Author's Note (It's a long one, but please read it): I received a PM last night that devastated me. The PM was kind and gracious, but the reviewer suggested that I should take pride in my ability to fabricate such a disturbing story and situation. I was not devastated at the comments, rather that I feel the reader has missed the point entirely.
This story is dedicated to the millions of victims of human trafficking. As I said in the first chapter, nothing in this story has been written with the intent to disgust or disturb you. If anything in this story disturbs you, please know that is not my intent. My intent is to be realistic and to represent a small portion of a real situation that sadly does not get nearly enough acknowledgement. Many of the things suggested in this story really do happen in real life. I have taken creative liberties with the characters CBS has provided, but just because the characters are fictional does not mean the circumstances are fictional as well. I will repeat that for emphasis, while the story is fictional, the subject matter is not. In no way do I purport to know every way that a person can degrade another human being, and I believe that is a good thing. But evil, vile, atrocious things happen every day. And in real life, many people are not rescued just in the nick of time. Many people are not rescued at all. Many people do not get a happy ending. Many people do not see an end to suffering in this life. I do believe that every one of these victims will one day be able to stand before God and receive justice.
Some statistics: (1) Human trafficking has become the second most profitable crime worldwide, tied with international arms dealing just behind drug trafficking. In 2007, 27 million people were considered slaves in today's "modern society." The advent of technology does not seem to be the perfect setting for the barbaric state of slavery, but yes it is, and statistics will prove this fact. (2) A subject that will be touched on lightly in this story includes the trafficking of a child for sex. Child trafficking is one of the fastest growing crimes in the world. Over 100,000 children in the U.S. are currently exploited through commercial sex, and 300,000 children in the U.S. are at risk every year for commercial sexual exploitation. There are more slaves today than at any time in human history.
For more information, please look at:
www [dot] freetheslaves [dot] net/Page [dot] aspx?pid=356
aheartforjustice [dot] com
www [dot] humantrafficking [dot] org/countries/united_states_of_america
www [dot] youtube [dot] com/watch?v=KjttKoFWxv0
I know this note is long, and if you don't read it at all, that's fine. But, I would not be able to live with myself if I didn't make myself abundantly clear. The entire point behind this story is to raise awareness of a horrible situation that can be happening right in our own backyards. There is something we can do to stop it, but first it requires us to be aware.
Consider yourself warned.
The first thing Emily was aware of, several hours later, was a soft knocking at the hotel room door. Gently, she laid JJ's head to the side and stood, wincing at the stiffness in her back from having fallen asleep on the floor. Rolling off the bed she had fallen asleep on and tumbling over to the door, Director Strauss opened the door quietly after checking through the peephole.
"Agent Hotchner, Agent Morgan." She opened the door widely to allow the Agents entrance.
"Why isn't she in a hospital?" Hotch spat coldly as he quietly entered the hotel room.
"Why haven't you called the rest of the team?" Emily retorted, rubbing her eyes still bleary from sleep.
Hotch glowered, biting back a retort. "She needs to be seen by a physician." He stated simply.
Softening, Emily sighed. "She didn't want to go."
Strauss stood up, "Agent Prentiss and I both decided it would be in Agent Jareau's best interest to let her get some rest. I hope you're not questioning my judgment, Agent Hotchner."
Seeing Strauss back her decision, and knowing that her own presence would only serve to make Hotch more defensive, Emily forced herself to leave JJ's presence for the first time in hours. "If you all don't mind, I've got to use the restroom."
Horrified to see JJ asleep, curled up on the floor, Hotch took a step back in shock. "What the hell is she doing on the floor?"
"I don't appreciate your tone, Agent Hotchner." Strauss muttered before grimacing at the memory of the blonde just a few hours before.
JJ's trembling had only increased as they ascended the hotel floors in the elevator. "Does she have a fever?" Strauss asked with concern.
"I don't know." Emily replied honestly. "Her bandages probably need to be changed—on her back. It's-" Emily hesitated for a minute, "It's bad."
Strauss nodded, placing a hand on JJ's upper back to help assist the exhausted trembling woman to the block of hotel rooms they had rented. Even the mere threat that JJ might still be in danger made the overly cautious Director rent a six room block for the next three weeks.
Opening the door, both women sat aback as they watched JJ hesitate at the threshold, looking to Emily for guidance. "Come inside JJ." Emily instructed warily in Spanish, too tired from the emotional upheaval to exert her efforts when she knew what JJ would respond to.
JJ cautiously entered the room, all the while keeping her back up tightly against the wall—inching along as she searched Emily's face to uncover when she had reached the desired location.
Instantly picking up on JJ's reluctance to approach the bed, Emily instantly pulled down a pillow and sat in the corner where JJ was heading. Tentatively grabbing JJ's hand, Emily tugged on the blonde's hand, leading her to the floor. Gripping her shoulders softly, she helped JJ lie down.
"I'm not going to hurt you." Emily consoled. Grateful, not for the first time in the last few hours, for her language skills she added. "I'm not going to let anyone hurt you."
Strauss could only watch as Emily slowly ran her fingers through JJ's hair, she comfortingly rubbed the other woman's back. Strauss couldn't help but plead silently that Agent Jareau would quickly fall asleep.
But somewhere, she knew that this wasn't going to be that easy.
"Derek." Hotch commanded, pointing to the woman on the floor, "we need to get her to the hospital."
Obediently but reluctantly, Derek scooped the woman up in his grasp. He fought surprise at her almost complete weightlessness in his arms.
"She's asleep." Strauss insisted, shooting both men a look that more than established why she earned her title as Director of the FBI. "It's three in the morning. What harm will it do to let the woman sleep?"
Hotch caught Morgan's questioning look and nodded reluctantly. Derek easily shifted the weight in his arms to enable him to pull back the covers. Smiling, he placed her gently on the bed where Strauss had been laying before pulling the covers over her.
"And the ipod?" Derek smiled, fondly remembering JJ's inability to do nearly anything without music.
"She had trouble falling asleep." Emily admitted as she came out of the bathroom. Seeing JJ curled up in the bed, she grimaced apprehensively, "I don't know if you should have moved her, she's—"
"Emily, if she had woken up, I would have called for you." Derek answered softly, leaning over to JJ and pulling the buds softly out of her ears. "I was careful."
"What do you mean she had trouble falling asleep?" Hotch asked. Though he could easily see the dark circles begin to form under Emily's eyes, he couldn't help feel concern for his charge. He had never lost an Agent before JJ, and it killed him to see her in such pain.
Emily bit her lip as she remembered JJ's laborious attempt to fall asleep.
The blonde fitfully tossed in her sleep, whimpering every so often at some unseen horror known only to JJ in her dreams.
"Isn't there anything you can do to help her?" Strauss asked. It had been nearly an hour. As she understood it, Agent Jareau had barely slept on the plane—which meant that she had to have been as exhausted as the Director felt—if not more so.
"Maybe we can—" Emily searched for something to help her friend fall asleep, "turn off the lights?"
Strauss nodded and quickly turned off the lights, plunging the room into a tentative darkness.
Up until this moment, Emily was fairly certain that JJ couldn't act more terrified of her current situation. As darkness blanketed the room, however, she realized she was sorely mistaken. JJ stiffened and froze immediately. Emily heard the woman gasp for breath, breathing in short rapid breaths.
"Turn on the light—do something" She hissed quietly to Strauss who immediately snapped into action, flipping on the closest switch she could find.
Light gently illuminated the small foyer of the hotel room, leaving JJ and Emily draped in the soft dim light. "It's okay JJ, I'm here." Emily gracefully tucked a strand of errant hair behind JJ's ear. "I'm not leaving you."
Wracking her mind for anything she could give the blonde woman lying across her lap something that might help her, she sighed gratefully as realization struck her.
Quickly feeling around in her pocket for the familiar device, Emily smiled. A lifetime ago, she and JJ had often shared a room on cases, both for safety and for company. Emily could easily remember her surprise on their first night sharing a hotel room when JJ confessed that she could not easily fall asleep without the extra noise of her trusty ipod. The night before JJ's abduction, she had played her tunes so loudly that Emily had teasingly commandeered the device. Every morning since that day, Emily placed the ipod in her pocket, hoping that would be the day she could return it to her friend.
And she had almost forgotten about it.
Pulling the device out quickly, she fastened the buds to JJ's ears. JJ's breathing was still rapid, and in a stroke of brilliance, instructed the Director quietly, "Open the bathroom door and turn on the light—the dark, she might be afraid—" She let it trail off, honestly having no idea what JJ would be afraid of now.
She desperately hoped she would not be on that long list.
Strauss eyed her closely as JJ seemed to fall asleep. Emily brushed JJ's golden hair with her fingertips, every once in a while uttering a comforting phrase in Spanish to calm JJ's sporadic murmured cries.
"Agent Prentiss," Strauss spoke softly as not to disturb the woman in the throes of sleep, "Agent Jareau will likely need long term care as a result of—"
"I know." Emily interrupted. "I'm going to see if she can stay with me." She whispered so softly that the Director had to strain to hear.
"If that's the case," Strauss smiled, glad that her suspicions had been correct, "then anytime you'll need from the Bureau—paid time off, sick leave, whatever it be—consider it granted."
"Thank you, Ma'am." Emily yawned, feeling sleep tug at her own consciousness.
"I'll call Agent Hotchner to let him know where we are." Strauss informed before yawning herself.
Clearing her throat, Strauss pulled Emily from her thoughts, "Since you all are more than capable of handling this, I'll go now." Strauss informed the group of Agents. Looking to Emily, she added, "And let me know if she needs anything."
"Yes Ma'am."
"Agent Hotchner, I'm sure you're aware there will be heightened media presence." She turned to the raven haired stoic leader, confident in his ability to control the appropriate information.
Hotch grimaced, "I've been informed that there are already several crews at my home." He admitted. Since JJ's primary focus on the team had required her to develop friends in the press, those friends had latched on to JJ's abduction with desperate fervor. Hotch groaned at the realization that he would be forced to deal with many more press conferences, full of reporters who knew JJ personally and wanted information.
"Then I would suggest you return home to deal with them and leave Agent Prentiss and Morgan here to care for Agent Jareau until morning." The Director instructed firmly, well aware of Hotch's new-found media connections. As the lone agent authorized to speak on the case, Hotch had done countless interviews, exclusives, and TV Specials in an attempt to gain any sort of lead in JJ's case. Though many believed he would become the next David Rossi, only the Director was aware of the numerous book deals he had already declined.
Hotch shook his head. "The press can wait another day or two." He rolled his eyes at the pure look of shock that crossed Derek and Emily's face. True, he had insisted on being the only person the press came to for questions about JJ, but it wasn't as if he had enjoyed it.
"In that case, we have booked the five rooms surrounding this one, so feel free to use them at the Bureau's expense." She smiled before grabbing her bag and the keys to the SUV she had driven and quietly leaving the room.
"Hotch," Derek stepped up, "why don't you and Emily both go to sleep? I'll keep watch outside."
Unable to deny how exhausted he felt, Hotch nodded. "First thing in the morning, we go to the hospital."
Emily nodded, stifling a yawn. "First thing." She agreed. Removing the clip from her gun and placing the clip under her pillow, she tossed the gun onto the side table. With a glance at JJ sleeping peacefully, she settled in to the other bed that stood closer to the door and quickly fell asleep.