"Was Emily this nervous when I was gone?"

"Oh, most definitely."

"And you guys are still searching for her, Polly, and the others, right?"

"We haven't stopped. Right now, we're hoping for something like a Hail Mary."

"How much longer before I can be discharged?"

"Less than an hour, kiddo. Hang in there."

"I'm doing my best."

JJ had been at the hospital for hours now, and she was quite restless.

On one hand, she knew that Derek was out of surgery and in recovery, so that was a wonderful development, but on the other hand, after JJ had a quick visit from Penelope's stepbrother and his wife, there was a powwow around her bed with Spencer, Hotch, Rossi, and Penelope to look back into the case.

It turned out that besides knitting, Penelope had done some 'exploratory hacking,' as she liked to put it, and she uncovered a treasure trove of information after getting past a few firewalls. Jacoby Fitzgerald had run with a bad crowd for quite awhile, namely the gamblers and traffickers of the Russian mob. Despite his time in jail, though, he still had some serious debts to pay off, and until he did, they owned him.

The trouble was that Jacoby enjoyed it all and now happily ran with the gamblers and traffickers. While it was clear now who he was working with and who had been staying with since leaving his parents' home, and it was also clear that his comrades were the ones doing the killing that had happened before the BAU's arrival, but the thing that was the most clear was that Jacoby's shooting Derek and taking Emily was his initiation into the mob.

JJ wished that the Hail Mary would show up soon.

Mostly to get Penelope out of the hospital out of the hospital, everyone but Rossi went back to the station-house. Rossi stayed to look after JJ and also to wait for Derek to wake up from the painkillers drugs he'd been put on after the surgery ended.

JJ was happy to have Rossi's company, especially because both of her daughters were wide awake and kicking her, like they were angry she was confined to her bed.

At least JJ's companion kept her sane.

"Rossi, can I tell you a secret?" JJ asked suddenly.

"Sure. I won't tell anyone."

"I only just found out today that I'm growing two daughters in there," she pointed to her big middle, which remained hooked up a number of monitors. "And I'm thrilled because for as long as I've known that there were twins, I was hoping for girls, but the secret is that I've also been thinking of names for them and I have a list that I really like."

"Already?"

JJ nodded in confirmation. "Do you think that's odd?"

"Not at all. Do you want to share?"

"Sophia, Olivia, Alexis, Naomi, and Isobel are my top five."

Rossi smiled. "Those are all great names, all very beautiful."

JJ beamed. "Are there are any that you like?"

"Olivia and Alexis are the ones that I like, but that's just me."

"I—"

KNOCK KNOCK!

Before JJ could say anything, though, they were interrupted by a knock on the doorframe.

"Agent Jareau?"

She turned at the sound of her name and a saw a young man a few years younger than herself, dressed in a work jumpsuit of some kind and looking slightly nervous. Beside him, though, was Sasha, and she was carrying a gift bag with the logo of the hospital on it.

"You must be Sloan Fitzgerald." JJ greeted the jumpsuited man. "Hello."

Realizing that JJ could handle on her own whatever it was that was unfolding, Rossi stood and turned to her. "I'll come back in awhile, kiddo. I'm going to go find something to eat and sit with Derek."

JJ didn't object to Rossi's departure and saw him off before beckoning her guests closer.

"To what do I owe this visit?" she asked as they sat in the chairs by her bed.

Sasha leaned over and whispered something in his ear. Whatever it was, he allowed himself to relax a little bit as he spoke to JJ.

"Right." he laughed nervously. "I just got off work, and when I called Sasha, she gave me an update and we decided to come find you."

"How did you know I was here?"

"Sasha called your phone, and an agent named Rossi answered it and told us you were here. Was that him who left, just now?"

JJ nodded. "Mhm."

"I also felt like I should at least make myself known to one of the FBI agents that visited my family, so you know I don't have anything to hide. I've known Polly for her entire life and helped Sasha raise her; I love her as much as I love Luna and the baby."

When JJ had heard the others talking about Sloan earlier, she hadn't doubted that he was a good man, or even how much he loved his family, but now that he was in the room with her, talking to her, she really didn't doubt him.

"Thank you, Sloan. Is there anything else?"

He became squirrelly again. "I'm also really, really sorry that you ended up here, and that Jacoby shot your partner and took your other one—when we got here, we ran into your team leader in the waiting room and he told us all that happened after he overheard us tell a nurse that we were looking for you."

JJ nodded in understanding and then thanked him before adding, "Your apology isn't necessary, though—nothing that Jacoby did is your fault."

"Well, of the nine children my parents have raised or fostered over the years, Jacoby and I are the only boys, and I'm the oldest brother as it is; I've been cleaning up his messes and apologizing for him since we were kids."

"Then do you know who Jacoby would run with?" JJ looked from Sloan to Sasha. "Either of you?"

"No." Sasha said shortly, shaking her head. "I'll always be concerned about him because he is my family, but our friendship is over now, for good, because I'll never be able to forgive him for this—I just know he's got something to do with taking Polly."

Sloan kissed his fiancée on the cheek in reassurance before giving JJ his own answer. "I wouldn't begin to know who he'd run with now because he's been so secretive since getting out of jail and running off, but he'd always had a predilection for abandoned places, and I've always been able to find him in Hell's Kitchen or Chelsea on other occasions."

"He's also been a bookworm forever, too," Sasha suddenly remembered. "So maybe odd places by bookstores or other places to do with books? Perhaps try that avenue?"

And there's our Hail Mary, JJ thought.

"Thanks, you guys." JJ told them. "That's actually really helpful."

Sloan looked particularly pleased with himself, but the moment was ruined when his phone rang, so he stepped out in the hallway to answer it, leaving Sasha with JJ for a few minutes.

The younger woman made to something to JJ, but instead let out a soft moan and massaged a certain spot on her distended middle.

"Be still, baby boy." she said softly. "Please?"

"You're having a son?" JJ asked interestedly.

Sasha smiled at her and nodded. "We are. Do you know what you and Agent Prentiss are expecting?"

"Neither of us know what she's expecting, but I know now that my identical twins are identical girls."

"Baby girls are wonderful." Sasha rubbed her bump fondly before an idea popped into her head and she presented JJ with the gift bag. "This is for you."

JJ accepted the bag but said, "Sasha, thank you, but you didn't have to."

"Sloan and I wanted to, and we both felt that you could use a smile right now."

Intrigued now, JJ opened the bag and pulled out three baby-friendly stuffed animals—a zebra, an elephant, and a lion.

JJ felt her heart fill with love, and she actually smiled as she hugged all three of the toys close, wishing that Emily could have been there.

"Thank you, Sasha." JJ told the young woman. "This was very sweet of you and Sloan to do, and none of the babies actually have toys yet."

Sasha smiled, glad she could make someone happy, despite her heartache. "You're quite welcome."

JJ gave the toys another hug and looked Sasha square in the eyes. "Is it alright if I ask you something personal?"

"Yes."

"You said that you became pregnant with Luna because you were assaulted?"

Sasha shivered, but nodded. "Yes, and he was a stranger. Is this what happened to you?"

"Yes, and too many times, but he wasn't a stranger." JJ said softly. "He's dead now and I'm healing, and I'm as hopelessly in love with my daughters as you are with Luna, but..."

JJ's words faltered, but Sasha still understood.

"You want to know if it gets better."

JJ nodded. "Yeah, exactly."

"It does get better with time, but on the hard days, you pick yourself up and remember that it isn't the end of the world because the people in your life who really, truly love you, will be standing right beside you the whole time. Plus," she gave JJ a friendly wink. "When you do reach the finish line, there's a brand new person—or in your case, two—in your life that will think the world of you and love you unconditionally. Being a mother is the best feeling and experience a woman can have."

JJ was in awe, feeling the deepens of the moment, and all she could manage was, "Wow."

"Does that help?"

"Yes," JJ said when she remembered how to have a normal conversation.

"It really does. Thanks."

"Any time, Agent Jareau."

Before JJ could say anything in response to that, Sloan came back in to the room, speaking to Sasha as her pulled her to her feet.

"My mom just called, zvezda moya," (JJ smiled as she watched the couple—Sloan had just called Sasha his star) "Because Luna is being positively nightmarish."

Sasha checked the time on the nearby wall clock. "Well, it's getting close to her nap time. Let's go, hm?"

Sloan held Sasha's hand to his lips and kissed her fingers. "Let's."

The couple bid farewell to JJ, and when she was alone, she gave the toys another cuddle before picking up her hospital phone and dialing a familiar number.

"Hotchner." said a familiar voice in her ear.

"Hotch, it's JJ. I was just visited by Sloan Fitzgerald and Sasha Sokoloff, and I think we've got a Hail Mary where Emily, Polly, and the others are..."


A few hours later, however, Emily was not having too good a night. The Hail Mary gave the team a very excellent direction in which to go, and once JJ was released from the hospital and looking decent, she led a press conference to appeal for anyone could have possibly seen Emily or Jacoby. During the conference, JJ identified Emily as an FBI agent, and unfortunately, Jacoby's cohorts got wind of that and freaked out. It also made Emily's night go from bad to worse.

Paranoid that Emily knew something about their operation (because in addition to the children, they also had a number of weapons and even drugs), they interrogated her at length. Emily being Emily, she had a surprising amount of endurance and she didn't tell them anything crucial about JJ and the others.

The real trouble was when they turned her into a punching bag and changed languages.

"I told you that I don't understand Russian!" Emily cried after awhile, holding up her hands in surrender while simultaneously trying to protect herself. "Please don't touch me!"

In pure desperation, she turned to Jacoby, who had been standing off to the side this whole time. Emily's eyes were brimming with tears.

"Why won't you make them stop?"

"To do that, I'd have to physically intervene, and look at them compared to me—they'd accidentally snap me in half without thanking twice, Agent Prentiss. I'd like to live, thank you."

Physically, while Jacoby was at an average height for a young man, despite his time in jail and the access he'd had to work out equipment, he remained on the scrawny side, whereas the people he worked with were all very large and muscular.

Emily was afraid for her life, as well as her child's, and as much of a bastard that Jacoby was, she couldn't blame him for wanting to stay alive. She just wished he'd help somehow.

But no... he actually left the room and Emily's heart sank.

A smack on the cheek led Emily back to her senses, although she immediately sat in a nearby chair and sat blinking in pain as her eyes watered. At the same time, Emily felt the baby start kicking like mad, so with one hand on the stinging side of her face, she used her other hand to rub her middle, wanting the baby to know that the world wasn't over and that the sky wasn't falling.

She gave her best death glare to her captors, though, especially the man directly in front of her. His name was Boris.

"What the hell is wrong with you—hitting a pregnant woman? Didn't anyone tell you that expectant mothers are off limits?"

Boris just shrugged his shoulders as he answered in English, "Maybe, maybe not—I forget. Is it a boy or a girl?"

"I think it's a boy."

Just like that, Boris' companions immediately stood down and Boris himself changed tunes, helping Emily to her feet.

"Well, why didn't you say so?" (he gave Emily a smile that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up) "If there's any chance of you thinking it's a boy, then we won't touch you anymore."

Genuinely confused, Emily queried, "I beg your pardon?"

"If it's a boy, then you can keep him, but if it's a girl, you have to give her away."

Emily's heart sank even lower. "But you're talking like you're going to keep me!"

"You are as clever as I thought."

Boris' praise made Emily want to cry, and she was most certainly speechless: she was finally beginning to really understand how JJ had felt during her own kidnapping. Every that had just happened was filling Emily's heart with fear because Boris appeared to be dead serious about keeping her, and she had a feeling that he would want her as a wife and/or as a baby factory. He would also no doubt keep her as a punching bag.

Emily hadn't been this worried for her future or her life in a very long time, and she also had the baby in her belly to think of, too.

This was the kind of terrible fear that JJ had had to deal with.

One of Boris' cronies, a particularly muscular guy by the name of Dmitri, led Emily back down to the basement room where Polly and the girls were. Just before he unlocked the door, though, he put a hand on Emily's arm.

Upset and in pain, Emily snarled, "You take your hand off me."

Dmitri adapted an oily tone. "Why? What boss won't know won't hurt him; I could take you somewhere and make you happy."

Realizing that he was making advances on her and trying to seduce her, Emily stood her ground. "First of all, I'm spoken for, and second, I have a life to get back to that I am very happy with."

"I could change your mind."

"Fat chance." Emily retorted. "I have zero attraction to men."

Dmitri's eyes widened when he realized what she meant, and in spite of what Boris had said, she slapped her.

"You're a whore!" he cried in disgust.

"No—I am a mother, a friend, a lover, and an FBI agent." Emily purposefully spat in Dmitri's face. "My people will find me, just you wait."

Dmitri wiped the spit from his face and seethed, "You are what I say you are, and that is a whore!"

And without breaking eye contact, Emily promptly kicked him in the groin.

Deciding to draw the line so that he could actually walk away, Dmitri locked Emily back in the basement and headed back to the others.

As Emily adjusted to her new surroundings and the lighting, she found herself looking at a gaggle of scared girls.

Tatiana spoke first, looking like she was about to cry. "Why did they hurt you?"

"They found out that I'm one of the good guys and that my friends are searching for all of us yet."

The quietest and shyest of the group, Oksana spoke next. "We all decided that we'll be good now and not pick fights, especially with Polly."

"Thank you, baby girl." Emily told her gratefully. "That's a big, big help."

Unsettled to see her friend so upset, Polly pushed her way forward and took Emily by the hand.

"My Emelia, do you want to cuddle now? Sasha and Sloan always cheer me up with cuddles."

"That sounds perfect, Appolinariya. Thank you."

A few moments later, Emily and Polly were laying on the biggest bed, cuddling together. Polly even giggled occasionally when she felt the baby kick her.

Not wanting to be left out, Tatiana, Oksana, Rada, Nikita, Irina, Katija, and Anya also crowded onto the bed, if not to cuddle with Emily and Polly, then at least so they could all be with each other as they waited for help to come.