Chapter 4
Hotch sat in the conference room in the small local PD where they had set themselves up a few days earlier. He was sat with most of his team, besides JJ and Prentiss who were still at the hospital. He was on the phone to Prentiss who was keeping him informed about JJ's progress.
"She's sleeping now" Prentiss informed him quietly. "The last few hours have been horrendous. I don't know what she was seeing – hell, I don't want to know – but she looked absolutely terrified."
"She's been hallucinating?" Hotch asked.
"And then some" Prentiss responded wryly. "5 or 6 times in the last few hours. The last few times she was more coherent, but ..."
At this point Prentiss abruptly stopped talking and Hotch could hear alarms going off in the background.
"Something's wrong Hotch" Prentiss said, the panic clear in her voice. "I've got to go."
"Damn it" he said abruptly as he got cut off.
"Problems?" Rossi asked, sounding anxious.
"Something was wrong with JJ" he said, trying to sound calm, but feeling panic at not knowing what was going on. "She was sleeping when Prentiss first called, but then some alarms started to go off and she had to go. I don't know what actually happened ..."
"Prentiss will call us if we need to be there" Rossi said calmly. "The best thing we can do in the meantime is to think about how JJ's attack has affected our profile. We need to get the profile out to local PD as soon as possible if we're going to catch this bastard."
Quickly recognising the sense in this, he turned back to the rest of the team and set the ball rolling.
"As far as we know this is the first time that things haven't gone to plan for him" he said. "It could cause him to move away from his previous pattern."
"He could spiral out of control" Reid warned. "Offenders like him don't deal well with things not going to plan."
They sat and brainstormed for nearly an hour before they finally felt ready to present their profile to the local officers. Reid had been sent off to gather all of the locals together; the rest of the team followed him out to the bullpen a few minutes later.
"We are looking for a white male in his late 30s to early 40s, with dark hair" Hotch started without any preamble.
"How can you possibly know that?" one officer said scathingly. "Victims reports are too sketchy for us to have determined an age."
"We know that rapists typically target women of the same race and in a similar age range" Rossi explained patiently. "Other than Agent Jareau, who we believe was targeted because of the press conference; his victims have all been in their 30s or 40s. And yes; the victim reports were sketchy, but they all agreed on the fact that he had dark hair."
"The fact that he relies on Ketamine to subdue the women would suggest that he may not be physically intimidating" Morgan stated firmly, "although he would have to be reasonably big and strong to have been able to restrain Agent Jareau, who is obviously trained in combat."
"It is likely that he is physically big, but is not confident in his abilities to control these women" Reid added.
"In most ways he is a classic power-reassurance rapist" Hotch informed them. "He doesn't have the interpersonal skills to develop a relationship with women and the purpose of his attacks is to reassure himself of his masculinity. He doesn't physically hurt the victims as he likes to be able to think about the rapes as part of a relationship."
"He is likely to work in a menial job where he feels under-appreciated" Rossi continued. "It is possible that he works for a woman or that he lives with an aggressive woman – his mother or sister. He would have followed his victims for some time before the attack and may well have known his first victims – either through work or through living close to them."
"He is very organised" Morgan said. "He has what we call a rape kit containing everything he needs for the attack. He has somewhere quiet and abandoned where he can take the women and manages to dump the women at hospitals without being caught."
"Our biggest concern at the moment is that this type of rapist is the most likely to re-offend with his previous victims since he feels like he is in a relationship with them." Hotch said. "We are going to ask that, where possible, we have someone attached to each victim until we get closer to catching this guy."
"We will be talking to some of the first victims this afternoon" Reid said finally. "We hope to find a connection between them that will help us to identify some possible suspects."
"If you have any questions, please feel free to come and ask any of us" Morgan concluded.
As the officers began to drift away the profilers moved back into their room.
"Derek – I want you to liaise with Garcia and see if she's got anything from the partial plate that Prentiss gave us" Hotch said firmly. "Rossi and Reid; I need you to split the first four victims between you and see if you can find any links – home addresses, work places – anything. I'm going to join Prentiss at the hospital and check in on JJ. She will not be left alone at any time. We all know the likelihood of our unsub trying to finish what he started with her."
They all nodded worriedly before splitting up to begin on the tasks assigned to them. Hotch quickly made his way out of the station and jumped into one of the SUVs. He drove speedily to the hospital, parking outside the ER before going inside to find his fallen agent. As he walked towards her room he came across her doctor and stopped to ask some questions.
"Dr Sharp?" he said, approaching him and showing his ID. "I'm Agent Hotchner... Agent Jareau's superior. Can you tell me how she is?"
"She's sleeping peacefully now" the Doctor said, "but she has had a really rough ride over the last few hours."
"I'm assuming it was Ketamine?" Hotch asked.
"A massive overdose" the Doctor confirmed. "She has experienced pretty much every unpleasant side effect of a Ketamine overdose. You obviously know about the seizures. She also experienced a number of severe hallucinations, including what regular users call being stuck in a k-hole, meaning that she was conscious but was completely unable to move or talk. She has also been violently sick on a number of occasions."
"Will there be any long term affects?" Hotch asked, inwardly horrified at what the young agent had been through.
"The vomiting normally signals the end of the side effects" the Doctor reassured him. "She will be confused and weak for some time, but she will recover fully. I expect to be able to perform the Sexual Assault Examination when she wakes from this sleep."
"Can I see her?" Hotch asked.
"Of course" the Doctor replied. "Agent Prentiss is still with her, but you are welcome to join them both."
Thanking the Doctor, Hotch slipped quietly into JJ's room. She was still sleeping and Prentiss was sat by the side of the bed holding loosely onto her friend's hand.
"How's she doing?" he asked quietly as he pulled up a seat beside the bed.
"Better" Prentiss said succinctly. "She's been sleeping for over 2 hours."
"The Doctor said that she's past the worst now" Hotch said, hoping to reassure her.
Prentiss merely nodded, giving him a strained smile.
"Has she said anything?" he asked, hating that he had to bring this up. "Does she remember what happened?"
"She hasn't said anything" Prentiss replied. "She hasn't really had the opportunity."
"You know we'll have to ask her..." he stuttered. "We need to know if ..."
"I know" Prentiss snapped, interrupting him. "I will... when she wakes up."
Changing the subject, Hotch began to update Prentiss on the profile which the team had developed in her absence. As they spoke he noticed JJ beginning to stir and immediately halted his explanation, not wanting to upset her with the details.
"Hey Jayje" Prentiss said quietly, squeezing JJ's hand.
"Hey JJ" Hotch repeated. "How are you feeling?"
"Better" JJ croaked, struggling to sit up against the pillows.
"How is your head?" Prentiss asked. "Do you feel sick at all?"
"I don't feel sick anymore" JJ said, beginning to sound clearer, "but my head does hurt a bit."
"Do you want me to call the Doctor to get you some painkillers?" Hotch asked.
"No" JJ said firmly. "I don't want any more drugs in my system."
At this Prentiss looked meaningfully at Hotch, who immediately got the message and began to step away from the bed.
"Jayje" she started hesitantly. "We need to talk about what you can remember about the attack."
"I don't remember much" JJ stated, nervously fiddling with her hands. "I remember the press conference and talking to Will on the phone. When I was talking someone came up behind me and grabbed me. He put his hand over my mouth and dragged me into an alley. He held me up against the wall and then I felt a needle going into my neck. It starts to go a bit blurry after that, but I know I heard Derek and Spence calling for me. I tried to fight back, but he was just too ... big. Then I felt another needle and ... that's it. Everything else is just a blur until I woke up here and couldn't move."
"When you arrived at the hospital, your shirt and pants were undone" Prentiss said gently, taking hold of JJ's hands. "We already know that he raped his other victims. The Doctor said that there were no obvious signs of ... sexual assault, but they can't be 100% sure. Can you remember if he ... if you ..."
"No" JJ whispered, the tears beginning to trickle down her face. "I can't remember."
"Does it ... feel like... he..." Prentiss asked, obviously embarrassed.
"No" JJ said, sounding unsure. "I don't know... No."
"It would be best if we could get the Doctor to complete a Sexual Assault Examination Jayje" Prentiss said, still holding on to JJ's hands. "That is the only way you're going to be able to know for sure."
"I ..." JJ stuttered, finally collapsing in tears. Prentiss immediately pulled the younger woman into a hug.
"Not the male Doctor" she finally chocked out.
"Hotch?" Prentiss said, looking over her shoulder at him as she comforted her friend.
Immediately understanding her unspoken request, he quietly exited the room and looked for a Doctor or nurse. He quickly came across Dr Sharp.
"Agent Jareau has consented to an SAE" he explained to the Doctor, "but she would like a female Doctor to complete it."
"Of course" Dr Sharp said. "I've already got one of my female colleagues on stand-by. I'll give her a call and she should be here in a few minutes."
Hotch watched as the Doctor walked away and then sat in a chair outside JJ's room, impatiently waiting for the female Doctor. She thankfully arrived just 5 minutes later, entering the room without talking to Hotch. Nervous about what was happening inside the room, Hotch stood and began to pace around the small waiting room. He was absolutely devastated at what JJ was going through and what she had already been through. He was going to do his best to make sure she was safe and protected from that moment on.
"Agent Hotchner?" a female voice called as he was pacing. He turned and saw the female Doctor walking toward him.
"Agent Jareau has given me permission to share the results of the SAE with you" the Doctor stated.
"Agent Jareau was definitely not raped" the Doctor stated firmly. "There is no evidence of any recent sexual activity."
"Nothing?" Hotch asked, feeling hopeful for the first time in hours.
"Nothing at all" the Doctor said with a smile. "If you have any questions at all, feel free to ask, but there is absolutely no sign of sexual assault."
Hotch again thanked the Doctor before turning away from her to walk back into JJ's room. He was surprised to see that JJ was still in floods of tears. He had expected her to be slightly calmer now that the Doctor had allayed the worst of her fears, but she seemed to be even more upset than she had been before. As he turned to leave the room, feeling that he was intruding, JJ looked up and caught his eye.
"Do you want me to leave?" he asked softly.
JJ shook her head and took some deep breaths, obviously trying hard to regain control of her emotions.
"It's good news, right?" he said, unsure of the reason for her distress.
JJ nodded slightly, still holding back the tears.
"It is" she whispered. "I know it is, but ..."
"But?" Prentiss prompted.
"But I don't remember anything" she said, the tears beginning to fall again. "He might not have raped me, but there is so much that he could have done without leaving any evidence. I'll never know what happened. I'll never know what he did to me."
Hotch's heart sunk as the normally strong agent once again collapsed in tears.
