Chapter 21

Here is the new chapter! Thanks for everyone who posted reviews; I am glad you liked the gore in the precedent chapters, now it's time for healing.

Time passed very slowly for agents Morgan and Garcia; it was almost unbearable for them. Reid was in surgery, Prentiss and JJ were still in the doctor's hands. Some minutes ago, Morgan had been told the Salmon family had been found and brought to same hospital. He had checked on them, the father was in surgery like Reid, but the rest of the family was fine, just tired and upset. The mother explained that after escaping, they decided to rest a little before taking back their walk. Once they were out of the forest, they sighted a car and the people in it accepted to help them.

Morgan was glad they were fine, now he hoped it would be the same for his friends. Penelope was nervous and worried, Kevin decided he wouldn't come with them; instead he would stay in the airport to greet Will and Henry who were on their way. Elizabeth Prentiss would also come but she wasn't in America right now so her travel would be longer. Diana Reid didn't even know what happened to her son and maybe it would be better if she never knew.

They also were upset over the fact Voert was still in the wild. He looked at Garcia who was beginning to bite on her nails when a doctor went to them.

"Agents Jareau, Prentiss and Reid?"

"Yes!"

"Okay, so they all got big bruises, cuts, and went through malnutrition, agents Prentiss and Reid got multiple cuts on their wrists and they have whipping marks on their backs. We succeeded in taking the bullet from off Agent's Reid's shoulder and even if he lost a pretty big amount of blood he is stable now; he also has some slightly bruised ribs but he should do fine. Agent Prentiss has a deep cut in the shin, but except that no big wounds. Hum…Jenifer Jareau however…She got minor wounds that should heal normally but we noticed she was repulsed by our touches, so we thought it might be a good idea to use a rape kit."

At those words both Morgan and Penelope froze. It couldn't be…

"We found traces of sexual abuse."

Penelope put a hand on her mouth and began to cry. Morgan closed his eyes and fought to avoid tears. When Corner said they were supposed to be 'spouses' Morgan considered his friends could be raped but he hoped his colleagues could avoid that. He put an arm around Garcia's shoulder. The doctor looked down and continued.

"Thankfully she is not pregnant and as far as I can tell she is holding on, still she will need help."

Derek nodded, knowing perfectly she would indeed need a lot of support. The doctor left after telling them they would be allowed to see their colleagues in some minutes. He continued to comfort Garcia for some times, when she was calmer, he decided to call Hotch. He wondered how his boss would react.

"Hotchner?"

"Hey man, how are things going on there?"

"It's creepy, I must confess. How are they?"

"Reid and Prentiss are pretty banged up but they'll do fine according to the doctor. JJ however…He told us her wounds weren't important but they found signs of sexual abuse."

His voice almost broke at those words and Hotch felt a wave of nausea. He closed his eyes, feeling guilty over the fact they couldn't save their friends sooner. In fact they never really rescued them, Prentiss, JJ and Reid saved each others.

"Shit…This is…"

"I'll be around to watch over them, I don't think you should come right now, she may just feel smothered, plus Will is on his way with Henry."

"Take care of them."

The dialogue ended this way, Morgan looked at JJ who was lying in the bed with her eyes shut, he couldn't say if she was faking slumber or not, but anyway he would leave her alone for now. Garcia was standing there, devastated.

"How are we gonna help them?"

"We will be there for them," answered Morgan, "but the biggest part will be theirs. Come on, we will let her rest, let's see Reid and Prentiss."

Garcia followed him, she knew he was right. Her heart broke slightly at the sight she got of her teammates: Reid was very pale, thinner than before, had cuts, bruises and looked dizzy from the operation; Prentiss seemed a little better and more alert though she was also pale, thin and had cuts and bruises. Garcia's sole relief was the sight of their eyes which were still lively, plus they smiled when they entered.

"Oh my babies! Don't worry you'll get better soon, I'll bring you sweets and everything else you might want," said she while giving a hug to both of them, "I was so worried about you, we all were!"

"We'll be alright," murmured Reid weakly.

"It's true; we beat them down after all," continued Prentiss, "where are Hotch and Rossi?"

"They stayed in the farm to investigate it," explained Morgan, "I'll certainly participate but later, for now I'll stay with you."

"Did they say anything about JJ?"

At Emily's question, Garcia and Morgan looked at each other with discomfort, it clearly hinted they knew. The brunette sighed and spoke again:

"We were luckier than her, I don't even know how it happened but I'm glad she got the occasion to kill that son of a bitch."

"Do you wanna tell us about it?"

"Okay…Hey, tell me first, did you find the Salmons?"

"Yeah, they are fine, the father is in the same state as you pretty boy. Now, go on."

Both Spencer and Emily were relieved for the Salmons. Emily hesitated some seconds, and then began to tell their story, she didn't talk about everything and sometimes, Spencer added elements. She avoided talking about her with Michael, she however revealed them what kind of sadistic punishment they endured. Morgan's jaw tightened and he fought tears of rage, like when he heard Reid was hanged by the arms. Penelope was pale as a ghost and horrified. When she was finally over an awkward silence followed, Reid broke it first:

"Somehow the Salmon's arrival was a blessing, not for them of course but for us."

"I am sorry," murmured Morgan, "we should have found you sooner."

"Come on Morgan, it's not your fault," countered Prentiss, "beside we made it alive."

"But we could have avoided what happened to JJ and the Salmons would never have been through this and you two…"

"We are fine Morgan and for JJ I am sure she'll get through this," declared Emily, "it won't be easy but we will be alright."

"You also suffered my sweet," said Penelope to Morgan, "those two nut jobs could have killed you and that cop."

"What?" Asked Prentiss and Reid in unison

It was Morgan's turn to explain what happened, how they first suspected the Leeds for the kidnapping, then Miriam Crowley, he told how they were captured by Voert and Corner and gained some information. Penelope also told them about the hostage situation and how they finally retrieved Morgan and Crowley. Emily and Spencer were taken aback when they heard about Corner and Voert.

"God we suspected someone might have helped them but we didn't think cops were involved," said Reid in a breath.

Derek nodded sadly and explained how he discovered about the Peacocks. He felt ashamed at this cruel irony, he had been so close to their prison without knowing they were here.

"That's how we found you. Once again, I'm…"

"Don't say sorry again, I told you its okay."

"You know you guys should check up on JJ," suggested Reid, "she'll need you more than us."

The two of them agreed, Spencer was right and they understood they wanted some privacy. Once they left, Reid looked at Emily with some worry.

"Are you sure you'll be alright? I don't want them to worry so there are things I won't inform them about but I don't think we should hide from each other."

"Well…" she hesitated a little, "I am not sure. For now I'm doing better than I expected but I guess…There will be nightmares and all and…Well to say the truth I am feeling guilty for JJ. How is it we didn't hear her scream?"

"I don't know," muttered Reid, "I feel guilty too and I wonder how she will cope, how we are all going to cope."

"You know we fought and beat them down, I find it helpful."

Spencer smiled because she was right; silence followed her words until he spoke again.

"You know when I was fighting Michael I told him something quite strange, he…" Reid laughed nervously, "he was reproaching me the facts I killed his father and tried to take you away from him, so I answered him you were already my wife. It's funny because I said 'my wife' but we aren't married."

Emily opened her mouth but it took her some seconds to answer, she felt her cheeks flushing a little.

"Well it's quite strange because when I confronted Charity, I told her you were my husband."

Reid smiled at this.

Meanwhile, Morgan and Garcia were heading to Jenifer's room. They found her lying in the bed, her eyes open, staring in the space.

"JJ?"

She turned toward them and gave them an empty smile as they approached her bed, Garcia felt like crying. The sight of Emily and Spencer had been painful but it wasn't as grim as JJ's, her eyes were so glassy…

"Can I give you a hug?" Asked she without thinking, "I'll be careful not to hurt you."

She nodded and Garcia took her gently in her arms. JJ returned the hug but Morgan could see she wasn't smiling. When the two broke their embrace, Jenifer bit her lips and stared at them with a pained look.

"I guess the nurse told you?"

"Yes," simply answered Morgan

She gave them a humourless smile and some tears appeared in her eyes.

"Please, no, don't cry!"

At Penelope's words, more tears leaked from her eyes. Morgan took her hand gently, he was glad when she didn't pull away.

"Listen, I know how you feel because it also happened to me; I know you think it will never go away but you can fight."

"What sob, what did you tell to your family sob when they learned?"

"They were feeling guilty so I told them it wasn't their fault, it wasn't mine either I realised, it was only Buford's. It's the same for you; it's not your fault at all it's only this man's."

"I should have sob been warier, sob he offered me water…"

"It was drugged? (She nodded) You know I accepted wine."

"Can we stop? I sob don't want to talk about it."

"Okay. Prentiss and Reid are fine by the way and the Salmons too. I'll check on them later and if you want I'll keep you updated.

"The children were terrified," said JJ, "I don't think they'll ever forget."

"No, but they can overcome it."

"Will and Henry are on their way," informed Garcia, "Kevin is waiting for them."

This time Jenifer slightly grinned for real even if her guts contorted at the thought. It meant Will would learn and Henry was too young for now but maybe one day he would know. How would he look at her? She let out a shaky sigh.

"I am sure it will be alright," said Penelope in a reassuring tone, "everything will be like it was before all this."

"Frankly I…I don't know if I can still do this job."

This made Garcia froze but Morgan wasn't really surprised, he closed his eyes, knowing that maybe JJ would not leave the team but if she decided it was the best they would have to accept it.

"Take some times to think about it, whatever is your decision we will be there for you."

She nodded and gave him a shadow of a smile, grateful for being understanding; sensing she was tired Morgan decided it was time to leave.

"If you want we can let you rest."

"Hum…Garcia, do you mind staying with me until Will is there?"

"Of course not sweetheart"

Morgan left, understanding that JJ was certainly more at ease with women right now. He thought about calling Hotch when he sighted red hair and recognized Miriam. He went to her, she had a plastered nose and some bruises but otherwise she looked good.

"Hey! You are doing pretty well."

"Thanks but I don't think I look really pretty. You seem fine; I learned your teammates had been found so I just paid them a short visit, I sensed they wanted to be alone however. What about agent Jareau? I was on my way to see her."

"She is trying to hold on, Garcia is with her."

"Okay, I won't bother them," decided Miriam. "Anyway, I am glad the biggest part of it is over. Except for the fact they didn't catch Voert yet."

"Yeah, but it doesn't mean we'll never catch him. You think you'll be alright?"

"I don't really know, I think I'm going to leave this town and find another place to live, after all cop are needed everywhere. Maybe I'll go to a bigger city, where homosexuality isn't a problem. I'll talk to Jude about it."

"Your girlfriend?"

"Yes, I don't know if she will follow me."

"If she refuses she will make a big mistake."

"Thanks. Now, how are you?"

"Well…Worried for my teammates, I wonder if they will heal properly from this."

"From what you told me about them, they seem strong enough."

At this moment, a bi-racial woman (quite the same colour as Morgan) went to them; she was quite athletic and also very pretty. She grabbed Miriam's hand gently, obviously worried and annoyed.

"You're supposed to rest!"

"I'm not a porcelain doll. Jude I introduce you Agent Derek Morgan."

"Nice to meet you," said Jude while shaking Morgan's hand, she turned again to Miriam, "come on if you don't want to rest let's have lunch, the cafeteria isn't too bad."

"Okay. See you later Derek."

"See you!"

While looking at the two, Morgan couldn't help but think 'If I was a girl I would have been exactly her type." He sighed and decided to check on the Salmons before calling Hotch.

In the Peacock's farm:

David and Aaron were currently in the private graveyard the Peacock made for their family and their victims. They were stunned by the huge number of graves here; the sight of it was horrific. Dave didn't regret his decision to stay with Hotch; he didn't want his friend to confront this alone, even if he also longed to see his teammates. Hotch told him what they discovered about Jenifer and just like his colleague, David felt they failed completely. They should have been able to protect them.

One of the biggest tasks had been to calm down Mary and Nathaniel, in fact they had been obliged to sedate them in the end before sending them to hospital; they would be taken directly to the psychiatric area. Both had panicked when they learned they would leave their farm for the town, they also insulted Reid, JJ and Emily, saying they had been like plague on their family. Rossi and Hotch knew they would have tried to massacre them if they weren't old and disabled.

When they had been taken, the two agents inspected the house and to say the least the place was ghastly. Rossi remembered a novel in which the author wrote that some houses are sick. It was the case for this one, the creepiest was the knowledge their colleagues had been prisoners here. They saw chains in the basement, with some bloods on its. The cops too were completely horrified; the worse was the Peacocks' corpses in the house, the yard and the barn, Hotch didn't know who killed who but it wasn't something easy to look at. He didn't complain them at all but it was disturbing to imagine his friends doing that. One of them had his lips ripped off. He sighed heavily, this place was beginning to smother him, he wanted to leave.

"Dave, let's go to hospital, we will come back later if necessary."

"No need to tell me twice. By the way did the state police give any news about Voert?"

Hotch realised he almost forgot that damn bastard. There wasn't much network here so he decided he would try to get some news when they would close to the town.

"Not for now."

With that, they left the farm. On the road, Rossi called Morgan who told him they were still fine along with the Salmons; however like Rossi and Hotch he didn't hear any news about Joshua. Maybe he managed to escape but it didn't mean they wouldn't get him sooner or later, his picture had been sent to the media and every border post had been alerted.

Morgan was currently with Katherine Salmon, she had asked Morgan if she could see his colleagues to thank them while her children would stay with her husband. He led her first to Reid and Prentiss; she entered the room and smiled at them. A shiver went through her spine seeing the poor state they were in and she couldn't help but feel guilty.

"Hi," began Katherine, "your colleague told me you were here so I wanted to see you."

"That's nice," answered Prentiss.

"How are you and how is your family?" Asked Reid in a tired voice

"My husband is resting with the kids. Look, I wanted to thank you and to say I am really sorry if you were hurt because of us."

"Believe me, we weren't hurt because of you" affirmed Emily, "They are the only one to blame."

She smiled and lowered her head a little, slightly comforted by the brunette's words.

"If I remember well, you're a couple?" Asked Katherine

"Indeed."

"Well I hope you'll stay together for long."

"That should be," said Reid, looking lovingly at Emily who stared at him the same way.

Katherine smiled once again and wished them to get well before leaving with Morgan to see JJ. Derek was thankful to her for doing this, he knew it would help them, Jenifer needed that in particular. He opened the door for her, Garcia was still in here. Jenifer looked astonished when she saw the newcomer.

"Mrs Salmon?"

"Oh you can call me Katherine, after what happened between us it would be normal."

She approached the bed and bit her lips. Somehow, this agent looked worse than her colleagues, she couldn't place what was seemed worse but there was something.

"I wanted to thank you for saving us; my husband also wants you to know we are all really grateful. He is resting for now so he couldn't come."

"Thank you. How are your children?"

"Well, they are with their father. They are still shaken but I think they will be fine. What about you?"

"…I don't know."

"You and your colleagues were really impressive in here; we would have never made it alive without you."

Garcia and Morgan watched the exchange silently. JJ grinned slightly and looked down, as she was pondering over Katherine's words.

"I'll let you rest, I hope you'll be better."

JJ nodded, she felt some warmth at her words. Garcia had tried to make her feel better with some small talk to lighten the atmosphere, but she did most of the conversation and Jenifer wouldn't feel better in spite of Penelope's efforts. Now that she saw Mrs Salmon, she felt a little stronger. She told Garcia she needed to sleep after Morgan and Katherine left. It was a lie, she didn't want to sleep but she needed privacy, the thing was she had the impression to be naked before her colleagues now that they knew what happened to her. Penelope left after reminding her she would be around if she needed something.

For a long moment, Jenifer stared at the ceiling with her eyes wide open and a little dull. Everything they lived in that farm was running through her brain. She tried to push away the unbearable memory of her rape but she couldn't. She tried to focus on the moment when they saved the Salmons and somehow it helped. She wondered how Morgan and Reid coped when they were sexually aggressed. As she was thinking, the door opened to reveal Henry and Will.

"Mommy!"

She smiled at the sight of her little boy and her husband; she pulled herself into a sitting position to greet them. Will went to her and took her face in his hands.

"Thanks God, I thought I would never see you again."

She could see he was restraining himself from more intimate contact which means he knew about what happened. She encircled slowly and gently his neck with her arms and leaned against his shoulder, he returned the hug eagerly and kissed the top of her head. The hug was okay for her to bear but she knew she wouldn't be able to handle more for now.

"I missed you so much," said Will, "I was so worried."

"Me too," answered she, "I wondered if I would ever see you two again, it was unbearable sometimes."

"I want a hug too!" Exclaimed Henry who didn't like to stay behind

Will grabbed his son and put him on his mother's laps. The two immediately embraced each other, JJ held her son tightly and at this moment she knew he would be her motivation to fight, while Will and her team would be her support.

Hope you liked it! After that there will be an epilogue and it will be the end.