"I still can't believe that Strauss went to bat for us," Emily said as she and JJ boarded the plane for their next assignment.

"Yeah, she's been acting a little odd ever since I returned from my stint with the State Department. I think that she might feel a bit guilty about how she treated me," JJ replied as she took a seat in her usual place. What she didn't mention to Emily was the fact that Strauss kept looking at her oddly, as if she wanted to say something to JJ, but couldn't quite find the words to formulate her question. Instead, she had the curious habit of looking out for her, winding through the bullpen at the oddest times and letting her gaze linger on JJ for a few long seconds.

And a small part of JJ wanted to reach out to the woman, but there was no way she could do so and not let everyone in on the fact that she hadn't really been transferred, that she had been on a high stake mission with Strauss. Instead, she just nodded at the woman, smiling when she could, but acting like nothing had changed between them in the months since they had both returned to the BAU.

"Hey, where did your mind go?" Rossi asked as he took a seat across from her, and she shrugged a little. "You know, you can confide in me. I was the one who brought you back to us."

That made her chuckle a little as she shook her head. "You may have gotten the ball rolling, but we both know that Strauss was the one that finalized everything. You would never have gotten me back without her approval."

"Perhaps," he replied evenly, giving her a secretive smile that made her want to ask so many questions. Before she could get the first one out, however, she looked up to see Spencer glaring at her, and she let out a sigh. "Give him time. He's just upset."

"He has every right to be, Rossi. I did keep the truth from him for almost half a year. I knew that he had issues with abandonment and death, but I chose to keep him in the dark. And he bought it."

"That's because you did a good job of lying." She flinched at his use of that word, and he reached out to pat her hand lightly. "It was what you had to do, it was what you were trained to do, and you did your job well. Even though I sort of knew that Emily wasn't really dead. You did mess up on one very tiny detail."

"And that would be?"

"You forgot about Emily's wishes for her funeral. She never wanted a casket or a grave, she wanted to be cremated. Or did you forget about that conversation?" JJ could feel her cheeks redden in a bright blush as she nodded. "That's okay, it was a small detail. But it was one that I happened to remember. We always remember the oddest thing about our teams."

"Huh, And what do you remember about me?" she teased as she settled back in her chair, watching his face.

"I remember that there are more layers to you than anyone really knows. Maybe even Hotch." She tried not to flinch at the mention of his name, but for some reason it did unsettle her. Ever since he had come back from his own stint in Afghanistan, there had been some sort of stumbling block between them, and she couldn't quite work her way past that. She missed the easy friendship they had once shared, and while she knew that he might feel a little awkward about their one night stand, she hadn't ever pressured him into having another go at things. After all, she was intent on making things work with Will.

"Hotch has his mind on other things," she murmured as she picked up her tablet and began to flip through the pictures of the two women. She didn't mean to shiver, but she couldn't stop herself, since the victims looked so much like her. Rossi immediately picked up on the move, and she gave him a weak smile.

"It's okay to be bothered by the pictures that we see, Jen. It is never a good thing to become too jaded to the horror that we see." He reached out and patted her hand softly before picking up his own tablet and starting to swipe through the pictures, taking notes on his small notepad as he went.

JJ sighed once more and tried to focus on the pictures, but she could feel eyes on her, staring at her. Looking up from the tablet, she caught Reid's eye, noticing his frown before he quickly turned his head away from her. She had known that things would most likely be strained between them, since he had been close to Emily. She hadn't figured on the amount of anger that he was harboring towards her.

Turning her attention back to the tablet, she flipped unseeingly through the crime scene pictures, wondering if anyone that she knew could ever be capable of this rage and cruelty. A small voice in the back of her head whispered that she did, indeed, though she would never acknowledge that truth, and she bit her lip hard enough to draw blood. "Fuck," she said lowly, causing Rossi to look up at her, frowning a little. "Do you have a tissue?"

"One second," he replied as he patted his suit coat, finding a handkerchief that he quickly handed over to her. JJ took hold of it, bringing it to her lips, and that movement caused a waft of perfume to rise up and tickle her senses. It was a familiar scent, and she struggled to place it as she dabbed away the bright spots of blood.

"I'm sorry, that will stain," she said as she handed it back to him, watching him shrug a little.

"We'll find a way to get it clean," he said, a distant smile on his lips as he tucked it back into his pocket. "Now, what do you think about this case?"

She leaned forward and rested her forearms on the table as she looked into his eyes. "I really don't know what to make of it. I know that there is a lot of rage behind these attacks, that you just don't pour acid on someone's eyes unless you intend to irreparably harm them. It's clear that this unsub has a type, though, since both of these women have blonde hair, and are slight of build."

"Don't worry, one of us will be at your side the entire time," he said, quickly zeroing in on the latent fear that was gnawing at the back of her mind. "It always unsettles me, too, when our unsub chooses victims that resemble me, even only slightly."

"Thank you for understanding." They shared a smile before JJ tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. Emily came and joined them, sitting next to JJ, and she relaxed a little more, letting her thigh touch Emily's, as if to reassure herself that she really was there, and that she wasn't going anywhere soon. "So, do you have a feel on this case yet?"

"A little, but I really hope that I'm wrong. This unsub is building up to his real target, and the closer he gets, the worse the torture is going to be. We'll need to catch him before that happens." JJ nodded and they started to go over their various theories, trying them out to see if they held water.