This is the longest chapter I have ever written for any story! Yay!!!! lol
I'm going to try to update about every other day, but I don't know how well that'll work...
Thanks to RedJewel2662, kdzl, , DeviousRobynno, and Shanananza for reviewing the last chapter!!! :)
From Darkness to Light
A CM fanfic
Chapter 7
Jennifer Jareau stood, looking at herself in the mirror. It had been two days since that first night and she'd done it again both nights since. It was becoming her routine and that scared the shit out of her. What was worse was that she actually liked it. She liked the feeling she got from it and the pain which took her mind off of everything else if only for a while.
The team wasn't any closer to catching their unsub than they were before they even got to Illinois, but when they all arrived at the police station that morning people were walking around frantically and talking so fast over the phone that it made the BAU members wonder how on earth the person on the other end was able to keep up. Detective Bowman walked up to them after running a hand through his graying hair and said. "Another girl is missing." He then led them into the room that had been set aside for the profilers use and after closing the door he pointed to a picture of a new little girl on the board in the room. "This is Kaylee Dawson." He said. "Her parents reported her missing this morning. She was taken from her front yard."
"Morgan and Prentiss come with the detective and me to talk to the parents and neighbors. Reid, I want you to stay here and see where the new abduction site fits in your geographic profile and J.J., you stay here; see what you can find out about Kaylee. Call Garcia and have her see if there's anything to connect her with the other girls." Hotch said, taking the lead, He knew something was off with J.J. and he hoped Garcia or maybe even Reid could get her to talk about what was bothering her.
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It was a beautiful fall day Emily Prentiss thought as she and Hotch neared the Dawson home. The trees on both sides of the street had leaves in various stages of turning red, orange, and brown from their usual green and some yards were full of piles of raked leaves ready to be jumped into by small children, but Emily realized that they were all missing one thing. There were no kids to be seen down the entire length of the street. Mothers and fathers had yanked their children inside as soon as news of young Kaylee's disappearance had spread, giving the neighborhood a kind of deserted beauty.
Eventually the SUV came to a stop in front of a beautiful yellow house with well trimmed bushes by the steps leading to the front door and flowers by the sidewalk in front of a white picket fence. There was a rake laying in the yard near a half finished pile of leaves as well as several children's toys seemingly abandoned by their owner during the process of playing, but what separated this house from the others was the bright yellow crime scene tape which surrounded the fence announcing to the world that some form of injustice had occurred there. Emily and Hotch climbed out of the SUV and as they walked to the front of the house Emily looked down the street seeing Morgan and the detective who had already started canvassing the neighborhood, going from house to house looking for anyone who might have seen something. Once they reached the front door Hotch rang the doorbell.
The door opened slowly revealing a man with dark hair who looked to be about Emily's age. He hadn't been crying, but looked as though he could burst into tears at any moment. Hotch held up his badge. "I'm Agent Hotchner and this is Agent Prentiss." He said, gesturing towards Emily. "We're here to talk to you and your wife about your daughter, if that's ok with you." Mr. Dawson opened the door wide enough for the profilers to walk through. "Thank you." Hotch said as he passed the younger man.
Andrew Dawson closed the door after Emily and turned back towards them. He pointed down the short hall to a doorway. "She's in the living room." was all he said before leading the agents to the room where his wife was sitting. Once they got there they found a woman sitting on the couch surrounded by pictures of a little girl they knew to be Kaylee, their unsub's latest victim. She had been crying and silent tears were still making their way down her face as she looked up at the agents.
"She was just outside." Joy Dawson said, wiping tears from her eyes. "She was just there and now she's gone." Her husband then sat down next to her, wrapping an arm around her and attempting to comfort her, while avoiding looking at the pictures of his daughter.
"What was it that you needed to ask us?" Andrew asked, directing his question at Hotch and Emily.
"We know this is very difficult for you and we're very sorry for what has happened, but we were wondering if you could tell us everything that you can remember up until the time Kaylee disappeared." Emily said.
"She wanted to go outside and play."
"I promised her I'd rake up some leaves for her to jump in. She loves this time of year. The changing colors and the cooler weather…" Andrew trailed off after interrupting his wife.
"Did anything unusual happen today?" Hotch asked. "Did you notice anything out of the ordinary? A new car in the neighborhood? Someone you hadn't seen before walking up and down the street?"
"There was nothing. I asked Andrew to come inside just for a minute and she was gone. It's all my fault!" Joy said, before bursting into tears in her husband's arms, whose own silent tears had just begun to make their way down his face.
"It's not your fault, Mrs. Dawson, or your husband's. It's no one's fault other than the man who decided to take your daughter and I promise you that we are and will do everything we can to find her." Emily said, comfortingly.
"Thank you for your time." Hotch said, softly as he placed his card on the table in front of them. "Please call us if you think of anything else." Andrew nodded his response and Hotch and Emily left the house, meeting up with Morgan and Detective Bowman at the SUV.
"Get anything from the neighbors?"
"I think we've got a witness, Hotch."
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Back at the police station J.J. had been talking to Garcia for over an hour, sifting through the lives of the three dead girls and comparing it to Kaylee's looking for any similarities or common things.
"I got nothing Jayje." Penelope Garcia's voice filled the room. J.J. looked up from the files she had been going through to stare at the phone that was sitting on the table.
"You sure?" She asked. "There's nothing?"
"Not a thing." The blonde tech replied. "I've run every search I can and as far as I know none of our girls ever crossed paths."
"Ok. Thanks, Garcia."
"No problem J.J. I hope you find her soon."
"Me too." J.J. said distractedly.
"You ok J.J.? You seem a little quiet…" She paused. "Distant."
Reid's ears perked up at the question and he looked up from his map to see J.J. glare at the phone before saying "I'm fine, Garcia." in a pleasant enough voice for Garcia to not notice how the question really affected her.
"Ok. If you need anything give me a call. I'm going to rerun all my searches and make sure there's nothing I missed." And with that Reid and J.J. heard the click of Garcia hanging up her phone.
J.J. pressed a button on the phone, disconnecting it from Garcia who was no longer there and went back to staring at her files after pushing some of her hair behind her ear, acting as though everything was fine, pretending nothing had happened and avoiding Reid's profiling eyes.
Finally, Reid got up and walked over to J.J., sitting in the chair next to her. "J.J." he started out softly and slowly. "I-I know you just told Garcia that you're fine." He managed to stammer out, suddenly overcome with nervousness. "But you don't seem fine. She's right, you have been acting differently and I just wanted you to know that you can talk to me." He received the same glare the telephone had gotten when Garcia asked a similar question, but looked her straight in the eyes, letting her know he meant what he said.
"I am fine." J.J. told Reid slowly, accentuating each word, trying not to lose her temper. "How many times are you and everyone else going to ask me that question before you finally accept the answer?!" She asked, her anger rising, as she stood and walked out the door after turning around and saying once more "I'm fine!"