The BAU spent the afternoon debriefing with each other. The parents had maintained that they didn't know anyone with a grudge or anyone who'd shown Marie attention inappropriately. The school had had no complaints about strange behavior. The police had no helpful leads. By nightfall the agents were getting frustrated and tired. They knew that statistically time was running out to find the girl alive but they were exhausted and hungry.

"How about we go out for an hour and talk about this over food, I can't see straight anymore." JJ suggested.

The agents agreed one-by-one.

"Rhodes?" Morgan asked.

Something about Abigail's conversation with Toby was bothering her but she couldn't put her finger on it. She knew she wouldn't be able to think about it in any depth at a group dinner.

"I think I'm going to stay here."

"Are you sure?" Hotch asked.

"Yeh, I feel like I might be onto something and a couple of hours alone might give me time to concentrate. No offense, guys."

Emily laughed.

"None taken, we'll see you in a little while."

The agents left and Abigail was alone. Before turning her attention back to the case she pulled out her cell-phone and dialed Julian's number, hoping he wouldn't answer. Unfortunately he picked up on the second ring.

"Hey Abby."

"Hey Julian…"

"You're calling to cancel, aren't you?"

He sounded disappointed and Abigail felt terrible, not only for cancelling but for not being even a little disappointed about it.

"I'm sorry, Julian. We're still in San Antonio working a case."

"Don't worry about it. To be honest I was expecting you to cancel - I got the impression your interest was elsewhere?"

Abigail was a little caught off guard.

"Wh-, what do you mean?"

"I don't know, just an impression I got. I felt like you wanted to say no but didn't want to tell your friends why. Like you were already seeing someone, I guess."

Abigail paused.

"No, nothing like that."

Julian didn't sound convinced.

"OK, well if you change your mind, you know where to find me."

Abigail thanked him and said goodbye. She tried to squash the guilt she was feeling and turn her attention back to the case.

She replayed her conversation with Toby over and over again. She felt like there was something obvious she was missing but just kept dwelling on how sad she'd felt for him. She sat alone for the next half hour, staring blankly at the case notes, before Hotch appeared in the doorway carrying two take-out containers.

"I thought you were at dinner." Abigail said, surprised.

"I thought you could use some help."

He put the takeout containers on the table amongst the paperwork and pushed one towards her.

"The team are eating at a Japanese restaurant but the place next door sold cheese fries."

Abigail felt herself relax. Something about seeing Hotch standing in the doorway with food had made her feel better about canceling on Julian.

"Cheese fries! You're the best. Thank you Hotch."

Hotch didn't smile, just moved on to talking about the case.

"So, what are you thinking?"

"Honestly? I'm not sure. There was something about the conversation I had with the son."

"I'll let you think. Eat."

Abigail and Hotch opened their takeout and started to eat in silence. After a few minutes Hotch spoke, not looking up from the table.

"I'm sorry about your date."

Abigail looked up.

"What?"

Hotch kept his eyes down.

"We're not getting back tonight, I'm assuming you had to cancel."

"Yeh, I cancelled. It's OK, I was relieved to be honest."

Hotch's interest piqued.

"Relieved?"

"I only accepted the date because Garcia, JJ and Prentiss were there and giving me a hard time. I was actually hoping that we wouldn't be back in time."

Abigail quickly realized how that must sound.

"I mean, I was hoping that we'd find Marie quickly, obviously. I was just hoping for… plane trouble, or something."

The corners of Hotch's mouth twitched upward. Then he did something he very rarely did: let his curiosity get the best of him.

"So 'hunky firefighters' aren't your type?"

JJ's words coming out of Hotch's mouth sounded ridiculous and Abigail stifled a laugh.

"Not really. I spoke to him for a little while on the phone when we were setting up the date. I suggested we go for breakfast or coffee one morning over the weekend and he mentioned that on Saturday and Sunday mornings he wakes up at 5.30 to go to the gym."

"Not your idea of an enjoyable Saturday morning?"

Abigail laughed. She couldn't tell if Hotch was actually interested or if he was just being flippant but she answered him anyway.

"I want to wake up in bed on a Saturday with someone who doesn't want to be anywhere else. Someone who'll bring me coffee and lie there with me until noon talking and… I don't know, reading the paper or something."

Hotch stared at Abigail. As she described the scene she looked completely unguarded, as though she was letting him glimpse her inner world. For a minute he was there with her, letting himself crave the peace and the intimacy of the relationship she was describing.

"Don't look at me like that, Hotch, I know it's cheesy."

"Not at all."

It doesn't sound cheesy, it sounds perfect, he thought.

Despite dedicating himself to his job at the expense of his marriage, Aaron Hotchner wanted intimacy just as much, if not more than, anyone else. He spent his days at work being steady and dependable: the picture of self-control. Not having someone at home to be vulnerable with, to open himself up to, was an absence he felt so strongly that it was sometimes physically painful.

He stopped himself from thinking about it and turned the conversation back to the case.

"Take me through your conversation with Toby."

Abigail sighed.

"He feels guilty. His parents, or his father at least, blame him. He called himself 'useless', I think he got that from his father."

Hotch nodded.

"They're intolerant of him and his mental health issues: it came through in our conversation with them. He's been skipping school, drinking…"

"But having that kind of hostility towards one of your own children…"

Hotch thought about his own father for a second before answering Abigail's thought before she even finished speaking.

"He's not a suspect: he has an alibi for this morning. As sad as it is it's not surprising that Toby's parents assign him some of the blame. It's unfortunate that Toby is torturing himself with guilt over not walking her in, but…"

"That's not all he feels guilty about… that's it, that's what was so strange."

"What?"

"Toby said that he also felt guilty because he worried that his parents attention was focused on him at the expense of them paying attention to Marie."

Hotch looked confused.

"That's probably true."

"But Toby's fifteen. Developmentally, fifteen year olds are typically self-absorbed. Even when they're emotionally healthy and well-functioning they only usually think about how their behavior affects others in very direct ways. Depression also usually makes you very self-absorbed. You're too wrapped up in your own pain to even really notice the pain of others."

Hotch again noticed that Abigail sounded like she was speaking from experience.

"I think someone suggested that to Toby - mentioned to him that Marie was probably being neglected."

Hotch started to understand where Abigail was going.

"Predators are skilled at identifying children who feel neglected and in need of attention. Kids who'll be easy to build a relationship with and lure away. Who would have mentioned that to Toby, though?"

Abigail felt sick as the realization hit her.

"Toby's counsellor. Toby also said that his counsellor, Chris somebody, had told him that he would 'always be there for him, even when his parents weren't'. That's something a therapist would never say - unless they were grossly incompetent, or…"

"Or they were a predator in the habit of trying to establish themselves as a confidant and savior to children."

Hotch was almost immediately on the phone to Garcia who found a full name and an address. Within ten minutes the police were on their way to his house, Hotch and Abigail following in an SUV. By the time they arrived the police had already entered the house. Abigail and Hotch waited in the SUV for an agonizing, silent few minutes, hoping for Marie to emerge.

"Is she…"

"I don't know. You need to prepare yourself that he's left her someone else or that she's already gone."

Abigail's heart broke at the thought, for both Marie and Toby. She held her breath and tried not cry. Just as she was about to be overwhelmed by the tension and grief, she saw and officer emerge carrying a little girl wrapped in a blanket. The officer looked panicked and handed the girl off the the medics who'd just arrived.

The agents got out of the SUV just as the rest of the team was arriving, having been called by Garcia at Hotch's request during their earlier phone call. A police officer approached them as the ambulance turned on its sirens and pulled away from the house.

"Is she OK?" Hotch asked the officer.

The officer looked uneasy.

"She's groggy, we think she's been drugged. We're not sure what else happened…"

Abigail's stomach fell. The agents stood in silence.

Hotch was the first one to speak.

"We'll head back to the station, finish up quickly, and fly back to Virginia tonight."

Abigail expected to feel relief once she was on the plane and headed back to Virginia, but she just felt tired. Hotch sat opposite her, reading over paperwork. Abigail looked out of the window at the black nothingness, thinking about Marie and Toby. Hotch noticed that she was staring into space rather than reading or working, which was unusual for her.

"You did good work today, Rhodes."

"Thanks, Hotch."

He put down his pen and looked at her. Her under-eyes were dark and her hair, usually falling around her shoulders in waves, was tied in a loosely-done braid.

"I know it can be hard to see an ending like this as a victory. That family has a lot of recovering to do, and that little girl… but whatever happened in that house, she has a chance to recover and have a full, normal life, because of us. Because of you."

Abigail smiled but it was forced. Hotch could tell. He wanted to ask her about the conversation he overheard with Toby - to check that she was really OK and ask if there was something more about the case that had bothered her, but he couldn't bring himself to be so personal.

"I know. Thank you again for your help today. Especially for the cheese fries."

He smiled a rare, real smile and then the pair sat quietly for the rest of the flight.