Author's Note: Posting just in time for today! Special thanks to Flames101 (you know I love me some Jack! LOL!), misalason, spk (no, there's not!), Jamnut, canny-bairn, and sweber22 for the reviews!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the dvds!

Friday, December 16:

"Any lucky on your mystery man?" Prentiss asked JJ when Garcia had gone to the bar to grab the next round of drinks.

JJ frowned and glanced around. "You haven't said anything, have you?"

"Not a word," Prentiss promised.

JJ slid her hand into her pocket and pulled out the bracelet that now contained three charms. She handed it to Prentiss to take a look. "There seems to be some message to go along with these. The first tag said 'JJ.' The second said 'you.' And the third said 'are.'"

"Are what?"

"I don't know," she replied with a shrug. "I guess I have to wait to see if anything else comes through."

Prentiss studied her for a minute before speaking. "Are you sure we shouldn't mention this to anyone?"

"No." JJ took the bracelet back, shoving it in her pocket. "There's been nothing threatening about any of this. I don't feel like I'm being followed or watched."

"Okay," Prentiss agreed, cautiously. "For now, anyway."

"What are we talking about, my lovelies?" Garcia asked, placing two beers and her pina colada on the table.

JJ turned to Prentiss in a panic. Prentiss raised her eyebrows, amused, before turning back to Garcia. "We were just talking about JJ's date with Hotch tomorrow?"

"Emily!" JJ admonished.

Garcia grinned, mischievously. "Oh, yes! A dinner and a movie date."

"It is not a date! It's just Jack feeling bad for me because Henry's not here. He invited me over for pizza and a Christmas movie so I wouldn't be alone. He probably had to beg Hotch to do it."

"From what I hear, Hotch didn't need any persuading at all to say yes," Emily countered.

JJ glared at her. "And where did you get this information?"

After a brief pause, all three answered, "Rossi."

"He said Jack was so excited that you were coming over, he couldn't stop talking about," Prentiss continued. She bit the inside of her mouth, thoughtfully. "He has a crush on you, you know."

"Who? Jack?" JJ asked, confused.

"No. Well, yes, but I'm talking about Hotch."

JJ huffed and rolled her eyes. "He does not!"

"He does. I noticed it when I first started working there. He also greatly respects and admires you."

JJ looked to Garcia, who nodded. "He does respect and admire you."

JJ waved them off. "That's just because we worked all those long hours together going over cases. It's no different than the way Dave respects and admires you."

"Yeah, yeah," Prentiss replied, but let the subject drop.

The conversation revolving around Hotch's supposed crush preoccupied JJ's thoughts as she reached her apartment later, so much so that she nearly forgot to look for a present. She kicked the box slightly, knocking it on its side. She let out a soft, "Oh" when she realized what she had done. She scooped down and grabbed the box, stepping inside. She glanced at the tag, reading "The."

"That's enlightening," she muttered to herself. She opened the gift to find another gold bird. As with the first bird, she didn't recognize this bird, but thought it might be some sort of blackbird. As she hooked it onto her bracelet, she found her excitement had lessened some as thoughts of her non-date with Jack and Hotch reentered her mind. She silently cursed Emily as she got ready for bed for ever putting the word "date" into her brain.