Author's Note: There's no dark yuckiness in this, I promise!
Chapter Seven; Good Intentions
"Aaron, there's still a child missing and one of your agents has gone rogue. Not to mention the man that is now dead because you couldn't keep that agent in check." Strauss pressed a hand to her forehead and leant against her desk before verbalising the rest of her thoughts. "The warden is having a field day with this, do you realise that? He wants your ass on a silver platter. And do you have any idea how much paper work this is going to take? How many ass' I'm going to have to kiss to fix your mess?"
Hotch knew what he wanted to say in response and it certainly fell far from what he should say - if he did indeed want to keep his job, that is. Strauss never failed to show where her priorities really lay. "Erin, I understand your position on this, but you weren't there. I acted as I saw fit given the circumstances and I still stand by the decisions that I made."
"How can you justify a man's death, hours of man power wasted, and yet another bad mark against our name when it all could have been prevented if you and your team had just done your damn job properly!"
"With all due respect, that man you mentioned was no man at all. He destroyed the lives of 17 children, JJ included – his life is not going to be missed. Not even by the warden." Who, by the way, is clearly a match made in heaven for you. "As for the rest of my team," He paused for a moment, remembering Morgan's annoyance at the decisions that he had made. "this is nothing to do with them. They did their job exceptionally well, just as they always do. If you need to blame someone, if someone needs to pay for any of this, make it me."
"Oh I intend to Agent Hotchner." Strauss moved from her spot against her desk to sit behind it. "What were you thinking? Send your agents home. They've been on their feet for over 24 hours and I can't afford to clean up another one of your mistakes should you decide to condone their sleep-deprived rash decisions too."
"Yes ma'am." Hotch acquiesced through gritted teeth. He'd learnt one thing over the years, and that was that when it came to Section Chief Erin Strauss, sometimes it was better to say nothing at all.
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It was almost seven am and they'd spent the whole evening at the local police department, working with the police and the warden's men to find both JJ and Henry. But when every lead or possibility had come up short, Strauss had ordered them all back to Quantico.
Hotch had returned more stone-faced than usual from his meeting with the Section Chief, ordering each of his team to go home immediately before slipping quietly into his office. They'd quickly agreed, but as soon as his office door was closed, they had each headed their separate ways – how could they go home and sleep under this circumstance?
Rossi, Reid and Emily each wound up in the conference room when their own company became too much to bear, whilst Garcia had gone in search of Morgan who had parted ways with the rest of them the moment that they had arrived back at base.
"Hey you.." Garcia found Morgan sitting at his desk, spinning a pen against the wooden surface as he stared at nothing.
"I can't believe he allowed her do this." He began without lifting his eyes. "I told him it was a bad idea and now, what? She's missing and there's not a damn thing we can do about it. We have no leads, no nothing." Morgan scoffed before turning and noticing the tears welling up in Garcia's eyes. "Oh baby girl, I'm sorry."
"You need to stop feeling sorry for yourself! He did what he thought was best with what he had, and you sitting here in a cloud of self-pity isn't going to help anything!" The redhead yelled quietly, her mouth stretching more than necessary with each word and her hands animated as she fought back more tears. "JJ is out there, probably terrified. Not to mention Henry. Yes, this is a giant damn mess but it isn't Hotch's fault!"
On his feet now, Morgan wrapped Garcia up into his arms as she sobbed into his chest. "Shh.. She's gona be okay baby. They both are." He bent down to her level, his hands resting on her shoulders as he forced her to look him in the eyes so that she could see his sincerity. "I'm sorry, momma. We're going to find them, I promise. Okay?"
Nodding and swiping at her tears, Garcia responded. "O-okay."
"Good." Smiling now, Morgan stood straight again and put one arm protectively around her, rubbing circles on her back in a soothing manner. He opened his mouth to speak again but as his wondering eyes came to a stop on the opening doors of the elevator, his smile dropped and words failed him.
"Oh my god.." Garcia's eyes widened as she followed Morgan's gaze, stunned for a moment before she moved to head towards the elevator, a strong arm immediately stopping her.
With his hand on his gun, Morgan tentatively stepped towards Janette and Henry. Usually it would have taken him seconds to reach the unsub, gun drawn and a determination in his eyes, but the last thing that he wanted was to frighten the young boy. "Janette, put the boy down and raise your hands." His voice was low but firm.
The older woman stuttered. "I-I'm not go-"
"I said put him down now!" Morgan didn't wait for her to finish her sentence.
Afraid, Janette complied instantly, lowering Henry to the ground. As soon as the little boy's feet hit the floor, he ran over to Garcia, jumping up into her arms.
"Henry, are you okay? Did she hurt you?" Garcia spoke frantically as she checked the boy over for any indications that he was injured.
"Nuh-uh. We ate cookies and ice-cream! And she let me watch the TV when I was posta be sleeping!" The small boy smiled innocently, seemingly unaware of the seriousness of the situation and his brow furrowed when he noticed the expression on Garcia's face before she pulled him into her chest. Why is Aunt Penny so sad? "Aunt Penny.. what is Uncle Derek doing to the nice lady?" He spoke again as the sight of Morgan distracted him.
The dark agent twisted Janette's arm behind her unapologetically before reaching to his belt for his cuffs and slamming them on her wrists. "I swear to god, if you've harmed even one hair on that boy's head.." He trailed off, his threat lingering in the air.
"I-I wouldn't. I didn't." Janette stuttered again, seemingly afraid.
"Save it."
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Rossi, Reid, and Emily made their way down from the conference room as soon as they heard Morgan yell, Hotch appearing from his office for the same reason - their eyes widening in unison as they saw the dark agent slap cuffs on Janette, their bodies relaxing considerably as they noticed a small blonde boy now cradled in Garcia's arms.
Hotch assisted Morgan with Janette whilst the rest of the team, Emily in particular, fussed over the now safe little boy. Her heart soared the moment she realised that he was perfectly fine and she wrapped her arms tightly around him; but she soon fell back to earth with a bump as one thought ran through her mind, It should be JJ's arms that he's wrapped up in.
"Emily, Rossi, Reid, I want you all in here for this." Hotch called behind him as he walked away.
Looking up at Garcia, Emily silently asked a question as she rubbed circles against Henry's back. And the redhead responded with a nod, recognising the look for what it was.
"Henry, sweetie, what say we get you a snack? And then, just maybe, we'll be able to find some cartoons for you to watch." Garcia crouched to Henry's level and spoke excitedly.
The small boy turned his head from Emily's chest. "Can I go for a ride in your spinny chair?"
Both Emily and Garcia laughed, the redhead reaching out her arms for Henry to climb into. "Course you can, buster." Garcia nodded, casting a reassuring smile in Emily's direction before she walked away.
If Garcia had ever had any question about her theories on Emily and JJ's relationship, they were dispelled in the moment that she saw the brunette's interactions with the boy. Of course, they were all relieved to see that he was safe, but there was something different about Emily. She'd always kept a distance from Henry – for reasons that Garcia was unsure of – but in the moment that Emily had wrapped him up in her arms and clung onto him like a life line, it was almost like he was the brunette's child; almost like Emily was the worried mother, relieved to have her son back home safe.
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"It's about time you start talking, Watson." Morgan paced around the table of the interrogation room, his eyes staring down at the frail woman sitting at it.
"I-I.. I.." Janette began, her chest heaving suddenly.
"She's having a panic attack." Emily spoke from the opposite side of the two way mirror, immediately making her way into the room and sitting beside the older woman. "It's okay." She soothed. "Just take slow, deep breaths." She herself mimicked the breaths that she wanted Janette to take whilst keeping a steady eye contact, and soon enough the woman's breathing returned to normal. "We just need to ask you some questions. You did the right thing in bringing Henry home to us, but we need to know more."
The old woman nodded in agreement.
Opting to act under the pretense that Percy was still alive – with the logic that JJ may have forced information from the old man and headed to the location that Henry was supposed to be, as well as to catch Janette out on any lies that she might feel the need to tell – Emily spoke again. "We need to know where Percy is now, Janette."
"W-what do you mean?" The old woman seemed genuinely confused by Emily's question.
"Janette.. Percy left the prison 14 hours ago with one of our agents." Emily cocked her head to the side, finding nothing but truth in the older woman's features.
Her eyes widened at Emily's revelation. "Not Jennifer?"
Emily looked to Morgan and then back to Janette. Perhaps they had gotten this all wrong. Yesterday, they were certain that Janette was Percy's accomplice, and now it seemed that he'd played her just as much as the rest of them.
Janette read the look on the agent's faces for what it was. "Oh no, that poor girl.. You have to find her. You have to find her!"
"We're trying to, Janette." Emily spoke calmly. "Can you tell me how you know about her?"
Shifting nervously in her seat and looking down at her hands, Janette responded. "He wanted some information on her. He said that she was an agent that was helping to prove his innocence and he wanted to know if he could trust her." The older woman looked up to Emily, nerves evident on her face.
"It's okay, go on." The brunette agent encouraged.
"So I gathered up as much as I could and took it with me the next time I visited. I really thought he was telling the truth! But then when he read that she had a son, he changed. I saw a look in his eye that I'd only seen.." Janette purposely trailed off and didn't bother to finish her thought. "I knew that if I didn't take the boy, he'd just have someone else do it. And I couldn't let him hurt another child, not after what he did to.."
Emily's brow furrowed as she read the older woman's second silence for what it was. "Janette, you had a son didn't you?"
A small nod came from the shaking woman, a pain in her eyes that Emily recognised – it was the same pain that she'd seen portrayed in JJ's once bright, blue orbs the day previous.
"If your son was one of his victims, why didn't we know about it? His name isn't on the list." Morgan interrupted; refusing to fall for what he believed was simply an act.
Shaking her head, her tears began to flow freely down her cheeks. "No you wouldn't. It was written off as an accident, a tragic accident. But I knew different. He was clever kid, far too clever for a three year old and he knew that he wasn't to touch anything sharp, especially in the kitchen!" Janette's silent tears turned to audible sobs. "I had to work, I had no choice but to leave him with Percy when my babysitter cancelled but.." Her sobs wracked her body, rendering her speechless.
"Shh.. it's okay." Emily soothed, rubbing circles against the old woman's back. "So you took Henry to keep him safe?" Seeing a small nod of the older woman's head, Emily continued. "What did Percy want with Henry?"
"I don't know. He started asking for more information, everything I could find, and the more I brought, the more I saw that glimmer in his eye." Janette paused again, guilt clearly evident on her face as she fought to justify herself. "He just kept saying that the boy was his ticket out of prison and at that point I still didn't know who Jennifer was. I still believed that she was simply an agent working on getting him out, and I thought he was going to use him to ensure that she did everything she could to help him. But I couldn't let that happen, I couldn't allow him to be released so I did as he told me but I left evidence."
"If you didn't know who Jennifer was, why did you leave the ribbon?" Emily was finding holes in Janette's story.
"He told me to. He said that it was a message for her." She looked up from her fumbling hands once again. "I left the fingerprints because I wanted you to figure it all out, but it didn't make sense to me why he would want to risk being caught. So I did some research once I'd taken the boy and that's when I realised just who she was."
"This makes no sense. If you knew what he was up to, why didn't you just come to us? Why did you go along with it?" Morgan questioned, still playing bad cop – though, he wasn't really playing.
"I did! I came as soon as I realised who Jennifer was!" The old woman shook her head as she realised that she could have stopped all of this.
"Give it up Watson! You could have come to us long before this happened. You could have told the guards, or the local PD, or even contacted JJ herself and yet you chose to take Henry. Why?"
"Have you ever been so afraid of someone Agent Morgan? So afraid that almost all of your logic leaves your mind?" Janette spoke evenly, unknowingly touching a nerve with the tall agent.
"Morgan." Emily gestured her head in the direction of the door and rose to her feet, the dark agent following her. Once on the other side of the door, she spoke again, addressing the whole team. "I think she's telling the truth."
"You buy that?" Morgan spoke incredulously as he gestured his hand towards Janette through the two-way mirror.
"Yes, I do. Look at her." Emily stood directly in front of the mirror and folded her arms across her chest as she watched the sniffling woman on the other side of the glass. "I believe that she genuinely thought she was doing the right thing and I believe that the guilt of realising she could have stopped all of this is eating her alive right now." Turning to look at Morgan, she continued. "I also believe that she's going to help us find JJ, but if you keep forcing her into a panic attack we're going to get nothing out of her."
"Emily's right Morgan. You need to take a step back from this." Hotch knew that the whole case was a little close to home for Morgan given what had happened during his childhood, and he could see that it was hindering his ability to do the job. They had the best lead that they'd come across sat literally in front of them, and whilst Morgan's intentions were noble, he was ruining their only chance to find JJ. "I want Emily to go in there alone."
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Garcia rose to her feet the second that Emily walked into her lair. "What did she say? Does she know where JJ is?"
Emily's eyes flicked immediately to Henry as Garcia shot questions at her, and was grateful to see that he was sleeping. The last thing that the little boy needed was to realise that his mother was gone. Of course, they'd have to tell him sooner or later, but not until they had something solid. "No she doesn't. We interrogated her for three hours and honestly, I don't think she actually knows a great deal. She actually seemed relieved when we told her that the old guy was dead, grateful even."
"I don't get it.."
"She wasn't in on it Garcia. Well, not entirely." Emily whispered as she crouched down next to Henry, stroking his hair back gently before rising to her feet again. "She took Henry to keep him safe and she seemed genuinely surprised to find out that JJ was missing. She'd been back to JJ's house to return Henry and when she found she wasn't there she came here."
Garcia's brow furrowed. "How could she not have known?"
With a sigh, Emily flopped down on one of the chairs in the room. "It's a long story. Hotch wants to meet in the conference room in twenty to discuss the details, but she genuinely didn't know. Why would she go searching for JJ if she knew that Percy was already leading her on a wild goose chase? She knows as much as we do now."
Defeat washed through Garcia as she followed Emily's gaze to the sleeping boy. "What about him? I can take hi-"
"I wana take him." Emily interrupted. She didn't need to think about it before the words left her mouth – she just knew that she needed Henry close to her.
Garcia's eyes narrowed the tiniest bit at Emily's immediate request. Something about seeing the brunette react this way towards the small boy warmed her heart, and if she was honest, the older agent had more space to accommodate Henry anyway, so without saying so, she agreed. "Do you think she did it?"
Emily finally pulled her eyes away from Henry. She knew that Garcia wasn't talking about Janette anymore, and her memory rushed back to the body of Percy Watson laid out so unceremoniously on the ground. She hadn't allowed herself to think about it until that point, the indication of what he had done to JJ too much, but she couldn't ignore the facts. "I think.. she's our friend, and she deserves the opportunity to tell her own story."
Suddenly a gentle knock at the door interrupted the pair. "Hotch wants us." Morgan spoke as he pushed the door open, quietening his voice suddenly when he saw Henry asleep on the sofa.
It was too late though, and as the sound filtered through his sleepy mind, the small boy shifted on the sofa, panic setting in as his eyes adjusted to his surroundings. "Momma! I want my momma!"
Tears were now streaming down Henry's cheeks and Emily immediately rushed over to him, wrapping her arms around his small frame and holding him to her chest as she stood slowly. "It's okay honey, you're okay." She looked up to Morgan and Garcia, each one of them thinking the same thing.
We want her home too, buddy..
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"It seems that Percy's mother gave up Janette a couple of years before he was born, that's why she never came up on the system. Percy just turned up at her door one day, Janette assumes that their mother must have told him the truth." Hotch spoke, finishing up filling the whole group in on the details.
"Why did she visit him in prison if she genuinely thought that he murdered her son?" Rossi questioned.
"I think a small part of her thought that she'd get answers, that he'd finally admit to it one day." Emily spoke, empathy for the old woman clear in her voice. "I'm just glad that she did. If he'd gotten anyone else to take Henry then.." The brunette trailed off, unwilling to even consider the possibilities.
"Emily, I want him kept away from here. That means you are off this case completely." Hotch knew just how close her and JJ were now – there was, after all, a reason thathe was Unit Chief - and he also hadn't forgotten the brunette's own rogue moment that had resulted in her having to fake her own death. If he was right about his suspicions regarding their relationship, he couldn't justifiably allow Emily to work this case anymore. She was much more use at home with Henry – he may not have trusted her to not stray off the lawful path in order to get JJ back home, but he trusted her without a shadow of a doubt to do right by the small boy. "If I see either of you near this building before JJ is home, I will have your badge."
"Yes, sir." Emily nodded and quietly slipped out to relieve the young intern that was watching Henry, grateful to be able to get the young boy out of here.
"That is all for now. I don't want to see any of you until 8am tomorrow morning. We've got everything that we can from Janette, there is nothing else we can do today." Hotch knew his agents were sleep deprived, but even if they weren't, they had no path to follow. Their presence here would be futile and they were far better off using this time to sleep. "You will be contacted if anything new comes up, but otherwise I want you to get some rest. Oh and Morgan, I'd like to speak with you please."
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Morgan slinked into Hotch's office some time later; he knew exactly what he had been called in for.
"I realise that we're all tired, and that this case is taking it's toll on all of us." Hotch looked up from his papers for the first time since Morgan had entered the room. "Some of us more than others. But I don't appreciate being undermined in front of my team, and I don't want your personal issues affecting your ability to do the job again, am I making myself clear?"
It had been Garcia that had made him realise that he was out of line if he was honest, and he no longer had the desire to argue with Hotch. What mattered was that Henry was home safe, and hopefully JJ would be soon too. He still didn't agree with the decisions that his boss had made, but somehow it didn't seem important anymore - what was done, was done. "Yes, sir."
He didn't want to come across so cold – aside from anything else, he knew that Morgan's personal experience was one of the things that made him so good at his job – but he was their leader, and it was always him that had to be the heartless one, the one to put personal feelings aside and ensure that the job got done. "Good. Go home, get some rest. I will see you tomorrow."