The Life We Once Knew

Jessica woke up the next day feeling anxious. Penelope had gotten her signed up for a type of online high school, and she was starting it next week, after her records were sent in. Until then, she was going to go to work with Penelope. Penelope told her it was because she was working on a big case with the BAU, and didn’t know when she’d get off. Jessica believed that was only part of it, though. She suspected that Penelope wanted to keep her eye on her, to make sure she didn't do anything stupid.

They had both gotten ready rather quickly. Penelope wore a bright green dress and orange shoes, with matching jewelry, and her usual outlandish make-up. Jessica wanted to look descent in front of the BAU team and others of the FBI, and make some sort of impression. She wore a short sleeved blouse with a long sleeved red cardigan, and black skinny jeans, with her black flats. She curled her hair, and put on some natural make-up, with bright red lipstick. She smiled at herself in the mirror after seeing the results. She hadn’t tried in a long time to look good, and after seeing what she looked like, she was going to try harder to look nice. She liked what she saw.

They left in a hurry. Penelope had no idea what was in store for her today; frankly, she never did. But the fact that the killer was so close, in their area, scared the hell out of her. She wanted this to be solved, so she could sleep easier at night. So everyone could. As far as she knew, Jessica had no idea about it. Most teens didn’t watch the news. And if she did know about it, she never told Penelope.

“Does your boss know I’m coming with you?”

Penelope sighed. “No. Which means I’ll probably be yelled at. So just stay out of the way when we get there, okay?”

“I can stay here, you know. You can trust me.”

Penelope started the car. “It’s not that. It’s just- look. Hotch will be fine with it. Once I explain it to him.”

Jessica frowned. “Okay.”

They spent the twenty minute ride in silence. Once they got there, Jessica got out quickly. A part of her was upset with Penelope. She wanted her to trust her. However, the reason in her knew trust was a privilege, not a right. And being dropped off at school just to leave wasn’t a great way of earning it. Jessica realized that she was just going to have to suck it up.

Right when they entered the building, they were spotted by Derek, who came over to them.

“Hey Penelope, hey…Jessica?”

Jessica smiled. “I start online school next week, and Penelope didn’t want to leave me at home. For some reason or another.” She looked over at Penelope, then back at Derek.

Penelope rolled her eyes. “Derek, can I talk to you alone? Jessica, stay here.”

Jessica nodded, and walked over to the corner. Penelope grabbed Derek’s hand and dragged him outside.

“She’s mad at me.”

Derek laughed. “I noticed.”

Penelope sighed. “She thinks I don’t trust her. But how can I yet?! I barely know her!”

Derek rubbed her arms. “Don’t let it get to you, baby girl, she’s just probably not in a good mood. I’m sure it will get better as the day goes on. Speaking of which, what is she going to do all day?”

“I have no idea. Whatever Hotch says, I suppose.”

She then looked at Derek, wide-eyed. “Hotch!”

She ran into the building, and saw Jessica in the corner. “I’m going to go talk to Hotch, stay here.”

Jessica shrugged. “Wasn’t going anywhere, anyway.”

Penelope walked quickly to Hotch’s office, and tapped on the door.

“Come in.”

She walked in slowly, and smiled.

“Sir? Can I talk to you?”

Hotch didn’t look up. “Go ahead.”

Penelope walked over slowly, and sat down. “Um, Sir, um, my um, sister is, um, here.”

Hotch looked up. “Why?”

Penelope started to fidget. “She starts online school next week. Public school…didn’t work out. And um, I just couldn’t leave her at home, because, um, no one knows what she would have gotten into.”

Hotch sighed, and pushed his hair back. “Garcia, I told you if you needed some time off to take it.”

“I know Sir, but-”

“You can’t take any time off now, not with this case. She can stay here. Here,” He handed her a laptop, one that was never used anymore. “Take this to her. She can get on the internet, in one of the file rooms.”

Penelope nodded. “Thank you, Sir.” She stood and walked to the door.

“Oh, and Garcia?”

“Yeah?”

“Next time, leave her at home, or find other arrangements.”

Penelope nodded quickly. “Yes, Sir.”

She breathed a huge sigh of relief as she left, and walked over to Jessica quickly. Before she reached her, she heard her laughing. As she got closer, she could see Spencer and Jessica talking and laughing together. Jessica was twirling her hair with her finger and blushing. Penelope could tell she was flirting. She walked faster, before anything more happened.

“Hey.”

Spencer smiled at her. “Hey! Jessica told me she was spending the day here.” He turned and smiled at Jessica. “That’s cool.”

Jessica’s blush deepened. “Um, yeah, it is.”

Penelope hid her smile. She could tell Jessica was crushing on Spencer, and poor Spencer had no idea! He was very smart, a genius, in fact, but when it came to girls, he knew nothing!

“So, Jessica, Hotch told me to give you this to use while you’re here. You can get on the web, or whatever, in one of the file rooms.”

Jessica nodded. “Okay.”

She waved bye to Spencer, and followed Penelope out of the room quickly. Jessica wasn’t sure what had come over her when she was talking to Spencer. She didn’t really feel the way she did just now the other day in his car. Now, she wasn’t sure what she thought of him. She noticed his eyes, big and brown and full of care. His hair was messy, but in a neat way. If that makes any sense at all. Jessica loved his awkwardness. His innocence and large, boyish smile, were also cute.

“Okay, here we are.” She looked up to see Penelope motioning toward a small room, full of file cabinets, with a small table and chair in the center.

“Now stay in here, and DO NOT leave this building. If you start to feel a little claustrophobic, you can step out and walk around, okay?”

Jessica sighed. “Okay.”

Penelope flashed her a smile, then shut the door, leaving Jessica alone. Jessica sighed and sat down, opening the laptop. She never grew up with a computer, and didn’t really know how to use one. She stared at the blank screen for a minute, then picked it up. After five minutes of intensive searching, she was able to turn it on, and after another hour, she had the basics down.

She found a website where she could listen to music, and another where she could play online games. They were really games made for preteens, but fun nonetheless.

After about two hours of this, Jessica got bored. She stood up and stretched, then walked around the small room. Out of curiosity, she tried to open one of the file cabinets, but it was locked. She figured they would be. She stood in the corner and sighed loudly. She was bored. Jessica turned and stared at the door. She could walk around a bit. She opened it, trying not to be too loud.

She stepped out, and turned around to shut the door when she hit someone’s chest hard.

Jessica turned quickly. “Oh my God, I’m so- hey.”

Spencer laughed. “Hey.”

Jessica blushed. “Sorry.”

Spencer looked at her quizzically. “Aren’t you supposed to be staying in there?”

Jessica smiled innocently. “Yes, but I’m allowed to step out for a bit. Aren’t you supposed to be working?”

Spencer smiled. “I am. I was coming to get some files. Actually, if you’d like, you could help me carry some.”

Jessica nodded, and followed Spencer into the room she had just left. She watched as he unlocked on of the many cabinets, and pulled out a large pile of files. He cut the pile into two stacks, and handed one of the stacks to her.

“Okay, can you carry this?”

Jessica nodded, and shifted the weight of the files onto her hip. “Yeah. Sure.”

He smiled, and led the way out of the room. “Now, just set them on my desk.”

She smiled. “Okay, but-”

At that moment, her foot caught on the carpet, and she tripped, dropping the files. Paper and pictures fell out everywhere. She sat there for a moment, stunned, until she felt someone pull her up.

“Are you okay?” Spencer asked, as he lifted her by her arms to her feet.

Jessica nodded. “Um-yeah.”

Spencer got down onto his knees and started to gather the files. Jessica watched for a moment, still in shock, then got down and helped him.

“Jeez Spencer I am so-” She gasped as she picked up a photo. A girl, who didn’t look much younger than herself, lie in a pool of blood. Surrounding her were what looked liked thick pipes. Jessica’s stomach turned as she realized they were the girl's arms and legs.

Spencer looked up and saw Jessica’s pale face, and in her hand, the photo. He grabbed in from her quickly. Jessica looked at him, tears falling down her cheeks.

“Who-why?”

Spencer didn’t know how to answer, and as it turned out, he didn’t have to. Jessica ran to the bathroom, feeling bile rise in her throat. She leaned over the toilet, and threw up.

Jessica flushed the toilet and wiped her mouth, then leaned against the wall. She heard knocking.

“Jessica? Are you okay?”

Spencer was at the door. She didn’t know if she could answer. Her mouth was dry, and she could still taste bile in her mouth.

She looked at the wall for a few more seconds and stood, then walked over to the sink. She ran the water and made her hand into a cup to drink it. She was about to stick her hands under the faucet when she felt someone tap on her shoulder. Spencer smiled at her kindly, and handed her a plastic cup.

“I thought you might need this.”

Jessica smiled weakly. “You know this is the ladies room, right?”

Spencer leaned against the sink. “I know. And I’m sorry. I should have never let you carry those files, they’re private and no one was suppose to see them and-”

Jessica gurgled the water, spit it into the sink, then grabbed Spencer's hand. “It’s okay. I’m clumsy. I just hate that you have to fix them again.”

Spencer shrugged. “It’s not hard to organize them.”

Jessica looked down. She could feel the tears starting to fall down her face.

“Who could do that to someone. Why?”

Spencer’s stomach tightened as he watched the tears fall down her face. He gulped.

“I’ve been asking myself the same question since I started seeing these kinds of things. Horrible things.” He closed his eyes, and thought about the nightmares he always had, and being tortured by Tobias a couple of years before.

“I don’t think I will ever be able to get that photo out of my head.”

Spencer didn’t know what to say. He knew she wouldn’t. He never did.

Jessica’s tears started falling faster. Spencer wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her up to him. She stood on her tiptoes, resting her face against his shoulder. She wrapped her hands around his hair, and he looked over at her for a few moments, then kissed the top of her head, not moving.

Suddenly, the door opened. Spencer looked up, and Jessica turned around. JJ looked shocked for a moment, then pulled herself together quickly.

“S-sorry. I shouldn’t have-”

Instead of finishing, she closed the door. Jessica looked up at Spencer. “I-I better go. Going to go back to the file room, I suppose.”

Spencer nodded. “And, um, I need to get those files put back together,”

Jessica nodded, and walked to the door. She pulled it open and turned around.

“Spencer? Thanks.”

He shot her a quick smile, and watched as she left the bathroom. Spencer stood there for a minute, and ran his hand through his hair. What had just happened?