AN: sorry for the late update. my band and i were fully booked this weekend. anyway, here's the fourth chapter. enjoy! chapter five will be up tomorrow.

CHAPTER 4

After moments of silence, Derek finally spoke up.

"What do we know about JJ?"

It took a moment for them all to think about her. Will was the first to answer.

"Well I don't know about you guys, but you should start with her time at the State Department..." He paused briefly. All six faces turned their attention toward the detective.

"She never told me anything about what she did when she was there. I never really asked questions about her job. I was just happy she was home almost every night. At the time... I was ecstatic about her new job and hours. I was so blinded by her job with you guys - with the long hours and all the travelling. But now I realize that her State Department job was more dangerous than this one. Oh God, I've been such a jerk! It never really occurred to me, but the damn job changed her." he frowned before sitting in silence once more. Aaron's body tensed, as the same questions that aroused in his mind earlier came back. He knew it was the time to speak up.

"Before she left, she was extremely talented at handling the media," he paused, as the rest of the team synchronically nodded. He continued. "It's the reason she was snagged by the State Department in the first place. But one thing that's been bothering me the whole time was the fact that when she came back to us, not once has she gone near the press. I always assumed that her return would mean that she'd assume the role of media liaison again as a profiler like how I'd been doing it but JJ... Hasn't been near a camera for nearly two years."

The team exchanged quizzical looks, and the questions started bouncing around.

"Now that you mention it, I don't recall ever seeing JJ on TV, even at the State Department. I thought she'd be liaising between the Pentagon, State Department and Department of Defense - I'd even seen the reports that came from the Departments, but it wasn't her presenting information to the media. It was someone else. I think she might have been recruited into something else." Spencer added.

"It does explain why she came back as a profiler," Derek admitted. He thought about the time she came to him for hand-to-hand combat training. "Wait, I remember when she was away, she called me up asking for help in combat training... Said it was part of a program she was in, but never specified what program. At the time, I obviously didn't ask questions about it because I was too happy with getting to see her every now and then, so I happily offered her training sessions,"

"Why would a media liaison need hand-to-hand combat training?" Alex questioned. The rest of the members shrugged their shoulders, all of them attempting to figure out why she'd need to know how to fight. David spoke up.

"If she was involved with the Bureau of Public Affairs dealing with press relations, she would have barely been in the field - their liaisons deal with press queries, they conduct media interviews, coordinate special press briefings, and make conference calls... It's a desk job. There's no way she'd need hand-to-hand training, unless..."

"… Unless she switched departments into something more hands on like national security, national defense or counterintelligence." Spencer added.

"We're going to have to look into her life at the State Department. Everything that she's worked on, worked with, cases or files - anything we can get our hands on." Aaron ordered. He hated having to look into his agents' lives without permission, but they needed answers, and they needed them now. Penelope took this as a sign to start digging. She opened up the FBI database on her laptop and entered everything she knew about JJ. She brought up files from the young blonde's time at the Pentagon. She paused for a moment, confusion consuming her face.

"It looks like she's got a bunch of redacted files... She must have done something highly classified."

Will's head shot up. "What?" he questioned. What the hell were you up to JJ?

Now they were confused. Did she go undercover? Penelope uncovered another file, widening her eyes in shock. All members of the team felt the same anxiety run through their veins.

"Garce? Penelope, what did you find?" Derek asked concernedly.

"I just found her official employment file from the SD, and it says that she worked under Mateo Cruz. Guys, they knew each other and didn't tell us about it! They've been hiding something!"

They all stood in shock.

"Cruz? You're kidding. They knew each other?!" Derek blurted. They couldn't believe their own section chief kept this from them. Why would they need to keep their partnership a secret?

"They've been keeping some sort of secret." David assessed.

"Yeah, well, that's not the only thing she's been keeping from us. I just found a file on JJ from the DoD – it's a redacted dossier. It has her picture on there, but most of the information is blocked out. I'll see if I can uncover the entire thing, but it looks like she went undercover for a while."

"What?" Spencer asked, puzzled. He couldn't think of his best friend putting herself in danger, going undercover like that. He just couldn't see it.

"Unfortunately, yes, my little genius boy. Wait, I just got a name – looks like she used the alias 'Adrienne James' when she went undercover, but that's all that I've gotten so far. I'll call you back when I've got the whole thing, but it's looking like Cruz can answer more about JJ than I can."

"Thanks Garcia," Aaron acknowledged. He came back into the room, seeming like he was unable to get ahold of Cruz.

All the agents turned their attention to Will, confusion lining each of their faces.

"Did you know she went undercover, Will?"

He froze. It didn't occur to him that she was undercover.

"Oh god," He managed to say.

"Will, what? Do you know something?" Aaron asked once more.

"Well, I didn't think she was actually undercover… She just told me that she'd be going overseas to take care of some bureaucratic issue the State Department had gotten themselves into… We Skyped, and even called each other over the phone. God, how could I be so stupid!" He cursed himself. Will placed his face in his hands. He couldn't believe he could be so stupid to let her go like that. Derek came up to comfort him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Will, you couldn't possibly know what she was up to at the Pentagon, it's not your fault." He assured.

Will let the tears flow from his face. His wife – his JJ, undercover? Is this why she's gone missing?

"Will, we'll bring her back home safely okay? I promise our girl will come home to us. Why don't you get some rest man?" Derek offered.

"To hell I'm going to sleep, I'm not resting until I find my wife!" he shot back. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap. Just please… Find her," he pleaded, red rims circling his eyes.

The team nodded. It was silent, but one, collective thought floated throughout the room.

Oh Jayje, what have you gotten yourself into?

"We need Cruz. And he'd better have a hell of a good explanation for this." Aaron breathed.

Penelope took this as a hint and punched in the the new chief's number on the computer, coming up with nothing.

"I can't get a trace on his phone," she quivered. Aaron slammed his fists onto the round table.

"Try something else."

"Hold on, I've got a track on his car GPS - he's on the move guys. Go! I'll send you the trace on your phones."

And in a flash, all five agents were out the door.