JJ glared at the picture on the screen in front of them, tilting their head and turning it back and forth. Their eyebrows were furrowed, and their hand that wasn't holding the phone was tapping furiously at their leg. They groaned, collapsing backward onto their bed and tossing an arm over their eyes. On their phone was the picture of The Judge from the news article. They had been staring at it for almost half an hour by now. Something was tugging in their gut about him, but they couldn't place it. Something was pushing at their memory, but every time they seemed to be close to figuring out what it was, it slipped away once again. It frustrated them to absolutely no end. They had studied that photo for the last week, but still nothing. They knew they were getting closer.

JJ heard the sound of someone landing on the ground in The Playground. They peeked out from under their arm at the person. It was Julio. He waved over at them, and JJ made a small greeting with their arm that wasn't quite a wave. Julio trodded over to them.

"Hey JJ. What are ya doing down here? You haven't gone out of The Playground a lot lately. What's up?" He asked. JJ made a loud noise that was a cross between a scream and a groan of frustration. They waved the picture at him.

"This guy. This motherFUCKER has something that I KNOW is familiar. Every single red ass flag is waving like one of those fucking blow up doll things that flail around when they have air pushed in em." They answered.

"You really shouldn't swear that much."

"Fuck you." The two stared at each other for a second, before Julio sighed and plopped down next to them. JJ clicked their tounge before raising their arms above their head and stretching. Julio's attention was suddenly drawn to the skin that showed from under their shirt as it rode up slightly. There were pale, almost unnoticeable scars marking it. Julio's eyebrows shot up.

"JJ, what are those?" He asked. JJ looked at him, confused, before looking down to where their shirt rode up, and realization dawned on their face.

"Oh. Yeah. Those." They said, looking uncomfortable. They chewed on the inside of their cheek.

"Just some scars. I got passed around a lot of homes for three years before I landed with my moms. Many of said homes weren't exactly all that kind. These are kinda just mementos of that. Most of them healed up pretty well luckily." They said.

They grabbed the bottom of their shirt, pulling it up more. Scars littered their body, most of them could only be seen when looking closely, but there were a few very noticeable ones. Julio froze, eyes widening. He took JJ's hands gently into his. Now that he had noticed, he started to see more scars that went up and down their arms. He had never noticed them before now.

"Ay, Dios mío. Who in the world would do this to a child?" Julio breathed quietly. JJ shrugged looking away.

"Dunno. Just some fucking asswipes. Probably in jail now. I got a big one on my back from one...of...them..." They answered, slowing down near the end. Their face dropped and their pupils suddenly shrunk into pinpricks.

"Oh...oh god." They said. Julio looked at them, worried.

"JJ, are you alright? What's wrong?" He asked, grabbing their shoulders. JJ looked into his eyes, terror in their eyes.

"I...I think...oh god. I'm remembered where I knew this guy from. Oh fuck. Shit." They fell back onto their bed, looking at the picture again. Julio sat next to them, placing his hand on their shoulder.

"What? Where did you know him from?" He asked. JJ took a deep, shuddering breath.

"This was one of the guys I got passed to. He...was an abusive fuck. I got a big scar from him on my back. Shiiiiiiitttt. This asshole nearly killed me when I was younger." They said, looking up at Julio. He balked, stiffening up. JJ was shaking, wrapping their arms around themselves. Julio wrapped his arms around them and pulled them in for a hug. That was all he could really do.