"You slept with Hotch?" Reid was the first to speak up.

The rest of the team slowly shifted their attention from their visibly shaken boss to the shocked blonde beside them. They were deathly silent, mentally demanding an answer. She sputtered senselessly for a moment, her wide blue eyes darting from Derek's stormy expression, to Garcia's shocked one, before landing on Rossi's classically blank expression and finally turning to Reid's hurt, puppy dog eyes silently pleading with her to tell him it wasn't true.

"I'm so sorry Spence," she whispered. "I don't-we-I can't-"

Tears spilled out of the corner of her eyes, trailing lines of black mascara down her cheeks as she shoved her glass into Rossi's hand and whirled away from them, practically sprinting out of the room.

"JJ, wait!' Garcia called. "JJ!"

JJ ignored her, the sound of her sobs ringing in their ears as she raced down the hallway, her hand pressed over her mouth as she elbowed her way through the crowd. Garcia made a move to go after her but Morgan's sharp tone halted her mid-step.

"If you go after her, we are done," Morgan growled. "She doesn't deserve your comfort. Not after what she's done."

"You've never made any mistakes, Mr. Perfect?" Garcia shot back. "JJ's our friend, Derek. You don't give up on your friends because of one bad choice."

"I don't want to hear it!" Morgan snapped. "What about Reid and Emily, huh? They're our friends too. What about their feelings? Why not comfort them?"

"If you guys want to argue, I suggest you do it where hundreds upon hundreds of guest can't hear you," Rossi interjected.

He gestured towards the handful of guests casually milling outside the room they were currently occupying, clearly intent on gathering information they'd spend hours dissecting and re-dissecting later. Morgan cursed before marching towards Hotch, grabbing him by the lapels of his tuxedo and yanking him towards the door before shoving him into the throng of guest and slamming it behind him.

"Nice," Rossi commented dryly. "Very mature, Derek."

Morgan ignored him and turned towards Reid, who hadn't batted an eyelash, much less spoken since JJ's departure.

"I'm sorry man," he muttered. "Really. If you want to talk about it-"

"I'm not feeling so good," Reid interrupted. "I'm going to go home now."

"Reid-"

"Goodnight."

He gently set his champagne glass on the desk next to him, tucking his hands into his pockets and almost absentmindedly walked out of the room. Garcia's heart broke as she stared at his retreating figure, noting the dejected way his posture slumped as if he didn't quite know what to do with himself.

"Wait up kid," Rossi called. "I'll give you a ride. You can stay with me tonight."

After bidding goodnight to his fellow co-workers and chasing after the young genius, finally Morgan and Garcia were left alone.

"Listen, baby-"

"What the HELL was that?" Garcia screeched. "You just THREW Hotch out of the room like he was-"

"A piece of trash?" Morgan interrupted. "Maybe because he is. Or did you miss the part where Hotch went behind Emily's back and slept with JJ? She was busy just trying to stay alive and he was busy getting into JJ's pants!"

"It wasn't like that!" Garcia yelled. "He was lonely and JJ had a big fight with Spence, and they were drunk and sad, and so, so heartbroken and freaking drunk, and Hotch thought she was Emily and she didn't know any better and-"

"You fucking knew?" Morgan roared. "Since when the fuck did you know?"

"I knew the night after it fucking happened!" Garcia screeched. "I didn't tell you because I knew you wouldn't understand! I knew you'd react like this!"

"Like what?" he shouted. "A concerned friend?"

"A jealous boyfriend!" Garcia screamed. "You love her, Derek! You've always loved her more than you should and this just proves it. You love her and I love you. It can never work! I can't keep loving a man who loves someone else!"

"I love you!" Morgan argued. "I've always loved you Garcia!"

"You love her more," Garcia sobbed. "The other night, when you were drunk and we did it on the couch? You said her name, Derek! It's always been her! How can I compete with that?"

"There is no competition!" Morgan sighed. "I love you and only you! That's never changed. It won't. I was just worried about her, baby. She's my best friend."

"And JJ is my best friend!" she shot back. "And if I want to go after my best friend than I am entitled to! And you don't get to threaten to end this relationship because of that!"

"Garcia-"

"In fact," she barreled on. "You don't get to end this relationship at all, Derek. Because I'm doing it for you."