A/N: So, here I am with the next chapter. I am so sorry for the extremely long wait. I hate that it took me so long to update this. I just had to break through my writers' block concerning this story and I feel like I am back on track.

I really hope people are still following this. So let me know!

Special thanks to K8e1, jenny crum and Christiangirl!

I don't own criminal minds!

Chapter 9: Concern

JJ was sitting on the hospital bed, waiting impatiently for the doctor to come back after her examination. Owen had practically forced her into the hospital against her will. Even when she kept telling him she was fine, he didn't listen to her. He had driven them both to the hospital, knowing they were both injured. It would look suspicious if they hadn't asked for medical attention, but both of them knew their covers were in serious dangers if Owen hadn't killed the unidentified intruder. They had been able to sell a story to the police and their boss, Warren. But they were lucky. Well, for now. They still had to brief their official boss at the CIA. He wasn't going to be happy about it.

JJ looked up from the ground and let her thoughts slip away when Owen walked into the room with a concerned look on his face. ''I am fine!'' she said defensively.

''Yeah, I know.'' he laughed as he took a seat right in front of her. ''You did great, JJ. Amazing even considering the circumstances.''

She stared through the window into the emergency room. There were some people but it was mainly empty. ''Did they clear you?''

''I just have a sprained shoulder and I need to keep ice on this.'' he said, lightly touching his eye. It was bruised and swollen from the powerful fist he received. But JJ's face was far worse than his. Her cheek was swollen, her hands were covered bruises and it looked like she hurt her back pretty badly. He lifted his hand and was about to look at her cheek when JJ gently put it back down.

''Owen, don't!'' she whispered sadly.

''I am sorry.''

She sighed deeply. She knew they needed to have a conversation. It had been put off for over a year. And now was the time for it. She needed to be honest. ''Owen, I am finally in a good place.'' she began as she shifted on the bed to put some more distance between them. ''I've been doing really well in the past year without you. I have moved on. I am no longer angry with you, and I'm not pining for you anymore.'' she went on. ''We're just partners and we'll never be more than that again.''

''I know.'' he agreed. ''But that doesn't mean that I don't worry about you. I will always worry about you.''

JJ was about speak when the door opened suddenly. The doctor from before walked in with a few papers in his hands, with a stoic look on his face. He looked from Owen to JJ, seeing some tension between them. But he just continued his path to JJ and stopped next to the bed. ''The x-rays are all clear. You just need to rest for the next week and take some ibuprofen for the pain. And keep ice on your face.'' he explained quickly. ''You're both very lucky to be alive.'' he said.

Just trained to fight or kill anyone who'll get in my way… JJ laughed to herself. They weren't lucky at all. It was what they did. She was trained to fight and to win of course. ''Thank you.'' JJ said before the doctor left the room.

''I'll drop you off at the apartment.'' Owen offered as he rose from the chair.

JJ carefully climbed from the bed and let her feet touch the ground. The pain in her back wasn't that bad. She just felt dizzy and the headache didn't make it any better. ''We have to brief Collins.''

''He's not going to be happy.''

''Leave it to us to get into action when we're not supposed to.'' JJ joked as she walked to the door. She opened it and was followed by Owen. ''Let me do the talking. I think he has a soft spot for me.''

''You think?'' Owen wondered out loud, his voice filled with surprise. ''The guy is a show off regarding you. He knows you're a big part of the achievements SAD has been rewarded for. Losing you would mean that he gets less credit.''

''I learned from the best.'' she whispered while looking to her side. She did learn from the best. She learned from Owen. She was his trainee at the farm.

''You're almost better than me.'' he smiled as they walked out onto the parking lot. He was already preparing himself to face their boss. He knew Collins probably already knew about the break-in, so it wouldn't be that much of a shock when they were going to drop the bomb on him.

At Quantico, Hotch had been fully informed by Rossi about the new tasks he needed to do with his promotion. It was more paperwork than he ever imagined, not to mention the new responsibility that came along with it. But he was very excited about this new chance, and he was going to make the best of it. He was going to show everyone was he could do. And he knew he could lead the team. He was responsible and dedicated to his job. There was no problem at all. But then he suddenly heard a familiar name coming from the TV hanging the bullpen. He dropped his folders, letting them fall to the floor. He turned around and watched one of the reporters on the TV.

''An unidentified male broke into the CEO's office at Chemicaltech Industries. Sources reveal that no one was injured, except the intruder himself.'' the reporter spoke as she stood in front of the company.

Hotch turned the TV off and ran to his desk in a hurry. He leaned down and grabbed the papers and put them in his briefcase. He stormed out of the bullpen and waited for the elevator to open. The fear was going through his body at the thought of JJ being harmed. And in that moment every other thought of work or anything else went out of his head and was replaced with an image of her. He picked up his phone, dialed the number, and sighed deeply when there was no answer. So he tried again. No answer. The elevator finally got there and he was about to step inside when his name was called out. So he kept one foot in the elevator and the other outside as Rossi approached him.

''You seem to be in a hurry.'' Rossi commented as he stopped in front of Hotch. ''I just wanted to wish you good luck. And also, don't let all of this take over your life.''

''I won't, sir! Thank you.''

''Go get your girl.'' Rossi joked. He had seen the change in the profiler since the day began. It had to be a girl. He didn't know of anything else that could make him happy. ''It's all over your face, Hotchner.''

Hotch laughed as he stepped into the elevator. He pushed the button to close the doors and his mind once again went back to his newfound happiness. He and JJ hadn't exactly put a label on their relationship. He just felt it could be a lot more than just casual dates. He wanted it to be, a whole lot more.

And as he stood in that elevator his mind drifted off. She's so sweet, so warm, and so beautiful. I am so lucky. I just hope she's okay. Please, let her be fine.

JJ and Owen were seated on the couch in JJ's apartment when she opened the encrypted video feed and called Collins. They weren't even supposed to call him or talk to him, but the matter was more important than the rules. Something had happened that pertained to the case the two agents were working on. The man had experience with combat, he didn't have any ID on him. It was all too professional for it to be just a simple break-in.

The screen popped up and showed the face of Collins. ''Hello, sir.'' JJ began slightly panicked.

Collins leaned back in his chair, expecting to see the two faces of his top agents. The chemical company had been all over the news. ''What happened? Chemicaltech Industries is all over the news.''

''We had to intervene, sir.'' JJ began, immediately noticing the look on Collins' face change. There really was nothing else they could've done. She did her job, just like Owen did. ''I walked past him in the hallway and I had never seen him before so I decided to call Owen.''

''I am not asking for an explanation!'' Collins said angrily. ''Your assignment was clear, Agent Jareau. You were not to interfere until your handler told you to. Yet you have bruises on your face, which suggest you fought the man.''

JJ was about to talk when Owen interrupted and sat forward on the couch. ''She did it to me save me, sir. I couldn't have handled this on my own.''

''I don't care.'' he said. ''From now on I don't want the two of you involved in anything that might endanger your covers. So be careful. We already have too much invested in this.''

''What about the keycard?''

''One of our agents has taken the liberty to pick it up from your office at Chemicaltech Industries. Another agent will check out the hotel the intruder was staying at.''

''But what are we supposed to do?'' JJ asked desperately.

''The same you've been doing for the past four months. Report any suspicious activity but don't get involved in it.''

The screen went blank when he finished the sentence and JJ rose from the couch slowly, her back still hurting. She started pacing through the living room. She hated to feel powerless. This entire case made her powerless and it wasn't what she was used to. ''God, I hate this.'' she exclaimed. ''How are we supposed to sit here when we know there's a lead out there?''

Owen rose from the couch and stopped next to JJ. He took her arms and held them. ''Collins will handle it, JJ.'' he assured confidently. ''This is the only way. Our analysts looked through everyone at the company before we went undercover. No one seemed suspicious. It's our job to make friends and find out who's selling these weapons.''

''I know.''

''This is what we do, JJ.'' he whispered as he let her go when he felt the heat in his body rise. He needed to step away from the tension he felt, and JJ apparently not. ''We chose this job, and we have to take assignment we get. We don't have a choice.''

JJ suddenly walked to the door and put her hand on the knob. ''You should go. I could really use some sleep.''

''Of course. Sleep well!''

''You too!'' she said. She waited until the door closed to go back into the living room, but she decided to walk straight into her bedroom to change into some comfy clothes. She opened her closet and grabbed some black shorts and a long grey baggy sweater. She dropped the clothes on her bed so she could take off her working clothes. She had insisted to keep them on at the hospital. She didn't feel like changing there and she didn't mind the blood on her clothes. She was used to it after all. Another bonus that came with her job.

She sat down on the edge of the bed when the dizziness claimed her body. She put her hands next to her for support as the wave rushed away. She waited another minute before she continued changing.

Once all of her clothes were off, she quickly put on her shorts and sweater. She was about to grab a blanket from the bed when a knock on the door stopped her. She wasn't expecting anyone, but she still made her way to the door. She opened the door and was almost blown away by the presence of her visitor. It was definitely a good surprise.

Hotch's eyes immediately fell upon her face when the door opened. The shock and worry taking him over completely. ''What happened?'' he gasped with fear as she stepped aside to let him, but he didn't move.

''You can come in.'' she offered sweetly. He then finally stepped into the apartment, his eyes never leaving her face when he proceeded to walk into the living room. ''I am fine, Aaron.'' JJ assured when he froze and just stared into her eyes with much concern.

He stepped forward and gently raised his hand to meet her cheek. His touch was lightly, yet filled with love. And the moment they touched it was so right, with the single touch of a hand. ''I want you to sit down on that couch.'' he began as he guided her to it. ''Then I'll grab some ice and you can tell me what happened tonight.''

''What about your work? I can do this on my own.'' she suggested wisely, but he still put her down on the couch, so she stayed as he walked back to the kitchen.

Hotch opened the freezer and pulled out a bag of frozen beans, a laugh appearing on his face while he did it. The rest of the freezer was filled with pizza. He liked a girl who could eat and who wasn't afraid to do it. He closed the freezer and proceeded to grab a kitchen towel. He put it around the bag and so the coldness wouldn't be too bad when he put it on her face. ''Here you go!'' he said as he handed it to her. He waited for her to put the ice on her face, but then he suddenly noticed the bruising on her knuckles. ''JJ, what happened?''

She sat back on the couch, but also turned so she could face him. ''Someone tried to break in at Checmicaltech Industries.''

''Tried?'' he repeated. ''What did you do? Beat him to the ground?''

Something like that. It took me a little more strength than you describe but I did. God JJ, he isn't supposed to think that. She cursed to herself as she thought of what to say to him. ''Not exactly.'' she began, hissing out when the coldness of the ice reached her cheek. ''One of the security guards came in when it got out of hand. He saved me.'' she lied easily. She had to. There was no other way to make him believe anything. Lying was her only option, and for the first time she realized there was going to be a lot she had to lie about if she wanted to get to know him. ''I was really lucky.'' she yawned.

''You should get some sleep.'' Hotch said caringly. ''You'll probably feel a lot better in the morning.''

''I'll walk you out.'' JJ said as she began to rise from the couch. She put her feet on the ground for support, but as soon as she got up the dizziness made her body go weak. If it wasn't for Hotch arms to support her waist, she would've fallen on the ground. ''Thanks.''

''You know what,'' he began in a whisper as he held JJ by her waist. ''I'll stay with you tonight if you don't mind.''

''You don't have to!''

''I want to.''

They were making their way to the bedroom as JJ was supported by Hotch. She knew that no one had ever looked after her in the way he was. He cared enough to stay the night. Just to make sure she was okay. It warmed her heart in more ways than one and it made her wonder how she got so lucky to meet him.