A/N: First of all, I would like to thank you all for responding to my question in my last a/n. And of course thank you for the reviews. As always it means the absolute world to me and I love all of you guys for reading, following, favoriting and reviewing this story.

So I have made big changes to the plot of this story since there was a mix of wishes for the course of this story. All that I will say is that JJ and Hotch are going to be together sooner than I first planned and will be happy, but their happy happy ending is going to have to wait some time. So more about JJ's family, Owen, and some new characters will be revealed. All will become clear with time and I hope everyone will stick around for this journey. Let me know if you guys want to see anything happen in this story and I might be able to make it happen.

I borrowed some wise words for this chapter from Rossi out of a CM episode.

I also would like to give a huge amount of thanks to CriminalCrazy for being absolutely amazing and helping me out!

And a specials thanks to iluvhotchme, cRiMiNaLmInDsObSeSsIoN, snuggleUP, jenny crum, HotchRocks, chen88212, 2Addicted2YourLove, Christiangirl, Casie01, lovecm, Jareau37 and guest!

I don't own criminal minds!

Chapter 58: Battlefield

In an attempt to distract himself, Hotch had locked himself up in his office with stacks of case files. It had been hours since he walked away from JJ and midnight was getting closer. His head was aching painfully and the two glasses of scotch he had consumed didn't seem to work. So after he had given up on work he had grabbed his phone from his desk and he had texted an old friend.

And before he knew it, he was slumped over in one of the barstools of his favorite bar with no one other than David Rossi sitting next to him. The older man had been trying to figure out what had driven Hotch to his current state. ''Aaron, are we going to keep this up?'' Rossi asked as he watched Hotch consume another glass of scotch. It was his third, and he didn't know how much longer he could sit back and watch him drink his issues away for no apparent reason. ''Where's JJ, Aaron?'' he finally mentioned. He had been aware that Hotch's current state had something to do with the blonde girl Rossi had met weeks earlier.

Hotch looked up, his eyes drowsy but somehow he was present enough to respond and feel his heart break all over again and just the mention of her name. JJ. It brought along a wave of emotion and heartache. ''She rejected my marriage proposal.''

''What? Why?'' Rossi exclaimed in complete shock. He had heard from Hotch how extremely happy they were together and he believed the two would last for a long time.

''Her job.'' Hotch croaked out as he lifted his hand to get another glass of scotch.

But before Hotch could actually say the words, Rossi slammed a bill down onto the bar and pulled Hotch with him onto the streets. He stepped in front of him in disappointment. ''And this is how you're dealing with it!'' Rossi snapped, expecting more of him.

''You don't understand, Dave. You never will.''

''Then talk to me for god sake's. Don't keep it all inside because that will destroy you, Aaron.'' he went on. ''When I last spoke to you, you were both very happy. What changed?''

Hotch faced away when he felt the tears starting to well up just at the thought of what had happened. ''She's CIA!'' he snapped. ''She was undercover when I met her, and she had to leave because someone, or something is after her and she didn't want to risk my life.''

''Then what the hell are you still doing here?'' Rossi asked in shock. It seemed like Hotch had just given up without a fight. He wasn't fighting at all, and it scared him.

He finally turned back around. ''And what do you want me to do, Dave? Chase her to the ends of the world?'' Hotch asked in despair. ''She's not like us.''

''Are you so sure about that?''

''No, of course not.'' he replied honestly. ''When I first met her, I knew I would love her for the rest of my life.''

''So? What's the problem then?''

''JJ and I have always been doomed.'' he answered. ''I think we're destined to wonder what might have been…'' he whispered. ''…instead of being together.''

Rossi stepped back and tried to analyze his friend, but his facial expressions had gone flat. ''Before you know it a lifetime will have gone by, Aaron.'' he warned.

''What are you trying to tell me, Dave?''

''I missed a lifetime with the woman I loved because I didn't fight for her. I let her walk away from me.'' he replied.

''Dave, she's hunting down an international criminal. She'll never be ready, and she'll never give up her job with the CIA. That's just not her.'' he went on. ''The man she's chasing is threatening her life.''

''She'll get him, Aaron.''

''Sure, but what's your point?''

''She is out there. Someone you love with everything you have.'' Rossi replied. ''When all of this is over, what are you going to do to make sure you're not a lonely guy wondering why you let the purest thing in your life get away?'' he asked, seeing he had just given Hotch something to really reconsider. But for now it didn't make much sense to continue on their conversation because Hotch wasn't in the best shape. So he lifted his hand up in the air when a taxi was approaching them. ''Let's get you home.'' Rossi said as he pulled Hotch with him to the taxi.

Rossi had helped Hotch to his apartment door and had left on his insistence. What Hotch needed most was a good night of sleep. After the day he had just had, he just knew sleep wasn't in the cards for him. His head was still spinning, and the image of the blonde kept flashing before his eyes. The words she had spoken had been painful. Just two simple words. Just two words that changed his life forever and shattered his heart. How could he ever move on from her, or even make an attempt. He had experienced enough loss in his life to know how it felt, but JJ leaving had been his undoing. He couldn't take it. So as soon as he opened the door he stepped into his living room and as he reached for the bottle of scotch his eyes fell upon the broken picture frame in the middle of the living room. He walked towards the mess and leaned down, taking the picture from the ground. He realized JJ must have broken it, and he had no idea what that meant. But he couldn't be concerned over that. Instead, he held the picture in front of his eyes and just stared at it. He was taking in each inch of her face. She looked extremely happy as did he. They looked like a couple out one of those romantic movies that made people believe in true love. And that's exactly what it had felt like. He may have found out later on that JJ was CIA, but in the end it didn't matter because their love was real. JJ was real. They were real.

And as he sat down on the couch slowly, he was clenching the picture in his hand tightly. ''Why?'' he whispered. ''How could you leave me?'' he croaked out as the tears started falling down his face. He could feel himself choke up so he took the picture at the middle and ripped it into two, throwing the pieces to the ground in complete despair. He just didn't understand anything anymore. It was so surreal. It had only been hours and he was already losing himself completely. He wanted too angry, enraged even. But he couldn't. He felt that JJ had her reasons. So was Rossi right? Had he given up without a fight?

When all of this is over, what are you going to do to make sure you're not a lonely guy wondering why you let the purest thing in your life get away? The words went through his head again. Was he really letting JJ take the easy way out? Could he have even convinced her?

On the other side of the world, JJ had been dropped off at the apartment that now belonged to her. She had been set up in a gorgeous neighborhood in London and the apartment was spacious and had a fantastic view, but none of it mattered. It seemed like she was drugged. Everything around her was a complete haze and she could only focus on herself. She had listened to Jill on the plane as she spoke to JJ about procedure and certain expectation but none of it had stayed with her. She was so distracted that she wondered if she'd ever be able to work normally again.

But as soon as JJ had opened up her laptop she saw that she had received an encrypted message from Garcia. So she quickly ran the message through a decoder program that Garcia had set up for them. She didn't expect to hear anything from the hacker anymore. The last time they had contact was right after Owen had nearly burnt the relationship that JJ had built. And it was one that would benefit JJ in the long run.

The message appeared on the screen after the decryption and JJ sat down in curiosity as she read the message.

TBQ: Hello blondie, I have continued to dig into Christian Ward and his associates. All I managed to find was a working history of Grigori Durov. He's former KGB and went freelance decades ago. It's everything that I could find. Let me know if you need anything else.

JJ rose from her chair in a hurry, closing the laptop and pulling it with her. Garcia's information had serious implications and were pointing to something much bigger than just Christian Ward, just like the CIA had always suspected. For the past decade, Russia had become a major concern for the CIA. There had been rumors that a criminal organization was being build up from the ground. Ever since JJ had shot Natalya Severov in an alley, they suspected Ward of working for the Russian group. But JJ had a gut feeling that it was all so much bigger than anyone ever realized.

So she grabbed her most important belonging on her way out the door, somehow managing to do everything without hurting her shoulder too badly. And before she knew it she was jumping into a taxi and calling Jill to meet up with urgency.

Within half an hour, JJ was standing in front of a large building waiting for her boss to arrive. She was pacing on the street nervously. She didn't want to wait. She just wanted to get into action and wrap the entire case up but she knew that was probably going to be a long shot.

''JJ?'' Jill called out as she walked up from behind the blonde. JJ turned around while Jill stepped right in front of her. ''What did you find?''

First of all, JJ was surprised that the older woman wasn't upset about her call or the meeting they were going to have. She seemed to be interested in what JJ had to say. ''I think we should discuss this in private.'' JJ expressed with concern as they stood on the street.

''Come with me.'' Jill insisted, beginning to walk to the left as JJ was about to enter the building. ''Not here, JJ. There's something else I have to tell you. I wanted to wait but since you're already here I'll show you.''

JJ stayed quiet as they both stepped into the back of black SUV with tinted windows. She kept looking outside while they drove across the city and she was wondering where they were going. They had just left the office of the joint taskforce and were going in a completely different direction. But as soon as the car pulled into an underground garage where they had to pass four security points, she realized it was all much bigger than she ever believed. They stepped from the car and without asking any questions JJ just followed Jill through the parking garage. They stopped in front of an elevator, and stepped into it. Once it reached the first floor they got off and JJ was faced with a spacious office, unlike anything she had ever seen before. The screens on the walls displayed pictures of criminals, statistics and countries. Against the back of the wall she saw a hallway leading to multiple offices. It didn't look like a CIA division or MI6 for that matter. So she finally stopped following Jill and froze in her tracks.

''What is this place?'' she croaked out.

Jill turned around and faced her. ''This is where you're going to be working, JJ.'' she began. ''Welcome to SOD.''

''SOD?'' JJ repeated. She had never heard of it before, and she soon enough realized why. ''Let me guess…Black-ops?'' she asked.

''Counter terrorism is a front for Secret Operations Division. We work out of London and DC.'' Jill explained as she watched the look on JJ's face fall. ''We're funded by the CIA's black budget. Our missions are highly classified, JJ.''

JJ took a step back, knowing that this could be another step into the wrong direction for her. During her time at the farm she could only dream of black-ops, but she knew it meant she'd have a completely different life, unlike anything she had lived before and she didn't know if she could do it. ''This isn't…this is not what I want.'' she whispered as she was still looking around her, her eyes exploring the entire room.

''Just let me show you what we've been working on.'' Jill suggested simply, hoping JJ would believe in what they were doing.