A criminal minds fanfiction idea that I have a long time ago. I wrote a few chapters and then couldn't figure out where I was going with this story.
Prompt: JJ and Emily were married. They were able to act professional at work and hide it from the team. They had two beautiful daughters that they adopted together. One goes missing and the other dies. This pushes Emily and JJ to the brink. They separate, but soon their hostile attitude towards each other starts to affect them at work. What will they do?
Ch. 1
"Take nothing for granted. It could all be gone in an instant." -unknown
Jennifer Prentiss-Jareau arrives home after a long day at work. Her wife Emily is still at work, because as the unit chief, she had to fill out some paperwork. Jennifer heads inside her house. She walks upstairs to check on her children who are probably asleep at least she assumes that they are because the house is dead silent. She walks into eight year old Norah's room first only to find the little girl's bed empty.
'Okay well maybe she's sleeping with Delaney.' Jennifer thought. It was common for the younger girl to sleep with her older sister on nights when she and Emily had to work a little late or weren't home to tuck in their children.
Jennifer exits Norah's room and then heads over into Delaney's bedroom. She walks inside to find the bedroom empty and then she notices the light on in the bathroom. She walks into the bathroom where she finds her thirteen year old daughter Delaney's body and her glock in the girl's hand. There was blood everywhere. Jennifer felt like she had the wind knocked out of her. She got down and cradled her daughter's cold, limp body in her lap.
"Oh baby, why? Why did you do this?" Jennifer asked though tears as she removed the gun from her daughter's hand. She ran a hand through her daughter's hair. "I should call your mama, but I don't want to leave you."
Jennifer looks up and notices a note on the counter. She stands and steps forward to read the note, but first she washed her bloody hands in the sink and then wiped them dry on the towel. Once her hands were clean and dry, she picked up the note to read it.
The note read: 'Dear mommy and mama, I'm sorry. If you are reading this it means that they got Norah. I promised my birth mom that I'd protect my baby sister and I failed. I'm so sorry, but I couldn't live with myself knowing that I failed my baby sister. I love you, moms. Thank you for everything you've done for me and Norah. Thank you for adopting us. Love, your daughter Delaney Roslyn Prentiss-Jareau. Ps. Mommy, I'll tell Aunt Roslyn that you love her and miss her.'
Jennifer fell to the ground and sobbed. Her children. They were gone. One dead and the other was kidnapped. Just like that.
A few hours later Emily Prentiss-Jareau finally came home. She walked into the house and heard her wife's soft cries.
"JJ!" Emily yelled concerned
Jennifer sniffled, "Yeah. I'm coming."
Jennifer cleaned herself up and washed her face, but she couldn't wipe the blood off of her clothes. Then she headed downstairs and ran to hug her wife.
Emily hugged her wife back, "JJ, what's wrong? What happened? Is everything okay? Are you hurt?"
"I…I'm fine." Jennifer choked out "It's….it's not my blood. It's Delaney's."
"What? What about Delaney? Is she alright?" Emily wondered
Jennifer shook her head, "No. Delaney's dead. She killed herself with my glock that I keep in the safe and Norah is missing. In Delaney's note she said that 'they' got Norah."
Emily froze in shock, fear, and grief, "They? Who's they?" Tears were welling up in her eyes.
"No idea." Jennifer replied
The next morning, Emily and Jennifer arrive at Quantico FBI headquarters where they work. No one else is there. It's the weekend and they have this weekend off for vacation, but Emily and Jennifer both want to start trying to find their daughter Norah.
"Okay so what do we know about Norah's birth parents?" Emily asked when her and her wife were in the meeting room.
"Uh the birth father is unknown. She and Delaney were taken from their birth mother when Norah was born. We got them two days later." Jennifer explained
Emily nodded, "Yeah. Okay. Well what do we know about their birth mother? Who would want to get back at her? Who is the 'they' that Delaney was referring to in her note? What did she mean by she promised her birth mom that she'd protect Norah? Who did she have to protect Norah from?"
Jennifer shook her head, "I don't know, but we should talk to the girls' old case worker."
"Yeah that's a good idea." Emily agreed
The two women hear a noise. They move out of the meeting room and walk past the offices. They notice the light on in David Rossi's office. Then the door swings open just as Emily is about to knock on it.
"Dave, what are you doing here?" Emily asked him
"I should ask you two the same thing." David said. He looked at Emily and then at Jennifer.
"We're…uh…just getting a head start on work. Emily wanted to come and sort through our cases, and since I used to be media liaison I thought I'd come and help." Jennifer explained. He didn't know about Jennifer and Emily's personal life. About them being married and having two kids.
David nodded, "Yeah. Okay. I was sorting through some papers in my office."
"Rossi, go home. It's the weekend. That can wait." Emily told him, "As your unit chief, I am ordering you to take the weekend off to relax."
"Okay." David agreed, "You two should go home too. That's an order I'm giving you as your elder."
Jennifer nodded, "Okay Rossi. We'll leave in a few minutes."
David seems to accept this answer. He says goodbye and then leaves.
Shortly after David left, Emily and Jennifer left too. Except they didn't head home. They headed to social services to talk with Norah and Delaney's old case worker Keith Chambers.
"The love of a mother for her child is undeniably the strongest emotion in the human soul." -unknown
Ch. 2
"A mother's love for her child is like nothing else in the world. It knows no law, no pity, it dares all things and crushes down remorselessly all that stands in its path." -Agatha Christie
Once Emily and Jennifer arrived at social services, they walked into the building together.
"How can I help you?" A young woman asked the two women
"We're here to speak with Keith Chambers." Emily stated, "We really need to talk to him. It's an emergency."
The young woman nodded, "Okay. Follow me to his office."
Emily and Jennifer followed the young woman. A few moments later they were seated in the office of Keith Chambers. Emily placed Delaney's note on his desk.
"What is this?" Keith questioned as he picked up the note
"Why don't you tell us?" Emily demanded, "Our daughter Delaney wrote this before she killed herself. You were her social worker before my wife and I adopted her and her sister Norah."
Keith read the note as his eyebrows furrowed, "I…I don't know."
"I think you do." Jennifer told him, "Now tell us! Norah is missing and her life depends on us finding out who the 'they' that Delaney mentioned in the note is."
Keith sighed, "Okay, okay, I'll tell you. Delaney and Norah's birth mother was in a cult. She was born into it. After giving birth to Delaney, she wanted to escape. It wasn't until after she fell pregnant with Norah that she was able to escape. She warned me that they were upset at her for leaving. She told me that they might make attempts to get the children back, especially Delaney and Norah's father, but that the children wouldn't be in danger if the cult people got them back."
"What's the name of the cult? Why didn't you tell us?" Emily inquired
"I should have. I'm sorry, but I thought that they would be safe with you two. Two FBI agents." Keith replied "Anyways the name of the cult is Fundamentalist Church Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."
Jennifer just stared at him in disbelief, "We still had a right to know."
"Wait? Fundamentalist Church? That's Warren Jeffs' cult. He's in prison." Emily stated
Keith nodded, "Yeah. I'm sorry, and before you ask I don't know who Delaney and Norah's birth father is. I'm telling the truth, I really don't know."
"No. I believe you." Emily told him, "Thank you for your time, and for all your help."
Meanwhile with Norah, she wakes up in a room on a bed with a man staring at her from a chair in the corner of the room. From Norah's perspective, he didn't look scary but she was still frightened of him with him being a stranger and all. You know, the whole stranger danger thing that little kids are taught.
"Who are you? Where am I? Where's Laney? Where's my mommy and mama?" Norah asked
"My name is Jamie Bates. I'm your daddy, Norah. You're home. We had to leave your sister behind. She didn't want to come. She was screaming and crying. I couldn't risk getting caught." Jamie explained
Norah stared at him, "I don't have a daddy, Mr. Jamie. I have two mommies."
"I'm your real daddy. Your real mommy stole you and your sister away from me." Jamie informed
"What's my name then?" Norah questioned, "My full name?"
Jamie shrugged, "I don't know. I wasn't there when you were born. Your mom and I did have a name picked out for you. Your sister was Delaney Abigail and we were going to name you Norah Sarai."
"That's not my name. And Laney's middle name isn't Abigail either." Norah stated, "My middle name is for mine and Laney's godmother. And Laney's middle name is for mommy's sister, my aunt, who is in heaven."
"Family is by blood, my dear child. Those women are not your mothers, and their family is not your family. I'm your family. You sister is family." Jamie spoke
Norah gave a solemn nod, "Okay."
Norah just agreed with him. She wasn't comfortable enough to argue, even though she knew what Jamie said wasn't true. She knew that family wasn't just blood, because her moms were just that. They were her moms despite the fact that they shared no strand of DNA.
"Who am I, Norah?" Jamie wondered
"Da..daddy." Norah said softly, "You're my daddy."
"Family isn't defined only by last names or by blood; it's defined by commitment and by love. It means showing up when they need it most. It means having each other's backs. It means choosing to love each other even on those days when you struggle to like each other. It means never giving up on each other!" -Dave Willis
Ch. 3
"Being a mother is learning about strengths you didn't know you had. And dealing with fears you didn't know existed." -Linda Wooten
Emily arrives at the prison. She spoke to the warden and then soon she was led to a room where she was told to wait. Soon a prison guard walked in with Warren Jeffs.
"Can I help you?" Warren Jeffs asked
Emily gave him her no nonsense glare, "Yes. I need to talk to you about Willa Phillips?"
Warren smirked, "Willa. I liked her."
"My wife and I adopted her two daughters eight years ago. Now Delaney is dead and her little sister is missing." Emily explained, "Who is Delaney's birth father?"
"What's in it for me?" Warren wondered
Emily scoffed, "A clear conscience provided that I find my daughter."
"I need more bibles for my bible group." Warren informed
Emily shook her head, "Not a chance. I'm not letting you corrupt anyone else."
"No bibles. No name." Warren said, "Your daughter stays missing."
Emily shook her head, "You're an asshole." Then she sighed, "Fine. I'll get you the bibles. Now his name."
"Jamie Bates." Warren told her. "He was one of my most loyal followers."
Meanwhile with Jamie and Norah. They were getting ready to head to the church.
"My mommies are going to find me. And then you are going to jail." Norah told Jamie
Jamie ignored her comment, "Come on, we have to go to the church and pray." He grabbed her hand and they started walking towards the chapel.
"For what?" Norah asked as she looked up at Jamie
"For your forgiveness. Because of those two women, you have been brainwashed into the ways of sinners." Jamie explained
Norah furrowed her eyebrows, "I don't understand. Why are my mommies sinners for loving?"
"Because it's goes against God's word." Jamie replied, "Any man that lies with man as he lies with woman, he shall be stoned."
Norah didn't say anything. She just nodded even though she still didn't understand. Her mommies loved each other and they loved her. What was so wrong about that?
At the house with the parents of Willa Phillips: Jarred and Loren Phillips. Jennifer is sitting on a chair across from the couple talking with them.
"You want to talk to us about our daughter." Loren said, "We haven't see her in sixteen years. We didn't even know that we had grandkids."
"I'm sorry about that. Your granddaughters are amazing. My wife and I adopted them eight years ago, but I need to know everything you can tell me about your daughter." Jennifer stated, "My youngest daughter was kidnapped and anything that you tell me about your daughter could help find her."
Jarred gave a nod, "Okay, but first tell us about our granddaughters."
"I will. Right now though, time is of the essence. It's been almost twenty-four hours since my daughter was taken." Jennifer told them, "Now please, I understand that it may be painful, but you need to tell me about your daughter. About how she acted and who she met before she disappeared."
"Alright." Loren breathed out, "But she didn't disappear. We did. We left her behind. We wanted to leave the cult when she was sixteen. Warren was going to force her to marry Jamie Bates, who was twenty-eight at the time. We didn't want her to get married. We wanted to leave and take her with us, but she didn't want to. Warren kicked us out for wanting to leave, but he kept our daughter, our precious Willa Janelle."
Jennifer nodded, "I'm so sorry about that. But what can you tell me about Jamie Bates?"
"He was a good man, but he was significantly older than our daughter. He watched her grow up. To us it didn't seem right for her to marry him." Jarred explained
"Is there anything else I should know about Jamie? Like where he lives or likes to hang out?" Jennifer wondered, "I really need to find my daughter."
Loren shook her head, "I'm sorry we can't be of more help, but we lost contact with him and everyone else when we were kicked out of the cult."
Jennifer gave a nod, "That's okay. You've been very helpful."
"A Real Mom: Emotional, yet the rock. Tired, but keeps going. Worried, but full of hope. Impatient, yet patient. Overwhelmed, but never quits. Amazing, even though doubted. Wonderful, even in the chaos. Life changer, every single day." -Rachel Martin
Ch. 4
"Once you sign on to be a mother, 24/7 is the only shift they offer." -Jodi Picoult
Emily and Jennifer met up at home with all the information that they needed to investigate and find their daughter.
"So what did you find out from Warren?" Jennifer asked
"That a man named Jamie Bates is the biological father of Delaney and Norah, and that he's most likely the one that took Norah." Emily stated, "What about you? What did you find out from the grandparents?"
Jennifer shook her head, "About the same as you."
Emily sighed, "So we know that Jamie Bates is the one that took Norah, but we still have no clue where he is or how to find him."
"We should ask Penelope for help." Jennifer suggested
"I agree." Emily replied, "We need to come up with a cover story."
Jennifer gave a sigh, "Oh come on, Em. Penelope is going to find out the truth anyways. Why do we need a cover story?"
"Because the higher ups don't know that we are married. If it comes out we'll be in a lot of trouble." Emily explained
"Oooh...you're right. Penelope cannot keep a secret, but we still need her" Jennifer said
Emily gave a reluctant nod, "Alright. Let's call in Penelope." She picked up her phone from the desk and dialed Penelope's home cell phone. If she had any hope of ever finding Jamie Bates and thus her daughter Norah, then Jennifer was right. They needed Penelope.
"Every mom has a mission to love, guide and protect her family. Don't mess with her while she's on it." -Vicki Reece
Hope you enjoy. Comments are greatly appreciated.
What would you like to see happen next?