Elizabeth was in hell. Where was the polite, well mannered, adorable child she had met and loved? This certainly wasn't her. Rachel was currently jumping up and down on her bed, yelling some inappropriate song at the top of her lungs. Elizabeth had already told her to get back into bed three times.

"Rachel!" She yelled again. "Stop this right now."

"NO!" Rachel screamed. Elizabeth sighed. Despite the fact that she was an adult and a rational human being who knew that she was the newest person in Rachel's life and the little girl was testing her; it didn't make her want to throttle Rachel any less. Ever since she had hung up with Emily she had been running wild. Refusing to do her homework, refusing to turn off the tv, refusing to come out of her fort, refusing to eat the dinner Elizabeth had called for, refusing to take a bath, refusing to do anything Elizabeth asked. It was infuriating.

The phone rang and Elizabeth answered it with a sigh. "Hello?"

"Elizabeth? Its JJ, is Rach still up?"

"Yes. Despite being tucked in three different times. She hasn't been behaving very well."

"I'm sorry." JJ said tiredly. "May I speak with her?"

"Hold on, I'll get her." Elizabeth walked down the hall to Rachel's bedroom and knocked. Rachel was still jumping up and down, but seemed to have finished her song. "Rachel, your mother is on the phone." She said holding it out.

Rachel grinned and jumped off of the bed. Running over to Elizabeth, she took the phone, gently pushed her grandmother out of the room and closed the door in her face. "Hello?" She said moving back to her bed.

"I hear you're not behaving."

"MOMMA!" Rachel cheered. "I am too! Well...kinda."

"When you are done talking to me, you are going to apologize to your grandmother, go straight to sleep and behave the rest of this case or you will be grounded. Do you understand me?"

Rachel frowned and kicked her bed. "Yes." She muttered through clenched teeth.

"Good girl. How was school?"

"Fine."

"What did you learn?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing! Well, we're wasting our money then aren't we?" JJ joked. Rachel laughed and flopped down on the bed.

"Well, did you know that elephants are the only animal that can't jump?"

"Really?"

"Yeah!" Rachel said excitedly. "Isn't that cool?"

"Very."

"Momma, when are you coming home?"

"Monkey, we only just left today. Hopefully we'll be home in a few days, in the meantime, you need to listen to Elizabeth."

"Fine."

"Goodnight baby, I love you." JJ caught Emily stepping out of the bathroom and held the phone up, Emily yelled 'goodnight' as well and the blonde smiled.

"Night Momma." Rachel hung the phone up, upset and annoyed. She huffed and stood up, opening her door and finding Elizabeth standing in the hallway. "I'm sorry I was rude." She grumbled as she held up the phone to her.

"Thank you for apologizing." Elizabeth accepted the phone. "Now, off to bed."

Rachel stalked down the hall and climbed into her bed. She pulled the covers over her head. Something about being under them that way made her feel more secure, safe somehow. Rachel was angry. She stuck her hand out from under the covers and snatched her walkie-talkie. "Jack? Are you there? Come in. over." She whispered into it.

"Tin Man." Jack's voice crackled back through the line sleepily. "Code names Scarecrow. What do you want? I'm sleeping. Over."

Rachel huffed and pressed the talk button with much more force than was necessary. "Tin Man. You are not asleep, you're talking to me. I want to do our prank to Morgan when he gets back from this case okay? Over."

"Fine. Great, let me sleep. Over."

"Jack, have you ever punched anyone?"

"No, why?"

"I did today. I beat up this boy Jason at recess. You remember my friend Tommy?"

"Yeah."

"Well, Jason picks on him all the time. Pushes him when the teachers aren't looking, gives him wedgies, once he stuck his head in a toilet. And he calls him names, today he made Tommy cry. He's always really mean about Tommy having two dads, and I got mad so I punched him in the face. Jason said he wouldn't hit a little girl, so I kept punching him until he fought back. I won. But, if anyone finds out, Mommy and Momma are gonna be really mad at me."

"Don't tell them." Jack insisted quickly.

"I'm not gonna! But they might find out."

"Cross your fingers." Jack offered with a yawn.

"Butthead." Rachel said, pulling the batteries out of the walkie-talkie and throwing it on the floor. She climbed out of her bed and tip toed down the hall. Opening the door to Emily and JJ's bedroom slowly, she ran across the room and jumped up onto the large empty bed. It smelled like them. Rachel pulled their pillows around her and fell asleep.


Small towns had this unfortunate problem of being small. JJ hated them. She had hated East Allegheny and she hated this town in Maine. She refused to learn the town's name on principle. As the days went by, everything just became a blur. A harsh, confusing, cruel blur. There had been another murder yesterday, thankfully, the team was closing in on their unsub. From the phone calls home and the video chats, it was clear that Rachel wasn't behaving very well and Elizabeth was close to her last nerve. Garcia had taken over the night before when Elizabeth got a call needing her in France. Rachel was much more compliment with the blonde, but definitely acting out.

JJ donned her kevlar vest and holstered her gun. Climbing into the SUV she stared out the window. It was an odd situation when they drove to an unsub's home, or location, wherever they were. There was a certain amount of adrenaline – a rush if you will – that both excited and bothered JJ. She shot a glance into the rearview mirror and locked eyes with Reid. He had mentioned having an odd feeling about this case two days before, JJ shared his sentiment, but she wasn't sure why. Nothing about this case screamed abnormal.

The cars squealed to a stop and JJ leapt out of the vehicle, following close behind Hotch, Reid directly behind her. She knew Emily, Rossi and Morgan were taking the front of the house. She watched them head up to the door, locked her gaze with her wife's, gave her a small nod and headed to the back of the house. Her gun pointed out in front of her, she inched forward, following Hotch's lead. She heard Rossi yell for him to open up, banging on the door and then silence. She tensed. Hearing a loud crack, she knew Morgan had kicked in the door, himself, Rossi and Emily now inside. She stepped to the left, Reid to the right, on either side of the back door, Hotch stood directly in front of it, waiting. JJ hated the waiting. This was taking forever, she just wanted to go home and play in a blanket fort with her kid.

The door burst open, the unsub barreling into Hotch. JJ leapt forward and kicked him hard in the stomach. Stunning him long enough for Hotch to get up and knock him back down. The man was strong, and clearly knowledgeable in fighting techniques. Hotch held fast, but the unsub was gaining the upper hand. Neither JJ nor Reid could get a clean shot. Hotch and the unsub were a mess of tangled bodies, and they weren't about to risk hurting Hotch. JJ took a deep breath, saw an opportunity and lunged forward, slamming her body into the unsubs, knocking him off balance.

"JJ!" Reid yelled in distress. They had been too busy with this unsub to realize there was a second in the house, the rest of the team had been chasing him. Morgan clasped the second unsub into cuffs and Rossi helped pull him outside, while Emily went to go help the team.

The brunette walked outside right as the unsub wound up and slammed his full weight into JJ. He picked up a loose piece of wire fence and stabbed her in the stomach with it forcefully, then wound up and punched her in the face. The blonde went down hard and Emily's breath left her body. Hotch jumped on him and slapped the handcuffs roughly to his wrists. Yanking him upward and shoving him at Rossi who pulled him over to the other officers.

JJ had yet to move.

Emily was frozen. She stared, willing JJ to get up, to move, make a noise, anything. Nothing happened. Emily lunged forward and bent down next to her wife, gingerly moving her to see her face. Blood spilling out of her side and Emily quickly pressed her hand against it. Trying to will it back inside of her. "Jen, shit! Jen, please say something, look at me honey please. Fuck! HOTCH! GET AN AMBULANCE!" Emily screamed. Arms were on her, she fought against them until she realized it was Reid.

"Em, move so the paramedics can work on her." He said softly. Emily allowed him to pull her away, but only slightly, she refused to stand up or move more than a few feet away from JJ. The paramedics were working tirelessly and Emily saw JJ's eyes flutter open.

"Jen!" She yelled happily.

"Alright, she's stable lets get her in the bus!" One of the paramedics yelled.

Emily rose quickly, reaching out and grasping JJ's hand. "I'm going with her." She stated firmly.

"Ma'am..." The man began to say. He stopped at the look on the brunette's face. He knew that look. He'd seen it a million times before. It was the feral, deeply human look that so many gave him when their loved ones were hurt. This woman was getting in his bus, or she was shooting him in the head, probably worse. "Hop in first so we can lift her." He said. Emily gave him a sharp nod and leapt into the back of the ambulance. They lifted JJ in gently and quickly. Emily felt like throwing up at the look on her wife's face. She was terrified, and half unconscious.

Emily bent over, gingerly running her fingers through the blonde hair, resting her lips on JJ's forehead. "You've got to be okay Jen. You've got to open your eyes and wake up and be okay. You've got Rachel, she loves you, you have to be okay for her...for me...please." Emily begged, tears in her eyes. "Please be okay."

JJ didn't open her eyes.

The drive to the hospital was quick, the harsh bright lights made Emily cringe. She fucking hated hospitals. The doctors poured in, all around her, coming from every possible direction, pushing her away and pulling JJ off with them. Emily called out angrily, but strong arms held her back. "They're gonna fix her up Princess. She's tough. Toughest one of all of us, you know that." Morgan whispered. Emily broke down, collapsing into Morgan and letting herself sob. He gripped her tightly and lovingly. "She's gonna be fine. She's gonna be fine." He continued to whisper.


Garcia whipped the tears from her eyes quickly, hearing Rachel running through the living room. "Auntie Pen!" She yelled happily. "Guess what!"

"What?" Garcia asked, desperately trying not to burst back into tears. Hotch had just hung up with her and given her the news that JJ had been hurt and was currently in surgery. Her best fucking friend was in surgery and there was nothing she could do but make sure her daughter was okay.

"Look! I can do a back flip now!" Rachel said excitedly. "We've been practicing flips in dance class, I can do it now! Watch!" Rachel stood back from Garcia, making sure she had a large enough amount of room and grinned brightly. Garcia managed a weak smile back. Rachel took a deep breath, an adorable amount of concentration on her face that normally would have Garcia giggling with laughter. Rachel held her arms out in front of her, simply stood there for a moment before impressively throwing her body into the air; landing perfectly and with a huge grin. "HOW COOL IS THAT!" Rachel yelled, jumping up and down with girlish excitement. It broke Garcia's heart. "Can we set up a video chat and show Mommy? She can't even do that! Momma's gonna flip." Rachel grinned mischievously and Garcia choked out a sob. "Auntie Pen? What's wrong?" Rachel asked, moving forward to Garcia.

Garcia quickly took a deep breath and shook her head. "Nothing Munchkin." She insisted, reaching out and pulling Rachel onto her lap. "I think the team is busy right now, but we can record it if you want."

Rachel whipped her head around excitedly. "Really?"

Garcia nodded. "Sure."

"Awesome!" Rachel leapt off of Garcia's lap and repositioned herself. "Get it ready!" She ordered. "Please." She added with a smile. Garcia didn't look at her, it was too hard to keep herself controlled. She set up the camera and hit record. "Ready?" Rachel asked.

Garcia nodded. "Yeah Munchkin, show your stuff."

Rachel giggled. "Hi Mommy! Hi Momma!" She waved to the camera. "Guess what! I can do a back flip! Are you prepared to have your minds blown?" Rachel winked to the camera and for a moment – just one moment – Garcia almost forgot what was happening in a different state. Rachel was so fucking precious. She executed another perfect back flip, grinning madly as she finished. "And now that you are dead from the awesomeness, come home soon okay? It looks way cooler in person. Right Auntie Pen?"

"Very, very cool." Garcia added with a smile.

Rachel stepped forward, sticking her face directly in front of the camera. The little girl lowered her voice to a whisper and cupped her hands around her mouth. "I love you both." She announced for the first time, leaning further forward and kissing the camera. "Bye!"

Garcia shut the camera off and couldn't stop herself from crying. "I'll be right back Rach." She announced as she quickly stood up and ran into the bathroom.

Rachel looked after her and frowned. She was seven, not stupid.

The curly haired little girl rose from the table and followed Garcia down the hall. She stuck her head against the door and heard Garcia trying to control her sobs. Rachel's tummy instantly started hurting. She backed away slowly, afraid of what was going on. Why was Garcia crying? Rachel lifted her fist up and knocked lightly on the door. "Auntie Pen? Are you hurt? I can find a band-aid."

"No, I'm okay sweetie, why don't you go watch tv for a little bit? I'll call and get us some pizza." Garcia's muffled reply came through the door.

Rachel didn't quite believe Garcia, she didn't seem okay, but the blonde had never lied to her before. Rachel slowly walked back into the living room and sat down on the couch, turning the television on and flicking through the channels until she settled on a re-run of Rugrats. She only half watched Angelica tease Tommy and Chuckie, listening instead for the sound of Garcia coming out of the bathroom. Unfortunately for her, Rugrats captured her attention before Garcia emerged.


Emily bit her nails, fuck the bad habit, her wife was unconscious and people were cutting into her. She realized that she was tasting blood right now, but it didn't stop her. Reid's hand slipping into hers did. The man didn't say a word, just gripped Emily's hand tightly and sat there. Emily couldn't have been more grateful. She held onto Reid's hand as if it were a lifeline, and in that moment, it was.

A doctor walked down the hall, catching their attention and Emily jumped from her seat. "Is she okay?" She asked quickly.

The doctor held his hands up to still her. "She's out of surgery." He stated quickly. "It was touch and go for a while, her head was hit hard, and the cut in her side was deep, it cut into the liver but we were able to repair it. She's unconscious right now, when she wakes up she will be groggy and in pain, but she will wake up and she will make a full recovery. Its going to take a while. She is going to be very sore, and need a lot of care, but she will be alright. You can go see her now if you want, but I ask that you keep it to only one for now. Visiting hours are over and she needs her rest."

"Thank you." Emily said sincerely. She turned and caught Hotch's eye, he gave her a tight nod.

"Emily, go ahead, I'll get the nurse to get you a bed. We'll head back to the hotel and come back here in the morning. We'll let Garcia know."

Emily nodded and released the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. Walking down the hall, she clenched her hands into fists to stop herself from bitting her nails again. She paused at JJ's door, terrified with what she was going to be greeted with. Emily took a deep breath and pushed the door open gently, she let out a small cry and covered her mouth with her hand. JJ was ghastly pale, her hair matted and stringy, tubes helping her breathe. Emily stepped forward so slowly she barely felt like she was moving. When she finally reached the bed, she collapsed into the chair, her knees unable to stand any longer. She's going to be okay. She's going to be okay. The doctor said she's going to be okay. She kept thinking. Needed to force herself to believe it somehow. Emily bent forward and placed a light kiss on JJ's forehead. She kept her face there, not being able to stand being any further away from her wife. God, this must have been how JJ felt after Doyle stabbed me. Emily thought. The realization of what the blonde had gone through finally hitting her full force.

"Sweetheart, they say you're going to be fine." Emily whispered. "If you could maybe open your eyes for me? Show me that? I would be really grateful." Emily ran her fingers through JJ's hair, but the blonde didn't move. "I love you so much." She cried softly. Emily remained how she was, her body half laying on top of JJ's bed – an uncomfortable position – and cried herself to sleep.


When Emily woke up she cringed. Fuck. She thought. I definitely should have taken the bed the nurses offered. She lifted her body up and groaned at the crick in her neck. Looking to the clock on the bedside table, it was around 11:30 in the morning. Emily was surprised she had slept that long. Now that she was fully awake, she remembered waking up more than once when the nurses came in and checked on JJ. She felt a stirring underneath her and turned her gaze to the blonde. JJ gripped her hand and opened her eyes.

"Jen!" Emily yelled. "DOCTOR! SHE'S AWAKE!"

The man from the previous night walked into the room and smiled at JJ. "Hello Jennifer, we've got some people who have been pretty eager to see you." He said with a smile. "Would you like me to remove the tube?" JJ nodded vigorously, then closed her eyes in pain. "Only if you promise not to do that again, you need to take it easy Mrs Prentiss." He bent over and clutched the tube. "This is going to be uncomfortable, I want you to take a deep breath in, then when I start pulling out, blow out as hard as you can." JJ gave a very tiny nod to acknowledge she understood. "One, two, three, blow hard Mrs Prentiss."

Emily rubbed JJ's shoulder as the blonde began coughing violently. "Hi." She murmured.

JJ rolled her head to the side and smiled at Emily, still coughing slightly, she opened her mouth and tried to talk.

"Its going to be uncomfortable to speak, take it slow, sip some water first." The doctor ordered. He handed JJ some water which she sipped gratefully and began checking her vitals. Sharing a look with Emily, he nodded. "You look good Mrs Prentiss. I'll give you two some time and be back to check on you later. Make sure she takes it easy." He directed towards Emily.

"Whe..." JJ coughed and tried again. "When can I go home?" She asked. Emily could tell it too great effort just to say that one sentence. The doctor's face fell a little and Emily felt JJ tense. "Our daughter is in DC, I need to go home." JJ insisted forcefully.

The doctor sighed. "I'm sorry, but definitely not for a few days. You're still to weak to be moved." Seeing the determined, angry look on JJ's face. "And that is not a challenge to push yourself, the more you rest, the quicker you will get home to your daughter." He added quickly. "You were seriously hurt Mrs Prentiss, you need to give your body the time it needs to heal."

JJ sighed and sunk back down into the bed, Emily rubbing her arm reassuringly. The doctor gave them a soft smile and headed out of the room. "You scared me." Emily whispered, sounding very childlike.

JJ rolled her head to meet her look and gave her a light smile. "I'm sorry." She said sincerely. She knew how it felt to be the one sitting by the bed, willing Emily to wake up after Doyle stabbed her. She had felt like her world had been shattered. "What happened? The guy hit me?Does Rach know?" JJ asked after a minute.

Emily ran her fingers through her hair and sighed. "No, Garcia's with her, she knows though. And yeah, you threw yourself into him, he stabbed you with part of a fence, your tetanus shot has been updated FYI, and then he punched the crap out of you. Knocked you unconscious. Don't ever do that again by the way."

"Sorry." JJ chuckled, then her face grew somber. "Em...we have to be the ones to tell her."

"I know, I'll call her in a little bit."

A knock on the door caught both women's attention and they were greeted with a smiling Morgan, Reid and Rossi; Hotch speaking with the doctor behind them. "Well hey now Blondie, look who's awake." Morgan grinned. The men entered the room and surrounded the bed, JJ smiled lightly at them, clearly starting to get more groggy.

Reid hesitated, biting his lip and looking like a small child. JJ lifted her arm and waved him over. Reid grinned and bent down, kissing JJ lightly on the cheek.

"Hey, find your own woman Reid." Emily joked. JJ hit her lightly, then groaned in pain from the movement. "Take it easy Jayje." She ordered. "You should try to get some sleep."

"I don't want to." JJ pouted childishly. Emily could already see her wife's eyes fluttering and knew she was going to be out cold in a matter of minutes.

"Please?" She asked with a grin. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Morgan, Reid and Rossi slip out.

"Em...I want, you have to tell Rach..."

"I know Honey, I'll call." Emily ran her fingers through JJ's hair, she could tell it was making the blonde sleepy. Her head was nodding and her eyes kept closing.

"She's gonna be scared." JJ murmured.

"I know. I'll take care of it Honey, go to sleep, I'll be here when you wake up." Emily promised. JJ finally let go and closed her eyes. Emily watched as she fell asleep, unable to take her eyes off her wife. She stayed there a while, too afraid that if she left the room something would go wrong. She felt someone watching her and looked up and met Hotch's gaze. "How long have you been standing there?" She asked with a sigh.

Hotch shrugged. "A few minutes. You haven't left this room in almost twenty-four hours. You need to eat, change you clothes, call Rachel."

"I don't know what to tell her that won't freak her out." Emily admitted.

Hotch sighed and waved Emily over. Reluctantly, she rose from the seat and winced at the stiffness in her legs. "She's going to be scared no matter what you say, just make sure she knows that JJ will be alright and start looking like you believe that as well." He said with a small smile.

"I just..." Emily trailed off.

"I know." Hotch said softly. "It'll be alright, we're all here for you."

"You guys should go home, the case is over."

"We're not going anywhere." Hotch insisted. "Make your call, I'll sit with her."

Emily nodded and walked down the hall, suddenly desperate for fresh air. She pulled her phone out and walked into the courtyard. It was 3:30, Rachel would be home from school. She waited painstakingly while the phone rang.

"Hello?" Garcia's voice greeted her. Emily could sense the worry in the technical analyst's tone.

"She's going to be alright Penelope." Emily said quickly.

"I know, Morgan told me but I...this is crazy hard. You're kid's super smart, she knows something's wrong and I don't know what to tell her."

"I know, can you put her on the phone?" Emily asked.

"Yeah, hang on a second."

Emily heard rustling on the other end of the line and then Rachel's tentative voice greeted her. She instantly felt better. "Mommy?" Rachel asked. Emily could tell she was worried. Crap, why did her kid have to be such a good observer? "Is everything okay? Auntie Pen is scared, I heard her crying in the bathroom. When are you and Momma coming home?"

Emily bit back some tears. "I know, I'm sorry about that. Um, the case is over, but...I don't think JJ and I will be home for a couple more days."

"Why not?" Rachel whined.

"Well sweetie, you remember how we told you that our jobs can be dangerous sometimes?"

Rachel nodded, then forgot that Emily couldn't see her. "Yeah. Like when you got stitches on your back."

"Right. Well, yesterday JJ got hurt by one of the bad guys, but she's going to be alright." Emily insisted quickly. "She has to stay in the hospital for a few days to get herself better, but she can't wait to see you." Emily listened to the silence on the other end of the line; and then her heart broke as she heard Rachel begin to whimper. The whimpering turned into cries and Emily felt like she was wholly unprepared for this kind of situation. "Rachel, I promise she is going to be alright. I would never lie to you about something like this."

"I want to see her." Rachel cried.

"I know sweetie but we're in Maine and she has to stay here and rest to get better."

"I want Momma!" Rachel yelled. Emily winced and pulled the phone away from her ear. "I WANT MOMMA! I WANT YOU! I WANT MOMMA!"

"Rachel..." Emily began, trying to remain calm herself.

"She's sort of having the world's biggest temper tantrum." Garcia said as she took the phone from where Rachel had thrown it. "What do you want me to do?"

Emily could hear Rachel screaming, and from the sound of things, kicking whatever was in her path as well. Emily walked back into the hospital feeling incredibly dejected. She caught sight of Hotch and saw that JJ was awake again. The blonde beamed at the sight of Emily. "Garcia, is...can you try to get her back on the phone?" Emily asked, wincing as she heard her daughter's screams and cries in the background. The broken look on JJ's face as she realized what was happening only made her feel even worse.

"Let me talk to her." JJ said quickly.

"Jen..."

"Let me talk to her." JJ repeated icily. Emily licked her lips and asked Garcia to tell Rachel that JJ wanted to talk to her. Hearing the crying, she could tell it wasn't working. "Just put it on speaker Pen." JJ said.

"Okay, its all set." Garcia informed them. Emily handed the phone over to JJ while Hotch stood up and left the room to give them some privacy.

"Rachel." JJ said calmly. There was no answer besides continual yelling coming from Rachel. "Rachel Anne Prentiss, you calm down right now." JJ said forcefully. The crying stopped and dropped back down to whimpering before they heard a large sniffle.

"I don't have a middle name." Rachel grumbled through her tears.

"You do now, and its the same as mine, so take a deep breath and listen to me." JJ said. Emily lowered herself back down into the seat and took JJ's hand. "Are you calm?" JJ asked. Rachel nodded again, forgetting JJ couldn't see her and climbed onto Garcia's lap.

Garcia wrapped her arms around the little girl and kissed her head. "She nodded." She explained.

"Okay, Rachel, I'm going to be fine I promise. I'll be home before you know it."

"I want you now Momma." Rachel whined. The pain in her voice cut through both women like a knife. They shared a look and Emily sighed. Rising, she walked out of JJ's room and found her doctor.

"Sir, how long exactly is JJ going to have to stay here?" She asked.

"A week at the very least I'm afraid."

"Would it make it harder for her if we brought our daughter up here?"

The doctor smiled – as did Hotch, who was standing behind him. "No, it will probably make her feel more relaxed and speed up her recovery." He said. He had children of his own, he knew how worried the blonde would get and that wasn't helpful to anyone.

"Thank you." Emily said, quickly turning and walking back to JJ's room. "The doctor said she might make you heal faster." She whispered to JJ.

The look of relief on JJ's face made Emily feel so much better. "Rach, how about if you and Garcia come up here and stay with us until I can come home?"

"Really?" Rachel whispered hopefully.

"Yeah."

"And she's off." Garcia stated.

"Huh?" Emily asked.

"She has run up the stairs and she is packing a bag. I'm going to book a flight now before she has another tantrum. Your kid is adorable and I love her, but you can have the sullen girl all to yourself, give her back to me when she's happy and twirling and doing backflips."

Emily snorted. "Thanks Garcia. Wait, backflips?"

"Oh yeah, we filmed it, I'll email it to you in a few. Jayje? Are you really okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine."

"Ah, she's already packed. Geez, I'll see you guys soon." Garcia clicked off and left Emily and JJ with silence. Emily could tell this had taken way too much out of JJ. She reached over and gently pulled the phone out of her wife's hands.

"Sleep Jen." She ordered softly.

"No! I want to..."

Emily cut her off. "Knowing Garcia, she has done some technical hacking thingy and is going to be on a plane within minutes, which means they will be here in a matter of hours. Rachel is going to want to see you awake. Sleep now so your not too tired. You need to rest Jen, its the only way you'll get better."

JJ sighed and Emily knew she had won. "Fine. You wake me up the second she gets here."

"I will." Emily whispered, trying not to smile as JJ's eyes fluttered closed.

"Emily Elizabeth Prentiss."

"I promise." Emily repeated. "Go to sleep." Emily remained where she was, watching over JJ until she was sure that she was asleep. Hotch had brought her go-bag and Emily took it into the adjoining bathroom. Stripping off her clothes, she washed her body with a small washcloth and changed into clean clothes; brushed her teeth, splashed her face with water and packed her things back up. When she went back into the room, JJ was still there, still fine, still asleep and Emily was greeted with a sandwich and a large cup of coffee. Turning to her right, she smirked at Morgan and Reid, making themselves comfortable in the empty chairs. Morgan pointed to the empty bed that had been pulled up next to JJ's. "Eat that sandwich then lay your ass down on that bed and get some sleep." He ordered. "You look worse than JJ and she has an excuse. You're gonna freak Freckles out when she gets here."

"Morgan I..."

"It wasn't a suggestion. Hotch gave us permission to strap you down if necessary."

Emily glared at both of them, but moved over and dug into the sandwich, realizing how hungry she was. "Where is he anyway?"

"Booking a flight. He's gonna pick up Garcia and Rachel, bring them here, then head home to get Jack. He's already talked – and threatened I think – the entire medical staff to call him with updates every day. Everything you can imagine is set up. Reid, Rossi and I extended our hotel rooms, cancelled yours and the jet is staying here to take us all home when JJ can make the trip."

"You guys don't have to stay here..."

Reid cut her off. "Shut up and go to sleep."

Emily stared at him in awe, even Morgan looked impressed. "Fine." She grumbled and lay down on the bed. Holy shit. She thought. I am so tired. And taking orders from Reid? She closed her eyes and finally succumbed to sleep, her hand clasped in JJ's.