"I can't believe that you let him overhear us talking about our jobs!" JJ hissed as she shook her head. "You know that he's been sensitive ever since the bank incident, and it's barely been five months. A trauma like that can take years to get over."

"It's not like I planned it, cher. Little pitchers have big ears, after all."

Her eyes flew open and she fixed her gaze on him, trying to breathe deeply through her nose so as not to fly off the handle at her husband. "Seriously? That is the excuse that you're going to use? I cannot believe you, Will! Halloween should be innocent at Henry's age, and you've managed to ruin it for him!"

He quickly stood and stalked over to her, reaching down and squeezing her shoulder roughly. "I rather think that we were both to blame here. After all, you were the one telling me about the monster who was performing unnecessary amputations. Did you need to go into great detail about what the man had been doing? And I know that Henry overheard part of that conversation, because he asked me if his doctor would saw off his arm!"

Her eyes widened in horror as she realized how much of her words had soaked into her son's brain. Quick tears pooled in her eyes, and she wrenched her arm out of his grasp so that she could stand and make her way over to the window, staring out into the inky blackness of the night. "I, I didn't know, Will," she murmured, wrapping her arms around her waist. "I just want Henry to have a good time."

"I know that you do, Jen. It's just that our words have consequences, and we need to keep both of our tongues in check from now on. I don't want our son to know about the horrors of the world before he can read about them."

She nodded in agreement, reaching her hand behind her. Will came up and took hold of it, squeezing lightly before pulling her into a warm embrace. "I just had to grow up so quickly, that I didn't even want to see what was happening to him. I just took it as normal."

"I know, Jen." He kissed her cheek softly before leading her away from the window and up to their room. It didn't take long for them to get ready for bed, and once more, she found herself waiting for sleep to claim her. "Did you want another of my sleeping pills?" her husband asked, sounding conciliatory.

"Maybe. I just don't want to get dependent on them."

"The few that you take won't harm you, I promise. That's what my doctor told me, at least. And you should always trust your doctor. Right?"

She thought for a moment before nodding. "You're right, I guess. All right, I'll take another one, just for tonight."

Will nodded before kissing her cheek softly. "Let me go grab you a glass of water, the pills are in the bottle on my table."

JJ let out a long breath as she watched him clamber out of bed, heading over to the bathroom. Once he was behind the door, she leaned over and picked up the bottle and fished out a pale pink pill, turning it over and over in her fingers as she waited for Will to get back with the water.

It didn't take long, and when he reappeared, she gave him a warm smile as he came over to her side, handing her the glass. "It's not as cold as you normally like, but I know that you want to get to sleep right away."

She nodded as she took the cup from his hands, popping the pill into her mouth before washing it down with a large gulp of water. "As long as it's wet, I suppose that it will work. Thank you. And I'm sorry that I yelled at you, I just want some things to be perfect, and when they're not, I just fly off the handle. I'm trying to work on that, I promise."

"It's okay, I think we all get like that at times, Jen." He climbed back into bed and curved his body around hers. "As long as we love each other, though, and work on our relationship, everything will work out in the end. I firmly believe that."

"I'm glad that one of us does," she murmured as she felt her eyelids begin to grow heavy with sleep. She snuggled against him, letting her head come to rest on his chest so that she could listen to his heartbeat, the steady sound helping the sleeping pill along.

And then, the first nightmare began. This time, she and Will were visiting a bank, holding on to Henry's hands as they waited in line for the next teller. JJ could tell that something was wrong, and she tried to tug her loves out of the building. Will seemed to ignore her, though, as he pulled her unwilling feet forward.

By the time they got to the teller, true terror was clawing at her throat and JJ felt her breathing speed up as she tried to wake up from the nightmare. The sleeping pill wouldn't allow her to break free from the chains of slumber, however, and so she looked into the face of their teller with trepidation.

"Oh, JJ, didn't you ever learn that you will always be a disappointment to those that you love. You couldn't even keep your home safe from me, what makes you think that you can protect those that you love?" Madame X gave her a feral smile as she lifted her arm, gun in hand, and pointed at Will and Henry. "Now, I'll be merciful and give you a choice. Your husband, your son, or the man you truly love."

JJ gasped a little when another unsub pushed Hotch into line with her son and Will. "I, I, you have to be joking. Will, wake me up!" she cried, turning to beat on his chest with her hands.

He cocked his head to one side, giving her a placid smile. "There's nothing to wake up from, cher. Make your choice."

She shook her head wildly, trying to step forward and wrap her arms around Henry, to pull him to her chest, but some invisible wall stopped her. Before she could say another word, Madame X began to fire, first at Will, then Hotch, and finally Henry. It was that final gunshot that broke the chains of sleep and she sat up in bed, panting heavily.

Will, though, slept on like nothing had disturbed him, and she gave a small sigh of relief. Slipping out of bed, she padded over to the bathroom and quickly peed before washing her face with cold water in an attempt to wipe away the last vestiges of her nightmare. Setting the washcloth aside, she gazed into the mirror, taking in the way her expression still looked horrified, the way her eyes were too wide, and she bit her lip to keep from bursting into loud sobs, since she knew that wouldn't help anything.

Pouring herself a fresh glass of water, she gulped at it as she made her way back to bed, setting the rest of it aside as she crawled beneath the covers and pulled them up over her head. It was a throwback to her childhood, but it made her feel safer still, and that was all she wanted at that moment.