Chapter 42:

JJ sat nervously in a chair outside an office. Her foot nervously bouncing up and down and her bottom lip fastened between her teeth. She was early, whenever she was nervous she would always be ridiculously early, and that was obviously the case now. Jennifer Jareau was a woman that liked to have control over any situation, she was a woman who would always form a back up plan if something went wrong. Not being able to control the situation and to have no idea what to be prepared for was making her uncomfortable and nervous. If she wasn't cleared she would have to stay at Quantico, and as much as she didn't want to go to New Orleans, she wanted to, no needed to be with Emily.

"Ah, Agent Jareau. Welcome." Dr. Garner came out from his office and smiled at JJ.

"Please, Dr. Garner, call me JJ." She stood and went into his office after shaking his hand.

"So, how are you?" The psychologist sat comfortable in his chair and looked curious at JJ. The blonde shifted slightly in her seat, and looked down at her hands.

"I'm fine I guess." JJ shrugged her shoulders slightly.

"Are you willing to talk to me?"

"I kinda have to, I can't return to working in the field before you clear me." She looked up for a moment, forcing a small, nervous smile.

"Why don't you tell me about New Orleans?"

"...and then the door opened and Bobby walked in on us!" Even though Emily felt sorry for her friend she couldn't hold back her laughter.

"Your girlfriend's brother walked in on you?"

"Yeah... I was a long time before Nora even dared to look at him. And even then she was embarrassed."

"You have to take us out when we're done with the case. I want to get to know the woman who has you so whipped." Emily teased.

"You think you're any better, Prentiss? You would follow JJ like a dog, wagging your tail, praying to be petted on the head if she was here!" The NOPD Detective shot back.

The two of them playfully bantered back and forth until they reached the crime scene. As she walked out of the car, Emily turned into 'Agent Prentiss' mode. She wanted this case to go away as fast as possible; even though she loved Nikki and was looking forward to working with her being in New Orleans was almost too hard for her.

Pulling on glows the two of them went their separate ways and started to study the scene. Emily slowly walked through the yellow markers that indicated where evidence were found and looking at the list one of the forensic had given her. Based on the evidence and the autopsy report she 'walked' through the murder profiling it as she went.

"So Doc, am I good to go?" JJ forced a weak smile. Both she and the psychologist knew she wasn't ready to go back to work, but she could hope, right?

"I don't think so JJ. I want you to take a week to try and process everything that happened these last three months on your own. Yes, Emily has helped you and is and will be important for you, but this is also the first time you're alone. Don't shut her out. Call her at least once a day and talk to her about the things you process, but you need to find away to face your demons alone as well. I'll schedule another appointment and then we'll see, okay?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right. But can I work from Quantico?"

"Yes, you can work here, but no press conferences, no interviews and no other field work. Am I clear?"

"Yes." She smiled a little.

"Good. Then I'll see you in a week JJ. I'll email you the time for the appointment." He stood with her and shock her hand before opening the door for her.

JJ quickly walked to her office. She needed a minute to calm down before she met anyone. The elevator was fortunately empty, she let out a breath and closed her eyes. She lifted her left hand and pinched the bridge of her nose. This week would be really tough and she didn't exactly look forward to it. The doors opened with a 'ding', and she made her way down the hall.

"Almost there," she thought to herself as she rounded the last corner.

"Hey, Jareau!" JJ closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She turned around and was met with Agent Anderson. He was the liaison for the other BAU team.

"What can I do for you Anderson?" She didn't bother addressing him with his title. Everyone knew that JJ was the best liaison, and that was why she got most of the cases. Anderson was too arrogant for the job and he often acted to late on a case, putting himself first. She knew that from the time she worked with his team.

"I need you to look at these cases for me." He handed her five, or so, cases before turning around and walking away.

"Excuse me? You can't just hand these over, Anderson! I already have more cases than my team can deal with, and they aren't even at Quantico at the moment!" JJ hated being walked over. Sure she was a woman, but she was not his slave.

"You don't think my team has cases?" Anderson turned around. "Well let me tell you something, Jareau, they don't because everyone on MY team actually does their paperwork on time. And now you take care of these files, because I'm going out with the guys." He smirked his arrogant smile and walked away again.

"Do NOT walk away from me Anderson! These are YOUR cases and I will NOT do you work!" JJ were furious. She shoved the cases back into his arms, and spun around.

"A little sensitive Agent? Did I hit a soar spot? We both know that I am the superior agent." Anderson grabbed her arm and turned her around. His voice was lowered and his smirk right on it's place. "How many breakdowns have you had now?" he added, before quickly shoving the files back into JJ's arms and disappeared down the hall as she stood frozen to the spot.

The interview with the victim's family hadn't unraveled anything spectacular, so the two women soon headed back to the station so Emily could hold the press conference. The brunette was no JJ, but she was a good public speaker. Growing up the way she did her pronunciation was accurate and perfect.

"What do we have so far?" Hotch had gathered the team in the conference room and they all went over what they had found that day. Emily listened carefully and made some notes. After they shared the information, Reid showed Hotch and Rossi his map while Morgan read something in his file. Emily let her glance wonder around the station. The Homicide department was busy and a lot of officers and detectives came and went. The brunette was relieved that they had yet to stumble across Detective, no Officer LaMontagne.

Her thoughts were interrupted by her phone. She pulled it from her belt and saw JJ's name on the screen.

"Hi, Jen. How did the appointment go?"

"Emily!" was all the blonde got out before she broke down and sobbed hysterically.