All These Scars... (A Criminal Minds fan-fiction)

Chapter Eight

JJ's POV :
I watched as Spence's car pulled into the parking lot of the BAU and wondered why he cut me off on the phone.
Is he mad at me?, I thought to myself.
He pulled up next to my car and as he put his in park he looked through the window at me with a sad expression plastered on his face.
He felt bad for me.
I didn't want him to feel bad for me. In fact, I didn't want anyone to feel bad for me. I didn't need their sympathy or pity.
He hopped out and came over to my window as I rolled it down.
"Your face looks better. You may have a concussion but you have obvious contusions. He may have fractured your forehead some. Have you seen a doctor yet?" He asked tiredly.
"No, I haven't been to the doctor. But thanks, I guess," I trailed off, didn't know what to say.
"Are you going to come in?"
"I don't know, Spence, I-I don't want them to see me like this. Can you get Hotch to come out here?" I asked politely and he continued to look sympathetic, which I hated.
"Yeah, I'll go get him. You know, contusions are caused by the rupture of capillaries under your skin and even though-"
"Spence..."
"Okay, okay, sorry. I'll go get him," he smiled lightly and walked swiftly into the BAU.

Spencer's POV:
When I walked into the BAU I was immediately stopped by Garcia.
"Have you seen JJ? Where is she?" She asked me almost frantically. Did she know about her abuse?
"I don't know," I lied. JJ seemed like she wanted Hotch, and only Hotch, which was probably better anyway since she always hated attention. And sympathy. She was always tough and stubborn like that. You had to love her, though...
As soon as I saw Hotch walk into his office I casually walked in and made sure I didn't draw any attention to myself. "Hey, Hotch..." I said awkwardly as I closed the door behind me.
"Hi, Reid," he said without taking his eyes away from his desk. There was a small pile of closed cases on his desk and a yellow envelope beside them that had the word "confidential" written boldly across it. "Where's JJ? I need to go over some files with her."
I looked out into the Bull Pen through the blinds and saw the rest of the team quickly move their eyes away from the office and couldn't help but smile. They were so nosy.
"Actually, she needs to talk with you about...something," I hesitated and his sharp eyes finally met mine.
"Well, tell her to meet me in my office. We have work to do."
"She-uh...wants you to meet her in the parking lot. It's urgent."
He furrowed his eyebrows, gracefully stood up and walked out of the front doors, leaving me alone in his office with curious eyes gazing into my soul.

Hotch's POV:
The parking lot wasn't full since one of the units had a week off and it was easy to spot JJ's dark car. As soon as I approached it she got out but kept her head low.
"What do you need to talk about?" I asked her and she lifted her head to reveal a beaten up face, a scarred eyebrow and tired eyes...
"I need a favor," she said lowly and I couldn't find any words.
"Um.."
"Hotch, I need protection."
"From what?" I ask and her eyes shift to the ground. "Okay, who?"
"Will," she said weakly which was strange. She was never one to accept defeat well which meant she was afraid of him. A lot. JJ wasn't scared of much, ever.
"You want the BAU to grant you protective custody?"
"Not exactly. I don't need that I just...I need someone to stay with me at my house for a little while. Please." Her eyes never met mine after she said her husband's name.
"Okay... You want someone from the team?"
"Preferably."
"Who?" I asked.
"I don't know. Whoever is willing to I guess."
"Do you want to come inside and ask?"
"No," she said, "I don't want them all to see me like this."
"JJ, does that mean you're taking off work for sometime?
"No..."
"Well, since you're not taking off, you have to actually enter the building to carry out your job so whether you like it or not they're going to see you. Let's just get it over with," I said and she nodded her head as I escorted her to the front doors.
When everyone saw us walk in together they did a double take and stopped what they were doing. Morgan stopped looking through files, Blake stopped typing at her desk, Spencer stood in the doorway with his hands in his pockets, Rossi was standing beside him, speechless, and Penelope just stood beside Morgan awkwardly. All to get a full glimpse of the damage JJ's husband caused.
"I want the entire BAU unit at the round table. Now," I announced and the whole team hesitantly made their way to the conference room, most of them not taking their eyes off of me and JJ.
Spencer didn't seem phased and Garcia didn't have an emotional outburst which lead me to believe they already knew first.
Morgan and Blake seemed pretty shocked, as well as Rossi so I assumed they had no idea.
I was absolutely shocked when JJ told me that she was afraid of her husband. Will was a very respected man. The whole team respected him and so did anyone else who got to know the detective. I definitely respected him up until that moment.
Once the rest of the team had surrounded the round table I asked JJ if she wanted me to mention Will in our explanation before entering the conference room.
"Yes, I think they need to know the truth," she told me and looked into my eyes with sincerity.
"Okay. Are you ready?"
"Ready as I'll ever be," she smiled weakly as we walked into the conference room.
I shut the door quietly and stood by the presentation screen, even though we didn't have a case that day, while JJ sat in between Spencer and Alex.
I didn't know where to start. I was always good with words but I was stumped at the time.
So I started with Will.
"Everyone here knows Will Lamontagne Junior, JJ's husband. He's a very respected detective and...was a very loving husband and father."
It sounded like Will just died and I was giving his eulogy or something but that was all I could find to say.
Everyone made a weird face at me when I said that Will "was" a loving husband and father.
"Unfortunately, JJ and Henry," I looked over to JJ and she nodded, "have found themselves in an abusive relationship with Will." Before I could even finish that sentence almost everyone was asking questions.
"Quiet down!" I almost shouted but everyone shut their mouths as soon as I said it. "Listen, JJ has asked me, us, a favor and since she is one of our colleagues, and friend, we are going to help her."
"What does she need us to do?" Morgan asked.
"Yeah, whatever she needs we can help her," said Blake.
"She needs one of us to stay with her, at her house for a while. She isn't sure how long but she would feel a lot safer if someone here was with her.
"So, JJ, choose whoever you want and if they can't do it, move onto someone else," I told her.