My Life Had Stood

Chapter 46: Unraveling the Truth 2

Rossi watched, livid, his gut and mind both a tumult, as his teammates did as they said. Officially charging the doctor. Somerfield's last sentence echoed in his thoughts, driving a chisel through the certainty he had had of Connell or Somerfield taking Jemma.

-"Would he have given you my name, if I had his daughter?"-

Rossi didn't know whether he believed what Somerfield implied - that James cared about Jemma enough to be manipulated if the doctor had had her. He didn't know if he should risk hoping that his son did care about the girl. It would just risk devastating him anew if he hoped but was proven wrong.

"-ossi? Rossi?" Lewis asked while Morgan left to bring Somerfield to another room to be held until the man was arraigned or whatnot. It was clear, going by Sands' glower, that the lawyer wasn't going to allow any opportunity for them to interview her client again.

"...I shouldn't have...he's not going to give us any names now. That lawyer won't let him answer any more questions. I..." Rossi mumbled, shaking his head as he realized what his anger had cost them.

"We may not need him to. Now that we know Connell's time-frame wasn't limited to only hours between births, Garcia says she's going to run a new search and increase the time-frame parameters. It's possible we'll find the remaining si...five, children." JJ spoke, swallowing as she corrected herself. "We should call Reid...tell him what we discovered...about Alsie. Someone should tell Alsie too..."

0

2012:

Vrrrr...screeech!

The sound of an engine and screeching tires blended together, almost indistinguishable. There was also a voice, one that sounded familiar and at the same time filled her with dread.

She gradually became aware of pain, her whole body enveloped by what felt like knives slicing into her flesh. It all burned, and the voice again spoke, words that were indecipherable. Her eyes fluttered open, gazing up at a figure.

"Hel...wha..." She mumbled, trying to make sense of what had happened and who the man was. Her vision was too blurred to truly recognize him.

"Shhh. It's all right, love." The strange yet familiar man hushed her, his large hand caressed her abdomen. She mumbled something, frightened as the touch sent a chill through her.

"My...Jem..m...is she..."

"Shhh, love. Don't worry. Don't." The man hushed her again, further saying something about he wouldn't hurt her if she was good. Or that may have been an echo of a memory.

She honestly didn't know. It all just simply meld together, until her swirl of senses faded into an indistinguished nothingness.

x

"...Elsie?" William Reid whispered as he saw the brunette's eyes moving rapidly beneath her eyelids. He stroked her hair, concerned for her as she kept struggling in her sleep, as though trying to escape something horrifying. She seemed so small, measuring just a few inches under five feet, and young. She looked much younger than thirty-three. William wondered if this was the same way she'd looked as a teenager, so delicate and tiny.

Tears filled his eyes as he gazed over the scarred side of her face. It was an old one, though how old, he didn't know. Though he was sure it was from after Spencer and Alsie had met at the park, Spencer or Diana would've said something about it if she'd had it back then. It was so long ago, but he did recall some of what his son had said about the girl.

He sighed and held onto his daughter's hand, grimacing at the restraints wrapped around her wrists. Though the hospital staff relented on insisting she be transferred to the psych ward - William bristled each time the staff mentioned it - the head nurse insisted on restraining Alsie.

"Mr. Reid?" Hotch muttered as he entered the hospital room, his eyes taking in the sight of the other man holding the petite woman's hand. It seemed to have calmed down the unconscious brunette. "Adrienne's - Alsie's - psychiatrist is on her way in and should get here in ten to fifteen minutes."

"A psychiatrist?" William tensed, the word cutting into him. Not because he had anything against the mental health professions nor their clients, he just...he couldn't...fathom his child being ill. Not like this. Even though Alsie didn't have schizophrenia, but rather D.I.D, he couldn't...he felt lost and terrified.

"Yes. A private one that she had since she was eighteen. Dr. Jolene Freeman. She diagnosed Adr...Alsie." Hotch paused, hesitating a second as he mulled over everything. Especially over what he suspected about what caused 'Ana' to be created. Each case of dissociative personality disorder was different, but alters were generally created to deal with things the core couldn't, and the personality of the alter would be adapted to endure specific types of traumatic situations.

Knowing about the physical abuse, Hotch had expected a violent alter, one that would protect Alsie from people like Shelly or perhaps even James. One that would make sure those who attacked Alsie wouldn't succeed in harming her. He hadn't expected a highly sexual alter. That suggested a different type of abuse occurred.

"Agent Hotchner, I...I've come across cases dealing with dissociative identity sufferers...I know that, it stems from trauma endured in childhood..." William took in a deep breath, struggling to keep composed, something that holding Alsie's hand helped him with. "I...the trauma Elsie endured...it..."

"None of the team was able to question Alsie about it yet." Hotch answered diplomatically, not wanting to give the other man any more terrible news. Not until he questioned Alsie or got proof by other means. If Alsie had endured sexual abuse on top of physical abuse, he wanted to be sure before saying anything. "Mr. Reid, you shouldn't focus on that right now. Not...not when there's something more important to discuss." Hotch said, suddenly realizing a certain fact that had slipped his mind in all the upheaval.

William Reid scowled at the other man, his brow furrowed, as though to ask what could be more important than his daughter he'd believed dead for thirty-three years.

"Alsie...Alsie has a daughter, Jemma, who..."

"What?" William's eyes widened and he gazed back at Alsie, flitting to her stomach then her face. "She...I...I have a grandchild? Where...?" He said the last word after turning back to Hotch, anxious to know where the girl was.

"I...we're looking for her. Jemma, was kidnapped three years ago...the team..."

"The hell!? Three years? That..." William seethed, understanding from his work at a law firm that dealt with various cases that the odds of finding a child alive after such a long time weren't great. That they were utterly dismal. He let go of Alsie's hand to face the agent, furious. "Why did you wait...why didn't your team..."

"Mr. Reid, I assure you that we won't stop looking until we find Jemma..."

William grimaced, not believing the agent's iteration. The words just seemed like the kind muttered in television shows or movies, not those spoken in real life and actually meant.

"Hotch." Rossi interrupted, opening the hospital room door. He quickly noted the elder Reid by Alsie's bedside, his eyes widening considerably. It took only seconds to realize at least some of what had happened, that William Reid must have been told about Alsie. Though why the elder Reid was already in D.C would need clarification.

"Dave." Hotch turned to the older agent, relieved at the timing of his arrival. "You...it's best if you talk with him. I just told him about Jemma..."

Rossi was already nodding and approaching the bed before Hotch finished. The relief his colleague and friend had shown at his arrival told him all he needed. Hotch mentioned something about checking if Alsie's psychiatrist had arrived yet, and left the room.

"Mr. Reid...William, we should talk..." Rossi said, thinking about just how much he and the other man suddenly had in common. It was funny how the world or maybe fate suddenly connected them. Years ago he had helped William's son investigate the man for murder, and though they'd cleared the elder Reid of the crime, it felt odd to meet again under such circumstances.

William Reid stared at Rossi, eyeing him carefully. He didn't hold grudges, but he couldn't help remembering when Spencer had brought along this agent and another, to investigate him for murder. Because of how protective and close the BAU was to Spencer, he'd let the false accusation go since they had simply wanted to help his son. He understood that. It didn't stop him however from being a tad wary.

"Trust me. I know what you're going through." Rossi continued, while William Reid scoffed, shaking his head. "I...Jemma's my granddaughter as well..."

William, having been about to deny whatever attempt at empathy the other man was going to make, felt struck dumb by the revelation. His widened eyes studied the other man, confused.

"My son's Jemma's father." Rossi explained, his tone sad.

"Your son...? You mean from that article?" William asked, recalling the article he'd read after reading about Somerfield and the child-switching Connell did. It had been marked as a related article when he'd looked the first up online on the plane ride. "The one who attacked those women in New York State? The rapist..."

Rossi's next words caught in his throat, as the man he'd hoped to empathize with scowled. William glanced at Alsie then turned back to Rossi, glowering.

"Did your son...?" William growled, his eyes narrowing on the agent.

"Ah...I don't think so." Rossi replied, refraining from denying the possibility outright though he was ninety percent sure that James hadn't raped Alsie. "Alsie spoke to me, and Spencer, about James. She hadn't known about what he was capable of until she read about the case you mentioned, and she didn't seem afraid of him either."

William mulled over the agent's response, appreciating how the other man didn't automatically defend his son and deny the possibility of rape. He saw too, how saddened and remorseful Rossi was for his son, James, despite none of it being his fault. The article had mentioned that James Rossi had been one of Connell's kidnapping victims...

"You're son was taken just like Elsie?" William swallowed and chewed on his lip, sighing. He noticed Rossi's nod, slight and forlorn. "And Jemma is..."

"Yeah. I understand exactly what you're going through. Believe me. And also, trust me, I will not give up searching for Jemma. Nor will my team, that includes Spencer, who I'm sure will be just as motivated as you or I." Rossi refrained from adding a comment about Spencer's feelings for Alsie, reminding himself in time of the bitter truth.

"...Rossi, do you...um..." William grimaced, biting his lip for a moment. What he needed to ask very discomfiting. "How...Elsie and Spencer, they...how serious is it...?"

"...Emotionally?" Rossi asked, not wanting to speculate on any other meaning of the question. "It's...I'm sure it will take them both time to...get through things...to deal with the truth..."

William almost seemed ready to ask about the other possible meaning to his question, but shook his head. It was something he definitely did not want to know or think about.

Neither of the two men noticed how Alsie tensed, having woken up a few minutes ago but kept her eyes closed. Long enough that she overheard the question about Spencer, as well as understanding from their tones, who the unknown voice belonged to. When she heard Rossi refer to the other man as William Reid, she felt her gut sink.

'It is true then. What I hoped as a child...it wasn't just a fantasy...' Alsie felt a tear fall from the corner of her eye, the one that was pressed against her pillow, obscured from view. 'Why now, though? Why now and not when I was a child? I wanted so badly to not be the Crawfords' daughter...'

"Elsie?" William Reid turned back to the brunette, the sound of her quiet sob drawing his and the elder agent's attention. He instinctively pushed her hair from her face, so he could see her unhindered. To know what she was feeling and reassure her.

He didn't expect her to glare at him, her eyes filled with loathing and hatred. It surprised him more since he could've swore he'd seen sadness in her eyes a split second before.

"Why didn't you find her?! Why didn't you look for Alsie!" The brunette seethed, her burnt umber eyes cold while her words were biting. Her accusations cut through William without reprieve. "She wanted to be saved. To be taken from those people. You never found her!"

"Alsie, what..." Rossi approached, shocked by the outburst. It took him a few moments to realize what the brunette was saying. To realize the pronouns used. 'She' and 'her' rather than 'I' or 'my'.

"El..." William started to say, just managing to shake off the accusation.

"Shut up. Don't say her name. You don't deserve to." The brunette hissed, her chest heaving from rage. "You never protected her. I did."

"Wh..."

Rossi touched the other man's shoulder, gesturing him to stop talking. Next he turned back to the small woman. "What's your name?"

"...Emmie."