It felt like forever since the boys had been gone and Penelope thought she would go crazy if they didn't come back soon.
"Penelope, I know it's hard, but you have to calm down a little. We can't do anything right now but we need to save our strength, we might need it." Will told her softly.
On the verge of hysteria, Penelope looked at him with wide eyes. "Calm? You want me to be calm? How? How are you calm? Your son is up there! Who knows what they are doing to Henry and Jack? Who knows what they are going to do to us? Actually, I probably do know what they are going to do to us…they are going to kill us. We saw his face; he can't just let us go." As much as she tried not to, she couldn't stop the tears from falling down her face.
"Penelope, it's ok. You and I both know that J.J. and Derek and all the others are doing everything they possibly can to find us. And they will find us. We just need to keep our heads on straight and look for opportunities. We need to figure out who this guy is so we can pass it along if the chance presents itself. He has already called the team twice, and it sounds like just to taunt them. He will trip up; his head is too clouded with emotion not to. That's why we can't let that happen to us. I'm terrified of what could be happening to Henry and Jack, but it won't do me any good to panic. I can't do anything to help him right now but stay calm and plan."
"You're right," Penelope sniffled. "If we get to talk to the team, what things should we tell them? What's the most important?"
"We tell them there are at least four of them and we're in a residential basement. We tell them it's a personal vendetta by a man who thinks the team destroyed his life," Will told her.
"That will be the key, won't it? Figuring out how we supposedly destroyed his life? Was he family of a victim we didn't save? Or a family of an Unsub we put out of commission by way of jail or death?"
"That's exactly the way we need to be thinking. We need to focus on putting the pieces of the puzzle together. Maybe you will get the chance to talk to Derek and you two know how to talk without words." Will said.
Pen gave an indelicate snort, "Not so much anymore, I think that ship has sailed." She said morosely.
"Why, what happened to Baby Girl and her, oh what did J.J. tell me you called him?" Will snapped his fingers, "Your Chocolate Adonis. I love the stories that J.J. comes home and tells me about. What changed?"
"Me, I guess. I finally realized that I couldn't be with Kevin because I was in love with Derek. When Derek asked why we broke up, I foolishly told him the real reason. He obviously doesn't feel the same way and he's been distancing himself from me the past couple of weeks. I can't take it back and I think I've lost him for good. I don't know that I can do this job without him. The last few days I have seriously been thinking about asking for a transfer. As much as I don't want to leave the only people I call family, being around Derek like this hurts too much." Penelope hung her head and tried to fight the new batch of tears that threatened her vision.
"Aww, Pen it will be ok. I have seen the way Derek looks at you. He is a lot like J.J. in that way. She tried to run from me, to hide what she was feeling. You just threw Derek for a loop. I know he loves you, just give him a little more time. Don't give up and don't you dare transfer. I don't think J.J. could handle it if you did. You were one of the things she missed the most working at the D.O.D. and one of the things she was happiest to get back too. You hold that family together, don't run."
Before Penelope could answer the door opened and Jack, Henry and Bob were coming down the stairs. They were followed by two men carrying one of those plastic conference room tables. One of the men was sporting two black eyes and a swollen nose. Henry ran straight to his dad and sat down next to him. Will grabbed his son's hand and squeezed it. Jack set down next to Penelope as the men put the table down to Will's left, directly in front of Pen.
"Well, ladies and gentleman," Bob said. "It is time for a little fun with the BAU. Boys, you are going to say hi and then head back upstairs so we can have a more…adult conversation." The smile he gave them unnerved Penelope and she exchanged a worried glance with Will.
Jack leaned into her side and whispered," They took us upstairs so we could go to the bathroom and eat. They had cooked just for us, at least none of the others ate it."
"What was it? And did they let you go in the bathroom alone or did someone follow you in?" Pen asked, worried one of the guys was a pervert.
"No, they let me and Henry go in by ourselves. I helped him and made him wash his hands and then we ate chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese. Bob sat down with us and asked us about school and what we were learning about. I didn't get the chance to talk much because Henry was telling him about Pre-K. Bob was really weird; he watched and listened to Henry like he really cared. He looked kinda like my dad does when I'm telling him a story."
Penelope looked down at Jack, pondering what he had just told her.
"Oh, and there were 5 guys. The three that came to the house, and two more up there. It looks like a normal house. I'm sure if they left us alone for a few minutes, Henry and I could get out and go for help." Jack told her, looking pleased with himself and anxious at the same time.
"Jack, don't rush or force anything, but if you have a chance then definitely get you and Henry out. Next time you are upstairs look around, but don't let them catch you. See if there's mail lying out with an address, or pictures on the wall. If there are, who is in them?" Penelope squeezed his hand and then turned her attention to Bob.
While she and Jack had been talking he and his goons had set up a laptop on the table and a camcorder on a tripod facing Will, Pen and the boys. Bob rubbed his hands together in anticipation. "Ok, we are all ready for the next show."
He pulled his cell phone out and dialed a number. When the call was answered he said, "Hello Emily, I hope that I have caught you and your coworkers together…I did? Oh Goody. Tell Aaron I have sent him another email with a link in it. And Emily, make yourselves presentable before you open the link because we will be able to see you as well."He disconnected the call, pulled his ski mask out of his back pocket and tugged it over his face.
He then turned to his captives. "We are fixing to have so much fun. Well I am, you guys probably not so much." He watched the computer screen waiting for the team to pop up.
