INSTANT FAMILY

Summary: Another day, another case. The team is called to East Allegheny – Pennsylvania to assist in the search of three missing teenagers. What starts off just like any other case turns into something more. The truth wasn't so evident, the case gets to all of them, and Emily find the addition to the family that she didn't know she was still looking for. Emily/Hotch. JJ is a kid – main focus on Emily's and JJ's relationship.

AN: this is my first Criminal Minds story. Also, I haven't written any fanfics in a long while and English is not my first language, so forgive me for any mistakes. I made JJ younger when her sister Roslyn died, so she's seven in this story.

Also, I tried publishing this story sooner, but something happened, and I had to delete it and try again, I hope it works this time.


"JJ!" she heard her sister yell from the hallway "JJ, where are you?" the seventeen-year-old opened her little sister's door in a hurry, sighing in relief when she saw her little sister sitting on her bed, holding her dolly. "There you are" she walked closer to the bed and kneeled in front of the little blond girl "I was worried sick; I was waiting for you at your school all this time!"

"Sorry" she muttered, looking her sister up without lifting her head. She hated to make her sister mad "Please don't be mad"

"Oh honey I'm not" she assured and took a deep breath, looking around for any signs something had happened before she got there "Did he take you from school today?" she nodded "Are you okay?" she nodded again "I don't want you alone with him at the house Jayje, I've told you"

"Sorry" she looked down at her hands. Roslyn cupped her cheek and looked at her warmly

"Hey, look at me" big, beautiful blue eyes looked up at her again, so serious it didn't even look like such a young little girl "It's not your fault. I just worry, okay? But you have nothing to worry about, I swear" little Jennifer hugged her big sister tightly, closing her eyes and feeling the comfort and security of her embrace. No else were in the world she felt so safe as she did in her sister's arms.

"Girls?" they heard their mother's voice "What is this mess down here? Come down and do your chores now" she said, and Roslyn rolled her eyes before separating from the embrace and taking another look at her sister's face. She couldn't take this anymore; JJ was the only reason why she had not run away from that house ages ago. She would never leave her behind, specially not in that house with them. With him.

"Coming" she shouted so the woman would listen "Is he home?" she asked little Jennifer who shrugged "Okay, c'mon. Let's do whatever she wants us to, so we can go play some soccer you and I, what you think?" there it was, the first smile on the girl's face that day. It was instant

"Really?"

"Really silly girl" she got up and offered the small girl her hand "I hope you're ready because I have new tricks to show you though"

"I'm ready!" she assured her as they walked downstairs side by side.


"Finally a few days off" Morgan said, turning his computer off "We should go celebrate. What you say pretty boy?"

"I'm in. Kate?"

"Sorry guys, I promised Meg I'd be home as soon as I could, and that means now" she said "I can't wait to spend this time with her"

"She must be excited too" Emily said

"What about you princess? You and Hotch coming?" she sighed and opened her mouth, but Derek didn't let her finish "Oh c'mon, yall gotta loose it up a little"

"Sorry, but Jack is also waiting to be with his dad, I don't think Hotch can go tonight. But I can go for a few drinks, count me in" she said. It had been a year since she and Hotch had told the team about their relationship, and it had been the best phase of her life yet. Dating the man she loved, working the job she loved and being around her friends, she couldn't ask for anything more.

"Oh my crime fighters, are you planning on having fun without me?" they heard Garcia coming off of her office "You wouldn't dare, would you?"

"Of course not baby girl, you're the fun of any party" she smiled at him and blushed a little

"Good night guys, have fun tonight" Kate said "And I see you tomorrow at Rossi's"

"See ya, tell Meg I said hi" Emily said, and Kate nodded at her friend.


Another fight. Jennifer couldn't stand the screams, the bad words and the crying. She hated seeing her sister upset.

"You think you're so smart, don't you" she heard father say "Just because you're older, you think you know about everything"

"Just stay away from her" she said through greeted teeth. The man walked closer to her; she could feel the alcohol in his breath

"She's mine" he said, starring the teenager dead in her eyes and grabbed her face "Just like you" Roslyn felt shivers all over her body, but nowadays the hate she felt for this man overcame the fear "And I'll continue to do to her everything that I want. Just. Like. With. You"

"I'll take her from you" she said, trying to keep her voice calm and collected, but not able to hide all the emotion

"What was that?" she closed her eyes, waiting for a beating to start, but it never came "Look at me!" he yelled at her instead and she stared at him defiantly

"I'll turn eighteen soon and I'll take her from here, you son of a bitch!" she yelled "You'll never see her again" his eyes got glassy, and he took his hands from her face to her neck, strangling her. She tried to get free, but with no success.

"Father?" JJ asked, taking courage to step out of her hiding spot, looking up at the image of her father so taken by his anger and her sister so small in his hands. He let the teenager fall to the ground and looked at the younger girl

"Come here Jenny" he kneeled waiting for her, but she was unsure "Come on" she gave a few steps in his direction and he grabbed her arm and pulled her closer, caressing her hair and looking at her face intensely "Your sissy wants to take you away from me. Do you think that's right?" she looked at her sister, still at the floor trying to catch her breath "Do you?" she shrugged "It's not right Jenny. She wants to see you hurt, but she'll never separate the two of us, do you hear me?"

"Please don't fight" she managed to say, overcoming the fear that took over her when she was in his presence

"I don't want to fight baby girl. But your sister wants to make this family suffer" he said before giving her a kiss on the cheek, bringing her closer "And that's wrong" he kissed her neck "Because only a father can love a daughter the right way"

"Get away from her" Roslyn tried to find strength to fight him again

"Jenny, go wait for me in your room"

"But"

"Now" and she did so, not always as brave as her sister taught her to be. The man walked closer to the teenager on the floor and kneeled beside her "You wanna play with me girl, so let's play. You don't know what I'm capable of. I'd kill you, but you deserve worse"

"Kill me then, go on I don't care"

"But I know what you do care about" he taunted her with his gaze

"Don't"

"Don't worry, I'm not this monster you think I am" he put a string of hair behind her ear "I'll give you the chance to regret before I have to take her, but you'll suffer for threatening me young lady"


Emily took a look around. This was nice, it was family. The team was gathering around a table not having to discuss gruesome cases for a change, but just to have a nice meal and spend time together. Jack and Meg were joking around with Derek, laughter filling the air around them

"Ugh, too loud" Reid mumbled, and they laughed

"Hangover sucks, but it looks good on you" Penelope said taunting him

"What does that mean?" Jack asked and Garcia didn't know how to answer, blushing and they laughed some more "Uncle Reid, what does hangover mean?" the eleven-year-old tried again

"It means you shouldn't drink alcohol, or you'd get miserable"

"Is Emily miserable?"

"Jack!" Hotch called him out

"What? She loves wine" the boy shrugged, and they laughed once more

"Touché"

"C'mon Jack, let's do something I'm bored" thirteen-year-old Meg called him

"Well, he's not lying" Kate said smiling at her friend

"Wine is good for the heart" Emily defended herself "Scientists say it is healthy to drink one glass a day"

"Actually…"

"Reid" she glared at him so he wouldn't contradict her, and he stopped

"So, tell us more about last night. I'm curious to what led Reid to be so grumpy today" Rossi said, pouring more wine to Emily's glass as a statement.

"Nothing out of the ordinary" Emily said "Besides the fact that Reid has a new crush"

"Oh please" he mumbled again and hid his face, laying down at the table

"Pretty cute too" Garcia added "But he was so nervous poor guy"

"Well, Derek was the one who insisted a few more beers would help" Emily said "It's his fault genius boy is so miserable today, not his cute crush"

"Oh no, no" Derek said "Keep me out of it. I was too busy keeping an eye on you princess"

"Oh is that right?" Hotch asked, putting his arm around her shoulders

"Stop it" she laughed and before they could continue joking around Garcia's phone beeped and she looked at a message. The table was silent, waiting for the news.

"Guys"

"Don't say it. Please, just ignore it and it will go away" Reid said

"Sorry but we have a case" she said "Three girls went missing last night in Pennsylvania"

"Last night? That's not good, it has been what? Almost twenty hours, we don't have a lot of time to find them" Rossi said

"They already found one of them. Jessica Sanchez, seventeen… her body was found two hours ago" Hotch got up and took his phone, making a call

"Who are the other two girls?" Kate asked as Garcia opened the files on her phone and gasped at the pictures of the body

"Wheels up, debrief on the plane" Hotch said before she had a chance to answer "We'll leave the kids with Jessica on the way, Chris can take Meg when he's free" he told Kate and she nodded.


"Small town, nothing ever happens and suddenly three kidnappings, one of them show up dead. This isn't good" Kate said looking at the files while they were on the jet

"This is really personal. He stabbed Jessica twelve times and she was sexually assaulted" Reid said "It might be someone from her family"

"But then why take three girls?"

"In such a small town like that everything is kinda personal" Derek said

"Or we might be talking about something related to the school" Reid noted "They are all best friends. Jessica, Rebecca and Gianna all played soccer together in the high school. It might be related to bullying, or something about the team"

"We need to talk to the other kids, especially the other players. Teachers, coach… The only link between them so far is this team"

"And their friendship" Kate remarked

"What do we know about the victims besides that?"

"Jessica was a normal girl" Garcia said on video "Nice family, mom is a stay-at-home mom and dad works with logistics. They have other two kids, they volunteer as a family every month, go to church every Sunday"

"What about the other families?"

"Rebecca is the star of the team; she has a scholarship to play at Georgia next year already. Raised by a single mother, only child, good grades… nothing much. Her social media is not very active, but she has a bunch of pictures with the other girls, they seem very close, she calls them sisters in the caption of this one" she sent the print for their tablets

"Is not unusual for an only-child to feel the need to find siblings in their friends" Reid commented

"Who's the fourth girl in this picture Garcia?" Rossi asked, looking at his tablet

"Oh, lemme see… This is Roslyn Jareau"

"If this is about the friendship, why wasn't she taken as well? What do we know about her?"

"Roslyn Jareau, seventeen-years-old, also plays at the soccer team. Average grades, enough to keep playing soccer, but only barely. Pretty normal family too, mom works at the local mall, dad is a counselor at the school. She has a little sister as well"

"Okay, so it's not about the friendship. We need to talk to Roslyn; we need to understand why the three of them and she might know something"

"Agreed. Derek and Emily go talk to her. Reid and Kate check the crime scene Rossi and I will talk to the families and the school. Get some rest, we'll have a long day ahead of us when we land" they nodded at their boss.


Roslyn couldn't sleep, just waiting for her father to invade her room again or paying attention to the noises coming from her little sister's room. He had figured it out it hurt her more to listen to him enjoying his time with Jennifer, so she knew it was most likely he'd be with her so she would feel punished. For her surprise he left the house not longer after their fight, taking her cellphone with him.

She must've fallen asleep at some point, once she felt he wouldn't harm them for now anyway. She woke up with the light invading her room and sat up, looking around to make sure she was alone, then getting up and walking to her sister's room. The signs she hadn't spent the night alone were present in the kid's room this time. A few beer cans on the bed and in the floor. She looked at the small blonde on the bed, already awake

"Jay" she muttered and went to her "What happened?"

"Daddy wanted to play" she said, and Roslyn sighed deeply. It pained her heart. She sat beside her on the bed

"Have you gotten any sleep?" the girl shrugged "Listen, we're going to get away from here Jayje, I promise. I just need to wait a little more, just a little"

"Why?"

"Because if I take you now, they'll look for us and take you away from me again. It'd be worse, you see? Because we wouldn't be together anymore and… well, we need to do this right"

"I wanna go with you forever"

"I know, and you will"

"Daddy says you'll leave me, please don't leave me Ros" she said as tears filled her pretty eyes

"Hey, hey, hey" she cupped her face carefully "I will never leave you; do you understand? Never"

"Promise?"

"Pinky promise. We'll always be together, and I'll protect you I swear"

"I love you Ros"

"I love you too baby girl" she smiled "Now is time to get up, and remember…"

"Act right"

"And?"

"Don't talk about daddy" she said, and Roslyn nodded

"Good girl. Now come on"


She hated not having her cellphone with her, specially today that her best friends just didn't show up to class. Roslyn was a popular girl, but she spent all of her time with her three closest friends, it was torture to be at school without them. Why in hell they would all skip class together and not tell her? Well, maybe they did try to tell her, but her stupid father couldn't let her keep her cell. She sighed and walked over her locker to get her history book. When she closed the door she was startled by her father standing there, waiting for her

"What you want?" he looked weird. He just stared at her and didn't reprimand her for talking to him that way in public "What?"

"Just wanted to remind you"

"Remind me what?"

"Everything is your fault. You better rethink your plans to be the saviour and take what is mine. Maybe someone will take what is yours too" he said simply and walked away, greeting the students on his way. First thing on her mind was JJ and her heart jumped. She opened her locker again and pushed her history book back inside, running to the back of the school, where she was used to jump the fence and skip school. She ran to Jennifer's school and got inside, needing to see if she was okay. She walked to her classroom and peaked inside from the little glass window on the door, finding her instantly; her bright blonde hair standing out in the middle of the kids. She decided to wait until her sister's class was over just to be sure, so she would be the one taking her home that day.

They walked home together and followed with their routine with all the chores before their mom got back home. JJ asked to help Roslyn cook something for dinner and she agreed. When they were cooking their father got home through the back door, walking way past them into the house. Roslyn eyed him, noticing he was still acting weird, but did not follow him.

"Okay, can you set the table please?" Roslyn asked and the little blond nodded just as the man walked back inside, shirtless and smiled at them

"It's so good to see you working together" he said, and JJ froze "Let me help you Jenny" he said walking closer to her and caressing her arms

"Don't touch her"

"I'd be really quiet if I were you. I've already warned you" at that their mother entered the house and sighed at the food choice her daughters made for dinner

"Ugh, I spent the entire day working my ass off and you two couldn't think to cook some actual food?" was the first thing she said to them walking into the kitchen

"It seems nice to me. In fact you should call your friends to dinner" the father told her "Have you seem them today?" and he smiled. Roslyn stopped everything and looked at him, his eyes even more dark, a creepy smile creeping into his face. "You can set the table, I have to help Jenny with homework" he said, his hand on the small of the little girl's back, guiding her upstairs.

"Wait" the teen said walking after them, but the mother stopped her

"Can you please stop creating problem every night, and just be useful for once?" she said, her hand on the teenager's shoulder

"Me? You're her mother, how can you let this happen?"

"I don't want to fight right now. Is way past the time you learn to respect your father and maybe life would be easier around here. Now set the damm table, I have a major headache"


That Saturday was far from being their usual Saturday when Roslyn would wake up early and take JJ with her to her soccer practice with her friends. But now Jessica was dead, and Becca and Gianna were still missing, and she was at her house with two FBI agents questioning her about it. She would never imagine her father would go after them; she never knew he could hurt other people. All she always thought about was surviving and protecting Jennifer from him, nothing else. End even if she wanted to save them, she couldn't jeopardize her plan, not now, not when she was so close to getting away with her sister.

"I'm really sorry about what happened Roslyn" Agent Prentiss said, "But maybe you can help us find Gianna and Rebecca". Emily noticed her looking around her and followed her gaze to her little sister, who was sitting at the other couch in the room.

"Can she stay closer to me?" the teen asked, and Emily was confused. Derek studied the teen and then the girl, who had her head down, looking at the ground, she was scared.

"Sure, of course" Emily said, and Roslyn got up and walked closer to the girl, instead of just calling her over. She whispered something in her ear, and offered her a hand, bringing her back to where she was sitting before, letting the little blonde sit on her lap.

"Hey" Emily said, kneeling so she would meet her eyes "My name is Emily, what is yours?" she noticed how shy the girl was, her shoulders were tense, her eyes never meeting her "It's okay to be scared, but I promise we're here to help" the girl side-eyed the teenager, who nodded

"JJ" she said

"Just JJ?" she asked and smiled, but the girl just shrugged

"Jennifer Jolie. I'm sorry, she's not used to any of… this…"

"It's okay. So, where are your parents?" the teen cleaned her throat and caressed the little girl's hair on her lap

"Uhm, mom is at work. Dad is helping you know… with the kids, he's a counselor at school so he wanted to be available if anyone wanted to talk"

"Did you talk to him about what happened?" she shook her head "When was the last time you saw your friends?"

"Thursday at school. They never showed for class yesterday, I never knew why. I thought they had skipped class without me" she didn't know why, but it was incredibly easy talking to this woman. She had never met an adult she found easy to talk to like that.

"You skip school often?" Derek was the one to ask. Roslyn eyed him and took a breath, not so easy talking to him though; and they noticed. Emily and Derek exchanged a glance, and he knew it was on her to question the teen

"It's okay, we won't tell your parents or anything. But every detail is important" the female agent said, and Roslyn nodded

"Not too often. I mean Gianna never liked doing it, but Becca, Jess and I would skip class sometimes, to take a breather. But we never did anything much, I swear, we just wanted a time away before practice"

"Have you ever skipped class with any boys?" she shook her head and made a little bit of a face. "Okay, what about other girls? Anyone you could think of who might be angry with your friends?"

"No, no one"

"Have you fought or had any discussion with them?" she looked at her, surprised

"I'd never hurt them" she said, offended.

"Roslyn, I have to ask these questions"

"We didn't fight. They're my best friends, the most important people in my life besides JJ" she admitted "But I can't help" she said finally, making it clear there wasn't anything she could tell them.

"Do you know if any of them were having trouble at home?" Roslyn looked at her and felt the urge to tell her that she was the one having trouble at home, that this was all her fault, her friends' families were like her dream, but she wasn't so lucky.

"No, their families are great. Supportive, chill" she said

"We wish we could live with Jess" JJ muttered, looking slightly up at the agent and Roslyn poked her to keep quiet, so she looked back down. Emily felt her heart drop at those eyes when she did look up. Something was off with these girls, and without understanding why, she felt the need to care for them, immensely.

"You did?" the girl didn't respond "It's okay sweety, you can tell us"

"We grew up together. JJ and Jess' brothers are friends, their parents are the nicest people we know. So we always talked about how we'd love to live together, it was like our thing" Ros explained "I guess that's in the past now though" JJ looked up at her sister, curiously. She didn't understand what was going on.

"I'm sorry for your loss honey" Emily reached for her and rested her hand on her knee. JJ looked at the gesture and placed her hand over the agent's, looking at her again. Emily smiled at the little girl, feeling a cold in her stomach at looking at those eyes once more. The girl didn't smile back, her glaze was serious, but she caressed the agent's hand with her thumb in a comforting way, glad to see the brunette trying to comfort her sister. She'd never seen anyone caring about them that way before. Emily noted how she had never seen a kid with that same look in their eyes before, but with such a gentle soul.

"Look, I don't know what else to say" Roslyn said getting up, making JJ stand as well, uncomfortable with the instant silence and the little exchange between her sister and an unknown adult "I can't help, I don't know anything"

"It's okay, here" she said handing her a card, getting up as well "Call me if you remember anything, or if you need anything at all"

"Thanks" Emily nodded and looked at Jennifer again. She smiled at her and the girl averted her eyes again to the ground. Derek opened the door and when they were getting out Roslyn had something more to ask, "Do you think…" Emily and Derek turned to look at her again "Do you think he'll kill them too?" she wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer

"If we don't find them soon, it's possible" she said, studying the teen's reaction

"Isn't anything someone can do?" she asked, "That would make him stop?"

"We're trying our best honey. If you know anything, call okay?" the teen nodded, and they left.


"This was weird. We need to question their parents" Derek said as he started the car and Emily kept looking through her window "This girl knows something, she's not sharing"

"They're scared to death"

"The little one even more than the older one. I'd say Roslyn feels like she has to get it together for the sake of her sister. But this is personal to her, her best friend died brutally, and she still managed to stay cool and collected for her little sister? That's not usual behavior for a teenager" Emily nodded "Hey are you okay princess?"

"Yeah, sorry" she said now looking at him and then checking her phone

"Talk to me"

"I don't even know" she said, frustrated. She hated not knowing the reason for her every feeling, it made everything harder. This case had started like any other, but now she was confused. That little blonde's eyes wouldn't leave her mind "Something about the girl"

"Roslyn?" she shook her head "Jennifer?"

"I mean, both. But that little girl… she stuck with me" Derek looked at her and then back to the road. Emily massaged her temple and took a deep breath. It reminded her of Carrie, a girl she had met on a case years ago, even though they had nothing in common.

"Do I smell maternal instincts?" he laughed, and she smacked his arm "No, but seriously, if she stuck with you you'll know soon enough the reason why. Don't stress about it, princess"

"Yeah" she kept looking at the window after that, the girl and her sad blue eyes taunting her.


A/N: Okay, so here's the first part. I don't know if there will be anyone reading this, so if there is please review so I can know if it's worth updating this story. I didn't go into detail in a lot of stuff, because I wanted a faster pace for this part of their story, like an episode would be. But I have the missing scenes to upload as a one-shot series if it ever comes to it. Thank you for reading, sorry again for any mistakes.