Sorry I've been off the face of the Earth...got this in my head and it wouldn't go away. Thanks to everyone who reviewed my Halloween story :) Hope everyone had a good holiday!
JJ eased out of her SUV with one hand on her ribs. She left everything in the car but her keys and her phone and hobbled towards the house. She opened the gate as quickly as she could with a sprained wrist and three broken ribs. Every step jarred her bruises and broken bones and she made no effort to hide her discomfort. She was the only one outside at midnight in her quiet neighborhood after all.
She eased her house keys out of her pocket and went to unlock the door to find it already opening. Her husband was standing on the other side.
Will took one look at her and exhaled loudly. He ran his hands through his short hair once before reaching for her. JJ automatically shrank away and he stopped reaching, a grimace on his face.
"Oh, Jay..."
JJ pointed to her other side and he took her arm gently as he helped her into the house.
"Why are you still up?"
Will snorted, "I get a call from your boss early this morning saying an unsub kicked your ass and you were in a hospital bed and you're surprised to see me greet you at the door?"
JJ tried to laugh but winced instead. "I guess not, but it is kind of late..."
"And she laughs it off with a smile." Will shook his head and squeezed her arm. He took her phone out and left it charging on their kitchen island. "Ready to tackle stairs?"
The small blonde groaned and leaned into his side. "Doesn't sound particularly appealing right now, to be honest."
"Well, where aren't you bruised?"
JJ cheekily pointed to her chest and Will chuckled. "I can't carry you up the stairs by those, cher."
"You could try!"
Will decided to just hold his arms out and let JJ get herself situated so he could carry her up the stairs. She inhaled sharply when he took the first step.
"You wanna sleep down here?"
JJ shook her head, "I need to see him."
Will nodded and continued up the stairs slowly trying to be as gentle as possible. "C'mon, you can do this." He made it to the top of the stairs and set her down carefully. He then opened the door to their seven-year-old's room quietly. JJ made her way in and sat down on the bed as softly as she could. Turns out Henry LaMontagne was only feigning sleep and his eyes shot open when he felt someone sit next to him.
"Mom!" Henry started to fling his arms around his mother but abruptly stopped when he saw JJ grabbing her side. "Mom?"
JJ reached her good arm out and ran her hands through his hair, "It's ok, bud."
Henry rubbed his eyes and leaned into his mother's touch, "What happened?"
Will watched his wife freeze for a second and knew she was contemplating how much to tell their son. Her eyes darted back to where Will stood leaning up against the door frame. JJ turned back to Henry and sighed, tightening her hold on her injured ribs as she did so.
"Well, we caught him..."
Henry cut her off, "What'd he do to you?"
JJ dropped her hand from where it had been on Henry's shoulder. "He tried to run away from the last mu...uh...crime scene."
Will ran his hand over his face at JJ's obvious slip. It showed how exhausted she truly was since she never let details of her cases reach Henry's ears.
"And you caught him when he ran, right?" Henry grabbed JJ's hand, "That's why you're all beat up?"
JJ squeezed his hand, "Yep, bud, I did. I was the first one to catch up with him."
A small smile graced Henry's face, "You beat Derek?"
JJ lightly swatted her son's shoulder before bringing him in for a tight hug, "Of course I did. I always do." She tucked his head up under her chin while he lightly wrapped her in his arms.
Her last comment earned a light chuckle from Henry before he tightened his hold on his mom. He buried his head in her neck before kissing her cheek softly, "Are you ok?"
The older blonde was soaking in the precious time with her son. She dropped a kiss to his forehead before answering, "I'm ok."
"Promise?" Henry looked up at her with his dark blue eyes, much like Will's.
JJ smiled, "I'll be good as new before you know it." Henry held out his pinkie finger to his mother and she intertwined hers with his, "I promise, Henry."
She gave him one more kiss to the cheek before motioning for him to lay back down. Henry flopped down on his side and tried to pull up the covers around him. JJ helped get him settled before brushing a hand through his hair once more and leaving. Will shut the door behind her before helping her to their bedroom.
"Wanna shower?" Will asked as he pulled pajamas out of their wardrobe for her.
JJ groaned, "No way. Kate helped me clean up at the hospital. That's good enough for now."
Will rolled his eyes, "I'll wash the sheets tomorrow."
JJ punched his side lightly before remembering her sprained wrist, "Fuck..."
He frowned and helped her take her shirt off. "Oh, Jay..." Will ran his fingers down JJ's abdomen where there was heavy bruising on account of her broken ribs. He saw the distinct imprint of a very large boot starting at her hip bone and clenched his fists together. He debated punching the wall but thought that would wake Henry.
A small hand covering his broke Will out of his thoughts, "You said that the first time you saw me, Detective."
He couldn't bring himself to smile so he just shook his head, "What really happened?"
JJ tried taking off her jeans by herself but the amount of wincing she did made Will swoop in to help. He shimmied the jeans down her slim legs only to uncover more bruises. Kneeling down, he helped her step out of them before looking up and asking her again, "JJ. What happened?" He ran a hand up her leg as he stood up and pulled one of his old t-shirts over her head. It dwarfed her and he knew it was one of her favorite things to sleep in.
Will pulled back the covers on her side of their bed and guided her under the sheets before joining her on his side. JJ tried to turn and curl up to him but the pain was too much so she just tugged her husband over to her. Will got the message and wrapped an arm around her. He knew that she wouldn't give in to more prodding so he waited until she got the courage to talk to him.
They laid there for a few minutes before she started speaking. "He was abducting little boys. One every three months. All because his ex-wife won custody of their son because he was mentally unstable. Guy found out we were closing in on him and got sloppy. We picked him up while he was trying to abduct and kill his fifth victim in a local park."
Will rubbed a hand up and down JJ's arm in an attempt to calm her down.
"I saw him first at about the same time that he saw us. He tried to run. I caught up. Apparently I look a lot like his ex-wife. Hence the beating I took." JJ gestured down to her body.
"Well did you give some back or what?" Will kissed a spot on her shoulder.
JJ cracked a smile, "I broke his nose and his arm. He also won't be having any sex anytime soon. Morgan said he puked on the way to the squad car."
"That's my girl." He nuzzled into her shoulder, "Think you can go to sleep now?" Will's answer came when JJ turned her head to fit in the crook of his neck. She placed a kiss there before shutting her eyes.
JJ's hands were chained up and she was sprawled out on the cold, cement floor. She slowly looked around and tried to evaluate her surroundings but it was too dark. She saw someone else about a foot away from her but couldn't make out who it was. All she could tell was they had a short crew cut and they looked like a male about her age.
Suddenly she was yanked up by her wrists. She was then aware of her ragged clothes covered in dirt and also of several bruises and cuts along her body. She couldn't remember how long she'd been there or how she got there either.
JJ looked over at the other occupant in the room and furrowed her brow. She could've sworn he was an older male with brownish/gray hair before but now it looked like a small child with blonde hair. He had a dark navy sweatshirt with the number 3 on the back. JJ frowned. It looked familiar.
On closer examination the word Jareau was above the number. The child rolled over and she saw a panther with a soccer ball in it's mouth. She would recognize the face of the little boy anywhere.
JJ immediately started struggling against the chains in an attempt to get to her son. The skin on her wrists were rubbed raw within minutes. She was trying to scream but found that no sound was getting out.
"Maybe I can make you another one..."
"HENRY!"
JJ sat up, sweat rolling down her body. Her eyes darted around the room quickly, not recognizing the dark walls of her own bedroom.
Will had been awakened a few minutes prior by JJ shaking. Her hands looked like she thought they were bound together and she was extremely distraught.
Unfortunately, he knew exactly what she was dreaming about.
It took a few days for JJ to open up after her kidnapping but she eventually told Will everything that had happened to her. He knew better than to touch her and wake her up. Hastings had violated her in more ways than one and Will hated him for it. If JJ hadn't kicked him off of that roof he would've shot him through his skull. Touching JJ anywhere was more likely to prolong her panic attack than ward it off.
"JJ!" Will was sitting up next to his wife but was making sure not to make her feel trapped. His hands were up but not threatening. He could tell that JJ was still in that dark place based on how dark her eyes were. She was looking at him but she didn't see him.
"JJ, listen to me. It's Will. Henry is fine."
JJ looked down at Will's hands and grabbed one. Will brought her hand slowly to his chest so she could feel his heartbeat, "It's me, Jay."
He finally saw recognition in his wife's blue eyes when she placed her palm on his bare chest.
"That's it. Breathe, Jay. In and out." He slowed down his breathing and tried to get her to match his breathing pattern. Will discreetly checked her pulse and was glad to feel it slowing down.
Their bedroom door opening made her heart skip a beat.
"Mom?" She could see Henry's blonde locks through the small gap between the door and the frame.
"Hey, Henry. Sorry for waking you up."
Henry darted through the door and over to JJ's side of the bed. He set one of his stuffed animals down in JJ's lap. It was his favorite one, a tiger that he had stuffed himself at the mall. She ran her hand over the small sweater that adorned the tiger. It was covered in little birds. Blackbirds.
"Aunt Emily got me that the last time she was here."
JJ pulled Henry close and kissed the top of his head, "I remember."
"She said it could get rid of nightmares. Maybe it'll help you too." Henry wrapped his arms around his mother, "I love you."
She smiled, "I love you too."
Will circled his arms around both of them, "And I love you three."
Henry giggled as his dad flicked his nose and pointed to the door. He was just about gone when JJ's voice stopped him.
"Henry?"
He turned around with one hand on the doorknob.
"Thank you."
Henry smiled and nodded before slipping back to his bedroom.
JJ leaned back slowly, mindful of her injuries. She laid Henry's tiger on her abdomen, running a thumb over the birds on the sweater.
"I miss her."
Will laid back down after her and put an arm behind her head and one hand over JJ's on her stomach. "I know."
JJ sighed, "Even when she's not here, she's helping me."
"She's good like that." Will's drawl in her ear soothed JJ even more. "Now, go back to sleep so you can play with your son in the morning and call your best friend." She tensed at the thought of going back to sleep but Will rubbing her shoulder made her relax back down into the bed, "You'll be ok. I'll be right here."
"Promise?" JJ nosed Will's chin.
Will kissed her forehead, "I promise, my blue-eyed girl."
JJ smiled and turned her head to rest on Will's shoulder as she closed her eyes. All three LaMontagne's slept soundly the rest of the night.