Chapter Text
"To suffer woes which hope thinks infinite,
To forgive Wrongs Darker Than Death Or Night;
To defy power, which seems Omnipotent;
To love and bear;
To hope, till hope creates from its own wreck the thing it contemplates;
Neither to change nor falter nor repent;
This, like thy glory, Titan! is to be good, great and joyous, beautiful and free;
This is alone Life, Joy, Empire and Victory."
— Percy Bysshe Shelley
JJ woke up with a start, which immediately had her on alert because she didn't even remember falling asleep. Something had happened to her. Something bad. But she just couldn't figure it out because her memory was fuzzy.
Looking around, JJ saw that she was in a bedroom of some kind, in a house that wasn't hers. Or even one that she recognized.
The room was plain, but rundown, with an almost abandoned feel to it. The more JJ looked around, the more she started having flashbacks to her childhood bedroom on the farm in Pennsylvania. Everything in this room, from the floor to the furniture, looked like it had been decorated some time in the seventies. Or the eighties. Even the toys on the dresser, the posters on the walls, and the clothes hanging in the closet showed that this had been the room of a teenage girl. Way back in the day.
"I need to get out of here," JJ murmured as she rose to her feet. But then she let out a curse when she felt woozy.
She'd been a federal agent long enough to recognize a concussion when she had one. And she would be remiss to not recognize it now, as she frantically wracked her brain, in hopes that she could remember who had done this to her.
JJ swore again when she realized that she was without her gun and credentials, and also that she was barefoot. Her captor had even gone so far as to remove her shoes. Real thought had been put into this abduction. A third curse escaped her lips when JJ felt physically sick. She had been drugged, and she could still feel the substance coursing through her system. There was even a funny feeling in the back of her throat. How alarming.
JJ stood, but took only two steps before collapsing in an unceremonious heap on the room's faded shag carpet. The drug was really doing its job.
She wasn't sure how long she was out, but she came to as her subconscious which sounded a lot like Emily scolded her for falling asleep while concussed. JJ also heard somewhere in the distance, a grandfather clock chiming.
She lay there. Counting.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.
So it was eight in the morning… wherever she was…
"What was I doing?" she asked herself. "I wish I could remember."
JJ was greeted by a loud silence.
"But I need to get out of here." she said softly. "I need to get help. Now."
Carefully and quietly, JJ crept across the room and tried the door. To her surprise, it wasn't boobytrapped. And it was even unlocked. Exercising even more caution, JJ stole out into the hallway. She found multiple doors that led to bedrooms and maybe even an attic at one end of the hallway. But at the opposite end? A staircase that led to the first floor.
All of JJ's senses were on hyperdrive because she didn't have a weapon, so she exercised great caution as she made her way to the first floor of the empty house. And the front door was easy to find. But it had been boarded up. From the inside. But it was late December. And almost everything outside was a frozen wasteland.
On her left, JJ saw a dining room. To the right? She spotted a sitting room. But most importantly... JJ spotted her phone on an end table. She felt sure that this was all too good to be true. But she would handle that mess later.
Still on the lookout for the unsub, JJ ran for her phone. Fast. Almost dropped it in her haste to unlock the device. But she soon found the 'favorite contacts' widget. Then she selected a most familiar name. All she could do as she held the phone to her ear? Pray that the other person answered. Quickly.
Meanwhile...
Emily stood on the catwalk between her office and the bullpen. Surveyed her tiny realm of madness. But her thoughts drifted for a few moments now.
Emily had been back at work for awhile since giving birth to Schuyler and Charlotte. Precious Isobel even lit up her life the same way. And TJ... He was the absolute love of her life. Going back to work while having a family of her own really changed the map. But she finally understood what she'd heard every other agent with a family say about going back to work after having a baby. It was life-changing.
And Emily's thoughts drifted again. This time? She briefly envisioned life with Jareau kid number for. Emily wanted to be pregnant again, just one more time. TJ knew. But they were currently at an impasse about the matter.
So it was with a sigh that she dismissed even these thoughts. And looked once more upon her tiny realm of madness. Just to observe.
All of the usual office workers were there. But she did see other varying members of her own team.
Penelope leaned against the kitchen counter, next to the coffee pot. She had her own mug of the stuff close at hand. But she stopped to check something on her phone. Tara was a few feet away at the table, poring over a specific page of the newspaper. Knowing her? Sport updates. Her own steam mug of coffee was within reach. Luke sat opposite her, going over old case files from years past. He wanted to learn. Spencer was the only person at his desk, nose buried in a book. Emily knew he was trying not to let the ringing of the phones get to him. Any one of them could be a call about Grace going into labor. So Emily made a note to not call for the man. Unless it was utterly pressing.
But Emily's heart did an un-fun flip when she realized she didn't see JJ. At all.
A voice disrupted her thoughts. "Emily?"
The woman turned to see Rossi join her. He even surveyed the others, too. But he came out of it having the same thought process.
"Emily," Rossi said to his friend. "Where is JJ?"
Emily sighed, "Late. I'm beginning to feel disconcerted. I've had texts about her from TJ and my mother."
Now Rossi's attention was piqued. "Oh?"
"Mhm. TJ asked me to ask her about a left-behind toy." explained Emily. "My husband misremembered that it'd been forgotten at Grace's house, not the LaMontagne place. But Isobel collected it. Now all is right in Schuyler's world."
"Hm. All's well that ends well." quipped Rossi. "But what did Elizabeth want?"
"She wanted to know if I'd heard from JJ at all today." said Emily. "Mother had something for JJ. And she was to collect it on the way to work."
Rossi lifted an eyebrow. "And JJ never made it?"
"Uh-huh. JJ loves mother. She would at least text her." now Emily began to feel bleak. "But at least Sandy is visiting relatives in another state. A chat with her is one thing to put off."
"But," Rossi gently steered Emily back on track. "JJ didn't check in with Elizabeth? So far as you know?"
Emily nodded. "Mhm. I even called JJ awhile ago and got nothing. Just voicemail. I'm going to call Will in a minu..."
But Emily was cut off. Her desk phone began to ring. It seemed extra loud amongst the bleak thoughts. Emily's heart jumped when she saw JJ's name on the screen. And quite the unpleasant feeling formed in the pit of her stomach.
"JJ?" Emily called her partner's name after accepting the call and changing the console over to speaker mode. "Where are you?"
But the sound of someone crying reached her ears. Emily's heart dropped. Quite fast.
Trying again, she asked JJ, "Are you hurt?"
JJ's answer came in a whisper. "Yes. And there's a drug in my system. But I have no idea what."
Emily was already in tears of her own. "Sweetheart? Where are you?"
JJ's panic just grew. "No clue. I was run off the road, and..."
But JJ stopped short. Footsteps were approaching. And Emily? She could only listen in horror at what happened next.
JJ cried out, "What the hell are you doing? No! Don't!"
Emily heard the footsteps drawing closer on JJ's end of the line. JJ's panic increased. Tenfold.
The younger woman's words were at a shriek. "PLEASE DON'T! I HAVE A FAMILY! NO! I'LL BE SO GOOD, BUT JUST PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!"
Across the building...
Penelope had settled into her office at last. But she was just beginning to wonder if she should comment about JJ's increasingly odd absence when Emily burst into the room. And she looked extremely upset about something.
"Emily," Penelope spoke to her boss with caution after she'd at least settled in a chair. "What's wrong?"
But she didn't speak. The fresh sounds of JJ's horrified pleas had thoroughly freaked her out. Penelope had a sigh of relief when Emily at least followed through on a request to squeeze her hand. It had been done. Quite hard. However... she still didn't speak. At all.
Penelope felt better when Rossi, Spencer, Tara, and Luke finally caught up and moved into the room. Emily had hurried so fast that each of them had only just arrived.
"Did Emily tell you what's got her so freaked out?" Rossi asked. "I saw her take a phone call, shriek, and take off over here."
But Penelope said, "No. Emily hasn't said anything yet."
"Hey." Rossi spoke gently to Emily as they formed a half-circle around her. "What's got you so rattled?"
Emily spoke at last. "I just got a nightmare of a call. But I mean that in every sense of the word."
Spencer asked, "What happened?"
"JJ's called. But something has gone horribly wrong." Emily looked around at them. "She has been kidnapped, she's hurt, even drugged!"
Her company fell silent. They were horrorstuck. And rightly so.
"JJ also said she was run off the road. But I have no idea where her van is." Emily went on. "And she didn't get any further than that because the unsub found her."
Luke asked, "Were you at least able to hear the unsub say anything when they came near the phone?"
"No." Emily shook her head. "All I heard was JJ pleading. For her life."
Now Spencer turned to Penelope. "Can you play the call in here? Or trace it?"
"Mhm. For you," she sat back in her own chair. "I can do both."
But they listened to the call together. And with heavy hearts. Nothing else mattered besides bringing JJ home.
"And," Penelope switched screens to a map when the audio file finished. "I've tracked JJ's phone. But no dice. Weird..."
Emily rose to her feet as she began to work on composing herself and her appearance. "Whatever it was you were expecting isn't there?"
Penelope nodded. "Blondie's phone must've been switched completely off right after the phone went dead. I... I can't even find a signal to ping."
Emily raised an eyebrow. "Do you think you can turn JJ's phone on remotely?"
"Yes." Penelope answered. "But it'll take awhile."
"Then get a start on that please." decided Emily. "And call me when you've got a location to report."
"Okay." said Penelope. "I understand."
Emily thanked her. But then she reconvened with everyone else a few feet away. The space would have to do for a meeting. All else just fell away.
"Luke," Emily said to the man as he came to stand beside her. "I need you to start a missing persons report and issue a BOLO for JJ's van. Pronto."
"On it." Luke acknowledged with a head-bob. "I will be at my desk."
Spencer moved forward, asking, "Would you like me to go talk to your mother?"
But Emily shook her head. "No. Please go find Will and get him here before he finds out about the situation from a news report."
And Spencer left the ring. He knew Emily was keeping him away from her parents' house because Grace worked there. However... being as terrifically pregnant as she was now, Grace hung out the house now. Just in case she went into labor while Spencer was away. But Emily's parents encouraged it. They also kept an eye on Atlas there. So Spencer made no argument.
"Boss." Tara said to Emily when Spencer had gone. "I can go to your parents' house instead."
Emily breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay. Good. Thank you. Bel and Saar will be there. My dad suckered them into helping on a project with his newest published book..."
Tara laughed softly. "Understood. I will call you after I've been to see everyone."
Rossi spoke to Emily as Tara headed off and they began walking towards the lobby. "I will stay here to hold the fort down. But don't go rogue, Emily. Not today."
Emily protested, "I'm just going to visit my husband!"
Rossi didn't miss a beat. "Uh-huh. But have a history of going rogue. Especially where JJ is concerned."
But knowing he was right, Emily said, "She is literally my sister!"
"Mhm." Rossi nodded as they reached floor six's lobby. "I trust you. But just take care of yourself. Okay?"
Emily nodded. "Okay. Deal. I'll go get my things..."
Emily 's attention then became diverted. The closest elevator door opened. Two people, a man and a woman, disembarked. The both even had visitor badges clipped to their coats. Emily could see the woman's face. Just not her companion's because he was keeping his hood on and his completely down. For some reason.
The woman stepped closer as she kept her partner steady, asking, "Would one of you belong to the Behavioral Analysis Unit? I'm looking for Emily Prentiss."
"You've got her." Emily confirmed. "How can I help?"
The woman said of herself, "I am Imogen Rutherford. MPD. My partner wants to talk to you. But I drove him because he needed help. Stat."
The man stood up straight and removed his jacket hood. Rossi took a step back in surprise. Today had just gotten longer. No two ways about it.
Emily bleated, "Will?!"
He looked tear-eyed as he spoke to her. "Emily... We got a call to check on a vehicle that had been run off the road..."
Emily murmured, "This is not happening..."
Will gave a shaky exhale. "Emily... It's JJ's car. She was nowhere in sight. Mo drove us here immediately."
"Okay." Emily tried to sound as collected as she could. "Are you going to be okay walking to my office?"
But as moons and stars and rings danced before his eyes, Will said, "No."
And he toppled to the floor in a dead heap without warning. He was in a system overload. Emily laid Will down and moved away. Imogen worked on waking him back up. Rossi? He called 911.
But Emily just had a pause. It had suddenly occurred to her that she and TJ would be looking after their nephews and niece before the end of the day was over. Question was, for how long?