Amy froze as she felt the hands on her shoulders but, as they reached up and pulled the hair out of her face, she noticed something was different. They weren't the harsh hands that she was used to. These were soft and warm. She opened her eyes. A young young man was kneeling in front of her. The look he wore on his face wasn't one of anger or desire but of concern and sadnesss. His eyes were kind. He was saying words to her but she couldn't hear. She slowly loosened her arms from around her ears.
"Are you alright?" he asked, his voice kind and quiet. She looked at him fully. He was wearing a padded vest that read FBI. She shook her head, then nodded, then shrugged. She truly didn't know. "That's ok. My name's Aaron, I'm with the FBI." He smiled weakly at her. "Can you tell me your name?"
"Amy." Her voice came out weak, raspy and dry. She wasn't sure he heard her; she wasn't sure she could hear herself.
"Amy?" She nodded. "Amy." He looked behind him. It was then she realised that his body was shielding her view. She tried to crane her head around his form, but, from her position crouched on the floor, it was proving difficult. He quickly whipped his head back to her, his dark hair falling over his forehead. "Amy, I'm going to take you out of here but there's something I need you to do, alright?" She nodded. "I need you to close your eyes really tight and don't open them until I tell you to, ok?" She could hear a calm and a reassuarance in his voice. He wasn't going to hurt her. He didn't want her to do what he said; rather, he needed her to, for her own benefit. She nodded, happy to do so, not really wanting to see the scene behind him, and squeezed her eyes tight and, as she felt his arms wrap around her and her body leave the floor, she wound her arms tightly around his neck, hiding her face in his shoulder as an extra precaution. "Gideon," he called, "I'm taking her out."
"Don't take too long, Hotch," a gruff voice called back.
For the first time in months, Amy was outside. She got the full blast of the frest air, the wind as it signalled a storm coming.
She was seated in the ambulance. Aaron had stayed with her a few minutes until another agent called him over. "Hotch." Aaron walked over to him. Amy heard the conversation. "I want you to go with a team around the surrounding area."
Amy felt panic enshroud her. "NOOOO!" She ran up to Aaron and clasped his arm. "Please! You can't leave me. He'll come back for me. I know he will."
Aaron looked at her sadly and wrapped an arm around her drawing her close, comforting her. "Gideon, I can't just leave her."
"You have a job to do."
Amy clung to the man so tightly he could feel her shaking against him. "Look, I'll go to the hospital with her and wait until her family arrives. She might remember something."
Gideon relented. "Fine."
Aaron led her back to the ambulance. She sat sadly in the ambulance as a man put a needle in her arm and Aaron, sitting across from her, held her hand. "My family isn't coming."
"Hey, yes they are. I'm going to call them as soon as we get to the hospital. Your grandmother hasn't stopped looking for you..." He stroked her hair as she fell into sleep; a sleep filled with faces and images.
He was leaning over her. He was stroking her hair, undressing her. He was... talking to Aaron?
She woke up screaming and looked around, faced with sea-green walls. There was no one in the room except for the FBI agent who had saved her. He moved from his seat over to sit by her on the bed. "Hey, sweetheart. You're ok. You're safe."
"He's going to come back for me," she wept.
"No, he won't. I won't let him. I'll catch him before he gets anywhere near you again."
"Is that a promise?" She wiped sleep from her eyes
He smiled at her. "Yes, it is." She smiled weakly back at him. "I need to ask you a few questions so we can catch him, is that alright?" She nodded. "Is there anything you can tell me about the man who had you?"
She shook her head. "I remember his shoes made funny sounds, like they were heavy."
Aaron nodded. "Anything else?"
She shook her head and drew her knews up to her chest, peering at him from behind the covers. "Are you angry at me?"
"Of course not, sweetie. We just want to catch this guy, so you'll be safe." He smiled at her.
"What about the others? Lily and Crystal and Christina."
He nodded again, and looked at her sadly. "Christina's fine. Her parents took her home already. We're still looking for Crystal and... I'm sorry, Amy. Lily died."
She remained silent for a moment, looking at him. Just looking at him. His eyes didn't lie: he was incredibly kind. The kindest person she had met since she could remember . She crawled over to his side and wrapped her arms around his torso, burying her head into his arm and sobbed.
Aaron walked through the BAU, sipping his coffee. He threw his jacket across his chair and continued on to his boss's office. He knocked. "You have a minute?"
"Sure." Jason looked up as Aaron walked in and sat down. "How's the kid?"
"Terrified and I don't blame her. I think we should have security detail on Amy Lucas and Christina Evans."
Gideon nodded in agreement. "Organise it." Aaron rose. "Hotch, you can't get attached."
Aaron looked at Gideon, insulted. "I'm not. I just... I don't want them to get hurt. I thought that was our job, to prevent that."
"It is. Put there's a line between wanting to prevent her getting hurt and wanting to be her protector. Don't cross it."
"Is something wrong?" David Rossi followed his friend into the kitchen as Aaron snapped shut his cell phone.
"The case... One of the girls has gone missing again."
"She's been home for, what is it, 3 weeks? You know, Aaron, it wouldn't be the first time an abused victim has run away to get back to what she knows."
"I know. But how is she supposed to reintegrate if there's no one there to help her. I can't just let it go."
Dave poured out another glass of whiskey. "But you'll have to learn eventually."
Aaron scratched his head. "Gideon said much the same thing."
"I'm sure he did. But I'm telling you, you'll have to learn eventually." He took a drink. "Go, I'll explain it to Haley and we'll drop her home."
"Thank you. Dave... what if we don't catch him?"
"You will. I have complete faith in you."
