Derek and Luke were just sitting on some rocks talking when a crying and out of breath JJ ran towards them. Derek immediately went into protective older sibling mode and scooped her up into his arms.

"JJ, what's wrong? Where's Emily and Elle?"

"E-Em'ly said t-to t-tell you th-that there's s-s-some guys being m-mean to her and Ellie near B-Boushear A-Alley." Derek and Luke looked at each other before taking off towards Boushear Alley. Even though Luke didn't know Elle and Emily all that well, but he was friends with Derek, and his friends were his friends. They sprinted towards the alley without looking back.

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Elle and Emily looked at the group advancing towards them. They recognized about 4 guys as Jake's friends, one being Ian Doyle, Jake's right hand man. He was always checking them out in the cafeteria.

"Jake, what are you guys doing?" Elle asked again.

"I told you Greenaway, we're teaching you two a lesson. I think you're long overdue." The group ran towards them, grabbing them and pulling them back into the alley. They got in quite a few punches, but they both got in some of their own as well.

"Oh, you'll pay for that one!" One of the clan yelled as Emily punched his jaw. He threw her onto the pavement, knocking the wind out of her.

"EMILY!" Elle shouted from a few yards away. At the sound of her name, she sat up a bit.

"I'm-I'm fine." She told her worried friend just as someone kicked her in the stomach. While she was still in shock from the punch, they got down on the ground next to her and punched her face again a few times.

"Geez, I'm already on the ground, you gotta punch me too?" She said bitterly. She was silenced by another blow to the ribs. She saw Doyle grab Elle by the shoulders and throw her onto the ground too.

"ELLE! Elle, are you ok? Elle!" Emily screamed breathlessly.

"I'm ok. I'm ok. You?"

"Alri-" Her reply was cut short by another punch. Someone had their knee on her chest and the other balancing on her stomach. The weight was compressing her lungs and she had to take shallow breaths. Another punch. Then suddenly, the weight was lifted from her body. She opened her eyes to see Luke and Derek pushing the group of 8th and 9th graders away. They didn't mess with the sophomores. Luke grabbed her shoulders and pulled her to her feet as Derek did the same for Elle. She was still pretty weak and the sudden change in position threw her off balance. Her legs suddenly gave out from under her.

"Woah woah woah there. I got you." Luke told her as he caught her before she fell. He pulled her arm over his shoulders and put his arm around her waist to steady her. Derek did the same with Elle. JJ just stood and watched. She couldn't help with anything so she just got out of the way.

"Elle, Emily, what the hell happened?" Derek asked, still holding Elle upright.

"They-they cornered us. I told JJ to go find you at the park, and in the meantime, they beat the crap out of us. There's not much to explain there." Emily told him sarcastically, albeit unsteady and weak. Derek and Luke looked at each other. How could they do this much in that short period of time? Elle was just starting to regain enough of her strength to keep her feet under her, and Emily couldn't stand at all. Luke was completely holding her; she didn't put any weight on her legs.

As far as they could tell, Elle was better off than Emily. She had multiple bruises already forming on her face as well as some small cuts on her cheeks and forehead, along with a bloody nose. Emily had blood on her face from her nose and a bunch of small cuts with a larger one along her temple. Bruises of varying colors decorated her pale skin. Judging by how weak she was, they guessed that she had some rib injuries and possibly a hurt ankle.

"We've got to get you guys home. Em and I's house is closest to here, let's go. Can you two walk?"

"Yeah," Elle said.

"I'm fine," Emily insisted.

"Em, you can't even stand," Derek pointed out.

"I'll be fine, seriously."

"Really? Walk 10 steps without help or falling over." Luke told her. She tried, but as soon as she tried to put weight on her feet, they gave out again. "That's what I thought. I've got an idea that'll make this go a lot faster."

"And what's that?" She replied. Elle agreed with her eyes.

"This," he said as he picked her up.

"No, put me down. Luke, I like you, but I am not a child, I can walk on my own," she protested.

"Emily, I just saw you try to walk and you didn't even get 1 step. I'm carrying you whether you like it or not. Arguing will just add to the time I'm holding you. Good thing you're tiny." She thought for a minute.

"... Not a word about this to anyone, understood?" Both of the 2 girls glared at the boys.

"Of course." As both Derek and Luke started walking towards the Hotchner house, with JJ close behind, they were wondering how on earth they were going to explain this.

As they got closer, JJ ran ahead to open the door as Luke and Derek put them back on the ground, still supporting them almost entirely. They stumbled into the large house.

"Oh my God, what happened?!" Haley exclaimed as her foster daughter and her friend walked in covered in blood and practically being carried by her foster son and his friend. She rushed to Derek's side to help get Elle into a chair before doing the same with Emily. "JJ, will you go grab the first aid kit honey? We've got to clean our friends up." As JJ ran upstairs, she pulled Luke and Derek aside.

"You walk in here with my daughter and her best friend covered in blood and barely able to stand, and you still haven't explained anything. What the hell happened to them?"

"Elle and Emily were walking home with JJ when they were cornered in an alley by some guys from school. About 7 of them, 13-15 years old, athletic. Emily got JJ out and told her to come find us at the park. We got there as soon as we could, and we saw a guys punching Elle while she was pinned against a wall by some others and another guy kneeling on Emily's chest and stomach while beating the hell out of her. Emily can't stand at all and Elle can only stand for about 5 seconds, even with help. They clearly fought back, but they were out-numbered by a bunch of jocks. They didn't stand a chance."

"They got jumped?" Haley said in a low voice. When they both nodded cautiously, Haley's eyes glowed with rage.

"I need to call Aaron," she said quickly and left the room.

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"Hotchner."

"Aaron, it's Haley. You need to get home immediately, understand?"

"Haley, what happened? Is everyone ok?"

"I'm fine, but Emily and Elle aren't. They… they got beat up, Aaron. 7 jocks from the school. They can barely stand."

"I'm on my way." He said and hung up the phone.

"Hey Katie, I've got to go, I need to take a personal day." He told his boss.

"Yeah, of course, can I ask why? Is everyone ok?"

"No… My daughter and her best friend just got jumped."

"Oh my God, are they ok?" She asked with concern. She hadn't met her, but she seemed like a nice girl.

"I don't know, apparently they can't even stand on their own."

"Jesus Christ, go, don't worry about it, I'll take care of everything."

"Thank you Katie," he said as he practically ran out the door. He needed to get home, now.

A/N: What do you think? I would like to add a bit of clarification: They fought back like hell, and they didn't go down easily. But they were waaaaaaay outnumbered and by a bunch of jocks that were stronger than they were. They are NOT weak, little damsels-in-distress. I hate fics that do that. They were badass, just at a large disadvantage. Please review!