CHAPTER 3

JJ sat at her desk as she was taking a break. She had returned earlier that day on the jet with Hotch and Emily while Dave and Derek had remained behind in Las Vegas to determine what Spencer was planning. None of them had believed his explanation that he was solely staying to spend time with his mom.

As she looked around her office, JJ groaned as she observed the mountain of paperwork sitting in piles around her office. The cynical part of her wondered how much of the same paperwork would still be in her office when she returned from maternity leave in a few months. Or if she would have even more piles of files when she returned.

After working to prepare Jordan to cover her position, she wasn't quite sure how well the other woman was going to handle the work or mesh with the team. But at this point all she could do was orient Jordan as well as she could and leave the rest to Hotch and the team. There wasn't time to come up with a Plan B now.

She sighed as she waited for Jordan to return before processing through anymore of the files that arrived while they were in Las Vegas. Turning back to her desk, she let her mind wander.

A smile came across her face as she thought about the plane ride home from Las Vegas. It wasn't a secret to any of them that Hotch and Emily had formed a close friendship over the last year. But today, being alone with them on the jet, she noticed just how close they had become. Even more interesting, she wasn't sure if they had even noticed.

JJ knew she wasn't a profiler like most of the team but she did consider both Hotch and Emily to be two of her closest friends. And what she observed on the jet today had given her hope that two of her favorite people were finding happiness with each other.

When Hotch had walked back onto the jet after talking with Morgan and Rossi about their staying behind to see if they could find out what had the team's youngest profiler so tied up in knots, JJ had noticed how his eyes had wandered around the cabin of the plane until they rested on Emily. The woman in question had collapsed on the couch as soon as they had boarded the plane. Now 15 minutes later, she was sound asleep facing away from them.

As he looked at her, JJ remembered saying, "she was asleep within three minutes of us getting on the plane."

JJ watched as Hotch quietly nodded before he took a blanket out of the storage compartment and gently draped it over their sleeping colleague. He then cupped her cheek while looking at her. Just as quickly he suddenly seemed to recall where they were and pulled back. JJ averted her eyes when he looked up not wanting to give away that she had witnessed the tender and affectionate gesture not generally associated with their boss.

Hotch took a seat close by and pulled out his paperwork before they even took off though glances his way showed that he was keeping a close watch over her.

At least until she woke up three hours into the flight. After grabbing her bag, she had gone into the jet restroom before stopping in the galley for coffee and snack before coming over and sitting across from JJ.

It was then that Hotch had explained to her about Dave and Derek staying behind with Spencer. As they spoke JJ noticed Emily grew quiet and suddenly looked sad. It was then that Hotch reassured her that everything would work out. That whole interaction had been strange and JJ still wasn't sure what to make of it.

It was then there was a knock on her door and Jordan stuck her head in. JJ smiled at her and gestured for her to take a seat so they could continue reminded by back pain she was having that she was on a deadline to get Jordan up to speed.

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After returning to the hotel once they talked to Hotch at the airport, Dave and Derek decided to wait in Spencer's room for him to return. The sooner they discovered what was bothering him, the better as far as they were concerned.

While they were waiting, Derek filled him in on what he had witnessed and the comments Reid had made over the last few days. After discussing it, both were confident that they had made the right decision in staying. Now all they needed to do was convince Reid of that and hope that he would open up to them.

Unable to do anything until Reid returned, they got comfortable with snack and drinks before turning on the TV. As they were trying to find something to watch, Dave commented on running into Morgan's guest for the night earlier that morning when he had been on his way down breakfast.

Morgan sighed before saying, "I had been trying to avoid any of you running into her."

Dave laughed as he remembered the look of shock on Morgan's face that morning when he had seen Dave standing there.

Then he answered, "even Prentiss did a better job of hiding her guest from us."

Derek put the remote down before saying, "what now? How do you know she had a guest?"

Dave shook his head before explaining hearing her return to her room after midnight. Then he mentioned about the food serve cart and the male voice he heard at the door as well as the brief glance he got confirming that there had definitely been a second person in the room.

Derek laughed before saying, "well that is interesting. Did you see the guy?"

Dave shook his head, "no that's why I said she did a better job hiding him that you had your guest. I even walked out of my room the same time as her and she was alone. So he had either already left..."

"… or he was still in the room." Derek finished the thought.

Dave nodded before saying, "Exactly."

Derek sighed before saying, "you know she'll never tell us."

"Probably not. I was going to sit with her on the plane but that didn't happen."

Their conversation was halted by movement at the door indicating that Reid was back. When he walked into the room, their focus shifted to him.