Garcia was waiting anxiously at my desk when Reid and Morgan, on either side of me, escorted me up, both with hands at my back or waist in a supportive but unobtrusive manner. Her eyes sparkled with worry and her heel tapped endlessly against the floor.

Even in my pit of self pity I could tell she was going to have a fit if I didn't say something. "I'm fine, Penelope. Mainly just tired of people asking me if I'm okay." It didn't come out as reassuring as I meant it, as my voice was weak and wavering.

"Of course you aren't okay, honey. What's happening to you is terrifying and cruel. But it's going to be over real soon." Unlike mine, Garcia's voice carried great confidence and weight.

"You have something else?" Morgan asked, surprised.

"Not me. Hotch and the others. They found the landlord of the building you were just at. They're bringing him in for questioning. It's not likely he's involved but he said he could give a description of the guy he was lending the apartment to. Rossi is hopeful this will lead somewhere." She answered as Reid gently forced my body into a desk chair, keeping me seated with his hands on my shoulders.

"That's great news. They're on their way now?" Reid questioned.

"Should be here in two shakes of a lambs tail."

With that Reid and Morgan went to set up the interrogation room and contact the sketch artist and Garcia made herself comfortable, planting her behind on the edge of Morgan's desk and glancing from me to the elevator bank and back every few seconds.

It wasn't long before the team arrived with a man I had reasonable suspicion to believe was the unsub's landlord. He was short but muscled, with impeccable black hair. The man was wearing nice jeans and a casual but expensive looking cardigan. This guy certainly didn't look like he was hurting for cash, which reduced the likelihood that he accepted bribes to keep quiet, but there was no guarantee.

I made to follow Hotch and Rossi, as they escorted the man to interview room 1 but JJ stopped me with a hand on my arm and a stern look in her eye. She no longer looked angry. Just resigned and determined.

"I'm not saying this to piss you off but if you think you're entering that interrogation room, you've got another thing coming." She warned quietly.

"Mind your own business, JJ. You've already made your feelings about this whole thing clear from the get go. I read you, loud and clear. If we're being completely honest, you don't have a clue what I'm going through so I'll thank you to leave me be." I knew it was adding insult to injury, but the stress of the past few days-of the past two years- which I had been keeping at bay and hiding away were screaming to be let out. JJ just so happened to be their clearest target.

I could tell it was taking everything she had not to rip me a new one. JJ let out a frustrated snort and barely contained a massive eye roll. She was tempering herself which was more than she had bothered to do the last few days, so that was something.

"Look, Emily, you're right. I don't understand. I don't understand how you could work with us for two years, build a trust and respect with us for so long and not bother to tell us something as significant as a kidnapped daughter. I don't understand how you could see every member of this team suffer some loss, some struggle and watch the rest of the team rally around them. Every single person on this team has gone through something. And every single time, the rest of us have been there to back them up, help them out. I don't understand how you couldn't trust us to do the same damn thing for you."

"It's not about trust, JJ." Honestly, she had no idea what she was talking about. She didn't. So why did some part of my brain register what she said as a legitimate call out. Why did some part of me understand why she was so pissed? Why did that small part of my brain say If your roles were reversed, you'd feel the exact same.

"Then what is it about, Prentiss?"

"I… I don't know. I don't have the answers you're looking for that are going to justify all my actions to you. And honestly, I don't have to. I don't have the time or the patience or the will power. All I can tell you is that I was worried for the life of my kid. I was doing what I thought I could-the only thing I thought I could-to save the most important person in my life. My daughter. I was just doing what I thought I had to to protect my daughter."

JJ's blue eyes searched mine for a long time. Her face betrayed none of what she was thinking so I stood there and stared back. I'm not sure how long we stood there but it felt like forever. Eventually, she nodded and stretched out, dragging me to her in a bone crushing hug.

"I'm sorry. Sorry this happened to you and sorry I reacted the way I did." She whispered. All of a sudden, a tension I didn't know I was feeling relaxed. It was like I was ten pounds lighter and I could do was hug back as waves of relief washed over me. I still had the weight of a 1000 worries on my shoulders but one less still felt incredibly lighter.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I should have."

"I'm just glad we're on the case now." She smiled, pulling away. Glancing at her watch and then toward the interview room she added, "They've probably got a rough sketch by now. Let's go see what kind of progress they made."

When we entered the observation room, Reid and Morgan were already there, listening to the landlord-a man named Rick Davies- instruct the artist.

"Landlord has been very cooperative. Kept proper documentation on all of his tenants and is handing it over as we speak. Unfortunately, the copy of the unsub's photo ID is missing from the records he took, and from what Garcia can tell, he was using an alias." Morgan provided as we shut the door.

"What's the name?" I asked, clutching at any scrap of information I could get my hands on.

"Joe Brown," Reid replied with a scornful tone.

"That's only slightly more helpful that John Smith," JJ scoffed.

"I know. Davies and the sketch artist are almost finished though. Hopefully that will turn up some new leads." Just as Morgan finished saying this, Rossi and Hotch entered, the latter holding the sketch he had just collected.

"I'll have Garcia scan this and run it through our databases, see if we can't figure out who this SOB really is." Rossi muttered with dark conviction evident in his voice. He handed it over to JJ who tilted it my way so I could get a look.

The man on the page looking back at me was the stuff of nightmares. The sketch portrayed the kind of threatening manner he exuded in real life. My stomach did a back flip and I fought to keep the fear out of my voice as I stated, "Don't bother running Facial Recognition. I know who this is and where to find him."