A/N: This segment is a post-ep for 8x14 "All That Remains" and contains major spoilers. Consider yourself warned!

365: Day 37

Characters: Aaron Hotchner, Jennifer Jareau

Rating: T

Brothers and Sisters

The agents of the BAU were all quiet as their jet flew through the dark night back to Virginia. This case had taken a very unexpected turn and had left them all dazed and confused. None of them had suspected Bruce's oldest daughter as the killer. All signs pointed to Bruce for both his wife's disappearance and his youngest daughter's murder. Of course, that's exactly the way she had set it up. It was baffling!

Hotch watched his team closely, as was customary after a case that hit home for some of them. Blake, Reid, and Rossi were all asleep. Unsurprisingly, Morgan was on the phone with his sisters. Hotch smiled. He admired the close relationship the Morgan siblings had. He could hear Morgan's soft laughter coming from the back of the jet. He often wished he was as close to his brother. But their large age difference often made it difficult. Often times, Hotch felt more like a father to Sean than a brother.

And then there was JJ. She was the one who had unscrambled the puzzle and figured everything out. She had been quiet ever since Sera's arrest and discovering where she'd hidden the trophies from her murders. Hotch knew she was thinking about her sister. She'd mentioned her more tonight than she ever had in the eight years they'd worked together. He watched as she fiddled with the necklace around her neck, the last gift her sister ever gave her, and stared blankly out the window into the darkness. He left his seat to sit in front of her.

"I don't understand, Hotch," she softly said, eyes not leaving the window. He could hear the pain in her voice. "It doesn't make sense. How does a sister do that? Siblings are supposed to protect each other."

"It rarely makes sense, JJ," Hotch said. "The only person it will ever make sense to is Sera."

"Katie trusted her. She had no idea her sister hated her. Sera played her every day and the whole time Katie thought she was protecting her." A single tear fell down her cheek. "I was only 11 when my sister died, but even then I knew how much she loved me. I knew she would protect me." Still holding onto the charm on her necklace, she held it out for him to see. "She's still protecting me."

"Speaking as an older sibling, I can tell you that it can be hard when your life gets turned upside down by a younger sibling. All of a sudden you're having to share the attention, share the affection. But in most of us, something happens when that younger sibling comes home for the first time and you just know that there's nothing in the world you wouldn't do to protect them. An older sibling is a younger sibling's first best friend. I'm a lot older than Sean and we've never been very close, but he knows that I love him. That I'll always love him. And even though I want to throttle him most of the time, he knows I'd protect him with my life."

JJ smiled. "Sean is lucky. Not a day goes by that I don't wish my sister was still here."

"She would be very proud of you."

"You think so?"

"I know so."

She tilted her head to the side, looking at him. "How's that?"

He stood and put his hand on her shoulder. "Because I'm proud of you."

She looked up at him with watery eyes. "Thank you, Hotch."

He squeezed her shoulder and smiled. "Get some rest."

She watched him return to his seat before returning her attention to the window. She kept her hand clenched around the charm on her sister's necklace. "I miss you," she sighed and closed her eyes for the remainder of the late night flight.

02/06/2013