This is my first story on FFN, although I have been a reader here for a few years. Please enjoy and critique as you see fit.
Sadly, I do not own Criminal Minds or it's associated characters. But, I do own the concept for this story.
She knew the pain of losing a family member. She remembered it like it was yesterday. That was why they were doing paperwork on this rainy day which seemed so reminiscent of that terrible day all those years ago… It was too similar and she had a bad feeling that she just couldn't shake. They would not have a case, would not go into the field today. It was a necessary precaution .She wouldn't, couldn't risk it.
Drip drip drop. Drip drip drop. Drip drip drop. Rain falls on the roof of a modest American home. From the street, a girl can be seen looking out the window. It is ironic, she thinks, she weather mimicking the somber mood of the house's occupants. The day hadn't started this way, although something in the girl's gut told her it would not end pleasantly.
It had been a bright, beautiful day. The radiant sun beat down on the soccer field. It was her last game, and her older sister had come. Her older sister was the town's varsity soccer captain, an inspiration to the girl who strived to make her big sister proud. The girl went to score what would end their tied game- 4 to 4- but as she charged down the field, the ball at her feet, she became distracted by the faint shimmering of her sister's necklace. All too soon, she found that she no longer possessed the ball. Although the girl had scored numerous goals, they had ended up losing, and the girl walked back to her sister utterly defeated. That seemed to have been where the trouble started.
Later on, as she sat down at the table to finish her math homework, she could hear her parents arguing. It was not her best subject and there was one question that she just couldn't get. She couldn't tell what it was about, the words muffled behind closed doors but she knew better than to interrupt them. Sliding out of her chair, she took her worksheet and made her way up the steps to find her sister.
As she came to her sister's door she knew she should knock, she always had. But today was different, and the girl was eager to escape the shrill voices of her parents and their argument. She had opened the door and started a sentence when she suddenly stopped. With her eyes frozen still on her sister, the girl screamed.
Her sister was dead. She was just lying there, stiff as a board, not breathing, not living; dead.
Something caught her eye. Her sister's beloved necklace, which she had always secretly coveted, lying on the bedside table with a note addressed to her. She reached for it and slowly backed out of the room, silent tears running down her face.
Almost as suddenly as it had started, the arguing stopped and she was met at the threshold of her sister's room by her parents. Her mother let out a gasp, covering her mouth with her hand and her father could not speak. The room seemed as still as her sister for a moment. No one moved, dared do anything for a good minute. And suddenly, the room came to life in a flash. Her mother- whom she had never seen cry-fell to pieces; sobbing uncontrollably on the wooden floor. Her father quickly whisked her away, left to be alone.
Unfolding the crisp paper, she read the looping handwriting of her sister; Dear Jenny, This was not your fault. I want you to have my necklace, I know you've always admired it. And remember, Jay; I'll love you forever. It wasn't signed. There was no need. She could hear her mother's sobs and her fathers muffled cries.
Opening her eyes, Jennifer Jareau let a few tears of her own fall. She held the chain of the beautiful necklace dangling from her neck, the chain held tightly in her hand. She was no longer in her childhood home, but in her FBI-issued office staring down at her team, her family. It was a rainy day, just as it had been those twenty odd years prior. She couldn't gather the team for a case today. That feeling in the pit of her stomach was telling her not to. So she did what was necessary to protect her family. They would stick with paperwork and they would be okay; they were all here in front of her. They would all go home and sleep and be back here tomorrow. They would all be okay, of that she was sure.
"Other things may change us, but we start and end with family." –Anthony Brandt