Ok, prepare, 'cause this is going to be a pretty long Author's Notes.
First of all, thanks for all the wonderful reviews. Since the story is now at its climax, with everyone finding out, it's great to read what people think about it. I'm glad y'all enjoy it!

Second, I am sorry I am so late with updating. Almost a month! On the other hand, this is the longest story I have ever written (fifty-three pages in Word now. I mean, the longest story before that was maybe seven pages long, and not half as popular and interesting). I could say I have been too busy, but that wouldn't be the whole truth. I have been busy, with tests every day and homework to occupy me if I didn't have any tests (I actually have one tomorrow. Maybe I should start learning...). But I've also had to take care of some depressed friends (I'm not the person to say no to that. How could I after writing this fanfic?) and a pretty hectic household. Plus, the date where I'm going to undertake the biggest journey I've ever made is coming closer ... Ok, that may sound too dramatic, but two weeks in America is really, really exotic for me. And I am leaving in less than two weeks, so I have to prepare for that, too.
And, the last point, I need to be in the right mood. I was kind of stuck at a difficult point, and just wrote little pieces. But now at least I can present you this chapter!

To remind you all: JJ freaked out and Hotch comforted her, think along the lines of the great scene where Peter comforts Shelby during the hike (I kind of based this scene upon that one). JJ kind-of-talked to Garcia and they found the unsub, Daniel Adams.

Now I will stop babbling and hopefully you will start enjoying this chapter!

It was instantly clear to all of them that Daniel Adams was the unsub. Emily, Hotch and Morgan went to his home to arrest him. JJ could not do anything until they had a confession, so she waited aimlessly for the others to return. She consciously stayed away from Garcia and instead talked to Reid, a conversation that was mostly meant to pass time. She knew that Reid wouldn't pressure her to talk more if she didn't want to. It was just something he did, just like the fact that he always wore two different socks.

She looked up immediately when she heard the sudden silence that usually followed when a team entered with the unsub. And indeed, she saw Hotch, Em and Morgan entering with the guy who had caused all of this. JJ was surprised by the surge of anger that went through her. She was glad to see that the team wasn't very easy on him, either. Even from this distance, she could see the look of pain on Adams' face, and couldn't help but feel satisfied.

When they passed her, he took her in with an approving look, and she gave him the dirtiest glance she could muster. He didn't wince, but she could see in his eyes he had understood the sign.

She sighed when he was out of hearing range. It was over. The unsub was caught, now the healing process could start. It would take a long time for the women to accept what happened to them, but JJ knew it would never really go away. She wanted to help these women, but knew she couldn't. She was a stranger, an agent and someone they wouldn't easily trust. Friends and family would be more helpful, and JJ could only wish that their families would be more supportive than her own had been.

But she had the others, she thought. Her unofficial family. First Peter and Sophie, and now the team. She didn't know whether it was normal for teams to be so close, so much like a family, but she enjoyed it. They all needed people who understood them at times, who understood the feelings and their passion for their jobs.

Lost in her thoughts, she hadn't noticed Emily coming back from bringing in the unsub. The brunette watched JJ for a while, noticing she looked more relaxed now that the secret was out. Nothing concrete had been said, but they all knew what it meant. She was the only one who knew the details, even if she suspected JJ still hadn't told her everything.

It didn't matter. If JJ wanted to tell her the rest, she would be there for her. If she didn't, she would be there for her, too.

She couldn't imagine going through what her friend had gone through, and surviving the way she had. Among all the other feelings she had, pride and admiration certainly were two of them.

When JJ straightened up, they were both pulled out of their thoughts.

"Hey," Emily said softly, sitting down at the desk. She didn't ask whether JJ was okay, because she already knew the answer to that. Besides, it was a question you could get sick of if heard too often.

"You feeling better now?" she finally asked, cringing inwardly at the childish sound of her words.

JJ didn't mind. Glancing up, she smiled at Emily. "Better," she confirmed, and Emily nodded gratefully. She did notice the confused look in JJ's eyes, though, and knew that not all was well now, that the team knowing didn't solve the problems. The nightmares wouldn't go away, and Emily had had her fair share of experience in that particular field.

She lightly squeezed JJ's shoulder, aware that Reid was in the room as well and that he was confused by their level of intimacy. "It'll get better," she said softly, hoping her words would come true some day.

JJ merely nodded, not able to find the right words to say to Emily. Instead, she settled for a smile and a look she hoped said everything.

They were interrupted by a very excited Penelope, who was walking straight towards them. "Exactly the ones I was looking for," she said, smiling mischievously. "The bad guy is caught, we're finished here and I'm dying to know who you were thinking of earlier, Jay," she said, winking at JJ. Emily looked curiously between the two of them.

"Did I miss something?" she asked, her eyes on Garcia.

"You'll hear all about it later on," Garcia answered. "We're going out, just the girls," she then announced. JJ smiled ruefully.

"Pen, I told you, I'm not really in the mood -"

Garcia cut her off. "You don't have to be, we're just going to enjoy a quiet time without the men hovering over us," she said. "No offence, genius," she said to the other occupant in the room. "But sometimes we girls need some time on our own." She grabbed Emily by her elbow, determined to make this a pleasant afternoon for her friends.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Emily muttered, surrendering. She wasn't sure if it was a good idea to have JJ out in the open like that, but she seemed to have no other choice.

JJ followed her, sensing that she needed to someday. She couldn't hide for the rest of her life. Her fear was rather illogical and rationally, she knew that what happened to her didn't change anything about the good and bad guys out there, just her view of them.

They ended up at a small place, quite far away from the police station to make sure they wouldn't run into anyone they knew. JJ wasn't sure she liked the way Garcia treated this 'girl time'. It reminded her too much of secrecy, and secrecy had never been good for her.

Sitting down in a corner, JJ ordered a soda and waited for the others, particularly Garcia, to start the questioning.

"So, what were you talking about earlier?" Emily demanded, looking at Garcia.

"Oh, that," Garcia said, laughing innocently. "Well, I asked JJ whether there had been any good males in her life, and she just kind of… dreamed off."

"I'll take that as a good sign," Emily laughed. She turned to JJ. "Well?"

"Aren't you curious," JJ said light-heartedly.

"Oh, come on," Garcia said. "We're just curious Jay, we want to know that not everything was bad back then."

This got JJ more serious. "He was at Horizon as well-" she started, but was interrupted by Garcia.

"Horizon?"

"Mount Horizon, school for 'socially disturbed adolescents'," JJ told her, the quotation marks clear in the air. "Basically a school for troubled teens."

"Okay," Garcia replied. Knowing that her friend went to such a school was disconcerting, but not a big surprise. She urged JJ to continue.

"I was… different, back then. He didn't like me, dated another girl, but they broke up and then we got together." She managed to say this quite emotionlessly, facts were easier to talk about than emotions.

"What was he there for?" Garcia asked curiously. Emily looked at her for asking such a blunt question, but JJ didn't show any reaction.

"His, his stepmother… she seduced him," JJ replied, thinking back to that horrible woman. When she had found out, she had wanted to throttle Elaine for doing that to Scott. It had been hard, especially when nobody knew about her.

Garcia looked at Emily and could see in her eyes that she was thinking the exact same thing. Similar history…

"He didn't know," JJ told them, picking up on the unsaid thought. "Nobody knew."

This wasn't what Garcia had originally planned for. She had wanted to hear about the good parts of her friend's life, but she sensed that JJ needed to talk about everything. And that included the bad parts.

"How did he find out?" Emily asked, her voice gentle.

JJ gave a snort. "It's funny, really," she started. She was surprised by her willingness to talk, but figured it was okay. Besides, this wasn't anything bad.

"My stepfather, he got ill… then we went on a hike. Scott said something in group, saying that when he opened up people didn't talk to him anymore… He meant me. So I told him about Walt and then I ran, he followed me and he figured it out."

"What happened then?" Emily asked. It was hard to picture JJ like this, but she had to remind herself that at this point she wasn't JJ, she was Shelby, carrying everything on her own.

"I went crazy," JJ said trying to sound nonchalant. She was still acting.

"Destroyed half the camp before Peter stopped me." She remembered that day so well, but it hurt to talk about it. Peter had been her substitute for a father, and thought she'd never admitted it, he had been a great father to her.

"Who're all these people?" Garcia inquired, confused. Emily knew the names, but she didn't.

"Peter, he's the school leader," JJ replied. "Took a liking to the Cliffhangers. My group," she added when Garcia threw her another confused look. She smiled. "Eventually he married the Cliffhangers' counsellor."

"Hannah Bauer?" Emily threw in, remembering the warm woman from Detroit.

"The confidante?" Garcia added, excited to know something. "From Detroit? I knew there was something about you and her!"

JJ sighed. "She left," she stated shortly. "Sophie took her place."

Garcia nodded. "Were they any good?" she asked jokingly.

"The best," JJ replied earnestly, thinking back to the past. So many good times she'd had with her… with all of them. They had really become her family, though she had never told them so. She'd been so afraid… it was different now, but she could still remember it so well. How confused, how tempted she had sometimes been to just let Peter comfort her, just cry in his arms and not worrying for once. She'd done so, but she had never told. Never opened up…

After a respectful moment of silence, Emily gently turned back the conversation to the original topic. "So what happened with Scott?"

JJ was shaken out of her thoughts. It took her a moment to focus again.

"When he finally knew, he couldn't accept me."

"What?" Garcia nearly shouted. "Why? He'd been through the same himself!"

"No, not that," JJ said quickly. "No, I…"

This was the hardest part. Almost no one knew about her life on the streets. Even Emily, who had guessed so much, didn't know everything. But she owed her friends this much.

"I ran from home," she said, frowning. Her worst mistake. "Scott couldn't accept me for what happened after that."

"What happened?" Garcia asked, confused.

"I had to live on the streets…" JJ trailed off, hoping that Garcia would get the hint.

"Streets? But how- Oh," she said, her face falling. "I'm so sorry, Jay."

She bravely attempted a smile. "It's okay." Then she took a deep breath.

"When I went back to take care of him, I found out he'd broken his promise…"

Her mind flashed back to that horrible night when she'd been willing to kill someone, just to take away the pain of betrayal.

"What promise?" Garcia asked again, and Emily quietly told her. Garcia stared at JJ, speechless. How much her girl had gone through, all those things she'd never known about…

"I tried taking pills, I tried killing someone with a knife," JJ almost whispered. "Don't know whether I wanted to kill him or myself…"

Now it was Emily's turn to stare at JJ. She hadn't known this part… The urge to reach over and hug JJ was almost too big to resist, but because she was too far away she merely laid a hand on JJ's. It surprised her. When had she become so motherly?

"What happened after that?"

JJ smiled, suddenly triumphant. "I called the police."

"Good for you!" Garcia exclaimed. "Good for you, girl," she repeated, softer.

JJ nodded. "I went back to Horizon, and then I heard Jess had run… she turned up at Horizon."

She paused for a moment, trying to remember the exact events. Her joy over seeing her sister had been so large, so overwhelming it was her main memory of that night.

"When Jess told me… stuff, Scott was there. When she'd gone to the bathroom, he asked if it had been that way with me… but I'd never gotten the sign. I think then he understood."

Emily nodded, understanding. But since she knew there was no Scott in her life now, she knew something else must have happened after that.

"How did it end?" she asked, hoping that she sounded gentle enough.

JJ's face fell. Remembering what happened after Scott had finally accepting was so wonderful, without having to focus on all events afterwards. She sighed.

"It just didn't work out… We, we both wanted different things. It was better."

"That's the truth or that's what you tell yourself?" Garcia asked, watching her friend's face closely. JJ looked surprised.

"It's true," she insisted. "It's just… look, he was very big on football, he was gonna be famous –he is, actually–, it just wouldn't work out. With my history, my nights, my problems. He deserves someone clean."

Emily noticed the present tense, but filed it away for later. There was something else to deal with.

"Sweetie, I know you've heard this before but you're not 'dirty', even if you still feel like it. You must understand that, okay? You're not unworthy of some man just because all this happened to you. It's just – it's not true."

The slight hesitation made JJ look up. Hesitating wasn't something Emily Prentiss often included in her speech.

Emily looked at her sheepishly, but determined. "Everybody has his or her doubts, JJ." She paused for a moment. "And that includes me."

Pam pam pam...
Just wanted to have this moment where she told her friends. Female friends at that. I mean, I think it's always different when a woman talks about something like this to a man or to a woman.
So what do you think?