye to Aaron!"
"Let me go!" Hotch exclaimed as he was dragged into the hallway and into a smaller room. It was dark and the size of a closet. Colmanshire pushed him onto the ground and connected his handcuffs to a link on the wall. "Let me go!"
Colmanshire only grinned and slammed the door, leaving him in the dark. A minute of silence passed before Hotch heard Reid's screams…..
Present Day
"Aaron! Aaron! Wake up!"
Hotch jolted awake, panting as he looked up to Rossi's worried face. He asked, "What? What happened?"
"You were yelling out in your sleep! You had a nightmare," Rossi said as Hotch sat up. The Unit Chief felt his heart drop at the sight of Reid and the rest of the team standing at the doorway. Hotch took a steady breath and said, "It was a memory. I remember being dragged out of a room that we had all been in and Reid screaming out in pain. It was frightening. Reid, what happened?"
Reid looked down to his feet. "I was beaten up after you were taken away for no reason."
Rossi sighed and turned to the team. " Forget about Anderson's rules. I think we need each other right now more than anything else. Go grab blankets and pillows and return here. We're just going to sit and talk. Alright?"
As JJ, Reid, and Prentiss left to get their items, Hotch sighed and closed his eyes. He didn't notice Rossi leave the room as he thought, I'm not really sure if I want to know the rest of what happened anymore.
When he reopened his eyes, he found himself in the room alone with Morgan. The African American agent was sitting quietly in the wheelchair with his head bowed. Hotch sat up and called out, "Morgan?"
"It was me," he muttered in responded. Morgan slowly brought his head back and said, "I know you can't remember any of what happened, but about the one who blew the information about Garcia….it was me."