"Be slow to fall into friendship; but when thou art in, continue firm & constant."

– Socrates

"What do you mean?" Dave asked, his interest peaked. Something in J.J.'s tone suggested that there was more to the story than he knew. He led her to the den and gestured toward the armchair, heavily suggesting that she sit.

"Rossi…" J.J. paused and took a deep breath, "aren't you tired?"

"I caught a second wind," he shrugged, "do you have somewhere to be?"

J.J. checked her watch and sat down."Will and Henry are in Baton Rouge," she shrugged, "So I guess not."

"I see," Dave inclined his head towards her and silence lingered on until he stood up and went to the closet. "I don't know about you, but I could use a nightcap."

"Sure," J.J. shrugged in response. "You want me to tell you what happened with Erin in the Middle East." She said flatly.

"Only the parts you feel like sharing," Dave said as he uncapped the decanter and placed two glasses on the table, poured a heavy measure in both glasses and reclaimed his seat and took a sip.

She grabbed the other glass took a sip and let the taste linger on her tongue as she tried to decide where to start.

Flashback

Afghanistan was a brutal place. The heat, the dust and lack of true familiar human interaction could make the strongest soldiers crumble. When it's the worst day of your life, the last place you want to be.

The silence around her was deafening it was a sharp contrast to the noise of gunfire and explosions. Her throat clenched and tears continued to flow, there was no reason to stop them. Nobody was going to see her, because nobody was coming for her. Noise from the city floated around her, people in the streets went on with their lives. Her shoulders shook with unbridled sobs, as the sound of laughing children reached her ears. Who would her child have been? She didn't even know the basics, would she have had another son? A daughter would have been fun, someone to dress up and put bows in her hair. Would her hair have been blonde? Would she have been tall like her daddy or petite like her mom? What about Will? He didn't know one way or another, was there a point in breaking his heart?

"I'm sorry, Ma'am, I can't let you in there," the armed guard's deep voice broke through her ruminations.

"She's my agent," the woman's tone left little space for an argument. There was a brief silence, no doubt creditatals were flashed because the deep voice softened and said, "Go ahead."

There was a soft knock at the door, J.J. cleared her throat and swiped a hand across her face. "Who is it?"

The door opened, Erin dropped her bag and rushed to J.J. who instinctively reached for her.

Erin wrapped her in a hug, each seeking familiarity in unknown territory and tragic circumstances.

"I wasn't expecting visitors," J.J. croaked in a hoarse whisper.

Erin shrugged, "I wasn't sure if you were up for it."

"I'm really glad you're here J.J. pulled back and wiped her face with the back of her hand and continued. "It's…" she paused to swallow the lump in her throat. "Not easy to be a woman out here."

"Or an American," Erin agreed, "that's why I came. We have to take care of each other."

J.J. nodded, "there's nothing I could do." she choked, "I got in a truck pregnant and woke up without a baby."

"It wasn't your fault."

J.J. shook her head, "I went over your head, I shouldn't have been in that truck!" She sobbed.

"No," Erin said softly as held her hand. "This is bigger than the assignment, this wasn't your fault."

"Erin took care of me," J.J. finished her story. "She changed my sheets after I spiked a fever and she held my hand while I cried."

"J.J." Dave's eyes widened in shock, "I had no idea," he whispered. "Why didn't you say something?"

"Nobody knew," she replied with a shrug and took another sip of scotch. "I didn't know how to bring it up."

"That's a heavy burden to carry all alone, you could have come to me."

"I wasn't alone," she reminded him. "And Erin won't be alone either." She said, standing up to leave.

"Thank you." Dave stood and hugged her close, he loved her like a daughter and his heart broke for the pain she had to go through that he couldn't protect her from. Losing a child is hard enough, but to be alone in a foregin country when it happened made it a thousand times worse."Thank you," he repeated. "For sharing your story and for taking care of my family tonight."

"When does she come home?" J.J. asked, pulling back. She wiped her tears and caught him doing the same.

"Tomorrow afternoon," he grinned.

"And she'll be on complete bed rest?"

"For about two weeks, until the next doctor's appointment."

"Is there something wrong?" J.J. asked, suddenly worried. "Is Erin sick?"

Dave's shoulders dropped, sick didn't fit but he couldn't come up with another word to describe it. "What can I say, my boy is already making trouble and his sister isn't helping." Dave couldn't imagine how it would be once the twins were earth-side, "They're not even born yet and their scaring the hell out of us."

J.J. grinned at the expression on Dave's face, pride mixed with complete adoration. "A boy! Is he a junior?"

"We haven't had a chance to talk about that yet."

"What's going on?" J.J. sat back down, he had her full attention.

"His placenta is in the wrong place, but we're hoping it shifts in the next two weeks. Otherwise we're looking at total bedrest and a scheduled c-section." His hands trembled thinking about the possibilities for their babies. This wasn't his department, he couldn't do anything to help them. The situation left a knot in his stomach and fear in his chest.

"Is Erin okay?"

Dave nodded, "Physically."

"And mentally?" J.J. pushed.

Dave shrugged, "I know she's not ready to step down and she used up her sick days after the car crash. She won't say anything but I don't think she loves the idea of being completely dependent on me and I have to go to work." The thought of Erin being stuck in bed in the house alone scared the hell out of him. What if she needed something and got out of bed for too long? Would he find her bleeding out again? Without Hotch to save them.

"Rossi.." J.J. broke through his thoughts and indicated the house, the majority of the living space was on the second level. "Where exactly is she going to rest? She can't climb the stairs!"

"Hey, need I remind you that I couldn't climb stairs for a month after the heart attack. The den was fine."

"Yeah, for you Rossi. All you needed was a TV, an easy chair and a remote to be comfortable."

"And what's wrong with that?"

"Trust me when I say she's already uncomfortable hauling around your children. Don't make it worse by making her sleep on the couch."

J.J. was right, Erin couldn't climb the stairs to their bedroom and it wouldn't be fair to let her camp out in the den for the next two weeks. Not when he had the resources to give them another option. "I could turn my office into a bedroom, It's perfect! it's on the first floor and there's a bathroom attached." It was perfect, rearranging the house was something he could control. He felt the muscles in his neck begin to loosen immediately, suddenly, he was useful again.

"You're going to redecorate overnight?" J.J. asked, raising an eyebrow.

He shrugged like it was the simplest thing in the world, "I'll make some calls."

"Good, you work some magic and I'll pick up Erin. We will take the long way home.".

"Andy," Erin hissed through clenched teeth, a tone reserved for her children when they refused to hear her. "I said no. I'm not coming to the office, I'm not meeting you and you're not coming to my house."

"Erin," he continued ignoring her tone, "hear me out. I want you to take my place-"

"I can't leave my bed-" she pushed back. "I'm barely allowed to leave the hospital."

"Bed-rest was a strong suggestion-" Andy argued. "Just one meeting, an hour of your time. This is for your career, wasn't taking my place your end game all along?"

"My priorities have changed."

"I get it, Erin. You're growing your family and I think that's great, but I need you too. I need you to show up. Skype with me and let's discuss this."

"I can't today, Andy. I'm sorry."

"Video conference, tomorrow, two o'clock. That's my final offer. If you don't show I'll start considering other candidates, for your position and mine."

"Andy-please work with me-" she pleaded but the line was silent.

The call disconnected and the silence felt like it was closing in on her, the sound of her breathing seemed too loud for the room.

She tossed her phone towards the foot of the bed in aggravation, it bounced slightly on the mattress and stayed near her feet. Now what? Her job was on the line, her livelihood. What would she do without it? Dave could support them, but he couldn't work forever. Then what? Would she take an office job? She was more than qualified in fact, over qualified to cover a desk job. A 15 year career for the FBI would either open a lot of doors or glue them shut. She hoped not to have to find out.

A soft knock at the door broke her from her thoughts. No doubt another nurse coming to check her vitals or tell her to eat something. She surveyed the room, crackers and dips and sat on the rolling table next to the tray of hospital food. "Come in."

"Hey," J.J. said softly, "I'm here to bust you out," she joked, making herself comfortable in the chair next to the bed.

"Hah! I've been trying to get discharge papers for an hour now."

"How are you feeling?"

Erin shrugged, "the doctor says we're in the clear for now, I'm relieved and exhausted." Resting in the hospital was bordering impossible unless you were in a coma.

"That doesn't answer my question," J.J. pressed, "If I wanted to interrogate you, I would have brought Penelope." She joked, knowing that her friend could make someone talk without much more than a caring smile and word.

"Like I'm too old for this," Erin said, shaking her head. "Until now, I've been really good at ignoring the 'Advanced Maternal Age' stickers on all of my paperwork, Dave and I were laying in bed, he got up to get something from the kitchen and suddenly everyone is dying!"

J.J. shook her head, "You already know this isn't your fault," she said, on instinct she took Erin's hand. "It's okay to need help sometimes."

"Dave's going to hover all over me, like I'm sick."

"And you need him to," J.J. reminded her. "You're not sick, but you will need help."

Erin shook her head, "between the car accident and Dave's heart attack what we really need are vacation days."

J.J. squeezed her hand, "let me see what I can do." There was probably at least a month of unused vacation days among the team. She could talk them into donating.

"I wasn't being serious," Erin said, shaking her head. It wouldn't be fair to expect Dave's team to give up their unused time, when they had so little time with their families to begin with.

"I know, but it won't hurt to ask." J.J. pulled out her phone. "I'm going to shake down a nurse, I'm sure you're ready to be home."

"Thank you for coming," Erin said as J.J. held open the passenger side door to her Honda Pilot.

"Of course," J.J. said with a smile, "what are friends for?"