The sun was bright; too bright. It stung JJ's eyes so she squinted trying to get a good look at her surroundings. It was warm, she was wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. Noises were heard—birds chirping, children laughing, dogs barking and parents calling out surrounded her.
"Momma! Momma can we play on the swings? A little excited brunette asked from next to her, JJ looked down to see her daughter only, she was five years old. "I wanna swing, momma!"
"Sure munchkin," JJ replied with a smile, "Whatever you want."
"Momma, I'm not a munchkin, I'm Amelia!" The five-year-old replied, placing her hands on her hips, a pout on her face, with the signature Emily eyebrow raise.
"Oh you are, are you?" JJ said, bending down and lifting the small brunette into her arms. "I'm sorry, I must be confused because I thought you were my little munchkin," she teased, kissing the giggling girls face and tickling her. "Now come on, let's go swing."
"Yay!" Amelia exclaimed, still giggling as her mother carried her towards the swing sets, placing kisses on her face the whole way. "I wanna swing really high momma," she said as JJ sat her on a swing, "I wanna touch the clouds!"
"The clouds, huh?" JJ asked with a smile. "Well, we'll have to see what we can do, baby," she said as she made her way behind the little girl pulling the swing back to give her a big push.
"Higher momma, higher!" Amelia yelled as JJ continued to push her, laughing happily.
"Oh I think you're almost there, baby!" JJ played along, laughing at the child's glee. "Just a little higher," she called giving the swing another push.
"I almost touched it!" Amelia shouted, pointing out her toes as high as she could, "Did you see momma? Did you see me?"
"I saw baby girl," JJ laughed, loving the child's imagination.
"No momma, stop me, stop me," Amelia suddenly yelled, JJ immediately grabbing a hold of the swing in order to stop it.
"What is it sweetie?"
"Mommy!" Amelia practically screamed, jumping off the swing and running in the direction of the brunette heading their way who immediately bent down in order to catch the little girl in her arms before lifting her up onto her hip.
"Hi sweet girl, are you having fun with momma?" Emily asked, as she made her way back towards JJ who stood at the swing with a smile on her face.
"The most fun," Amelia replied enthusiastically. "But we missed you so much!"
"Oh you did huh?" Emily asked, placing a kiss on the little girls nose just as she reached the blonde.
"We definitely did," JJ agreed with a smile, leaning forward to give the brunette a kiss, "Hi gorgeous."
"Hi yourself," Emily smiled leaning forward for another kiss.
"Hey no more kissing!" Amelia interrupted, sticking her hand out between her mothers, "It's time to play!"
"Okay, it's time to play momma," Emily winked tickling the little girls stomach before placing her back on the ground. "Race you to the slide."
"No fair mommy, you're bigger!"
Laughing, JJ watched the interaction with a smile on her face as the tiny brunette caught up to her mommy who raced her to the slide, slowing down just enough to let the girl beat her. Seeing her two girls she felt like the luckiest woman alive.
"Come on momma!" Amelia called from the slide interrupting the blondes' daydreams. "Momma!" she called again, just as everything went black.
Emily barely heard anything the doctor said after the words 'successful' and 'awake soon'. Feeling both relieved and still nervous, she asked the group to watch the girls, but when she tried to pass Amelia off, she clung on tighter. "No mommy! Please don't leave me! No mommy, no! I'm scared."
"Okay baby, shh, shh, shh, I won't leave you, I promise. You can come with me okay?" Amelia nodded against her mother's shoulder. "Momma is going to be asleep and she's going to have some wires and tubes attached to her. They are only helping momma, it's nothing to be scared about."
"Mommy, is—is umm—is momma gonna die?"
"No!" Emily exclaimed, "No, she has a boo boo but the doctors made her all better. She's just sleeping because of the medicine they gave her; she will wake up baby girl."
"Okay mommy. I'm ready," Amelia said, nervously.
Opening the door, Emily's eyes immediately stung with tears at seeing her wife laying in the hospital bed. Hearing Amelia begin to cry she snapped out of her own gaze and comforted her daughter. "It's okay baby, momma is okay. Let's go hold her hand."
Emily walked over to JJ's side, pulled over a chair and sat Amelia down in her lap. She took JJ's hand in her own and brought it closer so Amelia could hold it too. "See baby, momma's okay."
"I just want momma to wake up. I want her to snuggle with me and you. I want her to—" she stopped mid-sentence then turned to look up at Emily, "Can I talk to her?"
"Of course you can talk to her baby, she'll love that. I'll be right here the whole time and give you extra snuggles for the both of us," Emily squeezed Amelia a little tighter and listened to her daughter speak to her wife.
"Momma? Momma it's me, Amelia. Mommy told me you have a boo boo but I can make it better. When I'm sad you and mommy always make me feel better and I can do that too. I promise. I wish you could open your eyes momma because then I could see you and you could see me. I know it would make you feel better. You always tell me seeing you makes everything better. I could give you a hug and it will be really gentle so it doesn't hurt you boo boo." Amelia sniffed, letting the tears streak her cheeks. "I know mommy said you weren't upset, but I thought you were—ya know when umm—when I didn't call you momma yet. I wasn't ready yet. I was with mommy but you left me when you went to work, I'm sorry momma. Please wake up—please wake up so I can tell you I'm sorry—"
"Shh, it's okay sweet girl. Momma isn't upset with you. She loves you so, so much! I bet she can't wait to tell you."
"I love you momma—"
Still clutching her mother's hand while her Emily tried to comfort her, neither saw the blondes eyes fluttering.
"Amelia?" JJ's voice rasped, squeezing her little girl and wife's hand, they both looked up in disbelief.
"Momma!" the little girl gasped, her eyes glassy with tears as she found her mother's blue eyes looking back at her.
"Hi, baby," JJ looked at Amelia then up to Emily, "What—what happened," JJ asked, still groggy.
"You were s-h-o-t," Emily spelled out quickly, hoping her daughter didn't catch on. She looked into her wife's eyes with a knowing look as more tears began to fall down Amelia's face.
"Oh baby girl, come here. Em can you put her up here with me?" JJ asked, hoping Emily would let her hold their daughter.
Amelia got up on the bed with help from Emily and carefully sunk into her mother's embrace, "I'm okay, sweetie. Momma's okay."
"I thought you—I thought—"
"I know baby, I just have a boo boo though," JJ replied, stroking the girls hair comfortingly. "I'm okay."
As soon as JJ was allowed more visitors the team was there; Rossi and Garcia entered first carrying sleeping girls in their arms. "Oh my babies!" JJ said, with Amelia wrapped up in her arms.
Emily had informed her of what had happened while she was in surgery and although JJ wasn't thrilled with her wife for flying with their three girls alone, (besides Garcia who didn't really count as an adult but more as a fourth child) she was excited they were there.
After Garcia got in her hugs and kisses, Morgan stepped towards the bedside, "JJ I'm—"
"Derek, don't even go there," she stopped the apology he was about to give. "It's not your fault, I'm the one who went off on my own. It was my choice. I could have went into the barn and told you what I heard, but I wasn't thinking clearly. So I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry too," Emily said, sitting now with a sleeping Oakley in her arms. "I'm sorry I took it out on you, I was just scared."
"It's alright, Em. I get it, trust me," he said, leaning down and kissing her head then his goddaughters.
"What happened anyways?" JJ asked as everyone took seats around her bed. "I mean one minute I could hear you guys in my earpiece and the next thing I know it was complete silence. Did that happen to everyone?"
"It was just yours," Hotch replied. "We're not really sure what happened but it malfunctioned for some reason. At first we just thought you weren't coming through because you found something, but then we realized something was wrong when Morgan kept calling out for you. Unfortunately it was too late by then."
"Em told me Meghan is okay, what happened with Palmer?" JJ asked, not paying attention enough to see the nervous looks the team shared around the room. "I mean I don't remember much after I got s-h-o-t, but I do remember he ran. Where did you catch up with him?" she asked, looking to Morgan who suddenly wouldn't meet her eye. "What's going on?" The team found interest in the floor, all looking down at it, "Em? What aren't they telling me?"
"Garcia, could you take Amelia to get some ice cream?" Emily suggested, not wanting to talk about the case in front of her. "Baby, why don't you go get a treat with Auntie Penny." Emily looked up at Garcia who nodded her agreement, understanding the team needed to tell JJ what had happened with Palmer.
"Come on sweets, I'll buy you some ice cream. It's only for big girls though, that means you're the only one who gets it," she winked.
Amelia looked up at Emily, "It's okay baby, momma and I will still be here when you get back. I promise."
Reluctantly Amelia ended up leaving with Garcia, "Okay, so what the hell happened? You got him right?" JJ asked.
"No," Morgan shook his head, looking both frustrated and ashamed. "He got away Jayje."
"How is that possible?"
"He likely had a vast knowledge of the woods surrounding his property," Reid replied from where he sat near the end of the bed. "He ran out of the shed right after shooting you and since Morgan had just come in, he had a head start."
"And a car stashed out there," Rossi added.
"He must have ran straight for the vehicle and then got out as soon as he could," Hotch explained. "We put up roadblocks as soon as we realized he was in a car but he had at least a half hour to get away."
"We're still looking though Jayje," Morgan assured her. "We'll find him."
"Yeah?" JJ replied, "When? How many more girls is he going to kill before that happens?"
"Chances are he's going to go into hiding," Reid said, "I mean he's likely going to leave the area if he gets the chance."
"What about his daughter? Do you think he'll go after her?"
"It's a possibility," Rossi replied. "We've already contacted his ex-wife. She and her daughter have been taken into protective custody. If he goes anywhere near there, they'll find him."
"And in the meantime, Garcia will keep us notified on any like crimes throughout the country," Hotch added. "If he strikes again, we'll know."
"Somehow that doesn't feel like enough, I should have waited for backup."
"Babe, it's not your fault, you know that," Emily said, taking the blondes hand in hers. "You saved that little girl, she's alive because of you."
"Yeah, but Palmer is still out there. How is Meghan supposed to feel safe when that man is still free?"
"We'll make sure Meghan and her mother are safe," Rossi assured her. "We can keep her and her family protected until we catch him."
"And we will catch him, don't doubt that," Hotch said.
"Why don't you take this baby to the hotel," JJ said, looking down at Amelia who was snuggled in her arms and fast asleep. Lily and Oakley left with the team; Garcia had booked them a suite so the Prentiss family would be comfortable with a few extra guests to help watch the girls.
"She's asleep and in a bed with her mother, Jen. We're right where we are supposed to be."
"Em, those chairs suck. You need to sleep in a bed. It's been a long day for you and the girls, they need their mommy to be rested. Three girls, three car seats, and Garcia lugged onto a plane to come see me—super mom needs rest too." JJ smiled, squeezing Emily's hand. "You can come back tomorrow so I can see all my babies, awake. I'll just be asleep until then."
"You'll call if anything changes or if there are any problems at all?" Emily asked.
"I promise. Take this little one and give her extra snuggles for me. Come give me a kiss."
Emily leaned down and kissed JJ then scooped Amelia out of her wife's arms. "I love you, Jen."
"I love you too, babe."
It was about 4am the last time a nurse came in and woke her allowing her a few hours of sleep. JJ rubbed her eyes awake around 7am and she was surprised to find someone sitting beside her bed. Still half asleep, JJ saw the brown hair and started to worry not seeing Emily sitting with Amelia. But it wasn't her daughter. She was surprised when the little girl turned her head revealing one Meghan Marks.
"Meghan?" JJ asked sleepily.
"Hi," Meghan said with a small smile, "Sorry I didn't want to wake you, I just wanted to see you before I went home. My mom is signing some papers, she said I could come in."
"How are you feeling sweetie?" JJ asked shuffling in her bed so she could sit up. "Are you okay?"
"I'm okay," Meghan replied quickly causing JJ to raise an eyebrow in disbelief. "I mean, I have a lot of cuts and had to get some stitches but other than that I'm okay, thanks to you," she said. "Thank you so much Agent Jareau. That bullet—I mean you—you jumped right in front of me. You saved my life."
"Honey, I wasn't going to let him hurt you any more than he already did. I have a daughter your age and that's what moms do. We protect our children and anyone else who needs our help."
"You brought me back to my mommy and for that, I'll always be grateful. Thank you."
"You're welcome, sweetie." JJ replied, her own smile falling when she remembered the man who tortured Meghan was still at large. "I'm sorry that my team, that we couldn't catch him."
"It's not your fault, they're taking me and my mommy somewhere really safe so nothing happens."
"I know. I just wish you could go home. You should probably get back to your mom, honey."
"I will, thank you so much for saving me. You're my hero, I love you."
As Meghan left JJ's room she began to cry. That sweet little girl was robbed her childhood because that stupid son of a bitch—she wasn't going to let him go free. One bullet between his eyes would be too easy, I want to give him what he did to those girls. Torture the hell out of him. Wow Jareau—you have your own kids to think about, don't go down this dark rabbit hole. Quickly snapping out of her torture fantasies, she smiled seeing her family standing in her doorway.
JJ had been released from the hospital later that morning and the girls were excited to get to ride on the jet. Was it technically allowed? No. Were they going to tell Strauss? Also no. Was Emily going to fly alone with the girls again? Hell no! So it was the best option.
The team agreed to not mention it to anyone and let their nieces travel along with them. Plus, Derek Morgan would go down fighting if anyone messed with his best friend's wife and the mother to his three nieces. Those little girls stole his heart instantly and everyone knew it.
Derek and Garcia were playing with the girls while Emily got JJ into bed. "Babe? Will you stay with me for a bit?"
Emily smiled and climbed into bed with her wife, "I'd love to, Jen."
"Em, before I woke up from the anesthesia, I had this dream—it was like, I don't know a combination of living in the past and our future all in one."
"What do you mean?"
"I thought about it a lot after you and Amelia left the hospital last night; I think it had something to do with the fact she was talking to me, I'm not really sure though. She was five; I was pushing her on the swings and she was so excited to touch the clouds—it was the cutest thing. Then she made me stop pushing her because she saw you. She took off running towards you and leapt into your arms; I couldn't wipe the smile off my face as you tickled her, then you raced her to the slide after she made us stop kissing. The last thing I heard was her screaming for me to come play too. I think I heard her calling for me to wake up. She was the cutest little five-year-old—it made me so happy knowing her at that age then I was picturing Oakley and Lily getting bigger, it was—"
"Unreal? Amazing? Perfect?" Emily supplied, seeing her wife choking up.
"It was the best thing in the world. I was so focused on saving Meghan and making sure she got home to her mother, I let my guard down. How can I be a mother to our daughters when I wasn't even worried about my own life?"
"Hey, Jen, look at me," Emily tilted JJ's head towards her, "You saved that little girl babe. You brought her home to her mother, and I'm so proud of you. You're an incredible mother, you protect our girls at all costs. Don't doubt yourself, Jen. It's part of the job, I get it—I would have done the same exact thing."
"Really?"
"Yes, really. Now try and get some sleep, Jen. I love you."
"Love—you—too," JJ said, drifting off into a peaceful sleep.
"Mommy!" Amelia said, running into her arms.
"Hi sweet girl, where are you sisters?"
"Lily fell asleep in Auntie Penny's arms so she brought her up to bed and Oakley is with Uncle Derek," she said, laughing.
"What's so funny?"
"Umm, Oakley kind-of dressed him up. It's really silly mommy, come see."
Emily and Amelia walked into the playroom to find one Derek Morgan with a tiara on his head (crooked) a pink boa wrapped around his neck, sparkle play pretend makeup on his face, clip on dangle earrings, and holding a plastic tea cup. Emily held Amelia back and pulled out her phone to capture a picture before walking in laughing. "Good look, buddy."
"Princess tell me that phone in your hand doesn't have a picture of me on it."
"This phone doesn't have a picture of you on it," Emily said calmly. Morgan rolled his eyes knowing she was lying through her teeth. "What? You told me to tell you that so I did. I never said it was true."
When JJ opened her eyes a few hours later it was to find a pair of brown eyes, much like her wife's staring back at her; a sight which originally startled her, caused her to laugh as she realized her daughter lying next to her.
"Hi baby girl, how long have you been in here?"
"Umm just a little while, mommy told me if I was really quiet I could come lay in bed with you because my sisters are taking a nap. Mommy said I should try to take a nap too but I just wanted to make sure you were still here so I stayed awake."
"Aww, baby. I'm okay. You know what would make me feel even better?" Amelia shook her head, "If you snuggled with me," JJ said, opening her arms.
Amelia fell into her arms gently, "I love you, momma."
"I love you too, babe. Where's mommy?"
"She's talking to Uncle Hotch on the phone with Uncle Morgan and Auntie Penny." JJ rolled her eyes knowing Amelia couldn't see her, of course she is—she won't sleep until Palmer is behind bars or dead. I mean, I can't blame her, but gosh I wish she didn't worry so much. She's such an amazing mother and wife; I'm so lucky.
Emily had given JJ her pain medication then went to get the girls fed, bathed, and in bed. Morgan and Garcia had left shortly after his makeover to head back to work leaving Emily with three exhausted little girls and an injured wife to care for. She was an extremely tired mother who was thrilled to be climbing into bed. I swear the last two days have aged me five years, Emily thought, smiling at her wife who looked so peaceful next to her. With one final kiss, Emily fell sound asleep.
Startled, Emily couldn't figure out what had woken her up. She looked over at JJ and saw she was still in dreamland; not thinking much of it, Emily closed her eyes then heard screaming. Recognizing what was happening, she ran into Amelia's bedroom.
"Mommy no! No don't let him take me, help me! Help me! Stop, no! I'll be good, I'll be good I promise! Help!"
Emily sat on the bed and took Amelia into her arms, "Amelia, you're safe. Your safe baby, open your eyes for me. Wake up sweet girl, you're okay mommy's right here. I'm here baby."
Slowly rocking her daughter Amelia woke up gripping Emily's shirt, "Mommy?"
"I'm here baby, I'm right here. You're safe, it was just a nightmare," she placed kisses on the top of her head, Amelia snuggling up closer to her mother.
"Mommy?"
"Yeah, baby?"
"Can I sleep with you? I'm scared."
Emily's heart was breaking, this poor little girl had been through so much in her little life, it wasn't fair. "Of course you can sweet girl," she stood up, Amelia wrapping herself around Emily and let her carry her into their bedroom.
Emily snuggled Amelia up to her body into a protective cocoon and waited until her breathing evened out before shutting her own eyes. Please let my sweet baby girl sleep.
The next morning Emily woke up feeling extremely sore; she thought it was because she needed more sleep until opening her eyes and saw her daughter sprawled out on her chest. Not remembering when her daughter had moved from beside her to on top of her, Emily struggled to move; her muscles too sore and she let out another moan which roused JJ who lay next to her.
"Em?" JJ's eyes squinted open, immediately giggling at the sight of Amelia sprawled on top of her wife. "Well, she looks comfortable," she laughed lightly, carefully sitting up and running her hand over the little girl's head before placing a kiss there. "When did that happen?"
"Her coming in here or ending up like this?"
"Ending up like that," JJ smiled, hiding her laughter.
"I have no idea, but it feels like it's been hours," Emily groaned. "Why? I mean, our bed is probably the most comfortable bed I've ever been in. How am I more appealing than it?"
JJ smirked and Emily countered, "Okay, wipe the smirk. Appealing isn't the right word, clearly. You know, you're a child Jen." Emily laughed. "How are you feeling?"
"Good," she said, Emily raised an eyebrow, "Okay, umm better."
"I'm happy to hear that, babe. I'm going to go make some coffee, you can stay here with this snuggle bug."
"Perfect," JJ smiled.
A week later the Prentiss household was back to normal.
Almost.
JJ was back at work, desk duty, but work—Emily and the girls were back to their normal schedule as well. After JJ had been shot, the two mothers let Amelia stay home from school for three days. Oakley didn't seem to understand completely so she went back to preschool, but Amelia was having terrible nightmares. They obviously didn't want their daughter to have nightmares, but Emily and JJ were thankful the nightmares weren't about seeing her mother in the hospital after getting shot.
They didn't want to scar her even more than she already was and sleeping in their bed and staying home for those three days seemed to make everything better. By the third day of being home, Amelia felt certain JJ wasn't going to not wake up and was excited to see her friends the next day at school.
Over the next few months, Emily was thinking more and more about Amelia turning ten. She couldn't understand why her other girls were growing but Amelia was getting smaller and smaller. Something wasn't right with her baby and she was going to get to the bottom of it.
Knowing Amelia was eating three full meals with snacks and sleeping through the night really started to cause Emily to panic. Therapy is going well, she's doing well at home and school, things have been stable…so why? Why is she losing weight? Amelia's always been small, extremely small, this is unhealthy. Jen says she looks the same, but she doesn't. I know she doesn't. I'm with her more than Jen, I know my little girl. Of course Jen knows her too but doesn't see it. Emily spent a long time worrying how Jen would react to her thoughts. Suck it up, Jen is your wife and your daughter needs help.
That night while sitting on the couch, Emily let her thoughts be known, "Jen?"
"What's up babe?"
"I want to take Amelia to the doctor regarding her weight," she said, not meeting her wife's eyes.
"Em, she's fine. Amelia has always been small, I don't understand why you're making this bigger than it is," JJ sighed, this was at least the fifth time her wife had brought this subject up.
"Jen, I love you and I respect you but something is wrong. I know it, I can't explain it, I just know."
JJ had always had this 'resentment mixed with jealously' mixture inside her regarding Emily's mother intuition. She spoke with her father about it on multiple occasions wondering if he felt that way too. She felt like the father figure way too often, not being in tune with her daughters' needs the way Emily was.
It was hard for JJ to admit the fact Emily had a connection with all of their girls that she didn't; but it was even harder knowing even if they both worked from home, she still wouldn't have the same connection. Whenever Emily brought something up regarding the girls that JJ couldn't feel or sense right away she would feel that almost lethal mixture throughout her own body.
I'm so in touch with myself, but not my own fucking kids. Uhh, Emily is probably right. Who am I kidding? She's definitely right and by me constantly shutting her down I'm only harming my child.
Admitting defeat, JJ looked into Emily's eyes, "Tell me when the appointment is, and I'll meet you there."
Two days later Amelia stepped on the scale at the doctor's office and JJ covered her mouth to prevent the gasp from escaping her mouth. Emily was right, look at what I've done to my own child! All because I was too stubborn. insecure?
55.7lbs
The last appointment Amelia was 67.3. JJ thought it was the stress causing her daughter to lose weight, and thought before they knew it she'd be back to her happy tiny self. She was wrong and her wife knew the entire time. How could I not see it? Even the team said she looked tiny, and I was too blind to admit they were right.
Although Amelia was technically healthy, eating three meals and two snacks a day, she was off the chart in both weight and height. They knew this, but now it was a concern. No parent wants their child sick, but JJ found herself sigh in relief when the tests came back saying Amelia had hyperthyroidism and it was treatable. The pediatrician had informed them that she would always be small, but within time, she'd at least be back on the chart.
"Em, I'm so—" JJ started to say in bed that night.
"Jen don't." Emily was frustrated. She knew her wife doubted herself, knew JJ resented her for whatever unfound reason—Emily tried constantly to get JJ to see how amazing of a mother she was, but she was tired. Not wanting her wife to suffer more than she was, Emily rolled over to face JJ, "It's fine. Amelia will be fine. Don't beat yourself up over it, you're an incredible mother."
JJ knew her wife was exhausted and there was no reason to keep her up to voice the same feelings she always had. I'm enough. Emily tells me I'm enough. The girls love me, Emily loves me so much but she's way too good to me. "Thank you, baby. I love you."
"I love you too, Jen. Now stop thinking so loudly, I can hear your thoughts and they are both untrue and hurtful."
"Hurtful?"
"Do you really think I'd marry someone less than perfect?"
JJ laughed and shoved Emily, "Shut up." They both continued laughing, then JJ leaned over and kissed her wife, "You're perfect."
"I'm aware," Emily winked, causing her wife to shove her again. "Go to sleep, Jen."
7 months later
The Prentiss' had celebrated all three of their daughters' birthdays and the kids were now on summer break; JJ headed into work in hopes of a calm day doing paperwork, however, wishing for calm and it actually happening were two very different stories.
"Conference room, now," Hotch commanded hearing his team groan.
Tossing down their pens, they all walked into the conference room to find the cold-hearted bitch standing with Hotch: the one and only, Erin Strauss.
Picking up the remote from the table, Strauss initiated the slide show. "There is a serial killer targeting women in Fairfax. We've sent in two undercover teams so far and both were killed. One team from the local law enforcement office and one from the FBI; the word liar had been carved into each of the women's foreheads."
"What was the significance of this word to the unsub?" Reid asked as he read through the folder.
"This unsub is targeting young urban professional women who also happen to be lesbians. The word liar, we believe, refers to the fact these undercover agents were not actually a couple, just pretending to be."
Hotch looked up from his own reading to lock eyes with Strauss, "I'm not sure this is a good idea, how will we be able to protect our team?"
The rest of the team, except for Rossi looked questioningly at Hotch. Rossi closed his folder and leaned back in his chair. "Now don't be too quick Aaron, we can send you in as a brother, you know you look enough alike to pass. Plus, we could possibly get Garcia to pass as a sister or cousin."
Once JJ heard this, she knew what was happening, "No! Not happening," she glared at Strauss then back to Hotch, "Hotch, no. Not a chance."
"Agent Jareau, this is your job. Everyone knows your wife has been undercover before and she had to do a lot worse than—" Strauss said.
"Don't you dare finish that sentence!" JJ said, standing up from her seat. "You do not have any right! Your clearance level isn't even high enough; I don't care what anyone has on you because I know my wife has enough to get you transferred to another country while sipping her morning coffee."
Everyone was taken back by JJ's outburst; they all knew Emily had done undercover work, but nobody knew what it fully entailed besides JJ. Strauss even looked frozen at the aggression behind JJ's eyes. She wanted more than anything to reprimand Agent Jareau but knew the Prentiss family connections.
"Ma'am," Hotch said addressing the witch, "I'd like to speak with my team alone, I'll call you in a half hour."
When Strauss left, everyone could see JJ visibly shaking. Hotch felt for her and as much as he knew she shouldn't have lashed out, she had every right to. The Prentiss family had been through way too much in the last year.
"She's lost her fucking mind! Emily is retired and we have three daughters! She must be insane for thinking I'd bring my children uncover!"
"JJ, we would never let anything happen to your girls or the both of you. This serial killer is local—you and Emily are our best bet. Yes, we have Tara who is active in the FBI, and no disrespect to you," he said looking at Tara then back to JJ, "she's not romantically involved with you. Emily is and she's trained for this; she's been deep undercover before," Rossi said, trying to help Hotch.
"She was undercover before we had three daughters to care for, who depend on us for absolutely everything." JJ was trying to calm herself down, but she couldn't stop thinking about the worst possible scenario. "My girls have been through enough, especially Amelia. She's just starting to get better; we all know what this stress would do to her body! I'm not up and leaving my wife and girls for weeks possibly months, and I'm not taking them with me knowing they will be in danger."
"JJ, they won't be in danger. We will keep them safe," Hotch said, calmly.
She couldn't take it, JJ walked out of the conference room slamming the door on the way causing her team members to flinch. "What are we going to do now?" Reid asked innocently.
"Prepare for the Prentiss family to go undercover."