Em

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is a pretty dark piece here. There might be some graphic descriptions of violence in later chapters. Coarse language will also run throughout. Please be forewarned.

This is primarily a JJ/Em friendship/in danger piece, but the rest of the team is very much involved. Thanks for the read. Any and all feedback is appreciated.

It's cold and she's freezing, but at least she's alive. That's what she tells herself. She thinks that maybe if this wasn't so damned scary, she would almost laugh.

It's unbelievable, almost absurd, this whole thing.

The shivers keep her from laughing.

She thinks maybe that will come later, but it won't be mirth. It might be delusion.

She thinks that by then she might be long past gone.

She wonders what the hallucinations will be like.

When she had her wisdom teeth removed as a child, she remembers dreaming of dancing gorillas. When she had surgery to put pins in her badly broken ankle at the end of a soccer season when she was fifteen, she remembers teaching a forest how to sing "Let It Be."

Something tells her that these hallucinations will be far worse.

"JJ?" a voice says. She turns slightly and winces, her body reacting to the pain and the cold.

And the heat. She feels that, too.

But it's her blood that's hot.

The blood that should be inside her, but isn't.

"Shh," she whispers, putting her hand out. "We're okay."

She's lying. They're so far from okay that it's ridiculous.

"I see colors," her companion slurs out. "Do you see colors?" Her hand lifts up and waves in the air.

"No," Jennifer Jareau answers softly.

"I'm so tired."

"I know," JJ replies, her words disappearing into a coughing fit. She winces in pain, her injured ribs sending fire up through her.

She feels so heavy, so worn out.

In her defense, the fact that they're locked inside a walk-in freezer isn't helping things.

Cold is an understatement. Assuming they survive this, pneumonia seems inevitable.

Not too long ago she wondered if either of them would be able to live with the guilt and horror of what they'd been forced to do.

She'd wondered if they'd ever be able to look at each other again.

Now, as another shiver whips its way through her lithe frame, she thinks maybe they won't have to worry about it.

She thinks about the gun.

She looks over at her friend, sees a violent tremor take hold.

She knows that this won't be pretty if they try to hold out.

"I want to sleep," Emily slurs.

"No."

The word comes before she can stop it and even she's a bit surprised by it. After all, wouldn't it be merciful to just let her fade? Let her not feel this?

Yes. Merciful.

But in the end, not her.

"No sleeping, Em."

She crawls over, pulls Emily against her and wraps her arms tight around the taller woman's abdomen. It hurts her terribly to do so, but she wants to give(and take) whatever warmth she can.

Whatever comfort.

"Come on, stay with me," she pleads. "Stay with me."

She's not ready to give up.

Not yet.

EARLIER THAT SAME DAY.

It starts like most days. Begrudgingly, a bit sloppily and with black coffee. The coffee is hideously bad this morning, but she inhales three cups of it greedily, thankful for the caffeine.

Her dreams had been terrible the previous evening and she's more disturbed by them than she cares to admit.

She hates dreaming. Hates waking up slicked in sweat.

She doesn't remember exactly what she dreamed about, but she thinks it had to do with one of the many cases that came across her desk the evening before.

She knows she's not alone in her nightmares, but she has no desire to share them. Not because they're her secret, but because she simply doesn't want to relive them.

"Hey, you okay, JJ?" she hears a voice say. The voice is a note too high for her ears on this overcast late winter morning and so she reaches again for the coffee pot. As she does, she steals a quick glance at her watch – it's about fifteen minutes after eight.

"Hey," she finally answers, between sips. She scowls as she accidentally spills some of it on her white dress shirt. She looks up and meets the eyes of her colleague and friend, Emily Prentiss. "Yeah, fine. Kinda." She dabs at her shirt.

"You didn't return my call last night."

"Sorry?" Jennifer Jareau replies, wondering if she can actually get away with this.

"Uh huh. Everything okay?"

"Yup." She says it with a smile that doesn't quite meet her eyes.

Emily tries to gently change the subject. "So you and Will were…" She moves her body just a bit, smirking, her intent clear. It occurs to JJ that Emily is more awake and friendly than she usually is at this time of morning and that if she cared to, she could quite easily turn the questioning around on her friend.

Perhaps another time.

"No, no, no," JJ laughs instead. "None of that. He's out of town. He took Henry to see his relatives and besides, Will's strictly hands off for awhile. At least until Henry's done…"

"Whoa, nuh uh," Morgan says as he approaches. He spins around and tries to retreat.

The girls share a confused look for a moment and then come to the same understanding of what just occurred. Neither of them can let it pass without comment.

"You know, Derek, " Prentiss grins as she steps towards him. "She does have breasts." She draws out the last word longer than is necessary, making it just a little bit scandalous.

"Oh, I'm well aware," he answers. He drops himself down into his chair, tries to kick back. Tries to play cool.

"You are?" JJ says, eyebrow up. She finds that harassing Morgan brings her out of the funk she's been in ever since she woke up. And that he's blushing now, well that makes her just about downright giddy. "Derek, I never knew…"

"No, no, no," he says, shaking his head. Then. "Hotch."

"What about Hotch?" JJ asks, eyebrow up, confused.

"Apparently Morgan's aware that I have breasts, too," Aaron Hotchner asks, voice dry. He appears from behind them, file in hand. He looks up just long enough to smirk slightly and then his eyes go back down to the file.

He still doesn't miss the fact that now all three agents are blushing. That he enjoys this as much as he does is his secret, but not one that he keeps very well.

"Oh my God," Prentiss is the first to say. "I need coffee."

"JJ drank it all," Morgan grouses. He looks up at Hotch, who is still standing nearby. "Case?"

"No, just paperwork," Hotch tells them. "It's catch-up day. I expect everyone to clear out their in-boxes by the time they go home. And no handing it off to Reid. He's already trying to figure out where the stack on his chair came from."

A guilty look passes between the trio, but none of them cop to it.

"Uh huh," Hotch mutters, before turning and heading back up towards his office. It's amazing he gets this because he never looks up from the file he's reading.

"I need coffee," Prentiss repeats again just as the door to Hotch's office closes. She turns to JJ. "You're buying me coffee."

"Me? Why me?"

"Because somehow, this is your fault."

"I agree with that," Morgan chimes in. "I'll take a tall black coffee. Strong as hell." He accents it with a smirk and a wink. It's a little bit suggestive even though he's suggesting nothing.

It's just Morgan being Morgan.

"Fine," JJ sighs, terribly put upon. Then she reaches out and grabs Emily's arm. "But you're coming with me."

Prentiss considers declining, but then considers the stack of files on her desk that she didn't manage to slide into Reid's pile. Anywhere, but here seems like a great idea about now.

As they're leaving, JJ leans over and says to Morgan, "BTW, Henry's been done with breastfeeding for about three months now. I was talking about him sleeping in our room."

When Morgan blushes just a bit – quite involuntarily, of course – she can't help but grin. She thinks to herself that despite the cold and gloomy weather and all the crazy things on her mind, this is going to be a good day.

In a few hours, she'll realize how very wrong she was. But by then, it'll seem like a lifetime has passed.

Their order is quite large; hot drinks for everyone on the team. The guys try to be cool and stick with regular coffee, all except Reid who asks for some concoction that was made in a lab somewhere. Mocha java Houdini super splat or something like that.

It has like six shots in it. Enough to give someone a heart attack.

When Prentiss orders it, she's near to incredulous. She reads and re-reads the paper with the orders on it. Then she looks up at the young barista and shrugs.

As they head back towards JJ's SUV, they're carrying two full trays.

"So you said Will is out of town?" Prentiss asks.

"Yeah," comes the response, a big tight.

For the second time that morning, Prentiss asks, "Everything okay?"

JJ sighs. "Yeah, everything's fine. It's just…I think I'm being unreasonable."

"What do you mean?"

"He took Henry to see his grandparents, they never have seen him. I didn't want…I didn't want Henry away. We argued…it was stupid…I just…I don't like him away."

"Him?"

JJ chuckles, "Either." It's an admission of feelings, but like most things JJ, it's understated. She's still not ready to slip on a ring, still not ready to commit to anyone besides her son.

They reach JJ's SUV and head to opposite doors. The alarm disarms with a chirp, but JJ's speaking again so neither of them hear the scuffle behind them.

"It's the first time he's been aw-" she doesn't finish the sentence, crying out in pain instead.

"JJ?" Prentiss calls out.

Then she hears a loud thump.

Her heart starts to pound.

Loud. Too loud.

She doesn't call out again, instead pulls out her gun and leans down to peer under the SUV, towards the opposite side.

She sees JJ laying on the ground, not moving. Her grip tightens on her gun. She stays silent, keeps creeping towards her friend.

No one appears to be around, but she doesn't trust that.

Because she thought she heard something before JJ cried out.

She thought she heard the distorted buzz of electricity.

Just as she bends down to touch JJ, she hears it again.

She doesn't cry out; she groans.

And then there's nothing but the cold embrace of darkness.

The hairs on the back of his neck go up after thirty minutes has passed without their return. By the time an hour passes, he's pacing. He holds his phone tight in hand and calls her cell again. He catches the time on the clock on his wall – just a bit after nine-thirty.

"JJ, it's Hotch," he says. "Just trying to find you."

He's already left the message asking if she knocked off the Starbucks and is lying on the ground, shaking from too much caffeine.

Then he was joking. Now's he not.

Something is wrong.

The closest Starbuck's is 6.2 miles away. 6.4 according to Reid who claims that Mapquest is counting wrong.

Considering that two weeks ago Mapquest tried to send them to the top of the mountain when they were searching for the ocean, he can believe that.

In any case, a hair over six miles there, another six on the return trip…they should be back now.

He picks up his phone and dials again.

It goes right to voicemail.

She wakes up first, groggy and in pain, but conscious and a bit surprised to be alive.

She looks around and sees a sliver of artificial light catch off of blonde hair. She lets out a breath that she didn't know she was holding.

"JJ," she hisses, crawling closer to her friend. She shakes her. "JJ. Come on. Open your eyes. Come on. JJ. Come on."

After a moment and another shake, she adds on a desperate "please."

That does the trick. Blue eyes open, blink and then she hisses in pain and follows it with a heavy groan and a whimpered "owww."

"Yeah, I know," Emily says compassionately. "We were tasered." She slides a hand behind JJ's back and helps her into the sitting position. "Easy. Easy. Are you hurt anywhere else?"

"Umm…I don't know?"

Emily can tell that JJ's still disorientated, still trying to get her wits about her. "It's okay. Easy."

"Where are we?" JJ asks, her voice thick. She's starting to clear the cobwebs from her vision and is now looking around, trying to figure out what's going on, trying to understand.

"I'm not sure," Emily replies. "Some kind of room. No windows, lights up on the ceiling above us, heavy door. Some kind of safe room maybe? Honestly, I don't know."

"All I wanted was coffee," JJ groans.

Emily considers cracking a bad joke, but decides against it. Instead she leans towards JJ. "Tilt your head."

JJ does as told, but the expression on her face shows her confusion.

"He got you right behind the ear."

"Awesome," JJ replies. "Now can you tell me why?"

"No," Emily admits. "But wherever we are, whoever took us, he took our guns and badges."

"And our watches," JJ replies, glancing down at her bare wrist. She looks up, "Why?"

Emily doesn't have an answer for that either.

After almost two hours, they stop being patient and decide it's time to go looking for their missing colleagues. They've been doing this job too long not to worry.

They find JJ's car in the parking lot, next to it several cups of coffee, their remains spilled out beneath the cups.

"Is there a camera anywhere around?" Morgan asks, to no one in particular. He's bent down next to the coffee, wishing it would tell him a better story than it is.

"No," Spencer Reid says from where he is, leaning over the passenger side of the car. "The manager of the coffee shop said their parking lot cameras haven't been used in months. They've just been letting people think they're on." He gets out of the car and shuts the door. "Nothing looks out of order in here."

Hotch scowls at this, but says nothing. He's glancing around, trying to mentally figure out how two trained and armed FBI agents got kidnapped in broad daylight.

That they are women is irrelevant in that respect. They're two of the toughest agents he's ever met.

"Obviously our Unsub wasn't fooled," David Rossi says as he comes over. He addresses Hotch. "No one saw anything."

"How is that possible?" Morgan demands.

Hotch replies first. "He was waiting for them." He points towards the hood of the SUV. "He probably saw them get out of the car and he waited for them up there."

"The question is," Rossi asks thoughtfully, "Was he looking for them as FBI agents or as women?"

Sleeping would have been easy. They're both exhausted and their bodies weary, but the fear of the unknown keeps them awake.

They've both already paced the room, checking every wall, looking for any way out.

There is none.

They're trapped inside this room.

Now they're both sitting on the cold ground, leaning up against the wall, neither saying anything.

Waiting.

Just waiting.

Then suddenly, he speaks, his voice booming over the loud speaker. They both jump, surprised and maybe even a bit scared.

Anger replaces that quickly.

"Hello, ladies."

"Who are you?" Emily demands as she stands up. JJ is slightly slower to her feet, waving off a brief wave of nausea.

"Your host," he says simply. "And I imagine you're both wondering why you're lucky enough to be here with me."

"Narcissist," Emily says under her breath. It's wildly inappropriate and the timing is suspect considering.

That doesn't stop JJ from adding a quiet "Shmuck."

The man ignores them both. "You're here because I want you here."

"For what reason?" Emily demands.

"To amuse me."

This time, JJ doesn't even bother to try to hide her eyeroll. She's unimpressed by his Wizard of Oz act.

"How?" Emily asks, turning in a complete circle. She's looking for the speaker, trying to understand the complete scope of their predicament. She finally spots a camera up near the ceiling.

"All in time, Agent Prentiss. For now, I want to stress the importance of following my every order when I give it to you."

The women exchange a look, not sure where is going. That he knows who they are is more than mildly upsetting, but expected considering the loss of their badges.

Emily touches JJ's hand, both protectively and to offer comfort. JJ doesn't need it, but she's glad it's there.

"This will be a test for both of you. A test of your ability to obey orders. If you do everything I say – everything – you will survive. Refuse one order and you will both die as horribly as you could ever imagine. Understand?"

Emily tightens her hand on JJ's forearm now. "You're making a very big mistake. This is a bad idea. It can't end well."

"It can," the unseen man ensures them. Then, after a pause and a chuckle. "But it never does. Because of women like you. Who won't obey. Who can't obey."

"Someone has mommy issues," JJ mutters. Her voice is low enough that only Prentiss can hear her.

But somehow he hears. "You could say that, Agent Jareau. Speaking of, I see you have a son."

JJ's eyes flare and she steps towards the camera. "If you even think about touching him–"

She doesn't get the words out before he speaks over her. "Your cute little boy is in no danger from me, Agent Jareau. The only danger for him is you."

"Go to hell," she growls.

He laughs. "Already reserved a ticket, my love."

The words send a chill up the spines of both women. It's so casual and normal. And more than a little creepy.

He continues before either of them can reply. "But you misunderstand me. I don't mean that he's in danger from you, I mean he's in danger of losing you."

She swallows hard, can't speak, fades back just a step.

"Good, then I think I've made my point. I'm sure we'll need to re-address later. We always do after the first session. For now, however, rest. You'll need it. So will I. Before I do, though, I'll leave you with this: obedience is your only option. I have no sympathy for you. You will either do what I tell you to do or you will do. It really is that simple."

A click and the intercom goes off.

Several seconds pass and then Emily speaks first. "What the fuck was that?"

She's not a subtle woman. She's not subtle now. She's angry, frustrated and even a bit scared.

Scared for JJ, who has suddenly turned inside and is thinking only of her son.

She figures JJ is suddenly very thankful that her son is hundreds of miles away, visiting relatives in New Orleans with daddy.

It's not just JJ she's scared for, though.

She's scared for herself, too.

She doesn't think their unknown control freak captive has something normal in demand for his orders.

She doesn't think he's going to demand that they do laundry. However creepy that might be.

JJ starts to reply, but before she can, they again hear the whistling of electricity. This time it signals a TV snapping to life. It's up on the wall, high above them, safe from them.

The screen comes to life, showing something that likely happened in the very room they're in.

Emily puts her hand over her mouth. JJ just stares at the screen in mute horror.

On the screen are two women. One is tied to a chair. The other is above her, holding a knife in her hand. Both are covered in cuts and bruises. Both look like they've been through hell. The woman with the knife leans forward and cuts the woman in the chair. The victim screams as blood cascades down her cheek.

The woman in the chair says, "Please, no more. Please stop."

Looking like she's about to throw up, the woman with the knife pulls back, shakes her head, says she can't. Says it again and again and again. Begs her unseen master not to make her do this.

A disembodied voice replies, "Do it or you both die."

"I can't," the woman with the knife says. And then she crumbles to her knees. She doesn't have this in her. She just can't.

She starts to cry, but within seconds, her tears turn to coughs. Her friend starts coughing then as well. Minutes later, they both start bleeding from their nose, mouth and ears. They're in agony.

They both die that way.

All because the woman with the knife refused to hurt her friend.

White type appears on the screen. It says: "They survived six hours." Then the screen goes black.

JJ and Emily exchange a look.

It might say: "oh shit."

It might say: "this is very bad."

But mostly, it admits to fear.

Mostly it wonders if they can do what needs to be done to survive.

It has no idea.

TBC…