Once again, I apologize for the wait. This chapter gave me a hard time. I'm anticpating one more chapter besides this one to wrap it up, then I'll move on to other things. Thank you so much to everyone who has held on for this long. I appreciate it. I'm planning on fully writing all my other stories before I post them now. I've learned my lesson. =)

Enjoy this chapter, and please leave a review! They make my day!

It didn't take long for Hotch to spring into action. He called the rest of the team and told them to come to Emily's apartment. Once he got off the phone he took to pacing around the apartment while Rossi tried unsuccessfully to calm him down.

"We'll get her back," he kept insisting. Hotch did not respond.

How did this happen? Just a few hours ago she had been lying in bed with him, peaceful. Safe. Now she was in the clutches of a madman who wanted nothing more than to hurt him.

It was like Foyet all over again.

"I should have been with her," he murmured to himself. Rossi looked like he was about to respond, but at that moment the team was knocking on the door.

Once they were all inside, Hotch turned to face them. "I want to know exactly what happened." His voice was quiet but fierce at the same time.

"We arrived at the factory," Rossi started. "JJ, Morgan, Reid, Emily, and I, plus some SWAT. It was a routine takedown. Emily and Morgan took the front entrance, JJ, Reid, and I went through the side."

"By the time we reached the back, they all knew we were there and had escaped for the most part," Morgan took over at this point. He looked beyond guilty. "There was a door that led outside, and it had just slammed shut, like someone ran out seconds before, so we went out it. I didn't see anything, but Prentiss thought she saw a guy running away, and before I knew it she took off. I followed, but someone grabbed me from behind. We fought, I put him in handcuffs, and then realized Emily was gone." He looked at his former boss. "I'm so sorry, Hotch."

Hotch shook his head. "I don't blame you. It's not your fault. Now is not the time to wallow in any guilt you may have." He stared at each teammate before him. "We all need to focus and find Emily before anything happens to her." His gaze faltered momentarily, but within seconds he reconstructed his stoic mask and refocused.

"The man you arrested," he continued, looking at Morgan. "What's going on with him?"

"He's back at the office, under several agents' supervision."

"I need to talk to him."

"Not a chance," Rossi cut in. He gave Hotch a pointed look. "You know you can't go in. Morgan will talk to him."

"Fine. Morgan, go do that now, report back when you've got something. Take JJ with you." Morgan didn't object to the orders, just nodded and left.

"Garcia, I want you to find everything you can on Carl Henderson's grandfather. He owned that factory; see if there are any other properties in his name or his family's. You can use Emily's laptop. Reid, construct a geographical profile for Finch. The factory, his house, the bar he played card games, everything. See what's in his comfort zone." He turned to Rossi, the only one left.

"What can I do, Aaron?" he asked simply.

"Go over Finch's profile with me. We need to rethink everything…"

The furious pounding in Emily's head was the first thing she thought about when she came to. It was a relentless pain, the kind that came with a hangover and made you want to skip work. Unfortunately, Emily knew that wasn't the cause of her pain.

She blinked slowly and tried to take in her surroundings. All she could see was darkness, and odd, menacing shapes in that darkness.

Memories of what happened rushed back to her, and she could have slapped herself for her stupidity if her hands weren't bound behind her back. She had been so desperate to catch Finch so Hotch could be cleared that she threw caution to the wind and did something incredibly reckless.

She could just imagine the team being worried, especially Hotch. He would be the worst. He would probably blame himself, which was stupid, but that was Hotch for you. Emily prayed he wouldn't do anything stupid.

A few seconds later, she began to hear faint voices coming closer. Soon it sounded like they were right outside where she was being held. Thinking fast, she closed her eyes again and let her head slump forward. She heard a door creak open, and she could feel a tiny bit of warmth on her face from the light.

"Jesus, how hard did you hit her, Scott?" a gruff voice asked.

"Harder than I thought," a meeker voice answered. "Sorry, boss."

First Voice grunted. "Doesn't matter at this point. He'll know she's missing, and he won't wait long to try and find her. You're sure this is the one you saw at the airport?"

"Definitely." Second Voice, the submissive in his partnership, seemed relieved he wasn't in trouble.

"Then we wait. Hotchner will come. I'm sure of it."

The light disappeared, and the door thudded shut. Emily opened her eyes but didn't raise her head. She was the bait. Finch (she assumed he was the first voice) was relying on Hotch to come and save her. This was his big plan.

Oh, Hotch.

The BAU worked straight through the night, and as the sun came up Morgan and JJ returned to the apartment with cups of coffee for everyone. Garcia, having logged on to her FBI system from Emily's laptop, had been running names and addresses for hours. If she found a possible location, she gave it to Reid to check on the map, which he had pinned up to the wall. It got to the point where there were too many places where Emily could be.

Currently Hotch was standing in front of the map with Rossi, arms crossed in front of his T-shirt clad chest. He hadn't relaxed in hours. Hadn't eaten or drank anything. His mind was running in circles, trying to get something new out of old evidence. He could feel a headache growing as well.

Behind him, Morgan and JJ were trading concerned looks. They knew what this case was doing to him, and they were worried.

Rossi noticed the Styrofoam mugs of coffee and grabbed two, nodding at Morgan and JJ. He took a sip of one and shoved the second into Hotch's hand.

"Drink," he ordered. Hotch frowned but complied. He shook his head.

"We're missing something."

"You're right. But staring at the same thing for hours isn't going to help. Look at me, Hotch." When he was finally looking, Rossi continued. "You need some rest."

"I'll rest once we've found Emily."

"Listen to me, Aaron. I know how you feel about her. I know how scared you are. But believe me when I say that you're not doing anything for her by not getting a bit of sleep. You know that."

Hotch sighed and looked around the room. Morgan and JJ were still watching him closely, and they nodded, silently agreeing with Rossi. Garcia was sitting on the couch, and she let out a long yawn. Reid, rubbing his eyes, was reading through countless files. Hotch felt a pang in his chest. They all cared about her as much as he did. He couldn't help but think that this was his fault. This man was after him. He took Emily to get back at him. The team was worried and exhausted because of him.

"I'm sorry," he murmured. Everyone was staring at him by now. He closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. "I dragged you all into this when it was my fight."

"Alright, I'm going to stop you right here," Rossi interrupted. He looked at Hotch squarely in the eye. "It wasn't just your fight. We're a family. You threaten one family member, it's our fight. You threaten two family members, it's war." His gaze softened. "We're all here for you. Now go get some rest."

Hotch hesitated then nodded. "Fine." He looked at Garcia and Reid. "You two should rest as well. We'll take shifts." His gaze fell on Morgan. "Wait, that guy from the factory…"

"Can wait," Morgan said firmly. "We'll fill you in later."

Hotch didn't argue this time, just nodded and went upstairs. However, instead of going to the guest room he slipped into Emily's room and paused in the doorway. It looked exactly as she had left it, with the bed looking like she had just rolled out.

He took another step into the room and shut the door behind him. He swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat.

"I'm so sorry, Emily," he whispered.

He didn't even change his clothes, just toed off his shoes and crawled under the covers. Dragging one of the pillowed over, he closed his eyes and breathed in her scent.

I'll find you. I promise.

The next time Finch came to check on her, she didn't hear him coming, so when the door opened she was unprepared for the light. Emily let out a yelp and ducked her head. It couldn't have been very strong, but after being stuck on the dark for who knows how long it left like the sun in the middle of July.

"Ah, you're up." All Emily could see was a silhouette.

"Yep. Thought I must say, not the best sleep I've ever had."

"Witty, aren't you?" The figure that was Finch stepped closer. "Don't you have the decency to look me in the eye?"

"Several hours in the dark doesn't help eyesight," she shot back.

"And feisty too." Finch squatted down in front of her, and she could make out most of his face once her eyes adjusted. She could see the whites of his eyes, and in the center of that white space were tiny dark spots. His mouth was curved into a cruel smirk.

"Now," he continued, "what's your name?"

"You mean you don't know?"

"It didn't matter to me. All I know is you're a member of Aaron Hotchner's team, and I think you care a lot about him."

"What makes you say that?" Emily worked to keep her face blank.

"Well, for one thing, you were the one that brought him home, and I don't think no one else wanted to go, so you must've really wanted to do it. And secondly, he's been staying at your house."

Emily couldn't stop the look of shock that crossed her face, and Finch caught it. He grinned wickedly.

"If you knew where he was," she said in a low voice, "why didn't you strike earlier? Why kidnap me?"

"Because I need him to pay, and just killing him isn't enough." He paused. "He ruined a very important business deal. He wasn't supposed to get all that money." His eyes narrowed. "Wait. You didn't tell me your name. What is it?"

Emily glared at him. "Does it matter? I'm only a pawn here. I'm of no importance to you."

Finch made a tsking noise. "Just the opposite, really. You're the most important part of the plan. Without you, Agent Hotchner wouldn't be playing right into my hands. So," he reached out and yanked her head back by her hair, "what's your name?"

She really didn't see why it matter, so she finally said, "Emily. My name is Emily."

Satisfied, Finch let go and stood up.

"Nice to meet you, Emily." Just hearing her name coming from his lips made her skin crawl. "I'll let you know when Aaron is here." He exited the room and shut the door behind him, leaving Emily in the dark once more.

It took a while for sleep to come to Hotch, and when it did it lasted for only an hour. Still, it was more than he had planned on getting. Sitting up in Emily's bed, he stretched and headed back downstairs. The rest of the team was spread out around the apartment. Hotch's eyes landed on Garcia and Reid.

"I thought you two were going to get some rest."

"We did, sir, I swear," Garcia squeaked. "We just came downstairs a few minutes ago." Reid nodded in agreement.

Hotch was too tired to argue so he let the matter drop and turned to Morgan.

"Alright, what's going on?"

Morgan drained the last of his coffee and began. "The guy's name is Lewis Carter. He's near the bottom of Finch's group, but still knows a little bit. He's also been questioning whether or not he really wants to get mixed up with Finch, so once we realized that it was fairly easy to get him to talk."

"What did you find out?"

"They knew you were staying here."

Hotch clenched his teeth together. "How?"

Morgan shrugged. "Carter didn't know, just that once they found out he had been sent to scope out the place."

Hotch made a fist than released it. "Why didn't they do anything?"

JJ answered this time. "Finch wanted something bigger." She looked scared, probably of what Hotch's reaction would be. "He's really made at you, Hotch. Once he realized you were staying with Emily, he assumed that she… meant something to you."

"That doesn't mean anything!" Hotch hissed.

"Doesn't matter," Morgan replied simply. "Finch needed someone close to you, and in his eyes it was Emily."

Hotch felt sick. He staggered over to a chair and dropped onto it.

"I just thought she was a victim of opportunity." He hated- no, despised- calling her a victim.

"We all did," Rossi said. "Now we see he's just hell-bent on inflicting as much pain on you as possible."

"Any idea where they are?" Hotch asked desperately. "Did Carter tell you anything?"

Morgan shook his head. "He didn't know where. Apparently he didn't have that kind of security clearance."

"However," JJ broke in, "he does know that Finch had several locations to choose from."

Everyone was silent for a moment before Hotch ventured, "So Emily could be at a number of places." He sounded so broken.

"Well, we can narrow it down, can't we?" Garcia asked pleadingly.

"How?" Hotch countered. "What more can we do?" Everyone stared at him in shock.

"Are you… giving up?" Rossi finally asked in disbelief.

Hotch immediately looked upset. "No. I could never give up. I just don't know where to go from here."

"You're letting him win."

Before Hotch could say anything in response, Reid spoke up.

"That's it."

"What's it?" JJ asked. Everyone perked up at the thought of some kind of lead.

"Finch wants Hotch to pay for something," Reid said, talking fast. "He wants to destroy him. Rossi said it himself: Finch is determined to inflict as much pain as possible. That's why he took Prentiss."

"What's your point?" Morgan asked tiredly. "We knew this already."

"Exactly. We should have realized it by now."

"Realized what?" Hotch demanded.

"He wants you to find him!" Reid cried. "This won't mean anything unless you're there to see it. I think, deep down, you know where they are."

Rossi stared at Hotch. "Think, Aaron. Where would he go to make an impact?"

This whole situation reminded Hotch way too much of Foyet, but he shoved the thought away. He put himself in Finch's shoes. He wanted revenge for something Hotch did. Hotch screwed something up for him the moment he was dragged into that card game…

"The bar," he heard himself say. "Where he put on the card games."

"Are you sure?"

Hotch locked eyes with Rossi. "Positive."

Rossi gave a nod. "Then let's go."

When Rossi moved to get out of the car twenty minutes later, Hotch put up a hand to stop him.

"What are you doing?"

"This has to be me."

"We can't let you go in alone," Reid objected.

"He's expecting me. Any more people might set him off." He met Rossi's gaze. "I have to do this."

Rossi hesitated, but nodded all the same. "Be safe."

Hotch gave a nod in return and slipped out of the SUV. Rossi handed him his gun before the door shut, and Hotch tucked it into the back of his jeans. He didn't want to pull it out before he knew for sure they were there. He approached the dark bar cautiously, his eyes travelling around the street to see if anyone was watching him. By now it was very bright outside, and he saw no one.

The bar was closed, but the door was unlocked, thus proving his theory.

They were here.

He had barely reached for his gun when he heard a hard voice say, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Putting his hands up, Hotch continued inside. Standing in the doorway that led to the back room was Finch.

And he was holding a gun to Emily's head.