As you're gonna figure out yourself soon, this chapter's written from JJ's PoV. I know that from the promo pics it looks like Emily finds her but I wanted Will to so here it goes. (I also rewrote the whole first chapter so it fits with all the spoilers)
"Will." I tried to say, exhaling through my mouth, stumbling up, falling right into his arms. He had found me. He had done it. My bruised ribs hurt as I pressed his chest against mine but it was a pain I was willing to take. He placed his hand on the back of my head, letting my face fall against his shoulder, slightly stroking my hair. I couldn't move, couldn't speak, probably didn't even breathe. Everything around me was blurry, people were talking but I couldn't make out their words. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted Hotch leading the guy that had stayed in there with me outside in handcuffs.
"Can you walk?" Will asked me, slightly pushing me away to look me in the eyes, putting a hand on either side of my face.
I didn't respond, holding on to his body with all my strength, shaking like a leaf.
"It's ok, baby." He pulled me back in an embrace. About a minute or so later, Morgan yelled where his medic was so Will picked me up and carried me outside in his arms like a child. I started noticing things, people, lights, more noises, familiar smells. Everything became clearer and clearer. He put me down in the foyer where Morgan hugged me, telling me how glad he was to see me and stuff. I focused on breathing.
A medic arrived only moments after we got outside and before I knew what was happening I was being wheeled to an ambulance on a stretcher. That's when I saw her. Straight dark brown hair, tied up in a ponytail, skinny legs in black slim jeans and chewed on fingernails. It was unmistakably her but it took me a few more moments to process it and react. "Emily." Will's hand relaxed a little in mine as I said my second word that evening and thereby confirmed I was still somewhat kind of sane.
She heard me and ran over to me, slightly squeezing my hands. "Hi."
"What.. what are you doing here?" My mouth was dry, making it hard to pronounce the words.
"What? You thought I was gonna put your life in this incapable team's that always asks people they once kicked out of their team for help hands?" She laughed.
I attempted to laugh too, every muscle feeling sore.
"It's ok, sweetie. Don't laugh."
Hotch came over to me, forcing a reassuring smile.
"Thank you." I looked up at Emily..
"Any time." She patted Will's shoulder before rejoining the rest of the team.
"JJ, how many men were there?" Hotch started questioning me.
"2?" It was more of a whisper.
He flinched a little.
"What?"
"We already have three, we can't be sure there aren't more. But don't worry about that, JJ. We're handling everything."
I nodded.
They gave me infusions, meds, checked for broken bones and asked questions while I slowly regained full consciousness.
"You look like you haven't slept much" I squeezed Will's hand to show I was talking to him, he had trouble keeping his eyes open.
"Like I was gonna sleep in a bed that was last made by you or on a couch that you picked out or next to a child that you carried under your heart for 9 months."
"8 and a half."
"8 and a half." He laughed with a nod, obviously glad my brain wasn't a complete vegetable.
"I love you."
"I love you too." He kissed my forehead.
Suddenly I remembered the most important thing in my life. "Where's Henry?"
"He's with Penelope. I suppose they're on their way to the hospital."
"Does he-"
"know about your business trip? Yes."
I nodded as I understood. He was too little to understand any of this, I wondered what we'd tell him why I looked like this. You don't tell your children that there are evil people in this world, cruel things. You let them grow up believing everyone wants the best for everyone, then you watch him realize that's not entirely true and all that's left for you to do is wait and hope that someday he'll forgive you for the lies you told him because until he has a child of his own, he won't understand why people would lie to protect their babies.
The ride in the ambulance was long, I hadn't realized that on my way there, given the circumstances I figured I should be forgiven for my crappy profiling at that moment.
"I don't want him to see me like this." I teared up.
"JJ."
"I know." I whispered.
"You look beautiful." He said it exactly the same way he did the day we buried his mother.
"You know that's not what I mean."
Instead of replying, he kissed my black cheekbone I'd gotten for punching the guy in the face. My hands had been tied tighter from then on.
Once we got to the hospital, they ran a few more tests, shortly after I got to my room, Garcia arrived with Henry holding her hand until he saw and ran up to me.
"Hey buddy. I missed you." I moved over a little, holding my breath so he wouldn't see how much it hurt. Will noticed and his grip on my hand tightened.
"I missed you too mommy." He climbed on my bed and snuggled up next to him. I kissed the babyskin of his cheek.
"Did you have a nice time with daddy and Penelope?"
"I slept on the floor."
"Oh wow, I see they treated you like a king." I said sarcastically but enthusiastically.
He shook his head. "Are you hurt?"
"I had a little accident." I took a deep breath. "Remember that time you fell from the swings and we went to this hospital and they gave you a blue cast?" I spoke to him like I used to when he was 2 years old.
He nodded.
"Well I did something similar but I'm fine and I won't even need a cast and in a few days we'll play soccer again ok?"
"Ok." He looked down as if he could tell that I was lying to him.
"You're my favorite person in the whole wide world." I reminded him, pulling him in a tight hug, holding my breath. "And I love you to the moon and back."
"I love you to the moon and back too."
I kissed his cheek. "Are you tired?"
"Aunt Penelope woke me up so we could come here. She even let me sit in the front of the car."
"She did?" I cheered. "Wow. Was that fun?"
He nodded. I looked over at Garcia who'd been standing in the doorway since they arrived, a big smile on her face.
"You all really need to sleep." I stretched my free hand out to her.
"I will sleep like a baby tonight, knowing you're in the right company again."
"Thank you. I'm sure I wouldn't be here now if it weren't for you busy fingers."
"Anything for you, my dear."
"Now go home. I'll see all of you tomorrow."
She kissed me hair and waved goodbye as she trotted out of the room.
Before I had the chance to say anything else to Henry, another nurse entered. She was old, wrinkly and from the look on her face annoyed to be working nightshifts. "Excuse me, sir. The visiting hours were over like 5 hours ago, I need to ask you to go home."
"Home is where she is." Will answered without blinking.
She hesitated for a moment, insecurely sighed and hung the file back on my bed. "Fair enough, I guess." She smiled a little but shook her head as she walked out again.
They got Henry a separate bed and he was asleep a minute later. That's when I first noticed he was still in his pajamas.
"I'm fine." I insisted, gritting my teeth. The dark circles under Will's eyes scared me more than the reflection of my own in the window.
"Yeah you always say that and I believe that you mean it but deep inside you know that it's not true. Remember when you were pregnant and you got shot and I almost died of anger and you said you were fine and then woke up crying at 3am, convinced that you'd killed our child?"
I just looked at him.
"I know it's killing you and the memories are eating you alive and it's gonna get a whole lot worse because you're still under shock right now but I won't leave you alone with this. Because I love you and I always have and I always will, no matter in what way this is going to change you or us but you have to let it change and not ruin you. Let it make you stronger or more careful or heaven forbid dislike your job, I don't care. But talk about it with me, Jennifer."
"Now you remember." I murmured. "Now you remember that I'm not JJ anymore cause I'm a LaMontagne. I didn't wanna marry you because then I'd become yours and I didn't want that but I did it anyway because I loved you and still I'm the only one in this room and I was the only one in that room. While he beat me to get information about a person I've never met. A name I'd once read on caramel brown casefiles. While I couldn't scream because I wasn't allowed to show fear to prove that he had control over me. While I knew exactly that my life was in his hands. While a guy with a full automatic machine gun slept five feet away from me, waking up every time I moved an inch because my foot had fallen asleep. Terrible side effect of being strapped to a chair. Where were you when I slipped in and out of consciousness alternating between cringing as I saw his face in my mind and quietly sobbing as I saw Henry's?"
"Thank you." He simply said but his expression changed. "But you can't blame me. Because I do and if you did as well I don't think I could wake up in the morning."
"I don't." I admitted, shaking my head a little, feeling dizzy immediately. I really didn't. I knew he did everything he could to save me as soon as possible but if I didn't blame him- who else was there to blame? The government? The case this was all about? Myself?