Chapter 14

Monday morning sprung up on the Unit Chief, the weekend blazing past much too quickly as always. He glanced at the time: 6:04AM. Usually, he would already be out of bed with a cup of coffee in hand. Today felt different. He was tired- more so than usual- and dreaded Jack's wake up call. The boy was entering a stage where he hated school and never wanted to be there. It made Hotch's job that much more difficult than it had previously been. He rose with a groan and reached for his cell phone, already anticipating the wave of emails and texts that would soon bombard him. What he saw, however, caused every ounce of grogginess to rush out of him like a flood. Will had called four times and left him fourteen unread text messages. Hotch's heart froze in his chest. The last time Will had contacted him was because JJ was missing. As he slid his finger across the pad, the Unit Chief found himself praying that this would be nothing like that.

Hey Hotch, it's Will. Just wondering if JJ came into work at all today? Please let me know. Sunday, 11:43PM.

Hotch, I know it's late but I can't reach JJ. I haven't spoken to her all day. Please tell me she's with you. Monday, 12:51AM.

She's gone, Hotch. Someone has her, I know it. I'm going into work to file a report. Monday, 4:16AM.

Before he knew it, the Unit Chief was on his feet, dialing the first number he could find.

"Rossi?" his tone seemed to stop whatever remark the Italian had on his tongue. "JJ's missing."

"What?" the older man could be heard rustling out of bed, hurrying to get dressed as Hotch filled him in.

"I don't know anything yet but Will says he hasn't seen her since yesterday morning." Hotch woke his son quickly, ignoring the annoyed groan. "That's unlike her, Rossi. She wouldn't just not go home without telling Will about it."

"I know, I know." Rossi sighed heavily. He wasn't sure his heart would be able to handle another loss. "I'll call the rest of the team- you get Jack to school. We'll meet you at the BAU." Hotch didn't even respond as he hung up and roused his son. The urgency in his voice forced the boy to move faster, sensing that something was desperately wrong with his father.

"Dad?" the thirteen-year-old frowned. "What's wrong?" Hotch didn't want to worry the boy but he knew that he would find out eventually.

"Aunt JJ's missing, Jack." He explained slowly. "But don't worry, we're going to find her. I'm going to take you to school a little early and I'm going to find her, ok?"

"B-But is she ok?" Jack mumbled, unable to comprehend the sentence. He had grown quite attached to JJ after Haley had died. Hotch had never known why- he assumed it had to do with the fact that she was also blonde, like his mother had been- but encouraged the relationship nonetheless. He knew his son loved JJ and especially enjoyed playing with Henry, and now, Michael.

"I don't know, buddy but I'm going to find out." Hotch pulled his son in for a tight, quick hug. "Try not to worry about it, ok? Just focus on school." Jack nodded solemnly, knowing that there was nothing he could do to help. Just as Hotch was buckling his seatbelt, his phone went off alerting him to a text message.

Ava's not answering.

Hotch swallowed hard, tossing the phone aside and throwing the car into reverse.

"Damnit." He muttered to himself, hands tightening on the wheel as he sped towards Jack's school. "Not again."

"I want GPS coordinates on both phones and cars." Hotch demanded the moment he stepped foot in the BAU. His team was already assembled, waiting for his orders.

"Already done, sir." Garcia scrambled to show him. "All four are in the same place- Ava's apartment…well technically her parking garage."

"What was JJ doing at Ava's?" Morgan's frown increased by the second, his agitation at the situation obvious.

"That's not important right now." Hotch dismissed the idea hurriedly. "If Will's right then they must've been taken somewhere between Sunday afternoon and Sunday night."

"But who would do that?" Reid chimed in. "Who has a reason to take either one, let alone both, of them?"

"Both of them have worked on some highly classified stuff." Morgan added, rubbing his stubble in thought. "It wouldn't be the first time JJ's past came back to bite her."

"But we've already gone down that road." Rossi disagreed. "If there was any other threat from her time at the State Department, we'd know about it."

"We didn't have access to the first one, what makes you think they'd tell us about another?" Morgan questioned. The Italian paused, unable to come up with an answer.

"What about Ava?" Garcia asked, all heads turning towards her. "I-I mean she worked for the CIA, right? They've got some pretty top secret stuff going on too."

"She's right." Rossi thought. "We know more about JJ than we do about Ava so it's best to assume the threat came from what we know least about."

"But why take JJ?" Reid's one-track mind was clear, his concern for his best friend outweighing that of the new agent.

"Enough speculating." Hotch removed the phone from his pocket and began dialing. "Morgan, Reid, go to Ava's apartment. Rossi, find Ava's fiancée and bring her in. Consider her a suspect until-"

"Suspect?" the team turned to see a teary-eyed, blonde woman standing at the edge of Ava's desk. Aside from Hotch, none of the team knew who Katherine McGrath was or what she looked like. Morgan had to stop himself from admiring the woman's beauty as he remembered what she had done to his friend. One glance at Rossi and Reid told him that the two were having similar thoughts as well.

"Yes, Ms. McGrath, a suspect." Hotch approached her, not bothering to appear friendly. "Unless you'd like to tell us that you and Agent Thorne parted on good terms?" The woman was more than slightly taken aback. Whether it was because Hotch seemed to know her or the fact that she was standing in a room full of armed people that didn't like her very much, the Unit Chief didn't much care.

"We-Well, no, I…" McGrath lowered her head slightly, a single tear making its way down her cheek and onto the ground, "she left me." She opened her palm to reveal Ava's engagement ring as well as the imprint it had left in her palm from clutching it so tightly.

"Good." Morgan practically snarled. "Now tell us why you're here or we'll lock you in a cell and throw away the key." Kate frowned slightly, taking in the equally disgusted faces around her.

"F-For what?!" she cried, closing her fist once more and pressing the hand to her chest.

"Oh, I don't know," Morgan tilted his head as he rose to his full height, "how about domestic violence?" Kate's lips formed a thin line as her eyes widened and filled with tears.

"She-she told you about that?" the woman's voice was small and frightened- rightfully so seeing as even Garcia straightened at the admission.

"It's our job to figure things like that out." Rossi crossed his arms, narrowing his gaze at the woman. "Besides, you didn't exactly make it subtle." Kate immediately broke down, struggling to hold herself upright as she sobbed.

"It was an accident!" she exclaimed, her crying making it difficult to understand. Garcia stood, understanding the woman perfectly.

"An accident?" she asked, her face red with anger. "How about I accidentally knock your teeth out, then?" The blonde pacifist surprised the men as she made a b-line for the crying woman, intent on carrying the promise out. Morgan and Rossi were quick to stop her but Kate had made no move to back away from the furious analyst.

"I-I know I messed up," she continued through her sobs, "but I still love her. I wanted to make it better- to fix what I broke. I went back to the apartment to talk to her and I…"

"You what?" Hotch was growing impatient with the woman. "The more of our time you waste, the more likely you are to wind up in a cell, now talk."

"I-I pulled into the lot and that…woman's car was still there." Kate refrained from using a more colorful word to describe JJ. "But the window was broken and the door was still open. Ava's stuff was inside but there was no one in the apartment."

"So that's where they took them from." Hotch concluded, mainly to himself. Kate's cries only increased in volume.

"Took them?" she was borderline hysterical. "Who took her? Please, tell me!"

"Even if we knew, we wouldn't tell you." Morgan informed the woman. She opened her mouth to ask why but Morgan was faster. "You said it yourself- you're no longer Ava's fiancée. That means you have no right to know."

"But-"

"But nothing." Rossi interrupted her with a hand. "As far as we're concerned, you're our number one suspect. You had both motive and means, not to mention the fact that you were at the crime scene right before they went missing. And I think it's safe to say you don't mind playing a little rough when you don't get what you want." It wasn't necessarily true- Kate's mere presence in their office made them doubtful that she was responsible- but Rossi couldn't help but frighten the woman further.

"I would never-"

"What, hurt Ava?" Garcia scoffed. "I think we all know that's a lie." Kate, once again, opened her mouth to respond, a frown permanently etched onto her features, before Hotch stopped her.

"Before you incriminate yourself in any other federal crimes, Ms. McGrath," the ex-lawyer spoke calmly, "might I suggest you have a seat in our conference room while we try to find our agents and maybe prove you innocent in the process?" Kate swallowed, her fear of being arrested for not one, but two, felonies outweighing her desire to argue. With a defeated expression, the blonde dragged her feet towards the conference room, warding off dozens of glares from the surrounding agents. It wasn't until she disappeared behind the closed door did the BAU resume their conversation.

"She doesn't leave this building." Hotch said with no room for interpretation. "Morgan, Reid." With a nod, the two men were off to oversee the collection of any evidence found at Ava's apartment.

"Ava's files are all above top secret." Rossi thought out loud. "How are we going to find out who, if anyone, is responsible if we can't read them?"

"We won't have to read them." Hotch finally finished dialing the number he had been when Kate interrupted. "They're going to tell me who it is."

"Who? The CIA?" Rossi almost laughed when Hotch nodded. "Hotch, they're not exactly keen on sharing their intel, especially on cases like Ava's."

"They're closed cases, Rossi." Hotch reasoned. "Even if they're not, I'm not exactly going to give them a choice in the matter. Someone Ava met during her days at the CIA is most likely out for revenge and they've had my agents for almost twenty-four hours. I'll be damned if some red tape and an overzealous handler are going to get in my way."

Over 700 miles north, two agents sat in the increasingly cold basement they had woken up in. The inside of JJ's cheek had recently stopped bleeding and Ava finally found a semi-comfortable way to sit that didn't aggravate her ribs. The two women had huddled together, primarily for warmth, as the temperature dropped quickly. Their bound hands, already somewhat numb from the tightly wrapped wire around their wrists, were beginning to turn blue. They didn't know how long had passed since Katya's first visit but it had to have been at least five or six hours. They were tired, neither able to sleep in the cold that accompanied their bruised bodies. They were hungry, their last meal having been over twelve hours ago, but most importantly, they were thirsty. The conversation had died down significantly until it was reduced to making sure the other was awake every half hour or so due to the dryness in their mouths.

"Where-" JJ cleared her raw throat, "where do you think we are?" Ava scoffed, her breath appearing in the air in front of them.

"Who knows?" the younger agent shuddered. "She has family in Russia and friends all over the world. We could be anywhere." The news was unwelcomed to the blonde as she, once again, slumped back against her friend.

"What do you think her plan is?" JJ nudged the brunette as she was slow to answer. Ava shook her head.

"I don't know."

"You know her better than I do." JJ insisted. "I'm sure you can think of something."

"I don't know, JJ." Ava would've shouted if she had the energy, her annoyance at the blonde's question- or perhaps at the fact that she genuinely had no idea how to answer it- increasing by the second. "The only thing I can think of right now is how cold it is and how fucking screwed we are, ok?"

"My, my," A third voice seemed to echo in the room as the door screeched open. "What a filthy mouth you have, Agent Thorne." Katya crossed her arms as she took in the freezing agents. "Although I can't disagree with your assessment. Your prospects do look rather grim, don't they?"

"Get it over with and kill me then, you psychotic bitch." Ava spat, ignoring JJ's whisper of warning as well as Katya's laugh.

"Patience is a virtue, Ava." The taller blonde tsked, kneeling down to be eye-to-eye with her.

"I'm many things," Ava struggled to keep the shiver out of her voice, "but I think we both know 'virtuous' isn't one of them." Katya grinned, stroking a long finger against Ava's cheek. The brunette froze, startled by the action- primarily at how gentle it was. JJ, however, was not.

"I'm counting on it." The gleam in her eye was unmistakable and JJ swallowed the bile rising in her throat.

"Don't touch her." The older agent growled, pulling her friend back and away from Katya's grasp. Ava moved quickly, grateful to be further away from the criminal. Katya wasn't nearly as pleased. She tilted her head slowly, the eyes that landed on JJ belonging to a completely different person than the ones that were looking at Ava. JJ knew how she would react, anticipating the move, as the woman reached out and grabbed a handful of golden hair in a tight grip. She resisted the urge to cry out, as well as the desire to ram her forehead into Katya's face, as the woman brought her lips close to JJ's ear.

"Learn your place, mouse." The growl was low and threatening but JJ continued to glare into the woman's ember eyes defiantly. Katya surprised them both when, after several seconds of intense examination of JJ's eyes, she released the smaller woman. JJ plopped back next to Ava unceremoniously, the younger agent's hands immediately finding hers. Katya's raptor-like gaze didn't miss the contact and she narrowed her eyes into slits before reaching around herself and removing a bottle of water from her back pocket. She dropped it onto the ground, half expecting the agents to dive for it. She was disappointed when neither made a move for the unopened bottle. With a chuckle, she scooped it back up, cracked the seal, and took a sip before tossing it back.

"What makes you think we want it now that you've got your spit all over it?" Ava couldn't help the remark, regretting it almost immediately as her thirst reached an all-time high at the mere sight of water. Katya merely grinned as if she knew something they didn't. Her lack of reaction was unnerving to say the least. With her foot, she nudged the bottle closer to the two. Ava reached out and took it slowly, offering it to JJ who took the smallest sip she could, before taking one herself. Hopefully, having now satisfied the woman, she would leave them alone in their frozen prison for a while longer. They weren't that lucky.

"Now," Katya spoke over the sound of something heavy being dragged into the room, "shall we begin?"