United We Stand 2 And Then There Were Two

The continuing story of United We Stand. The story picks up where we left off. JJ is in the hospital. Shawna Flynn's team is disappearing and new bonds are formed at what cost? And the Unsub is quietly plotting.

I do not own the rights to criminal minds, or any part of CBS. This story is fictional and any resemblance to actual people living or dead is purely coincidence. This is part two of United We Stand, please read part one if you haven't already.

Chapter 5

At the hospital Hotch was shown to the room where Will was placed. As soon as the door opened Will said, "What the hell is going on? They won't tell me a damn thing."

Morgan came into the room with Emily and Rossi seconds later. Penelope was there, not long after Rossi, and a couple minutes after that Reid and Julianne showed up. The doctor came into the room five minutes after everyone arrived.

"Is this everybody" he said.

Will nodded.

The doctor looked at everyone in the room and then at the floor. When he looked back at them he said hurriedly, "Ms. Jareau has expired approximately at 3am this morning. I am sorry for your loss. Please one of you would like to identify?"

Will dropped to his knees still holding the sleeping Henry. His sobs were silent but wracked his body, till he could not hold it in any longer. He screamed, "Oh God no!"

The shock passed as each of them realized what the doctor said. Penelope took Henry, who began to scream when his dad yelled and Emily knelt besides Will holding him rocking back and forth gently. Shawna held Hotch and Rossi sank to the chair. Julianne clung to Reid who cried into her shoulder as she did the same. Morgan looked at the doctor with tears in his eyes and barked, "How the Hell did this happen?"

"We will not know for sure until we do an autopsy. I will give you some time." He spun on his heals and left the room.

They stayed frozen like that for a long time, and cried for JJ. Finally Hotch said, "I will go view her body."

Reid volunteered to join him, but Will stood and said, "No I will do it!"

"Will, you can't…" Prentiss suggested, wanting to spare Will the sight of her.

"Emily, let go, I can look at her if I damn well want to!" His accent thick as grief held him in its icy grip.

Penelope cried softly, she would not get hysterical with this darling boy in her arms. Morgan hugged her and the child knowing Penelope loved JJ like a sister.

Julie refused to let go of Reid. She could not guess what he was feeling right now. She knew he hurt deeply for his friend. And she also knew at one time Reid had wished for something more, even took JJ on a "date". She never questioned him about it, and frankly wasn't concerned about what happened then. All Julie worried about was how Spencer was doing now. She kissed his cheek and he cried harder almost wailing. It broke her heard, not only for JJ but for him too.

Hotch insisted he would go along with Will and they walked out of the room. The Doctor was waiting on the other side and Hotch was shocked he didn't leave this task to the nurses. They went to JJ's room and Will hesitated.

"You don't have to do this Will I can go in by myself."

"No I want to. I just was thinking about being here today and talking to her about coming home. She wanted to see Henry so…" Will could not finish the sentence.

Hotch put his hand on Will's shoulder and squeezed.

They walked into the room together. The curtain was pulled and they could see JJ's feet only, tucked into the covers. They stepped closer and Hotch pushed the curtain back. He looked at JJ and the wind was sucked out of him and he felt like someone had punched him. Will staggered back and Hotch grabbed him before he fell.

"Tell me that is not her! It's not her right? Oh my God Hotch it isn't her!"

Will was hysterical and the Doctor and Nurse came running into the room.

"What is going on here?" Hotch demanded.

"What do you mean sir?" The nurse asked.

"This woman is not Agent Jareau! And I want to know NOW where she is."

The team heard the commotion coming from JJ's room and came running down the hall.

Emily got to the door just in time to hear the last thing Hotch said.

Reid reached the door next and almost knocked Emily over. She turned to Reid and said "It's not JJ?" confusion taking over. Rossi pushed his way into the door as the rest of the team squeezed into the room. Rossi took one look at the woman lying in the bed and knew he heard correctly. This was not JJ.

Will was barley aware of what was going on and looked as if he needed to sit down. Emily took a hold of his arm and led him from the room. Julianne stood with her arms crossed in front of her chest and Shawna placed her fingers in front of her mouth.

Penelope stood next to Julie, still holding Henry who had fallen asleep again. Julie looked at her and then put her arms around Garcia and the child, hugging her tight. Penelope let the tears flow and said what everyone was feeling, "Where is JJ."