I was going to wait for at least one more review on the previous chapter but then I thought; eh screw it. I'm a little, let's say, worried about this chapter because I don't feel like it came out exactly like I wanted it even though I've gone over it 100 times (OCD writer problems) but I'll let you be the judge of that.

XV

"Has anyone gotten a call from Emily?" Hotch asked the room and no one missed the use of her first name.

"Our phones don't work, remember?" Reid reminded him and they all watched as he practically ran to the front desk.

"Has Agent Prentiss checked in yet?" he asked the officer manning the desk. The red headed man checked the messages and shook his head.

"No sir, not yet."

"I'm sure everything's fine Hotch." Morgan told the man and went back to his paperwork.

"If they haven't killed each other yet, I'm sure Em will stop at a rest area and give us a call." JJ tried to reassure her boss. Hotch stood at the foot of the table and ran a hand through his hair anxiously. "Aaron?"

"I have a really bad feeling." The dark haired man admitted quietly, earning the attention of his agents.

"What…kind of feeling?" JJ asked as she leaned forward.

"I don't know." Hotch answered.

"Like a 'my-girlfriend's-been-abducted-by-a-sociopath' feeling?" Rossi asked nonchalantly and Hotch glared at him from under his brow.

"Way to jump to conclusions Rossi." Reid crossed his arms. Ever since Emily's return, the whole team felt a sense of overprotectiveness towards her, especially Hotch. Around the time she returned was when he started noticing how he really felt about her and began finding excuses to spend more time with her. Shaking the thought, he refocused his mind and nervously paced the room.

"She is a magnet for that kind of crap." Morgan pointed out and shifted uncomfortably.

"Why don't we give her another half hour before we panic?" Rossi suggested and everyone nodded, seemingly going back to their assigned tasks. Hotch on the other hand, didn't miss the look of apprehension JJ sent his way. The two had developed an inane sense of reading one another ever since they handled Emily's case in Paris and Hotch knew that look very well; he wasn't the only one with a bad feeling and when JJ thinks something bad is going to happen, it usually does.

Mackenzie groaned as she waited for her eyes to refocus. Warm blood oozed down the right side of her face, obscuring her vision on that side. She moved to open the door only to realize that she was still handcuffed to it. Risking a look out her window, Mackenzie saw the SUV that hit them. Three men were recovering from the crash and easing out of their seatbelts.

"Shit." She cursed softly as she desperately tried to free herself. Turning her head, she took in the unconscious agent to her left. The key! Mackenzie reached over and didn't fail to take in the amount of blood coming from Agent Prentiss' head wound or the fact that the pole they had managed to wrap themselves around missed her by barely two inches. She yanked the keys out of the agent's pocket and quickly freed herself. Just as she opened the door to make a run for it, Mackenzie looked back at the woman. A mental image of what would happen to her when Hail found her flashed through her mind and before she knew it, Mackenzie was back in the car and undoing Emily's seatbelt. Taking the older woman's arms she hurriedly pushed her out onto the street and toppled over her. Wincing as she put pressure on her damaged ankle, Mackenzie wrapped her arms around the woman's torso and dragged her to the nearest alley. Slowly and painfully, she managed to find a decent hiding spot to wait Alek out. Pulling the unconscious woman into her lap, Mackenzie tried to ignore the smell of the dumpster they were hiding behind as she pressed a hand to her head. It came away soaked in blood and Mackenzie's already damaged ankle throbbed mercilessly. She shifted positions causing Emily to stir and groan in her arms. Placing a hand over the woman's mouth to stifle the noise, Mackenzie tried hard to listen for any approaching footsteps. When she heard none, she removed her hand from Emily's mouth and realized that the agent was awake. She placed a finger to her lips, signaling for quiet and Emily nodded. After a few minutes, Mackenzie risked a peek out of the corner of the dumpster and saw nothing. "Still think I'm kidding?"

"Are you alright?" Emily took her by the jaw and examined the cut on her forehead. Pushing the woman's hand away, the two stood and Emily began to help the girl hobble towards the nearest phone.

"And where exactly are we off to in such a hurry?" a male voice called from the other side of the alley. Both women spun on their heels and were met with the barrels of two guns. Emily forced Mackenzie behind her as she stared down the two men. One she recognized as Alek, Hail's lapdog, the other, one of the men in the apartment when she and JJ went to visit. Her hand immediately went to her hip only to have the taller man take a step closer.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you Emily." Alek smiled coldly at the woman.

"Mac, my dear." A new voice approached from behind the men. "I'm not sure I like the company you've been keeping recently." Adrian Hail emerged from the shadows like a villain in a la noire movie, his hands buried in his pockets. Emily felt Mackenzie shift uncomfortably behind her and took a step away from the man.

"Walk away Hail." Emily's voice ordered. "We both know you're not getting away with this." Adrian chuckled softly before returning her hard stare.

"Oh Emily," he clicked his tongue. "I knew there was fire in you. Unfortunately, that fire just got you killed." Just as Alek flipped the safety of his handgun off and took aim between Emily's eyes, Mackenzie hurled the woman backwards.

"Adrian, don't." she looked straight past the smaller man and latched her gaze onto Hail's golden one. "Please."

"What did you tell them?" Hail asked her and Mackenzie began shaking her head.

"Nothing." She held his gaze as she lied. Hail moved closer to her, making sure that Alek and the other man had their guns trained on Emily, and grabbed her by the arm hard enough to cause a bruise.

"Don't lie to me." He tightened his grip with every word as he pushed her hair out of her face and examined the cut on her forehead.

"I've never lied to you. Why start now?" Mackenzie's eyes never left his as he gently caressed her face. Emily itched to get the man away from her, knowing how afraid she is of him. She took a small step forward only to be stopped by a knee to the gut. She coughed as she fell and heard Mackenzie yell at the stranger, stopping only when Hail grabbed a fistful of her hair. "You don't order them around; I do. Is that understood?" Mackenzie nodded furiously, her eyes watering from the tight hold he had on her.

"Let's just go Adrian." She urged him. "Please, I want to go home."

"We will," Hail smiled at her before turning his gaze on Emily. "Right after I take care of this." Taking out a gun of his own, Adrian knelt by Emily and took her hair into his fist. She glared up at the man with a ferocity that seemed to momentarily set him aback. Offering the brunette a wide grin, Adrian stroked the gun against her cheek and found himself amused at her bored expression.

"They'll find you if you kill her!" Mackenzie shouted at him. "They'll never stop. Just leave her and let's go." Hail seemed to weigh the options in his head before standing and backhanding the girl hard enough to send her to the floor. Emily practically crawled to get to her and saw that her lip had been split open, sending blood dripping down her jaw. The two helped each other up and stared down Hail together.

"Don't ever assume you can tell me what to do." Hail grabbed Mackenzie's collar and shoved her hard against him, separating the two.

"I'm sorry." The girl trembled in his grasp and avoided his gaze.

"You will be." Hail whispered in her ear causing Mackenzie's eyes to widen and new tears to form. "Agent Prentiss, it looks like today's your lucky day." He tossed Mackenzie like a rag doll to the other man and she didn't struggle as he tied her hands behind her back.

"I will find you. I promise." Emily faced Mackenzie, ignoring Hail as he approached her. He chuckled in response.

"I doubt that." He said before slamming the butt of his weapon against Emily's temple, knocking the woman unconscious immediately. Mackenzie flinched at the sound of Emily's body hitting the ground and looked away, tears flowing freely down her face. Hail bent over her, took out the handcuffs he had gotten from the sedan's door and tethered the woman to the nearest pipe. Turning back to Mackenzie, he wiped away the tears on the girl's face before giving her a peck on the lips.

"Now, where were we?"