AN: This is a side story to Breath; it is the same premise except from JJ's perspective. You do not need to read Breath to understand this. Please Review!
Your head is pounding, you have no idea what brought it on, but your head is pounding. You feel nauseas and swallow quickly to prevent yourself from vomiting. The bumpy movement of the car is not helping.
"JJ, are you alright?" Reid asks you, putting a gentle hand on your shoulder.
You nod at him, "I'll be fine." You tell him and force a smile. It's just a headache, a bad one at that, but nothing you can't live through. You have seen worse, gone through much worse- this is a cake walk.
"You don't look fine," Reid pushes and you roll your eyes because you know you are in for it. "You are pale.."
"A migraine, Reid." You give in before you even give him a chance to get started. "I have a migraine."
"Oh." He briefly pauses, not understanding that any sort of noise, including talking, only worseness your headache. "Did you know that migraines."
"Reid." You smile at him and put your hand on his. "Not now."
He nods again and looks down at his phone; you are grateful for the brief moment of peace. You know that any minute, Morgan will pull the SUV up to the old abandoned hotel and it won't matter if you are in pain or not- you have a job to do. And you will do it.
And then.. then there is something else. You have a feeling of dread brewing in your stomach. You can't really explain it and you don't know where it is coming from, it's just strangely present.
You see the hotel and you take a deep breath before reaching into your vest; you don't have to look to know it is there. It has been there for every case, a small, framed photo of Will and Henry. It stays close to your heart- for if you never make it back..
No, you shake your head, you cannot think like that. You will make it back and hopefully tonight, you can be there to kiss Henry goodnight. You miss your little guy, and cannot wait for him to jump into your arms when he sees you.
The mere thought of Henry is enough to bring a smile to your face; he is your reason for everything. Including why you are risking your life today. To apprehend a sadistic killer who is hell bent on continuing his crime spree.
You received tip that has lead you straight to the abandoned hotel, and SWAT has agreed to go with you. And as Morgan pulls into the parking lot, you see Dallas SWAT has already arrived.
It is go time.
Everyone meets up and goes over the plan, it's simple and straightforward; nothing out of the ordinary. You, Hotch, Reid, Kate, Rossi and Morgan are all assigned a specific area to search, and together with SWAT, the entire hotel will be crawling with cops.
"Agent Jareau?" You turn around and see a SWAT officer, his hand held out to yours. "Officer Jacobs, ma'am, pleased to meet you." He smiles and shakes your hand. His voice sounds vaguely familiar to you, and his hands. You quickly shake it off- how can someone's hands be familiar to you? But as he lets go, the sense of dread strengthens in your stomach.
You don't have time to think on it, and are lead into the hotel by Hotch. Everyone splits up, goes to their assigned locations; you and Jacobs have been directed to search the pool area.
Jacobs enters first, his gun at the ready as you follow him in. It is dark, and you can hardly see but are able to make out a few objects.
This area, if you were the man on the run, would be the place to hide. There are multiple corners to hide around, the water slide provides ultimate cover, and the pool itself is drained of water.
Your mic is crackling, but it is hard to understand who is speaking, you think it is Hotch. You decide against speaking back to him, the last thing you want to do is give up your location.
Your UNSUB is here, you know it- you feel it. And you are very close to him; and you are ready to end this.
You are focused on finding him, and are ready to rip the ear piece from your ear; there is too much chatter.
"JJ!" It comes through loud and clear, that is Hotch. And his voice is almost worried. Almost.
"Hotch, I'm here." You whisper as you constantly scan the room for any threat.
"JJ- get.. now." His voice breaks up again, but he is trying to tell you something; you can barely hear him. But you do understand exactly what he was trying to warn you of- he wanted you out of that building.
"Jacobs!" You call to him, "We need to get out, now!" He nods and covers your back as you head out.
Your mic comes to life again, and it's Hotch. "JJ- is Jacobs with you?"
You furrow your brow. "Yes, he's right.."
And from nowhere, your back is lit on fire. You collapse to the ground as the pain begins to radiate down your body. You feel the warmth flowing down your body and gasp for breath. It hurts, everything hurts.
"Jennifer, Jennifer, Jennifer.." You know immediately it's Jacobs as he grabs the front of your vest and slams you down hard onto the concrete; whatever is stuck in your back is shoved in even further and you cry out in pain.
In your ear, you hear Hotch; he knows something is wrong. "What?" You cough and gasp, and gasp out the only thing that you can think of. "Hotch."
"JJ, we are coming!"
It's hard to breathe and you are cold, you cough and gasp more as you suddenly feel the need to vomit. You cannot move or turn over and blood comes coughing from your mouth. A lot of it. You desperately want to turn your head, but Jacobs has a firm grip on either side of your cheeks, not allowing you to turn and expel the blood that is trapped in your mouth. You feel as if you are drowning. The metallic taste is coming up faster than you can expel it.
"Agent Jareau, nobody will find you in time." Jacobs is grinning down at you and you feel his hands running down your body. "You have a four inch knife stuck in your back. I could pull it but I would just use it to slit your damn throat."
You glare at him, "Jacobs.." You gasp, wanting to say so much more, but you cannot. There is no energy and you feel your eyes growing heavy.
He grins and runs his hand through your hair and when you look again, he has a gun in his hand. "Jareau." He hisses and lifts his boot. If you had the breath, you would have screamed in pain as he crushes your arm underneath is massive frame. When you meet his eyes again, he is looking you straight in the eye. "Say goodbye." You have no time to react as you feel the impact of the bullet shred its way through your skull, and the white hot pain erupt in your head.