The van sped down the gravel road. The two brothers were talking up front.
"Why'd we even agree to this? Now we have to kill her," one of the brothers said," I never wanted to lay a hand on her. I never wanted any part of this, Andy."
At the word kill, Abigail began to panic. She screamed, kicked, and tried to free her self from her newly tightened bonds.
"Please don't cry," Andy said," I promise we'll make it quick."
"We wouldn't have to make anything quick if you hadn't agreed to work with these people," his brother raged.
"Shut up for a second," Andy ordered.
The van was silent with the exception of Abigail's muffled cries. The next sound they heard caused the brother's to panic, and Abigail to perk up. Sirens. Police sirens surrounded the van. Blue lights flashed around the van. The brothers each pulled guns from their belts and looked each other in the eye.
"FBI," a woman yelled," drop your weapons and step out of the vehicle!"
The brothers placed the gun barrels underneath their chins and pulled the trigger. Blood splattered everywhere. Abigail screamed. The back doors flew open to reveal a man with dark hair.
"Abigail," he said," it's okay. My name is Aaron Hotchner. I'm with the FBI. I'm going to get you out of here. You're safe."
He untied her, and carefully pulled the duct tape off her mouth.
"Can you walk?"
"I think so," Abigail said.
He helped her out of the van and lead her to an ambulance. Once she was inside, a woman with dark hair pulled Aaron aside. For the first time in weeks, Abigail had time to worry about her future. Before, she had focused on surviving. Was her mother alive? If not, where would she go? Her newfound relief was replaced with anxiety. She wasn't ready to be alone. She wanted someone to be there for her.
"I'm going to ride with her," Aaron said.
He climbed in and sat down next to her while holding her hand.
"I'll stay with you as long as you need me to," he promised.
"Abigail," Derek said," do you want some hot chocolate?"
Abigail was snapped back into the present and quickly tried to blink away her tears.
"Uh, yeah, sure," she said," thanks."
"You okay kid?" Dave asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Abigail said," I'm just trying to wrap my head around everything that happened."
"That's normal," Spencer assured her," and I promise it gets easier."
Abigail nodded.
"I just realized that I never really thanked you all for saving me," she said.
"You don't have to thank us," JJ said," we're all just happy you're safe."
"If you ever need to talk," Penelope said," you can talk to me."
"Thank you," Abigail said.
Derek brought her a cup of hot chocolate. She set it on the table and pulled a book and a pen from her bag. She started writing something.
"Back when my parents were getting divorced," she explained," my counselor suggested that I keep a journal. I wrote in it every day until they took me and my mom. Even then, I managed to get Peter to give me one. Every night when he would bring me dinner, he'd give me time to write in it."
The team exchanged looks.
"Abigail," Aaron said," do you remember where he kept your journal?"
"I think it was under a loose floorboard in the back of the barn," she said," but the leader found it. I'm pretty sure he destroyed it. He was so mad at Peter, but he never said a word to me. He just stared at me. He never spoke to me while I was there, but he would speak to the other men, but never to me."
Abigail shuddered. Penelope put an arm around her.
"It's okay," she said," you're safe."
"Sorry," Abigail said," I keep trying to piece together what happened, but then I remember one thing, and then another, and in a few seconds, it's like I'm there. You know?"
"You don't have to be sorry," Spencer said," You can talk about this to any of us. It helps."
Abigail tried to shake the uneasy feeling in her gut, but it wouldn't go away. She couldn't let herself relax.