Chapter 1

Emily sighed with relief as she snuggled into her couch, glass of wine in hand. It had been a tough case – two men raping and murdering teenage girls before dumping their bodies in their own backyards. It had only been made tougher by Rossi's insistence that they use JJ's press conferences to bait the unsubs, publicising their many failings to the world. It had ended with the dominant, having already shot his submissive partner when he descended into a psychotic rage, pulling a gun on JJ during a live press conference. She had been unhurt, Morgan had shot the maniac as soon as he had a clear shot, but she was clearly shaken and had been quiet and unresponsive during the long journey home. Emily had already decided to organise a girly lunch the next day to see if she could draw JJ out of her protective shell.

It was 11 o'clock and Emily was definitely ready for bed. She had been home for 5 hours, but it always took her this long to wind down after a case. She finished her wine and went to put the glass in the dishwasher. She turned the lights out and made her way towards her bedroom. Just as she was about to open the bedroom door, she heard a knock on her front door.

She frowned to herself; she clearly wasn't expecting any visitors this late in the evening. She walked to the door and checked the spy hole. It was JJ! She was facing away from the door, but there was no mistaking that blond hair. She opened the door quickly and called the young agent's name.

"JJ? What are you doing here?"

When JJ turned to face her she couldn't stop herself from wincing. The normally controlled woman was looking nervous and panicked. More worryingly though, her left eye was bruised and half-closed and she was struggling to hold Henry with her left arm as her right was sporting a clean white bandage.

Emily hurriedly took the sleeping child from JJ's arms and led her into the apartment, turning the lights back on as she went. She sat herself back on the couch, gently pulling JJ down next to her.

"JJ sweetheart, what's going on?"

JJ looked up and spoke for the first time since she had arrived, "I don't want to talk with Henry here. Is there somewhere I can settle him for a bit?" She was obviously struggling to stay composed and Emily felt a shiver of apprehension – what had happened to her friend?

"You can put him in my bed – he'll be OK with a load of cushions around him, won't he?"

"Thanks Em, I'll be back in a minute."

JJ knew where she was going, so Emily let her take the child to her room alone, guessing that she needed some time.

Emily sat wondering what had happened in the hours since she had last seen JJ. A car accident? She didn't think so; the injuries definitely looked like they had been inflicted by another person. Had she been mugged? Possibly, but if that was the case, why had she come here and not to Will? Will? Could that be it? Surely not! Will had always been so loving, so gentle.

Emily interrupted her own thoughts when she realised that JJ had been gone for at least 15 minutes. She walked towards her bedroom in search of her friend and found her stood at the bedroom door, looking at her child on the bed, with tears pouring down her face. As Emily pulled her in for a hug, she heard her say, "I can't lose him Em. I can't lose Henry."

Shocked, Emily quickly replied, "You're not going to lose him Jayje. He's here, he's safe and so are you."

She led the sobbing woman back to the couch and sat down, keeping JJ in a tight embrace. She continued to whisper calming words into JJ's ear, rubbing her back and waiting for the storm to end. As she felt her friend calm down she pulled back, looked her in the eye and gently asked, "Can I get you anything Jayje? Tea, Coffee, Water?"

"What I really want," replied JJ with a hint of humour, "is a double vodka, but I'm pretty sure that's not a good idea, so tea would be great. Thanks."

Emily smiled her to herself as she left JJ to pull herself together and moved towards the kitchen to make tea. At least JJ still had that wicked sense of humour. She pottered in the kitchen for a few minutes, giving JJ some time alone, before walking back into the main room to find JJ fast asleep on the couch. Emily grabbed a couple of blankets and some pillows from her bedroom, checking on the still sleeping Henry at the same time. She covered JJ with one blanket and set herself up on the other side of the big double couch. She had a spare room, but didn't want to risk JJ waking up alone. Exhausted with the trauma of the last few days she quickly dropped off to sleep.