All I Ever Wanted (3/7) (CM: Emily/JJ)
Title: All I Ever Wanted (3/7)
Disclaimer: Not my characters, not used for profit.
Fandom: Criminal Minds
Pairing: JJ/Emily
Rating: PG
Summary: JJ's well-earned vacation doesn't quite go to plan.
Author's Note: Many thanks to my GF for the beta, and for encouraging me to write and post this in the first place. Comments and criticism welcomed.
Archiving: If P&P wants it, great. All others, please ask.
Cross-posted to cm_femslash
Part 1 * Part 2
When the door opened Thursday evening, JJ was ready. After that first evening, Shrader had given her a choice - cooperate in being shackled to the wheelchair, or be tasered again. She had chosen to cooperate. After she locked her legs in, he came up behind her and bolted in her arms and buckled on the shock collar.
He wheeled her out of her cell and across the small hallway, and into her training room.
Today's lesson was a review session. And that made JJ's plan that much easier. She had been exceedingly obedient and cooperative during the last lesson; but she had been (at great personal cost) testing his reactions; trying to predict how he would respond, depending on where he was standing. He was after all only human, and he had his own patterns. And now she was ready to take her shot.
She was still curiously calm, and almost well-rested. Last night's little... alright, maybe it was a breakdown, she admitted to herself... had left her so drained she had actually slept fairly well - relatively speaking, anyway. And she had spent practically the entire day in her 'happy place' -- and today, the "power of Prentiss" as she had started to call it, had been sufficient to keep the demons at bay. Apparently rerunning in her mind, over and over, every interaction she'd had with Emily Prentiss, interspersed with some of her favorite still shots, and just one or two personal fantasies, could keep her happy all day.
Shrader was having her walk around the room, and then sit at the table, "eat" something and then engage in polite conversation. Combining all of the lessons into what JJ could clearly now see was a dress rehearsal for the meeting with Mother.
The thought of finally fighting back had adrenaline pumping in her blood. So despite her fatigue, and faintness from hunger, and pain and stiffness from his "lessons", she was doing a good job, even by his exacting standards. He was relaxed, taking her through her paces, enjoying her instant unquestioning obedience. She hoped that would help.
She internally braced herself. They'd been working for at least 30 minutes now, with few mistakes on her part. She was currently seated at the table, and knew where he was behind her. She knew any mistake here would get her a sharp crack across the forearms.
So she made a flagrant mistake. She heard the swoosh behind her, but this time, she knew from experience where the cane would be coming from. She leaned back sharply, turned her hands over, and grabbed the cane with both hands.
She easily wrenched the cane out of his hands, due to the complete surprise of her attack. JJ knew she only had seconds before he used the shock collar. She rose and spun, and swung the cane as hard as she could toward his head. Shrader was looking down, fumbling for the collar control. The sound of her chair being shoved aside had him glancing up again - just in time for the cane to come crashing across his temple.
The blow staggered JJ and stung her hands, but more importantly, dropped Shrader to the floor, where he lay, motionless, like a sack of potatoes.
For a long moment, she just stood over him, breathing heavily, cane still clenched tightly in her hands. Then he twitched, and the slight movement galvanized her into action. Cautiously, she knelt, and found the collar control on the floor next to his body, and the taser clipped to his belt. She moved back to the table, out of Shrader's reach, and put both on the table beside her, the taser close at hand. Her hands shook as she worked the buckles on the shock collar around her neck. Finally, it was off. With a shudder of revulsion, she threw it across the room, away from Shrader, and into a corner.
Shrader was now stirring slightly. JJ stood well back from him, taser at the ready.
He slowly came to.
"Shrader!" JJ barked.
He stared at her in confusion.
"Get up! Get up and get into that chair!" said JJ, loudly.
Groggily, he managed to get up. He was so out of it, he seemed almost grateful to sit down in the wheel chair he'd been using on JJ. Only when JJ said sharply, "Put your arms in the cuffs!" did he seem to realize something was wrong.
His eyes focused, and he started to get out of the chair -- and JJ tasered him.
JJ's stomach rolled as she watched what the tasering looked like from the other end of the gun. She shuddered once, her remembrance of the pain almost physical.
She shook it off, and quickly moved over to the chair and secured Shrader's arms in the chair. She was working on fastening his legs into the chair when suddenly his right foot lashed out. His heel smashed into her cheekbone and temple, but she managed to pick up the taser and fired it again. She noticed this time she didn't have any sympathetic pangs, although that might have had something to do with the cut on her temple, and the blood she could feel welling in her mouth from a cut inside her cheek.
This time she got both his legs buckled in. With an effort -- he wasn't that big, but the adrenaline was wearing off and she was very weak from hunger -- she wheeled him out of the training room, parked him in her old cell, and locked the door behind her.
She tucked the taser into the back of her pants, and set out to examine her former prison.
* * *
The SPD liaison knocked on the door of the BAU team's ready room and then came in. "We may have a lead."
Across the hall, an elderly woman was sitting primly in one of the empty offices, talking to another police detective. The detective stood up as Morgan and Hotch entered the office - the rest of the unit watched from the observation room.
"This is Mrs. Curtis, who lives on Calhoun Square. Mrs. Curtis, this is Agent Hotchner and Agent Morgan, with the FBI. Mrs. Curtis is in the habit of sitting in the square most afternoons, and saw something that might be helpful. Please go ahead, ma'am, and tell them what you told me."
"Well, it was, oh, last Sunday I believe.... Yes, I'm quite sure, because it was such a beautiful day that I went outside as soon as I got back from church. Well, I was sitting on my favorite bench -- it gives a nice view of the entire square, and usually there are tourists and such to watch. I do love to people watch, so much better than the television!
"Anyway, it wasn't too late - I think maybe after 3:00 or so -- when the nice young woman in the picture entered the park. I thought she must be from out of town, because she had one of those tourist guides with her. The one with the walking tours. You see them all the time. And she seemed like such a nice young woman. She sat down across the park from me, and she was reading her book, and I thought it was quite nice she seemed to be taking her time, enjoying the afternoon. Most people just go rushing through Calhoun Square, in a hurry to get to the end of the tour, always something else to do next."
"Did you see someone else talking to the woman in the picture?" asked Morgan.
"Why, yes, as I was telling the detective. I saw a man sitting on the next bench over from her, and it looked like they were talking. Then then he got up to leave, and she seemed to be taken ill. And it was as he was helping her up off the bench that I realized it was little Charlie Shrader."
Morgan glanced meaningfully at the observation room, but Emily was already on the phone to Garcia. "What have you got on a Charles Shrader, lives in Savannah."
"Who is Charles Shrader, ma'am? How do you know him?" asked Hotch in the interview room.
"Oh, I've known him since he was a baby. His mother and I knew each other before she passed away earlier this year, God rest her soul." Morgan and Hotchner exchanged quick glances, but Mrs. Curtis didn't notice, and continued.
"She lived right on the square, too -- she used to say that she was a descendant of John Calhoun." Mrs. Curtis gave an indulgent laugh. "Well, now, I don't know about that, but it doesn't hurt if she wants to believe it, right?"
"Mrs. Curtis, what happened to Mr. Shrader and the woman? You said his house is on the square? Did he take her into his house?" Morgan asked, urgently.
"Well now, no he didn't. I believe he helped her into his car. I thought he must be going to take her to the hospital. And they drove off together," she replied.
Emily was still on the phone: "Garcia, Shrader has a house on the square. But we need a make and model on his car, as well as any other property he might own."
Mrs. Curtis continued, with another little laugh. "I remember thinking that little Charlie was turning into quite the Sir Galahad," she added.
"What do you mean?" asked Hotch.
"Well, it wasn't but a month ago that I saw him help another poor woman out of the park! I was thinking it was so romantic - maybe he'd finally meet a nice girl his mother would have liked. It was so unfortunate, she never did like anyone he brought home." Mrs. Curtis finally noticed the stillness in the room that had fallen when she mentioned the other woman. "Is there something wrong?" she asked, concerned.
"No, Mrs. Curtis, thank you, you've been a tremendous help. If it's okay, we'd like you to make an official statement - the detective will take it."
Hotch and Morgan excused themselves and left the room. Emily, Rossi and Reid were waiting outside the door.
"Shrader has a town house on the square, just like Mrs.Curtis said. However, he also has a beach house, about 30 minutes outside of Savannah, according to Garcia," said Emily.
"Rossi - you, Morgan and Prentiss check out the beach house; Reid and I will take the house on the square. Let's move!"
* * *
JJ realized almost immediately that she needed keys to get out. The key to her cell had been left in the door, but the other doors were locked, with no keys. She returned to her former cell, where Shrader was yelling obscenities at her. When he heard the key in the lock, Shrader quieted for a moment. JJ came around in front of him.
"Where are the keys?" she asked, simply.
"Go to hell, you little whore!" he shrieked.
JJ raised the taser. "Tell me, or I'll take them myself."
She was gratified to see that the threat shut up him immediately. "Not so much fun on the receiving end, you bastard, is it? Now where are the KEYS?" she demanded.
Shrader hesitated, then said sullenly, "In my breast pocket."
JJ looked him over, and said, "If you're lying, or if you try to stop me, I'll keep tasering you until this damn charge wears out. And then I'll find a fresh battery and do it again. Are the keys really in your breast pocket?"
"Yes."
JJ moved around behind him, and pressed the taser up against the back of his neck. Sure enough, there was a set of keys inside his jacket's breast pocket.
"Good boy. Now stay here," JJ said, and left the room again.
The first door she unlocked was a storage room. The second door revealed a set of stairs leading up to the main floor. As she had expected, she was in the basement. There was another door to unlock at the top, and she listened carefully for a long moment before she opened it. She found herself on what she presumed was the main floor. She walked carefully through the house, taser at the ready, though she had had no indication that he had an accomplice.
It was full dark outside, and she was working her way from the back of the house to the front door when suddenly she heard banging on the front door.
"Charles Shrader! This is the FBI! Open up!"
JJ thought she must be delirious - that almost sounded like...
Then the door was being kicked in, and JJ thrust her hands in the air shouting: "Federal Agent! Don't shoot! Don't shoot!"
And then someone was rushing over to her, and putting a hand on her shoulder. "JJ! Oh my god, are you okay?" JJ thought she must be hallucinating -- what was Emily doing here? Had she thought so much about Emily that she had conjured her? The illusion was shattered, though, when the other woman put her hand up to JJ's cheek and temple -- even the light touch hurt. JJ hissed in pain and knew this was real.
"What happened to your face?" Emily asked in concern.
"I'll be fine," JJ said distractedly, getting to the heart of the matter. "Emily, what are you doing here? How did you find me?"
"We're here because someone saw Charles Shrader abduct you from Calhoun Square."
Morgan broke in, urgently. "JJ, where's Shrader?"
She answered automatically, "Downstairs, locked up in my cell. Here - take the keys."
JJ could feel the rush of adrenaline that had sustained her ebbing away. Relief at having her team on hand, and relief at finally, finally being able to relax and let down her guard, was making her light-headed. Or maybe it was not having eaten for four days. Or was it five?
But she had to know, "What are you guys doing in Savannah?"
Emily was distractedly motioning for a medic, so it was Rossi who answered, brusquely as ever. "We're pretty sure you just single-handedly caught a serial killer, JJ. He's killed three women so far, and you were supposed to be number four."
JJ looked at him in shock. Hearing it in blunt English - what she had feared but tried to ignore, that she was in the hands of one of the unsubs they tracked - was the last straw. The entire ordeal caught up with her at that moment, and she gladly let the darkness take her away.
* * *
Emily was waving at one of the policeman to call for an EMT so she could get some medical attention for JJ, when she heard Rossi's response. She whipped her head around to stare at Rossi in disbelief and horror, when she saw JJ's eyes roll up in her head and her body begin to fall to the ground. Emily just had time to turn and grab JJ, changing it from a headlong plunge to a more controlled descent. She gave up on subtlety and yelled, "Get a medic over here now!"
As she lowered JJ to the ground, she exclaimed, "She feels like she's lost ten pounds." She knelt next to the other woman, gently brushing the hair off her face, her fingerstips lingering on the darkening bruise on her cheek.
"The other victims had all been starved - I'm guessing she has been, too," said Rossi, clinically.
An EMT finally hurried up, so Emily moved back, to let him tend to JJ. She felt someone watching her, and saw Rossi looking at her, face unreadable. Too late, she thought she must be showing too much of what she felt, and she let her diplomat face slam down. "Did Morgan find the unsub?" she asked, in an effort to change the topic.
As if in answer, Morgan and several police men frog marched Shrader through the living room. Emily felt a primal surge of pride in JJ when she saw Shrader's face -- and an equally primal instinct to go inflict some of her own damage.
At the sight of JJ on the ground, Morgan broke off. "Is she okay?"
Emily turned her attention back to the EMTs now working on JJ.
"She's dehydrated - let's get some saline going into her." "Jesus, look at her arms."
At the exclamation, Emily leaned over, and saw that JJ's arms were practically one solid bruise, from wrist to elbow. She felt sickened at the evidence of what JJ had had to endure.
"I think so - she seems to be dehydrated, and it looks like he did beat her like the others," Emily answered Morgan.
The EMTs had now gotten JJ up onto a gurney and strapped in.
"Guys, I'm going with her to the hospital." Emily resolutely refrained from looking at Rossi as she spoke. She could tell Morgan approved of her decision. They were a tightly knit team, and someone should be with JJ.
As she walked to the ambulance behind the EMTs, Emily flipped open her phone. "Garcia, we got her. We've got JJ. She's fine. Well, she's not fine, but she will be -- we're on our way to the hospital now."
"Oh thank god," said Garcia, fervently.
"Yeah, she had already escaped when we arrived, and clocked that bastard a good one," Emily said proudly.
"You go girl!" crowed Garcia.
"Okay, I'm getting in the ambulance, I'll talk to you later. And Garcia -- good instincts."
* * *
The ride to the hospital was swift. Emily was worried that JJ didn't seem to be coming to, but the EMTs didn't seem to be too concerned: "She doesn't seem have any serious head injury, so it could be exhaustion or fatigue."
JJ started to stir on the gurney. She was moving restlessly, and suddenly her eyes snapped open, a wide, panicked look on her face. She was straining against the restraints, trying to get free.
Despite the efforts of the EMTs -- "Ma'am, you're safe!" "Calm down, it's okay!" -- JJ's movements only became more frantic.
Emily finally stood, and hunched over the gurney so she was directly over JJ's head.
"JJ! JJ, look at me!"
Wide blue eyes fastened onto deep brown, and calmed almost instantly. "It's fine. You're safe now. We're going to the hospital and you're in the back of an ambulance, and you're fastened onto the stretcher. But you're okay." Emily's deep, soothing voice seemed to bring JJ back to herself. Reason returned to her eyes, and she managed a weak smile.
"Sorry, I just thought..." she started, her voice hoarse.
"I know, but you're safe now. Just relax, we'll be at the hospital soon." Emily's smile, tender and caring, was burned on JJ's eyelids as she drifted back off -- secure in the knowledge that Emily would be watching over her.
* * *
In the emergency room, the doctor said JJ needed to be treated for dehydration and exhaustion. She had severe bruising on her arms, legs, and back, and a hairline fracture on one arm. She would recover fairly quickly - physically, at least, Emily thought.
While JJ was waiting to be moved to her room for the night -- apparently even FBI agents weren't exempt from some hospital bureaucracy -- the police arrived and took JJ's statement.
Emily hoped she had been able to keep her face sufficiently expressionless as she listened. From the bodies of the other victims, they had been able to extrapolate what had happened. But to hear JJ describe the events so calmly and coldly -- to watch that usually expressive face shut down, becoming distant, as she clinically detailed Shrader's "lessons" and abuse -- taxed every ounce of her self-possession. Even listening to JJ was a reminder -- the doctor said the repeated shocks had stressed her vocal chords; although she should recover completely, for the time being she sounded like she had been smoking for the past 20 years.
Soon after JJ arrived in her room, the rest of the team arrived. JJ assured everyone she was fine, and was pretty convincing, too -- at least to someone who hadn't seen the panic in her eyes in the ambulance. JJ got a laugh when she said, gravelly voiced, it was her "best vacation ever."
JJ insisted on being filled in on the case that she had been, so unwittingly, part of. Charles Shrader, it turned out, had been the only child of a controlling, obsessive mother. They had found his mother's body in the sitting room of Calhoun Square house, seated primly in a chair, where she had been since her death last spring. From what they pieced together, Mrs. Shrader had been insistent that Charles find just the right woman to carry on their family name. And after her death, it had become his obsession. They had recovered JJ's purse -- including her weapon and ID -- from that house, where Shrader lived.
The sitting room had obviously been the site of the stabbings; although Shrader had obsessively cleaned, forensics was able to find blood spatter.
"We believe that when his mother failed to 'approve' his candidates, Shrader killed them," Hotch finished. There was a moment of pregnant silence -- they were all considering how close JJ had come to being his next victim. No one felt it necessary to detail the violence of the deaths they had seen and that JJ had narrowly avoided. And in any case, JJ knew first hand Shrader's temper and could easily fill in the blanks herself.
The team left soon after that and Emily headed over to JJ's hotel, to bring back a change of clothes. JJ would be released from the hospital in the morning, and was planning to fly back on the team plane in the morning.
* * *
Emily got back to the hospital and made her way to JJ's room. JJ was asleep, and Emily was transfixed by a moment of intense tenderness for the other woman. The sight of that beautiful face, blond hair spread across the bright white pillow, so young and peaceful in sleep, was riveting. The bruises that marred her face provided an ugly reminder of what she had endured, and Emily again felt a visceral urge to visit some serious violence on Mr. Charles Shrader.
She stood for a moment, enjoying this rare chance to openly study JJ's features -- something she couldn't do usually. She studied the delicate features, and marveled at how when JJ was awake, they filled with liveliness and humor, or empathy and compassion.
She chided herself for taking advantage of the other woman's privacy, and was turning to leave when she noticed that JJ was stirring restlessly. A small furrow appeared between her brows, and frown appeared. Her eyes snapped open, wide and panicky, like they were in the ambulance. She gazed wildly around the room, and Emily immediately stepped up next to the bed, in JJ's line of sight.
"Hey, how are you doing?" Emily said, soothingly.
JJ seemed to visibly relax when she saw Emily. "Not too bad," she croaked, smiling back weakly.
"Everything okay?"
"Yeah, fine," JJ said, but her attempt at a confident smile definitely wavered. Her eyes dropped under Emily's understanding gaze. "Well... I think it'll be better when I'm waking up in my own room, actually. All these strange rooms..." she admitted.
"How about if I stay a while," suggested Emily.
"Oh, you don't have to," protested JJ - but rather weakly, in Emily's opinion.
"Don't be silly."
Blue eyes met dark brown in a long moment of understanding.
JJ tried, unsuccessfully, to hide her relief. "Well, it would be nice to have company for a little while," she admitted.
There was a brief pause.
"So, best vacation ever?" Emily asked skeptically
JJ managed a little laugh. "Okay, maybe not."
"Well, if you want to compare notes -- how about the time my mom thought a tour of the U.N. office buildings would be the perfect way to spend my school holiday?"
JJ gaped. "No," she said hoarsely.
And Emily was off, describing a series of perfectly horrible 'vacations' courtesy of her mother, the Ambassador. JJ made encouraging noises at the right spots, but soon drifted off again, the painkillers and exhaustion taking their toll.
Emily let her voice trail off. She sat for a long time, contemplating the blonde. Reassessing everything she knew. She had known how strong and capable the other woman was, but what she had just been through... Her ability to not just survive, but overcome... Emily was in awe. And, if she was honest with her, more attracted to her than ever. However wrong it might be.
JJ stirred, restlessly. The blonde's eyebrows furrowed again; her tossing became more pronounced. Instantly, Emily was on her feet, hovering at the side of the bed. JJ's eyes fluttered open. She seemed surprised to see Emily, but a fleeting look of relief passed across her face before she wrestled her usual confident smile into place. "Hey, sorry about that, I must have dozed off," she said, somewhat hoarsely.
"Go back to sleep. Don't worry, I'll be here," soothed Emily.
JJ looked like she wanted to protest.
"Shhh," said Emily, putting her fingertip gently against JJ's lips. "Just rest." She could see in JJ's eyes a moment of intense gratitude, before the other woman managed a brief yet heartfelt smile.
"Thank you," she whispered, before allowing her eyes to slip closed again. "My own personal power of Prentiss," she murmured as she drifted off.
Emily thought she must have misheard - what on earth was a power of Prentiss? - but didn't worry too much about it. Emily sat in silent vigil through the night, her eyes rarely leaving the other woman's face. When JJ's slumber was troubled -- as it too often was -- Emily was there, either with a reassuring clasp of her hand around JJ's, or standing so that the other woman could see her when her eyes opened.
It was dawn before JJ woke again - and when she saw the sun coming in the windows, she insisted that Emily leave. And she sounded so much better that Emily agreed.
But Emily had had a lot of time to think over the course of the evening. To assess how worried she had been. How much she enjoyed the other woman's company. How she'd like to get to know her much better.
The week's events had crystallized for Emily how she felt about the other woman. And she was determined not to let something that could be special slip away from her.
END PART ONE
Additional Author's note: I'm doing some rewrites to the next section, so that likely won't get up until Monday, what with the Super Bowl this weekend for us Americans.
Disclaimer: Not my characters, not used for profit.
Fandom: Criminal Minds
Pairing: JJ/Emily
Rating: PG
Summary: JJ's well-earned vacation doesn't quite go to plan.
Author's Note: Many thanks to my GF for the beta, and for encouraging me to write and post this in the first place. Comments and criticism welcomed.
Archiving: If P&P wants it, great. All others, please ask.
Cross-posted to cm_femslash
Part 1 * Part 2
When the door opened Thursday evening, JJ was ready. After that first evening, Shrader had given her a choice - cooperate in being shackled to the wheelchair, or be tasered again. She had chosen to cooperate. After she locked her legs in, he came up behind her and bolted in her arms and buckled on the shock collar.
He wheeled her out of her cell and across the small hallway, and into her training room.
Today's lesson was a review session. And that made JJ's plan that much easier. She had been exceedingly obedient and cooperative during the last lesson; but she had been (at great personal cost) testing his reactions; trying to predict how he would respond, depending on where he was standing. He was after all only human, and he had his own patterns. And now she was ready to take her shot.
She was still curiously calm, and almost well-rested. Last night's little... alright, maybe it was a breakdown, she admitted to herself... had left her so drained she had actually slept fairly well - relatively speaking, anyway. And she had spent practically the entire day in her 'happy place' -- and today, the "power of Prentiss" as she had started to call it, had been sufficient to keep the demons at bay. Apparently rerunning in her mind, over and over, every interaction she'd had with Emily Prentiss, interspersed with some of her favorite still shots, and just one or two personal fantasies, could keep her happy all day.
Shrader was having her walk around the room, and then sit at the table, "eat" something and then engage in polite conversation. Combining all of the lessons into what JJ could clearly now see was a dress rehearsal for the meeting with Mother.
The thought of finally fighting back had adrenaline pumping in her blood. So despite her fatigue, and faintness from hunger, and pain and stiffness from his "lessons", she was doing a good job, even by his exacting standards. He was relaxed, taking her through her paces, enjoying her instant unquestioning obedience. She hoped that would help.
She internally braced herself. They'd been working for at least 30 minutes now, with few mistakes on her part. She was currently seated at the table, and knew where he was behind her. She knew any mistake here would get her a sharp crack across the forearms.
So she made a flagrant mistake. She heard the swoosh behind her, but this time, she knew from experience where the cane would be coming from. She leaned back sharply, turned her hands over, and grabbed the cane with both hands.
She easily wrenched the cane out of his hands, due to the complete surprise of her attack. JJ knew she only had seconds before he used the shock collar. She rose and spun, and swung the cane as hard as she could toward his head. Shrader was looking down, fumbling for the collar control. The sound of her chair being shoved aside had him glancing up again - just in time for the cane to come crashing across his temple.
The blow staggered JJ and stung her hands, but more importantly, dropped Shrader to the floor, where he lay, motionless, like a sack of potatoes.
For a long moment, she just stood over him, breathing heavily, cane still clenched tightly in her hands. Then he twitched, and the slight movement galvanized her into action. Cautiously, she knelt, and found the collar control on the floor next to his body, and the taser clipped to his belt. She moved back to the table, out of Shrader's reach, and put both on the table beside her, the taser close at hand. Her hands shook as she worked the buckles on the shock collar around her neck. Finally, it was off. With a shudder of revulsion, she threw it across the room, away from Shrader, and into a corner.
Shrader was now stirring slightly. JJ stood well back from him, taser at the ready.
He slowly came to.
"Shrader!" JJ barked.
He stared at her in confusion.
"Get up! Get up and get into that chair!" said JJ, loudly.
Groggily, he managed to get up. He was so out of it, he seemed almost grateful to sit down in the wheel chair he'd been using on JJ. Only when JJ said sharply, "Put your arms in the cuffs!" did he seem to realize something was wrong.
His eyes focused, and he started to get out of the chair -- and JJ tasered him.
JJ's stomach rolled as she watched what the tasering looked like from the other end of the gun. She shuddered once, her remembrance of the pain almost physical.
She shook it off, and quickly moved over to the chair and secured Shrader's arms in the chair. She was working on fastening his legs into the chair when suddenly his right foot lashed out. His heel smashed into her cheekbone and temple, but she managed to pick up the taser and fired it again. She noticed this time she didn't have any sympathetic pangs, although that might have had something to do with the cut on her temple, and the blood she could feel welling in her mouth from a cut inside her cheek.
This time she got both his legs buckled in. With an effort -- he wasn't that big, but the adrenaline was wearing off and she was very weak from hunger -- she wheeled him out of the training room, parked him in her old cell, and locked the door behind her.
She tucked the taser into the back of her pants, and set out to examine her former prison.
* * *
The SPD liaison knocked on the door of the BAU team's ready room and then came in. "We may have a lead."
Across the hall, an elderly woman was sitting primly in one of the empty offices, talking to another police detective. The detective stood up as Morgan and Hotch entered the office - the rest of the unit watched from the observation room.
"This is Mrs. Curtis, who lives on Calhoun Square. Mrs. Curtis, this is Agent Hotchner and Agent Morgan, with the FBI. Mrs. Curtis is in the habit of sitting in the square most afternoons, and saw something that might be helpful. Please go ahead, ma'am, and tell them what you told me."
"Well, it was, oh, last Sunday I believe.... Yes, I'm quite sure, because it was such a beautiful day that I went outside as soon as I got back from church. Well, I was sitting on my favorite bench -- it gives a nice view of the entire square, and usually there are tourists and such to watch. I do love to people watch, so much better than the television!
"Anyway, it wasn't too late - I think maybe after 3:00 or so -- when the nice young woman in the picture entered the park. I thought she must be from out of town, because she had one of those tourist guides with her. The one with the walking tours. You see them all the time. And she seemed like such a nice young woman. She sat down across the park from me, and she was reading her book, and I thought it was quite nice she seemed to be taking her time, enjoying the afternoon. Most people just go rushing through Calhoun Square, in a hurry to get to the end of the tour, always something else to do next."
"Did you see someone else talking to the woman in the picture?" asked Morgan.
"Why, yes, as I was telling the detective. I saw a man sitting on the next bench over from her, and it looked like they were talking. Then then he got up to leave, and she seemed to be taken ill. And it was as he was helping her up off the bench that I realized it was little Charlie Shrader."
Morgan glanced meaningfully at the observation room, but Emily was already on the phone to Garcia. "What have you got on a Charles Shrader, lives in Savannah."
"Who is Charles Shrader, ma'am? How do you know him?" asked Hotch in the interview room.
"Oh, I've known him since he was a baby. His mother and I knew each other before she passed away earlier this year, God rest her soul." Morgan and Hotchner exchanged quick glances, but Mrs. Curtis didn't notice, and continued.
"She lived right on the square, too -- she used to say that she was a descendant of John Calhoun." Mrs. Curtis gave an indulgent laugh. "Well, now, I don't know about that, but it doesn't hurt if she wants to believe it, right?"
"Mrs. Curtis, what happened to Mr. Shrader and the woman? You said his house is on the square? Did he take her into his house?" Morgan asked, urgently.
"Well now, no he didn't. I believe he helped her into his car. I thought he must be going to take her to the hospital. And they drove off together," she replied.
Emily was still on the phone: "Garcia, Shrader has a house on the square. But we need a make and model on his car, as well as any other property he might own."
Mrs. Curtis continued, with another little laugh. "I remember thinking that little Charlie was turning into quite the Sir Galahad," she added.
"What do you mean?" asked Hotch.
"Well, it wasn't but a month ago that I saw him help another poor woman out of the park! I was thinking it was so romantic - maybe he'd finally meet a nice girl his mother would have liked. It was so unfortunate, she never did like anyone he brought home." Mrs. Curtis finally noticed the stillness in the room that had fallen when she mentioned the other woman. "Is there something wrong?" she asked, concerned.
"No, Mrs. Curtis, thank you, you've been a tremendous help. If it's okay, we'd like you to make an official statement - the detective will take it."
Hotch and Morgan excused themselves and left the room. Emily, Rossi and Reid were waiting outside the door.
"Shrader has a town house on the square, just like Mrs.Curtis said. However, he also has a beach house, about 30 minutes outside of Savannah, according to Garcia," said Emily.
"Rossi - you, Morgan and Prentiss check out the beach house; Reid and I will take the house on the square. Let's move!"
* * *
JJ realized almost immediately that she needed keys to get out. The key to her cell had been left in the door, but the other doors were locked, with no keys. She returned to her former cell, where Shrader was yelling obscenities at her. When he heard the key in the lock, Shrader quieted for a moment. JJ came around in front of him.
"Where are the keys?" she asked, simply.
"Go to hell, you little whore!" he shrieked.
JJ raised the taser. "Tell me, or I'll take them myself."
She was gratified to see that the threat shut up him immediately. "Not so much fun on the receiving end, you bastard, is it? Now where are the KEYS?" she demanded.
Shrader hesitated, then said sullenly, "In my breast pocket."
JJ looked him over, and said, "If you're lying, or if you try to stop me, I'll keep tasering you until this damn charge wears out. And then I'll find a fresh battery and do it again. Are the keys really in your breast pocket?"
"Yes."
JJ moved around behind him, and pressed the taser up against the back of his neck. Sure enough, there was a set of keys inside his jacket's breast pocket.
"Good boy. Now stay here," JJ said, and left the room again.
The first door she unlocked was a storage room. The second door revealed a set of stairs leading up to the main floor. As she had expected, she was in the basement. There was another door to unlock at the top, and she listened carefully for a long moment before she opened it. She found herself on what she presumed was the main floor. She walked carefully through the house, taser at the ready, though she had had no indication that he had an accomplice.
It was full dark outside, and she was working her way from the back of the house to the front door when suddenly she heard banging on the front door.
"Charles Shrader! This is the FBI! Open up!"
JJ thought she must be delirious - that almost sounded like...
Then the door was being kicked in, and JJ thrust her hands in the air shouting: "Federal Agent! Don't shoot! Don't shoot!"
And then someone was rushing over to her, and putting a hand on her shoulder. "JJ! Oh my god, are you okay?" JJ thought she must be hallucinating -- what was Emily doing here? Had she thought so much about Emily that she had conjured her? The illusion was shattered, though, when the other woman put her hand up to JJ's cheek and temple -- even the light touch hurt. JJ hissed in pain and knew this was real.
"What happened to your face?" Emily asked in concern.
"I'll be fine," JJ said distractedly, getting to the heart of the matter. "Emily, what are you doing here? How did you find me?"
"We're here because someone saw Charles Shrader abduct you from Calhoun Square."
Morgan broke in, urgently. "JJ, where's Shrader?"
She answered automatically, "Downstairs, locked up in my cell. Here - take the keys."
JJ could feel the rush of adrenaline that had sustained her ebbing away. Relief at having her team on hand, and relief at finally, finally being able to relax and let down her guard, was making her light-headed. Or maybe it was not having eaten for four days. Or was it five?
But she had to know, "What are you guys doing in Savannah?"
Emily was distractedly motioning for a medic, so it was Rossi who answered, brusquely as ever. "We're pretty sure you just single-handedly caught a serial killer, JJ. He's killed three women so far, and you were supposed to be number four."
JJ looked at him in shock. Hearing it in blunt English - what she had feared but tried to ignore, that she was in the hands of one of the unsubs they tracked - was the last straw. The entire ordeal caught up with her at that moment, and she gladly let the darkness take her away.
* * *
Emily was waving at one of the policeman to call for an EMT so she could get some medical attention for JJ, when she heard Rossi's response. She whipped her head around to stare at Rossi in disbelief and horror, when she saw JJ's eyes roll up in her head and her body begin to fall to the ground. Emily just had time to turn and grab JJ, changing it from a headlong plunge to a more controlled descent. She gave up on subtlety and yelled, "Get a medic over here now!"
As she lowered JJ to the ground, she exclaimed, "She feels like she's lost ten pounds." She knelt next to the other woman, gently brushing the hair off her face, her fingerstips lingering on the darkening bruise on her cheek.
"The other victims had all been starved - I'm guessing she has been, too," said Rossi, clinically.
An EMT finally hurried up, so Emily moved back, to let him tend to JJ. She felt someone watching her, and saw Rossi looking at her, face unreadable. Too late, she thought she must be showing too much of what she felt, and she let her diplomat face slam down. "Did Morgan find the unsub?" she asked, in an effort to change the topic.
As if in answer, Morgan and several police men frog marched Shrader through the living room. Emily felt a primal surge of pride in JJ when she saw Shrader's face -- and an equally primal instinct to go inflict some of her own damage.
At the sight of JJ on the ground, Morgan broke off. "Is she okay?"
Emily turned her attention back to the EMTs now working on JJ.
"She's dehydrated - let's get some saline going into her." "Jesus, look at her arms."
At the exclamation, Emily leaned over, and saw that JJ's arms were practically one solid bruise, from wrist to elbow. She felt sickened at the evidence of what JJ had had to endure.
"I think so - she seems to be dehydrated, and it looks like he did beat her like the others," Emily answered Morgan.
The EMTs had now gotten JJ up onto a gurney and strapped in.
"Guys, I'm going with her to the hospital." Emily resolutely refrained from looking at Rossi as she spoke. She could tell Morgan approved of her decision. They were a tightly knit team, and someone should be with JJ.
As she walked to the ambulance behind the EMTs, Emily flipped open her phone. "Garcia, we got her. We've got JJ. She's fine. Well, she's not fine, but she will be -- we're on our way to the hospital now."
"Oh thank god," said Garcia, fervently.
"Yeah, she had already escaped when we arrived, and clocked that bastard a good one," Emily said proudly.
"You go girl!" crowed Garcia.
"Okay, I'm getting in the ambulance, I'll talk to you later. And Garcia -- good instincts."
* * *
The ride to the hospital was swift. Emily was worried that JJ didn't seem to be coming to, but the EMTs didn't seem to be too concerned: "She doesn't seem have any serious head injury, so it could be exhaustion or fatigue."
JJ started to stir on the gurney. She was moving restlessly, and suddenly her eyes snapped open, a wide, panicked look on her face. She was straining against the restraints, trying to get free.
Despite the efforts of the EMTs -- "Ma'am, you're safe!" "Calm down, it's okay!" -- JJ's movements only became more frantic.
Emily finally stood, and hunched over the gurney so she was directly over JJ's head.
"JJ! JJ, look at me!"
Wide blue eyes fastened onto deep brown, and calmed almost instantly. "It's fine. You're safe now. We're going to the hospital and you're in the back of an ambulance, and you're fastened onto the stretcher. But you're okay." Emily's deep, soothing voice seemed to bring JJ back to herself. Reason returned to her eyes, and she managed a weak smile.
"Sorry, I just thought..." she started, her voice hoarse.
"I know, but you're safe now. Just relax, we'll be at the hospital soon." Emily's smile, tender and caring, was burned on JJ's eyelids as she drifted back off -- secure in the knowledge that Emily would be watching over her.
* * *
In the emergency room, the doctor said JJ needed to be treated for dehydration and exhaustion. She had severe bruising on her arms, legs, and back, and a hairline fracture on one arm. She would recover fairly quickly - physically, at least, Emily thought.
While JJ was waiting to be moved to her room for the night -- apparently even FBI agents weren't exempt from some hospital bureaucracy -- the police arrived and took JJ's statement.
Emily hoped she had been able to keep her face sufficiently expressionless as she listened. From the bodies of the other victims, they had been able to extrapolate what had happened. But to hear JJ describe the events so calmly and coldly -- to watch that usually expressive face shut down, becoming distant, as she clinically detailed Shrader's "lessons" and abuse -- taxed every ounce of her self-possession. Even listening to JJ was a reminder -- the doctor said the repeated shocks had stressed her vocal chords; although she should recover completely, for the time being she sounded like she had been smoking for the past 20 years.
Soon after JJ arrived in her room, the rest of the team arrived. JJ assured everyone she was fine, and was pretty convincing, too -- at least to someone who hadn't seen the panic in her eyes in the ambulance. JJ got a laugh when she said, gravelly voiced, it was her "best vacation ever."
JJ insisted on being filled in on the case that she had been, so unwittingly, part of. Charles Shrader, it turned out, had been the only child of a controlling, obsessive mother. They had found his mother's body in the sitting room of Calhoun Square house, seated primly in a chair, where she had been since her death last spring. From what they pieced together, Mrs. Shrader had been insistent that Charles find just the right woman to carry on their family name. And after her death, it had become his obsession. They had recovered JJ's purse -- including her weapon and ID -- from that house, where Shrader lived.
The sitting room had obviously been the site of the stabbings; although Shrader had obsessively cleaned, forensics was able to find blood spatter.
"We believe that when his mother failed to 'approve' his candidates, Shrader killed them," Hotch finished. There was a moment of pregnant silence -- they were all considering how close JJ had come to being his next victim. No one felt it necessary to detail the violence of the deaths they had seen and that JJ had narrowly avoided. And in any case, JJ knew first hand Shrader's temper and could easily fill in the blanks herself.
The team left soon after that and Emily headed over to JJ's hotel, to bring back a change of clothes. JJ would be released from the hospital in the morning, and was planning to fly back on the team plane in the morning.
* * *
Emily got back to the hospital and made her way to JJ's room. JJ was asleep, and Emily was transfixed by a moment of intense tenderness for the other woman. The sight of that beautiful face, blond hair spread across the bright white pillow, so young and peaceful in sleep, was riveting. The bruises that marred her face provided an ugly reminder of what she had endured, and Emily again felt a visceral urge to visit some serious violence on Mr. Charles Shrader.
She stood for a moment, enjoying this rare chance to openly study JJ's features -- something she couldn't do usually. She studied the delicate features, and marveled at how when JJ was awake, they filled with liveliness and humor, or empathy and compassion.
She chided herself for taking advantage of the other woman's privacy, and was turning to leave when she noticed that JJ was stirring restlessly. A small furrow appeared between her brows, and frown appeared. Her eyes snapped open, wide and panicky, like they were in the ambulance. She gazed wildly around the room, and Emily immediately stepped up next to the bed, in JJ's line of sight.
"Hey, how are you doing?" Emily said, soothingly.
JJ seemed to visibly relax when she saw Emily. "Not too bad," she croaked, smiling back weakly.
"Everything okay?"
"Yeah, fine," JJ said, but her attempt at a confident smile definitely wavered. Her eyes dropped under Emily's understanding gaze. "Well... I think it'll be better when I'm waking up in my own room, actually. All these strange rooms..." she admitted.
"How about if I stay a while," suggested Emily.
"Oh, you don't have to," protested JJ - but rather weakly, in Emily's opinion.
"Don't be silly."
Blue eyes met dark brown in a long moment of understanding.
JJ tried, unsuccessfully, to hide her relief. "Well, it would be nice to have company for a little while," she admitted.
There was a brief pause.
"So, best vacation ever?" Emily asked skeptically
JJ managed a little laugh. "Okay, maybe not."
"Well, if you want to compare notes -- how about the time my mom thought a tour of the U.N. office buildings would be the perfect way to spend my school holiday?"
JJ gaped. "No," she said hoarsely.
And Emily was off, describing a series of perfectly horrible 'vacations' courtesy of her mother, the Ambassador. JJ made encouraging noises at the right spots, but soon drifted off again, the painkillers and exhaustion taking their toll.
Emily let her voice trail off. She sat for a long time, contemplating the blonde. Reassessing everything she knew. She had known how strong and capable the other woman was, but what she had just been through... Her ability to not just survive, but overcome... Emily was in awe. And, if she was honest with her, more attracted to her than ever. However wrong it might be.
JJ stirred, restlessly. The blonde's eyebrows furrowed again; her tossing became more pronounced. Instantly, Emily was on her feet, hovering at the side of the bed. JJ's eyes fluttered open. She seemed surprised to see Emily, but a fleeting look of relief passed across her face before she wrestled her usual confident smile into place. "Hey, sorry about that, I must have dozed off," she said, somewhat hoarsely.
"Go back to sleep. Don't worry, I'll be here," soothed Emily.
JJ looked like she wanted to protest.
"Shhh," said Emily, putting her fingertip gently against JJ's lips. "Just rest." She could see in JJ's eyes a moment of intense gratitude, before the other woman managed a brief yet heartfelt smile.
"Thank you," she whispered, before allowing her eyes to slip closed again. "My own personal power of Prentiss," she murmured as she drifted off.
Emily thought she must have misheard - what on earth was a power of Prentiss? - but didn't worry too much about it. Emily sat in silent vigil through the night, her eyes rarely leaving the other woman's face. When JJ's slumber was troubled -- as it too often was -- Emily was there, either with a reassuring clasp of her hand around JJ's, or standing so that the other woman could see her when her eyes opened.
It was dawn before JJ woke again - and when she saw the sun coming in the windows, she insisted that Emily leave. And she sounded so much better that Emily agreed.
But Emily had had a lot of time to think over the course of the evening. To assess how worried she had been. How much she enjoyed the other woman's company. How she'd like to get to know her much better.
The week's events had crystallized for Emily how she felt about the other woman. And she was determined not to let something that could be special slip away from her.
END PART ONE
Additional Author's note: I'm doing some rewrites to the next section, so that likely won't get up until Monday, what with the Super Bowl this weekend for us Americans.