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BITTERSWEET
::  lviii. | here comes the sun

"She's going to kill me." Jj told Emily.

"Not if you get Cole back first." She placed her hand on jj's shoulder, "And we will. How is she?"

"Stable. Out of it, but stable." Jj spoke, as they walked around the hospital.

As they continued, so did their conversation.

"The only way we'll have an up on this guy is if we knew or had this drive. Do you have any idea of where it could be?"

Jennifer shrugged, "If I did, I would have given it to him a long time ago but I might know what he's talking about."

• • •

[ 15 HOURS EARLIER ]

Hotch stared at the screen in front of him. His mind was still trying to wrap around everything and how the hell they were able to get kidnapped right under his nose. But he knew all that mattered in that moment was the present. Right then, they can do what they can to help and get them back.

Even though he thought, what else was there to find? Which coming from him is odd. Emily came through the door with hope in her eyes.

"We have a lead."

Hotch rushed out the conference room with emily to the elevator. As soon as they stepped on . . .

"Where are we headed?" He asked.

"The apartment. Some of the team's gonna meet us." Emily continued, "Apparently, a neighbor saw Cole with two men who did not look her age."

"They're looking for something and they thought Cole knew." Hotch's thought continued.

The elevator dinged and the two got off, stepping into the car garage. They then began to rush to the car.

"Why would she know anything?" Emily questioned, "If anyone, it would be Strauss and jj. Unless, it was a distraction to give jj and Strauss an opening to escape."

Hotch nodded as he opened the passenger door, "I'll call Garcia."

So after calling Garcia on the way, she went to looking for the missing piece of the puzzle as everyone else winded up at the apartment. Once they stepped in, they saw the whole place was trashed.

It was unbelievable. Words couldn't describe what was going through Hotch's mind anymore. He was livid at this point and he wanted the case solved fast.

• • •

Because of the two being left alone with no psychical abuse, it meant their strength and stamina was building back up —— especially for jj. She doesn't know how, but she going to use everything in her power to get free.

She glanced at Strauss who looked still completely out of it. The body guard then walked out the door and that's when jj began.

"We're going to get out of here." She looked towards Strauss again.

"I hate to break it to you, agent jareau, but I don't see that happening for awhile." Erin was being logical.

The agent just sighed, knowing well Strauss was right. Their best luck was just to wait for help but jj couldn't sit around and wait with Cole out there with that man. She wondered how the hell they got there, because not only a few days ago was her life fine.

She just hoped that they come sooner. A lot sooner because she doesn't know how much longer she can sit there and stare at the wall in front of her.

As Jennifer continued to hang there quietly, a thought came to mind. She began thinking out loud . . .

"Why would he just leave us here? Cole has no use for him." She spoke out loud, "We would be better in this situation."

"Collateral." Erin began, "She's his insurance. When we find the drive, which he expects us to then he would want to trade Cole for it."

"Sneaky bastard." Jj mumbled, letting herself just fall. She was tired of keeping up with the strength to hold her. She just wanted her team to be there already, but she knew they were working hard.

• • •

Vanessa was just rolled out of surgery and back into her room. She was resting, top of the head wrapped in some sort of gauze. But that rest didn't last long when she heard the door opening. Her eyes slowly opened and there she saw Will approaching her bedside.

"How you feeling?"

"Like a truck hit me." Vanessa groaned as her eyes wandered around the room, "Why am I in the hospital?"

"You don't remember what happened?" Will questioned even though he recalled what the doctor said about the memory loss.

She shook her head, "No. Could you tell me?"

Will soon remembered about what he learned about memory loss and telling someone who lost their memory could send them down a frenzy. So he treaded carefully with a lie.

He quickly thought on the spot, "You had a bad fall and was quickly rushed here. Jj's on a case, but she'll be back as soon as possible and Cole's at school."

"Where's Henry? Is he ok?"

Will nodded, "He's with the nanny."

Vanessa nodded slowly because of her head. Just when her eyes were about to close again for rest, the door opened again.

"I'm so glad you're ok." Florence rushed to Vanessa's side.

Vanessa's eyes opened again, "How . . ?"

Florence nodded, "I asked around about you." Her eyes met will's, "Officer."

He lightly nodded before glancing towards Vanessa. He noticed her eyes closed again, so he took it upon himself to escort florence out so she could sleep. From there, the two began chatting in the hallway, getting more acquainted with each other. Of course florence asked questions that will wasn't able to answer, so he told her the same lie he told Vanessa.

She had a bad fall.

• • •

A few hours later, the team pieced together what was really going on and managed to locate where jj, Erin, and their families were. The team safely took them back to the BAU and that's where jj filled them in about the flash drive and what Cole's role is in this.

Now they had a new mission, find the flash drive and get Cole back. However, until then, Jennifer went to the hospital to check on Vanessa, accompanied by Emily. Since jj was on the sidelines, there wasn't much she could do except let the team do their thing and be by her girlfriend's side.

Emily and jj were walking the halls, on their way back to Vanessa's room when one of the agents sparked up conversation.

"She's going to kill me."

"Not if you get Cole back first." Emily placed her hand on jj's shoulder, "And we will. How is she?"

"Stable. Out of it, but stable." Jj spoke, as they walked around the hospital.

As they continued, so did their conversation.

"The only way we'll have an up on this guy is if we knew or had this drive. Do you have any idea of where it could be?"

Jennifer shrugged, "If I did, I would have given it to him a long time ago but I might know what he's talking about."

The two agents then continued but quickly came to a halt when they noticed Will approaching them. He had to make sure jj knew what he said to Vanessa and her current condition because she had yet not found the doctor.

"Have you seen Vanessa yet?" He looked between Emily and Jennifer.

"We did. Why?"

He looked to jj, "She suffered some memory loss and she doesn't know the truth of what happened. You can't tell her though."

Jj's brows furrowed as her arms crossed over her chest, "What did you tell her?"

He deeply sighed, knowing well Jennifer wasn't going to like it, "All she knows is that she had a bad fall, you're on a case, and Cole's at school." He lastly said, "Something she doesn't know will cause damage. It's best to let her memory rebuild by itself."

Jj shook her head, "You should've talked to me first Will."

A light scoff escaped from his lips, "Come on, jj ——- you were taken. I had to step up or she would've gotten way worse and you know it." His voice then calmed down a bit, switching the subject, "How's Henry?"

Just before jj could answer, a nurse approached them with a concerned expression.

"You guys are the agents, right?"

"Everything ok?" Emily chimed in.

"I saw someone heading in the direction of Ms. Reigns room. They kind of looked suspicious." The nurse spoke.

No second later did the three sprint to Vanessa's room. Just when they get there, no one was there. So for precaution, Vanessa was moved to another room. The agents inspected that room as well as check security cameras because if that nurse was right and someone went into that room, they might've did something. Also for protective measures, jj asked the doctor to check Vanessa.

The blonde also concluded that, the flash drive wasn't the only thing Chris wanted. He wanted to make Jennifer pay, so hurting her where it hurts is a must which is why she thinks someone was sent to eliminate Vanessa.

a/n:
case is closing very soon.