A/N: Here's another chapter. I hope you all like it!

Special thanks to jenny crum, 2Addicted2YourLove, snuggleUP and BAUMember!

I don't own criminal minds!

Chapter 31: Night out

JJ walked into the bar in a hurry after she had parked her car on the side of the street. She rushed past some people and finally spotted Hotch and his team. They were laughing with each other as JJ approached the table, feeling excited to spent time with Hotch and the people closest to him. It was about time something like that were to happen. They had been together for three months and their relationship was progressing relatively fast in JJ's eyes. She didn't mind it all. She loved it. She loved Hotch, so every moment spent with him were the best in her life.

Hotch caught JJ out of the corner of his eye and he immediately stood up from the booth to greet her. It was very hard to miss her in any crowd. She was wearing a black dress with a taupe blazer and black heels. From her outfit he realized she had probably came down from work. It had been a week since she returned from London, and he knew she was under a lot of pressure at work since the CEO of Chemicaltech had died suspiciously.

He stepped right in front of her and quickly kissed her on the lips, pulling her close to his body as he did so. ''Hi babe!'' he said happily as he took her hand.

''Hi yourself.'' JJ greeted back as she looked at him. He was wearing casual clothing instead of his usual suit. She had to admit that she liked both on him, but tonight he somehow looked hotter than usual. He was wearing a dark blue sweater with a white dress shirt underneath and his favorite jeans. It suited him extremely well. ''You look hot tonight!'' JJ whispered in his ear teasingly, looking over his shoulder to see his team members and one woman staring at both of them intently. ''Hotty Hotch. Your nickname!'' she said joyfully, remembering that she had promised to tell his colleagues how he got the nickname. It was very simple actually. A woman at the academy had shorted his name to Hot instead of Hotchner, and as the name spread he became known for Hotty Hotch. There wasn't much to tell but JJ had a great laugh when he explain with an embarrassing expression how he got the name from his peers.

''Don't you dare tell them!'' Hotch warned her playfully.

''Or what?'' she dared.

He leaned in closer and put his lips to her neck and pulled away again and lingered close to her ear. ''No sex for you tonight!''

''Oh, you wouldn't!'' she said as she slapped his chest. They finally walked to the booth where Baker, Cooper and Fowler were seated. ''Hi guys.'' JJ said as she slipped into the booth next to Cooper as Hotch sat down beside her.

''Hey,'' the three men said in unison, all of them excited to see their boss so extremely happy.

Baker turned to his wife happily, looking at her with much love and joy. ''Mel, this is Jennifer Allen, Hotch's new love.'' he stated, receiving a smirk from everyone but Hotch himself. ''Jennifer, this is Melanie, my wife.''

Both women shook hands quickly. ''Nice to meet you!'' JJ said.

''Likewise.'' Melanie said sweetly. She was the typical girl from the south, filled with sweetness and laughter at every occasion. ''Would you like to go to the bar for a drink and leave these guys behind?'' she asked JJ.

''Yeah, of course.'' JJ replied while Hotch let her out of the booth. She gave him a quick squeeze in his hand before she followed Melanie out to the bar, feeling happier than ever because was actually involved in a social occasion with real people. It felt absolutely amazing to her and it only made her realize what she had missed out on for such a long time. She had first felt that when she had gone to breakfast with Emily. Afterwards Emily had quickly become a good friend, but their jobs had kept them from meeting up again since both of them had hectic schedules, but they texted each other weekly to stay in touch.

Hotch sat back down, well dropped down as his eyes stayed on JJ until she had disappeared from his sight. He couldn't not look at her.

''He's so whipped!'' Fowler said to break his boss' obvious daze.

Hotch looked up with a smile on his face and looked at his friends. ''Thanks, Bryan!'' he said to Fowler. ''Do you two have anything to say? To mock me?'' he asked the other two, knowing more was coming his way.

Cooper suddenly raised his glass in response. ''To Hotch,'' he began as the other raised their glasses as well. ''May he always be this happy!''

''Thanks,'' Hotch said as he put his glass of scotch back down.

''Seriously Hotch, you're so lucky.'' Baker began. ''She's beautiful.''

''Smokin' hot.'' Cooper added.

''Drop-dead gorgeous.'' Fowler ended.

Hotch took a sip from his scotch with a wide grin on his face. ''Thanks, but it would be nice if you all stop looking at her like that.'' he said, the jealousy present in his voice as he said it. It was fairly obvious that JJ could easily receive attention from other men, and that thought scared him. She was everything he never thought he could get in another person and the fear of losing her sometimes consumed him. His love with JJ was exciting and thrilling, but also normal and real. As opposed to his relationship with Haley, JJ was more understanding and more compassionate. She never blamed him for any absence when he was away on a case. It hadn't happened once. He had always needed someone to let him be himself, and now he had finally found that person in the blonde stunner who had obviously won his heart the moment they first met.

He took another look at JJ and he watched her walk in the direction of the restrooms. So he jumped from his seat and left his colleagues behind to follow JJ so they would have a moment away from the prying but friendly eyes. He quickly caught up with her and gently pulled her back by the arm. ''Hey,'' he breathed out as she looked at him in surprise.

''Are you having fun?'' JJ asked as she settled with her back against the wall behind her.

Hotch stepped closer towards her, holding both of her hands. ''I am.'' he responded. ''But I can't wait go home and move you into my apartment this weekend.''

''You're going to regret ever asking me!'' she scolded. ''I can be a totally different person.'' she joked, even though it wasn't at all funny. In reality she wasn't a different person with him. She was hundred percent herself. He just didn't know about her job, her past and her family or friends. But he probably knew her better than anyone else in her life, and she loved that. It was something only they shared, but he didn't even know it.

''Hmmm…'' he murmured as he leaned, their lips connecting fiercely while he pulled her flush against his body. His hands were settled on her sides, and slowly making their way down to her butt when a cough from another person behind them caused them both to break apart.

''Sorry!'' JJ whispered to the man behind them as the man walked away with an ashamed look on his face. ''That wasn't awkward.'' she commented.

''It wasn't for me.''

''You're so full of yourself.'' she joked, the short vibration of her phone causing her to stop talking. She quickly took the phone from her purse and looked down at the simple text from Owen. He needed her to come into the CIA for a meeting with Collins.

''Work again?'' he asked, feeling slightly upset at the fact that JJ had been called away two nights in a row.

''Yeah,'' she said as she looked up at him with regret. ''There's a lot to deal with after Warren's death. I'm sorry.''

''It's okay.'' he reassured. ''You should go. I'll see you tonight.'' he said before walking back into the bar.

JJ was left standing in the back of the bar as a wave of guilt and emotion hit her suddenly. She hated the moments when they were interrupted. But she quickly got herself together and left the bar in a hurry to find her car and drive down to Langley.

On the way to Langley, JJ had been taking in her surroundings like she always did. She was always on the lookout for someone who could be following her, and this time a suspicious black sedan with tinted windows had been ten feet behind for over fifteen minutes, even as she took turns, trying to make sure she wasn't actually being followed.

So she quickly sped up the car and hurried into busier traffic on the highway to lose the sedan. It took her over ten minutes to lose it, but once she did she reached Langley with a nagging feeling about who it could've been.

She had quickly parked her car and she was in the familiar bullpen within five minutes. People were still working late in the evening, which didn't surprise her. Their case had taken extreme precedence over anything else. They were talking about a nuclear bomb being sold onto the black market with the ability to kill millions of innocent people. It was even JJ's first priority. Some night she lay awake as theories claimed her thoughts, but she couldn't come up with anything reasonable. Her investigation into Howard Schmidt's disappearance had also led to a dead end. There was absolutely nothing in the police reports that could help them.

''JJ!'' Owen called out, standing in the doorway of the conference room. ''We're in here.''

JJ immediately turned into his direction and hurried into the room and closed the door behind her. ''What's happening?'' she asked curiously.

''The three men who attacked you and Tyler Warren were identified of a list of men who are part of a terrorist extremist cell in the Middle East.'' Collins replied almost immediately. ''They were with Asad Hawsawi, but our agents have failed to track him down.''

''So we have nothing.'' JJ commented simply, both men looking up at her with wide eyes. ''We have no plan, no idea which Russian group is involved and no idea where Asad Hawsawi is hiding out.'' she went on. ''What we do know is that Hawsawi and the Russians want to get the weapon in their possession, and we have no idea where it is!''

''JJ!'' Owen interrupted to slow her down.

''You had every chance to interrogate Warren!'' Collins said in anger as he rose from his chair.

''Do I need to remind you that I was trying to keep us both alive when three men attacked us while I was waiting for back-up?'' she shot back angrily. ''The reason we lost Warren is because I was on my own! What is it exactly that you expect from me, sir?''

Collins was about to speak when Owen stepped between both of them to keep their meeting from exploding. Pressure was running high for everybody in the agency. They had to keep their eyes on the price, but like JJ said they had absolutely nothing to go on.

''If you had tasked satellite surveillance system like I had suggested after Isamm Hawsawi broke into Chemicaltech Industries, we wouldn't be in this predicament.'' she added angrily. ''I want to catch these people just as much as you do, sir.'' she said as politely as she possibly could in that moment. ''But we need to communicate and you need to involve the entire division and not just your best agents. We need everyone!'' she said as she took a step backwards, being closer towards the door.

''JJ is right, sir.'' Owen said. ''We need everyone on this. We're talking about trying to prevent another terrorist attack, which has to be our top priority right now.''

''We'll debrief everyone tomorrow morning.'' Collins said flatly before he walked out of the conference room, leaving Owen and JJ behind.

''I guess I'll see you tomorrow then.'' Owen said, turning his back to JJ when he was ready to walk out as well.

''I can't. I won't be here tomorrow.'' she stated simply. She and Hotch were moving her stuff tomorrow, and there was no way she was going to call of that plan. No way in hell. ''I don't know what Collins wants from me, but he can't expect me to be at his constant back and call.''

''It's your job, JJ.'' Owen reminded her.

''No my job is my cover at Chemicaltech Industries, where I have been acting as a crisis manager since Warren died three weeks ago. Even in London I helped making arrangement for Chemicaltech Industries.'' she said angrily, the anger reaching the surface. She had been overworked and no one thought about giving her a break for once. ''I want to help, but there's absolutely nothing I can contribute at the briefing tomorrow. But do tell Collins that I was being followed tonight probably because of what I do!''

Owen stepped in front of her when she was about to walk away. ''You're changing!'' he observed.

''No, Owen.'' she began. ''I'm finally being myself.'' she said and then she walked past him, ready to go home to the man she loved and spent the entire weekend alone with him. Away from her job and the stress it was putting upon her. She was in desperate need to have some time off and she finally have a chance to have a weekend away from it all since she started seeing Hotch, and she'd take full advantage of that.