Chapter 4: Humiliated

A shiver that almost seemed ironic ripped through JJ's body as she pulled the thin blanket closer around her body. It barely covered as much as she really needed to cover, regardless she still couldn't help the sheepish glance she gave to the camera in the corner. Holding the blanket tightly under her arms, she moved stiffly to sit on the bottom bunk.

She had been adamant about accepting this assignment, adamant about proving herself, but the stubbornness that fueled those reasons fled her consciousness the longer she sat and stared at the ground with goosebumps attacking her skin.

But JJ had always felt like an inner war was raging inside her, like the boiling conflict would never stop overwhelming her and her attempt to make decisions. So she pretended to emotionally detach like Reid, so she could "run the statistics", analyze the risks, judge the necessity, and decide if staying undercover was worth it.

"That ugly, skinny bitch with a birth certificate that might as well be an apology from the condom factory-"

"Garcia, what is it?" Reid interrupted through the speakerphone in Garcia's office.

"I watch the jail cameras from my intelligence lair whenever one of you can't, right?"

"Right…"

"Well, that sorry excuse of a woman in charge of JJ's block just took JJ's clothes and left her in her cell with only a blanket."

"You're not serious-"

"I am serious, boy genius, now somebody needs to get her some damn clothes." Garcia bit back a wave of emotion barely being held by a mask of anger. "This is inhumane."

"I'll fix it, thanks, Penelope."

"The guard has already put in an order for clothes and your agent's clothes are in the wash right now. That's all I know and it's all I could ask without looking suspicious." The chief jailer responded to Hotch and crossed his arms over his chest. "Believe it or not Agent Hotchner, I am trying to keep your agent safe as much as you are. I'm doing what I can on this end, you do yours."

"As long as yours involves firing the incompetent guard responsible for this." Hotch shot back before walking out of Chief Jailer Allen's office.

Hotch's clothes were casual, as casual as the stoic man could muster, as were his teams. After a bit of background work and help from Garcia, Hotch had been able to keep the rest of the team inside the jail as a documentary crew.

Inmates would recognize Emily and Rossi, so they would to do more of the background work while he and Reid would conduct interviews among inmates- specifically JJ. This would help the team stay in contact with her to get intel.

Hotch strode with purpose down the hallway and into the security room where Emily was sitting and examining the lines of cameras.

"Hotch, JJ hasn't left her cell all day. I just got here so I'm not sure-"

"I'll explain in a minute. Where on here is JJ's cell?"

Emily pointed her finger at the screen right in the middle. Hotch leaned across the desk to get a better look.

"That's the best we can see in her cell?"

Emily slightly nodded. "It's a mix of poor technology and poor placement."

"That leaves nearly half of her cell unmonitored and what we can see is blurry at best," Hotch muttered and pushed off the desk as Emily gave him a weird look. "It's a safety issue, especially if JJ gets a cellmate."

Emily shook her head and looked back at the screens. "Garcia can see better on her end. She is working on it but there's only so much she can do with these dinosaur screens… why hasn't JJ left her cell?"

Hotch exhaled deeply. "Thanks to the camera, you can't tell, but JJ has been left in her cell without clothes all day."

"What the hell?" Emily pushed herself up from the swivel chair.

"Prentiss, I am as angry as you are." He sighed and turned to leave. "Clothes are being sent to her now. When we get a chance to pull her for an interview we can talk to JJ more about this." As he began to walk through the door he heard a mumble disguised as a grimace echoing between the two agents. "And that guard better hope the only thing she loses is her job."

JJ sprung from the bed and clutched the blanket against her chest even tighter than she thought possible. She let out a small breath as she recognized Morgan in his uniform. He pulled the door shut behind him and JJ watched him immediately stop in his tracks as he realized she wasn't wearing anything beneath the blanket. His mouth fell agape and JJ searched for the words to explain away this situation that didn't make her feel any more humiliated than she already did.

JJ opened her mouth and stiffened. "A guard- I didn't have any extra clothes and she took mine to get washed-"

"Oh JJ," Morgan shook his head.

"What are you doing? You shouldn't be here."

Morgan didn't respond, he just stared at JJ's eyes and watched as her exterior slowly crumbled. She had been holding back the tears all day, but as she saw Morgan standing there, her eyes betrayed her and she choked on a sob. Tears flowed down her rosy cheeks and Morgan took one step forward to kneel at her side. JJ flinched as she remembered the incredibly vulnerable situation she had been placed in and squeezed her eyes shut for far longer than she meant to. Her lip trembled as she opened her eyes and watched Morgan's hand hover above her bare knee. It was an unsaid request for permission to comfort her, but again JJ couldn't help the sob and Morgan instead wrapped his arms around her shoulders, making sure to keep the blanket pressed between them.

It took a second but JJ, with one hand, finally let go of her death grip and wrapped her free arm underneath his arms.

"This is humiliating," JJ mumbled into his shoulder. Her body lightly shook against his even though she tried desperately to control the tremor. "But you know you can't stay here any longer."

Still, she cringed as he pulled away. Already she missed his smell, the way his arms comforted her, the heat he brought to her stripped skin.

"I'm sorry." He whispered and stood up to glance out the small door window then reached for the handle. "I'll fix this. Do you want to be taken out?"

"I just- right now- I just want some clothes."

A/N: Hi... and I'm so sorry for taking so long. I had to get another surgery :/ i hope you enjoyed this update and hopefully I'll see you all again soon!