Author's Note: I've made a fair few edits to this chapter from the original, so whilst it's mostly been beta-read by Briannaaa2012, all mistakes are going be my own.
The whole team were waiting by the entrance of the North Parking Lot when Aaron Hotchner arrived. He looked slightly devilish, David Rossi noted to himself, almost like he hadn't been sleeping well. "What's going on, Aaron?" he asked quietly, just as curious as the rest of the team as to why they weren't allowed in the building when it was quite clear other federal agents did not have the same restrictions. While waiting for Hotch to arrive, the team had been talking quietly amongst themselves trying to figure out why they were not allowed in the building. JJ had explained that she was the last to leave - which they all knew - at about 11:30pm and hadn't noticed anything unusual. Something must have been out of the ordinary though as the team had never been stopped entering the building before, so Morgan had the idea of doing a cognitive interview with JJ just to make sure her subconscious wasn't remembering anything her conscious memory couldn't. However, despite the gentle coaxing from both Morgan and Prentiss, the blonde media liaison still didn't notice the black substance by the kettle in the kitchen when she completed a quick check of the floor before she left. She genuinely must not have seen it.
"There's a bomb in the kitchen" Aaron Hotchner said sombrely, looking around his team with a tight-lipped smile, his eyes resting for a moment longer on JJ's. Seeing the fear flash through her eyes at realising she hadn't noticed such a device, Emily offered JJ a genuine smile: it wasn't her fault someone had tried blowing the building and any occupants apart. "If there's a bomb, why are other departments allowed into the building still?" Spencer Reid asked with confusion written over his face. "Surely a bomb on the sixth floor would cause the whole building to disintegrate and not just our department?"
"It's a gas bomb" Hotch explained "no departments on the sixth floor are allowed to enter, but the gases are not expected to escape to other floors as the whole floor has been sealed off. We're going to be situated on the third floor today, working alongside the bomb squad. The director contacted me first thing this morning: we are to profile the bomber and not touch any new cases until the unsub is brought it. Nobody is to go anywhere near the sixth floor unless accompanied by a member of the bomb squad." Everyone nodded their heads in understanding as Hotch quietly moved in front of everyone and made his way into the building. JJ was looking decisively distraught: was it her fault that this had happened? She was the last one to leave the BAU. But the security guard she had reported to before she left should have checked the area himself rather than relying on JJ's word: had he not done so? Or did he simply not notice the bomb much like JJ hadn't?
Walking into the building, Emily took hold of JJ's hand and gave it a gentle, reassuring squeeze before quickly releasing it and trying to get a grasp on her surroundings. She had never entered the building from the North Parking Lot, and despite her Prentiss upbringing telling her to never admit defeat, she wouldn't deny she had no idea where she was going if anyone on her team asked. Not that she had to admit to anybody she didn't know where she was going, she just silently fell into step beside JJ and walked, reaching the elevators she vaguely recognized and entering with the rest of her team. Within minutes, the whole team had reached the third floor and were dominating the bomb squad department.
Seeing as the BAU had never worked with the bomb squad in such close quarters before – they'd never even worked together on a case - Agent Hotchner deemed it necessary to give formal introductions to the team. After all, he had no idea how long the two teams would be working alongside each other and knowing who everyone is always ensures the best way to start an investigation. Usually, it was JJ that introduced the team to which ever police department they were working alongside. But this was different. They weren't working with some police department of some town no one had heard of they weren't trying to catch an unsub who killed standard civilians. No, now they were working with another department within the FBI they were trying to catch an unsub who wanted to deliberately kill FBI Agents. Besides, as the media liaison for the team, it was normally JJ who first spoke to the police chief, and therefore had a rapport with them to be able to make introductions.
It didn't take long for the introductions to be completed and for the two teams to crack on together, trying to figure out who had put the safety of the sixth floor of the building under jeopardy. Hotch had commandeered a large office for the team to work from, where they could bounce ideas and theories off each other, and - as anyone in the BAU could predict - JJ immediately took control of the media and put any questions they had to bed. How the media had heard of the potential threat after such a short time of the BAU finding out never failed to amaze JJ, especially has it had happened overnight and the media were never allowed inside the building; nevertheless, she was polite and answered all their questions with decorum and poise. Not that she actually answered their questions with what they wanted to hear, no media representative ever did regardless of where they worked. How could she? They wanted to know who held such a grudge against the bureau as to try and kill a whole floor. When that specific question was raised, JJ made a quick mental note to report to her boss that there was a leak somewhere within the office. The team themselves had only found out less than 30 minutes ago that the bomb could potentially wipe out the whole floor – so how did the media know already?! After dispelling the rabid reporters, JJ headed across the street to the local coffee shop and purchased seven cups of regular coffee as it was far better than the coffee the bureau provided: one cup for each member of the team. It was going to be a long day.
