AN: Apologies for the delay, I've been ill. Thank you to everyone who reviewed and those who PM'd me.

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds. Catherine Jareau is mine along with any other characters you don't recognize. The book mentioned in this chapter is The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnet.

PART 10

I am hurt but I am not slain.

I'll lay me down and bleed a while,

Then I'll rise and fight again.

- Child's Ballad 167

11:30 am

"Chapter Three: Across the Moor. She slept a long time, and when she has awakened Mrs. Medlock had bought a lunch basket at one of the stat-" I stop reading aloud and frown when there is a soft knock on the door. Before I can respond a nurse wheels an unfamiliar dark haired man inside Jenny's room.

"Thank you," He says to the nurse as she leaves.

I can see him surveying the room.

"Oh. Hello," He says in a surprised tone.

I scowl over Jen's head at him, "Who are you?"

He continues as if I hadn't spoken, "I wasn't expecting Jennifer to have company. Agent Hotchner sent his team home." He smiles, "Then again Agent Hotchner wouldn't have any real authority over you now would he, Catherine."

Jennifer stiffens.

I frown and close my book, "You're Matt Cruz." I squeeze Jenny's hand lightly and add; "I thought you'd be bedridden for another day or so. You were stabbed after all."

He grins, "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Charmed, I'm sure," I reply coolly.

Cruz cocks his head, "I am curious to know how you knew I had been stabbed."

I bite my tongue and stare blankly back at him.

"Would you mind giving us a minute?" He gestures to my sister, "Jennifer and I have several things we need to discuss."

I shake my head, "I do mind."

Cruz frowns, "I'm her boss."

I raise an eyebrow, "You were stabbed which means you're on medical leave. You have no authority over my sister particularly since she is also on medical leave."

"Touché," He grins. "I would still like to speak with her."

I sit up straighter, "Well I would prefer that you left. I'll push you out into the hallway if you require assistance."

"Catherine," Jennifer's voice is hoarse.

My eyes snap to her face, "Jen-"

She squeezes my hand, "It's okay Kitty cat, really. I-"

"Good afternoon Jennifer," Cruz cuts in smoothly.

"Matt," She replies evenly without making any effort to turn over.

He frowns.

I disentangle my fingers from Jen's and stand up. Then I reach for the bed controls, but stop when Jennifer makes the barest shake of her head, hardly more than a twitch.

I nod and announce to the silent room, "I'm going to find Emily."

"Strauss was right," Cruz says quietly with a smirk as I pass him.

I glare back and walk out of the room being careful not to slam the door on my way out. I stalk down the hall, turn a corner and come face to face with Dr. Trask.

"There you are!" She exclaims, impatience colouring her voice.

"Dr. Trask," I sigh.

"Come with me," She wraps her hand around my forearm and gives it a slight tug, "We need to talk."

I wrench my arm away and stand stock-still.

"What is it now?" Dr. Trask turns around with a frown on her face.

"I don't like being touched," I reply stiffly.

She sighs, her eyes searching my face. Dr. Trask is silent for an entire minute; finally she nods and says, "I won't touch you again. Nevertheless, we need to speak somewhere privately. Not in the hall."

I sigh, "Lead the way."

She nods and leads me down the hall, around a corner and into a small room with a bookcase, table and chairs.

I look around in confusion, "Is this a staff room?"

Dr. Trask shakes her head, "No. It's a room we speak with family members in." She gestures to one of the chairs, "Sit, please."

I sit down a few chairs away and regard her warily.

She grimaces, "Stop looking at me like that. I've had an extraordinarily long shift, so while I might verbally snap at you, I'm certainly not going to physically harm you."

I nod and resist the temptation to wrap my arms around myself.

She smiles, "What is it you do for a living? Are you still a student?"

"I am finishing up my Phd," I reply with a small smile.

Her jaw drops, "How old are you?"

I cross my arms, "Twenty-three."

"Congratulations," She says in a halting voice before sighing. "Miss. Jareau, your sister has given me permission to discuss parts of her medical situation with you and or her husband. He however is not here so you and I will be reviewing what information I am at liberty to divulge."

I nod.

Dr. Trask places a single sheet of paper to the side of her open file, "In the interest of brevity I will be referring to your sister as Agent Jareau. Do you understand?"

I nod again. Brevity isn't the word she was looking for, but I suppose telling a family member you need to remain detached and aloof in order to do your job wouldn't generally be the greatest idea. It would make you appear cold and unsympathetic.

She frowns and looks down at the chart on the table. "Agent Jareau has a concussion, that is why we have been waking her up every hour. You or someone else will have to continue to do the same for the rest of today if your sister cannot stay awake on her own."

I nod.

Dr. Trask fiddles with her stethoscope, "Agent Jareau has three cracked ribs and lots of bruising on her torso as well as a few electrical burns."

I wince.

She continues, "As you know, Agent Jareau has had a miscarriage and…"

I tune her out, which I know is a bad thing to do but I'm too tired to care. I know she's going to give me a paper with all the details and the information about whatever medication Jen is supposed to be taking.

"Miss. Jareau?" I refocus on Dr. Trask as she calls my name again, "Miss. Jareau?"

I blink at her.

She frowns, "I cannot in good conscience allow Agent Jareau to be released unless someone will be present at her home. Will you or her husband be there today and tomorrow?"

I nod.

She hands me the aforementioned paper, "This has all of the information we just covered."

I nod.

She sighs, "Aren't you going to say something? Don't you have any questions for me?"

I shake my head and give her a half smile, "Thank you for giving me all the pertinent information Dr. Trask."

She smiles back uncertainly, "You're welcome Miss. Jareau."

We both stand and I follow her out of the room.

Emily is leaning against the wall just outside the door. "Ready to go home Creirwy?" Emily asks and holds up a set of keys.

I nod and follow her down the hall, heading in the direction of Jen's hospital room.

Dr. Trask walks off in the opposite direction.

12:30 pm

A nurse pushes the wheelchair Jennifer is sitting in out of the elevator and towards the main entrance.

I walk beside them and smother another giggle.

My sister is grumbling to herself. I don't catch everything but the words wheelchair, and a few colourful curses are repeated several times.

The nurse catches me trying not to laugh, and smiles at me.

I smile back.

"Here you are then," She says to Jen.

"Thank you," My sister mumbles ungraciously.

The nurse turns to me; "You said someone was driving you home?"

I nod and point towards Emily who is leaning against a black SUV just to the side of the hospital doors.

"All right then. Good-bye Agent Jareau." She nods at me and walks away before Jen can respond.

I hand Jennifer a pair of sunglasses and see some off the tension leave her shoulders as she puts them on.

Jennifer stands on unsteady feet and I seriously consider using the wheelchair to get her to the car but I know she would never allow it.

Emily appears on Jen's other side helping her to walk, "Do you want to sit in the front or the back Jennifer?"

"Back please," My sister murmurs.

I climb into the front as Emily helps Jenny into the back seat.

There is a muffled "Kitty cat?" from the back seat.

I turn around, "Yes Jen?"

"Will you sit with me?" She sounds exhausted.

I catch Emily's eye and she nods.

"Sure," I reply and climb over the console and into the backseat.

Emily snorts and Jennifer sighs.

Jenny takes my hand and she doesn't let go even after she falls asleep, her head resting against the top of mine.

1:15 pm

"Time to wake up Jen," I whisper in her ear.

Emily is already out of the SUV and opening the door before Jen manages more than a grunt in recognition of my words. "Come on Jennifer, I'll help you walk to the house."

"No," Jen grumbles, pushing Emily's hands away, "I can do it myself."

Emily's brown eyes lock on mine and I shrug.

She sighs and backs away from Jen.

Jen struggles to get out of the car and Emily and I watch her painfully slow progress up the path to the front steps.

I hover just within arm's reach, incase Jenny starts to fall, but she makes it up all 6 steps on her own.

I can hear Emily's sigh of relief from the bottom of the stairs.

I unlock the front door when Jen realizes she doesn't have her keys, and allow her to proceed me into her home.

The entire house is silent. I wonder where everybody went.

Jen sits down in on the bench in the hall and I help her remove her boots.

She smiles blearily at me, takes one look at the stairs leading upstairs and groans loudly.

Emily grins at me before turning to my sister, "Shall I carry you up those stairs Jen?"

Jen glares at Emily; the effect is ruined by her black eye.

Emily raises an eyebrow, "Would you rather sleep downstairs?"

My sister frowns, "I want my own bed."

Emily smiles kindly, "What about an arm to hold on to instead?"

Jen sighs and nods.

Emily and Jenny trudge up the stairs, stopping for Jen to catch her breath several times.

I stay downstairs to study the medical document from Dr. Trask again and because I've noticed a folded paper addressed to me in Spencer's scrawl, sitting on the hall table. I read it hurriedly, refold the papers and shove them both into the waistband of my pajama pants and ascend the stairs swiftly.

Emily greets me outside Will and Jen's bedroom, "Do you know where everyone is? I was sure they would be here and we would have to hide JJ from Henry."

"I called Spence while you got the car, he said he would think of something and he did." I hold up the note, "Penelope took Henry to the park. Derek went home. And Spence went home to get his keyboard. He's going to give Henry a lesson in the basement."

Emily smiles, "Okay. Do you know when they'll be back?"

I shake my head, "Spence's note said they all left after lunch."

Emily turns around and knocks on the door, "Jennifer, are you dressed yet?"

"Yeah," comes the faint reply.

Emily opens the door, "Are you coming in?"

I shake my head, "Not just yet, I'm going to put on clean clothes first." I look at her consideringly, "Did you want something to change into Emily?"

She shakes her head, "I've got clothes in my go bag and I can borrow a pair of Jennifer's pajama pants if I really need something." She grins at me, "Yours would be too short for me."

I stick my tongue out at her and pull the book from my bag and the document from my waistband. I open the book to the right page and place the folded paper inside, then I hold it out to Emily, "It's your turn."

Emily rolls her eyes but takes the book and enters Jen's bedroom.

From my room I can hear Emily start to read out loud to Jenny, "The rain seemed to be streaming down more heavily than ever and everybody in the station wore wet and glistening waterproofs."

2:00 pm

I open the door for Spencer when he knocks.

"Catherine!" He beams at me, and props his keyboard up against the wall before taking me in his arms and kissing me.

"Hello lovebirds," Penelope greets us from the bottom of the stairs.

Henry, his cheeks pink, grins up at me, "We went to the park!"

"Did you have a good time?" I ask him as he pushes past me into the house.

"Yeah! The park was empty, so Auntie Penelope and I played on the jungle gym and she pushed me on the swings, but only to get me started." He drops his coat on the ground and sits down to pull off his boots. "And she promised me hot chocolate when we got home and uncle Spencer promised me a piano lesson," He looks closely at Spencer, "Did you bring the piano?"

Spencer smiles at Henry, "I brought my keyboard."

"Yay!" Henry jumps up and takes off towards the kitchen.

"Henry," I call after him.

He turns around, "Yes?"

I point at his jacket and boots still lying on the ground.

Henry blushes, "Oops. I forgot." He comes back and hangs his coat on the hook and puts his boots in the cupboard. "Now can we go?" He asks plaintively.

"Yes," answers Penelope.

And Henry rushes off.

I take Penelope and Spencer's coats and they follow my nephew to the kitchen.

I sit on the bench in the hall and listen to my nephew's happy chatter for a few minutes. By the time I arrive in the kitchen Spencer and Henry are seated at the small table with mugs of hot chocolate and Penelope is nowhere to be seen. I sit down next to Spencer at look questioningly at him.

He points his finger up, out of Henry's line of sight.

I nod in understanding; Penelope is upstairs.

"Where is Auntie Emily?" Henry asks around a mouthful of marshmallows.

Spencer grimaces and nods at me to field the question.

"She's upstairs," I answer, "Having a nap."

Henry frowns, "Why?"

I yawn, "She was tired."

"Oh, okay." He frowns at me, "I'm not tired."

I smile at him, "Then you don't have to have a nap."

He grins back.

"When you're finished we'll take the keyboard down to the basement," Spencer says.

"Why the basement?" Henry asks confusion written all over his face.

Spencer drains his mug, "So that we don't wake up Emily, Catherine or Penelope. They are all going to have naps."

Henry nods, "Okay."

"You're exhausted. Make sure you do sleep a bit, okay?" Spencer whispers in my ear.

I kiss his cheek, "Trade places with someone later and we can have a nap together."

Henry pulls a face.

I stand up from the table; "I will see you boys later."

"Good night Kit Cat," Henry calls after me.

I climb the stairs and catch Penelope coming out of Jen's room, her face pale.

"What's wrong?" I ask moving to her side quickly.

"Nothing Cupcake," She says and brushes her tears away.

I raise an eyebrow.

Penelope tries again, "It's just been a very long day."

"Uh-huh," I yawn.

She holds out her hand to me, "Our JJ is looking more banged up than I thought she was last night."

I nod and squeeze her hand. "You could lie down on my bed for a bit if you want to. Spence and Henry are in the basement."

Penelope nods, "I think I will take you up on that offer. Are my extra pajamas still in the bottom drawer?"

I nod, "Yeah, on the left."

She hugs me tightly, "Good, I'll see you in a bit."

Jen is fast asleep when I enter her bedroom.

Emily looks up at me with a worn-out smile and pats the bed beside her.

I sit down next to her, leaning back against the headboard.

"We need to talk," Emily murmurs.

I yawn, "What about?"

She sighs, "The Ambassador."

I turn my head to look at her, "Your mother?"

"The one and only," She rolls her eyes.

"What about your mother?" I ask, a sinking feeling in my chest.

Emily turns to face me, "Have you told anyone yet?"

"Told whom what?" I ask, purposefully being vague.

Emily sighs in frustration, "That you were accepted to Oxford, and Edinburgh and Cambridge? Not to mention UCLA and MIT! My mother tells me that they are the best Universities for linguistics."

I shrug uncomfortably. "Your mother had me apply to several Universities for a postdoctoral degree this past summer. I wrote the applications but I swear Emily I didn't send all of them in!" I blush, "I applied to MIT, Harvard and U of Penn but four years is a long time and all the Universities except for Georgetown are far away. Spence wouldn't come with me and I couldn't ask him to." I wrap my arms around myself, "I'm not entirely sure I want to do a post doc."

Emily crosses her arms, "You could have said no to writing the applications in the first place if you didn't want to."

I glare at her, "I did! Several times in fact! You try saying no to your mother!"

Emily scowls at me, "I do it all the time!"

I raise an eyebrow, "Yeah? And how is that working out for you? You, Abby and Maura are having dinner at the Embassy next weekend aren't you?"
Emily sighs and redirects our conversation, "The dean of Oxford called my mother. He noticed the return address of the Embassy and wanted to know who the hell you are to her and in general."

I shiver, "I was rather hoping she had forgotten about the other schools or dismissed the whole idea as inconsequential. I told her that the UK was too far away."

Emily hands me a blanket, "Please, this is my mother we're talking about. She wouldn't forget." Emily sighs, "She introduces you as a friend. Hadn't you noticed? Not a friend of my daughter's or a friend of the family, but as her friend. She likes you, she'd like to have adopted you but you're already an adult." Emily sticks out her tongue, "You're more amenable to playing dress up that I am."

I wrap the blanket around myself and roll my eyes at her, "I like pretty dresses and so do you Emily."

She grins at me, "Yeah but I don't let my mother pick them out for me."

I shrug, "They just appeared Emily, what was I supposed to do? I said no, several times."

"Back to the Universities," Emily persists, "Have you told Jennifer?"

"I told her I was applying to several universities to teach but," I look over my shoulder at Jenny, "This is hardly the right time for me to tell her I was accepted, never mind go anywhere."

Emily glances at Jen, "I know but you need to say something soon."

I sigh, "I know."

"You were accepted for September," Emily reminds me.

I nod, "Yes."

Emily takes my hand, "The Ambassador called the dean of MIT after the dean of Oxford called her so I also know that you accepted your place there and then deferred your acceptance."

I blush.

Emily continues, "And I know you did it because you applied for an internship with Interpol. That's why Abby was upset by the way."

I blink at her, "Wait? What?"

"The internship!" She cries with exasperation, "You're going to spend months in France and you didn't tell either of us that you were even applying for an internship!"

Holy crap, I was actually accepted! I bite my lip to bring myself back to my conversation with Emily, "It's not like I used either of you as a reference."

"Catherine!" She explodes.

I flinch and look away.

"I'm sorry for yelling," She murmurs.

"Are you mad at me too?" I whisper.

Emily takes my hand, "No, I'm not."

I raise an eyebrow.

"Truly, I'm not angry." She laughs a bit bitterly, "It took Clyde calling Abby to ask her what she thought of you for us to clue in. Clyde thought it was hilarious that neither of us knew what you had done." Emily smiles at me, "I'm rather proud you managed to do it without alerting anyone else to your plan, that includes my mother by the way. She was livid and then ridiculously proud you outmaneuvered her."

I blush.

She bites her lip, "I do have other questions."

I trace the floral pattern on the blanket, "Hmm?"

Emily sighs, "Why Interpol? Why not the FBI?"

I turn back, "If I were accepted to the FBI, everything I do would be a reflection on Jennifer. Everyone would know who I am, and what happened to me. I can't- I can't-" I take several gasping breaths to calm myself before glaring at Emily, "There is no way that I could be a field agent Emily. We both know that I would never be accepted because I'll never be able to pass the psych-eval. I'm irreparably damaged. Hell I probably would never be accepted as a real Interpol Agent but I can be an Intern. I can have several months of helping people before going back to Academia."

Emily makes a face.

I scowl, "I like learning. I like teaching."

Emily wraps her arms around me. "You're not damaged goods," She whispers, "I would hire you to work for me."

I hug her back, "You're sweet but there is no way your superiors would agree."

Emily lets me go and lies down, "Have you spoken with Spencer?"

I lie down between her and Jen; "We had a conversation before I applied."

Emily sighs, "And after you were accepted?"

I huff, "I didn't actually know I'd been accepted until you said so just now."

"Oh…" She pauses, "Well congratulations!"

I laugh, "Thank you."

AN2: Thank you for reading. If you noticed any mistakes please let me know.