A Criminal Minds / Demily Fanfiction: Blast From The Past

Chapter 25

JJ' Pov

   "Well, I was not expecting that!" I think it's safe to say that was an understatement. I was in shock and I had no idea what to say to Lauren. She was going through so much already, and now with this on top of all that; I can't imagine how she must have been feeling.

   "You and me both. I thought the pregnancy was big news, but this; this trumps that so bad." I could tell that she was trying to process the information, and that she was failing.

   "I didn't even now you were adopted." It made me wonder just how much I really knew about Lauren. I mean, Will looks after her daughter whilst we're both on a case, and yet I don't actually think I even knew if he had any siblings.

   "Neither did I until after my mom died. I was seventeen, and I'd already lost my dad. I was a mess afterwards; I couldn't even look after my own daughter. I found a letter in the bottom drawer of my mom's desk; it told me everything I needed to know, except who my real parents were. I decided that I didn't want to find them, but instead chose to focus on my little girl and finishing High School." Once Lauren started talking, she found it hard to stop, and she was so caught up in what she was telling me that she hadn't even noticed she was crying.

   I listened to Lauren as she explained what had led her to the FBI. I felt kind of sorry for her, I mean I had no idea how much Lauren had actually been through. She had lost both of her parents, and her sister as well as having a child in High School, all before she even turned 20. That would be a lot for anyone to handle, never mind a single mom in her teens. "Oh God, Lauren I'm so sorry." She smiled at me with tears in her eyes. She tried her best to wipe them away, but as soon as she had removed one, another appeared almost immediately.

   "It's okay. You didn't know." I just wish she had felt as though she could have told me; I would have been there for her. I couldn't help but wonder if Derek knew all of this stuff. I was about to lean in to hug her when my cell rang. 

   Speak of the devil; it was Derek. "JJ, I need you to do me a favour." Ok, so what did he want me to do now? "Reid was looking over a witness statement from one of the cases in London, and although I don't know how he could've missed it before, the witness mentions a name that the attacker kept screaming at the victim." I 'umm'-ed and 'aah'-ed throughout the whole of Derek's little speech, but I was still clueless as to what this had to do with me. "The name that the attacker kept shouting was Lauren's. I need you to ask her if she knew the victim. Her name was Alice Rutherford." I said I would and hung up.

Lauren's Pov

   The look on JJ's face worried me. "What is it?" I could tell that she was contemplating how to ask me what she had to. "JJ, just tell me." She sighed and took hold of my hand.

   "It was Morgan on the phone. He and Reid were taking a second look at the case files from London and your name came up." Wait... what? Why would my name come up in a case in London, unless it was him? It's the only thing that makes sense.

   "How did it come up? Why would one of the London victim's know me?

   "One of the neighbours of the third victim claims she heard the Unsub shout your name during the attack." My mouth fell open; I couldn't believe what I was hearing. JJ must have sensed something because she told me what I needed to know. "The victim's name was Alice Rutherford." I knew that name; I knew her. "Do you know her?" I had to tell her truth.

   "I know her." What else could I say? JJ needed me to tell her everything about my relationship with Alice. "My mom was British; and not long after my first birthday, she was offered a job there, so we moved and lived there until I was six. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I knew her when I lived in London as a kid and we stayed in touch." I didn't think JJ understood where I was going with this little anecdote, so I figured I had better tell her. "I think the Unsub might know me and that he's doing this to get to me." Now it was JJ's turn to be surprised.