Disclaimer: See last chapter

~ Nine months in ~

Hotch clutched the wheel as hard as he could, they had finally hit the last man on the list, he was torn between wanting this to be their guy and not because if it was it meant that JJ was always there, if they had gone from the bottom of the list to the top then they would have found her six months ago – he would hate himself.

He shook his head and tried to stop the tears that were about to fall down his face, this was the only lead they had and she just had to be there. She had to be alive, she had to be okay.

He looked at Garcia as tears fell down her face, he knew that they all blamed themselves for not being able to see the signs, for not being able to help her. He knew that if she was dead then none of them would ever forgive themselves, nothing would ever be the same again.

Garcia looked down at the list in her hands, if this was their guy then he had been here all along, they could have found her ages ago. She shook her head as tears dripped down her face, it never should have been like this. She wanted her best friend back, she wanted to hold her in her arms once more and tell her that it was going to be okay. She wanted to stay up late with the woman and giggled about their latest celebrity crushes like they had done so many times.

She looked behind her at Reid who seemed to be deep in thought, he looked up and quickly turned away, looking out of the window as he tried to think about the woman he considered to be his big sister. He closed his eyes at the thought of her no longer being on this earth, he could feel his body shaking at the thought of her not being alive. He had no idea how he had managed to cope – if you could call it coping – without her for so long now. He knew that if she was gone then nothing would ever be the same again, at least this way they could still tell themselves that she was still alive.

Emily looked over at Reid before turning back to the window, she sighed when she thought about another person being lost forever. This should never have happened, they should have been able to protect her from this. She bit down hard on her lower lip as she tried her best to stop the tears, she knew it wasn't going to work when they toppled over and fell down her face. She couldn't imagine a life without her best friend, JJ and Garcia were the closest things she had ever had to sisters and her life without JJ would never be the same. JJ was the first person to accept her into the team and Emily would never forget that, Emily would never forget her.

She looked behind her at the car that was following them, Rossi was driving while Morgan looked as though he was barely containing his anger. Rossi gripped onto the steering wheel as he stared ahead, he knew he had to keep this situation under control if this was their guy. He knew that there wasn't one person on this team who wasn't willing to murder this guy, he had to make sure nothing happened.

Morgan gripped onto the seat as he glared down at the floor, if this was their guy then he sure as hell wasn't going to make it out of this unscathed. He was going to make sure he paid for anything he had done to JJ. He shuddered a little at the thought of JJ being dead, she couldn't. She was strong, she had to be alive. She had to hang onto this life with every last piece of hope she had, she would never give up would she?

Hotch slammed the car door behind him as he waited for Rossi to pull up and walked towards the house. He looked over at the older agent for a moment, he knew that he was the most clear headed agent on the team for now, he had never been given the chance to get to know JJ like everyone else had. He hadn't been able to drink with her, laugh with her, he hadn't seen that sparkle of hope in her eyes when she thought about finding a victim, or that dim light that everyone else saw when they let someone down.

Rossi had never been able to talk with JJ properly, he had never been able to just look her in the eyes and see how much passion for the job was held in them. Hotch only hoped that Rossi would still have the chance to see the JJ they all loved and missed.

He nodded at Morgan to kick down the door when there was no answer, none of them cared about the laws or rules anymore, none of it mattered to them because they were on a mission to find their liaison. They were on a mission to bring her back home, back where she belonged.

Morgan was the first to spot the man as he tried to run, he took him down with ease and glared at him – all of them could just smell the blood in the house. They frowned at each other before searching the house, none of them giving up until they heard a heartbreaking scream coming from the basement.

"Garcia?" Hotch ran towards the scream, shaking his head when he saw why. His beautiful angel was laying in her own pool of blood, her face was completely pale, her lips a light shade of blue.

"Is she breathing?" Garcia nodded a little and took a step back when Hotch felt JJ's pulse, it was weak but at least it was there. She could be okay, she could live through this.

Tears fell down his face when he heard Rossi on the phone, shouting down the other end for someone to get here as soon as possible. He clung onto her as tight as he could and rocked back and forth, she couldn't die.

"She did it to herself!" He heard from above him, he shook his head and looked at the glass that was laying on the floor. He bit down on his lip as he realized that JJ had given up on them, she had given up hope.

A/N: Let's put this to a vote, what would make you like this story more?

If JJ lived?

Or if she died? :)

Please review and let me know, the sooner you tell me then the sooner I can write it