Author's Note: I was reminded by a reviewer, that the decision for JJ to take off was made over Erin's head. And this piece felt sort of unfinished. So here's a couple more chapters.
Chapter 2
Hotch stepped into Erin Strauss's office a few hours later. He glanced around, unsure of what he might find. Morgan had seemed really happy when he'd left her office, and Garcia had been singing all day, which was a sure indication she was in a good mood. Reid was spouting statistics on the Star Wars universe again, which was better than the mopey teenager he'd been all day. And Rossi and Emily had both calmed down considerably. He could pretty much see steam coming from their ears when he'd passed them earlier.
"Erin?" he asked carefully, as not to spook the section chief.
Her head tentatively popped up from under her desk. "Oh, it's only you," she said, relieved.
He glanced around her office. Things were strewn everywhere. A chair was embedded in the wall, courtesy of Morgan…or maybe Garcia…hell, it could've even been Rossi, he was still pretty spry for an old man. "I'm sorry about my team," he apologized. "They took JJ leaving pretty hard."
"I didn't have a choice, Hotch," Erin stuttered. "It was over my head…."
"I know," Hotch replied quietly. "But the team is angry, confused and frustrated." He shook his head. "I'm lucky I know none of them is psychologically disturbed or we'd really have a problem." He adjusted one of Strauss's framed accolades so it hung straight, covering up what appeared to be an Emily Prentiss-sized hole in the wall. "They'll adjust, Erin. And once they calm down and get the whole story, which they're trained to do, so them flying off the handle is a little unusual." He frowned. "Well, for everybody but Morgan, anyway." He helped Erin set her photos back up. "You're not the bad guy, Erin," he told her. "You're the personification of the bureaucracy, and you're right down the hall. If Rossi could get his hands on someone at the DoD, I'm sure he'd do it. But you were here…"
"I wish she hadn't gone, Hotch," Erin burst out, the toll of the afternoon taking it's toll.
"Yeah," Hotch said. "Me either."
