Journey On
Chapter Two: Beginnings, the Jareau Version.
Summary: The story of JJ and Emily, from the beginning.
Chapter Summary: This is the Jareau family, and honestly isn't that much different from the Prentiss' family. But… they don't know that.
Warnings: Domestic abuse, violence, language… blah, blah, blah.
Spoilers: None.
A/N: Sorry if the timeline confuses you, it's alternate between Emily and JJ, and as we all know, there is an age difference.
XxX
Location: East Allegheny, Pennsylvania.
Date: November 13, 1975.
A wineglass shattered as it hit the window, the woman barely dodging it. And she dodged yet another… something thrown at her. She glanced up at her husband, his dark blue eyes wild with rage.
As Diane Jareau hit the ground, once again barely avoiding the glass thrown at her, she cried out, pleading with her husband to stop.
"Damnit, David! Stop it! Do you really want JJ and Jackie to wake up and see this?"
Which, apparently, was the wrong thing to say.
His dark blue eyes flashed, before he ground out, "I don't care about JJ. If she can't handle it, she can go elsewhere!"
Diane stared at him, seething. "Did you forget how old she is, David? She's only one! I can't just make her go elsewhere!"
A police siren sounded, alerting both parents how loudly they had been fighting. Loudly enough for the neighbors to call the police. And sadly enough, this wasn't the first time, rather something like the seventh.
David Jareau had been observed by the police heavily for domestic abuse charges. And when he was under observation, he was been on his best behavior, playing the loving father and doting husband, but what lurked beneath the façade was anger, hatred and darkness. Three things that Diane Jareau had never expected from this man, the man she thought she knew and married. Something, however, had changed in the ten years they had been together. Whether, he had been harboring this hatred and anger for years, or she had said or done something to provoke him. But until a year ago, their fights were limited to verbal abuse. But physical abuse, she had never expected.
He was always the one to start throwing something or throwing punches and kicks. And she took it, because she knew that if she took it, the lives of her daughters, Jackie and Jennifer Jareau, wouldn't be at stake. And, she wondered if her pregnancy had set him off. He had never been this furious when it was just Jackie, but when Jennifer appeared, he seemed to snap.
She was dodging yet another wineglass when the police burst in the door, which woke up both Jackie and Jennifer, and arrested her husband for domestic violence. And she observed his bearing, his posture, and she didn't really see any regret, and not for the first time, she wondered if David enjoyed wielding that kind of power over her, because if he did, she'd be running out of the front door. She wasn't going to put her daughters in danger, and if he kept it up, they would be.
"Mom?"
The tiny voice of her eldest daughter carried over to her, before she waved them over, cautioning Jackie of the broken glass. Jennifer simply stared at her, her bright blue eyes curious, yet questioning. The childlike innocence of the youngest Jareau had not been lost, but Jackie had seen and heard too much in the short six years of her life. She might have been younger, Diane noted, but the lines around her mouth and eyes showed that she may be young in body, but old is spirit. Therapy, perhaps?
"Ma-ma, ma-ma." JJ babbled on, her arms flailing and body flailing around in her sister's arms. Diane gently took the baby from her daughter, cooing at her, comforting her. She adored her children, and she would protect them no matter what the cost.
Even if it meant allowing herself get beat up every day after her husband came back.
This night would be known through East Allegheny by the morning. It was such as small town and information passed though the houses the way a wildfire spreads in a thick forest. She knew she and David would be the main source of gossip over the next couple days, and she hoped Jackie would be able to get through it. The kids at school would either make fun of her or comfort her. She hoped it was the latter.
Jennifer was still too young to understand, so she'd probably not be as affected by it, but she would definitely sense something was wrong. She was a smart child, brilliant already, in her own way. She would grow up to be a wonderful young woman one day.
XxX
Jackie Jareau was six, and she was intuitive enough to know that when her daddy was mad, she should take her baby sister and herself upstairs and lock them in her room, pretending to be asleep. She knew that daddy was hurting her mommy, but mommy wouldn't fight back. She didn't understand why though.
She huddled in a corner, rocking Jennifer, her baby sister, off to sleep, singing softly so that she wouldn't have to hear the glass shattering and the echoes of shouts throughout the house. She knew that if mommy and daddy fought any louder, neighbors would call the police. And she dearly hoped they would, because she knew mommy couldn't escape from daddy all the time.
She heard her mommy yell a bad word, then heard her mommy beg her daddy to stop. She didn't think that daddy would, because daddy didn't contain an ounce of self-control, whatever that meant. She knew that's what mommy said though, and mommy is always right. She remembered the night, a few months ago, when Jennifer was still a couple months old, when the police came and took daddy away. She heard mommy say that they would be under obser… obser… obsercation? Whatever the word was, she had the feeling it wasn't for a good thing.
Her mommy told her, no matter what happens, to protect herself and Jennifer first because her mommy wouldn't be able to handle it if they got hurt. So that's what she did every time.
She heard the police burst in, and arrest her daddy, before she breathed a little prayer to God for protecting her and JJ again. She headed down the stairs, carrying Jennifer, while watching carefully from broken glass, because she knew daddy liked to throw wineglasses when he was angry. She peeked around the corner, scared that her daddy would still be there and throw glass at her too. But her daddy had already been taken away by the police, so she was safe.
She herself understood that mommy was hurt, and she knew that she needed to protect JJ from whatever happened in the house.
XxX
Jennifer Jareau may have only been a year old, but that didn't stop her from trying to understand the situation.
She caught the noises from the kitchen, but she didn't understand what they meant. All she really understood was that her big sister was protecting her from whatever happened downstairs. So she remained quiet, not wanting to cause any trouble to her sister.
If anything, she was a very empathetic child.
When her big sister carried her down the stairs, she reached out to her mommy because she knew that it would make her mommy feel better.
And, safely wrapped in her mother's arms, Jennifer Jareau felt safe.
A/N: -whump- So, here's the introduction of the Jareau family. I really only wanted JJ and her sister because if they had other siblings it be waaaay too complicated. I did warn you that this wasn't going to be sunshine and roses, but hey, if you like it read on! If this stuff hits a bit too close to home, or if you're a bit sensitive, I get it.
Next chapter will be a Prentiss one. Not quite sure what to name the chapter though. Heads up, the next one will be heading back to 1974, a year before this one. Sorry for the crazy chronological stuff. Forgive me, and review!
Toodles!
~S12
