Chapter 7

Rossi glared at his blonde unit chief after she condemned his lifetime's work. He profiled his blonde associate, her blue eyes locked on his own. He saw a confident and assured woman sitting before him, no doubt or anxiety displayed. Did he know this woman he had worked with for years and called a friend and confidante? Realising he didn't know the blonde woman, the blonde, blue-eyed beauty was no better than Erin Strauss, heartless and willing to destroy anyone in her way. She showed no regret for her actions of stealing Aaron's job.

"Let's go inside, Ma'am," announced Rossi. He walked behind JJ as they walked toward the entrance.

"David Rossi?" announced a uniformed police officer approaching the two FBI agents.

A surprised David Rossi turned to face the approaching officer, a broad smile appearing as he recognised his old friend.

"Ma'am, I will see you inside; this is Rocky Donaldson, an old friend from the Marines we served together during the war," announced Rossi as he embraced his old war buddy, not bothering to wait for JJ's answer.

"Ma'am? Not changed much; pretty young females surrounded Dave. Still the Italian stallion?" smirked his old friend. "She is what, an eight or nine? Looking at that all day must be hard?" smirked his old friend.

"Oh, Rocky, you must watch yourself with Supervisory Special Agent Jennifer Jareau. That one is an evil ice queen. She has stabbed Aaron and taken his place as our unit chief. She has told me I am an old fossil and should be put out to pasture and let the modern, politically correct federal agent do the job. Don't let her good looks fool you," Rossi told his old friend.

Rossi's old marine buddy watched the female agent as she walked into the ambulance station. "I think I can feel a case of the blue flu coming on regarding Supervisory Special Agent Jareau. I liked Hotch. He has one hell of a poker face, that man. He took me to the cleaners that night. Let me know if I can do anything, Dave." he told his friend.

"Thanks, Rocky. I will send you a nice bottle of Brandy," smirked Rossi

EJ

Reading her secure text message from her burner phone, Linda Barnes smiled and took a long pull on her brandy. She was smiling as she typed out her message. Her plan was almost complete: her revenge on Strauss and Jareau was virtually unlimited; just the final few acts remained.

'Approach Prentiss and get her to meet me privately on your return. You will accompany her to handle the introductions. Your services will no longer be needed once I have talked with Prentiss, and she is on board with my plans. Your little issue will no longer be a problem. Consider it forgotten. ;)

Don't let me down; I believe it's freezing in the Anchorage office this time of year.'

Pleased she sent her message

"Clive, it's Linda Barnes. I want SSA Ashley Seaver transferred to the Anchorage office immediately after returning from her current case with the BAU. Her unit chief will initiate the transfer paperwork on her return to Quantico. I want everything in place for her transfer," asked Barnes

"You can't transfer someone against their will, Linda; we have procedures, you know that..." Barnes interrupted the man from human resources in disgust.

"Clive, do as you're told. I would hate for your proclivities for narcotics to get out and ruin your promising FBI career. Think about Wendy and the girls, the looks at the country club she will be ostracised, and what would her family say? You will have signed paperwork from her unit and section chief on your desk. Now be a good boy and get it done," warned Linda Barnes, not caring about the man. She would ruin him when it pleased her; she didn't like the weak-willed man at all; he was expendable when he wasn't helpful to her anymore. He was a means to an end.

"Fine! Consider it done," Clive answered, knowing she didn't make idle threats.

"That's a good man; I knew you would see sense. Don't let me down." Warned Barnes as she ended the call

Pleased with herself, Linda Barnes smiled as she looked over her framed photographs from her illustrious career, where she was being groomed for the bureau's directorship. She hurled her brandy glass at her wall of memories, watching it explode on impact, showering the wall in expensive brandy and glass fragments. That changed the day she had the misfortune to meet Jennifer Jareau and Erin Strauss in Afghanistan.

"Bitches, this is all your fault, all over a stupid little girl." screamed the furious woman remembering her fall from grace. Regaining her composure, she angrily typed a message to her two nemesis's

Section Chief Erin Strauss-Jareau & Unit Chief Jennifer Strauss-Jareau

You will transfer SSA Ashley Seaver to the Anchorage office against her will as punishment for breaking fraternisation regulations. She is in a sexual relationship with Dr Spencer Reid; human resources are waiting for your signed request for transfer. I expect it done expediently, ladies. Don't feel too two-faced when you're both happily married. Dr Reid doesn't need the companionship; it's counter-productive.

Pressing send, Linda Barnes smiled, pleased to be causing the two Strauss-Jareau ladies more problems, happy Jennifer was so protective of her wife. Linda thought to herself that the blonde would have made a great mother.

EJ

Her cell phone chimed, telling JJ she had received a text message from Barnes; the blonde unit chief took out her cell phone and quickly accessed the news. Scanning the text, a large knot started forming in her stomach as 'transfer SSA Ashley Seaver to the Anchorage office against her will ' lept out from the screen of her phone. A small smile materialised, pleased her friend had managed to find someone he was willing to let into his life; Ashley was a lucky woman few people had been allowed to see the faithful Spencer Reid.

Putting off the inevitable, she returned to the current case and walked to the ambulance station manager's office.

"Chief Marks? I am Supervisory Special Agent Jennifer Jareau; we spoke on the phone," announced JJ

With a smile, the red-headed Batallion chief beckoned her into her office. "Take a seat, please, agent. Please call me Martha. What can I do for the FBI?"

"Thank you. Please call me JJ," she smiled. "I would like to gain access to your inventory management system so we can check on the issue of insulin and give my analyst full access to your vehicle tracking system," she smiled, watching the paramedic's reaction.

"Anything you need, JJ," Martha replied, signing the form she had just been handed

Sending Penelope Garcia a quick message telling her she had official permission to access the computer system so she could commence her searches.

'Ma'am' was her succinct reply.

"What can you tell me about Lorraine Smith?" asked JJ

"Lorraine is one of my finest paramedics. Her record was impeccable until her ex-boyfriend issues," she answered, not hiding the irritation in her voice.

"Could you expand on that a bit? What happened?" asked a curious agent.

"Her ex Dr Paul Cornish was a serial cheater; he was like a rabid man whore. Lorraine became withdrawn after discovering his infidelity, especially when she found it was well-known amongst the hospital and ambulance station staff. She started turning up late for a shift, nothing too major, just not Lorraine; she was always here at least 45 minutes before her shift started and the last to leave at the end of her shift. I had to take her to one side and talk with her, which seemed to work." she answered.

The ringing of her cell phone paused the questioning.

"Go ahead, analyst Garcia," JJ told her.

"Ma'am, the issue rate for insulin is 150% higher than any city-wide ambulance station. This isn't recent; I have traced it back for at least five years. The records are adjusted, and the monthly statistics are adjusted. It is very cleverly done. I nearly missed it myself, but I am just that good; no one can fool me," an excited Garcia told her boss.

"How much is missing, Analyst Garcia?"

"About 60,000 dollars worth over the last five years, quality American brand pharmaceuticals bring top dollar as they have been manufactured under stringent American conditions with no risk to the user, unlike the cheaper Mexican or Asian knockoffs. It is a blossoming industry, especially with the cost of insulin," answered Garcia

"Good work. Can you go back to when it first started? Where are you with the call logs?" asked JJ

"My babies are still working on them. I will keep you informed, Ma'am; technical analyst Garcia is out," she ended the call.

During her call with Garcia, JJ noticed that Martha had become disturbed by the extent of the missing insulin; she shifted uneasily in her seat.

"Oh my God, this is all my fault," announced the shocked woman

"I had just been promoted to battalion chief about six years ago. I struggled with the additional reports I needed to produce weekly and monthly. Lorraine approached me and volunteered to help me while I settled into my new job. I, of course, happily agreed; computers have never been my thing. She did such a great job that she agreed to take the job on permanently. Is she responsible for all those things?" the upset battalion chief asked

"I don't know Martha, but she is most definitely a person of interest. Is she still around the station?" enquired JJ

Unbeknownst to either occupant of the battalion chief's office, Lorraine Smith had watched the arrival of the two FBI agents, listening to their discussion after using the microphone installed on the outer case of her desk phone. She regularly listened to the records so she could keep herself safe. It wouldn't take long for them to discover that her rig's GPS location was always within a block's radius of the victims. While it was circumstantial, she knew it wouldn't take long for them to unravel the truth; she needed to disappear; she just had one last visit to make. She now knew the FBI was onto her insulin scam. Leaving her cell phone in the desk drawer, she Slipped out of the ambulance station to disappear.

EJ

Learning Lorraine had disappeared from the ambulance station, JJ decided she needed to consider Ashley's situation. Deciding to go for coffee and phone her wife, she left Rossi at the ambulance station talking with Smith's partner.

"Rin, we have to send Ashley to Alaska. We have no choice. Let's hope Emily can find out who her mole is. I don't know what Barnes is trying to achieve by ordering Ashley to be removed from the team unless she wants us to believe she is her informant. I trust her, but my mind is so blurry that I am unsure. This all has me turned around. I can't think straight; I'm terrified I will make a mistake and hurt Yasmin or you. I wouldn't say I like this feeling, Rin. I hate my lack of clarity," she honestly told her wife as she walked to the coffee shop.

"Jenny, Sweetheart, please don't fret. I have raised the paperwork. Please send me yours and inform Ashley of her forced transfer. She flies to Alaska the following day once you return to Quantico. We can reverse the transfer once we have sorted things out. How's your case going?" Erin asked her wife

"It would seem our doctor has been targeted by his former girlfriend. She is now a person of interest; we need to find her; she vanished from her shift while we were speaking with her boss. I left Dave talking with her partner and issued a BOLO, so I slipped out for coffee to talk with you, sweetheart. Hopefully, Rin, I should be home in a couple of days. I miss you and Yasmin. I will call you tonight. I need some caffeine. Love you," smiled JJ as she ended her call

"Help me!"

Turning towards the side street, she could see three men dragging a woman against her will into the side street. She dialled the police station where the team were based.

"Officer Donaldson, 3-5 precinct, how can I help?"

"Officer Donaldson, this is Supervisory Special Agent Jareau FBI. I need urgent assistance at the corner of State Street and Howard Street. Robbery in progress, three male UnSubs," requested JJ.

"I will dispatch units immediately, agent Jareau. Be careful, ma'am," replied Officer Donaldson. He smiled and made the radio call.

"11-99 FBI agent needs assistance corner of State Street and Howard Street robbery in progress all available units in vicinity respond," he announced. The former marine and NYPD officer had just handed out an 11-99 unofficial radio call known to all uniformed officers as a slow roll for assistance to punish fellow officers who had been caught ratting out the misdeeds of fellow officers. The seasoned officer smirked and thought, I hope you can handle yourself, Supervisory Special Agent Jennifer Jareau.

Pocketing her cell phone, she pulled her Glock from her holster and carefully entered the alleyway that branched off the sidewalk. Approaching the struggling woman, JJ took a deep breath, keeping her eyes locked on the tall blonde attacker holding a knife to his terrified victim's throat, his other hand struggling to unbutton his victim's jeans. Knowing time was of the essence, she couldn't wait for the arrival of her backup. She could hear an approaching siren in the distance.

"FBI, let the woman go and drop your weapon!" commanded JJ

The second assailant suddenly turned to face JJ, a cheeky smirk appearing as he stepped away from his friend, knowing the armed agent couldn't control them if they spread apart. He slowly closed the distance as he held his knife down the side of his leg.

"Drop your gun, bitch, or I'll cut her deep," warned the blonde assailant pressing his knife to his victim's throat and breaking the skin, allowing a steady stream of blood to flow from the laceration. His victim screamed as she felt the warm blood flow down her chest; she couldn't feel any pain; she was petrified, and adrenaline rushed around her body.

Decision made: JJ fired her weapon, hitting the blonde attacker in his right shoulder. "You Bitch! You shot me," he screamed as he dropped his knife. Pushing the petrified woman away, he grasped his bleeding shoulder and collapsed to the floor, screaming in agony. Moving her weapon towards the other attacker, she didn't hear the third attacker approaching.

Swinging the iron bar at the side of the blonde agent's head, he made contact, causing her to stagger, dropping her weapon to the floor as she wobbled. Taking advantage of the stunned agent, he sprayed her face with pepper spray.

Dropping to the floor dazed, her eyes burning from the pepper spray. Her vision was blurry; she struggled to open her eyelids. Blood flowed from a laceration above her left eye. Pleased with his blitz attack, he approached the blonde agent, who squirmed on the floor, clutching her face. Picking up the agent's fallen gun, he knelt beside the fallen blonde agent; he raised her weapon, ready to seek vengeance for his injured buddy.

Virtually blinded by the pepper spray, JJ worked by instinct as she felt the proximity of her attacker's head; sensing his breath on her neck, she slammed her head into his face as hard as she could, and pain flared up on impact with her assailant's cheek and nose. Without thinking, JJ, her training kicking in, slammed her fingers into her attacker's neck, executing a near-perfect carotid slap. The sudden loss of oxygen to his brain caused him to blackout, plunging to the floor at her side.

"Mike! What have you done bitch your dead," screamed the remaining attacker as he sprinted to his fallen comrades. Straddling JJ, he grabbed her neck and started squeezing, cutting her oxygen. Unable to push her assailant off, her head spun; she managed to bring her left ankle into her hand. With practised ease, she slipped her clutch piece from her ankle holster, pressed it against her assailant's leg, and pulled the trigger twice. The vice-like grip around her neck ceased as he fell to the floor, gripping his thigh. With the last ounce of her strength, she grabbed her attacker in a chokehold and squeezed as hard as possible, cutting off his oxygen supply to his brain. After what seemed like hours, the struggling ceased, and his clawing stopped as he lost consciousness and drifted Off into the blackness.

"Shit! JJ, are you ok?" Shouted Ashley, worried as she ran to her fallen unit chief, all anger Forgotten for the moment. Morgan dragged the unconscious man From JJ. The blonde unit chief nodded in reply, still trying to suck in the oxygen.

"JJ, it's Martha. Let's get you checked out," the battalion chief told her as she helped the unsteady FBI agent to her ambulance.

EJ

Morgan stood beside Ashley as they watched the Paramedics assessing JJ in the rear of their ambulance. Watching as they washed out the blonde's eyes, both were still astonished at what they had witnessed on their arrival.

"What was that?" Morgan inquired about Ashley

"That was our former media liaison kicking ass; Freya has some moves, Derek", answered an astonished woman.

" Some of those moves aren't taught at the academy, and I think she used Krav Maga. It was developed for the Israel defence force; it's a hybrid of Judo, karate, aikido, boxing and wrestling. Where did she learn that?" Morgan asked, annoyed with himself at the pride he felt for his former friend.

Derek knew about using the radio code 11-99; Chicago PD had a similar way of dealing with rats amongst the rank-and-file. As much as Morgan detested Jennifer Jareau for what she had done to the team, he hated even more fellow law enforcement officers who endangered fellow officers' lives from slow or no response to calls for urgent assistance.

"Who did this to her?" Inquired Ashley as she watched an unsteady JJ assisted from the ambulance.

"I don't know, but I intend to find out she could have been killed," answered an angry Derek Morgan

Rossi rushed over after leaping out of the SUV driven by Emily. A worried look appeared on his face as he scrutinised the bloody blonde sitting on the ambulance steps, drinking water from a water bottle.

"A slow roll for assistance, man. She could have been killed," answered the angry profiler.

Only seen by the approaching Emily, Rossi's face flashed with shame as he remembered his last conversation with his brother, Marine, outside the ambulance station. He hated the blonde unit chief for what she had done to his friend, but he didn't want her hurt. He knew he needed to speak to his friend before things got complicated.

Unable to show her concern for her friend in front of the team, Emily was heartbroken at the sight of her friend's bloody appearance; her red puffy eyes looked painful.

EJ

"Are you ok, agent? Sorry, the backup took a while. We had no closer units." Officer Donaldson asked anxiously as he looked down at the injured agent

JJ looked coldly at the anxious officer she had spoken to, requesting assistance. Her head was hurting. She had a headache from hell after being hit with that damn iron bar. The new unit chief might not be a card-carrying FBI profiler, but she knew enough about body language to realise he was worried about something.

"I want the exact location of all the RMPs in the sector at the time of your radio call for assistance," demands JJ in her best boss bitch voice.

Officer Donaldson masked his uneasiness from the BAU unit chief at her request for the location of his precincts RMPs. Still, Emily, Morgan, and Ashley witnessed his nervousness at her demand. Emily turned in time to glimpse the look of shame that appeared briefly on Rossi's face. Hidden behind her impassive face, Emily was seething, wanting to beat the crap out of Rossi's marine buddy. She comprehended the need for restraint; she needed to remain a Jennifer Jareau hater outwardly but decided a little indirect karma would be OK.

"Heads up, here she comes," announced Rossi, causing Emily to turn and watch their wobbly unit chief approaching.

"Agent Rossi, I want you to return to the precinct and monitor the tip line and the search for Lorraine Smith. Everyone else get something to eat and then some rest; we can't do anything until we discover where Smith is. Agent Morgan, you will take charge of the takedown once we have her location. I have a mild concussion, so I will retain command but sit out the action. Any questions?" asked JJ,

"No, Ma'am," answered her team in unison

"Are you ready, JJ?" asked Martha

Not wanting to suffer the aggravation she would cause to ask for a team member to give her a lift back to her hotel room, she had requested Martha, the battalion chief, to drop her off. She didn't have the energy, her headache was worsening, and she still had to inform Ashley she was being transferred to Alaska after they had arrested Lorraine Smith. Knowing how two-faced she was about to become didn't help her headache. Her body was starting to ache, and she just wanted to sit in Erin's arms in their bathtub.

"Agent Seaver, I need to speak to you in my room once you return from eating. It won't take long," JJ told her agent before walking off.

Ashley looked at Morgan and Emily, a little worried, wondering why she needed to see her unit chief.

"Don't worry, Ash; what's the worst she can do? Demote you," smirked Morgan

"Very funny," mocked Emily

EJ