My Life Had Stood

Chapter Fifty-Two

"...Jemma?" Garcia asked, her throat tightening as she thought about the missing child. Though finding the girl would be wonderful, the tech analyst couldn't help but be terrified of what horrors the unsub may have put the three year old through.

-"It's likely, considering the DNA recovered from the previous dumpsite." JJ replied, her own stomach clenching at the same thought as Garcia. She next asked if Garcia had a list of potential suspects, before continuing. "Check to see if any of those on the list have children living with them."-

"Doing so now...." The sound of Garcia's fingers clacking on the keys echoed over the phone. Her lips twisted and she stared intently on her computer screen while the new parameter narrowed down the list. "And there're eleven with young children living with them."

-"Cross off any with more than one child and those with boys."-

"That leaves five....No, wait, one of them is in prison since last year and another one died two months ago. So that leaves three." Garcia replied, still reading over the information.

-"Okay, now were any of them in D.C at any point three years ago? Around the time of Alsie's accident?"-

"Let's see...." Garcia heart thumped, anticipating narrowing down the remainder to one. Her stomach clenched when the last three were all ruled out. "None of them were. One was in prison, and the other two in rehab."

-JJ grumbled and cursed, not at all liking the result. She frowned thinking about what could be wrong in their search.-

"The unsub stole Jemma, so maybe he's keeping her a secret from his neighbors?" Garcia postulated.

-"It's possible she's undocumented." JJ replied slowly, her thoughts immediately on the implications. If the unsub was keeping the child secret, then it was possible that Jemma wasn't receiving any medical care or whatnot. It would also make it difficult to track the girl. "....there's bound to have been something - a cold or injury - that would've made the unsub bring the child to the hospital. Even if only as a baby, after kidnapping her."-

"....that could take a while, going through the medical records."

0

+flashback+

"Shhh, love. Shh." The man crooned above her, her wrists tied to the bedpost. Her throat sore from the chain wrapped around it, and her eyes wide.

"...." She didn't make a sound, her heart thumping and her stomach twisting. The tone of voice was one she recognized, though the man using it was different. Her eyes teared up around the edges. 'He's just like daddy....'

x

"....Alsie?" Lewis repeated, her voice finally breaking through to the petite woman who clenched herself into a ball. "Are you all right?"

"...." Alsie shivered unconsciously, her eyes widening gradually as the flashback faded. Her gaze became more focused on the hospital room. Though her thoughts were entangled in the memory, one she'd kept locked deeply away. It had been the last clear one as a child before her blackouts began. "I...."

"Alsie? Do you want me to get Dr. Freeman?"

Alsie simply stared, her cheeks incredibly pale, at the agent. Her flashback of the man and what he called her, mingled with another. One much more recent though still a few years old. Three to be exact.

Alsie started to hyperventilate, her fingers digging into her palms.

"Calm down. Alsie. It's all right. It's all right." Lewis started to say, keeping her voice level in effort to calm the woman.