Chapter 3--The Case

"Angela Mar"—JJ began

"Let me say something first"—Hotch interrupted—"JJ and I have something to tell you,"

"You mean besides briefing us about the case?" Morgan asked jokingly

"JJ will be moving after this case, and she'll need our help." Hotch said cryptically.

Prentiss smiled knowingly as the others looked at Hotch confused. "Sure, we'll help, JJ where are you moving?" Rossi questioned as JJ struggled to answer.

"JJ will be moving in with me. We were married yesterday. I don't anticipate this will have any problems on the team. Thank you for your help" Hotch said officially, although a rare smile graced his lips.

"Did you know that the District of Columbia has the lowest divorce rate in the country at about 1.7 of marriages ending in divorce last year?" Reid asked in typical fashion.

"I think that all of my failed marriages account for the entire divorce rate in DC" Rossi said with a smile.

"Why am I the last to know everything?" Morgan whined, "I didn't even know you were dating."

"Yeah, I can't believe that you didn't even invite us." Prentiss teased.

"You know Hotch, I've invited you to every single one of my weddings, and I don't even get so much as a heads up?" Rossi asked with a gleam in his eye.

JJ sighed, knowing that she might as well reveal everything to the group of profilers that would all figure out her secret in time. Her training had engrained in her the idea that if information was going to leak, it was better to let it out than to let the press, or in this case her friends, make a bigger deal out of some small piece of information. If it had to come out, she might as well just say it.

"Umm, we're pregnant...so, that's kinda why it was so hurried." Looks of shock turned to smiles as the team errupted in chatter.

Everyone smiled and congratulated JJ & Hotch until Section Chief Strauss entered. "You all know Assistant Director Erin Strauss, she will be joining us for the duration of this case." Hotch smiled weakly at JJ. They had prepared for this—the FBI was not going to let them keep their jobs without evaluating their performance as a couple. This was going to be excruciating.

"Angela Martindale was found wandering a dirt road in rural Arizona. She had been beaten, branded and raped. She's the fifth to be abducted from Phoenix, and all of the victims were discovered in the small Arizona town. All of the victims have been in their mid to late 20s, blonde hair, blue eyes, all worked in male dominated fields—a doctor, a cop, an architect, and a CEO of a fortune 500 company and were in Arizona on business." JJ explained calmly to the team seated at the round table. "Carla Jones was 8 weeks pregnant."

"How long did he keep them?" Morgan questioned, intently staring at the crime scene photos that flashed in front of the team.

"All victims were missing for eight to ten days, with this symbol" JJ explained clicking the remote to show a picture with the magnified version of the seared skin in the shape of a sideways 8 "branded on their right hip and nap of the neck."

"So, he's picking on educated white women, who should be able to defend themselves." Emily stated. "He obviously has a problem with women in positions of power, and he's not likely to stop any time soon."

"Yeah, and he doesn't have a high regard for life, He wants to demean these women and make them his." Reid added

"We need to catch this UNSUB before he graduates to murder" Morgan finished with everyone nodding in agreement.

"Wheels up in 20?" JJ suggested, with a look of determination.

The team looked at each other nervously. Everyone wanted to ask JJ the question that was burning in all of their minds, but no one was willing to take on JJ if she got upset. JJ was one person who the team knew better than to cross.

"Umm, JJ, are you going to be in the field in this case?" Rossi bravely asked "I mean, you do have a striking resemblance to the victims and you are….well…you know. Maybe you should just stay back here and conference with the team." He suggested.

"It's JJ's choice whether she joins us on this case," Hotch interjected, and turning to the blonde at his side, finished "although I must admit, I think you'd be safer with Garcia here in Quantico." Hotch's eyes showed concern for his one of his youngest team members….his WIFE, he reminded himself trying hard not to smile at that fact.

"I'll see you all on the plane," she said "if YOU decide to come." And with that she left the room, heading straight to her office.

It had been a longer plane ride than JJ had anticipated. Combine the long plane ride with the beginnings of morning sickness and turbulence, and the plane ride felt like an eternity. She avoided moaning loudly as the team continued to discuss the particulars of the case. She needed to pay enough attention to be ready for any press conferences, but she was content to sit back and let the team do their job. It was only the voice of her long-time crush and now husband that pulled her out of the trance-like state she felt had overcome her.

"JJ, Morgan, why don't you take Strauss and go straight to the police department and work with the detectives and victimology?" Hotch suggested.

He continued to pass out assignments in preparation for their imminent landing while keeping one eye on JJ. There was no way he was going to put her in danger in this case. He wanted to be extra careful, making sure she was protected, but any hint of impropriety or protection might get one or both of them transferred. He had to let her do her job, he had already decided this, but it didn't mean he had to feed her to the wolves. He would be there for protection, after all that is what any husband would do.

After the briefing, the team went as though they would disperse to go to sleep. JJ moved to the far couch, and pretended to sleep for a few minutes before feelings of nausea overcame her and she bolted for the restroom. After Strauss had complained loudly about the flight, and went to go give the pilots a piece of her mind, the rest of the team seemed to sense an informal briefing.

The profilers wordlessly gathered around Hotch, who began quietly—"We obviously have a potential victim as a member of our team. I do not want her left alone-EVER. We have to keep our eyes peeled and stay extra vigilant." The team nodded in agreement, and just as quickly as they had congregated, they dispersed as Strauss left the cockpit.

"We land in 5 minutes" she announced to no one in particular.

He knew the moment he saw her that she loved him. There she was, exiting the plane first, she was probably their leader, and she lookd right at him. They connected. She was excuisite, and they were perfect together. His hand clenched the can of beer that sat in his hand as he saw the dark haired man come up and grab his beautiful blonde's hand in his. The can crumpled in his hand as he saw the blonde smile up at the dark haired man. TRAITOR James thought to himself. Soon, she would be his, and she wouldn't leave him like the others. She would be his, forever.

They had finallylet her do a press conference. Reid, Emily, Rossi, and Morgan had all taken painstakingly long to agree to let her do the press conference even as Hotch continued to protest. She knew they were worried, but she couldn't just stand by and let women be violated while her team protected her. Finally Strauss had ok'd the press conference and for the first time this case, JJ was glad Erin Strauss was there, even if she would never admit it aloud. The woman had been a pain the entire trip, questioning every decision the team made. She wasn't as bad as she had been the first time, but every member of the team was at the end of their rope. At least I didn't have to room with her! JJ thought with a smile. JJ had been rooming with Hotch, which had left both feeling awkward and uncomfortable. She was glad they didn't have to share a bed. He was driving her crazy with his over protectiveness. She couldn't even go to the bathroom by herself without him checking on her or sending Prentiss in after her, but she knew it was just because her "family" wanted to protect her.

It was odd the way things were now. Years of working with him, and she had definitely imagined senarios where they were married or sharing rooms together on a case, but it was different. It was just...awkward. Although they were married, it felt as though they barely knew eachother. And now, they were expected to share a room and...it was really just hard to understand. Had she not fit the victimology, and Strauss not been on the case with them, Hotch may have thought to drop the ruse. But, as it were, she was here with her overprotective 'husband' fighting to do the job that she was made to do.

They were baiting him, weeding him out, and she was the bait. Going 'on air' was something she was used to, but she was a little nervous. She hadn't ever thought she was in harms way before. Although she loved the thrill of baiting the UNSUB, she just wasn't sure this was the best idea. Not that she could go back on it now, after fighting tooth and nail to have them let her do her job, she wouldn't admit to anybody her fears.

Silently she stood at the podium and answered the questions that she manipulated the reporters into asking. Hotch, once again, was amazed at her ability. She would coyly drop a piece of information and wait for the reporters to pounce on it. Then she'd act as though they had forced her to give up more information than she wanted, all the while preparing the next set of questions and information drops.

The press conference was all too uneventful. Reporters thinking that they were among the elite, picking up scraps from the table. They hounded her with questions, but she easily dissuaded, encouraged, and redirected whenever was necessary. They were looking for a man in his mid to late 30's, possibly dilusional, egotistical, with borderline personality disorder, probably living with his mother or sister, and having had a girlfriend or significant other that resembled the victims. If Hotch was honest with himself, he'd admit that the press conference was the best way of catching this UNSUB. Not because of the help from the media, but because this USNUB would definitely try to contact JJ.

After 3 hours of waiting at the tip hotline with no viable leads, JJ was exhausted. She just wanted to go back to the hotel, and take a nice long bath. Days of morning sickness and sleeping in a hotel room were wearing on her, and it was visible to her team, although she masked it well. Emily, sensing her exhaustion said, "JJ, why don't we go back to the hotel, and you can rest. I'm not much good here."

"Yeah, JJ take Prentiss back to the hotel and both of you should get some sleep. You did well today." Rossi said, looking over at Hotch, who nodded in agreement.

Seeing that she was overridden, JJ didn't bother to argue. Collecting their things, Emily grabbed the keys to one of the FBI SUV's and the women made their arduous journey out of the local police office. Neither noticed the black figure that emerged from the alley on their right.

"You LIED!" The hooded figure cried, pointing a gun at JJ.

Prentiss and JJ quickly turned around, drawing their weapons. The man was stout, and short, with sandy hair and green eyes. He wore jeans and a dark hooded jacket that allowed his scruffy sandy hair to poke through.

"You LIED!" He repeated flailing the firearm in the air and repointing it at the blonde agent.

"I just told the public the truth." JJ searched frantically for the words that would calm the UNSUB.

Emily Prentiss was rarely scared. But with an UNSUB flailing a gun towards her pregnant friend, the one person who immediately accepted her, she felt her knees shake as she was compelled to act. "Hey, we just want to talk. What's your name?" She said trying in vain to sound calm.

"Daniel" The man answered, obviously frantic, "she shouldn't have lied to them." He said defiantly.

"No, you're right. She shouldn't have lied to them" Prentiss answered, her gun still trained on the man's chest. Immediately after the words escaped her lips, she knew she shouldn't have agreed with him.

Daniel immediately became more agitated and began to pace, ranting and keeping his gun trained on JJ. Babbling to himself and looking from JJ to Prentiss back to JJ, Daniel missed JJ's hands discreetly move to her cell and send a text to her team.

"No. I did not do anything wrong. Those women liked it. She LIED. She should know her place." He continued in his rant.

Within moments the rest of the team, Strauss, and the police force silently surrounded Daniel from behind. JJ, knowing they needed a confession, and knowing that he was most likely to divulge information to her, decided to try and antagonize Daniel.

"So if I was so wrong, why don't you tell me why you attacked all of those women." She asked intensely.

"You said I was a predator." Daniel said increduously.

"Well, what are you then?" JJ asked

"Those women belonged to me, I just made them remember. I gave them something to always remember." Daniel seemed to finally decide on what to do with the two women, never noticing the crowd behind him with their guns trained on him. He lunged toward the women, who quickly reacted by getting out of the others' line of fire.

Morgan, who was standing left of the group just out of Daniel's line of sight, pounced on the man dragging him to the ground and gruffly cuffed him.

"Tell them she LIED," Daniel wailed as the officers began to drag him into the station.

The team, plus Strauss, immediately ran to the two female agents.

"Emily, JJ, are you two alright?" Ried asked sensitively.

"Yeah, we're fine." Emily answered. JJ, however, was immediately overcome with a bout of nausea and wasn't able to answer the team, instead running towards the alleyway to find a discreet place to empty the contents of her stomach.

"Hey," Hotch said after the retching had stopped.

"Hey," JJ smiled, wiping the corners of her mouth with the back of her hand.

"I'm glad you're ok. You did well." Hotch said sincerely.

"Thanks." JJ answered, trying to stop her stomach from revolting once more.

"Hey, why don't I have Emily take you back to the hotel, and we can finish up here. There won't be much more." He said, knowing that only an exhausted Jennifer Jareau would be willing to leave before the rest of the team and before she had finished all of her paperwork.

"Yeah, that'd be nice." She finished, walking over to the black SUV that had been her original destination. Why can't this job ever be easy? she thought to herself.

Strauss had begrudgingly informed Hotch that her report would show the BAU was in accordance to all the regulations. The entire team was thrilled at the opportunity to defeat the ornery woman who tended to make their lives miserable every time she walked into the room. Leaving the next morning, the plane ride was unusually quiet as Strauss slept in the corner, while JJ pretended to sleep on the couch and Reid and Prentiss played cards with Morgan. Rossi took this opportunity to chat with his longtime colleague.

"That was pretty crazy last night, huh?" Rossi asked Hotch quietly enough not to be overheard by the other passengers on the plane.

"Yeah, it was a little intense." Hotch replied, not looking up from his paperwork.

"How are you doing?" Rossi continued to interrogate his friend.

"I'm fine." Was the short reply

"You know, you've been going though some big events the past what...six days?" Rossi ventured

"Yeah. A week ago I was a 40 year old single divorced man with a son. Now, I'm married, expecting a baby, and my wifewas held at gunpoint last night. I'd say fine is about the best I can do." Hotch said quietly, still not lookling up from his file.

"You know, she really likes you." Rossi answered after a moments hesitation, he continued "I know something's weird between you two, but you can't let it be. It is what it is. You're married now. Whether that's weird or not is up to you, but I don't think you're going to have to try too hard to win that girl over."

"We're married. What makes you think I haven't already?" Hotch replied annoyed putting the file down to finally look at Rossi.

"If you two weren't both feeling uncomfortable with each other, you wouldn't be sitting here talking to me. You would be over there," Rossi continued, motioning to JJ, "talking to the pregnant girl that was just held at gunpoint. But, don't listen to me, I don't know anything about marriage, my ex-wives would all attest." Rossi finished with a smile.

Looking at Rossi, Hotch knew his friend was right. Moving to the seat across from the couch, he studied the friend he had worked with for so long. She really was beautiful. But, it was that type of beautiful where she knew she wasn't ugly, but stopped short of ever calling herself pretty. He, and probably everyone else, could tell when she was really asleep. She rarely slept on the plane anymore, Hotch realized. When she was pretending to sleep, she curled her limbs tightly around her, wrapped in the blanket. When she was truly asleep, her entire body relaxed, in a comfortable position. Her arms, would hang off the edge of the small couch.

Watching her pretend to sleep, Hotch gained greater insight into the woman that was Jennifer Jareau. When on display, she would control anything that may give her away. But, once she was comfortable, she was warm and engaging.

"You know, it's not nice to stare." She interrupted his thoughts and opened her eyes looking directly at him.

"How are you?" He asked

"Fine." He smiled inwardly at the response since it was exactly what he had told Rossi

"How are you really?"

"You know, I HATE all you profilers. You always assume you know what's going on. Why won't you just believe what I tell you? I'm FINE." She responded hotly, careful not to disturb Strauss but loudly enough that the rest of the team pretended not to listen in the lovers quarrel.

"JJ, I'm sorry." He tried to stop her tirade before it got too out of control. He remembered with Hayley when pregnancy hormones threw her into terrible mood swings and guessed that JJ would be much more formidable than Hayley ever had.

"Fine. I'm going to sleep." She said, turning away from him.

The rest of the plane ride was a peaceful journey, disturbed only occasionally by the groans of Prentiss and Morgan losing yet another hand to Reid. When the plane finally landed, the team retreated to their offices, grabbing the final paperwork and other essentials before heading home. JJ, on entering her office, noticed a beautiful vase of assorted flowers on her desk. Assuming they were from Hotch and reading the card that said Jennifer, with love, she smiled. Her anger toward Hotch forgotten, JJ finished up last minute things and poked her head in Hotch's office.

"You ready to go?" She asked sweetly.

"Yeah, let me finish this up...ok! Let's go." He said as the couple walked to the elevator.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you on the plane." She offered, hoping she didn't make their situation worse.

"No, it's fine. Don't apologize." He smiled

Driving to the home they soon would be sharing, neither person noticed the white sedan following close behind.

AN/let me know what you think!