AN/I know, I know. Y'all thought I had forgotten about this story, right? Ok, so thanks to all of the faithful readers who are still following this story. Sorry that there's been a shortage of new chapters, I'll work on that. Let me know what you think, I hope it lived up to the wait.
JJ awoke the next morning with a crippling head ache. Her lack of sleep the night before definitely hadn't helped matters. Walking down to the kitchen she and Morgan shared, she cursed as she saw the pile of dishes and left overs from the night before. Groaning, she purposefully ignored the mess, promising herself that she'd clean it up when she got back from work that day, she settled for a bowl of cereal to start the morning.
"Morning sleepy head." Morgan chuckled as he looked up from the paper he was reading to see the disheveled blonde rummage for a clean spoon. JJ simply groaned in response. "I talked to Garcia, her flight's getting in at 4:30 this afternoon, so I'll pick her and Henry up at the airport."
"Great." JJ groaned dropping her face to her hands as she collapsed on the dining room chair.
"I would have thought you'd be more excited." Morgan observed skeptically, slightly confused at her response. He knew that she had been annoyed with him last night, and silently vowed to tone down his mockery of his partner.
"Just leave me alone." JJ groaned, unable to stop the migraine that threatened to ruin her day. "I can't deal with you today."
"Oh, somebody is testy this morning." Morgan scoffed. He studied her more closely and noticed her bloodshot eyes and constant sniffling. "Is everything okay?"
"It'll be fine." JJ grumbled, unwilling to admit that she felt more like she had been run over with a steam roller.
"You look terrible." He observed, noticing how her normally fair complexion had turned into a sickly pale color.
"Thanks." JJ grumbled as she pushed away her breakfast. The feel of her cereal against her throat made her feel sick to her stomach. Resigning herself to another day of teaching school, she quickly stood, easily fighting off the dizziness that threatened to overtake her.
"Are you okay?" Morgan asked again, this time his voice filled with concern. "Maybe you should take the day off today."
"I'm fine." JJ reaffirmed as she walked slowly up the stairs, the sheer idea of having to get ready already exhausting her. But she had a job to do, and there was no way that she was going to let a small migrane get in the way of completing this assignment.
"Whatever you say." Morgan relented, chuckling softly as he watched JJ retreat up the stairs. That woman sure is stubborn. He smirked as he picked back up the morning paper trying to find where he had left off.
"Let's go over this one more time." Hotch commanded, ignoring the eye-roll that Emily failed to hide. He, Reid, and Emily were spending the morning going over the case files and their profiling notes from the people they had come into contact with during the operation.
"The wounds inflicted post mortem seem controlled." Emily observed.
"Too controlled." Reid agreed as he inspected the wounds. "Almost surgical."
"And the trauma that the UnSub exhibits against the wife--there's definite rage behind that." Hotch pointed out, tossing a file aside while picking up her notes.
"But it's all done post-mortem which suggests either a lack of confidence or physical limitations to him being able to exhibit his rage while the victim's alive." Emily inserted.
"The shot to the husband--quick, methodical--it suggests that this UnSub probably has a record." Spencer added.
"It's definitely not his first crime." Emily agreed quickly.
"Well, it's somewhere." Hotch sighed, "Get Garcia to cross check male medical professionals with a history of violence. In the meantime, we'd all better get going." He advised.
Emily groaned in response. "There's a reason I didn't go into education."
"So, you've apparently managed to get my favorite lady's panties in a bundle. What have you done to her?" Garcia smiled knowingly as she hopped into the car after buckling Henry into a car-seat in the back seat.
"Oh Baby Girl, you know me. I've been a perfect gentleman." Morgan smiled chivalrously as he started the car.
"Stud Muffin, I don't think you'd know a gentleman if he punched you in the face." Garcia laughed, happy to be among the colleagues that she considered family. "So, what's new?"
"Baby Girl, what isn't new?" Morgan laughed, pulling out of the short term airport parking lot.
"Point taken." Garcia chuckled. "Care to explain why you've deemed it your mission to make my bestest buddy's life a living hell?" She queried.
Morgan laughed heartily, "It's her own fault." He countered. "She should have known not to mess with the master."
"Oh" Garcia chuckled as she raised her eyebrow in disbelief, "But what about--"
Suddenly Morgan's phone rang, saving him from Garcia's recollection of the many times that JJ had flustered the seasoned FBI Agent "Mor--uh." He coughed, remembering his cover "Montgomery."
"Mr. Montgomery, this is Patty Buswell--your neighbor. Your wife had an episode in class today and we were wondering if you could meet us at the University Hospital."
"University Hospital? What happened?" Morgan asked, remembering how pale JJ had looked earlier in the day. He quickly changed lanes to avoid getting on the freeway.
"I'm not sure. She was in the middle of sixth period and passed out." Patty confessed, then whispered conspiratorially, "But the same thing always happens to me when I'm pregnant."
"We'll be right there." Morgan promised, dreading the possibilities of what could be wrong with his friend. He couldn't help but chuckle at the other woman's conclusion, and grimaced as he thought of how angry JJ would be when she discovered the speculations of others.
"What's wrong?" Garcia asked, worried by the tightening of his jaw and the way the car sped up slightly. Having heard the word hospital she knew it couldn't be good.
"I think JJ's going to be a little upset." Derek chuckled, glancing through the mirror at a sleeping Henry in the backseat. "She's in the hospital. She looked sick this morning."
"And?" Penelope pressed, knowing that he was hiding the full story.
"And now everyone thinks she's pregnant." Morgan admitted, unable to stop the satisfied smirk that proved his superiority.
Garcia laughed heartily. "Oh, she's going to kill you."
All four profilers quickly checked their phones as the incessant buzzing disrupted their brainstorming session. Emily sighed, grateful for the momentary reprieve from her profiling session with the other two. On regular cases, the team worked effectively, and when stressful situations arose, Morgan or Garcia were usually the ones to lighten the mood. The more time she spent around the stoic unit chief, the more she dreaded the continuation of this assignment. Rossi had come over earlier in the evening to help with the profile, but they seemed to continually hit a brick wall. There had to be something they were missing.
"Daniels." Hotch answered his phone quickly, never faltering in his undercover requirements.
"Hey, its me." Morgan said quickly, knowing that the calls between members of the team needed to be quick in order to avoid a paper trail. "We're in the hospital."
"What?" Hotch exclaimed worriedly.
"JJ got sick." Morgan whispered into the phone. "Garcia's with her now, she passed out at work with a high temperature and symptoms of swine flu. She's fine, but they wanted to watch her for a couple of hours."
"Ok keep me posted." Hotch said lamely, desperately trying to quell the small pit in his stomach that had somehow erupted with the news. "We'll meet up tomorrow." He promised, hoping that JJ would be alright.
AN/Well, there you have it. I know it's been a long time coming, but I wanted to get this out there as soon as I could. Hope you enjoy!
