Chapter 28

No one spoke as the weary group of seven waited for their pickup. There was simply nothing to say. Faces darkened with ash and clothing singed from the flames, they could easily have been mistaking for actually starting the fire to begin with. Leila clung to her sister like a terrified child, squeezing her every so often to make sure she was actually there. JJ was more than happy to feel her sister's arms around her, despite how hard she was clutching. However, the older Jareau had cast nothing more than the occasional glance at the girl. She was so terrified of what she'd see in her sister's eyes- anger, betrayal, or even the perpetual sadness that had apparently taken up residence there- that she couldn't risk a look. Sure, Leila was happy now, after being saved, reunited with JJ, and assured that the man who had haunted her for so long was dead, but who's to say how long that would last? JJ knew that she would eventually have to deal with the blowback from her decision. By the looks on their faces, they all knew and while Leila was docile and exhausted now, the BAU knew the fire that had been suppressed for so long was bound to erupt.

The ride to the hospital was short and silent, no one seeing fit to break the spell that had seemingly been cast around them. Leila sat in between her sister and Amy, holding the Marshal's hand, as well as JJ's, in an attempt to convey her sadness over Adam's loss. She may not have known the man very well but Leila knew that he had died for her. As if that wasn't reason enough to mourn him, the empty look in Amy's eyes brought tears to the teens'. It was hard to believe that she might've looked like that merely a few days ago. Or was it weeks?

Rossi was the first to be rolled away, his injuries deemed the most pressing and rightfully so. Hotch, Morgan, and Reid had their minor burns attended to quickly as Cavil was all but forced to have her injuries reevaluated. As JJ was arguing with the nearest doctor who insisted she needed to be examined along with Leila, a nurse made her way over to the two.

"Excuse me," JJ took in the woman who was far too old to be working in such a high stress environment, "are you Agent Jareau?" JJ nodded, her throat still dry. "An Agent Emily Prentiss asked me to find you."

"Emily's here?" JJ's voice came out broken but the older woman nodded nonetheless.

"Yes but don't worry, she's doing quite well. She's still got quite a few hours to go seeing as her contractions aren't as-"

"I'm sorry, her what?" Even Leila perked up at the word.

"Oh, how silly of me! I thought you knew." the old nurse chuckled. "Your friend is in labor, dear."

"Oh my," JJ trailed off. "Tell her I'll be there as soon as I can. I have to-"

"Go, JJ." Leila spoke for the first time since the cabin. As JJ loosened her grip on her sister just enough to look at her, what she saw surprised her. There was no anger, no lingering hint of sadness or betrayal. There was simply Leila. As she stared for a moment too long, the girl gave her a nudge. "Whatever they do for this is likely to knock me out anyway." JJ gently stroked her sister's injured shoulder. "Go. Emily needs you more than I do."

"I'll…I'll be right back, ok?" JJ's promise was more a whisper and Leila couldn't help the slight chuckle that left her lips.

"You better be." The younger Jareau finally let go of her as JJ marveled at the girl's resilience. She watched as the doctor that had tended to Morgan now approached Leila. Only when her sister was veiled behind a drawn, white curtain did JJ finally move to follow the nurse.

JJ tried hard to scrub the dirt and soot off of her before entering the room Emily was in. The last thing she needed was to give Emily's baby some sort of illness. Just as she was finishing up, picking up a towel to dry her hands and face, she paused. Emily's baby. The phrase was foreign but made JJ's heart flutter. She couldn't imagine someone being a better mother than Emily. She was sure the woman had her doubts- after all, who didn't?- but at least now she was here to reassure her friend. Steeling herself for the undoubtedly long night ahead, JJ used her foot to push the door open and was met with a resounding, "where have you been?!" that caused her to lift an eyebrow.

"Someone's in a rush. The baby's not even out yet and you're ready to dish out spankings." JJ quickly introduced herself to the chuckling doctor as she took in Emily's bright red face.

"You're damned right I am and there's plenty to go around. The last thing I hear from any of you is a freaking explosion. An explosion, Jennifer!" JJ refrained from commenting on the use of her full name.

"Believe it or not Em, I know. I was there." The former blonde almost laughing out loud at the look on her friend's face.

"Oh you were there, were you?" Emily snipped sarcastically. "How nice it must have been to be able to be there. I swear to God, when this baby is out I'm putting all five of you over my knee!"

"Five?" JJ frowned. "There were six of us."

"I don't think Cavil and I know each other that well." Emily groaned as she dropped her head onto her pillow.

"I think you should hold off on that for a while. Besides, Morgan might enjoy that a little too much." The two women laughed wholeheartedly before a contraction hit and Emily's laughter was cut short. JJ offered the woman her hand and she took it eagerly, squeezing even harder than Leila had.

"You're probably right." Emily tried to breathe through the pain. "Distract me. Tell me what happened. How's Leila?"

For the next few hours, JJ would use the time in between contractions to fill in the blanks for Emily. She left out exactly how Parilla had died but Emily seemed to understand that it was something best discussed away from curious ears. Before she knew it, enough hours had passed for Chris Knox to arrive, frantic and fumbling for words. JJ watched as the soon-to-be-father took Emily's other hand and pressed kiss after kiss to her cheek, forehead, and lips. The look on Emily's face was one JJ's would've paid to see again. From the moment Knox came in, it was as if all the pain she was in was suddenly gone. Her eyes widened, surprised and beyond happy that he had made it in time, and JJ was quick to wipe a tear from her eye at the exchange. She offered to leave the couple alone but both were adamant that she stay. Chris and JJ alternated between wiping the sweat from Emily's face and talking to her. While it had been merely twenty minutes since Chris had arrived, time seemed to move ever so slowly for Emily so when the doctor announced that the hard part was over, Emily almost cried tears of joy. She braced herself for one last push and, practically crushing the blondes' hands, let out one last cry before another, higher pitched one burst into the room. Chris was already crying, pressing a kiss to Emily's forehead as he whispered private words to her. JJ squeezed her best friend's hand, watching as the doctors quickly washed and wrapped the newest member of their family.

"Congratulations." The doctor said softly. Emily's head was up immediately, eager to see and hold her baby. "It's a girl." The small bundle wriggled and cried until the moment she was placed in her mother's arms. JJ watched as Emily saw her daughter for the first time. It was as if a light switch had went off in her head. There was a new look in Emily's eyes, a look JJ was sure was reserved for this child and this child alone, and as she watched the couple gawk at their baby girl, she didn't bother to wipe these tears away.

"Oh Em," JJ swallowed hard, "she's beautiful." Emily didn't even look up from the baby as she nodded, her own tears falling in spades.

"She's perfect." Chris agreed, his arm wrapped around Emily. JJ leaned forward and pressed her own kiss to Emily's head. Only then did the older woman's gaze finally leave the newborn's.

"Thank you, JJ." She said softly. "Thank you for staying with me and for being the best friend I've ever had and for coming back and just…everything. I love you, Jay."

"I love you too, Em." JJ chewed her lip to keep from crying, her wide blue eyes moving down to the equally bright pair of baby blues sported by baby Knox-Prentiss. JJ took a wild guess and assumed those would change soon enough, most likely mirroring her father's jade seeing as she already showed an affinity for mom's dark hair.

"Go find Leila." Emily urged. "I'm sure she needs you more than I do."

"Funny, she said the same thing about you." JJ chuckled, saying her goodbyes to the couple- and the baby, of course. She didn't have to go very far to find two-thirds of the people she was looking for. Cavil, Reid, Morgan, and Hotch were sitting in the waiting room, apparently waiting for an update. As the BAU rushed her, JJ raised her hands defensively.

"She is fine!" she announced over the bombardment of questions. "Both of them are." Wide grins broke out all around as they understood what she meant.

"Prentiss has a daughter?" Morgan chuckled. "Can you even imagine what that girl is going to be like?"

"Stubborn." Reid, Hotch, and JJ answered together. The four broke out in laughter, relishing in the way this story had ended.

"Is Rossi ok?" JJ asked. The others nodded.

"A few cracked ribs but he'll be fine." Hotch told her. "I'll go tell him the good news."

"Leila's in 42B, by the way." Reid said and JJ offered him a thankful smile. "They gave her something to help her sleep but the infection's pretty much gone so she'll be fine."

"Good, thanks Spence." JJ squeezed his arm. "I'll go sit with her." Morgan and Reid knew better than to suggest otherwise. They simply nodded in return.

The full weight of the past twelve hours was finally beginning to take its toll on her as JJ found her sister's room. Plopping onto the nearest seat, she scooted closer to the sleeping girl and took her warm hand into hers.

"I can't believe I almost lost you…again." JJ breathed. "God, I am so sorry I hurt you Leils. I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to you if I have to just please, don't hate me." She pressed the still hand to her lips and held it there. The fear, pain, and anxiety that had lived with her for almost two years was finally gone. Taking in a deep breath, JJ felt as if she could finally breathe again. She was surprised when she released it and felt the overwhelming need to cry. No longer suppressing it, JJ pressed her sister's hand to her cheek and released what felt like a monsoon of tears. Laying her head down at her sister's side, JJ finally allowed herself the release she didn't even know she needed. The guilt of Jeremy's other victims. The fear of being found by him. The anger at letting him escape. It was all just…gone. In its place was a sense of calm that JJ hadn't felt in a very, very long time. She knew she couldn't change what had happened. She also knew that there was a long road ahead of them before they could be whole again. But none of that mattered. The only thing that truly mattered was that they- and their family- had survived. Everything else after that was mendable.

There'll probably be about 2 more chapters until the end! Let me know what you think or what you'd like to see before we wrap this story up for good.