A/N: The aforementioned case will only be background from now on. I never actually gave it much thought, only enough ground to get them to Australia. I'm terrible with cases, I much prefer the personal side of things.

"What do you mean JJ's missing?"

Hotch grimaced; he hadn't wanted to make this call, knowing it would leave Will in a state of panic thousands of miles away. But he knew that he had to, because he didn't want the first call to be the one where he had to inform Will his wife wasn't coming home.

"She was in an accident on the highway, in the middle of the night. By the time we knew what had happened and reached the scene, she was gone. I promise you Will, we're doing everything we can to find her," he explained as calmly as he could manage.

"Please, Hotch, just bring her home. I don't care how it happened, or why JJ was out there by herself at that time of night... just bring her home"

"We will," Hotch said thickly. His chest tightened; he hoped he hadn't just made an impossible promise.

Ending the call, he took a deep breath, pinching his nose.

JJ had already spent two days and two nights out on her own in the Australian outback and they were no closer to pinpointing where she could be. They were well into the third day, and the temperature was expected hit a soaring record.

The local police had already told them to expect to find JJ's body, that people rarely survived in the outback with no supplies for longer than a day.

But Hotch was adamant. JJ was strong. They would find her. And they would bring her home.

No matter what it took.

Crouched over by the twisted trunk of what used to be a tree, JJ clutched the crumbly surface for support as she dry heaved with a horrible feeling of unrelenting force. There was nothing in her stomach to throw up, yet she was still vomiting. The feeling was awful, like her stomach was trying to eject itself from her body, and she was sure there were tears in her throat by now. The nausea and cramps had not yet abated, and two watery bowel movements that had almost been accidents told her that the water bug was not done wreaking absolute havoc on her digestive tract.

Nothing was making sense anymore. She had no energy, and she had no idea how she was still alive. The sun was beating down on her already badly burnt skin, and she could feel blisters beginning to form on her shoulders.

For the most part, she had kept her face partially shielded beneath a wiry little shrub, but it hadn't done a great deal; she could tell the skin on her face was burnt.

Collapsing onto her back, she closed her eyes and tried to calm her racing mind. She was scared... but she was also so thirsty and so unwell that she couldn't even remember why she was scared.

Despite the heat, she was freezing. Her entire body shook terribly even in the sun, and she couldn't decide what she wanted more; a blanket or a cold bath.

"Where are you?" she breathed, her eyes barely open as she looked up at the sky. Brilliantly blue, the sun seemed to be growing larger by the second.

Where was her team? It had been five days.

Wait, was it five? Or had it only been one?

JJ had no idea of anything anymore.

Feeling something moving beneath her neck, she sluggishly lifted her hand to feel behind her. Seconds later, something stabbed into the back of her neck, eliciting white hot pain that felt like a sting. She let out a raspy cry, lifting her head enough to swat away at the dirt beneath her.

But even that was too much exertion. Deciding she didn't care if she got bitten again, she fell back into the dirt, he heavy eyes being dragged down with her.

"SES are flying the search helicopters out from Perth. If she's still out there, we'll find her by nightfall Agent," Rob said confidently.

"What if you don't?" Hotch snapped. "We've had people combing the search area for two days and they've found nothing"

"She might have wandered further than we think. It's easy to become disoriented and confused in the heat out there, especially when you have no water-"

Rob was cut off by crackling from the satellite radio. Racing over to it, he picked it up. "You've got Merredin, over"

"Rob, it's Steve Napier, SES. We found a jacket half buried in the scrub, about 5 kilometres from the crash site, south of the highway. Leather jacket, quite small. Looks like it's been here a couple of days. There's also some blood in the sand, but not a lot"

"That's what Morgan said she was wearing when she left. The jacket," Hotch said in disbelief. Two days, and they finally had something.

"Steve, that has to belong to Agent Jareau. You have to be close, keep searching and keep us updated," Rob instructed, placing the receiver back down.

Hotch took a deep breath, turning around to look at Morgan, who was staring intently at the map of the search area.

"We're close," he said, breaking Morgan's focus.

"I wish we could go out there and help them," Morgan said softly.

"I know. But the SES are trained to deal with the harsh environment out there, and we still have a case to work on. Speaking of which, Tara and Rossi are within days of cracking it, they've got a profile going. Reid checked in earlier, they're interviewing suspects, he told us to focus on JJ," Hotch replied.

"I just hate the thought of her being out there, in that harsh and lonely environment, thinking we're not looking for her, you know?"

Hotch raised an eyebrow. "It's JJ, Morgan. She'll know we're looking"

"JJ? What are you doing out here?"

Opening her eyes, JJ found herself looking up into the handsome face of her husband.

"Will," she croaked, her voice barely audible as she shakily reached up towards him.

What was he doing out here? As soon as JJ asked herself that question, she suddenly wondered where here even was. It kind of felt like Arizona. Hot and dusty.

"Save your strength cher," Will said softly, his hand cupping her cheek before he brushed her hair out of her eyes. "We need you to come home"

"Home," JJ mumbled, her eyes drooping as she reached up yet again for Will. "Henry"

"Henry and Michael need their momma. You need to stay strong. They're coming for you," Will breathed. "They're coming for you"

"Morgan," JJ sighed, closing her eyes. The second she had, something twisted in her stomach, and before she could even sit up, a horrible gush of bile came spewing from her mouth. It soaked her shirt, burning her already sunburnt skin. She tried to cry out with the pain, but her throat was so dry that all she managed was a strangled gasp.

"Home," she managed to say through her distress. No tears were coming. She was too dehydrated to cry.

"Home"