"I don't get it, Em. Why? Why me?" JJ shivered.

"Because you challenged him." The brunette countered. "When he propositioned you, you didn't accept; he's not the kind of guy used to being told no."

"How did no one see it?" She asked incredulously. "How did he walk around killing people- entire families, even- and no one noticed that he fit the profile?"

Emily pulled JJ into her arms. "Because he was in charge, Jen. And even though he was a jerk, no one wanted to believe he was capable of what they were seeing. Rossi wasn't fooled though; remember how he reacted the first day?"

JJ nodded. "Yeah. He didn't give me a chance to defend myself. He jumped right in."

"Right, which isn't like Dave. He lets people fight their own battles until they need backup. But right away, he knew something was off about that guy."

JJ nodded again, relaxing into Emily. "I'm just glad it's over and they caught him."

"And that Rossi put a bullet in his wrist." Emily grinned.

The interrogation took longer than Hotch expected expected it would. Bateman wasn't talking, and a handful of his coworkers refused to do anything involving the case.

Morgan took Reid to explore Bateman's off-the-record studio apartment, searching for clues. It was a place Garcia found buried in his bank account, the monthly rent checks his only direct link. He had a house that he lived in, so having an apartment didn't make much sense. Not unless there was something to hid e

It didn't take long to find the clues. When Morgan unlatched the lock, light flooded the room, illuminating a wall filled with photos much like the evidence board at the precinct. The Laraby's each had a photo tacked to the cork board, with a list of routines outlined underneath. Beside them was taped pictures of the O'Connell family, the same type of list posed underneath.

Reid snapped a photo of the board with his phone, texting it to Rossi and Hotch. "Morgan, look." He said, pointing at the next panel of pictures. It was another series of family photos, this time labeled "Hammonds." Beneath those were photos of Emily and JJ, both taken at the station and at the first crime scene.

"Shit, he had more victims in mind." Morgan muttered, rubbing his neck.

"And he was stalking JJ."

"You want to tell me about the Hammonds, Bateman?" Rossi slid the wooden chair out from the interrogation table.

Bateman shrugged. "Don't know a Hammonds."

"Think hard, I'm sure you'll come up with something."

The officer tilted back in his chair. "I'm guessing they're some people that live in town based on the tone of your voice."

Rossi opened a file folder without a word, sliding a photo in front of the suspect. Bateman's eyes widened, images of his trophy board laid out before him. Quickly, he recovered his composure. "So?"

Rossi stared incredulously. "So? So these are people, Julius. People you swore To protect. And now they're names on a hit list. And for what?"

"They all deserved what they got."

"Is that a confession?"

Bateman's eyes glazed over. "No, I'm simply stating an opinion."

"Based on what, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Do you have any idea what its like in this town? To be a cop? You'd think you'd get a little respect, but no. That's asking too much. First those assholes acted like I was profiling them, then they got on that stupid chat room and bad mouthed the profession. How would you feel?"

Rossi lifted his head, folding his arms. "Pissed off?" He guessed. "I'd feel disrespected, like the people I was serving didn't care if I was there or not."

"Exactly! Money is all those guys cared about; how much cash they'd have to shell out on a ticket. You know, Larraby actually had the nerve to ask if I'd reduce his recorded speed so it would be a lesser fine?"

"And did you?"

Bateman slammed a fist onto the table. "No! Why should I? If he couldn't pay it, he shouldn't have had a lead foot."

"What about Mr. Hammond?" Rossi asked, pushing forward the photo.

He bit his lip, his eyes narrowed with disgust. "It was that fat pig of a wife of his. She started crying her eyes out she I handed her the ticket, like that was going to change my mind."

"Did she post on the site too?"

"She didn't have to. Her husband did it for her." Bateman sneered. "He started telling people that I was a womanizer, that I unfairly gave his wife a ticket because she refused to flirt back with me."

"Officer Bateman, I get why you're upset. I do. You risk your life every day for these people, and they don't even have the decency to respect you. But don't you think your reaction is a little over the top? You don't see anything wrong with the fact that you just told me you considered their murders as justice for their contempt?"

"No, I don't." He said coldly.

Rossi nodded, shifting subjects. "You seemed awfully confident that you'd be going to jail when we arrested you. Do you want to tell me why?"

Bateman stiffened, becoming defensive. "Because Warren called me when that cop of yours fell jogging. He told me that the lab made a mistake and matched my fingerprints to her phone and to one of the crime scenes." He shrugged, maintaining eye contact. "I've been in the business long enough to know that when someone wants you framed and they got DNA evidence on you, you're going down."

"So the prints were a false positive, then?"

"Of course." Bateman insisted dismissively.

Rossi nodded again. "What about the fact that we have a witness for the attack?"

"Witness?" Bateman's tone shifted. "What witness? Warren said that blonde keeled over when she hit her head. Who saw her fall?"

JJ had been admitted to the hospital as a Jane Doe; only the doctor knew her name, and that was because he had to have her medical records transferred in. Hotch told Warren that JJ had been killed on the path, but he had been very clear in specifying that she was attacked. The team had decided to say she died in order to protect her until the unsub was caught. Apparently it worked.

"Actually, Agent Jareau pulled through after all. Isn't that great news?"

Bateman turned pale. "Oh… uh… of course it is."

"You know what's even better news?" Rossi smiled. Bateman just shook his head, unable to speak. "She remembers everything. Including the part where you attacked her and left her for dead."

Bateman fumed. "That bitch deserved it. All I did was try to be nice. That day, here- she turned me down in front of everyone. She didn't even have the decency to answer herself. She had you do it. And then that morning, I saw her running. So when she got off the phone, I asked her if she wanted to get breakfast. And you know what she said? She said that she had to get back to someone. I mean what the fuck, man? I told her that I didn't buy it, to give me a chance- and she started walking away. What was I supposed to do?"

Rossi did his best to keep his tone even. "You were supposed to let her."

"That's not how it works. When a man tells you to do something, a bitch does it. Period." Bateman raged. "And then she lied and said she was seeing that other chick, the one with the sling. She kept rambling about how it wasn't official, like I fucking cared."

"Is that why you left the note?"

"Damn right." Bateman crossed his arms, nodding. "I wasn't really going to do anything- I was just pissed off." He snickered, pleased with himself. "And I knew I didn't hit hard enough to kill her. Just enough to teach her a lesson."

"Bateman, we've got you on everything. On both murders, and the attack of a federal agent. Why don't you make this easy for yourself and just tell us what happened? Avoid dragging this out in a court room?"

"Go to hell."

"So you think Warren is the missing piece?" Hotch asked, listening at the glass.

Morgan responded by bobbing his head. "Someone was covering for him, Hotch. There's no way evidence mysteriously went missing without help. Warren had to have been giving him warnings- like the finger print thing."

Hotch nodded. "Put him in a room next to Bateman and see what you can get. Being careless is one thing, but covering for him- covering up the evidence to exclude Bateman as a suspect..." He shook his head. "I don't want to leave here with a dirty cop still in rank."

Emily awakened to the heartbreaking sound of JJ crying, tears dampening the pillow the two. were sharing.

"Jen? What is it? What's wrong?" Emily asked, immediately alert.

JJ's back was propped up against the headboard, her knees pulled into her chest. She whispered, "I'm fine, Em. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

"Hey, talk to me." Emily smiled, wiping away the blonde's tears.

"It's stupid."

"It isn't stupid to me." She insisted.

JJ hesitated, still hugging her knees. The last thing Jennifer wanted was for Emily to think she was weak, but the pain was becoming unbearable. "It just hurts." She whimpered, trying not to cry. It was stupid because crying made her lungs catch fire, but laying there with the throbbing pain made tears well in her eyes. It was a vicious, insensible cycle.

Emily melted. JJ never cried, unless it was at an ASPCA commercial, and she certainly never complained. The pain had to be a 20 on a scale of 1 to ten for her to be this miserable. "Did you take anything, baby?"

JJ shook her head. She had thought about it, but the bottle of pain killers was on the bathroom sink; she'd only made it as far as sitting up before her lungs gave way. "I was going to…" her voice trailed off, the tears returning.

The brunette kissed JJ's forehead before pulling back the blankets and heading to the bathroom. She read the prescription label and poured two speckled pills into her palm. "Here." She smiled. "Take these, and I'll go get you a drink."

Emily disappeared, leaving JJ to stare at the pills in her hand. She hated pain killers, and the way they made her feel. But right now, she would take anything over the pain she was in. A few minutes later, Emily returned carrying a cup of hot tea and an oversized ice pack.

Wrapping the ice in a towel, Emily gently placed it on Jennifer's very-blue rib cage. "Drink the tea, Jen. It'll help relax the muscles around your lungs." She longed to hold JJ and soothe away her pain, but she knew that JJ needed to be still. Instead, Emily attentively brushed the blonde's hair behind her ear.

Slowly, JJ relaxed. The pain began melting away, becoming a dull annoyance instead of the paralyzing agony it had been for the last hour. "I love you, Emily Prentiss. Thank you for taking care of me." She murmured, already falling back asleep.

Emily smiled. Carefully, she slid her good arm under JJ's shoulders and slid her back into a lying position. JJ didn't stir. Emily fixed the ice pack so that it stayed on her stomach before turning off the light and resigning herself to spending the night watching JJ dream, just in case the blonde awoke and needed something else. With a gentle kiss, Emily whispered, "I love you more."

A/N: Sorry, I know this chapter covered the last case quite a bit. But I wrote chapter 11 half asleep yesterday, and didn't like some of the loose ends I left after re-reading today. So this clarified things a little more. I promise, more Jemily fluff will fill the next few chapters as they begin to navigate their relationship (and as the team officially finds out). Suggestions? Predictions? I'd love to know what you all think so far, especially of chapters like this where there's a lot of tying up loose ends. What do you guys want to see happen in the future? Stay tuned and please review! Thanks for reading! :)