JJ was plagued with nightmares later that night.

Never mind that the cast also made it hard to sleep, but she also didn't get nightmares that much, so when she did get them, they were always a little too real.

"JJ? Wake up, now!"

"JJ, come on, sweetie! You're safe now!"

"You're safe!"

JJ jerked out of her dream state, and when she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was a concerned-looking, pajama-clad Emily bathed in the warm lamplight and sitting with her on the bed.

"Em?" JJ yawned as she sat up. "Did I wake you? I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Emily stroked JJ's cheek with a finger. "You were having a nightmare."

JJ's bottom lip trembled as the memories came back. "I dreamed that Baylor came after you, Penelope, and the others, holding you all hostage. By the time I woke up, he had died, but I still couldn't get to the rest of you."

Mindful of JJ's arm, Emily pulled her in for a hug. "JJ, Baylor is gone. He can't touch you."

JJ involuntarily clenched her legs together for a second as she recalled exactly how Baylor had touched her.

"He's gone, and he can't touch me." she echoed.

"That's right." Emily kissed JJ on the temple, something she almost couldn't help now but did because JJ liked it. "If he ever does come near you again, I'll tell the boys, and they'll all come running… although we both know that Derek would get there first."

JJ grinned at the thought of setting Derek loose on Baylor because after all these years together, Derek was as good as a brother, and she knew he'd do anything for her. She had a brother named Archer, but he was older than her and lived out in Drexel, Missouri with his wife and daughter, and they only really saw each other at Christmastime in Pennsylvania, as it was. Derek? JJ saw him almost every day, and that was good enough for her.

"Derek would, wouldn't he?"

"Mhm."

JJ let out a yawn; it was already late and she was getting sleepy again, but Emily's back rub was helping. Her sleepiness didn't escape Emily's notice at all, especially when she subconsciously curled the fingers on her good hand in the cloth of Emily's shirt in an effort to keep her close.

"Jayje?"

At the sound of her nickname, JJ sat up and looked at Emily through through heavily eyelids.

"Hmm?"

"Come to bed with me."

JJ was immediately more awake as her heart promptly turned a cartwheel. "Did you just say what I think you said?"

"Yes." Emily confirmed. "Come with me, and we'll sleep."

JJ was floating on air by this point, so she was only vaguely aware of grabbing her pillow, turning off the lamp, and following Emily down the hallway to her bedroom. The one thing she was acutely aware of was that she and Emily were both asleep ten minutes later.

The best part? No more nightmares for the rest of the night.


Much to the agents' delight, neither of them woke with any morning sickness, meaning that they were able to enjoy a normal morning together before work.

As they were gathering up the last of their things that they would need to take with them to work, including freshly packed go bags, Emily didn't hear JJ for a few minutes, and when she looked for her, she found her sitting on the edge of their bed, staring into space and looking almost embarrassed about something.

"You in there?" Emily asked her, setting her things on a chair next to the door and approaching the bed.

"Uh-huh." JJ looked over to her. "I just hit one of those godawful stumbling blocks you theorized about yesterday."

"Anything I can do to help?"

JJ actually blushed, but only because she was very independent and had a hard time asking for help every now and then.

"Are you any good at doing hairstyles besides ponytails?"

Emily was actually really good at doing hair, but she never had anyone to show her skills off to. "I am. Anything in particular that you'd like?"

JJ shrugged. "Something that will keep my hair out of my eyes."

Emily rectified that situation by giving JJ a bun hairstyle, and because she had a lot of hair and it was quite long, she was able to give it a little flair. That boosted JJ's confidence because she was already nervous about showing up to work in a cast, but at least she would look nice and could feel good about one part of her appearance now.

On the way to work, they chatted casually with each other, although it was mostly about their children and the different ideas they already had about their futures. By the time they reached the BAU floor, JJ found herself thinking that she could totally get used to a life like this with Emily.

Their little bubble was burst when they saw that they got a group text from Hotch, asking them to go to his office before heading out to their work areas. Curiously, Penelope was also included in the text, but since they hadn't seen her yet, they assumed that she would be along eventually.

When they entered Hotch's office, they saw him sitting at his desk. They also saw that Rossi was there, too.

"First of all, you two can relax right now." Hotch said lightly as they set their things down. "There are some things we need to talk about, but it would be best if Garcia was here, too; the three of you are a solid unit and the things we're going to discuss calls for that kind of support."

As Emily accepted that, JJ noticed Rossi studying the two of them.

"Sir?" JJ asked.

"Something is a little different about you two than yesterday. What is it?"

Immediately, JJ turned to Emily, asking her a question with just her eyes.

Emily understood and responded verbally. "You might as well tell them, but just share as much as you're comfortable with sharing."

Comforted, JJ turned back to their superiors. "I'm pregnant with twins, and I just got out of a bad relationship last night. Emily is looking after me while I recuperate."

Both Rossi and Hotch congratulated her about her pregnancy, happy that their friend was pregnant and happy that she was excited about it, although they both quickly offered to beat up person who had accosted her.

Since JJ was young enough to be his little sister, Hotch found himself asking, "JJ, when you say 'bad relationship,' just how bad was it?"

"Last night alone, I was airborne and hit a bookshelf."

Hotch and Rossi winced in unison, but said nothing.

"The babies are both fine, and I'm covered in bruises, but my arm is broken and in a cast now." Employing Emily's help, JJ took off her suit jacket and showed off her new plaster accessory. "I've got to wear this for the next eight weeks."

Even at that simple explanation, JJ was beginning to waver. Emily was prepared to jump in to tell them about her own good news to distract them, but didn't have to because Penelope had arrived and surprisingly, BAU Section Chief Erin Strauss was with her. JJ found herself on alert now.

Strauss greeted the underlings as she walked into the office before addressing Hotch and Rossi. "Have you told her yet?"

"No." Hotch said honestly. "We were waiting for you and Agent Garcia."

"Pardon me, m'am," JJ said to Strauss. "But which her are you talking about? There are three of us."

The three senior agents turned to JJ to see that her companions to see that Emily and Penelope had coincidentally arranged themselves on either side of the communications liaison, wanting to protect her from whatever was coming.

"There's been a string of murders in New York City that started late last night, but the murders have been so vicious and so heinous that the police are already scrambling and asking for help. There is also no apparent connection, other than a signature." Strauss explained. "That being said, the primary suspect had been identified, and he has a connection to Agent Jareau; his name is Baylor McMath."

The second JJ heard Baylor's name, her knees buckled, but Emily and Penelope caught her and sat with her on the couch.

Strauss raised an eyebrow. "Agent Jareau?"

JJ took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Baylor got me pregnant nine weeks ago, m'am, and he did this to me."

JJ held up her injured arm for show and Strauss nodded understandingly, although it made her sad to see one of the agents from her favorite unit in such distress.

"Congratulations on your pregnancy, although I'm sorry about your arm." the older woman said sincerely. "The only reason I'm here this morning is to hear it from you first that you will remain objective, should you be questioned at any point by the local authorities."

"I will." JJ said solemnly.

"Good." Strauss approved. "That's all I needed to know."

"Then if that's that," Hotch turned to the trio on the couch. "We're assembling in the round table room in five minutes. Dismissed."

As everyone dispersed, Strauss asked Emily to follow her over to the coffee area.

"Yes, m'am?" Emily asked when she realized that her superior wanted something.

"Coffee?" Strauss offered as she started to make herself a cup.

Emily politely declined. "No, thank you. This is quite a coincidence, but like Agent Jareau, I'm also in the family way."

"Well, my congratulations to you, as well. Hearing that bit of news actually makes what I have to tell you a lot easier."

"Oh?"

"My contacts at Interpol asked me to tell you that a man called Ian Doyle was murdered in a prison riot, and that his boy Declan is moving to a boarding school just outside London to further his education."

Emily's heart jumped for joy, something she never did upon hearing the report of a death, but considering the man in question and her past with him, the happiness was warranted.

"Doyle's dead and Declan is doing well in school?"

Strauss nodded. "Yes."

"That means I'm free, and that I never have to worry about my past coming back to haunt me. It also means that nobody in this unit will ever have to know."

Strauss finished making her coffee, took a sip and said, "Speaking of things that nobody will ever have to know, I trust that you'll keep me appraised of the goings-on in this case?"

Ah, yes. Emily was Erin Strauss' double agent. She was practically blackmailed into the role and had spent the better part of the past six months reporting to Strauss without the others knowing. She did it grudgingly the entire time, but now… things were different.

"No."

Strauss was taken aback; very few people openly defied her orders. "I beg your your pardon, Agent Prentiss?"

"No means no: I will no longer be your snitch, Erin." (Of the underling agents, only Emily could get away with calling Strauss by her first name because the two of them had a long history together) "I will no longer be your eyes and ears inside this unit—I fought too long and too hard on my own to be here and then have our deal hanging over me. If you want answers, look for them yourself."

Strauss knew she should reprimand Emily for being insubordinate, but she also knew that the other woman was incredibly strong-willed and would have a battle of the wills with her until she made her point.

"You love them, don't you?"

"Yes. They are my family, and I love them all more than I ever thought I would. If you keep me, I'll tell my parents."

Emily hated resorting to threatening to bring her parents (two very powerful and well-respected ambassadors) into conversations like this one because she hated politics with a passion, but both of her parents had gone to boarding school and college with Strauss, way back in the day. Both of the older Prentisses were still very good friends with Strauss and consequently, the older woman had known Emily for her entire life because she was a family friend to the Prentisses.

Emily's threat seemed to sober Strauss up because she decided to be a big person about things. "I'm sorry, Emily. Be free of me, and give my best to Elizabeth and Maximo."

Elizabeth and Maximo were Emily's parents.

"Thank you, m'am, and I will. Hey, you should go see them: they're both stateside and at the house on Kissinger Lane."

Strauss grinned at the thought of seeing her old friends. "I'll go call them now, then. See you later."

Bidding her superior adieu, Emily departed the coffee area and climbed the short flight of stairs that led into the round table room. When she entered, she saw that everyone was gathered around JJ, just finishing the signing of her cast.

"Emily," Spencer chirped when she saw her. "Did you know about JJ's cast?"

Next to him, Derek immediately gave the young man a playful swat on the side of the head. "Some genius you are, kid. Prentiss' name is on JJ's palm."

"Oh."

Spencer blushed a little and looked at Emily as she took her customary spot next to JJ.

"Then I guess you know she's pregnant, huh? She just told us."

"I knew that, too." Emily smirked. "Plus, JJ is going to be my roommate until her arm heals."

A sudden thought popped into JJ's head and she leaned over to Emily and whispered it into her ear.

Emily raised an eyebrow at JJ when she pulled away. "Really?"

"They're our family, aren't they?"

"Good point."

Antsy now, but only because he was trying to figure them out, Spencer asked, "Are you two a couple?"

"No."

"Not yet."

Their answers had been in unison, with JJ answering second, and if their lives had been a cartoon, that would have been the part where they heard a record scratch.

Emily cleared her throat and laughed nervously. "Okay, that's really not it, but this is: thanks to the marvels of modern medicine, I'm pregnant, too!"

Those who hadn't already known congratulated her before they finally got down to business, with Hotch making the presentation.

"These are Jacob Gomez, Hannah Monroe, and Isaac Bates." he pressed a button on the remote in his hand and made a collage of three very different people and the pictures of their gross remains appear on the screen. "All were found dead in and around The Ramble in Central Park in New York City. Only because of the phone that was dropped at one of the crime scenes, we know that our main suspect is this man, here."

Baylor's picture appeared on the screen and although it humiliated JJ, she felt compelled to add her two cents in.

"I really don't want to talk about it unless there's no choice, but that's Baylor McMath. He's my ex, and he's also the one who got me pregnant and broke my arm."

Hotch took back the conversation before the others could all wander down a rabbit trail that would make JJ uncomfortable by addressing the bespectacled person in the room.

"Garcia?"

She gave him her attention. "Sir?"

"The local authorities invited all of us, and they especially need you."

Penelope was taken aback; it wasn't often that Hotch said something like that to her when inviting her join them.

"They do?"

He nodded. "Apparently, the computer system they operate on is antiquated because of budget cuts; a person with your skill-set is most needed in this particular situation."

Penelope immediately started packing up her binder. "Yes, sir."

Hotch turned back to the others, addressing the room at large. "McMath is beginning to spiral, and will no doubt know that people are catching on to him. He's in the wind right now, but at the rate he's going, he will most certainly take a hostage. That is never a good thing, but seeing as Christmas is next week, that means that on top of everything, it's going to be incredibly cold to boot. Any questions?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"We'll finish debriefing on the plane; wheels up in ten!"