It was the grandma that got her. They'd just finished a tough case involving child abductions. One boy in particular had never known his real parents.

And then he said it. "If Miss JJ's my mom, you're my grandma, right, Miss Blake?"

Grandma.

JJ laughed, looking at her companion. "Actually, Bri, neither of us of your mom or grandma. Your real grandmother is waiting at the station for us."

Bri's eyes widened. "I have a grandma? My own?"

Even as Alex's heart melted, she studied Bri carefully. Why on earth would he choose Grandma?

She had to take the chance given to her when JJ answered a call from Hotch and left the room.

"Hey, Bri?" She asked.

"Yeah?" The little boy questioned.

"Why did you call me grandma, but JJ mom?" She asked.

"Because she's so young and pretty and is wearing pretty clothes," Bri said. "And I always hoped that my mom would look like that."

Alex felt her back stiffen as she straightened up when JJ returned. "Hotch wants us back at the station," she explained. "He thought he'd be able to get someone out here but we're supposed to bring Bri in with us."

She smiled, holding out her hand. "You want to come with me, little man? You know, I've got a little boy just around your age."

"You do?" Bri asked. "What's his name?"

"It's Henry, and I think you'd be best friends, if only you lived in the DC area," JJ said. "I guess you're a little too far away to get to know him."

Bri looked up at JJ, wide-eyed.

Alex followed slowly, her mind spinning.

Herself...vs. JJ. No matter how you spun it, it wasn't a favorable comparison. JJ was blonde and god, what blue eyes she had. Alex knew that she herself wasn't bad looking but neither did she have that...athletic elegance that JJ did, or the softness that could so suddenly turn into strength when needed.

No, Alex was just plain stiff, as she'd been told by so many people, verbally and through profiling their reaction to her.

She wanted to study JJ on the ride to the station but the younger profiler elected to sit in the back with Bri, leaving Alex to drive, so the only glimpses she got were from the rear view mirror.

Hmm. JJ's makeup was carefully done in a natural look. She rarely wore dark lipstick.

Alex looked at herself: dark red lipstick.

At the next stop light, Alex studied the clothes: JJ was wearing skinny jeans and a v-neck t-shirt in light blue.

Well, Alex wore jeans too, sometimes. Just not as tight; she preferred boot cut.

And she wasn't wearing jeans currently: she looked down rather dismally at the black slacks she'd pulled on today, paired with a crisp dark purple dress shirt.

They both wore FBI vests over their shirts, so Bri obviously didn't count them as anything.

Faces...Alex wasn't that wrinkled, was she? She was smooth faced; she'd always prided herself on that. Yes, she obviously wasn't as young as JJ...but couldn't she look as young as her? In a certain light? In certain clothes?

Alex heaved a sigh as she parked in front of the police station, unbuckling and quickly climbing out. Bri and JJ scrambled from the back, and Alex trailed behind them, hands shoved in her pockets.

JJ's arms were amazing. They were toned and tan, and showed off in the t-shirt.

Alex's arms were...okay, if she said so herself.

They were about the same height, and honestly, Alex was more prone to wear shoes with a heel than JJ was, when they were in the field. Though JJ certainly got dolled up sometimes at the BAU; Alex remembered a tight black dress with sky high heels and her breath caught momentarily.

She'd never look like that in a black dress.

Alex looked down at her legs: they were nice legs. She knew that about herself. James had always loved her legs, especially in skirts!

Oh.

Oh. Maybe that was the problem. Alex never wore skirts, not anymore. They just weren't practical or a feasible option anymore.

But JJ did. Not in the field, no, but in the office.

Alex made a mental vow to go home and see what skirts she might still have in her closet.

They reached the conference room. A few young cops were milling about; male, in the twenties, vaguely good looking and very interested in the whole BAU. It seemed like a wild dream to have them in this small town, and the cops had been antsy the whole time, sometimes literally staring at the various FBI agents as they simply went about their work.

Case in point, right now cop #1 was staring at JJ as she led Bri past them, probably because of the quick way Bri had been recovered.

No. Alex sighed. No, cop #1 was checking out JJ's ass.

Alex glared at him as she walked by, and cop #2 nudged him too, leaving his buddy to look away shamefaced.

Alex didn't dare turn around to see if he was checking out her ass, too. Mainly because she was afraid he wouldn't be.

"We're on our way home, Garcia," JJ told her friend over the phone in the car as they drove back to the hotel to collect their bags. "If you want anything specifically made in Chicago, we'll be driving into the city to catch our flight."

"I don't think there's anything," Garcia chirped back. "Though Derek did get me some fantastic fudge when he was there last. Hey, my man, what was the brand?"

In the other SUV with Rossi, Morgan took a moment to respond. "I think it was LeDocia's," he said, his voice coming in clear over the bluetooth speaker.

"I hate to say it, but we really don't have to use these to talk about fudge brands," Hotch said, in the third SUV with Reid.

"I'll switch to just JJ then, sir," Garcia said. "Sorry."

"It's fine, I just need to think," Hotch replied and the other two cars cut out.

"What's up with Hotch?" Garcia asked.

Alex shrugged, though Garcia couldn't see her. "There was something off this whole case. I think he's worried about Jack."

"Talking about something off, what was with you, Alex?" JJ asked gently. "After bringing Bri in, you were so distracted."

"Ooh, how did the little bro's meeting with Grandma go?" Garcia urged. "He sounded so cute!"

"It went well," JJ said. "She moved slowly because she didn't want to scare him but he was so eager to attach to her. I think it could really work out."

"That's good," Garcia said. "Back to a more intriguing topic: what was up with you, Alex?"

"It was just something Bri said," Alex admitted slowly, knowing that JJ would know what she was talking about.

She felt the blonde's gaze on her, sharp and quick, before darting back to face the road in front of her.

She was glad that JJ had elected to drive this time.

"What about?" Garcia wondered.

"You know, I'll tell you when we get back," Alex said. "We can have tea over it."

Garcia quieted. "Oh, okay. Well, you'll have to pick some sort of unique to Chicago tea brand."

"Okay, okay, I'll find something," Alex said, chuckling.

"Good," Garcia returned. "And JJ, you have a take on what's up with Hotch? He's been snappish for this whole case. Is it just Jack?"

"I don't actually know, I admit to being distracted myself," JJ said and now Alex was the surprised one. "I have a performance review coming up with Strauss and you know those are never good. It might not be bad, but it won't be good."

"Oh, I understand that," Garcia replied. "I'll let you two go now. I have to go catch a cyber thief."

Alex heard the click and waited in silence for a moment before she dared to speak. She remembered being taught this by a teacher: when in doubt, wait a few seconds before speaking.

Oh, to hell with it.

"I didn't notice any distraction on your part, should I be worried that my profiling skills are slipping?" Alex asked JJ lightly.

"Oh, no, no," JJ said, a smile in her voice. "I'm good at hiding things, and it wasn't...the usual kind of distraction. It was just a mild...brain fog."

Alex raised an eyebrow, but still wasn't sure what JJ could be talking about. She went back over what JJ's actions over the past few days had been and could think of nothing that pointed to distraction on the younger profiler's part.

"Is anything up?" Alex asked.

"No," JJ insisted, and Alex would be worried but JJ was still smiling. "It was a good kind of distraction."

"Okay," Alex said. "Like vivid daydream type of distraction?"

JJ surprised her by opening up a bit more than usual. "Exactly like that," she replied, her tone of voice saying even more than her words. "Very vivid."

"Okay, I'll let you keep that to yourself," Alex replied, amused. "I have to concentrate on what kind of tea is unique to Chicago anyway."

"Mm, I'd say ask Derek, but he doesn't know much about tea," JJ said. "Though I will be chatting him up about the fudge some more, once we aren't on a shared line."

"Which brings us back to Hotch, and what's eating him," Alex mused.

"You could ask Reid, they spent a lot of time together on this case," JJ suggested. "Though depending on what's distracting Hotch, Reid may or may not have noticed a thing."

"I know," Alex said. "So I'll ask Rossi instead."

"Good plan," JJ chuckled.

Next up: In a moment of weakness and tea drinking, Alex confesses her insecurities to Garcia.

A/N: I kind of want to pair Alex with someone but I seriously can't decide who. I'm torn between JJ and Hotch; leaning towards Hotch because it would be easier and possibly more fun, but also leaning towards JJ because it could be hotter. Let me know what you guys would like :)