CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE

15x09 Face Off

The morning went about as normal as any other, but her night had been sleepless.

She must've woken up ten times throughout the night. Each time she checked for Emily and each time she found the bed cold and empty. Finally around 4:00 she knew that Emily wasn't coming home. Everyone had been working around the clock in shifts on the Everett Lynch case. Everyone, that is, except for Emily. Her shift never ended. JJ was beginning to worry about her.

JJ tossed the covers off and swung her feet out of bed. Sleep was a lost cause. She got out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom. She looked in the mirror and grimaced a little. She looked completely worn down.

She walked down the stairs and immediately started the coffee pot. Glancing around, JJ noticed just how hectic their lives had been recently. Papers were tossed carelessly on the counter. Dishes were piling up in the sink. Toys covered the floor of the living room. She slowly began loading the dishwasher and straightening up the counter. Her phone chimed and she pulled it out of her back pocket.

New information. Need everyone to come in ASAP.

JJ immediately called Derek. She could hear the sleep in his voice and felt guilty for waking him. But he was out the door and on his way over before they hung up. Without the support from Derek and her mother, she didn't know how they would ever make this work. She wondered if it made her selfish to want another baby. It wasn't just she and Emily that were affected by that decision.

She looked up when she heard the rumble of little feet coming down the stairs. Henry came around the corner, still in his pajamas, rubbing his eyes. JJ chuckled a little - he had extreme bed head. His hair was totally out of control. His feet pattered quickly over to JJ who picked him up.

"Why are you up so early, buddy?"

"I think I had a bad dream," Henry murmured. He leaned his head against JJ's shoulder.

"Oh no, a bad dream?" She soothed him absentmindedly, rubbing a hand up and down his back. She began walking back towards the stairs. She had about ten minutes to get two 5-year-olds ready for the day. "Henry, can you do mommy a big favor?" He leaned back. "Can you go upstairs and get dressed all by yourself so I can wake up your brother?"

Henry nodded, excited to have a task to complete. He squirmed to get out of JJ's arms and ran back up the stairs. She briefly wondered what a bad dream would be for someone as innocent as Henry. She knew what her bad dreams consisted of. Most of the time they were just resurfacing memories. Sometimes they were worse.

From Henry and Michael's room she heard the front door open and Derek announce himself. Henry ran past her to greet him. He was only halfway dressed - still wearing his pajama bottoms.

"Henry!" But it was a lost cause. He was already downstairs. JJ sighed and turned back to Michael's bed. "Hi sweet boy," JJ breathed as she ran her hand through Michael's dark hair. His sleepy eyes opened halfway. JJ smiled at his little face. She rubbed his back. "It's time to get up buddy."

"Hi mommy," he said in a small voice. She pulled back the covers and he sat up, reaching for JJ. He was wearing his favorite blue and gray striped pajamas. JJ wrapped her arms around him and stood. He rested his sleepy head on her shoulder.

"Come on, you sleepy boy. Your brother is already downstairs with Uncle Derek." JJ put him down. "Go brush your teeth."

She turned and picked out an outfit for him. She could hear Derek and Henry laughing downstairs. By the time she got downstairs with Michael she knew she would be the last to arrive at the BAU. JJ picked up Michael and put him in a chair at the kitchen table.

"Derek, as usual - I don't know how to thank you," she said with an exasperated sigh.

She walked over to the safe she and Emily kept by the coat closet, punched in the code, and pulled out her gun. It was almost in her holster when their front door was busted open. JJ's instincts took over. She raised her gun, pointing it at the threat. She stared down the barrel with intense concentration. From the looks of it - it was a SWAT team. In her foyer…

"I'm on the job," she said quickly.

"Drop your weapon!"

"I'm Agent Jennifer Jareau, with the FBI." In her peripheral she saw that Derek had moved to stand in front of her boys. He looked ready to fight. He may have been out of the FBI, but the FBI wasn't out of him.

"We know who you are. Lower your gun."

She didn't budge. "Who sent you?"

"JJ," Derek whispered, extending his arm slowly towards her. JJ finally turned to look at him. Michael and Henry had a look in their eyes that made her sick. She knew that look. Trauma. They'd never seen her point a gun at anyone. They looked terrified. She began to lower her weapon.

"This is a mistake."

"Mommy?" Henry wailed.

"It's okay, Henry."

"On your knees!" The team leader yelled. "Hands behind your back."

JJ slowly put her gun down on the closest table and raised her hands.

"Is this really necessary?" Derek cut in.

"Now!"

JJ complied, dropping slowly to her knees. She stared angrily at the man in front of her. They had no right to bust into her house and point an assault rifle at her in front of her children.

"MJ!"

"It's okay guys," she said calmly as the man tightened zip ties around her wrists. "It's a big mistake. And everything's gonna be alright." She glanced up at Derek. The SWAT agent pulled her to her feet unceremoniously and began leading her out the front door. "Call Emily."

As Emily rounded the corner she was seeing red. She was told what had happened, but she wasn't given many details. The clicking of her heels on the ceramic floor reminded her of her childhood. It took her back to holding her mother's hand as she walked her down the hall of the daycare. And the uncertain feeling that went along with it. She was never quite sure she'd be back.

Penelope came into sight and she watched Henry squirm to get out of her arms. But Emily was so angry. She turned to Derek. He was approaching her - trying to get to her and calm her down before she did anything she'd regret.

"What the hell happened?" Emily demanded, in a dark, low voice.

"Anonymous call to Homeland Security." Emily opened her mouth to argue but Derek continued quickly. "It couldn't be immediately discredited. They had no choice. They had to arrest her."

"Not in front of our children!" Emily yelled back. Several heads turned in her direction.

Derek glanced back at Henry and Michael. They were holding Penelope's hands. Derek lowered his voice, hoping to calm her down. "They were following orders, Prentiss."

She shook her head, fuming with anger, but doing her best not to scare her children even more than they already were. "I want whoever is responsible for this found. Now."

She glanced past Derek's shoulder to the scared faces of her children. Henry looked like he was on the verge of tears. Michael looked like he did something wrong. Emily's anger dissipated instantly. She walked over to her sons and kneeled in front of them. Penelope let their hands go and Emily enveloped them in a hug.

"I love you both," she breathed, closing her eyes and tightening her arms around them. She kissed both of them. "It's okay. It's okay."

Derek watched Emily embrace her sons. She glanced up and locked eyes with him. There was a fierce intensity burning behind her eyes. He briefly feared for the person who did this. Because when they found them they would have to face the wrath of Jennifer Jareau and Emily Prentiss.

"This is ridiculous," JJ huffed, rolling her eyes indignantly. They were treating her like a criminal. Now she knew how different it felt to sit on the other side of an interrogation table. To be the one cuffed to the chair. "I need to let my children know that I'm okay."

She was doing her best to stay calm, but the only thing she could think about was Michael and Henry. She needed to know if they were okay. She kept asking, but no one would answer her questions. After what they'd seen that morning - they had to be terrified.

"You haven't even asked why you're here."

"It doesn't matter. Either it's a mistake or I'm being framed," JJ hissed back.

The man slowly unveiled the evidence they had against her. Explosives, a storage unit, a 911 call warning Homeland Security about her. JJ studied the papers on the table before her. This wasn't a mistake.

"You kicked in my door 2 hours ago…"

This wasn't circumstantial - not this much evidence. This is what days or even weeks of investigating looked like.

"Dave - I can't - JJ -"

"You deal with that. The rest of us got this!" Emily looked unsure. It felt wrong to leave her team during one of the most important cases they'd ever taken on. Dave saw her hesitation. "We can handle Everett Lynch, Emily. Go get our girl back."

Emily turned immediately and jogged down the hallway to the elevator. They brought her into the interrogation room as they were taking the cuffs off JJ's wrists. One look at her and Emily knew not to cross her. She was beyond angry - somewhere between infuriated and seething. Emily said nothing as JJ breezed past her, out the door. Emily glanced at the two men that had been interrogating her. Nobody said anything. Emily turned to catch up with JJ.

The elevator ride down to the parking lot felt awkward with unresolved tension. Emily watched JJ, but didn't dare speak. It was JJ who finally broke the silence.

"Tell me that you have a lead."

"Not on your case," Emily said gently. JJ looked over at her confused. Emily could see a certain degree of embarrassment in her wife's eyes. There was nothing to be embarrassed about - and she would say something if she thought that telling her that would make a difference. "The team had a lead on Everett Lynch. I'm waiting for an update from Dave."

"You should've gone with them," JJ said immediately. She had arms crossed, staring forward at the closed elevator doors. Her voice sounded emotionless. Dejected. But it didn't phase Emily.

"Not a chance," Emily responded evenly. She too crossed her arms and leaned her back against the side of the elevator.

JJ heard a soft knock on the closet door. She quickly composed herself. She was sitting on the floor and made no attempt to stand up. The door hinges squeaked a little. She leaned her face into her hands.

"I'm not in the mood to talk," JJ muttered in an irritated voice. After the door closed there was an extended moment of silence. JJ looked up and was surprised to see Spencer. She would've expected Emily or Derek. Spencer walked over and sat down next to her.

"I would've thought you'd want to be with Michael and Henry right now," he started.

"Yeah… I think they're enjoying some time with their Aunt Penelope right now. And they don't need to see… this." She gestured to herself. Her eyes were red and tired. She gave a short humorless laugh.

There was a long moment of silence. Spencer didn't know what to say.

"I can't decide if I'm sad or just really pissed off," JJ whispered sharply. "You know they were so young when Scratch abducted Emily… They know the basic story but… they don't remember. But they remember me in the hospital. And they'll remember this." JJ shook her head slightly. "This job has already taken so much from them. I don't want it to take anymore."

"Maybe it's given them something too," Spencer offered softly. JJ turned to look at him for the first time since he'd sat next to her. "You're their hero. You and Emily. And not a pretend hero - a real hero."

"Yeah, well, they'll grow up someday. They won't feel that way forever…"

"You can worry about that later," Spencer countered. "Just be their mom. Enjoy that."

Spencer smiled and JJ returned it halfheartedly before leaning her head against his arm. She wondered if Emily had asked him to come talk to her. Had Emily known she needed him before she even knew herself? Maybe she had. JJ closed her eyes and relaxed into the peace that Spencer brought her.

"Where's JJ?" Dave asked, announcing his presence. Emily looked up at him.

"She, uh - she went home with the boys… and I have paperwork…" She said with a sigh. Dave took a quick inventory of his boss' desk. She wasn't kidding - she was drowning in paperwork.

"Go home, Prentiss. Be with your family. You can worry about it tomorrow."

"You wanna bet?" She responded quickly, putting down her pen and giving Dave her full attention. "Somebody directly threatened my family. That was more than a bored teenager with a burner phone…"

"I agree. Considering the nature of the threat…"

Emily went quiet. She didn't want to give anything away, just in case he didn't know. "What do you mean?" She asked carefully.

He took a deep breath in. "Apparently someone has a problem with you becoming the next Director of the FBI. This wasn't done to scare you. This was done to embarrass you. To taint your reputation."

Emily stared at her hands guiltily. He did know. That's not how she wanted him to find out. But Dave wasn't usually one to hold grudges over things like that.

"Because I'm a woman…" Emily began. Then she looked back up, "Or because I'm married to one?"

He sighed, now under the fierce gaze of Emily Prentiss. "Probably a little of both…"

"What I do in my home, with my wife, is nobody's business but ours. And it certainly doesn't interfere with my ability to do my job." Emily said through her teeth. There was a very thin layer of control holding back her rage. She may have sounded calm, but she felt the anger rising again.

"That's naive Emily, and you know it," he responded sternly. He was right. And that was the worst part.

After a long moment, Emily leaned back in her chair. "We're raising our boys to do what's right, regardless of what's easy. How am I supposed to go home and look them in the eye when you're telling me to give up?"

"You can fight this, Emily. But if you truly want to protect your family, maybe you shouldn't."

Emily narrowed her eyes dangerously, but then relaxed a moment later. She had been angry all day. She didn't want to be angry anymore.

"Go home," Dave said again. He slowly walked out of her office, glancing back once to nod a goodbye.

Emily closed the front door behind her. A new front door. Luke and Matt had come over to help replace the one that had been kicked in that morning. She put her purse down and pulled her scarf off. There was a light on in the distance but the house was silent. She almost called out for JJ but decided against it. If their children were able to fall asleep, she didn't want to risk waking them.

She found JJ easily. She was sitting on the couch, glass of wine in hand, staring ahead in a daze. Emily bent over the back of the couch and kissed her tenderly on the top of her head. JJ looked up with an impassive expression. But there was a cool fury shining behind her eyes. She broke eye contact and took a sip of her wine. Emily stared at her for a moment.

"Are the boys sleeping?"

"Yeah… finally. It took me 45 minutes to get them to calm down enough to let me leave the room." She turned her head back to Emily. "Why are you so late?" She asked, curtly.

Emily gave her a look of slight surprise, but JJ wasn't looking. Emily hadn't expected her wife would be angry with her…

"Are you upset with me?"

"Well, it would've been nice to have you here. Michael and Henry don't understand what's going on, and you not being here is confusing for them." She was irritated. Emily walked tentatively towards her. She knew JJ wasn't really mad at her. But she didn't want to be yelled at either.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there this morning," Emily said. JJ nodded her head, eyes dropping to her wine glass. She didn't look angry - just sad.

"Yeah, so am I," JJ muttered. Then she softened a little. "It's not your fault, you know." Emily came around the couch and sat down on the coffee table in front of JJ.

"I'm gonna ask that my name be removed from consideration for the Director position."

JJ's eyes went wide and her head snapped up. "Emily, that's exactly what they want!"

Emily nodded her head, agreeing with her. "But it's also the right decision, Jay." JJ shook her head but Emily watched the fight drain out of her. She eventually conceded. Emily leaned forward and put a hand on JJ's knee. "Can I get you anything?"

JJ smiled halfheartedly. It was the first time since Emily had gotten home that the usual shine returned to JJ's eyes. "You can go grab another glass, because your wife is drinking alone and it's real sad."

Emily chuckled a little, leaned in to kiss JJ's forehead.