Aftermath

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the ideas

Thank you for the support for the first chapter. The whole 'story' is written so I am hoping to post regularly. I wouldn't start posting this until it was complete as I have changed things so much as it has developed.

This chapter is focused on JJ. Not my favourite character to write but hopefully it will work.

. . .

JJ opened the door to the nursery and stood, leaning against the frame. She wrapped her arms around her waist, trying desperately to gain some security from the feeling. As she stood alone she watched the rise and fall of her young son's breathing as he slept peacefully. Oh to be so blissfully unaware.

But JJ was aware. She still struggled to comprehend what she would do if she had have been in Aaron's shoes. She knew the painful truth of what had happened to Haley. She had seen first-hand the impact on Jack Hotchner. Life was unfair and that had been made blatantly clear to her in over the last few days.

The Hotchners were a good family, not perfect, but who is?

Haley had stood by her decision to divorce Hotch. She had made the choice to go it alone. Until 'The Reaper' threatened them, Haley and Hotch had managed to find an amicable agreement and probably had got on the better then they had been when they were together. All of that had changed in a moment once Aaron had realised his family was under threat.

Aaron dedicated his life to trying to catch the monsters that roamed the real world. He ran a tight team and expected the best from those who worked with him. He was rarely disappointed. Yet right now JJ couldn't help but feel they had all failed him.

They had failed to help him protect Jack and Haley.

Putting them into protective custody had meant that poor Jack had missed out on so much with his father in order to protect them. Not that it had helped them in the end – even protective custody had not been enough to keep them safe.

JJ moved softly into the room, wanting to be close to her son. Pulling the chair closer she settled down, folding her arms and resting them on the side of the crib. Henry was smiling, obviously remembering something good from the day.

Today was one of a series of days that JJ wouldn't forget in a long time, but for all the wrong reasons. Closing her eyes she flinched as she remembered the sound of the shot over the airwaves.

Their job had never been an easy one but this was beyond anything she had ever experienced. Watching Jack try to stay strong in his father's shadow was heartbreaking. She wanted to pull him back into her arms and protect him from it all. Somehow take him away to place that all this had never happened. Where his Mom was there for him and everything was ok. Unfortunately that wasn't possible.

Reaching into the crib to stroke Henry's soft curly hair, JJ juddered as she remembered stroking Jack's hair when she had pulled young Jack into her arms to move him out of the house when they had arrived at the scene. Trying to keep the youngster calm, when all around him was chaos, had been hard. Using every inch of motherly instinct she had managed to hold it together until that moment he had looked up at her with those beautiful eyes, when he had asked in all innocents 'Where's Mommy?' Then JJ had near enough cracked. What was she supposed to say to him? She had momentarily considered the truth, but had no idea how Hotch had wanted to deal with this. Also she had no wish to be the one to tell him his mother was dead. Instead she had simply replied that she was still in the house with his Dad.

She remembered how he had seemed to accept this for a while. They had sat together, far enough away for the manic people processing the scene. The spot was secluded enough to not risk being caught on film by the couple of TV crews that had shown up for their pound of flesh. As Jack had talked to her about soccer it was obvious how he had grown in the time that he had been away. JJ had been glad to have this distraction; soccer was something she could talk about for hours on end.

She remembered how she had looked up and caught the sight of Hotch exiting the house and searching for them. Scooping Jack up she had taken Jack to his father, handing him over with a sympathetic look. Stepping back she had given them space.

Standing there in silence and watching a man that she admired struggled to maintain his stoic nature with all that he had just gone through – let alone what he had yet to come.

JJ screwed her eyes up in hope to hold back the tears as she focused on her son. The precious moments they had already had together had cemented her love for him - a love that had blossomed so naturally the moment that she had seen Henry for the first time.

Jumping slightly at the feel of a hand on shoulder, JJ looked up. Will stood there looking down at her. He didn't need to say a word. Instead he just dropped to her side and pulled her into a loving hug. JJ melted into his arms. Surrounded by her family she finally broke and let the tears trickle silently down her cheeks.

"Come on Babe," Will whispered, pulling her up from the chair. Together they left Henry to sleep peacefully.

JJ walked in silence with Will to the living room, wiping the tears on the back of her sleeve. She felt so childish and completely helpless. Will guided her to the couch and sat her down softly. Sitting with her he pulled her close, stroking her soft hair as her head rested on his now damp shoulder.

"I don't want . . . Henry . . . to ever go through . . . something like this."

"Shhh," Will soothed, knowing that he could make senseless promises, but the reality was that both of them were in the wrong career to be making those sorts of promises. "We will both do our best to protect Henry in any way that we can."

JJ nodded, sniffing through the last of the tears. "I love you," she whispered, "both of you mean so much to me."

"We know," Will smiled as they sat curled up together for the rest of the night.