For Old Times' Sake

Chapter 25

He checked the time. 
2:53 A.M.
"Why isn't she back yet..." He was stupid to think he could actually get any actual rest with Y/N gone. Thinking about calling her, he got up and dialed her number.
A very familiar feeling of dread surfaced when she didn't pick up, making him desperately call again. 
No answer.

"That's it." He got up, hurriedly getting dressed.

The hotel was a ten-minute drive from the station, so he didn't think to wake anyone else.

As he parked his car, he saw Y/N's car where it had been.
"Thank God. She must have forgotten her phone in her bag." he thought, running inside the station. 
"Agent Hotchner. Back so soon?" 

"Oh, Officer Stevens. I actually just came by to see if Agent Y/N had found anything." he lied.
"Um. She left about two hours ago, are you sure she's not back at the hotel?"

"No. No no no no."  he thought.

He ran out to her car, stopping dead in his tracks when he reached the driver's side.
Her bag was on the pavement next to it.

Falling to his knees, he opened it and found her phone, along with everything else she carried.
His head throbbed with pain as he clutched it in his fist, cursing himself.

"JJ. Wake up and come to the station with everyone else. Y/N's missing."
"Damn it. Emily! Wake up, we have a problem. "
All six of them got up and got dressed, heads still aching from being woken up suddenly.
Reaching the station, they saw Hotch, eyes red and hands full of papers of the case.

Emily and Rossi exchanged a look. This was the worst thing possible right now.
Rossi hurried over to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. 
"We'll find her, Aaron. Don't worry."
"I did this. I did this to her." He closed his eyes, sinking into the chair behind him.
"No, you didn't. And we will find her." Jennifer said, rubbing his back."
"You don't understand. I'm so stupid, I didn't even notice, and I left her alone here."
"Notice what, man?" Derek asked, stressed at seeing his friend breaking down.
"The victims. They're all like her. Each and every one of them."

Reid frowned, grabbing the pictures of the victims.
The color drained from his face as he lowered them, realizing the similarities.
Everyone seemed to blanch as the magnitude of this fact dawned on them, the gruesome M.O.s hitting ten times harder.
"Hotch. We need to find her now if we want to save her." Reid said.
He raised his head, his jaws set in an expression of utmost hate.
"I'm going to kill that son of a bitch. I'll make him pay."

***

You groaned as your consciousness returned, albeit with the worst headache of your life.
Blinking, you took in your surroundings.

"Dingy basement. What a shocker."

Your hands and feet were zip-tied. At least he had done you the mercy of putting you in a chair.
He hadn't gagged or covered your mouth. Not a good sign. He wasn't worried about you screaming because no one would hear you.

Looking right, you saw your gun kept just out of reach on a small shelf.

Not that you could have used it anyhow, but the obvious taunt made your blood boil.
On the extreme right, a table with a bunch of tools you didn't want to think about right now.
In front, a few paces away, the door.
You scooted unbearably slowly to it, wanting to inspect the doorknob.
Much to your dread, he beat you to it, opening it and walking in.

"Thinking about escaping, are we my darling? I can hear you scraping the floor from upstairs you know. It's an unpleasant sound, you know." he pulled his hand back, slapping you hard.
"Go to hell." you spat at him, making him pull your chair back to where it was.
He held your face in one hand, looking into your eyes.
You were slightly alarmed at his face, only now getting a good look at it.
A sharp nose and high cheekbones, mouth set into a wicked grin.
But the most striking were his eyes- one turquoise, and the other brown.

"This is hell, Agent. Your hell."

He didn't stop smiling as he went over to the table. 
The hair on the back of your neck stood up as he picked up a screwdriver.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang from somewhere upstairs.
Angrily, he threw it back and looked at you.

You shrank back a little as he smiled.

"Scream all you like, sweetheart. Even God can't hear you from down here."