She tapped on the interrogation room door and entered.
"Hey, Kate." JJ greeted.
"Hi." Kate responded.
"I heard you will only talk to me about something." JJ said, sitting next to the girl.
JJ saw the girl's breathing accelerate, and put her hand on her shoulder, making the girl jump in surprise.
"Easy, just breathe in and out, it's okay." JJ assured, not removing her hand from the girl's shoulder.
The girl's breathing slowed down and she was breathing normally again.
"Alright, I need you to just breathe in and out slowly, okay? You're here with me, nobody else, alright? It's just me." JJ assured.
Kate nodded and looked at JJ, her eyes filling with tears in the process.
"What's wrong, honey? What are you so scared of telling me?" JJ asked, her emotions getting the best of her, especially knowing that the girl sitting right next to her was, in fact, her wife's daughter.
"I..." Kate shook her head, before a tear rolled down her cheek, her eyes never leaving JJ's.
"Hey, it's okay. I promise, whatever it is, you can tell me." JJ said, squeezing Kate's hand softly.
Kate took a deep breath and nodded, averting her eyes for a split second, before she looked back into JJ's eyes.
"I'm only going to tell this story once, and it's just because I don't want anymore families to die, even though the parents might deserve it." Kate said, muttering the last part.
JJ nodded for her to continue.
"These families might look like they're nice and really loving, but not all is as it seems." Kate said.
JJ just nodded.
"Have you guys ever thought that these families might be..." Kate stopped as she shifted uncomfortably.
"Kate? Might be what?" JJ asked.
Kate shrugged, playing it cool, but JJ knew it was just an act, this girl was trying to trick JJ into thinking that it was nothing.
'She's acting just like Emily would.' JJ thought.
"I don't know, like..." Kate somehow couldn't finish the statement. It was almost like the words she wanted so bad to say was just like poison, it was almost like she would die if she said them.
"They might have...you know...hurt...hurt..." Kate just couldn't say it as she fought hard t control her tears, that by now had made their way down her cheeks.
"I can't!" Kate said, sobbing.
JJ's heart broke as she took the crying girl into her arms, holding her tight as she cried into her shirt.
"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I just can't!" The girl cried, her sobs getting louder and her breathing uneven as she held tightly onto JJ's shirt, clinging to it like it was her lifeline.
"Kate. Shhh... It's alright, you're okay, nobody's going to hurt you. Shhh..." JJ soothed, her right hand holding the girl against her, as she ran her left hand through the young girls hair, soothing and calming her down.
When Kate finally stopped crying, she looked at JJ, before she looked at the table, embarrassingly.
"I'm sorry." She muttered, as she looked at JJ in, what could be easily described as fear.
JJ immediately recognized the fear in the girls eyes, and was quick to assure her.
"It's okay. Are you aright?" She asked.
Kate nodded, before she slowly and carefully made eye contact with JJ, as she spoke the heartbreaking and painful secret she was forced to keep.
"My parents hurt me every day for years, but no one cared, do you think those other parents were doing the same to their children?"