She saw the panic in her moms eyes as she let out a scream. She had forgotten that she must've looked terrible. Then in the corner of her eyes she saw a man appear at the top of the stairs.

Hotch!

It was as if someone had given her an electric shock.

Her mind was terrible slow at processing his appearance. Had he heard her silent screams for him? No... of course he couldn't have. But how..?

She looked at her mom, then at Hotch and then back at her mom.

"JJ! My God..What happened?" her mom said.

"Mom.. it's Smitty.. he's in the hospital..." JJ gathered her courage to speak.

"What?" her mom asked in disbelief.

"I was going to meet him at a crime scene at the woods.. but this storm.. branches were falling.. when I found him he was lying on the ground.." JJ choked up, she immediately pictured him on the ground with that horrible groan. The sound was filling her head, when she realized that her mom was talking to her.

"You were in the hospital all this time? How bad is it?" her mother looked awfully pale.

"The blow to his head caused a swelling in his brain.. they can only tell what the damage is if he wakes up" she was ... heavily. Fighting against the tears. The if-part hadn't slipped her mother's attention.

"I'm going over there right now" her mother grabbed her bag while JJ gave her the address.

Hotch walked down the stairs. It was the first time they met since his phone call. It was silent for a moment, while his worried face was taking her in.

"Are you hurt?" he asked softly.

The moment he asked her she could feel the cut in her arm sting. It had stopped bleeding and she had ignored it in the hospital.

"Just my arm" she replied as softly as he'd asked.

He carefully took her arm in his hands as he inspected the cut. JJ started to feel very small when Hotch's intensive stare went over arm.

"I don't think it has to be stitched, but it certainly must be disinfected" he finally said, "why don't you wash off the dirt while I'll search for an emergency kit?"

"It's in the left cabin in the kitchen."

After JJ had taken a short shower and after Hotch had attended her arm they sat down and JJ finally asked the question she'd been wanting to ask since she had seen him: "So what are you doing here?"

"I got a phonecall from your mom, telling me she was worried about you and if I got get you off the research that I apparently had given you."

JJ felt how she started to blush, she could've guessed this.

"What did you say?"

"That I would see if I could help you out with the research."

"And you immediately hopped on the first plane to Penn?" she asked suspiciously.

This time it was Hotch that started to feel uncomfortable.

"I've tried to call you first.. but to be honest it wasn't the first call I received. Will had also called me, telling me he was worried about you."

Will! She'd almost forgotten about him. He'd gone behind her back! She angrily looked away. He'd betrayed her.. again.

"Are you.."

"I'm okay" she snarled at him. What else had Will said? Instinctively she wanted to feel her cheek, but she was able to suppress the urge.

She stood up, she wanted to walk away, but she knew she couldn't. So she nervously walked from one corner to another.

"So JJ, what is this 'research' about?" he asked firmly.

She owed him an explanation, she knew that.. but it didn't make it any less difficult to begin..

"Let me show you."

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They were sitting on the floor in the guestroom with their backs against the wall, again staring down at the women and girls.

"I've taken a look, but I couldn't see any significant patterns, except for the woods" Hotch said.

"I know, neither could I" JJ frowned, she knew the answer was in there.. hidden..

"So what are you searching for and why?" Hotch knew she needed a bit of space to tell what was going on.

"I'm searching for a common factor.. a killer. Because.. well" she sighed, this was the hardest part "for about a week I've been receiving phonecalls.. Calls from someone I don't know. They immediately were very threatening."

"Threatening? What did he say?"Hotch frowned, he couldn't hide his concern.

"In the first phonecall he started with "Jennifer, Remember me" he told me not to hang up unless I wanted to lose my mother as well" she remembered not to let her mom too far out of her sight.

"As well?" Hotch asked.

"Like the rest of my family"

"Why didn't you inform us?" he sounded more accusing than he wanted.

"I'm not sure.. I wanted to but.."

"But what?" JJ didn't reply "but what JJ, what stopped you?" Hotch repeated.

"I don't know.. He'd said that he knew what was on my mind and that I shouldn't do it. He called me Jenny."

"Does that mean something to you?"

JJ looked at the floor.

"JJ?" he whispered.

"The only one who ever called me that, was.. my sister Rosaline" that thought had lingered somewhere in the back of her mind, but it was weird to say those words out loud.

"You think he knew about that?" Hotch asked.

"Well, I don't know how he could've known.. it was so many years ago.."

"One thing is certain, these are very personal calls" he let the Jenny thing rest.. for now at least.

JJ nodded. "It feels like he knows me, but I have no clue who he is.. the way he speaks, the words he is using.. he'd said "our friend" before.. before Smitty was.. "

Hotch stared at her silently. She no longer tried to hide her distress. She looked really tired as she automatically put her arms across her chest as if she wanted to shield herself. He wanted to reach out his hand, comfort her. But he was always a reserved man and pretty reluctant when it came down to physical contact. Sometimes he caught himself whishing that he was more like Derek Morgan, who had no problem offering someone his shoulder or to put his hand on someone's shoulder. Or for that matter even Dave Rossi. It came so natural to them both.

"You think he has something to do with him?" he asked breaking the silence.

JJ told him about the latest phone call and what she thought she had heard before the call was ended. Hotch listened to her silently and seriously.

"Why do you think your caller has anything to do with the murders of these woman and girls?" he wondered.

"In one phonecall he just said 'all those pretty deaths...' I know it's so thin and weak to go on, but I started to look at the statistics. The death rate in this jurisdiction are pretty high last two years. Higher than you'd expected" she took her time, collecting her thoughts. "When I left from Smitty with these boxes, he'd called me, saying that I followed his bread crumbs."

JJ slowly dared to look at Hotch. His eyes were soft, just like his facial expression.

"I will help you, if you let me" he spoke with his pleasant voice.

JJ nodded.

She felt how he put his hand on hers, it was as if an electric sparkle ran through her body the moment his fingers touched her skin. She saw how he swallowed as he bat his eyes.

His thumb slowly stroke the back of her hand. Then he let go.