Author's Note: So, I took a little wonder through my imagination and got lost. Horribly lost. However, thanks to Sirens'Spell, I found my way out, and now I will be back to updating. Therefore, this story in it's entirety is dedicated to her. (Do I get cookies now that you got your dedication? ;) )

Author's Note 2: Chapters 6 through 10 are written and just need a few touch ups. I'm going to work on that tonight considering I've had far too much caffeine, so if you feel like sending a few reviews my way to keep me going, I wouldn't mind. ;)

Author's Note 3: One more thing! I totally took the liberty of stealing a line than Emily said to Doyle, because let's face it, it was quite possibly the hottest thing she has ever said. ;) That is all, enjoy!

Chapter Five; Dark Side

"She's here now." Emily spoke down the phone to her Unit Chief as she watched the blonde burst through the doors to the prison's reception. "Yes, sir. I'll call you with any news."

It had been one of the very few times that Hotch had admitted defeat as JJ left for her obvious destination - and if he was honest with himself, he hadn't wholly wanted to stop her. One half of him had for the sake of her well-being, but the other half knew that they were out of options. Hours of interrogation was not going to convince Percy to give up his last pleasure. The truth was, it all rested on JJ now; if anyone was going to get answers from him, it would be her.

Handing over her gun without a second thought, JJ took the visitors badge offered to her by the young receptionist and pushed past Emily. Not one word was exchanged between the two as the guard lead them down the hall. The hecklers fell on deaf ears once again as they passed the cages of convicted men - an innate determination coursing through JJ's veins that only faltered slightly when Percy Watson came into her line of sight.

She had pictured this moment thousands of times over, imagined how she'd react if she was ever faced with this man again, but what she'd underestimated in those nightmarish imaginings was that she would have reason to be driven by a love far stronger than any fear he instilled in her. He looked, and smelt, and acted, just as she remembered him to twenty-two years ago, but the urge to cower away from him was easily overridden by the image of Henry that hung in her mind like a light at the end of a very dark tunnel.

Percy smiled a yellow-toothed grin and eagerly leant forward on his chair as he watched the object of his desire approach, a sickening satisfaction glimmering in his eyes and Emily wanted nothing more than to wipe that smug look from his face. She knew exactly what was going through his perverted mind as she watched JJ calmly take a seat in front of him - admiration for the younger woman the only positive burning through her being at that moment – but she also knew that violence wasn't going to make anything better. So she stood, no more than a foot behind JJ - a comforting presence for the blonde and a silent threat to Percy; lay one finger on her, and I will end you.

JJ's jaw locked and her back straightened as her eyes met Percy's for the first time in twenty-two years, her own silent message screaming through her demeanour. You didn't destroy me.

"Looks who's all grown up." Percy spoke, his grey eyes raking over every inch of the blonde. "It's been too long, princess."

"It has." JJ spoke simply, surprising both Percy and Emily. "Remove his cuffs please."

"JJ-" Emily started to protest as she watched a young prison guard tentatively remove Watson's cuffs, but she was immediately cut off.

"Do you really need to be here, Agent Prentiss?" JJ questioned, her eyes still trained on the man in front of her.

Emily's brow furrowed. What the hell are you doing JJ?

"Yea! Run along, Agent Prentiss. Jennifer and I 'ave a lot of catchin' up to do." Watson added childishly, pissing Emily off just as much as he had intended to.

"Why don't you all leave us, actually." JJ amended, before breaking her eye contact with Watson and scanning the room to show the guards and Emily that she was deadly serious.

Emily had never once questioned the blonde's ability to do the job, but this wasn't just any job - could JJ really make a rational decision under the current circumstances? Her eyes searched JJ's face for confirmation; finding it easily, nestled somewhere between determination and a darkness that unsettled her. With a reluctant sigh, she decided to trust the younger agent and assured both her and Percy that she wouldn't be far away before turning to leave. "I will be just beyond that gate."

JJ's eyes fell back to Percy's as the guards and Emily left the room. She had to admit that without the brunette's presence, her confident and fearless façade was faltering, but she couldn't mess this up. Henry was counting on her, and she too was counting on herself – she finally had a chance to show the scum sat before her that she wasn't an afraid, ten year old girl anymore. He wasn't going to win - no matter what that meant in the end.

"You're a brave girl givin' up ya body guard like that. Aren't yer afraid of big bad Percy?" The old man raised his eyebrow as he asked his question.

"No." JJ spoke instantly, surprised at how true that one word was. But she wasn't a child anymore, and she refused to allow this sorry excuse for a human-being to get the better of her.

It was clear to him that JJ really wasn't afraid of him, and somehow that attracted him more. "You're looking good enough to eat, girly. Just as pretty as I remember." He spoke again, his lips curling at one corner.

"Why did you wana see me Percy?" JJ purposely ignored his disturbing compliment.

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Emily stood with her arms folded across her chest on the other side of the mirror, intently watching the interaction between the two, her eyes narrowing slightly as she read their body language.

An overwhelming sense of pride warmed her heart as she fully appreciated JJ's demeanour and the confidence clearly evident there. Something about the blonde in that moment left her in awe of humanity, of all the tragedies that the human brain could endure, could survive, could heal from – of the bravery that stemmed from fear when cowardice would be forgiven, of the beauty that stemmed from darkness when loss of control would be justified. But there was nothing cowardly about the fact that JJ was even present, and there was nothing unrestrained about each of her meticulously precise moves as she interacted with her ex-captor.

It was clear that the woman before her was made from an entirely different calibre of strength than she herself was – this fact was evident in the contrast of the violent surge coursing through her own veins, and the seemingly calm demeanour radiating from the blonde. She was witnessing the human mind at it's finest, at it's most pure and focused, and under any other circumstances, Emily would have easily geeked out over such a learning opportunity.

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"What? Yer got no time to catch up?" Percy cocked his head to the side. "Come now Jennifer, we both know yer missed me, wished I was there to keep ya warm these past twenty years." There was a hopeful glimmer in his eye that wasn't lost on JJ.

The blonde sighed inwardly as she realised the path she'd have to take in order to get her son back. She knew exactly what this guy wanted from her; the one thing that he didn't get the chance to take from her twenty-two years ago. In reality, she had realised this ten minutes ago, before she'd told the guards and Emily to leave the room – that had been the reason that she had told them to leave, because there was no chance of Emily sitting back and allowing what was about to happen, happen. She couldn't even believe herself what she was about to do, but she didn't matter anymore – the only thing that mattered in this whole damn messed up situation was her beautiful boy, and that thought was what gave her the strength she needed to make her next move.

Her demeanour changed in the blink of an eye – her blank face creasing a little as the beginnings of a coy smile played against her lips – and she looked quickly but purposely subtly towards the small two-way mirror in the room; to gain a little mental strength for herself but also to give Percy the impression that her response shouldn't be heard by anyone but him. "Maybe.."

"Yer wouldn't be playing me would yer girly?" The old guy's fingers splayed against the table, the white of his knuckles evidence of his excitement, his eyes narrowing as he tried to read behind JJ's expression.

Putting on her best media smile, she rose from her seat and perched herself on Percy's side of the table, just to the left of him. His stale scent attacked her senses the moment that she sat down and she almost broke – almost, but not quite. Instead, she reached out a hand and trailed it along his forearm as she answered. "No.." JJ began softly. "Surprisingly, no."

"Yer not worried about yer precious boy?" Percy diverted his gaze from the small hand against his arm to JJ's eyes, his eyebrow raised at this sudden turn of events.

"Oh I know you wouldn't hurt him Percy. You didn't hurt me. You're a big softy really." She allowed her hand to trail down to his leg as she leaned in to him and held her lips a mere inch from his face - an act that repulsed her a thousand times more than her demeanour showed. "Besides," she whispered, "I know you want the same thing that I do."

"Oh yeah, n what's that princess?" Percy's eyes rolled back in his head and his breathing quickened as JJ's hand began to travel further up his thigh.

His foul breath burned against her skin, but she pushed on, flicking her eyes between his half-closed eye lids and his lips. "Don't make me say it." She flipped her long hair over her left shoulder, purposely covering any view Emily might have of her face, a fake shyness playing across her features as she allowed her hand to move a little higher. She couldn't let Emily see her; not like this. She couldn't.. because Emily would surely never look at her the same again if she fully witnessed this moment.

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From her position on the other side of the mirror, Emily witnessed the change in JJ very clearly – she saw the initial apprehension, the softening of features that seemed encased in stone moments before, the innate determination fueling her every move. Everything about the sudden change in her demeanour was fake but so convincing that had she not known the true circumstance, she herself may have fallen for it.

Her heart jumped in her chest suddenly as she saw JJ rise from her seat and approach the old man and every ounce of her being pulled towards the mirror before her; her left foot unconsciously stepping back just a millimetre, her shoulders hunching forward the tiniest amount, like she was preparing to launch herself through the mirror and leap to JJ's rescue.

It repulsed her to watch the blonde do what could only be described as heavy flirting with a man that had abducted her as a child – she could only imagine JJ's own revulsion in that instant - and she closed her eyes in an attempt to quiet JJ's words that were filtering through the speakers of the small, dark room. Of course, she knew that it was all a game – a game that she herself had played many times before to get an unsub to talk – but how far was she really willing to go? At what point was enough going to be enough? She forced herself to open her eyes again just as JJ shielded her face with her hair - an action that Emily knew was solely for her benefit, her reprieve, an indication that this was about to head in a direction that she wouldn't like - and one mantra played repeatedly through her mind, desperately hoping the blonde would somehow hear her silent plea. Don't do it. Don't do it.

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Glancing down briefly, the blonde noticed the unmistakeable bulge in Percy's pants. It wasn't like she hadn't expected it – in fact she had wanted him to get to this point of being worked up so that he would let down his guard – but this, she now realised, was as far as she was prepared to go. Slowly moving her hand back down his thigh, she made her preparations to move. "So-"

Percy grabbed the blonde's arm instantly. "Where do yer think yer going?"

Holding her left hand out behind her instantly, JJ effectively stilled Emily's movements – she couldn't see the brunette, but she knew that she had jumped to her defence the moment that Percy's chubby fingers had wrapped themselves around her slim wrist. She was terrified, if she was honest, but if Emily and the guards came storming in here now, she would lose her nerve to ever face this man again and Henry would be lost to her forever.

His eyes glaring tauntingly towards the two-way mirror as he whispered, Percy pulled JJ closer to him, his grip on her wrist stronger than before as he pressed her hand to his crotch. "1745 Edgemont Boulevard. 1892 Westfield Place. 19A Pine Court. 742 First Street. 14B Clearview Terrace.."

It took a moment for Percy's words to register in her mind as she concentrated on stretching her hand as much as possible, bowing it up until she could feel the tendons in her hand almost tearing, but thankfully less of his manhood pressing against her palm. After a moment, the words finally began to logically filter into her mind and JJ's eyes widened and her heart pounded in her chest as Percy listed off the address for everyone who had ever meant something to her.

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Emily's subtle gravitation towards JJ turned into a full forced lurch as Percy grabbed at the blonde, a natural movement that resulted in her own hands gripping fiercely at the lip of the window to still herself once JJ's hand raised in a gesture that clearly signaled her wish. She dug her short nails into the rubber that sealed the window; a silent and simple gesture that somehow seemed to be the only thing keeping her tethered to the spot.

Her eyes burned through the glass, training themselves on Percy's lips in an attempt to read his whispered words whilst her feet fought to move. But the agent in her knew exactly what JJ did – they couldn't risk losing their final chance and if she did, the younger agent would never forgive her.

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"...1529 Cranston Avenue. 963 Lithfield Close. There's no getting away from me Jennifer. I own you." Watson finished, a sinister smugness lacing each of his untypically perfectly enunciated words.

She could feel her own heartbeat in her ears as Watson finished his spiel. She had two options in that moment – she could succumb to him, give him exactly what he wanted and hope that he would return Henry to her, or she could show him exactly what she had been wishing she could show him for the past twenty-two years.

Closing her hand suddenly around his manhood, JJ opted for the latter - she was done playing games. Her fingers gripped tighter with every passing second as she used her free hand to mimic it's grip on Percy's hair, effectively forcing his eyes level with her own. Whimpers of pain fell from the old man's lips; the sound causing the blonde's once bright blue eyes to darken with an anger and hatred that she had never felt before. Power coursed through her veins as she mocked him silently with her ever increasing grip and now sinister eyes. Who owns who now?

"J-Jennifer. Please.." Percy spat, suddenly not as cocky anymore as a searing pain scorched through his groin.

A wicked smirk curled the corners of JJ's lips, her eyes growing darker still, and when she spoke, it was almost like the voice wasn't her own; venom pouring from lips that usually held the most comforting of words. "You do not own me. You never have and never will own me. You are nothing better than a piece of shit on my shoe. Do you understand me?"

"Y-yes.." The man stammered through gritted teeth as the pain in his critch overwhelmed through him, but somehow he couldn't tear his eyes away from hers; there was something hypnotic about them.

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Emily watched on wide-eyed, an intense contrast of anxiety and relief burning in her chest as the blonde took control of the situation - did she really know this woman? She still couldn't see her face but she didn't need to – the tensed muscles of her back pulsing through her tight black shirt and the white of her knuckles from the unrelenting grip on the old man's hair expressed everything that she was unable to witness in her eyes.

In the years that she'd known JJ, she had never once seen even a glimmer of this side of her. The blonde, by nature, was gentle and comforting and serene – but then it was also true that no one had ever come between her and her son before. A mother's love for a child never ceased to amaze the brunette, but she couldn't deny the sudden sense of fear that was running through her own veins at that moment. Fear JJ - even a slight fear for herself.

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"Good. Now tell me where my boy is." She curled her fingers further around him, her nails almost breaking skin through his overalls.

"I don't kn.. ouch!" Percy yelped like a puppy as JJ pulled suddenly on his manhood before speaking again, frantically through uneven breaths. "I really don't. I mean I do but I only know ta get there. I don't know an address."

With one last stare into his eyes, a search for truth, JJ pushed off of the old man and released her grip. "Then we're going on a trip."

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Emily, her eyes still wide from the events that had just unfolded, watched JJ as she stormed towards the gate. She jumped suddenly as the door to the small room she was in flung open, almost as though she wasn't expecting anyone to open it, but it was more a result of the look that she now fully noticed adorning JJ's face. For the first time, the brunette saw the darkness burning there, the hatred and pain and anger that flickered only in the blonde's eyes whilst the rest of her face held blank.

For a brief moment she simply stared, but before she knew it, her feet had lead her to stand directly in front of JJ and she was tentatively lifting a hand to the blonde's cheek. The woman she knew was nowhere to be seen in the smaller woman's features and she needed to tether her somehow, she needed to feel JJ's skin just to find some indication that she was still her, but her hand was immediately pushed away and dark eyes bored seemingly straight through her. Emily's heart cracked in two as she witnessed nothing but the shell of JJ; a dark, empty, and quite frankly terrifying, shell.

"Call Hotch and the warden. I need a car. He's taking me to Henry." JJ spoke with an eerie calm, almost like a robot, piercing through the silence and startling Emily once again.

"I will." Emily responded softly. She studied the blonde's face intently, a mixture of concern and curiousness present on her own. It was true that there was a rule about profiling your colleagues, but she couldn't help it – in the space of ten minutes, JJ had fallen into a thousand feet of darkness that she genuinely wasn't certain that she could pull her back from. "But I need you to look at me, Jennifer."

"Don't call me that!" The younger woman pushed Emily back violently against the two way mirror, her chest suddenly heaving and a predatory look in her eye.

JJ was definitely looking at her now, just like she had wanted, and a part of her was suddenly regretting her request. "I'm sorry." The older agent's voice was nothing more than a whisper as the smaller woman pressed Emily's shoulders against the glass with surprising strength. She should have been afraid – and honestly, she was – but she spoke again, her whispers filling the silence repeatedly. "I'm sorry, JJ. I'm sorry."

The darkness in JJ's eyes was still very much present but fading and she took that opportunity to tether her lover back to safe ground.

JJ pushed with every ounce of strength she had as Emily enveloped her in unwelcome arms, and for a moment, the brunette wondered if she was helping or hindering; until she felt the blonde's small form relax against her chest and silent sobs replace yells of protest. She held one hand gently but firmly against the blonde's head, her other holding her up by her waist as she coaxed the young woman from her darkness.

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"We're not honestly gona allow her to go alone with him are we?" Morgan scanned the room, expecting someone to quell his fears immediately, and his eyes widened as not one of them did. "You cannot be serious! You're allowing JJ to go out there alone with this guy?"

Feeling Morgan's fear run through his own veins, Hotch responded reassuringly; for his own benefit as much as his agent's. "No, we're not. Well, not exactly. We're gona be behind her every step of the way, and one of the warden's men will be in the vehicle with her. At no point will she be alone with him."

"Oh come on Hotch! You know as well as I do that we're gona be too far behind them to do anything should he decide to give up his little act, and the warden's men are nothing but trained monkeys. JJ isn't thinking straight and you know that too! She shouldn't be going out there at all!" Morgan brushed his hand over his head as he turned away, before turning back when another thought crossed his mind. "And what if he kills JJ and just runs? What if all he wants from this is freedom? You heard what he said on the phone!" He couldn't believe that this was really happening.

"Look, this is being conducted under JJ's terms. She has the control, not him, and we've taken all of the necessary precautions to ensure her safety. Besides, he won't. He's waited 22 years for her, not even the possibility of easy freedom is going to pull him away from her now. Once she has Henry, he will be brought straight back to the prison. He isn't going anywhere without JJ." Hotch responded as his eyes became distant as he tried to convince himself that this would work out. This was quite possibly the biggest and most unorthodox decision that he'd made in his entire career, and he prayed to whatever deity that was listening that he wouldn't regret it.

"Exactly. Isn't that what we should be concerned about?" Garcia softly verbalised everyone's fear. "Sir, what if.." Her voice faltered a little. "You really think he's gona go right back to jail when he has JJ so close? He's gona go out in a hail of bullets and he's gona take her with him."

Hotch's heart sank as Garcia spoke. He knew that she was right, he'd known it from the second that he'd taken Emily's call. He also knew, however, that they had no other option in this than damage control – someone was going to come out of this dead or at the very least seriously injured, there was no doubt about that; they just had to make sure that that someone wasn't JJ or Henry.

"We have no choice. We're doing it." Hotch asserted his authority; he knew his team's concerns were justified - they reflected his own vividly - but he also wasn't blind to the fact that they were still out of other options; Percy would have no reason at all to lead them to Henry without JJ's presence. He hated knowing that the young woman was even within five feet of this guy, but he wasn't even certain at this point that disallowing it would make a great deal of difference. If he'd learnt one thing throughout his career, it was that you don't come between mother and child. "The warden has agreed under the condition that his men are with us when we tail them. But we need to keep this quiet. If Strauss catches wind of this then it's over."

"Yeah maybe that wouldn't be a bad thing." Morgan spoke angrily before leaving the room.