JJ is sitting on the bed going over phone records trying to find a disposable phone that appears around the same time as Natalie Brent's phone on a regular basis. She hears the front door open and the alarm being deactivated and reactivated. She sighs in relief and looks at the clock. It's 10:30. She had started to wonder if Emily had gone back to The Ritz after all.

She listens as tired feet climb the stairs and stop at Henry's room. She smiles as Emily sings a lullaby to the already sleeping child. The footsteps then go to Rocky's room and Emily sings the lullaby to the sleeping brunette. JJ giggles when she hears Rocky coo, knowing it had meant Emily had stroked a hand down the little girl's head and back.

"Our little love bug," JJ whispers.

A few minutes later Emily walks into the bedroom. JJ's smile fades and she gasps.

"Oh, Em!"

Emily stops nervously just inside the door. There are dark circles under her eyes. Those eyes are nearly lifeless from lack of sleep. Her whole body seems to be sagging.

"I, uh, sorry I'm late."

"Did you get any sleep at all today?"

"Uh, 45 minutes this morning after you all left but then a contact in London called. Then I lay down at 3 but got a call from Kazakhstan at 3:30 or so. Um, I think that's it."

"Damn, baby." JJ gets up and takes Emily's briefcase. "Go take a shower and I'll get the bed cleared off. Where are your phones so I can get them plugged in for you?" Emily hands them both over. "Okay, go on."

Emily starts to walk to the bathroom then stops. "Jen?" JJ looks to her. "Thank you for…for this when things are…the way they are."

JJ sighs. "I still love you, Emily. Being disappointed and angry doesn't change that. Plus I have to believe we will make things right."

Emily nods. "We will. I promise. I love you, Jen. I'll prove it to you. I swear."

"I know you will. Go on now. Shower."

Emily nods and goes into the bathroom. She turns the water on hot and strips down. Standing in the steam and water she sighs, letting it ease her aching muscles; hoping it will also make her headache feel better. So far the task force seems too far behind the terrorist cell to catch up to them in time. If they don't get good intel from overseas or from the BAU the things they have collected may not be enough to stop this planned attack.

When she finally gets out, she sees JJ has placed a clean silk pajama set in the bathroom for her. She smiles, tears welling in her eyes at this simple but loving act. As she is dressing, JJ walks in with a sandwich, a glass of water and two Aleve. It's too much. Emily breaks down and starts to cry. JJ sets things down and pulls her wife into a hug.

"Shhhh, Em. It's okay. It's going to be okay, baby. You'll see."

"Why…why the fuck…can I not…stop crying?" Emily hiccups.

JJ smiles and kisses her cheek. "Emotional turmoil, exhaustion, hunger. Should I go on?"

Emily just shakes her head, feeling a warmth in her soul that had been missing since she returned from Arkansas.

"I was so cold inside without you, Jen. I didn't even know it."

"I know the feeling, Em."

Emily leans out of the embrace and runs a hand over JJ's stomach. "How are they?"

JJ sighs and shakes her head. "I don't think this time, Em."

"Is it…because of me and all that I did?"

"I don't think so. It just wasn't in the cards this time. But we won't stop, will we?"

"You…you mean it?"

JJ smiles. "I believe in us, Emily. I know we'll make it back. And when we do we can try again."

Emily brings a hand up and strokes JJ's face. "Yes, we can. And I'm not giving up on these nesters yet. There's still a chance. I don't care about the job, Jen. If it's going to be an issue that causes us problems in the future I could walk away from it. I want you to know that's an option on the table. Even when I'm being a huge fucking ass, you mean more to me than the job. If I can't fix it, I will fight to fix us."

JJ nods. "I know, Em. Now, eat your dinner and take your Aleve. What time do you need to get up in the morning?"

"I have to be back at the office at 6:30 for a conference call with London and Bahrain."

"Ugh."

"Yeah," Emily agrees with a smile. "We're terrifyingly behind, Jen, because agencies withheld info from us. Harlan was able to get more for us today and I think we may be closing the gap. The only problem is I'm 99.9% sure the leak was from my team."

"I thought Garcia cleared them?"

"She did. Then I had her look into a few more things. She hasn't been able to get back to me yet so it's more a gut thing than real proof. If it is one of them anything we find out will be fed to the terrorists if I don't stop the leak."

"You set them up, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did. Gave each of them a scrap of info. We'll see what they do with it. Three of them will come back to me telling me it was a dead end. The fourth will come back with a lie. And I'll arrest their ass using the Patriot Act and bury them away until we stop the cell."

"Emily, if the mole realizes it's a trap they'll go after you."

"No they won't. The 'leads' came from a source in London. I just doled them out for follow up. I'm as in the dark as they are…as far as they know."

JJ shakes her head. "My God…the things you know to do…"

"Some things you just don't forget. One of those things is how it feels to know you can't trust your team. The only one I ever 100% trusted was Sean McAllister. I don't know why other than intuition. Clyde, Tsia, the rest of them, I could always see the hint of self-interest in them that could mean they'd sell me out to better their career in a heartbeat. These types of task forces can be huge stepping stones for agents with ambition. They are also perfect covers for moles. I won't let ambition or treason cost innocent American lives if I can help it."

JJ is shocked at the hard look that Emily's eyes had taken on the longer she talked. Shocked…and turned on. With all the crap between them emotionally she had nearly forgotten just how sexy Emily could be when she was determined to protect people.

"What?" Emily asks.

JJ smiles and shakes her head. "Just…damn…you can be so sexy sometimes."

Emily chuckles. "I have bags under my eyes you could pack this house in. I'm ready to fall on my face I am so tired. And you think I'm sexy. Do you have bad taste or what?"

JJ laughs. "Definitely 'or what'. Eat your sandwich."

Emily nods and does as ordered. JJ goes out to clear off the bed. Tonight…tonight she would hold her wife, hoping it's the first night of getting back to normal for them.

When Emily's alarm goes off at 4:30 JJ groans. Emily slaps it off and takes a moment to appreciate where she is. She is lying on her back. JJ is cuddled up to her, one arm across her wife's stomach, a leg across her legs and her head tucked into the crook of Emily's neck. Emily rubs her cheek up and down against JJ's forehead.

"Just yesterday you thought you'd lost this, Emily. Don't blow it over job shit," she warns herself.

She carefully extracts herself from JJ's embrace, sliding her pillow between JJ's arms when the blonde whines in her sleep. Emily can't help but grin that JJ snuggles to the pillow and smiles in contentment.

"Great…replaced by a pillow," Emily jokes.

Emily goes into the closet and picks out a suit for the day. She also grabs an extra set of infiltration gear to add to her go bag. It's possible if things heat up she won't make it home again before the case ends. She'd rather have a couple changes of clothes with her just in case. She then heads into the bathroom to shower and get ready for the day.

By the time she is ready to go JJ is finally stirring. She walks over and sits on the edge of the bed. She threads her fingers into JJ's hair, lightly caressing her skull. JJ stretches and smiles up at her wife.

"Good morning."

"I woke with you in my arms so I'd say it was a great morning," Emily replies honestly.

"Charmer," JJ grins. Emily just shrugs. "If you need anything today let me know."

"If…I just want to hear your voice?" she clarifies.

JJ takes the hand in her hair and kisses it. "Definitely call."

"I will. Promise."

Emily starts to lean down then stops, not sure if that's pushing her luck. JJ reaches up and pulls Emily's head to her own. It starts out as just a gentle peck goodbye. Soon it deepens. And deepens some more. When JJ lets out a moan that begs for more, Emily reluctantly pulls away.

"I…we shouldn't…not like this. I…I don't want any regrets, Jen. The next time we make love I want to make sure we are both fully invested in it not just…just needing a release."

JJ nods. "I agree. Sorry I got so- -"

"No! Don't apologize. I was eager for more, too. But we need everything to be settled between us first."

"I know. Have a good day, sweetheart."

"You, too, honey." Emily strokes her hand through golden locks one last time then stands. "I…I love you, Jennifer."

"I love you, too, Emily."

Emily nods, grabs the extra clothes she had put on the bench at the end of the bed and hurries out of the room. When she gets to the kitchen she sees Francesca is already there enjoying a cup of coffee and the morning paper. The nanny looks at her in surprise.

"You are back, cara?"

Emily shrugs. "For now. We have stuff to work through and she may kick my ass out later because of it but for now we're working through it. I love her, Francesca, and I'm willing to do anything to show her that."

Francesca smiles. "Good, cara. I will say a special prayer for the two of you to heal your relationship soon."

"Thanks, Francesca." Emily makes a travel mug of coffee and walks over to the table. She kisses Francesca on the cheek. "See you later, Francesca."

"I hope so, cara. I truly hope so."

Emily smiles and leaves to start another day chasing down a terrorist cell. Maybe today is the day they find the break they need.