It was late by the time they got back to their hotel. The team had all grabbed food together after a tiring, but productive day. They were only back at the hotel to grab a couple hours of sleep before they would head back and continue working, so they could continue to be productive. A tired agent could also be a sloppy agent, and their job couldn't afford them being sloppy. The paper that Emily had found had indeed been helpful. They now had a strong suspect in mind and had made major progress towards trying to locate him. It was the uncle of the first boy taken. Hotch and Reid had revisited that house in the morning and had taken a look around the whole house rather than just the bedroom. They had interviewed the parents again after discovering the note. The code had had a detailed list of what the boy who was most recently taken did in a day. In the note was also written some notes about the first boy that was taken and was now lying in the county morgue. The unsub seemed to express some guilt for that boy, and that boy alone. The note had been written on light blue paper, that Emily remembered she had seen a pad of in the first boy's room. It had turned out to be a pad of paper that the uncle had given him. They had discovered that, after having a rough childhood in and out of foster care and juvenile detention centers (mostly for petty larceny and some small cases of arson), Henry, the father's brother, had spent some time in and out of a mental hospital. He had seemed to "get normal" as the father had put it, he had even gotten married briefly, but his son had died and he'd disappeared. That had happened about a month before the first boy was taken, so had obviously been the stressor. That coupled by a hard upbringing and mental illness had been all that was needed to turn this man into a monster. Emily was always amazed at how even within the same family two people exposed to similar circumstances could take such different paths in life. The father of the first boy taken, had chosen to become a minister and frequently visited foster homes to talk to the children and help ensure their safety. He had said that he was aware that social workers were often overloaded with cases, and he liked to think that he could be just one more person that would listen to the voices of the foster children, looking out for any cries for help. Having been in their position once, he was probably rather adept at it.

Morgan grabbed Emily's arm as they were heading down the hallway, and made her wait until the rest of the team was out of earshot.

"Nice work today Prentiss. You really helped break the case, finding that paper." He said.

"Thanks," she said, gazing longingly down the hallway to where her bed was calling her name.

"You seemed a little off though. And don't tell me it was the case darlin' cause I know you. Cases effect you, but not in the ways you presented today. Is there anything going on with you I should know about?"

Morgan had Emily's full attention now. She was sure he knew. But how had he figured it out so soon? She decided to play it coy.

"Oh you know, it was that I got paired with you and just got distracted by those sexy ab muscles rippling under your shirt." She replied grinning and batting her eyes at him. Morgan struck a pose, and laughed.

"Yeah, right. Sure." He said. "You know these muscles never seemed to distract you that much before. Why the sudden change? I'd be more apt to believe that it was Hotch's muscles that had you distracted you know."

So he didn't know. At least not yet. Good. "I don't understand why everyone seems to think I have a thing for Hotch. Just because I knew him before I came to this job, doesn't automatically mean that I'm interested in him." She tried to defend herself.

"Oh come on, who're you trying to kid. You totally had a crush on him before. I could totally tell. Don't even try to hide it." Morgan teased.

Emily blushed slightly and rolled her eyes. "Yeah well, for your information, I had a dream about a team member last night, and it was not Hotch. And that's all you're getting out of me." With that Emily turned and saw JJ stop dead in her tracks. She'd obviously been coming back to talk to one of them and had overheard Emily's last statement. Shit! Emily thought.

"Who? Rossi? No offense, but if that's the case I can't say much for your case in men." Emily heard Morgan joke behind her, but she wasn't really listening.

"Maybe I should come back later." JJ said, starting to turn around.

"No, it's ok." Morgan said. "Maybe you can help me get it out of Emily who this dream was about."

JJ glared at Morgan playfully. "I think that's Emily's business. I've told you before, I will not help you torment our teammates."

"Aw come on ladies, how's a guy supposed to have any fun around here." He complained, still grinning devilishly. He was met with silence. "Fine, then. This sexy man is getting himself to bed. Maybe you'll dream about me tonight. I've got to be a step up from Rossi." He teased, unable to resist, and winked at Emily as he headed off down the hallway.

"Who says it wasn't you last night?" Emily called after him, and immediately regretted it when she remembered who was standing next to her.

"Did you have a dream about Derek last night?" JJ asked softly. Emily looked at her friend, trying to read what she was feeling in her face. Whatever it was, JJ was doing a good job of masking it.

"No. I didn't." Emily replied truthfully.

JJ started down the hallway, and Emily followed after her.

"I went to your room, but nobody answered and then I heard Morgan's voice so I came back down the hall to see if you were here talking to him, which you were…" JJ trailed off.

"He was just teasing me. I should thank you for rescuing me really." Emily tried to smile at her friend, but she felt insecure. That was weird. She never felt that insecure.

JJ smiled at her.

"So why'd you go to my room?" Emily voiced what she was wondering.

JJ blushed and turned her face away from Emily. "Nothing really. I just wanted to talk. And I wanted to say congrats on the great job today. I told you we'd get the guy."

"We haven't gotten him yet." Emily reminded her.

"Yeah, but we know who he probably is. And that's something. We know he's still in town too. Or nearby at any rate. You shouldn't sell yourself short. You really deserve some kudos for spotting that paper. The crime scene techs missed it, after all. If you hadn't spotted it we might never have found it and if you hadn't remembered seeing it in the boy's room…" JJ trailed off again. "You did great." She repeated herself.

Emily smiled at JJ's words. She was obviously happy that they'd had a break in the case, and she was willing to give Emily credit for it. "So did you want to talk about anything else?" Emily asked opening the door to her room, and holding it open, inviting JJ to walk through it. JJ did so, as she said, "I dunno. Nothing in particular really. I just wanted to hang out a little. If that's ok." Emily noticed JJ's cheeks flush again.

"Yeah sure." Emily was torn. She wanted to spend more time with JJ, but she was concerned that JJ would catch on about her true feelings. Emily couldn't have that. She really didn't want to do anything that might jeopardize her friendship with JJ. Emily also was anxious to call Garcia. She knew that she needed to talk to someone about her feelings or she might explode.

"So who was your dream about?" JJ asked. Emily saw her fidget with the sleeves of her jacket. Is she nervous for some reason? Oh God, has she figured out that the dream was about her and now she's going to be awkward around me? Or worse, does she know I like her and she wanted to talk to tell me that she's not even remotely interested? Oh God! Emily looked imploringly at the ceiling, then back at JJ.

"It was just about a team member, but it wasn't anything special. It was just a dream." Emily said. She took a seat at the end of her bed as JJ took a seat in one of the two chairs.

"Yeah, but which team member?" JJ asked, finally making eye contact for the first time since she'd come down the hall.

Emily swallowed hard. She wasn't sure she could lie to JJ, looking into those gorgeous blue eyes. She knew, however, that JJ could be as persistent as Garcia sometimes, so she probably wasn't going to be able to dodge the question either. Emily swallowed hard again, then sighed.

"You," she said quietly, almost a whisper, as she looked down at her lap.

JJ said nothing for at least a minute, and Emily was afraid that she'd really figured out her secret this time. Finally, Emily heard JJ get up, she assumed to leave, but then, the next thing Emily knew JJ was sitting next to her on the bed. JJ's hand came up and turned Emily's face to look at her.

"Me?" JJ asked in a small voice. Then a little louder she continued, "What about me?"

Emily's head was spinning. She had to come up with something and fast. "I don't know. I don't remember it that clearly. We were just hanging out I think. Like we were last night. It was nothing big. Just two friends hanging out and laughing." And kissing, her thoughts continued for her.

JJ seemed satisfied with the response. "Oh. Right. I've had dreams like those. They're kinda nice. Just hanging out with your friends dreams. They usually put me in a good mood. There's nothing more comforting than your friends at times, is there?" JJ smiled at Emily, but she seemed a little awkward.

"You ok?" Emily asked, genuinely concerned.

JJ looked a little taken aback at the question. "Yeah. I'm fine. Why?"

Emily shrugged. "I don't know. You seemed a little…not yourself or something." She paused, then let out a small laugh. "Ha. That's almost exactly what Morgan accused me of earlier. Maybe it's catching." She grinned a little. She saw JJ smile too, and she thought she saw a faint blush rise in her cheeks.

"Yeah, must be." She replied. "Well I should probably get some rest. God knows we have to be up in not that long." JJ said standing up. Emily stood up as well, and on impulse gave JJ a hug.

"Thanks." She said.

"What for?" JJ asked, sounding surprised.

"For telling me I did a good job today. It's nice to hear sometimes." Emily replied, and found that she meant it. She broke the hug before it could get awkward. She walked with JJ to the door and said goodnight, after which she closed and locked the door. Then she got ready for bed. When she was in bed and sure that JJ couldn't possibly be anywhere in earshot, she pulled out her phone and dialed Garcia.

"Queen of all that is wise and all that is wonderful speaking. What can I do for you tonight my dear?" She answered.

"Garcia…" Emily paused, unsure of what to say and how to say it.

"Yes?" Garcia prompted.

"Garcia…" Emily repeated. Better get this over with Em! "You were right."

"I know I was. I'm always right…What was I right about specifically though?"

Emily smiled. Garcia had that way. "You were right that….that…well, that I like JJ."

There was silence at the other end of the phone line and Emily could hear her heart beating through her chest. She was nervous, and Garcia's silence wasn't helping matters.

"Come again?" Garcia finally managed to get out.

Emily breathed deeply then said, "I like JJ."

"Ok. Now when you say like, you mean…" Garcia trailed off leaving Emily to finish the sentence.

"I mean I have an interest in her that is more than strictly platonic." Emily answered. She was so nervous she was nauseous. Her stomach was in knots. She felt herself shaking. On the one hand, it felt like a huge weight had been lifted when she'd said it aloud. On the other hand, now somebody else knew, so the odds of someone else finding out just increased exponentially.

There was another silence at the other end of the phone line. "So you have the hots for her." Garcia finally said matter-of-factly. "I knew it. I knew there was something going on between you two." Emily heard Garcia giggle in the background. "Of course I wasn't sure it was quite this juicy. I mean, wow. Does she have the hots for you too? I bet she does."

Emily sighed. "Garcia this is not juicy. You can't tell anyone! And no. I'd be willing to bet a month's pay that she has absolutely no feelings towards me besides those of a friend, and if she ever found out I felt more than that I'm sure she'd freak and it'd kill our friendship. Please don't tell anyone Garcia!" She pleaded.

"It is too juicy." Garcia responded. "But no, I won't tell anyone sweetie. Come on! Who do you take me for? You know you work with a bunch of profilers though, right?"

"Right." Emily said, sighing again. "That's part of why I told you. I was hoping maybe you could, you know, work your magic charm and help me cover this up?"

"Honey this isn't a computer based romance. I'm not sure how much help I can be. But I'll do what I can." Garcia replied. "And about that month's worth of pay. Let me call you back."

"Garcia! Hey! No! What're you going to do? Garcia?" Emily listened, but heard nothing at the other end of the phone line. "Shit!" She swore as she hung up. She flopped down in the bed and stared at the ceiling. She didn't know what to do besides wait for Garcia to call her back. She knew that Garcia was calling JJ and she was powerless to stop her. "Fuck!" She said to herself. Her heart was racing.

After what seemed like ages, but in reality was only about ten minutes Emily heard her phone rang. She grabbed it and pulled it open, knowing who it was.

"Garcia what'd you do? What'd you say to her?" Emily was talking a mile a minute and she knew it, but she was too anxious to slow down.

"Relax, dear. I didn't tell her anything. I just needed to talk to her. That's all. Calm down." Garcia said, sounding smug. "I think that you'd have a more positive reception from her than you think you will. And now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go to sleep. It's past midnight you know."

"Garcia? Wait, what do you mean? Garcia?" Emily was confused. Did Garcia mean that JJ liked her? Or was she just saying that Emily wouldn't lose JJ as a friend if JJ found out that she liked her?

"Get some rest sweetie!" There was a pause before Garcia added, "Oh, and Emily?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you. You know that right? I don't care who you love. You're still my friend. Thanks for telling me." Garcia said.

"Thanks Garcia." Emily said. Breathing out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. She hung up the phone and lay back looking at the ceiling. She seemed to be doing that a lot recently. What had Garcia meant though? And what had she told JJ? Well, she thought, I'll probably find out soon enough. With that, she closed her eyes and drifted into confusing dreams.