Spencer woke with a start in the wee hours, unused to having anyone else in his bed, even a beloved anyone else. He smelled her fragrance before he saw her, dark as it was, and relaxed. His eyes soon grew accustomed to the dark and he made out her outline, reaching over to stroke her hair.

"Goddess…" he thought. "All this time I knew."

She stirred and reached for him, and he pulled her close, enveloping her.

"Mmmmm, good morning?" she murmured against his chest. She kissed him right where his heart was and he bent his head to kiss the top of hers.

They pulled back a little and entwined their fingers, facing each other as the room slowly lightened.

"Are you comfortable, can I get you anything?" He asked, his voice quiet.

She looked into his eyes and gave a small smile. "Thanks, I'm really fine." She kissed his fingers.

He gazed at her, remembering every perfect moment of the night before, and said. "I can't go back."

She looked at him in all seriousness and responded, "I know."

"You've asked for space and I respect you and trust you more than I could ever tell you in words… but I can't go back to the pretending," he said.

"You mean pretending that we're just friends? Spence, I don't want you to."

"It isn't any secret that I've loved you for… pretty much ever. Last night you showed me such… depth. So much sharing, passion, beauty… I could never go back to sitting on the sidelines. You've… changed my life." he said.

"And you've helped me to change mine. Made me realize… what it is that I really need. As a woman, as a mother… I've needed you for years just like you've needed me. Will you forgive me for not realizing sooner? Can you?"

"I think last night was… an excellent start." He smiled, smoothing her hair back from her eyes.

She smiled back at him. "It definitely was." She sat up. "But there is something."

He sat up too. "Tell me."

"My boys. I know for certain they are not ready to hear that we are together." she said.

"Well, I do know better than to start kissing you in front of them just yet." he answered.

"I know. I don't have all the answers and... one that I don't have is to know for sure how long this adjustment period will take."

"So what are you asking?" he asked.

"Can you understand… that they will have to set the pace. I'm not… I can't skew their reality so radically and so permanently all at once."

"I would never ask you to. I get it, and I'm right there with you. There is something that I need to say, too."

"Tell me," she said.

"I still have work to do," he said. "On me."

She looked at him, tilted her head and tears pushed behind her eyes. "Oh, Spence. I know. The last thing I expected was that last night would be some cure-all."

"No, no… I don't mean…" He grabbed her hand. "JJ last night was a revelation for me, you have no idea how much… what you did for me. Kind of like a… solidifying, a validation of what I've known forever, if that makes sense? I'm not minimizing what happened between us in any way, and I'm NOT saying it didn't have an effect on me, god no. What it did do was make me more determined than ever to come to you whole. And I can't lay that on you. I want us to be together… I don't mean to sound cliché, but... for the rest of our lives. And now, I'm more certain than ever that I need to be the very best that I can, for all of us. You, me, my godsons... work, the team. The last thing I ever want to be for us is some twitchy, depressed jailbird that can't hold it together."

"Spence, I completely hear you. But we are all a work in progress. That's what life is. I'm here with you because I love not who you'll eventually become, but because of who you are. Do you have things to work through, and do I worry about you? You bet your ass. But I also know who you are inside, in your mind and your heart. And THAT is who I love, and trust, and want, and need. And despite some very real issues that we will work out together, that man is sitting right here beside me, right now."

He kissed her, long and deeply and said, "You have that much faith in me?"

The fact that he even had to ask made her want to burst into tears. That he had gone for months believing that no one cared, that no one would help him, that he was thrown away, discarded… it was almost more than she could stand.

She swallowed, and pushed him down against the pillows, straddling him in one swift move. "You listen, Spencer Reid. I'll give you every bit the space you need, just as I've asked that from you. But I will not sit idly by while you struggle. I am yours now, and you are finally mine and I will never let you feel alone, in your head or in your heart, ever again. Spence..."

And then the tears did come. He pulled her to him just as his own leaked out the corners of his eyes. Their tears mingled with their kisses and he murmured against her mouth, "Right now, I feel like the luckiest man whoever lived."

She laughed then, and sniffled, and she looked into his warm hazel eyes as she sat up, still straddling him. "Yeah?" she said, wiping away her tears. "How 'bout I remind you just how right you are?"

"How 'bout that." He whispered, as she bent to kiss him once more... and again, and again.

They arrived at Quantico at the same time, JJ having gone home to Sandy's and gotten ready. To her credit, her mother didn't ask any questions about her daughter's whereabouts last night even though she was curious. Will had called before breakfast, so she knew JJ wasn't with him.

Sandy had an inkling as to where she might have been. She knew, at least partially, the depth of feeling her daughter held for Spencer Reid, and she naturally wondered if that's where she'd been. Had she asked, JJ probably would've told her, but she instead respected her privacy and refrained.

JJ knew she'd have to tell everyone about her and Will, soon. When she had first left him, it had ostensibly been to clear her head, and see things the way they actually were. Well, she had found out. For all his objections, it had turned out that Will was right - she was in love with Spence. She had held onto her marriage as long as she could, and for that she was sorry. She should have had the presence of mind to see that Will was correct, all along. Separating was the best thing she could have done, she realized that now, and only wished she had done it sooner. The distance allowed her to see what she had convinced herself wasn't there. But it was there, now she knew it, and it remained to be seen what came next. She only knew that she couldn't stay married to Will any longer. How to go about the divorce was another matter entirely.

Spencer held the door for her as they arrived simultaneously. "You'd think we planned it," he said, smiling at her.

"Maybe now we're on the same wavelength." she joked.

"Actually, you could be sort of right. There's multiple studies on the Law of Attraction and how depth of emotion can affect what happens in the physical world."

"There's my Spence." She hooked her arm through his as they rode up to the sixth floor in the elevator. "It's gonna be hard not to let on that something's changed."

"They are profilers," he said, nodding.

"I've decided to let the team know, well, Emily and Garcia, that I've left Will."

"It's a good start. You know Garcia will tell Morgan. And Emily will probably tell Hotch next time she talks to him."

"Yep. I just don't feel like the rest need to know at this point. Not really their concern, you know?"

"It's up to you. We'll do it all your way, and I'll back you up at every turn. You realize Rossi probably already knows?"

She laughed. "It wouldn't surprise me."

"Morgan will call me, how much you want to bet?" he chuckled.

"No way, that's a sucker bet. He's always had his suspicions about you and me. Something tells me when they do find out about us, nobody will be too surprised."

"I want to take out an ad, buy a billboard, get up on the roof with a megaphone… I'm so happy, JJ." he said.

She planted a quick kiss on his cheek, then wiped her lipstick off. "Me too."

The elevator doors opened and he said. "See you later, Agent Jareau."

"Hey Spence…"

He looked back at her as she mouthed "Love you", and try as he might, he couldn't keep the brilliant smile off his face as he made his way to his desk.

JJ dropped her bag off and headed up to Emily's office. She knocked on the door and stuck her head in. "Hey Em, got a minute?"

Emily looked up from the file she was reading and said "For you? I've got five!"

JJ laughed and came into the office, taking one of the chairs in front of her desk. "So… I have some news."

"Will I like this news?" Emily said, smiling at her friend.

"It's not that kind of news… but I hope you won't be too shocked," JJ replied, sobering.

"Well don't keep me in suspense…" Emily said, just as Garcia poked her head in.

She waved at JJ and said "Hi!" with a big smile. JJ waved back.

"Ma'am, we're ready for the briefing, any time," Penelope said, to Emily.

"Garcia, I've asked you not to call me that." She looked at JJ, "Reminds me too much of Strauss."

JJ said "Hey Garcia, can you come in here for a minute?"

Emily said, "JJ's got some news."

"Oooh!" Penelope said, conspiratorially. "Girl talk?" She entered, shutting the door behind her. "Is there perhaps another golden godchild on the way?"

JJ rolled her eyes. "Don't even start, Penelope. No, this is something I don't think either of you would expect… Will and I are getting divorced."

"JJ!" Emily exclaimed. "What happened, are you alright?"

Penelope gasped and reached out, grabbing JJ's hand.

"I-it's okay, really. He didn't do anything… it's all on me. I left him a few weeks ago, and now I just have to figure out the next step."

"The boys…" Penelope began.

"…are fine, as well as can be expected. They are doing a lot better with it than I thought they would be, especially Henry. We're both being really careful with listening to them, and supportive of each other, at least in front of them." JJ answered. "I just wanted you two to know because it's going to be happening for the foreseeable future, and I didn't want any of you blindsided when it came out."

"JJ, god, why? I mean, is it something you want to talk about?" Emily asked.

"I appreciate that, really, but I don't want to go into too much detail right now. Just trust me when I say I'm fine… more than fine. I wouldn't be doing this if I wasn't sure this was the absolute right thing to do."

"Does Reid know?" Penelope blurted.

JJ nodded. "He was the first person I told." Penelope and Emily glanced at each other.

Emily said, "Look, whatever you need, you just let us know. Do you need any time off?"

Penelope nodded vigorously and hugged JJ. "If you need me to watch the boys for any reason, or you need wine or just a good talk you call me at any time, night or day, okay? Promise me?"

"Thanks, both of you. It's a relief to tell you. I've been keeping it to myself until I was sure. Then I had to tell Spence, and now you. No Em, I don't need time off, what I need is to work. It's a big life shift and I need grounding. The work does that for me, as weird as that sounds."

"No, I totally get that. Do you want to meet for a drink after to talk more?" Emily asked.

"Maybe? Probably in a day or so. There's been some… developments that I'm still working on." JJ said.

"Oh, okay. You let me know, I'm at your disposal, really." Emily stood and hugged her friend and colleague. "Right now though, we do need to get started. Garcia?"

"OH! Yes, right! The UnSub! We shall carry on in the name of justice! After you, my lovelies." Garcia said, gesturing towards the door.

The women filed out towards the briefing room and Penelope sidled up to JJ and asked, "Can I tell Derek? I have to tell Derek. Do you mind, I mean, is it okay?"

JJ smiled at her effusive friend. "Derek is fine, sure. I just don't think everyone needs to know," she lowered her voice as they entered, the rest of the team already seated. She moved to her usual place next to Spencer, and he looked up at her as she approached, his eyes shining. She returned his gaze and sat, scooting her chair in, as they both did their best to focus on the information being presented.

Spencer was surprised at his own attitude shift, and he was enjoying it. Just a few weeks prior he was unfocused, profoundly unhappy, and unsure of his role in his chosen career. He shook his head and looked down at the file in front of him. "What a difference a day makes," he thought. Through all his therapy, meditation, journaling, his Tai Chi practice… all of it had helped, but it was her coming to him, her giving herself to him, that had made the most difference. He knew he'd continue improving, working hard at getting better and managing his issues, and he no longer felt alone in doing any of it. He glanced at JJ and she winked at him, their feet meeting under the table.

What a difference, indeed.