what goes up

"JJ'S STILL IN THERE?"

"And Strauss," Emily answers Penelope without looking away from the closed blinds that cover the windows of Hotch's office. She catches Spencer's movement as he reaches for the antacids on his desk, making her groan. "Oh, again with the dairy?"

Spencer shrugs, shaking some out of the bottle into his palm. "I can't help it, I love dairy."

"It's been like, what, twenty minutes?" Garcia asks in disbelief, eyes drifting to Derek as he joins their gawking.

"Well, ten more minutes we're in the air,"

Jane comes across them like this, pulling a few pieces of dry cereal out of the plastic bag in her hand, chewing them quietly. "What are we looking at?"

Emily glances her way before looking back at Hotch's windows. "JJ and Hotch have been in there with Strauss for a while. But I don't think it's about the case,"

Garcia snaps her head down to look at Emily, eyes narrowing. "Do you know something?"

"Do I know something?"

Garcia looks at Derek, gesturing to Emily. "She just repeated the question. You always say that's a sign,"

Derek frowns slightly, glancing at the brunette standing beside him. "Do you know why JJ's in there?"

Jane stops mid-chew, looking up from her 'breakfast' to find them looking at her expectantly. "Oh– me? Why would I know anything you guys don't?"

"You're his daughter!" Garcia hisses, eyes wide. "Tell us what you know."

Jane shakes her head. "House rule, no talk about work at dinner. It's not appetizing, and Jack's show-and-tell stories were starting to get him in trouble."

Penelope lets out a disappointed sigh, looking back at his office. "What is going on?"

"Maybe she asked for a raise,"

Emily rolls her eyes up, giving Spencer a disbelieving look he completely misses.

"Have his blinds ever been closed?"

Emily shrugs. "I've never paid attention,"

The door opens quickly Derek walks away, leaving the four of them to poorly pretend they weren't being nosey. Jane watches Chief Strauss walk out, a frown on her face as she steps into the bullpen, giving her a nod.

"Good morning, Jane,"

Jane lifts her hand in a wave. "Good morning, Erin,"

The older woman doesn't stop her stride as she walks through the glass doors to the elevator, a thick wave of tension going with her.

"I'm glad she likes somebody in this office," Emily mutters, smirking at Jane's huff. "No, really, you even get first name privileges."

"I get first name privileges because Erin doesn't want me to sue Quantico and the entire witness protection program. Now, I'm not saying you need to get yourself kidnapped and tortured by a serial killer to make that happen, but it might help you."

Emily gives her a flat look. "You're funny. Very funny, taking my joke away from me,"

"Thank you," Jane winks, popping another piece of cereal into her mouth. "Oh, here comes JJ."

They all once again poorly conceal their curiosity as JJ spares them a knowing look before walking towards Rossi's office, and Jane's attention shifts from the blonde to her boss as he leaves his office with his bag in tow.

"Morning," She greets him, earning a hum in response. "How was Jack?"

"Tired," Aaron says. "Six rounds of hide and seek isn't for the weak."

Jane smiles to herself as Derek joins them again, grabbing his bag from his desk. "How long have they been in custody?"

"60 hours. We have twelve hours to get a confession or find the body."

Jane is quick to join the rest of the team as they follow after Aaron, their lighter atmosphere disappearing as they shift their focus to the time limit on their case.

"Syd Pearson has a lot of money and connections. If we let him go, we may never see him again."

Prentiss looks at Spencer. "And Barrett?"

"He doesn't have the same resources,"

Jane hums, closing the bag of cereal and stuffing it into the top of her duffel bag hanging off her shoulder, zipping it back up. "Well, that's a huge power imbalance in a friendship, so we have that at least."

"Do you think these guys did it?"

"Locals do,"

"They tried to get them to turn against one another, but that didn't work."

Reid nodded along with Rossi's words as they all filed towards the elevators. "It seems they have a bond that dates back to childhood."

"We only have a thirty minute flight, that's not enough time to delve into their histories."

Garcia taps Jane's arm, handing her printed out pack of papers. "Bullet points on the missing woman, second and third pages are all about the suspects."

"Garcia, we're gonna need phone records, credit card receipts, anything you can find."

She nods, giving Morgan a pat on the back as he walks into the elevator with the rest of them. "Yes, you will have them when you get there."

Hotch holds an arm out past Emily's head to hold the elevator doors open as JJ approaches, grabbing the last packet of paper from Penelope.

The redhead stops her, laying a hand on her arm. "Hey, is everything okay?"

JJ looks up, brows furrowing for a moment before she chuckles. "What, with Strauss?" She shakes her head as she walks into the elevator, standing in front of them. "Everything's gonna be fine."

──────

Jane's eyes track JJ as she sits back down beside Emily, watching her from her own seat across the aisle.

Emily gives JJ a pleasant smile that the blonde returns for a moment. "Hey,"

JJ mutters the greeting back, sorting out the papers for the case file. Her eyes drift upward for a moment, catching on Derek's imploring look. She quickly looks towards Jane, who looks away just as fast, tapping her fingers on the table mindlessly.

Scoffing, JJ shakes her head at their poor attempt at nonchalance. "I got this offer from the Pentagon. I turned it down twice, and I... never told Hotch or Strauss."

Realization dawns on the three of them.

"And now Strauss wants you to take it," Derek says knowingly, earning a nod from the blonde. "Well, of course she does. It'll make her look good if you get promoted."

JJ gave a wry smile. "I don't trust her for a second."

Emily nods, face twisted unhappily. "You shouldn't," Her eyes drift to Jane for a moment, recalling their teasing conversation that morning. "She'll do anything to save face. What does Hotch think?"

"He knows I don't want to go,"

"Well, then, you won't."

JJ nods at Emily's firm words, looking at Morgan. "Penelope's pretty freaked out, huh?"

"You have to ask?" Derek shrugs as Spencer rejoins them from the bathroom, wiping at his mouth with the back of his hand. Jane looks him over, frowning slightly at the glassy sheen in his eyes, but she's pulled from her thoughts by Hotch and Rossi coming to sit with the rest of them from the back of the plane.

"Okay, let's review,"

They all nod dutifully and JJ starts them off. "Okay, Kate Joyce, 19 years old. Was last seen leaving a bar with these two men, Sydney Pearson and James Barrett, both 20 years old. She was reported missing the next morning when she didn't meet her friends. That was almost 3 days ago,"

"Their story is they dropped Kate at the motel, but there were no cameras to confirm that."

Hotch nods, looking at them. "Search and rescue's been all over the island."

"Dragged the inlets and they found absolutely nothing."

Jane purses her lips, glancing at the photos of the two suspects again. "Both said they had sex with Kate. They're claiming it was consensual."

Emily shrugged lightly. "There's no way to confirm. There's no body."

"I doubt it was consensual," Derek says solemnly.

"We've got to prove they're guilty of more than just being seen with her."

"Police weren't able to find any holes in their stories," Derek shakes his head. "We're gonna have to break them down psychologically."

Hotch nods in agreement, looking at the man. "Morgan, I want you and Prentiss to lead the interrogation. Dave, you, Jane, and Reid start at the bar. JJ, Kate Joyce's family is still at the station."

Shock covers JJ's face. "Still? For 3 days?"

"They never went to the hotel. I want you to stay with them."

JJ nods slowly, looking back down at the picture of Kate Joyce. "Yeah."

──────

"Kate Joyce comes from a stable family. She went to good schools, got good grades, has good friends,"

Rossi sighs, eyes squinted behind his sunglasses as he, Spencer, and Jane walk down the sidewalk. "Everything points to her being a total sweetheart."

Jane raises a brow at Rossi's tone. "You don't think she is?"

"I'm sure she is," He waves her off.

"But?" Spencer urges.

"She's nineteen," He shrugs. "Kate wouldn't leave with those boys."

Reid frowns confusedly. "But she did,"

Rossi nods. "Yeah. But why? Why would this girl, this sweetheart, take such a risk?"

Jane hums, tilting her head back in forth in contemplation. Rossi looks her way, gesturing at her. "Any input? You were a nineteen year old girl once,"

Jane scoffs as they come to a stop outside the bar, shaking her head. "Rossi, I'd barely seen the light of day by nineteen. I was not in bars with my friends, or going home with boys. Unfortunately for Kate, I can't be a comparison for this case."

The older man shrugs, moving to open the door for them as they file in to the bar.

Spencer makes a contemplative noise, looking down at the file in his hands. "Unfortunately for Kate, we don't have a lot of things that would help us find her. We don't have many images to go by,"

"We saw enough to know what happened. Kate Joyce and her friends moved around a lot."

"But the suspects didn't," Jane recalls the security footage, as mostly useless as it was. "They waited for her."

"A sea of opportunity. Why was she drawn to those guys?"

"What if she knew them?" Spencer tried.

Rossi spared him a glance. "Her friends never said that. She was only here a week,"

Spencer nods in acknowledgment, eyes roaming over the paths Kate had been seen taking on the footage. "I think she trusted them."

"Why?"

"She may have been testing her boundaries, but she's far too cautious to just go off with total strangers."

"So, she met them before Friday night."

Jane looks between her two colleagues, furrowing her brows. "That changes her profile. A lot."

"It changes all of the profiles,"

──────

Jane relishes in the air-conditioned precinct that hits her sweat-damp skin as soon as she walks in right behind Rossi and Reid. Letting out a breath, she fans at herself and follows them to the bullpen down the hall, stepping through the double doors.

JJ greets them alone, her face twisted in frustration as Rossi opens. "We think Kate was comfortable with these guys,"

She looks at them confusedly. "How? Their only other encounter was at the jet ski rental."

"The only documented encounter," Spencer corrects her.

"Garcia's running her friends' credit cards, too," Rossi says, starting to walk further into the room, the other three following him as they join the rest of the team. "They could've met someplace else."

JJ sighs, shaking her head. "I don't know, she's a smart girl,"

"Well, they're handsome, charming, nineteen. You remember 19?"

"She would know better than to be outnumbered,"

Emily contemplates JJ's point for a moment, eyes narrowing. "What if Pearson promised to dump Jim Barrett?"

"And, what, Jim retaliated?" Jane asks, brows raising.

"I could work that theory,"

The group of them shrug and nod in agreement, knowing they don't really have anything else to go off.

"When do we get the results?"

The police chief sighs tiredly. "Any minute."

Jane furrows her brows, looking at Hotch. "Results of what?"

"They both asked for a polygraph," Hotch tells her, nodding at her look of surprise.

"So," The chief grimaces. "What if they didn't do it? Then we're back to nothing?"

"One of them knows where Kate is,"

The man looks at Hotch inquisitively. "How can you be sure?"

"Because an innocent person doesn't sit quietly for 3 days. They get angry and defensive,"

Derek nods at Hotch's words. "These guys are going out of their way to appear calm and in control. They've got something to hide."

"Then why take the polygraph?"

"'Cause they're stalling. Serial killers are kings of manipulation,"

"Serial killers?" The chief echoes incredulously. "There's only one potential victim."

"Serial killing is a qualitative characteristic," Hotch informs him. "It's not just about numbers."

"They've assaulted at least one girl before. It was only a matter of time before they did it again,"

Jane crosses her arms over her chest, frowning at Derek's words as Emily starts to speak.

"Barrett's a perfect match for Pearson. His family uprooted from the city, forcing him to adapt to his new surroundings. He's eager to fit in and quick to follow."

"And Pearson's definitely got the dominant traits. He's loud, he's physical, he's smart, he's charismatic, and he's privileged."

Rossi huffs an amused scoff. "Sounds like a peach."

Hotch nods at Rossi pointedly. "You should talk to him."

"Love to,"

"I'll take you to him."

Hotch looks at Jane as Rossi turns and follows after the chief, and he nods her dismissal silently. She gives him a small smile in return and turns to follow Spencer, clasping her hands together in front of her.

"I'll talk to Pearson alone," Rossi says, gesturing at the other interrogation room where Jim Barrett is. "You two should talk to him."

Jane and Spencer nod dutifully and Spencer holds the door open for the other half of the mirrored room, the two of them stepping in to watch Jim Barrett sit in the uncomfortable chair, his eyes darting to the camera pointed at the table every few seconds.

"He's the submissive one," Spencer says, eyes narrowed at the younger boy like he's running through the rolodex of information he has on him in his mind. "He's quiet, he's more off-putting to other people."

"To girls," Jane corrects, tilting her head. "A guy like him, no girl is going to seek him out. At least not if Syd is right there next to him, peacocking. Barrett could have a girl on his finger, hook, line, and sinker, but if Syd steps in, there's no chance she's still picking him."

"You told Rossi you couldn't speak from experience,"

"Oh, I can't," Jane shakes her head, looking up at Spencer from beneath her bangs with a slight smile. "I was a really secluded teen, to say the least. But one thing that's universal for women, no matter how old you get, you can't trust a man you don't feel safe around. So, you might have been able to force some conversation with the quiet, weird guy at the bar because you thought he was cute at first, but mostly a part of you just felt bad for him, but the second that someone like Syd comes in, Barrett's 15 minutes of fame are over. Syd is confident, he's self-assured, he knows how to adapt to women and how to be what a woman wants. He can absolutely put on a show of trustworthy guy who will give you a free ride back to your hotel room, and you know, provide you with some physical reassurance, too. If you try to go back to Barrett after talking to Syd, all you'll be able to think about is his friend who seemed like he knew what he was doing, and actually knew how to talk to women."

Spencer nods slowly, taking in her words. "The type of person Syd Pearson is... he'd probably throw his friend under the bus just to get the girl."

"You think he'd make some jokes about Barrett? Wouldn't Barrett say something?"

"No," Spencer shakes his head. "He's not going to speak up against Syd. He'll lose the only stability he's had since he moved here, the only friend he's had. It would kill him to make Syd mad. He'd take the abuse easier than he'd stick up for himself."

Jane lets out a low hum, her eyes back on the window, watching Jim Barrett squirm. "You ready to go in there?"

"If you are,"

Jane leads them into the interrogation room where Barrett sits, taking the seat to the right of Spencer across from Jim Barrett. Spencer sits, setting Jim's file down on the table in front of him.

Jim's dark eyes roam over the both of them warily and Jane clasps her hands together on the table in front of her, folding her fingers together neatly. She smiles politely, forcing her shoulders to relax. "Hi, Barrett. My name is Jane, and this is Dr. Reid. Do you mind if we ask you some questions? I promise I won't be as demanding as some of the other guys you've talked to,"

She keeps her smile in place, watching him narrow his eyes at her just enough for her to see he's trying to see through her facade.

Before he can answer, the faint yell of Morgan's voice echoes through the doors, and he snaps his head towards the door. "What the hell was that?"

Spencer purses his lips, not looking up from the pages in the file he's memorized twelve times over. "That was the camera,"

Barrett looks at Spencer, eyes narrowing again, less in consideration this time and more in scrutiny. "No, the yelling,"

"That was Agent Morgan," Spencer corrects himself, maintaining his air of nonchalance as Jane keeps her eyes on Barrett. "Barrett, it says here you were half an hour late to work on Saturday morning."

"I was hungover."

"Hungover? That's nothing new," Spencer muses, raising his brows slightly. "But being late is. It looks like you always clock in 10 minutes early, gas up the jet skis, get the life vests out. What happened that morning?"

The slightest bit of irritation pulls Barrett's brows together, but his face is blank in the next second. "I just told you, I was hungover."

Jane huffs, nudging Spencer's arm with her hand. "Come on, Dr. Reid, everybody has those nights where they go a little too hard," She looks back to Barrett, who's watching her closely. "It can't be easy going to work hungover at all, considering all of the physical work you have to do. I wouldn't have even made it in that day,"

Barrett says nothing and Jane just lets her false words of praise settle in the room before Spencer clears his throat pointedly, dragging Barrett's attention back to him. "What about Friday night? Friday after the bar?"

Barrett tilts his head slightly. "We drove to the inlet."

"Drove to the inlet," Spencer echoes. "Approximately what time would you say you drove to the inlet?"

"Two," He shrugs. "Two-thirty."

Spencer's brows furrow, wrinkling his forehead. "Why would you go to the water at 2 or 2:30 in the morning?"

"The boats start coming in," Barrett says, somewhat sharply. His eyes shift to the beeping camera before he quickly looks back to Spencer.

"In the middle of the night, the boats start coming in?"

"Yeah," Barrett nods. "They fish all night, then they bring in the catch. Then they sell it on the docks to the restaurants and all that. Syd wanted to show her, then he drove her back, dropped her off at the hotel, and the next thing I know, it's morning."

"And you just slept in?"

"My alarm clock's broken."

A hint of an amused smirk appears on Spencer's face. "Broken. Your alarm clock's broken?"

Barrett gives Spencer a mirrored look of amusement that's much colder and threatening. "Broken."

Jane leans forward on the table, furrowing her brows like she's concerned. "Did it upset you?"

Barrett eyes her again, looking at her like she's both a threat and an ally, like he can't make anything of her. The confusion irritates him, she can tell. The good cop, bad cop thing she and Spencer are doing has him on edge, trying to parse out of it's real or not.

He twitches, eyes flickering, and then he slaps a palm on the table, swinging the other hand out towards the camera as he stands up abruptly. "Can you fix the damn camera– please?!"

Jane bites her tongue to stifle her flinch and Spencer turns his head to look at the camera like he hadn't even noticed its presence or its incessant beeping.

The door opens suddenly and Emily walks in, holding the results from the polygraph. "Sit down,"

Barrett does as told and she slaps the paper down on the table in front of Jane and Spencer, standing behind them with her arms crossed over her chest.

"How'd you pass it?"

Barrett looks up at Prentiss, eyes wide for just a second before they gleam with smugness that he fixes on Spencer before looking back down at the surface of the table.

Emily scoffs and walks back out of the room, once again leaving Spencer and Jane in there. There's a stiff silence in the room in her wake and Jane glances out of the barred window, watching the rays of warm sun slowly start to shift and leave the room growing increasingly dark, only lit by the dim bulb above them.

"You know, for all the time I've lived here, I have never been to Atlantic Beach," Jane breaks the silence, her voice falsely cheerful, making Barrett and Spencer look at her oddly. She gestures at Barrett, shrugging. "I bet you know a lot about this place, about the water. You probably see all kinds of people come this way. Right?"

Barrett seems to question her interest, so she leans forward, propping her elbows on the table and holding her chin with her hand. "The marina you work at is right at the inlet, right? How long has it even been there?"

The guy clears his throat slightly, ducking away from her gaze like he can't stand to make eye contact even if she's plucking at his interests. "Few decades, I guess. There was a big storm that came through and it separated the land. That's what made the inlet."

Jane makes a noise of intrigue as she watches him. "Nature has always scared me like that, you know? It's like, you think the only thing you can trust is the ground beneath your feet until something just comes and shifts it all around."

Jane sees his face twist even though he's got it hidden from her.

"Is that some kind of metaphor?"

Jane blinks a few times and barely shifts to look at Spencer, who briefly meets her gaze before he nods subtly, silently urging her on.

"You tell me,"

Barrett sits up, eyeing her tiredly. "It sounds like you're just trying to make some fancy point. That's all."

Jane shifts, leaning back in her chair with a pleasant smile. "Maybe. Who knows?"

The door to the interrogation room opens behind them, and Spencer turns to look, but Jane keeps her eyes on Barrett.

Rossi's voice is carefully neutral when he breaks the stalemate between the two doctors and Barrett. "Hotch needs us at the table."

Spencer nods and gets up without another word or look in Barrett's direction, and Jane takes a moment to linger before she stands up, leaning over the table slightly to press her hand just close enough to Barrett's arm that he flinches slightly.

She doesn't say anything as she turns and walks out, letting Rossi hold the door for her and take up the rear as they walk down the hall to the conference table the rest of the team is around.

"Seemed like that was going nowhere,"

"I feel like the only thing I accomplished is feeling like I need to shower now," Jane mutters lowly, earning an amused huff from Rossi.

"He is really insecure," Spencer says to her, shortening his long steps to fall into line with her. "You were right, though. He could hardly hold eye contact with you anytime you talked to him, or showed him kindness. He doesn't believe that it was genuine, not because of you, but because he literally can't believe a girl would be kind to him, let alone attracted to him."

Jane grimaces, but there's a bit of gratitude in her eyes when she meets Spencer's. "Despite whatever the statistics you may have in that mind of yours say, men that martyr themselves to justify the lack of female attention they receive for being unsettling and rude will always be the top contenders for serial killers in my books."

A bit of humor appears in Spencer's eyes at her words, but he can't say anything to keep their conversation going before they reach the table and he ignores the way that he mourns her presence at his side the second she goes to stand by Hotch.

Derek doesn't waste any time once they're all at the table. "Kate's cell phone was left in the car, and then later turned up in her room."

"How?"

"We figure most of the story's true, that's why they never changed it."

Emily nods firmly, looking at them. "They did drop Kate off at the hotel. Pearson took Barrett home, just like they said. But then, because Barrett was rejected, he circled back to punish Kate."

The chief looks at Emily with only a hit of skepticism in his eyes. "Well, why would she let him in?"

JJ holds up the pink cell phone with a solemn look. "Because he had this,"

"No sign of a struggle in the room,"

"Barrett lured her outside, maybe drugged her, took her to his boat."

Spencer leans forward, face twisted in thought. "He was obsessed with the inlet. He knew the traffic patterns there, when the fishermen were coming in, and tourist charters were going out."

"The blood from the catch attracts hundreds of sharks," The chief furrows his face in thought, eyes darting around the members of the BAU like he's trying to put their puzzle together. "It's a feeding frenzy out there that time of night."

Realization hits the team at once and JJ sighs out a barely-intelligible curse as Emily meets Spencer's wide-eyed look.

"We asked him if he killed her– he didn't. Asked where her body is, he doesn't know."

"Technically those aren't lies," Reid says, glancing at a grave-faced Jane.

The chief looks at Hotch imploringly. "How can you prove this?"

Hotch presses his lips together firmly. "We'll get them to admit it."

──────

Syd lifts his head from the table as Derek and Jane walk into the interrogation room, Derek's face full of anger and Jane's searching as she roams her blue eyes over the tired boy's face.

Morgan wastes no time as he approaches the table, lifting Syd's phone in front of his face with the picture of him and Barrett on it, Kate's phone a glaring object in between them. "This was after you dropped Kate at the motel. Agreed?"

Syd sighs tiredly, nodding. Too tired to put on his flaunting show with Jane in the room, too tired to hide the emotions. "Yes,"

"Victory picture," Morgan says in a deadpan. "So, Kate's gone, but her phone is right there."

The blond boy shrugs. "And?"

"It was found in her room," Jane tells him, drawing his attention her way. Her brows raise as the boy sits back, eyes wide as he looks between the two FBI agents in shock. "How did it get back to the motel, Syd?"

The boy says nothing and Derek leans forward again, dark brows wound tightly together. "Why did you take Kate to the inlet?"

Syd's bloodshot eyes scatter around. "To look at the boats,"

"Come on, man, you know what happens down there in the middle of the night. Sharks happen, Syd. And they clean up your mess, don't they? That's why you dumped her body out there," Derek presses forward the slightest bit more. "Did you dump her?"

He barely gets the question out before Syd is interrupting. "No! What?" He scoffs, lifting a hand to press his fingers into his forehead incredulously. "No, I didn't do that, man. I didn't– I didn't– I mean I didn't do that."

"It doesn't matter," Jane cuts in over his dramatics, Morgan stepping back to her side as he forces a sigh to release the tension from his body. "We've got the Coast Guard looking for Kate right now, and when she's found alive, your half-truth bullshit won't measure up against her statement."

Syd looks distraught still, but there's a tired, manic gleam in his eyes and it makes Jane's skin crawl. Derek shakes his head and grabs Syd's phone off the table again, not willing to risk any chance of the kid destroying even more evidence.

"Let's just go, Derek. He's a waste of time. Hell, Barrett gave us more than that,"

Derek scoffs an agreement and turns to open the door to the interrogation room for Jane to exit through.

"Wait, what?" Syd questions their backs, making them both pause in the doorway. "What did Barrett even say to you?"

Jane flicks her eyes up to meet Derek's and the two agents share a smug smirk, Derek winking down at her before he flattens his face again and turns to face Syd. Jane wipes her own face clear of any satisfaction as she turns to face the boy, shutting the door behind her again. Because they have these boys backed into a corner now. And they're going to find Kate, and she's going to be fine, because she will be healing while these kids rot in a cell and get pushed around by other abusers and get a taste of their own medicine.

That's the thing about abusers, Jane thinks. The power they have over their victim is what keeps them alive at certain points. It's the only thing that gives them any sort of control and confidence. They feed off of fear, and it pushes them higher and higher until they end up as a full-blown narcissist who sees their behavior as something good and helpful. Every abuser will reach a peak, though. And the thing about getting to the top of something means that you have to come down eventually. And they always, always come down.

──────

The mounting tension that's been building in the bullpen boils over after they get back from Atlantic Beach. Jane's sitting at "her" desk that sits at the tip of the triangle that is Emily and Reid's, dragging a pen in a repeated signature along paperwork because Hotch has made her such a stickler for paperwork unlike the rest of his team that he carries that responsibility for. The difference between a father teaching a child something valuable versus a man who cares too much for his team. So she's been sitting here trying to lighten some of his workload before he notices and scolds her, listening to Prentiss, Reid, Morgan, and Rossi all discuss the case and pretend that they aren't just lingering around waiting for JJ to come out of the conference room.

Jane knows JJ is leaving. That she doesn't have a choice. She wasn't lying when she told everyone earlier that their house rule was no talk about work in front of Jack, but Jack had a bedtime and she had been able to see the taught line of frustration in Aaron's shoulders all week. She'd let him stew in it until last night when she was sitting on the couch in his apartment, watching him pretend to watch the movie she'd put on after Jack finally gave up pretending to not be tired and passed out.

She'd cornered him slightly, admittedly, but she blames him and all of his former-lawyer ways for that. And in her defense, he caved more easily than she'd expected him to, considering his usual penchant of being a vault of secrets. He'd told her vaguely that Strauss was strong-arming him into letting JJ go, and he said he couldn't tell her much else except that he knew he was fighting a losing battle. 

And she knew Hotch better than she knew herself most days, so she knew when she saw him hastily walk from the conference room to his office and shut the door that his battle had been ended for him and not conceded. 

Jane purses her lips sympathetically when JJ walks out of the conference room not too long after Hotch, a teary gleam to her eyes and a wry smile on her face.

"No," Prentiss is the first one to speak, standing abruptly from her chair with instant realization. It's the grief in her voice that makes Morgan, Reid, and Rossi turn to face the blonde with similarly damning looks of denial on their faces.

They all stand and Jane sets her pen down, watching as they crowd JJ slightly. She stays seated, feeling like she couldn't possibly pretend to be mourning the loss of JJ like the rest of them considering it's only been a few months of working with her intermittently. JJ is kind, though, and Jane has always liked her, but this is a loss for the BAU at its core. Jane wasn't here when its roots were taking place in the ground, she was a limb that had sprouted out from an odd angle, shoved up into the mix of them pretending like she belonged there.

"Wait a minute, I thought Hotch was supposed to–"

"It's above his pay grade," JJ cuts Morgan off, not making eye contact with him as she anxiously clutches the paperwork in her hands. "Strauss's too."

"They can't just take you away," Jane can't see Reid's face, but there's a certain grief in his voice that has her frowning to herself.

Prentiss is unhappy when she speaks. "So, we just do nothing?"

JJ purses her lips. "It's done."

"It can't be that simple,"

The blonde laughs without any humor. "It is,"

"This job is hard enough," Morgan gripes, turning slightly to look at Jane who tries to silently agree with him to the best of her ability. "What are they trying to do? Bury us?"

"You're too good," Emily scoffs out a laugh, rolling her eyes. "That's the problem."

"It's true," Rossi says, upset but proud. "You're on everybody's wishlist. Our loss is somebody else's gain."

JJ shakes her head slightly, unable to accept the praise when it feels like they're all mourning, like something is being broken apart.

"They can't just take you away," Spencer repeats himself weakly, voice a bit shakier than before, and Jane drops her eyes down to the desk as JJ steps towards him and grabs his hand in comfort.

Silence sits stiffly with them for a prolonged minute and JJ sniffs, stepping back from Spencer. "I should go say goodbye to Garcia,"

"Me first, though," Emily mutters pettily, in an attempt to stop the tears from falling as she pushes past Morgan to get to the woman who laughs as she wraps her in a hug. Down the line, JJ gets her words of support as sad as they are, and lingering hugs that cling to her skin as she goes.

Jane stands finally when JJ approaches her and she offers the woman a hand to shake, but the blonde surpasses it and hugs her just as fiercely too. Jane's eyes widen in surprise but she recovers quickly, sighing deeply for the moment it lasts before they pull away from one another. Jane gives her a small smile, patting her arm. "It won't be the same without you. I– you do so much for this team and for Hotch, I really hope they know to not take you for granted."

"Yeah, me, too," JJ huffs out, rolling her eyes slightly. "You're good here, too, Jane. With the team."

Jane's eyes widen again and JJ is quick to continue.

"I know you're technically just a consultant and you still have your lab, but you fit in here, with everybody. And not just because you're Hotch's daughter. You'll always have a place with the BAU, alright? Believe me, they're loyal as dogs and they stick to you like fleas. You can't get rid of 'em if you tried."

Jane laughs as Morgan and Prentiss make a fake noise of outrage at her comparison, but it does the trick of lifting the doom and gloom still hanging over their heads and everyone starts to laugh, and Jane believes her. She really does.

"Thank you, JJ," Jane nods, giving the woman a grateful look. "And, look– I make no promises on his behalf, but I know you know Aaron, and we both know that means he'll never stop fighting to get you back. And despite how much she wishes she could, Strauss can't hold him back every time."

"Fingers crossed it's sooner rather than later, then," Prentiss muses, raising her brows. She flicks her eyes past JJ's shoulder toward the hall Garcia's office is down. "You should go talk to her before she starts to think you forgot about her."

"You're right," JJ sighs, reluctantly stepping away from them all. "We'll see each other soon, alright? We need to go out soon, or make Rossi host us again."

Rossi gives her an unamused look and it has Morgan laughing to himself before the man even says anything. "I revoked my hosting privileges when Reid tried to put ice in the wine I gave him."

A flush overtakes Spencer's cheeks and the sadness in his eyes dwindles just enough to make him look less pitiful. "It was room temperature, I don't like room temperature drinks!"

"It's a sin, Dr. Reid," Rossi calls over him dramatically, and the rest of them laugh and shake their heads as JJ turns and walks away while they're distracted and bickering. "I should have knocked you upside the head."

"Look, we can promise not to let Reid blaspheme your precious wine so long as you promise to make that chicken parmesan you made that one time. I still have dreams about it," Prentiss groans, looking at the older man pleadingly. "You have to cook for Jane at least once, it's like a rite of passage. She's been with us for months and you haven't even offered, and I don't think Hotch would appreciate you excluding her,"

A look of disbelief washes over Rossi's face and Jane snorts as she shoves Emily's arm.

"Do not use me to get your home-cooked meals, alright?" She looks between them all for a minute, pursing her lips to hide the grin that wants to split her face. "I'd get the invitation revoked immediately again, because I also put ice in my wine, much like–"

"No! No, do not finish that sentence," Rossi cuts her off and Morgan and Prentiss groan.

Reid snickers into his hand but gives Jane a pleased look that she mirrors, the two of them finding satisfaction in taunting the others. "See, Jane does it, too, so you can't–"

"You're both animals," Rossi points a finger at each of them, thick, dark brows raised in utter disbelief. "And I won't allow it in my home."

"Your loss, Rossi, I'm a wonderful dinner guest," Jane sniffs, shrugging her shoulders as she turns to look at Reid. "Spencer, I would be honored to have a glass of iced wine with you. And I am so sorry that these seasoned drinkers who like to torture their tastebuds take it out on you,"

"Was that an age joke?" Emily guffaws, looking at Jane with wide eyes and no real offense. "Are you calling us old because we know how to drink properly?"

Jane shakes her head, faux innocence on her face. "I never said anything like that, Emily, I don't know what you're talking about,"

"Oh, she's an actor now," Morgan shakes his head, pointing an accusing finger at Reid who holds his hands up in surrender. "Just because you two are the babies doesn't mean you get to make fun of us experienced adults."

"You heard what Jane said," Reid starts, barely able to get his words out before he starts laughing. "She never said anything about your age. Perhaps you're projecting your own insecurities onto yourselves and taking her words out of context."

"No, don't think you can smart your way out of this. You two are not innocent,"

"Should I be concerned about HR getting involved here?"

Hotch's voice comes from behind them and they all turn to face him, looking caught out for a second before their professional instincts disappear.

"You need to come get your kid, Hotch," Morgan points a finger at Jane who bats her eyelashes with a smile. "She's calling us old for drinking wine the right way, just because her and Reid are monsters about it. And she's getting us in trouble with Rossi,"

Hotch looks between all of them with obvious confusion and entirely no context before he looks at Jane's smile that is so mischievous and rare that he feels a small smirk pull at his resting frown. He looks back at Morgan, resting his hands on the railing in front of him as he shrugs his shoulders. "I don't know, that doesn't sound like something Jane would say. She's always been–"

He's unable to finish his sentence before Jane is letting out a smug exclamation, and Morgan, Rossi, and Prentiss all start to deny his claims, their voices overlapping one another loudly in the empty office. Reid shakes his head and laughs to himself, turning to look at Jane and share another look that manages to say so much without saying anything at all.

Hotch watches Reid and Jane, letting himself chuckle at his team before he defaults back to profiler and categorizes whatever exchange just happened between Spencer and Jane. It's not the first time he's noticed Reid looking at Jane. He still can't quite figure out what emotion it is in the kid's eyes, though. He's patient enough to wait and find out.

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author's note; hey... 

edited and published; 11.10.24.

- liz