Chapter Fifteen – Hell With A Dog

Author's Note: JJ's dream comes from The Big Game (2x14) with a touch from the first few minutes of Revelations (2x15).

Everything was eerily indistinct, like the sharp edges of the world had suddenly been blurred and went fuzzy. It made JJ uneasy, and when the wind howled past, rustling the corn stalks, she rubbed her arms nervously. As her eyes darted around she spotted a red and gray pickup truck sitting in the front of the house. Around the other side was an old tractor. Nothing moved or made a sound besides the wind.

"Hello?" JJ whispered as she edged forward.

She didn't want to be alone, yet she didn't want to find anyone else either. Whoever she found could easily be someone she wouldn't want to run into. As she passed by the house a flickering of light caught her attention. Pausing, she peered through the window to find a wide array of computers looming up in front of her. Their dancing screensavers spun and whirled in intricate designs, transfixing her. For some reason the sight of them tied her stomach in knots.

JJ backed away nervously only to feel a hand suddenly clamp onto her shoulder. Screaming in shock she spun around.

0~0~0~0

When JJ had gone down, Rossi had reached out to catch her head so it wouldn't slam into the ground. Just like Hotch, it had taken no time at all for her to be completely asleep.

"She's already shaking."

Morgan's head shot up, and he focused on JJ. From where he was he couldn't tell if she was trembling or not, but he'd take Rossi's word on it.

"That's not good…"

"No," Emily agreed. "Is she already that scared or do you think it's some side effect?"

Bad thoughts drifted into Olivia's head. Drugs were always dangerous. You never knew how someone would react to them. That could have been what was going on with JJ, or it could be even worse than that. It could be an overdose.

"Keep an eye on her, Dave," Hotch directed.

He seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Olivia was. They needed to make sure that JJ didn't suddenly get worse or stop breathing.

0~0~0~0

"Dang it, Reid! Where did you come from?" JJ demanded as she forced herself to slow her breathing down.

Reid didn't bother answering her. He just pointed at the big red barn a short distance from the house. The double doors were both hanging open, but JJ couldn't see inside. She didn't need words to understand what he was getting at.

As they headed toward the barn, guns out, the wind picked up again. It made the barn doors creak ominously, and she couldn't help the shiver that ran down her spine. JJ swallowed hard and shoved the bad feeling that was boiling up in her stomach down hard. When Reid gently touched her arm she jumped. He pointed at her and the front door then to himself and curled his finger to show he was going around back.

"Reid, are you sure we should split up?"

Her brief glance toward the darkness in the barn was all it took for Reid to disappear on her. She was on her own now.

JJ shuffled into the bar unable to see much of anything. All was quiet except for the rattling of chains hanging from the rafters overhead. After a few more steps forward she felt something squish under her foot. Trembling, JJ glanced down and slowly lifted her foot. Blood.

"Help me."

The ghostly voice drew JJ's attention to a stall at the back of the barn. A woman was kneeling on a dirty mattress, each wrist bound in rope that was tied to opposite sides of the stall.

JJ's eyes widened in shock and she reached for the woman, only to have her vanish in a spray of blood. The entire mattress and much of the stall was soaked in it. Littered in a few places on the mattress were the remaining solid pieces of what had once been a human being.

JJ reeled backward and spun around to bolt only to be stopped dead in her tracks by a growl. Slowly she turned back around, her flashlight's beam gleaming off the eyes of three mangy black dogs. They growled again and bared their teeth which flashed white in the darkness. When one's pale tongue darted out and licked its lips, JJ's stomach dropped.

The dogs lunged for her, and JJ screamed.

0~0~0~0

JJ's heart monitor was racing, and Rossi was beginning to worry. He'd found her skin beaded with sweat soon after the dream had begun. Not wanting to worry the others since there was nothing they could do, Rossi had kept the knowledge to himself. Unfortunately his plan wasn't going to work since JJ had started screaming. It was a soul freezing cry of terror that drew everyone's attention.

"Shit, JJ!" Morgan cried out as his eyes focused on the downed agent.

"She's terrified," Olivia murmured.

Emily bit her lip uneasily as she watched her friend suffer.

"She was having flashbacks right after it happened. Seeing it like this again has to be killing her."

Hotch glanced over at Emily after his new admission. He'd heard nothing about flashbacks. Had the incident he knew JJ was seeing not happened years ago, he would have been furious he hadn't been told. At this point it didn't matter beyond helping him realize how long it could take JJ to recover from this.

"Hang in there, JJ," Rossi told her as he brushed JJ's sweat soaked hair off her face.

0~0~0~0

Pain radiated from JJ's left arm. She fought to ignore it just as she did the blood that dripped from the bite. For now she had to focus on shooting the two remaining dogs. She took quick aim and snapped off two more shots. The dogs went down and remained unmoving.

Still tense, JJ strained her eyes and ears to pick up anything moving in the barn. After a short time she heard quiet footsteps coming toward her. Raising her gun once more she turned in the direction of the sound. For a moment she saw nothing, but when she finally did her heart nearly stopped. The adorable waves of blond hair on the head of a little boy.

"Henry."

A light seemed to be shining down on Henry alone, highlighting him like a spotlight did on a dark stage. JJ didn't want to take her eyes off of her son, but the sound of movement behind her forced her to. The dogs she had shot and killed earlier were back on their feet again and had been joined by others. Before JJ could even blink they rocketed toward her and Henry.

Three surrounded her and refused to go down regardless of the number of bullets she put into them. The others went for Henry. JJ felt the sharp prick of pain as a dog's teeth closed around her leg, but she didn't care. The pain she felt didn't matter. The only thing that did was reaching Henry, her precious baby boy. She struggled forward, but the dogs continued to draw her back. Snapping, tearing her skin, drawing blood, the dogs weren't going to let her reach Henry.

No matter what she did, JJ couldn't stop them. They were going to tear her son apart, and there was nothing she could do to save him. He couldn't run, and she couldn't reach him.

"Henry!"

He looked up at her, bright blue eyes full of fear, and the dogs were on him.

"Henry!"

0~0~0~0

"Henry!"

The agents had all thought JJ's previous wordless screams couldn't get worse. They'd been wrong. So very wrong. Hearing JJ scream her son's name in anguish was much worse.

Emily pressed a hand to her mouth and fought back tears. Hotch looked down, his face hard as he struggled with his own grief at seeing a team member hurting so badly. Morgan swore and lashed out at the pin holding his ankle chain to the wall. While Olivia didn't know who Henry was, the pain in JJ's voice was all too obvious, and she bowed her head sadly. Rossi could only watch as tears coursed down JJ's twisted face and prayed that when she woke he would somehow be able to help her.