Presentiment
A Criminal Minds Story
Emily woke with a jolt. Her hands pulling at her restraints as she looked up to see that she was still in the car, still sitting just feet away from Declan Merrick. A man who represented a past she had hoped to put behind her. Her head pounded as she tried to determine where they were exactly. She had to blink several times just to be sure she was seeing it correctly, but she was, there were houses that lined the sides of the streets. Lights off and the houses were dark due to the early hour, but the sun was rising.
"Good to see you awake Lauren. We are nearly there," Declan smiled patting her knee. Emily simply looked at him as there was something different about the man sitting next to her from the man she had met all those years ago. Even from the man that murdered and killed and sold and distributed and resides on the most wanted list. He had changed.
He was delusional.
"Where exactly is there?" Emily asked as she told herself to breath slowly before counting up from five.
"Home."
Emily's eyes widened at that very word and suddenly everything made sense. The erratic behavior and sloppy tactics employed to capture her and JJ, the needless violence and thousand henchmen, and the slimy speech and sudden favoritism towards her.
Declan Merrick had completely lost it.
Looking back over to the eerily smiling man, she whispered tentatively, "Where's my friend?"
JJ woke to a painful inconsistent pressure being applied to her already bruised cheeks. Her head pounded with absolute level ten pain followed by a sting of her level eight abdomen. Her hands felt soft carpet beneath her as her used one finger and rubbed it back and forth. Someone spoke to her harshly, but it wasn't a man or woman's voice.
It was the voice of a child.
Scrunching her eyebrows she moaned before her head rolled to the other side and she slowly opened her eyelids. It took her a couple of tries to get the room to come in to focus, but when she did she found a little face staring right at her. She gasped, opening her eyes wider as she recognized the child in front of her. It was like a ghost slapped her in the cheek as she looked into the eyes she had never hoped to see.
"Evan." The boy nodded slowly as he backed up, his blue eyes shone with contrast to his light red hair as he sat crosslegged on the blue carpet beneath him.
"Who are you?" His voice shook along with his body as he stared at the unfamiliar injured woman in front of him. Her hair lay flat in messy, clumpy strands and her blue eyes stared back at him with absolute joy.
"My name is Jennifer. I'm with the FBI," JJ reached to find her badge out of habit, but stopped herself quickly knowing that it wasn't there, "I've been looking for you."
"No one is looking for me. My father told me so," Evan stood up in a flash of anger knocking back his plastic chair, "He told me so."
"Your mother," JJ started as it took all of her energy just to keep up with the conversation. The eight year old's voice softened.
"My Mom's dead."
JJ nodded her head as tears stung at her eyes which shone with some motherly comfort, "I know. Evan, I'm going to get you out of here. Back to your grandma and your step dad, would you like that?"
Evan nodded. He didn't like where he was one bit. He didn't like the room or the toys that were strewn about or the window encased in prison bars, or the lock on his door, or the men that watched him, and he definitely did not like his father.
"Grammy and my dad… They miss me?"
"So so so much," JJ smiled, "But I'm going to need your help Evan. Do you know where we are?"
Evan nodded, "My room."
Then JJ fully took in her surroundings the scattered toys, the unmade bed that rested in the corner, the blue carpet and the light green walls, and the single barred window. She was no longer in some dingy warehouse room with cold floors and cold walls, but she was in a house with doors and windows and a childs room.
"You're dad. Is his name Declan Merrick?" JJ asked slowly. She had noted the boys look of contempt as he nodded his head.
"Alright, Evan. Help me up," JJ mustered her strength as she tried to push herself up by pressing her shoulders into the wall. Her hands were tightly bound by handcuffs which made standing up boy scrambled over, gripping JJ's elbow and pulled her up with all his might. Once she reached a standing position, she stood swaying for a moment as she waited for the room to stop spinning, her body to stop shaking, and for the black fuzz that took over her vision to fade.
Once it did she looked back to Evan who stood far enough back to giver her space, but close enough to be there if she needed him. She gave him an "I'm okay" smile that only mother's can deliver when not wanting to worry their babies and waited until he relaxed his shoulders to ask,
"Have you ever been out of this room?" Evan nodded, "Did you see a phone?"
He nodded again, "But the door is locked."
"When are you let out of your room?" JJ asked a plan forming as Evan told her that he was let out once a day to play in the backyard for just an hour. It was usually in the afternoon sometime when normal kids would be out of school, "Do you think you can get to that phone?"
Evan thought about it for a moment, and he nodded. He could get to that phone.
Aaron Hotchner looked at the photograph in his hands with his mind spinning. It was taken many years ago. It was of a group of people consisting of mostly adults with one little boy. A small blonde boy with very light blonde curly hair. The boy stood in front of Hotch's own agent, Emily Prentiss who stood beside the recently deceased Ian Doyle and the unsub, Declan Merrick.
"Dave, take a look at this," Hotch muttered, they had been combing through the area where JJ and Emily were last and had found one room with different knick knacks and other items. They had discovered that the building was, at one time, Merrick's main front for the making and distributing of drugs.
Dave walked over with a limp in his step and took the framed picture from his friend, "It's framed, It definitely meant something to him. Look at the way Merrick looks towards Emily. He really cares for her."
"And look at this one," He pulled out another photo of a boy walking with his mom.
"It's obvious that they didn't know their picture was being taken, but who are they?" David asked looking at the photo closer. He looked at Hotch with surprise, "that's our third victim. The presumed robbery gone wrong and accidental kidnapping."
Derek and Reid who had snuck in during the conversation both looked at each other as a realization hit them both, but it was Morgan who spoke, "So what. Declan is trying to create a family."
Rossi nodded, "The family he always wanted, but couldn't have."
"It makes sense. His behavior was highly unusual compared to his past excursions. It was sloppy and messy and didn't fit Declan rather tedious and compulsive M.O. But when else do you drop all common sense and rationality…?" Reid spoke with hesitancy as he shuttered at the thought of his best friend in that situation.
"When you're fighting for your family. He probably still sees Emily as Lauren Reynolds from ten years ago," Hotch continued, "Which means there is a chance to find her alive…"
"But if this is what we think it is, then he has been living in this fantasy for a long time. If it doesn't turn out how he wants it to. He will kill her and most likely Evan as well," Rossi added looking at the photo in his hands.
Morgan paused for a minute, "Then what of JJ? She's the part of the profile that doesn't match up. Why not just kill her. Why take her too."
It was silent for a moment as they all cooked up a variety of reasons that are possibilities. But they didn't like that there was no real reason for the blonde to still be alive. They only knew for sure that she was when she left the building. Though Hotch didn't think they would kill her, but he could think of many things far worse.
One thing's for sure, they had to find them soon and they had to find them both.
"Sir," Garcia walked in her bright yellow heels clicking against the floor, "We just got a call, they found the getaway car, abandoned about two hours from here in the middle of a grass field. It was torched."
"How did they know to call us?" Reid asked.
"They found JJ's badge inside." Garcia struggled to keep her composure, "It looks like they were headed north."
Hotch nodded, "We're on our way."
Morgan held JJ's burnt badge as he ran a hand over its charred edges. It was sheer luck that it had been found all. Tucked deep underneath the seat of the car it had been semi-protected from the flames. The flames that had been put out rather quickly thanks to a trucker who just happened to be driving through the area. Morgan slapped the wallet against his fingers as he shook his head as it was just plain old luck.
The air smelt of burnt grass and heated metal. The car still smoked like cigarette and the area surrounding it had seen better days. No bodies were found within the vehicle which gave the team a good reason to exhale, but not one to stop worrying. When dealing with a man like Declan Merrick delusional or not, it is very dangerous.
"Derek, do you think they are alive?" It was the voice of Penelope Garcia. A brilliant women with unrestricted color wheel and a personality to match. As Derek Morgan took in her rather puffy cheeks and the dark circles under her eyes he knew that the last few days were really taking its toll. Her once vibrant curls fell in messy and undone strands that pulled back in a failed attempt to look as though she control. Morgan admired her for being so composed when he knew how much she was worrying for her two bestest girls.
Looping one arm around her shoulders he rubbed the smudging mascara from underneath her eyes and gave her that Derek Morgan smile, "I know they are."
"But how do you know? You don't know. And if they are alive, what are they going through?" Garcia rambled facing morgan eye to eye, as her voice rose dramatically, "They could be hurt badly, being tortured, or worse being forced to play nice with a that dangerous, unforgiving, albeit rather good looking psychopath."
"Baby Girl cool your curls," Derek started, but Garcia wouldn't have it as she snatched away JJ's badge from the older man's hands. She took it and threw it to the ground as though it had burned her pale skin.
"I will not! Not until my babies are back where they are supposed to be Derek. With us, with their families, and not.. not…,," Morgan made eye contact with Hotch and the remainder of the team as they watched with wary eyes. Each one of them were feeling what Garcia was, but haven't expressed it. To them, admitting their fears was almost like admitting defeat. So they did as they always do and for the moment believed that both JJ and Emily were alive and well. And they would do so until it was absolutely proven to them otherwise.
Derek picked up the badge and handed it back to Garcia, "We'll find them Garcia. I promise you."
"Derek. You know I trust you," Garcia told him with a single tear dripping off of her chin, "But you can't promise me that. No one can."
Shoving JJ's badge into Derek's chest, she let it drop into his hand as she walked towards the car. Because after three days of not knowing where Emily and JJ were only to find them and see them hauled off by a very dangerous criminal she was tired. So very tired, but she couldn't rest as she never had been able to until all of her babies return home and to her.
Morgan watched her go with a look like he had been punched in the gut. Everything she had said had been true. He couldn't promise that he would find them. No one could, but there was one promise he had made to himself a long time ago. He had promised that the would do his very best to watch after every member of his team to the very best of his ability.
And that is one promise he can make.
And one that he intends to keep.
"Are you alright?" Hotch, ever the worrier asked leaning forward his eyes telling no lies. This team, he cared about greatly. Each and every one of them just seemed to click which made them an efficient team. A great team that does their job with excellence.
"He'll take them to a house. It won't be isolated, but it won't be too close to other houses either. If he really is trying to create the family he never could have then he would want them to have a home. At least a temporary one until things calmed down," Morgan stated looking up to his boss.
Hotch who had come to the same conclusion nodded, "Then how do we find him?"
"We search his background and any known affiliates he may have had. And we start knocking on doors," Hotch nodded, Reid stepped closer to them with his idea look,
"We should look into Doyle's known whereabouts and listings as well. If Emily has always been the main star in his fantasy then Doyle would have always been the only obstacle in Merrick's way to get to her."
Rossi added, his hands in his jacket pockets as he squinted slightly, "They were friends at one point. They could have easily shared information such as where to go in emergencies."
"Alright. They can't be too far. We'll get to the nearest station and have Garcia begin her search. I fear we might be running out of time," Hotch's phone buzzed as he took it out looking at the I.D. with extreme hesitancy, "I'll meet you in the car…Agent Hotchner…"
The caller was Section Chief Erin Strauss.
"Do you understand how much of a mess you have left me here. I'm getting pestered at every turn by every high-ranking official in the bureau as well as some bigwigs in Washinton D.C. And I have nothing to tell them because my senior agent has not answered my calls. "
He could practically see the steam coming out of her ears, "I understand ma'am I should have called you earlier, but as you well know we are on a sensitive timeline."
"Catching and putting away Declan Merrick is our top priority. It's not every day that the department gets a chance to put away one one Bureau's top ten most wanted."
Hotch could feel the steam spitting from his nose as he huffed, "With all due respect Chief Strauss. Retrieving both Agent Prentiss and Agent Jareau is our primary mission."
"I understand your concern for your agents Aaron and I share those concerns. But that is not how my superiors see it. Find Merrick, and that's a direct order Agent Hotchner. Or I will be more than happy to put another team on the case. I want Merrick, is that understood." Hotch exhaled sharply as the line clicked and went dead. Walking to the car he hopped in the passenger seat with Morgan at the wheel.
"Strauss?" Morgan asked though he already knew the answer. There were few people that could ever really frustrate the boss man.
"Our priority is the safe arrest of one Declan Merrick," Hotch muttered as Morgan put the car in drive and sped away.
"So Emily and JJ. She doesn't care what happens to them," Morgan slammed the wheel. Reid shook his head from the back seat.
"That slimy, cold-hearted-,"
"Garcia-" Hotch warned, but Garcia continued.
"pig-headed, self absorbed witch."
Rossi pondered it for a moment, "It makes sense. The loss of two agents won't mean much if a man like Declan is captured, they could chalk it up to them giving their lives as heroes to bring him to justice."
"Always after another star on her shoulder. Imagine what an arrest like this could do for her career," Morgan growled, "We can't just leave Prentiss and JJ."
"And I don't intend to. Their safety and ours is our top priority. Reid when we get to the station I need you to do a geographical profile and see if we can narrow down our search."
Reid nodded, "Got it. It will probably be a nicer neighborhood with bigger houses filled with people who like their privacy…"
"Welcome to your new home," Emily stepped out slowly her eyes on the mansion of a house in front of her. Guards stood at the door as well as at the gate a mile or so back. They rested upon what could be considered a hill, it was covered by enough trees that it would hardly be seen by the unsuspecting neighbors that rested just beyond them.
Emily sighed, she had yet to discern where he was keeping JJ, but she had a feeling that it was in the very house in front of her, "It's beautiful."
"Come see the inside. You and me Lauren are going to be very happy," He smiled rubbing a hand over her cheek. Emily bit back the urge to smash her teeth into her fingers, "let's go inside."
Once they got in the house, something immediately changed. Emily practically felt the shift in his behavior. As he stood admiring over the houses lavish fixtures and furniture she could see an inner rage about ready to burst out. This wasn't about her and him and this house. It was about something more, it was about revenge.
"What's wrong Lauren. Not amazed by our lovely home," He smiled, "No I guess not. But you always were much smarter than you appeared."
He walked towards her, pinching her chin between his fingers before brushing a stray hair that stuck to her cheek. Ripping her face from his sweaty hands Emily mustered all the courage she had, "Why did you really bring me here?"
"You know I've worked very hard to get to where I am today," Merrick laughed, "I gave up family and friends, but that didn't matter because I wanted a better life, a richer life. And I got it. And there was one person who helped me get there and became my friend. And you took him from me, so why are you here Lauren? it's for revenge. Revenge for Ian Doyle; my friend and business partner. The man you killed."
Emily seethed, "I didn't kill Ian. The mother of his child did. There have been times when I wished it was me who pulled that trigger and taken his life, but given the chance I don't think I would have. But am I sorry that he is dead, no."
Merrick slapped Emily hard, and she fell back. It was only the tight grip that the guard had on her arm that kept her alive, "You might as well have killed him. He trusted you, he loved you, and he is dead because of you. Heck, I trusted you, I loved you..."
"What are you going to do kill me?," Emily rasped blood rolling down her cheek.
"No," Merrick laughed again, "I'm not going to kill you. I'm going to break you. I want to see the tenacious and tough Lauren Reynolds weep and beg for mercy. And when that happens you will live out the rest of your days in this house. Now Garrett, see to it that Miss Reynolds gets to her room and then take me to the blonde. I'd like to have a few… words with Agent Jareau."
"Don't you dare lay a hand on her Merrick, or I swear I will kill you and I will not hesitate."
Declan Merrick chuckled his plan was working. His plan for revenge and to get what he has always wanted as that has always been Lauren Reynolds. Of course she would not cooperate until she was fully stripped of her defiance and her strength and her hope and it was only then that she would become his.
Just as it was fated to be.
So he smiled slyly in return to her very predictable threat, "We shall see."
Emily's face fell while she was hauled away as she twisted and turned trying to break free. Because maybe she would have hesitated in killing Doyle, but she would not hesitate in killing Declan should she be given the chance. And with his death, Lauren Reynold's would go down for good and Emily Prentiss would stand having gotten rid of her past once and for all.
JJ sat crosslegged on the floor, her forehead scrunched in determination as she stuffed a sliver from a broken plastic toy into her handcuffs lock trying to wriggle it free. Sweat dripped from her brow as she could feel the urgent tension of the situation suffocate the air. Though she had no idea what was in store for her.
SNAP! The plastic toy split in half sending her throbbing finger to her mouth as she tried, unsuccessfully to suck away the pain. That was the third time that had happened to her in the last hour, picking up another piece that had been deemed worthy she leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes. Peeking one eye open she looked to see Evan staring almost forlornly at the toy she had recently smashed into smithereens by slamming it into the wall.
"Sorry, about the toy," JJ told him, but for some reason she felt like it wasn't the toy that was really bothering him, "Your mother loved you, you know that right?"
"How do you know?" The boy grumbled wiping the runs from his nose, before returning his elbow to its position on his knee.
"I was there that day. I was too late to save you and her, but her lasts thoughts they were of you. I could see it in her eyes this unending mass of love," JJ told him with a smile, "And you know what? She will always be with you and watching after you, and she will always love you."
It was quiet for sometime after that, only the soft sniffles of a young boy who missed his mom. JJ had returned to her lock picking her fingers and hands and head cramping up as she failed time and time again. If she could only get out of the cuff, she'd have a real fighting chance and maybe provide Evan with a distraction to get to the phone and call the number she had told him to.
"Jennifer," JJ paused and looked up to tear-stained cheeks and red eyes. Her thoughts flashed to her own little boy and how much she did not want to leave him. Not yet, anyway, but if she had to die today, she would die saving this boy, "Do you think there really is a heaven?"
JJ had thought about that very question a lot in her life. Ever since her sister died she had asked herself that every night the following year. She had always wanted to believe that there was a heaven and that her sister was there waiting and watching. Even after all of those years JJ still asked that question, and she has only given it one answer,
It wasn't one of absolute certainty, but simply a, "There has got to be."
Because that was the only place for people like Evan's mom, her sister, and the countless other mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, and grandparents that have passed on. So there just had to be heaven, otherwise what would be the point of living, learning, loving, and dying.
Evan agreed, "Yeah. There's got to be one."
The small boy nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard the locks on the door turn and click. He sped to his bed with terrifying speed before bringing his knees to his chest and holding onto himself tightly.
Two very large men plowed through the door as JJ quickly shoved her last tiny piece of sharp plastic into her pant pocket. She looked up just in time to see Declan Merrick himself stride through the door. Shooting him her fiercest glare, she sat up straighter and simply waited.
"Hello Agent Jareau, or should I call you Jennifer, or better yet JJ as you darling friends affectionately call you," He smiled crouching down in front of her, "You know I've heard a lot about you Jennifer."
"It will always be Agent Jareau to you," JJ stared right into his eyes and all she saw was something dead and cold.
"You graduated top of your class at the academy. You were given excellent ratings in firearms and are considered a crack shot. Did you really once shoot a man through the glass and dead on between the eyes? Very impressive," Declan drawled, "And according to my sources you have earned yourself a reputation as a force to be reckoned with and are intimidating to say the least. But you do your job and you do it well. However that has earned you some enemies on my side Jennifer. People who would very much like to see you suffer."
"I'm shaking," JJ said not in the playful manner she had done years prior when Morgan threatened payback, but in a serious and defiant tone.
"You will be. You might be wondering why I stuck you in this room with my boy. Well since you are never going to see your own son again I thought it might be a nice… gesture to say the least before I offer my condolences on your rather grim future."
JJ didn't say anything. She detected no lies within the man in front of her, and she believed him. Should not get out of this house her future would be very grim indeed. The entire thought sent shivers through her body as she bit her tongue so hard that the taste of coppery blood smothered her gum and teeth and throat. She closed her eyes for just a moment as she pictured her husband and son happily laughing as they fished and camped on their all boy's trip.
How she missed them, her boys.
"Anyway, I didn't mean to put a damper on the mood, but your time here is limited unlike Miss Lauren and my son. So I'd like to use you to my advantage while I can… If you'd please come with me….," Merrick's two henchmen moved to pick JJ up, but she shook her head as she slowly stood up on her own. Declan simply smiled and waved them away as he turned to his son, "Evan. Say goodbye to Agent Jareau."
Evan looked up a mist of tears glazed over his wide eyes, "Goodbye Agent Jareau."
JJ teetered on her feet before giving the frightened boy a light smile, "Goodbye Evan, remember that I keep my promises okay?"
The boy nodded as he watched his daddy and his friends pull Jennifer out the door before they slammed it shut leaving him alone once again. And for a moment he wondered if that was going to be his whole life. If he was always going to be alone. But then he remembered that Jennifer said she would get him back home, and he believed her.
All he had to do is get to that phone.
I just couldn't find a good place to stop this chapter so it is super long, but I hope it didn't bounce back and forth too much. What do you think? What is in store for our favorite female crime fighters? Thank you all for your continued support and for the reviews it is very appreciated.
Thanks!
-HCB
