"Has he talked to the local high school to see if there are any kids who have been vocal about the construction?"

JJ sighs, staring up at her wife. "He said no one's talking that's why he called us."

JJ had been given a consult regarding a series of graffiti attacks on a construction project. They were getting angrier and more racist as time went on and the latest one was punctuated by a large dumpster being set on fire. The building was being built in an area that had been a popular teenage hangout. JJ is worried she is missing something so had reached out to the other profilers for help.

Emily nods, her eyes again scanning the pictures. "It's definitely kids. Adults would have done something more destructive than lighting a dumpster on fire. Unfortunately the attacks are escalating and could soon turn very violent. Another big heads up about it being teenagers is the racist overtones. It was a hangout for predominantly white kids and it will be a business built by and for their community. There is nothing inherently racist in the construction project."

JJ nods, seeing where her wife is going. "But by spewing racial epithets they are attracting attention to their mission to stop the construction. It's just another bid for attention."

Emily nods. "Right."

"So I can tell the detective all that. But how do I tell him how to find the kids?"

"Tell him to go to the high school, ask about who would be the most angry about the loss of their hangout…and then look at their hands for traces of spray paint," she finishes with a grin.

JJ chuckles. "Seriously?"

Emily nods and hands her back the file. "Seriously. It's a long shot but most times kids don't get it all off. Plus the ones doing it would most likely see the paint on their hands as a kind of badge of honour showing what they are willing to do to protect their space."

JJ shakes her head. "That's just twisted. Thanks for the assist."

Emily nods. "Any time, Profiler Jareau."

JJ just grins as she picks up the phone to call the detective. Since the latest attack had happened the night before there should still be plenty of paint on the offenders. As Emily heads back towards her desk Hotch waves to her from his office. She walks up there.

"Yes, Hotch?" she asks as she walks in.

"Shut the door for a second."

Emily raises an eyebrow. "Uh, okay." She closes the door and takes a seat in front of Hotch's desk.

"Was that the graffiti consult you were helping with?"

Emily nods. "Yep. She could tell it was kids but wasn't sure where to go with that knowledge."

"And you gave her what she needed?"

Emily frowns. "What's this about, Hotch?"

Hotch grins. "Don't get defensive. End of year reviews. I'm asking everyone about JJ since she's in her probationary year." He raises a hand. "And before you point out she's not some agent off the street, I know that. This is just SOP and you know Straus is big on that."

Emily chuckles, her tension easing. "Right. Sorry. Well, I can honestly say Jen is a hell of a profiler. Add in the empathy she developed as a media liaison and she may be better than all of us once she gets experience under her belt."

"Empathy?" Hotch questions.

Emily thinks a second. "We all come to profiling from various backgrounds. But the rest of us on this team were always out there, in some way, pushing suspects to get answers. Even Reid when he was Gideon's protégé was immediately profiling and pushing suspects. Jen tended to be a shoulder for the victims families, a spokesperson not just for us but for them, too. She hasn't forgotten that. She humanizes us in a way I don't think we even knew we needed to be."

Hotch starts to chuckle. "You and Morgan said nearly the same exact thing. Guess that means we'll keep Profiler Jareau around."

Emily grins. "Smart move, bossman."

"That's why they pay me the big bucks," he jokes. "One more thing, Rossi is going on an inmate visit on Thursday with a woman at Maryville in Ohio. Think JJ would be ready to assist?"

Emily thinks a minute. "I really don't know." She bites her lip a second. "She knows that aspect of the job from a textbook but she's never done one of the walkthroughs. What is the woman in for?"

"She'd lure men into sexual situations, scream rape and then stab them between the legs."

Emily winces. "Ow!"

Hotch raises his eyebrows. "Tell me about it."

"I'd say if there's no danger to her, send her. She has to learn and this inmate seems angrier at men than women. She should respond better to Jen than to Rossi. If she can work with Rossi before they go it would help her if she ends up directing the interview."

Hotch nods. "My thoughts exactly. Thanks for your time. I'll let you get back to work."

Emily studies him, grinning. "This was part of my evaluation, too, wasn't it? To see if I could be objective about Jennifer."

He laughs. "Such a good profiler. I chose you well."

Emily snorts. "I was foisted off on you so you just got damn lucky, Hotchner."

He raises an eyebrow. "You do realize I haven't finished your evaluation, right?"

Emily grins. "Sure. But you couldn't live without me. Jen would be too whiny so I know I'm safe," she says as she stands.

"And you best hope I don't slip up and tell her you called her whiny," he says chuckling.

Emily just winks as she heads back to her desk. When she gets there, she sees JJ is on the phone. She studies her wife a moment. True she was the most beautiful women Emily had ever been with but she was also one of the smartest. She is a brilliant profiler and truly deserves her place on this team. No bias is needed for Emily to praise and support her wife.

"Damn, you got so lucky, Prentiss. Don't you ever take her for granted," she coaches herself as she starts on the next case file.

JJ tries to hide her excitement. "An inmate visit? Yes, sir, I'm ready to do that."

Hotch chuckles. "It's okay to be excited, Jareau."

JJ blushes. "Uh, right. Sorry. Will I be with Morgan?"

"Nope, Rossi will lead this one. I want you all to fly up on Wednesday morning so you can go through all her files there at the prison. Normally we would just use summary files but I think it will help you gain insight into the prisoner and understand better what our questionnaires are looking to discover for our files. There's a good chance she will prefer speaking to you instead of Rossi. Make sure to ask Rossi anything and everything you need to be ready just in case you end up in the front seat of this drive through her mind."

JJ nods. "No problem. Is there anything I can look over tonight or tomorrow?"

He hands her a folder. "A summary of her crimes and her years of abuse as presented at trial. The rest will be what you and Rossi go through on site."

JJ nods. "Excellent. Thanks, Hotch, for giving me this chance."

"You've earned it, JJ. Don't doubt that. Good luck."

"Thanks, Hotch."

JJ heads back to her desk. Emily sees the happiness in her wife's eyes and knows Hotch must have just told her about the inmate visit. JJ gives her wife a meaningful look then heads for the ladies room. Emily waits a minute, then follows. As she walks in the door, JJ pulls her into a big hug.

"You know, right?" JJ says.

"Yep. Hotch asked me about it this morning," Emily says smiling.

"Am I being a twit for being this excited?"

Emily chuckles. "Not at all. You're finally going to feel like you're contributing to the files that help us case after case. You'll be leaving your mark for future agents plus something you discover on Thursday could help us down the line, too. I was just as excited my first time."

"Hotch gave me some stuff to look over tonight. Can I pick your brain if I need to?"

Emily gives her wife a chaste kiss. "You never have to ask, Jen."

JJ smiles. "Just remembering my manners," she says with a wink.

Emily smiles. "Sandy Jareau will be so proud."

They share another quick kiss before JJ leaves the restroom, followed a few minutes later by Emily.

Thursday morning JJ is so full of nervous excitement she only has one cup of coffee. Rossi can't help but grin.

"And coffee bean growers everywhere shake in their boots."

JJ mock glares at him. "Ha ha, old man."

Rossi smiles. "So, any last questions?"

JJ slowly shakes her head. "I don't think so."

"Good. Just remember, let her dictate things to a point but be ready to steer her back to what we need to know."

"And if she would rather talk to you?"

He chuckles. "Then watch and learn."

JJ nods. Before she can say anything more, the door opens and two guards escort in the prisoner. One guard looks at Rossi.

"You want her in cuffs or out?"

Rossi smiles. "Out. We'll be fine in here, right, Amelia?"

The woman glares at him and shrugs. "I guess we'll find out." Once she is freed she leans forward on the table and looks at JJ. "So…you his bitch?"

JJ's face doesn't change. "I'm Supervisory Special Agent Jennifer Jareau. This is SSA David Rossi. We're here because your lawyer said you are willing to walk through one of our questionnaires. Is that correct?"

Amelia studies JJ a second. "He said it could help me understand my rage and shit. That true?"

JJ nods. "It can help."

The inmate shrugs. "Fine. Let's talk."

Rossi sits forward. "We'd like to first- -"

Amelia sneers at him. "Her, not you. Men ain't done nothing but hurt me all my life. I don't trust men. She talks or this is over."

Rossi nods understandingly. "Of course. I apologize."

"You getting out of here?"

"That's not possible," Rossi explains. "But Agent Jareau will speak with you. I'll just take notes."

Amelia considers this a second then finally shrugs. "Fine." She turns back to JJ. "So, what do you want to know?"

Four hours later they break for lunch. Amelia looks at Rossi.

"You…don't seem too bad for a guy."

Rossi nods. "Thank you. I promise you, not all men are evil. I'm sorry that you have not been able to see that in your life."

JJ leans forward. "Amelia, use your time in jail to get help. A counselor will help you understand your life better and give you the tools you need to take control of your life when you get out of prison."

Amelia snorts. "I got 40 more years in here."

JJ shrugs. "So you'll be 64 when you get out. That's still time to live a better life."

Amelia sighs. "Yeah…maybe. We'll see."

After lunch Amelia is even more open. She even talks to Rossi, allowing him to ask a few questions. By the time the agents leave Rossi feels it may have been the most productive visit he's ever been on. As they leave he looks at JJ.

"You did exceptionally well today, Jareau. So well I may never take you on one of these again," he says seriously.

She stops and stares at him, anger darkening her blue eyes. "Why the hell not?"

"Because you make me look bad," he says…and then breaks into a smile.

JJ chuckles and shakes her head. "You suck. I feel really good about this day. Thanks, Rossi, for all you did to help prep me. I know the majority of these visits will be hell but I have to say this has made me more confident about them. I can handle these things."

Rossi stops and stares into her eyes, no amusement in them. "Be confident, not cocky. There will be times you'll sit across for a serial rapist who will look at you like a piece of meat. You'll be able to read in his eyes as he undresses you and violates you in his fantasy. You'll face down murderers who will imagine their hands wrapped around your throat as you slowly choke to death. 99.9% of our visits will be like that. Your skin will crawl and you'll want to run from the room. That's the reality of what we do, not what just happened with Amelia."

JJ stares at him, her face colouring at the dressing down. "Right. I didn't mean…I just…shit…"

Rossi places his hand on her shoulder. "You did a great job today, JJ. I just don't want you thinking it will always be this easy. I'm not scolding, I'm warning. Other profilers have gone into meetings cocky and ended up attacked. I couldn't handle it if that happened to you."

JJ takes a deep breath and nods. "I'll remember. I swear."

Rossi finally smiles. "I know you will. You've got 3 damn good reasons to keep your head on right. I just want to make sure you don't forget that."

JJ smiles, thinking about Emily, Henry and Rocky. "I won't now. Promise. Thanks, Dave."

He smiles and nods. "Anytime, JJ. Come on, we have a flight to catch."

JJ stares down at her daughter, stroking a hand through her hair. Emily walks in and wraps her arms around her wife from behind, resting her chin on JJ's shoulder.

"You okay?"

JJ nods. "Fine."

"You don't sound or look fine. From what I heard your first inmate visit was a homerun."

"It was. And I might have gotten a bit cocky about it. Rossi gave me a verbal face slap, totally deserved."

"But…" Emily presses, knowing there is more.

"She was abused almost from the time she was born, Em," JJ says, her voice catching. "How can someone do that to a child? How could they…God, Em…"

Emily pulls her closer, kissing her cheek. "I don't know, Jen."

"I just wanted to pull her into a hug and tell her everything will be okay. But it won't be. She turned that abuse into fury and now she'll be in jail until she's in her 60's. Flying back I kept thinking about Rocky and Henry. How could I not, right? We keep leaving them alone. Can't that hurt them, too?"

"We won't hurt them, Jen. We have built an amazing support system around them from Francesca to Garcia to our parents. When we aren't with them people we love and trust are with them. More importantly, they are people our kids love and trust. They will never feel alone or abandoned." Emily turns JJ in her arms and stares into her eyes. "And if at any time our jobs with the BAU start to be a problem I have no doubt both of us would be able to walk away from the job for them. Tell me the job is more important than our kids and I'll know you're not the woman I thought you were."

JJ leans up and kisses her wife. "The job is important but not more than them. Thank you, Emily, for reminding me of that."

Emily pulls her close. "No problem, Mrs. Prentiss. It's what I'm here for."

After a second, JJ turns again, pulling Emily tight to her back as she continues to watch her daughter sleep and imagining the world of possibilities open to her.