"Where are we going again, Hotch?" JJ asked, looking over at him. She had been intrigued by his proposition to get away from everything for a weekend, and so had readily agreed to going with him. It didn't hurt that she liked him, or that she and Will had separated when he had refused to go to Erin's funeral. Sure, she hadn't been best friends with the woman, but she had supported her through her return back to the BAU. Not attending her funeral had been the last sign of disrespect for her career choice that she was willing to take.

"We are heading out to a place that Rossi introduced to me once, when he realized that I needed somewhere to take my mind off the trials in my life. Now, I have to warn you, you are going to see some things that may shock you, may upset you. But everything you see will be completely consensual. Please keep that in mind."

She frowned slightly, beginning to feel unnerved by what they were driving towards. "Can you give me any other hints, Hotch?"

"We're heading to the Estate."

A sudden awareness dawned in her. "You have membership at the Estate? How can you afford that?"

"Wait, you know what the Estate is?"

"Uh, yeah. My boss at the State Department had membership, as well. I heard him whispering about it to another high ranking official once. It was sort of hard to pin down any details about the Estate, though. Is it really all about sex?"

Hotch nodded, and she felt a blush spread across her face and down her chest. "I was…uncomfortable the first time I went here, too. I saw things just happen that I never expected. And I did things that I never expected. With people I grew to love, in my own way. I need this weekend away, too. I need to bury my grief."

She sighed deeply, thinking about how they had finally identified the bones found in the rubble of Curtis's house as his. Their last tenuous link to Erin had been severed in that moment, and it seemed like it had hit Hotch just as hard as it had hit her. "We have to find a way to move on, Aaron."

"I know." He reached out and she clasped his hand. "So, you'll have to give yourself a nickname for when you're there. All the women have one, to protect them, give them a sense of anonymity. My favorite one was Ice."

The way he said that made JJ wonder who this Ice was, and what she meant to her Aaron. That possessive thought took her aback, and she swallowed hard. "So, do you have any ideas for a good moniker for me?"

His mouth curved up into a secretive smile, and JJ knew that he had something on his mind. "Yes, I do. Cornsilk."

"Going for the blonde jokes, huh?" she asked, raising her eyebrow.

"No, I'm just describing the color of your hair. Your eyes are much too blue to be the color of actual corn flowers. Erin had corn flower blue eyes." They both sighed lightly and she turned her face to look out the window, wishing that she could go back and change time, change the past. "No more sorrow, not on a day like today."

"Yes, Hotch. So, tell me. What is the Estate really like?"

"Freedom. Absolute freedom to explore the pleasure of your body. There, no one looks down on you for any kink you might have, any position you want to try. There are people there who are always up to try something new, though we mostly end up with the same partners time after time. Even here, we fall into the rut of familiarity."

"And who was your most frequent partner?" JJ asked softly. She wanted to know more about the woman who had captured his attention, even if only for a weekend.

"I told you already, her name is Ice. I don't think she'll be there this weekend. I thought I had heard that she had moved on." There was a note of pain in his voice, and she wondered just how much the woman had meant to him. "She is beautiful, and burns like only the coldest ice can. I wish that you could have met her, the real her."

Once more, JJ wondered about this Ice, who had so captured his thoughts and heart. "Do you think I would have liked her?"

"Probably not at first, but once you had felt the amazing things her lips, her tongue, her fingers, could do, your opinion would change. Mine certainly did." He seemed to drift off into the land of memory, a place that he often escaped to when he was remembering the people that he had loved and lost. JJ made a soft sound in the back of her throat and reached out to caress his shoulder.

Aaron turned to look at her, a soft, sad, smile on his face. "Hey, where'd you go?"

"Sorry, I spaced out for a bit."

She smiled and dipped her chin down onto her chest. "I like you."

"I like you, too. It's one of the reasons that we work so well together."

"No, Aaron, I like you."

"I do, too. I would never have asked you to do this weekend if I didn't. I'm a profiler, Jen, the same as you. I'm good at deducing feelings, even if I never acted on them, in respect of Will. I would never do anything that would have jeopardized that relationship." He turned his face towards her and smiled gently. "I respect you too much to do anything that would hurt you."

"If you keep talking like that, I might just fall in love with you, Aaron." JJ hadn't meant to say those words aloud, but somehow they just slipped out and she had no way to call them back.

There was a long pause and she wondered what was going through his brain. The longer the silence continued, the more self-conscious she felt and she began to curl up on herself, seeking some way to make herself smaller, less noticeable. "I think that I might fall in love with you, too, Jen. This isn't the weekend to discuss those feelings, though. I just wanted to focus on our physical selves. Or, would that be too crass?"

"No, I need to work out some of this energy. And you said that there were no strings attached to this, it will almost be like a dream, right?"

"Something like that, yes." His smile turned gentle and she smiled in return. The drive continued on in silence and she let herself relax in her seat, watching the scenery pass by. The Estate really is off the beaten path, she thought as the trees became denser. Finally, though, they approached a gate and Aaron hit the buzzer.

"Yes?"

"Aaron Hotchner and guest have arrived for the weekend. I called ahead and vouched for her."

"Ah yes, we've been expecting you. And has your guest settled on her moniker for while she is here?"

Aaron looked over at her and she nodded. "Yes, she's settled on Cornsilk."

"Very good, I'll enter that into the books." The gates swung open and JJ took her first good look at the Estate. A shiver of anticipation travelled down her spine and shifted uncomfortably in the seat. Somehow, she knew that the weekend ahead would prove that nothing was impossible in this life that she led.