A/N: Here I am again! Thank you for those who reviewed, followed and everything. I'm excited to keep writing this story, already have a few chapters ahead and a couple oneshots I can publish sometime. I just need to know there are people reading it. I'm open for any suggestions as well.
Just a reminder, English is not my first language, so I know I'm bound to make lots of mistakes here, sorry for those.
This is a shorter chapter, just because it was needed. But the next one is longer, I promise.
She was so confused. Out of everything she had to endure in her short life, that unusual ride with her parents was the worst yet. Not because of the pain, or the fear, but because Roslyn wasn't there. She could endure anything, but she'd always be able to get up to school the next day, because of her sister. And little did she know her sister felt the same way, that she was the reason for her to get up every morning too. Maybe she would never know that, because it wasn't enough… JJ wasn't enough anymore, her sister had left her. All the little girl could think of was finding her sister, she needed to find her so she could be okay again.
"I said stop crying!" her mother yelled at her again "Lay down" she said from the passenger seat, trying to make the girl hide in the back seat's floor. She was trying to obey, she was trying her hardest, but the sobs just wouldn't stop scaping her soul.
"Make her shut up" her father said, and the mother turned on her seat to look back at the girl and smacked her firmly a couple times. "Where the hell will we go now?" she asked the man, who was visibly nervous and acting a little erratic.
"We gotta get rid of this car" he was looking around as he drove in a desert and rural area of the small town. He stopped the car suddenly and walked off, opening the backdoor to reach the little girl, pulling her to his hold "C'mon" he said, and they rushed towards the woods at the side of the dirt road
"Where are we going?" the mother asked noticing he knew where to go, but never told her anything
"Just hurry" he said, holding JJ tight in his arms "And you quit crying dammit!"
The sky was already dark, and the team was scanning the area around the place where the car was found, but yet no sign of the unsub or the girl. Emily was starting to panic, they should've found them by now, it had been hours since the mother had taken her and there was evidence that he had abandoned the car on the side of the road after picking Sandy and Jennifer Jareau at home after they left the station. A neighbor had seen them getting on the car and hadn't thought anything of it.
"This is taking forever; they could be anywhere now" she complained, and Hotch put a comforting hand on her shoulder
"We'll find them"
"Hey Hotch!" they heard Derek call and ran to him "There's an underground door here" the SWAT guys were working on getting the heavy metal door open. Hotch, Morgan and Prentiss got ready to clear the room, knowing that that type of room could be fitting for a trap. Derek was the first to enter and he was met with Michael very easily
"Get away or I'll kill her" he said, already waiting for them to invade the room, with the little blonde on his grasp, a big knife on her throat. Sandy Jareau was nowhere to be seen, but they'd have to worry about her later
"Michael, drop the knife" Derek warned as the other two agents got into the room. Hotch could see blood stains all over the ground, but JJ didn't seem to be bleeding so he concluded this was where he was keeping the girls before dumping them
"You won't take her from me"
"Michael…" Derek tried again, getting one step forward but he backed away
"No! I'll kill her I'm telling you"
"Michael listen" Emily tried "I know Roslyn wanted to take JJ away, but…"
"Jenny" he corrected her, and she nodded slowly, trying to make him feel reassured.
"She wanted to take Jenny from you right? But she had no right, she's yours" she started lowering her gun, showing him she was on his side "But now she's gone, she won't take Jenny away from you" she stepped forward
"Don't come closer" he pressed the knife harder on the girl's skin, and Emily looked at her, noticing how incredibly quiet she was, but yet she was still crying a lot, her face terrified; she was just used to be quiet when terrified, and that realization took another toll on the agent's heart.
"Michael, she can't take Jenny from you anymore. But you can't have her if you kill her" she tried again "You never wanted to kill her; you were only protecting what's yours right?"
"That's right, she's mine" he said, losing the grip on the knife a little. Derek started walking slowly around the room so he could tackle him from behind as Emily distracted him. Of course they wanted for him to just drop the knife, but they knew his obsession with the girl was too great for him to just let go of her, so he needed another plan of action.
"So just drop the knife, so you won't lose her" Emily kept going "She loves you, she'll keep loving you, but you have to let her live to keep getting her love back" she almost shuddered at saying this, knowing what he thought this love was.
"She will, won't she" he looked at the crying girl now "You'll always love daddy won't you?" the crying girl closed her eyes, hating his attention on her, but it was enough for him to forget a little about the knife and loose the grip on it a little more, so Derek could tackle it and take it away from him. Emily walked to JJ as Hotch walked around them and forced him to let go of the girl as they handcuffed him. The female agent took the girl on her arms and walked as fast as she could away from the room, knowing the girl didn't need any more amount of trauma to remember, while the infuriated man shouted her name and tried to get free from the agents.
JJ hid her face in the crook of Emily's neck and held her hard as she would do with Roslyn. Emily didn't know if she was injured, but she knew she wasn't severely injured, so she knew they wouldn't need to call in for an ambulance, thank god! So she took her to the SUV with her, away from all the commotion, until they could drive her to the hospital to get checked. She let Reid know where to find them and got into the SUV, in the backseat, little JJ still clinging to her fiercely. She turned the light on inside the car, so she could take a look at her
"It's over now" she said, caressing the girl's hair, while she still hid her face on the agent's neck "I promise you, he won't hurt you anymore okay? You're okay" she rocked her as she felt the crying grow lauder, and the sobbing started to shake the little girl's body. She felt safe enough to cry out loud, and that was somewhat a good sign, but it still broke Emily's heart "Shhh, shhhh, it's over now, it's over" she kept repeating and rocking her, not knowing how long they were there, until she felt the sobbing subsiding and she caressed the girl's back "Can you tell me if you're hurt honey?" she asked, but without an answer, so she just kept caressing her back and soothing her as best as she could.
Sometime later she saw the local police taking Michael to the car, so they'd drive him to the precinct. At the sight she put her hand on the back of JJ's head protectively, so she wouldn't take the risk of the child lifting her head up just in time to see her father again. "Shhh, it's okay now" she repeated again and again.
"Hey princess" Derek said, crouching beside the car door, making JJ jump a little at the sound of his voice
"It's okay, he's not gonna hurt you, he's our friend" she said, and the girl turned her head, still laying on Emily's shoulder, but enough to look at him. Her face stained with tears, her eyes blood-red, her features tired, but she wasn't crying anymore for now.
"Hey babygirl" he told her "We'll take care of you okay?" she didn't answer. He looked up at Emily "Hotch told us to go ahead to the hospital with her, he'll meet us there once he finishes up here" she nodded at him "Alright then" he closed the door gently and walked around the car to the driver's seat.
JJ was surprisingly very attached to Emily ever since she had gotten to her. Somehow she felt more at ease with the agent, in the absence of her big sister, Emily had been the best next thing to her anchor. The agent had to be with her for her checkup and held her until she finally gave in to the exhaustion afterwards.
"Hey" Derek said approaching her, alongside with an unknown woman, and Emily walked to the hallway, just outside the hospital room where the girl had fallen asleep in. "CPS is here" he said, referring to the lady, who offered her hand and Emily shook it
"Amanda Clarke, I'm the social worker in charge of the case"
"Her name is Jennifer" Emily said. She saw this every day, she knew it was common procedure, but she couldn't see JJ as another number, another victim or another case. The social worker nodded at her
"Right. Can we talk?"
"I'll go back to the waiting room; the team is on their way" Derek said, and Emily nodded at him.
"Okay, so I'll be handling Jennifer from now own. I'm looking for an emergency placement for her right now"
"She doesn't have any immediate family?"
"Unfortunately no. The mother, as you must already know, is still to be found, but even when we do find her, she won't be able to get custody back just yet" Emily looked inside the room, to be sure she was still sleeping. She didn't want her waking up alone, just to get scared. She crossed her arms and sighed
"Just yet? She won't get custody back never again, right?" she couldn't fathom the idea of the system allowing that girl to get back to that mother. The social worker shrugged
"Well, if she's not found guilty of any crime, or abuse, she might try to get her back" at that Emily caressed her temple with her right hand, the left one still crossed over her chest "Now all I need is the final report of the operation, so you'll be free to go. Your partner told me I should talk to you for the report"
"Actually" she said, stopping and looking at the little girl in the room again. She wanted this; she knew she did. But was it the best thing for JJ? What if she couldn't take proper care of her? She felt a cold in her stomach that she hadn't felt ever since she started dating Hotch. That fear of happiness, that fear of messing everything up. She looked back at the woman in front of her and, not noticing she was doing it, started to bite off her thumb's nail "I'd like to take her" that got the social worker's attention
"Is that right?" Emily only nodded, her heart beating faster by the minute
"Well, you need to have a –"
"I have a foster license" she cut the woman off
"Are you sure you want to do this? I can imagine that in your field of work things can be really busy. She's a troubled child, she'll need a lot of attention and care"
"She's not a troubled child" Emily was getting irritated with the woman, who had never even met the little girl, and yet was already dismissive of her "She's just traumatized, although she handles it much better than many adults I've met under this circumstances. And yes, I know she'll need attention. That's why I want to take her in, to be sure she'll be well taken care of. This little girl can't fall into the system, alone, after everything she just went through. I'm taking her in" the social worker nodded at that.
"Alright then. We should get to somewhere more comfortable to talk then, this conversation will take longer than I anticipated"
"Of course. But I really don't want to leave her alone right now. Can we talk about the details and paperwork tomorrow? The doctors said she'll be spending the night here anyway"
"Yes, we can do that. I hope you're sure about this decision" Emily looked back inside and nodded, biting her nail again; she was totally sure about this decision.
"Hey" Hotch arrived soon after, crossing paths with the social worker in the hallway with the rest of the team. He caressed her arms, knowing how tense she was, and kissed her head "How is she?" she sighed
"Physically she's dehydrated, she has extensive signs of abuse" she took a deep breath "Both physical and sexual" Kate looked sadly at the girl inside the room. She was expecting this, but hearing a little seven-year-old had been abused like that was always hard for anyone "She's too small for her age they say, but she doesn't have a medical history so they don't know if she might have any underlying health issues"
"How do you mean she doesn't have a medical history?" Reid asked and she shrugged
"I mean, she has history of a few things in the system. Her birth, an accident she had on school, but not much more. No vaccines, no check-ups" she said "So, the doctor said she'll have to have a lot of tests and everything, she thinks something might be wrong with her growth and that she shows signs of asthma. But it's not an emergency right now, so we can look into it later" she said, not even realizing she said we, but her friends noticed. They already knew of her intentions though and were happy she'd decided to follow through with it.
"How are you holding up?" Kate asked as Aaron pulled her closer to hold her in a caring side hug
"I'm okay. Just talked to the social worker, I'll try to take her home with me. So I'll have to be here for a few more days, you'll have to head home without me" she said with a little smile
"We're not going anywhere" Derek said "We won't get on that jet without our girls" he said, and it brought a smile to Emily's face, the way he added JJ to the equation
"Morgan is right. Besides, while we're here we might as well help in the search for the mother" Rossi said
"I… actually"
"What is it?" Hotch asked
"I need to know everything" she simply said, and they understood. She had to know everything about that little girl with who she felt so connected to for some reason. She needed to fill in the gaps, she wanted to know the entire history, the memories, the pain and also the laughter just as she had seen in that picture frame of her and Roslyn in her room.
"We'll check everything there is to check" Hotch assured her, and she leaned her head on his chest
"I have something actually, they found it back there" Reid said, taking a neckless from his pocket "I thought it might be hers" Emily looked at the golden neckless with a little heart in it.
"It is, I've seen her wearing it" she took it in her hands "Thank you Spence" he smiled at her. Derek's phone rang and he picked up, soon giving the phone to Emily, who heard an excited Penelope Garcia on the other side. She was no profiler, but even her had picked up on the signs that her friend was thinking about taking the girl home, and after asking Derek just to get no answer from him, she knew it was happening.
"Just tell me. Please, tell me" she said on the other side of the line, making Emily chuckle for the first time in a long while
"Tell you what?" she teased a little
"Oh c'mon! Will I be an aunty? I will, right? I can feel it" Emily's smile grew, and she nodded before she actually answered
"It's not definitive yet. I have a meeting with the social worker tomorrow" Garcia screamed in joy over the phone and declared:
"Wait for me, I'm coming"
The team headed for the hotel for much needed sleep, while Emily went back into the hospital room. She sat in the chair next to the bed, not even feeling the effects of exhaustion or stress. All she could do was watch that little girl, her little girl, sleeping. She looked even smaller, even more vulnerable. She hadn't said a word yet, and Emily was worried about how she would cope with everything.
She was pulled out of her thoughts when the girl started crying and trashing on the bed, and Emily jumped up, ready to sooth her
"Hey, hey sweetheart" she said, caressing her hair with one hand and holding her little hand with the other "Wake up baby, it's okay. It's okay, just a bad dream" JJ opened her eyes, her breath short, her heart beating far too fast "It's okay my love, just breathe, you're safe now" Emily cupped her cheek, just like Roslyn used to, and the girl looked at her. She could see the brown eyes looking caringly at her, they were warm and inviting. "You're safe now bug, no one will hurt you" she assured once more. The girl looked down and Emily sat on the bed beside her "How are you feeling my love?" she asked after a little while, but the girl just shrugged.
What was supposed to happen now? Jennifer was so confused… sleeping in that weird room, surrounded by strangers all the time, without her big sister to tell her how to act, or what would happen. Every time she closed her eyes she saw something that haunted her: her sister in a bloody bathtub, her father holding that knife to her neck or her mother smacking her while she tried to keep her cool at the car floor. She kept looking down at her hands, not knowing what to say to the nice lady beside her. She liked her, a lot. It was easy to feel good in her company, she helped her feel good… well feel better at least. But JJ still didn't know what that meant, how to act, what to say.
"I know this is all very confusing honey" Emily said after reading her behavior for a little while "But I promise you, everyone here only wants the best for you" she explained. And then Emily remembered what Reid had given her earlier "You know, I have something that belongs to you, I thought you'd want it back" she reached for the neckless and the girl looked up. As soon as Emily showed it to her, the girl grabbed it, her eyes filling up with water again "It's yours, isn't it?" she asked, knowing the answer, but needing to incentive the girl to communicate with her somehow. JJ nodded, still looking at the neckless in her tiny hands. "Do you want me to help you put it on?" big blue watery eyes looked up again as she nodded, tears falling down her face "Alright, let's see" and the woman helped her put it on. "It's beautiful, I can see why you love it so much" she tried again, expecting for an answer, but getting surprised at the answer she got.
Jennifer looked at her and leaned forward, hugging Emily tightly. The agent was a little taken aback, but embraced the child quickly, running her hand along her back soothingly, not saying anything more. They didn't need words right now, she understood. They needed this. They would be okay; Emily would make sure of it.
A/N: they found her! From now on it's a new life for our little family. Please, please, please review!