I decided to post this a little earlier in the week than I normally do, since I'll be out of town all weekend this weekend. I really can't thank each of you enough for not only reading, but taking tome to review, some of you, every single chapter. It's a really great motivator and makes me want to continue the story, so thank you! : )

Disclaimer: I do not own CM

-kbrewster.

Later in the evening, Sarah had finished making dinner and had called Emily and Gabby down from upstairs. Emily had told Gabby that while they were around Sarah, they had to act like that didn't know each other so Sarah wouldn't figure out their plan. Reluctantly, Gabby agreed.

They went downstairs, sitting diagonally across from each other at the table in the kitchen. No one spoke for a few minutes, the silence made Emily feel awkward. She pushed her food around on her plate, not wanting to do anything but take Gabby home already. She noticed Gabby doing the same thing.

"So, I can't help but notice the similarities between you two," Sarah commented. Emily froze and locked eyes with Gabby from across the table, who looked terrified.

"I don't see it," Emily tried to play it off. "She's much prettier than I am," she added.

"Are you kidding?" Sarah asked. "She looks just like you,"

Emily bit her bottom lip, trying not to crack under the pressure. "Funny how that happens, I guess," she tried again.

"You're her mother," Sarah said simply. "I guessed when you came to the door, but now that I've got a good look at the both of you, there's no denying it," Emily was caught, and she knew it. Before she could respond, she felt Gabby fling herself into her lap, wrapping her arms tightly around her mother's neck. Emily held onto the little girl, willing to do whatever it took to keep her with her.

"It's okay," she whispered softly, before turning her attention to Sarah. "Okay, yeah. I'm her mother. And despite whatever Ian's told you, she belongs with me. Not here," Emily told Sarah sternly.

"I agree with you," Sarah said, surprising Emily so much that the brunette wasn't sure what to say.

"You- what?" Emily managed.

"It's not right- taking her from you. I never agreed with it. But I took care of her for you," Sarah said, giving Emily a tight smile.

"Thank you," Emily said sincerely.

"Ian is due back in an hour," Sarah said lowly. "You won't have much of a head start if you leave now," she informed them. Emily frowned slightly.

"It's better than nothing," Emily decided.

"I'll hold him off as long as I can, but the two of you have got to go right now!" Sarah said quickly.

Emily stood, picking Gabby up with her as she did so, since the girl was still clinging to Emily as if her life depended on it. "Thank you," she said sincerely, biting back tears.

"Think nothing of it, now go!" she ushered them out the door, closing it abruptly behind her.

Emily walked as quickly as she could out to her car, sitting Gabby in the front seat next to her- a very rare occasion, but she didn't want Gabby any farther away from her than that, and she knew the girl would agree.

They drove in silence back to the airport. Emily hoped they wouldn't be held up for too long, she knew it was the first place Ian would come look for them once he realized they were gone.

"What if he comes back for us?" Gabby asked quietly, breaking the silence as Emily pulled into a parking space.

Emily bit her lip, she knew he would come after them. As soon as they got back to Hotch, they would all need to leave and get to safety. Emily hadn't really thought much beyond getting Gabby back with her, and she'd be lying if she said she was sure he wouldn't bother them anymore.

"Once we get to your dad and Jack, we'll get somewhere safe. Until he's caught," Emily finally replied.

"But what if he never gets caught?" Gabby asked, and Emily would have known by the tone that she was crying, even if she hadn't shifted in her seat to look at Gabby. These were exactly the types of conversations she hoped to never have with Gabby. For so long, she only focused on keeping Gabby safe. She had promised herself years ago that she would never let something like this happen, that no matter what her child would never think about things like this.

"He will," Emily told her, using her thumbs to wipe tears from Gabby's face. "We'll be okay," she said as honestly as she could. Emily then got out of the car, going around to Gabby's side and opening the door for her. She picked Gabby up again, rushing to get through the people and into the building. She had never been more thankful than she had been when she noticed it was seemingly calm, there weren't many people there. She navigated her way to where she knew she needed to go, and bought the two of them a ticket back to DC. She was glad JJ had frozen all of Emily's money in her savings account after she had faked her death, and that it was all still there in a different account that she could access.

They boarded their plane what seemed like an eternity later, and Gabby had yet to speak since their conversation in the car. Emily didn't want Gabby to be like her in that she never talked about anything. She didn't want Gabby to feel like it wasn't okay to talk about their situation. She was also worried that Gabby was mad at her, as crazy as it sounded. She'd promised she wouldn't let anything happen to her, but Ian had taken her anyway.

"Hey," Emily said softly, causing Gabby to turn and look at her. "I'm sorry," Emily said, bringing hand to Gabby's messy hair. "I know I promised you I wouldn't let anything happen to you, but it happened anyway. It's okay to be mad at me if you want to be,"

"I'm not mad at you. You tried to keep me away from him, but I didn't listen to you." Gabby told her mother seriously. "I'm sorry,"

"Honey," Emily said, fighting back tears once again, motioning for Gabby to sit in her lap, which the girl did almost instantly. "It's not your fault," she said softly. "Don't ever think any of this was your fault," she continued.

"I just- I want to go home and I don't want him to come back," she continued, referring to Doyle.

"I know," Emily said, turning Gabby in her lap so she was practically lying down, her legs dangling out to the side. "We'll be home soon," she promised. "You look exhausted, why don't you try to sleep for awhile?"

"Okay," Gabby agreed. "Don't leave," she added quickly.

"I'm not going anywhere," Emily smiled, as Gabby closed her eyes, falling asleep nearly instantly. She assumed the girl had gotten about as much sleep as Emily had over the last few days- which was hardly any. Emily stayed awake awhile longer, but she eventually allowed herself to fall asleep for the last half of the flight.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Emily and Gabby landed in DC hours later, after having to change planes twice. Once the two of them made it to the parking lot, just as Emily had suspected, Hotch's car wasn't there anymore. She decided to call him, to let him know he was bringing Gabby home. Of course, she'd had to ask someone for their phone since she didn't have hers. She dialed the familiar number quickly, holding her breath as she waited for him to answer.

"Hello?" she heard him say, though he sounded angry.

"Hi," Emily managed to squeak out.

"Emily?" he asked, partly in frustration and partly out of relief. "Where are you? What were you thinking? Do you know how worried sick you've had us?"

"I got her back, Aaron. I have Gabby right here," she informed him.

"Where are you?" he asked. She told him she was at the airport. "Wait there with Gabby, okay? JJ's going to come get you. Can I talk to Gabby?" he asked.

"Of course," Emily said, handing the phone to Gabby, who had been standing close to Emily the whole time.

"Hi," Gabby said just as Emily had just moments ago.

"Hey, sweetheart. It's so good to hear your voice," he said, much more calmly than he had to Emily.

"Me and Mama are coming home," she told him.

"I know, JJ's on her way to pick you up,"

"Are you mad?" Gabby asked. "At Mama?"

Hotch didn't say anything for a moment. He was angry she had left without telling him. He was angry she didn't ask him to come. He assumed she didn't because he had told her to wait to hear back from the Italian government, but had she asked him to go, he would have. She had no business going alone, and he knew there would have been no way to keep her there if she didn't want to be. On the other hand, she had successfully managed to get their daughter back. How could he be mad about that? He may not have known about the little girl until recently, but the whole time she was missing, all he wanted to do was get her back. He wanted to take Doyle down himself if he had to. But he tried to keep a level-head, be the voice of reason he knew Emily was lacking.

"I'm not mad at you or your Mama," he finally decided on saying.

"Promise?" Gabby asked softly.

"I promise," Hotch said seriously.

"Okay. I miss you. And Jack," Gabby said, changing the subject.

"We all miss you too, and we can't wait for you to come home!" He said with as much cheerfulness as he could muster.

"Mama says we have to leave when we get back. Just until Ian gets caught," Gabby continued.

"We'll discuss all of that later, okay? Can I talk to your Mama again?" he asked, knowing it would only be a matter of minutes before JJ arrived to get them.

"Okay, Daddy," Gabby said. "See you soon!" she told him happily.

"See you in a few minutes," he confirmed, happy he was able to say that. "Love you,"

"Love you too," she replied, handing the phone back to Emily.

"Hey," Emily said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Hey. I'm sorry I snapped,"

"It's okay. I guess I deserved it,"

"No, you didn't," he assured her calmly. "Thank you for doing what I would have done, had I not been trying to be the rational one. Thank you for getting her back. I just wish I would have been with you so you wouldn't have been alone,"

"I'm sorry," Emily said. "I should have- I should have at least mentioned it to you before I just took off. But we got her back- again- and this time we're not letting her go. Not for anything,"

"You're damn right we won't," Hotch agreed. "I'll see you in a few minutes," he then said.

"Alright,"

"I love you, Emily,"

"And I love you," she returned the phrase, ending the call and handing the phone back to the owner with a soft smile. As if on cue, she saw JJ's car pull up to the parking lot. She led Gabby by the hand to the familiar vehicle, opting to sit in the back with Gabby rather than in the front.

"Emily Prentiss!" JJ said as soon as she'd opened the car door, helping Gabby get in. "You had me worried sick!"

"Sorry, Jayje," Emily mumbled, getting into the car herself and buckling her seat belt, making sure Gabby did the same.

"You've got some real nerve there, Prentiss,"

"Technically," Emily started. "That's not my name anymore,"

"You'll always be Emily Prentiss to me. What you just pulled? Definite Prentiss behavior," JJ continued the banter.

"Oh, just drive, blondie!" Emily laughed lightly for the first time in days.

JJ took the quickest route back to her house, where Hotch and Jack were waiting for them. The ride was mostly silent, but it wasn't awkward. They had almost arrived back at JJ's house, stopped at the last red light before arriving. JJ looked in the rearview mirror out of habit when she saw a car pull up behind them. She froze when she realized she recognized the man driving the car. Ian Doyle.

"What is it, Jayje?" Emily asked, turning her head. "Oh, God," she said, instinctively wrapping am arm around Gabby's shoulder.

"He found us," Gabby said, obviously horrified at the thought, burying her face into Emily's side. The light turned green and JJ pressed the gas.

"What do we do?" Emily asked, she hadn't expected Ian to find them. He was following the car at a close distance.

"We'll lose him," JJ said, pressing harder on the gas, weaving in and out of other cars as fast as she could. Emily stole a look behind her, relieved to see that Ian's car was no longer trailing them.

"Okay," she said softly, "It's okay,'

She spoke too soon. The next thing any of them knew, the car was flung backwards by the impact of Ian Doyle's car. Somehow, he'd gotten in front of JJ and had head-on collided with JJ's car.

Emily felt Gabby tighten her hold on her. "You okay?" she asked. She received a quiet "yes," then realized JJ had said nothing.

"Jayje?" Emily asked, on the verge of tears. "JJ! Talk to me!" But she got no response. She was working on getting hers and Gabby's seatbelts undone so she could call for an ambulance, but she felt something grab her arm and hold it back.

"Hello, Love," she heard, the voice sending chills up her spine.

"Leave us alone," she said bitterly, trying to pull away from Ian's grasp.

"I'm going to cut you out of those belts, and then you and the girl are going to come with me, do you understand?"

"No, Ian. We're not coming with you. I'm going to undo these seatbelts, I am going to call 911 for my best friend up there, who, I swear to God if anything happens to her I will end you, and then I am taking my daughter home," she growled through clenched teeth.

But Ian didn't listen, he didn't respond. He cut Emily's seatbelt and pulled her out, crawling into the seat where Emily had once been and cut Gabby's belt as well, the little girl crying and protesting the entire time. As soon as she was out, Emily picked her up again.

"Ian, someone has to call 911 for JJ! She has a family, she has people that need her!" She yelled. He sighed, but called 911 from his phone, reporting the accident.

"Now come on," he said, pulling Emily by the arm into another car- one Emily hadn't even noticed before. The man driving was the other man from Gabby's drawing. The man that the police had identified, but couldn't find. Ian forced Emily and Gabby into the backseat, as he took the front seat himself.

"Drive," he instructed, and the man did as he was told. Emily had no idea where they were going, no idea if JJ was going to be okay, and no idea what was going to happen next. Emily had literally just gotten Gabby back into the States, and now Ian had them both again. She wanted to cry, but she didn't. She focused all her attention on calming down a still hysterical Gabby. At least, this time Gabby wasn't alone, she had Emily with her now.