Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is owned by CBS. I own nothing but my imagination.
Happily Ever After-Chapter 52
Two days later, just as she was about to shut her laptop, Abby's computer dinged to let her know she had a new email. Because she needed to stay in contact with her teachers, her dad hadn't restricted her school email account and it was her only portal of communication with the outside world. Unfortunately, she didn't use this email address much with her friends and not many of them had thought to contact her via this account. She had tried contacting them, via their school email addresses but, like her, they didn't use their school accounts much either.
Perking up, Abby opened the email and saw it was from one of her acquaintances, Taylor Day. Taylor was her only A-list friend and the only reason they were friends was because she'd helped the popular girl pass biology the previous year. As she read the email, she felt her stomach drop in disappointment. Taylor was having a party to kick off the start of Spring Break and she'd invited the entire senior class. While it was an en masse invitation, she'd included a personal note at the bottom saying that she hoped Abby could make it. With a sigh of disappointment, Abby responded back to the email with her regrets.
She was surprised when less than a minute later, her email dinged again. It was a reply from Taylor telling her that she had to come, that no one had seen her for three weeks and everyone missed her. She told her it was going to be THE party of the year and she had to be there, she wouldn't take no for an answer.
Abby thought for a minute and replied back that she would try and make it to the party, although privately she didn't see how that was going to happen. Once she shut her laptop, she began thinking about it and she wondered if maybe, just maybe her dad would make an exception and let her go out on Saturday night. She knew it would be taking a risk, but she hadn't asked for much since their confinement had begun and hell, even the President's kids got to go out every once in awhile and surely there were more threats against them than there were her. Despite herself, she began to get her hopes up as she left her bedroom and made her way to the first floor.
Once on the lower level, Abby sought out her mother. She knew she didn't have a chance in hell of getting out of the cabin on Saturday if her mother wasn't on her side, so she hoped she could talk her into it and then present a united front to her father. She peeked her head into the great room and saw her mother was in there alone, reading a book.
'Bonus!' Abby thought as she quietly entered the room. She would have a chance to talk to her mom alone without her father's input.
"Hey mom," she said as she sat down in an easy chair across from her mother. "Got a minute?"
JJ put a bookmark between the pages of her book and closed it. "For you I have two. What's up?" She asked, seeing the nervous look on her daughter's face.
Abby took a deep breath, "So I was invited to a big party on Saturday night, it's kind of a beginning of Spring Break party and everyone's going to be there and I really, really, REALLY want to go!"
JJ could barely understand her request because she spoke so quickly, but once her brain made the connection, she sadly shook her head. "Abby, you can't," she told her, hating to be the one who told her no.
"But mom-"
"I'm sorry honey, but it's too risky. What if they're still out there watching us? They could follow you and hurt you once you were away from the house." JJ said as horrible pictures flashed through her mind.
"I'm not asking to go alone; what if I take a couple of the security guys with me? They could drive me there and secure the place before I go in. Heck, I'd even keep one of the guys with me at the party as a bodyguard." Seeing that her mother was actually pondering the idea, Abby continued, "I'm not asking for the whole night, I just want to go for a couple of hours."
"I don't know, Abby," JJ said, considering her idea. If she took a security detail with her, it might actually be safe, although there was always a chance of an attack against her and the security guards.
"Please mom," Abby said softly, "I haven't seen my friends in over three weeks and I haven't been out of this house in over two. I just want to have a normal night out."
Seeing the desperation in her daughter's eyes, JJ finally nodded, "Why don't we talk to your dad and see what he has to say about it?"
"Talk to me about what?" A deep voice asked from the doorway.
The two women jumped at the sound of his voice, "David, you scared us," JJ told him as he walked into the room and sat down next to her on the sofa.
"Sorry honey," he said, pressing a kiss to her temple. "What do you need to talk to me about?" He asked, looking from his wife to his daughter.
"Okay dad, I'm about to ask you for something HUGE, and I'm asking that you hear me out before you make up your mind, okay?" Abby asked anxiously.
"Okay," Dave responded apprehensively. With that kind of build-up, he knew he wasn't going to like what he was about to hear.
Abby took a deep breath but found she was too nervous to speak, so she looked imploringly at her mother. Thankfully JJ took the hint and turned towards her husband, "It seems our daughter was invited to a big party on Saturday night and she would like to go to it."
Seeing her dad open his mouth to speak, Abby beat him to the punch. "It's just one night, dad, and I told mom I'd take a couple of security guys with me. I would only go for a couple of hours and I would stick with my security detail the entire time and I really want to go!" She said, practically begging him.
"Absolutely not!" Dave declared, once his daughter was done speaking.
"But dad-"
"No buts, Abby, its way too dangerous. They could come after you, not to mention that if you take a couple of guys with you, it will leave us short here. I'm sorry but I can't let you go," he said, shooting an annoyed look at his wife.
"I've lived by all of your rules, dad," Abby said softly, "For the last two weeks I haven't gone outside, I haven't given the guards any problems, I've cooked and cleaned and I've done pretty much everything you've asked me to, and I've done most of it without complaining. All I'm asking for is one night, one night to see my friends, one night to have some fun…one night to feel normal and happy again."
Dave shook his head, "I can't, Pumpkin," he said gently. "I know you've been great throughout this and it's not about punishing you, it's about your safety."
"Well it sure as hell feels like a punishment!" She yelled as tears of anger and disappointment streamed down her face. "I can't use my phone, I can't talk to my friends, I can't check my email, I can't go on facebook, I can't leave this house for a fucking second, and I can't do anything else that I normally do! I feel like a goddamn prisoner, and you're my warden!" She jumped up from her seat and ran up the stairs. A moment later, the loud slam of her bedroom door could be heard throughout the cabin.
Dave ran a tired hand down his face, "Thanks for that, Jen," he said angrily, "Thanks for making me the bad guy."
"I'm sorry, Dave," she said sharply, "I thought her request was a reasonable one. She only wanted to go for an hour or two and she agreed to take a security escort. I didn't, and still don't see why you won't let her go!"
"It wasn't a reasonable request, dammit! Suzette is stepping up her game, she's targeting other family members and if she'll do that, then God knows what she would have her henchmen do if Abby went out into the open!" Dave shouted.
"Well how in the hell was I supposed to know that? Jesus Dave, you keep me out of the loop as much as you do Abby!" JJ yelled back, "I'm as much of a prisoner here as she is, maybe more since I you won't permit me to move around as freely as you do her!"
Goddammit, that was twice in five minutes that he was accused of holding his loved ones prisoner and it didn't sit well with him. "You are NOT a prisoner here and neither is Abby! I'm doing what I have to in order to keep you both safe! Hell, not just safe but alive and all I'm getting for my trouble are complaints and accusations! If you have a better idea of how to keep us all alive, please tell me!" He was out of breath by the end of his tirade. On some level, he was aware that he was bellowing at his recuperating wife, but his brain and his mouth were not connected at that particular moment.
JJ opened her mouth to shout a retort back at her husband, but she suddenly closed it. She knew he was right, he was only doing what he had to in order to keep all of them safe and alive. Was he heavy-handed about it? Yes, but she knew that was the way he operated when he was terrified and she knew his worst fear was not being able to protect her and Abby.
"You're right, Dave," she said, her voice back to a conversational volume. "You're trying to protect us and keep us safe, but you have to start letting me into the loop. I know you don't want me to worry, but I worry more when I don't know what's going on."
Dave let out a breath, "I'm sorry too, Jen, I shouldn't have yelled at you like that, but I don't tell you everything because I don't want the stress to hinder your recovery. I can shoulder this burden by myself, you focus on getting better," he told her, putting his arm around her. He felt her shake her head against his shoulder.
"No Dave, you don't get to decide what I know and what I don't know. I am recuperating, but I am not a child and I won't let you keep treating me like one. You have to promise that you'll tell me everything as you learn it."
He gave a sigh of defeat, "Fine Jen, I promise I won't purposely keep anything from you, okay?"
She didn't like the 'purposely' part of the agreement, but she knew it was the best she would get from him, "Okay," she agreed. "Is there anything else you've been keeping from me?"
"Well, this isn't really important news, but in their interrogation of Will's accomplice, Derek and Emily discovered what triggered Suzette to start all of this," he told her.
"Really?" JJ asked, turning to face him, "What was it?"
"It happened during our trip to Philadelphia. Remember how when she ambushed us in the restaurant and I finally took her outside to talk to her?" JJ nodded. "When we were outside, I threatened her alimony if she ever came near you or Abby again. Apparently that's what set this whole clusterfuck in motion."
"Jesus," JJ said, shocked. "She really is crazy, isn't she?"
Dave nodded, "I wish to Christ we hadn't gone to Philadelphia! If we had just gone somewhere else, then none of this would have ever happened," he said as he sank back into the sofa and pulled his wife with him. They sat there in a contemplative silence for the next half-hour. What they didn't see was their daughter standing behind them.
While JJ and Dave had been arguing, Abby had been seething in her bedroom. All she wanted to do was go to one little party, was that really too much to ask? As she heard her parents fighting, she wore a grim smile; she hoped her mother was giving it to her father good! As time went by though, Abby began to feel bad about what she'd shouted at her dad. She knew this wasn't his fault and he was trying to make the best of the situation. Hell, he couldn't help it if he was the most overprotective person on the planet; she kinda knew that before he'd even married her mother! She finally decided to go downstairs and apologize to him.
As she made her way down the stairs, she heard her parent's voices lower and she stood just out of sight and eavesdropped. She heard her father tell her mother about the threat he made to Suzette while they were in Philly and she heard him say that if they had gone somewhere else, they wouldn't be in the mess they were currently in. As he said that, Abby put her hands over her mouth and quietly scurried up the stairs.
Once she was back in her bedroom, she closed the door and let out the anguished sob she had been holding back. It was her idea to go to Philadelphia! Both of her parents wanted to go to New York, but she'd insisted on Philly! This was all her fault! If she hadn't been such a baby about going back to New York, then none of this would have happened!
As the tears coursed down her face, she came to a decision; she knew what she had to do.
