JJ sniffled as she finished putting the last of the case files from her desk into boxes. She'd been meaning to clean the cluttered files from previous cases for some time now, but never seemed to have the chance. While she technically didn't have the chance now, she found it to be somewhat relaxing, and it was helping her to calm down.
"JJ, it's just me, can I come in?"
JJ glanced over at the door to her office, where she desperately wanted to shout at Reid to go away. She had purposely avoided all of his calls to avoid having to talk about what happened the previous week, and she had no interest in talking now. She didn't think she could handle it if he was also angry at her for his abduction.
"JJ, please, let me in," called Reid. "I'm not upset. I just want to make sure that you're okay."
JJ shook her head, fighting the urge to let her best friend into the office. She knew he wouldn't just barge in without her permission, for which she was grateful, and figured that if she just kept ignoring him, he'd eventually go away. She would be able to avoid conversation altogether. She sniffled again as she closed the lids of the boxes and ignored the new stream of voices on the other side of her door.
"Why won't she talk to me?" Reid asked finally, turning back to Emily and Gideon.
"I tried to tell you to leave her," said Gideon.
"She's upset, and I don't like my best friend being upset."
"I know that. Really, I do." Gideon gave Reid a sympathetic look. "JJ needs space. She's hurting, and I won't deny that the reason for it is the way this team has been treating her, but us forcing ourselves into her personal space doesn't help her. You need to give her time. She'll come to you when she's ready to talk."
"And if she never is ready?" Emily asked, unable to hide her concern.
"Then we wear that. All of us, to some extent, are to blame for this. And it isn't just the last case, but every case. That girl is the strongest person I've ever met. She bottles up her emotions to do her job, sees way worse than any of us do, and takes the crap on our behalf all the time. Nobody has ever thanked her or acknowledged her. It was bound to come out eventually."
"And you're comfortable to just let her cry?"
"No, but I've been working with her, and I know more than either of you do. Please, listen to me. Go back to work, she'll come to you when she's ready."
Emily sighed and grabbed Reid's arm. "Gideon, this isn't right. And neither is the way Hotch spoke about, and to, JJ in that conference room just now. Do something about his attitude towards her, or I will have to make a complaint," she stated as she led Reid back to the conference room.
Gideon felt his heart break as he listened to JJ's sobs echoing inside her office. After the two agents had left him outside the office door, Gideon had proceeded to knock and announce his imminent entry. Without waiting for the negative response he knew would come, he had opened the door and walked in, taking care to close the door in full. He'd taken a seat in front of JJ's desk, which is where he was still sitting five minutes later.
"I know you don't want to talk to me right now, JJ, but this is not good for you. Do you want to go home and take some time off?" Gideon asked.
There was no response, which he was expecting, but he still felt his stomach twist into knots. In the past week, Gideon had made sure to check in with JJ once a day, and, though frosty and clearly not interested in talking, she hadn't ignored him. She hadn't openly cried, either, though red-rimmed eyes told him she had been crying before he had come in on those days.
"JJ, it's okay to be hurt," he tried again. "You have every right to be angry. I know it doesn't mean very much, but I am sorry."
Finally, JJ turned to look at him. He felt his heart break into tiny pieces for the second time that day at the look on her face. Tear tracks glistened on her cheeks, her eyes were bright red. She was still sobbing and sniffling, like she was trying not to cry again, and the hurt in her eyes was now overshadowed by anger. If he was being honest with himself, Gideon would have said that the look in JJ's eyes terrified him, and he felt a strong urge to call for backup- something was telling him that JJ was beyond caring at that point.
"JJ..." Gideon said, wary of making her more angry, "tell me what you want me to do. How can I fix this?"