"Jennifer."
A voice called out and she looked up to see Dave standing in here office doorway. He seemed fine and was smiling at her. She almost broke down right there thinking maybe it had all just been a bad dream. He was alive which meant Tara was alive too, and ladies nights were definitely going to be scheduled as soon as possible.
"Emily sent me in here to come get you. We're all going out for drinks on me," Dave told her.
J.J. shot up out of her chair and bear hugged Rossi, who after a moment of surprise hugged her right back. She pulled away and looked up at the man sheepishly.
"What was that for?"
"Bad dream, long story short you died," J.J. gave him a sad smile.
"Well I can assure you that in that dream I am in a better place. Now how about those drinks with the team!"
"J.J.! J.J. wake up!"
She groaned in pain and discomfort, it was just a dream...they were both really gone. That thought struck her like a bolt of lightning and my god did it hurt.
"Hey, J.J. we can hear vehicles approaching," the same voice prodded as she slowly sat up from her place near where they had moved Dave and Tara's bodies.
She looked up to see it was Matt who had woken her up from the wonderful and yet painful dream she had had. She just wished it had been real, wished they had both still been alive. J.J. just wished everyone was home now with their families, happy, healthy, and alive.
"J.J. come on, we need to go head them off and get help," Matt insisted.
"We can't leave them though," she whispered as she stared past Matt unable to look him in the eye.
"Don't worry, okay? Nothing is going to happen to them. Everything will be alright," Simmons tried to reassure her.
"No it won't! They're dead! Rossi is dead! Tara is dead! They left!" J.J. stood and shouted at him as tears streamed down her face. "Why did they have to leave...why? I still needed them. Matt… we all still needed them," she trailed off as he pulled her into a tight hug.
"I don't know why they were taken from us J.J. and I won't tell you the pain will ever go away because it won't but I can tell you that they would want us to try to get out of here and go home."
"Matt," her voice cracked as she pleaded with him.
"How do you think Rossi feels seeing you like this. It's probably breaking his heart up there J.J."
"I can't do this without him," she cried.
"Yes you can. He wouldn't have let go had he thought you weren't capable of doing just that."
J.J. nodded her head before taking a deep breath and stepping away.
"Alright, let's go. We have a vehicle or two to track down."
Driving across the vast expanse of forest and being lead to the crash site by a helo overhead, Penelope and Cruz kept their eyes peeled for their friends. They almost flew into the seat in front of them though when the driver slammed on his breaks.
Penelope immediately looked back out the window to see four people standing near by. Without even thinking she jumped out of the truck and sprinted across the ground almost tackling Reid when she hugged him.
"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh! You're okay! Of course you're all okay, I mean you're you guys!" Penelope stopped herself and re counted her friends. "Where are Emily, Rossi, and Tara?"
"Emily's leg is broken so she decided to stay back," Luke quickly jumped in.
"What about Rossi and Tara?" Garcia asked as Cruz now approached with a medical team on his heels.
"Emily's watching over them right now. Come on, we should probably take you guys to her," Matt explained.
As they got closer to the makeshift campsite, the team could make out three people, two of which laid unmoving on the ground. No one could stop Garcia from taking off towards them and watched as she stopped dead in her tracks the second she realized Rossi and Tara were dead. The medics rushed forward but after a few second and a few shakes of their heads they moved on to trying to help Emily.
Not much later and the team were packed into trucks on their way to Fort Knox before flying back home to Quantico. The bodies would be put on a separate flight that was to arrive and hour after they did. For there the team would head to the hospital while both of their fallen friends were taken to the morgue for an autopsy. An investigation was to be opened on what happened but the team would be allowed to go home after statements were taken and they were cleared by the hospital.
It had been a hard three days for everyone but they were going home and at least they had that. Now they only thing left to do was let the families know who hadn't made it and that was probably the hardest thing Cruz would ever have to do.
Rossi and Krystall had just gotten married and now he had to tell her that the love of her life was gone. He was gone not because of an unsub, that they know of, but because of some freak weather and a plane crash. He would also have to tell Tara's brother and father, two relationships that had finally been repaired. He had to tell her father that his daughter wasn't coming home and her brother that he'd never get to see his sister again.
The team...the team he was sure would probably never truly recover from this. And honestly he couldn't blame them, had a feeling he'd need to fill in spots as they slowly decided that it wasn't worth it anymore and left. He couldn't blame them but he would miss them. He would miss the wonderful family like feeling that came with seeing them together. He would miss the smiles on all their faces because he had a feeling they would be few and far between after everything that has happened. Cruz had seen this team down after losing a team member but never before had they lost two at once. Their recovery not only physically but mentally would be the biggest fight they've ever been in.