I surprised myself with how fast I got this one done! lol

Thanks to kdzl for reviewing the last chapter!!! :)

From Darkness to Light

A CM fanfic

Chapter 14

J.J. opened her eyes slowly, blinking at the sudden intrusion of bright light from the sun. "What happened?" She managed to mumble out to anyone who was nearby.

Both Emily and Reid were quickly at her side, each with a hand on her back, helping their friend into a sitting position on the edge of the ambulance.

"You were hit J.J." Reid said softly. "You fainted right after."

"Hit?! What do you mean I was hit? By who?" J.J. asked, her mind still foggy from the events that had happened only minutes ago.

"Apparently they didn't check the yard good enough." Emily said, rolling her eyes and quickly glaring at the two rookie cops who had been given one simple job, but still managed to fail miserably at it. "Howard heard us coming and hid in the bushes. He came out shooting."

"Morgan saw him as soon as he saw you go down. He shot him Jayje. Sam Howard won't hurt anyone else. He's dead now." Reid said.

"Oh." was the only response J.J. could give while the information she had just been given soaked in. Her thoughts were quickly interrupted by the young ambulance driver who had bandaged up her shoulder.

"Good, you're awake!" He said, walking towards her to examine her once more just to be certain she wouldn't need to go to the hospital.

Emily dragged Reid out of the man's way and around to the other side of the ambulance where they could talk without being heard. She looked at him and he could see the fear and sadness in her eyes as she asked "You'll talk to her, right?" Reid's face became one of nervousness and worry as he turned his head, glancing back in the direction he knew their media liaison was. "Reid!" Emily said, bringing his attention back to her. "She doesn't want to talk to me, but I know she'll talk to you. She trusts you. You saw her arms back there, I know you did!" She said, begging him to listen to her. "We have to help her. You have to help her." She finished.

"I'll talk to her." Reid finally said. "But I really don't think I'm the one she'd want to talk with." And with that he walked back around the ambulance to find Morgan and Hotch now talking to J.J. who had put her coat back on, covering the lines on her arms that she knew would give her secret away. As he watched her interact with two of their friends he began to notice how forced her smiles looked from far away and how her laughter was missing that special something in it that had made it all her own and he wondered how long all of it had really been going on, how long she'd been pretending and how long it'd taken all of them to finally realize she was hurting.

"Earth to Reid!" Morgan shouted, breaking the genius from his thoughts. "We're leaving. Are you coming with us or are you just gonna stand there all night?" Reid looked up to see Morgan standing next to Hotch, J.J. and Emily. The street was beginning to clear out as the cops finished their jobs and went home.

The BAU team headed towards their SUVs and made their way back to their hotel for their last night's stay in Illinois and Reid knew that this night was as good as any to confront J.J. so he decided he'd wait a couple hours once they got back and then he'd go to her room and talk to her.