Fortunately, Reid soon received travel clearance from his doctor and was able to join the team for their next out-of-town case. The first night of the case, Garcia came home and immediately scrutinized Jessica.

"…can I help you?" Jessica asked warily.

"Your eyes are brown," Garcia stated.

"Yes, they are." Jessica paused, still giving Garcia a wary look. "You can't have them."

"I wasn't asking for them," Garcia signed hurriedly. "My research today told me it's the blonde-haired, blue-eyed babies who get adopted."

"And hearing," Jessica added, scowling slightly. "I haven't done any research, but I'd bet money that unless the parents are deaf too, they want blonde-haired, blue-eyed hearing babies."

"Point," Garcia conceded.

"And I wasn't in the system as a baby, so why do you suddenly care about my eye color?"

"For some reason, I had it in my head that your eyes are blue," Garcia admitted. "I guess people just tend to assume that blonde hair and blue eyes go together."

Jessica stared at her in disbelief. "Your eyes aren't blue either."

Garcia scoffed dismissively. "I'm a tech goddess, not an eye doctor. Give me a break."

"I could have told you your eye color without checking," Jessica replied, unimpressed.

"You're deaf. You pay more attention to visual stuff," Garcia countered.

"And I don't automatically assume that other blondes have a different eye color from me," Jessica responded, raising an eyebrow.

"All right, so it was a stupid assumption!" Garcia relented, cheeks slightly red. She paused, frowning. "…am I at least correct in remembering that Bianca's eyes are blue?"

"Yes. White cats with blue eyes are often deaf, but according to Spencer and the vet, she seems to hear just fine…"

Garcia sat down next to Jessica. "Would you have preferred a deaf cat?" she asked curiously.

Jessica shrugged. "Unless there's a cat out there who understands ASL, it doesn't really make a difference to me. She does seem to have figured out that meowing only gets Spencer's attention, not mine."

Garcia snorted. "Now if only she'd figure out that not all visitors are out to get you…"

As Halloween approached, Spencer and Jessica had a little trouble deciding on costumes. "Maybe you could dress as a pirate with a peg leg?" Jessica suggested.

Spencer winced at the idea. "That would put more strain on my knee, not less." He thought for a few moments. "What about Tiny Tim?"

Jessica stared at him in disbelief. Pointedly stared up at him in disbelief. "I think you're a bit tall to be 'Tiny'."

Spencer reconsidered. "Or I could get a wheelchair and go as Stephen Hawking?"

"Wouldn't that involve using a computerized voice?" Jessica pointed out. "I can't read computer lips."

"Or I could go as Franklin Roosevelt," Spencer amended.

Jessica pouted. "That's boring, though." She thought about it for a few more moments. "If you have your knee brace on, do you think you could wear a prop arrow so that it looks like you were shot in the knee?"

"I was shot in the knee."

Jessica huffed in exasperation. "You know what I mean! You could be some sort of medieval adventurer. Or at least, someone who was going on adventures before he took an arrow to the knee."

"All right, that could work," Spencer agreed. "And what about you, are you going to be a medieval adventurer too?"

"Sure, why not? I'll be the warrior maiden who saved your life."

Spencer frowned. "Why do I need to have been saved? I took down my actual shooter all by myself."

"Fine, I'll just be a warrior maiden," Jessica relented.

The week after Halloween, Garcia summoned Jessica to Quantico to help set up an office for the new acting unit chief Derek Morgan. Jessica was more than willing to help out, though slightly concerned by the circumstances. "Why exactly is Hotch stepping down?"

Garcia dropped another file into a box before answering. "Not sure. I'm assuming it has something to do with Foyet."

"Is he stepping down by choice or are his bosses making him do it?"

"I think he's doing it by choice, but I wouldn't put it past Strauss to jump on any excuse to get rid of him."

Jessica grimaced and decided to change the subject. "Are you still allowed to flirt with your 'acting unit chief'?"

Garcia froze. "That's a very good question. At the very least, I should probably make sure I'm not on speakerphone. We don't want a repeat of 'talk dirty to me'…"

Jessica frowned in confusion. "'Talk dirty to me'?"

"One time, I answered the phone with that, and it turned out Strauss was on the other end…"

Jessica burst into laughter. "Glad to see it didn't cost you your job."

"Me too," Garcia agreed, shuddering. She packed away a few more files before signing again. "So, remember a couple weeks ago when you thought I was trying to take your eyes?"

It took a few moments for Jessica to remember the conversation that Garcia was referring to. "I didn't think you were trying to take my eyes, I just wasn't sure what you were trying to say."

"Well, now we've got an unsub who's taking people's eyes. Your psychic powers have struck again."

Jessica stared at Garcia in horror. "One, I did not need to know that, and two, that wasn't even a prediction! Can't I say anything without the universe creating a serial killer for it?!"

"Apparently not. Maybe you should take a vow of silence…" Garcia winced awkwardly. "Or, a vow of not-signing? I don't know how that works for you guys."

"I'm tempted, but now I worry that if I do, you'll get an unsub who forcibly silences people somehow."

Garcia stared at her. "Now that you mention it, one of the first cases we worked after I joined was an unsub we called 'The Silencer'. We never did catch him, so he might resurface some day…"

Jessica groaned in frustration. "I can't win!"

Henry's birthday was coming up, and Garcia—the team's self-appointed morale officer—was making sure everyone knew it. JJ eventually agreed to let everyone come to her house to celebrate, provided that only the godparents actually brought gifts—and that Garcia limited herself to a single birthday gift. Then Jessica learned of the rule, and protested that she'd already bought one. JJ relented and let Henry's 'god-cousin' bring a gift too.

"Got it," Garcia said cheerfully, remoting in to their victim's computer. "Password was 'Cullen'."

"Colon?" Reid repeated, confused.

"Cullen," JJ corrected him. "The vampire family from Twilight?"

"What's Twilight?" Reid asked, bewildered.

JJ stared at him in disbelief. "You have a teenage sort-of daughter, and you don't know what Twilight is?"

"Well I know what it is as a time of day, but you seem to be referring to something else."

Garcia laughed. "Don't bother, JJ. Jessica's a fan of Harry Potter, and Potterheads have a big rivalry with Twi-hards."

Poor Reid looked more lost than ever, and JJ laughed too. "Well, Spence, be glad you don't have to worry about her becoming a Belieber."

"Or going all ga-ga over the Jonas brothers," Garcia suggested.

"Or Lady Gaga," JJ added.

"Why don't I have to worry about any of this?" Reid demanded, still confused.

"Singers," JJ explained. "Though I suppose the Jonas brothers are kinda cute…"

"Oh." Reid was silent for a few moments, then shrugged and returned to the profile he'd been working on.

"Anyway, I'll see what I can dredge," Garcia said. "My love is strong!"

"Okay, thanks," JJ replied, then hung up. She turned back to Reid. "How's the profile coming?"

"I don't know. I never really feel ready, you know?"

"It'll be fine," JJ assured. "I am gonna go talk to Tara's BFF before the media requests come in and it gets too crazy."

Reid's eyes lit up. "Best friend forever! Jessica taught me that one."

JJ laughed and patted him on the shoulder. "Good to see you know something not found in a technical manual."

Henry's birthday fell on the day after the team returned from Los Angeles. Hotch actually left the office on time for once, joining the rest of the team for Henry's informal birthday party. JJ and Will decided to start by passing out cake, which made Garcia very restless. "When are you guys gonna open gifts?" she complained. "My gift is totally adorable!"

"Tsk, tsk, don't spoil the surprise," Prentiss scolded jokingly.

"Maybe we should open gifts before Garcia explodes?" Morgan suggested.

"All right," Will relented, picking up the most extravagantly-wrapped gift. He slowly and methodically unwrapped it, much to Garcia's irritation. At last, he opened the box to reveal a sparkly blue onesie with the words 'My fairy godmother is better than yours'.

"Nice. Understated," Rossi said dryly.

"Well I was going to buy the one with an actual picture of a fairy on it, but I didn't want him to get teased by all the other babies," Garcia said seriously.

JJ picked up her son. "All right, Henry, let's go try on your latest gift from Auntie Penelope." She headed up to the nursery.

A few minutes later, JJ came back down and put Henry in Garcia's lap, now wearing his new onesie. Then she grabbed a camera. "Smile!"

"Cheese!" Garcia said happily.

Morgan laughed. "All right, what else have we got?"

Will opened the next gift—Reid's—and found that it contained a set of alphabet blocks. Morgan shook his head. "Trust you to come up with something educational, kid."

"You're never too young to start learning," Reid said indignantly.

"And how old were you when you learned how to read?" Hotch asked curiously.

"Three…I think? I don't really remember it."

"Ladies and gentlemen, there is something my cousin doesn't remember," Jessica signed dramatically.

Will laughed, reached for Jessica's gift and started to unwrap it. Partway through the process, he realized what it was, and he froze in disbelief. This…surely this had to be some sort of mistake.

JJ leaned over his shoulder to look, wondering what the holdup was. Then she stared at Jessica. "Is that what I think it is?"

"You should have seen the look on the store clerk's face," Jessica signed innocently.

"What? What is it?" Garcia demanded. Suddenly, her eyes widened and she turned to Jessica. "Did you get him a dildo?"

"No, of course not!" Jessica objected, shocked and slightly offended.

"Would someone please share with the rest of the class?" Rossi asked impatiently.

JJ ripped off the rest of the wrapping, revealing the gift to everyone. "It's a music box."

"A…music box," Hotch repeated skeptically.

"According to my research, Rock-A-Bye Baby is a very popular lullaby," Jessica signed casually.

"Okay, fair enough, but why a music box?" Prentiss asked, still trying to wrap her head around this.

Jessica broke down and laughed, no longer able to keep up the innocent act. "I wanted to see the looks on all your faces."

Henry giggled and clapped happily in Garcia's lap. "Well go on, play it!" Garcia said encouragingly.

Will inserted the key that had come with the box, and a tinkling melody began to play. Everyone but Jessica immediately frowned. "That's 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star'," Morgan signed.

"What? I specifically asked the employee to make sure that was the right one!" Jessica complained.

"It's fine," JJ quickly assured. "'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star' is an excellent kids' song too."

"Yes, and it doesn't say anything about a baby falling from a tree," Will added.

"…in hindsight, maybe I should have looked at the lyrics before choosing a song," Jessica signed thoughtfully.

Prentiss patted Jessica on the shoulder. "It was a valiant effort, and it all worked out in the end."

JJ picked up the music box and the alphabet blocks. "Well, thank you, all of you."

"You are very welcome," Garcia replied. "And since we don't have a music box for it, I vote we sing 'Happy Birthday' now!"

The team burst into song, with Jessica following along in ASL. Henry squealed with delight and bounced in Garcia's lap, not really sure what was going on but enjoying the song all the same.

At Spencer's next PT appointment, he was finally given the green light to go down to one crutch. Now that he was able to walk more easily, he decided it was time to discuss college visits with Jessica. Gallaudet University was an obvious choice, being a college for Deaf students located right there in DC, but Jessica wanted to keep her options open. "I don't want to limit myself to only working with Deaf people my entire life," she signed. "College seems like a good time to start putting myself out there. And to get used to arranging reasonable accommodations."

"All right, did you have any particular colleges in mind?" Spencer replied.

"You went to Caltech and MIT, right?"

"Yes. I can definitely arrange visits for those. In fact, there's a neuroscientist giving a talk in Irvine this weekend that I'd really like to see. That's only about an hour from Caltech."

The cousins spent the following weekend in Southern California. After they got home, Garcia texted Jessica. "So, how did you like Caltech?"

"It was okay, I suppose. Honestly, I think I liked the school in Irvine better."

"You know I went to Caltech too, right?"

"Yes, I know." Jessica hesitated, then sent a second message. "But if you start constantly badgering me to go there, I'll choose a different college just to spite you."

"Fine," Garcia relented. "But come on, give me details!"

"We ran into Spencer's old math professor. He tried to test me with some long-winded arithmetic problem before Spencer could clarify that I'm planning to major in biology."

"You're a smart cookie, I bet you got it anyway."

"No, actually, he rattled it off so fast that I didn't have a clue what he had said until Spencer gave him the solution."

"…well, I bet you would have gotten it if he'd said it slower."

"We'll never know. At least the biology professor I met seemed nice, although I think she might have been more interested in Spencer than me. Not that he noticed."

Garcia shook her head when she read this. "Cute, smart, nice—he'd be the total package if he could just figure out when a girl is flirting with him."

Jessica laughed before responding. "Should I tell Kevin you said that?"

"I meant in general! I am faithful to my adorable tech consort."

Jessica raised an eyebrow at this. "When was the last time you flirted with Derek?"

"I flirt with everyone! Kevin knows he's the only one I would do anything more with."

"You don't flirt with me."

"You're underage."

"So, once I turn 18, you'll suddenly start flirting with me too?"

Garcia actually had to think about that one. "Probably not. Not flirting with you is habit by now."

"Okay then. I prefer it that way anyway. It's more fun to watch you flirt with everyone else."

"I live to entertain."

Not long afterward, Spencer switched to a cane. On the very first day that he went to work with it, he ultimately came home looking shell-shocked. He immediately grabbed Jessica for a one-armed hug, and didn't seem at all inclined to let go.

Jessica eventually managed to steer him to sit down on the couch. "Bad case?" she guessed.

Spencer nodded dazedly, ignoring Bianca's efforts to cheer him up by nuzzling him.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Spencer shook his head and pulled Jessica in for another hug. She returned the gesture, but she was becoming a bit worried; Spencer hadn't hugged her this much since the day she was kidnapped. Whatever was wrong, she had a feeling it was worse than just a missing child or an unsub with whom he identified.

At long last, Spencer pulled away again. "We found Foyet."

Jessica frowned. "I take it he didn't come quietly?"

Spencer shook his head. "He's dead. Hotch killed him."

"…and?" Jessica signed, certain that this wasn't what was bothering Spencer so much.

"Foyet killed Haley."

Jessica's eyes widened. "What?!"

"He shot her three times. We all heard it…"

"What about Jack?" Jessica demanded anxiously. "Is Jack okay?"

"Jack is fine. As fine as a four-year-old who just lost his mother can be, anyway."

Jessica gave Spencer a brief hug. "Thank god for that, at least. How's Hotch?"

"I don't know. Not good."

"Do you think it would help if I brought him some food? Or do you think it would be better to leave him alone?"

"I honestly don't know," Spencer signed helplessly.

"I'll bring him something tomorrow," Jessica decided. "And I'll bring something for Jack, too."

The next day, Jessica learned that the entire team had spent the day being grilled by the higher-ups over their (or, more specifically, Hotch's) actions. Jack was apparently at Quantico too, so Jessica grabbed the gift she'd selected for him and headed over.

By the time Jessica arrived, everyone but Hotch had finished their hearings and had gathered in the conference room. Jessica sat next to Jack and greeted him with a wave and a small smile. Then she pulled a teddy bear out of her bag and gave it to him. "This is a mother bear," she signed, JJ interpreting. "Do you want to know why bear mothers are the best mothers?"

"Why?" Jack asked.

"Because they will do anything for their cubs. Your mother was like a bear. She loved you more than anything. And since she's not here any more, this bear will watch over you for her. Any time you want to hug your mother, you hug this bear. And when you go to sleep at night, the bear will go to your mother and give her all the hugs you gave the bear that day."

"Okay," Jack agreed. He gave the bear a hug. "I love you, Mommy."

Thanksgiving went unobserved; no one particularly felt like celebrating. Haley's funeral was held in the afternoon a week later. Jessica drove straight there after school, determined to attend even though she hadn't seen Haley in years. Morgan helpfully signed Hotch's eulogy for her, since Reid still couldn't stand and sign at the same time.

After the service, Jess Brooks decided to ask her nephew about the teddy bear that he had been constantly lugging around since Haley's death. "Hi, Jack. That's a very nice bear you've got there."

Jack looked confused. "Yeah. She's my Mommy Bear."

"Oh, your Mommy Bear? What do you mean?"

Jack looked even more confused. "You told me about her. How she watches me for Mommy and gives Mommy all my hugs."

Now Jess was confused. "That's very nice, Jack, but I never told you any of that. Are you sure it wasn't someone else who told you about your Mommy Bear?"

"No, it was you!" Jack insisted. "Well…the other you. The you who talks funny with her hands."

"The…" Jess caught sight of the deaf girl on the other side of the room, and suddenly remembered that the girl was also named Jessica. "Oh, no, sweetheart. Sometimes, different people have the same name. It doesn't make us the same person. The girl who 'talks funny with her hands' is a different girl who also happens to be named Jessica, that's all."

Jack looked back and forth between his Aunt Jess and Dr. Reid's cousin Jessica. "So…you're not her?"

"No, I'm not. I didn't tell you about your Mommy Bear, and she's not your Aunt." Jess hesitated, wondering whether the phrase 'talks funny' would be considered offensive. She decided to play it safe. "And the other Jessica doesn't 'talk funny'; she uses sign language because she's deaf. Do you know what that means?"

"Miss Jareau said it means she can't hear."

Jess nodded. "That's right. It's hard for deaf people to learn to talk the way you and I do, because they don't know how they're supposed to sound. So they use sign language because it's a way of talking that you don't need to hear to use."

Jack thought about this. "I don't wanna be deaf."

"I'm sure you don't," Jess agreed. "I don't wanna be deaf either. But the other Jessica is deaf and she can't help that, so let's not hurt her feelings by talking about her like she's 'funny' or 'weird'."

"Okay."

Jess took a deep breath. "The Mommy Bear is nice, though; I'm glad the other Jessica told you about her. Can I give Mommy Bear a hug too?"

"Sure." Jack held out the bear, and Jess gave it a hug. Then she drew Jack into her arms too.

"Any time you want a bigger hug than Mommy Bear can give you, just ask me. I love you, sweetheart."

"I love you too, Aunt Jess."