Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds.

The world is indeed full of peril and in it there are many dark places.

But still there is much that is fair. And though in all lands, love is now

mingled with grief, it still grows, perhaps, the greater.

- J. R. R. Tolkien

June 20, 1990

3:00 pm

"Emily!" Joe, my boss, yells across the small café.

"Please excuse me." I murmur to the customer I'm supposed to be serving. "Sarah will help you now." I walk towards the back office. "What is it, Joe?"

He scowls at me; "There's someone on the phone for you. You know I don't like you giving out this number."

I wince. "Sorry. I only gave the number to my roommate in case of an emergency. "

He sighs then shrugs. "The guy does sound pretty freaked out."

Guy? What guy? I wonder to myself and answer the phone. "Hello, this is Emily."

A familiar voice responds, "Emily! It's Roger Jareau. I'm at the hospital with Sandy."

My jaw drops in surprise, "Roger, what's happened?"

He sighs. "Sandy's water broke just over two hours ago."

I frown and mumble, "It's too soon."

"Yes," I can almost hear him flinch. "But that's not actually why I'm calling."

"Oh?" What could be worse than Sandy possibly losing Jessie's Faerie Princes?

"Have you heard from JJ?" He asks, hope colouring his voice.

"No." I shake my head. "I've been at work for the past several hours."

"Would she have called your apartment?" His tone is more hesitant now.

"No," I frown. "Jennifer knows my work schedule; she wouldn't have called the apartment. Anyway, Maggie is there and she didn't call me to say anything was wrong. So, what's wrong? Why are you asking me about Jennifer?"

"We left JJ at home and her aunt was supposed to pick her up, but when Charlotte arrived, JJ was gone. We think she's run away." He chokes back a sob.

My heart constricts. Oh, that's definitely worse. "Why?" I whisper.

"She was arguing with her mom when Sandy's water broke. Emily, the police want to know where to look." Roger tone changes from defeated to hopeful. "Do you have any ideas?"

I furiously wrack my brain. Where does Jennifer like to hide? "Um. They should try the cemetery and the ravine. I assume they've already checked the tree house, the school, and the soccer fields?"

"Yes. Thank you Emily!" He sighs. "I hate to ask, but can you come here? I can't leave Sandy to look for JJ. She doesn't even know that JJ is missing!"

"Um. I-" I mentally calculate how much money I have in my bank account and wince.

Roger correctly interprets my hesitance. "I will pay for your plane ticket, just say that you'll come!"

I close my eyes in relief. "I'll be on the next flight out."

"Thank you Emily!" He hangs up.

I turn around and see Joe leaning against the wall just out of earshot.

He frowns. "What's wrong Emily? You look terrible."

My head is buzzing. "My sister is missing. She's only 11."

Joe's jaw drops.

I run my fingers through my hair. "I - I need to go. They live far away, I need to take a plane to reach them."

He nods. "Sure, just let me know when you're coming back."

"Thanks," I mumble and attempt to smile. I don't think it works because Joe winces and looks away.

9:00 pm

I'm paired up with a dark haired, gangly, teenage boy named Raphael. He's Jessie's friend Rafe and he is as surprised to see me, as I am to see him. I shove thoughts of Rafe, and his pen pal Matthew, away and focus on the task at hand. We are told that the woods are the only place left to search as the ravine has already been scoured and the rest of the likely and unlikely places around town have been checked.

We can hear the other search parties calling out for my little sister, but they're calling her JJ. It makes me wince every single time. Rafe, from what I can tell, is also bothered by it.

I've never thought about how to search for a missing child and I'm not sure I ever want to again.

Night has fallen and the sound of dogs barking and howling makes my skin crawl. We continue to comb the woods together, long after several other teams have given up for the evening. Sitting in the back of my mind is the unpleasant thought that maybe, something terrible has happened to her. I'm not sure I could take another blow like that.

"Jennifer!" Rafe bellows off to my right.

I echo him: "Jennifer!"

"Emily?" Comes a small voice to my left.

I freeze in my tracks and shine my flashlight around at waist level. "Where are you Jenny?"

The soft voice speaks again, "Up here."

I raise my flashlight to the trees and see a pair of blue and grey sneakers just above my head.

"Is it really you, Emily?" She shakes her head, "No. I must be dreaming. You're hundreds of miles away. Maybe the hellhounds have eaten me and I'm in Annwyn. Do you think Jessie will be here with the Faerie Princess soon?" She yawns, "Do faeries like pancakes? I like pancakes."

"It really is me, Jennifer." I laugh, delighted to have found her.

"Come down, drama Queen!" Rafe calls up to her.

Jennifer blinks owlishly at him. "I'm definitely dreaming. There is no way the two of you would be here, together."

I put my hands on my hips and scowl. "Jennifer Louise Jareau, you scared the hell out of me! So much so, that I hopped on the first plane available. Come down right now, so I can smother you in a hug."

She frowns. "I couldn't even if I wanted too. I'm stuck."

Rafe bursts out laughing.

"It's not nice to laugh Rafael." Jennifer scowls. "Do it again and I'll tell Emily about the time you and Steve c-"

He stops laughing immediately and cuts her off. "I'll come up and get you. I know we taught you how to climb trees years ago, Jennifer. Maybe next weekend we should go over how to climb back down again, okay?"

She smiles triumphantly. "Okay!"

Rafe climbs up the tree, all the while muttering about why in the hell Jennifer climbed all the way up there.

"I was scared," she whispers just loud enough for me to hear. "I heard the hellhounds and thought there were going to eat me!"

"You heard the search dogs Jennifer!" he growls. "We've been looking everywhere for you!"

She flinches. "I'm sorry."

Rafe sighs, "I'm sorry for snapping at you. Climb onto my back and I'll get you down."

Once Jennifer is safely on the ground, I grab her by the shoulders and shake her slightly. "Don't you ever, run away again! Do you hear me?"

"Yes, Emily." She nods, her blue eyes wide.

"Not unless you have somewhere, or someone to run to." I lean in and kiss her forehead.

Jennifer gins up at me, "Can I run to you then?"

I wrap my arms around her and give into the overwhelming desire to cry.

"Shh!" She whispers and pats my back.

I stand up, Jennifer still wrapped in my arms.

She gives a small gasp of surprise before instinct takes over: she wraps her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck.

Rafe uses his flashlight to light our way back to the house.

Jennifer rests her head on my shoulder and whispers in my ear. "It's all my fault."

"What is?" I whisper back.

"I was fighting with mama because she wanted to turn Jessie's bedroom into a nursery and then her water broke and I was so scared Emily! It's too early for the baby to come now. Mama said she's not due for another 9 weeks! The baby is going to die Emily and it's all my fault!"

"It's not your fault," I whisper. "We'll call your dad as soon as we get to the house and he can tell you what's going on with your mama the baby."

"He's going to be so angry!" She shudders in my arms.

I cross my fingers and lie. "I'm sure it'll be okay."

AN: Thank you for reading. Please review if you have something to say.