A Second Chance

Beth...Sophia

~Telling lies to protect someone you love, only destroys them in the end~

Ten years later...
It was a cold March night.
A night that would change everything.

Blood.
She looked around and everything she saw was covered in blood. The girl looked down at her hands and screamed when she found them covered in the red liquid. It was everywhere. She quickly looked over and found a woman laying on the floor next to her in a pool of her own blood.
"No!" the child screamed.
She rushed over to the woman and searched for a pulse. When she didn't find one, she decided she had to leave before anyone found her. Right when she stood up, she felt a sharp pain in her head. After a deep breath, she reached down and grabbed her bag. However, just as she took her first step, the sound of a gun being cocked could be heard. Then a bright light was shone on her face.
"Freeze!" a man yelled.
The kid stopped moving.
"Put the bag down now and put your hands over your head!" he barked.
The child didn't move a muscle.
"Did you hear me?!" the guy shouted.
"Hotch," a blonde agent said softly and lowered her gun.
The man looked over to the woman.
"She's just a kid," she said.
"JJ, she's a suspect," the man, known as Hotch, short for Hotchner, Aaron Hotcher, said.
JJ put her gun away and took a step toward the child.
"Sweetie, we're not going to hurt you, but you need to put the bag down," the blonde warned.
The child seemed to understand, for she dropped her bag and put her hands up. Right away, JJ, short for Jennifer Jareau, went over to the kid and put handcuffs on her. Then, she walked her back to the police car.

Soon, everyone returned from the latest crime scene, and were getting ready to interview the child they found.
JJ went with her to clean her up and wash the blood off and get a new pair of clothes on. The child had brown, almost black hair, with dark chocolate eyes. She got changed into a pair of FBI sweatpants and a t shirt. Then, the kid was placed into an interrogation room.
The whole time, the child was silent. Anytime JJ tried talking to her, she either didn't hear her or pretended not to.
"Sweetie, what's your name?" Jennifer asked.
The kid just looked away.
"Honey, we want to help you, but you need to tell us what happened," JJ said softly.
Again, the child ignored her.
Agents Hotcher, Morgan and Rossi were standing behind the screen of the interrogation room, watching Jennifer. Dr. Spencer Reid was with them as well.
"Who was the victim?" Reid asked.
"Her name was Clara Hackett. She was a school teacher," Hotch said.
"Again, a low risk victim. How is this unsub luring them all out and killing them? They're all smart women," Morgan said.
"Maybe the unsub uses the girl as bait and tricks the women," Rossi offered.
"To be honest, I don't think she has anything to do with the murders," Reid said as he stared at the child.
"We found her with the murder weapon and she was with the last victim," Hotch pointed out.
"The knife was in her bag. Someone could've easily planted it there," Spencer argued.
"Let's just say she did have something to do with the kills and the women. Who is she working with?" Morgan asked.
"Or for," Rossi added.
The four agents looked back through the glass window to see JJ having no luck communicating with the kid.
Just then, the local sheriff walked in and said,
"Another women was just taken."
Agent Hotchner shook his head and then left the room.
Moments later, his colleagues see him entering the room with the girl and JJ.

The child didn't even pick her head up when Aaron walked in. She only noticed him when he sat down next to JJ.
"Hello, my name is Aaron Hotchner, I'm with the Behavioral analysis unit with the FBI, and we need to ask you some questions, okay?"
The child didn't move a muscle.
"Did you hear me?" Hotch asked.
Again, the girl made no movement, in fact, she looked confused.
"Wait a second," Reid whispered from behind the glass.
"Excuse me? Are you listening?" Hotch asked. The child didn't have any reaction.
"She's deaf," Reid mumbled then walked into the interrogation room.
"Hotch, she can't hear you because she's deaf," Reid said.
Then he turned to the child and started signing.
'My name is Spencer Reid. Do you sign?'
The child signed
'Yes.'
'Do you know why you are here?' Reid asked.
'No,' the girl told him.
'What's your name?'
'Beth,' she spelt out.
"Her name is Beth," Reid said to JJ and Hotch.
"She's deaf?" JJ asked.
"Yeah, I can translate for you though," Reid said.
"Why don't you run the interrogation?" Hotch asked.
Reid nodded and Aaron got up and walked out, but Reid stayed.
From that point forward, whenever Reid spoke, he signed it as well, so Beth could understand.
"This is my friend, Jennifer. We work for the FBI," Reid said and signed.
JJ waved to the child with a smile.
'Why am I here?' Beth asked.
"We found you with a dead body and the murder weapon was in your bag," Reid told her.
'I didn't kill her,' Beth replied.
"Then why were you with Clara?" Spencer wanted to know.
'I don't know who Clara is,' the child signed.
"She was the woman you were with. When we found you, you had her blood all over you," Reid explained.
'I had nothing to do with that,' Beth tried to convince Reid.
"Who are your parents?" Reid asked.
Instantly, Beth's mood changed. She slouched down in her chair and looked away.
JJ leaned forward and touched the girls arm lightly.
That was a big mistake.
Beth pulled her hands back quickly and made a mad face at JJ.
"I'm sorry," Jennifer said out loud.
Reid showed her the sign for sorry and Jennifer apologized to the kid.
"Please, we can call your parents to come get you," Reid told her.
Beth shook her head.
Reid looked up at the glass.
From the other side, Hotch said,
"Morgan, I want you to call Garcia. See if she can find out who Beth belongs to. Someone must be looking for her."
Derek Morgan nodded and walked out.
He pulled his phone out,
"Hey Baby Girl, I need you," he said.
"What can I do ya for?" Penelope Garcia chirped.
"We have this girl in custody, but she won't tell us exactly who she is. Do you think you can work your magic?"
Morgan asked.
"I'll try."
"Well, she told us her name is Beth. She had dark brown hair, and brown eyes," Derek informed his friend.
"How old?"
"She has to be older than ten but younger than fifteen," Morgan said.
"Is that it?"
"No, she's also deaf."
"What?" Penelope asked.
"She and Reid have been signing
back and forth. She doesn't talk."
"Give me a second," Penelope said.
After a minute or so she said,
"I hate to disappoint, but I can't find anyone named Beth that meets her description and that's deaf."
"If I send you a picture, can you see if anyone in missing persons matches with her?"
"Of course," Penelope said.
Morgan removed the phone from his ear and sent Garcia a picture of Beth.
"I'll keep digging and I'll let you know as soon as I find something," the woman told him.
"Thanks Garcia."
"Anytime," she said and hung up.

Derek walked back to the interrogation room.
"Anything new?" he asked when he got back.
"Not really. She won't tell us anything else about who she is, but she's been asking to leave," Hotch said.
"Why?" Morgan's wondered.
"I'm not sure," Hotch said.

Back in the interrogation room...
'What time is it?' Beth asked.
"One," Reid told her.
"Is she tired?" JJ asked.
Reid asked and the kid nodded.
"Why don't we let her rest. I can watch her," Jennifer said.
Hotch walked in and said,
"You guys can stay in the purple room, there's a couch she can sleep on," Aaron told the blonde.
Reid signed to Beth what they were going to do, and the child nodded.

JJ took Beth back to the room. There was a couch and a table and chair. Beth sat down on the couch and just looked around.
All the other agents but JJ were still working on the case. Jennifer was on her phone trying to learn how to say things in ASL.
Within an hour, JJ was sure the girl was sleeping, so she walked out to be with her team. However, she made an officer stand outside of the room the kid was sleeping in to make sure she didn't leave.

"Hey, is everything okay?" Reid asked when he noticed JJ.
"Yeah, she fell asleep, so I thought I could come help," Jennifer stated.
"You left her all alone?" Hotch asked.
"No, officer Muller is right outside her door. She'll be fine," JJ assured them.

At around four, JJ went to check on Beth, only to find her missing.
"Where is she?"
"She said she had to go to the bathroom," Officer Muller said.
"Wait, she said what?" JJ asked.
"She had to use the bathroom," the man said.
"How long ago?" JJ asked.
"Like five minutes."
JJ quickly made her way to the bathroom. Once she realized it was empty she rushed back to her team.
"Hotch, she's missing," JJ said.
"What?" he asked.
"Yeah, apparently she told Muller she had to use the bathroom, so he let her go," JJ explained.
"She talked?"
"That's what he told me."
Just then, Morgan's phone started ringing.
"Hey Baby girl, please tell me you have something," Morgan said and put her on speakerphone.
"JJ, Reid, Rossi, go find Beth," Hotch said, and the three agents all split up.
"I think I found something," Garcia said.
"What is it?" Hotch asked impatiently.
"So I couldn't find anyone named Beth with her face and disability, but I did find a twelve year old girl named Sophia. Her middle name is Beth, but she isn't deaf. She's a foster kid and she has a long list of offenses. Exactly one month ago, she was released from a special correctional facility."
"How do we know this is the same kid?" Morgan asked.
"It's the same girl, trust me. I found her on missing persons. She was reported missing about two weeks ago by the person who runs her halfway house. Sophia had run away multiple times before and even brought back by cops."
Before Hotch or Derek could say anything, they all heard someone yell. Instantly Morgan and Aaron made their way to the commotion.

Walking into the building was the little girl with JJ and Reid on either side of her, and Rossi was behind her. She was fighting them and yelling at them to let her go.
Right when Hotch approached them, he said in a very stern voice,
"Sophia!"
Instantly the child stopped moving, and she just stared at the unit chief.
"Who's Sophia?" Reid asked.
"I am," the child said and sighed.