JJ and Spencer both requestioned cars under their names, and just as JJ had thought, the initiative was well-received by the rest of the team. At least one thing was going right.
Rossi, Penelope, Luke, and Tara headed out with Spencer. They were gone in less than five minutes.
Meanwhile, though JJ trusted herself to remain objective, she already knew that she didn't trust herself behind the wheel of a car. There were just too many thoughts tumbling around in her head. So she handed the keys to Matt. He took them without question.
What surprised JJ was that Emily didn't get into the front passenger seat. Instead, she pulled her aside.
"JJ, I trust you with my life, and I love you dearly. " Emily said softly. "You know that, don't you?"
She nodded. "Emily, I always know that."
"Then you would tell me if you knew anything else about this case?"
"We both know that because of Paris, I would never lie to you or hide anything from you." JJ said seriously.
This was a solid truth. Emily knew of JJ's miscarriage, and JJ knew of Emily's abortion. How those secrets had come to be told was another story altogether. What both women knew for sure was that after today, there would never be any secrets between them again.
Emily put a hand on JJ's shoulder. "Then is there anything else?"
"No." JJ said sincerely. "What are you getting at?"
"Something's different about you, partner, and I've been trying to figure it out all morning."
Emily was no fool, and had remarkable observational skills, even for an investigator. She also knew JJ incredibly well. Of course it would stand to reason that she would notice a change in the way that her righthand person was behaving. Emily was like a human version of a bloodhound; she could always suss out something being hidden. There was no lying to her.
JJ took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Em, I—"
She was cut off by Matt walking up to them.
"Are you two ready to go?" he asked innocently.
JJ sighed, knowing that if Matt's interruption was any indication, it was going to be a long while before she could share her suspicions about herself with her partner. How she wished to be back in bed.
"Yep. We're both ready to go." she told him. "Got everything you need?"
"Yes." Matt opened the back door of the car for her. "Let's roll."
To JJ's further surprise, Emily still didn't take the shotgun seat when they got into the SUV. This was her usual spot when she wasn't driving. She just sat in the back with JJ and held her hand. If JJ couldn't say just yet what was on her mind, the least Emily could do was give her a hand to hold. They were in for a long day.
When they were in the building where the station house was, JJ led the team to the bullpen—she knew the place well because of Will's years of service at the Metropolitan Police Department. He'd never served anywhere else while they'd lived in D.C. together. Plus, JJ would visit him at work from time to time.
They were greeted by Will and his partner, one Sergeant Primrose King. The LaMontagnes were both friends with her because she even had kids the same age as hers. Primrose's firstborn, Zara, was even Henry's best friend at school. This alone made the sergeants' bond rock-solid.
JJ looked around. "Where's your captain?"
"Captain Walsh is with your mom and Olivia right now, JJ." Will informed his wife. "They're in her office. She said to tell you that she'll be along soon."
Primrose chimed in, "Will you introduce me to the rest of your team?"
"Totally." JJ indicated each person in turn. "This is our team leader and my partner, Supervisory Special Agent Emily Prentiss, and SSAs Rossi, Alvez, and Simmons. Next to them are Doctors Reid and Lewis. Last, but certainly not least, is our technical analyst, Penelope Garcia."
"Wow. You brought everyone."
"We did, because this case is personal. The newest missing person, Katherine Spelling, is little Olivia's mother."
"God almighty."
"And it doesn't stop there, Prim. Katherine is my stepsister."
Primrose tried not to stare too much—a lot of information had just been dumped in her lap—but she was immediately onboard to help out however she could.
"What do you need?" she asked her friend.
"A place to talk because we haven't had a chance to discuss the case yet."
"We have just the room." came a new voice.
Will's and Primrose's foremost CO had arrived. Captain Dora Walsh was ruled the roost at the twenty-fourth precinct. She was tall, extremely attractive, and always dressed like she was ready to take on the world. Everyone respected her.
She also knew JJ pretty well. "So sorry I just missed the introductions, my friend—I'll catch everyone's names as we go. Will said you all operate out of a war room kind of place when you're on cases. Is that right?"
"Yes, it is, Dora."
"Perfect." the captain made a beckoning motion. "Please follow me."
Walsh directed them to a large conference room just off the bullpen. It was filled with everything they could need, including an overhead projector and a screen. There was also a host of electrical outlets and computer cords at the head of the table. It was here that Penelope got to work with setting up her tech.
Emily shook hands with Walsh as the others looked around. "I'm Supervisory Special Agent Emily Prentiss. Thank you for having us."
"Dora Walsh." the other woman said by way of introduction. "Will and Primrose are my superstars. When we were handed this case, I told them that no suggestion was a bad one, so it didn't take Will all that long to think of the BAU."
"I see." Emily remarked.
"I know that your team is the best of the best, how it works, and even that Will is married to JJ."
"She's even my partner," Emily added thoughtfully. "And Will is as close as a brother."
Walsh gave her a small wry smile. "That's great. With Will and Primrose being my two sergeants, I've given them the leads on The Yarn Children Case, as far as the MPD is concerned. Is that alright?"
"Definitely. We just haven't had a chance to discuss it for ourselves yet, but anything from you, Will, or Primrose is greatly appreciated."
"I'll bear that in mind."
Looking around, the duo noticed that everyone was getting situated. Penelope was at the head of the table ready to present, with Rossi, Spencer, Tara, Luke, and Matt filling one side of the table. Directly opposite them were the LaMontagnes. Naturally. Primrose was on Will's other side, and Walsh was beside beside her. That left Emily with JJ on the righthand side. Just like always.
"Okay, my friends." Penelope began. "Over the past month, an alarming number of children have been vanishing from Chevy Chase, Friendship Heights, Wakefield, and Tenleytown; so far, the number is twelve. We don't know why this is happening. Not one iota. What is for certain is that seven of these kids have been returned by their captors."
"Number seven was brought back last night." Will said to the group at large.
"Those returned kids are being brought to places where it's legal to surrender a child." Primrose added. "A concrete fact is that they've all been taken from crowded public areas."
"Like malls or supermarkets." Matt mused.
"I'm sorry to say yes on that front." Penelope pressed a button on the remote on her hand, and they were met onscreen with a collage of young school-aged children. "These are the seven kids who have been brought back."
"What are their names?" Tara wanted to know.
"From left to right, we have Rose Johns, Wyatt Russell, Declan Chung, Zoe Smith, Vera Miller, Beau Gonzalez, and Oakley Fitzwilliam."
"How old are they?"
"Vera, Beau, and Wyatt are five, Rose is six, Declan just turned seven, Zoe is eight, and Oakley is nine. All of them are safe. All of them had yellow yarn on their wrists." Penelope nodded and pressed the same remote button again. A new new photo collage popped up. "These kids vanished into thin air around the same time as as the last few abductions."
"What are their names?" pressed Luke.
"Zev Salazar, Esai Coleman, Dashel Goldberg, and Hope and Faith Ridley. The boys are six, five, and four, in that order."
Penelope blew up a picture of the girls. They were identical to each other in every way.
"Hope and Faith are clearly twins, but they have the unfortunate title of being the youngest—they just turned three this week."
Spencer looked to their police counterparts. "Have any of you reached out to the Salazar, Coleman, Goldberg, or Ridley families yet?"
"Not yet." Will answered. "We were also just given this case. Reaching out to them is on the agenda, though."
"Good." the doctor approved.
Now Penelope called up a picture of a single child—a toddler girl with dark hair and bright blue eyes. "The reason that our forces have come together today is because of this tiny lamb, Olivia Victory Spelling. She's the same age as the Ridley sisters."
Will sat back in his chair. "Do you have a picture of Katherine?"
"I do." Penelope called up a DMV photo for the benefit of those who had never seen it before. "This is Katherine Hannah Spelling. She's Olivia's mother, and they live in Baltimore."
Thereafter followed a very awkward pause. Katherine looked enough like JJ to be her child. Emily, Rossi, Spencer, Penelope, Luke, Tara, and Matt, and even Primrose and Walsh processed this.
JJ broke the silence before it got any longer. "Katherine is my sister because we share the same father, and she even has a twin but that isn't the point right now. I would rather we focus on figuring what brought her and Olivia into town—they never come because they have everything they need in Baltimore."
"Are you close with Katherine?" Primrose asked curiously.
"We're not best friends, but I've always told my sister that she could come to Will and I for help if she needed it. She also knows that she can count on us to protect Olivia in the event of something bad."
"It sounds like you really care about her."
"Katherine is my sister." JJ said simply. "I—oh, God…"
JJ couldn't finish the sentence because her own abrupt epiphany had startled her so much. She rose from her seat and excused herself out of the room. To say that she was overwhelmed by what had occurred to her was an understatement.
Will and Emily followed her.
They powwowed together, away from the war room so that they couldn't be seen or overheard.
"What is it, cher?" asked Will. "You went somewhere, just now."
"You can tell us." Emily said. "It's okay."
JJ blew out a breath. "I just had the mother of all epiphanies."
"Those don't usually happen for you until we're a few days into a case. Let's hear it."
"What if Katherine caught one of the kidnappers nabbing Olivia, and ended up getting taken, too?" JJ posited. "What if she's wherever Zev, Esai, Dashel, Hope, and Faith are? What if she sent Olivia away so she could get to us?"
Will and Emily both gaped at her. In the space of a minute, JJ had gone from being incredibly emotional to being incredibly fired up. Her mood was fluctuating in a very noticeable way. This quirk only ever happened when she was pregnant.
Suddenly, Will was trying to decide if this was the time or place to ask his own wife if they were expecting a visit from the stork, while Emily grew amused by watching the man's very visible thought process. Part of Emily also wondered if watching this unfold meant that she was in the running to be a godparent to her friends' next child. If there was one.
"Cher," Will finally said. "Are you—"
But JJ grew distracted. She'd caught sight of her mother, across the bullpen in Walsh's office. There was nothing that she suddenly wanted more than to be in Sandy's arms.
JJ crossed the room. Will and Emily followed her again.
That morning had started with JJ's mother already en route from her hometown to D.C.. Nobody had asked her what she was doing in town yet, and the reason was a rather interesting one. Wanting to see Will had just been a last-minute thought.
Sandy hadn't even made it through the front foyer before noticing Olivia. Scared, confused, very lost. Something about the little one had seemed so familiar. Olivia felt the same way about Sandy, but was reacting to her striking resemblance to JJ; she recognized her from a picture at home. Seeing those features in another person felt strange.
In a leap of faith, Olivia asked Sandy for help. In an even bigger leap, Sandy agreed. They found Will after that.
The next thing Sandy knew, she was being shown to Captain Walsh's office and having a snuggle with Olivia while Will went to fetch the CO. She was happy to help. Even if it was just by holding a sleeping child.
All that she knew for sure was that she'd gotten mixed up in one of JJ's cases. Hopefully, it wouldn't be something she'd be wanting to erase from her brain.
Sandy was finally taken from her thoughts by a knock at the door.
"Come in." she called.
JJ was in the doorway, with Will and Emily flanking her. Sandy's heart bloomed at the sight of them.
"Hi, you three." she said in polite confusion. "I know this is where Will works, but JJ? Emily? When did you get here?"
Emily replied, "Just a little bit ago, Missus Jareau."
The older woman smiled fondly at her. "Just call me Sandy—I'm going by my maiden name now, but that's longer than my married name was."
"Understood."
Will spoke up. "I called them, Sandy. Everyone came along."
"Oh, boy. Does anyone want to tell me who this little girl in my arms is?"
Before any of the trio could answer, Olivia sat up in Sandy's arms. The new people had made her curious.
She looked from JJ to Will, and back again. This was becoming the longest day she'd ever had before.
"Auntie JJ?" she squawked in disbelief.
"That's me." JJ gave her a small wave. "Hi, Olivia. It's really good to meet you."
The little girl shifted her gaze to the person on JJ's right. "Uncle Will?"
He nodded. "That's right, Half Pint."
"I miss my daddy." Olivia's bottom lip trembled as she reached for her uncle. "Can I have hug?"
"You bet. Come here."
Will scooped Olivia up and rubbed her back to help her relax. He understood that she was a torrent of unhappy emotions, but the last thing any of them needed was for her to start crying. That would be no good.
JJ stood with Will, but had eyes only for her niece.
"You're safe now." JJ stroked Olivia's hair. "It's okay, little princess. You're safe."
Olivia yawned hugely, and resigned herself to letting her aunt and uncle soothe her to sleep. She was in Snoozeville very shortly.
Emily watched her friends in awe. They were already fantastic parents to their sons, but doting on Olivia was proof that they would be in orbit with a baby girl.
Sandy spoke again. "What is going on?"
"Just a second, mom." JJ told her.
Out of the window, she had spotted one of the uniformed officers hovering nervously near the door. He looked like he had something to say.
JJ left the office and walked up to him. "Is there something I can help you with?"
"Are you Supervisory Special Agent Jareau?" he inquired.
"I am." she confirmed.
"I have someone here who has just arrived, and is looking for you."
"Great. Thanks."
The officer went another way, presumably to do something else.
JJ looked upon the newcomer. The man stood tall and well-built, with big blue eyes and a kind smile. His blond hair had even been styled with a fade on one side but remained long and combed over on the top. He was even sporting a full beard and a mustache. Like a hipster. It was apparent that he had come from work at a hands-on job because was wearing a khaki outfit similar to a safari adventurer. A pair of worn black steel-toed boots on his feet were a clue of this. Completing his appearance was a wide-brimmed hat tucked under one arm.
"August!"
JJ ran to her brother. They hugged.
"How are you?" he asked, speaking with a very noticeable British accent.
"Super duper freaked out." JJ admitted. "Has anyone told you what's going on?"
August shook his head. "Not entirely—is there something wrong with Katherine? We came here straight from Baltimore because mom sent me an SOS text. The only stop Aurora and I made was to get Lucy from the nanny."
"Oh, buddy." JJ patted her brother on the arm. "Nobody can find Katherine, or has heard from her."
August did his best to not raise is voice in alarm. "Where is Olivia?"
Realizing how absurd her next words were going to sound, JJ spoke as calmly as she could. "She's here. My mom found her."
Now August was in his own state of confusion. "But doesn't she live in Pennsylvania?"
"Everything's been happening so fast that we haven't had time to ask her why she's in town. Does Katherine still have the Christmas card that we sent her on display?"
This was February. JJ had sent the annual family Christmas card out in early December.
August nodded. "Yes, but only because Olivia pitches a fit whenever she tries to move it. Katherine said that Olivia talks to the picture and blows kisses to it all the time."
JJ suddenly felt like all of her heartstrings were being plucked on at once. The only thing she wanted was to have a cuddle with her sons at home. They could watch a movie and eat Cheetos. That sounded like a good plan. Especially the Cheetos.
Jennifer Alexandra Jareau LaMontagne was definitely pregnant.
She wasn't even sure how she managed to keep her head in the conversation with August. "Well, that explains it—Olivia recognized Will and I enough to call us both by name."
"She has a memory like an elephant."
JJ shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "I don't mean to impose, August, but would you and Aurora be willing to look after Olivia while we chisel at this mystery? It would be good for her to be with who she knows best."
"We would be happy to take her." he said reassuringly. "Olivia and Lucy are actually really good buddies."
This last part relieved JJ. "Outstanding. I'll go get her."
"Alright."
JJ returned a few moments later with Olivia and gently placed her in August's arms. The little girl reacted by sinking into a deeper sleep and latching onto her uncle, the way a baby koala held on to one of its parents. She was happy to be with someone she knew.
JJ looked up at her brother again. "Thank you."
"Anything for family, JJ. Me and mine are going to stick around."
He didn't have to say all the words for JJ to know what he was waiting on his parents.
JJ just hugged August again before seeing him off with a passing by detective.
When she reentered Captain Walsh's office, her mother held her arms out to her immediately. JJ all but flew into them.
She didn't have a breakdown like she thought she would, but there were definitely some tears shed on her part.
"You'll find everybody because you're the best at what you do." she wiped JJ's tears and kissed her on the forehead. "Your team—and Will's—are going to save the day, just like always. I believe it."
Hearing Sandy say things like this to her always made JJ's heart happy now. She'd waited so long to hear her say that she was proud of her for being in the FBI that any extra validation was always an extra big morale booster. Her words had a very calming affect on JJ.
"Thanks, mom. That really means a lot." JJ said truthfully.
Sandy squeezed her daughter's hand. "Your partner and your husband just gave gave me the civilian version of the situation, but I still have the feeling that they're holding out."
"You're on the money. Let me guess—you asked who Olivia's mother is, but Emily changed the subject, and Will started beating around the bush?"
"That's exactly what happened." Sandy confirmed. "How did you know?"
JJ sighed. "I can always predict Emily's and Will's reactions because I know them like the back of my hand."
She turned a sharp eye on to the people in question.
"Well?" she said expectantly.
"She's your mother." Emily said hastily.
Will nodded to emphasize Emily's words. "You should tell her yourself, cher."
JJ rolled her eyes, but turned back to Sandy. "Olivia's mother is Katherine. That child you saved is my niece."
"Oh, wow. And where is Katherine?"
"That's the million-dollar question, mom. You bumping into Olivia is the best luck that she could possibly have."
"I noticed her because she was by herself. Where did you take her just now?"
"August just showed up, so I gave Olivia to him because he knows her better than we do. His wife and child are also here."
Sandy made a humming sound as she raced to put the facts and clues together. It was like watching JJ's train of thought all over again.
"If Olivia with August's family now, but Katherine is MIA, and the FBI had teamed with metro police, then does this mean that Cliff is on his way here with Hannah?"
"Yes," Will told his mother-in-law. "And JJ's already gone through a whole slew of emotions about it."
Sandy looked to her offspring. "Are you okay?"
"As good as I can be." JJ said around a shaky sigh.
"Then you're concerned about me, and how I'll react. Is that it?"
JJ opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted by yet another knock at the door and yet one more officer. This one was looking for one of them in particular.
Will greeted her at the door. "What's up, Davis?"
"This gentleman asked to speak to the person in charge of the investigation, sergeant, and since that's you…"
Will caught her drift. "Good job. I'll take it from here."
Davis bobbed her head in acknowledgement and was on her way again.
The man who had accompanied the officer was older—in his seventies, at the most. He was dressed in a button-down shirt, slacks, and very nice shots. A jacket and scarf were even draped over one arm. However, the look on his face was one of worry.
But Will still knew who this was: his father-in-law.
He held out a hand. "Clifford Jareau, I presume?"
The older man gave a nod and reciprocated the handshake. "Sergeant LaMontagne?"
"That's me, sir."
Clifford withdrew his hand. "They told me that I should talk to you about my daughter, Katherine Spelling."
"That's right. Just through here, please."
Clifford walked through the door, and Will closed the door behind him. Emily was enough to count as a witness to the madness that was about to unfold.
When he turned around, it was to see a strange sight.
Clifford didn't know what to think. Before him were three women, each with murder in their eyes, but he only recognized the eldest as his longtime ex-wife. How did that work?
"Alexandra?" he said in surprise to his former wife. "What's going on?"
"That's the question of the hour," Sandy snapped, ignoring the use of her full name. "Or should I say—the last quarter century!"
Clifford set his things on a nearby chair. "Where's that coming from? We made peace about August and Katherine!"
"Don't you talk to me about your children like they're some kind of peace treaty—they're people!"
"But we did make peace about them! A long time ago!"
And just like that, the anticipated nuclear reaction began.
JJ back into a corner as her parents fought. Will and Emily stood with her. Loyal. Steadfast. Ready to protect.
What hurt JJ the most was that her own father hadn't even recognized her. He had looked straight through her. Like she was no one.
Out in the bullpen, Rossi, Spencer, Penelope, Luke, Tara, Matt, Walsh, and Primrose were at a loss. They'd reached the same conclusion that JJ had—which was good. The division of labor had even been split up. The bad news was realizing that delivering this particular update would be easier said than done.
Matt bit the bullet first. "Obviously, that's Emily and JJ in the office with Will, which makes the older woman JJ's mom."
Spencer nodded. "Correct."
"Then who's that last person?"
Rossi sighed. "That must be JJ's father."
"But this is also the same guy who dropped out of her life when she was eleven, right?"
"That's two for two."
Matt glanced back at the office. JJ's parents looked like they wanted to rip each other's throats out. It surprised him that JJ wasn't trying to separate them. Of everyone on the Behavioral Analysis Unit team, she was the actual peacemaker. Not much could ever stop her from acting on this talent. He would have to think of some way to cheer her up later on.
The gaggle of police and FBI members looked now to Rossi.
"Thoughts, boss?" Tara asked him.
"Let's go do our jobs." Rossi decided. "Our friends will catch up."
Everyone dispersed.
Back in the office, things were beginning to get even more out of hand. Twenty-five years of unfettered angry words were pouring from Sandy's mouth.
"Clifford, I understand cutting ties with me after the papers were signed and processed," she was saying. "But what I do not understand is the choice you made to drop out of Jenny's life altogether, like she was a project you were no longer interested in!"
These words hit Clifford Jareau like a sledgehammer. Sandy had him there.
He had a lot of explaining to do, but it had suddenly hit him who the other blond woman in the room was.
He faced his middle child and took a step towards her. "Jenny, I—"
"No." she took an automatic step back. "After twenty-five years, you don't get to come waltzing into my life like nothing happened!"
Clifford tried again. "You're so beautiful, and so grown up now!"
"You would know that if you had even bothered trying to talk to me!" JJ yelled. "You would also know that I grew up to be a Fed!"
Clifford moved a further pace forward, only for his daughter to take a bigger pace backwards.
She held a hand out in the universal motion for stop. "No! Don't talk to me, don't touch me, don't do anything!"
"Jenny, please—"
Will moved forward. "She said no."
Emily also advanced. "Let's go somewhere else, Mister Jareau."
Clifford narrowed his eyes at them. "Why don't you both stay in your lane? This is a family matter."
JJ gasped, affronted by her father's rudeness. "How dare you? Will is my husband, and Emily is my partner—they are my family!"
Clifford apologized to them at once. "I am so sorry."
"I don't know if I can accept your apology until my wife does." Will said coldly.
Emily found herself agreeing without hesitation. "Same goes for me. You really hurt her."
Before Clifford could even try to salvage what was left of the conversation there was a soft moan of discomfort was heard from JJ. Her parents, Will, and Emily wheeled about face to look at her.
Something was more off-kilter than ever. JJ was bent over double, as though to catch her breath, but she was losing control. Holding her hand to her heart and practicing calm breaths wasn't working. It all just made her feel even worse. Breathing wasn't supposed to be this hard. On top of that, she could feel her breakdown coming on.
JJ was having a panic attack.
"Will? Emily?" she wheezed. "I don't feel good..."
The last thing JJ remembered before crumpling to the floor in a dead faint was Will and Emily rushing to her as her parents cried out in surprised unison.
"Jenny!"