This story is a slightly altered universe. There are 3 things that are different.
1) JJ never cared what the team thought, she and Will became an item and he moved up to DC for her.
2) They never had kids
3) Everything else did happen
4) This takes place in the middle of S16/CME 1. The difference is there is no Voit or Bailey. (If that doesn't make sense to you, that is okay and also you should either buy the Season on DVD and watch it, or get yourself some heavy binge time with Paramount + to watch it, because it's FABULOUS!)
Here are the important parts you need to know for this story:
1) I am obsessed with the people who use various sexual kinks for healing purposes. I don't understand it at all and yet I am absolutely fascinated by it, because usually those people were abused by that same kink in the past.
2) I have MASSIVE amounts of respect for the writers and creators of this show, and I do not mean them any disrespect by writing this. If for some very odd reason one of them stumbles across this, know that I am just enjoying the world you created and I thank you for doing so.
3) I'm not good at writing, so my grammar and spelling are sometimes VERY off. I've edited this story a gazillion times so far, changed the plot at least 3 times and I am still finding mistakes. Please just roll with it as best you can.
4) This is still a work in progress and I have several key life events coming up. There will be delays in updating.
5) Thank you for reading
JJ walked in to Emily's office at quarter after eight. "You are here way too early," she said and JJ went to speak. "No. Hold on. I want to tell you to turn around and go back to your safe room. I want to order you to go be with Hazel, and not come back till ten. I know you won't listen and I know you won't listen, because if it were me, I don't think I'd listen either. So, let's go with good morning and how was your night?" she asked.
JJ grinned and nodded, because everything Emily said was true. "Once we all settled, it was very calm. Nothing horrendous happened. When I left, Hazel was still sleeping. I'm hoping it stays that way for a while longer. She's also cold, like she can't seem to regulate her body temperature, so she slept between us last night and didn't budge."
"Why do you look so worried then?"
"Because I think the transference is going both ways and I've never felt that before, and I don't want to do anything to jeopardize this case and everyone's safety," she said.
"You are not alone, we discussed that last night. Yes, the transference is a great deal higher than we've ever experienced before, on all sides. Rossi is fixing that."
"How?"
"Oh we're all going to retire and form a little cult of our own. At Rossi's. He's got the biggest house of all of us," Emily grinned and JJ rolled her eyes. "Just trust us, it's going to be fine. Doctor Page will not be here till ten though, so what would you like to do in the meantime?"
"Anything you need me to do, or anything that will help me with my own transference. If I go back to her, I'm just going to mother her and I don't think that's the care she needs right now," JJ said honestly. Emily raised an eyebrow in question and JJ sighed. "Well, it might be, but I'll lay it on too thick. She doesn't need that right now. She needs to figure things out and I will help her do that. I'm taking the separation though so I don't come on too strong with her."
"Okay," Emily agreed and she picked up the case file and handed it to JJ. "Take this, go see Tara and when you are all up to date on the plan for the weekend, call over to the Lansings. Victoria reached out to me last night and offered as much help as we want. Call her, talk to her. She has been in your shoes."
"Thank you," JJ said and with that she took the case file and went to see Tara. After she got caught up with that, she went to a quiet room and called over to Victoria to see what information she could gather.
"Hello?" a kind voice answered.
"Yes, this is Agent Jennifer Jareau, I'm looking to speak with Victoria Lansing please," she said.
"Speaking," she said, "and thank you for calling. I want our little family to help as much as we can so this awfulness is not repeated," she said honestly. "Also, Victoria is fine," she said.
"Victoria, thank you. I'm calling because I'm told you may have advice for me, and believe me I'm all ears, whatever you have to offer, I will listen," Jennifer told her.
"Of course, one moment though please," she said and then JJ heard her speaking softly to Mackenzie. "Kenz," she said and she had to call her name a few times to get the young girl's attention. "Hi baby," she said. "Mommy is having a very important phone call, and I will be in Daddy's office if you need me," she said and there was silence. "Say it back please, I need to know you understand fully," she said gently.
"Daddy's offish, phone caw," Mackenzie answered quietly and Victoria nodded and gave her a kiss.
"That was very good listening baby, thank you."
"Mommy," she said softly and then pointed to the television.
"The remote is right here, you can choose anything you want to watch," she said handing it to her and then she went into the office, where she could see Mackenzie from the doorway, but she wasn't hovering over her. "I'm sorry Agent Jareau, I'm all yours now," she said.
"Please, Jennifer is much easier," she said and Victoria nodded.
"So what information do you need first? I don't know how I can help, but I'll do whatever I can," she said honestly.
"Let's start with this. When Mackenzie first came to you, what seemed to make her more upset than anything else?"
"In the very beginning it was separation anxiety. She bonded very quickly to my husband. Anytime he left her, for any reason, she panicked. I would say it was a tantrum, but it wasn't really," she offered. "It's hard to explain, it was more like, um."
"Like she finally figured out he was safe and she didn't want the safety to leave," Jennifer said and Victoria nodded. JJ knew exactly what it was. She understood this behavior more than she cared to admit. When the cases of children being reunited with their parents went well, it was the same behavior. It's what worried JJ the most. Hazel was having her moment of found safety, in JJ, and JJ was leaving her on a continual basis. She also knew if she stayed around, it might stall the healing process Hazel had to go through.
"That's exactly it, but with all the muscular damage done to her jaw, she wasn't able to articulate that. She just wailed, like a very frightened toddler. Based on what you just described for me, I take it you have experienced that," she guessed.
"Yes," JJ answered. "If you can remember, how long did it take to move past that? Where your husband, and I'm assuming eventually you, could leave the room, and she wouldn't panic?"
"I think we might still be in that, but not as intently. As you heard, I just informed her where I would be and I made her repeat it back to me. She has moments where something will trigger a memory and we end up back in that terrified position, but she's been getting better steadily. It happens less if we tell her where we are going and we have her say it back to us. We've gotten all our help from Doctor Page and it does help that my husband is a Master as a profession. He has knowledge of being authoritative and gentle at the same time, and making his clients vocalize things, so that helps. He's trained me to get to that point as well. Doctor Page is the best at it though, because she can read when Kenzie has hit her breaking point. Wyatt is still learning that; although he's gotten much better at it. I'm sorry, I keep rambling on. Is any of this helping?" she asked worriedly.
"Oh no, Victoria, you are definitely helping," she said. "I know both girls had exceedingly high doses of novocaine and apparently on a repeated basis. How did you get Mackenzie to start talking to you?"
"That was all Doctor Page. I'm sorry to not have more details on that. When we met Mackenzie she was already speaking. It's not always clear, but if you sit with her long enough you do get it and she's good about pointing if she can. For example, she calls your one team member Emmy, and I know that's not the right name," she said.
JJ smiled and nodded. "No, but it's close enough. It is Emily, but with muscular damage I can understand how she would get to Emmy. What about walking?"
"Her thighs were targeted, but not as often. Her jaw was worse, so she does walk on her own, but she gets tired quite quickly. We've been able to surmise that some of the needle injections hit nerves rather than just muscle, so she does have some nerve damage from the novocaine. Luckily for us and for herself, she is very tiny. She presents to the world as a six year old, unless you know better, which not a lot of people do. We do have a stroller for her, but she still panics when we offer it to her. We only ever offer it to her. We never place her in it against her will, and if she won't go in it, but also won't walk, one of us carries her for as long as we can. She's completely fine riding in the grocery carts, those don't bother her. But when we offer the stroller she usually panics and won't take it, so we give her time to process it all and then usually end up carrying her. We're at the point now, where if we're at the mall or a store or something, and we all need a snack break, she'll sit in it and feed herself, but as soon as she's done, she gets out and sits next to us. I don't know what happened to her in a stroller, and I don't think I want to find out, but we are slowly overcoming that."
JJ listened to Victoria explain and could only imagine what had happened in that stroller and she was very sure Penelope could find her photos or even videos that she also did not want to witness. Victoria explained that JJ could probably get more help from Doctor Page and JJ nodded her understanding. "We are meeting with her later today, so thank you for that. I will let you get back to Mackenzie. Thank you for your time Victoria," she said and with that they disconnected and Dave was standing in front of her desk.
"I thought you were told ten," he smiled, handing her a coffee.
"I'm an over achiever," she retorted and he tapped his coffee cup to hers.
"Did you get the run down for the weekend?" he asked.
"Enough to know Will is going to have a time dealing with Hazel, while I'm profiling people," she said.
"I was thinking about that. We know someone who will be there, who has had very similar experiences to Hazel. We could and should use that to our advantage," he said.
"I thought you promised the husband we wouldn't interfere?"
"I said only if necessary and we've now reached necessary."
"Okay, what are you thinking?"
"Mr. Lansing is a Dominant, he needs to be in that conference, his wife does not. They are going to be there all weekend, as are we. What if Will and Mrs. Lansing spent some time together with Mackenzie and Hazel. They wouldn't feel so alone, and you could focus knowing everyone is being safely watched over, while we find the Unsub," he said and she smiled at him.
"Thank you," she said and he grinned, while Tara approached.
Tara showed up a few minutes later and she looked at Dave. "Did you tell her?" she asked with a smile, thinking that Dave had a great idea.
"I did," he said. "So, are you on board with this?" he asked.
"If you choose not to, she can sit on your lap with noise cancelling headphones, but I don't think she'd enjoy that as much," Tara offered.
"Okay, let's do it," she said.
"Good. Penelope has all the right verbiage and videos for her to look at once she gets here and Doctor Page will now be here at eleven," Dave said. "Also, you need to go see Garcia, she went shopping last night for Hazel. It all showed up half an hour ago."
By eleven o'clock, Hazel had come out of the safe room with Will. The BAU team gave Will a short reprieve from Hazel while she learned more about all her protectors. To stop her from panicking about Will leaving her, he told her that he had to check in with his chief and give a report on her safety and progress. Once she was sure he would return, she agreed to him leaving and then even agreed to sit in Tara's lap, to get a good view of Penelope's computer, where there were several things they wanted her to look at. Penelope showed her a montage of the hotel they would be staying at and she seemed very intrigued by what they told her was going on vacation. "Now, you can't be at a pool without a proper suit, so will you help me pick two out for you?" Penelope asked her and she nodded. They looked at a few suits and then Hazel even pointed to a pair of trunks. "For you?" Penelope asked.
Hazel managed to force out her pronunciation of Will and JJ was the only one to catch it. "That is a very good call Hazel," JJ smiled and told Penelope what size to order for him.
"You caught that?" Luke asked her softly. "She's just so soft spoken."
"We're trying. I'm just glad she's not having a panic attack," she said quietly and then watched Penelope, Tara, and Hazel for a few minutes before finally speaking up. "Hazel," JJ said kindly and Hazel looked up and smiled at her. "I'm glad you had a successful shopping trip. Why don't we let Penelope order everything and then you can come with me and we can get you some pain meds," she said and Hazel nodded and reached one arm out to JJ, afraid she wasn't balanced properly on Tara's lap.
"I have you," Tara told her kindly and she carefully reached out the other arm.
"Do you want to try walking on your own?" she offered and Hazel's face immediately crumbled. JJ scolded herself and knelt down. "I'm sorry Hazel. That was too fast, I'm sorry, come on," she said gently and Hazel recoiled a bit and cried softly. "Hey, hey, hey, it's okay. I'm not trying to rush you. If your legs and muscles hurt, I will carry you, that is not a problem. I just don't want you to think you have to to be carried," she said honestly and after a moment, Hazel leaned forward and wrapped herself around JJ, who stood up and rubbed her back and then took her out of the room. The talk earlier with Victoria had helped. Offer the choices to be made, but respect that they may not be made just yet. It was going to take time and everyone was going to have to go a bit slower than they wanted.
"Penelope, how much do we know about Hazel's past? Nothing like Mackenzie right?" Luke asked. "No history of forced sexual anything right?" he pressed with concern.
"Do you think I didn't do my job?" she accused him.
"Not at all. I think something is buried deep inside and Hazel can't or won't tell us what it is," he said. "That was too fast for her to just assume she'd be carried and then freak out when JJ offered her the chance to walk on her own. There's something hidden and you are the queen of all things unknown," he said.
"Flattery will not help you," she grumbled and then she went digging on her lap top and did her best to see if she could find anything that would support or discredit Luke's theory.
It was how Emily and Doctor Lauren Page found them when they entered the room. "Good morning everyone," Emily announced and then looked around the room. "JJ and Hazel?" she asked.
"Pain medication," Dave offered.
"It's nice to see you all again," Lauren said and then she took a seat.
"Before Hazel and JJ get back, let me ask this," Luke said. "How long did it take for you to learn that Mackenzie Lansing was attacked in her past?"
"It took me quite a while to get her to talk at all. She tried in the beginning, but her face was so full of novocaine, that she really didn't speak much. It later moved to an embarrassed form of speech, because she was not able to fully recover some of her letters. I did bring my communication boards today, so if Hazel doesn't want to talk, she does not have to. Being a trauma therapist, I have a few tricks to help her learn to trust and still communicate," Lauren offered.
"What do you have as far as transference goes?" Dave asked and Lauren made a face.
"That probably depends on how intense it is," she said honestly. "I appreciate the heads up though, because at least I know that I should go a little slower than I planned," she said. "Let me ask this. After she meets me and we talk a little bit, what all do you need to do?" Lauren asked.
"I want to run a cognitive with her. If she has a similar story to Mackenzie, we will be able to figure it out. I'd like Agents Lewis and Jareau to run it, Rossi, please observe. I'd like to meet with you, Alvez and Garcia in my office, to go over the plan for the weekend. We can then prepare notes, making any corrections to our profile that we need to, and head off to the hotel tonight," Emily said.
"You're going to the convention this weekend?" Lauren asked.
"It'll be the best opportunity we have to catch our Unsub," Dave said and his senses went on slight alert. She sounded like she didn't want them there.
"You have objections to us being there?" Emily asked kindly picking up on the vibe Dave was having.
"No, no, I just," she said and she took a deep breath, before continuing. "Okay, so as a professional courtesy, to all of you, I want to explain something," she said. "First, Mister Lansing is one of Mackenzie's caretakers. She calls him Daddy, almost exclusively now, which he does not mind, but he truly is her caretaker. Second, I am a trauma therapist, so I help my patients work through past experiences. In my time with them, I give them tools to help work through things that may remind them of a past trauma that they've experienced. Third, and what I consider the most important fact, is that Mr. Lansing is one of my clients. He is a Dominant and came to me, because we met at this convention and his biggest concern was that when a Little came to him, which they apparently sometimes do, he didn't do or say anything to give them an experience that would sour any kind of sexual desire they might want to experience. All that being said, he's learned he's not the best Dominant when it comes to Littles. He doesn't know how to be a 'Daddy' as it were. When it comes to Mackenzie, he is very aware of what he's doing, understands her actions are not for wanting sexual release, and he's highly protective. I'm concerned that if he sees you, he's going to be combative and obstructive, because he's figured out how to balance his dominant take-charge attitude, with being an actual father figure and to Mackenzie, that's what he is."
"We have discovered his very protective nature," Dave offered. "I actually called to inform him that we would be there this weekend. I don't want him thinking we're after him or after Mackenzie, but she is the link we need, as best we can get it, to help catch this Unsub. We are hoping the cognitive with Hazel will give us a better idea of who we're looking for. Her experiences are much more recent," he said. "I told him we'd be there and we wouldn't approach him, and now I think I have to go back on my word. We are fully prepared to do our job and keep everyone safe. We also think it would be best to keep these two specific young ladies, away from the main convention. We want them to meet and hopefully bond a bit, so they feel less alone in the world."
"I think that's a brilliant idea in theory. I'll give you a more practical offering once I meet and spend a little time with Hazel," she said honestly. Before any more could be said, JJ, Will, and Hazel entered the room, to join the meeting with Will carrying Hazel in his arms. They both took a seat and Hazel stayed in Will's lap, facing the table, looking at the new person skeptically.
"Hazel, this is Doctor Lauren Page, and she's going to be joining us for a bit today and she's going to be at the hotel we're all going to this weekend," Emily said and Hazel simply nodded at her.
"Hi Hazel. My name is Lauren, as Emily said. It's nice to meet you, now that you're awake. I did see you one time while you were in the hospital, but you were sleeping," she said.
"Den-fer," she said softly and Lauren nodded while Will kissed Hazel's temple.
"Yes, she saw Jennifer and me while you were recovering from surgery," Will assured her and JJ smiled. She loved her husband very much.
"Yes, I met Jennifer and Will, they were taking turns staying with you. I understand you are staying with them now," she said kindly and Hazel nodded. "I'm going to tell you a little bit about myself. I am a trauma therapist. It means I talk with people who have experienced trauma and I help them to process what happened so they can move forward. Doctor McCord, at the hospital, told me that you suffered a very intense trauma," she said and she did not go into details, because she could see how upset Hazel was getting by just this simple explanation. "So, now that you know a little bit about me, can I trade places with David, and I can show you something I brought to help you communicate a little easier?" she asked and Hazel nodded, but pushed back into Will, not wanting him to let go of her, and the entire team watched her carefully as Dave and Lauren switched places. "Thank you for letting me sit closer," she said and then she pulled out two laminated papers. One had the entire alphabet and numbers zero through nine. The second paper had pictures on it, with a word printed beneath. "So these are communication boards. I have a patient who in the beginning, found it very hard to talk, so I gave them this, and that helped them while their muscles and body healed," she explained.
Hazel studied the boards carefully, while the team studied Hazel, and finally Tara spoke. "Hazel, do you have any questions yet?" she asked and Hazel shook her head no. Every profiler in the room knew she was lying, but they didn't press her.
Lauren watched Hazel carefully and then offered a further explanation of the communication boards. "Hazel, I'm going to tell you a little more. I know your jaw was injured and you had severe welts all along the outside. I'd like to ask a favor of you please. I'm going to point to each letter and I'd like you say them out loud for me, if you can. When I hear how you pronounce the letters, I'll be able to hear which of your muscles might need more healing or more exercises to strengthen them and improve your speech. Will you do that for me?" she asked and Hazel agreed. "Thank you, let's just start at A and move through Z," she offered and then began to point to each letter slowly as her mind went back in time to when she did this same exercise with Mackenzie and Andrew.
The BAU found it almost painful to hear Hazel pronounce her alphabet. It was a lot of gibberish to everyone; except for Lauren. She was smiling at what she heard. Yes, Hazel had some nerve damage to her jaw, but it wasn't nearly as bad as Mackenzie's had been. Hazel could actually pronounce all of her vowels and about a third of the consonants. It would take time to get the rest, but Lauren was confident she could refer her to a speech therapist to help her get there. "Eth, Eye, Eee," Hazel finished and Lauren nodded.
"That was fantastic, thank you for doing that. I want us to move to the numbers now. There's only ten of them. Zero through nine. I'm going to point and you're going to say the number. You can say it as fast or as slow as you like. I'm also going to start backward. We're going to start at nine and move down, okay?" she asked and Hazel nodded, leaning further into Will for support. This wasn't a difficult task, but she had this brilliant mind and the speech of a toddler and she didn't know what to do with that, or how to feel about it. It was all very confusing for her.
"Nye. Aye. S'ben. Sick. I, no, Fff-iah. Fff-uh. Fffffff-ee. Two. Wuh-na. Ee-oh." she said finishing slowly and Lauren once again nodded, while the rest of the team saw how much Hazel was wincing as she moved her mouth.
"That was very well done. Now, with everything you said, I know that you have some trauma to the nerves of your face. That is why you are having trouble saying some of your letters. With therapy, your speech can improve. That therapy would not be with me, I would recommend a therapist for you. I do know her, she is a good friend. I also know I'm in a room of very protective people, so I will give that name to all your friends here and they will approve of her, as I'm sure they've done some approving of me, before I met you. I want to say one more thing, before I leave you to go have a conversation with Emily and Penelope and Luke," she said. "I'd like to thank you for your time today and I will see you this weekend at the convention. At that point we can find times to set up more appointments, so that if you have any questions about your healing, or you have things you want to talk about related to your trauma I can help you," she said and Hazel simply nodded.
When nothing more was said, Emily spoke up. "Garcia, Alvez, can you please take Doctor Page to my office?" she asked and they stood up to do as asked. Once they were gone, Emily changed her tone from that of a boss, to more of a concerned mother figure. Hazel didn't seem to like the boss tone very much. She decided to go for the same approach she'd taken with Mackenzie, although Hazel wasn't as upset. "Hazel my friend, I need a favor please," she said and Hazel wrinkled her brow. "I need you to go into one of the comfy rooms we have, where there's a lovely couch and sit with Will and JJ and Tara and let Tara ask you some questions, while I talk to Doctor Page."
"Day-vah," she said slowly.
"Dave is going to go make you one of those blueberry smoothies that Penelope made for you yesterday," he spoke up and she smiled. "As long as you can do what Emily asked please. It's just questions about what happened to you before you got to the police station where Will helped you," he told her.
Hazel turned her gaze to Emily and then looked at the communication boards, so Emily stood up, selected the board with the photos and held it out to Hazel. "Show me, it's okay," she prompted kindly and Hazel pointed to the scary photo. "Well, that is true. It might be scary to remember all those things, but I promise you that you will be in a very safe place. You will be in a room with Tara, JJ, and Will, so no one will be able to get to you or hurt you, even though what you're remembering might be scary. We do need your help though. Do you think you can try and help us?" she asked hopefully and Hazel nodded. "Thank you Hazel, I really appreciate your help," she told her and with that, she left the room. She walked to her office and Luke was waiting outside.
"You look awful," he said.
"Remind me that she's not a little girl; that I didn't just re-traumatize a second victim who looks like she could be as old as eight," she sighed.
"Mackenzie?" he asked.
"Yeah, her too," Emily sighed.
"It's Tara, Will, and JJ. Not only will they keep her safe, but they will get us what we need," he said. "Garcia and Doctor Page are waiting for you, ready to go over logistics, and I just got paged from undercover. They are ready for the last minute profile," he said.
"Not yet, go wait with Rossi, listen in to the cognitive. We always work better together," she said and he nodded and left.
"Okay Hazel, so this is how this works. You are seated between Will and JJ, so you are completely safe. I am going to ask you some questions. They are questions about what you sensed rather than what actually happened. So if you can take a breath and close your eyes for me, we will start there," she encouraged and Hazel locked eyes with Tara, almost afraid to do as asked, but wanting to help. "You have concerns?" Tara asked kindly and Hazel nodded.
"Oooo, uhn-s-san me?" she asked.
"I understand you. It's going to be okay, I promise. Whatever you tell us will help us to catch the person, so they never hurt anyone again. I also promise that JJ and Will are right next to you and they won't leave. I'm going to be here in front of you," she said and with a heavy exhale Hazel closed her eyes and leaned slightly into JJ, needing to feel her in some fashion. JJ took her hand carefully and Hazel squeezed it as tightly as she could.
"Breathe Hazel, I'm right here," JJ assured her softly and she took her own deep breath to help Hazel relax a little further. Once she took a few breaths on her own, Hazel shut her eyes and Tara smiled.
"Very good Hazel, now I want you to just focus on my voice please. Just listen to me speak. Keep breathing. Nice and slow. In and out. In. Out," Tara coached and then she moved to questioning. "Hazel, I want you to remember back to when you were in school. Penelope told us you were working on a higher education. I want you to remember back to when you went there for the first time," she said and Hazel seemed to calm down a bit and actually smile.
In her mind, she saw the campus, the buildings, the sidewalk she took through the little courtyard, crossing the parking lot and into her first class she took. Everything seemed calm and relaxed and nothing was out of place. "I see," Hazel said softly.
"Very good, now I want you to remember the last class you had before you were abducted," Tara said and Hazel went tense. "Keep breathing Hazel, look around, tell me what you see. You are safe between JJ and Will, keep looking around, tell me what you see," Tara encouraged.
Hazel left to go to class and as she crossed the courtyard and the parking lot, she remembered having to wait for a ridiculously slow van to cross in front of her. It was a cargo van that had some logo on the side of it, and she saw people in the driver and passenger seat. "Ma-na," she pushed out.
"Where is the man Hazel?" Tara questioned, making sure her voice was soft and slow. Hazel was starting to get tense and Tara wanted to limit that so Hazel could stay in that mindset. The team needed details.
"Die," she said slightly mimicking driving a car.
"What color is the vehicle?"
"Gay," she said and she turned her head to watch it go past her completely. "Gah," she said softly and her body language indicating the car driving off.
"Okay, good Hazel, once the vehicle was gone, did you go to class?" Tara pressed and in her memory she went to class, sat down and the lecture moved very fast, so she nodded. Then she seemed a bit confused, so Tara watched her face and gently coaxed her back to what she knew would be upsetting for Hazel. "Keep going Hazel. You're very safe. When you're done with class, where do you go?" she pressed.
"Ohm," she said softly and in her mind she walked back toward the dorms, ready to cross the parking lot, but the gray van came back around and a woman hopped out. "Lay-ee," she said.
"Good Hazel, keep looking at the lady, what does she look like? Can you see her face or her clothes?" Tara asked.
"Err say. Bubby," she said and she started to be a bit frantic, so Tara carefully took her free hand and JJ squeezed her hand reassuringly.
"Good job Hazel, tell me more. What does the lady say?" Tara asked, because no one was quite sure what a bubby was.
"Lah-ss. Look fer bubby, Caws it." she said softly. In her mind Hazel saw the woman looking frantically for what she described as a lost puppy.
"I can't believe I did that. I just didn't want him peeing on the carpet you know? Look, I swear this is not a ploy, I just need to find my puppy," the woman said.
"It's dark, you should probably get your phone and turn on the flashlight," Hazel offered, pulling her phone out of her back pocket and turning it on. "What's the name?"
"Cola," the woman told her.
"Cowa!" Hazel said and Will and JJ both smiled as Hazel relived the memory. So far it wasn't intense. "Cowa!" Hazel called again and in her mind's eye she moved over to a bush to search the brush when a hand moved in front of her face. In real life she gasped and jumped, remembering the hand pressing a rag to her face and she was trying to get away, but it kept following her and she slumped against JJ, feeling suddenly exhausted and very afraid.
"Hazel, you are between Will and JJ, the lady cannot hurt you. Try to focus, where are you? What do you see?"
"Caw!" Hazel gasped and she flinched when she heard a man's deep voice.
"Kylie! Shut her up!" he barked and Hazel tried to kick away, but she smacked her head into something hard, her body bounced a moment and then she rolled, and her body collapsed into JJ almost completely and she yelped and panted. "Damn it Kylie! Get it under control back there!"
"I'm trying!" she barked back and then Hazel felt a hand on her leg. "Stay still!" she said and jabbed a needle into her leg.
"OW!" Hazel yelped.
"Shhh, okay, okay," Tara said gently and she moved in close, so that if Hazel did open her eyes, Tara would be the first person she saw. "You are okay Hazel, no one can hurt you. I am right here and JJ, Will and I are keeping you safe. Take a breath for me," she said gently. "Breathe slow, in and out," she encouraged and Hazel's face changed from tense to calm, very slowly, and while she didn't want to, Tara kept her in the memory. She wanted to get more information if she could. "Hazel, after the lady took you, where did you go?"
"Woom," Hazel said.
"What color is the room?"
"Eh-whoa," she said looking around the room she was in. It was a large yellow room, with one brown chair in the middle, a door with no knob on it, and a sink on the wall, opposite the door.
"Do you see anything else in the room?" Tara asked.
"Tair," she said and she started to tense when the door slid open and Kylie walked in. Hazel went tense and looked down at her body. "My kohz," she said. "Gone,"she said.
"Are you naked?" Tara asked curiously and Will shook his head no. She'd been dropped at the station in a black tank top and tight black shorts.
"Nah my's," she said and Tara gave her a moment before she continued on gently.
"Hazel, what's in the room?" she pressed.
"Lay-ee," Hazel whimpered as she watched the door slide open.
"Is it the same lady from the vehicle?" she asked and Hazel nodded and then whimpered.
"Keep looking at her Hazel, what do you notice about her?" Tara pressed as Hazel wiggled a little bit. "Do you see anything noticeable?" she coached.
Hazel touched her neck and spoke very slowly. "K, I, L, I, E," she pushed out.
"Good Hazel, very good, what else?" Tara pressed. Hazel tried to figure out everything else and then she yelped. Kylie over took her, pushed her down into the chair and worked to strap her down while Hazel squirmed to try and get away, whimpering as she moved around.
"Oh shut up!" Kylie snapped at her. "It's a simple pin prick, and the more you fight me the more you'll get," she growled and when she moved in closer, Hazel saw the cart behind her.
"Puss," Hazel said and everyone looked at each other in confusion, but did their best not to shift the energy too much, because Hazel was seeing things and giving them new information. The push cart was something she hadn't really noticed the first time she experienced this torture. "Needah," she pushed out and then she looked a little closer. There were many needles with a lot of amber looking liquid in them, all lined up on the push cart.
"Stay in the chair!" Kylie yelled and Hazel backed away, so Kylie forced her down, pinning her in place with her body and strapping her one ankle down. It was a lot of pressure and Hazel started to cry and kick.
"Hazel! Hazel, find my voice, you are okay, you are safe, she cannot hurt you," Tara said very gently coaxing Hazel to a safer place in her memory.
"Tazz," she said and she wiggled around a bit, until she was seemingly stuck. As her memory replayed everything for her, Kylie strapped her down to the chair by her ankles while Hazel wiggled and tried to get away.
"Stay still!" Kylie screamed at her and then she pushed a needle full of novocaine into her ankle, followed by another one to her thigh and she tried to move her hands and wiggle around to try and free her leg while Kylie had her back turned.
"Man!" Hazel yelped.
"He cannot get you Hazel, I am right here with you," Tara assured her and Hazel gulped for air. "Good job Hazel, focus on the man. What does he look like?"
"Mean!" she said and she kept tugging at her ankles to get them out of the straps.
"Is he just in the room with you or is he moving around?"
"Sit. No mooo. Tair," she panted.
"Did the man say anything near you? Can you hear his words?" Tara pressed gently.
"Shoot her up already!" he yelled from somewhere.
"I'm trying, she keeps moving around!"
"You're missing the main nerves!" he said angrily and then his voice was gone.
Kylie pushed Hazel down into the chair, holding her by her face, and then jammed the needle into her jaw and Hazel let out an ear piercing scream. She had to get away from these people and she didn't have too much of a chance, so she had to act quickly. She yanked her body out of the chair, wrenching her ankles from the straps that had held her down, and fell into the push cart. She jabbed a needle into Kylie's arm, pushed the plunger heavily, turned around and came face to face with a man in the wheel chair. She was about to run past him, but he angled the chair quickly and she ran straight into his fist, and ended up being knocked out cold. He picked up a few more needles gave her several more injections, intrigued by watching her body twitch before falling slack, and then took her out of the room. When she woke up, she was outside the police station and there was blood dripping down into her lap.
"Buh-d," she whimpered and then grabbed at her head with her free hand. She had a headache now and Will looked to JJ and nodded. It was how he remembered finding her.
"Hazel, you can open your eyes now," Tara said gently and her eyes slowly fluttered open and then she burst into tears. It was a violent memory and now she was exhausted. "You're okay Hazel, you did great, and I am so proud of you," Tara said gently.
"Ow," Hazel told her softy and she hadn't taken her hand away from her head yet.
"Can you show me?" she asked and very slowly took Hazel's hand away from her head and Tara gently inspected the stitches, making a small show of it, not wanting Hazel to think she was being ignored. "You know what, I think we have some cream we can put on that for you, and a new bandage," Tara said gently and Hazel nodded.
"Day-day," Hazel whimpered and fell into her, her body vibrating with pain and Tara made a mental note that her reaction had been the same has Mackenzie's when she finished her cognitive. She latched on to a mother figure.
"I'm right here Hazel," JJ told her gently and Hazel very painfully crawled up into her lap, curled up tight, put her head on JJ's shoulder and cried softly. JJ felt her heart break and she looked at Tara. "How long before we head over?"
"Hours. There is plenty of time," Tara assured her.
"Okay my sweet girl, why don't we go back up to our safe room and we all rest together okay?" JJ asked, knowing how tired Hazel must be. Cognitives based on traumatic experiences were usually exhausting. "Will is going to take you," she told her gently as he stood up.
"No! Day-day!" she cried, getting more and more upset and JJ sighed.
"Shhh, yes, JJ too, you're okay," she assured her. "Will is going to hold you, you can look at me, you're safe," she said gently and Will took her into his arms and she cried hard, reaching for JJ as Will carefully moved Hazel away and JJ stood up. "Shhh, Hazel," JJ tried, but Hazel wasn't paying attention, she was just blindly reaching for JJ, needing to get to her safe person, and very carefully JJ took her back. "Okay, I have you, shhhh, calm down, take a breath," she said, holding her gently and trying to calm her.
"Why don't the three of you go rest and I'll go talk to the rest of the team," Tara said and she left the little makeshift family alone. Stepping out she saw Dave and Luke and they both looked at her. "And your thoughts?' she asked them.
"There were a few words I didn't understand, but it's a partnership for sure," Dave said. "Let's go update Prentiss, see what Garcia might be able to get out of the new info and update the profile, before we deliver the final version. I want this to be as air tight as possible," he said and they went to the round room where Emily and Penelope had since moved to once their little meeting with Lauren was finished..
"What'd we find?" Prentiss asked.
"Garcia, we need you to link Kylie Danvers to men in wheelchairs please," Dave said.
"That's…different," she said and she clicked away, searching through social media accounts to link Kylie Danvers to a man in a wheelchair if that was possible.
"Hazel gave the same details as Mackenzie. Yellow room, no doorknob, sink, chair, being tied down, all of it," Tara said.
"We're fairly certain she tried to say straps, because she made a jerking motion as if she were tied down. She also said the word puss," Luke offered, "but there was no complete context for that one."
"We can try to ask her later, maybe she can spell it for us," Emily suggested.
"That's if she decides she wants to communicate at all," Luke said and Emily looked at him curiously. "I wasn't with you for Mackenzie, but Hazel is absolutely terrified and I wouldn't be surprised if she decided to go mute for a while," he said.
"She did what Mackenzie did. Once she was finished with the cognitive, she clung to JJ," Tara said and Emily nodded in understanding. "They went up to the safe room to rest, while we take care of everything here."
"The only thing more I need to do is call Mr. Lansing and warn him we will be there and apologize for going back on my word," Dave offered.
"No need, doctor Page did that, he's not even a little bit annoyed. He also wants us, and I quote, to just catch the rat bastard who did this to my and I'm assuming your little girl," Emily said.
"He thinks we took full custody?" Dave asked.
"Well, we kind of did, didn't we?" Luke questioned.
"I don't know," Emily sighed. "I'm going to focus on the rat bastard part first," she said.
"Got it!" Penelope cheered happily. "My fine furry friends if I can direct your attention to the big screen, our rat bastard's official name is Hollis Matten," she said. "Matten is a retired police officer from the New York area. He and his wife moved to the Baltimore area to seemingly enjoy early retirement. His wife, who bares a striking resemblance to our young Hazel, passed away two years ago from medical malpractice and surgical complications it would seem. Several months before taking her own life she was struck by a police car while moving through a cross walk. She later had surgery on her back to attempt to correct a neuropathy and oral surgery to correct the jaw deformity from being hit by the car. The anesthesiologist did not dose her correctly and she woke up during surgery. They put her back under and she came out with complaints of increased pain twenty four seven. When no one seemed to listen, Mr. Matten injected himself with various nerve blockers over time to help him understand her pain."
"That's not going to end well," Dave commented.
"No, it did not. Mrs. Matten was found dead a few months after that. She gave herself a massive injection of the nerve blockers he had, and she simply took her own life. He continued to experiment on himself and eventually became a paraplegic. He doesn't have any social media accounts that I can find, but he does appear a few times with Kylie on hers. They first appeared together fifteen months ago."
"What's her background again?" Tara asked.
"Home health aide," she said.
"She is probably the key to getting all the novocaine and needles," Tara said thoughtfully.
"Address?" Luke asked.
"Yeah, that's the sticky point. They aren't able to hide from me forever, but all I have are P.O. Boxes. Her job even sends to a P.O. Box. He's a retired police officer, he probably has friends to help him stay off the grid," Garcia said almost sadly and Emily placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. She knew how much Penelope did not like, not finding things.
"He's gotta be going to the convention though. He's experimenting on men and women and using them as surrogates. He's willing to bet, if you go to this convention, you're up for anything, so he and Kylie can abduct anyone and experiment on them. If he's pulling his victims from here, he has to be going to this convention this weekend," Tara noted.
"Garcia, will you please send a photo to our tablets?" Emily asked.
"Done," she said.
"Let's go deliver a profile," Emily said.
JJ was sitting on the couch with Hazel tucked safely between her legs, her head resting on JJ's chest, and a blanket covering her. She slept against her protector while some movie played on television that no one was really paying any attention to. It was just background noise and it kept Hazel asleep, which was all anyone wanted in the moment. The movie finished and Will looked at JJ. "Mia," he said softly and she smiled at him. "One, do you want lunch? Two, if you do, do you want it on the couch?" he asked her.
"Yes, I'd like lunch please, and no. I want to escape from behind her. She feels heavy against me. I think she's truly asleep, but I don't know how to get out from under her, without waking her."
"Let me try," Will said and she nodded at him. He moved in close and spoke very softly. "Hazel love, it's just Will, let's get you more comfortable sweetheart," he said gently and he carefully moved the blanket from her and took her in his arms. He very gently stood with her and swayed and let JJ move off the couch. "Shhh, good girl Hazel, good girl," he praised her and then he set her back down on the couch, easing her into a fully supine position and JJ quickly slipped a pillow under her head and then Will placed the blanket back over her. She rolled onto her side, facing the back of the couch and drifted back to sleep sighing contentedly.
"She's not going to injure herself further is she?" JJ asked worriedly. "I mean her ribs," she clarified.
"No, I've done that before. The pain meds are keeping her from feeling too much and we did wrap her tight enough this morning, she'll be okay. Try not to worry so much, although I know it's hard," Will said.
"Oh yeah, I forgot about your ribs," JJ said.
"Between both of us, I think we've broken or bruised all the parts of our body," he said and then he pulled her into his arms and kissed the nape of her neck, knowing that was a spot she really liked. She smiled and wiggled a bit and then relaxed into his touch, enjoying all the sensations that were washing over her. He took her back toward the bed, to give Hazel some space, sat them both down and wrapped himself around her. "I have questions," he said between kisses and she nodded.
"You're buttering me up for things I don't want to talk about," she accused playfully and he smiled.
"Yes."
"Okay babe, what's going on?"
"I want to know how you are feeling about Hazel?"
"How I feel?"
"Are you falling for her? As in, falling into a very mothering role, like the Lansings," he clarified.
"Ah, well," she said pausing to choose her words carefully. "I might be, but we have discussed this many times. Us having another person to worry about and to have them worry about us, with our jobs. We decided that was not a great idea. Have we changed our minds?" she asked.
"I am only sure of one thing," he said honestly. "I watch you with Hazel and I don't know how, but I swear I fall more in love with you. I would not mind being married to Jennifer Jareau the mother of my children; in whatever form that comes in," he said.
"That's nice and the same goes when I watch you with her. It's like my heart skips beats or something. It's beautiful," she said. "We also have to remember that she is not actually a child, even though, she definitely resembles one."
"So the question is, do we head down the road of let's make/have/adopt/add another person to our family, or do we enjoy what we have now; help Hazel back on her feet and all move on with our lives?" he asked.
"Do you need an answer right now?" she asked and he smiled when her belly rumbled softly.
"No. Right now, I think we need lunch," he said.
"If I thought we could leave the room, I'd suggest something else instead of lunch."
"Fresh" he smiled and with one last kiss and entire body squeeze he left her and went to the kitchen to make something to eat. Her phone buzzed in her pocket and after a quick text reply, she moved to the door to open it.
"Hey," Emily smiled.
"Hey, come in, what'd we find out?" she asked as the two women moved into the kitchen and took a seat at the small table, to talk out details.
"Our Unsubs are Hollis Matten and Kylie Danvers. Garcia is sending you all the details," she said and then JJ's phone pinged, alerting her to details.
"Right on cue," she grinned.
"Do you have go bags ready for all of you? When we get to the hotel, we still have one meet up left, so we can get everything in place before people arrive and we team up with UC and Cyber."
"Yeah," JJ assured her. "We're," she started and Will interrupted.
"Prentiss. Lunch?" Will called out to her.
"No thanks Will," she said kindly and then she looked at Hazel. "Is she safe like that? Curled on her side and all?" she asked with concern.
"You see babe? Not just me," JJ said. "Will said he did that when he bruised his ribs. She's also had meds and we wrapped her this morning, pretty securely, so she should be okay," JJ offered.
"I'm glad she's sleeping, how long did that take?" Emily asked.
"Maybe fifteen minutes once she settled down. She's exhausted. That cognitive really sent her spinning," JJ said Emily nodded.
"Luke and Dave said they heard some words they didn't understand. What's your take?"
"I did as well, but based on other movements, I think I figured out what they mean. I can't be one hundred percent sure, but I have a good idea."
"Next question, do you two need a break? Like a real one? I can sit with Hazel, now that she knows the whole team," Emily offered.
"Babe?" JJ asked looking over at Will and he shrugged. He had mixed feelings.
"That's a lot of communication with one shrug," Emily said kindly. "Please tell me."
"I appreciate the offer and I almost want to take you up on it."
"Almost?" Emily asked.
"Here is my concern. She wakes up and we're gone. That is panic scenario number one. We have a lovely time together, thanks to you, and we're too stressed to deal with what we'll call a tantrum on the ride to the hotel. That's panic scenario two."
"Do you have a scenario that doesn't involve panic?" Emily asked.
"Not yet," he said honestly.
"What about when she woke up this morning?"
"Oh you mean when she had a bad dream and woke up in tears, because she moved so violently in her sleep, it rattled her ribs? Yeah, that was a mix of panic and pain," Will said.
"Well aren't you a bucket of sunshine and rainbows," Emily teased him.
"He's not wrong though. Hearing her scream; it's painful," JJ said. "We hear those noises all the time and yet this time, it's very different somehow," she said honestly.
"Go back to the tantrum that you think is coming?" Emily said.
"Getting her from the hospital to here was much too intense for her. She was tense when she first got in the car and then half way here, she broke down. Once we tried to take her out of the car, that's when true panic set in and she had her little fit. She just screams in terror," JJ offered.
"It is ear piercing," Will said. "Truly horrifying," he added and JJ nodded along.
"So what does the rest of the team need to do, to help you out?" Emily asked.
"Just help us console her when we get there," JJ said. "It's all I can come up with."
"Then that's what we'll do," Emily said and with that, she left them to lunch.
"Mommy, please," Mackenzie pleaded, tears running down her cheeks already.
"Kenzie love, you're okay. Everyone is going. All three of us," Victoria said and Mackenzie shook her head no and cried harder. "Yes my love, it's okay. We're all going to get in the car together, drive to the hotel and check in tonight."
"No! Mommy! Please!" she cried and Victoria sighed. Mackenzie usually didn't like getting in the car, but recently it was very rare for her to have this kind of meltdown. As Mackenzie cried, Victoria continued packing. She had started crying the second she found Victoria packing a small suitcase for Mackenzie and the crying only continued when Victoria moved on to pack for herself and Wyatt. "MOMMY!" she wailed and she sat herself down on the floor and kicked and cried and screamed.
"What is going on?" Wyatt asked from the doorway and Mackenzie didn't even react. It was like she wasn't aware Wyatt was even around.
"She is freaking out, because I'm packing clothes," Victoria said.
"She knows she's going too right?" he asked.
"She's been told, but I don't know if she knows. Her stuff is easier to pack, I started with that. It probably set her off, but lately, everything is setting her off," Victoria sighed and Wyatt nodded and didn't dare touch her. She wasn't ready for physical contact, because she wasn't listening. The Dominant side of him wanted to spank her a few times to get her attention, but the Daddy in him could not bring himself to do it. She wasn't acting out, just to act out, or gain attention, or figure out how to get her own way; she was terrified. He decided to do what his wife was doing. They collectively ignored her behavior of screaming and crying; walking over and around her if she was in their path, and only answering when she called either of their titles. Once Victoria finished packing, she wanted to get Mackenzie calmed down, because the car ride was already going to be excruciating. Having Mackenzie this worked up, would make it even worse. "Okay love, you tell me, does this need stern and specific or very gentle?" she asked. Wyatt was usually very good at reading Mackenzie's moods when it was this intense, so she turned to him.
"Gentle and specific, and you are very good at that, but I can take over if needed," he said sensing Victoria's general frustration.
"Did you prepare your lectures and get the business box ready?" she asked.
"Yes to the lectures, not yet for the box."
"Then you handle her, I will go take care of the box," she told him.
He nodded, kissed her cheek and then she left the room, stepping over Mackenzie on her way out. "Mackenzie, we need to talk little one," he said gently and then sat down across from her in the glider that was kept in their room. Two gliders was one of the best suggestions Victoria had ever made, as far as he was concerned.
"DADDY!" she screamed and he rolled his eyes.
"I am right here Kenz, stop screaming," he said in his Master tone and she shut up almost immediately, which made him instantly regret his tone. She was lost and confused about something, and now the dominant tone had startled her into what he called involuntary submission, and he did not like having her in that headspace. It wasn't good for anyone; to not be aware of what was going on around them, or being asked of them. He never got on board with what most people called blind obedience. He wanted her to work through her feelings and talk to him about it.
"Daddy," she said and she sounded so heartbroken.
"When you are ready to sit with me love, come sit with me," he said. She got up and ran to him and hung on so tight, that he felt her nails digging into his back. "Shhh, you are okay my little love," he assured her and he carefully pried her fingers off of himself and cradled her in his arms. "Shhh, you're okay and I'm right here. We need two things. First we need you to calm down a little, just nice even breaths, and secondly we need to talk about what is happening this weekend, because it seems like you forgot," he said kindly and with that said, he shut up and rocked her for twenty minutes. In those twenty minutes she got very heavy in his lap and he sighed, because he knew it meant she'd fallen asleep.
Victoria appeared in the doorway after another ten minutes and smiled at the sight, but then frowned. She knew how hard this would be later. "Do you think we should make nap time a thing this weekend?" she asked him. They were always cautious of how much structure they imposed upon her. It was a constant struggle to treat her as a twenty two year old, when she looked six and on some days acted six and sometimes younger.
"Maybe just float it as a suggestion when she's having a good time," Wyatt said and Victoria nodded.
"When did you want to leave?" she asked.
"Check in is three, but I don't want her startled by anything. Let's leave at five thirty," he said. "Traffic shouldn't be bad at that time of day, and it's not a very long drive," he said.
"What would you like for dinner then?" she asked.
"Anything soft that will encourage her to eat is fine with me. I'd like her to have a full warm belly before we go. Maybe that'll lessen the stress of being in the car."
"Last time we tried that, she hurled," Victoria reminded him.
"That's true, it was a longer drive though," he reasoned. "We'll see. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong and I will clean up the mess," he promised.
"I'm holding you to that," she smiled. "I'll make us tacos, that's all soft food for her," she said and then she left the room. She returned fifteen minutes later with some note cards and while he rocked Mackenzie in his arm, he read over his speeches for the weekend. He went through each of them three times, before Mackenzie woke up, with a mild start and a growling belly.
"Hello my love," Wyatt said gently and Mackenzie shifted, so she was chest to chest with her Daddy and put her head on his shoulder. "Did you sleep well?" he asked her kindly.
"Mommy," she said softly.
"Mommy is in the kitchen, chopping up tomatoes. Should we go see her?" he asked, not at all surprised when Mackenzie said nothing, but very glad that she at least nodded against him. "Yeah? Okay, come on," he smiled and carried her into the kitchen. "There's Mommy," he said brightly and Victoria put down the knife she was holding and smiled at her little girl, who was reaching for her, with everything she had.
"Hello my little love, did you have a nice nap?" she asked and Mackenzie didn't answer, she just cuddled.
"Mommy," she said softly. "Mommy, s'ay," she whimpered.
"Stay? Okay. Stay with you?" she said and Mackenzie pushed back and looked at her with confusion. Something was wrong and she didn't know what it was, which only pushed her back toward her panic stricken state.
"You go?" Mackenzie pushed out.
"I'm going somewhere?" she asked.
"Packed," Mackenzie said.
"Yes, Mommy packed bags for the three people who live in this house," she said and Mackenzie let little tears fall down her cheeks. She was truly unaware of what was going on and communication seemed so hard lately, that all she felt from this conversation was more panic. "Kenzie, we're going to the hotel tonight. Kenzie, Mommy, and Daddy are all headed to the hotel, so that Daddy can go give his lectures and Kenzie and Mommy get to play in the pool and relax and have nice meals out together with Daddy. Like a mini vacation," Victoria said and Mackenzie nodded and went back to resting quietly, clearly embarrassed by how wrong her assumptions were. "Hey," Victoria said bouncing her lightly for a moment. "I love you," she told her and Mackenzie nodded, shifted a bit and kissed at Victoria's cheek.
"Why don't you two ladies sit down at the table, I will finish dinner, then we can all eat together and head over to the hotel," Wyatt suggested and with a little bit of encouragement the small family ate dinner together, before they loaded in the car to drive over.
"Daddy," Mackenzie whimpered as Wyatt handed her the buckle part of the seatbelt, so she could strap herself in.
"He knelt down and pet her face gently. "What's up my love?" he asked her, seeing the tension written all over her face. He knew almost exactly what was wrong, but he was trying to get her to learn to communicate.
"Car," she whimpered.
"Yes, we are in the car," he agreed.
"No ike," she said and he could tell her anxiety was climbing by the way she dropped her letters.
"I know you don't like the car sometimes baby, that's okay. But it's all of us. Kenz, Mommy, and Daddy," he assured her and she nodded and tried to calm down for him, so he stayed with her and did some breathing to help encourage her. Victoria climbed into the back seat with her to help her along and then finally, she felt a little better, nodding at Wyatt that she was ready. "Kisses for my girls," he said kindly and he kissed her cheek first before leaning over and kissing his wife.
They drove for ten minutes, before they got stuck in traffic and without warning, Mackenzie's brain sent her into a tail spin. She was starting to panic and she wasn't sure what to do about it, or who to notify. Luckily Victoria noticed and spoke gently to her. "Kenz, this is traffic and you are safe. Why don't we cuddle while we wait this out," she said and Mackenzie undid her buckle as fast as she could before scrambling into Victoria's lap and holding on tight. "Remind yourself my love. Who is holding you?" she asked her.
"Mommy," she said.
"Very good, and who is driving the car?"
"Daddy."
"Very smart my girl, and what are all the names of the people in this car?"
"White Lansing, Torrah Lansing, Kenzie Lansing."
"That is absolutely correct and if we all have the same last name, what does that make us?"
"Fam-eee," she said and Victoria cuddled her tight.
"You are the smartest girl I know. I'm very proud of you," she praised her, and for the next ten minutes, they drove to the hotel with Mackenzie on Victoria's lap, glued to her chest, being consoled and calmed as they drove.
When they made it to the hotel, Wyatt pulled up to the valet parking and got out of the car, and moved to pull the suitcases out of the trunk, while Victoria got out of the car, holding a more anxious Mackenzie. "Kenz, I am not leaving, I promise," Victoria assured her and Mackenzie simply nodded. You are very safe with us my love, I promise you. Look at me please," she said gently and Mackenzie finally looked at her. "You are my Mackenzie Renee Lansing," she said firmly. Mackenzie simply nodded and held tight.