Rossi and Reid were had stopped at a gas station on the way back to the station. They had just finished at the first crime scene, and came up with nothing. Rossi was not pleased with being stuck in San Jose. It was hot, eight kids were dead, and he had just been tossed into a leadership position, which he had always viewed as babysitting. As much as he hated following authority, he also hated being authority. He would much rather be alone like the good ol' days. But the worst part may have been that Reid was having one of his days. He had learned to tolerate the young genius, even learned to admit that he was a huge asset to the team. However, if the heat wasn't enough to get to him, Dr. Spencer Reid definitely was.

Rossi wiped his brow; silently cursing the heat as if it'd do any good, then noted that Reid was gulping down a Dasani.

"Where the hell you find that," Rossi asked.

"Vending machine," Reid said, pointing the machines out with the jerk of a thumb.

"Come on, kid," Rossi said, heading to a much-needed drink.

"Since we're two men down..."

"Prentiss is a woman," Reid corrected innocently.

Now he is just being a wise ass, Rossi thought. He snarled at Reid.

"Sorry," Reid said, a little bug-eyed. "Please, continue."

Rossi cleared his throat.

"Like I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted," he began, "Since we're two people down, we may have to split up. You may be with a detective while I'm on the other side of town. Is that alright?"

"I'm fine with that," Reid said, either not noticing or ignoring the fact that Rossi was being a little condescending.

"Good," Rossi said, unscrewing the cap to his crisp water.

"What do you think their up to up there, anyway?"

"With the case?"

Reid nodded.

"No clue. Aaron is relentless, though. When he gets onto something, he doesn't quit."

Reid agreed. Hotch was like a stubborn dog who wouldn't let go of his chew toy when it came to a case.

Rossi started walking to the SUV when Reid piped up again.

"Did you know that over the last 20 years, there has been an average of 13 avalanche-related deaths in the United States?"

Rossi shook his head.

"I think that is exactly why Hotch didn't pick you to come to Colorado," he said. Then he chuckled and flashed Reid a small grin. He had to admit that the kid had grown on him. The whole team had, actually. It had taken a while, and he had resisted, but he was starting to think of the team as his family. Well, sort of, anyway. They hopped into the SUV and he took off for the station.

-----

"... I understand. Thanks for your time."

JJ hung up the cell.

"What did CBI have to say," Hotch asked while parking the black SUV in the hotel lot.

"They want the case, but they just don't have any agents available. Apparently budget cuts have hit them pretty hard."

"Haven't they hit us all hard?"

"Yeah," JJ said with a humorless laugh.

"So they aren't going to work the case?"

"Nope. I can call the other police departments, but I think we could get around it."

Hotch arched an eyebrow, curious. He knew that one of the things that JJ had become good at was sneaking around red tape and jurisdictional issues.

"Well," he asked.

"Technically," JJ said, "Our Unsub just attempted to murder two federal agents."

A thin smile shaped on Hotch's face as he caught on.

"Which makes it a federal matter?"

JJ nodded, flashing her pearly whites.

"Good thinking, but I'd still like to try to get the police involved. Just so that we have a little extra man-power."

"Isn't a bad idea," JJ agreed, "It will help us do our job without stepping on any toes."

They had grabbed their bags and stuffed them in the back of the SUV before JJ's phone rang again.

"Jareau," she said on the second ring.

"Hey JJ!"

"Hi," she replied cheerfully, recognizing Prentiss' voice immediately.

"We are about to board our flight," Prentiss reported. "Flight is about two and a half hours. You two going to be at the airport to pick us up?"

"Sure thing!"

"Alright. Glad to hear you are ok."

"Thanks! See you soon!"

She hung up.

"That was Prentiss," she said, "They are about to board their flight. They'll be in Denver in about two and a half hours."

Hotch glanced at the clock in the dashboard. It was one in the afternoon.

"Ok. Want to go grab some lunch before we go to pick them up?"

"Sounds like a plan. We should probably show up there by at least 3:30."

"We should. Any preference of what we eat?"

"Hmm... you know, I could really go for a hamburger right now."

"Really," Hotch said, trying to hide his surprise.

"Yup. But not a fast-food one, let's go to a sit-down restaurant."

"Alright," Hotch said, deciding that this was a good time to put the SUV's GPS to use. A few minutes later, he was pulling into a Ruby Tuesdays.

"This work for you," he asked.

"Perfect," she replied. They hopped out of the vehicle and entered the restaurant, where they were seated immediately. JJ ordered a burger with fries and a Coke, while Hotch decided to get a chicken sandwich and water. While waiting for their meals, Hotch decided that now was the time to bring up the topic that he hadn't been looking forward to.

"I'm sending you home tomorrow," he said matter-of-factly.

That comment caught JJ completely off-guard. "Hm?"

"I want you to catch a flight back to DC tomorrow morning."

"But Hotch..."

"No 'but's,'" he interrupted, his tone firm but not stern, "You need rest, and you aren't going to get it here. Also, there isn't much else you can do here, JJ. Look, it is hard for me to just send you off, but I don't really have any other options."

JJ's eyes burned into him, but she said nothing. She wanted to unload on him, argue with him about the reasons why she should stay. Fact of the matter was, though, that her boss was right, even though she would never openly admit it.

"I'll pay for the ticket," Hotch continued, "And Garcia will pick you up and take you to your apartment.

Something in JJ's eyes changed in hearing Garcia's name. It wasn't all that noticeable, but it didn't have to be for Hotch to pick up on it.

"What are you thinking," he asked the seemingly scheming JJ.

"Me," she asked, "I'm thinking that it is about time for the food to get here."

As if on cue, the waiter arrived with two trays. The two agents ate while enjoying a little casual conversation, then filed out and returned to the SUV. The next stop was the airport.