A/N - Here's a longer chapter for you all! Thank you for all the views! Especially on Thursday! 100 views in one day? Thank you all so much! Hope you all enjoy reading this chapter :3
~MBL
4 HOURS SINCE MISSING
JJ paced the police station, rarely stopping unless someone came directly to her. She knew something wasn't right, Holly had been gone for a good four hours and didn't even call to say if she was running late or not. It was getting really dark now, and JJ was constantly looking up at the clock.
"Why don't you just call her grandfather?" she heard Rossi ask. Sitting at a desk in front of a computer, he looked up at her. "If that's where she should be, isn't that the first place to look?"
JJ almost slapped herself. She couldn't believe she didn't think of that in the first place. She asked one of the police officers for a phone book and looked up Robert Green. She dialed the number and waited. One ring. Two. Three. Four.
On the fifth ring she heard a vaguely familiar "Hello, Robert Green speaking."
"Mr. Green," JJ greeted, "I'm not sure if you remember me, I'm Jennifer, Holly's friend."
"Ah, JJ! It's been too long! How have you been?"
"I've been pretty well, thanks. What about yourself?"
"I've been good. Can't complain. Now, what can I do you for?"
JJ took a deep breath. "I was just wondering if Holly had stopped by today. She said she was going to meet with you."
"Is Holly back in Pittsburgh? That's great! Where is she?"
JJ looked up at everyone, her team's eyes were all on her. "Sh- She's not there?"
"No, sorry. I didn't even know she was back in the U.S., if truth be told."
Butterflies were flitting around in JJ's stomach now, she felt like she was going to be sick. "Well, thank you for your time Mr. Green."
"Please, JJ, call me Robert."
JJ couldn't help but smile over the phone at the elderly man. "Thank you, Robert."
JJ nearly slammed the phone back onto the dock, tears threatening to burst from her eyes.
"I guess no luck?" Morgan asked.
JJ merely shook her head, worried her voice will crack if she said a word.
"So if she's not there, where could she be?" Blake asked.
JJ had a pretty good feeling where Holly could be, but she was worried that her suspicions were correct.
"Garcia, are you able to trace Green's phone number?" JJ jumped at the sudden voice. She didn't even realize Reid picked up the phone to talk to Garcia. He put the phone on speaker.
"Sure thing, my brilliantly savvy Boy Wonder, but what's this all about?" JJ almost chuckled. Garcia was always kept out of the loop when it came to fieldwork.
"We're not too sure where she is, baby girl." Morgan replied.
"Well, her phone signal's coming up right where you are." Garcia responded. "Try to find her, will you?"
"We'll do our best." Hotch responded. This made JJ nervous. 'Our best'? Not 'sure we're going to find her, it's what we do!'? JJ immediately turned and tried to look for Holly's phone. She found it on the desk where Holly was to be stationed at.
She found Holly's go-bag under the desk and immediately turned it over, trying to give some insight as to where she might've gone. As she was rummaging through it, tears spilling down her cheeks, she came across a picture frame. She turned it over and saw what the picture revealed.
It was herself and Holly. In their soccer uniforms, preparing for their championship match in their senior year. The photo had them both standing together, hands around their waists, smiling genuinely at the camera. Holly's blond hair was tied up in a messy bun, her signature soccer hairstyle, and JJ simply had her hair in a ponytail. JJ could see the laughter in both of their eyes and it made her realize that she hadn't even seen Holly smile since that photo.
JJ held tightly onto the picture, as if holding onto the frame was going to make Holly magically appear at the door. She felt her hand was wet, and looked down to realize that the picture frame was covered in her tears. Opening the back of the photo frame, she read With JJ, championship match - wish it was like this again in Holly's elegant writing on the back of the old picture, and saw that the ink was smudged. Holly must've been crying over this photo too.
She looked up at the rest of the team, who had all been watching her, then looked up at the clock, and realized she had been crying over the photo for ten minutes. Wiping the tears off her cheeks and the photo, she carried the frame back to her desk where she set it up.
The sound of the phone ringing brought JJ out of her trance. Eventually, the chief of the department, Chief Jacobs, answered the phone.
"Chief Jacobs. Yes, we are working on the Pittsburgh Rapist case. Yes, we have the FBI with us. You do? She's back?" JJ now had her full attention, hoping that 'she' was Holly. "How? Alright. We will be there shortly. Thank you."
JJ stood up abruptly. "Did they find Agent Green?" she demanded. The chief merely shook his head.
"No I'm sorry, they found the most recent victim, Natalie Brown. She just showed up at her house an hour ago. She's distraught, but she wishes to speak to us." JJ merely slouched in defeat.
"Alright," Hotch began, that familiar commanding voice ringing through the station. "JJ and Rossi, you go talk to Miss Brown. See if you can get any information out of her as to the whereabouts of the UnSub. I understand what you're going through," Hotch quietly added to JJ, who was just next to him. "But you're the most compassionate on the team, you always know what to say. And this may be connected with Green after all."
JJ just nodded, and exited the department with Rossi, and they both went into one of the all black SUVs, Rossi behind the wheel and JJ quietly in the passenger seat.
The drive wasn't long, maybe twenty minutes, but the entire ride was intense. Rossi kept trying to make conversation, but he would always look over at JJ to find tears running down her cheeks and he'd say no more.
Finally arriving at the Brown's house, JJ quickly exited the car and slammed the door shut behind her, Rossi following in pursuit. Arriving at the doorstep, Rossi rapped on the door. Seconds later, a woman in her late thirties opened the door, tearstains running down her cheeks. It didn't take a profiler to know that she was crying only minutes ago.
"Good evening, Mrs. Brown. I'm Agent David Rossi, with the FBI. This is my colleague Agent Jennifer Jareau. May we come inside?" Rossi always has the charismatic tone when it came to the victims' families, JJ thought. Mrs. Brown quickly let them inside and sat them on the couch.
"Natalie is in her room, I'll just go up and get her." She offered weakly.
"That would be great." Rossi smiled.
JJ couldn't help but bounce her leg in anticipation. She shouldn't be here, she should be out there looking for Holly. Rossi had obviously picked up on her uneasiness and rested a hand on her knee, calming her down slightly.
"It'll be okay, Kiddo," Rossi reassured. "We'll look for her right after the case has been solved. I promise."
JJ finally stopped bouncing her leg and rested her elbows on her knees, resting her head in her hands. "Rossi, what if something's happened to her, again? What if she's left the country again? Is it my fault? Did she leave because of me?"
Rossi shook his head. "We have no way of knowing, JJ. When we find her, you can ask her yourself. How does that sound?" A familiar twinkle was appearing in Rossi's eyes.
JJ forced a chuckle to escape her lips. "Sounds good." She reasoned.
It wasn't long after that JJ heard two pairs of footsteps descending the stairs. JJ immediately sat up straight, attempting to return to her usual professional demeanor.
Natalie Brown looked just like she did in the photo on her file - wavy blond hair, bright green eyes and freckles scattered all over the bridge of her nose and her cheekbones. With a jolt, JJ realized that Natalie looked exactly like Holly when she was that age. This remembrance caused a lone tear to escape JJ's eye, but she quickly wiped it away with her thumb before anyone could notice.
JJ quickly stood to greet the young girl. "Good evening Natalie, I'm Agent Jennifer Jareau, and this is my partner Agent David Rossi." She finished with a gesture to her partner.
Natalie's red eyes - probably from crying, JJ thought - were darting between the two agents, as if debating whether to tell them something.
"Are you two with the FBI?" The young girl managed to choke out. Rossi nodded his head.
"That's right, Natalie. We are with the Behavioral Analysis Unit, or the BAU."
Natalie's eyes then rested on JJ, her expression blank, trying to decide whether the agent can be trusted. With a slight nod to herself, which JJ was sure only she had seen, Natalie silently confirmed that the blond agent was able to be trusted.
"Agent Jareau? Would it be all right if I talked to you alone, please?" she hesitated, not sure how to ask.
"Sure, where would you like to talk?" JJ replied earnestly.
Natalie didn't speak, she merely gestured upstairs. JJ immediately understood that she wanted to be in her room. She looked over at Rossi, who simply nodded with a look saying 'I got this'. With a small smile directed at the senior agent, JJ followed the girl upstairs.
The girl sat gingerly on her bed, whilst JJ sat comfortably in a desk chair. She sat less professionally now, opening herself up to the victim.
"Now, please tell me everything you can about your abduction." she began.
Natalie's hands started to shake. "Uh, well, I was walking home from school last night, when I felt a - uh - a knife pressed against my back. I heard a voice saying 'if you don't get in the van, I'll kill you right here'. I remember feeling absolute horror, then thinking 'this is really cliché, isn't this what happens in all abduction movies?'. He blindfolded me and tied my hands behind my back." she sighed, holding up her hands to show the rough ligature marks surrounding her wrists.
"I remember getting hit, on the head, and the next thing I know I'm tied up to this bed. I'm pretty sure I was just lying there for hours, until he walked in and started taking off his clothes. I can re- remember him starting to take of my clothes when I heard someone barge into the house. An agent."
JJ's attention was immediately pulled towards the young girl. "That's good. You're doing great," she soothed. "What else can you tell me about today?"
Natalie took a deep breath, trying to steady her shaking hands, and continued. "So, um, I was crying and he- he dressed us up again, so he didn't end up raping me or anything. Thank god. And she was standing there and she knew the guy. She told him to leave me alone and he said- oh god!" The young girl shrieked, bursting into tears. Loud sobs shook her skinny and petite body.
JJ immediately crossed over to the bed, rubbing soothing circles on her back with her hand. "It's okay, Natalie. You are doing amazing. But you need to keep going. What did he say?"
Natalie merely nodded, and continued, her voice breaking on occasion. "He said to her that he'll let me go, if she took my place. Oh god! She's stuck in that hellhole because of me! Fuck!" she screamed, tears threatening to make a permanent river down her cheeks. "She accepted, dropped her weapon and he let me go. She told me what to do and what to say. She told me things I can't say, and then told me to run."
"What do mean, things you can't say?" The agent's radiant blue eyes bore into the girl's bright green irises.
Natalie took a large gulp, and continued. "She- she told me I can't tell you where we were, although I don't even remember where the house was, I just wound up home. I can't tell you my abductor's name, and I can't tell you the name of the agent who saved me." JJ just looked at the young girl, dumbfounded.
"Please, Natalie. You must tell us who-"
"I know! I know I have to! But she specifically asked me not to say anything. Don't I owe her that?" Tears were streaming down her freckled face, and JJ wondered if the tears would be enough to provide water for the entire continent of Africa. Natalie wiped her eyes, took a deep breath and continued.
"She wanted me to talk to you, specifically." If a fraction of her attention was not towards the young girl already, JJ's attention was sure as hell completely directed at her now. "She told me to find the blond woman from the FBI, and give her a message."
"What was the message?" JJ persisted, trying not to sound too desperate, but couldn't help the waver in her voice.
"She told me to tell you that she's sorry, and she deserves what she got." She shook her head, as if trying to deny it would prove the whole situation wrong.
JJ ran a small hand through her vibrant, blond hair with a sigh.
"Oh shit," the older woman sighed. "Can you tell me what she looked like?"
After a few seconds of deliberation, the younger girl decided that describing the agent wasn't technically telling her who she was, so she went ahead. "Uh, she had wavy, blond hair. Bright - I mean bright - green eyes. Freckles. She was pretty tall, I guess. And, um, that's about it. Sorry."
JJ had to try one more thing, which would tell her if the agent was in fact her missing friend. "What did she sound like? Did she have an accent of some kind?"
Natalie ran both hands through her hair, resting her elbows on her knees. "Yeah, I think so. It seemed British, but not quite."
"Australian?" The agent asked.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure." Green eyes met with cerulean eyes, with tears starting to pool in both pairs of eyes.
"Please - just tell me if I'm right - was the agent's name Holly? Holly Green?"
Not saying anything, Natalie just nodded, sobs reappearing and failing to slow or halt.
JJ make a slight choking noise, and quickly ran out of the room. She leant against the wall and sank to the floor, sobs wracking her entire petite frame.
It was true. Her best friend was gone again.
And JJ would stop at nothing this time to find her.
A/N - And here ends chapter 4! How are you guys liking it so far? I personally like it, but it's all about what you guys think! Please leave a review, or follow, or favourite! :3
Also a big thanks to IniTiniNini (again!) and Susie G for your reviews! They are much appreciated!
Please let me know what you think!
~MBL