Will was astonished at what his wife was telling him, but the pure joy in JJ's eyes was all that he needed to see.

"You're back?" Will gasped.

JJ kissed him soundly. "I'm back!"

Will deepened the kiss, and when he pulled back, he looked like he wanted to say what was on his mind. But words were failing him.

"Are you wondering how I remembered?" JJ guessed.

"Yes."

"It was the photographs, Will: Henry noticed that you left them behind, and he gave them to me. When I looked at them, it felt like I'd been struck by lightning, and I swear to God, that my life genuinely flashed before my eyes, too. Now, here I am, with you."

"But you remember everything?"

"I do. I just can't believ—"

JJ's words were cut off by shouts of, "Happy New Year!" sounding from different doctors and nurses, who were also on their floor. They were broken from their spell, of being in a bubble.

JJ looked at her husband in surprise. "I forgot that it was New Year's Eve."

"I didn't."

Since they were alone, Will gently pinned JJ against a wall and gave her the kind of kiss that said both, "Happy New Year!" and also, "I would very much like to make love to you later on." JJ let him carry on, because she'd really missed being touched this way, but after a moment, she pushed him away, and they both made themselves look decent. They both wanted more, but this just wasn't the time.

Will put a hand in the small of his wife's back, to help guide her. "Let's go back to the others."

"Yes, please." JJ gave a noisy exhale. "My legs and feet are so sore; hopefully, the roads will be safe to travel soon. I just want to be back in my own bed."

Unfortunately, the storm kept raging for awhile.

JJ would have burst into tears and frustration, had it not been for her family and friends being overjoyed at the return of her memory, and also Spencer entering the waiting room, around one-thirty that morning. The only that kept the adults from bottoming out about being stuck in a hospital during a blizzard was that they were also waiting for a baby to be born.

Seeing that Spencer was in a happy daze, Derek called out to him.

"Hey, kid! What's the word?"

Everyone looked around at him. Spencer beamed, and spoke with great pride.

"She's here! Rebel and I have a new daughter named Adalie!"

Everybody congratulated Spencer, hugged him, or shook his hand. He already wanted to go back to Rebel and Adalie, but he'd been sent out for a specific reason.

After collecting a sound-asleep Sadie from Emily's mother, Spencer stopped in front of JJ. Truly tired, she'd expressed her congratulations to her friend, but hadn't gotten up yet. When he looked at her, she smiled fondly at him. They hadn't seen each other since before she'd vanished again.

"JJ," Spencer said in surprise. "You're safe!"

She moved Michael and Emiliana from her lap to Will's, and pushed herself up on her crutches. "Yes, I am, and Aemiliana is back with her family. I also have a surprise."

"Oh?"

"My memory is back!"

Spencer lit up and hugged her. "That's great—Rebel will be ecstatic."

"Is she asking for me?"

"Emily, too—the rest of the Kelleys are all still stuck in New York, because of the weather." he explained, trying not to sound sadder than he felt about it. "But Rebel wants to see you and Emily, because ever since coming here, after the case where we met her, she's really imprinted on you two, like a duckling to its mother. She also really wants you to meet Adalie right now, and so do I."

At that, JJ looked to Emily, who was already on her feet. "Ready to go see Rebel and Adalie, partner?"

"Oh, you bet." Emily grinned. "Let's roll."

Rebel Rose Mary Magdalene Kelley was in Heaven.

Not so long ago, she'd been stuck in New York, working hard every day, so she could leave to see what the rest of the world had to offer. But then, her life had been turned upside down after meeting the Behavioral Analysis Unit from the FBI, and becoming involved with one of their cases.

In the time since, she'd left New York for DC, ended a toxic relationship with the man who had fathered both of her daughters, and entered a new, healthier accord with Spencer. So much healthier, in fact, that they were engaged now.

Spencer and Rebel already agreed to wait awhile for a proposal, but before they'd left for the hospital, he'd stuck in his pocket the engagement ring that Rebel's mother had sent to him, only that week. It had been hers, and she wanted him to propose to Rebel with it. After witnessing the love of his life give birth, Spencer had been so in awe of her that he just knew that proposing to her in the recovery room was the right thing to do. Rebel said yes as soon as she saw the ring.

Now, Rebel was holding their newest child while awaiting her fiancé's return with their eldest child, and two of their closest friends. In her short twenty years, Rebel couldn't remember a time in her life when she'd felt happier.

A gentle knock interrupted her thoughts. She bid the person enter, and found it to be Spencer, carrying Sadie. JJ was behind them, hobbling on her crutches, and Emily was bringing up the rear.

When Spencer laid Sadie on the bed with her and Adalie, Rebel felt as though her heart was fit to burst with love. Everything she'd been through since the FBI had first fallen into her life had led to this moment. She knew that if she had to do it all again, she would.

JJ eased herself into a chair beside her friend's bed. "How are you doing, Reb?"

"I just brought a human being into the world, so I'm worn right out." she said softly. "We didn't know it until a nurse told us she'd seen you that you were back, JJ; I was in labor almost the entire time you were gone."

"Wow. Then we won't stay long."

"I'm just glad you two are here now." Rebel gave a small yawn. "How's your little friend? She was gone, too?"

"Aemiliana is happy and clean, has new clothes and shoes, and was reunited with her family." JJ replied in a soothing voice. "Also, speaking of things returned—my memory came back."

Just the way Spencer had said, Rebel received this news well and even looked like she wanted to cry. But she kept it together, because she still had something to say.

"That's wonderful, and I'm so happy for you." she said sincerely. "Why don't you see if you can get Emily's attention? She looks like she's in La La Land."

JJ turned and beckoned to Emily. "Come here."

Emily's thoughts had been over the place, and not just because she was bone-tired. At that particular moment, she'd been wondering what it was going to be like when Isobel, Milo, Kiley, and little baby Jareau were all together for the first time.

But when she saw Rebel, she approached the bed and gave her a gentle hug.

"Well done, sweetheart. Adalie is beautiful." Emily pressed a motherly kiss to the top of Rebel's head. "I'm so proud of you."

"So am I." JJ chimed in.

Rebel thanked them, and spoke to JJ. "Would you like to hold Adalie?"

"Yes, please!"

"Alright. Spencer can give her to you."

JJ quickly disinfected her hands and took baby Adalie with no trouble. The baby didn't even stir.

Adalie Reid had a full stomach, was dressed, and had even been swaddled and outfitted with a warm cap before her mother had rocked her to sleep. She was a beautiful baby, and like her mother and sister, she had freckles and a surprising amount of bright red hair. JJ wouldn't have been surprised if Adalie's eyes even turned green eventually. One thing that JJ had noticed when she'd seen Rebel's parents and siblings together was that they all head red hair, and green or blue eyes.

She could have kept musing over Adalie, but Rebel's voice brought her back.

"JJ? Emily?"

They both looked up to see that Rebel was showing them her engagement ring. JJ and Emily gasped, and quickly congratulated her and Spencer.

"When…?" Emily tried to ask.

"After the nurses left, so we could be alone with Adalie. He got as far as showing me the ring before I said yes."

"It's going to be a long engagement, too, so there probably won't be a wedding for another year or so." Spencer elaborated. "Right now, we want the kids to know that their parents are together because they're happy, and because they love each other."

"Those are perfectly good reasons for a long engagement, Spencer." Emily approved. "I'm also incredibly pleased, touched, and honored that you wanted to share this with us first."

From her chair, JJ nodded emphatically. "Yes. Thank you."

Rebel spoke directly to JJ again. "Actually, there's another reason that we wanted to see the two of you first."

"What is it?"

"When I chose Emiliana to be Sadie's middle name, I didn't know that I would be meeting another Emiliana less than a year later, or that she would become one of the greatest women I've ever known. I also didn't know that her precious friend Jennifer would affect me in the same way." Rebel motioned towards her newest daughter. "That is Adalie Jennifer Reid."

Immediately, JJ felt all of her overtired feelings collide with her hormones at the corners of affection and brick wall. With help, she gave Adalie back to Rebel, thanked her friends honoring her in such a wonderful way, and gave hugs to them and the children before excusing herself.

Emily caught up with her out in the hallway. JJ was crying, and completely sympathetic to her plight, Emily sat with her and gave her a back rub, while waiting for her to calm down so that she could use her words the way she wanted to.

JJ pointed back towards Rebel's room. "Spencer has been through more than most people could imagine, and is one of the strongest men I've ever met… but he also just about carries a burden around, with his amazing ability to get inside a person's head, even for a profiler. That being said, we've also saved him, even when he pushed us all away, and he's also saved you, me, and everyone else on the team—both past and present."

"That man is the reason I skipped out on Interpol at the drop of a hat…" Emily mused.

"Now, there's Rebel." JJ went on. "Look how far she's come since we first met her."

"She changed states, got a fresh start, imprinted on you and I very deeply, and she even fell in love with Spencer, and they're engaged. They're even parents."

"There's also Aemiliana: you held out against a crazy person to protect a child who isn't even yours, and you even mothered her like she is yours. She's happy now, refreshed, and back with her family; Jennifer, you did that, and when she grows up, I'll bet that she'll want to help people somehow, because she'll have remembered that you helped her survive the impossible."

JJ leaned against Emily, complete mush. But she knew that she was right.

"My fingers are crossed for all that." JJ crossed her fingers, and then placed a hand over her middle. "I also fought for sweet AJ, because I'll be damned if Will and I lose another child before they take their first breath. Spencer and Rebel, Sadie and Adalie, Aemiliana, AJ—they're all some of the reasons of why we do what we do."

"Most definitely." Emily conceded.

"Sometimes, this job gets harder than even the most seasoned FBI agent can imagine—especially after a long road to victory—but I remember the people we've helped, people whose lives we've made a difference in."

Emily stood. "Then what?"

The profiler used her crutches to stand up, too. "Then, my dear Emiliana Grace Lane, I get back up, and I keep going."

JJ did just that, all the way back to the waiting room.