Chapter 13: You Could Lose Everything

It had become one of those cases where there wasn't much evidence and whatever leads they had gotten had been dead ends. The team had been working tirelessly, functioning on little sleep, half eaten food and too much caffeine, as they tried to find Stephany Dawson before she was killed and another girl was taken.

The autopsy report of Halle Roberts confirmed that they were dealing with the same Unsub as the DNA found on Halle matched the DNA found on the first victim, Alyson. The cause of death was the same as well as their injuries, and from that they could tell that the Unsub had a set routine which he never deviated from. They still needed a bit more information before they could release a profile.

The next few days had passed in a blur and before they knew it was Friday morning. Hotch watched as his team tiredly gathered around the bullpen to look over everything they had so far, as they built a preliminary profile of the Unsub.

Hotch's cell rang a few minutes later. "Hotchner." He answered then listened to what the other person was saying. He sighed causing the team to look up at him. "Where?" He asked then nodded. "Alright. My team and I will meet you there. Thanks." He said then ended the call.

"What's going on, Hotch?" Morgan asked. By the look on his face, it wasn't exactly good news.

"That was Detective Fisher. Another girl's been kidnapped in Richmond." He told them.

"Damn." Morgan sighed. "Are they sure it's our guy?" He asked.

"She doesn't know for sure." He answered. "But we have a witness who claims a man tried to kidnap her."

"Tried to? I thought you said another girl was taken." JJ said, confused.

"There was. Just a different girl." He told her.

"Do they know who the girl is that was taken?" Prentiss asked.

Hotch shook his head. "That's what we need to find out." He told the team.

They nodded, gathered their things then made their way to the latest crime scene.

Fifteen minutes later, the BAU pulled up on 10th street and met up with Detective Fisher. The police officers had already blocked off the area and CSRU techs were already gathering any evidence they could find.

"Agents." She nodded.

"What do we have, Detective?" Hotch asked as he and the team stepped under the yellow crime scene tape.

"Not much that makes sense." She answered. "The witness is getting checked out by a medic. I only spoke to her briefly. She took a nasty hit to the face."

"Did you get a name?" Rossi asked.

"Yeah. Tahlia O'Reiley, eighteen." She answered.

"Let me guess, dark hair, green eyes, right?" JJ assumed.

"Yeah. She's also a college freshman." Fisher filled in. "I didn't get much out of her. She's still pretty shaken up but she did mention another girl. The two officers over there are the ones that found her. They were responding to a 911 call, which I assume was placed by our mystery girl, regarding a kidnapping in progress." She told them. "But by the time they checked the alley, our guy was gone, as well as whoever placed the call."

"This doesn't make any sense." Reid added. "Our Unsub has a type and routine. Why would he stray from that? And why leave a witness? He hasn't done that before."

"He was interrupted. He didn't plan on someone calling the police. So, he took off before he could get caught." Morgan guessed.

"Yeah, but why attempt to kidnap one girl, but take another instead?" He asked.

"Guess that's something we need to ask Tahlia." Dave said.

"Alright. Dave and Reid, talk to the two officers. Maybe they saw something. Morgan, you and Prentiss canvas the scene, find out what the crime scene techs found so far. JJ, you and I will talk to Tahlia. She may not be able to do a cognitive yet but maybe she can fill in some blanks for us." Hotch ordered. The team nodded then took off.

Hotch and JJ made their way over to Tahlia who was sitting at the back of the ambulance with an ice pack held against the side of her face. It was only when they had gotten closer, that they saw the bruising on the left side of her face, mostly surrounding her eye as well as the small cut over her eyebrow. Her pale skin and dark green eyes made the bruising even more prominent. JJ winced. It looked like it hurt.

"Tahlia?" JJ said softly, not wanting to spook her. The brunette teenager looked up at her. "I'm SSA Jennifer Jareau. This is SSA Aaron Hotchner." She introduced. "We're with the FBI."

Tahlia nodded. "Hi."

JJ offered her a small smile before she continued. "I know you've had a bit of a rough morning but would you be okay with answering a few questions?" She asked gently as she sat down next to her while Hotch remained standing, contented to let JJ take the lead.

Tahlia took a deep breath, then nodded. "Yeah."

"Alright. Can you tell us what happened?" JJ asked.

Tahlia nodded. "I, uhm, I was walking through the alley on my way to the bus stop when a man jumped out in front of me. He was holding a knife." She paused then looked away. "I feel so stupid."

"Why do you say that?" JJ asked.

"I was texting." She admitted. "Maybe if I'd been paying more attention to my surroundings..." She trailed off then shook her head. "I walk this same route almost every day, I thought..."

"You thought it was safe." JJ finished for her.

"Yeah." She said as she bit her lip.

"What happened next?"

"He told me to get into his van. I begged him not to hurt me but he got angry when I didn't listen. He grabbed my arm..." She stopped to wipe a few tears away. "I looked up and that's when I saw the other girl." She turned to face the two agents. "Oh God. Is she okay? Did you find her?" She asked suddenly as if she just remembered.

"No, we're still looking." Hotch told her. "Did you recognise her? We need a name."

"Yeah. I, uh, saw her at the bus stop a couple times but I don't know her name. I'm sorry." She apologised.

Aaron offered her a small smile. "It's okay. Can you describe her?" He asked.

"Uh, yeah. She was about my height, maybe an inch or two shorter. Long dark hair, fair skin. I think her eyes were brown. Maybe hazel. Kinda like yours." She said referring to Hotch. "She looked younger than me. Around 16 or 17." She told them.

"That's good, Tahlia. And you're sure it was her that made the 911 call?" Hotch asked.

"Yes. She looked at me and turned her head so I could see she was on the phone. A couple seconds after that he hit me hard across the face. I think I blacked out for a minute."

"When I came to, he was gone. I looked behind me and I saw him walking towards the dumpsters. I guess he must've found her." She took a deep breath. "I panicked so I ran. I just wanted to get away from him." She shook her head. "I should've stayed. Maybe I could've helped her." She sighed regretfully.

"You did the right thing." JJ told her. "Running to get help was smart."

"Did you see his face?" Hotch asked. Tahlia nodded. "Would you mind working with a sketch artist?" He asked her. "Maybe we'll get lucky."

She nodded again. "I'll do anything I can to help, Agent Hotchner." She told him.

"Alright. After you get checked out at the hospital. I'll send an officer to you."

"Okay." She nodded.

JJ gave her shoulder a soft squeeze before she got up to leave with Hotch. "Thank you Tahlia." She said softly.

"Agents?" She called out before they could leave. "You're gonna find her, right?"

"We're gonna try." JJ told her.

"Good. She saved my life. I wanna thank her for that."

Hotch and JJ met up with the rest of the team in the alley and filled them in on what Tahlia had told them.

"Okay, so CSU found fresh blood over here near the dumpsters. So, it could belong to our mystery girl." Morgan gathered. "They're running the DNA but it could take a few days for an ID."

"We don't have a few days." Prentiss pointed out.

"We need that 911 recording. It's the quickest way to find out who our missing girl is." Hotch informed them.

"I'll get Garcia on that." Morgan said as he pulled out his phone.

"Alright." Hotch said before he's phone started ringing. "Reid, can you find out if any of the surrounding buildings had surveillance? Then check in with Garcia." Reid nodded then took off.

"Excuse me." He said to the rest of the team as he pulled out his phone then answered. "Hotchner." He paused long enough to hear who was on the other side of the line.

"Aimee, this isn't a good time. I'm at a crime scene right now." He told her. "No. Last time we talked was Wednesday night. Why? What's going on?" He asked with a frown. "What? Are you sure?" He asked. "Have you tried calling her?" He listened to her response. "Yeah. I'll have my technical analyst check it out. I'll call you back in a few minutes. Alright." He said then ended the call. He sighed then ran a hand through his hair.

"Everything okay?" Dave asked as he approached Aaron, who had a troubled look on his face.

He shook his head. "I'm not sure." He exhaled. "That was Aimee. She said she just got a call from Arias' school. According to them, she hasn't shown up yet. She was supposed to be there nearly an hour ago."

"Did she try calling Aria on her cell?" He asked.

"Yeah. Keeps going straight to voicemail. I was gonna get Garcia to track it."

"Do it." Dave told him.

He nodded then dialed her number.

"I'm sure there's a perfectly good explanation." Dave tried to reassure him as he waited for Garcia to answer.

"Sir, hi. I just spoke to Morgan. I gave him the details and I should have the recording soon. I'm still checking surveillance in the area. I don't have anything new for you yet." She told him. He could hear her fingers fly over the keyboard.

"That's fine, Garcia. I just need you to ping a cell phone for me. I know who it belongs to I just need a location." He told her then gave her the number.

"Uh, that's weird." She said.

"What is it, Garcia?" He asked.

"Hotch, the signal is coming from your location." She paused. "And the number you just gave me, it was the same one used to make the 911 call." She informed him.

"Are you sure?" He asked softly as he walked away from Rossi and moved towards where the rest of the team was gathered.

"Yes, Sir." She answered. "Is everything okay?" She asked when he didn't respond.

"Fine. Thanks Garcia." He said then ended the call.

"Garcia got us an ID on our missing girl." Morgan told him.

"Did the techs find a cell phone?" He asked, ignoring what Morgan had said.

"Uh, yeah. Under one of the dumpsters. But the screen was cracked." Morgan said with a frown.

"Can I see it?" He asked.

"Sure. It's right over there." Prentiss pointed out, also frowning.

They watched their boss walk over to the tech who was packing up the evidence and asked to see the cellphone.

"What's up with Hotch?" JJ asked with a confused look.

"No idea." Prentiss answered as they watched him.

"I just told him we got a name and he asks about a cellphone." Morgan said. "What is up with that?" He asked incredulously.

Dave listened as he watched him, wondering the same as he made his way over to Hotch, the rest of the team following behind him.

"Aaron?" He asked cautiously as Hotch stared at the phone he was holding, turning the bag around to look at the back of the phone.

He took a breath then exhaled. "It's hers." He whispered, loud enough for Dave to hear him.

Rossi's eyes widened for a split second before he turned towards Morgan. "What was the name you got from Garcia?"

Derek frowned, still trying to figure out what was going. "Aria Marano." He said. "Sixteen. She's a Junior in high school."

JJ's breath hitched when she heard the name. She looked over at Hotch who was still staring at the phone. A flash of shock and fear crossed his face but was gone almost as soon as it appeared.

He handed the phone back to the crime scene tech then walked away from the team towards one of the SUV's. He needed to tell Aimee what was going on and it needed to be done in person.

"Aaron." Dave called out and made a move to follow him but was stopped by JJ.

"Let me talk to him." She told Rossi then went after Hotch.

"Rossi, what's going on? Does Hotch know the missing girl?" Prentiss asked.

"Yeah." He nodded.

"What? How?" Morgan asked.

"Not my place to say." He said simply. "Hotch will tell you soon. He just needs to inform the family first."

JJ hurried out of the alley in her search of Hotch. She turned towards where the SUV's were parked. She saw Hotch sitting in the driver's seat, hands on the steering wheel but he made no move to start the car.

She opened the door then climbed into the passenger seat. Hotch didn't move. They sat in silence for a moment before JJ spoke.

"She's your daughter, isn't she? Aria, I mean." She stated more then asked.

Hotch closed his eyes then swallowed. "How did you know?" He said.

"I didn't know for sure. But your reaction just now confirmed it." She told him.

"Sometimes I forget you're a profiler now too." He told her with a sad smile.

"I think it had more to do with being a parent than a profiler." She told him. "How long have you known?" She asked.

"Almost a month." He sighed. "This is such a huge mess." He said as he leaned his head back against the headrest.

"We have a couple good leads. We'll find her, Hotch." She told him as she placed a hand on his upper arm.

"You saw what he did to those other girls, JJ." He said then shook his head. "What do I do?" He asked her, looking torn.

"You do your job. You tell the team what's going on. You follow up on the leads we have and you find your kid."

"That simple, huh?" He asked.

"It won't be easy but we'll manage. You'll manage." She told him. "So, did you come here to just get away or were you planning on going somewhere?"

"Aria's mom." He said then filled JJ in on his phone call with Aimee. "I'm supposed to call her back but this isn't something I want to tell her over the phone."

JJ nodded. "Yeah. That make's sense. Are you okay to drive?" She asked him.

He nodded. "Yeah. She doesn't stay too far from here."

"Okay." She said then buckled her seatbelt. "Let's go." She told him.

He looked at her, surprise evident on his face. "You don't have to go with me, JJ. I'll be fine."

"I know but I want to." She told him. "You don't have to do this alone, Hotch."

He wanted to disagree and tell her to get out of the car but he couldn't do it. He had no idea how Aimee would react once her told her that Aria was missing. Maybe having JJ there wouldn't be such a bad idea.

Instead of arguing with her, he simply nodded then started the car.

"Thank you, JJ." He told her sincerely, then took off towards the Marano Manor.

Aimee paced in the foyer after she got off the phone with Aaron. Luciana had chosen to busy herself in the kitchen after Aimee had refused to eat anything until she found out where Aria was. She was exhausted from her shift at the hospital but couldn't seem to sit still for too long. Something was wrong. Aria wouldn't just skip school. There had to be an explanation and Aimee had a feeling she wasn't going to like it.

After nearly half an hour of pacing the room and checking her phone for any messages, the doorbell rang. Aimee stopped, took a deep breath then made her way over to the door, letting Luciana know that she would answer.

"Aaron?" She said with a frown.

"Hi Aimee." He greeted softly.

She frowned. "What are you doing here? I thought you were gonna call."

"I thought it would be better if we talked in person. This is Agent Jareau." He introduced. They acknowledged each other with a slight nod. "May we come in?" He asked.

Aimee nodded, still trying to figure out what was going on. "Yeah. Of course." She said then stepped out of the way so they could enter. She closed the door behind them as they walked further into the foyer. JJ's eyes were immediately drawn to the wall filled with photographs of Aria and the rest of the family.

"Aaron, what's going on? Did you trace Aria's cell phone?" She asked him as she smoothed out her scrubs. His silence was making her nervous.

He nodded. "I did." He paused then exhaled slowly. "It was found at my crime scene."

Aimee frowned then shook her head. "I don't understand."

"According to what we know so far, Aria witnessed an attempted kidnapping in the alley behind 10th street. She called it in."

Aimee swallowed. "Then where is she?"

He sighed. "I don't know, Aimee. When the police got there, she was gone."

She frowned. "What do you mean she was gone?"

"Aimee..." He paused, then took a deep breath before he continued. "Aria was kidnapped." He told her.

She shook her head. "No. No, there must be some mistake. You're wrong." She told him as she felt her chest tighten. "You're wrong." She repeated, tears forming in her eyes.

"Aimee..." He started as he reached out for her.

"No! Don't." She said as she pulled away. Her heart was beating too fast and it felt as if it was about to explode. She turned away from him, covering her mouth with her hand as Aaron's words begun to sink in.

Aria was kidnapped.

She closed her eyes as the room started to spin. The last thing she remembered was hearing Aaron's worried voice as she felt her legs give out underneath her. Then she blacked out.

________________________________________________________________________________

Her head hurt.

That was the first thing she realised as she slowly opened her eyes, squinting slightly as they adjusted to the surroundings. The room that she was in was small and dark, except for a bit of light which filtered in through a small window above her. She blinked a few times, trying to clear her blurry vision.

Oh, God. Where am I? She wondered as she tried to remember what had happened.

I was running late. The alley. Guy in a hoodie. A knife. That other girl. My head. Why does my head hurt?

She closed her eyes. Why couldn't she remember anything else?

She jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, whoa. It's okay."

She heard someone say. She turned her head towards the voice, visibly relaxing when she realised that it was another girl and not the guy who took her.

"Are you okay?" She asked Aria.

Aria nodded then groaned when the movement caused a sharp pain to shoot through her head. "Yeah. Just a headache."

"That looks pretty bad." She said as she got a closer look at the gash Aria had in the side of her head. "What's your name?"

It was then that Aria got a clearer look at her face. "Aria." She introduced. "And you're Stephany." She recognised.

"Wait, how do you know that?" She asked with a frown.

"Your face is all over the news. The police and FBI are looking for you." Aria told her.

Stephany felt herself tear up. "Really?" She asked.

Aria nodded.

Stephany cleared her throat. "There was another girl here before me. Her name's Halle. Do you know what happened to her?"

"She uh..." Aria hesitated.

"What? Please, just tell me." She pleaded.

"Okay." She sighed. "The police found her a couple days ago." She said sadly.

"She's dead." Stephany guessed.

Aria nodded, "I'm sorry, Stephany." She sincerely.

Stephany shook her head, willing away the tears that threatened to fall. They sat in silence for a few minutes before Stephany spoke again.

"Stephy." She said simply.

Aria turned to face her. "I'm sorry?" She said, confused.

"Call me Stephy." She told Aria. "Everyone calls me that. I've never really liked being called Stephany." She admitted.

Aria offered her small smile. "Stephy it is then."

She quietly observed Stephany, only now noticing the state she was in. Her long hair was pulled up into a messy ponytail, lose strands sticking out, and her clothes were dirty and torn and had drops of blood on it. Her feet were bare as well. She had a bruised eye socket and her lip looked like it was split open but had started to heal. Aria could only guess that she had more bruises covering her body that couldn't be seen.

"What did he do to you?" She heard herself asking.

Stephy turned to face her. "You don't wanna know." She told her, almost emotionlessly.

Aria was just about to say she should tell her anyway when the door swung open. The man in the dark hoodie stepped forward and closed the door behind her. She felt her breath hitch as she saw his face. He looked young, mid-twenties maybe. She hated to admit it but he was attractive.

He smiled when he saw she was looking at him. "Good. You're awake." He said as he made his way over towards her, pulling out a knife. "Now it's time to have some fun." He said with a smirk.

If Aria wasn't afraid before, she sure as hell was now...

"Aaron, stop hovering. I'm fine." Aimee told him as she sat on the couch, massaging her temples.

"People don't just pass out for no reason, Aimee." He told her.

She looked up at him. "I just got off a 15 hour shift at the hospital. I haven't slept or eaten since yesterday. I'm exhausted." She explained. "And I was just told that our daughter is missing, so forgive me for feeling a little overwhelmed." She snapped at him.

He took a step back, not expecting her outburst.

She noticed and instantly felt bad. "I'm sorry." She apologised as she ran a hand through her hair.

He shook his head. "It's okay."

"No, it's not." She sighed. "You're just concerned and I'm being a total bitch. I swear to you, I'm okay. I just need you to find Aria." She pleaded.

He nodded then sat down next to her. "I'll do whatever it takes to find her. I promise." He told her as he touched her shoulder. "Is there anyone I can call for you? Your parents? Daniel?" He asked her.

She shook her head. "No. My parents are out of town. They'll only be back by tomorrow. And Daniel's in court all day so his phone's probably on silent."

Luciana entered the room and handed Aimee a mug of tea. "Bere questo." She simply said then sat down on the other side of the couch next to Aimee, patting her knee.

Aimee offered her a small smile. "Grazie." She replied, taking the mug between her hands then took a sip.

"Did Aria always take the bus to school?" Aaron asked her.

Aimee shook her head. "No. It was just supposed to be for the week. My car went in for repairs and I had to work the night shift so Aria said I could borrow hers and she would catch the bus." She paused. "Oh God. Is this my fault?"

"No, Aimee. Not at all." Aaron assured her.

Aimee exhaled. "Do you have any idea who has her?"

Hotch nodded hesitantly then proceeded to her what they knew so far.

"So, you're telling me that a serial killer has her?" Aimee asked incredulously, setting down the tea on the coffee table in front of her so she didn't accidently drop it on herself. "It's not just a simple kidnapping for ransom?"

He shook his head. "I know it sounds bad..." He said but was cut off.

"No, Aaron. It is bad. I read the papers. I know what he did to those other girls and now he has Aria..." She broke off as a sob caught in her throat. "What happens now?"

"We issue an Amber Alert, since Aria's under eighteen, then we wait until he makes contact. Hopefully my technical analyst can trace his location."

"And if she can't?" Aimee asked.

"We'll find another way. I won't give up until I find her and neither will my team." He assured her. "I need a recent photo of Aria."

She nodded then got up to get her cell phone. "Is this one okay?" She asked as she handed him her phone. It was one of the pictures they had taken after Jack's soccer game. He felt his heart clench as he took in her relaxed expression and beaming smile. He hoped to God that he'd be able to see that smile again.

"Yeah." He cleared his throat. "It's perfect." He told her. "JJ, can you send this to Detective Fisher, please? Tell her to issue the Amber Alert and to get the sketch out as soon as possible."

JJ nodded then left the room. Aaron's phone started to ring. "Hotchner." He answered. "Okay. I'll text you the address." He said then ended the call. "My team's on their way over here." He told Aimee and watched her nod, absentmindedly. He sighed, realising that he'd have no choice but to tell the rest of the team about Aria.

"Drink this."

"Thank you."

A while later, after introductions were made, the team including Garcia and Aimee were gathered around the dining area. Garcia had finally gotten the 911 recording and had managed to set up her laptop and the equipment needed to trace the location of their Unsub when he eventually made contact with them.

"Are you sure you want to stay?" Aaron asked Aimee softly.

She took a deep breath then nodded. "Yeah."

"Alright. But if it gets too much..." He trailed off.

"...I'll step out and get some air." She finished for him.

He studied her face, making sure she was telling the truth before he nodded. "Okay." He turned towards the team. "Go ahead, Garcia."

She nodded then hit play.

The team stood silently as the 911 operator's voice filtered through the room, followed by Aria's. Aimee bit the inside of her cheek to keep herself from crying when she heard her daughter's worried voice as she explained what was happening. Her heart clenched when she heard Aria's startled scream and what they assumed was the Unsub's angry voice, then Aria begging him not to hurt her. Both Aaron and Aimee flinched when they heard what sounded like the Unsub hitting Aria. Aaron's grip on the table tightened and he clenched his jaw, an action that didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the team. Aria let out another scream then nothing. Complete silence.

"That's all they got before the line went dead, Sir." Garcia told him, sadly.

He nodded to let her know that he heard her. Aimee pushed her chair out and got up. "Excuse me." She said softly as she made her way past Aaron and the team.

"Aimee..." He called out and was about to follow her out when he stopped by Luciana. "I will go talk to her." She told him with a sad smile. He nodded then took a deep breath before he entered the room, hearing the team talking about what they got from the recording.

"She okay?" Rossi asked him.

He nodded. "Just needed some air." He sighed then turned to face the rest of the team. "Before we go any further, there's something I need to tell you all about Aria." Aaron informed them, then ran a hand through his hair. The team looked at him expectantly, wanting to know how Hotch knew her since they had first arrived at the manor.

"I met Aria for the first time just over a month ago and..." He paused. "I found out that she's my daughter." He finally told them and was met with equally shocked expressions. Dave noticed that JJ was the only one who didn't seem surprised and he gathered that Hotch either told her earlier on or she had figured it out.

"Hotch..." Prentiss started to say but was cut off by Morgan who looked beyond pissed.

"What the hell, Hotch?!" He yelled. "Why didn't you tell us this sooner?"

"I haven't known that long." He calmly told Morgan.

"You've known long enough." He shot back. "If she hadn't been taken, would you even have told us about her?" He asked.

"Of course I would've. I wasn't planning on keeping it a secret. I just needed time to process." He tried to explain but nothing he said seemed to calm down Morgan, who was pacing the room, looking as if he wanted to hit something.

"You always do this. You don't tell us anything. Just like with what happened with Emily."

Prentiss stepped towards him. "Morgan, come on. That's not fair. This is different."

He shrugged his shoulders. "How is this any different, Emily?"

"Derek!" A very pissed off Penelope Garcia, who had been quiet until that point, exclaimed.

His anger dissipated as soon as he saw the look on her face. She glared at him, hands on her hips. His face softened before he spoke.

"Baby girl..." He started but was cut off.

"Oh no." She said as she walked towards him. "Don't you 'Baby girl' me, Derek Morgan." She said as she pulled on his arm, dragging him out of the room so she could talk to him alone.

"What is wrong with you?" She asked as she punch him in the arm.

"Hey! Ouch." He exclaimed as he rubbed his arm.

"You deserved it." She told him. "Hotch's daughter is missing and probably hurt, and you're being a total jerk to him."

"Penelope..."

"I'm not done." She shot him a glare. "Now you're gonna go back in there and apologize to him, then we're gonna work together as a team..." She paused. "...to find this monster and bring those girls back safely. Is that clear?" She asked him with a raised eyebrow.

He sighed then gave a quick nod, knowing it would be pointless to try and argue with her, especially if she was right.

"Good." She said then made her way back into the room, a stubborn Morgan following behind her. All eyes turned towards them.

"We're ready to get to work, Sir but first I need to do this." She said then threw her arms around him pulling him into a hug. Hotch looked surprised at first but accepted it. "I'm sorry." She said as she pulled away. "It's just I'm so happy that we have another BAU baby I can spoil." She said with an excited smile, adding some much needed humour to a tense situation. Leave it to Garcia to focus on the positive side.

"Penelope, she's sixteen. She's hardly a baby." JJ told her, which caused the team to chuckle lightly. Morgan tried to hide his grin but failed.

"Oh, you know what I mean." She waved her hand dismissively.

"I appreciate that, Garcia." Hotch told her. He looked towards the other members of the team. Reid and Prentiss seemed to handle the news fairly well as they smiled at Garcia's antics. His eyes landed on Morgan who looked less angry.

"Hotch..." Morgan started but stopped when Aaron held up his hand.

"Before you say anything, I just need to say that I get why you're mad. I do. I kept something huge from this team and I am sorry about that. But it wasn't intentional. I thought I had more time and now I'm living every parent's worst nightmare." He ran a hand over his face. "I know it's a shock. Believe me. I felt it too when I found out. It's complicated and messy but none of that is relevant right now. I promise to explain everything as soon as I can but right now I need to find my daughter and I can't do it without your help. So, I'm asking you not just as your boss but as your friend. Please, help me get this guy so I can bring her and Stephany home." He said sincerely.

Morgan heard the emotion in Hotch's voice and instantly felt bad about his earlier outburst. He nodded.

"I got your back, Hotch. Always." He told him. "And I'm sorry about earlier. Garcia talked some sense into me." He said with a small smile.

Aimee walked back into the room. "I just got an email." She said as her eyes moved from Aaron's to the rest of the team. "I don't know who it's from."

"Garcia..."

"I'm on it." She said as she made her way to her laptop. The team, including Aimee gathered around her. Garcia hit a few keys to bring up the email then paused.

"Open it." Hotch told her when he saw her hesitate. She nodded then clicked on the attachment.

It was a picture of Aria tied to a chair with her head down. Aaron subconsciously moved closer to Aimee, who looked unusually pale.

"Click on the link." He told Garcia.

She did as he said and a live video feed appeared. It looked the same as the picture that was sent except they could see Aria's shoulders moving up and down with each breath she took. Her hair partially covered her face so they couldn't see if she was conscious until she lifted her head slightly. It was then that they saw that she was bleeding from a gash in the side of her head. The right side of her face had drops of blood running down it and a bruise was starting to form on her cheekbone.

"Oh my God." Aimee said as she felt her chest tighten and tears start to form in her eyes. "Aria."

"In the blink of an eye, Just a whisper of smoke, You could lose everything, The truth is you never know..." Meghan Trainor – Like I'm Gonna Lose You (Feat. John Legend)