Disclaimed!

Notice - I wrote this fic, I think before season 7 even aired so there's going to be some differences from that season, such as the fact that Will and JJ don't get married and Beth is just a fling etc.

Let me know what you think!

...

Winter, 2053; Hotchner Residence

JJ blinked a few times to stop the uncontrollable tears falling that had built up in her eyes, before catching Henry's eye line and couldn't help but chuckle at her youngest son's queasy expression. "Don't worry sweetie, nothing happened between me and your Dad for a good few years after I returned to the BAU and there's no chance in hell that I'm going to go into detail."

"What took so long for you two to get together?" Elena questioned in interest.

JJ smiled faintly. "We were way too professional. Besides, when Will and I broke up, I was transitioning into a new chapter of my life and your Dad was busy gaining the attention of many other women."

"My Dad was with other women?" Jack gawped in disbelief.

JJ chuckled softly understanding her eldest son's surprise. "None of them made it too weekly family film nights with you and your Dad."

"You did." Jack replied quickly.

JJ contemplated for a moment before responding. "You already knew me."

"You were someone special to Dad." Lucy concluded. "He knew what you both had was going to last and that Jack and Henry needed the both of you to be in their lives."

"I like that version better." The grey haired woman stated with a soft, warm smile.

"When did you know Dad was someone special?" Elena asked, keeping her voice low to match the calm mood that had engulfed the room.

"I always knew he was special. I never opened up to anyone else as much as I did with him."

...

16th June 2012; BAU Jet, over Western Ohio.

"So Will and JJ are over?" Morgan whispered a little too loudly to Prentiss who sat across the table to him on the plane.

The brunette profile glanced to the back of the jet where JJ was taking her time to make herself a coffee. "That's what Garcia said."

"But the engagement?" Reid questioned in shock of the sudden news.

"I don't know what happened there. I don't think JJ really knows herself." Prentiss answered truthfully.

Morgan's eyebrows rose curiously. "Who broke up with whom?"

"I don't know." The ambassador's daughter tilted her head onto the cushioned back of her seat and shrugged her shoulders.

The Chicago native leaned forwards. "Is Will staying in DC?"

"Garcia said something about him taking some job down south somewhere." Prentiss revealed to a collective gasp.

"What about Henry?" Reid questioned in concern.

Prentiss mouthed, "I don't know."

Rossi looked over the top of the file that was in his hand and joined in the conversation. "She seems fine."

"It's JJ, she always seems fine." Prentiss countered coolly.

"Should we say something?" Reid asked unsurely.

Morgan shook his head adamantly. "No way kid, JJ's a hellova lot more private than the rest of us and that's saying something. It's just asking for trouble if one of us says anything."

"We should get back to the case at hand." Hotch said firmly after keeping out of the conversation as he leaned against the chair opposite the table.

The four profilers looked at their Unit Chief in ridicule.

Reid broke the sudden silence first. "One of us should at least make sure she's okay."

"I don't know if we should." Prentiss frowned in worry.

Rossi looked over his shoulder at the distant blonde. "I agree with Emily, if JJ needs us she'd say something."

"No she wouldn't." Prentiss stated in disagreement. "But I think we need to give her space, right now."

"Should she even be with us on this case?" Morgan queried.

Prentiss scoffed loudly, causing JJ to look in their direction. Lowering her wide eyed gaze to her hands, the female profiler shook her head. "It's a break-up Derek, JJ's probably better off being with us then wallowing alone."

"JJ doesn't seem like the type of woman who would wallow over a man." Rossi assessed with a slight grin.

Emily stared at her colleague dryly. "They were together for nearly five years. They had Henry, a home and a life together. It's not as if she's going to be fine with everything that's going on."

"Do you think he cheated?" Morgan wondered in concern.

Prentiss shook her head surely. "He wasn't that type of guy... At least I hope he wasn't."

"She didn't tell Penelope anything more concrete?" Morgan asked.

"Garcia only knows this because JJ needed a babysitter during her testimony for the last court trial. JJ didn't even say how long he's been gone, just that they're over, they'll be no wedding and she's doing okay."

"I think one of us should just make sure she's actually okay." Reid stated confidently.

The small group looked up to their team leader expectantly. Sighing, Hotch placed the file in his hand onto the table and stood. "Then, can we please get back to the case?"

JJ met Hotch's sombre eyes as he walked towards where she was standing in the kitchenette, before he could open his mouth, JJ put up a hand. "I'm fine, I've come to terms with my break-up, been through plenty before. Will and I ended on okay terms and Henry's managing. I'm more than capable of doing my job and you really need to teach the team how to whisper."

Hotch looked back at the team who all suddenly happened to be intensely reading their case files. "How much did you hear?"

"Pretty much all of it," JJ replied with a smirk. "I didn't want to interrupt so I've boiled the kettle at least four times."

Hotch leaned against the counter and met the blonde's gaze in concern. "How are you really doing?"

"I feel like I want to get on with my job." JJ answered evasively.

The senior profiler's forehead crinkled in concern. "Are you sure, you don't have to be here."

"Don't you want me here?" JJ met his gaze pointedly.

Hotch shook his head slowly at the blonde's stubbornness. "I didn't say that."

JJ filled up two coffee cups and handed him one. "Hotch, I'm a grown woman. I can handle rejection just fine. Henry and I will be fine. Everything will be..."

"Fine?" Hotch interrupted quickly.

JJ breathed over the hot liquid to cool it. "Yeah."

"I'm here if you need to talk. I've been through all of this." Hotch placed his hand on the petite woman's shoulder and squeezed.

JJ smiled brightly. "I know, thanks. But honestly, I'm doing okay. The break-up didn't really take me by surprise."

"JJ." Hotch began but JJ's wide blue eyes cut him off.

The crystal blue glare pleaded with the sympathetic chocolate brown eyes. "Can we please get back to the case?"

"Sure." Hotch nodded, stepping aside to allow his colleague to join the group first.

JJ stood next to Hotch and cupped her coffee mug in between her two hands as she returned the conversation back to the case. "Where were we?"

"We'll be landing soon, so..." Hotch's voice trailed off, giving instructions all the while, painfully away the blonde next to him had stopped listening.

...

Winter, 2053; Hotchner Residence

Henry leant forwards towards his mom and patted her arm. "Did you really feel rejected by Will?"

"At the time I thought he left because I didn't want what he wanted. I thought I was so selfish and self involved that my wanting to work at the BAU and put off growing our family and unwillingness of getting married, was what drove Will away."

Lucy wrapped Jack closer to her. "So what do you think now?"

"When Will came back into our lives, he told me I had just given him a chance to go. We weren't going to make it as a couple. We both knew that deep down. He just couldn't handle 'what-ifs' he would have faced if he stayed, so he left."

"The what-ifs?"

"What if we got married and I stayed distanced? What if it worked out and we had more kids but I stayed in the BAU? What if we went through with a wedding knowing the only reason we were doing it was because it was the next step, and everyone else wanted us to wed, even though I didn't want it. And so on. But him leaving hurt me so much more, not because I was still in love with him but because..."

"Because of what?" Henry asked softly.

She met her son's eyes and sighed deeply. "Because of you."

...

18th June 2012; The Courtyard Marriott Hotel, Fort Wayne, Indiana

JJ wiped her face dry after hanging up the phone. Henry wanted to be tucked in and neither JJ nor Will was there to kiss him goodnight.

The blonde shivered slightly, realising her tears were flowing full force down her face. Since she became a mother, JJ had never felt as guilty as she did now and that was after five years of loathing this particular aspect of a job she loved and fought to do.

Throwing her cell to the bottom of the bed, JJ bit her lip, willing the sobs to stay in her throat after they had built up in her chest.

A soft knock on the door, made the profiler groan and force herself to gain control. However, as soon as she opened the door and saw the worried agent staring at her, JJ allowed the whimper to escape her lips and welcomed the hug Hotch dragged her into.

Hotch lifted one of his hands that were wrapped around the petite woman's back and stepped into the room and closed the door behind them. His hand then ran through her soft blonde hair soothingly. "Shh, it's okay JJ."

JJ sniffled as they sat down on the edge of the bed. Her eyes were watery and raw red to match the tip of her nose. JJ rested her head on Hotch's shoulder as his arms remained around her. "I'm sorry for crying on you..."

"You have nothing to be sorry for." Hotch's jaw tightened as he muttered under his breath. "Will's an idiot."

"What?" JJ sat up and met the angry agent's eyes.

"Will didn't know what he had, JJ. You deserve so much better." Hotch expanded determinedly.

JJ cocked her head to the side and dried her cheeks with her palm. "You think I'm crying over Will?"

"JJ, I know how bad it hurts, especially when there's children involved, you have every right to be upset. But it takes two to end a relationship and Will should have fought harder to keep you, because he's a moron for letting you go." Hotch comforted.

JJ's bottom lip wobbled. "I'm not crying over Will."

Hotch stared at her disbelievingly. "JJ..."

"Henry's not feeling great and he wanted to be tucked in for the night and I'm not there. Neither is Will now, so I guess this is about him in a way, but I'm upset because I can't be there for my son when he wants me." JJ explained with a slight quiver in her voice.

Hotch closed his eyes together tightly. "Oh..."

"You think it was Will's fault that things ended?" JJ asked meekly.

Hotch opened his eyes and saw the genuine hurt wrote over the younger woman's face. "If he knew how amazing you are, he wouldn't have left, even if you sent him packing. Will didn't have to move to the other side of the country. He could have stayed and been a father, he could have stayed and helped you."

"He left with a bruised ego." JJ calmed her breathing. "I told him I wanted to postpone the wedding."

"You didn't want to get married." Hotch's mouth opened in shock.

JJ ran a hand over her face and groaned. "I don't think I ever did."

Hotch shook his head slowly. "That's no reason to break-up. You were a family, even if there was no marriage."

"It is when he gave me an ultimatum and I didn't give him the answer he wanted. I was selfish." JJ admitted quietly.

"I'm sorry, JJ." Hotch grabbed her hand and squeezed it tightly.

JJ met his dark eyes and smiled solemnly. "It's not your fault. Will isn't a bad guy. He wanted us to be a proper family and I just ruined it."

"No you didn't JJ. You wanted different things. It happens." Hotch reassured knowingly.

JJ frowned, causing her eyes to deepen in colour. "Why are you making me out to be the good guy in this?"

"There are always two sides to the story JJ and I'm your friend, so naturally I'm going to take your side. I wish it worked out for you. I was rooting for the pair of you, I was." The profiler stated sincerely.

JJ nodded once before she leaned her head back on the taller man's shoulder. "Thanks."

"I'm here, whenever you need me." Hotch said warmly. "I don't want you to go through this alone."

...

Thanks for reading!