"FBI!"
That was the first thing Morgan and Prentiss heard as they discovered the remains of the body torn apart by Hankel's dogs in the barn behind his house.
Immediately on guard and turning toward the sound, Morgan and Prentiss found a trembling and disheveled JJ aiming her gun at the group.
"JJ!" they both shouted.
"DON'T MOVE!" JJ screamed at them all with more force, fear evident in her voice.
"JJ, it's Morgan and Prentiss," Morgan tried again, his tone soothing. "Don't shoot. It's okay."
A hint of recognition crossed JJ's features, and she slowly lowered her gun. Emily noted that the fear in her eyes only slightly receded.
"Are you hurt?" Morgan asked, lowering his weapon as JJ seemed to recognize them.
JJ was covered in blood, a wound apparent on her arm, and Emily moved closer to her to make sure the wound was not more serious than they realized. It was a dog bite. A deep one by the looks of it.
Clearly JJ was in shock; her eyes held a glaze to them and her breathing was erratic. Emily doubted she even realized she'd been bitten.
Needing to be useful, the sheriff quickly offered to call for an ambulance.
"Tobias Hankel is the unsub," JJ let out, holstering her gun and running a hand through her disheveled locks.
"Yeah, we know," answered Morgan, regret apparent in his voice. Emily quickly shot him a look to let him know it wasn't his fault.
"Yeah, well we just thought he was a witness," JJ answered, her gaze shifting over toward where the now deceased dogs lay.
"I had to kill them," she said with some detachment from the words, as if convincing herself what had taken place was real.
"JJ where's Reid?" asked Morgan, attempting to regain JJ's focus.
JJ didn't even seem to have heard him, her mind trying to make sense of the last hour.
"They just completely tore her apart. There's nothing even left…"
"JJ – look at me!" Emily pressed, interrupting JJ's stream-of-consciousness.
"Look at me," she said one more time, finally getting JJ to focus on her, albeit still with the cloudy haze of shock and fear in her eyes.
Gently, Emily asked her, "JJ, where's Reid?"
"Oh, we split up," she replied flatly, clearly not understanding why the question was being asked. "He said he was going to go around back."
At her words, Morgan sprinted out the barn doors through which they'd entered, followed closely by the local PD. Emily knew they would handle finding Reid, and right now it was obvious to her that JJ needed her attention.
"Okay, good, JJ. You did good," Emily answered in her most soothing voice.
Holstering her gun, she did a quick assessment of JJ beyond the bite on her arm. There was blood on her face and shirt, but it looked to be from the bite. Hay and dirt from the barn floor stuck to her pants, and Emily could see JJ's hands shaking. Moving up to her face, she noticed that her pupils were blown wide, surely an effect from the adrenaline coursing through her system. Luckily, she seemed to be fine overall.
Wanting to move away from their current environment and the dogs, Emily put an arm around JJ's shoulders and another cradled her injured arm in an attempt to guide her toward the barn's entrance.
"Let's get out of here, JJ," Emily coaxed, as JJ's attention seemed to be focused again on the dogs. At Emily's gentle pull, JJ seemed to come to her senses a bit and walked unsteadily to the barn's entrance with Emily's guidance.
"I didn't have a choice," said JJ frantically, as if trying to convince Emily.
"I know, JJ. You're going to be okay," Emily told her, trying to offer some comfort to the distraught woman beside her. JJ seemed to accept her words. With her arms around JJ, Emily could feel that JJ was trembling, and shivers were racking her small frame. Realizing that the adrenaline was fading from JJ's system, Emily tightened her grip on her arms. She stopped them at the entrance to the barn to avoid the rain.
"Emily?" JJ questioned as they came to a stop.
"Yeah, JJ?" Emily replied, catching JJ's gaze.
"I'm cold," she offered before her knees gave out and she sunk forward to the ground.
"JJ!" yelled Emily with surprise. Emily was able to stop the brunt of JJ's fall as she lowered them both to the ground, and she pulled the small woman closer toward her to help keep her upright.
"Whoa! Hey, hey. You're okay, JJ. It's just the adrenaline leaving your system. This is normal. Just stay with me," Emily said. "The ambulance will be here shortly and we'll get you checked out."
"I'm fine," mumbled JJ, who seemed to be semi-conscious, and Emily was glad she hadn't fully passed out. It seemed she was stubborn even when injured. Fortunately, Emily could see the sheriff waving the ambulance toward the barn and once parked, the paramedics quickly piled out of the vehicle and approached them.
"Ma'am, what's going on here?" questioned the first paramedic.
"This is federal agent Jennifer Jareau. She is suffering from shock and a dog bite to the arm. The dog was possibly rabid. No other injuries are apparent, but we'll need you to check her over fully," answered Emily. JJ looked up at the sound of her name and Emily could feel her posture straighten as she realized more people were around.
"Agent Jareau, my name is Brian and this is my colleague Sam. Are you able to walk?"
"I—I think so," she said, moving to get her feet from under her. Emily still held a tight grip on her arms and Brian came around to JJ's right to help her to stand. She wobbled a bit, but remained upright.
"You're doing great, Agent Jareau," said Brian as he and Emily began to lead her to the back of ambulance. Settling her on the bench inside, Brian and Sam set to work examining her and with a quick squeeze to JJ's arm, Emily stepped outside to give JJ some privacy and the paramedics room to work.
Emily immediately set her attention on the sheriff.
"Hey. Is there any sign of him yet?" she asked.
"We've got every one of our units on the road. He won't make it far," answered the Sheriff.
"We can't find Reid?" interjected JJ, swatting away the pen light the paramedics where shining in her eyes, clearly hearing their conversation from the back of the ambulance.
"Not yet," answered Emily gently, seeing JJ's face fall at her answer.
"Prentiss," Morgan interrupted, pulling Emily to the side. "I think Reid followed him into the corn field. Looks like somebody got dragged." They both knew that was not a good sign.
From the background they heard the Sheriff say, "Yeah. You sure? We're on our way now."
"Hey, what's going on?" asked Emily.
"Sheriff two towns over," he answered. "Just gave directions to a man that fit Hankel's description to a motor lodge in Fort Bend."
"I'll get Hotch and Gideon," said Morgan, ready to take action immediately.
"I'll stay with JJ and we'll get set up here," replied Emily. With that, Morgan was off.
Turning her attention back to the ambulance, Emily could see that Brian and Sam were doing their best to tend to JJ. She was covered in a blanket and the had already started bandaging her arm. It also looked as though they'd taken a blood sample, likely to test for rabies.
"How is she?" asked Emily. Hearing her question, Brian exited the ambulance and left Sam to finish bandaging JJ's arm.
Pulling Emily to the side he said, "Like you said, Agent Jareau is suffering some of the after-effects of shock. She'll probably be a bit out of it for a while and will need to rest and get plenty of fluids. Make sure she eats something after she gets some rest – it's likely her blood sugar will be low. We also gave her a broad-spectrum antibiotic and took a blood sample in case the bite is rabid. Right now, she isn't exhibiting any symptoms of rabies, but we'll test the blood to be sure. Once Sam's finished with her bandage, she can be released. I'm also going to leave you with some pain killers for her arm. We've given her a dose just now, but it will be good to have some on hand in case she's in pain later. Agent Jareau is going to be fine."
"Thank you, Brian," said a relieved Emily, taking the pill bottle from him.
"Alright, Agent Jareau, you are all set," said Sam, helping JJ down from the ambulance. "Make sure you get some rest. We'll call you if anything comes up in your blood test."
"Thank you," said JJ, who seemed much more like herself than she'd been 30 minutes before.
"Thank you, Brian and Sam," offered Emily as she came to JJ's side, again gingerly putting her arm around the small woman. "Let's get you inside," she said, guiding JJ toward the front steps.
If she didn't want the help, JJ didn't say anything. Emily figured that although doing better, JJ must still be a bit dazed from the events of the night – and maybe the pain killers they'd given her, because under normal circumstances she would likely shrug off any help.
Although not ideal, Hankel's house was the team's best bet for finding evidence that would point them to Reid, so Emily led JJ into the messy living room and ushered her onto the couch.
"Where is everyone?" asked JJ, realizing how quiet it was in the house.
"They're out looking for Reid," said Emily gently. "We think Hankel may have abducted him."
"What?!" shouted JJ. "Oh my god, we have to get out there and find him. This is all my fault!" she said as she frantically attempted to rise from the couch, tears filling her eyes.
"Calm down, JJ," said Emily, slowly pushing her back into a seated position. "This is not your fault. The team is looking for Reid, and right now you need to rest. You're injured and have drugs in your system, and you're in no condition to be out in the field right now."
"I have to help him, Emily," cried JJ desperately, a few tears slipping down her cheeks. "This is my fault. I shouldn't have let him split up from me."
"JJ, listen to me. This is not your fault. It's Hankel's. He is a psychopath. We are going to get set up here and wait for word from Hotch and the team," she answered. Her words seemed to calm JJ a bit, and Emily could see her relaxing further into the couch. She imagined the drugs must be taking more effect.
"Just relax, and try to get some rest," Emily said as she coaxed JJ into a lying position on the couch. She could see JJ's eyes starting to droop. "Just lie down and try to get some sleep. I'll wake you up as soon as there are any updates," she said, running a hand through JJ's hair trying to soothe the woman.
"Do you promise?" asked a vulnerable JJ, still fighting the drugs in her system.
"The second I hear anything, I'll wake you," promised Emily.
"Thank you, Emily," murmured JJ as she drifted off to sleep unable to fight the drugs any longer. Emily adjusted JJ's blanket, making sure she was warm before venturing into the kitchen to get her a glass of water for when she woke. Setting the glass of water on the coffee table, gave JJ one last look before she began her search through Hankel's house.
