Here's chapter 7, finally - it took me pretty long to update, I know.
There are a couple of reasons for that... I'm not gonna lie, I was rather discouraged by the lack of reviews last chapter (though I thank those who did review). I haven't been 'feeling' this story a lot lately, and I'm kind of disconnected with the whole idea. Therefore, I have no idea when I will update again - but it definitely won't be next week, because then I'll be in Rome! And, truth be told, I haven't been so much into Criminal Minds lately, though I'm still watching. I loved the 'women vs car' conversation they had in the plane, lol.

Previous chapter: Morgan hugged JJ who freaked and ran. Emily followed her after a while, knowing where she went.


Emily had been right; apparently, she knew JJ better than either of them had thought.

JJ was curled up on the wooden bench they had sat on two days ago, her head resting on her knees. Even from a distance, Emily could hear the sobs. It broke her heart to see this beautiful, accomplished woman cry and not even know what was going on, not really. She walked forwards, not wanting to scare JJ, but she didn't even look up.

Emily didn't really know what to do. She'd never seen JJ cry before, had hardly ever seen her vulnerable. The intensity of her emotions lately was enough to scare her. This JJ was new, and Emily was afraid she'd only make it worse by trying to help.

She sat down on the bench, right next to JJ. Hesitantly, she laid a hand on JJ's shoulder. JJ jerked away from the touch and drew her arms tighter around herself.

"JJ…" The hand on the blonde's shoulder somehow turned into an arm across her shoulder, until they had both turned and JJ was soaking Emily's shirt with her tears.

She wasn't just crying, she was gasping wildly, uncontrollably for God knew what. Her sister, herself? Everyone? Emily didn't know, but she knew this was a good thing at its core, so she gripped JJ only tighter and didn't care about the mess JJ was making of her shirt.

Somewhere along the line, her brain had stopped working properly and she was acting purely on instinct. The part of her that was a mother simply took over. It had been used before, but never this long, never this intense.

She subconsciously started rocking back and forth, like she had seen JJ do with her sister.

Emily had often cursed her mother instincts because they could cloud her judgment, but at this moment, she was grateful for it, grateful because JJ needed a mother and a friend and had allowed Emily to be both. She suspected JJ's –or Shelby's– own mother had never been there for her. She also suspected it was a father, stepfather or uncle who had done this to both JJ and Jess and knew their mother had probably protected the man.

Emily couldn't fathom why anyone would willingly protect a monster like that, but love worked in mysterious ways. To them, there was no excuse, but to JJ's mother, maybe there was.

"Ssssh, it's gonna be okay, it's gonna be fine," she whispered into JJ's hair. "You're safe now." Her legs were starting to cramp, but she wouldn't complain.

Eventually, JJ looked up. She looked a mess: her hair was messy, her eyes red and puffy with mascara running down her face.

Emily watched her with what she hoped was an encouraging, 'I'm here for you'-smile. Tears were still running down her friend's face, so she carefully wiped them away with her thumbs.

"You'll be okay," she told JJ again. "We've got your back."

"It's not my back I'm worried about," JJ mumbled, her voice hoarse.

"Jess?" Emily half-guessed, watching JJ's face closely.

"She's been through so much," JJ whispered. "More than even I could imagine."

"JJ, tell us what happened," Emily whispered back gently. She saw a flash of fear cross JJ's face and knew what she was thinking about.

"Nobody will let you down," Emily told her. She couldn't stop the hint of desperation in her voice. "Nobody will turn away from you."

She both saw and felt the change in JJ: a quiet determination took hold of her.

"You have to understand… I wasn't myself back then, I mean, I was, but I wasn't like you know me, I wasn't really JJ…" Through the rambling, Emily vaguely heard the plea in JJ's voice.

"Tell me then," she insisted, trying to find a way in. She was a bit afraid of what she'd heard, but she had to know. She had to help JJ.

"I was tough," she started, and then paused, trying to find the right words.

"You still are," Emily encouraged her.

"No…" JJ shook her head. "Different." She snorted. "I was a bitch."

Against her better judgment, Emily tried to picture a bitchy JJ. Her mind came up empty.

"But I only was like that because I was so damn afraid all the time." She turned to Emily, who had been caught off guard by the sudden emotional confession.

"Afraid I wasn't strong enough, afraid others would find out… Afraid I'd have to go back to everything I had escaped." A sob escaped her. "There were times I just wanted to get away, but then I knew I had to go on for Jess. I couldn't let him get to her."

"JJ, who? What happened?" Emily asked, failing to keep the urgency from her voice.

"Don't you already know?" JJ replied uncharacteristically bitter. "Profilers and all that?"

"JJ…" she searched for the right words. "Maybe I have my suspicions. But this isn't about me; it's about you, and you need to get this out before it consumes you."

This caused a fresh wave of tears, but JJ held her head up straight.

"My parents got divorced when I was young… my mom remarried." She sought Emily's eyes.

"This guy, Walt…" she shivered unconsciously. "He seemed kind, and he actually gave me some attention, and not just Jess. That was all I wanted…"

She swallowed. "But then he started giving me too much attention…"

Emily nodded. "You don't have to tell me, JJ," she whispered. "I know what you mean." As a profiler, she knew it would be better for JJ to talk about everything, including her experiences; but as a friend, she just wanted to make JJ hurt as little as possible.

"And I couldn't tell anyone… He'd hurt her…" JJ continued, oblivious to Emily's words. "So I kept my mouth shut and I stayed silent. But then… it got too much and I had to get away, I just couldn't take it anymore… and I was stupid enough to believe he'd keep his promise." She snorted, angrily wiping away the tears in the corners of her eyes.

"I had nowhere to go though, so I… I had to stay on the streets…and I had to find a way to survive."

Emily's eyes widened, but she tried to keep her voice even. "How did you do that?"

JJ gave her a filthy look. "You know how."

"I need to hear you say it," Emily retorted.

She saw a flicker of anger in JJ's eyes.

"Why?" she asked, frustrated. When Emily didn't reply, she sighed.

"I slept with men for money. Is-is that what you want to hear?"

She stood up, walking away from Emily, who quickly jumped up to follow her friend.

"But you were rescued," she whispered when she had reached JJ. "Someone got you off the streets."

"Yeah…" JJ replied despite herself. "That's where I met Peter and everyone else."

Emily nodded, recognizing the name from the conversations between JJ and her sister.

"Peter was head of this school, Horizon... he saved me. Horizon saved me."

The name rang a bell in the back of Emily's mind; something about a case a long time ago, maybe... She shook it off as JJ continued to speak.

"And right after they found out, I had to go back to – to that place, 'cause he got sick." She spat out the word. "I had to take care of him."

Emily couldn't imagine how hard that must've been for JJ: to have to take care of the man who destroyed her.

"And I found out... Jess... he'd lied." She balled her fists. "I shouldn't have been surprised; they never keep their promises. That's one thing I learnt doing this job." She looked at Emily. "I called the police, and they got him. I went back to Horizon and graduated, leaving Jess there. And then I disappeared."

"You changed your name?" Emily guessed.

"I know it hurt them, to never hear of me... they must've thought I was dead, but I just couldn't continue living the life of Shelby Merrick. I was sick of being a victim. Shelby... she was weak, damaged goods. JJ isn't."

The distinction between the two names worried Emily, but she didn't say anything.

"I knew someone named Jareau, and I'd always liked Jennifer... So that's who I became," she ended her story.

"And why is Jess here now?" Emily asked gently. She remembered the confusing conversation JJ and her sister had had, but she had to hear it from JJ's mouth.

"He got free." JJ's voice was full of disgust. "And he started again, so Jess ran and ended up like I had."

"Oh..." For a moment, she was lost for words. For all her experience, both on the job and her own, she had no idea how to react.

"If she can testify, he can go behind bars again – and he'll stay there for longer, now that he has reverted back to his old ways," she therefore told JJ, knowing it was not the most sensitive thing to say, but wanting to break the silence with something, anything.

JJ shook her head. "Last time it broke up our family." Seeing Emily's confused look, she elaborated. "My mom protected him, and she only admitted so that they wouldn't take Jess away." She snorted. "I still don't know if she's just afraid, or if she really is that dumb."

JJ looked calmer now, more like her usual self (though still agitated). Emily suggested that they went back to the police station, hoping JJ would be calm enough to deal with it. She nodded, and together they turned to walk back.

"JJ..." she wanted to say something before they were surrounded by the team again.

"I know it was hard to tell me all this... but thank you for doing so. It may hurt, but it's better in the end, trust me." JJ didn't reply and she pressed on. "And if you ever want to talk... or just want to hang out, or cry, and you need a friend, I am here for you." JJ nodded, keeping her eyes on the path ahead of them.

"Thank you," she said moments later, seemingly out of nowhere. But Emily knew what she was talking about, and without a word she took JJ's cold hand.


Wow, re-reading this chapter makes me wish I had an Emily in my life. Or a Garcia, for that matter. =)

So what do you think? Are you devastated that updates will be very irregular? Do you hate my story? Please review!