Chapter 7
JJ had laid with her friend for hours, rebuking anyone trying to take Emily away from her. The team from the funeral home had been very understanding but needed to take Emily away so they could free the bed up.
Morgan, Reid, Rossi and Hotch unceremoniously pulled JJ off the bed and out of the room to allow Emily to be taken away.
"No, put me down, you bastards," screamed JJ kicking out. "I can't leave her all alone." sobbed the upset blonde.
"Jayje, I will go with her for you." Morgan holding onto his own emotions, tells his blonde friend.
"I've got her agent Morgan." Trisha Kenyon smiled, taking hold of the now standing woman
Emily's friend pulls JJ into a tight embrace as they watch their friend wheeled away. Trisha leaned into JJ and whispered into her ear, instantly calming the emotional woman. The elevator doors close on Emily as if it was her final curtain call.
EJ
Rossi had offered to arrange the funeral, Emily wanted a small family send-off, not a vast ambassadorial arranged affair. JJ had agreed. She seemed to have quickly accepted the passing of her friend. She took long walks around her favourite park by herself every afternoon for the past few days; Emily's funeral was in three days.
Hotch knocked on Will and JJ's front door to check how his agent was coping with Emily's death.
"Hotch, come in." Will invited him in, still in pain but not grumbling
" Hi Will, how is she?" he asked
In reply, Will shrugged, " Keeping things bottled up, I am just waiting for her to blow up. She takes these long walks alone. I am concernd she is not dealing with Emily's death. It seems she is on a case focused on finding her UnSub. It's all locked away in a box somewhere in her pretty little head. I think she needs to get back to the BAU to work and support from her work families." he told Hotch
Hotch smiled at the worried man " I agree; I am asking her to come back after the funeral. Hopefully, being back at work will give her a new focus." Hotch told Will just as the front door opened
"Hotch, what are you doing here?" asked a surprised blonde. "sorry that sounded rude."
He smiled " Come to check how you're getting on JJ; how are you doing?" asked an unusually emotional boss
"I feel great, sad. I miss her, Hotch. My walks help centre me; I haven't required any medication. I could return to work after the funeral." smiled JJ; "Emily has rubbed off on me." she smirked
"Ok, Jennifer, you can return to work after the funeral," Hotch told her.
Hotch brushed the brick dust from the arm of her jacket.
"Thanks, must have brushed against something while I was walking." shrugged JJ
EJ
Emily laid resplendently in her pure white casket with silver handles; JJ approached carrying a single white rose. Placing the rose on her chest, she leant down and kissed Emily on her lips and forehead before whispering into her ear. Turning, she wiped the tears from her cheeks as she walked back to Will and Henry. Will took henry and walked towards Emily lifting his son to see his aunty, Emmy. Henry tucked a stuffed rhino onto her pillow and kissed his favourite aunt on the cheek " Bye, Aunt Emmy. Love you." Sniffed Henry
Will picked his son up and handed the crying boy back to his mother.
Will returned to the casket and kissed Emily on her forehead. " Thank you, Emily; you saved Henry and me but damn you for dying." Sniffed the usually stoic detective. Will takes Henry out to give JJ a little privacy.
Popping a couple of pills into her mouth and dry swallowed
" I am not handling things as well as everyone thinks, Emily; you sacrificed everything to protect my family. Thank you, sweetheart. I love you. My turn to repay my debt." JJ kissed her friend for the last time and walked out.
The emotional family of three walked out, ready for the funeral in the morning.
EJ
Stood by the graveside, everyone watched the casket lowered into the graveāthe grey headstone in place, marking Emily's last resting place. Feeling sad, JJ walked away to attend to the wake.
Walking around talking to a few of Emily's friends from her Interpol days, JJ decided she needed some air.
Rossi walked up to Will. "Will, do you know where JJ is?" he asked, "Someone would like to say goodbye to her
"No, she might have stepped outside; she seems to find it calming," he answered. Pulling out his cell phone, he called his wife. He went straight to voicemail. Beckoning the nearby Garcia across
"Can you do your thing and find JJ's cell phone? please, Penelope." will be asked
Moving over to the table, Garcia used the find my phone app on her iPhone; she had all the team members phones registered for simple requests like this morning. Pressing JJ's phone, she waited for the location.
"It is here within three meters of me." she indicated her current position.
Will noticed her coat folded on the seat of a chair; with a quick check, he found her phone that had been silenced.
"She wants to be by herself. I think she finds it calming. She has done it since Emily died. We shouldn't worry and leave her alone." Will told everyone
Understanding everyone happily gave her the space she needed.
EJ
Walking into the abandoned underground workshop in an overgrown and disused area in her park JJ smiled
"Thank you, Trisha." smiled JJ Looking at her new friend
" My pleasure, Jennifer, for Emily. She was my friend as well; here are more tablets. Are they working?" Trisha asked concerned
" Yeah, they take the edge off. Clyde came through as promised," asked JJ
"You now know the agency owns you now?" Trisha asked
The Blonde FBI agent just smiled, looking at Jodie Black tied to a stout wooden chair very much like Emily. Well, if she was honest, JJ had copied everything from crime scene pictures over the past few days. Her walks in the park had found this hidden gem.
Two FBI agents had taken Jodie Black from Metro PD with the correct paperwork to interview her at Quantico. Both men were agents but from another alphabetical agency. The two men were members of a specialist unit working for Clyde Easter. The stolen FBI suburban was now a burning hulk. surveillance had been jammed at the police station far too easily
"Unfortunately, your bitch of a mother is already dead laying on the mortuary slab. Your brother will rot in prison for a while. But prisons can be very dangerous places. You are mine Jodie Black. When I'm finished with you, you will be twenty pounds of smouldering black ash. Never to be seen again, just a file on the cold case shelf." JJ calmly told the woman responsible for Emily's death.
Flashback four days ago
"I'm going for my walk. See you soon, love you," JJ shouted
Walking straight to her subterranean workshop JJ smiled as Trisha handed her a coffee. "Meds working?" asked Trisha
"Yeah, thanks for helping me out unofficially." smiled the blonde
The two women secured the wooden chair to the floor using large bolts. Dust flying everywhere, JJ motioned for Trisha to sit. She was securing her legs to the chair and using the shackles to secure her hand behind the chair.
" Try and get free," asked JJ
Trisha tried her hardest, but everything held firmly. Once released, she showed JJ a black gas mask and three attachments, two discs and a bag. JJ looked puzzled.
"Put it on." she smiled
Putting the gas mask on, JJ was breathing normally; Trisha screwed a disc with holes into the inlet valve of the mask. Forty seconds later, JJ ripped the mask from her head, gaspIng for breath.
"What the hell?" asked the gasping blonde
Trisha showed her the disc with seven holes drilled in; it massively reduced the air you breathe in the second disc reduced it further. This rebreather bag allows her to breathe her exhaled breath. Each exhaled breath reduces the oxygen and increases the carbon dioxide.
"Without water Jennifer, it's the best we can do." Trisha smiled " When we're done, Clyde will send the cleaners in, Black will be cremated, and 20 pounds of ash three hours later."
"I'd better get home; Will understands my need to be on my own, Henry not so much; he thinks Emily will turn up again like last time. I wish she would walk through the door after pretending to be dead. I'd give anything to hold her again." signed JJ "see you tomorrow."
End flashback.
The ordinarily mild-mannered blonde profiler looked at the bound woman with utter contempt, remembering Emily's struggle to survive her injuries and remembering every moment in that hospital. Jennifer Jareau wanted vengeance, and this family had tortured her friend and husband. Unfortunately, the main culprit was already dead.
Slipping the gas mask over her face, JJ screwed a disc into the inlet valve and looked into Jodie's eyes. " It's not water, Jodie, but it works just as well for my intentions," JJ told her.
Pulling up a chair to watch Black struggling for air, her head moving side to side as if she was trying to suck in more oxygen. It was as if JJ had buried all her forgiveness with Emily earlier.
" I only wish I had the time to spend with you, Jodie, but alas, I am a busy woman. Once I attach this bag to your mask, I think you have around ten minutes before you suffocate. Don't worry; you will meet Aiden again in about six months." JJ told her in a cold tone
JJ attached the bag to the valve " For Emily, enjoy hell bitch." Trisha told the struggling woman.
Emily's two friends watched every breath Jodie took until her final one. Making sure she was dead, Trisha just nodded to JJ. " She has gone, Jennifer." she just told her. "Time for you to go wandering."
EJ
"Thank you, Clyde," JJ told him as she walked out
"This is for Prentiss, Jareau. I was a bastard. To her, my debt is paid. Six months Jareau." Clyde told her.
Without any further hesitation, JJ walked out without looking at the body of Jodie Black and walked to her overgrown disused fountain she had found a few months ago. Aiden Black would be dead in six months, her revenge completed. For his help, JJ had promised Easter after Aiden Black died, she would transfer to his unit permanently from the BAU. A small price to pay, she thought.
JJ finally let go of her Feelings as she sat on the old broken bench in her quiet place by her fountain.
Four men walked in and collected the body of Jodie Black. She was unceremoniously placed into a large plastic bin and wheeled to their van. Ten minutes after she died, Jodie was on her way to be cremated, and the underground workshop was well alight after the small methlab exploded.
All evidence of wrongdoing was obliterated.
EJ
Returning inside after answering his cell phone, Hotch beckoned over his team members.
" Jodie Black has disappeared. She was taken from Metro PD by two FBI agents with the correct documentation for questioning at Quantico. She never arrived at Quantico. There wasn't any request for her to be moved to Quantico. The agents were fake; all surveillance cameras seemed to be inoperable." a sudden thought hit Hotch, 'JJ.'
Rossi looked to Will after having a similar thought "where is JJ?" he asked
" Out wandering around the park. You can't think she has anything to do with this?" Will asked in disbelief
"Garcia! Can you locate JJ in the park?" Rossi asked
Typing away, pulling up the required video feed with ease, she found JJ wandering around the small lake for hours, and she now sat shivering on the grass crying. She has been walking in the park for hours. Garcia told everyone.
EJ
Trembling as she sat on the grass, she was now live again on the security cameras. Her wondering over the last few days had been choreographed, allowing enough camera footage to loop the feed for her to disappear long enough to deal with Black without actually departing.
"Mrs LaMontagne?" asked the Metro PD officer
Looking up, JJ just nodded as she shivered.
" Come with me, Ma'am. Let's get you in our squad and warmed up. I recognised you from the station. I am sorry about your agent." The officer told her as he called her to stand.
" Thank you." smiled the blonde
The two kind officers Dropped her off outside her house. Garcia pulled the blanket covered blonde into her arms.
"Do not disappear like that again, do you hear me? You had me worried, gumdrop." Garcia chastised her
"Sorry, Penelope. I needed to be by myself for a while. I didn't mean to frighten you." JJ told her friend as she was escorted back inside.
Hotch pulled his agent aside and informed her about Jodie Black's disappearance.
" We need to find her, Hotch. She needs to pay for what she did to Emily." sniffed JJ
Hotch couldn't detect any sign of guilt on JJ's face, just utter sorrow for the loss of Emily, her friend.
EJ
Six months later, Aiden Black started his daily weight training session in the prison gym. He lifted his barbells while he laid down on the bench. He completed two repetitions; he felt a sharp pain down his left arm, his vision blurred, abruptly, he felt central crushing chest pain. He cried for assistance knowing the guards watched the gym on the CCTV system.
The guard watching the gym just cycled the camera feed to the next camera, ignoring inmate Black. Ten minutes later, he raised the alarm. The Prison medical staff arrived in time to pronounce him dead from what looked like a heart attack,
The correctional officer, now debt-free from his bookies, his knee caps safe. He had no qualms turning a blind eye.
EJ
Sitting at her desk in the bullpen, her cell phone beeped. JJ read her message
'Remember Initially People should drink more coffee.
50% off all espresso shots
A free muffin with every super large.'
The message was innocuous. JJ just looked at the first letter of the first three words
R-I-P
Aiden Black was dead. Only one thing remaind for her to do. Printing out the correct document, she signed it and walked up to Hotch's office.
He beckoned JJ in before she knocked. Without any hesitation or regret, she handed her request for reassignment over with a smile. Her revenge on the Black family was now complete,
He looked up, surprised, after reading her Request.
"CIA, Really, Jennifer." asked a very shocked Hotch. "You're leaving us?"
" I need a fresh start Hotch; I tried, but I still see Emily everywhere. I leave Friday." She smiled
EJ
Closing down his computer screen with a smile, Clyde Easter had received official FBI confirmation Jennifer Jareau was now officially a member of his unit. With one final glance at the two personnel files open on his desk, he closed them placing his Hands-on top of the folders. He opened his 15-year-old malt whisky, toasting the folders on his desk.
" Cheers, They won't understand how much danger they are in before it's too late. Your plan is perfect. Operation Inamorata commences in three weeks. You go dark in five days. The initial meet is set for six weeks. Stop profiling me." smiled Clyde
The End, for now
