AN: I haven't written anything at all in weeks. I've been working OT and we've been crazy busy and some of the calls have been crazy complicated. It turned my brain to jello. Babysitting the nephew for the weekend but he's napping right now so I'm hoping that I can knock some of this out now and the rest after he's in bed for the night.

MN: When she says her brain is jello, it means I am jello too. Our new addiction isn't helping with the whole writing thing either. Since last we wrote I've watched 3 ½ seasons of Supernatural. It's pretty awesome.

JJ couldn't stand it anymore. She shoved to her feet and began pacing the hall. They had been told to stay at the courthouse so they had found a bench in a quiet hallway to occupy. The judge hadn't felt it would take long to go back over the information that had been presented to him and reach a decision but it had been an hour and she was becoming increasingly anxious.

Spencer rounded the corner; two cups from the courthouse coffee stand in his hands. His brow was furrowed and he looked almost as stressed as she felt. He set the cups on the bench she had abandoned and reached out to her. She willingly stepped into his embrace.

"Jayje, I'm sure it's fine. There was a lot of paperwork to read through." His words were meant to comfort her but she could hear the tense undertone in his voice.

She nodded against his shoulder but remained silent, not trusting her voice not to waver. A moment later she steeled herself with a deep breath and stepped back. He reached down to pick up one of the cups he'd set down and handed it to her.

As she raised it, she registered that it contained tea, not coffee as she had assumed. She welcomed the break from the acidity of the brew she had been practically living off of as of late. The last few weeks had passed in a whirl of cases, meetings with their lawyer, and spending as much time with Henry as she could. The combination hadn't allowed for much sleep so she'd increased her caffeine consumption considerably.

She sipped the beverage gingerly, testing the temperature to ensure she wouldn't burn herself before taking a longer sip. Spencer had retrieved his own cup and was fiddling with it more than drinking. They stood in silence for another long few moments before footsteps drew their attention down the hall.

Their lawyer paused when his gaze met hers and he nodded curtly. His meaning was clear: the judge was ready with a decision.

JJ quickly disposed of the remains of her tea and Spencer followed suit before following her down the hallway. The three walked wordlessly to the courtroom but as they entered, Spencer caught her hand with his, squeezing it gently in reassurance. He kept his fingers entwined with hers as they passed through the doors and up the aisle, only releasing his grip when it became necessary in order for her to pass through the opening at the front of the gallery.

He positioned himself so he was sitting directly behind her as she settled into the seat next to her lawyer. A few moments later, Will appeared with his counsel, moving to occupy the other table crammed into the front of the small room.

The silence that descended once everyone present had settled into their seats and stopped fidgeting was heavy and imposing. To JJ, it felt like another hour passed before, finally, the bailiff appeared and barked an order to rise.

Once the judge was seated, they did so as well. This time, however, JJ perched on the edge of her seat. Her chest was tight and she felt the tea she'd drank gurgle in her stomach as the man before them began to speak.

"I have to say, this is one of the more complicated cases I've heard in a while. You are both busy law enforcement officers neither of whom is particularly well suited to being a single parent." His gaze was alternating between herself and Will. "I'm supposed to decide what is in Henry's best interest here. Quite honestly, what's in his best interest is the arrangement already in place. Now, since Mr. LaMontagne has made it clear that he intends to accept the job offer in New Orleans either way, I have to decide how to minimize the negative impact of that to Henry's life."

The man now turned his gaze on her ex-husband. "You have no family in New Orleans, no established support structure, and with her work schedule, your son would very rarely see his mother."

His eyes shifted to her. "You, Ms. Jareau, have a work schedule that is far from conducive to raising a child alone. Your support structure, on the other hand, is exemplary."

He sighed heavily and closed the file laying open before him. "My first instinct is to leave the custody arrangement as it currently stands. Barring that, with the information presented, I must grant primary custody to Ms. Jareau. Mr. LaMontagne will have custodial visitation on alternating holidays and up to six weeks of the summer. Any other visitation will be up to Ms. Jareau's availability and discretion."

The gavel had connected and JJ was on her feet before his words had fully registered. The moment the judge was gone, Will stormed from the room. She rolled her eyes and hurried after him. He had paused outside the courtroom to shake hands with his lawyer.

"Hey, we need to talk."

He rolled his eyes as his lawyer stepped away. "I'm pretty sure I've said everything I had left to say to you."

She narrowed her eyes but took a deep breath before she spoke. "I just figured maybe we should discuss how we are going to tell our son that you're moving away. I don't want him to come out of this thinking you don't love him anymore. He doesn't deserve that and neither do you."

Will's features softened slightly. "Oh. Well I can't right now. I was supposed to be on shift 30 minutes ago. Maybe I can bring him home when you get off work tomorrow and we can talk then."

She nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

She had been staring at the ceiling for over an hour. She had been so exhausted that sleep had come easily, however holding on to it had been more difficult. She tried to focus on the sound of Spencer's breathing next to her, but her mind wandered again quickly. She was so distracted that she didn't notice the change in tempo of the sound which would have warned her he was waking. Instead it was his voice that alerted her to the fact.

"Jayje?"

She felt him shift beside her and turned her head to face him. "You should go back to sleep, Spence."

His arm came around her waist, the warmth seeping easily through her t-shirt. "You should be asleep too, but you're not. What's wrong? I thought today went well."

She sighed and rolled into his embrace. "It went as well as it could have, but I'm still going to have to sit down with my son and tell him his dad's going to be living a thousand miles away. How do I do that?"

His arm tightened around her. "I don't know, but I do know you'll figure it out. And Henry's a smart kid. He'll get it. He knows Will loves him. I'm not saying it's going to be easy, but he'll be okay."

She opened her mouth to reply but a small sob escaped. That was enough to completely break her and tears began streaming down her face. Sob after sob wracked her body and Spencer held her tightly and quietly encouraged her release.

It was hushed voices that woke her. As she struggled out of sleep, she focused on the conversation. "Hey, your mom is really tired so why don't we let her sleep a little longer? We can get dressed and go make breakfast for her, okay?"

"Otay Uncle Spence. Why's Mommy so tireds?" Her son's stage whisper carried easily through the door.

"She's tired because she's been working really extra hard so we just have to help her out some. Do you think you can help me do that?"

The voices were fading now as they moved away from her bedroom door. "Sure I can!"

JJ stretched out in bed feeling decidedly worn. She knew if she allowed herself to fall back to sleep that it would be even harder to get up in twenty minutes so she forced herself to slide from bed. She stumbled to the bathroom, rubbing at a knot in her neck.

She ran her shower as hot as she could stand it, allowing the massage setting to ease the tension in her neck. By the time she stepped from the spray she was feeling decidedly more normal. She wrapped one towel around her body and another around her hair then stepped to the sink to brush her teeth.

Fifteen minutes later, her hair was dry and straight and her normal workday compliment of light makeup had been applied. She was still wrapped in a towel as she exited back into the bedroom, nearly colliding with Spencer.

"Hey, I was just coming to get you up. Henry and I made breakfast. He's ready for school too."

She smiled at him. "I heard you conspiring in the hall. Thanks."

He returned her grin and shrugged. "I figured you needed the extra time this morning, I was just hoping you would sleep longer."

She stepped in close to him. "The long shower helped more than a few more minutes sleep would have." She looped her arms around his neck and leaned up for a kiss. "I'm going to get dressed. I'll be down in a couple of minutes."

He nodded and murmured an agreement then headed back toward the hallway. Just as he was about to close the door behind himself, she cleared her throat and he turned to face her, a question apparent on his face.

She grinned mischievously then dropped her towel to the floor. His jaw slackened as his eyes raked over her body appreciatively. She stepped forward and applied pressure to the door, effectively pushing him out and closing it behind him. She chuckled to herself as she turned back toward her dresser to dig out clothes.

AN: I decided to share in nap time yesterday so this didn't get done then. Looks like I may be having another "snow day" tomorrow as we face dangerous drifting and whiteout conditions even without more snow falling. Here's hoping!