Hey all, here is the next chapter for this fic. Again, I want to send a quick thank you to all of the people who have favorited and/or followed this story. It means a lot to me and I genuinely hope I am meeting your expectations. I hope you enjoy and please remember to review. Happy reading. x
All rights go to the owners of Criminal Minds, except for my original character.
Not Like This
Chapter Six: Minor Breakthroughs
"We need to talk."
Jamie's eyes stayed glued to the pair of hazel ones in front of her. Her head slowly nodding, she made action to take off her jacket, placing it on her lap. "Okay."
The pair sat in silence for what felt like more than ten minutes. Awkwardness quickly made itself welcome in the atmosphere, filling the cracks in the loud silence. Sometimes, all a person needs is thirty seconds of insane bravery. It's scary and it's risky, but nothing is going to fall into your lap.
"We can't let this affect us the way it has been." Jamie spoke, sending the awkwardness back where it came from.
"I agree." Spencer relied, folding his hands together on the small table that was separating them. "And I'm sorry."
Jamie twisted her neck slightly to the side, making her curiosity obvious. "What do you have to be sorry for, Spencer?"
"I haven't exactly been the best welcoming party," he began. "but, I need you to understand that you showing up like this, after all these years, it-it's a lot to handle."
"No, trust me. I do understand that. I'm sorry, too. This isn't exactly how I imagined seeing you again."
Jamie could tell that caught the guy off guard. "…you thought about that?" he questioned, his words quiet.
Jamie swallowed the lump that was building in her throat. "Yeah. It's always been more of a 'what could've been; feeling. You know?"
"Yeah."
The two people having a small discussion were holding back. They both had loud minds, they weren't the type of people to shut down too easily.
"I guess I just want to know why." Spencer stated.
Jamie didn't need an explanation. She slouched back into her seat and sighed. "You know why."
"Not really. I think I'm entitled to some kind of explanation here."
Jamie scoffed, sending her eyes to look out the window. "I don't think this is the place to have the heart to heart you're looking for, Spencer."
He rolled his eyes at that. "I'm not looking-one answer, Jamie. That's all I'm asking for."
"One answer to one question?"
"Yes.."
Jamie sat forward, sitting closer to Spencer. "One question."
Spencer wasted no time asking a question that Jamie thought he had ben harboring for years. "Why did you leave?"
"I wanted out."
"I don't believe you." he abruptly said.
"Why not?"
"Because I know you. You can try to argue that it's been ten years and that I might not know you at all now, that you've changed. But you haven't…"
"Is that an insult or a compliment?" Jamie questioned, emotions starting to rise.
"Take it whatever way you want. I just think we need to lay all of our card on the table. We work together, this cannot interfere with the job."
"You already know I feel the same way about that."
"But you're not talking about it, are you?"
"Did I not just answer your question?" Jamie tried to argue back, trying to keep her voice down as she spoke.
"Yes, you did."
"…so?"
"I don't think you're being honest with me."
"Oh, please. Don't try and use your profiler tricks on me."
"I'm not trying anything." Spencer replied.
"Fine. How do you want to do this?"
"I think it's going to take time, but eventually things will even themselves out. It'll be easier later on."
"So, maturity and professionalism?"
"It's a start."
Jamie sat back in her seat, crossing her legs and her arms. "Well, Dr. Reid," she began, heavy mockery in her tone. "this should be fun."
Three Weeks Later:
May 13th, 2014
Jamie was lucky, blessed, and she knew that. She was smart, engaged with her job and she took advantages in life whenever she could. Her hard work led her to the positions she currently held and nothing made her happier. She beamed at the beautiful sight of her dream job and her passion melting together. Every day, she got up and went to work, chasing down serial killers, people who do damage to the world. When she was younger, Jamie knew that her career would be a big part of her life. Even though some small and rather vast sacrifices had to be made, whether both parties liked it or not, the ambitious girl went through with her jagged path.
What happened was always lingering in the air when the two of them spoke, even when they were just in the same room as one another.
Leaving a certain chapter and a certain someone behind, left an ache in Jamie's heart for a while. She understood that one of the hardest times in her life, would be transition from one person to the next. Jamie was never scared of the unexpected, she embraced it and all its chaotic glory. The unexpected lead her to places she had never planned to be, it challenged her to be a better version of herself and to adapt. For the times that her world seemed to be moving too fast, Jamie would stop and evaluate everything she came to face. She's be lying if she said that at times, she didn't feel lonely, but that was okay. Everything that is lonely, has its own company. Her mind would skip backwards, to the parts of her past that she didn't like to think about too much. She told herself that not everything is going to have a happy ending or turn out beautifully. People in your life are supposed to come and go, right? They show you the right, the wrong, the good, the bad and every piece in between.
It was time to start something new and trust the magic of new beginnings.
But that's hard to keep doing when ancient history knocks on your door.
Her eyes took a minute to adjust to the bright lights inside the jet. Being called into a case in the middle of the night was nothing new since she started a few weeks prior, but Jamie was still kind of getting used to it.
The team stepped onto the plane, files and tablets in hand. They all took their seats, ready for the debriefing that Garcia was about to provide them with.
"This young boy was found two hours ago, in the middle of nowhere. Technically, he was found outside of Crawford, Arizona. The point is, that this poor kid has clearly been the hell and back, escaping some sort of captivity." Garcia explained.
Jamie was from Arizona, so naturally, it hooked her attention even more than usual.
"How do we know he wasn't just dropped off there?" Morgan asked, observing the pictures in his file.
"The boy has fresh cuts on the bottoms of his feet from the cactus fields, and that's away from any of the through roads. His skin is rubbed raw around his ankles from chains."
"He must've had a chance to escape and took it."
"Pretty brave if you ask me." Jamie thought to herself. She pulled several pictures from her file, flipping through them, her eyes catching one in particular, while breaking her heart into pieces. "Look at his eyes. Jaundiced, who knows how long it's been since he's seen daylight."
"And all of the scars…" Prentiss pointed out.
"Those are just the ones that you can see, too."
"Hard to tell for certain, but he looks to be maybe about thirteen?" JJ wondered.
"Garcia, are there any missing children in that area?" Spencer asked.
"None until now, but, you probably have more information than I do." Garcia replied.
"Yes. Earlier tonight, another boy was reported missing in Flagstaff." Hotch informed.
"That's not that far from Crawford. I doubt that's a coincidence." Rossi spoke up, shaking his head.
Jamie cleared her throat. "It actually could be a coincidence. Arizona has the lowest abduction rate in the country, but the chances of these two cases not being related is…slim."
"Have you been back to Arizona?" Spencer questioned Jamie, looking curious to know.
Jamie shook her head. "Nope. Not since before college."
"What part?" Morgan questioned.
"Phoenix., Scottsdale area."
"Yeah, so Child Abduction Rapid Deployment will meet you when you all land." Garcia informed.
"The Flagstaff abduction is Billy Henderson, he's thirteen." Hotch provided. "His parents say he was coming home from a friend's house after dinner and he never made it."
"They've set up road blocks, but the unsub has a head start."
"Right now, our best chance at finding Billy Henderson is to figure out what the first victim knows." JJ pointed out.
"Exactly. Carter and JJ, I want you two to go to the hospital, see if you can get through to him. The rest of us will set up at the police station." Hotch instructed. "Losing victims like this enrages unsubs, there's no telling what they'll do to Billy."
Arriving at the hospital, Jamie didn't know what to expect. Just from the pictures alone, she knew that her and JJ would have a rough time getting through to the boy.
The two agents walked up to a nurse's station, flashing the badges. "I'm SSA Carter, this SSA Jareau. We're with the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit. We were called in about a boy that was brought here."
The nurse knew exactly who they were referring to. She called the boy's doctor down, meeting with the agents. They began walking, discussing the nature of the child's injuries.
"You should know that I haven't been able to get close enough to examine his scars or any other injury he has." The doctor informed. "He has the most severe case of C.E.R. I've ever seen."
"That's so much worse than PTSD." Jamie voiced, concern growing in her voice.
"The adrenaline rush helped him escape, but coming down from it is going to be just as extreme."
"And he's sensitive to light and sound, correct?" JJ questioned.
"Yes. We're keeping it as dark and as quiet as we possibly can for him. He's also been somewhere very cramped. His legs show signs of advanced arthritis."
"Any idea how old he is?"
"It's hard to tell since his growth has been stunted." the doctor informed. "He's got major tooth and skin decay, a clear vitamin D deficiency."
"What's your best guess?" JJ pushed, halting her walk in front of the doctor as they approached the room.
"…maybe sixteen?"
JJ and Jamie nodded, showing their badges to the on-guard officer. They slowly entered the room together, seeing it looked empty. The curtains were closed, making the room dark, just as the doctor had warned. They walked in a little further, careful not to scare the boy as they saw him hiding under a table in the corner.
Jamie pulled her shirt over her gun, not knowing if the object would give the boy a heart attack. The two female agents took a few more steps closer, bending down to get a closer look at the boy. They shared a quick glance, Jamie taking the lead.
"Hi." She spoke in a soft, sweet voice. "My name is Jamie and this is my friend Jennifer."
"You're safe here." JJ said, her voice just as gentle as Jamie's.
The boy ignored them, pushing himself farther into the corner.
"The doctor told us you haven't been eating much." JJ continued. "Are you thirsty?" she asked, grabbing the water bottle from the tray next to her. She took the bottle and carefully extended it to the boy. Immediately, he slapped it out of her hand, causing Jamie and JJ to jump at the action.
"Okay, okay." JJ said, rushed but calm. "It's okay."
Jamie stared at the boy, she couldn't help it. "JJ, this is years of conditioning." she whispered. "We need Garcia go back all the way to two-thousand for missing children."
"Okay." The blonde agent agreed, sparing one last glance at the traumatized boy. She stood up and made her way out of the room.
Jamie sighed, positioning herself in a more comfortable place on the ground. Her green eyes didn't leave the boy as he stayed in his corner. She rubbed her eyes after minutes of complete silence, and she was ready to try again. "I know you're scared and you probably think that whoever did this to you, can get to you again. That they'll come back for you, but I can promise you right now, that's not true. He'd have to go through a lot of trouble to do that, and my friend and I wouldn't let that happen."
She kept her eyes on the boy, who to her surprise, looked in her direction. She offered him a small smile, trying to be reassuring to the boy. Jamie could see that he let go of some of the tension in his body, his limbs stretching out beyond the borders of the shadow from the table.
"I work for the FBI." Jamie started, hoping to build some sort of trust. "Ever since I could remember, that's all I wanted to do." She laughed to herself, thinking about her younger years. "I guess I could blame those cliché cop shows or the movies, but it's nothing like that. We help people-real people, like you."
The boy looked at her, his gloomy eyes meeting hers. A hint of hope sprang through her body.
"Should I push further?" she wondered.
"Aren't you a little crowed over there?" Jamie made her voice and her expressions were as easy-going as possible. "You can come out, you know. Nothing's going to hurt you anymore."
One minute
Two
Three
Four
Five minutes
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
If Jamie wasn't sure about her approach to the boy, she was now. After ten dragging minutes, the boy started to slowly inch his way out of the table. He slid slowly and hesitantly across the floor, placing himself against the wall.
Jamie couldn't help but smile at him. "That's good." she whispered to him. "I'm going to stay right here, you move wherever you want to, okay?"
The boy responded with a nod.
Jaime readjusted herself on the floor, sitting up straighter. Her eyes wondered around the room, taking in the dullness. She didn't want to push too far, scared that the boy could scower back to the corner if she made a wrong move. Jamie was aware of the boy's limits, so she left the heavy lifting to herself. He was clearly listening to what she was saying and in her book, that was a win. Offering another smile, this time bigger, she said looked at the boy and asked, "Want to hear a funny story?"
Thanks for reading and please remember to review. I would really appreciate it.
If you like Supernatural, check out my work(s): The Unforeseeable Life of Alexandra Winchester & Alexandra Winchester: One-Shots
