Author's Note: Special thanks to the reviewers of last chapter: crazyobsession101; canny-bairn; reviews genuinely make my day, so thanks for that.
The four male profilers sitting around the conference table looked at the stack of files with trepidation.
"That's her medical file?" Reid asked, gesturing to the stack in the middle of the table. "One of us is going to have to look through it."
Rossi groaned, fully aware that the horrors contained in this file would me much more than he wanted to know. Slowly picking a file from the top, he grimaced as he reluctantly opened it. The others slowly followed his lead, each selecting his own file.
"Damn" Morgan breathed as he avoided looking at the photos cataloguing JJ's injuries.
Rossi ran his fingers through his hair as he shook his head in horror. "How could someone do this?" He murmured.
"The victim appears to have suffered severe abuse." Reid spoke up. Each of the other men shared a glance at his attempt to distance the file in front of him from the woman he had known for years. "Multiple injuries to her legs—"
"To stop her from running" Hotch interrupted softly.
Reid proceeded as if Hotch hadn't spoken, "The labs show the victim suffers from untreated Gonorrhea, Herpes, Chlamydia, Scabies…" He trailed off as he turned the page and read at lightning speed. "And that's just for starters."
"This guy's a pure sadist." Derek shook his head sadly as he quickly flipped through the pictures cataloguing the burns on JJ's back.
"I don't think so." Hotch disagreed. Looking up from the file, he was met with the surprised looks from his colleagues and explained. "None of her injuries appear to be for the sole purpose of hurting her."
Rossi's brow furrowed as he skimmed the file once more. "Bite marks. She was bitten by a dog." He shuddered. "That seems pretty sadistic to me."
"Not to mention the fact that victims of prolonged violence, such as this, are often forced to engage in bestial activities to further degrade and dehumanize the victim." Reid agreed.
"Track marks suggest they kept her drugged almost all of the time." Morgan pointed out thoughtfully. "That was probably to keep her submissive."
"Look at these injuries, though. Restraint marks, drugging, injuries to her legs to keep her from running—suggests that whoever had her wanted to be in a position of control." Hotch corrected the others gently.
"A complete narcissist." Rossi nodded, working out the profile in his mind. "He wouldn't get off by torturing JJ, he would get off by seeing her completely submit to him."
"It goes along with how she's been compliant with everything I've asked her to do." Hotch agreed, fighting the pit in his stomach at the thought.
"This might be just the thing we need to find this sick son of a bitch." Derek slowly took the file and placed it gingerly in his briefcase while Reid tossed the file into the center of the table, desperate to fling the evidence of what happened to JJ as far away from him as possible.
"Let's hope it's enough." Hotch agreed.
.oOo.
Emily groaned with relief as she lay down in her oversized bed. The soft mattress was more than enough to provide relief to her worn and tired muscles. As a soft creak pricked at her ears, she sat up immediately, listening for any sound that might indicate that JJ had woken. Glancing over to the corner of the room, she sighed with relief as she saw JJ's tightly curled body still braced tightly against a wall.
Satisfied that the younger woman was still asleep, Emily collapsed back onto the bed. Sighing with relief, she smiled as she felt her body release the tension she didn't realize she had been holding. She groaned as she realized that all of the pressure—all of the responsibilities would start right up again the next morning. Rubbing a hand through her hair, she wondered if every meal time would turn into the events of earlier that night.
Laying out small samples of almost the entire menu of five various takeout restaurants, Emily tried to smile cheerfully. "We didn't know what you wanted to eat—"
"So we decided to get you a little of everything!" Garcia exclaimed happily. "This is going to be the best dinner I've ever had!" She smiled as she rubbed her hands together excitedly. "And that includes the time that Kevin and I made s'mores over my stovetop."
"Just eat whatever you can." Emily instructed kindly as she opened some of the take-out boxes. "I—neither of us expect you to eat it all." Emily smiled encouragingly.
Garcia scooped JJ up a plate with a little of everything while Emily did the same for herself. "Ooo, Jayje, we got that Mongolian Beef from that Chinese place. You've got to try it!" She held out a fork with the morsel of lean beef excitedly. "It's amazing! You've got to eat this first!"
JJ shot both women a questioning glance before reluctantly taking the small piece of meat in her hands. She grimaced and before either woman could stop her she quickly placed the meat on her tongue, closing her mouth instantly.
The brilliant smile died on Garcia's lips as JJ gagged on the small piece of tender steak. "Oh, Peaches." Emily felt her own stomach lurch with sympathy at JJ's pitiful sight. Sympathy quickly turned to horror as JJ attempted to swallow the meat she was already gagging on. JJ's eyes watered and her lips turned white as she tried to keep the food in her mouth despite her body's violent protests.
Moving quickly, Emily grabbed a small trash can and threw it in JJ's direction. "It's okay JJ." She soothed, her voice low and thick with emotion as she patted JJ's back gingerly. "You don't have to eat it if you don't want to."
"I—" Garcia lifted her hand to her mouth in horror, "I didn't mean to make her—"
Emily ignored Garcia's attempts at apology and focused on the blonde in front of her. "Jayje, it's okay." She reiterated in Spanish.
Grabbing the bucket in Emily's hand, JJ heaved violently expelling the offending item along with the rest of her stomach contents.
Emily patted JJ's back lovingly, feeling her heart break as JJ continued to dry heave. Catching Garcia's eyes, she smiled comfortingly—not wanting to let Garcia feel guilty for something that clearly wasn't her fault.
JJ was hurt, and they were all going to have to learn to help her get through this.
Hearing another creak, Emily bolted out of bed to find a bleary JJ tripping toward the bathroom.
JJ barely made it to the toilet before the meager contents of her stomach revolted against her. Emily's face fell as she saw JJ pitifully heaving the contents of her stomach into the porcelain toilet. Emily quickly stepped toward JJ and crouched down beside her, soothingly rubbing giant circles along her upper back in an attempt to avoid JJ's other wounds while she pulled JJ's long blonde hair out of the way. "It's going to be okay." She promised, allowing the Spanish phrase to roll off her tongue.
Honestly, Emily was shocked JJ had anything in her system available to vomit. Grimacing, she continued to rub JJ's back, praying fervently that this would end soon.
Unfortunately, retching turned to dry heaving as JJ's body fought violently to expel the mere aroma of food. It was all Emily could do to continue to soothe JJ in an attempt to force it all to stop.
As JJ finished, she sobbed into Emily's arms, clinging to the other woman as if her life depended on it.
In that moment, Emily Prentiss decided that all of the responsibilities in the world would be worth it to help her friend get better.