The tall, blonde agent let herself fall on the bed. Finally, after more than 24 hours, she could close her eyes for a bit and hopefully get some rest. If she was really lucky get some sleep. It was now that she felt how tired her body was. Her eyes were heavy as she slowly closed them.

"You can't run this time.."

JJ immediately opened her eyes and one hand reached for the lamp while her other hand reached for her weapon.

"Who's there!" she yelled, pointing the gun at different corners of the room. But the motel room was completely abandoned except for her.

It was just a dream, a hallucination. She felt stupid for being so jumpy.

So far for getting some rest.

She grabbed her phone. She promised Will to contact him as soon as possible.. She should text him, let him know she was okay. But the problem was she didn't know if she was okay. Even though she didn't want him to worry, she felt reluctant to contact him. JJ felt her cheek. It was still sore, but thankfully she was able to cover up the bruise. It was the least of her problems now.
Then she saw an incoming text from her boss.

'New case: possible abduction missing girl' was all the text said.

Man, they can't be serious not when they've just closed one. Not in the weekend when she needed the free days so hard.

The phone rang, Hotch.

"Hey Hotch" she said, immediately responding.

"JJ, I'm sorry for waking you, we've possibly got a new case" he said in his business-like voice.

"I know, I just read your text. Hotch I'm sorry, I can't come in" she stuttered. How was she going to explain this.

"Why not?" she could hear some superstition in his voice.

"I just.. I can't really explain it.. I'm sorry, but believe me it's impossible for me to get to Quantico right now" she said.

"Okay, where are you now?" his voice sounded worried.

"Uhmm.. I'm.. it's kind of a family matter. I wanted to call you tomorrow, but now that I speak to you could I perhaps take my vacation days?" she asked, already regretting that she didn't spend those days with Henry.

"Yes, I suppose that should be possible" he paused for a moment "JJ, is everything all right?"

"Hotch, I'm fine.. really" she tried to sound as convincing as possible.

"JJ, you're not obligated to tell me what's going on but I do need to know you're okay" she didn't get away with it that easily.

"I'm okay Hotch, I swear" JJ sighed, she was tired of all the lies but she couldn't possibly tell the truth. Therefore she compromised.
"Hotch I'm... how to say this... something has come up and I need to figure this out. I don't know how long it's going to take. I am okay, believe me I am. But I'm just a bit ... confused I guess."

There was a moment of silence between them. Both knew it was a pretty step for her to be so revealing.

"Thank you JJ. If you need me don't ever hesitate to call me" it was all he could do.

"Thanks, I will" she hung up. It was probably one of the most personal talks they had since a few years. And that was a strange thought. She and Hotch use to be closer in some weird way, but for some reason they both became a bit more distant since she had returned to the team. She realized she'd missed him a bit.

She rolled over. Her weapon still in her hand. She wasn't allowed to carry the weapon when she wasn't on duty, therefore she had bought a private weapon. JJ actually hated weapons and was fierce fully against the ease with which civilians could purchase them, but this one time she had to make an exception.

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All in all she slept for about two perhaps three hours. It was as if she'd slept on the floor. Her body was sore and the muscles in her shoulders painfully cramped, causing her an headache.

It was a beautiful day, the sun shined and the temperature was nice enough to wear a T-shirt. She drove down the streets she had always wanted to escape from. Everything still looked the same, as if time had stood still. She parked in front of a beautiful white house and rang the doorbell. She would have been excited if the reason for her visit wasn't so dark.

"JJ!" Sandy Jareau opened the door and greeted her daughter with a hug.

"Mom" she let her go so JJ could breathe again.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming to visit me! Or are you working on a case?" Sandy could not believe her eyes, it was so good to see her little girl again.

"I wanted to surprise you! And no, I'm not working on a case, but I'm doing some research in Pennsylvania " JJ added, which wasn't a lie entirely.

Sandy knew better than to ask too many questions about her work. She looked at her daughter and hugged and kissed her again. Then they went into the house where Sandy made them a cup of tea and JJ phoned Will to tell him she was okay. The living room bathed in sunlight as the two woman sat next to each other babbling about the family and their lives. Sandy took in every second with her beautiful daughter, all the time that she got with her felt like a gift.

"And how is our town doing?" JJ asked.

"Just fine, Helen got married with Ben this summer" Sandy babbled a while about who's marrying who and who's gotten pregnant.

"So only good news then?"

"Yes, I believe so" Sandy answered. Her daughter smiled at her, that answer seemed to relieve her a bit.

"And how are you? Anything special happened lately?" she asked.

"No, not really. Everything's just fine, especially when you're around. So are you going to stay in your room or should I make up the guestroom?" Sandy said.

JJ thought about it for a little while but then asked her mother to make up the guestroom.