Author's Note: Special thanks to the reviewers of last chapter: crazyobsession101; Love-B .xo; Black Angel of the Underworld; Zolidify; and SparkleInTheSun. Reviews genuinely make my day, so thanks for that.

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

This chapter is mostly filler before the next chapter. I would also like to remind you that there is a lot that happens in between some of these scenes, so for example, if you think Emily is dismissing what she discovers in this chapter, she's not. I am just trying to move the story along while acknowledging the slower pace I'm taking it at. I hope that makes sense. BUT, Emily (and Hotch) are in no ways downplaying the Self-Harm mentioned in the last chapter that they discover now. I should be updating again this weekend, but the important thing about this chapter is: They are looking for the bad guys, AND they are not oblivious to what JJ's doing-even though they may not pick up on it right as its happening-they're trying. Anyway, I'll let you get to the chapter :)

"Damn it!" Hotch cursed, as he slammed the door to his office shut.

He should have something—anything by now.

Instead he was looking at another empty file, another foiled lead that didn't get him any closer to finding the bastards that did this to JJ.

There were over 3,000 'Oak Lanes' in America.

And he had no way of narrowing this down any closer.

His supposed lead had turned into nothing more than inform him that they were indeed looking for a needle in a haystack.

He had promised her he would find these bastards. He had promised her that he would find her.

And not only had he failed her on all counts, he kept failing.

And there was nothing he could do about it!

His phone rang and he picked it up immediately without looking. "Hotchner." He barked.

"Hotch, it's Emily, she's coming out of surgery now."

He was so distraught that he missed the grin underlying Emily's words, feeling panicked that Emily was calling so soon. JJ wasn't scheduled to be out of surgery for another hour. "Is she okay?" Hotch asked full of worry, well aware that the doctors had warned that any surgery could be dangerous because of her weight. "Did something happen?"

"She's fine." Emily assured. "The doctors said she was likely in a lot of pain with her wrist, but that should be fixed now."

"Why didn't she tell us she was in pain?" The words slipped out of his mouth before he had a chance to stop them.

Emily hesitated for a minute, "I don't think she knew how."

"Anything else?" Hotch asked quickly.

This time, Emily's hesitation was palpable. "Hotch, when JJ was changing…they found…I think she's hurting herself."

"WHAT?" Hotch asked incredulously. "How could you not have noticed that!"

Emily cringed, forcing herself not to bite back with a sharp retort when Hotch had voiced the same thoughts she herself had, "I don't know." She replied honestly, knowing that she wasn't about to accept fault for something out of her control, but cursing herself that she hadn't noticed sooner.

Hotch instantly felt guilty and retreated immediately. It wasn't fair of him to lay this all at Emily's feet. All of them were to blame if JJ was doing something that none of them noticed. "It's not your fault Emily."

"I should have seen it." Emily countered.

"You can only do so much." Hotch reminded her.

"When she wakes up, I'm going to talk to her. We'll get this sorted out." Emily promised. "But when I called her therapist she said this was a step forward."

"In what world is that a step forward?" Hotch asked incredulously.

Emily chuckled, shaking her head that Hotch seemed to be saying the exact same words she had shared with Dr. Mayfield. "Apparently it's good that she's trying to find an outlet for anxiety. It's not a good outlet, but it's a start."

"That's great Prentiss." Hotch grimaced, torn between being incredibly happy for JJ's improvement, and disgusted that this could be counted as an improvement at all.

Because this never should have happened to her.

He grimaced as he thought back to the horrible day when he had received a terrifying glimpse into JJ's captivity.

He had to find the monsters that did this to his friend.

He wouldn't rest until he did.