JJ knew that Strauss was pissed from the moment she stormed into the bullpen. JJ went to stop her from heading into the interrogation room, but she was too late. Unable to stop herself from wincing as the door slammed closed behind her, she only prayed that everything would be okay, and that Rossi would come out of the encounter alive.

Shaking her head a little, she turned to Emily, relieved to finally have her back among the living. "It is so good to see your face," she said, needing a way to relieve the tension of the moment. There were times, like these, when she felt overwhelmed by everything happening at once, and she struggled to keep a happy smile on her lips.

"I know, I never thought that I would see you so soon." Emily stepped forward and ran her hand up and down JJ's arm, comforting her. "I didn't mean for them to be so upset. Maybe I should have let you tell them."

JJ shook her head violently. "No, the last time that one of our own made that sort of mistake, the results were disastrous. Doyle would never have stopped hunting you through us, and who knows how many funerals you would have missed."

The vehemence in her voice startled Emily, and she watched the woman nod a little before reaching out and squeezing JJ's hand. "I know. I just never wanted you to be on the receiving end of the silent treatment. I know how much it sucks."

"Yeah." The door to the interrogation room slammed once more, and they both watched Strauss storm off. A few moments later, Rossi was hurrying out as well, and JJ wondered if he was following after her. Knowing that she couldn't devote her full attention to the task at hand if she let her mind wander, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to center herself once more. "So, about finding Declan…"

The rest of the day passed quickly, and JJ felt bone weary as she trudged into her home. All the lights were off, and she tried to be as quiet as possible, not wanting to wake Henry. Somehow, she managed to stumble into her room, smiling when she saw Will fast asleep, his hand on her pillow. Making her feet take her body over to her side of the dresser, she pulled out a pair of shorts and a tank top before going into the bathroom and completing her nightly ablutions.

Her partner hadn't budged by the time she returned, and she grinned tiredly as she pulled back the sheets and slipped in next to him. There was something so comforting about his warm presence next to her, and she snuggled in close, trying desperately not to think about the day she had just had. They were no closer to finding Doyle, and Rossi had still been acting weird, even after returning from Strauss's office.

The moment her head hit the pillow, though, it seemed like sleep was miles away. Heaving out a deep sigh, she turned onto her side and studied Will, thinking about how supportive he'd been during her transition back to the BAU. Reaching out, she caressed his face before scooting closer and letting her forehead come to rest against his, syncing their breathing very quickly. That seemed to be all she needed to finally drift off, and she fell asleep with a smile on her lips.

Hours later, however, she was waking with a start, her pleasant dream having turned into a massive nightmare. Trying to control her breathing, she pulled her legs up to her chest and let herself cry as she buried her face in her knees. Next to her, Will stirred before sitting up and blinking wearily at her. "Jay?"

"Go back to sleep, I just had a nightmare. I'll rejoin you in a moment." She went to slip out of bed so that she could wash her face when his hand shot out and closed around her wrist. "What?"

"Tell me about it. Sometimes that makes the nightmare fade away more quickly."

She bit her lip as she shrugged, wiping away the tears that had gathered on her cheeks. "It was horrible. I dreamt that I hadn't miscarried the baby, but rather, carried her to term. And just after I gave birth, Doyle stole into my hospital room and spirited her away. Hotch and I tracked him down, but before he could tell me where my baby was, Derek shot him."

"That sounds like a doozy of a dream, cher. I wonder what could have brought it on?" he asked as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, drawing her close to his chest. She shrugged a little before resting her head against his chest and taking a deep breath.

"I wish that I knew. I am missing my baby a lot on this case, since we're looking for Doyle's kid. Maybe my psyche is conflating the two, and showing me my worst, most horrible, nightmare of an outcome for this case?"

"Maybe," he responded as he began to stroke her hair. "Have you thought about taking a vacation when this case is over? I'm worried about you burning out. After all, you've been clearing cases at the rate of more than one a week."

"That would be so lovely," she breathed out as she sank down in the bed once more, pillowing her head on her hands as she looked up at him. "I don't know if I can do that, though. Emily isn't certain that she's going to stay with us, no matter what she tells Strauss, and if we don't have her on the team, there's no one to take my place if we were to get away."

As JJ watched, his jaw tightened a little, and she wondered what she had said to upset him so. "They got along just fine without you when you were overseas. And no one ever called on you, to make certain that you were doing all right. You were always the one to reach out. I don't know why you consider them such good friends."

"Because we work together so closely. We know secrets about each other that we could never tell to another soul, and that binds you to someone a lot more than just being casual friends. It's almost like I'm married to all of them, in different ways." JJ took hold of his hand and threaded their fingers together as she closed her eyes once more. "I know that you have to feel something like that, with your partner on the force. You need to have that bond, to know that they have your back in a tense situation, or you wouldn't have any trust there."

Will nodded a little before leaning over and kissing her forehead lightly. "I suppose that you're right, Jen. Now, try to get back to sleep, and not let any ghosts of the past hold sway over your future."

She gave a small nod before burrowing in close to him once more, pressing her nose against his chest and breathing in the last remnants of his cologne mixed with his natural scent, trying to calm her senses. That scent, along with the feel of his hands stroking her hair was enough to put her back under, her last thought being a prayer to God that she wouldn't have any more dreams that night.