Chapter 8:

AN: Well guys I am starting to get back in the hang of this story but it will only have a few more chapters. Just a warning, this chapter has a lot of violent language in it. Enjoy.

JJ and Spencer received curios looks from the members of their team as they walked into work together. This was the first time in months that JJ and Spencer had been scene willingly talking to each other in a non-work related manner. Before they could be bombarded by questions, Hotch decided to help them out, "How's AJ doing?"

JJ sighed before answering, "Physically, he's okay, he broke his arm yesterday but other than that there weren't any major problems. Emotionally though I don't know, he seems okay, but you know how he likes to hide his feelings away from everyone. I thought kids weren't supposed to be difficult to read until they were teenagers."

JJ tried to hide how upset she was with the situation by adding humor. She was upset with everyone involved, the school didn't protect him, that kid had no right touching her son, and she wished AJ could just talk to her instead of masking his feelings and trying to deal with everything on his own. Above all else she was upset with herself, she was a mother, she was supposed to protect him, keep him out of harms reach. She was also a profiler; she should be able to understand how her son is feeling even when he is trying so hard to not let it show. JJ felt as though she was failing both of the jobs that she loved the most. She was the reason that her child had both emotionally and physically been hurt, she had let her little boy get hurt when she was supposed to protect him.

The team continued to chat for a moment before breaking apart with both Emily and Penelope gave JJ a look which told her that they wanted to know the details of what went on between her and Spencer. JJ tried to concentrate on work but her mind kept going back to her son throughout the day. By the end of the day JJ just wanted to go home and be with her family so she told the girls she would explain things later.

Before JJ could leave though, Derek asked if they could talk with a look so serious that she couldn't ask for it to be put off until later. "What did you want to talk to me about?" she asked as soon as they were in the privacy of JJ's old office.

Morgan paused for a moment to try to form the words, he had been wanting to talk to JJ since he found out about AJ's fight but hadn't been able to until now. With a sigh he started, "Jayje, a few months ago when we were at your house for a family dinner, I was talking to AJ while we were out back and when I mentioned school he started acting weird, just for a second before he changed and tried to mask things again. I didn't let him, I questioned him on what was going on and found out that the kids at school weren't that great. He made it seem like it wasn't that big of a deal but I think it's bigger than he led onto." There was guilt in Morgan's voice as he spoke.

"Morgan, why the hell didn't you tell me this sooner I could have done something to stop this from happening." JJ all but yelled, taking the anger she felt at herself out on Morgan

"Jayje, I'm so sorry, if I knew this was going to happen I would have told you. I made a stupid promise with him to not tell you unless I was given a reason to. I never should have made that promise, I'm really sorry JJ." Morgan told her with the same guilty tone he had earlier.

JJ felt bad for her burst of anger, she knew it shouldn't have been directed at him especially with how bad he clearly felt. "I'm sorry Derek, I shouldn't be taking this out on you. It's not your fault, I should have known something was going on, I'm his mom I'm supposed to protect him and keep him safe but instead he was physically hurt before I could realize what was happening." JJ told him sadly.

"Jayje, It's not your fault or mine, the only one at fault here is those kids who picked on AJ and that school for not noticing and protecting a young kid from them." Morgan told her with a small reassuring smile.

JJ frowned for a moment before speaking, "Whosever fault it is, I know two things, I need to talk to AJ and help him through this, and he is definitely not going back to that school." JJ told him before exchanging goodbyes and hurrying home to her family.

When JJ got home she thanked the nanny who was taking care of the boys before greeting her boys and getting Henry settled with his toys. Once Henry was occupied JJ took her eldest son to the kitchen to talk. "I need you to tell me what has been going on at school, buddy." She told him in a kind but firm tone.

"You mean besides getting into a fight and getting in trouble for protecting myself?" AJ asked sarcastically trying to keep on the mask that he used to shut everyone else out without it being obvious.

JJ sighed knowing that it was going to be hard to get him to let her in, "Honey, I know you try to handle things on your own but you need to tell me what has been happening at school before this."

AJ refused to give up and let her in, he always tried to handle situations on his own and didn't want his mom to have to handle everything for him, "Well before the fight, I went to a few classes, learned some stuff, taught the teacher some stuff, and made it halfway through my lunch."

"AJ, Derek told me what you told him a few months ago, about the kids at school not being so nice. How long have they been bullying you?" JJ decided to let him know that she knew what was happening in hopes of him actually talking.

"He promised not to tell!" AJ exclaimed breaking from how he had been acting.

"He promised he wouldn't tell unless he felt it was necessary, you getting attacked by another student made it very necessary. AJ, you need to talk to me. You always try to be as independent as you possibly can, you act like you're grown up and don't need anyone's help anymore, but you do. No matter how mature you are, or how intelligent you are, you are still a ten-year-old little boy with ten-year-old emotions, you need to let me help you the way a mother should help her son. To do that you need to tell me what hurts so I can make it better." JJ had started off strong but her voice got softer as she expressed her feelings about the situation.

As AJ spoke, his voice cracked slightly, "Okay." He said simply.

He sighed before starting to explain things in a low somber voice, "It's been going on since last year. I don't know exactly why I was their main target, maybe it was because they were angry that someone my age got to be placed with them, maybe it was because they were jealous, or maybe it was simply because I was different from everyone else. Whatever the reason, I was their target, their source of entertainment came from calling me names and pushing me around.

Over time, the number of people that would pick on me increased, Michael being the ring leader to the mass of brutes. I didn't fight back, I didn't see a point in doing so, I figured it would only lead to them getting the reaction that most people look for when they do these things so I just let them have their fun. I thought that eventually they would stop, that they would grow tired of completing the same action time and again with no results, I was right they did get tired of it but that only made it worse. They started going harder, becoming more physical, they were determined to break me but that made me determined to not break.

When the school year ended I thought that that would be the end of it, that they would move on or grow up but they didn't, they continued to verbally and physically abuse me because they had nothing else to do. I could handle it like I had done the year prior but there was another problem, one day in Mr. Brown's class, I corrected him on one of the answers he had given us and he didn't like the idea of being shown up by a student, he made it a priority to make things harder on me to teach me for 'undermining a teacher's lessons', I apologized to him but he still wasn't okay with what I had done. He, along with the students who bullied me have made this the worst school year in my life." AJ finished explaining with tear-filled eyes.

"Baby, I am so sorry they hurt you, I am going to talk to your principal as soon as I can. I'm pulling you out of that school and will make sure all of them are held accountable for what they have done to you, including that teacher. I know this will be hard but I need you to make a list of everyone that has bullied you these past two years." JJ told him as she pulled him into her lap and held onto him, something they hadn't done in years.

They sat in silence for a few moments as JJ comforted the small boy sitting in her lap. She sighed before speaking again, "Buddy, what happened yesterday? You said that you hadn't fought back at all until yesterday and Michael attacked you in an open area where anyone could see, so what did they do that led to yesterday's events?"

AJ's felt the tears cloud his vision again as he thought back to what had happened…

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He had just gotten out of Mr. Brown's class and was trying to mask his frustration so that it wasn't used as ammo by anyone during lunch. He was halfway through the lunch he had packed when Michael and his band of buffoons came walking up. Michael grabbed AJ's sandwich from his hands and took a bite of it before throwing it, along with the rest of his lunch on the ground.

"Don't you know your manners, it's common curtesy to offer food to those around you when they don't have any and you do." Michael told him in a condescending tone. AJ had to bite his tongue to keep from making a sarcastic remark.

"Your brother's last name is LaMontagne, right?" Michael asked getting a confused look from AJ as he had never mentioned that to Michael before. Michael took his silence as a yes and continued, "Well, last night I was reading an old article online about this Detective that got shot, his name was William LaMontagne, was that his dad?" AJ's look turned hostile as Michael mentioned his dad. He did have to admit that while Michael was a bully he was a dedicated bully.

Michael started to smile when he got a reaction and continued, "So, I was right then. How is it to be a bastardised kid twice over, I bet your first dad left the moment that he found out that your mom wouldn't have an abortion. Your stepdad probably wanted to die when he realized that while he was having his own kid, he was going to have to father you too." Michael told him sadistically, finding pleasure in the reaction that his incorrect assumptions had gotten.

AJ was angry to say the least, he wasn't going to be pushed around and made to feel small anymore and he wasn't going to let this idiot dishonor his fathers' names. "Fuck you." He stated simply catching Michael off guard as it was one of the only times he had heard him speak.

"Whoa, don't you know those are naughty words for a kid so young to be saying." He told him with the same patronizing tone as earlier.

"You know, according to the lead psychologists, bullying usually stems from two things, the bully may have an undeveloped brain and can't quite understand what empathy is or how to be emotionally aware of others and lashes out as a result of it. Another reason comes from the bully being insecure, this could have to do with a situation at home or a secret about who the person is that they don't want people to know, like if the person was gay for example they might try to act more masculine by bringing smaller and seemingly weaker people down. This insecurity could also have to do with a physical aspect of the person like their weight or how attractive they are; they could even be acting like a complete asshole completely because they have a really small dick." AJ told him, mimicking Michael's tone from before getting laughter from the crowd that had started forming around them.

"You little shit." Michael growled while grabbing the collar of AJ's shirt and held him a few inches off the ground. "You don't get to comment on the size of my dick when yours is probably the size off a pill." Michael released him and let him drop back onto the ground.

"It's kind of funny that me accusing you of having a small penis offends you more than me implying that your brain is under developed, also it would be kind of creepy if I had a huge dick, I haven't gone through puberty yet, what's your excuse?" AJ asked with a smirk growing on his face.

That's when it happened, out of nowhere Michael just took a swing at AJ hitting him directly in the eye. He tackled the younger boy, but before the kids around them could rush to stop Michael from hurting the kid almost half his age the situation had flipped. AJ was on top of Michael swinging anywhere he could and using the techniques of self-defense that the team had taught him.

The kids around them did nothing to stop the situation, Michael deserved what he was getting after what he had said about AJ's dads. Soon a security guard had pulled the two boys away from each other and they were both sent to their separated areas.

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After hearing what had happened JJ was shocked with how cruel that kid could be, she was also a little creeped out by what the kid had researched and learned about purely to try to hurt her son. JJ held him tighter than she had before and reassured him that he wouldn't have to hurt like that again if she could help it.

The two sat together for a long time, caught up in the much needed comfort they were giving each other. They were surprised when Henry walked in with JJ's phone to his ear, "I don't know, 'pence, I will ask Mama now." He said as he walked over to where JJ and AJ were sitting, "Mama, 'pence wants to know if we want to have dinner with him."

"Let me talk to Spence baby boy." JJ told him holding out her hand for the phone as AJ uncurled himself from her arms and walked over to his baby brother.

"Since when do you call him 'Spence' and not 'Uncle Spence'?" AJ asked with a raised eyebrow while their mom talked on the phone.

"You don't call him Uncle 'pence no more either." Henry told him.

"You know that you don't have to do things just because I do them right bud?" AJ asked him with the same eyebrow going up.

"But you're the most awesomest person ever bubba, I wanna be just like you and do the same things you do." Henry told him with an admiring look in his eyes. JJ had gotten off the phone just in time to hear Henry and was smiling at the bond her boys had.

"Well Hen, I'm glad I've got someone in my corner, I love baby bro." He told him giving him a small hug before giving him and his mom a playful look, "But, if you don't stop wanting to do the exact same things as me then in a few years, you're going to end up being the youngest rebel ever." He told him hinting at a mischievous future.

"Yeah, and then I'll have to lock you up with AJ until he turns 18." JJ teased while giving AJ a pointed look. "Alright you two, go get ready we're going out to eat with Spence." JJ told them sending both boys out of the kitchen with a playful pat to their butts. She stopped AJ for a second though, "You know that Henry isn't the only one in your corner right, you have me, Spence, and the whole team, our family all ready to be there for you when you need them."

AJ gave her a warm smile before answering, "I know Mom, I love you."

"I love you too."

AN: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and please comment on your thoughts. Thank you.