But to love is to live. (Criminal Minds)

XXXVI. Testimonies

A/N: ⚠️Sexual Assult, Eating Disorder, Rape⚠️

The whole group found themselves once again in the ever suffocating courtroom. The dark wood seemed to make the room feel smaller; the shard lines and edges were an ever reminder of the trauma that each and every one of them had endured.

Schmidt was the name of Mike's lawyer and on this fateful day he muttered out the words

"The defense calls Roselyn Jaureu-Prentiss to the stand."

Grace stood gingerly walking towards the stand. She stepped up onto the platform carefully sitting in the chair. Her eyes went out into the crowd, her Moms gave her a reassuring look but her eyes ultimately settled onto Hotch before finding the face of the man who was about to question her.

Schmidt leaned on the edge getting as close to her as possible. In turn she sunk as deep into her chair as she could getting wanting to escape his crooked smile and nasty breath.

"Roselyn. That's a pretty name, where did you get that?"

"Objection! Relevance?"

"I just wanted to compliment her."

"Counselor please stick with questions pertaining to the case at hand."

The man nodded curtly before asking "Can you tell me about that night? How many drinks did you have?"

"Uhm one."

"You sound uncertain."

"The whole night is kinda a haze."

"Why is that? Too many drinks perhaps?"

"Objection!"

"You may answer the question miss."

"It was because the drink I did have was spiked."

"How can you be sure?"

"My blood work..."

The man kept pushing and pushing trying to find any crack in Grace's story. Grace put on a look that said all too well I can take it. Hotch gave her a nod of reassurance while Grace continued to be grilled. It felt like forever till the man muttered "No further questions."

Hotch took his time walking towards Grace allowing her a minute to rest.

"Grace, can you tell us what happened on the night in question?"

Grace took a long slow voice "Dean and I rolled into the party at around ten I had one drink. I drank it slowly about an hour into the party and I started to feel woozy. I was dragged up the stairs and pushed into a room then I was-"

"Can you point to the man who raped you?" Hotch asked

Grace raised a hand pointing firmly at Mike.

"Thank you no further questions."

Grace was cross-examined for another thirty minutes before she was finally allowed to step down from the hot seat. She Walked with the same composure as she did when she first walked up there but

The world seemed to spin and right before Grace's eye, the seat she once occupied upon the stand was now filled by the devil himself. The man who took away her innocence.

"...tell us what happened that night piece by piece."

Mike rolled his eyes slouching into the seat.

"Listen this girl was falling all over me so I took her upstairs and did her the way I wanted."

Hotch dropped a sheet over a poster board revealing the images taken of Grace's battered body in the hospital "Does this look consent to you?"

He smirked "What can I say? Some girls like it rough"

"Rough huh? Rough carve their name in a minor's side. Rough leads to someone losing their ability to have kids?"

"HEY! THE LITTLE BITCH WAS ASKING FOR IT!" He exploded

"Order! Order!"

JJ and Emily bounced in their seats both ready to lunge over all the tables and strangle the man who took away their daughter's innocence.

Dean sat in the chair fidgeting in the seat as Hotch asked "What exactly did you see...?"

He rubbed his hands down his pants "Uhm. I lost her at the party. We were together then I turned and she was gone. I searched the entire ground floor."

"What made you go upstairs?"

"Someone gestured that way so I quickly bound up them."

"What did you see when you got up there?"

"I had to walk down a long hallway. The door was closed but I could hear struggling. When I opened the door he-"

"Mike?"

"Yes. Mike was uhm... he was uhm... on top of Grace."

"What did you do?"

"She was fighting but slowing. She looked terrified."

"So you ripped him off?"

"I did. Then I blocked him waiting for the ambulance to arrive."

Last on the stand was Addison Montgomery the following morning. As Grace, JJ and Emily stood outside the courtroom they caught sight of the fire-red hair. Addison walked over in designer close as usual. "How are you Grace?"

"Tired."

Addison looked down at her with kind eyes "You will always be my favorite patient. Because of your strength."

Addison sat there regal as ever regaling all her medical facts telling in grueling nauseating detail exactly how Mike ripped and tore at every bit of Grace.

Grace looked and felt like crap as she walked through the front door. She instantly walked into her bathroom to shower before walking downstairs where Emily, JJ, and Elizabeth sat. Grace walked over snuggling into Emily. Emily wrapped her arm around her daughter kissing her temple. Grace whispered, "It'll be over tomorrow?"

Emily kissed Grace's head again "It'll be over tomorrow."

Grace snuggled further into her Mama wanting to hide away from the rest of the world. Elizabeth sat across the room, tears quicking to her eyes as she watched her daughter and granddaughter. She always knew motherhood suited her daughter but in light of recent events, Elizabeth found herself thinking how Grace looked smaller now in Emily's arms than she ever did as a toddler. Elizabeth knew these moments of the good, the bad, and the worst parts of their life would mean the most in the long run. Grace's eyes became heavy as Emily's ever-present heartbeat thumped in her ear. A position that has put Grace to sleep ever since she was an infant.

Elizabeth whispered out into the room "She looks so little in your arms."

The two Moms looked down at her lovingly "She's lost too much weight."

Elizabeth shook her head "It's not that. She cuddles into you like she did when she was small."

Emily's face said it all. There was pain from what caused her daughter to retreat to a cuddling monster to the joy that having Grace's weight back on her.

JJ said "I think I'm going to take her to the soccer field soon. She needs a break."

They engaged in small talk for a few hours before they all retired to their respective rooms. Emily laying Grace in the middle of their bed knowing she would end up there eventually.