"We pass through the present with our eyes blindfolded. We are permitted merely to sense and guess at what we are actually experiencing. Only later when the cloth is untied can we glance at the past and find out what we have experienced and what meaning it has."

Milan Kundera

Cole, JJ, Reid and Emma exited the house and sat out on the porch while the kids stayed inside. This wasn't talk that they needed to hear. Luckily, they managed to keep themselves occupied without wondering what the adults were doing.

"So," Cole let out a quick sigh, "what's this about?" He and Emma were holding hands tightly and leaning against each other. It looked like a natural, comfortable sitting position for them.

JJ stared at him, her gaze a little bit colder than it needed to be, but he should know better. "It's about dad. I know they called you, Cole. And I know that you refused to go down to the station too. Why would you do that?"

Reid watched the interaction curiously, trying to stay quiet. This wasn't really his business to be involved anyway so he figured he would just sit there for moral support and let them work it out between themselves. That seemed like the best, and least awkward, way to do things.

"Why wouldn't I do that?" Cole shook his head, "He got himself arrested! And after everything that happened, I didn't want to see him…and I still don't." He sent two glances; first at Emma, and then at Reid.

JJ had an agitated look on her face, but she didn't say anything.

Cole glanced at Emma again, who noticed this time and gave him a small shrug in reply. Neither of them knew what JJ was so annoyed about. "What?" He asked her, confused.

She was snapped out of her thoughts, "Oh no…it's not you. When the police station called, did they tell you what he was arrested for?"

Reid understood now. She was angry at the police department for not telling him everything that was happening.

Cole shook his head and gave her a shrug, "No…" He looked from JJ to Reid and added the second part a little quieter, "What was he arrested for?" It looked like he was scared to actually find out the answer.

"Murder, Cole." JJ informed him with no emotion on her face, "Two girls are dead and they think he did it. And thanks to you they also think we're withholding information because you wouldn't come down and cooperate. Not-cooperating isn't a bad thing, but it also isn't good. It says that we have something to hide."

There was a small pause before he looked up again and slowly, softly said, "Don't we?"

Reid's mind was racing. Don't we? What kind of a question is that? Is he implying that they do actually have something to hide? But JJ wouldn't go with that, she knows the complications of withholding information. She knows that doing that would make them accomplices and they would get arrested too. She's well aware of the consequences, but the quick anger that flashed through her eyes tells me that she is hiding something…but why? If she knows the consequences, why? Would the truth incriminate the both of them? That was the only logical conclusion he could come up with.

JJ changed the subject easily, "That's not the point. You should have come when they called. When the police call, you go where they tell you, got it?"

Cole looked like he didn't want to agree with her, but he knew better than to get into an argument about it. "Yea," He paused, "so you just came to come and get me then? So we can go back to the station and see good ol' dad?" He smirked, sarcastically.

"No. You should drive down there tomorrow because Reid and I still have to go to Travis' house too. Get there at 11 for some questioning, but don't worry…it's going to be casual." JJ lied easily, knowing that it probably wasn't going to be as easy-going as she was letting on.

Cole let out a sigh and looked at Emma, "I guess I'll go."

"I can get a sitter for the kids…" Emma started, giving her husband a concerned look. She touched his arm looking worried.

"No, I'll go alone…well, not alone. JJ and Travis will be there." Cole smiled at JJ and then Emma, "Don't worry about me. I'll call you every time I get the chance and tell you everything that's going on. It'll almost be like you're there."

"Then why don't I just come?"

Cole shook his head, "I just want to do this on my own…if you're okay with that, I mean."

"I'm okay with whatever you want." Emma gave him a sweet smile and then they pressed their lips together in a quick, but what looked like passionate kiss.

JJ nodded, awkwardly. "Well, I guess we'd better get going. We have to get down to Travis' house by tonight. So I'll see you tomorrow, right?" She stared at him expectantly.

"Yes, yes. Stop worrying. I'll be there, JJ." Cole smiled a little bit and stood up, giving her one last hug before they walked back inside where JJ told her nieces and nephews that they were leaving. She hugged each of them, hugged Emma and then they finally headed towards the door.

The pair exited the house, saying their polite goodbyes and then climbed into the car. As the next drive started there really wasn't that much silence. They talked a lot about her nieces and nephews, her brothers and even the case. It was nice until Reid decided that they needed to figure something out.

"So JJ…what was your dad like? From what your brother was saying, it didn't sound like he liked him very much…" Reid looked over at her, vaguely wondering if she would shut this conversation down the same way she had before.

JJ let out a quick sigh, "My brothers used to like him…they were really close and my sister and I were close with my mom, but when she left my dad had to stretch himself a little bit more thin. He wasn't home as much and my older brother and sister just kind of had to watch out for us. A year after that my grandma started giving us money so my dad was home more, but…" She stopped.

Reid knew that the thing that she was hiding was going to come up eventually. He stared at her, "But what?"

She didn't answer.

Rather than looking over at Reid and giving him the truth or even just lying, she was silent.

Reid didn't know what to do because they were stuck in a very uncomfortable silence. Luckily, a few minutes later his phone rang loudly from his pocket. He leaned to the side, reached into his pocket and then answered the phone.

"Agent Reid." He answered, nonchalantly as if nothing had even happened.

"Hey Reid, its Hotch. How are things going with JJ? Have you guys found either of her brothers yet?" Hotch asked quickly, in his normal urgent voice.

Reid glanced at JJ and gave her a quick smile when he saw her look over, "Yea we talked to her brother, Cole and he said that he would come down to the police station tomorrow for questioning. Right now, we're on our way to Travis' house to convince him to come down too. We'll probably end up spending the night there."

"Alright, well…look out for anything suspicious. JJ's dad isn't talking at all now, but still hasn't asked for a lawyer. He's hiding something, but he's confident enough in himself and his children to keep his secret for him." Hotch let out a quick sigh.

"Okay…I will." Reid answered vaguely so that he wouldn't tip JJ off to what they were talking about, "I guess we'll see all of you tomorrow then."

"Yes…oh and tell JJ that we'll need to ask her some questions too. I don't want her to be caught off guard tomorrow so at least mention it to her, alright?"

Reid nodded, unaware that the unit chief couldn't see it. "Got it. See you tomorrow, Hotch. Bye." He hung up and stuffed his phone back into his pocket.

"What did he say?" JJ spoke for the first time in the past thirty minutes.

Reid shrugged a little bit, "He asked how we were doing and said that your dad still hasn't requested an attorney. He also told me to tell you that tomorrow they're going to have to ask you some questions along with your brothers. Is that okay?"

"Of course it's okay. Why wouldn't it be?" JJ smirked, keeping her gaze forward.

Reid noticed the mood shift that had happened, but he didn't question it. She was probably just acting bright and cheerful so that he wouldn't be able to ask her anymore questions. He was pretty sure that was it. "No reason." He decided to play along. Their joking banter was much more fun than sitting in silence after a short argument.

The next couple hours went by smoothly, almost unnoticed by the two friends who spent the time talking to each other and sharing old stories about their childhood and even about the team. It was about 7:00 at night when they reached Travis' house.

Reid couldn't help feeling a little bit unwelcome as they drove up to his large Pennsylvanian plantation house. It was huge, from what Reid could tell from the outside, it was three stories and there was farmland all around it with a barn in the backyard. It was beautiful, actually, beautifully historic. There was a gate that opened to the driveway so Reid had to get out and open it for JJ to drive through and then closed it when she was in. She parked the car and he walked up to the porch where he waited patiently for her.

"Does he have any kids?" He asked with a small yawn.

"Nope, just a wife and a couple of horses." JJ gave him a quick smile before reaching up and ringing the doorbell. They could hear the loud chimes of the doorbell from where they were standing on the porch.

Reid hoped that they were interrupting anything important because there was no way that they hadn't heard the doorbell ringing.

A loud set of footsteps came towards the door and he had to assume that it was JJ's brother walking heavily towards the door. He put a smile on his face just before the door was pulled open. A fit 37 year old man with sandy blonde hair and deep blue eyes was standing in front of them with a confused look on his face.

An almost scared look.

"Travis?" A hint of fear was evident in her own voice. She obviously didn't know why he had that look in his eyes.

He didn't answer.

"Travis, it's me. It's JJ…" She gulped quietly, nervously.

After that, he finally just blinked himself out of it. "I know, I know. I-I'm sorry Jayje, it's just…you look so much like her. It scared me for a second..."

JJ smiled a little bit, "Scares me sometimes too."

Reid assumed they were talking about JJ's older sister, who had never really heard about. All he knew was that she wasn't alive anymore, but when or how she died…JJ had never told him.

Her brother had a broad smile on his face now. He stepped forward and hugged her tightly, "It's so great to see you." His mood had changed considerably, but this looked more natural. The smiles, hugs, caring, that seemed more like his personality.

"You too, Travis." JJ smiled back, holding him tight.

"And who is this? Someone special…?" Travis raised his eyebrows. He held his hand out for Reid to shake it.

"Just a friend." Reid shook the man's hand. His shake was firm, he was confident…like JJ. It was easy to see that they had a lot of the same qualities. "I'm Spencer Reid…"

Travis' eyebrows raised again, "The Spencer Reid?" He asked, "My sister talks very highly of you, Dr. Reid. It's nice to finally meet you." His grin was contagious, "Come inside, please."

They both followed him, almost eagerly. He was so charismatic; the friendliness that he radiated out was well-needed and well-appreciated from them. It was refreshing to be around someone like that. He just seemed like that kind of person, the kind of person that everyone wants to be, but can never seem to go through with. The good kind of person.

"So what brings you all the way up here?" Travis smirked a little bit, teasingly.

JJ rolled her eyes, "I think you already know."

They all sat down comfortably in the living room, easily getting settled.

"I do." Travis' smile faded slowly, "Dad." There was grimness in his voice, the same one that came when Cole had spat his father's name. Why did each of the kids have the same reaction? He wished that he could just be let into the loop.

"The FBI came up here to investigate, the BAU to be exact. We're here…helping." JJ stared at him, her blue eyes examining him. "I know they called you Travis and I know that you ignored it, why?"

"The same reason that Cole did and the same reason that I know if they would have called you, you would have too." Travis sipped a cup of water that had been sitting on the table beside his chair. "It's simple really; I don't care what happens to Dad. And I'm sorry about that, but why should I?"

JJ's glare was intact, "Because two girls died because of him. Don't you want to help? Just because they call about Dad doesn't mean you have to be on his side." She explained, irritably.

Travis rolled his eyes, "Why should I even come? You don't need me. They have you and Cole to tell the stories. I was just the older brother, I wasn't even home half the time."

"Then why does it matter so much? You come in, you tell them that. It's pretty simple; wouldn't you say so Dr. Reid?" JJ turned to look at him expectantly. She needed backup on this.

Reid nodded slowly, meeting Travis' eyes. "I would have to agree with JJ. Different perspectives of the same story can mean all the difference. All you have to do is come in and tell them, we'll have you out in one day at the most."

"No. I'm sorry, Dr. Reid…you seem like a nice kid, but I can't come in. You don't know what kind of stories there are to tell and how complicated things are, how painful they are…" Travis' eyes were clouded with memories.

"Where's Kelly? She'll knock some sense into you." JJ stood up, looking around.

"Grocery Store and I don't want her brought into this. I don't want her to-"

JJ cut in, her voice raised in anger. "To what? You don't want her to know what happened. Do you want anyone to know what happened? I know you know things that Cole and I don't. You and Sarah did, so don't lie to me."

His face was blank.

"Why can't you just come, for me?" JJ asked, "Cole is going to be there…just Cole, without the family. I know you guys haven't had the chance to catch up for a while…"

Reid could feel the tension there. He could see Travis' muscles tighten from where he was sitting across the room. That was obviously a sensitive subject for the family, but he didn't know why. Should I ask her again? He wondered. She didn't take it well last time… He was woken from his thoughts when he heard Travis respond.

He stood as he spoke, "All the more reason for me not to show up." His voice was angry, full of stress.

"You guys still haven't gotten over that? Travis you're older than him. Grow up and forgive him, you have to be the bigger person, okay? This is important to me…please." JJ looked up at him, but he didn't meet her eyes.

He walked around the couch, out of the room and into the kitchen which was visible from where JJ and Reid were sitting. "I don't understand why I have to be there. There's questioning, which I get, but why can't they come here? Why do I have to be there?" He filled up his cup with water.

"It's courtesy, Travis. It would be so much easier to get the records on file and get have contact with our technical analyst. I don't understand what the problem is here. I think you're just being difficult…" She was getting irritated now, "Cole is coming and I'm going to be there. We're ending whatever's going on with Dad. Don't you want to be there for that? Don't you want to be a part of it?"

He was silent.

"Travis!"

He gave in, "I…I'll think about it, alright? Is that a good enough answer for you?"

"I guess." JJ ran her fingers through her hair, "Let me know before tomorrow if you're coming though so that my team knows how many people are going to be there."

"Alright." Travis looked at her, "How is your job going, by the way? Still good? Last time we talked you were just transferring from the State Department job back to the BAU." He smiled a little, the tension free from his body. He sat down across from them again.

JJ glanced at Reid, "Still good. What can I say? I love what I do and who I do it with." She sent a smile in Reid's direction, "That's why I'm here Travis…to do my job. So please come…give it a chance, give us a chance."

"I'll…think about it."

JJ nodded and there was a short, awkward silence before she stood up. "We'd better get going, right Reid?" She glanced down at her watch. It was only 7:30, "If we start driving right now we could probably make it back to Pittsburgh by 11:30."

"Okay, well, I don't know if I already told you this, but it was really great to see you again Jay. I hope you'll come back soon. We'd love to have you and even some of your team members," he smiled at Reid, "visiting us."

JJ smiled brightly and hugged her older brother, "Okay if you insist, but some of them are crazy. You've been warned." She pulled away and looked into her brother's eyes. "Think about tomorrow and let me know, okay? Just know that this is really important, especially to me."

"I'll give it a good amount of thought and let you know. Don't worry, everything will work out. I think all of this will blow over soon enough." Travis grinned almost too optimistically.

"You think?"

"I know."

JJ smiled up at him, gave him another quick hug and then walked out the front door with Reid. He heard the door shut behind them as they made their way down the driveway to the SUV.

Reid was mad though. There was something going on and he didn't like that JJ wasn't telling him what it was. It could help the investigation and she wasn't going to let him in? There was such a thing as being too proud.

"JJ." He said as they were walking down towards the car.

She turned around and looked at him. Concern filled her eyes when she saw the annoyance on his face, "What? What's wrong Reid?"

Reid shook his head, "This needs to stop. I'm not stupid, JJ, you of all people should know that. There's something you're not telling me and it's time to come clean, don't you think?" He gave her an expectant look.

JJ looked offended, "Why is it any of your business?"

"It could help the investigation! Don't you get that JJ? You're hurting more than you're helping if you're holding important information! Sometimes there are things that are more important than privacy." He added the last sentence more quietly.

Anger filled her eyes and she shook her head, "You don't get it either! You don't know what you're talking about this time Reid. It's my life! I get to decide if it is important to the investigation or not. And this isn't."

"But how do you know?!" Reid retorted quickly, "What if it lead to something else that helped us? You can't see the future and I know you hate not being in control, but this time you need to take the back seat and let me decide what to do."

"Who made you in charge?"

"You're compromised, JJ! You're biased, you can't make rational decisions. I know you think that you can, but you can't! Just tell me what's going on!" Reid exclaimed, his voice raised as well as hers. They were pretty much just yelling at each other now.

JJ's eyes flashed, "You don't understand! You don't get it…" Her voice was getting quieter, "I don't want to talk about it, okay? I don't want to go through it again and neither do my brothers. So why should we have to?"

Reid stepped towards her so that he was inches away from her. He looked directly into her conflicted blue eyes, "Don't you trust me? If you just tell me then I will decide from there if we need to tell anyone else. I just need to know…"

JJ looked away from him, at the ground. "I can't…" Her voice cracked slightly.

"Yes, you can. You're strong…and all you have to do is trust me. I'm not going to judge you. I just want to help, JJ." Reid tried to look her in the eyes again, "Please."

She didn't say anything for a long time.

Reid thought that she was crying at first, but then he thought better of it. She wouldn't cry, he was sure of it. She never cried in front of other people, but he was also certain that sometimes she did cry when no one else could see.

"Come on." She said quietly and started walking towards the woods. At the very edge of the trees there was a bench, she sat down on it and then motioned for him to sit down next to her.

It took her a little less than an hour to explain everything to him.

During that hour, Reid didn't say a word.

When she was finished, she looked over at him. "Say something." She pleaded, wanting to know what he thought about it.

He took a short pause, "You were right. We're not telling the team about this, I understand now. I get it JJ and I'm sorry that I was so pushy about this. You shouldn't have had to tell me and I'm just…I'm sorry."

"But there's a story behind everything. How a picture got on a wall. How a scar got on your face. Sometimes the stories are simple, and sometimes they are hard and heartbreaking. But behind all your stories is always your mother's story, because hers is where yours begin."

Mitch Albom