Previous part of Flawless.

***

Chapter 8

For obvious reasons, JJ hadn't slept. Prentiss had though. Well, JJ supposed that wasn't so much her going to sleep as her eventually passing out. JJ had tried to keep her awake by talking but it had been no use. Now JJ was sat in the armchair that Davenport had brought in with him earlier, her head resting on her hand. She was hungry, tired and scared which was not a good combination. The team had better find them soon.

JJ was so lost in her own world that she didn't even realise the door was being opened until Davenport's two hired thugs walked in. One of them was carrying a large pointy knife. JJ almost fell over trying to get out of her chair and move as far away from them as possible.

"Keep still," the man who JJ recalled as being called Lester, "If you just do what we tell you we won't have to use this."

He waved the knife around slightly and JJ froze. Lester nodded to the other man and he placed a bag on the floor. JJ hadn't realised he had been carrying a bag. She supposed she must have been distracted by the murderous looking hunting knife being waved in her face. The man picked up the bucket of water that JJ had used to clean the blood off Prentiss' head earlier and walked over to where Prentiss was still sleeping against the wall. JJ realised what he was going to do.

"Emily!" she cried too late. Prentiss opened her eyes just in time to see the water before it hit her in the face. She spluttered and looked around the room with a thoroughly confused expression on her face.

"Was that really necessary?" she said in a strained voice.

The man shrugged.

"Emily, are you okay?" JJ said, not really daring to move just in case their captors became a bit stab happy.

"Yea," was all Prentiss said in reply, she had spotted the knife and was eyeing it warily.

One of the men, Lester, pointed to the bag that the other man had put on the floor, "Mr. Davenport has some clothes for you to change into. He put some towels in there an all so you can have a shower. He wants you both looking nice for later." He raised his eyebrows suggestively. JJ felt ill.

"I don't think so," Prentiss said folding her arms.

JJ glared at her. She had said she wasn't going to do this. As if worrying for herself wasn't enough, JJ had to worry about Prentiss getting herself killed too because she couldn't keep her fat trap shut. Though she supposed she'd be worrying about that even if Prentiss wasn't purposely trying to annoy their captors.

"You can go first, mouth," Lester said, taking a towel from the bag and a set of clothes. Prentiss looked like she was about to argue but she noticed JJ glaring at her from the other side of the room. Instead she snatched the offending objects from the man and stalked over to the bathroom.

"Oh, and if you try anything, remember we have your pretty blonde friend here," the other man who hadn't yet spoken said.

Prentiss narrowed her eyes slightly, but nodded and closed the bathroom door with a snap behind her. JJ found herself in the room alone with the two aggressive looking men.

"I hope he kills that one soon," said one of them, jerking his head towards the bathroom door where the sound of running water could now be heard.

The other one nodded with a smirk, "You'd better get comfortable here, blondie."

JJ wasn't sure if he meant now or in general, though she wasn't about to do either. She took this time to examine the men closely. There was actually a resemblance between them so perhaps they were related. They were about the same height and built but Lester looked older then the other man with flecks of grey in his untidy brown hair. His face was slightly fatter than the other mans too. Suddenly, the man she was starring at looked up.

"What are you looking at?" Lester said gruffly.

Shrugging, JJ said, "Nothing."

He huffed, "You must have been looking at something."

Now would probably be a good opportunity to find out as much as she could about her captors, JJ thought. After all that was a profilers job, to find out about an unsub and then to stop them.

"Why are you working for Davenport?" she said offhandedly, almost as though she didn't really care.

At first she thought they weren't going to answer her, but then the one that wasn't Lester said, "He picked us up off the street didn't he. Said if we did what he said he's give us warm meals, clothes and somewhere to sleep."

"Yea, couldn't say no to that could we Bill?" Lester added.

Bill shook his head and grinned.

"Are you related?" JJ asked.

"Yea, brothers," Lester said, then he suddenly looked up sharply at her, "Nosy aren't you? Why you asking us these questions?"

JJ shrugged and said, "Just trying to make conversation."

Lester grinned as thought he accepted this explanation and moved towards her. JJ stiffened as he put his hand on her head and began to stroke her hair.

"Get your hands off me!" she said, knocking his arms away and backing off in disgust.

For a moment JJ thought the man was going to hit her, but instead he kicked the leg of the chair bitterly, sending it flying across the room. He then advanced on her with a raised hand and JJ backed up against the wall. She closed her eyes preparing herself for the blow. But it never came. Bill had run forward and grabbed Lester's arm before he had touched her.

"Don't, Lester," he said sounding annoyed, "Mr Davenport will be angry if you hurt them for no reason."

"It weren't no reason!" Lester said huffily. But he backed off and JJ let out a small sigh of relief.

The sound of running water in the next room suddenly stopped. Prentiss must have got out the shower and JJ would have been lying if she'd have said she wasn't a bit relieved. She didn't want to spend another second alone in this room with those two thugs.

"Your turn," Lester said to JJ as Prentiss opened the bathroom door and came out dried and dressed.

JJ walked to the bag and picked it up being very careful to walk with as much distance between her and Lester as possible. Prentiss seemed to notice this and sent her a concerned look which JJ ignored. She opened the bag and looked inside.

"These are my clothes," she said feeling confused.

"I know," said Lester, "We took them from your room."

JJ swallowed hard and walked into the steamy bathroom, slamming the door behind her. Hotch, Reid and Morgan had better find them soon, she thought.

***

Chapter 9

Spencer wondered how Hotch could stay so calm in these types of situations. He was giving out orders and walking around the scene as though this were nothing more than a routine case. Spencer couldn't do that. His palms were sweaty and every time he thought of JJ and Prentiss trapped by the man who was killing these women his chest constricted painfully. He wondered if this was how JJ had felt when he had been taken by Tobias. As his mind drifted to his own kidnapping he began to think of the dilauded tucked away safely in his bag. But no, Spencer had already had his daily injection and refused to succumb to the desire to double his dose in these troubled circumstances. No matter how tempting it might be.

It made Spencer feel slightly better that Morgan didn't seem to be hiding his distress as well as Hotch either. He kept sliding his hand across his head and glaring at passers-by, which Spencer attributed as being a sign that the older man was troubled. He had just got off the phone from Garcia, it turned out that Martha Black, the doctor that had been snatched, had done health checkups on the entire workforce of the law firm that Jordan Berry had worked for. That was good enough a connection for Hotch so he had spent the last five minutes delegating tasks to Detective Coopers work force and was now preparing to leave with Spencer and Morgan to talk to Jack Davenport again to see if he had any idea about which employee it could be.

It had just turned seven o clock and Spencer and Morgan followed Hotch to the car without a word, each of them lost in their own thoughts. Yesterday evening Spencer had answered a call from the coroner who had been examining Jordan Berry's body. He had said that there were signs of sexual assault as well as beatings. Spencer didn't like to think of his friends in that situation so he was doing his best to keep his mind on other things, but then again that wasn't really going to help rescue JJ and Prentiss.

"We're here," Hotch said, slowing the car to a stop.

The three agents walked purposely through the doors of the law firm. It was still quite dark outside because it was winter, and that coupled with the fact that the place was quite empty it made the building feel quite eerie. Perhaps that was just Spencer feeling on edge tough. There was a thin blonde woman sat at the receptionist desk to greet them though. She seemed to recognise Morgan from his visit yesterday.

"Good morning, Agent Morgan," she said, batting her eyelashes at him.

Morgan obviously just wasn't in the mood for this, "We need to speak to your boss."

"He's only been here for ten minutes but I'll call him," she said, clearly put out by the lack of response she was getting.

She picked up the phone and dialled a number quickly. She spoke in low tones so Spencer couldn't really hear what she was saying. Not that he was really listening to her anyway.

"Do you remember the way?" the receptionist said to Morgan, "It's just I'm not supposed to leave the desk when there's no one else around."

"Yea, floor thirteen right?"

She nodded and Morgan turned without another word. Spencer had to jog slightly to keep up with his and Hotch's fast pace. He didn't even hesitate to get into the elevator as they made their way up to talk to the man they hoped could help them rescue JJ and Prentiss.

Just as they reached Davenport's door, Hotch held out a hand to stop Morgan barging in. Hotch then turned and knocked on the door, ignoring the glare Morgan was sending him.

"Enter," came a man's voice from inside.

They did and found Jack Davenport sat at his desk. Spencer briefly thought he looked tired but decided not to mention it. The man in question smiled slightly at them.

"Yes, I remember you Agent Morgan. Is there something else I can help you with? It's just I have a very big case coming up soon and actually came in early to get some work done," he said in educated tones.

"Yes, there is," Hotch said, "Two more women have been killed."

The man frowned, "That's awful."

"Yea," Morgan agreed, "And we think the killer is one of your employees."

"What makes you say that?" Davenport said, his eyes widening slightly.

Spencer then spoke up for the first time, "We have found a connection between the three women and this law firm. Jordan Berry obviously worked here, it is quite possible that Katie Mills has been involved in a case against your company and Martha Black has done physicals on almost every lawyer that works here."

"That means that the unsub is most likely someone who works here as they will have had contact with each of the victims," Hotch finished.

"I see," said Davenport, still wide eyed, "I suppose I can't argue with that logic. What can I do to help?"

"We're going to describe a man for you, and we'd like you to tell us if you know of anyone who fits the description," Spencer said.

Davenport nodded, "Okay, but as I've already told Agent Morgan, I don't really know most of my staff. I will try my best though."

"This man is likely in his mid thirties and relatively strong. He hasn't had much luck with women in the past and he's probably hit on a lot of the women who work here. They might consider him to be creepy and generally try to stay away from him," Morgan said.

Thoughtfully, Davenport strummed his long fingers on the desk in front of him, and then he said hesitantly, "I suppose that could describe Kenny Marks. He is just an errand boy really, does small jobs for the lawyers like copying and carrying things. I know that at the Christmas party last year he got a bit handsy with one of my top lawyers. She threw her drink and him and then slapped him. It caused quite a stir at the time."

"Thank you. Is there anyone else?"

"Not that I can think of. I have your number though if anything comes to mind," Davenport said, producing Morgan's card from his jacket pocket.

------------------

"Garcia," Morgan said down the phone, "You're on speaker. What can you tell me about Kenny Marks?"

Spencer thought it was a good indication of how dire the situation that Morgan and Garcia weren't using flirty pet names with each other.

"He's the tea boy at your local law firm. Age thirty-two, worked there for five years," Garcia said quickly.

"Criminal record?" Hotch asked.

Spencer could hear some furious typing down the phone, "A couple of DUI's and had a restraining order places against him three years ago."

"Sounds like it could be our man," Morgan said, looking significantly at Hotch.

"Do you have an address for us, Garcia?" Spencer asked.

There was more fast typing, "Thirty-six Reading Road."

"Thanks, Garcia," Morgan said.

"Hey, Derek?" Garcia said before he had closed his phone, "Make sure you get my girls back, okay?"

"Sure thing, Baby Girl. Don't you worry," Morgan said softly.

Spencer wished he could be as confident as Morgan.

***

Chapter 10

"JJ," Emily said softly as the blonde agent stood up and began to pace.

"What?" JJ replied, running her fingers through her hair distractedly.

"You really should try and get some sleep before you collapse," Emily said in the same soothing tone.

"I'm not tired," JJ said stubbornly.

Emily smiled slightly. She had expected her to say that. But even though Emily herself had been asleep briefly, she knew that JJ hadn't. The huge dark rings under her eyes gave her away. That and the fact that when JJ had been sat down just before she kept drifting off and banging her head on the wall. Emily noticed that she was purposely sitting in a way that meant that would happen just in case she started to fall asleep.

"I know you don't want to, but you need to keep up your strength."

"I'm fine," JJ said, raising her voice slightly.

"JJ, please just try and get some rest. I promise I'll wake you up if I hear them coming," Emily said beseechingly.

"No!" JJ snapped.

Sighing, Emily rubbed her sore neck and JJ's annoyance seemed to melt away.

"I'm sorry," she said tiredly, "I didn't mean to snap at you."

"It's okay," said Emily, "But please will you just go to sleep? I swear that I will wake you up if I hear anything."

JJ hesitated before saying, "All right then. Don't you do anything stupid while I'm asleep though."

"Would I?" Emily said with a wry grin.

JJ shook her head and rolled her eyes before moving to the bed and lying on top of it. She wouldn't let herself relax too much so she stayed on top of the covers and stared at the ceiling. Emily could tell that she was still trying to stay awake, but the fact that she was now comfortable was making it too hard. After only a couple of minutes JJ had drifted off into the land of nod.

It was only after JJ's breathing had become slower and she had fallen into a deep sleep that Emily allowed her control to drop. She took in a deep shuddering breath and buried her face in her hands. Since they had been brought to this place she had been consumed by anger and annoyance, but when she had gone into that bathroom she could still hear what the men were saying outside the door. She had heard one of them express their desire for her death, and judging from what she now knew of the unsub they were likely to get their wish. Sooner rather than later Emily imagined. Now rather than feeling angry, she felt scared. It hadn't really occurred to Emily that she and JJ could die. On reflection she suspected that she had just blocked those types of thoughts from her mind as a kind of defence mechanism. It was a textbook reaction.

It was a good job their team were good, Emily thought. She had full confidence that Hotch, Reid and Morgan would find them. She just hoped they came in time.

---------------

It wasn't until later that Emily heard the sound of the door being unlocked from the outside. She had only heard it twice but it was a sound she wasn't about to forget in a hurry. She quickly scrambled to her feet and shook JJ's shoulder gently.

"JJ, wake up," Emily said, making sure she wasn't talking loudly enough for whoever was outside the door to hear her.

JJ reluctantly opened her eyes, but as soon as she had she realised what was happening she quickly sat upright and tried to make herself look like she hadn't been asleep. She had just finished flattening her hair when Davenport walked through the door with a beaming smile on his face. This did not bode well for them.

"Good afternoon, my dears!" he said as Lester and Bill walked in behind him.

Both women stared blankly at him. He didn't seem phased.

"How are you both today?" Davenport said in the same cheerful voice.

Again Emily and JJ stayed silent. Davenport's smile faltered but was hitched instantly back up again, but other than that their lack of response still didn't seem to bother him.

"Guess who I've been talking to this morning," he said as though talking to a small child he was about to present a bag of sweets to, "Your friends! Agents Hotchner, Morgan and Reid."

This made Emily feel more hopeful, if they had spoken to Davenport then they were bound to figure it out soon enough.

"Don't worry though, I sent them on a wild goose chase," Davenport said, tilting his head to one side.

Emily bit back a sarcastic remark. She wasn't about to make that mistake twice.

"Now," Davenport began, "I have a job for you both."

"Oh yea, and what's that?" JJ said in a steely voice.

"I want you to cook dinner for us," he said with a serene smile.

"What?" JJ said at the same time as Emily said, "You can't be serious?"

"I said, Jennifer, that I would like for you to make my lunch, and yes Emily. I am deadly serious," Davenport said, placing delicate stress on the word 'deadly'.

"Why?" JJ breathed.

"So I can see which one of you is the better cook," Davenport said as though this were the most obvious thing in the world, "I need my perfect woman to be a perfect cook."

-----------------

As they had been walked to the kitchen, Emily and JJ had tried to talk to each other and decide what they were going to do. Each time they had gone to speak though they had been forcefully pushed away from each other and Davenport had placed himself in between them. He openly stared at both of them. It was very disconcerting.

Much to their intense relief, Davenport had gone to make a call just as they arrived at the expensive looking and large kitchen. It had somehow passed between the two women that they were going to imitate what the other was doing so neither of the dinners they made was better than the other's. Emily racked her brains and tried to think of what to make while JJ seemed to be doing the same. Then their eyes met and JJ inclined her head slightly to the loaf of bread on the counter top next to a fancy silver toaster. Emily smirked slightly and nodded. The three men were going to get nothing better than a couple of sandwiches from them.

Lester and Bill were watching them intently as they walked around the kitchen to look in the cupboards. While making the food Emily realised how hungry she was. She tried to ignore it though.

After merely five minutes, Emily and JJ had made three boring old ham sandwiches between them. Bill had raised his eyebrows at them but said nothing because Davenport was strolling towards them.

He looked at the sandwiches and the expression on his face darkened, "You think this is funny?"

"Why would we think it was funny?" Emily said, keeping her voice as neutral as possible.

Davenport narrowed his eyes and picked up the plate of food. He examined it closely before hurling it with great force against the wall where it shattered with a resounding smash, causing bits of the plate to go flying in all directions. Emily and JJ took a reflexive step closer to each other as Davenport focussed his angry gaze on them.

He moved towards them and Emily felt herself involuntarily clutch JJ's arm and pull her backwards. What happened next happened so fast that later on Emily wasn't even sure that she was remembering it right.

JJ looked around frantically and had spotted a collection of sharp kitchen knifes just out of reach. Both she and Emily made to grab them. They had barely moved a foot forward though before they had both been tackled to the ground by Lester and Bill. Emily struggled furiously against her attacker. He was too strong though. He had her pinned to the ground with her arms trapped over her head within seconds. His face was so close to hers that she could feel his breath. She turned her head away from him and saw JJ in a similar position just a few metres away.

"I will not have a disobedient wife!" Davenport cried.

There was a sudden 'oof' sound from Lester. JJ had somehow managed to throw him off.

"Run, JJ!" Emily shouted.

But instead JJ went for the knives again. This time it was Davenport who grabbed hold of her. Emily knew that Davenport was surprisingly strong and fought back the urge to cry out when he hit JJ hard across the face. JJ tried to fight back but he took hold of her wrists and forced her backwards into the counter. Emily watched in horror as he forcefully pressed his lips against hers and kissed her while JJ's futile struggling became weaker and more desperate.

He suddenly stopped and pulled away from her and JJ gasped for breath. Emily could see tears shining in her eyes.

"Come on," he said to Bill who had just recovered, "I think we need to teach these two a lesson."

Emily suddenly found herself being dragged to her feet and pulled by both Lester and Bill after Davenport, who had stalked ahead of them dragging a still struggling JJ behind him by a handful of her hair.

***

Chapter 11

"Freeze!" Morgan shouted, pointing his gun at the terrified looking fat man sat on his couch.

Kenny Marks was staring at them with wide eyes. He looked utterly terrified and quickly raised his hands in the air, eyeing the gun in Morgan's hand as he did so. Morgan felt Hotch step up beside him, also holding a gun.

"Um," the man stammered, "Is there a problem? Did I do something wrong?"

"We'd like you to come to the station with us," Hotch said

--------------------

This wasn't right. As soon as he had seen Kenny Marks, Morgan had known it wasn't him. After he had searched his apartment there was absolutely no doubt in Morgan's mind that this man was not their unsub. It was the apartment of a total slob. It was messy and generally just disgusting. But there was nothing in there to suggest that this man was anything more than a dirty pervert. Sure, he fit the profile in as much as he'd had bad luck with women in the past, but that was it. It was unsurprising too. Morgan usually didn't like to pass judgement on the way other people live their life, but the guy's apartment had just been filthy and the man himself obviously didn't put much stock in his own personal hygiene or appearance either. His teeth were yellow, greasy hair was combed slickly back from his receding hairline and there were food stains all over his threadbare clothes.

At the moment Hotch was sat in the interrogation room with Marks questioning him about the kidnapped women. The man claimed to have been familiar with one of the victims because he had worked with her, but swore he had never met the other three in his life. Morgan could tell Hotch believed him but was just making sure anyway. It was unlikely that this man was even capable of carrying out such a crime.

Hotch looked at the one way mirror and shook his head almost imperceptivity where he knew Morgan and Reid would be standing. They both would have missed it if they hadn't been such seasoned profilers. Hotch left the room and came to stand beside Morgan and turned to watch Marks through the glass.

"It's not him," Morgan said, shaking his head dejectedly.

"Well, obviously," Reid replied scathingly.

"We could call Davenport again and see if he can think of anybody else. Or maybe we could just ask that secretary," Morgan said thoughtfully.

"How do we even know that's the connection? Garcia still hasn't linked Carly Jenkins to the law firm so maybe we're just missing something. We could be looking in completely the wrong place," Reid said, shaking with suppressed rage.

Morgan looked at the boy sadly. Everyone knew he had a bit of a soft spot for JJ and he was taking her kidnapping badly.

"We should take a break for a few minutes," said Hotch interrupted, looking at his watch.

Not really wanting to take a break, Morgan was about to argue. But Reid beat him to it.

"Do you even care, Hotch?" Reid said, letting anger take the better of him, "It seems like you just aren't bothered that two of our friends could be being tortured or killed while we 'take a break'."

Morgan could tell that Reid regretted his words as soon as they left his mouth. They all knew that it just wasn't true. It was too late to take them back now though.

Hotch spun around and anger practically radiated from him, however when he spoke his voice was calm and steady, "Reid, I know you're frustrated and upset so I'm going to let that comment slide. But don't you ever again suggest that I don't care about JJ and Emily. I care so much that it physically hurts every time I think about what this unsub could be doing to them. But letting ourselves become overly emotional and letting it cloud our objectivity will not help either of them. I was suggesting we take a five minute break so we can clear our heads and try to get a little perspective. Not because I don't care."

"I'm sorry," Reid mumbled, looking down at the floor and causing his hair to fall forward and obscure his face.

"Try not to worry too much," Hotch said in a kinder voice, "JJ and Emily are strong. They'll make it through this."

Morgan had remained silent throughout this exchange. He tried to take comfort in Hotch's words. He was right after all, JJ and Prentiss were strong. Morgan knew that they would be able to keep themselves alive. And at least they had each other, unlike Reid who had been alone when he had been taken by Tobias Hankle. But somehow knowing these things was no consolation. Strong or otherwise, things like this just shouldn't happen to people. Especially his friends.

----------------

"All right then, Reid. If you stop pacing you can call up Davenport and see if he's thought of anything new," Hotch said with the merest hint of annoyance creeping into his voice. It was now late evening and the three agents had still made no headway.

"I'll do it," Morgan said quickly.

Hotch nodded at the same time as Reid said, "Put it on speakerphone."

Obliging to Reid's request, the phone in the police headquarters boardroom was put on speaker phone and after only a few rings the now familiar nasal voice of the receptionist could be heard over the phone.

"This is Agent Morgan," Morgan said, once again not feeling up to small talk, "I'd like to speak to your boss please."

There was a short pause and then the woman replied, "I'm sorry but Mr Davenport isn't here at the moment. He went shortly after you left this morning."

Morgan frowned, "Do you have any idea where he could be? Somewhere to do with his new big case maybe?"

There was yet another pause on the other end of the line, then the woman said slowly, "As far as I am aware, Mr Davenport has no ongoing cases."

Out of the corner of his eye Morgan saw Hotch raise his head and stare at the phone.

"What? Are you sure?" said Morgan, unconsciously clenching his hand into a fist.

"Let me just check the computer," she said. As they could hear the sound of her typing, Morgan looked over to Hotch and their eyes met. They were both thinking the same thing.

"No," said the receptionist finally, "Mr Davenport hasn't worked a case in almost three months."

"Thank you," Morgan said shortly before cutting the woman off and dialling Garcia's number.

***

Chapter 12

"Let go of me," JJ cried, stumbling forward again as Davenport pulled forcefully on her hair.

"I don't think so, Jennifer," Davenport said breathlessly, "I will not have my wife disobeying me. I hate it when my wife tries to kill me!"

"I'm not your wife, jackass," JJ said, trying to get close enough to him to hit him or do something to get him off her. He was surprisingly strong though and was able to keep her at arms length and still pull her along at the same time.

JJ felt her heart plummet when she was dragged into what was unmistakeably a bedroom. She twisted her head around just in time to see Emily realise where they had been taken to. The look on the older woman's face was one of abject horror. It was the first real reaction JJ had seen from her, but somehow it didn't make her feel any better.

Suddenly, Davenport let go of her hair and JJ fell unceremoniously on the floor. She tried to get up but a combination of shaking from fear and general pain somehow kept her down as she tried to steady her breathing.

"JJ! Move!" Emily shouted.

JJ looked up just in time to see Davenport's foot before it made contact with her head.

She groaned and tried to roll away. JJ didn't actually remember completely lying down on the floor though, she must have blacked out for a couple of seconds. Her head pounded and her vision had become slightly fuzzy. But she could still make out the blurry outline of Emily receiving a similar treatment not too far away. As JJ's vision cleared slightly she tried to crawl over to where Emily was still attempting to fight off two attackers, but a large foot on her back, pushing her onto the ground again stopped her.

"Make sure she watches this," Davenport said to Lester and Bill. They both smirked horribly and pulled Emily up into a sitting position. Her head lolled to one side and for a brief, horrifying second JJ thought she might be dead. But then she saw Emily's eyes flicker open.

But then JJ was up again. Dragged by the back of her collar and pushed onto the bed. JJ tried to scream but Davenport had pressed his mouth against hers again. He bit down on her lip so hard that JJ could taste blood. She was feeling dizzy again and her vision was becoming cloudy. He was covering her whole mouth so she couldn't breathe, not enough oxygen was getting to her brain.

She tried to fight him as best as she could, but in her weakened state all she could really do was feebly try to push him away. His hand moved to the top button of her blouse and in her terror she found a sudden burst of energy and her struggling became stronger.

There was a loud cry of pain from the other end of the room that caused Davenport to stop in his tracks and look over. Emily had somehow broke free and had punched Lester in the nose so hard that there was blood dripping down his face. JJ saw the opportunity of Davenport's distraction and put all of her strength into pushing him off the bed and onto the floor.

JJ felt herself being pulled up by Emily and they both made a dash for the door. Just as they reached it, Bill slammed it shut. JJ and Emily backed up into a wall as far away from the three advancing men as possible.

"GAH!" Davenport suddenly cried, he practically jumped to bedside table and opened the draw. To JJ's horror he withdrew a shiny black gun. Emily's grip on her arm tightened and if possible JJ pressed herself even closer to the wall.

Davenport pointed the gun at them both. JJ squeezed her eyes shut

Then the phone rang. For a moment nobody moved. Davenport looked torn, but he sighed and said, "If any of you make a sound, I'll shoot you."

"Hello, Jack Davenport speaking," Davenport said, picking up the phone and sounding completely normal again, "Uh huh…Is that right…I'll send my assistants over with the file now…Yes…Yes I know…Good bye, Mr Andrews."

Davenport put the phone down, "Out," he said to Bill and Lester.

They obediently left the room, shooting the two women one last look before walked through the door. Davenport pulled the phone out of the wall before following them. But before he left, he turned around and held up a key.

"Don't even think about trying to leave. I'll be back," he said, with a promising smile.

The door was closed and the distinctive sound of the key being turned in the lock could be heard.

It was a full five minutes before JJ or Emily moved. They clung to each other so tightly that JJ didn't think she could actually pry her fingers from Emily's arm. Finally, JJ could feel Emily's grip loosen and then they let go of each other.

JJ just couldn't think of anything to say. She kept opening her mouth to talk but choked on her words. She turned to look at Emily and cringed at the now extensive bruising and cuts that covered the woman's face, arms and hands.

"Emily, you're bleeding again," JJ said, well aware that her voice was thick with emotion.

"So are you," Emily replied sounding thoroughly devastated.

JJ opened her mouth to speak again but was cut short as Emily suddenly staggered sideways. Her legs collapsed under her and she slumped to the floor.

"Emily!" JJ cried, falling to her knees and grabbing her shoulders just in time to stop her from hitting her head on the wall again, "Don't you dare pass out!"

Emily grimaced, "Trying…not too…"

"Come on. You need to stay awake," JJ said desperately.

"I know," Emily moaned.

"Hotch, Reid and Morgan could be here any minute now." Tears were filling JJ's eyes again.

"I know," Emily repeated, "Go find something…"

"What?" JJ said confused.

"Go…look in the drawers…for something to fight back with," Emily's voice was becoming weaker.

"Okay," JJ said, trying to stand up, "But you have to stay awake."

JJ almost fell onto the bed as she tried to step forwards. Pain was pulsating through her entire body.

There was a chest of drawers and a wardrobe on the other side of the room so JJ made her way slowly over there. But just as she was getting close, she realised the door was being unlocked from the outside. JJ froze.

Davenport stepped in and gazed from an almost unconscious Emily to an immobile JJ with mild curiosity. He seemed to shrug.

"Good help is so hard to find these days," he said regretfully, then an evil grin flashed across his face, "Now, where were we?"

***

Chapter 13

Spencer tapped his fingers impatiently against the glass car window. He knew Hotch was driving as fast as he could, but that wasn't quelling the peculiar sense of impending doom Spencer could feel building up in his stomach. If what the receptionist had told them was right, then Davenport had been with JJ and Prentiss for the entire day. That was more than enough time for him to God knows what to them.

They were accompanied by two following police cars, headed by Detective Cooper just in case things got out of hand. Spencer didn't even know why he was so sure it was Davenport that had them. He didn't fit the profile. But there could be no other plausible explanation for him to lie to them about working on a case. Spencer couldn't help but feel a sense of overwhelming guilt for not picking up on the lie earlier. He, Hotch and Morgan were supposed to be able to detect these kinds of things. It was their job to know when people were lying. There was just something about the man though that seemed so sincere. Spencer wondered if Hotch and Morgan were feeling the same.

The call made to Garcia by Morgan had earned them some interesting information. Apparently Davenport's wife had filled for divorce just two weeks before the first woman had gone missing. This was obviously the stressor. But the fact that his victims did not look like his wife showed that his motive was not that of a common serial killer. There was some other reason for his kidnapping of these women which is why the profile had been wrong. Everyone seemed too lost in their own thoughts to really want to talk about Davenport's rationale for taking those particular women, but Spencer suspected that he may be trying to replace his wife in some way with a better version.

The car pulled to a stop and Spencer looked up surprised, he had been so lost in his own thoughts that he hadn't even noticed were they where. Hotch was already out the car and Spencer quickly leapt up and jumped out. They were stood outside what appeared to be a small mansion; the kind of house that the entire team couldn't afford even if they combined all their salaries.

"We can't go in their without probable cause or a warrant," Hotch said, with the merest hint of anger in his voice.

"But Hotch!" Spencer heard himself protest.

"Come on, Reid. You're smart. Think of a way we can get in legally," Morgan said. He had already pulled out his gun and was ready to storm the house at a seconds notice.

Desperation was palpable in the air. They were all trying to come up with a plan, including Cooper and his men. Spencer scanned the house until something caught his eye. In one of the windows he could see the outline of a blonde woman.

"Is that JJ?" he said, aware that his voice was becoming rather high pitched.

"Where?" Hotch said quickly.

Spencer pointed to the second floor window he had seen her in and everyone turned their heads to look, but 'JJ' had gone. Pulled away by something Spencer thought.

"I don't see anything," Morgan said.

"No it was! I'm sure it was," Spencer cried.

"Are you positive?" Hotch said, turning to look at Spencer with piercing dark eyes.

Only hesitating for a moment, he said, "Yes."

"That's good enough for me," Morgan said, then he pointed to several of Cooper's men, "You come around back with me."

The men obliged and soon Spencer found himself at the front door of the house, being covered by Hotch, Cooper and two more men.

Hotch kicked the door down and ran in with his gun held ahead. Spencer followed, hoping they weren't too late.

"Reid, try and find the room you think you saw her in," Hotch said quietly.

Spencer nodded and made his way to the stairs with Hotch following closely. They moved as quickly and quietly as possible. It took every ounce of Spencer's will power not to start running and shouting JJ's name.

After an age Spencer finally thought they were by the room he had seen from outside the house, he slowed his pace and listened carefully. The distinct sounds of scuffling could be heard from one of the rooms.

Hotch put his finger to his lips and then motioned for Spencer and Cooper, who had apparently followed them up, to stand on either side of the door. Hotch then started mouthing something at them. One…two…three.

Kicking the door open, Hotch burst into the room with Spencer in tow. What Spencer saw made his heart skip a beat. Davenport had JJ pressed up against a wall, his lips fastened to hers and a gun against her head. Then not to far away was a barely conscious Prentiss who seemed to be trying to get up. Unsuccessfully.

Davenport reacted quickly when he heard the door fly open. Within seconds he had spun JJ around so she was in front of him, while he had his arm around her neck and the gun still pointed at her head.

"If any of you move, she dies!" said Davenport, a wild look of a caged animal in his eyes.

Spencer met JJ's eyes, and the look of helpless relief mixed with fear in them was enough to make him want to cry. But he didn't. Instead he trained his gun on Davenport, who was looking around frantically for an escape.

"We have you surrounded, Davenport. There are agents everywhere. There's no getting out of this," Hotch said calmly.

"We'll see," Davenport said with a sneer. He began to edge around the wall, making sure not to turn his back on any of the agents. However, in his desire to focus on what he felt to be the imminent threat, he seemed to have forgotten that he was moving towards Prentiss.

"You know, it's a shame you had to interrupt us now," Davenport continued, "My wife and I were just starting to have fun."

Spencer saw JJ clench her jaw at this but she remained silent, allowing Hotch to do the talking.

"She isn't your wife, Jack," Hotch said, trying to distract Davenport, "Your wife left you, remember?"

"That's because she wasn't the right woman for me! She was flawed!" Davenport all but shouted. Hotch had obviously hit a sore spot.

Davenport was now level with Prentiss. For a brief moment, Spencer thought she was just going to let him past. But at the last second, the woman stuck her foot out causing Davenport to trip and fall crashing to the ground, dragging JJ down with him. The gun flew from his hand and slid across the floor.

Morgan appeared as if from nowhere and quickly dived on Davenport, dragging him off JJ. Spencer looked around, the commotion had attracted the attention of all the other officers that had accompanied them. Davenport was uttering a stream of curses directed at Prentiss as Morgan, now with the help of Cooper, pulled him from the room. Not before Morgan punched him in the face though. Spencer could tell it was taking a lot of restraint for Morgan to not kick the living daylights out of Davenport.

"Somebody call an ambulance," said Hotch, quickly moving forwards to JJ and Prentiss who were sat on the floor. Spencer suddenly realised he should help too and moved forwards. He was closer so he got there before Hotch.

"Hey," he said softly, crouching down to face the two women, "Are you okay? Come on, let's get out of here."

JJ just looked at him with tear filled eyes as though she didn't really understand what was happening.

"Can you stand?" Spencer said in the same tone.

"Yes," JJ nodded after a moments pause, "But Emily can't."

"That's okay," Hotch said, kneeling down beside Spencer, "I've got Emily."

JJ's eyes widened and she shook her head. Spencer realised that she was clutching Prentiss' hand as if for dear life.

"Come on, JJ. Let go of Emily's hand. Hotch will take care of her," Spencer said.

A few tears escaped from JJ's eyes and ran down her face. Spencer felt his heart breaking. She shuffled away from Prentiss but didn't stand up. Spencer put his arm around her shoulder to keep the blonde woman steady.

Hotch moved forwards and placed his hand gently on Emily's arm, "Emily? Can you hear me?"

"Hotch?" Emily mumbled, not opening her eyes.

"Yes, it's me. There's an ambulance coming soon. You just relax," Hotch said soothingly.

"JJ? She…okay? Davenport? Where's…" Prentiss said anxiously, trying to open her eyes.

"Shhh. JJ's okay. She's holding your hand. Davenport is gone."

Prentiss finally managed to pry her bloodshot eyes open and looked at the two men with a puzzled expression. But Spencer saw her squeeze JJ's hand slightly which seemed to comfort her.

"Is anything broken, Emily?" said Hotch, looking at her appraisingly.

"No," Prentiss replied.

"Good," Hotch said, "I'm going to carry you downstairs while we wait for the ambulance."

"No you are not," Prentiss replied, sounding horrified. Spencer had to laugh. It was the first fully coherent thing Prentiss had managed to say. Even JJ managed a small smile.

Hotch ignored her though and picked her up easily.

"Ow! Put me down! The ambulance will be here in a minute," Prentiss protested.

"Stop wasting your energy," Hotch said disapprovingly.

JJ finally let go of the other woman's hand and let Hotch carry her out the room. Even after they had gone through the door Spencer could still hear Prentiss complaining about getting blood on Hotch's shirt.

"Now," he said, turning back to JJ, "Am I going to have to carry you too or are you going to walk?"

Much to his relief JJ smiled, "I can walk."

Spencer helped her to her feet and wrapped his arm around her to make sure she stayed up right. Together they made slow progress out the house. JJ and Prentiss both looked like they would make full recoveries from their physical injuries, Spencer thought, but he had to wonder how long it would take for them to recover mentally. He knew what it was like to be haunted by bad experiences.

***

Epilogue

Two weeks had passed and JJ was preparing herself for her first day back at work, and she knew that in the next room Emily was doing the same. After they had been released from hospital, somehow they had come to the decision that JJ was to stay in Emily's apartment for a couple of weeks so neither of them had to be alone. Of course, these words weren't actually spoken but they both knew that was the reason JJ was currently staying in Emily's guest room.

All of the team had been to visit to see how they were doing many times. JJ was touched to know how much they all cared, but in the first week after getting out of hospital, when she had been around them she felt very self conscious and uncomfortable. Especially when someone would try to bring up what had happened. However it was part of JJ's job to dodge questions and lead the conversation where she wanted it to go, so she had managed to avoid talking about it with anyone. JJ had been surprised to notice that Emily seemed equally good and dodging questions too, but then her mother and father were both politicians, she had probably picked it up from them.

Even though JJ had readily agreed to stay with Emily for a couple of weeks, at first it had been a bit awkward. Neither of them really knew what to say to each other. But on the second night JJ was there, she had woke up in the small hours of the morning, drenched in cold sweat and shaking because of a particularly bad nightmare. To calm herself down she had gone downstairs to make herself a hot drink, only to find Emily already sat there nursing a cup of hot chocolate and staring miserably out the window. They had sat together in a companionable silence, both knowing that the other was feeling the same as themselves. JJ found it comforting to know that she was not alone.

Now JJ was stood in front of a mirror examining her face. Almost all the bruising and cuts had vanished much to her relief. She straightened up and tried to put her professional expression on, but somehow no matter how hard she tried she could still see self doubt in her eyes. Oh well, she'd just have to work on building up her defences again in the madhouse.

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in, Emily," JJ said, turning away from her reflection.

Emily popped her head around the door, "Are you ready to go?"

"Yes," JJ nodded, not entirely telling the truth.

-------------------

Hotch paced his office. He was usually not one for pacing, but now he felt it was necessary. His two agents were coming back to work today and he was worried about them. It's not that he didn't think they could cope, he knew they could. He just thought that they should maybe have taken some more time off to work through things. They both flat out refused to talk to Hotch about what had happened which wasn't good. At least they had each other though. When JJ had decided to stay with Prentiss for a while he would have been lying if he'd have said that he wasn't relieved. He didn't like the thought of either of them being alone. Especially in that first week when the two thugs that had been working for Davenport where on the run.

Prentiss had passed out by the time the ambulance had arrived at the house, but JJ told them about the two men called Lester and Bill who had been hired by Davenport. She had given them every detail she could remember before being carted off to a hospital. Somehow the two men had given them the slip for an entire week before getting caught. Hotch was amazed as to how, after he had spoken to them he had realised that they were actually quite stupid.

A knock of his door startled Hotch from his musings.

"Come in," he said.

Morgan opened the door, "Just thought I'd let you know that JJ and Emily are here."

"Thanks," Hotch said with a nod.

--------------------

Spencer greeted the two women with what he hoped was a warm smile.

"Good morning," he said, as they walked to Prentiss' desk.

"Morning, Spence," said JJ with a small smile.

"Are you serious?" Prentiss suddenly said.

Confused, Spencer moved his head to see that she was looking at the small mountain of paperwork on her desk.

"I come back to work after being kidnapped and people think it's okay to keep giving me work to do when I'm not even here?" she continued, shaking her head in disbelief.

JJ let out a small laugh, "Ha, if it makes you feel any better I'm going to have even more to do than you have."

Looking momentarily thoughtful, Prentiss replied, "You know, it kind of does."

"Oh thank you. That's nice," JJ said sarcastically.

Spencer couldn't help but smile at the two. They seemed to be dealing with things a lot better than he had, or still was in fact. It was at that point that he resolved to try and give up his dilaudid, even if it meant seeking out help from someone.

--------------------

Morgan walked down the stairs to greet JJ and Prentiss with Hotch in tow. The first thing that struck him was that the two women seemed to be laughing and joking with Reid. He had to stop himself from shaking his head in amazement. Obviously there were still some issues that they'd all have to work through, but Hotch had been right. JJ and Prentiss were strong, and if anyone could recover from that kind of attack it was them.

"Hey," Morgan said as approached.

"Hey, Morgan," Prentiss replied, "I wonder if you can tell me why someone has deemed it necessary to give me six million sheets of paperwork to do while I have been off on sick leave?"

Ah, so that's what they had been talking about, "I'm afraid I don't know anything about it," Morgan replied, then he pointed to Reid behind the boys back and mouthed 'it was him' at her.

"Reid? Is this your doing?" Prentiss said, raising an eyebrow.

"What?" Reid spluttered, "No! Morgan! Stop lying to them! It's got nothing to do with me!"

--------------------

"All right then," Emily said, throwing her arms up in resignation, "Fine. But I will have my revenge on you Doctor Spencer Reid. You too Derek Morgan, don't think I'm letting you off the hook."

Emily smiled as the two men had the good grace to look a little worried by this statement. Then she noticed Hotch behind them, she could feel his gaze upon her and quickly looked away. Even though they weren't supposed to, Emily could tell he was profiling her. Probably deciding that she was trying to use humour as a defence mechanism and undoubtedly noting that she couldn't quite look anyone in the eye for more than a second before looking away. Not that any of this was true of course. Emily was fine. Or at least, she would be in time.

--------------------

Author's Note: Endings are hard to write.

***

Next story in series - Easier to Lie.