I don't own Criminal Minds or any of the characters.
A/N: READ THIS FIRST. Here, the story takes a turn. This unsub is very sick, very twisted, and yes it may seem like he's being nicer to her than he was to the others, but there is reason for that, which is also super-twisted. It is M-rated from here…A psychopathic unsub is going to be in every chapter.
For someone who asked, each chapter name is a way to manipulate someone.
XXX
"Rise and shine, sunshine."
JJ fought to open her eyes through the unbearable pounding in her head.
Where the hell was she?
"Oh, you are my sunshine, my only sunshine…"
A soft voice was singing, singing to her.
"Penelope?" she tried to say, even though instinctively, she knew it wasn't her best friend. She could feel the cold stone floor beneath her as her groggy mind started to register her surroundings. There was no stone floor at the police station, was there?
"You make me haaa-ppy, when skies are gray…" The voice continued to croon the lyrics. "You'll never know, dear, how much I love you. Please don't taaaake my sunshine away…"
Had she fainted? It was so dark in the room! JJ willed her eyes to adjust to her surroundings, pushing herself off the floor so that she was sitting up. Was she at the hospital? She struggled to think.
"Oh! You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me haaaa-ppy, when skies are gray…"
"What?" she forced out blearily.
The singing stopped instantly.
"Hello?" She hated how weak her voice sounded. "Penelope? Emily? Is this a joke?"
But they would never do something like this. Not with their line of work.
"Who are you?" she tried again. If it was the same unsub that they were looking for…God, she didn't want to think what was in store for her the next week.
He didn't answer. Of course. She mentally kicked herself. If- and it was a big if- if it was the same unsub, he got off on control, didn't he? He was probably relishing the power of having information that he knew she didn't have, but wanted.
Well, fine. She had the profile- the other victims didn't. She'd just refuse to give him any control whatsoever- render him incapable of fulfilling his fantasy.
"Fine, don't tell me. See if I care," she murmured, shuffling backwards to the corner of the room and leaning against it, pretending to be annoyed.
Surveying the room, JJ could see a tall, lean figure- the singer- sitting on a chair on the opposite side of the room to her, holding a small backpack. A small window was letting in a little light, and with a sinking heart she realized that it was the same room that she'd seen in the videos.
The unsub jumped out of his chair after a few seconds of silence, bored. "Do you know who I am?" He almost ran to her, squatting down and putting his hands on her shoulders. "Do you?"
"I…"
He shook her. "Do you?"
JJ flinched, but hid it well. "No."
Satisfied, he stood up, letting go of her shoulders and picking up a small object.
A video camera.
"Yes, sunshine," he said when he caught her looking. "It's a camera. I am the same guy you've been looking for." He paused, a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "Sunshine…it's what Penelope calls you, isn't it?"
When she gave no answer, nor any indication that she'd heard, he pressed on, starting to set up the camera. "I think I'll steal that from her."
All JJ could think about was 'It's going to start now. He's going to beat me. He's going to torture me, and rape me. And they're all going to see it.'
...
At the station, Garcia, who had flown over from DC, checked her laptop and ran over to Hotch. "Sir! It's here."
He immediately followed her to her laptop, the rest of the team behind him.
They watched the video, armed with notepads and pens, ready to note down everything they could, even though they had Reid.
...
The unsub had finished attaching the camera to the tripod and ambled almost lazily over to JJ. "You know what's killing you?" he asked.
"No," JJ said sarcastically. "Please, enlighten me. Could it be the fact that I'm stuck in a hell-hole with some sociopathic freak?"
She was pushing him, she knew it, but she also knew that allowing him to get even a semblance of control over her would end her life faster. And she needed to stay alive.
That her insult wasn't met with a slap surprised her- rather, it was greeted with a short laugh.
"JJ, JJ, JJ…" He walked closer to her and brushed her cheek with the tip of his finger. She didn't react aggressively, knowing that once he crossed the line to violence, it was no holds barred. "Silly Sunshine. Have you not been paying attention to your team? It's psychopath, Jenny. Psychopath."
Her eyes snapped up to meet his, and his grin widened in delight. "Yes, I like to analyze myself. I'm quite an adept profiler myself. Why, does that surprise you?"
"Not really, no."
"Good." His finger brushed her hair away from her face gently. "I like smart girls." Suddenly, he straightened, and started pacing the room. "Back to my question: want to know what's eating you up? I'll tell you," he continued before she could reply that no, she didn't. "It's that you still don't know who I am!" There was pure glee in his voice when he turned to the camera. "Hear that, profilers? She doesn't know who I am! You thought she could tell you my name in the video, but she can't!"
...
At the station, everyone's faces paled.
"She doesn't recognize him?" Prentiss asked shakily. "Shit. Shit shit shit."
"This is bad," Hotch said worriedly. "Everybody take a seat. I want you to note down anything and everything you can about this guy. Garcia, you too. You just focus on JJ."
...
"Why don't I know who you are?" JJ asked suddenly, her voice clear. "Is our profile wrong?"
"Well, I can't tell you that, sunshine," he teased. "But I sure wasn't any of the guys you pulled into the station." He paused mockingly, one finger on his chin. "Come to think of it, shouldn't you have been able to tell that? Shouldn't you have been able to match their faces to the video feed?"
"The room's too dark to get any conclusive image via video," JJ replied through gritted teeth, hating this man before her more than she had ever thought it was possible to hate anyone- except maybe Hankel. "But you already knew that. He's white, guys," she added, directing the last comment at her team.
The unsub let out a peal of laughter. "I did know, you're right. You couldn't even conclusively tell my skin color, other than knowing that I wasn't black." He dropped into the chair again, facing the camera. "And now, agents? What can little JJ tell you? That I'm white. Well, all your suspects were white, so that doesn't really help, does it?"
He checked his watch quickly. "Sorry, sunshine, but we're running out of time. Every hour counts, you know!" He wagged his finger at her.
"Wait!" JJ said quickly, ridiculously embarrassed because her team was going to see her, cops she didn't even know were going to see her stripped of any dignity and she knew that was the least of her worries right now, and she knew she wouldn't care in a few minutes, but God, she really didn't want them to see. She tried to think of any conversation topic that would lengthen the time. "I- you- what's your name?" she threw out randomly. "I mean, you know mine, and I don't particularly want to know yours, but it's kind of difficult to call you 'unsub' don't you think?"
He stared at her for a moment before nodding slowly. "Yes, you're right. Clever Sunshine. Let's see…" He scratched his arm thoughtfully. "I call you Sunshine. So you can call me by a nickname. How about…" He smiled. "Demise."
"Demise?" JJ almost snorted. "That's original."
He looked mock-affronted. "Jenny! That's not very polite. I think we're going to have to work on that."
Knowing her time was up anyway, JJ couldn't resist. "Yeah, okay. And while we're at it, could we work on your tendency to kill people during our little therapy sessions?"
"Of course, love," Demise said affectionately. "You know, I like your comebacks. They're much more…put-together than the others' were."
JJ's mouth dropped open. "Well, I do work with words for a living," she managed.
"That you do," he agreed amiably. "Now, how should we start off our action-packed week, little J?"
...
Rossi was watching intently, focused on every little micro-expression. "He's going to torture her."
"But it'll be tailored to her," Morgan said, flipping through each victims' file quickly. "All the others were. He knew Chapman hated the dark since she was a kid, and she didn't want to have sex until marriage so he kept it almost pitch-black and raped her more than the others, deliberately arousing her the first time. He knew Alicia had issues with her parents, so he told her they were watching and purposefully embarrassed her."
"So what does that mean for JJ?" Reid asked urgently.
"Are we profiling her?" Morgan asked hesitantly.
"Yes." Hotch's reply was short and blunt. "He will. For the past few days, he has been. And we think like the unsub if we want to find JJ."
It was Garcia who answered. "She likes to be in control. She's ridiculously defensive and guarded sometimes, especially about…um, about her sister. She, uh, killed herself when JJ was eleven." She rushed on, feeling guilty for betraying JJ's trust. "She hates appearing weak, especially in front of you guys." She ignored the other profilers' incredulous looks.
"Hates seeming weak," Emily agreed. "She uses her looks to her advantage sometimes, to flirt and to get what she wants and things like that."
"She manipulates people all the time," Garcia continued. "I'm talking, like, a million times a minute." And then, realizing how it sounded, she added hastily, "Not in a mean unsub way. Just in a JJ way."
"She likes to be in control," Reid said quietly.
"He'll take away her control, using any form of torture possible," Rossi said. "Emotionally, he has, because she knows we're watching- and he's twisted Garcia's nickname into a form of mental torture. He'll physically try to control her too. He'll try to show her that she doesn't control her own body."
"She sleep-talks, sometimes," Emily put in suddenly. "She…that's how I found out about the whole Hankel thing…"
"He'll use that against her." Morgan groaned. "He's a master-manipulator. He'll pile on the emotional stress until she…"
"God, JJ, I hope you're strong enough," Garcia whispered, glancing at JJ on the screen. "Please be strong enough."
...
JJ was staring at Demise. "What?" she repeated numbly.
"Lie on the floor," he repeated calmly. "Now, please, Jenny."
"What, but I- I'm not-" She tried to formulate a response, but it was hard, with his massive frame towering over her. He had to be, what, 6'2"? "I'm not lying like-"
"Now, Sunshine." He cracked a grin. "Don't worry, I'm not going to rape you." She felt the unspoken 'yet'.
When she didn't move, he sighed and walked closer. "I don't want to have to force you, JJ, but I will. Lie down."
"I don't think I want-"
"Now."
She still didn't react, and, after another long, deliberate sigh, he dropped his backpack onto the floor, closed the distance between them and grabbed her arm, yanking her upwards off the floor so that she was standing. Grabbing her hair in his fist, he pulled, hard, letting her eyes pool with tears before releasing her roughly. Her back slammed against the wall.
"Lie down on the floor." He kicked the wall next to her menacingly and she slid down, holding her head and gasping with pain. "Good girl," he praised, pushing her hands away and tenderly rubbing her scalp where he'd pulled, simultaneously pushing her upper body down onto the floor. "I didn't want to have to do that so early. I thought you'd listen."
"I thought- this whole thing- was about- torturing me," JJ gasped out, her eyes still watering.
"No, no, no, Jenny." Demise shook his head. "That's not how it works." He tut-tutted. "I'm starting to think you haven't read the profile. It's about control, remember?" He lifted her shirt up slightly and caressed her flat stomach. "Tell me, sunshine, do you find me attractive?"
"No," JJ spat out, lifting her head up. "Not even a bit."
That was a lie. He was attractive, she couldn't deny that.
"You liar," Demise laughed good-naturedly. "I've been told several times that I should be a model."
"Yeah, you could be on posters for the circus," JJ retorted, painfully conscious of her open midriff, and of the knife that she couldn't see but knew he had somewhere. "You wouldn't even need to wear a costume."
He smacked her stomach lightly. "That wasn't very nice. But I know you were teasing, so I'll let it slide." He turned his face to hers, and grabbed her chin so that their eyes met. "Jennifer, you need to learn that you have no control."
"So who does, then?" she returned snarkily.
"I do," he replied seriously, gazing at her.
"Yeah, sure, okay, you can believe that. Whatever floats your boat." She scoffed at him, but her heart was thumping wildly. What was he going to do?
He was reaching behind him, and her thumping heart seemed to stop completely when she saw the rope. "Oh, sorry, Sunshine. I made you lie down in the wrong place. Shift a couple of feet to the right, would you?" The steel toe of his boot pressing insistently against her ribs was enough incentive, and she moved the distance without complaint, more focused on trying to see what it was that was so special about this spot.
Ah. The stakes in the ground. She was right between them. He was tying the rope to them, and her hands to the rope….
"There," he said softly. "Now you're all mine."
Demise reached over to his backpack and removed a pair of scissors, smiling apologetically before starting to cut around her thighs. "I hope you don't mind," he said, "but I prefer shorts to pants."
She didn't say a word.
Gently, and with the utmost care, he undid the buttons of her white blouse, but not taking it off. "You're beautiful."
"Thanks," JJ replied sarcastically, trying not to look at the camera.
"You are," he repeated. "Honestly." He finished undoing the last button and spread her shirt open.
...
Hotch turned away in an attempt to give JJ some privacy and respect. "There's no point in seven of us crowding around a screen. Garcia, Prentiss, you two watch. The rest of us…we need to start from scratch. Our profile has to be wrong somewhere."
The men nodded, almost relieved, but Emily stopped them. "Uh, Hotch? I don't think…is it a good idea to leave just one profiler watching?"
The unit chief glanced back at the screen, quickly making up his mind. "No, you're right. Alright, Prentiss and Garcia are permanently watching," he ordered. "Morgan, Rossi, Reid and I will take turns with you. Reid, you first."
The women nodded, appreciating the privacy he was trying to give JJ. Reid looked terrified, staring at the screen where Demise had started tracing a circle around JJ's navel.
...
JJ tried not to flinch as his cold hands drew patterns on her skin.
"Does this feel good?" he murmured to her, his blue eyes meeting her own.
She found her voice with difficulty. "Sure, if the definition of 'good' is 'creepy and weird'."
His eyes flashed and he withdrew his hand. JJ tensed, getting ready for a punch, or a kick, or a slap, but none came- instead, she was surprised to find that he made a visible effort to relax, and gave her a forced smile.
"Don't worry. It will soon."
JJ didn't even want to think about what that meant, watching anxiously as Demise reached again into his backpack and pulled out a strip of cloth.
Was he going to gag her?
"What's that for?" she asked, trying to keep her tone light. He didn't answer, lifting her neck off the ground and slipping the cloth underneath her head, then bringing it around and tying it over her eyes.
Immediately, the room was replaced by pitch blackness.
She understood what he wanted- her concentration on the feelings and sensations, rather than on sight.
...
"What is he doing?" Garcia asked, biting on her thumbnail nervously.
Emily's eyes were wide as she watched the scene play out. "He's…he's trying to prove that he has control of her body."
"He's going to rape her?" Garcia squeaked, and Reid shook his head, his eyes, like Emily's, wide and fixated on the screen.
"No. At least, not- not yet, I don't think…"
...
JJ's sense were on high-alert, trying to predict what he was going to do next- stab her? Brand her? Cut her?
She tensed the moment she felt a soft touch near her ribcage. "W-what," she cleared her throat, "what are you doing?"
"Shhh…" His lips ghosted past her ear, and she felt his hand run gently down her hair.
The first kiss on her neck took her by surprise, and she writhed on the floor, trying to get away from it. The four ropes tied to her limbs allowed her to move, but barely, and they offered no defence against his mouth on her neck.
"No, Jay-Jay," he whispered, pronouncing each 'J' separately, reminding her of Jacob Dawes. "Don't move."
She stilled when he moved away from her neck, and she could no longer feel his body heat. Suddenly, his lips were on her again, on her stomach, kissing a line up her torso.
"No, no, no, what are you doing, stop," she moaned, trying in vain to kick him.
He laughed. "Oh, no, remember? I control you."
What the hell is wrong with you, JJ? she reprimanded herself, annoyed. Don't argue.
Although she didn't want to admit it to herself, she knew he did have control over what he could do to her, and if she argued, he would not hesitate to prove it. Don't let him get off on the control high. Pretend like you don't mind.
And so, when his kisses moved up to the valley between her breasts, she didn't protest. When he sucked her neck and bit on her earlobe, she didn't object. When he gently lifted her upper body off of the floor and undid the clasp of her bra, she bit her lip until it was painful, to keep from arguing.
He bent down and took one of her nipples in his mouth, swirling his tongue around it until it was hard, and then moving on to the other one. JJ despised herself when an involuntary groan escaped her- it felt good, dammit! She hated not being able to control her body- she loathed the man with every fibre of her being, but damn her body if it didn't have a clue.
She felt his mouth turn up into a smile at her groan, and he squeezed her right breast with what she felt was victory, his other hand starting to rub her inner thigh.
So that was why he wanted shorts.
"You like that, sunshine? Hmm, JJ? Does this turn you on?"
She hated herself for arching into him when his hand stroked below the waistband of her shorts, and she shook her head vehemently, her hair whipping her cheeks. "No, it definitely does- ah! Fuck!"
His triumphant laugh held barely-contained glee. "What was that? I didn't hear you…" He opened the zipper of her shorts.
"I don't…oh, God….I don't…Oh!" She moaned uncontrollably as she felt his warm breath on her, and his fingers dipped lower.
"Are you wet for me? Have I made you wet?"
"No! No no no no, you- ah! You haven't, you- fuck, please…God!" She arched into his touch again, writhing under his careful ministrations. "No!"
His mouth left her so he could talk, and she whimpered, hating herself for it. "I can't understand you, Jay-Jay," he said in delight, his mouth resuming its sucking and kissing, his hands trailing up her inner thighs, squeezing and stroking.
"No!" was all the response she could formulate and God, she hated him right now.
"What?" he asked in mock surprise. "You don't like this?"
"No, I- ah, fuck!"
"You don't?" He wasn't on her anymore, then.
JJ lay on the floor, so close, so close to orgasm and wanting- no, needing- more, but she couldn't, because he was him, but God, she was so close…
"Please…"
She felt his breath on her ear. "What? So you do like it?"
Her breathing was heavy and irregular, but at least she could talk. "No…"
"I think you're a li-ar…" he sang softly into her ear, grabbing her earlobe and twisting it. "You're not wet?"
"No..."
He reached behind her head and undid the cloth, and when she met his eyes they had the proud shine of success, and she knew hers looked defeated and pathetic.
"You see, Sunshine?" he asked, before reaching down and dropping a kiss onto her forehead. "I control you."
...
Garcia's face was streaked with tears, and Emily and Reid looked shell-shocked.
"Why didn't he…" Reid mumbled something, but the other two didn't catch it.
"What?" Emily asked sharply.
Reid swallowed. "Why didn't he take off her pants- I mean, shorts? It would make the most sense to do that to embarrass her, take away her dignity completely because he knows she knows we're watching."
"He has a reason," Emily said softly, watching as Demise undid the ropes and JJ buttoned up her blouse.
Demise left the room after a wave to the camera, and all three's eyes hardened.
"Which is?" Garcia asked Emily.
"Well that's what we have to figure out," she replied. "Come on, Reid. Let's go talk to Hotch."
XXX
A/N: The unsub (Demise- I gave him a name because it gets annoying typing unsub fifty times) will be physically torturing JJ, but it will be added to mental torture like in this chapter (well, this was both physical and mental). There is a reason he is being nice and giving her 'privileges' such as limited privacy which he didn't give the other victims.
Review!
~Maddie