Chapter 100 - 200
Elijah stroked Horatio and Rigatoni as he fed them in the kitchen.
"Morning." Reid walked into the kitchen, fixing his hair.
"Good morning." Elijah stretched as he stood up.
"You seem happy." Reid hummed.
"I am happy." He smiled.
"So are the cats." Reid chuckled.
"Good." Elijah sat up on the counter.
"Your hair is a mess."
"So?"
"You need a shower." Reid walked up to him, fixing Elijah's hair.
"Do I really though?" Elijah asked.
"I'm not sure, you might smell."
Elijah sighed as he slid of the counter,"Fine."
Reid hummed,"Thank you."
"You're welcome, love."
Shortly after Elijah stepped in the shower, Reid knocked on the door.
"What? You want to join me?" Elijah called to him.
"No- I mean-" Reid cleared his throat,"JJ's missing."
Elijah turned the shower off,"What?"
"JJ never made it home. Her phone's off. Garcia.. She's called everyone in, Will's with Hotch at the BAU and the kids."
"Shit." Elijah sighed as he stepped out of the shower, trying to dry himself with his towel.
"I don't know what to do."
"Hey- We'll go to the BAU as well. We'll find her." Elijah assured him as he opened the door.
Reid nodded,"I'll grab you some clothes."
"Thanks, hun." Elijah sighed.
*********************************
"I've got a sore head." Fleur sighed, holding her head.
"You want me to grab you something for that?" Morgan asked.
"Please?" She turned to him.
"Of course, babygirl." Morgan kissed her forehead before he got up.
"Thank you." Fleur leaned back in bed,"Oh Beau, what will I do without you?" She petted him.
Beau barked, his tail wagging happily as he looked up at her.
"Inside voice Beau." Fleur hummed.
Beau barked a second time, this time more of a quiet grumble.
"That's my boy." Fleur kissed his head.
"Pills and a glass of water for you, my love." Morgan hummed as he walked in.
"Thank you." She smiled.
"We uh, also have a problem." Morgan sighed.
"What's wrong?" Fleur sat up.
"JJ. She's missing."
"What do you mean missing?"
"She never made it home and Garcia's currently trying to track her phone." Morgan told her.
"Merde." Fleur cursed and got out of bed.
"The others are on their way to the BAU." He grabbed his leather jacket from the chair it had been flung on to.
"Okay, um..Let me get ready then I'll be out."
"I'll get the car started." Morgan nodded as he headed off.
"Sorry Beau, cuddles later." Fleur kissed his head.
Beau whined, sitting and looking up at Fleur.
"Extra cuddles." Fleur assured him,"Go play with Marie."
Beau tilted his head slightly before he ran off.
*********************************
Both couples arrived at the BAU not too long after the news, walking with each other.
"The director's behind closed doors with the Under Secretary of Arms Control and International Security Affairs. Hotch is on his way to the State Department to get some answers." Morgan explained as they walked up to Rossi and Blake.
"We found JJ's cell phone, but there wasn't any sign of her." Reid added.
"Cruz is missing, too. His car is still in his garage but mail and newspapers suggest that he's been gone at least twenty four hours." Rossi shook his head as they walked into the Conference Room.
"Trying- I'm trying to pull data off of JJ's phone, but it's, like, level nine security." Garcia sighed as they walked in,"It would make Snowden weep."
"What about cell phone records?" Fleur asked.
"Encrypted. JJ's and Cruz." She nodded.
"That's not surprising if they work for the State Department." Rossi shrugged.
"But if that assignment was a backstop, then JJ's transfer as D.O.D Liason was her cover." Elijah nodded slowly.
"So what was she really doing that year?" Fleur wondered.
"That's the first question Hotch is gonna ask." Morgan shook his head,"Strauss was pressured by the executive branch to push JJ's transfer through in 2010, so she would have known the reason why."
"Any assignment Strauss authorised would be archived in the SCIF." Reid mentioned.
"That facility is code word classified." Garcia pointed.
"Okay, but Anderson can get you in. He archives those reports. Blake, Rossi, JJ couldn't have used the SCIF without drawing attention. She probably has a foxhole right here in the BAU. We just need to find it." Morgan told them.
"And what are you not telling us?" Blake asked.
Fleur looked at Morgan,"Whoever took Cruz and JJ is highly trained and highly organised. Justice, Defense, and State? That's like the Doves- It's not, but they wouldn't be on edge like this if this was a simple matter of two missing agents."
"Is Hotch worried that the recovery won't be made a priority?" Rossi raised a brow.
"It's our job to find the leverage that ensures it is." Morgan sighed, "Let's get it done."
"Yeah- Yeah." Garcia nodded quickly as she got back to typing.
*********************************
"Elijah, they've called someone in that knows more about the situation." Fleur walked up to Elijah.
"Oh- Who?" Elijah asked.
"Emily." Fleur smiled.
Elijah gasped,"No way."
"Yes way, she's on her way here." Fleur nodded,"She's about to call, come on."
"You don't need to tell me twice." He pointed.
Once they walked in, they already saw Emily on the screen.. Oh how they missed her.
"Askari is as bad as they can get. Highly educated member of the Republican Guard caught torturing POWs off the clock for fun. I'm sending you his profile now." She informed them.
"So this is who has JJ?" Garcia swallowed as she looked at her screen.
"His name speaks volumes. Tivon means student of nature, yet Askari means soldier." Alex told them.
"Askari's methods seem well-documented. He's organized, he's meticulous. He typically spends twenty-four hours with his subjects before they break." Hotch shook his head.
"They've had Cruz at least that long." Reid sighed
"It looks like this guy uses most of the standard torture techniques." Elijah looked through the file.
"He even keeps his ritual to an established timeline, a so-called perfect methodology evolved through years of practice." Rossi mentioned.
"No sexual torture." Blake noted,"Maybe he has line he doesn't cross."
"Typically, professional torturers are driven by a false sense of moral superiority. They don't derive sexual pleasure from the cruelty they inflict." Fleur added.
"But Askari isn't just a torturer. He's a sadistic serial killer." Hotch reminded them.
"And they love getting off." Rossi shook his head.
"Guys, I may have two more victims we can attribute to Askari." Emily spoke up,"Savin Mubari and his wife Nadia. He was a known confidant of Bin Laden's. Both were at the camp where JJ worked."
"Then JJ would have been assigned to interrogate Nadia. Do we know what happened to her?" Hotch asked.
"MO matches all of Askari's victims except for one thing. She was raped." Emily sighed.
"So what was different about her?" Alex raised a brow.
"Maybe she lasted the longest?" Reid suggested,"If his ritual dictates a specific timeline, any new aspect would fall later in his routine."
"So the longer JJ holds out, the greater the likelihood that'll happen to her." Fleur sighed.
"So how much time does JJ have?" Garcia questioned.
"A..Few hours." Hotch admitted.
*********************************
"Cruz never officially put his name in for Section Chief." Reid told them as he walked in.
"Well, somebody did." Hotch sighed.
"Or he pulled strings, called in favors to get closer to JJ." Rossi suggested.
"Emily, you saw JJ during this time. Did she ever mention Cruz or details of the investigation?" Hotch asked.
Emily looked away as she thought before nodding,"JJ suspected a double agent. She could have been talking about Cruz."
"If Cruz is working with Askari, why take JJ? His clearance level is higher than hers." Reid blinked.
"At Interpol our most sensitive information requires to ranking agents to gain access." Emily explained.
"Maybe the Integrity systems require the same." Fleur suggested.
"But when agents are compromised, their security privileges are revoked. JJ's codes shouldn't work." Elijah shook his head.
"If he knew what he was doing, he could reroute the system updates that would render their security codes useless." Garcia told them.
"Where would he have to go to do that?" Morgan asked.
"Straight to the source. He'd have to hard line into the servers, but they're scattered all over the country." Garcia sighed.
"It would be difficult to transport JJ and keep to Askari's timeline. He must have taken her someplace local." Rossi pointed.
"And we need to figure out which server they've hacked." Hotch crossed his arms.
*********************************
"Where's the server mainframe?" Hotch questioned as they arrived where they thought Askari was holding JJ and Cruz
"Subterranean level." Anderson told them.
"Where is that?"
"Through the warehouse." He pointed.
"Show us." Hotch nodded.
Anderson nodded, quickly leading them down. They all cautiously entered, guns raised as they approached when they spotted the man they believed to be behind it. Hastings.
"Hastings!" Hotch shouted, shooting his gun.
The team fired at Hastings as they chased him down throughout the halls as he fired back. More people appeared with guns, shooting at them. Emily, Hotch and Fleur headed one way, going towards the room where JJ was. Askari was close to stabbing JJ but Hotch quickly shooting him. Cruz, however, was already bleeding out on the ground.
"Emily, I knew they'd call you." JJ panted.
"Alright, shh.." Emily soothed her as she untied them,"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, help Matt, please."
"We got him." Fleur assured him.
"Hastings.. Is headed to the roof... You have to stop him." Cruz forced out.
"Comms aren't working down here. He's lost a lot of blood. How's JJ?" Hotch asked.
"She's standing, but that's-" Emily stopped as she turned around,"Where the hell did she go?"
"She went to get Hastings." Fleur cursed.
"It's personal for her." Cruz nodded.
"I've got Cruz, you two go find her." Hotch pointed.
*********************************
After taking down Hastings and getting JJ and Cruz to safety, the team headed to a bar to celebrate but also to spend more time with Emily.
"Emily, how much longer do we have you?" Fleur asked, holding her arm.
Emily checked her watch,"Uh, six hours."
"It's too soon." Garcia sighed.
"It's more than we had yesterday." Elijah pointed.
"I'm just glad I finally got to meet you. I've heard amazing things." Blake hummed.
"All lies." Emily smiled, shaking her head.
"No. No more lies." JJ warned,"Nothing but the truth from now on."
"Oh yeah?" Will raised a brow.
"Yeah." JJ smiled, kissing him.
"Oh god." Fleur chuckled.
"You are not escaping without a hug, Missy." Elijah pointed to Emily.
"Of course not." Emily laughed, hugging him.
"Thank you." Elijah whispered.
"For what?"
"Being here."
"I was due back a visit anyway." She hummed.
"Damn right." Elijah nodded.
"I missed you."
"We all missed you." He sighed.
"I missed all of you too, don't get me wrong." Emily chuckled.
"I mean, who wouldn't miss this?" Elijah raised a brow.
"Why thank you."
"Flo and I are pretty great."
"Hopefully you two aren't making any havoc." Emily pointed.
"Havoc? Us?" Elijah gasped, looking over at Fleur,"Tell her how good we've been, Flo."
"Hm?" Fleur walked over,"Oh.. Yes, no havoc. Definitely no seminars with Rhonda."
"Rhonda? Oh my god." Emily shook her head.
"Don't worry about it, because it totally didn't happen." Fleur assured her.
"We have been on our best behavior." Elijah agreed.
"What am I going to do with you two?" Emily chuckled.
"Love us because we're the best?" Elijah hummed.
"I always do." Emily sighed softly.
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