Jennifer Jareau was the first person to cross the bullpen that morning. At an attempt to tackle the ever-growing pile of paperwork, before they were called away to another case, she had traded the family breakfast for a coffee and muffin to go. Though, that didn't mean she had missed vital time with her boys. After the sudden appearance of his old friend, Aaron had sent each member home early, ordering them to spend the time wisely. Each agent knew that he wasn't referring to paperwork, but to spending the time with whatever family and friends when they could given their often-hectic work patterns. Jennifer has done just that; by the end of the night, she was sure her boys must be bored of her.
She had barely touched her stack when Penelope pushed open the door to her office, taking the seat opposite her own and tapping her nails on the desk. Jennifer knew the woman well enough to tell that she had a secret she wanted to share; she also knew that the analyst was fighting with her conscience. Deciding to continue with her paperwork, Jennifer didn't make eye contact with Penelope.
The eccentric blonde's fingers stopped tapping after a while, an auditable exhale filling the office as she gave into her desire to gossip with her friend. Pushing her glasses back up her nose, she muttered, "I did a thing."
"What thing?" Jennifer asked, not looking up from the paperwork. While she, under any other circumstance, would have given her friend her undying attention, she had sacrificed her family breakfast to work at on the pile of files so she would be dammed if she didn't make a mark.
Penelope leaned forwards, tapping her fingers once more, "I may have gone back over everything I knew about Annabel Bradey."
In that moment, Jennifer's attention snapped, the paperwork no longer being her priority. The woman before her had promised the team that she wouldn't go back into their boss' personal life, each of them agreeing it was overstepping the boundaries that had been in place since they had all begun to work together. From a simple glance at Penelope's face it was clear that she felt guilty, but that didn't stop Jennifer's face from forming that of a disappointed mother.
"I know, I know, you don't have to give me that look," rambled the woman who was now fidgeting in her seat. "But I have confirmed that that is her, different hair colour but that is Annabel Bradey."
"A decade's a long time to be missing and remain alive." Jennifer announced running her fingers through her hair as she pushed her file to the side. "Was there any more information about the disappearance?"
Penelope shook her head, all that she had found had been the same as every other time she had looked. It was Aaron who had last seen her before his and Haley's wedding, and then nothing for ten years. Living off the grid was almost impossible, but somehow this woman had. That caused Penelope's mind to travel to the worst picture she had seen, most of the victims they saw were kept in horrendous conditions for small lengths of time before they were rescued or killed, but Annabel had been gone for a decade. To have been a captive prisoner for that long, she wondered how she was holding her relative sanity.
Looking at Jennifer, the bubbly woman added, "The missing person's report is still active too, Hotch hadn't changed the status."
"Maybe he's protecting her, she gave a fake name when she checked in yesterday. She had to be hiding from someone." Jennifer announced, her voice trailing off as she caught sight of her boss out the window; he was side by side with the woman at the centre of the current conversation. From where she was sat, Jennifer could tell that the woman was visibly exhausted and on edge. She was hugging her torso protectively, her eyes flickering through the open space as if she were waiting for someone to approach her maliciously.
"What are you looking-" Penelope's voice trailed off as she joined Jennifer's gaze. However, it wasn't the behaviour that she had noticed, but the way that the t-shirt she was wearing had been tied in a knot to stop if from handing too noticeably. From a quick glance, she knew the shirt must have been Aaron's. "That poor girl must have come with nothing."
"I wish I could do something to help," Jennifer stated, shaking her head at how little she was able to offer in support. "You should probably go back to work."
"I'll meet you for lunch," Penelope announced, not questioning in her tone. It had been the same since they had begun working together at the bureau, not once shifting while they were both in the same country. Yet, still, Jennifer nodded in response before returning to the paperwork.
Having lost track of time as she worked through the endless files, signing the necessary reports and sending her apologies to the offices that they couldn't help, Jennifer began to feel the all too familiar cramping in her legs. So, after determining that there was a conversation taking place in the bullpen, the Liaison locked her computer before exiting her office, with every intention to join the socialising members of the team. However, as she closed her office door, she noticed her boss crossing his office from the desk removing his jacket as he moved. When she saw him return to his seat, she assumed that the woman he had brought with him that morning had fallen asleep.
While they had all promised to grant Aaron his privacy, Jennifer knew that, if she didn't offer her help, she would never forgive herself. So, she changed her destination, placing a light knock on the door, hearing the man stand from his desk and cross the room she took the cue to gently push the door open.
"Is there a case JJ?" He asked, his voice low due to his fear of waking the woman, who had finally allowed herself to drift to sleep.
The blonde woman shook her head, "I wanted to let you know that, if you need it, I can help in any way you need. I can bring some clothes if you want."
"I would really appreciate that." He replied, gesturing for Jennifer to follow him into the office. "She only had what she came here in."
The employee nodded in understanding, noticing how he wouldn't go more than a few seconds without glancing back at the woman. Had she have been unaware of the situation; Jennifer would have come to the conclusion that her boss had become fixated and obsessed with the woman. However, from experience, she knew that Aaron was fiercely protective of those he cared deeply for. Annabel was clearly one of those people, he had held onto the hope that he would find her for the last decade which would have been nearing impossible had he have not felt strongly about the women.
"Hotch, you can't bring her here every day, what happens when we get called to a case?" Jennifer asked breaking the silence, her voice a whisper as to not risk waking the woman sleeping on the couch. She had seen how tired she had looked when she walked in and assumed that this was the first time she had let herself sleep, Jennifer wasn't about to ruin the rest of any other person. "She can't come with us."
"I can't leave her in the apartment alone, JJ, she's terrified." Aaron sighed, his eyes flicking to Annabel before returning to his blonde co-worker. "She didn't sleep last night; I woke up to her muttering apologies to a photo. When I sat beside her, not even asking her anything, she rushed away to the bathroom."
Jennifer let out a soft sigh, shaking her head lightly, "Do you have any idea what she's running from?"
"From what she said, she was targeted by a group who enticed her in and then kept her captive." Aaron explained, leaning against his desk. "I don't know how to handle this situation, JJ, I can't leave her unprotected."
Leaning next to her boss, Jennifer asked, "Have you thought about contacting the Marshals? If she's in danger they can take her into protective custody."
"She won't share enough," He shook his head, knowing that had the woman told him anything more then he could have helped her. The little information she had given had been enough for him to become aware of the danger she was in but had not been enough for him to be able to get aid from other agencies. That hadn't been an accident on her end.
"Are you sure she didn't tell you anything that indicated where she's been?" Jennifer asked, knowing that even careful people slipped up. Seeing him shake his head, she added, "No locations, cities or names?"
"She gave me a name." Aaron declared, having forgot about the start of their conversation the night before. "She said it wasn't his legal name, but Garcia could track any evidence of him under that persona."
Jennifer nodded her head, passing him a scrap of paper to write the name on. After he had written the name, the Liaison took it from his hand letting hers linger on his for a second. He nodded his head, silently thanking her for the support before returning to the file that was on his desk.
She left the room, glancing at the name she had been given. Even from a quick glance, she knew that the likelihood of the name being a given name was slight. The symbolism of both names was too much of a coincidence, especially from the other information that Aaron had given her. Gabriel Martyr was likely a charismatic leader, and Annabel Bradey was, in Jennifer's estimate, one of his many followers.