Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from Criminal Minds. All other characters are fictional.
A/N: Chapter 3 is new, too. I added it last night, but the story never moved to the top of the list. So be sure to check it out if you missed it! You guys have all been so awesome! Thanks so much for all the great reviews. I hope everyone is more satisfied with this chapter. Read on...
Emily awoke with a start. What the hell? She was blindfolded, gagged, and bound at the hands and feet. Then she remembered everything. Someone had attacked her at her apartment building. Someone had drugged her with chloroform. She hadn't even seen who it was.
The floor of the vehicle was hard, as it bounced along what felt like an unpaved road. She struggled against her bonds. She heard a snicker. It startled her. She wasn't alone. She was absolutely still and could finally make out 3 different breathing patterns.
Someone cleared their throat. But no one spoke.
By the stiffness in her body she could tell that she had been unconscious for a while, probably 3 or 4 hours. Where are they taking me? She didn't have long to wonder, for the vehicle suddenly slowed, and then stopped.
She heard doors opening, and then someone grabbed her feet and pulled her across the floor. She felt hands untying the bonds around her ankles. More rough hands grabbed her arms and she lurched forward, her feet finally touching the ground.
She was unsteady for a moment, but whoever had her in his grasp didn't seem to care. She was pulled forward by her elbow, hands still bound behind her back, stumbling a little bit on the way.
The temperature was warm. And she heard birds chirping. They must have driven south. Florida, maybe? Could they really have made it that far south in a few hours? Probably not. Maybe it was North Carolina. That was more feasible.
They walked for a while outside, all the while it was silent, save for the two sets of footsteps that walked with her. Then Emily could tell they entered a building. Emily felt like they were leading her around in circles: upstairs, downstairs, around corners, through long corridors, repeat, repeat, repeat…
Just as Emily was getting completely fed up with tripping on another stair, they stopped her. Again without speaking, they untied her hands, removed her gag, opened a door, and gave her a big push.
JJ's eyes flew open when she heard the key in the door. She had been sleeping curled into the corner as far as she get, but she shuddered and whimpered and tried to make herself as small as possible when she heard the door open. She did not even look behind her to see who had entered. She knew who it was. She knew it was them, coming to get her.
Emily ripped off her blindfold when she heard the door slam behind her. She took a second to get her bearings. She squinted her eyes and glanced around the dimly lit room, her body poised for action if need be. She had no idea what she expected to see, but a sparsely decorated bedroom was not one of them.
Emily heard a whimper coming from somewhere. There, on the other side of the bed. She could just make out a small form huddled in the corner, partially hidden by the bed. In a moment she knew who it was. She recognized the voice even by the whimper. JJ! Emily ran to the corner.
"JJ!" she called, as she knelt beside her and put her hands on JJ's shoulder and hip. JJ jumped in response.
"No! Leave me alone! Please don't take me," she cried and raised her am to fight off the hands that were grabbing her.
Emily caught her arm in mid-air and grabbed her hand. "JJ, it's Emily. Shhh…it's Emily!"
JJ was still fighting off her captors, crying out so loud that it took her a moment to realize it was her friend, not her foe.
Emily kept talking to her, "JJ, open your eyes. Look at me."
JJ kept her eyes squeezed shut and whimpered.
Emily turned JJ onto her back and cradled her in her arm. "I've got you, JJ. I'm right here."
Suddenly, it seemed, JJ recognized the voice. Her eyes flew open and locked onto Emily's. She gasped, and with relief and hope, she said, "Emily."
Then she covered her face in her hands and began to sob. Emily continued to hold her, bringing JJ close to her chest and wrapping her other arm around her back. JJ sobbed into her hands as Emily murmured as many soothing words as she could think of, mostly consisting of "It's okay. I'm here."
And then JJ released her hold on her face, as if realizing she didn't have to cry alone anymore, and wrapped her arms around Emily's neck, clinging onto her for dear life. The hug sent off a quickening in Emily's heart. What had happened to JJ to make her so upset? She knew how strong JJ was, and certainly being kidnapped alone would not cause this strong of a reaction in her. Emily hated to think what had happened to her.
JJ did not realize she was holding Emily so tight. All that mattered was Emily was there. Emily will help me. She was disoriented. Emily will make it all better. Her thoughts were scattered, but she knew Emily was holding her. She was confused, but she was aware enough to know that Emily was there.
Wait a second! Emily! Here! Oh, no! JJ slowed her crying, but her mind was in turmoil. She outwardly began to calm down, and she allowed herself to be comforted in Emily's embrace for a moment. The relief at seeing Emily was coupled with the distress she was feeling that Emily was now in the same situation as her. And Emily had no idea. No idea what they would do to her.
JJ's crying eased and Emily slowly loosened her hold on her. She stretched out her arm so that she could get a closer look at JJ, but kept her arm underneath her, supporting her.
Emily gasped, getting her first good look at her friend, "JJ, what happened to you?"
Even in the dim light she could see the bruises on her face, the blood on her clothes. Emily scanned JJ's entire body in her arms. The black eye, the cuts on her chest, the torn skirt, the fingerprints on her arms, the dried blood that had trickled a path down her leg….Emily's eyes took it all in.
The look of horror must have been apparent on her face, for when Emily brought her eyes up to meet JJ's, JJ looked away. There was no mistaking the shame on JJ's face. Emily reached out her fingertips and gently touched JJ's cheek. She paused for a moment, trying to gather her words, then turned JJ's chin to face her. She looked into her sorrowful eyes. But JJ could only hold her gaze for a second before she looked down.
"JJ…" Emily started, "whatever happened, it's going to be okay."
She reached up and wiped away a fresh tear that was making its way out of the corner of JJ's eye and down to her ear.
JJ continued to be silent. No words. She had no words. She sniffled in response. And finally looked up and held Emily's gaze. The dark brown eyes were warm, sympathetic, encouraging. JJ felt like she would melt under their scrutiny. Emily was profiling her. She knew Emily knew just by looking at her what had happened to her. But JJ wasn't ready to talk about it yet.
"I hurt," JJ finally said, as if mentioning the physical pain would be enough to satisfy Emily. Keep her from wanting to talk about the emotional pain.
It worked.
"Okay," Emily said. "Can you stand?"
"I think so," JJ whispered.
Emily slowly pulled JJ up until she was sitting on the floor, then she held her behind her shoulders and helped her to stand. Leaning heavily on Emily, JJ was able to walk the 5 feet to the bed. She sat on the edge and slumped forward. The weight of her own body was pulling her down.
Emily was aghast at the condition of her friend as she stood next to her. I guess this is what will happen to you after a few days of this. Emily had seen it before with many of the victims they were able to rescue. But seeing it with JJ was a completely different story. JJ was her friend. JJ was young; she had so much going for her. JJ had an innocence about her that made you want to protect her. Emily knew all the guys on the team felt that way about JJ, but you didn't have to be a guy to have that protective feeling for her. Emily felt another surge of that protectiveness, and an intense anger at the person who had done this to JJ.
Emily put her hand on JJ's back. "Here, lie down."
She helped JJ lift her legs onto the bed, and supported her shoulders until her head hit the pillow.
JJ looked up at Emily and gave a small, wistful smile. "I'm sorry you're here," she said.
"Well I'm not," replied Emily. "Two are better than one. We are going to get out of this, JJ."
JJ was slightly encouraged. She opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it again. She felt like she should warn Emily about what was coming. But she couldn't speak the words out loud.
"Just close your eyes and rest for a while," said Emily. "I will be right here if you need help."
Emily reached out her hand and brushed it along JJ's forehead, smoothing out a frown that JJ didn't even know was there. Emily did a few more strokes along her hair, and JJ felt herself relaxing.
When Emily was satisfied that JJ was sleeping, she left her side and began to look around the small room. There was the double bed, or course, that JJ was now occupying. On one side of the bed was a small nightstand with a lamp. On the other side of the bed was a chair. The floor was tile, the walls were stucco.
There was a long, narrow window high on the wall above the bed, just below the ceiling, causing Emily to believe they were in a basement. The glass of the window was glazed over, making it impossible to see out. Emily would have to stand on the bed later when JJ woke up to see what she could make of it.
There were three doors in the room. Emily knew the one door she had come in. She walked over to the door opposite the bed and opened it. It was a closet. A string hung from the light bulb. She pulled it and the closet lit up. It was empty, save for a shoebox on the floor and a wire hanger on the rod. Hmmm, that might come in handy later. She made a mental note of it, and then turned off the light and shut the closet door.
She made her way to the other mystery door, and opened it to reveal a small bathroom. There was a toilet, sink, and a bathtub. A cupboard under the sink contained extra toilet paper and towels. Where are we? If she hadn't already seen the condition of JJ, she might have thought this was a pretty courteous host of an unsub.
As Emily was scanning the bathroom, she suddenly had the feeling that something was off. Something was different about this bathroom. She felt a sinking in her stomach as her eyes finally zeroed in on the outlet. It was not the standard American outlet. Emily gasped and touched the rounded holes of the cover. For the first time she entertained the idea that her and JJ were not even in their own country. Emily knew she had been knocked out. But that only felt like a couple hours! Looking at the outlet now, Emily knew that it had been much, much longer than just a couple of hours.
Now she really wanted to know the answer to her previous question. Where are we?