"Just give me an excuse to blow your brains out." The words echoed in the drafty room. JJ pressed her hands to either side of her head, trying to force herself to focus. There was something about that voice...
She tried to get up from the mattress but her legs were too heavy. She needed to get to the fence, to find out what was happening. She rolled, falling off the mattress and onto the cold, hard floor in the direction of the fence. Henry had gotten around this way once, and if he would to it so could she. She wiggled and rolled and pulled herself on her elbows until she made it there. She was just in time to hear the same voice, speaking softer now, closer.
"It's alright. We're going to get you out of here."
"Rossi," JJ whispered to herself. It sounded more like a croak to her ears. Maybe she was hallucinating, hearing only what she desperately wanted to hear. Maybe trying to get someone's attention would only get her into more trouble, but she didn't care; if there was any chance that her team was here she had to know.
"I'm here. I'm here." Her voice still sounded like she had a mouth full of cotton. She hit the fence with the flat of her hands. "Please."
"There's another one over here." A different voice this time, in the shadows to her left. She strained to see someone, but was blinded by a bright light shinning in her face; reflex had her holding up both arms to shield her face. They had shined a light on her for hours the first night they'd had her.
There was the sound of something hitting the ground, a tiny voice in her head said flashlight, and the light was abruptly gone. "JJ?"
"Morgan." That was the other voice. Derek Morgan was squatting down in front of her cage, a look of shock on his face. She strained to get her fingers, at least, through the holes in the fencing, needing some tangible proof that he was there.
"Rossi, you've got to get the bolt cutters over here now." He didn't look away from her, but his voice was louder for a moment as he called for help. He spoke to her just above a whisper, like he might to a wild animal. She must look like hell. "We'll have you out of here in a minute, Jayje. Hold on. Just one more minute."
"You're here?" His fingers touched her own, and she let her eyes close as she concentrated on the connection. His hand was warm, a sharp contrast to how cold she felt.
"We're all here, the whole team. I need you to open those beautiful blue eyes of yours, girl. Look at me." There was pressure on her fingers, his voice louder than it had been. She opened her eyes to look at him.
"They put something in the food, keep us quiet. I'm fine," she reassured him, speaking slowly because she was pretty sure her words were slurred.
"There were two more around the corner from where we... son of a bitch." Rossi came to an abrupt halt that might have been comical if JJ had the energy to laugh. "Jen?"
"We need to get her out. We'll figure out what the hell is going on after that."
Rossi didn't need to be told to go to work on the chain that held her prison door closed; already his arms strained from the effort of forcing the cutters through the metal.
"Assignment for Andi. Undercover." Her mouth was so dry, it was hard to get out more than a few words at a time.
"Got it." The bolt cutters clattered to the ground, the door banged as it swung open, and a moment later it wasn't only her fingers that were warm. Arms wrapped around her, supporting her, helping her to stand.
"You're alright, JJ. We've got you now." Coming from Rossi it wasn't a platitude, it was a promise. Anyone trying to get to her tonight would have to go through him; she almost felt sorry for any of the kidnappers or their clients that hadn't been rounded up yet.
"Hotch, it's Morgan. You're not going to believe this, but..." Morgan didn't even get to finish when the radio crackled and Hotch interrupted.
"Is she alright?" There was no way, over the static, to read his tone. "JJ. Is she alright?"
"You knew?" Morgan's eyes narrowed.
"Found out yesterday. Is she alright?" Not even the static could hide the agitation in his voice.
JJ raised her head up from Rossi's shoulder. "I'm fine."
"She's safe now. Sooner we can get her out of here the better. Rossi's taking her to the paramedics while I continue in here." As soon as he was done talking to Hotch, Morgan motioned to someone in the shadows. "I need a blanket."
"This explains Hotch's foul mood yesterday." Rossi bent to pick her up, but JJ shook her head.
"I can walk." JJ looked down at her feet, telling herself that she could move them one at a time. Just standing made here feel a little more clearheaded. She didn't have any shoes, but the concrete in the abandoned factory was smooth. For the first time since they'd arrived she was conscious that she was wearing nothing but a tank top and underwear. At least they were clean; bathroom breaks were the one small dignity they were allowed, though JJ suspected it had more to do with not wanting the 'merchandise' to stink.
Rossi let her have her way, for a little while at least. With an arm around her waist they moved like they were in a three legged race, shuffling to one side, finally passing through the door in the chain link fence. Her first steps to freedom. Morgan had a blanket waiting for her when they made it a few more steps.
"Thank you." She was glad for the warmth, but more grateful that she was covered. She was too tired to worry about modesty, but everyone, especially Hotch, didn't need to see the bruises or the jagged cut in her thigh. it was bad enough that Morgan and Rossi had already seen her as she was. When Morgan wrapped the blanket around her she touched his hand.
"I've only been here a couple of days. It hasn't been a vacation or anything, but you guys got here before anything bad happened. I'm fine. Really. Now go make sure none of them get away. They have to be held accountable for what they've done." To Jake and Paige. To the woman who had been screaming earlier. To the dozens of coeds that had gone missing over the past few years.
After one more glance at her Morgan reluctantly moved on, quickly followed by three SWAT team members that had been keeping a respectable distance, leaving her alone with Rossi.
"Now how are you really doing, kid?" he asked gently as they started walking in the opposite direction, towards the door that would take them outside.
"I'll let you know when I figure that out for myself. Numb, mostly. Sore, but nothing lasting." The physical effects of her stay would fade in a week or two, other than the cut that might leave her with a scar. Mentally was a different issue; no matter how prepared she'd been for worst case scenarios there was no way to really prepare herself for what had happened the last five days.
"You know if you'd wanted to get the whole team together there are easier ways. It's nice weather for a picnic." Rossi kept up a light patter of conversation, teasing and words of encouragement as he helped her towards the door. Once they were outside he wouldn't listen to any arguing, and picked her up to carry her towards the waiting ambulances. "You're not wearing any shoes, and who knows what trash is on the ground out here."
"You should be helping Morgan. I'm not going anywhere." JJ sat just inside the ambulance, still clinging to the blanket. She knew there was no way she was getting out of a trip to the hospital, but many of the others were worse off than she was. The paramedics were taking care of the most vital cases first; two ambulances had left already.
"They're almost done in there. At last count all but one building has been checked and sixteen arrests have been made."
"Eighteen," a young woman interjected as she walked past, a step behind a man with his hands bound behind him. The man she hadn't seen before, the woman was familiar. It took her a minute to remember the woman's name; Seaver. They'd met when JJ had broken her undercover assignment for a few days to find Emily.
"Eighteen," JJ muttered, knowing that wasn't all there were. Hopefully everyone involved in the kidnapping was caught, but she knew not all of the 'clients' were at this location. "How many victims?"
"Seven, not counting you." Rossi caught movement out of the corner of his eye as Hotch and Andi came around the corner of the building. He could tell the exact moment his friend spotted JJ; even from this distance he could see the frown on Hotch's face deepen.
"I'm not a victim. I volunteered for this."
"You volunteered for a case, not for this JJ. There's a difference." Rossi might have said more, but a screech of tires was followed by the report of dozens of guns as a red SUV tried to flee the scene.
"That makes at least nineteen," JJ stared at the SUV with tired eyes.
"Eighteen," Rossi said a moment later after one of the SWAT members shook his head. The driver was dead. "And an eighth victim rescued," he added when a young woman was helped from the back seat by Hotch.
"Why was he taking someone with him?" JJ strained to see across the distance. The flashing blue and red lights of the cars made it hard to focus. She stood, taking two steps forward. Almost immediately Rossi was at her side, holding onto her arm.
"We'll figure out the whys later; we have time. He didn't make it, so she's safe now."
"She was always safe," JJ said in a whisper when she finally got a clear look at the woman being comforted by Hotch and Andi. She started shaking; Hotch was in so much danger and he didn't have a clue. "That's her, Dave. She's the one that organized all of this. You have to warn Hotch."
Rossi's hand was already on his gun when the brunette pointed a gun she'd been concealing at Hotch's head. She didn't have time to pull the trigger before Rossi's bullet severed the top of her spinal column and she collapsed on the ground like a ragdoll. JJ almost collapsed too, but Rossi caught her around the waist and led her back to the ambulance.