Disclaimers: I do not own Criminal Minds or the characters.
Spoilers: None
Rating: still a high M.
Trigger Warning: Recounts of abuse, kidnapping, isolation, starvation, molestation, etc. etc. Please do not read if any of this is a trigger for you!
Note: All right! This is the chapter we have ALL been waiting for! 25 months of this monster's terror and abuse, and this is finally Step 1 in our baby's rescue. Next will be Step 2, aka, Day 1 in her road to recovery!
Let's get this show on the road!
2 months later
August 1985
2 years, 1 month, 5 days
25 months, 5 days
109 weeks, 4 days
767 days
18, 408 hours
1,104,480 minutes
66,268,8000 seconds
No matter how you count it, no matter how you say it, these past years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, seconds, have been the longest the Prentiss and Scott families have ever had to endure.
But that does not even begin to compare to the pain, and torture, and punishment 7-year-old Jennifer Jareau has had to suffer through.
This is the end of that.
It is the beginning of her recovery.
It is the beginning of her reentering society and it is the beginning of her trust being restored….
This is…
Day 1 of Jennifer's rescue…
*Inside the cabin. Around 11:45 a.m.*
It all started with a call.
A little boy, about the age of 11, was calling to say that he believed the little girl who was also staying in the cabin he was in was…
Named Jennifer Jareau, aged 6, almost 7. The same Jennifer Jareau whose body was reportedly found two years ago, way back in 1983, when JJ was first reported missing.
You see, that day, July 4 of 1983, Jenny was walking back from the park with some of her cousins, after going on a trip her parents, Sandra and Michael Jareau, and big sister and brother, Roslyn and Elijah.
A van supposedly pulled up beside JJ and the cousins she was walking with. A door was yanked open, and a man, in all black and a ski mask covering his face, reached out, grabbed Jenny and Leslie, and pulled them into the van before it was screeching off.
A body was found two weeks later. It was positively identified as that of 5-year-old Jennifer Jareau. Her cousin, 3-year-old Leslie Jareau had yet to be found. Now it is two years later, and the police got a very shocking call from this little boy.
He claimed that Jennifer Jareau was alive not dead. He said that he and an adult came up to a cabin in the woods, and that a little girl and a man was at that cabin. He alleged he is 100% positive that Jennifer Jareau was here, and that she was not found dead two years ago.
The caller, who did not give his name, was so adamant about this, that the dispatcher called Local Police, and sent out a couple of cars to the address that the 11-year-old boy gave. Upon arrival, and entering, they were shocked when…
Jackson Jareau was the man the boy was talking about and…
They searched the entire cabin, both bedrooms, the bathroom, the living room, the kitchen, and the closets…
In the closet closest to the front door they found…
A tiny, emaciated little girl, who could fit the rough estimate of a 4-year-old, but if she were who the boy claimed she was, then she was 3 years older than that, at 7 years old.
She had big blue eyes, blonde hair that was matted and incredibly long, and…
By God, did she fit the description of 5-year-old Jennifer Jareau, whom was supposedly found dead two fucking years ago.
More police were called, Jackson was placed under arrest, and James, Elizabeth, and Emily Prentiss were all called.
A lot of things were revealed during this time.
First, JJ was most certainly not dead. This was a clear as what color is the sky?
The little girl in front of them, who is terrified and mute and tiny and bruised and severely malnourished?
She was alive and… And well…
James is the first one to question it. Once he and Liz and Emily arrive at the cabin. Once they confirm that Jennifer Jareau is, in fact, alive. Emily is… Em is shell-shocked. Two years ago, she attended what she thought was the funeral of her best friend, of the little girl who was once, and still is, her entire life.
Emily Prentiss thought she, at the age of just 13 years old, said to goodbye to Jenny. She thought those dreams, the ones where she was a grown up, and was married, and had kids, and…
And she shared those beautiful moments with Jenny, well, she thought she would never be able to actually do that because… how can you do that with someone who is dead?
It takes Emily nearly half an hour to convince Jenny to come out of the closet that she is in.
"Jenny, Love, you are safe. I know you don't believe me. I know that, but I promise you… are… safe. O.K.? I promise."
Emily puts extra emphasis on the words she signs and hopes that JJ is able to understand. She has no doubt whatsoever that that scumbag didn't let her practice or learn more sign language.
She has to do this several times before JJ even trusts her, I mean, of all the people she should question her trust about. God, it breaks her, it literally breaks her, and she has to bite her tongue to keep from… from crying.
Jesus Christ.
As they load Jen up onto a stretcher, where they had to sedate her because she was so panicky, Emily turns around to find James standing there.
"Daddy…"
Her facial expression crumples and James catches her.
"Oh, baby,"
Words escape him.
How in the fucking world can he even begin to… to say anything that would make this situation even remotely ok?
"Okay, sweetheart, go ahead in there," He gestures to the ambulance. "I'm coming, as well, and we can go to the hospital and just… just come on, come on, now."
:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/
*Pittsburgh Children's Hospital*
"Female, aged 7. Severely malnourished, dehydrated, stunted growth. Temperature and blood pressure normal given the circumstances. Had to be sedated at the scene."
They roll JJ straight up to the Pediatric's Floor. They access her, poking and prodding, taking X-rays and MRI to make sure she has so internal injuries.
They then set her up in a room, a single room instead of her sharing one. And Emily is in there with James and Elizabeth when JJ's Aunt Maria and Uncle Caleb show up.
They've brought their daughters, 8-year-old Elizabeth and Margaret.
Emily is sitting by JJ's bedside when the knock on the door comes.
"Oh, my God."
It is whispered and Emily turns to see Maria and Caleb standing there with… with absolute shock on their faces.
James stands up, going over. "Maria, Caleb, please, come inside."
He offers it gently, understanding exactly what they are feeling. JJ's supposed death two years ago felt like he as losing his own child.
"How–… How… God, how is this…"
Maria walks over to the bed, brushing JJ's overgrown bangs from her forehead, using such gentleness that is a feathery touch.
"Mommy?"
Emily hears the tiny voice, which belongs to the youngest twin, Eliza. She looks over and…
"Oh, Lizzie," She opens her arms for Eliza in one second and the next she has an armful of an 8-year-old, sobbing and wondering what the hell is going on.
They have questions that no one quite has the answer to. They wonder… If Jenny is alive then did that body the police find two years ago actually belong to Leslie Jareau?
And if so, why was the body misidentified? Leslie was bigger than Jenny, she had brown hair, and freckles, and a birthmark on her shoulder.
How was the body identified as Jennifer if it was actually Leslie, and there were so many differences between the two girls?
:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/
It was 18 months ago that Madeline and Rosalyn told their secret.
Jackson Jareau had molested them from the age of three until each of their eleventh birthdays. And they highly suspected he was doing it to his daughters, Leslie and Natalie, and to Jenny, as well.
Rosalyn said she had told her parents, Michael and Sandra Jareau, at some point around her fifth birthday. She said they did not do one thing to stop it, like calling the police, or even believing her.
In fact, she said that multiple times over the years, whenever she misbehaved, Sandy would threaten to Jackson on her, knowing that this would lead to a more severe molestation the next time one occurred.
Madeline had said that she told her mom, as well. About all those times daddy snuck in her room, made her remove her underwear, and made her touch his penis while he… while he fucking stuck his finger into her private parts.
Amber did nothing, quite like Michael and Sandy.
Maddie had asked her many times if she would "tell daddy to stop touching me down there" but Amber simply ignored her.
The people that Rosalyn and Maddie told was Emily and Em's cousin, Benson, whom the two girls had become incredible close with over the course of the year or so that Emily knew Jenny.
They told Em and Ben that they had a secret that they really, really needed to tell someone.
Benson was expecting, maybe, – God, did he hope – they had a bad grade in school and needed help telling their parents. Or maybe they had done something else, something only a 12-year-old would count as being bad.
But never in their wildest dreams, – even though Emily knew something was wrong with the way Jenny acted around Jackson, – did they expect to hear the words…
My Uncle Jack, Maddie's dad, he… He touches us. Down there. And I think he is doing it to Natalie, Leslie, and was doing it to Jenny, too.
Needless to say, they took charge very quickly.
They told James, and several of Emily and Benson's aunts and uncles who were cops or worked in Law Enforcement.
Things were made worse when they tried to get Maddie and Rosalyn to tell their parents only to be told…
We did. I told them when I was five, and Maddie told them when she was 6, and they never did anything. They knew it and allowed it to keep happening.
And by God, Benson did not think it could get worse. He thought his heart could not fracture anymore than what it already was but then…
Then he was someone else's confidant.
He was the confidant that was, again, told that they used to be "touched down there" and he just…
Eli, sweet little Elijah, who had to go through finding out his little sisters were being hurt by their uncle, and…
Michael.
The man who was supposed to fucking protect his goddamn children.
But no…
Because apparently, the molestation that Jackson did?
Apparently, it was a "Family Thing."
Because not only did Jackson do it to his daughters and his nieces but…
Michael did it to Elijah, as well.
At that, Child Protective Services were called right away. An investigation was done, and Rosalyn, Elijah, Madeline, and Natalie were removed from their parents' custody.
Madeline and Natalie were sent to live with relatives, but Rosalyn and Elijah were put into the custody of Elizabeth and James Prentiss.
Sandra and Michael Jareau was arrested and have been in prison. Amber Jareau was arrested and is now in prison.
All that is left… is for Jackson Jareau to get his day in court.
:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/
JJ wakes up about three hours after arriving at the hospital. The sedation drug from earlier had worn off an hour after she arrived here but her body has been through so much trauma over the last two years that it just needed to… to just go to sleep for a while.
When she wakes up is when the real problems begin.
She is absolutely hysterical, unable to process what the fuck is going on. She had been at that cabin for 25 months, over two years.
She had not been allowed to step outside not once, to feel the grass between her toes, the sunshine on her face, and now she is somewhere that is completely new, and she is just… going into sensory overload and freaking the hell out.
She is severely malnourished and underdeveloped and the slightest upset cause her distress and to throw up.
Emily climbs into bed with her, they close the door and turn off all the lights and Emily sings to her, over and over, hoping to calm her even just a little bit.
They have to do an IV of fluids and medicine and nutrients. They can't get her to eat or drink, so everything is going straight through the IVs or the Gastrostomy tube, also knows as a G-tube. It is a feeding tube that goes straight through her sin and into her stomach.
It is as good as the doctors are able to do right now, and even then, Emily has to be the one to feed her through it as Jen goes into severe panic attacks whenever someone she does not know so much as steps into the room let alone comes close enough to touch her.
:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/
Jennifer Jareau is in the hospital for three weeks. She gains four pounds and is learning that she will not be punished and can eat.
Because apparently that is something she was punished for.
If she did not eat what was given to her, Jackson simply made her go without. She would go days and the most was 6 without so much as anything other than a few slices of bread and water.
Now, she is learning that whenever she does something that was considered "bad" (even if it is not, in fact, actually "bad") that she will not be punished by her food being taken away.
She is still extremely sensitive to sounds and lights and strangers and people crowding her. She is having nightmares and is in diapers and will not speak or sign or do anything. She is having multiple panic attacks each day.
Today though…
Today is a good day…
Today is August 30th, 1985, and Jennifer Jareau is going home.
"I know that it may seem as if she is not progressing much," Jen's doctor, Elaine Mitchell, tells Elizabeth and James. "But she is gaining weight, and she is getting better, developmentally wise, and you just need to keep doing what you have been doing; being patient with her, reassuring her that she can do certain things without being in trouble."
"Just keep giving her fluids and feeding her through the G-tube, and we will see you in two weeks to make sure everything is still on track and that she is growing the way she needs to be."
Meanwhile, in the room, Emily is signing to JJ, to try and get her to understand that they will be leaving soon.
"Hey, Love. Guess what… You get to go home. Isn't that exciting?"
Jen's eyes immediately widen, and she shakes her head. She knows what will happen if she goes outside.
She had tried a few times, but then stopped, because her punishment was for Jackson to molest her or to sleep naked with him, and sometimes, when he thought those things were not working, he would put her in the closet.
"It's O.K., Love," Emily soothes. "I promise. You will not get in trouble. You are coming home with me, and my mommy and daddy, and I promise it will be O.K."
It takes several, several times for Emily to repeat this. And she helps Jen out of bed.
Together, the two of them, 15-year-old Emily and 7-year-old Jennifer, take literal baby steps out of the hospital room, which JJ has not stepped foot out of for the three weeks she has been here.
James and Elizabeth stay a ways in front of them, watching and waiting to see if their help will be needed.
They go down the hall, around the corner, slowly but surely, and finally…
They get to the elevator.
And for the first time, God, for the first time, Emily sees a glimpse of the little girl she knows is buried deep within that terrified body.
Jen lights up. Literally. She always loved elevators. She loved to push the buttons and watch the doors close and she loved that split-second weightless feeling as the elevator moved up or down.
"Do you want to push the button, Love?" Emily asks but JJ hesitates because she is not allowed to "want" things. So instead of letting the pressure of answering consume the little girl, Emily scoops her up, and then leans close the "up" and "down" buttons by the elevator.
"Help me do it, Love, how's that? I need you to help me push, show me what to do. Do I do it like this?" She flattens her palm against the buttons and JJ, god, she smiles and shakes her head.
"What about this?"
Emily flips her hand over, so the backs of her fingers are on the buttons. Again, JJ shakes her head, tiny and imperceptible. She points to the button and Emily watches, waits, holds her breath…
JJ pushes it. It lights up and when she turns, eyes wide and panicky, to Em, the older girl smiles big and praises her.
They enter and JJ pushes the button for the first floor and off they go…
As they step outside, JJ is once again down, instead of being carried by Emily, although her tiny little hand is in a very strong grip on Em's fingers.
They walk outside and…
JJ pauses.
She tilts her head up towards the sky and…
Breathes in deeply.
The breeze in her hair feels amazing, the birds are chirping and the sun…
God does the sun feel absolutely incredible on her face.
3 months later – November 15th, 1985
It has been an astonishing long three months since everything happened.
Benson walks into his aunt and uncle's house, goes straight to the kitchen, and finds Emily in there, feeding JJ through her G-tube and also preparing what seems to be spaghetti and meatballs.
Starting two weeks ago, Emily, James, and Elizabeth have been slowly getting JJ used to Benson being around her.
Today is a special day.
Today is the day that Benson spends all day with Emily and JJ.
They started out with knowing that Benson was in the house, then he started inching closer to the room Em and Jen were inside of. Then, slowly but surely, he made it to the doorway. This part went on for three days, because it gave JJ great anxiety to see him in the doorway.
Once she understood that he was, in no way, going to touch her, hurt her, or come closer unless she was 100% ok with it, the anxiety eased up.
Benson knocks on the wall next to the doorway of the kitchen in order to alert both of them to his presence.
They both look to him, and…
JJ smiles.
And it makes him feel so good.
He looks his cousin over, from the dark circles under her eyes to the way her hair is up in a messy bun and looks unkempt.
JJ is playing with the bear that James got her. It is named Fe, which is Spanish for Faith. Because that is what is getting everyone through these days.
Faith that there are better times coming.
Faith that JJ will, eventually, sleep through the night without a nightmare.
Faith that Jackson will get the maximum sentencing in his trial for everything he has put Jen and her siblings and cousins, and in turn, Emily and her family, through.
Fe has a little tube going into her "belly" and JJ uses a syringe to "put" different medicine or food through the tube, the same way Emily does with the 7-year-old's feeding tube.
When he is sure JJ is preoccupied with Fe, Benson walks closer to Emily.
"Rough night?"
It is said in a low voice, so JJ does not hear it.
Emily just… looks at him. "What do you think? Nightmare after nightmare after nightmare. And a couple of panic attacks just for the hell of it."
He sighs.
"I'm sorry. I wish there was something I could do."
And God, how he wishes it. Just for one night he would love to take away this little girl's anxieties, bad dreams, and give her one good night's worth of sleep, and then he would like to make it to where she can get through a day, just 24 hours, without a panic attack.
It is later in the day when that exact thing happens…
JJ was playing with her new toys, which are piling up around the Prentiss household because everyone, strangers, family, friends, teachers and students, and those who would have been her classmates this year.
She gets overexcited about something, Emily is not sure what.
She is playing with her baby dolls and their accessories and…
The next is she coughing and gulping for breath and Emily is walking her through taking "Deep Belly Breaths"…
"You're ok, Love. You are all right. Just breathe with me. In… out. Feel my belly move? Make yours move, too. In… and out. It is going to be ok. You are ok. You are safe. You are not going to be hurt. Just breathe with me…"
Benson watches from a few feet away, his heart breaking for both of them.
1 month later – December 10th, 1985
1 more month has gone past.
It is December, 4 months since Jennifer Jareau was rescued from that cabin.
4 months since she has been out in the real world again.
And four months since Jackson Jareau was arrested and charged with Child Abuse, Child Endangerment, unlawfully holding a person captive, indecent exposure (from the pictures he had of himself and JJ, together, completely nude), having child pornography (photos of JJ in the nude, in various places – bath, bed, etc.), kidnapping a child, and many, many more things.
Today is his sentencing hearing.
Today is the day Emily, Benson, James, Elizabeth, Rosalyn, and Elijah, and many other people get to hear what this sorry excuse for a human will get for everything he has done.
Emily is home, as is Elizabeth. Benson went to the hearing because Maddie and Rosalyn wanted him to. Elijah is at home with Liz, his baby sister, and Em.
They are watching everything on TV. It is the one of most viewed trials in the State of Pennsylvania as of right now.
Everyone files into the Courtroom, the Judge bangs his gavel, the people in the room stand then are seated.
The Judge, named John Harper, is the same Judge who sentenced Sandra and Michael Jareau, and Amber Jareau to Life without the Possibility of Parole.
And now…
After hearing and seeing the evidence of everything this asshole put Jennifer through for over two years…
After hearing Madeline and Rosalyn talk about how he touched them, every night for Madeline, and a total of 2 weeks' worth of days each of month for Rosalyn.
After all the shit that he has heard…
He is finally getting to put this scumbag away, as well.
Judge John Harper bangs his gavel one time, saying, "Will the accused please stand." And Jackson stands up from where he seated.
"I, Judge John Harper, sentence you, Jackson Thomas Jareau, for the charges of Child Endangerment, Child Molestation, Child Kidnapping, Unlawful Imprisonment, Child Pornography, and multiple other charges of which I do not wish to list out loud, to be put to death by Lethal Injection."
Bang, bang
Silence envelopes the room for about 6 seconds before everyone just…
Understands what the Judge just said. And then…
The room erupts into pandemonium.
People cheering, crying, yelling out…
Elijah jumps up from the couch at this and… He turns to Emily who is sitting on the couch, with JJ in her lap, wide-eyed.
The camera on the TV pans the room and it shows a glimpse of Benson swooping both Rosalyn and Maddie into arms. James hugs all three of them.
Well, Elijah thinks.
It's over.
It is finally over.
For all the abuse and pain and heartache he and his family has been though, that Jen and her family have been though.
It is finally over.
And what a great thing to have happen just before Christmas.
Now…
There is not one thing he could ask for that would top this moment right here.
Nothing at all.
And there it is… The End of Best Friends Forever (version 2)!
This chapter skipped around quite a bit. I tried to show how JJ was affected by being held captive for two years by Jackson Jareau, and then that she was slowly getting better. She has nightmares, panic attacks, and is very wary around people, but it was slowly getting better.
I know that this may seemed rushed and I am sorry for that. I had much more planned, but this has taken so long to be finished, and I just really, really wanted to mark it complete. I am excited to my new Young!CM story up. I just know you will love it!
THANK YOU to EVERYONE who has reviewed, read, followed, favorited, requested a chapter, helped write a chapter, or anything else that contributed to my writing this story. I posted this FOUR YEARS ago, and it has been quite the journey. I had fun, I shed tears, I worked endlessly on researching, and…
Well… This is the result. So, thank you!
Please review and let me know what you thought! :)