A/N: Hellooo! Well this story has been going better than I thought! Haha I've gotten a lot of meaningful compliments on what's been written so far, and I really appreciate that! Okay two things, one is a clarification: I am a head over freaking heels riliel shipper, but this isn't a riliel fic, now is it? So I (sadly) have to keep their relationship to a friendship (maybe I'll write a riliel fic someday but I think almost everyone who watches Intelligence for Meghan Ory because they love AJ Cook and/or Higher Ground agrees that there needed to be some sort of JJ-centered Criminal Minds crossover here, yes?). Second, is a trigger warning- somewhat-detailed description of a not-so-graphic suicide attempt. So uh, good luck!

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or Intelligence and/or their affiliates.

JJ woke as the sun blared across her eyes. She opened them to see Riley right in front of her, with her arm across JJ's ribs. Careful not to move too much, she laid on her back and looked around the room, tears threatening to pour out. She sighed deeply and looked over at Riley. She felt herself relax as she looked at the brunette's soft porcelain face, a soothing expression on her face as her chest rose and fell with her deep breaths. The orange light of the new sun shone in her dark hair, and JJ wondered how it was that the light didn't bother her. Very daintily, JJ picked up Riley's arm and moved it onto her side, and slid out of the bed. She tiptoed over to the window, and closed the curtains so no light would come through. Before she got back under the covers, she looked over her friend at the alarm clock, which read 6:27. She sighed, and with the new darkness of the room, she felt very tired and heavy yet again. She placed the covers back over her body, and turned away from Riley. Slowly, she slid back so she was closer to the brunette, then reached for Riley's hand. She brought it to her lips, pressed a gentle kiss to it, then placed it on the side of her ribcage. JJ curled up into the warmth of Riley's body, and drifted back into sleep.

Xx

At 8:46, Riley awoke to the sight of JJ's blonde hair directly in her face. She carefully pulled her hand off JJ and used it to sit herself up. She grabbed her black iPhone off the nightstand and checked the temperature.

'75. Surprisingly cool.'

With that, she gingerly placed her legs over the edge of the bed and walked over to the drawers that she'd placed her clothes in. She took her purple running shorts, black tank top, white sports bra, socks, and her running shoes and walked through the hall and into the bathroom, deciding she needed to go for a run to clear her head. She changed quickly, brushing her hair and pulling it back into a ponytail. When she was done, she turned off the bathroom light, placed her dirty clothes in the laundry hamper in her guest room, and hopped quietly down the stairs.

She sat at the little table by herself, munching on a banana and sipping a chocolate protein shake while reading the newspaper. When she finished, she quickly ran back upstairs to brush her teeth, then took off for her run.

As she made her way through the forest trail than ran through the large expanse of JJ's neighborhood and the ones surrounding it, she took in the fresh morning air and relaxed her muscles as she settled into a steady pace. She thought about how Will was watching over her in that very moment, and she allowed herself to take in his presence. Riley let her mind wander, and soon enough she was thinking about none other than what her partner and friend, Gabriel, was doing. However, sooner than she asked herself the question, she answered it.

'Sleeping'

She smirked to herself and shook her head. She liked Gabriel, a lot, maybe even loved him, but it was strictly a friendship. Her job consisted of the two of them constantly risking their lives for one another while taking down international criminals that threatened the safety of the USA, particularly the cyber side of national security, and she was always too stressed about his safety. She knew Gabriel cared about her, as she did for him, and she hated leaving him for a few days, but she would call him and check on him, just to be sure. Riley carried on and took in the sights and sounds of the forest, from the birds and squirrels to the beautiful flowers and trees that surrounded her-it almost made her forget she was in the suburbs of northern Virginia. Almost.

The second she stepped into the cool house, Riley made a beeline for the refrigerator, feeling as though she couldn't grab a bottle of water fast enough. Breathing heavily, she sighed with relief as the ice-cold liquid made its way down her throat. As she came fully to her senses, she heard the shower running upstairs, assuming JJ simply decided to take a shower there rather than going all the way down to the guest suite in the basement for it.

As she leaned against the fridge, practically gulping her water down, she noticed how she wasn't hearing JJ move around much. She nearly dropped her water when she heard what sounded like a book falling off a shelf, except it was coming from the master bathroom.

'JJ…'

Riley set her water bottle on the closest counter and headed upstairs. Once she got to the top of the staircase, she could hear that JJ was not in the guest bathroom, but the master.

"JJ? Sweetie where are you? JJ?"

No reply.

'Shit'

A million scary thoughts ran through her head, and without warning, she found herself standing in the doorway of the master suite.

"JJ? JJ please answer me!"

Ignoring her thoughts telling her to just leave JJ, she bolted for the bathroom.

What she saw before her hit her harder than anything she'd ever witnessed.

On the counter was a near-empty bottle of Advil PM.

In the shower, laying on the floor in a limp mess, was JJ, still in the t-shirt and shorts she'd slept in.

Choking back tears, Riley opened the glass door and turned off the water.

"JJ? JJ wake up, come on, please!"

She shook JJ frantically, and, amazingly, JJ stirred ever so slightly.

Before she knew it, Riley had JJ sitting up with her first two fingers down her throat, praying JJ's esophagus would respond to the stimulation and would send the pills back up JJ's system. She tried for about a minute until JJ lurched. Riley took all of JJ's hair in one hand and let her thrust herself forward so she could get the contents of her stomach out of her mouth and not on her clothes. When Riley was sure JJ was done, she stepped out of the shower and grabbed JJ's towel, tears making their way down her face. Silently, she stripped JJ's clothes off, and wrapped her in the towel. JJ shivered, and Riley knew she had to be sure JJ's nerves were in tact, so as JJ sat huddled against Riley, Riley reached her arm around JJ's back until her fingers found the outside of JJ's thigh. When JJ least expected it, Riley gave it a gentle flick with her fingers, anxiously watching JJ's face for a reaction.

"Ow…why did you do that?" JJ asked, coughing slightly as she did.

Riley said nothing, and continued to rub JJ to warm her up. Pretty quickly, JJ came to her senses fully, and looked at Riley.

"Riley, I…I'm sorry, I just was so caught up in the moment and I…"

Riley continued to do nothing but warm JJ up, staring into nothingness with tears still flowing down her cheeks and falling onto her shirt. They sat like this for a few more minutes, until Riley got up and went to find clothes for JJ. She grabbed a t-shirt, sports bra, underwear, and cropped leggings and carried them back into the bathroom, placing them on the edge of the large bathtub that was next to the shower. She helped JJ stand and walk out, and handed her the clothes. She stood and looked on as JJ dressed, not wanting to leave JJ alone for more than a few seconds. When JJ was done, she hung up the towel and moved over to the sink to brush her hair and her teeth, moving fairly slowly. Riley sat on the edge of the tub, letting her head hang as she closed her eyes and continued to cry. She was torn between wanting to ask JJ why she felt the need to kill herself, despite that she was fairly certain she knew why; JJ couldn't handle the pain of life without Will, and by dying, she would be back with him forever.

JJ finished, and turned to Riley. Riley took her hand and led her out the room and down the stairs. She had JJ sit at the little table while she made JJ's favorite tea-green tea with honey and a splash of skim milk-and made her eat a toasted english muffin and a green apple. Riley poured herself a cup of tea, deciding to skip putting milk in hers, and carried their mugs to the table, and sat down. She had since stopped crying-which JJ was now doing, clearly out of guilt and pain-and simply stared out the window as JJ finished her food and they sipped their drinks. About ten minutes passed without either of them saying anything, until JJ cleared her throat,

"Riley-"

"JJ, don't." Riley quickly cut her off, she didn't want to hear it, not right then and there. Still, JJ was stubborn and persistent,

"Riley, please, I didn't mean to-"

"Damn it JJ, I said stop! You didn't mean to what? Kill yourself? Take yourself away from the people who still love you more than anything? From me? I know I sound selfish but come on JJ, do you really think you have no one left? I have been by your side for over a decade, and I'm not leaving anytime soon." Riley practically slammed her mug on the table, tears of frustration and pain coming down her face. She looked into the broken eyes of her friend, and when JJ began to cry harder, she stood and kneeled beside her,

"Jennifer Elizabeth Jareau, you listen to me, I am not about to go anywhere, do you understand? I know, crazy things happen to good people, and I know you're scared of losing me, of losing your other friends, you family, but JJ, I can tell you one thing for sure, and that is that I will always love you and care about you, and that getting rid of me is a very, very hard thing to do."

JJ looked down at her, a sense of understanding in her eyes, and Riley took her arms and pulled JJ towards her. JJ sobbed into her shoulder,

"Riley, I'm so sorry, I really, really am. I just m-miss him s-s-so m-much. I l-loved him and n-nothing seems r-right anym-more."

"Shh, baby I know, I know." Riley stroked JJ's hair and kissed the top of her head, looking up as overwhelming pain struck her, and the hole in her heart that had seemed so minuscule the day before opened up. She actually couldn't believe that she had nearly lost the one person she actually trusted and cared for. It was too close, and she knew that she now had to treat JJ with even more fragility than Gabriel. With Gabriel she could be aggressive and rough, with JJ she had to be slow and gentle, and she couldn't force JJ into saying or doing anything she didn't want to. Their healing process now no longer relied on Riley trying to help JJ move on, but Riley waiting for JJ to show signs of life, to find her own way, and Riley needed to be her safety net and her guide.

Riley was willing to do whatever it took.