Chapter 14
Four corrections specialists rushed towards the fighting convicts on the floor. The corrections specialists dragged the three female marines off.
"Enough! I will tazer you three." Announced an annoyed specialist.
The three convicted marines instantly complied. As they were restrained, they smirked at the bloodied blonde on the floor.
"Next time, Blondie," she smirked.
After the room was cleared, JJ was helped up from the floor, and her shattered prison-issued artificial hand was scooped up by the sergeant, shaking her head. The fellow military female prisoners had made the last few weeks hell for JJ. She was in special segregation, supposedly separated from the other prisoners. It seemed even military prisoners hated former federal agents.
"That makes three Convict."
"I suppose a hook is out of the question, Ma'am?" Asked JJ
The sergeant glared at the smart-mouthed former federal agent. " Strauss-Jareau, stop being a smart ass. Do you need to go to the infirmary?" She asked
"Sorry, Ma'am. No, my nose has stopped bleeding. Can I go back to my cell, please, Ma'am?" Asked JJ, not wanting to admit her ribs hurt like hell. Her assailants had gotten in some stiff kicks.
Jennifer just wanted to return to her cell. She was safe in the segregation unit. What she wanted was a hug from her wife and daughter. She regretted not telling Erin of her plan to sacrifice herself. Honestly, she was petrified that the love of her life would disown her for her actions.
'Click,'
As the electronic lock activated on her cell door, Jennifer let her tears fall as she looked at Erin and Yasmin's picture.
" I am so sorry, Rin; it was the only way I could live with myself. I couldn't allow a good man to take the fall for my actions." She told the picture as she cried
"Damn you," snarled JJ as she felt the pain in her right hand. The phantom limb pain was excruciating.
EJ
Driving their rental car around the Military discipline barracks, Emily and Zehira were discussing and planning how they would get JJ out of her self-serving sacrifice.
" Go in as guards?" Spitballed Emily
Zehira shook her head, "No, getting in is not the problem; getting to Zeba and extracting her without being detected and captured is the issue," sighed the Mossad agent.
Silence fell as they drove around the perimeter fence, and they thought about the problem.
"Shit!" Screamed Emily as she braked hard
A little bird army helicopter suddenly appeared in front of their hire car; the two soldiers strapped to the seats on either side of the fuselage had their M4s raised. The aircraft landed on the road.
"Oh crap," muttered Emily as she watched her mother alighting from the copilot's seat
"She looks pissed, Emily," Zehira whispered.
"Not helping, sweetheart, now be quiet," Emily smiled as she warned her not to take her eyes off her approaching mother.
"Mother," smirked Emily with her best politician smile plastered. "What are you doing here?"
"Hi, Elizabeth," greeted an amused Zehira from the passenger seat.
"What do you pair think you are doing? Don't bother answering. The technical difficulties your plane had seemed to have rectified themselves. Did you not think I would notice a slight course change? You will both return to the airport, board your plane, and return to Quantico. My two colleagues will accompany you back to Quantico to ensure you have no further technical issues." Warned the senator
Elizabeth Prentiss beckoned two men across. "All yours, Marshalls. They are to be taken to Section Chief Hotchner BAU.
EJ
Senator Prentiss gasped as she watched Jennifer Strauss-Jareau escort Into the interview room, shackled to her guard. It was difficult to see her friend chained like a common criminal.
"Oh my god, Jennifer, your face, where is your hand?" Asked the shocked politician
"Worse than it looks, honest," smiled JJ. "They seem to take great delight in breaking my artificial hands." She sighed as she was shackled to the table
She waited for the corrections specialists to leave and close the door. "I thought you were in protective segregation?" Asked the senator
"I am; it seems military prisoners don't like ex-federal agents. My hand seems to be a target the first thing they break. How are they?" JJ asked, her eyes filling with tears. "How pissed at me is she."
Elizabeth just smirked, " Oh, she is pissed at you. She is worried about you, Jennifer. You're not helping by refusing to let her visit. Yasmin misses you all the time. She blames herself for what happened to you,"
Her fight to stop her tears from falling failed as she burst into tears. Hearing her daughter blamed herself. Comforting her crying friend, Elizabeth glared at the two corrections specialists attempting to enter the room. Wisely not wanting to annoy the woman, they backed out without a word.
"I can't let Rin see me like this. They are best moving on without me." Sniffed the crying woman.
"Enough, Jennifer Strauss-Jareau. They both still love you and will not move on. Don't be so ridiculous. So, if your face is battered and bruised, get over it. Emily and Zehira diverted their plane here in some stupid attempt to free you. You were right," she scolded.
A slight smirk appeared on Jennifers' face, and her tears slowed. Elizabeth held her tightly.
Jennifer nodded her thanks.
EJ
It had been three months since Emily and Zehira returned to the BAU under escort from two U.S. marshals. Emily and Zehira had become girlfriends and surprised everyone when they got engaged, and Zehira had become a permanent member of the BAU.
Yasmin opened the door and gasped at the sight Infront of her, and she was speechless.
"Mama!" Screamed the shocked girl
"Hi, sweetheart. Can Mama have a big hug? I missed you," asked a sobbing blonde mother
Yasmin flung herself at her mother and pulled her into a tight hug. "Missed you, mama," she sobbed.
"Jenny!" Screamed Erin from behind
"Surprise Rin,"
Erin joined the family reunion, not caring she was crying in front of her guests. Lost in the moment, a cough forced the three apart.
"Can we have a hug?" Emily asked as she held Zehira. Both ladies had tears streaming down their faces.
"Yeah, let's go inside, Yasmin." She held out her right hand.
Yasmin took her hand and gasped when the fingers moved gently, grasping her hand.
"Like my magic hand?" Smirked JJ
"Get in here and explain what you're doing here; you didn't escape, did you?" Erin asked her wife, still a little shocked at her sudden appearance.
Jennifer shook her head, smiling, "No, I walked out the front gate a free woman. This helped a lot," she handed Erin a folded paper.
Taking the paper, Erin read it. Pondering what she had just read, her face transitioned through a few emotions of anger, understanding anger again, and then she just laughed. " Presidential pardon,…wait, you planned this all along, didn't you?" Erin accused her wife.
She nodded, took her wife's chin in her hand, and kissed her deeply, "Sit down, and I will tell you everything," she asked a little breathlessly after their kiss.
"The president made me an offer with Barnes escaping. He needed to have someone pay. If I accepted responsibility for everything and took their prison term, everyone else would be forgiven without further investigation. I had to serve six months before he would pardon me; he halved that, so here I am." She explained ", After the first month, I was put in total isolation and got my magic hand fitted." She raised her black, artificial smart hand
After demonstrating all 12 grip patterns, she looked around and smiled. "Sorry, I had to keep you all in the dark. I had no choice,"
"Are you coming back to the FBI?" Asked Emily
"No, I have been offered another job. I'm not sure the FBI wants me back." She laughed. "Elizabeth offered me a job. Congratulations on your engagement. When is the wedding?" Asked JJ
"What?'
"Wait a minute"
What job?"
Asked Emily, Erin and Zehira at almost the same time.
Grinning, like the Cheshire Cat, "I am the new Senate oversight for the BAU. I start tomorrow. I have been working on my unique "Boss Bitch' voice. Got to keep you on your toes, unit chief Prentiss," laughed JJ, pleased at the shock on her two friends' faces.
"Language, Mama," Scolded Yasmin, getting her own back on her mother.
"Does Hotch know yet?" Emily asked. "That's why the senate seems to be dragging their feet,"
Zehira closely examined her friend's face. "It's not that the FBI doesn't want you back. It is you can't work with ….." She paused as things fell into place in her head. "Very clever, Zaba."
"What?" Emily asked, still confused,
"Zaba, you can't go into the field with an artificial hand, no matter how smart it is. She is too talented at what she does to be left keeping the BAU in Check," Zehira explained. "That is not the standard Bebionic hand. It's been modified, hasn't it?"
"It's the improved version. Dexterity and grip power increased. Battery duration improved. It's not a replacement for my missing hand, but it is a good alternative once you get used to it. My insurance doesn't cover an $85,000 Bebionic hand. I have a payment plan arranged with Avi." She explained, "No, Hotch doesn't know," she laughed
EJ
Hotch sat at his desk, dreading his first-morning meeting; the director had informed him the oversight position had finally been filled. He looked up as his secretary walked in.
"Your 9:00 appointment has arrived, Sir. Are you ready?" Janice, his assistant, asked
"Show them in, please, Janice," Hotch answered, confused. Janice was very efficient. He wondered why she hadn't given their name.
"Good Morning, Hotch; I am your new… " she paused, needing to get something off her chest. " I am so sorry for what I did to you…..thank you for looking after Yasmin; you didn't deserve any of it. I hope one day you will be able to forgive me for what I did," she emotionally told her old boss/friend.
Hotch, still shocked, stood up and pulled JJ into a bear hug. "Nothing to forgive; Mrs Jennifer Strauss-Jareau family comes first. You went to jail for me, so in my book, you have atoned for your sins." He led her across to his office sofa
"You don't look surprised to see me?" Jennifer asked him
"I was read into everything you did, and I know you, JJ," he smirked. "You are too talented to allow yourself to rot in prison. I admit I didn't suspect you in my office this morning. Does the team know?"
"Just Emily and Zehira; they were at my house when I surprised my girls last night," she smiled. "How is the team?"
"I won't lie. They are pissed at you; that only lasted for a few weeks. When they discovered what you did, they were worried about you," be answered. "Shall we?"
JJ just smiled and stood.
EJ
Ashley carefully sat at the round table. Her six-month-old baby belly made getting close to the table's edge difficult.
"Here you go, sweetie," Reid smiled as he placed the bowl of hot cheese sauce in front of his wife. Her latest craving was pickles dipped in hot cheese sauce.
Taking out her zip lock bag, she plunged her first pickle into the cheese sauce, " Thank you, Spencer; baby genius was graving his pickle fix. So good," purred Ashley as she stuck into her pickles.
The team inwardly groaned at the sight and smell before them; none were brave enough to complain. Ashley's hormonal swings had become legendary around the BAU, and everyone had experienced the highs and lows of her pregnancy.
"Have we got a new case?" Derek asked as Emily walked into the round table room
"No, they have finally placed someone in the oversight post. They are meeting with Hotch and then us," Emily explained, trying hard not to smile so she didn't spoil the surprise.
Hotch walked into the round table room and stood before his alpha team. His stern look worried most of his team; he could see Zehira and Emily trying hard not to laugh to spoil the surprise.
"Where are they Hotch?" Morgan asked
Rossi examined his friend's face, trying to get a read on what he thought about this political appointment to the BAU.
"Boss Man!" Scolded Garcia
"Hotch?" Ashley scolded. "Don't mess with a pregnant woman," she warned between her pickle and cheese concoction bites.
"I am here, Derek Morgan. Did you miss me?" JJ asked from behind him. She had walked in unnoticed.
"JJ!" Screamed Garcia as she ran over and pulled the blonde into a rib-crushing hug.
" Hi, Can't breathe," She managed to get out.
"You can't be here. Did you escape?" Spewed out of an excited technical analyst's mouth
"Give her a chance, Garcia," Emily calmed the exuberant woman down.
Walking up to Hotch, she turned and looked at her old friends. She hadn't seen the majority of them for nearly five months. It had been difficult apologising to Hotch in his office, the enormity of what she had done to all those assembled before her. The confidence she had drained away instantly.
"I need to Apologise to you all for….." Rossi interrupted her
"Stop, we all know why you did it, JJ," Rossi pointed to her wedding ring on her finger, " We were all pissed at you for what you did at the time….. You didn't come out of this unscathed." He nodded towards the artificial hand, "We are good. End off,"
"Okay, Dave, thank you all. No, I didn't escape Penelope. Nice to see you back to your colourful self. I walked out the front gate a free woman. Long story short, I received a presidential pardon. Now, enough of that, I missed all of you guys. I brought cake.
Erin Strauss-Jareau walked in carrying cakes.
The end
Thank you for reading