It's a bright monday morning when Hotch comes in looking like death and storms into his office. You raise your eyebrows at Reid, where he sits diagonally from you. As good as he is with profiling, normal interactions often slip his mind. He mouths "what?" at you, but you give up, shaking your head. No doubt he was too wrapped up in the case file he was reading to notice their boss' mood. Prentiss, however, flashes you a look from across her desk. At least you aren't alone in noticing it.

The day starts slow, and you have little to do other than organize some old case reports. You were hired on as an expert in child and teen psychology, although this job had a way of pushing everybody out of their comfort zones. You'd worked there for nearly a year and while you anticipated more time at your desk writing psychological analysis reports, you had adapted to the fast pace of field work.

You don't even make it to lunch before JJ is walking through the bullpen, calling for a briefing. Gideon's resignation had shook up the team, but ultimately everybody was coping well. His replacement, Rossi, was a bit of a wildcard. He hadn't been in the field for a number of years, and though JJ and Hotch seemed familiar with him, you'd only heard his name in passing. You weren't initially trained for the BAU, but they'd asked for your help in a case with a juvenile unsub while you worked with the crimes against children division of the bureau. A month after that case, you'd gotten a call asking you to join the team full time. The team always respected your background and welcomed you into the team, but as you watched how much respect they had for Rossi, you wondered if maybe you should have sat in on some of the criminal behavioral classes after all.

You'd never admit it, but in your mind, Hotch was the leader of the BAU now. You tried not to look to him in the briefing room, but ultimately you trusted him more than the man you'd just met.

The team shuffles into the conference room while JJ tacks up pictures and starts up a projector. Hotch looks as sour as he did that morning. The case is in Miami, Florida, and the police department believes there's a spree killer targeting tourists. You collect your go-bag, and settle onto the jet.

The conversation doesn't flow quite as easily as it used to, but the team still gets a preliminary profile planned out. The case only involves adult victims, so you hold back in conversation. You've picked up a lot over the past year, but profiling based off of a briefing is still daunting to you. Hotch, Reid, and Rossi hash out typical profiles the unsub might fit, Prentiss and Morgan are chatting, and you find your way back to JJ. You spend the flight working on victimology, and the latest stands out to you.

"Jayge, this guy was a cop in New Orleans. Do you think he worked that sexual assault case with us?" You try not to get personal at work, but the thought of knowing somebody who would become a serial killer victim is unsettling. JJ is usually collected and easy going, but she's stiff when you speak.

"It's been months since that case. Why would we know anyone from that department?" she snaps.

You let it slide, but you can't help but wonder if there's a full moon or some other kind of cosmic disturbance putting everybody on edge today.

The reason behind JJ's mood clicks when a certain officer from Louisiana shows up to work the case, and Prentiss notices him making eyes at the blonde. You've all promised not to profile each other, but technically, Will never agreed to that. Besides, the adoration is written all over his face. That man is stone cold in love with JJ. Prentiss mentions it to you while the two of you are in the car on the way to interview a coroner. You both enjoy the opportunity to gossip about something so normal before you get back into work mode. Reid realizes the unsub must already have another victim picked on on their second day there, and the case flies by as you all race to find the victim in time.

With Garcia's beautiful brain and the team's hard work, you all manage to find the unsub in time. Since the case was spent surrounded by Will grieving for his friend and the unsub was so out of touch with reality, it doesn't feel like the victory it is. You all agree to fly back in the early hours of the morning when the unsub is in custody.

You sleep on the plane and stumble into the office with the rest of the team. Even Garcia was still at the office. As much as everybody wanted to go home, the BAU had a post-case procedure that you all had to follow. Everybody retreated to their respective desks to fill out their questionnaires ("Did you sustain any injuries? Approximately how many hours did you spend in the field?" and on and on). Everybody gathered in the conference room at the start of the work day to outline the report of the case. Prentiss was in the middle of making her case that the unsub wasn't motivated by sex, but by identity, when a knock came to the conference room.

"I'm looking for a Mr. Hotchner?" the man behind the door said as Morgan let him in.

Hotch nodded to the man and stuck a hand out, accepting the file the man held.

It was rare for one of their meetings to be interrupted, so nobody quite knew how to bridge the silence. Hotch didn't need to open the folder to know what it was.

"Hailey's filed for divorce." His expression is almost neutral, but his eyes are clearly sad. Your first reaction is to say "I'm sorry", but you bite your tongue. You remember Hotch's near resignation before he came onto a case at the last second. If you said anything to him, he'd only tell you that he made his choice and Hailey made hers.

Hotch fills the silence again "Morgan, think you can handle this write up? I'm sure Prentiss can help you out as well."

"You got it." Morgan assures him, and you're all dismissed for the time being.

You snag your go-bag off your desk and head out into the elevator with Reid.

a/n: "No motive is pure. No one is good or bad-but a hearty mix of both. And sometimes life actually gives to you by taking away." Carrie Fisher