"And you're sure you want to be back at work after only a week of leave?" Hotch asked as he and Reid entered the conference room.

"I am. Sitting at home was nice, but I need to do something. I need to be here," answered Reid. "Say, is JJ here?"

"Yes, why?"

"I was hoping to talk to her. I've been trying to call her all week, but I never got an answer. Is she okay?"

"She's fine," said Hotch dismissively. "If you're ready to be back, let's get to work."

Reid frowned as he took a seat at the conference table. Hotch's dismissive attitude bothered him a little, but he pushed the thought to the back of his mind and tuned into the case summary that he was happy to see was being given by JJ. Maybe later, he could catch her and check on her? He hoped so.

"There were two victims," said JJ, "Margaret Holden and Ken Kenwood. As you can probably see from the files in front of you, Margaret was found by campers twelve hours ago and taken to a local hospital. Her injuries are mostly minor or superficial, but the hospital chose to keep her for observation. Margaret told police that she and her boyfriend had been camping in the woods when they had decided to go for a short walk before dark. They were startled by a deer that ran across their path, which is where they accidentally split up. Margaret fell to the ground, and when she got up, she tried to search for Ken, only to stumble over a tree root and plummet into a ravine. Ken is now considered to be missing."

"Did the police find any evidence of an abduction?" asked Gideon.

"No. They think he's still in those woods, but..." JJ began, but then stopped. She took a deep breath. "They think he's probably injured somewhere in the woods, but the area is huge and they haven't been able to search it all yet. They are calling this a missing person's case, though the local police think that Margaret has something to do with Ken's disappearance." JJ put the remote on the table and looked back at the screen, her eyes filling with tears. "Margaret is insisting on them being wrong about her," she choked out, "and they want us to come and create a profile..."

Stopping suddenly, JJ felt her tears burning her eyes. Determined not to cry in front of anyone, she tried to swallow the lump that had formed in her throat.

"Okay. What JJ didn't say is that the case is here in DC," said Hotch, looking at JJ with an annoyed expression. "We'll work from here."

"The woods are out near Shenandoah National Park," JJ said softly. "Margaret is in the hospital adjacent to the park... I'm sorry, I can't do this!" JJ exclaimed, running out of the room with tears pouring down her cheeks.

"What was that about?" Morgan asked.

"Probably nothing," Hotch replied, shrugging. "Let's get to work. We need to build a geo profile and victimology."

As Hotch and Morgan bent over their files, Reid glanced around. He could see Emily glancing out the door of the conference room every few seconds, and Gideon, despite working, looked worried. He wanted to chase his friend out of the room, but he didn't know what was wrong, and he didn't want to make it worse. With a sigh that he realised Gideon had heard, Reid opened the file in front of him and started to read about Margaret.

"Oh!" he gasped after a few minutes of reading.

"Reid, you okay?" Emily asked from next to him.

"Look at this," Reid said, pointing to something in the file. "I know what's wrong with JJ."

Emily sped read the passage indicated and looked at Reid. "I'll come with you."

Together, Reid and Emily rose from their chairs. Without a word, and not realising that Gideon was watching them, they raced from the room.

Reid and Emily stopped as they reached JJ's office. The door was shut, but they could hear someone moving around inside the office. Thuds said that the person was moving heavy items around- probably files or books- and there was another sound that they couldn't quite identify.

"Hey, Reid, I think she's packing boxes," said Emily quietly from where she had decided to peek through a window.

"Packing?" Reid questioned as he joined Emily at the window.

"I assume so. She's putting things inside boxes. I don't know what they are."

"What are you two doing?" asked a new voice from behind them.

Reid and Emily jumped. They turned around to find Gideon watching them.

"Uh, we were looking to see if JJ was in there," said Emily.

"You were spying."

"No, sir..."

"You were. I know you were, I watched you for a while." Gideon smiled a little. "I know what you want to do, but I am telling you to leave her alone."

"We can't," said Reid. "She's upset, and if I'm right, it's because of when I went missing last week. Emily told me about how Morgan and Hotch were rude to JJ about it. That wasn't her fault- I was the one that decided to split up, she didn't want to and I didn't listen. And when I called out to tell her I was going after the guy, I didn't wait for a response, nor to check if JJ even heard me. She's taken the blame, without a word, and that is not right."

"She is not in trouble, if that's what you're thinking."

"Actually, I'm thinking that the new case reminds her of that night." Reid glanced around and lowered his voice. "Emily told me that JJ shot three dogs inside that barn to stop them attacking her. She was in shock when Emily and Morgan found her there, and yet, despite that, not one of you thought to check in on her after the case was over. I'm surprised she didn't break down before now."

"Reid..."

"No. I don't care. I'm not leaving her in that office to cry. She needs a friend." Reid turned and knocked on the door. "JJ? It's just me. Can I come in?" he asked softly.