"When you wear a mask for so long you forget who you were beneath it"
-Tivon Askari-

Maya was about to press the contact until she heard a floorboard creak. Before she could turn around a cloth was put over her mouth and she was immediately dragged off of her couch, kicking over her lamp in the process...

Darkness. Exhaustion. Silence.

Maya felt herself being dragged across a cement floor. She could only see the ground due to her being blindfolded. She heard chains rattling in the distance before a door opened in front of her. Maya was pushed onto the hard ground, letting out a painful groan as her body hit the ground.

"Mm" Maya groans as she reaches to take off her blindfold but is quickly grabbed and pulled to her feet.

"Let- let me- let me go" Maya stammers tiredly as her arms are brought above her head, blindfold still over her eyes. "Hey! Hey!" Someone shouted but it was muffled as if they had something in their mouth that was stopping them from speaking clearly. Chains we're wrapped around Maya's wrist with no hesitation, and they were wrapped tightly.

The blindfold was snatched off of her face and she immediately looked around the room. Her vision was blurry, but she seen a table and someone sitting in a chair next to her, with no clue who it was.

"Ugh" Maya groans before she looks at the person in front of her, her vision becoming clear. "Nice to see you again, Regan" The man says, and Maya's eyes widen with fear and shock.

"N-No!" Maya calls out as she immediately moves around frantically, despite being chained up by her wrist. It was Tivon Askari. A traitor who she used to work with.

"No!" Maya shouts out again before she looks over at the person in the chair and can't believe her eyes. "JJ..." Maya trails off, locking eyes with JJ as she sees her eyes are practically bloodshot and she's super out of it.

"Ah!" Maya cries out as her head is pushed to the side, her neck being more visible. "Stop- let me go!" Maya shouts before Askari grabs her by her jaw and looks her in her eyes that are filled with tears that she refuses to let fall.

"Save. Your. Strength" He orders before he slowly pushes her hair behind her ear and grabs a syringe. He places the needle into her neck and injects the drug into her which causes her to slowly fall unconscious...

OCTOBER 2010

"You just lost us a valuable asset" Cruz argues as he, Maya and Hastings argue outside of the medical tent. "That terrorist got hurt trying to escape" Hastings argues and Maya sighs sadly.

"Listen, you have to do what you have to do" Maya states, her arms dropping to her side. "He was going to talk!" Cruz shouts and Maya looks away from Cruz who looks at her with disappointment while Hastings looks to her with reassurance.

Hastings had a thing for Maya, and it was clear the minute she was drafted but Maya never wanted anything or anyone to interfere with her work. Plus, Erin Strauss promised her a job whenever they were looking for new recruits at the BAU and Maya desperately wanted something new, a fresh start.

"Did he talk?" Cruz asks, looking to Hastings. "He started to and then this" Maya states before Hastings is called into the medical tent. Erin walks over with someone by her side. The women had long blonde hair that went past her shoulders and she was wearing a black pantsuit, looking as if she didn't belong here.

"Agent Jennifer Jareau, this is Mateo Cruz and Maya Regan" Erin introduces them. "Jareau. You don't look like you belong here" Maya voices as she looks down at Jennifer's shoes and notices a small heel on them.

"Guess I didn't get the dress code memo" She declares, letting out a light chuckle until she realizes no one else laughing. Maya turns around and walks back into the medical tent before Cruz and Jennifer enter in after her.

"Hastings, do you have a minute?" Cruz asks before he leads Jareau to the dead man lying on a hospital bed, beaten and tortured to the pulp.

"Was he- tortured to death?" Jennifer asks, looking down at the man in shock. "His name is Savin Mubari, Al-Qaeda Operative" Maya introduces.

"He was one of the Bin Laden's couriers, and, yes, he was" Cruz finishes, eyeing Hastings up and down while he looks down at Jennifer's outfit and shoes, "Didn't anyone tell you to get changed?" Hastings asks jokingly before Cruz introduces Jennifer as an agent from the BAU and who will also be handling female interrogations.

"We don't need a profile if we know we're looking for Bin Laden" Hastings declares. "Good thing I'm not a profiler. I was a communications liaison" Jennifer states and both Hastings and Maya chuckle softly as they listen to what Jennifer just said.

"Then why is she even here?" Hastings asks, "To look pretty is my guess" Maya declares, tilting her head to the side as she looks to Jennifer.

"Stand down" Erin orders and Maya sighs before adjusting her posture. "Just don't get comfortable. This places changes people, and I can't imagine what it'll do to you" Hastings states as he pushes past Jennifer, his shoulder gently hitting up against hers as he walks past.

"Arrogance aside, Hastings is CIA elite so..." Cruz trails off, Jennifer slightly offended at his words. "How could you say that? He just tortured a man to death" Jennifer argues and Maya sighs as she looks to Jennifer, taking a step towards her.

"We do things different here" Maya states before she looks back at the man that was tortured to death. The man she tortured to death.

"I can see you wondering why you're here to do female interrogations when there is a female standing right in front of you" Maya says as she looks into Jennifer's eyes. Maya was one of the tough ones who didn't take anybody's shit. If she wanted answers, she was going to get them one way or another and if she didn't... well that was bad news, and everyone knew that.

Maya, Jennifer, Cruz and Strauss exit the tent and start taking a walk around the base when they see a woman being pushed to interrogation room. "Who's the women?" Jennifer asks as she stands in between Cruz and Maya, walking with them. "Nadia, Mubari's wife" Maya answers as she and the group walk right past her, Maya unable to meet her eyes especially after what she did to her husband.

"Does she know anything?" Jennifer asks and Maya shrugs her shoulders, "That's your job" Strauss explains before they meet another fella, Tivon Askari. A man Maya and Cruz already knew.

"Nice to meet you" Askari greets as he gives Jennifer a handshake and Maya could tell by the way she adjusted her shoulders she was uncomfortable, and Maya understood because she was uncomfortable when she was around him as well. It's just a feeling...

PRESENT DAY

"What the hell" Derek groans as he dials Maya's number once again but goes straight to voicemail. "What's wrong?" Reid asks as he sits in the passenger seat of the car while Derek drives to the BAU because they got an urgent message about JJ's possible disappearance.

"Maya isn't answering her phone" Derek states as he looks down at his phone while also trying to keep his eyes on the road.

"Maybe she's already at the office" Reid declares and Derek sighs before he sets his phone down. "I hope so" Derek says as he hits the gas and taps his fingers on the steering wheel while continuing to drive.

At the BAU, Will rushes in worried about JJ. He meets with Hotch and Garcia where Garcia informs them that JJ's car is parked on constitution. "Find Matt Cruz and get Maya Regan" Will demands and Hotch and Garcia look to him in confusion.

"They'll know what's going on" Will adds. "Uh, section chief Matt Cruz and our fellow agent Maya?" Garcia questions to which Will nods his head in agreement.

"Uh, I mean I've already texted Maya so she should be on her way, but I'll call" Garcia states and gives Maya a call but it goes straight to voice mail, so she immediately tries Cruz next but finds out he's not at the office.

"Can I ask what Cruz and Maya have to do with JJ's disappearance?" Hotch asks. "They all worked together at the state department" Will answers and Hotch sighs in confusion as he looks to Will.

"All of them? None of them have mentioned that" Hotch declares and Will goes onto state that the assignment they were on was classified. "All I know is that JJ said if anything happened to her Cruz and Maya would know what to do" Will states and Garcia starts to stammer over her words.

"That's the thing, neither of them is answering" Garcia says and Will, Hotch and Garcia look around at each other with worry in their eyes. "Have Morgan and Reid turn around and head to Maya's house and Have Rossi and Blake go to Cruz's house" Hotch orders and Garcia immediately gets the word out to the rest of the team.

"Morgan, turn around" Reid demands which makes Derek knit his eyebrows in confusion. "What? Why?" He asks. "Go to Maya's house. Her, JJ and Cruz are missing" Reid states and Derek wastes no time in turning the SUV around and immediately heading to Maya's house, his sirens sounding through the city.

_____

"Mm" Maya groans softly as she starts gain consciousness after hearing the sound of a door open. She hears multiple footsteps to the sound and feels someone slowly trial their fingers along her back and the front of her neck before turning her head towards the view. It was Matt Cruz.

"They're trying to access integrity! Don't let them get our codes!" Cruz shouts as his wrist are chained up and he's pulled to his feet.

Maya starts breathing heavily before JJ's head tiredly turns towards her. She shakes her head in disbelief before looking down at the ground while they punch Cruz across the face with no hesitation. "I know exactly how to get what I want" Askari declares as he roughly pulls JJ's hair back while he looks down at her with determination.

"Let us go you son of a bitch!" Maya shouts and is quickly punched in the stomach by a member of Askari's crew. A cloth is stuffed in her mouth and black tape is put around her mouth to keep the piece of cloth tucked inside.

_____

At Maya's house, Derek and Reid arrive and immediately leave the SUV and make their way towards the porch. They notice the large footprints on the porch and rush into the house with their guns raised but when they enter, no one is seen inside. Not even Maya.

They go further into the house, slowly holstering their weapons and walk into the living room, seeing the broken lamp shattered on the ground. "She either put up a fight or left that as a clue" Reid declares while Derek covers his mouth in shock as he looks around the house sadly.

"She would've put up a fight unless there was no way she couldn't" Derek declares as he walks over to the window in her living room and sees that it was left open.

They see the wood is slightly chipped around the window seal and he looks down at the bushes right outside the window and notice how messy and misplaced it is. Almost like someone was pushed out onto it, causing it to become that way.

"So, she walked in her house and the first thing she did was throw her go bag on the ground" Reid starts off, trying to retrace Maya's steps while Derek walks around the living room, analyzing the scene. "Came over to the couch and was about to get on her phone" Derek says as he lifts the phone from the ground and opens it, seeing the last app Maya was on was contacts and she was trying to contact the director.

"But before she could call... someone comes up behind her and snatches her off of the couch" Reid states as he notices the blanket that lies on the back of the couch was now on the ground.

"And she must've kicked the lamp to leave a trail" Derek declares as him and Reid walk back over to the window. "Whoever took her was in her house for a while because Maya would've known if her window was wide open" Reid states as him and Derek lock eyes, knowing they have all the information they need so they can give it back to the rest of the team.

The team gathers up to talk about JJ and Maya's secret work. The long and short of it is that JJ probably still works on secret jobs, which means she'd have to have some secure way of contacting the department of defense in the building.

Garica goes through Maya's file and finds out that she worked with JJ in the department back in 2010 and she got the job from Strauss.

The team feels they're going to have to work the case because the department of defense might not prioritize getting them back.

_____

"Ahh!" Maya screams as she is hit in the back with a hard wooden object once again. Meanwhile, JJ was being waterboarded right next to her. "Stop- just stop!" Maya screams as she starts to kick her feet around desperately.

"We'll stop once you give us the security codes" Askari states as he looks into Maya's eyes.

Maya breathes heavily, feeling excruciating pain in her back but that wasn't going to cause her to give up. Those codes are too classified, and they were given to her because they thought she was smart and tough enough to keep them under wraps and she wasn't going to change that now.

"You do what you have to do" Maya states before she bangs her forehead against Askari's, causing him to stumble back a little.

He stands up straight and punches Maya across the face multiple times before giving her a break. "Mm" Maya groans before she spits pools of blood out of her mouth while tiredly, desperately and angrily looking down at the ground, upset that she is defenseless and there's probably no way she'll be getting out of this alive.

_____

Rossi and Alex go down to JJ's old office, which is stacked full of boxes. They find her safe, which has a digital keypad, and the code is the year her son was born. Inside the safe is a file full of redacted information, with the word 'integrity' being one of the few readable sections.

"Now we just have to find Maya's" Rossi declares while Alex sighs defeatedly. "I don't know Maya is smart and she wouldn't hide it in plain sight. She probably knows it by memory" Alex declares before her and Rossi exit the office with the file in hand.

DECEMBER 2010

"She's already given us the names of two high-level terrorists. To assume her family's safety, she'll be even more willing to cooperate" Jennifer declares, referring to Nadia who has yet to speak up or give any information despite being questioned multiple times. "We can promise that we'll get her family back" Maya argues, looking down at Jennifer.

"Yeah, and we can't risk U.S casualties trying to save a terrorists daughter" Hastings states. "She was only married to one, but Nadia is a mother first" Jennifer defends and Maya narrows her eyes at Jennifer with curiosity.

"She is holding onto that doll like her life depends on it" Maya realizes before she lets out a indecisive sigh.

"Exactly! We put her daughter in her arms instead, she'll tell us everything" Jennifer declares and Maya locks eyes with Cruz and shrugs her shoulders, knowing it's not her decision to make and it's all up to him or Erin.

"Jareau has a valid point. The child's definitely her Achilles heel" Cruz defends while Hastings feels as if the women Nadia has already given the all the information she knows.

"I'm sorry but this woman could just be stalling" Hastings argues. "And if she's not?" Jennifer asks harshly and Maya raises her eyebrows jokingly. "What if she has one more name that gets us Bin Laden?" Jennifer questions while Cruz feels that's a risk worth taking.

"Hastings was right when he said he couldn't wait to see what this place does to you" Maya voices as she walks past Jennifer, looking her up and down in the process.

PRESENT DAY

The secretary of state tells Hotch that after the base was attacked, they figured out the translator, Michael Hastings, was betraying them, and they figure he's the one behind this current attack. She also says that they're currently involved in negotiations to get the two of them back and want Hotch's team to stay out of it so Hotch calls Emily, who's currently working at Interpol.

Emily takes the call and heads straight for the airport, saying she'll get all the relevant information during the flight.

_____

"Stop- stop" Maya says after they shut off the hose that was spraying her with extremely cold water. "Oh, is it cold?" One of the men asks as he pushes Maya's wet hair out of her face and rubs his thumb across her cheek before he and the rest of his guys leave the room. Maya's head rest uncomfortably as she looks down at the ground.

"Maya, hey" JJ greets quietly and Maya slowly starts to raise her head and look to JJ beside her.

"I'm s-so-so tired" Maya stammers as she shivers uncontrollably from the cold feeling through her body. "Keep fighting. We can't give them those codes" JJ states tiredly and Maya nods her head the best she can, understanding the situation.

"I know... I-I know" Maya reassures before her eyelids get heavy and she can no longer keep her eyes open. Moments later, the door opens and Askari and some of his men enter back into the room.

One of them sets up a laptop and it has a window asking for three passwords on it. He's logged into the integrity server and is waiting for Maya, JJ and Cruz to give their codes so this will all be over.

Askari brings the laptop over by Maya and has someone drop her to the ground roughly. "Ah" Maya groans in pain as she opens her eyes, seeing a laptop in front of her. "Code. Now" Askari orders and Maya fearfully swallows a lump down her throat and looks around the room before she felt a hard kick to the stomach.

"Code now!" Askari shouts as he grabs Maya by her hair and pulls her closer to the computer screen.

Maya looks at the computer screen and breathes heavily while her hair is being balled up in Askari's hand. "If you can torture a man to death, you can certainly put in a code" Askari whispers in Maya's ear and Maya balls her fist angrily before roughly leaning her head back and hitting it against Askari's nose.

She started to bang her hands on the computer to try and break it. "Maya! Stop!" JJ begs as one of the men rush over to the chains and pull her up immediately. "Ah!" Maya cries out as she feels her shoulder starting to come out of place.

"You little bitch" Askari snaps as he walks over to one of the torture items which is an electric bar. He sparks one of them up and JJ widens her eyes in shock.

"No! Leave her alone! Stop!" JJ shouts but there was nothing she could do. "Ahhh!" Maya screams as she feels the electric bar electrocute her freezing cold body, making her body shake and eyes starts to roll to the back of her head before he finally stopped.

"Mm" Maya groans softly as her head drops and she was unable to hold it up anymore.

FEBRUARY 2011

In Afghanistan, Maya was helping the armory sort through the rifles, grenades, pistols, blades and more. "Hang these up on the wall" Maya orders as she pushes the cart of rifles over to one of the men. She then grabs her chart off of one of the tables and begins writing down how many weapons they have from each category before Jennifer walks in.

"Jennifer" Maya greets without looking towards her. Maya grabs one of the pistols and quickly checks the clip in it before cocking it back and placing it in one of the bins.

"You're good at that stuff" Jennifer admires as Maya finishes writing down in the chart. "I'm good at a lot of things" Maya theorizes jokingly, making Jennifer chuckle softly.

"You look nervous" Maya realizes as she analyzes Jennifer's body language and can practically see the sweat beaming off of her forehead. "You should be a profiler" Jennifer states and Maya shrugs her shoulders as she sets her pen down on the table and walks closer to Jennifer.

"You're scared you're doing the wrong thing by trying to save Nadia's family" Maya realizes, leaving silence between her and Jennifer.

"I don't know. I want to help her, but what if I end up killing her?" Jennifer questions and Maya sighs as she leans her body up against the table behind her. "I mean, you have some guts doing what you're doing but I have to say, you're the only one here who would ever make a suggestion like that" Maya states, making Jennifer knit her eyebrows in confusion.

"You wouldn't want to save her family?" Jennifer asks and Maya locks eyes with Jennifer and smiles sadly, "Not before you got here, no, I wouldn't have" Maya compliments as she pats Jennifer on the shoulder and starts to walk past her.

"Uh, my friends call me JJ by the way" Jennifer states and Maya turns on her heel and looks to JJ, "Are you saying we're friends?" Maya asks and JJ shrugs her shoulders.

"If you want to be" JJ states which makes Maya scoff jokingly before nodding her head slowly, "JJ" Maya repeats as she slowly exits the tent, leaving JJ there by herself.

A couple days later, it was now time for a selected group to go in and retrieve Nadia's daughter so they could get the answers they needed for Bin Laden.

The group was sent in heavily armed and trained and it was going smoothly until they realized they were being ambushed. Presumably, the men were killed and so were the other hostages inside. JJ, naturally, blames herself, because the plan was her idea.

After the ambush, Maya, Cruz, Hastings, and JJ are going to give the wife, Nadia, the news about her dead daughter, but when they get to her cell she's already dead. Maya covers her mouth in shock while JJ rushes out of the house and proceeds to throw up, disgusted at what she just saw.

Meanwhile, Maya looks to Hastings who looks as if this is normal for him, although it kind of is, but he isn't the slightest but disgusted. Why?

No matter how people Maya has killed. No matter how much innocent lives she's taken. Nothing will ever prepare her for something like this.

PRESENT DAY

"No!" Maya cries out as Askari drags his blade down Maya's arm, causing her to bleed a little bit. "Leave her alone!" JJ shouts as she desperately tries to get out of her chains, wanting to help Maya.

"JJ, just- Just leave it alone. This bastard isn't going to listen!" Maya shouts and she is immediately met with a punch to the face, "Oh!" Maya groans as Askari walks over to JJ and stands in front of her.

"You have 5 seconds to give me your code" Askari demands as he starts to count down from 5 and JJ refuses to say a word. He gives his men one look, and they start dragging Cruz out of the room. "What the hell? What're you doing?! Stop!" Maya cries as she stomps her foot on the ground angrily.

"Son of a bitch!" JJ spats as she shakes her head sadly.

"Give me what I want, and I won't do what you know I will do" Askari states and Maya shakes her head as tears find their way down her cheek unwillingly. Askari starts to count down once again... 5... "You do this, and your plan is ruined" JJ shouts angrily.

"You'll never get what you want!" Maya adds... 4... 3... "Stop counting! Gosh!" JJ says as she pulls her arms down slightly, making the chains bang together.

2.... "Please!" JJ begs right before Askari gets to 1. BANG.

"Oh!" Maya cries out as she flinches from the sound of the shot. "No! No!" JJ sobs uncontrollably as Askari's men walk back into the room, Cruz nowhere to be found.

"You can't be this stupid" Maya declares as she sniffles in her tears, not wanting him to see her cry.

"Neither can you" Askari says as he roughly grabs Maya's face, wiping the wet tears that stain her face. Maya begins to laugh, the sound getting louder, making Askari furrow his eyebrows in slight confusion as Maya continues to laugh uncontrollably until it slowly dies down.

"Obviously, I'm not that stupid if you haven't killed me yet" Maya says as she locks eyes with Askari, proving she's not afraid of him.

"When you wear a mask for so long you forget who you were beneath it" Askari states as he takes a step towards Maya before one of his men let go of the chains which drop her onto the floor roughly, along with JJ.

_____

"It seems that Maya went into the CIA after the whole Joseph Perez situation and became friendly with Strauss. Strauss even promised her a job which is how she got the one at the BAU when I left" Emily reads aloud over video call with the rest of the team.

Derek sighs as he rubs his forehead stressfully because his only goal is to find Maya, but he knows if he doesn't learn about her past and the people who've taken her, there's a chance they may never find her at all.

The team trails off and starts to talk about Tivon Askari and his victims. One of them being a women named Nadia. She was tortured using a variety of methods including dangling from a ceiling, waterboarding, freezing, and electrocution for 24 hours and then raped. Emily says that the MO of her death matches all of his other victims.

Derek shakes his head sadly and angrily leaves the room, walking to office and shutting the door behind him but before the door could shut all the way, someone stopped it. That someone being Hotch. "You've got to calm down" Hotch declares and Derek scoffs annoyingly as he turns to face Hotch who stands in the doorway.

"Calm down? An Iraq solider has taken Maya, JJ and Cruz. The same solider who has raped and killed other women, so don't tell me to calm down" Derek snaps before the two of them fall silent and Derek could tell Hotch was keeping something from him.

"What?" Derek asks, his arms dropping to his side questionably. "Before Emily talked with the team, she talked with me and told me when the war broke out it looked like Askari's talents were recruited by the regime to break potential informants" Hotch states and Derek furrows his eyebrows in confusion, trying to understand what Hotch is trying to say.

"Okay, so, Askari worked for the highest bidder" Derek realizes. "Doesn't explain why a guy who tortured U.S soldiers gets drafted to our side" Derek states as Hotch sighs and rest his hands in his pocket.

"The order was given by Cruz" Hotch states and Derek's face falls into a face of realization, shock and worry. "W-What?" Derek questions, "Why would Cruz enlist a man like Askari?".

"He needed a high-ranking partner to put him in position" Hotch states and Derek shakes his head, not wanting Hotch to say what he thinks he's gonna say. Cruz and Askari were working together, and JJ and Maya could be in more danger than the team thought...

MARCH 2011

Maya walks into the medical tent, seeing JJ sitting down on one of the beds. "Hello" Maya greets, her arms crossed over her chest as she walks inside to see JJ who looks stressed but happy at the same time which was a weird combination.

"You didn't tell me you were back" Maya states as she recalls JJ leaving to go back home for a while.

"Is something wrong?" Maya asks as she starts to look around for JJ's chart until, "I'm pregnant" JJ quickly answers and Maya raises her eyebrows in shock and slowly turns back around to face her.

"Oh?" Maya questions, not knowing if that's a good or bad thing. "I'm not a big fan of... kids but congratulations" Maya states, watching JJ smile and nod her head slowly.

"Thanks, me and Will have been trying" JJ explains as she rest her hand on her stomach before Hastings and Cruz enter the tent. "There's a call for you from the BAU. Some kind of emergency involving Emily?" Hastings states and JJ immediately pushes through the group and goes to answer the call.

"Emily must be important" Maya sighs as she watches JJ rush away.

PRESENT DAY

"Maya..." Derek trials off, his hand still touching hers. "There's something about you that has attracted me since the very first moment I saw you sitting in Emily's seat" Derek starts off and Maya adjusts the way she stands as she feels a rant coming from Derek. "The way you look at the world. You always seem to be having deep thoughts about life, death, existence and these things" Derek adds, stepping closer to Maya, making her breathe uneven and her heart skip a beat.

"Like now, I am looking at you and you are definitely the most intense and mysterious woman I have ever met" Derek concludes as he stares into Maya's eyes which have tears clouding them because she's never heard something so genuine and romantic, ever. "You don't have to say anything-"

"Good because I don't want you to talk" Maya says softly, finishing the sentence from her flash back as she looks up at the bright light in front of her while her wrist are still strapped together with chains.

"Maya!" Derek called out as the medics came to check on Marcy so he quickly ran to Maya who was crawling out of the water, coughing harshly while also being soaked.

Maya removed her vest and tossed it to the side as Derek grabbed ahold of her hands and pulled her further out of the water, breathing rapidly. "It's okay. You're okay" Derek reassures as he watches Maya grip his arm for safety. Derek pushed Maya's hair out of her face and they both couldn't help but look into each other's eyes. Maya formed a smile on her face and it was genuine. Suddenly, the two began laughing as they looked at their surroundings before looking right back each other. They always looked to each other...

Maya continued to chuckle until soon her laughter turned into sobs. Not knowing if she'd ever see Derek again. Not knowing if she'd make it out of this alive. Not knowing if she'd smile again or be worth it again.

"Maya..." Maya heard, the voice echoing through her ears. She starts to open her eyes and her cheeks feels as if someone is touching it. Someone she knew. "Maya" The voice said again and when Maya opened her eyes, Derek was kneeling in front of her, his hand placed on her cheek lovingly.

"Derek?" Maya questions before tears find their way down her cheek. "It's okay... it's okay. Keep fighting" Derek urges and Maya starts to shiver on the cold hard floor as her slightly wet hair sticks to the sides of her face.

"I can't- this is the worse- the worse thing I've ever been through" Maya declares as she tries pulling her wrist apart from each other but forgot for one second that they were strapped together by cold, silver, rusty chains.

"It's okay, you're okay" Derek states and Maya slowly closes her eyes as she imagines Derek's presence. "I love you- Derek, I love you" Maya confesses softly before she opens her eyes, and he was gone. He was never there. He was a fragment of her imagination.

Cruz was now being dragged back inside the room, which was shocking to both JJ and Maya, but they didn't have time to react. Askari placed the computer in front of JJ while she kneels down, unable to keep her body up.

"Put the code in and all this ends" Askari whispers and JJ looks to Maya who chains are quickly pulled up, causing her shoulder to pop out of place.

"Ah" Maya cries out as her body aimlessly hangs from the chains. "Code" Askari orders, looking back down to JJ while JJ looks over at Cruz who nods his head, understanding if she puts the code in.

"It's okay. It's okay" Cruz reassures despite him having mixed feelings about the situation. JJ places her fingers on the keys and slowly starts to type in her code one by one until Askari and his men now had the full code.

Maya shakes her head as she looks around the room. Askari wouldn't have done this alone. Yes, he's a sick man and he does torture people but that's about his only job. There is someone else on the outside. "Codes confirmed. Now we just need the second and third user" The tech man states and Askari orders him to get it from Cruz.

"Guess we don't need her anymore" Askari states as he pulls out his gun and points it to the back of JJ's head.

"No! You kill her, you won't get shit from me" Maya declares as she lifts her head up, looking at Askari with determination, proving she'll do anything to stop him from getting her code.

"I second that" Cruz says, a painful smirk forming on his face, knowing him and Maya now have the upper hand.

MARCH 2011

"Hey, you still think there's a mole?" Maya asks as she walks up to JJ and soon Askari, Hastings and Cruz join them. "When you ask it makes me worry" JJ admits, looking Maya up and down curiously before Maya backs off and raises her hands in surrender.

"We're getting nowhere on your inside man theory" Hastings states and Maya immediately looks over to him. Maybe they've been looking in the wrong place.

"Yeah, Jareau, where should we be looking?" Cruz wonders. "Ops" JJ answers which makes everyone stop in their tracks and look to her. All of the members of her team are going to be given enhanced interrogations until they find out who it is.

JJ walks away and Maya looks around at the three men that stand around her, looking at them individually and analyzing their body language before she slowly walks away, knowing they were watching her discreetly.

_____

The next day, multiple teams and vehicles make their way to a secret location so everyone can be interviewed, and they could possibly find the inside man on the operation. "I can't believe Strauss signed off on this" Hastings states as Maya drives the vehicle through the field, along with multiple other cars behind her and in-front of her.

"Believe it" Maya sighs as she keeps the car at a steady pace while she drives. "She didn't" JJ corrects and Maya knits her eyebrows in confusion while she listens in on the conversation.

"Jackson did" JJ answers and Maya raises her eyebrows in confusion as she looks to Askari who is in the passenger seat then swiftly looks down at his hands and notice he's tapping them on his legs as if he's worried about something or... he knew something was coming up.

"You went over Strauss? You got some balls, JJ" Maya declares as she lets out a light laugh, surprised JJ would do something that hectic. "Damn, I didn't think you had it in you" Hasting declares jokingly as JJ sadly looks out the window, thinking of how many people they've lost due to this inside man.

BOOM

Ringing was heard in Maya's ear, and she held her head painfully as she looked around at her surroundings. There was smoke everywhere along with bits of fire, broken glass and blood. "Mm" Maya groans as she kicks the door to the truck open and looks around in the car seeing blood drip from Hastings mouth in the backseat.

"Hastings!? Hey, Hastings?!" Maya shouts as she shakes his shoulders, wanting him to wake up but he doesn't. Maya looks over to JJ with shock as gunfire is heard outside. Maya grabs a rifle from the back seat and gets out of the car but drops to the floor once she realizes her leg has been injured.

"Shit!" Maya groans before she uses the car to stand to her feet and duck for cover.

Maya sees Askari over by another car and he proceeds to shoot multiple U.S Troops. "I knew it" Maya mumbles as she cocks her rifle back and sets it up on the hood of the truck before she starts firing bullets in Askari's direction.

Moments later, JJ hangs out the window of the truck and helps Maya shoot at Askari as he continues to kill troopers left and right with no hesitation.

Askari was swiftly taken away by Iraq troops and Maya and JJ lost sight of him in the dust that surrounded the area. Maya notices JJ fall to the ground with a pounding headache, and she dropped her rifle which was out of bullets and kneeled down on the ground, crawling towards JJ.

"JJ, hey! Hey!" Maya calls out as she grabs JJ's face, wanting her to keep her eyes open.

Maya looks down at JJ's belly and remembers that she is pregnant which makes Maya want to protect her even more.

A few hours later, everyone who was not dead or taken was back at the original base. "Your leg should be fine" The medic says as he finishes wrapping up Maya's leg and walks away. Maya stands up with no worry and forgets about the pain as she limps over to JJ's hospital bed, seeing she has yet to wake up.

Maya grabs her chart from the side of her bed and reads every word but soon stops once she sees something disappointing. "No" Maya says softly before JJ awakens from her slumber.

"What happened?" JJ asks as she notices Maya next to her bedside. Maya slowly closes the chart and looks down at JJ, clearing her throat sadly. "Uh, the convoy was attacked and um, Hastings was taken by Askari's men" Maya says as she looks down at JJ who looks up at her.

"I'm not a profiler, but I know when somethings wrong" JJ says as she adjusts herself in her bed and looks to Maya who can't seem to find the right words, but notices Maya keeps looking at her stomach. JJ's face falls into a realization one and she looks back and forth from Maya and her belly.

She's pregnant... was pregnant.

"No" JJ cries out softly as she places a hand on her stomach, realizing what has happened. "I'm so sorry" Maya apologizes.

PRESENT DAY

Garcia tries to track which hardline is being used, but for some reason none of them are able to be pinged. Luckily there are only six in the area, so it will be easy enough to mobilize the FBI and DCPD to.

Turns out, the team is going alone on this one since the board refuses to help find some of their best agents.

_____

Meanwhile, Askari says that if Cruz doesn't give up his code JJ will lose more than a baby. Maya and JJ lock eyes and look to each other with confusion. "What did you say?" Maya questions, looking over to Askari who slowly turns his head in her direction before stepping closer to JJ and pressing the gun to the back of her head.

"Did either of you guys tell him I was pregnant?" JJ asks and Maya scoffs, "Hell no" Maya answers which Cruz agrees too.

"I- Hastings told me" Cruz confesses and Maya widens her eyes. "Enough is enough" JJ mumbles as she shakes her head in disbelief. "Just come out" Maya says tiredly and Askari places his finger on the trigger.

"Who are you talking to?" Askari asks and Maya scoffs jokingly.

"Hastings! Tell Hastings to come out or he's a coward!" Maya shouts and Askari quickly points his gun towards her before the door slides open and Hastings walks in, his large boots clanking on the cement ground as he does.

"I knew it you son of a bitch" Maya mumbles before Askari pistol whips Maya across her face, causing her body to aimlessly swing to the side which causes her shoulder to be in more pain due to the movement.

"How did you guys know?" Hastings asks as he walks further into the room. "A lucky guess" Maya says sarcastically before Hastings walks in a circle around Maya, looking her up and down.

"Askari couldn't know I was pregnant, and Cruz said you told him, so you must've been listening to me and Maya when we were talking, and Cruz came up to you and you two walked in together because you didn't want to be suspicious" JJ explains as she looks up at Hastings who stands in front of Maya.

"Bottom line is that if you kill me... you won't get what you want" JJ declares before Hastings walks over and pulls her chains up making both her and Maya both hang aimlessly now.

"I'm sure I can get what I want" Hastings says seductively as he walks towards Maya, twirling her hair in his fingers when he gets close.

"You can't rape your way into getting what you want just because you're too much of pussy to get any" Maya snaps and Hastings bites his lip angrily before he grabs Maya's underarm and roughly pushes up on her shoulder that's already out of place.

Maya screams out loud as her feet start to come up off the ground. "Want me to stop?!" Hastings asks and Maya looks him in his eyes, her breathing picking up.

She doesn't say a word. She's willing to take all the pain in the word than give up those codes or let him kill JJ or Cruz. "Oh, you've grown some balls on you" Hastings declares as he holds Maya's head up with ease, forcing her to look at him. "Trust me, mine have always been bigger than yours" Maya mumbles before she spits in Hastings face and swiftly knees him where the sun doesn't shine, causing him to groan in excruciating pain and fall to his knees.

Once he's on his knees, Maya kicks her foot up, her boot colliding with his face. "Maya stop! They'll kill you!" JJ shouts as Hastings uses his sleeve to wipe the blood from pouring from his nose.

"She wants to fight..." Hastings realizes before Askari chuckles softly and removes the chains from around Maya's wrist which make her fall onto the ground. "Let's fight" Hastings concludes as he stands to his feet, already having the upper hand on Maya.

Hastings rushes towards Maya but adrenaline courses through her veins and she rolls to the side to where he's not able to get to her and she has time to get to her feet. Maya's shoulder and arm falls limp and she holds it close to her body as she swings a punch in Hastings direction but he immediately dodges it and kicks her in her stomach, sending her to the ground roughly.

"Come on, don't make this is an easy fight" Hastings jokes as Maya looks over to JJ who shakes her head, not wanting Maya to get herself killed. Not like this. Maya breathes heavily and notices the chain that was holding her up is still on the ground from when they were removed from her wrist. Maya groaned in pain, wanting to close her eyes as she looked up at the ceiling, ready to give up.

Hastings stood above her and focused on her and only her. He didn't look at his surroundings or anyone else, just Maya. "You know, I've always liked you Maya. It's a shame I'll have to kill you" Hastings says with a large smile on his face while Maya catches her breath.

"Too bad you won't be killing me" Maya mumbles as JJ uses the chains to hold herself up and kicks the gun out of Askari's hand and swiftly kicks him in the face.

Maya grabs the chains off the ground next to her as she notices Hastings attention has been put somewhere else. She swings the chains across Hasting's face which knocks him to the other side of the room due to the pain.

Maya manages to get up even with one good arm. She grips the chains in her hand and swings them across Hastings face once again when she notices him running towards her, his face red with anger and blood.

"Maya, watch out!" Cruz shouts as he tries to warn Maya that Askari's behind her but before she could move out of the way her body is thrown to the ground with a large men on top of her until he finally rolled over, giving her a chance to breath. "You stupid bitch!" Hastings shouts while JJ rattles her chains frantically, wanting to help Maya but has no way out.

Askari drags Maya to the metal chair in the corner of the room while Hastings grabs a white cloth and a bucket of water that was already filled. "Wait, wait- no!" Maya says as she tries to get out of the chair, but Askari holds her down.

"Leave her alone! Kill me!" JJ begs while sobbing uncontrollably. Askari roughly pulls Maya's head back by yanking her hair while Hastings swiftly places the white cloth on her face.

"Stop! Just stop!" JJ and Cruz shout in unison, hoping someone, anyone would hear them, but they already started to pour the water onto Maya's face, water boarding her.

"You deserve to suffer" Askari whispers in Maya's ear while water takes over her airway, making her not being able to breath. Maya kicks her around frantically, wanting it to stop but they didn't.

The water didn't stop pouring and there was nothing she could do about it. Shortly after, Maya slowly stopped moving. Her body fell limp and she wasn't moving. "No, no. Maya, wake up" JJ says softly as she looks at the sight of Hastings throwing the now empty bucket of water across the room.

"Maya, wake up!" JJ screams, her chains rattling as she does.

Hastings snatches the white cloth off Maya's face and looks down at her soaked face and hair with a smile on his face before the door slides open. "Micheal Hastings!" Derek shouts, "Tivon Askari!" Emily shouts as they walk in with their guns raised.

The tech guy who was also in the room tried to run out, but Rossi stopped him at the door and pushed him back in the room.

"Maya?!" Derek questions as he rushes to Maya who was lying in the chair, not moving. Askari was about to grab his gun out of the back of his pants and shoot Derek right then and there but Emily beat him to it. Hastings tried to make a run for it by pushing Emily out of the way while she was to busy shooting Askari but he was immediately met with a bullet between the eyes by Hotch who shot him with no hesitation.

"Let me down- please" JJ begs and Emily quickly rushes over to her while Rossi arrests the tech guy and Hotch goes to Cruz. "Maya!" Derek shouts as he grabs her body and lays her down on the cold cement ground and begins pumping her chest.

"Come on, come on" Derek begs as Reid rushes into the room, stepping over the dead bodies and immediately rushing over to an unconscious Maya.

"Is she okay? Please tell me she's okay" JJ sobs as Emily holds her close while they watch Derek tries to revive Maya. "She's freezing" Reid realizes as he checks her pulse while Derek continues to pump her chest.

"Come on, Maya! Come on!" Derek shouts before he slightly opens her mouth and proceeds to give her mouth to mouth before continuing the chest pumps.

The room fell silent and all you heard was Derek desperately wanting to revive Maya. "Please, wake up" Derek says as he removes his lips from her and continues pumping her chest, her body shaking to the movements when suddenly, "Oh!" Maya gasps, water leaving her mouth immediately.

"You're okay" Derek reassures as he sits Maya up, allowing her to cough all of the water out of her lungs. "Oh my god" Maya breathes heavily as she shivers uncontrollably and coughs harshly while holding onto Derek's arm, never wanting to let go.

"Thank god" JJ says as she lets out a breath of relief while Emily reassuringly rubs her back while Derek removes his jacket and wraps it around Maya's body, trying to keep her warm.

_____

That same night, after Maya's hospital visit, her body temp went back to normal, and all of her wounds were taken care of especially her shoulder which was put back in place, but she still needed it wrapped for a few days.

Derek insisted Maya stay at her house and she agreed since she wasn't ready to go home where she was kidnapped from. This time, for the first time, she was scared to step foot into her own home where she felt safe.

"Here you go" Derek says as he gently sets Maya on the bed in his guest room, and she could barely keep her eyes open.

He helps her removes her shoes with no hesitation and Maya couldn't help but smile at the sight as she adjusted herself on the bed, laying her head down on one of the comfortable pillows.

"Thank you" Maya says softly as she interlocks her hand with Derek's and looks down at them together, never wanting to let go.

"Um, I feel like I already know but, at the hospital I seen the director come into your room" Derek says and Maya sighs sadly, "Are you leaving?" Derek asks, getting straight to the point before Maya pulls an envelope out of her pocket and shows it to Derek.

"Once I sign those papers, I go into witness protection" Maya states as she holds the envelope in her hand, showing it hasn't been opened.

"I don't want to leave but, I'm scared Derek" Maya admits before Derek places his hand on the side of her cheek and rubs his thumb across it lovingly. "I understand" Derek says, his voice breaking as he says them.

"For what it's worth, I'm so sorry" Maya says before she sits up and uses one hand to hug Derek tightly, not wanting to ever let go. "I understand" Derek repeats, not knowing what else to say or do besides hold Maya and let her know it's not her fault and everything is okay.

At least he got to know her for the time being.

That was enough for him...

"It's hard to understand why the universe brings two people together only to tear them apart.
It's just cruel"
-Unknown-