Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or Higher Ground… sadly. If I did own Higher Ground, I would have kept it going for more than one season.
-This is my first Criminal Minds/Higher Ground fic. So, please review with any suggestions/comments. I love getting reviews!
-A/N So sorry for the late update. I had been trapped in a barren and desolate place for the past two weeks… meaning no technology. I don't know how I survived!
In season three of Criminal Minds, we discover that JJ has some sort of secret. What if JJ's secret wasn't that she had a secret boyfriend, but that she had a daughter, who she had to put into foster care? Shelby, from Higher Ground, is that daughter. Shelby would have had all the same experiences, only in this fic. Walt and her mother are her foster parents. Shelby knows who her real mother and father are, and it was her real father who sent her to horizon. This is a future fic. That takes place three years after season three. The team doesn't know about JJ's daughter. JJ never got pregnant, and is still single.
-All italic words are thoughts.
-All Italic and Underlined words are flashbacks.
A/N: Sorry for the late update on the previous chapter… classes had just started. And thanks to all of my reviewers for all of your support!!
"She had been in the restroom for a while now… maybe you should go see if everything is ok." Morgan noticed that JJ was looking really nervous.
"Yeah, that's a good idea." She replied before slipping out of her seat and rushing off to the bathroom.
"Shelby?" JJ knocked on the door. There was no reply.
"Is everything alright?" Still nothing.
Morgan walked over. "I'm going to kick the door down if you don't respond." He said through the keyhole.
"Three. Two. One," At that he swung his foot forward, and the door swung inward.
"She's… not here." JJ said to no one in particular.
-
Somewhere in the woods:
"This is great… just perfect! Now I am right back where I started… homeless and alone. WHY does she need me to tell her so badly?" She was screaming at the top of her lungs. Trying to find some way… any way, to make everything disappear.
It had started to get dark, Shelby was curled up against a tree, sobbing and screaming.
She lay there for several hours, and began to think. She started to think about Walt, and what he had done to her. Why she made herself run away.
Suddenly, she stood up and started punching the tree as hard as she could, she didn't think about the pain. All she knew was what he did to her, how he destroyed her. She couldn't feel, couldn't see, all she could do was scream, scream and punch.
Finally, she sank to her knees, and just cried.
-
At the Headquarters:
"Where would she go?" JJ started to panic.
Hotch entered the room holding some papers. "Garcia, contact Mr. Scarborough and tell him what happened. Maybe he knows where she might run to."
"Yes sir."
Several Minutes Later…
"Sir, I was able to get in contact with Mr. Scarborough. He said that, she would try to run to a place where she could escape from us. Most likely somewhere that she wouldn't think we would look. It's different with Shelby… he said that unlike most teenagers, she isn't running away to get attention. She actually wants to get away." Garcia reported.
"Hmm… her school was up in the mountains… perhaps she went into the woods?" Reed offered.
"Get ready… Vans leave in five." Rossi ordered the team.
-
Back in the Woods Somewhere:
After a couple minutes, she heard footsteps close by. Not thinking, she started to run, crashing into branches and bristles as she moved. The tears came again, and the world started to spin. She didn't care. She just kept running.
Just as she thought she was about to drop, she felt warm arms slip around her waist and pull her to a stop.
"Shelby! Shelby stop! It's ok. Shhhh. Everything will be ok." Agent Prentiss still held onto her, not daring to let go.
The rest of the team had caught up by now. All sighing in relief, when they saw her safe in Prentiss' arms.
Shelby closed her eyes, and let herself be pulled to the left, towards everyone else, slowly drifting into unconsciousness.
-
Prentiss felt the weight on her arms increase, and she struggled to keep Shelby upright. Morgan rushed over, and picked Shelby up. He carried her back to the SUV's with the rest of the team. JJ had to stay at Headquarters with Penelope, because this had become a little too personal for her; although she was allowed to stay on the case.
-
Shelby woke up to find herself in a small room, lying on a bed. Her hands had been bandaged, but they hurt like hell. She sat up, suddenly remembering what had happened.
Oh crap.
She stood up and walked to the door.
"Is anyone there?"
She turned the knob; it wasn't locked.
JJ, Morgan and Prentiss were sitting at their desks, their attention now on Shelby.
"You're awake!" JJ said rushing over.
"Shelby, come sit down. We need to explain something to you." Emily said as politely as possible.
Shelby shuffled over and sat down in one of the desk chairs.
"The thing is, the person who killed your father… he is the type of person who needs to finish things. Which means he won't stop unless he finds you… or we find him. We aren't positive, but whatever you are hiding… it could be the missing link. It could be something that connects all of the victims."
"It wouldn't connect them..." Shelby was really frustrated.
"Why don't you let us be the judges of that." Morgan offered.
"You are acting as if it means nothing! It's not nothing…" Anger resonated in her voice.
"Shelby, you can tell me. I promise, nothing you say could ever make me love you any less…" JJ spoke for the first time.
Love?
Her voice was almost a whisper. "When I was fourteen… I started running away. At first… it was really hard. I had no money… no place to stay… I slept under this bridge for the first couple weeks…"
I can't tell them… what the hell am I doing?
"Um…and then and then I was sent to Horizon."
Prentiss smiled and patted Shelby on the back, before hurrying off to the meeting room. Morgan flashed her a concerned look, and calmly walked in behind her. JJ stood up and pulled a chair next to Shelby.
"You did great. I know how hard that must have been for you."
"Yeah, thanks."
"You know… it's not that bad. What you did. It must have been horrible though. Having to live like that. How long were you, um…"
"On the streets? About a year or so."
Then JJ leaned over and hugged Shelby. It was quick, but it said everything.
-
In a Dark Room:
The man smiled widely, as pictures of Shelby started to develop beneath the water.
"So… Quantico? I knew that having you followed was the right thing to do." He closed his eyes and whispered, "I've got you now."
He stood up, and grabbed a small, black duffle bag off of the floor, before heading towards the door.
-
Back at Quantico In the Meeting Room:
"She didn't tell us everything. But, it was clear that she desperately wants to." Morgan stated.
"Do you think she was threatened?" Rossi asked.
"No, it did seem like she was afraid to tell us. But, she was definitely holding back on her own accord." Prentiss added.
"She'll open up soon. That poor girl." The team noticed that Garcia had been standing at the doorway.
"That she will. But for now, we need to be as supportive as possible. At the same time, she needs to understand that we are here to protect her, and that running away can only hurt her." Hotch stated.
Shelby was sitting in JJ's office looking out the window when she saw him. She thought it was an illusion, a trick of the mind. But no, there he was, smiling up at her. She saw him mouth the words "Hello Kitten," and then she blinked… and he was gone. Shelby stared blankly out the window before curling up into the fetal position, and starting to silently cry. How could he possibly know I was here? No one but the team should know that! What if one of them told him… what if…
Suddenly, Morgan walked into the room. Seeing Shelby looking so horribly vulnerable tore at his heart. Unsure of what to do, he simply sat down next to her, and gave her shoulder a small pat, telling her that he was there.