A/N I am fully aware that you're all totally gonna hate my guts by the end of this chapter, but look at the prompt! It should clue you in a little. And it's part one of two, so please don't throw too much at me!

Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds or the LiveJournal community from which I took this prompt list.

Character/Pairing: JJ/Hotch, Emily/Dave friendship, Morgan/Garcia friendship

Rating: T

Warnings: major character death

Prompt: #42 - Tragedy

He looks through the glass.

As he watches the medics trying to bring him back for just one second, Hotch realizes that Reid has made more of an impact on his life than he thought.

Emily has her face buried in Dave's shirt, and they are both silent. Hotch hopes that they can help each other through.

Garcia is sobbing into Morgan's chest, her fingers clutching at his waist. Morgan himself is fighting back tears, his eyes already red-rimmed and puffy.

And then there's JJ.

She is standing beside him, pale and unmoving. Tears are running silently down her cheeks, but other than that, her face remains blank. He wonders how she's still standing with a stab wound and a bullet graze.

The medic turns to Hotch through the glass, because there's no hope now, and Hotch has no choice but to nod.

"No!"

For a moment he thinks another member of his team is hurt, but when JJ starts beating on the glass, he realizes that the pain isn't physical.

"Keep trying!" she screams, and now Hotch feels tears of his own creep over his eyelids.

"Jayje," he says, his voice hoarse. She slaps her palms against the glass, but the medical staff are doing the best they can to ignore the distraught woman trying to get their attention.

"They have to keep trying!" she shouts, "Hotch, tell them!"

She moves towards the door, but Hotch is faster, and hooks an arm around her waist and drags her away.

Her fists strain to land punches on his chest. It's strange, he thinks, that she can be so strong and so broken at the same time.

Hotch moves, hugging her against him and pinning her arms to her sides.

She struggles and struggles but he's like a wall of steel and eventually, JJ has no choice but to give up.

Her body sags, drops like a dead weight in his arms.

As she tangles her fingers around his shirt like it's the only thing she has left, Hotch loosens his hold, closes his tear-filled eyes at the sobs shaking her frame.

"I'm so sorry," he whispers into her hair, "I'm so sorry."

Tragedy is a strange thing, he thinks.