A/N- Disclaimer hasn't moved I promise. Picks up right where the last chapter left off. Also I don't want to make a fuss but this is my very first criminal minds related story and I really would like to know what you guys are thinking. Pretty please with sugar on top respond, I promise you it makes my day!
Seattle, WashingtonThe rest of the team stood in shock for a minute none of them sure what to believe or what to say. J.J. could feel every eye on her yet she refused to turn her attention away from the body; she refused to be the first to break the silence.
"J.J. your sister is dead," Reid said confusion clear in his voice.
"Thank you, Spence, because I can't see that for my self," J.J. said bitterly as she eased herself up afraid she might fall.
"No I mean your sister died when you were eleven," Reid said remembering the story she had told him about her older sister Shelby committing suicide.
"No," She said as her guilt quickly turned into shame and anger, which was clear in her voice, "She's gone, and that bastard killed her."
"J.J. we should go back to the station and sit down," Hotch said putting an arm around J.J., which she shrugged off.
"I'm not leaving her again," She said looking down disgusted with not only herself but the monster that had hurt someone she loved, "She hates being alone… she gets so scared."
"J.J. we need to let the medical examiners through," Morgan said gently not sure if she was telling the truth or having some sort of psychotic or nervous break.
J.J. nodded and took a few steps back remembering her training, remembering that she was an F.B.I. agent now no matter how far into the past this was taking her.
The medical examiner and his assistant crouched down by the body and began poking and prodding it.
J.J. got visibly upset each time they touched the small cold blonde.
"Get your hands off of her," She finally screamed and lunged at the medical examiner as he jammed a thermometer into the dead girls stomach, "Don't touch her!"
Luckily for the aged examiner Hotch was standing right behind J.J. and had contained her before she had a chance to hurt him.
"Let's go now!" He ordered hauling the kicking blonde away, the rest of the team behind him.
"J.J. calm down!" Hotch yelled having some difficulty hauling her outside on his own.
"What is up with you?" Morgan asked once they were outside.
"My sister is dead and they're treating her like she doesn't matter, like she's some…" J.J. stopped afraid of the words.
"Hooker?" Morgan asked not afraid to be the bad guy, "J.J. your sister has been dead for years and both your parents, that's what you told us."
"I lied!" J.J. screamed struggling to get free of Hotch's grip, "She's dead and it's my fault."
"Let's get back to the station," Hotch ordered motioning for Morgan to open the door to one of the SUVs, "We'll sort this mess out there."
J.J. tried as hard as she could to calm down understanding that the more angry she got and the more she acted out the less likely it was for the team to believe her. After several moments she settled and sat as quietly as she could next to Reid in the back seat of the SUV, her mind flooding with memories of her sister, as they rode back to the police station.
J.J. took off her necklace and began rubbing the back over and over wishing that somehow she could take it all back.
"Ok what's going on?" Hotch asked as they all took a seat at the large table in the conference room.
"My sister is dead Hotch," J.J. started tiredly.
"J.J. your file says you had one older sister who committed suicide when you were eleven and that both your parents died in a car accident when you were nineteen," Hotch said softly trying to make her understand.
"My file is a lie," J.J, said softly as she opened the locket on her necklace, "J.J. is a lie."
She looked at the smiling girls in the pictures for a moment before she handed the necklace to Hotch, "That's Jess and I when we were little and that's us during my senior year of high school."
Hotch starred at the picture trying hard to keep his jaw from dropping, after awhile he passed the necklace on to Morgan who was sitting next to him, "You need to start explaining. Now!"
J.J. held back her tears as best she could as she tried to think of where to start and what to tell them. She knew she couldn't tell them everything, that they would hate her if they knew everything that is if they didn't hate her already.
"Shelby," J.J. said softly hating that she had to go back down the road she had worked so hard to get away from.
"Your sister who committed suicide?" Reid said with a large question mark clear in his voice and on his face.
"No, My name was Shelby… Merrick, I was Shelby Merrick before I was J.J.. I was born in Seattle and was raised a ways outside of the city," She said before breaking off into another thought, "I need to call Horizon, Peter and Sophie are gonna be devastated."
"Are they your parents?" Prentiss asked placing a comforting hand on J.J.'s.
"Damn it! I have to go see that bitch," J.J. said bitterly, her thinking all over the place, "I need to start making arrangements."
"All you need to do right now is tell us what is going on," Hotch said again placing a sympathetic hand on her shoulder worried not only for her loss but also her sanity.
"What's there to say? I was supposed to take care of her and now she's dead," J.J. said in frustration.
"How did you become Jennifer Jareau? Why did you lie to us?" Rossi asked remembering he still had her necklace. He looked down at the two pictures quickly before handing the necklace off to Reid.
"I had to lie," She said softly feeling even more ashamed of herself, "I wanted to bring her with me, but I couldn't… I left so she could have a chance at a normal life."
They all sat in silence for a moment before J.J. took a deep breath and started again, "I wasn't a good kid, I ran away a lot and I got sent to a special school for screw ups. My real dad knew some powerful people in the Bureau and he got me a new identity, gave me some money, enough to live off of for awhile and to pay for college."
"What happened that you needed a new identity?" Reid asked not even looking up from the necklace, he was amazed at how similar the two girls looked, especially in the eyes.
"Jess was hurt when we were younger and it was my fault, neither one of us could move on, every time she saw me all she could do was remember him," J.J. stopped talking as soon as she realized how close she was to giving them a reason to hate her.
"Him?" Morgan asked looking at his hands, from his experience it was bad to mention someone as him instead of by their real name.
"I need to start making arrangements," J.J. said instead of answering Morgan's question.
"J.J. … Shelby," Hotch started before the small blonde interrupted him.
"Don't call me that Hotch," She said with hurt clear in her voice.
"J.J. I need you to go over your sisters personality profile with Reid, make an official ID of the body, after your done with that Reid will help you take care of what you need to for your sister," Hotch said as sweetly as he could for being as reserved as he was, "But understand that the next time we talk about this we all expect more answers."
J.J. simply nodded her head praying that somehow she could sweep her past back under the rug, though she knew it was impossible.
"J.J. what does this stand for?" Reid asked holding up the necklace, "W.T.S.W.E.?"
"Where The Side Walk Ends," J.J. said tenderly remembering her eleventh birthday, "Jess had it engraved for my eleventh birthday, it's my favorite poem, our mom used to read it to me every night when I was really little," J.J. thought for a moment before bitterly adding, "Before that bitch stopped caring that she was a mother."
J.J. stood up slowly reaching across the table for her necklace, "Can I hang on to this for just a little while," Reid asked thoughtfully.
J.J. simply nodded and headed out the door to find a phone, obviously worn-out.
"What are you thinking?" Hotch asked as soon as J.J. was out of the room.
"Well," Reid started as he got up from his chair and pinned the crime scene photos Morgan had taken to the board with the rest of their victims, "Each victim has letters carved into their stomach, like the letters on the back of J.J.'s necklace. I think these stand for titles of children's books."
"T.G.T., W.T., W.T.A., T.L., E.T.C. and now C.W.," Prentiss pondered out loud as the rest of the team stared at the photos of J.J.'s little sister and the other six unfortunate girls.
"She was right about the unsub having to be a part or has been apart of the street world," Morgan said in spite of himself, "The question is where does he fit in?"
"A boyfriend?" Rossi threw out for the group to consider.
"A son," Reid said staring at the small brown teddy bears snuggled next to the bodies. The teddy bear next to Jess seemed to smile up at Reid, only his tiny glass eyes reflecting the evil's committed.