Control by Steff

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds belongs to CBS and all other associated parties, and not me. I am merely borrowing the characters - no infringement intended. This is a work of fiction and any similarities to any character alive or dead is purely coincidental

Pairing: JJ / Emily - will be eventual femslash. If you don't like, please don't read

Rating: R

Archiving: Only with permission of the author

Author's Note: I have been getting some wonderful reviews and messages - it is really good to hear that readers are liking this story. If only I was as productive as ARBard I might be able to update more promptly! Please continue to let me know what you think.


Part Six

JJ could feel her stomach roiling and nausea washing over her in waves. She desperately tried to open her eyes but just couldn't force them open. Her head was pounding and she couldn't concentrate on anything except trying to keep the contents of her stomach from escaping. She could feel cold sweat running off her face and wondered what the hell it was her body was reacting to. When she felt yet another lurch in her stomach, she knew she was fighting a losing battle and she reflexively bent in the middle as she heaved.

The movement was enough for her to get her eyes open and as she retched again, she became vaguely aware of her surroundings. Unfortunately, she couldn't make any sense of anything as all her body wanted to do was keep vomiting. She raised a hand to try and wipe her face and looked at her hand in surprise as she felt her arm stop short, prevented from going further by what she could now see was a manacle round her wrist. Her eyes widened in alarm and she tried to sit up, only to be forced back down by yet another wave of nausea. It was only as she lay back gasping, that she heard her name being called and she turned her head in the direction of the voice. "Emily?" Her voice was shaky and hoarse.

"Thank God. JJ are you okay?" Emily asked anxiously.

JJ coughed and then grimaced as she swallowed down the bitter taste of bile. "What the hell happened?" she replied, not answering the older agent's question.

Emily shifted slightly, trying to get a better look at the media liaison. She had been anxiously watching her for what she estimated was at least an hour, calling out periodically in an attempt to get her to wake up. The brunette was handcuffed to a metal railing that was attached securely to the wall of the room they were in. Her attempts to get free had resulted in bruised and cut wrists and little else. "Do you remember collapsing upstairs?"

"Upstairs?" JJ repeated in confusion. She could feel her head swimming with nausea so resisted an urge to shake it into clarity. "Are we still at Mrs. Parsons' place?" The last thing JJ could remember was trying to concentrate on Emily and Norma Parsons' conversation.

"Yes. I think she drugged you with the iced tea. Whatever she used was masked by the flavor of it. She couldn't do the same with me as I had water," Emily reminded the blonde woman.

JJ nodded slowly, trying to keep her head relatively still. "It's probably why I feel so dreadful now. Ever since I was pregnant, I've not been able to tolerate medication." She paused for a moment as she tried to remember what had happened. "Sorry Emily, I should have told you I wasn't feeling right."

"Do not blame yourself JJ," Emily responded forcefully. "If anything, it's my fault. Instead of drawing my gun and disabling her, I checked on you. When I turned away from her she tazed me." Emily shuddered as she recalled the awful sensation of every muscle in her body going into spasm. It wasn't so much the pain of being tazed but the sheer exhaustion it induced. She just couldn't get her body to do anything.

"She's an old lady," JJ pointed out in confusion. "How did we end up down here?" Her head was clearing slowly so she risked trying to sit up again, though it took her a few minutes to work out how to maneuver round her manacles. As she sat up, she could see that she was chained to a central wooden pillar in a dimly lit room. There was a pervasive smell of damp in the room which suggested that it was below ground. There was also a more sinister metallic odor in the room that both women associated with spilt blood.

Awkwardly, JJ managed to wipe her face before adjusting her position to face Emily. Even in the poor light, she could see the older agent's face etched with worry, along with a number of bruises and scrapes. Her clothing was disheveled and dirty. JJ didn't even want to consider what she looked like. "Emily, what did she do to you?"

Emily grimaced. "After she shocked me for the third time, she grabbed me by the collar and dragged me out of the kitchen. I have no idea how she had the strength to do that. She then opened a door dragged me through it and then shoved me down the stairs." Emily nodded towards a wooden stairway at the far end of the room. She frowned as she recalled what happened. "No, that's not quite right. There was a second door somewhere." Emily shook her head. "Maybe I hit my head on the way downstairs."

JJ glanced over and then back at Emily. The brunette had clearly bounced heavily down the stairs. "You okay?" she asked in concern.

Mimicking JJ's earlier avoidance of the question, Emily chose to continue filling in the details. "She dragged me over here after giving me my fourth 8 second tazer ride and used my own cuffs to keep me secure." She jangled them for effect. "She went back upstairs and it was ages before the door opened again." Emily paused as she tried to keep a firm lid on her emotions. That period had filled Emily with almost uncontrollable fear as her imagination conjured up all sorts of horrors that JJ might endure. It took a supreme effort of will to focus instead on the possibility of escape. Unfortunately, it soon became apparent that escape was highly unlikely and that was when Emily began trying to force her wrists free of her cuffs.

"Someone carried you downstairs, JJ. He didn't look at me or say anything to me, but I think it was our unsub. He put you on the ground and manacled you. Didn't even look at me the entire time." There was no disguising Emily's concern and it was easy for JJ to read the brunette's interpretation of the behavior. If the unsub was ignoring Emily completely then it was clear that JJ was the target of his attention, and this put her in extreme danger.

"Okay then. How do we get out of here?" JJ prompted, looking at her restraints and wondering if she could work her way free.

"I hate to say this, but I think we're going to have to wait for our unsub to return and see if we can exploit a weakness."

JJ tugged at her chains experimentally, and then with increasing force. "There has to be a better plan than that," she demurred, grunting as she tried to squeeze her wrist out of a manacle.

Emily once again tried to do the same with her bonds, though she knew that it would be a futile effort. "The upside is that we've been gone a long time. Hopefully, the team will come out to look for us shortly."

"Well I have no intention of ending up in a yellow waste bag before that happens," JJ replied darkly and continued to twist and pull at the manacles.


Norma Parsons pulled out a large cloth from her purse and carefully wiped the steering wheel and other hard surfaces of the rental car. She opened the door with the cloth covering her hand then put the car into neutral and took the parking brake off. She slammed the driver's door shut, again using the cloth and then walked to the back of the vehicle. Using the cloth as a barrier, she carefully placed her hands on the trunk and started to push at the car. It quickly built up momentum as she got it onto the downhill slope and within seconds it was rolling unaided down a steep embankment and into the river. Norma had already disposed of the agents' guns, credentials, personal items and phones by throwing them into the river further downstream after wrapping them in a black trash bag and weighing it down with some rocks. She picked up the cloth that had fallen as the car picked up speed and rammed it into a pocket. It would be easy enough to dispose of later.

The woman walked back to the main road and got into the passenger side of an old sedan that was parked up and turned to her son. "When we get back, sweep the yard. I'll clean the kitchen floor. There'll be no trace that anyone ever came by."

"Mama, you d-d-didn't have to d-do this," Harrison stuttered as he clutched the steering wheel tightly.

"I know, my angel," the old woman replied softly. "But you deserve to be looked after, and I know how much you like to play."

The large, doughy-faced man shrugged uncomfortably. "I don't l-like it w-when they don't play with me," he complained. "You damaged this one."

Norma shot out a hand and slapped her son hard across the face. "Don't you dare be ungrateful! Those women are dangerous. I had to secure them so you wouldn't be disturbed."

Harrison flinched at his mother's sudden change in demeanor and looked down in contrition. "Sorry mama," he muttered softly. He paused before continuing. "I don't like t-the other one. She l-looks too angry."

"That's nothing you can't change with a little attention Harrison," his mother reasoned. "By the time you're done making her less angry, the other one will be ready."

Harrison paused to think about this for a few minutes. "Okay," he agreed finally. He turned and smiled at the old woman in adoration. "Thank you f-for my presents."

Norma smiled and stroked her son's cheek lovingly. "You know I'll always take care of you honey. Just trust your mama. Now let's get back and finish up."

Harrison drove in silence for a while before speaking again. "Why d-did they come t-to the house?"

"They wanted to hurt you Harrison," Norma replied cryptically. "I had to stop them. It's my job to protect you and provide for you sweetie."

"She is p-pretty mama," Harrison continued. "Do you think she'll like me?"

"Oh, I think she's going to like you more than any other girl you've had," Mrs. Parsons reassured him confidently, knowing that the young FBI agent would do everything she could to fight her son off, and that would excite him like nothing else.

TBC