Wheels Down in 30

~ local bistro ~

Aaron watched as Dani sifted through folder after folder. She was overworking his team and she knew it. They knew it too, they just didn't care. Everyone was too close to the case. Reid reached up and rubbed his face, Aaron watched him with a blank face. Emily was in the phone with someone talking adamantly and JJ was helping Morgan and Reid with victimology.

Aaron strode forward towards the table with two drink carriers in his hands. "You got the fancy kind!" Emily cheers when she sees they have names. It was something Aaron did from time to time when he knew the team was working hard with no end in sight. He'd run to a local bistro and get everyone's favorite coffee.

Dani stood and gave Aaron a chaste kiss, surprising him for a moment, before she grabbed her coffee from the table. He smiled to himself. He just wanted Francesca to be happy. Of course he felt there was nothing in the world that would ever keep him from her again. But he knew that if she said the word, he would leave without hesitation.

He watched her eyes trail over a autopsy report and busied himself in paperwork that was well over due. It was going to be a long day of searching.

"Francesca." Danielle felt her heart fall into her stomach at the tone coming from the computer, "I-i I don't- they were fine and I took a quick shower- oh my god Dani I'm so sorry. Oh my god."

Dani stood from her seat, her chair flying back into a filing cabinet, "Penelope slow down."

"The cops were out front- I thought- god i-"

Aaron was quick to his feet, the blood drained from his face. "Garcia." He urged.

Penelope sobbed, a hand over her mouth, "... it's Jack and Evie. They're gone."

Dani let out a startled breath, eyes wide in disbelief, "What do you mean they're gone?"

Garcia let out another sob, "I took a-a shower and it's was no longer than 5 minutes I swear and when I came back in the living room they were-" another sob cut off her rambling and her face was bright red and covered in tears.

Aaron slammed his hand on the conference table, "God damn it!" He shouted, "This isn't happening." He kept repeating it over and over, Dani just stood.

Her breath was ragged and anger was wafting off of her in waves, "Someone get Strauss on the phone." She heard Derek say and she felt snapped back into her body.

She walked up to the phone JJ was dialing Strauss on and clicked it on speaker. A quarter of a ring rang through out the conference room, "I heard." Strauss answered the unasked question. This was the first moment Dani heard her speak without hint of hostility in her tone. "Anderson is heading the BAU while you are in England, he made the decision to not set up road blocks, he insisted it would endanger the children more." Aaron couldn't stand the sympathy in her tone. His kids were going to be fine. It was going to be fine.

Dani clears her voice, "Good. He's right, if my dad took them, he'll kill them the second they become inconvenient to him and he'll find someone else to hurt me with. I want to speak with Anderson please." Aaron admired Dani's ability to compartmentalize, he wouldn't have been able to do what she was doing right now. All he could see was Hailey dying in his arms and Jack hiding. Flashes of every moment with Jack and Evie were overwhelming him and he was in no state to command anything from anyone.

"Of course." Strauss covered her receiver and her voice is muffled for a moment. It's obvious she exited her office when the loud sounds of the overactive BAU office reaching the ears of the agents in the conference room.
Dani heard her ask someone to call Anderson back from Penelope's apartment. Dani was thankful somebody was with her.

A few more minutes of rustling and Strauss addressed the team again, "He's coming up the elevator."

She heard the sound of his Italian brand shoes Rossi bought Anderson during secret Santa a year prior and everyone snapped their attention to the phone, "Agent Valentino?" Andersons tired voice questioned.

Dani nodded heavily, "Yes! Yes. We are all here." Rossi closed his eyes at the desperation in her tone. He prayed silently, terrified for his family.

Anderson let out a sigh, "It seems that whoever took them came through the front door. Penelope wasn't in the shower long so they had to have moved fast. She didn't hear a sound so whoever took the kids must have pretended to be someone they could trust. Perhaps they dressed as an cop or agent. It could also be that they threatened one of the kids or even Penelope to get them to leave quietly. The officers found their shoes still in the home and the ones out front didn't see anything suspicious. We just got the surveillance footage from Garcia's cameras and the ones in and out the apartment building, so hopefully it will have some answers."

Dani nodded, "Okay. Thank you Grant. Please send them over. We will be flying home tonight, we have a few ends to tie up. Please take Garcia home with you, keep her safe. I trust you Anderson, I need you to explore every avenue you can before we get back."

"Of course Dani." He replied, "We'll find them." It went unspoken that they would. Danielle just couldn't bare the thought of finding them already dead.

Dani reached forward and ended the call. Her frailties grew tense and she turned quickly to march out of the conference room, "Where are you going?" Emily caught her arm.

Dani shook off her hold, "To kill that bitch." She answered, slamming the door open causing the entire precinct to quiet.

She paid no mind to their presence and walked quickly to interrogation room 3, slamming the door open.

Derek and Emily couldn't stop her before she smacked Hannah across the face, "You nasty little cunt, you knew he'd take my kids."

Hannah let out a loud laugh, "I figured you already killed one, it won't be so hard to let the other two go."

Danielle smacked her again, "You shut your fucking mouth and listen to me carefully. When I drop my charges against you and you make the smart decision to run, there won't be a place far enough, a hole deep enough to keep you safe from the bullet I'm going to put in your head."

Hannah shrugged, "I'll be waiting."