Family isn't Always Blood (A Criminal Minds fanfic)

Chapter 33: She's Gone

Hotch's POV:
I race to the car, not bothering to see if anyone is following. I get in and start it up, about to drive off when Rossi and, JJ and Reid get in. "We're coming with you" Dave says and I don't have time to argue. We speed off with the sirens on, dodging traffic as we go. We pull up at my house and the front door is open. I pull out my gun and go inside.
I look around, pointing my gun around the room and bracing myself for an attack. I look over and see Andersen lying unconscious on the floor. JJ runs over to him, "He's still alive, call an ambulance" she says and Reid pulls out his phone. Dave and I check the rest of the house, searching for the potential killer. We don't find him but we don't find Emily either.

I head back down the stairs, stopping at the bottom to pull myself together. Anger overcomes me and I punch the wall. "Aaron" Rossi says, "It won't help" "She's gone Dave" I say rather harshly, "We'll find her" he says, "Yeah? And what if we don't? She's due to have a baby in 5 weeks, what if something happens?" I say, "We'll find her" he says again and I walk off.
The ambulance arrives and they take Andersen. I look over at the bloodied stain on the otherwise clean carpet. Reid walks into the room and JJ cries into his chest. I walk outside and sit in the car, trying to calm myself down. Images of Emily beat up and unconscious start flashing through my mind. I feel sick as I think of the baby. What if something happens to it? To both of them. I wouldn't be able to live with myself, knowing that I was the one who told her to stay home.

Rossi opens the door and gets in the passenger seat. He doesn't say anything, just sits there. "Dave I--" "I know" he cuts me off, "I just don't know what to do" I admit, "Aaron, we'll find her. I know you're worried about her, I am too, but sitting around worrying about her won't get us anywhere" Rossi says, "I know" I say quietly, "Now let's go find this asshole" he says and we drive off.

Garcia's POV:
Hotch and Rossi walk into the bullpen. I look up at them hopefully but Hotch just storms off to his office without saying a word. I get up and walk quickly to my lair, trying to get behind closed doors before the tears start. I just make it to my office in time as tears start to flow freely down my face. I shut the door and sit down in my chair, crying as I worry about my best friend, about her child. She'll be okay. I try to convince myself, she's strong. I say in my head, but it's no use, the tears keep coming.
A knock at the door startles me. I wipe my eyes and call out for them to come in. Derek opens the door and sees that I have been crying, "Oh baby" he says, walking over to hug me, "Derek, what if--what if--" I can't bring myself to say it, "What if she's already dead?" I blurt out, "What about the baby?" I continue, "I don't know what I'd do if she--" "Baby, shh, we'll find her before it gets to that" he says, "I promise you" he says and I nod. "Now show me this security footage so we can find this son of a bitch" he says. I sniff and open up the file on my computer. I play the short clip, showing Derek what little we've got. "Are you able to enhance the image?" he asks me, "Yeah, but it will take a while" I say, "Well it's better than what we've got at the moment" he says and kisses me before leaving my office. I turn to my computer screen and immediately start enhancing the video, trying to make the image clearer.

After about an hour, Derek comes back in to see how I'm doing. "It's getting there" I say, showing him the image from the video, "How are you guys going?" I ask, "We've come to the conclusion that he's not someone you've angered. The letters are saying things like 'I think you deserve a better husband' so that means he isn't angry with you, if anything, the opposite, he feels that he is in love with you girls and wants you all to himself" he explains, I shiver at the thought. "Does that mean he won't hurt Emily?" I ask hopefully, "I don't know" he says quietly and a tear rolls down my cheek. Derek gently wipes it away and kisses my forehead, "I love you baby" he says and leaves my office.