A/N: Here's another chapter! I hope you all like it.

Special thanks to jenny crum, Christiangirl and snuggleUP!

I don't own criminal minds!

Chapter 51: Near End

Silence. Complete silence had taken over the car, and JJ's mind was racing a mile a minute. What she was supposed to do? How could she ever break protocol? But on the other hand, how could she not tell Hotch what threat was out there?

So she looked up to her side, and she felt a certainty coming over her. ''Stop the car!'' she ordered as Hotch's eyes stared back at her in confusion. ''Aaron, stop the car!'' she repeated.

Hotch did as she asked. He stopped the car and watched as JJ jumped out, so he followed immediately and slammed the door shut behind him. He ran after her into what seemed to be a small wooded area on the edge of the town. Once she stopped, he stepped right in front of her and felt that something bad was really happening now. ''JJ?'' he asked nervously.

''Where's your phone?''

He took the phone from his pocket and held it up, but before he could put it back, JJ had taken it from him and thrown it far away. ''What the hell?''

''I just need to be sure.'' she breathed out anxiously. ''What…what I am about to you tell you has to stay between us. You can't tell anyone! Not even the FBI!''

''I understand.'' he agreed.

''Aaron, I need you to promise me!'' JJ demanded, knowing what she was about to do was against everything she believed in. But her instincts told her that she could trust Hotch. She would trust him with her life, and now she was entrusting him with classified and sensitive information regarding a security threat against their country. ''You already know too much about me. I was never supposed to tell you anything, but I did. And…and this case, it's bad.''

''JJ, you can trust me.'' he assured, noticing the terror in her eyes. He had seen a look like that before, just not on her face.

''There's a nuclear weapon missing.'' she stated simply and nervously, looking around her to see if they were still alone. ''This all started four months before I met you.''

''Does the…do you…does the CIA have any idea who is involved?'' he stumbled in complete disbelief. He could feel his heart sinking to his feet, painfully slow.

''We're tracking down Howard Schmidt. We believe he's working with a terrorist who has been spotted in DC in the last few months.'' she explained quickly. She was about to continue when her own phone started ringing. She pulled it from her jeans and immediately picked it up when the ID belonged to Collins.

She faced away from Hotch and put the phone to her ear in an instant. ''Yes, sir. Of course.'' she said politely. ''I'll be there as soon as I can.''

She ended the call and put the phone back in her pocket and once again turned back to Hotch. She could see he had the same terrified look in his eyes. ''Aaron, I need you to keep this under wraps, okay?'' she asked, but he was just starring off into the distance. ''I have to go Langley. My boss needs me for a meeting.''

Hotch forced himself to snap from his thoughts and he jumped into action once JJ started moving. ''I'll drive us home and you can go back to work.'' he suggested.

''Thanks!'' JJ said absentmindedly, knowing a lot was going to still come her way. The case wasn't even over, and she already felt herself starting to lose it. The pressure was becoming unbearable that it was causing a weight on her shoulders.

JJ had raced to Langley and quickly managed to move through the building and to the offices she worked. Once she was inside SAD, she saw Collins standing in front of the entire division. Every agent and analyst was present. They were all looking at their boss and listening to him closely.

JJ herself took a seat on the edge of a desk as far away from Owen as she could. But as soon as he spotted her, he came her way and stepped next to her as Collins was talking to everyone.

''Four weeks ago, a team of our best trained agents raided a location that Howard Schmidt visited.'' Collins said quickly as he looked down at his people. All of them had the same goal. Bringing down the people behind the missing weapon, and saving countless of lives. ''With the help of a Hazmat team we gained control of bio toxins, but one crate of enriched uranium went missing.'' he went on. ''People, this was four weeks ago and we haven't found any new leads!''

JJ looked at Owen for a moment as she heard Collins encouraging everyone in the background. Her mind seemed to be somewhere else, but looking at Owen caused her to feel anger and hurt. Sometimes she believed he had changed and then she'd turn around and he would betray her without even thinking about the consequences. He seemed to be only concerned with himself.

''JJ, can we talk?'' he whispered softly.

JJ jumped up from the desk and moved her way through the crowd of people in the middle of the bullpen. She walked into a private office, knowing Owen would simply follow her inside.

''What do you want to talk about?''

Owen immediately sensed the tension and distance coming from JJ, so he kept his face expressionless and he motioned in front of her, hoping to have a normal honest conversation. After everything that had happened between them, they needed that much. He knew he was to blame for most of their tension, but what JJ didn't seem to understand was that he always had her best interest at heart. ''We haven't really talked in the past four weeks, so I was wondering how you've been.''

JJ sighed in disbelief. ''How I've been?'' she repeated. ''Well Owen, let me begin.'' she said sarcastically. ''There's a nuclear weapon somewhere out in the world, we don't have any new leads and my personal life is going to shit. So how do you think I am?''

''I just wanted to apologize!'' he said desperately, but JJ didn't seem to believe him at all.

''Owen, I'm only here to talk about work, not our personal issues. I'm over and done with it.'' she explained quickly, her voice distant and professional. ''Is there anything you need to tell me?''

''I've been tracking Isamm's wife, and today I finally had a chance to speak with her.'' he began. ''She told me that they were having money troubles, but that Isamm always managed to keep them afloat.'' he went on.

''But his financials showed no problems for him and his family.'' JJ said, realizing that Owen had probably stumbled onto something. ''He had a monthly salary from his cleaning job, right?''

''Yes, he did.'' Owen replied. ''But when I checked out his workplace, I found nothing. The company he worked for doesn't exist.''

''Do you think it's a front for Asam Hawsawi's activities in the US?'' JJ wondered out loud, knowing he had to be thinking the same thing.

''It has to be.'' he agreed. ''I found a listed address for the business, but I've had no time to check it out.'' he said as he held a piece of paper in his hand.

JJ took the piece of paper from his hand and started to walk back towards the door. ''I'll check it out.''

''You shouldn't go in alone.''

''I'll be fine, Owen. And I think you should tell Collins about this right away. I'll make contact as soon as I have something.''

Before he could stop her, she had already disappeared. So he walked from the office, hoping JJ wouldn't get herself into trouble by going out on her own. He knew she was a capable agent, but that didn't make him worry any less. Their case was far from ordinary and everyone was on edge because of the threat that was looming over them every waking minute.

Once JJ reached her destination, she parked her car and quickly managed to get out. She grabbed her gun from her purse and put it in the waistline of her jeans for protection, not knowing what she walking into. But she felt confident enough on her own. To her it was another lead that probably wasn't going to lead to anything.

She stopped in front of the door, and knocked on it. She waited for about a minute and when she still had no answer she began to pry open the door, all the while making sure that no one saw her or caught her. She managed to open the door rather quickly so she slipped inside, only to be greeted by darkness. Complete darkness. She let her hands go behind her back for her gun, but then she suddenly felt two strong dominating arms wrapped around her waist and pulling her close against a hard muscular chest.

She could hear her heart thudding in her chest as the darkness had taken over her vision. She was frozen in the set of strong arms as she prepared herself for a mode of attack. But before she could do anything, the lights turn on and she was faced with Christian, which didn't make her feel much better. Had he followed her?

''You look terrified, Alex.'' Christian mocked as he walked around JJ very carefully. ''What are you doing here?''

JJ forced herself to calm down and get herself together so she wouldn't be found out. ''Just checking out a new lead.'' she responded. ''What are you doing here?''

''Hmm, just hunting down my instincts.'' he said, his voice hoarse and dark. He closed the remaining gap between JJ and him and pushed her into the wall with his body, their lips almost touching. ''I've missed this.'' he groaned out as his lips descended upon her neck.

JJ felt a shiver of disgust going through her. She couldn't respond to his advances. She had in the past, but now she couldn't. She would never cheat on Hotch, not even for her job or to further her own career. So she put her hands on Christian's chest and she gently pushed him a step back. ''I can't do this.''

''And why is that, Alex?'' he asked with excitement. ''I know you don't mix business with pleasure, but business is over my darling.''

''Wh…what…what are you talking about?'' JJ stumbled, knowing something wasn't right. He was being too forward with her. Something about him wasn't right, and she could just see it about him.

''Grigory, Ivan, show the lady what we found, shall we?'' he said cockily as he pulled JJ with him to the other side of the building. He pushed open a door and they stepped outside into an alley where he stepped next to JJ.

JJ looked around her, only seeing a white van in front of her. Christian's associates opened the doors, and that's when JJ nearly lost it. Her skin went pale, her head started spinning and she felt her body weaken as she fought to stay on her feet. It was the missing weapon. It was right there in front of her in that van with a timer on it. Someone had set it off.

''What is it, darling? Is something wrong?'' Christian asked.

JJ took two steps back, her hands behind her back as she clutched her cell in her hands. She didn't know how Ward had come in possession of the weapon, but she knew he didn't intend to sell it. She felt her hands shaking as she began typing away at her screen, hoping to send out a message before they were on to her. ''Nothing, I'm just a little shocked.'' she said, hoping to convince him. She had just pressed send when three guns were suddenly pulled and she was staring down the barrel of Ward's gun.

''How did you know?'' JJ asked, dropping her phone to the ground with the hope that her message had gone through.

''I saw it in your eyes the moment I mentioned her.'' he yelled. ''I just knew.'' Christian yelled, his voice filled with rage and hatred towards the blonde. ''You killed my wife, didn't you?''

JJ kept her mouth shut, knowing no answer could satisfy him, so she just stared back at him coldly.

''You bitch!'' Christian yelled as he leaped forward, slamming his gun against JJ's head. He watched as she fell to the ground so he gave her a rough kick against her stomach. ''Tie her up and throw her in the back of the van!''

On the other side of town, Hotch was hovering over files as he sat in his office at the BAU. He was hoping to find something new after JJ had revealed what the CIA was working on.

And as he turned the page, his phone beeped and he smiled when he realized the text came from JJ. So he picked up the phone and opened the text, and realized it was complete nonsense.

JJ: Award hits, furthest wool.

He put his phone back down, knowing JJ would call later if anything was wrong. But then he realized JJ would never intentionally send a message without meaning. She was CIA after all, and that had to mean something. So he put the phone to his ear and dialed the number, only to hear it was out of service.

He jumped up from his chair and stormed out of his office with the feeling that something was terribly wrong, and there was only one place he could go to find out. And that place was Langley.