Author's Note: Thanks to the reviewers of the last chapter: claudia-scags; savetonight; canny-bairn; crazyobsession101; Love-B .xo; Moi; youdude; and Zolidify. They literally spur me forward in posting, so thank you.
Special thanks to brynnifer who's always fantastic.
He knew she was awake, but honestly wasn't surprised that she refused to acknowledge his presence. Seeing the tubes coming out of her abdomen, he grimaced at the thought of the decision he had to make.
He had chosen to let surgeons cut into her body, insert tubes that would be responsible for providing nutrition to the woman he was rapidly considering to be the daughter he never had.
But he had enough information to put Manuel away forever.
And...the man on the video tapes...the men from the phone call...all of the people Manuel had 'sent' JJ to had been recorded in detail in Manuel's records.
They were all currently being brought in for questioning, so he hadn't failed her entirely.
And Hotch would make sure they would rue the day they were even born.
But first, there was something he had to do.
He had to tell JJ she wasn't going home for a little while.
Until they got her weight under control.
But she was going to hate it.
He already did.
"We got him JJ." He settled on, finally breaking the silence. "We found Manuel. He's going away for a long—he's going away forever." He promised.
Because if there was one thing he could promise it was that he would make sure Manuel—Miguel—never saw the light of day again.
JJ's jaw clenched, the only sign she heard him as she stared off against the opposite wall.
His heart dropped as he noticed JJ fingering the light bulge on her stomach where the feeding tube had been inserted. "I'm sorry JJ." He offered sincerely, "I know you hate this—but I had to do it. It's for your own good."
"I waited for you." JJ croaked, her voice thick and scruffy and so low that he barely heard her.
"What was that JJ?" Hotch prodded.
She turned, and for the first time in years, Hotch saw a fiery passion ignited behind her eyes, "I waited for you."
"You waited for me?" Hotch clarified, still not understanding. "Your doctor said you weren't awake until about half an hour ago."
"Every night, every day, I knew you were coming. I knew you wouldn't give up. I waited for you." JJ bit out. Hotch was shocked at the woman's venomous words, suddenly realizing that she was not referring to waking up from surgery.
She was talking about her time with Manuel.
She waited for him.
"JJ—" He sighed, trailing off because any excuse he could possibly make sounded weak to himself.
How do you apologize for something like that?
"You never came." She accused softly. "And then you tell me that you had to do this for me?" She asked incredulously. "I don't want it. I don't deserve it. You never came because I didn't deserve it."
Hotch's jaw dropped and he felt like all the air had been sucked from the room. "JJ—"
"I hate you." JJ spat, turning back toward the wall. "Leave me alone. I hate you."
"JJ—" He started, but a knock at the door followed by two strong men in medical scrubs interrupted him.
"Aaron Hotchner?" The first man asked, looking down at a chart in his hands. "We're from Paradise Valley Medical, we're here for..." He trailed off at the sight of Hotch shaking his head softly.
Knowing it was time to inform the nearly broken woman of what fate awaited her, Hotch closed his eyes, desperately wishing that this could all just be some horrific nightmare.
But it wasn't.
"JJ." Hotch said firmly, knowing that this moment would likely haunt his dreams for years to come. "JJ, you're going to go away for a while."
JJ turned in the bed and looked at him with horrified eyes. "Hotch?" The tears brimming at her eyelids grew to be too much for him, but he forced himself to make this difficult decision.
"JJ, you need help." His voice cracked as he waved the men away, trying to buy him and JJ just a little more time. She needed to understand he was doing this for her. "We found a place—Rossi found a place—a nice place where they can help you. It won't be for long." He promised.
"You're sending me away?" JJ asked, the tears flowing freely at the thought of being rejected, or worse discarded just like she had been under Manuel's authority. "I'm—"
"I'm not sending you away." Hotch clarified, cutting her off from saying something he knew would break his heart. "I'm sending you somewhere you can get help."
"I didn't mean it." JJ sobbed, certain that the only reason this could be happening was because she had done something wrong. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it." She pled as Hotch nodded toward the two men who stepped into the room at her outburst. "I'm sorry."
"You have nothing to be sorry for." Hotch smiled despite the pang that ripped at his heart as he realized JJ thought he was sending her away because she said she hated him. "I'm doing this for you."
As the two men stepped slowly toward her, JJ sobbed hysterically, pulling off the various tubes attached to her body. "No! Please! I'm sorry." She pleaded, grabbing the cuff of Hotch's shirt and ripping it toward him. "I didn't mean it."
Lifting JJ's chin to look at him seriously, Hotch stopped for a second, wishing that there was some other way.
But JJ needed this.
And he'd do anything for JJ.
Gesturing for the men to step back, he smiled at her honestly, "You don't have anything to be sorry for." He insisted, wrapping the trembling woman in his strong arms, only mildly aware of the various tubes that still poked out of her. "I could never be mad at you."
"Don't make me go."JJ hiccupped in a pathetic plea.
"JJ, this is what is best for you." Hotch shook his head, forcing him to make this hard decision. "But it won't be forever. I promise. I'll visit you every day."
"I don't want to go." JJ pled.
"I know." Hotch sighed as he hugged JJ tightly, rubbing the back of his head soothingly as he would a child, "I know."
Dr. Nielsen knocked gently on the side of the doorframe of the upscale private care facility. "JJ, I came to check and make sure you are getting settled in."
JJ stared at the wall, apparently uninterested in the kind doctor who had quickly become one of the few people she had grown to trust.
Dr. Nielsen sat at the foot of JJ's bed. "I'm going to tell you a little bit about myself, if that's okay."
JJ shrugged as if it didn't matter, though he could see her watching him out of the corner of her eye with interest.
"I met Lisa at a party in College." He smiled as he slowly pulled his wallet out of his back pocket. "We got married a few months later and I love her more than anything." He explained easily, well aware that JJ didn't feel like talking. Though it went against usual guidelines, JJ had become a dear patient, and he thought by sharing his own experience it might do some good.
"We're good people. Lisa made sure we did free work to give back to the community. We go to church every week." His voice caught. "Bad things weren't supposed to happen." He surmised, well aware that bad things both could and did happen to his family. "Not to us."
Every time he saw JJ, he couldn't help but think that this could have happened to his beautiful daughter.
But by some miracle, it didn't.
And now, he wasn't about to let this patient fall by the wayside.
JJ turned and looked at him curiously, as if interested that the kind doctor had another life outside of hospitals.
Smiling, Dr. Nielsen handed JJ the wedding photo that was kept in his wallet. "We were married and for three years when we tried to have kids." He frowned at the memory. "Then a miracle happened." He pulled out another photo—this one of his infant daughter shortly after birth nestled in his arms—and handed it over to JJ. "My daughter is seven now."
JJ traced the happy figures as the doctor continued his story. "It was my fault." His voice choked gruffly but he pushed past the familiar feelings, "I was working at a clinic, and I tried to help a man with a hip fracture." Dr. Nielsen bit his lip, guilt overwhelming him at having brought this horror into his family. "I couldn't do anything, but I tried. I found out later, he was the leader of a drug cartel. He felt that I hadn't done my job well enough…"
JJ nodded, beginning to understand.
"They kidnapped my baby girl from her bedroom." Dr. Nielsen whispered. "She was five and they kidnapped her."
"What happened to her?" JJ asked, her voice soft but scratchy from the hysterical sobbing that hadn't managed to change her fate.
"The next day she was found hiding off the side of a Georgia Highway." Dr. Nielsen smiled grimly. "JJ, my daughter could have been where you are." He explained, "maybe that's why I care so much, but JJ, if you'll let me, I will help you get better. I promise. I won't give up until—"
"How did she escape?" JJ queried, interrupting his impassioned plea.
"We're not certain." He shrugged, "the one thing we managed to understand was that her 'Angel', a woman who was there helped her run." Pure gratitude washed over him. "If I could—if that woman knew what she did for us—I could never thank her enough."
Dr. Nielsen's phone vibrated. With a quick glance to the caller, the doctor smiled. After his daughter's abduction, he never ignored phone calls from his wife.
Ever.
"That's Lisa," He stood, clearly indicating he was about to leave, "but JJ, I want you to remember. I won't give up on you. Your friends—they won't give up on you either."
Stepping out of JJ's room, he picked up the phone. "Hey Babe."
'Oh, so it's Babe now?' Lisa snorted, 'Uh, you can try again next time.'
"Alright." Dr. Nielsen chuckled, knowing how much his wife hated pet names. Some things only got funnier with time. "What's up Babe."
He had to bite down an inappropriate chortle of laughter as he could literally feel Lisa roll her eyes at his antics. 'Zoey saw someone on the news, she said it was her angel." Robert could hear the skepticism in Lisa's voice, but his jaw dropped involuntarily all the same. 'I told her I'd try to set up a meeting, but—'
"Lisa. This is it. This is our chance. We could meet..." His voice cracked, "the woman..."
Lisa's entire tone softened at the emotion in his voice, 'But Rob, I'm just not sure—'
"Set it up." He pled. "Lisa, please. Worst case? We're wrong and somebody gets to meet 'The Miracle Child'." He grinned at the name the media had given their daughter.
'She is pretty miraculous, isn't she?' Lisa smiled, then asked hesitatingly, 'Are you sure you want me to set it up?'
Glancing back at his patient, knowing how close Zoey could have come to a similar fate, he bit his lip. "Please, set up the meeting. Because whoever Zoey's 'Angel' is, we can never thank her enough."
As he bid his wife farewell and looked back at the hospital behind him, he wished someone could have saved Agent Jareau too.