Truth and Lies

Chapter 7

** Morgan's POV **

The plane jerked suddenly, and then I heard a loud thud, making everyone in jet look up suddenly. 

"What was that?" Rossi asked.

Then I heard a scream and ran the length of the jet to the bathroom in the back. The door opened and I stepped back in shock. JJ was lying on the floor, her eyes closed and a small pool of red forming on the floor by her head. Emily was kneeling beside her, begging her to wake up, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"JJ! JJ!" I yelled, falling to the floor beside Emily.

Garcia called the ambulance ahead of their landing, and paramedics were waiting at the private air strip.

"Hurry, she's been knocked out, I think. I don't know what happened. One minute she was on the counter in the bathroom, and then she was on the floor." Emily blurted out as JJ was carried off the jet.

"Ma'am, it's going to be okay. Take some deep breaths. Do you need a paper bag?" One of the paramedics sat her at the back of the ambulance whilst JJ was being tended to.

"Miss, can you tell me your name? Hello?" The paramedic was checking her eyes with a small torch and trying to talk to her.

"Right we need to go, now. She's losing a lot of blood and her blood pressure's dropping."

We watched as she was driven away, Emily was beside herself with grief.

"Em, talk to me. What did you see?"

"Derek, she was trying to tell me something. Something I could tell that was playing on her mind."

"She'll be alright, Em, it's just a bump on the head." I wrapped my arms around her and she calmed down as we embraced.

We both worried about our friend, we always worry when someone on the team is hurt. It broke me when Reid was kidnapped, and at first, I'd blamed JJ, and then I'd blamed myself. It's natural to blame yourself, but I felt awful. I will always regret being such an ass to her when she was hurting, missing her partner.

I don't think I ever told her how proud I was of her, of how far she's come. Shit. What am I thinking? It's like she's on her deathbed or something. She'll be fine. I had to keep repeating it just to stop thinking the worse. 

"Right, we should focus on the case. The latest two children were taken from a public park, with many eyewitnesses, but nobody actually saw the abduction." Hotch said as they drove away.

"So we have two theories then, right? Either the children knew the unsub and were comfortable around them, or they used some kind of ruse to gain their trust."

"Child abductions have been increasing in Baltimore, so the unsub is extremely confident to be taking children with increased police presence."

"Maybe it's someone who works with children for a living, like a counselor or a social worker. Someone you wouldn't suspect for talking to kids."

"Baby girl, I need you to work some magic for me." I said, pressing her number.

"Derek chocolate thunder Morgan, you are the only thing keeping me together at the moment, how is my poor angel doing?" 

"Penelope, she's in the hospital. She was unconscious when they took her but she should be fine." I tried to hide the worry in my voice. "Can you compile a list of social workers and child counselors in the Baltimore area?"

"Sure thing, I'll need a moment. Let me hit you back when I have something."

The rest of the journey was silent until we arrived at Baltimore PD. The chief detective, Detective Harris, was waiting for our arrival.

"Agents, thanks for coming out here. We've never had such a high rate of abductions in the city. We need all the help we can get." 

"We just need a place to set up, if that's alright." Hotch said as he introduced us.

"Sure, agents, right in here. We've got witness statements, the ME's preliminary report and the evidence board all set up, along with extremely bad coffee. Also, I'm sorry to hear about your agent, Jareau, wasn't it? She was the one I talked to over the phone."

Hotch led us away before we could say anything more, and he shut the door of the small room we were in.

"Right, Morgan and Emily, do you want to go to the hospital and check on JJ and the rest of us will talk to the witnesses to find out what we can that overlaps with all the abductions."

In the car, Emily didn't say anything. She's been extremely quiet and worried.

"Emily, it's gonna be fine. She's a fighter, you know that."

"It's just, she seemed so worried about something. Like, I can't explain it, but it was like she was trying to get something off her chest."

"Well, you can ask her when we see her, okay?"

I held her hand until we arrived and went inside to see her.

"Hi, we're here for Agent Jennifer Jareau?"

"Sorry, agents, she's still in surgery. Please, take a seat."

Emily's eyes were filled with anxiety as we were led to the waiting room. I closed my eyes and started to pray. I haven't prayed in years, not since Reid was abducted, but I had to do something.

"Emily, I can't do this without her."