A/N- This one is Hotch!
The first time that Hotchner noticed the protectiveness between the two women was in Colorado when Emily and Reid were trapped in the compound. The moment the news hit, the team was loaded up in SUVs and on their way over.
JJ was silent the entire way there, sitting shotgun next to Hotch, she replied to every question with a monosyllabic clipped answer.
When they unloaded and set up their command center, things got worse. Emily was taken into a back room and beaten by the man in charge.
From the second that Emily volunteered herself as the FBI agent in Reid's place and was separated from him, JJ shut down. She was near comatose listening to the grunts of pain coming over their comms as Emily was shoved, beaten, and broken down.
The team could hear every impact as Emily's body hit the shelves or the ground, they heard her gasp for breath as the man delivered another blow to her ribs, and they heard her continued insistence that she could 'take it.'
That's what really made JJ lose it. She ripped of her headphones, glaring at Hotch, "We have to get her out of there."
"If we do, we risk the lives of everyone in there."
The thud of what had to be Emily's body landing on the ground accentuated JJ's point, "So in the meantime you're just going to let him torture her like that?"
Hotch knew something was up at this point, but he attributed it to the close bond all three women in the BAU shared, "As long as Agent Prentiss says she can take it, I'm not going to endanger the lives of dozens of innocents."
"It's Prentiss!" JJ all but yelled, "She would say she can take anything, no matter if her body is telling her otherwise!"
The press was watching, and this was one scene that Hotch could not allow to be broadcast, "Agent Jeauru, I think you need to take a walk."
His tone left no question that it was more order than suggestion, so with one final warning glare, JJ dropped her headset on the table and walked away to one of the black sedans they had driven out in.
When they finally managed to get Emily and Reid out safely, JJ was the first one to throw her arms around Prentiss's middle and pull her into a tight hug. She didn't let go for a long time, until the the shoulder of Emily's shirt was darkened with the blonde's tears.
Hotch still didn't quite suspect something when JJ finally did let go and moved to give Reid a similar treatment.
What sealed the deal for him was when the team went to visit Emily in the hospital a few hours later. JJ had ridden in the ambulance with Prentiss and had held her hand through the entire time she was getting stitched up- she only let go when they had to take Emily to x-ray and check for internal injuries.
The other four agents made it to the hospital a couple of hours after Emily had been cleared of internal bleeding. They checked in at the nurse's station where they were given an update. The nurse in charge smiled in reassurance, and reminded them to keep quiet as the agent needed her rest.
What gave the team pause was when the kind old nurse said that the room might be a tight squeeze because, "Agent Prentiss's girlfriend hasn't left all night."
Morgan and Rossi laughed in the good natured way which meant that they both knew the truth in the statement but were reluctant to admit it. Hotch's brow furrowed in thought while Reid just stood in confusion, "Does Emily have a girlfriend?"
Morgan was quick with an explanation, "No kid, it's her work girlfriend."
"Her what?" Reid asked as the four men headed down the hall to Emily's room.
"It's like Hotch is our work dad, and Rossi is our work mom. Pen is the eccentric aunt. Emily and JJ are work married."
Rossi smacked the younger agent's arm in indignation, "Why am I the mother?"
"Because you're clearly so loving and nurturing." Morgan smirked.
They drew to a stop outside of the room where Prentiss was located as they all froze in the same sense that they were intruding on an intimate moment. Emily was laid out in the hospital bed, badly bruised, and covered in white bandages that were over her stitches. JJ was also on the narrow bed, curled into Emily's side, her head resting on the brunette's chest, her arm around her waist.
In that moment, it was clear to Hotch what was going on. The four simultaneously agreed to back out of the room and let the women sleep, Prentiss was in good hands.
...
Hotch did what the other two men did, and buried his knowledge. He didn't say anything when the women sat together in the back of the jet, or when they ate lunch together in JJ's office.
He looked the other way when Emily would slip up and run her hand reassuringly across the small of JJ's back when she got anxious. He pretended not to notice the way that JJ's hand took up permanent residence on Emily's thigh when the jet was in the air.
The team leader played dumb when he knocked on the hotel doors to rouse the team and heard two responses from one of the women's rooms and no response from the other.
He tried to justify this ignorance by assuring himself that it wasn't technically against the rules. JJ was the media liaison, she wasn't a member of the BAU itself, she was just attached to it. Therefore, the two weren't really teammates and there wasn't an issue with them dating.
Or so he told himself.
Still, with that knowledge, he could never handle to the two women together the same way, like when they were taking down a killer in rural Georgia
...Flashback to Georgia...
The three black sedans pulled up outside the warehouse, Hotch was barking orders the second their feet hit the ground, "JJ, Morgan, Reid go around the back, Prentiss, Rossi, come with me and we'll take the front entrance. Remember this suspect is a major flight risk and we profiled him as highly intelligent."
The agents did as directed, moving into position outside the abandoned warehouse. Shortly after JJ, Morgan, and Reid were ready in the back, Hotch gave the order to enter over the comms. They burst in, confronted with a long hallway and branching corridors, a single flight of stairs was visible to the left. JJ took the stairs as Reid and Morgan moved down the hall, clearing rooms as they went. In the front of the warehouse, Hotch, Rossi, and Prentiss were confronted with what had clearly been the unsub's work area. They were momentarily stunned by the remenants of violence they were unable to ignore.
Until a yell from the upstairs drew their attention.
"He's upstairs!" It was unmistakably JJ's voice, and Hotch easily saw the thinly veiled panic sweep across Emily's features at the noise.
They heard the pounding footsteps of a chase before another shout from JJ, "He's going out the fire escape!"
Prentiss was the first one out of the door, sprinting around the side of the warehouse where she had seen the fire escape leading when they first arrived, Hotch and Rossi were right on her tail.
When they rounded the building, they saw JJ two steps behind the unsub, her gun drawn, "Freeze, FBI!" The man grabbed JJ's arm, and easily threw her down the stairs ahead of himself.
Emily froze in fear as she watched the blonde's pettite body tumble down a full flight of stairs before coming to rest unmoving at the bottom. The unsub kept running, jumping over JJ's body on the ground before he tried to sprint around down the alley.
Hotch didn't think about his next order as he and Rossi took off down the alley, "Prentiss, make sure JJ is alright."
The brunette didn't hesitate in dropping to her knees beside JJ, she holstered her weapon and ran a hand over JJ's hair. The younger woman was unresponsive and Emily tried her best not to freak out as she kneeled over JJ's head. She ran her hands up and down the blonde's sides, checking her over for injury, "Jennifer, honey can you hear me?"
The press liaison was quiet for a long moment, before she released a low and shaky cough and her eyes finally fluttered open. She locked gazes with Emily crouched over her and a faint smile crept onto her lips, "Whatever happened to no nicknames at work?"
Brown eyes widened first in disbelief, then in relief as Emily took in JJ's words. When JJ laughed at her own joke, the older agent flicked her lightly on the arm, "You're an asshole."
"But I'm your asshole."
"For now."
A/N- Thank you for your reviews, and continued reading. Also, thanks for keeping me honest on the timeline of Gideon being there in the beginning, not Rossi, let's just pretend like this timeline makes sense... yeah?
Finally, I just want to make sure that I'm not missing any characters, I'm writing for Morgan, Rossi, Hotch, Reid, Garcia, and Gideon, did I miss anyone? Or is there another person you want me to add?