A/N: Your reviews mean a lot to me, they always make me want to continue the story so thank you :)

Emily opened the door to the black SUV sitting in the parking lot, leaving work after finally arriving home. JJ was quiet and walking a bit behind, but she also looked exhausted so Emily was cutting her a break. She waited as JJ opened the passenger side door and got in, shutting the door and buckling herself in just before closing her eyes again and resting her head back on the headrest.

The drive home was short, but it felt like hours for Emily. So much was going through her head. She'd just solved a case, gone into the field and caught the unsub, worked her wife through a panic attack and then…got yelled at by her? She had so many questions but ultimately the most important one she wanted answered was, "Is JJ okay?". She looked over periodically at a red light, giving a small smile at how beautiful she looked when she was asleep. Then her thoughts went right back to the concern she had for JJ.

Emily had noticed a lot of anxiety manifesting in several ways in the blonde. JJ tossed and turned a lot at night, sometimes whining sadly or even crying in her sleep, but Emily could never quite catch what she was saying. She sounded scared. It made Emily so sad. She had always offered to do anything she needed, but JJ usually thanked her and declined. When JJ first got home, she actually allowed Emily to dote on her a bit. But very soon after, JJ seemed to be pushing her away from that role. Was she trying to be independent and show that she's okay? Or is it something else? Something more?

What was really starting to concern Emily was how little JJ was eating. She actually had to think hard to remember any meals or snacks she'd had in the past few days, and couldn't think of much. To be fair, with their jobs, finding time to eat was difficult for any agent, but it is always possible to make time. Emily made it work.

Emily considered JJ's stress and anxiety of returning to work and continuing to work through what she had experienced having an effect on her appetite, and she started to feel bad. Of course JJ has no appetite, fuck. Why am I being such an ass about this? Emily thought. I need to let her heal, I can't be forcing things and pushing her, she's just going to retreat even more. She looked over at JJ again, her brow slightly furrowed, anxious even while she rested. She let out a big sigh, and pulled into the driveway.

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"I'm going to bed" JJ said with a big yawn, putting down her bag and kicking her shoes off before heading into the bathroom. She shut the door. Emily stood there, wanting so badly to talk to JJ but also feeling so defeated she wasn't even sure it was worth bringing up tonight. She thought against it and ripped off the clothes she'd been in all day, pulling on a big t shirt and cotton shorts.

On the other side of the door, JJ was ripping her clothes off too. But she was doing so for separate reasons. She bent down and slid the glass scale yet again from under the sink and stepped on. She closed her eyes, not yet wanting to see. She didn't know what to expect or what she wanted to see.

She opened her eyes, and looked down at the flashing digital number staring up at her. It was lower than the last time she'd checked. A rush of…something came over JJ's body and mind. She felt something positive by seeing this. She didn't know why but it gave her butterflies in her stomach and her heart started to pick up in rhythm. Truth be told, JJ had been feeling out of control for the past few days while they were away on the case. She felt safe knowing the scale was nearby to check when she felt compelled to, and feeling that urge in another state, in a random hotel with no access to one made her very, very unsettled. She didn't know what was going on with her weight while she was away, but seeing that it had ultimately gone in the direction she wanted, she was relieved. She felt accomplished. And she felt safe. She put her mind to it and she did it. She wasn't always able to do that with everything in life. Some things she just couldn't control. But this? Well she just proved to herself that she could. Control felt safe.

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The following weeks went by slowly. There weren't many cases coming through, so the team worked mainly on paperwork and combing through potential cases. JJ sat at her desk, pen in her mouth, leg bouncing, looking at a file she'd been reviewing for the past hour and a half. This paperwork shit drove JJ insane. She was so sick of sitting around and doing nothing. She felt like she couldn't keep still. She needed to get up and DO something.

She had a mountain of files to go through but her brain was going a million miles a minute and was not at all in any state to focus. She had found it nearly impossible to stay on task lately, unless they were actively working on a case. Her eyes would just glaze over the few first lines and suddenly she was somewhere else in her mind. Hotch had started to notice JJ's slowed pace and made a note to keep an eye on it. He figured it may be her just adjusting back to the job, but then again, JJ had been back at work for a little over 2 months now.

After what felt like 3 hours of staring at the same page, JJ got up from her desk and walked over to Emily's. The brunette was deep in thought, staring intently at a file before her, her glasses slipping just barely down the bridge of her nose while she worked on biting what was left of her pinky nail. JJ loved when Emily wore those glasses. As she walked closer to her wife, smirking at how beautiful and smart she looked when she worked, Emily finally noticed the figure appearing closer to her and put the file down. She smiled at JJ smiling. Emily loved when JJ smiled. Especially these days when smiles were scarce.

JJ reached the desk and Emily removed her glasses, folded them and placed them on her desk. JJ frowned.

Emily's demeanor immediately shifted to slight panic, her brows furrowing, worry in her eyes as she looked up at JJ. "What's wrong, honey?"

JJ's frown turned into more of a pout. "You took your glasses off." she replied.

Emily rolled her eyes and grabbed the glasses off the desk, placing them back on and looking back into her lover's eyes. "Better?"

"Much" JJ smiled, and leaned over the desk to kiss her on the lips.

"To what do I owe this pleasure?" Emily asked dreamily. JJ sat on Emily's desk, legs crossed but leaning towards her.

"I'm very very very bored. I want a case. I'm so sick of sitting around." JJ said, in more of a hushed tone.

"You're sitting right now." Emily shot back dryly with a smirk.

The blonde grabbed the closest object to her, being a pen, and threw it gently at Emily. "You know what I mean."

"Ouch!!!" Emily exclaimed completely over-dramatically, clutching her chest as if she'd been hit hard. They both giggled.

Just then Hotch walked by hastily, "Conference room in 5, we might have something" and he was gone as quickly as he came.

"Looks like you got just what you wanted, my princess." Emily said to JJ, quickly tidying her desk and getting up to walk towards the front towards JJ, who was still sitting, looking extremely pleased and relieved.

"Thank god!" JJ said. Emily lent her a hand and JJ hopped off the desk and the two started walking in the direction of the conference room. Before making it even a couple feet however, JJ's hearing suddenly went out and was replaced by a piercing ringing that was growing louder and louder. She felt lightheaded and unsteady, and her vision seemed to be blocked by several large black blobs she tried desperately to blink away. She swayed a bit in place, worried what taking another step may bring.

Emily turned around, noticing JJ's sudden absence next to her and looked at her clearly unwell wife. The color from her face had drained and she was suddenly very pale. Emily's heart started to race and she ran back to JJ, grabbing her forearms to steady her. Reid, who was a minute behind them caught up to them and stopped when he sensed something wrong by Emily's facial expressions. He jogged up to them to see if he could help.

"JJ?" Emily asked, calmly but clearly hiding the obvious fear that was building inside. JJ continued swaying a bit and blinking some more. The blobs were starting to dissipate, and the ringing was nearly gone.

"JJ! Can you hear me?" Emily asked, this time with a bit more urgency. JJ looked up, her vision no longer spotty.

"Yeah," she sighed with a laugh, awkwardly, still trying to get her bearings and feeling a bit embarrassed at what just happened. What did just happen? "Yeah, sorry. I'm fine! I just stood up too fast." She added. She took a look around, the precinct was empty but herself, Emily and Reid.

Reid looked at her, with sad eyes, "Are you sure, JJ? You kind of looked like you were going to pass out for a second there."

Emily's eyes darted at Reid when she heard that comment, then back at JJ. She was examining every inch of JJ, looking for any signs of physical distress. She did note the color was coming back to her face, thankfully.

JJ started to walk again towards the conference room, without warning. "Seriously, yes, guys I'm totally okay" she smiled, wanting to just forget this uncomfortable experience. Why were they making such a big deal out of it…

"Woah, woah, woah," Emily stopped her, putting her arms now on JJ's upper arms, lightly gripping her biceps to hold her back. "How 'bout you sit for a second?"

Before JJ could protest, Reid had gone to grab one of the swivel chairs behind a desk and brought it up behind her, Emily sitting her down in it.

"Reid, go ahead, we'll be right in." Reid gave a half smile and hesitated, but didn't want to overstep, so he did so.

Emily crouched down to be more level with JJ, balancing on the balls of her feet, and resting her forearms on JJ's legs. JJ looked down at the brunnette, now shorter than her. Her long blond hair fell around her face and tickled the sides of Emily's. Emily looked up, concern strewn all across her face.

"Jen, what just happened? Did you almost pass out?" she asked sincerely.

"No, Emily, I just stood up too fast and I got lightheaded, you know how that happens sometimes."

"Did you eat today?" she asked bluntly.

JJ broke eye contact. "No, not yet."

"JJ, it's 4pm. Why not?"

"I don't know? The day just got away from me! I was just about to have something. I got distracted."

"You can't keep doing this, JJ." Emily looked down at the floor. She felt defeated. She had been noticing a pattern lately. And it was starting to become more and more consistent. JJ was eating at home with her, but at work, on cases, JJ could go hours and hours without a single bite. It was getting really worrisome. But then she would eat with Emily. It was so confusing. It made her forget sometimes that things were so concerning once she'd be eating normally at home.

"Doing what?" JJ snapped. She stood up from the chair, Emily did as well, now taller than the blonde.

"You guys okay?" Hotch said from behind Emily. They both turned in his direction and gave forced smiles.

"Yep"

"Yeah we'll be right there!"

"Good" he said, and walked back in.

"Let's go" JJ said, and walked by Emily, making a bee-line for the conference room.

Emily stood there stunned for a few seconds before following after her.