A/n the inspiration for this title came from the song from Madonna of the same name. This will follow cannon up to "Seven Seconds." There will be no apperance of the Joe Mantegna character because I know nothing about him yet. I will be guessing at where Reid is academically from the ages of six to nine so please bear with me. Let me know what you think.

Disclaimer: I own only my own original characters.

Kayla and Jessie

The tall man lifted a small bundle from his trunk and held it close his chest for a few moments. He inhaled the smell of the tiny child's corn silk hair. It still held the scent of baby shampoo and milk.

The moonlight fell on the face of a beautiful little girl with green eyes and blond hair. He'd cleaned her body and brushed her hair till it glowed in the white light of the moon.

The housing development was deserted. They were still building the houses that would shelter the rich and undeserving of Las Vegas. The trunk shut with a low clunk. He walked across the dirt road to the nearly completed home at the edge of the development. He stepped over and around broken bricks, a discarded two by four, and a half empty bag of concrete mix and the myriad of other debris at the work site.

He moved through the doorway. The home was completely enclosed; he didn't want the elements or animals to get the child before she could be found. She must be in pristine condition for the police. They would see how he'd taken care of her.

He knelt and lay the child down in the hallway just inside the door. The darkness embraced them both as though the blackness were a lover. He stayed next to the girl, listening to the breeze sigh around the edges of the house. Eventually, his eyes adjusted to the dark and he could just make out the outline of the small body next to him. He reached out and touched her cheek. She was still warm and her face was smooth as butter under the gloves he wore.

It was with genuine regret that he got up from his knees and left the house, shutting the door behind him. He needed to get out of there, it would be past midnight now and it wouldn't do to leave the car in plain sight for too long.

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"Jessie," Kayla Rogers hollered up to the little girl lying on the landing at the top of the stairs. "Dinner is ready, I won't tell you again!"

"Okay mommy," Jessie yelled back.

She got to her feet and ran down the upstairs hallway to her room. She laid her box of crayons and her pad of drawing paper on the desk next to her dresser.

Kayla was dishing macaroni and cheese onto two plates when Jessie entered the kitchen and sat down at the table in the breakfast nook.

"Did you finish your homework?" Kayla asked, adding some broccoli to the plates.

"Yes mommy. Do I have to eat that?" Jessie made a horrible face at the little green broccoli trees on her plate.

"Yes… it's good for you." Kayla said solemnly.

The little girl frowned, and then she brightened up and grinned up at her mother. Her hazel eyes were full of mischief.

"Mommy… I made this for you." She handed Kayla the piece of paper she had brought down to the table.

Kayla took the drawing from her daughter and looked it over. It was their home from the outside. There were three figures in front of the drawing. It was Jessie and Kayla and their cat Patches. It was colorful and beautifully drawn. Jessie was showing a talent for drawing and painting. She'd given Jessie a watercolor set for her sixth birthday and her work covered the outside of the refrigerator.

"This is wonderful baby… but it won't get you out of eating that broccoli. Nice try at a bribe though, you make me proud." Kayla said beginning to chuckle at the grimace on her daughters face.

"Okay…" the little girl said. She seemed to think that eating the vegetables was the worst thing that could ever happen to her. Kayla knew better than that.

(shut up you little bitch, there's no food for you today.)

The crack of the slap to her face was a ghost in her head, but she felt it anyway. How many times did she go hungry to bed?

"Mommy… I'm sorry. I'll eat it… I promise." the fright in her little girls voice broke though the memory of her childhood. She put down her fork and leaned over to hug her daughter.

"I'm sorry sweetheart. I'm not mad at you. There's chocolate cake for you if you eat the broccoli." Kayla smoothed down her daughters platinum blond hair and smiled.

"Yay…" Jessie began to eat her broccoli as fast as she could.

"Hey… slow down… you'll choke." Kayla said, trying not to laugh at her daughter's new enthusiasm.

Jessie slowed down from eating at the speed of light to a more sedate pace. She told her mother all about school as they finished the meal.

After they finished with the clean-up, Kayla took Jessie to the living room. They curled up on the dark brown leather couch and Jessie read her reading assignment to her mother.

"Okay baby… it's time for bed." Kayla said when the book was finished.

"Oh… do I have to?" Jessie whined.

"Yes… you have school tomorrow."

"Oh alright," The girl stomped out of the room and Kayla smiled to herself. Jessie never stayed mad at her for long.

Several minutes later a small voice called out. "Mommy… will you tell me a story."

Jessie was in bed, dressed in her favorite pink pajamas and waiting patiently for her story.

"Okay my beauty; what do you want to hear tonight?"

"I want to hear the one about the princess and the knight."

"Well that's a surprise." Kayla said rubbing the girl's arms as she sat down next to the girl. "You've asked to hear that one every night for the last week.

"Please…"

"Okay. Once upon a time there was a little girl. She lived in a place called Las Vegas."

"Is it the same Las Vegas as where we live now?" Jessie interrupted…

"Yes… it's the same city. Now listen close." Kayla said.

"The princess was the same age as you when she met the knight. He was six years old too, but he was very different from the princess. He was very smart and he was good and kind. He and the princess played together. The princess didn't have a mother that loved her. Her mother was unkind and made the princess do everything around the house.

"Like Cinderella?" Jessie asked her eyes wide.

"Yes… like Cinderella." It had been so much worse than that, but Kayla couldn't tell Jessie just how bad it had been.

"The knight was so smart that even though he was the same age as the princess, he went to different classes in a higher grade. The older kids didn't like him in their classes and they were very mean to him. The princess was his only friend and he was her only friend. They were best friends and stood up for one another.

Many years passed and when they were ten the princess had to move away. She wrote to the knight for a long time, but soon they lost touch. One day the princess saw the knight again and since they were all grown up, the knight married the princess and they lived happily ever after with a little blond green-eyed girl."

"Mommy… why did the princess and the knight stop talking to each other?" Jessie's quizzical look was a knife to Kayla's heart. How could she explain?

"Sometimes friends don't stay friends. People grow up and they change." Kayla said evasively and truthfully while Jessie played with the teddy bear next to her on the bed.

"I'm always gonna be best friends with Cindy." Jessie informed her mother very seriously.

"I know baby… I know… but sometimes things don't always work out the way we want them to. If you want to stay friends with Cindy for your whole life, it'll take lots of hard work."

"I'm never… ever… going to stop being friends with Cindy."

Jessie looked up at her mother and her guileless hazel eyes seemed to read Kayla's soul. Kayla leaned in to hug the girl so she didn't have to look at her. She kissed Jessie's cheek and the little girl said suddenly, "I like that story mommy, is it true?"

Kayla was still hugging the girl, so Jessie didn't see a tear fall from her mother's face.

No baby… it's not true. You don't live happily ever after in real life.

She wanted to say that, but she couldn't bring herself to say it. "Of course sweetie, now it's time for you to go to sleep."

Jessie closed her eyes and her mother turned off the lights in the room and shut the door as she left. Kayla headed to her room and fell on her bed crying. Why was she still hurting after all these years had passed? Why couldn't she do the mature, responsible adult thing and forget? How many more times could she tell that story before she broke down completely and scared her little girl?

She rolled back over onto her back and stared at the ceiling. Her thoughts went where they always did these days, back to the reasons why she had stopped talking to him. She tried to suppress the urge to go to the closet of her room and take out the box that sat hidden there. Her mind tried to latch onto other random thoughts, but it was no use. Her hands were taking the box out of the back of the closet before she realized she had gotten off the bed.

It was a shoe box full of letters. She pulled them out of the box and sat on the floor. The box also held a small ring, tarnished and old. It had a round piece of red glass set into the band. It had turned her finger green the first time she wore it. Now the gold was worn away and it was too small for her finger. There was a pink hair ribbon, worn and wrinkled lying at the bottom of the box. The last item was a strip of photos taken at one of those photo booths that gave you five for a dollar. The picture showed a small blond girl next to a thin, dark haired boy with horn rimmed glasses and dark, beautiful eyes. They were smiling and making faces. They looked happy. She held the pictures to her breast and began to cry again.

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Kayla Rogers finished putting her hair up into the butterfly clip. She smoothed down the front of the suit jacket she wore and dabbed at her lipstick.

"Jessie! You're going to be late."

What was that girl doing? It was seven am, and both of them needed to have breakfast before leaving the house.

She went to Jessie's room and knocked impatiently. "Mommy I can't find my shoes!"

"Did you look in the closet?" There was a long pause and Kayla was just about to open the door when Jessie came out, grinning at her mother.

"I forgot to look in the closet." she declared. Her purple blouse and denim skirt were so cute on her that Kayla couldn't stay mad.

"If you'd put them in the closet instead of under your bed, you could find them in the morning." She scolded the girl gently as she walked and Jessie hopped down the stairs.

"You're going to fall on of these days." Kayla said walking to the cabinet to get some bowls and cereal out for breakfast. Jessie never walked down the stairs she ran, skipped or hopped. Kayla would give anything to have her energy.

Jessie just giggled as if this was the most absurd thing she had ever heard and soon she was eating enthusiastically.

"Can I have more coco puffs Mommy?" She asked showing her mother the empty bowl.

"No… that's quite enough for one morning. Help me clean up and load the dishwasher, we're going to be late."

"Ah… mom," Jessie moaned and rolled her eyes dramatically.

"Not today Jessie," Kayla warned sternly.

"Okay…" The girl stomped around picking up dishes and giving them to Kayla to rinse and load.

"Stop pouting princess!" Kayla said picking up her purse and keys.

Jessie was still frowning when they got into the car and Kayla backed out of the driveway. They lived in a suburb of Las Vegas. It was a new community with a school just three blocks down the road. Jessie complained on the way there that she could walk with Cindy, but Kayla said no. It was the same argument they had every day.

"Just because Cindy's mother thinks its okay for a six year old to walk around alone, doesn't mean I'll let you do the same."

"I'm not a baby!" Jessie shouted.

"Stop yelling this instant Jessie Rogers. You two girls are too young to walk to school by yourselves and that's final!" She parked the car and Jessie yanked off her seat belt and got out of the car.

"Good bye Jessie, I'll pick you up after school."

The little girl ran up the steps to the school without saying goodbye and Kayla sighed. Why had she lost her temper? Was she just like her mother? Was she too paranoid because of…? She shook her head and put the car into gear. She wouldn't think of that, not now. Jessie would get over it.

Kayla Rogers would live to regret those words. Jessie was gone by three thirty that afternoon, vanished into thin air and no one knew how or why.