A/N: Here's the next chapter. I hope everyone likes it!

I also just started a new story (JJ/Hotch), so if you guys are interested you can check it out. It is called: Lost Years.

Special thanks to snuggleUP, HotchRocks, jenny crum, GottaLoveCM, Jareau37 and Westie80!

I don't own criminal minds!

Chapter 67: Devastation

Banging and noises caused Hotch to snap his eyes wide open. He searched for Christian and he was nowhere to be seen. Then his eyes gazed at JJ. She was still unconscious and it looked like the wound on her side was severe. Blood pool on the floor had increased dramatically. ''JJ! Wake up!'' he yelled as hard as he could. He suddenly heard voices and more noise coming towards them. He had no idea what was happening. And then there was a blast. He heard it but couldn't see it. His eyes were ringing as he struggled in the chair, realizing someone was blowing up parts of the warehouse, and he and JJ had no way out.

JJ had been forced into consciousness by the blast. Her vision was blurry and she couldn't hear a thing, only the sound of ringing as she tried to figure out what was happening around her. She met Hotch's gaze and knew it was bad. She tried to pull herself up, but her body was too weak to fight. She had nothing left. She had given up.

Hotch looked around the room, searching for a way out if they ever had the chance to escape. But his search was cut short when he saw two agents, wearing vests and each had a machine gun. He realized they had to be rescue from JJ's side. ''Over here!'' he called out, not being able to hear his own voice. ''Here!'' he yelled.

He sighed out in relief when the two agents walked towards them. One of them approached JJ and the other rushed to Hotch's side. He knew they were safe, but he didn't know if the part of the building where they were held had explosives to, so time was important. They had to act fast.

JJ looked up at the agent in front of her, feeling relieved when she recognized the face of her friend. She looked over Emily's shoulder to see that the other agent was struggling to get Hotch out of his chair. ''Get him out of here!'' JJ pleaded. ''Emily, please! Take him out first! He can't die in here. Save him.''

Emily turned around, listening to JJ's orders and she did what she was asked. She knew JJ well enough to know that she would never forgive herself if Hotch wouldn't get out alive before her. So she ran to the other agent and began to help in struggle to get the cuffs off as she felt Hotch stare at her weakly in disbelief. ''Come on, Hotch!'' Emily said as she helped the other agent colleague lift Hotch from the building. And slowly they disappeared from JJ's sight.

Hotch's eyes opened when the daylight hit his eyes, but the sunlight caused him to close his eyes again. He felt his body aching in pain as he was helped towards one of the ambulances that was already on the scene. But that wasn't what caught his eye. He noticed bodies covered all over the place. He knew they were probably victims from the first explosion. The sight nearly made him vomit as they finally reached the ambulance. Emily helped him to sit down on the edge and immediately headed back towards the building when another agent stepped next to him. And as his eyes followed Emily to the direction of the burning building he realized JJ hadn't been behind him. His eyes searched the scene, but he didn't see the blonde anywhere. The scene was too crowded with agents and cars for him to spot JJ anywhere. So he stood up and started to walk away from the ambulance as one of the EMT's followed him and tried to hold him back. But Hotch fought him easily and started to make his way to the building.

''JJ!'' he called out. ''JJ!'' he said and when his voice went silent another blast went off. He fell backwards from the force of the blast, but immediately picked himself up. He looked were the blast originated from and he knew it was where he and JJ had been held. So he ran towards the building in a hurry, ignoring the voices that told him to stop.

''JJ! No! JJ!'' he screamed frantically as he was tackled by one of the men. ''Where is she?'' he yelled out. ''JJ? Please…'' he yelled as he looked up to the man who was holding him down. It was Owen and at the sight of his face, Hotch didn't feel much better.

Owen held Hotch back as he was on the ground, completely falling apart. ''I'm so sorry. She was still inside.'' he said apologetically, his heart breaking as he stared at the fire and smoke resonating from the building. The sight was devastating and the CIA could put another tragedy on the list that never seemed to end. They had lost eight agents, including JJ. ''They tried but it was too late.'' he said, his own voice breaking as he watched the smoke and fire consume the entire building. And then he realized, JJ was inside with no way of getting out. His former partner was gone. It made him feel like nothing else mattered, and he couldn't believe how things had ended when they last spoke after he had arrested her. It all seemed to stupid in that moment.

''No! Noooo!'' Hotch yelled. He broke down. His body seemed to turn into a puddle as he fell to the ground, his hands before his eyes as the tears streamed down his face. But a mental flash of JJ caused him to get back up and stumble forward, not willing to believe that she was gone, he kept going as Owen yelled for him to get back.

Owen quickly caught up with the stumbling man, his heart racing as he tried to make sense of what just had happened before his eyes. ''Hotchner, stop!'' Owen yelled as he blocked his path but there seemed to be no end to other man's determination. ''Your only concern should be for yourself right now!''

''My only concern is for JJ right now.'' he stammered as he tried to fight against Owen's strong hold, and when he finally realized that nothing could be done, he took a step back. It was real. Just reality. She was gone. The building was burning, with her in it.

''I am so sorry! I am sorry.'' Owen apologized as he let his hands fall to his side in defeat.

''What did you expect?'' Hotch croaked out in anger and tears. He felt enraged at the loss but at the same time his heart was breaking like it never had before. He couldn't look at Owen without blaming him, without blaming JJ for the world they lived in. The lives they led and created just to do their jobs. JJ had betrayed him. She had lied to him about everything. Her name, her life. All of it.

''What?'' Owen asked as a tear streamed down his face.

Hotch stepped forward with all of the energy he had left in his body. ''What happened to JJ is solely because of her job. Did you really expect that she could live her life without getting hurt?'' he snarled, taking out his anger and pain on Owen. ''JJ created a world with enemies! Did you really expect that JJ wouldn't get hurt? Did you really expect her to have a happy life?'' he uttered as his knees started to get weak. ''JJ was my hope. She was my everything, and…and…and now she's,'' he faltered because he couldn't say the words. ''now she's gone.'' he croaked out, falling to the ground. He fought the pain the best he could but he felt his body shutting down. He could feel the adrenaline being replaced with an aching pain, and within seconds he was unconscious.

Owen was kneeled down beside Hotch as chaos was unfolding in front of him. ''I need a medic!'' he yelled loudly. Fortunately a medic came rushing to his side and came to Hotch's aid. So Owen stepped away to let her do her job. At the same moment he spotted Emily, talking to a group of four people who had just stepped from the SUV's, so he ran towards her, hoping she had some information on the situation. The agent in charge had gone inside the building with the strike team, and was presumed dead after the explosion.

Emily stood across from her team members as she was in complete shock. Each of them was looking at her differently. All of them had a degree of desperation on their face, and she didn't know how she could possibly explain what had happened to their boss. But they deserved to know part of the truth. So she breathed in deeply and prepared herself for questions. ''Hotch is safe.'' she started to give them some peace. ''Medics are taking care of him as we speak.'' she continued on, but then she stopped. The words were no longer coming from her mouth. She had tried to get back into the building after Hotch was saved, but it was burning down. She wasn't able to save her friend. She had lost someone important to her, and in that moment she didn't know how to deal with it.

''How did this happen?'' Morgan asked in complete disbelief. ''This scene is crawling with agents, but they're not us.'' he went on, searching for answers as to what Hotch was involved in. But as he watched Emily break down before him, he knew something terrible had happened.

''They're CIA.'' Emily managed to say in between deep breaths. ''One of their agents and Hotch were held captive by someone they've pursued for months.'' she explained when she noticed Owen coming their way. She immediately turned towards him as she watched the tears welling up in his eyes. So she put her arms around him and pulled him close and she began to cry into his shoulder. ''I couldn't get to her, Owen.''

Owen held onto her tightly as he felt Emily shake in his arms. He looked over to the people standing behind her. ''Agent Hotchner is going to be fine. The medics are fixing him up.'' he informed them. ''He's in the second ambulance.''

Reid, Morgan and Garcia immediately ran past them to get to Hotch while Rossi kept standing. He had a feeling about what had happened. It probably had everything to do with why JJ had left DC and broken Hotch's heart, and now he realized she actually had real reason for it. ''Emily?'' he spoke out gently while touching her shoulder. He waited for her to pull away from the other man. ''Was Jennifer inside? JJ?''

Emily nodded. ''Yes,'' she whispered. ''She was inside with Hotch. We weren't able to get her out.''

Rossi realized the weight of the words Emily had just spoken. His best friends' worst nightmare had just come true. The love of his life had died. And Rossi knew better than anyone that Hotch could never survive that kind of hurt. In the past few months he had completely thrown himself into work while neglecting his personal life. ''Hotch will never survive this.'' he stumbled.

''I know.'' Emily expressed in agreement. ''You should go to him.'' she insisted, hoping that some familiar faces would keep Hotch calm, maybe even settled for the time being. But Emily knew the possibility was very slim. After everything JJ had gone through for him, she realized that their love was unlike any other. It was simply epic. Two people who loved each other more than anything, had found each other. But now tragedy had struck, and ripped them apart forever. She had experienced the loss of a loved one before and it had taken her years to live with it. And living with it meant that you were forever changed. From that day forward, Hotch would never be the same person again because he had lost his other half.

As Emily began to walk to her team, the deafening sound of a gunshot rang in her ears.