Disclaimed!
For some reason I tend to write more fanfic when I get writers block on my Uni essays so here's another update...woo! Hopefully, my fic for the Christmas exchange will be posted soon, most likely it won't be up till closer to the due in date but it is already full of JJ/Hotch fluffness.
The next few chapters of this story have been wrote on drowsy cold medicine, so if anything doesn't make sense, sorry in advance.
Hope you enjoy and let me know what you think.
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"What have we got?" Hotch asked as in an authoritative tone as the team turned to see their media liaison and supervisor walking, hand in hand, into the roundtable room after their short, but none the less, obviously strained meeting with Strauss.
Morgan held up a piece of paper towards the new comers and began the briefing. "This photo was stapled to a letter that was sent to JJ four months ago. It was tucked inside a box of dead flowers that was delivered for you around your birthday five months ago. Security stored them away on behalf of communications department, where half of your 'psycho post' automatically gets sorted"
"That's when we went shoe shopping for your dinner with Kevin's parents" JJ looked towards Garcia as she glanced down at the picture of herself, she was tucking a loose lock of hair behind her ear as she stood in a busy shoe shop in Georgetown, opposite a seated, giggling analyst.
"Yeah I remember." Garcia nodded with her cell phone glued to her ear. "I'm trying to get in touch with the store. Hopefully they keep their CCTV footage instead of filming over after a month or so"
Morgan praised his unusually sombre friend with a small smile. "That's great, maybe a cognitive interview..."
"No way angelfish" The red head cut him off before the profiler could finish his sentence.
"Come on baby girl, a cognitive interview might help in these circumstances" Morgan stressed as Garcia glared at him warningly, the intimate nature of the case beginning to wear down the normally bubbly eccentric woman. "How exactly, it was five months ago, I can't remember what was going on yesterday, never mind five months ago"
"What did the letter say?" JJ interrupted her snappy best friend coolly, as Hotch let go of her hand to pick up another file.
Rossi looked between the unit chief and communication coordinator, briefly assessing both of their moods, before speaking his mind. "JJ, are you sure you want to be involved in this?"
"Yes Rossi, I'm sure." JJ stated calmly taking her time to look at each of her colleagues to show she was capable of being in the room before repeating her first question. "What did the letter say?"
"Here" Reid passed over the photocopied letter that he had been studying to the standing blonde.
JJ took a deep breath and read, then reread, the short statement a few times all the while trying her best not to show any emotion as she finally read it out loud. "JJ, the ignorance of your crimes is unforgiveable. Soon it will end"
Rossi leaned back in his chair, watching the liaison for any tell signs of her notably troubled thoughts. "Not very catchy, granted, but effective, it gets straight to..."
"JJ" The whisper of her own name was barely audible yet still managed to stop Rossi in his tracks and freeze all the eyes in the room onto her still frame.
Reid looked amongst all the concerned faces as he questioned the blonde. "What's the matter?"
"He called me JJ" The fazed agent passed the letter to Hotch and bit her lower lip as bile threatened to rise from her rolling stomach.
"Okay, but sweetie that's your name" Prentiss replied automatically not pausing to think of the ramifications of her friends nickname being included on the letter and not her given name, Jennifer.
"People I'm close to call me JJ. Friends, family and people I've known for years. Not strangers or random acquaintances" JJ explained solemnly.
Hotch placed his hand comfortingly onto her shoulder. "It was always a strong possibility that you know this bastard"
"He called me JJ" Her blue eyes pierced his in utter fear. Since the stalker surfaced, the Pennsylvanian, admittedly she thought being somewhat naive, had almost convinced herself that it wasn't her fault. She wanted to think of the whole situation as just one big mistake. Maybe some, off balanced person had seen one of the press conferences on TV sometime and thought it was perfectly fine to send her dead flowers. She could handle that, the team could talk her through how to confront someone with a mental disorder, and by the end of the week she would be back in her office writing up the report. She wasn't prepared to have to face someone that she knew well enough that he called her by her nickname given to her by her father when she was five.
The thought of being betrayed again was also too much to handle. It was too difficult to believe that the father of her child would willingly target her or hurt their son. It was enough to send her to the limits. She didn't want to have to accept that due to one of her actions, it caused so much hate in another person that they wanted her dead. She didn't want to bring the people she loved pain all because she pissed off the wrong person. But he called her JJ. It was personal to the UNSUB. Maybe that meant, whatever she had done, was just as personal and relevant to her as well.
Fading back into the team's conversation, the liaison could hear the unit chief's deep voice addressing her colleagues. "Is there anymore mail that corresponds to the tapes?"
"Yeah, just one piece with the same message. It was sent a few weeks ago" Garcia passed over the evidence folder while simultaneously hanging up the phone upon getting no answer.
JJ looked over Hotch's arm and down at the night time photo, of the herself and Henry in the distance of the photograph standing with the group of middle eastern men that had helped them the night she had escaped from Craney. Seeing Hotch's jaw tense, JJ looked around the room in curiosity. "Has Craney given us anything?"
"No, not since Hotch..." Reid stopped mid sentence feeling everyone tense at the mention of the unit chief's name.
JJ pursed her lips as she looked to her guilt ridden boyfriend's scrunched eyes. "Not since Hotch, what?"
"Craney and I had a disagreement in the office interrogation room." Hotch explained vaguely but could tell by JJ's gaze she wasn't accepting his words. "I might have threatened to kill him when I pushed his head into the two way mirror"
JJ breathed deeply before voicing her question. "Would it help if I talked to him?"
"No" Hotch responded quickly with a harshness that said he wasn't going to change his mind, but the rest of the team's avoidance of eye contact suggested they were in disagreement with their leader. "The team seem to think otherwise"
"No" Hotch looked down at JJ, silently pleading with her just to forget the idea of confronting the man who kidnapped her.
"Aaron, would it help?" JJ's hand rested on her hip as she waited for an answer.
Hotch sighed at JJ's determination, he knew that once the stubborn single mother made her mind up there was no going back, and it always worried him. "It's all just a game to him"
"JJ might be able to get through to him, Hotch. He went off script when he went to her house, maybe she could get under his skin again" Morgan regretted opening his mouth the moment Hotch's head turned to face him. The notorious Hotchner 'glare' always had the same effect as being punched in the gut, usually it was reserved for their suspects or a cop who ran their mouth off, so when a team member was faced with 'the glare' they knew they had crossed a line. "No"
JJ sighed in a motherly fashion at her boyfriend's reluctance. "He might know something, we should at least try"
"No, JJ" Hotch could hear his tone becoming more forceful, but the last thing he wanted was to put JJ in unnecessary danger.
The media liaison straightened her body and folded her arms in frustration. "Are you pulling rank or are you just being overprotective because we're sleeping together?"
"And, that's our cue to leave" Rossi stood, having had a lot of experience with pissed off women, the senior profiler quickly ushered the rest of the team out of the briefing room and down into the bullpen, leaving the couple alone and in silence.
Looking around the empty room Hotch ran his hand through his short hair as JJ's expression grew even more impatient. "JJ, you're not going to talk to Craney"
"Yes I am, Aaron." She knew her response probably sounded like a teenagers retort at strict parent, and if she wasn't so pissed at his stubbornness, she'd have laughed at her own. "I'm not asking to put myself in danger or compromise the friggin case. We have nothing. I'm sick of the UNSUB being two steps ahead of us. Craney might give us something useful or you're right, he'll probably just play me. But I have to try"
Hotch shook his head determinedly. "JJ, you don't have to prove anything"
She sighed in irritation, mentally squashing the thought of what would happen if they had a couple's disagreement about something more mundane. Maybe, a standoff in the apartment over who drives the boys to practice or whose turn it is to do the cooking, both of which would probably turn out to be just as tense. "I'm not trying to. I'm just trying to move passed all of this so we can start actually having a relationship instead of bickering every two minutes"
"I don't want you talking to him" His voice and eyes softened at his last attempt to change her mind.
JJ shortened the gap between them and placed her hand softly on his arm, comforting some of his nerves, as her fingers began to run up and down, her faint touch sending his skin on fire even through his suit jacket. "Aaron I love that you're trying to protect me, but let me do my job, otherwise Strauss is right, we shouldn't be here"
There was a slight pause when Hotch lowered his gaze to the floor in defeat. "You're not going alone"
JJ smiled at his obvious attempt to hide his childlike pout that Jack had undoubtedly inherited. "Okay. But you're not coming either"
"Jaje..." He shook his head slightly but he was cut off by JJ's unwavering retort. "I know what you're like. I'll take one of the team with me"
Hotch took a deep breath as he turned to lean against the round table. "I don't like this"
"I know. I don't either, but I need this to be over Aaron." JJ bit her lip as she spoke honestly. "I'm tired of feeling so vulnerable"
Nodding, Hotch extended his hand towards the statue like communication coordinator. "Take Dave and Morgan with you. I'll call ahead and let them know your coming"
"Thank you" JJ stated, taking his hand gratefully, entwining their fingers and then edged closer to kiss him gently. She was well aware that the briefing room's blinds were open but she found herself not caring, she just needed him to know that she loved him and was internally craving his touch as their kiss deepened.
"You're right I was being stubborn" Hotch muttered between softer kisses.
JJ smirked as her hand covered his cheek warmly. "It's just because you love me"
"Yeah, well the team should be glad I don't love them as much as I do you, otherwise none of us would get anything done" The profiler rolled his eyes at his girlfriend's chuckling as she leaned in for another kiss before pulling away. "I'm going to say bye to the kids before I go"
"JJ, please be careful" Hotch asked sincerely, his eyes radiated unconditional love as she turned to leave the room.
Pausing before she opened the door, JJ blew a kiss towards him and whispered her reply. "Always"
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Massive thanks for reviewing too; ReadingRed, mummacass, crazyobsession101, stripes31, Ecda, Alece, Hotch Fan and Zolidify... You're all awesome : )