My Life Had Stood
Chapter 56: Finding Jemma 7
Huddled on the basement steps, Leah Crawford listened to Linnet's footsteps approaching. Her arms were wrapped around Jemma, protectively. She didn't know what exactly had happened, but after Linnet had stormed off she had heard Jemma crying. Once she realized the cellar door hadn't been shut, she'd tried to crawl up the stairs.
It'd been painful and exhausting, enough that she almost gave up. That was until she heard small feet approaching the top of the stairs, and then the sound of someone trying to hold the railing. It had slowly dawned on her that the sound was Jemma trying to descend the stairs alone. The sound of the girl almost stumbling had riled Leah up, and without registering the pain wracking her body, she'd renewed her crawl to the stairs.
The second she'd heard and saw Jemma lose her grip on the railing, Leah had thrown herself forward up the stairs - though it was actually more like she stumbled up the stairs - and stopped the girl's fall. Though not before the little girl had hit her wrist and started bawling.
'It's all right. It's all right.' Leah held Jemma close and rubbed her back reassuringly, too weak to rock the girl. Her eyes burned as she recalled a memory from decades ago. Back before her son had been born, when Adrienne Leigh was just a month short of three years.
Holding Jemma reminded her so much of holding Adrienne Leigh. The girl she had raised as her own, and loved, at least for a few years. Leah held Jemma tighter, silently begging for forgiveness as she recalled what she felt those first few years of raising Adrienne Leigh.
She had honestly cherished the girl, viewing her as her real daughter. It wasn't until she gave birth to her son and started to realize the danger she faced in keeping Adrienne Leigh, that Leah's love for the girl faded. She felt ashamed of her actions now after growing older, but as a young mother she feared losing her son. Her only real child.
'It's okay. It's okay.' Leah kissed Jemma's forehead, comforting the child and herself as the girl's sobs lessened. She wondered as she held the three year old if what Linnet had told her was true. That Jemma was Adrienne Leigh's daughter. If it was...
She hugged the child tighter.
She flinched when Linnet cursed just beyond the top of the stairs, and brought Jemma even closer against her chest. After listening to Linnet's taunts about what he did to Adrienne Leigh, Leah was sure it was only a matter of time until he'd hurt Jemma the same way.
'I won't let him hurt you.' Leah kissed the top of Jemma's head, her eyes glaring upward towards the opened basement door. The adrenaline that had aided her scramble toward Jemma was starting to wear off, and she could feel the pain and tiredness returning to her body. She struggled to fight it, but the exhaustion from before was even more pronounced.
Her eyes shut even as she continued to hold Jemma.
x
"Greg Linnet, FBI! Don't move." Morgan growled after kicking in the door, his gun drawn. Cam Fitzgerald and a few officers also had their firearms pointed toward Linnet.
"Hn." Linnet sneered, holding a bound and partially conscious Alvarez in front of him. Moments before the agents had busted through his door he'd grabbed the man to use as a shield. His first thought had been to grab Jemma, but the damn woman Leah had been holding onto the girl in such a way that Linnet hadn't noticed Jemma at first.
The delay it caused had been enough that grabbing Alvarez was his only option.
"Linnet, let him go and surrender." Hotch spoke from behind the man, his gun aimed at Linnet's head. He, along with Spencer and an officer, had entered through the back door. It had been locked but the window next to the door hadn't been, and they'd opened it enough to reach the lock on the door.
Linnet snarled, his arm held against Alvarez's throat in a chokehold. Not at all effective against defending against the agents behind him.
"Linnet, don't be stupid. Let the man go and come in quietly."
"..." Linnet glowered but then let go of Alvarez, pushing the semi-conscious man down. The next second he moved toward the basement stairs, determined to get to Jemma. He made it only a few steps before being shoved against the wall and handcuffed.
"I got him. Go search the rest of the house."
"All right, Hotch." Morgan replied as the unsub was taken away by the unit chief. "Reid, how about you take upstairs..."
Spencer ignored the suggestion, a strange feeling in his gut. Though he'd never been inside this house before it seemed familiar. Or felt so. He swallowed, feeling unnerved.
"Re..."
"You take upstairs." Spencer replied, heading toward the doorway leading to the basement. It had been where Linnet had been attempting to head towards after all. The moment he reached the doorway and glanced down his eyes widened. "Guys! Over here!"
Spencer called out the moment he saw the bruised woman collapsed on the steps, her arms wrapped protectively around something. Or rather someone. His eyes widened as he crouched down to check on the woman and noticed what she was holding so protectively. A young child.
"Reid, what..." Morgan started, his voice dropping off for a moment. Taking in the scene he immediately called out for a medic. Afterwards he approached closer in order to help Spencer. The younger man was gently trying to remove the child from the unresponsive woman's arms. Morgan's heart thudded beneath his ribcage once he saw the child.
"There you go. It's okay." Spencer whispered as he picked up the young girl, mentally calculating her approximate age by her size. Two or three years. He felt his stomach jolt the moment the girl's wide eyes stared up at his.
Jemma blinked, confused by the strange man who held her. Her face scrunched up, the pain in her wrist renewed by the stranger's hand brushing against it. She immediately started bawling. Her deep chestnut eyes filled with tears, her cries loud and shrill.
"Shh. It's okay. It's okay. It's all right." Spencer stood up, still holding the girl, to make room for the medic to help the woman on the stairs. It didn't take him long to notice the girl's injured wrist once they were in better lighting. "It's okay."
"Reid." Morgan began, his eyes widening at how loud the girl cried and how shrill it sounded. "Let's bring her outside. The medics..." His words were drowned out by how loud the girl's crying was. He shared a worried glance with Spencer, wondering at the loudness of the cries. Was the girl hurt badly?
His stomach clenching, Spencer carried Jemma outside while being careful not to touch her wrist, which he noted was bruising. He patted her on the back and whispered reassurances, trying to comfort her. He shared another worried glance with Morgan, wondering if something was wrong or if the girl just didn't like him. Yet he was reluctant to hand her to anyone else.
This was Jemma. Alsie's daughter. His niece. He was certain of it, aside from the eyes that had stared up at him, the three year old reminded him of Alsie. Of how his sister looked like when they met at eight years old. Her hair, her face...
He hugged her closer to his chest.
"Pahpa! Pahpa! Pahhh!" Jemma shrieked, struggling against Spencer. Her chestnut eyes had alighted on Linnet as he was being packed into one of the vehicles, and she reached out for him. "Hyaaah! Le' go! Le' go! Le' me 'oun!"
Spencer flinched at the loudness of Jemma's voice, its high-pitch made more piercing by its volume. "It's okay, Jemma. Calm down, we're going to take you to your mom..."
Jemma didn't react to Spencer's reassurances, but instead continued crying and shouting. Both intensified once the vehicle Linnet was in pulled away from the curb and drove off.
"Reid..." Hotch approached, his eyebrows raised in concern at how much and loudly the girl cried. He held out his arms. "Let me try to calm her."
Spencer scowled at the unit chief's words, envy suddenly gnawing at him. Just because he wasn't a father didn't mean he couldn't... He froze, his chest tightening as he realized the reason for his jealousy, and for his reluctance to accept the truth about Alsie and himself.
He looked down at Jemma, his eyes threatening to tear up. He managed not to, though he couldn't stop the way his lips twisted or his other facial expressions as he gazed at the child. Spencer swallowed, shaking his head as he patted Jemma's back.
'...I wanted to be a father.' Spencer whispered to himself, his brain delving back to the first thought he had when he'd learned Alsie's daughter was possibly alive. So much had distracted him from mulling over the idea, and then when he found out Alsie was his sister he'd completely pushed it aside. But he had thought - hoped - that he could find Alsie's daughter and then, perhaps, become Jemma's stepfather.
Finding out Alsie was his sister had obliterated that possibility. And he'd felt robbed, cheated, betrayed. Though not by Alsie, but by the universe itself. He'd been silently entertaining the idea of being a father only to be shoved back to being just an uncle.
"...Reid? What is it? What's..." Hotch asked, surprised by the despair and hurt in the younger agent's face.
"...on' be ssad. Don' be ssad." Jemma said, having stopped crying and instead gazed up at the stranger who held her. With her small, unwounded hand she touched Spencer's mouth, trying to stretch the lips into a smile. "Ssmiiile! Ssh'miile!"
"Wha...ah, um..." Spencer sputtered, while Jemma pulled at the corner of his lip. His first thought was about the amount of germs found on a child's hand, and he started to say something to that effect. Jemma pulling on his lips and then his tongue made it come out as gibberish though. "Th' amoun' of 'erms pass'd by..."
"..." Hotch took in the sight, the corner of his lip twitching in a smile. Especially when he deciphered what the younger man had been trying to say.
"No. Sto...stop. Jemma." Spencer pulled the small hand from his lips, grimacing though in a much better mood.
Jemma scrunched her face up, and glanced at the stranger's eyes then back at his lips. Her confusion clear. "''Ow 'ou know my name? Pahpa tell 'ou?"
"'Papa?'" Spencer mumbled before quickly mouthing the word 'oh', realizing who the girl must be referring to. Linnet had kidnapped Jemma and raised her for three years, making him the only parental figure in the three-year-old's life. It wasn't surprising that Jemma would view that man as her father.
Spencer's stomach clenched at that thought.
Jemma stared up at Spencer, quickly picking up his confusion, despite its brevity. Her own confusion increased as the stranger's expression changed, and her lips started quivering.
"...Jemma, it's okay." Hotch spoke to the three year old, his tone the same he'd used with Jack when he was young. "We're here to bring you to your mommy. Would you like to meet her?"
Jemma didn't reply, her large chestnut eyes having remained locked on Spencer's face. She didn't even notice Hotch attempting to speak with her or make eye contact.
"Jem..."
"Hotch, Reid." Morgan interrupted, Cam beside him holding a couple of books. "Fitzgerald's found something."
"What is it?" Hotch asked as Cam handed him the books, he paused once he read the first one's title. "'Hearing Loss in Children'...'teaching your hearing impaired child to lip-read'..."
"There's a few others similar to these." Cam glanced toward Jemma as she spoke. "All in pretty new condition."
"...Jemma..." Spencer, having swallowed as he read the book titles quickly and realized the reason Linnet had them, turned his attention back to the girl. This time making sure his lips were in Jemma's line of sight, he repeated what Hotch had asked the girl earlier. "...would you like to meet your mommy?"
Jemma, finally understanding partly what was happening, nodded her head.
