Author's Note: Special thanks to the reviewers of last chapter: 1xadzy3dgftw1xLSNx3dg1xMGG; stefi; pandas9; hxchick; youdude; canny-bairn; crazyobsession101; Black Angel of the Underworld; and LoveB -xo. Reviews genuinely make my day, so thanks for that.

Also, special thanks to brynnifer and littlegreenbottle for beta'ing this all. Thanks guys!

Again, I will repeat for readers to please mind the rating. This chapter is moderately heavy and hints at adult themes. While not explicit, it is disturbing to me what people will do to one another.

JJ moaned as she rolled over on the cold cement floor, her entire body aching with pain. Her hair clung to the back of her neck as sweat dripped down her brow. She swiped at her runny nose with a trembling hand, cursing her body for its dependency on the drugs she detested.

Not that she had much choice in the matter.

JJ winced and shut her eyes tightly as she heard people approaching, not bothering to hide the tears that rolled down her cheeks as she prepared for yet another onslaught.

"Relax Puta, we brought you an apprentice." A man chuckled as he kicked her firmly in her ribs. Several other men and women laughed wickedly as the first man kicked JJ hard once more. Vaguely, JJ was aware of a warm lump that was dropped at her feet.

"Maybe tomorrow you can teach her to turn a trick. That's when the real fun will begin." The mean brunette woman scoffed. JJ knew her voice too well.

JJ kept her eyes tightly shut until she heard shoes scuffle about and the door shut forcefully. Surprised that her captors had shut the door—something that even JJ could acknowledge was utterly unnecessary—she breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn't even attempted to think about escape in what felt like decades. Cracking her eye open, she gasped at the small figure bound at her feet.

A little girl, no older than five, with brown curly hair was bound tightly with tears running down her cheeks.

It had been a long time since JJ felt anything akin to the motherly stirrings she had exhibited with her own son, but at the sight of this little girl she snapped forward with an intensity that previously had only been a memory. She had the girl's restraints undone in seconds and quickly pulled the gag out of the little one's mouth.

"I want my mommy." The young brunette sobbed as she clutched desperately at JJ's almost non-existent clothing.

"I—" JJ's tongue stumbled as she forced herself to speak in a language that felt forgotten. "I know…Sweetheart."

The girl's sobs stirred an emotion inside JJ that she hadn't felt in a long time.

"Shhh." She comforted, momentarily amazed at how natural and foreign the words could feel at the same time. After a moment, she stammered softly. "What's—What's your name?" The words were thick and slow as JJ struggled to form the words.

The little girl sniffed, "Zoey."

"I'm Alejan—" JJ stopped, stunned that she seemed to have forgotten her own name. It had been so long since she had introduced herself to anyone and felt like more than an eternity since she had been called anything other than the name Manuel had given her or some other derogatory phrase. "I'm JJ."

Zoey sniffed loudly, "I'm scared JJ. I want my mommy."

JJ put her arms securely around the little girl, pulling her close and for the briefest minute imagined her own little boy tucked tightly in her arms. "I'm not—" She staggered over the words, "I'm not going to let anything bad happen to you." She promised softly, slowly enunciating each word.

She held the little girl tightly while she tried to come up with some sort of a plan, knowing that her captors wouldn't bother to guard her warehouse door for any attempt at escape. Zoey had curled up against her and softly fallen asleep, probably as a result of sheer exhaustion.

JJ pulled the small note she had hidden behind a large crate when she was first brought to this place. The note had been written long ago, back when she had some hope of being found. Though her hope was long gone, the note she kept was a single reminder of her life before.

Once JJ herself was certain her tormenters were asleep, she quickly shook the little girl awake. "Zoey, you're going to go home to your mommy."

She held up her finger to impress the importance of remaining absolutely silent. She knew the little girl was scared, and hoped she could use that fear to give them some chance at escape.

JJ knew all too well the horrible fate that awaited this beautiful, innocent, and perfect little girl.

So no matter how petrified JJ was of the consequences, she had to try.

JJ motioned for Zoey to follow her as she pushed heavily on the sliding door. She grimaced as she threw her entire weight against the door that barely budged. Finding a reservoir of strength that she hadn't known she had, she pushed against the metal door with all her might feeling a surge of power as the door moved underneath her.

"Let's go." JJ whispered gravely, grabbing the little girl by the hand.

She ducked around corners, carefully using tactics she had forgotten existed as they silently moved out of the large warehouse. JJ shuddered when they found themselves outside in the darkness, but the little girl clutching desperately onto her hand forced her to focus on the task in front of her.

She had no brilliantly thought of plan, no escape that had been meticulously calculated for months.

The only thing she knew to do was run, and hope they could get far enough away that the monsters could never find them.

They just had to run.

The little girl could barely keep up, and JJ tumbled as Zoey tripped over her shoes. The five year old simply couldn't keep up. In the background, JJ could hear distant yelling and the roaring of engines—signifying that somehow she hadn't been as quiet as she had supposed.

"Zoey, I—" She sighed, trying to focus on making the words come out clearly as she panted heavily from the effort, "I need you to run really fast."

"I'm so tired JJ." Zoey looked up to her with trusting eyes, but the tears running down the little girl's face struck another chord that JJ had long ago determined was missing.

"I know." JJ sighed, realizing her own exhaustion that the adrenaline of the situation had held at bay, "Do you play pretend?"

Zoey nodded.

"I need you to play pretend with me, can you do that?" JJ asked, nervously scanning the open expanse for some way of escape. A long fence stood just a way off and JJ pleaded inwardly that they'd be able to find some protection. She saw lights fly through the dark slats of the fence, exposing one large gap in the bottom about a hundred yards away. "Oh, God, it's a car!" She gasped. "It's a road."

"I'm good at pretending." Zoey sniffed, oblivious to JJ's excitement.

"Good." JJ smiled, running her hands up and down the little girl's arm reassuringly. "I need you to pretend that we're playing in your backyard. We're both going to run as fast as we can and you're going to follow me. We're going to pretend we're having a race in your backyard. Can you do that?"

Zoey nodded. "I'm good at pretending." She repeated.

"Ready, Set, Go." JJ whispered sprinting slowly as the little girl dashed away with her.

She could feel the presence of her tormentors gaining on them with each step. This time, it was JJ who tripped, sending them both flying into the cold hard dirt. Glancing back, JJ grimaced at the flashlights that were rapidly approaching.

Right now, Jennifer Jareau had a choice:

She could try and help the little girl through the fence but they would likely both get caught—and severely punished.

She could abandon the girl and save herself—there was just enough time for her to get away.

Or, she could give up her only chance at freedom to save this little girl—and probably be punished more severely than she could even comprehend.

In the end, it really wasn't a choice at all.

"Zoey." JJ whispered, pulling out her precious note and tucking it into the little girl's pocket. "I need you to keep this. I need you to give it to someone you trust."

Zoey nodded, trying to be brave though her knees were skinned from the fall and her lip quivered.

"Slide through that hole in the fence, and run until you see a car. Don't stop. If you do that, you'll get to go home to your mommy." She instructed, surprised at how easily the English was beginning to roll off her tongue. "Do you understand?"

Zoey nodded.

"Zoey, if it's a red truck." JJ shuddered involuntarily at the thought of their captors being the ones to find the five year old running down the road, "You need to hide. Any other car, it's my friend and they will help you, but if it's a red truck you need to hide because they are not my friend."

"They're strangers?" Zoey asked, her eyes wide and fearful as she remembered the bad men who had taken her away in the red trucks.

"That's right." JJ smiled as she smoothed the little girl's hair. "But any other car, they will help you."

"Are you coming?" Zoey asked trustingly.

Seeing their captors rapidly approaching, JJ knew it was time to react. She forced a smile onto her face, her muscles tired at the action they hadn't made in years, "I'll come later." She lied. "Now, Go!" JJ commanded, running in a different direction. She knew that her captors would be able to see her more clearly and hoped that her diversion would save this little girl from the nightmare that awaited her.

She grinned as she watched Zoey crawl through the hole in the fence just as a huge weight knocked her to the ground. Her hip popped and JJ screamed as her entire body enflamed in excruciatingly vivid pain.

"Take her back to the warehouse." A man yelled distantly. JJ could barely hear them over her own cries, but even if she had, it wouldn't have mattered.

The pain in her hip was unbearable. She knew immediately that it was broken—or more likely dislocated—the loud pop was her first clue but the second was her almost complete inability to put any weight on it at all.

Being half-dragged back to the large warehouse filled with crates of drugs and weapons had only made the awful pain worsen—if that was possible. She knew she passed out along the way, but only because when she woke back up she was somewhere differently entirely with the mean brunette woman holding her arms down tightly.

"What do we do?" A man asked.

"Call Manuel." Another voice ordered.

"He's not going to be happy we broke his merchandise."

"Who cares? We need to know if she gave the little puta anything that could identify us."

Hotch smirked as he read through the book he had borrowed off Emily's shelf a few hours later. He hadn't anticipated most of her literature to consist of sci-fi adventure thrillers, but he also didn't want to wake the sleeping blonde by turning on the TV.

As if on cue, JJ whimpered against the couch and gasped dramatically.

"Are you okay, JJ?" He asked softly, not wanting to disturb her if she was asleep.

"Le di un pedazo de papel." JJ cried softly, obviously still in the throes of sleep. Hotch was surprised that she quickly followed that with a string in English, "I gave her a piece of paper"

Manuel stood over her as she writhed in pain, the drugs in her system doing nothing to lessen her torment. "I gave her a piece of paper." She admitted, the Spanish phrase rolling easily off her tongue.

"I'm disappointed in you Alejandra." Her owner smiled softly, "But your punishment can wait." He gestured to one of the men who grabbed JJ forcefully, not bothering to be mindful of her hip.

At the jostling of the injury, JJ fell limp in the man's arms, her body unable to comprehend the awful pain radiating from her hip.

Hotch grimaced as he pieced together what must have happened to JJ.

He would do whatever it took to get the bastards that did this to her.

"JJ?" He asked, hoping to catch her in a close enough state of sleep where she could respond to him yet would not be woken up. "JJ, do you know where Manuel kept you?"

"His basement." JJ mumbled.

Hotch smirked as he realized that this was the most JJ had talked to him since they found her.

"Do you know where Manuel's house was?" Hotch asked, pressing for information.

"Oak Lane." JJ murmured, and Hotch's spirits soared.

It was something.

A lead—something more than they'd had in a long time.

He was about to press further when JJ turned and gasped painfully.

"JJ?" He asked, worried by the tortured expression that graced the blonde's face. He winced as the younger woman gave a pained gasp and worried at what nightmare haunted her dreams.

She leaned tightly against Manuel's strong chest as he carried her down into her basement room. She closed her eyes, ignoring the way he frowned at the comfort she drew from the warmth of his touch. As soon as he reached the final step, he dropped her haphazardly to the ground.

JJ yelped out in a pain dulled slightly from the strong medication the doctor at the hospital had provided. Looking around, she felt a surge of relief as she saw the blanket heaped in the corner as if offering some protection from the world she had left behind. She slid slightly toward the blanket only to have Manuel shake his head quickly.

"Alejandra." He warned, his voice low and furious as he removed the laytex gloves he had insisted on wearing to touch her and brushing off his clothes as if JJ's very presence had defiled something sacred. JJ stopped, fear washing over her in a wave. "You humiliated me." He informed her.

JJ paused, completely unsure of how to respond, feeling her stomach drop in horrific anticipation of what fate awaited her.

Manuel stepped over to the closet door she had long ago been forbidden to open and turned the knob. "I didn't want to do this, but you forced my hand."

She winced as the door banged against the opposite wall as Manuel flung the heavy door open with relative ease. "Since you didn't want to spend time with my friends, you will stay here until I've decided you've learned your lesson."

JJ's heart fell at small dark confined space, shuddering involuntarily at the thought of being cramped in such a tight space.

She hated tight spaces.

Manuel knew that.

At least it wasn't the dogs this time.

She hesitated, fighting desperately to force down the fear and anxiety that exploded inside of her. Manuel stood against the door to the closet, waiting expectantly for his command to be obeyed.

She shook as she pulled herself toward the closet door, her palms sweating and her nose continuing to drip despite the drugs from the hospital coursing through her system. She bit her lip harshly as her entire body began to shake.

It felt like the entire world was collapsing around her, crushing the air out of her chest. Her heart was beating so rapidly, she thought she was going to have a heart attack.

She pulled herself closer to the door, biting her lip so hard as to draw blood as time crawled at a snail's pace.

There was nothing she could see anymore but Manuel standing in front of the door to the dark abyss—everything else seemed to fade into a blurry fog as the fear radiated through her like a fire.

Pulling herself closer to the open closet door, she fought against the urgent need that welled inside of her to run—she knew better than to run.

Even if she desperately wanted to.

She tried to pull herself closer to the door, but her body wouldn't respond. It felt as if she was no longer a part of herself, trapped within herself as she looked around at this body that encapsulated her.

Right then, she was certain one of two things were going to happen: She would either die or go insane.

She wasn't sure which was better.

Manuel watched on in annoyance, waiting for the panic that filled her to subside.

She forced herself to breathe slowly and steadily, trying to regain some amount of control over her own body. Though the breathing exercises helped, it felt as though the ground beneath her would crumble away and drop her into the dark nothingness.

Manuel narrowed his eyes angrily, repeating his command at the woman who had only made it halfway across the room. "Get in the closet, Alejandra."

"Please." JJ begged, mustering every fiber of her being to force the plea out of her mouth. "Don't make me. I'm sorry. I'll be good."

"Alejandra—"

"The little girl." She explained, certain that Manuel would take pity on her—though he never had before. Her words were slow and labored, "She didn't deserve—"

Manuel's fury bubbled over and he grabbed JJ by her arms, yanking her toward the open door as she struggled to get away. "Who are you to know what the little girl deserved?" He spat in disgust. "You're nothing."

He tossed JJ toward the threshold of the closet door and JJ winced as she meekly pulled herself further into the darkness.

"They found the little girl." Manuel told her. "And they're punishing her. It's your fault." JJ's entire resolve shattered at Manuel's words, though some part deep inside her reminded her that Manuel never told her the truth.

But the part deep inside her was silenced as Manuel looked down at her with disgust. "You ruin everything you touch."

The door slammed shut, plunging her world into darkness as a primal scream erupted from her lips.

Hotch, who had leaned forward as he cautiously examined the restless blonde, jumped back in surprise as JJ bolted from the couch and stumbled toward the kitchen.

Hotch trailed behind her, starkly aware that he was completely unprepared for what to do next.

JJ barely made it to the sink before she emptied the contents of her stomach into the cold basin. Retching violently, she sobbed as she clutched tightly to the countertop.

"JJ?" Hotch asked tentatively as her dry heaving subsided. "JJ, how can I help?" He stood far enough off not to scare her, but desperately wanting to do something to lessen the burden the young woman had heaped on her shoulders.

He hadn't understood before.

But he was beginning to understand now.

In a giant sob, JJ collapsed against him, clutching his shirt with a white knuckle grip. His heart broke as he had a pang of fatherly familiarity as the situation reminded him too well of Jack waking up from a nightmare filled with teddy bears and elephants.

If only those were the subject of JJ's dreams.

In fact, he'd be willing to bet that the horrific nightmares of Foyet that woke him in a cold sweat paled in comparison to whatever memory was vividly replaying in JJ's mind.

Slowly, in an effort not to make the situation worse, he placed his arms around her and gingerly lifted her up. Instead of shying away from his contact or growing more anxious as he had feared, JJ buried her head into his chest as if Hotch's body could singularly keep the horrific nightmares at bay.

As he turned back toward the couch, he was only slightly surprised to see Emily nervously standing at the top of the stairs and watching the situation with tears running down her own face.

He sat back on the couch, carefully laying JJ down beside him though she clung frantically to him as if he might suddenly disappear.

"I'm right here, JJ." He soothed. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

He was vaguely aware of Emily retreating back to her bedroom, but kept his focus on the blonde hiding her face against him and pulling him close for security. Wrapping one arm around her, loose enough that she could push him away if she wanted but tight enough that she knew he wouldn't let her go, he promised again. "I'm here JJ."