CHAPTER EIGHTY-ONE

EVOLUTION

17x03 Homesick

JJ watched the heated exchange between Emily, Rebecca, and Luke in the conference room. Despite closed doors muffling their words, Luke's agitation was clear. Voit had achieved his goal of provoking a reaction. Curiosity warred with JJ's reluctance to further Voit's influence by asking about what he'd whispered. She reminded herself of her faith in Emily. If she needed to know - her wife would tell her. Sighing softly, JJ returned her focus to her computer, but only for a moment. The conference room's door whipped open and Rebecca strode out in a huff. JJ's eyes tracked Rebecca all the way to the elevator.

"Something called BAU-gate… It involves pictures and memes of this team in deep-faked pornography." Luke said through his teeth. Emily closed her eyes and sighed heavily. She hoped this day would never come. Especially now. "He also said you knew about it," Luke said with a disgusted look on his face.

Emily opened her mouth and stammered, "It's complicated…"

"You are kidding me? Why didn't you tell any of us?"

"Because it was a problem I inherited. Homeland Security, they flagged it in 2014. They took it down, and they archived it for evidence."

"Once it's out there, it stays forever!" Luke said back.

"When I found out what it was, I had to make a call. Do I upset the team or not? Do you need to know or not? I decided to keep it a secret because it's best for everyone involved."

Luke crossed his arms. "Why whisper it to me and not JJ? He knew that a secret would worm its way between us and fracture this team."

"Then don't play his twisted little mind game," Emily said back hotly. "Nothing good will come from her finding out. I'm ordering you to stay silent about this." He gave her an outraged look and shook his head a little, walking past her towards the door.

"Luke," Emily said roughly.

"I won't say anything," he said angrily, turning back to face her.

"No, it's not that. It's - Did you look at the site?"

Emily felt sick to her stomach. Luke couldn't meet her eyes. He didn't say anything, but she had her answer.

The tension in the car was palpable. Luke stared straight ahead, his jaw clenched tight, refusing to engage in small talk or even glance in JJ's direction. A heavy silence hung in the air, weighing down on them both.

JJ's gaze flickered towards Luke, studying his rigid posture and the lines of tension etched across his face. He looked ill, an expression he had worn ever since Voit had leaned in and whispered those poisonous words in his ear. Catching her stare, Luke briefly met her questioning look, his eyes guarded.

"Are you ever going to tell me what Voit whispered to you?" JJ asked gently, her curiosity finally getting the better of her. The words hung between them, lingering in the charged atmosphere.

Luke's brow furrowed, and he shifted in his seat, a muscle twitching in his jaw. "I'm under orders not to," he replied, his tone clipped and final.

"From Emily?" JJ pressed, surprise evident in her voice. A sense of unease settled in the pit of her stomach.

He nodded curtly. "Yeah."

JJ felt her stomach drop, a leaden weight of foreboding settling over her. Whatever this was, it couldn't be good. She drew in a slow breath, steeling herself. "Okay, y-you're going to have to give me a hint so I know how bad this is."

Luke's fingers tightened on the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white. "There's a website on the Darknet involving the team," he said finally, the words heavy with implication.

JJ's brow creased as the pieces began to fall into place. "Is this BAU-Gate?"

Luke's head whipped towards her, his eyes widening in surprise. "You already know about it?"

"Yeah." JJ nodded, her expression grim. "Before I became a profiler, I was the media liaison, and I heard rumors of something like this floating around, but it was cleaned up, wasn't it?" She searched Luke's face, dread seeping into her veins at the realization dawning in his eyes.

"Voit and his network buddies, they got their hands on it," Luke confirmed, his voice laced with disgust.

JJ sighed, frustration and resignation mingling in her tone. "Of course, they did."

Luke's gaze bored into her, his brow furrowed in disbelief. "This doesn't bother you?"

"Hell yeah, it bothers me," JJ shot back, her voice rising slightly. She paused, gathering her thoughts. "But since the dawn of the internet, there have been... trolls making disgusting images. So if a group of sad, lonely perverts want to make – I don't know, it's anime, wasn't it?"

Luke shook his head slowly, his expression a mix of incredulity and concern. "What if it was dangerous? Would you want to know? I mean – doesn't Emily have a responsibility to inform us? Inform – you of all people? Why did I have to hear it from Voit?"

JJ closed her eyes, a tight smile playing on her lips as understanding dawned. When she opened them again, her gaze was steady, her voice laced with quiet certainty. "You see what he's doing, right? Forcing us to go on this long road trip together to find his family. He's testing you to see if you'll tell or you'll lie to protect me. Because if you lie, you're just like him. He lied to protect his family. And if you tell me... I get hurt. It's a win-win for him."

Luke swallowed hard, his expression grim as the weight of Voit's twisted game settled over him.

"So let me relieve you of this burden," JJ continued, her voice softening. "It's all okay. I'm glad you got this off your chest, but, Luke... Emily practicing discretion isn't a lie. It isn't a conspiracy theory. It's good leadership."

Luke's brow furrowed, dissatisfied with her response. "You still didn't answer my question," he pressed, his voice rough with emotion.

JJ met his gaze steadily. "Which one?"

"If it was dangerous, would you want to know?"

A heavy silence fell between them as JJ considered her answer carefully. Finally, she spoke, her words measured and thoughtful. "If it involved my kids or was a threat to my life, then, yeah, absolutely. But otherwise?" She glanced at Luke again, taking in the turmoil etched on his features, the weight of the burden he carried. "I trust her, Luke. I know Emily can be..." JJ chuckled wistfully, shaking her head. "Look, she's a lot of things, but her heart is always in the right place. And her loyalty to this team is unwavering." JJ let the truth of her own words sink in, a small weight lifting off her shoulders. "We see enough rough stuff in this job. Why let something like that in your head?"

Luke's expression hardened, his jaw clenched tight as he stared straight ahead, his grip tightening on the steering wheel. "That's the problem," he said, his voice laced with quiet anguish. "It already is."

JJ swallowed thickly as she listened to Sydney Voit's trembling voice. Her daughter had hurt herself. The details remained unspoken, but they didn't matter – the mere fact that she had was enough to make the emotion swell up in JJ's throat.

Holly was older than Michael and Henry, but Harlow was close enough to their age. In another life, they could have been friends, neighbors who played together in the backyard. Now, their innocence was destroyed. Two innocent girls, who did nothing wrong except have the wrong father…

The thought of one of her children harming themselves over Emily's illness made her want to die. Her mind flashed to Rosalyn, and the signs that her parents missed - the mistakes she vowed never to repeat. She would not fail her children. In that moment, JJ's resolve solidified. She would fix this with Emily; do everything in her power to bridge the rift between them. She would be the unwavering support her hard-headed wife so desperately needed but would never ask for.

Luke stared at JJ from across the squadroom. He knew what he was about to do would cause major repercussions. Not only at the BAU, but in Emily and JJ's marriage. He was about to throw a grenade into their relationship, and it wasn't something he took lightly.

But the guilt of what he knew was eating away at him. JJ had to know. He couldn't fathom how Emily had been able to keep this secret for years without saying a word. It hadn't even been two days and he just couldn't do it anymore.

His footsteps echoed in the squadroom as he approached JJ, who stood alone in the kitchenette, preparing a cup of tea. A heavy silence hung in the air as Luke steeled himself for what he was about to reveal.

"Hey," Luke began softly, his voice laced with apprehension. JJ looked at him and smiled lightly. Luke shifted awkwardly on his feet, the weight of his words pressing down on him. "I need to disobey some orders," he said slowly, gauging her reaction.

A lighthearted smile played on JJ's lips. "Oh, yeah?" Her brow furrowed slightly, but her expression remained open.

"BAU-Gate… I don't know what it was in 2014, but I - I know what it is now that Voit's network updated it. It's not pictures of other agents. It's pictures of you. Just you."

The words hung in the air, their impact immediate. JJ's mind whirled, struggling to process the information. "What?"

Luke pressed on, his voice low and somber. "Like you said, you were the media liaison. You were on TV more than anyone else. And they made you the focal point of their porn."

JJ's eyes widened, her gaze abruptly darting away from Luke as a wave of shame and embarrassment washed over her. Countless times, she had assured victims that they had nothing to be ashamed of, that they were not to blame. Yet, now finding herself on the other side, those reassurances rang hollow.

"Uh… it's - not anime, is it?" She asked, a grimace twisting her features. Her eyes flickered around the room, avoiding Luke's gaze, knowing he had seen enough to understand the truth.

"No, it's not. Look, we've all read the threat assessments of how convincing AI can be, and… this is - this is pretty convincing."

"Jesus." JJ's voice wavered, tears brimming in her eyes. She tilted her head back, blinking rapidly in an effort to hold them at bay.

Luke's expression was somber, his words gentle yet filled with conviction. "Look… you've been happy not looking at it this whole time, right? You want to go on not looking - I get it. But you should make that call instead of having it made for you." JJ's eyes finally met his, realizing the meaning of his words – instead of Emily making that call for her. "There's an encrypted link in my report, and, uh… you do whatever's best for you."

JJ felt the impact of his revelation like a physical blow, her mind reeling from the implications. The words stuck in her throat, her emotions too raw and tangled to articulate a response. "I - uh - I need a - a minute here."

Luke nodded solemnly. Without another word, he turned and walked away, leaving JJ alone staring straight ahead in shock.

JJ watched from the conference room as Emily quickly stood from her desk, turned off her office lights, closed the door, and walked quickly across the squadroom. She clenched her jaw. She had no idea where Emily was going, but she knew it wasn't home. Not with that look in her eyes. She knew that look. She was on a mission.

JJ shook her head and drew the blinds. She had to be strong for this - she didn't know what she was about to see, but she knew it wasn't going to be easy to look at. And she knew that Emily had kept it from her. She didn't have a name for the emotion she was feeling. It was some toxic mixture of betrayal, anger and desperation. JJ sat at the table. She felt her hands shaking and clenched them to steady herself.

Injure. Jane. Fear.