Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is owned by CBS. I own nothing but my imagination.

Happily Ever After-Chapter 38

~I'm taking a couple of liberties regarding the various New York hotels and landmarks, since I've never been there and Google only tells me so much.

"What do you mean he's dead?" Dave shouted. "What the fuck happened? Who killed him?" He was partially grateful that the psychopath was dead; it meant that he wouldn't have to put Abby through the additional stress of testifying at his trial. It also meant they didn't have to worry about another attempt from him, although he knew that Will's employer, whoever it was, would find someone else to take his place.

Another part of Dave was disappointed the asshole was dead, as he wanted to be the one to finish the job. If that little maggot thought he could do what he did to them without repercussions, then he had been even dumber than Dave had given him credit for, and Dave had given him plenty of credit.

"He killed himself," Hotch replied.

"What?" JJ whispered. Like her husband, she too had some conflicting emotions upon hearing of her ex-boyfriend's death. On the one hand, she was glad he was finally out of their lives, but she had hoped to be the one to put the bullet in his head. Call it payback for her and her family. Will hadn't been content to just rough her and her daughter up a little, no; he had to make sure he left them with lasting memories of him until the day they died.

On the other hand, JJ couldn't help feeling horribly guilty about everything that had happened. If she had just told him to fuck off when he hit on her in Louisiana, none of this wouldn't have happened. She wouldn't have a traumatized daughter sitting next to her, a girl who was now scared to be left alone in a room. If she'd just refused his advances, David wouldn't have been shot and she wouldn't be lying in a hospital bed with sutures holding her pulmonary artery together. Finally, if she had just gone back to her hotel room that fateful night in New Orleans, Will would still be alive. Although JJ knew the man deserved to die after what he'd done to her and her family, part of her felt guilty that he'd died largely because of her actions and decisions.

She softly shook her head to rid herself of those thoughts and instead turned to look at Abby. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the cuts and bruises on her daughter's face and neck, and she felt some of the guilt she felt over Will's death slip away. The bastard had physically marked her once again, but at least it was the last time he would do it. The teen was still curled up in the recliner next to her and her expression remained largely unchanged from what it had been all night. She gave no indication that she'd even heard Hotch, and if she did, she sure didn't have a reaction to the news. JJ knew David had had her checked out in the ER the previous night and the doctor had told him that Abby's current mental state was normal for the emotional and physical trauma she had suffered but JJ was worried about her, she'd never seen her daughter as shut off as she currently was. After waking from a nightmare the previous night, Abby had lain in her chair for the rest of the night and early morning, her eyes wide eyed and horrified, as if she was reliving her time in the hotel room with Will and her father. JJ also hadn't missed the way she'd shied away from all physical contact, with both her and Dave, and with her grandmother and the team. She'd just curled into a ball on the recliner and lay there silently, and that scared the shit out of JJ.

No matter how bad things had gotten in the past, Abby had never just shut down like this. When her mother, Abby's grandmother, died, Abby had cried with JJ as they made the funeral arrangements. When they moved from Pennsylvania to Washington, Abby hadn't known anyone there, but she talked to JJ about what was going on in her mind, about all of her fears at not making friends and about how she hated it in the city, she didn't just clam up like she was now. Hell, even when David left them Abby hadn't closed up like this. Yeah, she'd put her emotions aside to get through her last week of school, but she hadn't completely pulled away from everyone like she was doing now. JJ decided that if she was still this bad the next day, she would insist on a psych consult for her. A part of her wondered if they should call psych earlier than that, but she wanted to give her daughter some time to try and work it out by herself, as she knew that's what Abby did best.

JJ also knew that her lack of sleep wasn't helping her daughter's mental or physical health, nor her husband's for that matter. She knew from the large daily calendar on the wall that it was Monday morning, which meant her husband and daughter hadn't gotten any real sleep in three days…actually, probably more than that since the team had been working non-stop to catch the unsub and she and Dave hadn't gotten more than three or four hours of sleep each night they were on the case. She also remembered that Abby had been staying with Gibbs and while she seemed to like Gibbs, it was a new place for her and she knew her daughter didn't sleep well in unfamiliar places. Both of them needed sleep badly, but she wasn't sure how to go about helping them sleep. After the events of the previous night, she was sure they both wouldn't want to leave the hospital until she was discharged.

Her husband's voice drew her from her thoughts, "What's going on in that mind of yours honey?" JJ realized she must have been lost in her thoughts for quite awhile, because when she looked up, Hotch had left the room and it was once again just the three of them.

"Just thinking," she said and then looked over at their daughter. Dave didn't need to be a mind reader to know that she was worried about her. Hell, he was too; she was scaring him with the way she was remaining in her own little world. He knew that if he'd been a better father, he could have protected her from all of this. He also felt guilty as hell, since it was largely his fault that they were in this position in the first place. If he had just let it go, if he hadn't retaliated against Will for beating his wife and child, then he would have stayed out of their lives. He knew he would regret his actions for the rest of his life.

"She'll be okay Jen, she's strong," As he spoke, Dave prayed he was right.

"She shouldn't have to be, she should be a normal kid thinking about normal teenage stuff." As JJ said this, Abby quietly got up from her chair and started walking towards the front of the room.

"Where are you going Pumpkin," Dave asked gently.

"Bathroom," she replied in a monotone voice as she stepped into her mother's bathroom and shut the door behind her.

As soon as she heard the click of the door, JJ turned to her husband, "She needs sleep Dave. Well, she needs a lot more than that, but she really needs to get some sleep. You both do."

Dave ran a hand down his face, "I know Jen, and I have a plan for that, but it will have to wait until I take her back to the ER tonight."

"Why?"

"Because Dr. Robinson wants to check her stitches tonight, and when he does that, I'm going to have him give her a shot of valium or something else that will put her to sleep. I'll have him tell her its antibiotics or something."

JJ thought about his plan for a second and then nodded, "It's sneaky, but I don't really care. So are you going to take her back to the hotel after that?"

He shook his head, "As much as I hate to separate the three of us, I'll have Garcia and Morgan take her back. I want to stay here with you."

JJ was about to tell him to stay at the hotel, but Abby came back into the room so she didn't say anything.

The rest of the morning passed uneventfully. Hotch and Emily got the team, plus Jimmy and Marie, moved into the hotel across the street from the hospital and then spent a couple of hours making use of their rooms. While they were both too tired to do anything strenuous, they did fall asleep in each other's arms and it was a comforting feeling for both of them.

While Hotch and Emily slept, Derek and Reid came back from the police station to help stand guard over the Rossi family. At around noon, Derek shored up his courage and knocked on JJ's door, knowing that what he was about to tell the older agent wouldn't be well received.

After knocking, he popped his head in the room. "Mind if I come in?" He asked.

JJ smiled, "Come on in Derek," she said warmly.

"How're you doing Jayje?" He asked as he stood near her bed. His eyes swept around the room and he saw Dave sitting by JJ's bed, Abby curled into a ball in the recliner and Marie sitting on a chair near the window.

"I've been better, but I've also been worse. How are you doing?" She asked concerned; she knew none of the team was getting much rest.

"I'm good. Do you mind if I borrow your husband for a minute?"

"Go ahead," she said, knowing that Dave could use a break. "Just bring him back in one piece."

Morgan smiled, "Will do," he promised as he and Dave stepped into the hallway.

"What's up Morgan?" He asked, anxious to get back to his family.

"I just want to update you on a couple of things," Derek told him. "First, everyone's been moved to the Plaza hotel across the street and you and Abby have a suite there. It only has one bedroom, but-"

"Don't worry about that," Dave interrupted, "I think it will be a long time before I let her out of my sight again."

"Okay, second; Hotch called his buddy that runs an exclusive and very effective private security company. They'll have guys here within the hour and they'll also be at the hotel when you and Abby are there. There are also some guys checking out the cabin at Little Creek. They haven't identified any security breaches yet, but they'll be there if anyone tries anything."

Dave nodded, one of Aaron's old buddies from the SWAT team had gone into the private security business and Hotch had contacted him to help with protecting them. Hotch trusted the guy implicitly and Dave knew that his firm did security for royalty and political figures when they were in town. Plus, if Hotch trusted him and vouched for him, it was good enough for Dave.

"Third," Derek began hesitantly, "We've gotten nowhere with Will's 'associate.' Either the guy wasn't fully aware of whom the employer was, or he's great at stonewalling us, but we're not getting anything from him." Derek paused when he saw the frustrated expression on Dave's face, and took a deep breath. "Look Dave, Will might have said something to Abby when he first got to her. I want to do a cognitive interview with her."

Dave saw red at this, "Absofuckingloutely not!"

"Rossi," Derek started, but Dave didn't let him get any further.

"No Derek, no way in hell! Look at her; she's practically a zombie as it is! You really think I'm going to let her be interrogated in this state of mind? She's said exactly two words in the last twelve hours and I'll be goddamned if I'm going to do anything to make it worse for her!"

"We don't have a lot of options here Dave!" Derek said irritated. "I know you want to protect her, but if we don't find the person who contracted the original hit on the three of you, he'll just send more guys after you. Is that what you want? For JJ and Abby to be in this position again?"

"It's not happening Morgan, so just let it go," Dave told him through clenched teeth. "Just lean harder on the guy."

"Fine," Derek said softly. He had known that he didn't have much of a chance at getting Rossi to agree to the interview, so he wasn't too disappointed, but he wondered how he would get Will's partner to talk.