"Where's Blake?" Hotch asked as the team gathered for roundtable the next morning. JJ stared down at her coffee mug and said nothing. Hotch gave her a brief glance, then turned to Garcia to tell her to begin.

Just then Blake entered. She looked like she hadn't gotten any sleep at all last night. In fact, she looked like crap.

"Sorry I'm late."

She offered no explanation, merely sat down in the empty chair and opened the case file on the table in front of her.

"Don't let it happen again," Hotch said, then gestured to Garcia.

"Okay crime fighters, brace yourself because you're going far, far away. To be exact, Salmon Stream, a smalltown in Alaska. Three murders in the past two weeks."

"They must be running out of inhabitants…" Rossi mumbled.

"You could say that again… Two women, one man, age 25-35. Cause of death; a single shot in the stomach."

"Being shot in the stomach and left to die is a slow and painful way to go, I think it's safe to say this unsub is a sadist," Rossi said.

Hotch said something, but JJ found herself profiling Blake's behaviour rather than the unsub's. The other woman angled her body so that she was slightly turned away from JJ, her whole body language rigid and standoffish. JJ could only see her face in profile and even so, a curtain of hair was in the way, but what little she could see of Blake's facial features was tense and dismissive. JJ suddenly felt like grabbing her shoulders and shouting at her to stop with the childish act, but that in itself would be acting even more childish.

She was shook out of her musings by Hotch's voice;

"Wheels up in twenty!"

She rose, straightened her back and walked out of the room.

Only then did Blake turn to look at her. But JJ pretended she didn't notice.

Once onboard the jet, the discussion continued and this time JJ managed to participate at least a little. They found no obvious motive to the murders, and it was clear as day that everyone in the town knew each other in some way. Their paths crossed on pretty much a daily bases for everyone. It was frustrating. After a few fruitless attempts at theories, Hotch changed the subject.

"Something else we need to decide on is our own lodging. It's a small place and we have only been able to rent three rooms, which means we have to share two and two. I suppose JJ and Blake will share…"

"Actually…" Blake said without looking up. "I would prefer to sleep alone."

Hotch frowned. This was what he feared; their personal issues brought to work.

"Did you pay attention, Blake? We only have three rooms booked."

"Then I'll share with Reid," she said, still refusing to look up from the case file she held in both hands. JJ felt her face heat with a blush as the silence went from slightly awkward to painfully awkward.

"So, JJ, looks like you end up with me," Morgan said, stepping in to save her face in a gentlemanly way. JJ gave him a feeble but grateful smile.

"I hope you don't snore," she said and couldn't help sending a pointed glare in Blake's direction. Only the tensing of the other woman's shoulders revealed that she even noticed the verbal poking.

"I don't," he replied, laughing a little.

"That's settled then. When we land, Morgan, Rossi and Reid, you go and talk to the people that found the bodies. JJ and Blake, you come with me to the sheriff's office and set things up."

JJ felt a surge of discomfort at his words. She knew that this was his way of getting them alone. But she nodded, trying to ignore the unpleasant feeling. So much for blowing up in our faces, she thought. Followed by; damn you Alex. Why do you have to be so difficult?

"Is there anything going on that I need to know about?"

"No," Blake clipped. JJ said nothing. Hotch looked from one to the other, knowing perfectly well that he wouldn't get the truth out of them for the time being. He sighed.

"Alright, whatever personal issue you two have, make sure you solve it. I don't wanna have to report back to Strauss that there are problems in this team," he said in a low, warning tone. "I'm sending the two of you to check the latest disposal site - it's about a two hour's drive from here and in that time I expect you to talk things through and put whatever it is behind you so you can focus on the case. Is that clear?"

"Yes," JJ said. She was relieved to get this second chance to keep up facade, but she was also worried about the inevitable talk. Blake's features were unreadable; usually her thoughts were mirrored in her eyes and the look on her face, but this time she seemed to have withdrawn completely into herself and locked the door behind her. Then it dawned on her; Blake didn't feel like she was in control, and her need for complete control was so strong it bordered on unhealthy. With this insight, JJ felt the ice around her heart melt a little.

Alex is afraid.

As they walked out to the car, JJ handed over the car keys. She knew that the one driving always felt more in control, so bringing up unpleasant subjects with someone was easier if the person in question was driving. Blake took the keys without a word, and as they drove off, JJ decided to let Blake be the first to break the silence.

Eventually, she did.

"I really am sorry," she said. "It's just… this is very difficult for me."

"I know it is. But we can only get past it if we talk to each other." JJ kept her voice low and calm.

Blake sighed and bit her lip as she struggled to find words.

"I speak seven languages but I still can't communicate what I feel. You have no idea how frustrating it is."

"Just say the first thing that pops up."

"I'm scared." She seemed surprised herself at the words, but before JJ could ask her to continue, she did so on her own.

"I'm scared this will end. Every time I have allowed myself to love someone I have lost them. Or it turns out they never really loved me back at all. I'm scared Erin will go out of her way to destroy us, if only to punish me for breaking up with her. I'm scared of losing my job, but I'm more scared of causing you to lose your job. I'm a walking bad luck charm. And I'm not making any sense!"

"Well, first of all, I'm not planning on going anywhere, so you don't have to be afraid of that. Second, you're making a lot of sense. What happened at the pub? Do you think you could tell me now?"

"Erin was there, and she spoke to me. Said that she missed me. And there was a part of me that…" she cleared her throat. "…that missed her too. While she did end up using me, it was still easy to be with her, you see, she wasn't poking into my life the way…" she stopped talking as if she had been slapped.

"The way I do?" JJ said, but she wasn't angry anymore. She began to understand.

"Sorry. That didn't come out right."

"I didn't really understand how much you need your privacy. I'll try to back out a little, but please understand that I only 'poke into your life' because I'm crazy about you."

"I'm just so used to keep to myself, it's difficult to know how or how much I can let you in."

"I know. Just don't keep quiet about everything, please? I want to listen. Remember?"

"Right. Sexy voice, and all that."

"And all that," JJ agreed. Blake dared to take her eyes off the road long enough to give JJ a quick kiss.

"Are we good?"

JJ nodded and stroke a coil of hair back from her lover's face. Blake turned back to the road and frowned. "Are you sure this is the right way?"

JJ stared at the muddy dirt road ahead, winding deeper into the forest.

"It looks like the only way to me."

"Hm. Indeed. And I'm worried about how bad it's getting; this is an SUV, not a Jeep." She scoffed as she slowed down even further. "Or a tank. Damn it, this isn't working. We have to turn around."

She had barely spoken the words when the car hit a bump that scratched the underside of the car with a horrible metallic screech.

"Shit!"

"Some language, Alex," JJ remarked, then the car hit another bump and slid off the road into the deep ditch. "Shit!"

"I couldn't agree more," Blake said, turned off the engine and sat quiet for a few seconds before punching the steering wheel with both fists. JJ touched her shoulder.

"I'll call Hotch and tell him what's happened," she said, and tapped her phone. "Uh-oh."

"What?"

"No service."

"I must say I'm not all that surprised," Blake said. "Annoyed, but not surprised."

"What do we do now?"

"I don't know. I'm open for suggestions."

"You really shouldn't put it that way," JJ sighed. "Especially since you made sure we won't share a room."

This made Blake laugh in spite of their situation. "Sorry. About that as well."

"Could you really handle Reid 24/7?" JJ asked as they took off their seat belts and got out of the car to inspect the damage. Blake chuckled.

"Well… I do have the ability to stop listening when I'm no longer interested," she said. "And I like him; he's like the son I never had."

"I like him too, it's not that. But to hear all those facts listed for bedtime story…"

"So you prefer to listen to me snoring?" Blake retorted and raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, well, sorry. And for the record, I do."

Blake gently rubbed JJ's arm. "You're sweet." She then bent down to check underneath the car, sighed and shook her head. "And unless you're also a mechanic in disguise, we're not going anywhere with this car even if we could push it back onto the road."

"Even if I were, we have no tools," JJ said.

"Fair point."

Blake pulled her hands through her hair; a gesture she saved for particularly stressful situations. "Shit," she said again. She didn't even want to think about how misplaced they must look out here; pantsuits and high heels out in the middle of nowhere. Well, the good thing was that nobody was around to see them. The bad thing was that, well, nobody was around to help them either.

"Try the phone again," she said.

"Still nothing."

Blake pulled out her own phone and tried, but she didn't have any luck either. Resisting an urge to throw the useless device into the muddy ditch, she tried to think. They were miles away from civilisation, phones not working, car a useless wreck…

In the meanwhile, JJ had walked up the road, hoping she could find a signal somewhere.

"Hey, Alex? The road ends over here, and I suppose that's the abandoned loggers' camp the unsub used for disposal site."

Blake put her phone into her pocket and walked up to JJ. The muddy ground seemed to make a serious attempt at sucking the shoes off her feet, and she cursed inwardly.

I hate the outdoors.

JJ couldn't help grinning as she watched Alex trying to navigate between the worst pools of muddy water, only to end up stepping in another. Her dislike was written all over her face.

"You're really not a camper, are you?" JJ teased as Blake finally caught up with her.

"Not a happy one," Blake said.

"It shows," JJ said, but amiably enough, and pointed ahead. "There."

"Well then, let's go and do our job."

What none of them knew was that they were being watched.

A/N

Uh-huh, I'm gonna cliff-hang you there for a little while. ;)

Also, discussing uncomfortable things in the car is a technique that actually works from a pure psychological perspective. You're welcome. :P