The Truth

She was in a bright room. It didn't seem to have any particular furniture in it, just whiteness. Her first thought was that something was wrong. It was too calm.

What had just happened? Bits of memory flew around her mind, but she couldn't hold on to them long enough to string something together. There was a case… they had figured out who the UnSub was….. Then what?

Am I dead? She began to wonder. Is this what the afterlife is? Before she could explore her surroundings more, she noticed she wasn't alone. He was there. Tall, dark, and handsome. Brooding and stoic. Her Unit Chief.

"Hotch?" she whispered, immediately wondering if he died as well.

"JJ?" he asked. Relief spread across his face. "Oh, thank God. I was so worried…."

JJ felt her heart leap at his words. He worried about her? That meant he cared!

Hotch took a few steps forward and reached out towards her. JJ reached for him as well, only to be jerked back. She leaned forward again, falling even further back. The brightness of the area began to diminish.

"Hotch!" she cried desperately, reaching for him. He held out his hands for her to grab, but she was too far. "JJ!" he yelled. At least, she thought he yelled. It sounded like it was from far away.

"Hotch!" she cried one more time before the whole world went black.

The first thing she noticed was her head hurt.

Actually, hurt was an understatement. It felt as though someone had hit it with a thousand sledgehammers. Who knew, maybe someone had.

The next thing she noticed was her surroundings. She was in a dark basement by the looks of it. The only source of light came from a feeble light bulb hanging from the ceiling. She couldn't even tell where the door was.

It felt like she was chained to a poll. Her wrists were cuffed, and she quickly realized these cuffs weren't cheap, which meant she couldn't work her way out of them. After a few seconds of struggling, she realized one more thing.

She wasn't alone.

A pair of eyes were watching her from just outside the small ring of light. JJ's heart soared at the thought of it being Hotch, and then plummeted when she realized it wasn't him. It was the person they identified as the UnSub, Jackson Carter.

The case was out in Wyoming. Five blonde, blue-eyed women had been raped and murdered over the past two months. The profilers deduced that the UnSub, Carter, had been in love with a woman who fit the description of the victims before she broke his heart in some way. Garcia, with her wonderful computer magic, found Carter in a list of men who had went through a divorce recently (That had been the stressor). He had been married to Michelle Carter, who was your typical popular girl in high school.

After the divorce, Carter began taking his anger out on women who looked like Michelle. The team instantly realized JJ fit the victimology to a T. The men became annoyingly protective of JJ after that, even Reid. The worst was Hotch. He refused to let her out of his sight and sometimes wouldn't even let her leave the police station. While JJ was pleased he cared so much, the alpha male was seriously getting on her nerves. He made it seem like she couldn't do her job with an UnSub targeting women who looked like her. JJ couldn't wait for the case to be over.

Once Garcia found the UnSub's name and address, the team went to his house. Hotch almost didn't let her come, but JJ was steadfast, even going so far as to plant herself in the SUV and refuse to leave. Hotch looked furious, but allowed it to happen. Now that JJ thought about it though, she should have stayed back. She went around the back with Morgan, but when he heard a noise from the opposite side of the house, he took off, leaving JJ alone. Carter had been waiting in the bushes behind her, and he knocked her out with a heavy object to the head.

That was all JJ remembered, and now she was here, in the basement of Carter's second location, wherever that was. Garcia hadn't found another address, so it would be awhile until the team found her.

"Hello, Agent Jareau," Carter said smoothly, finally stepping into the light. He was tall, maybe six feet, with buzz cut black hair and steely eyes. JJ froze at the use of her name. He knew who she was. He probably took my credentials, she thought.

"I was wondering when you would wake up," he continued. "I was going to wake you up, but it sounded like you were having an…..interesting dream."

JJ frowned at that. What was I dreaming about? Before she could really think about it, Carter spoke again.

"Would 'Hotch' refer to your fearless leader, Agent Hotchner?"

JJ's stomach dropped into the floor. Her mind raced with a thousand questions. Did I say his name out loud? How does he know Hotch is our leader? Where am I? Where's the team?

"You must be wondering how I know you and your team, Agent Jareau," Carter continued. JJ remained silent, wanting to hear this. "You see, I did my research. I had to know who was disrupting my plans. I know all about your team. Agent Prentiss. Agent Morgan. Agent Rossi. Technical Analyst Garcia. Dr. Reid. And, of course, Agent Hotchner." He paused here, gauging JJ's reaction. She had learned from the best, however, and kept her face perfectly expressionless. Seething slightly, Carter stepped closer her and dropped into a sitting position.

"Agent Hotchner is your supervisor, is he not?"

"He is," JJ said evenly, speaking for the first time.

"Relationships between a supervisor and his subordinate are forbidden, right?"

JJ's stomach dropped again. He couldn't know how her felt about her boss. The team didn't know, though Garcia suspected.

"I'm not in a relationship with him," she said in her best media liaison voice.

"But you want to be," Carter pressed. JJ gulped.

"What gives you that idea?"

"You said his name in your sleep."

She winced internally. Of course she had. "I have no romantic feelings toward Agent Hotchner," she said. Say it enough times and maybe someday you'll believe it.

Carter gave her a twisted grin. "There's no need to lie to me. I made not be a profiler," he said profiler like a swear word. "But I know true feelings when I see them. Or I thought I did." His voice got very low with the last statement. JJ tensed slightly.

He stood up abruptly and walked to a dark corner. "You blonde bitches are all the same," he spat. "You think because you're beautiful you can trample all over us. You think you can have whoever you want." He stomped back over to where JJ sat, and shoved his face close to hers. "Well, guess what? You can't have whoever you want! The man you love is off limits!" He said the last part triumphantly.

JJ had one more chance. "I told you, I don't love Agent Hotchner."

"DON'T LIE TO ME!" Carter yelled. JJ winced. He stepped back and said in an eerily calm voice, "You can't have whoever you want, and I'm going to prove it to you." With that, Carter pulled a white cloth over her face, and that was the last thing JJ remembered.