Part XXXVIII
Katya pulled…
…and a loud gunshot echoed through the room.
Both Hotch and JJ were surprised to realize that it had come from Rossi. He'd hit her in the shoulder, rendering one of her arms useless, allowing Hotch and JJ to rush over and pin the girl to the ground, as she fiercely struggled against the both of them.
Unsurprisingly, but still awkward to deal with, was Katya's strength.
She continued to struggle as they pinned her face down and got the handcuffs on her, and then pulled her back up.
As soon as Reid, Morgan, and Prentiss had heard the shot, they had rushed to the front of the building and Prentiss had already called for an ambulance.
JJ looked over at Rossi and saw him helping Mikhail up to his feet, and then pulling out his own cuffs around the older man's wrists. Even though he was technically a victim, he was still guilty of abuse. Abuse, she thought, that had gone on for far too long.
She wondered if the two of them would be extradited back to their own country, having come there illegally.
She shook her head, slightly dizzy by the turn of events. Both the brother and sister would go to jail, and both of them would be testifying against the other for their respective crimes, as well as the brother also being indicted on accounts of fraud and forgery because of all of his fake documentation.
The ambulance, by that point, had arrived and JJ stood back up and moved to the side, not even noticing the fact that Hotch had joined her, his right hand barely hovering over her lower back, almost as though he were trying to reassure himself that everything was okay.
Hotch looked over to Rossi and saw Prentiss approach him.
The two agents looked at each other, and Hotch could read the unspoken dialogue between the two of them by their expressions.
Prentiss lifted her eyes. Are you okay?
Rossi gave a slight nod and a faint smile. Yeah. I'm fine. His eyes lifted slightly. You?
Prentiss grinned. So long as you are.
Seeing this made him smile. It was amazing that they were withholding hugging, but then he reminded himself that this was Prentiss and Rossi. They were both incredibly professional and serious when it came to their jobs.
He glanced down at the blonde head and next to him and then noticed his hand was still hovering over her back.
Hotch hesitated, trying to figure out whether or not he should touch her, and came to the conclusion that it wouldn't be professional. Prentiss and Rossi had resisted; so could he.
He drew his hand back to maintain a professional distance; luckily, she had been so distracted that she hadn't even noticed that he'd been about to touch her.
Quickly, he refocused on the rest of his team, and realized that they all deserved a break after two intense cases that had been relatively close together. And they had all done an amazing job; especially Garcia. He would have to thank her when they got back to Quantico.
After catching everyone's eyes, he motioned them towards the small front door, and they filed out, all of them looking forward to getting back home.
JJ let her eyes close as she leaned back in the plane seat, letting the barely audible hum of the jet's engines lull her into a semi-conscious state.
She was still aware of what was going on around her…such as the fact that Reid and Hotch were playing a quick game of gin, and that Prentiss and Rossi were sitting next to each other, talking about some book that she'd never heard of, and she could also faintly hear the sound of Morgan's music through his headphones.
Things were good, and she took hold of the feeling tightly, savoring the calm moment.
Those types of moments were few and far between for the Behavioral Analysis Unit family…so she cherished them.
They would be landing soon, and then everything would become real again. Everything.
She was silently dreading the instant the wheels would touch back down, as she knew that this feeling that she had would be gone. The feeling of…well, it wasn't something that she could quite put a finger on, but it reminded her of when she spent time with Hotch, when it was just the two of them.
She guessed the phrase "light as air" might have something to do with it.
JJ had heard it used in cheesy Hallmark movies, and sappy romance novels, but she'd always dismissed it…until now.
Making the decision, she opened her eyes and looked over at Hotch, surprised to see him smiling, his lips stretched wide.
She was slightly upset at first, as she wanted to be the only one who made him smile that way…but at the same time, she realized that it was a good thing. He was opening up to the rest of the team, to Reid, even.
Reid was like a little brother to her, and had been her surrogate son until Henry had come along.
It was unexpected to see the four out of the six members of their team pairing off: her and Hotch, and Prentiss and Rossi.
Though it was unexpected, it certainly didn't seem to be wrong in any way…in fact, it seemed to fit their little family quite well. In fact, it made sense.
She looked at Hotch again and felt her chest fill with warmth. Could she have fallen for him any harder? An almost giddy feeling filled her, and she had the urge to start shouting at the top of her lungs, but she withheld the impulse.
Instead, she settled for simply smiling at him.
After a long moment of staring and admiring, she turned in her seat and made herself comfortable once more, drifting back into her semi-conscious state.
It just might be nice to come back down to the ground, after all…
Part 38/?