AN: My first story! I hope you enjoy it, I am nervous about posting. KDMOSP did one like this but her profile says that anyone can use ideas from her stories. I spoke with her and she said to take it and run with it! So, here is my spin on it. I hope you enjoy it. I would love some reviews:
Jennifer Jareau, "JJ" to her friends, stood nonchalantly at a park bench. She stretched her legs, using the bench to balance on so that she did not faceplant forward. Her black athletic wear was flexible enough that it worked with every motion; she was still flexible enough to allow her body to twist and flex as she prepared for her jog.
"Damn JJ, take it down a notch. You don't need to prove to all of us that you are in the best shape." Morgan's voice came over her hidden earpiece and JJ couldn't help but laugh at it. Her team was watching; they were watching and listening to everything going on around her. The park was littered with undercover agents and she was the bait.
She hadn't hesitated when Hotch had approached her about it, being the bait. She had done it before, it didn't bother her. There had been countless cases where their UNSUB had targeted people just like her. Blonde, athletic, successful, a mom, the list went on and on and she was typically the one who met at least one of those criteria. More than the others.
So, here she was again, ready to play the role and hopefully have their guy pick up on her. It was early morning, the sun barely in the sky, it was his hunting time. They had profiled him, knew him, about him, but didn't know him exactly. Didn't have a name just yet. Hopefully, that would change today.
She didn't have a weapon on her, but she had her team around her. That and undercover cops all around; she didn't need a weapon. They had profiled him enough to know he did not kill on spot, he did that later. He would abduct them without a sound being made. A gun held to the gut tended to do that. The team had figured that out thanks to security cameras capturing the event- they never found the victim.
"Alright JJ, ready when you are." It was her boss, Aaron Hotchner, or Hotch as he was known. His stoic voice was reassuring; she knew she was safe with her team watching. So, with a deep breath, she started her jog.
Her watch began calculating her pace, her heart rate, her oxygen levels, but is also sent her exact location to her team. Even if they lost visual, they would know where she was within five feet. She was safe and she was confident.
Hotch watched through various body cams, listened to his agent through her ear piece. He scanned the park looking for a threat, any threat. He always hated sending someone undercover, using them as bait. But JJ was consistently reliable and never failed. She was a damn good agent and knew exactly how to play the part.
But he still worried. If something went wrong, if anything went wrong… but he couldn't dwell on that right now. His entire focus had to be on JJ, The FBI had made sure no civilians were present in the park; every jogger, biker, walker was law enforcement. But they were confident JJ would be the target, she fit what he was looking for.
"Hotch." A breathy voice came over his earpiece and he looked at the camera.
"I see him JJ," he responded. "We are all around you."
JJ didn't respond, she couldn't give any indication that she was not completely focused on her jog. She kept her pace as the man approached her, her heart beat raised slightly but she kept her cadence; kept her focus straight ahead. She knew it was him, the man heading right towards her was him. Tall, stocky, white, male, this was most likely him.
And she braced her body for whatever impact was to come, her body ready for it.
But it didn't come, the man nodded at her politely and kept jogging. This wasn't him after all, but she knew her team was still keeping an eye on him.
They never saw it coming.
JJ had slowed a bit, listening to her ear piece as the team talked amongst themselves. She rounded the pond and noticed the sun slowly rising. Good, it was chilly and she needed the warmth the sun would bring. She kept up her jog and suddenly, without any warning, sound or movement; she was knocked to the ground by a heavy force. She was stunned as her head connected with the concrete, snapping down then back up; blood already pooling around her.
"Shit." she heard over her earpiece and listened for footsteps.
"Hi there doll, how about you and I go for a ride?" Perfect teeth grinned down at her, his hands holding her down by her shoulders as he pulled out a needle. He was fast; too fast. The needle was in her neck before anyone reached her. Instantly, her world began spinning; she was nauseous and suddenly exhausted. She tried to buck him off but he simply held her down and pressed his finger to her lips, silencing her.
"FBI!" They were there, they had arrived. She could relax. "Put your hands up," Morgan shouted, his voice thick through the morning air. JJ heard a herd of footsteps and felt the weight pulled off her.
"JJ, open your eyes," it was Emily. "C'mon, JJ." Emily reached over and shook her, trying to get her friend to open her eyes. To respond. There was nothing. "Hotch, she needs the paramedics." Emily stated, reassured as she felt JJ's strong pulse.
"Relax, she's just out cold. She'll come around in a few hours." The man laughed, his hands cuffed behind him as Rossi pulled a concealed weapon from the man's back pocket. "Might want to check her ribs and head though, she hit it pretty hard. Too bad I couldn't bang her further…" his manic laughter reverberated through the park as he was led away.
Hotch knelt down by Emily and saw the small pool of blood forming under JJ's head; without a doubt she had a concussion. "Do we know what he gave her?" He asked, pressing his own fingers to JJ's neck, feeling her pulse. This didn't line up, he had not done it with his other victims; their toxicology reports always came back clean.
"What happened?" Hotch stood up to get out of the way of the paramedics.
"She's FBI, a man jumped out of a tree and hit her pretty hard. We don't know with what but he did drug her." Hotch gestured to a large hypodermic needle laying on the ground.
"Oh yeah, he definitely stuck her in the neck," the paramedic said, her fingers gently prodding the already bruising spot. "Agent Jareau, can you open your eyes for me?" The female paramedic asked, watching for any signs of consciousness. "Agent, open your eyes!" She commanded with a bit more force, but again, got nothing.
Hotch watched, his arms crossed as the medics worked on his agent. They did not seem too concerned, their movements were not rushed, professional, but not rushed. And that was reassuring. "Agent?" Hotch looked up to see that JJ had been moved to a backboard, her neck now in a brace; he could see the blood in her hair, on the ground. "We are going to take her to Harris, unless you have another preference?"
"Do they have a trauma team in their ER?" He asked, walking with the gurney to the waiting ambulance.
"Yes, they are the trauma hospital for the city."
"Then let's head there." Hotch climbed in as they settled her down. She was pale, the blood no longer streaming but definitely having stained the white sheets on the gurney. But something was off… not so much about JJ; she would be okay. It was the way the ambush went down; something was not right about it. It did not match with what they had profiled about their UNSUB. And as the ambulance headed towards the hospital, Hotch watched his young agent; his stomach sinking. JJ had been a target; someone had known she was going to be there.
"Do you want to follow us? Or just meet us when you get done here?" The medic asked kindly, smiling at Hotch. "She's stable, Agent."
Hotch nodded. "I will meet you there."
And as the ambulance drove off, Hotch swallowed. Something was going very wrong.