AN: I apologize for the delay in updating! I have been so busy! Please review!

Hotch stood outside the ICU room, his arms crossed as he quietly observed what was going on inside the room. JJ was awake, JJ was aware, JJ was alive. It was three things he did not see as possible when he had received that phone call just over nine days ago telling him his agent had been found. The fact that JJ continued to improve significantly astounded him. Not that he didn't believe in his agent; not that he didn't think she could; but he believed firmly in science. And science had been telling him that JJ was not going to be awake, aware or alive.

And Reid had confirmed that; had met with Hotch and confirmed Hotch's fears. Even Reid, their genius, did not think JJ would ever recover. In fact, Reid had confided with Hotch that they needed to prepare for the worst. And Hotch had believed him.

And JJ had proven them all wrong; proven the doctors wrong, their science wrong and Reid wrong. And despite JJ thriving and healing; she still remained in the ICU; still highly dependent on machines; on others for nearly her every task. Everything.

Her breathing had apparently improved significantly, but not enough for the doctor's to fully trust that she was able to breathe completely on her own… yet. The staff had done trials to see if she could maintain her airway during the day without the assistance of the ventilator. And she had sailed past that test; but did struggle at night. She required assistance at night, but during the day, when JJ was awake, JJ defied odds and was able to breathe with little to no assistance.

With her breathing stabilizing, the speech therapist had taught Will and helped JJ understand how she would need to speak with the trach. Will had quickly jumped in, eager to help in anyway he could. He cringed every time he reached over to cover the trach so JJ could talk; she still jumped when anyone touched her.

"See JJ, when Will covers this and places his hand just over the trach; it makes it easier for you to speak." The speech therapist had explained. "Go ahead and try," She had taken Will's hand and guided him to the tube, "just gently cover it while she speaks, and then lift your hand away."

"I.. I won't hurt her, will I?" Will had asked.

"No, not at all. Just don't keep it covered too long!"

And Will had done it, covered the small opening and JJ had been able to speak. It wasn't much, hardly anything, but so much at the same time. If she was having a great day, JJ maybe able to string three words together; more often then that, it was just one word. And it was everything. And as each day passed, her speech improved.

But she was incredibly weak; and the team could tell it was frustrating her. Will had to help her speak as she didn't have the strength to lift up and hold her hands over the tube while speaking. It was too much for her; her hand would shake as soon as she lifted it- but she kept going- kept fighting.

And as Hotch looked in, he saw JJ sitting up in bed with extensive support. Nurses were on her side, Will behind her and a team of physical therapists supporting her. JJ's face was red and grimaced in pain; sweat was tricking down her temple as the team spoke softly to her, encouraging her that in a just a few more seconds, she could lay back down. He looked away when he saw the pain in her face, saw tears building as she shook in pain.

His powerful agent, the agent that could easily have taken down a man three times her size just eighteen months ago; was now fighting to learn to do everything on her own again. Including sitting up. And he could tell she was struggling; fighting with everything in her, but struggling.

And the staff was fighting with her; helping her regain so much of what she had lost. Her physical and occupational skills, her speech, the ability to eat and drink, and soon, they would begin working with her on learning to use a wheelchair.

Because the devastating blow had come just the day before. When Ross and a neurologist had met with Hotch and Will; along with the physical therapist. Together, the medical team had gently told them that they had not observed any movement below JJ's waist since she arrived in the ER; that even using advanced medical tests and treatments, she was not responding. And that when they had purposefully touched her below the waist, both when she was sleeping and awake- she had not noticed. It appeared to the that she was paralyzed below the waist and they were not hopeful. Ross had added that JJ had surprised them at every turn and that he didn't count her out, but right now, he did not foresee her walking again. He gently reminded them that when JJ had first arrived in the ER; they had discovered the spinal fracture and they had no idea how long she had had it, or if any treatment had ever been provided.

"Does she know?" Will had asked softly.

"No, we don't think so. We haven't told her but she hasn't asked." Ross had responded. Will had nodded and excused himself, unable to hear more at the moment.

Hotch waited for Will to leave and took in a breath, "She may know, we still do not know what she knows; if she could tell us anything about what happened to her…"

Ross looked at him, his eyes wide. "agent…" He said warning Hotch.

"Ross, we have to. We have to talk to her about what happened. We need to know if she can help us at all. I promise we will be careful, gentle, we will go at her pace." Hotch looked away. "We are running out of time."

"Excuse me?" Ross shot at him.

"This is an open case and I cannot give out that information; but we have reason to believe JJ is still in significant danger and we need to speak to her."

"Agent, JJ cannot speak more than a few words at a time…"

"That's all I need. Closed ended questions." Hotch had replied.

And they had argued, back and forth, but Ross had caved with numerous precautions in place. So Hotch stood at the door, waiting for Emily to join him. They were going to do this together. They were going to interview JJ and see what she could tell them.

They had it planned; Emily would ask the questions, Ross would monitor her vitals from the nurses desk, and they would only ask the bare minimum. Ross had imposed a time frame, only fifteen minutes. And Hotch had taken it.

"Are we ready to do this?" Emily's voice startled Hotch and he nodded in her direction.

"Morgan is going to handle Will; get him out of here for a little bit. He knows we are doing this, but we don't need him in there." Hotch explained softly, watching as the team got JJ settled back into bed and comfortable.

"Does she know we are about to do this, Hotch?" Hotch shook his head; feeling queasy at what he was about to put his agent through.

"We can't wait any longer; whoever did this to her will come back." He didn't wait for an answer, just knocked on the door and held it open for Emily. He waited until the room was empty, save for him, Emily and JJ. "Hi JJ," He greeted her smiling at her as he took a seat next to her. "Morgan is forcing Will to go and get a decent lunch; I think he's taking him to get some new clothes too."

JJ smiled at them; her eyes clearer then he had seen them in a long time. "JJ, the speech therapist taught us how to help you talk so if you need to say something, just let us know, okay?" JJ blinked at him, signifying her understanding.

"Hi JJ," Emily spoke softly, taking a seat next to Hotch. "You look like you are doing better." JJ slowly lifted her hand for just a brief moment and gave a thumbs up. "Okay, show off." Emily laughed. "JJ, we need to ask you a few questions okay?" Emily said softly, watching JJ's expression for any sign of discomfort. Slowly, JJ nodded.

"Alright, you just nod for yes and shake your head for no, how does that sound?" JJ nodded; knowing what was coming. "Okay, its just me and Hotch in here; no staff is coming in for a bit."

And Emily took a deep breath, ready for the hardest interview she was going to have to give; the hardest she was going to have to hear.