A/N: Here's another chapter. I hope you all like it. And all I can say to you is: hold on!

And I am also very sorry for the wait, but I am unfortunately in the middle of exams and assignments so college is taking up every bit of my time.

Special thanks to Westie80, guest, snuggleUP, HotchRocks, jenny crum, Casie01, GottaLoveCM, 2Addicted2YourLove, guest, guest, aaronhotchnerlove, waiyeex90, Christiangirl and lovecm!

I don't own criminal minds!

Chapter 68: Family Business

JJ had watched as Emily had taken Hotch out of the building. The thought that he was safe meant the world to her. But as she looked to the other side of the warehouse, she saw a flood of smoke coming her way. The panic once again set in, and she started pulling at the cuffs, not feeling the pain because of the adrenaline that was being pumped through her veins. She struggled with every ounce of power she had, but there was simply no way of escaping her restraints. So in a moment of realization that she was about to die, she closed her eyes and imagined Hotch standing across from her with his sweet smile. The imagination caused a smile to spread across her face. She had lived. For six months she had lived a life she never dreamed of having. And six months would be better than nothing.

As JJ was starting to give up and her body was slowly deteriorating, she heard the frightening sound of footsteps right behind her. At that point her head was hanging down and she had absolutely no fight left in her body. So when she suddenly uncuffed she fell to the floor without being able to protect her body by using her arms to hold herself up. She collided harshly with the ground and within seconds she felt someone taking her hands and dragging her across the ground. It was at that exact point that JJ realize that Ward had her and wasn't finished. He had come back for her, which meant that her chances of survival became even slimmer.

She felt her skin burn as she was still being dragged across the floor. The dirty cement floor caused scratches to form along her skin and every now and then she felt the man give her a hard pull. She knew she was about to die at the hands of Christian Ward, and she couldn't believe that was it. It couldn't be. Her life would be taken before she actually started living, but in her imagination it was probably always meant to be. Her family had died young and now it was her turn to the join them, even though she felt it wasn't her time.

When he finally let her fall back to the ground she turned onto her side and tried to push herself up by her arms, but she immediately fell back to the ground. The severe blood loss from the stab wound was starting to take its toll on her. She had no strength left. And when the daylight hit her because he had opened a door, she felt the hope leave her body. She saw a black SUV parked outside with tinted windows. But she suddenly started wondering how Ward could not have been noticed if CIA had been on the scene. She had seen Emily and another agent. They had to be searching the surrounding area, so she knew that a sound might get their attention.

Ward walked back into the warehouse with a grin on his face as he watched JJ struggle. He threw the doors to the exit shot as another explosion rang in the background. This was what he wanted. To see her in pain and desperation. His plan hadn't turned out exactly as he wanted to, but he had the woman who tore apart his life. In the end that was all that mattered to him. Once he reached JJ's side again he yanked her up onto her feet roughly and pushed her into the daylight. The force of his push was forceful enough to cause JJ to collide with the car. ''Jennifer Caitlin Jareau.'' he mused while taking slow steps approaching JJ again. ''How does a young woman like you become so good at killing?''

JJ had her back against the car as she listened to him talk to her. He was taunting her, trying to get her to respond. He had known a different part of her. An alter ego that wasn't anything like her. But it was her real self that had killed Natalya Severov in that alley and left her behind. It had given her nightmares. Killing someone wasn't anything she ever wanted to, and now she was facing the consequences of it. ''Just kill me!'' JJ whispered at the top of her voice. She knew he wasn't done with her. He would probably try to break her down emotionally before hurting her physically.

''In a few minutes, darling. Don't worry.'' he smirked. ''But I would like to get to know you first, Jennifer.''

JJ felt her heart sink to her feet. Her legs were beginning to give in again and was slowly falling to the ground. But then she felt his hand on her throat and slamming her back against the car. With the other hand he put a knife against her throat as a warning. But to JJ it no longer meant any harm. The wounds that had already been inflicted upon her were going to kill her if she didn't get help soon.

''When I first discovered who you were I started searching for your family. I was hoping to kill them all and make you suffer. So imagine my surprise when there was no family.'' he said and then he began to laugh just mere inches away from her face. He could see the tears watering in her eyes so he went on. ''Dead sister, dead mother. Deadbeat father, huh?''

''Stop!'' JJ begged. She didn't want to relive her past. It was the one part of her life she had long ago buried.

''Did your dad not want you?'' he furiously. ''Is that why you have this job? Because of daddy issues?'' he continued. ''It must have been so hard to grow up in foster care knowing your father was out in the world somewhere.''

JJ didn't respond. She closed her eyes instead and tried to focus solely on her own heart beating loudly in her chest. She couldn't listen to his voice anymore. The man was sickening her. He embodied everything that she hated in the world, and he was her own personal nightmare.

Christian finally removed the knife from her throat and lowered it to JJ's abdomen. He clenched the knife in his hand and pushed it forward with force. With one hand he cupped her cheek as he held the knife in place, watching as JJ began to scream out in pain.

JJ could feel the knife tearing through her skin and insides, causing her to scream out in terrifying pain. She lowered her hands to the wound and she felt the sticky hot moisture running all over hands, her legs starting to give out again. But before she had a chance to sink to the ground, she heard a gunshot as if was somewhere in the distance. But when she watched Ward fall to the ground, she realized she was about to be saved. She sank to her knees, her hands still covering the wound as she began to shake violently. She saw footsteps closing in on her but she no longer had the strength to look up at the man in question. But when she heard the voice, she felt a wave of hope. It was Adrian.

Adrian had fired the gun, shooting Ward in his leg to make sure he'd survive the shot. And as one other agents was arresting Ward, Adrian had ran to JJ's side. He was now kneeling down in front of her. He could see that she was in bad shape. She was covered in her own blood. ''JJ, I'm here!'' he whispered as she layed on the ground. ''I'm going to get you out of here.'' he said, hoping to make sure she opened her eyes. ''JJ, Aaron is waiting for you. You have to hold on.'' he encouraged, when in truth he didn't know if the other man was alive at all. But he needed JJ to fight.

He knew medics weren't in the area where he was with JJ, so he did the only thing he thought might save her life. He picked her up in his arms and held onto her tightly as he began to race back to the area where agents and medics were stationed. He could hear her breathing beginning to hitch several times, so he increased his pace. In the end he was running back with her in his arms, knowing her life depended on it. Maybe it was the adrenaline that made him run like he had never done before. Or maybe it was something else entirely. Maybe, just maybe, it was just the fear to see a friend die.

Emily had immediately responded to the gunshot, like every other agent around her. She had taken out her gun and started running towards the origin of the sound. As she began to run, she suddenly stopped. She saw Adrian coming around the corner of the warehouse with a blonde in his arms. She felt the tears welling up in her eyes, realizing that JJ was actually still alive at that point.

''I need a medic!'' she yelled at the top of her lungs as she began to approach Adrian who was getting very close. She ran towards him, and then she finally noticed that JJ's wounds were severe. The blood covered up her wounds so Emily didn't have a clear view of her injuries. ''Adrian, how is she doing?'' Emily asked in a panic.

The male medic had rushed to their side as Adrian lifted JJ onto the gurney the medic had with him. He held onto JJ's hand when she was laying down. ''She has one stab wound to the abdomen and one to her side.'' he informed quickly. ''Where's Aaron Hotchner?''

''He is on his way to the hospital as we speak. He's going to be fine.'' Emily assured. ''You should go with JJ.'' Emily tried to say, but Adrian immediately interrupted her.

''No, you go with her.'' he suggested. ''I have to take care of a prisoner.''

He ran away before Emily could make an objection, so she jumped into the ambulance and took a seat next to JJ as she watched the paramedic work on her in a hurry. The doors were closed and Emily couldn't imagine what JJ had just gone through. And even in that moment, even she didn't know if the blonde would live. She was unconscious and the bleeding was severe. Emily was concerned that she had already lost too much blood.

The ride to the hospital seemed to have taken hours, but once they reached the hospital time started flying by. Emily was still holding onto JJ's hand as she was lifted from the ambulance and surrounded by doctors waiting for them. She suddenly noticed that her eyes started to flutter so Emily immediately rushed closer to JJ's side, not caring about being in the way of the doctor next to her. ''JJ! JJ!'' she called out in a panic. ''JJ, wake up.'' Emily pleaded.

From far away, JJ could hear the voice calling out her name in the distance. She fought like hell to open her eyes and to respond to the voice hovering somewhere close to her. ''Aaron.'' she whispered.

Emily heard the faint whisper coming from JJ's lips. ''He's fine, JJ. You saved him.''

''Hmm, goooood.'' she said as her voice began to fade. ''I…I'm so cold.''

Emily was about to respond when they reached the wing of the hospital only for personnel, so she stepped back so she didn't delay the doctors in any way. And with blood on her hands, she was standing in the middle of the hospital as doctors kept passing her by, and she was left to wonder about the faith of her friend. Her conditioned seemed to be very bad, and Emily couldn't even imagine what would happened if JJ wasn't going to make it. Hotch's life would be forever altered and he'd probably never stop blaming himself for his loss. A part of him would die with her.