"All right, if we're not out on a case, I'll come back and pick you up at five. Have a good day!" JJ smiled before leaning in and kissing Erin deeply.

"You as well, Jenny," she whispered before tugging her down in her lap and brushing a piece of hair behind her ear. "I'm loathe to give you up after the weekend we spent together. What is this madness you've fired in me?"

"Whatever it is, you've fired the same madness in me." Erin smiled and then leaned in to kiss her once more. "I should probably go, though, before one thing leads to another. I don't think that today is the right day for our fantasy to play out. Hopefully, we can get Henry to go to sleep early tonight."

"I'd like that, Jennifer." Erin closed her eyes before puckering her lips again. JJ couldn't help but kiss her, feeling her lover smile as she did so. "Yes, go. Now. Before I lose my resolve." Gently, Erin pushed her away and she tripped over to the door, catching the toe of her shoe on a piece of carpet. As she reached out to right herself on the doorjamb, she heard a soft giggle slip from Erin's lips, and she shook her head as she looked back over her shoulder to glare at her lover. "Go. And try to stay upright this time!"

"I'll remember this for later," she called out with a wink as she closed the door. Erika looked up at her, and it was clear that the woman was trying to conceal the fact that she wanted to giggle over that little exchange. "Have a good day, Erika! And if you want to help me out…"

"I'm sorry, my loyalty is completely to Erin. I have to work with her every day, after all." The fond smile that settled on Erika's face told JJ that Erin could probably ask her assistant to kill for her, and she would do it. "Though I must say that it is lovely to see her smile so much now, after everything that happened with her ex-husband. You've brought a light back to her, which has made my job much easier, let me tell you. It's hard to care and nurture some days, especially when you're trying to be sly about it."

"I can only imagine," she replied, giving Erika another smile. "Well, I should probably get over to the bullpen before I'm considered missing. There are still a few people there who don't know that we're a couple, and I want to be the one to broach the subject."

"Good luck with that. I know there are a few members of your team that bear some animosity towards her, for the decisions that she's had to make over the years. Perhaps now, when you get to see everything that goes into her job, you'll be able to soften her decisions a little."

JJ nodded, realizing that she was in the perfect position to be able to interpret Erin's decisions to her team. Turning, she went out into the hallway and began to head over to the bullpen, only to see Emily standing in the doorway, a puzzled look on her face. JJ schooled her features into a more placid look, not wanting to add any fuel to the fire. Her friend's eyes narrowed as she came closer to her, and JJ knew that there were wheels starting to spin in her mind. Trying to shake off the small pit of dread that was starting to form in her stomach, JJ stopped next to Emily, waiting to hear what she had to say.

"Were you just in Strauss's office?" she asked as they made their way into the bullpen.

She tried not to fumble with her thoughts as they stopped at their desks, finally deciding to answer honestly. "Yeah, we met in the elevator this morning, and she mentioned that she had something to show me about a case we just closed in Arkansas. I'm still, ostensibly, the media liaison for our team, and one of the duties I have to carry out is touching base after a new development. Seems that the jury just came back with a guilty verdict, and I need to do a small blurb for the local newspaper."

Emily nodded a little, looking at her warily, but JJ just smiled as she took a seat behind her desk, pulling a file out of her inbox and getting to work. That seemed to at least mollify her friend, and she, too, settled behind her desk and went to work.

Just as JJ really got into her paperwork, she heard Hotch clear his throat, and as she looked up at his office, she could see on his face that they would be heading out on a case. Her shoulders slumped a little at the thought of missing out on time with Erin. Emily gave her another odd look, so she straightened her back as she stood up and made her way to the conference room, knowing that the announcement to meet was soon coming.

"We have a new case to brief," Hotch's voice called out, and JJ smirked a little as she continued to climb the stairs. Penelope gave her a knowing look and she nodded a little as she went into the conference room. Their tablets were laid out and as she took a seat, she started to flip through the preliminary information. Emily took a seat next to her, also flipping through the information.

"So, why don't you want to head out on a case?" Emily asked as they waited for the others to come in.

"It's harder than I thought, adjusting to being a single mom, Em. I thought I had a handle on it, until Henry started going through another clingy phase." From the skeptical look on her friend's face, she knew that she hadn't sounded too convincing that time.

Still, any further discussion was halted by Hotch closing the door firmly and heading up to the front of the room. JJ made a few notes on her tablet as he briefed the case, and then he was giving the wheel's up in thirty command. She lingered in her seat as the others got up, and Penelope reached out and rubbed her shoulder softly. Looking up at her friend, she gave her a gentle smile. "Hey."

"Hey. I know that you probably had plans with her this evening, but this case really needs our attention. Do you need a cover so that you can get things situated before we head out?"

"That would be lovely," she murmured as she looked over at the doorway. Emily was standing there, an expectant look on her face, and JJ nodded a little as she gave her friend a slight smile.

"Hotch, I'm going to go show Jayje those newspaper articles before you guys head out on this case. Don't leave without her!" Penelope took hold of JJ's hand and tugged her out the back door and down the corridor to slip into her office through the other door. "All right, we're safe in here, you have about ten minutes."

"But don't you need to say goodbye to Aaron?" she asked as she pulled out her phone and unlocked it, tapping on her contacts list.

"We'll Skype tonight, and that's as much as you need to know about that." JJ felt a warm blush creep across her cheeks as she nodded, pressing Erin's office number before bringing the phone to her ear.

"Strauss here."

"Erin, do you not look at your caller id before you answer?" she teased.

"Sorry, darling, I was too deep into this report to look up. Is something wrong?"

"It depends on your definition of wrong. We're heading out on a case, so I won't be home tonight. And I so wanted to have some delicious alone time with you. I guess that it will just be you and Henry hanging out tonight, though."

"Does it look like it will be a bad case?"

JJ made a low sound of indecision in the back of her throat, thinking over the details of the case. "Obviously, it's bad enough for us to head out there, but I don't think that it will be particularly long? At least, that's the overall feel I get from things. We're going to be in the air for about three hours, though, and I just don't want to think about traveling for that long. And Emily is starting to get suspicious, but that seems to be par for the course, these days. I'm getting tired of tiptoeing around our relationship with her, but I don't want her to go off on you. That wouldn't be fair."

"No, it wouldn't, but perhaps you should tell her, before things get too out of control. After all, you do work with her closely, and you need to trust her to have your back in the field, just in case something goes wrong."

An exasperated sigh slipped from JJ's lips as she recognized that Erin was completely correct. "All right, the next time that it comes up between us, I will reveal the secret I've been keeping."

"Thank you, darling. Now, I really must get back to this report, if you want to get paid, that is."

"All right. I'll talk to you tonight?"

"Sounds good. I love you."

And before JJ could reply, Erin had hung up. She gaped at the handset, thinking about how unfair it was that Erin had so casually slipped those words into her conversation ender. "What is it, Jayje?" Penelope asked as she continued to stare at the phone.

"She just told me that she loves me."

"And that's a problem why?"

JJ glanced up at her, her brow still wrinkled in confused indignation. "Because I expected my first time hearing those words from her to be in a slightly more romantic setting. Not so casually said that I almost miss them."

Penelope giggled as she patted her arm lightly. "You're ridiculous, you do realise this, yes?" JJ shook her head. "Yes, you are. The fact that she felt confident enough to casually say that to you means that she considers your relationship to be on solid ground."

"Oh."

"Yeah, oh, Jayje. You're lucky to have that foundation with her. Just like I'm lucky to have my foundation with Aaron. Now, you should probably get going, if you want to get on the plane."

She nodded and let out a deep sigh before turning on her heel and made her way out to her desk in the bullpen. Emily was waiting by it, a hard look on her face, and JJ knew that she would be having that conversation with her sooner rather than later. "I figured that we could ride to the airfield together, seeing as how I didn't see your car in the parking garage this morning."

JJ shrugged a little as she slung her go bag over her shoulder, heading towards the elevators without saying a word to Emily, as that was really not the way she wanted to introduce the topic of her relationship with Erin. "Things happen," she said tersely as the doors opened and they stepped inside, Hotch hastily joining them just as the doors were beginning to close. "Are you going to drive, Hotch?"

"I can, yeah."

"Good."

A tense silence fell over them, and JJ wondered what would be the thing to cause it to break. To her surprise, it was her phone ringing that got everyone's attention, and she pulled it out, looking at the display and seeing the small note of encouragement from Erin. "I can't believe Penelope told her," she murmured, before realizing that she was still in the elevator with Hotch and Emily.

"Told who what?" Emily asked lowly, as if she knew that JJ was about to reveal everything that she had been keeping close to the vest for so many months.

She gave Hotch an almost panicked look before swallowing thickly and turning her focus on Emily. It was the now or never moment, and she hoped that this news wouldn't affect the case in any way. "She told my girlfriend that I was probably going to be having this talk with you soon, and she was wishing me good luck."

"Girlfriend?" The single word was drawn out, as if Emily was trying to put pieces together in her mind as she spoke. "Oh, my god. No. No. You are not seriously…"

"What Emily? What am I not doing?" she asked lowly, praying that no one else got on the elevator with them, because there was a bombshell about to be dropped, one that she did not want anyone else to know.

"You're dating Strauss! It all makes sense now, why you've been telling us to go easier on her, why you've been so secretive about who you're dating. I can't believe you would lower yourself to being with her!"

The disgust on Emily's face hurt JJ deeply, and she pursed her lips tightly together so that she wouldn't say something sharp in response. As she took a few deep breaths to center herself once more, Hotch instead spoke up. "I know that you're reacting from a place of distrust and anger, Emily, however I have been privy to their relationship since before JJ lost her baby. What you see as JJ lowering herself is actually a beautiful happening. The changes that I and Penelope have seen in Erin over the course of the last few months is nothing short of revelatory for us."

Tears stung her eyes and JJ shook her head a little to clear them as she stared at Hotch in shocked happiness. His words were precisely what she needed to hear in that moment, as they confirmed what she had hoped, that he did approve of what was rapidly solidifying between her and Erin. "But she sold JJ out to the State Department! She tried to get me to spy on you, and get you fired! At every turn, Strauss has stymied our efforts to become a real team, and now she's bamboozled JJ into thinking she's changed and I don't see how you can be all right with her seducing a vulnerable member of our team!"

JJ flinched a little as Hotch reached out and pressed the emergency stop button on the elevator, causing it to come to a harsh halt. "I will thank you to keep such thoughts to yourself, and not air them to JJ or the rest of the team. JJ and Erin connected before she lost the pregnancy, and I watched how tender they were with each other as they both grieved for something that would have brought them both much joy. I know you don't understand what it might be like to lose a pregnancy, but it is devastating. Haley and Erin were pregnant at the same time, but only one of them had a baby. I never said anything, as it wasn't my place, but I understood why Erin was so much harder on my team."

"Hotch…"

"No, Emily. I'm sorry, but if you can't be respectful of their relationship, then you can at least refrain from discussing it with others. Or are you going to put your team member's life in danger in the field because you can't handle the fact that two adults happened to fall in love?"

That seemed to mollify Emily a little, since she blushed and looked away from them as Hotch started up the elevator once more. JJ blinked a little as she tried to will away her tears, but still, a few crept down her cheeks as she pulled out her phone and quickly texted Erin, wanting to let her know how much she was loved. "I never planned for this to happen, I'll have you know. She went with me to New Orleans to help me claim Henry. And then, she just sort of stayed."

A dreamy smile spread across her lips, and she watched as Hotch shook his head a little, mirth dancing on his face. "That's what Penny would say happened between us, too. Isn't it funny that certain people can do that with us?"

JJ nodded as her phone buzzed in her hand. Looking down at the screen, she saw that she had a photo message, and she opened it to see Erin's face gazing up at her, a bright smile on her lips. The combination of Emily knowing about their relationship, and hearing Erin tell her that she loved her had lifted a weight off JJ's shoulders that she hadn't realized she'd been carrying until that moment. "I think everyone except Derek knows now. I was going to leave you for last, Emily, since I knew this would be difficult for you to accept. We're happy, as happy as we can be, without Kacey here, and isn't that all that should matter to you?"

Emily's shoulders were still tense when she turned to look at JJ, and there was a deep frown on her lips. "I just can't look past everything she's done to us."

"Maybe you should look at things from a different perspective for once, Em. She was doing what she had to, in order to keep her job. We are a bit reckless at times, everyone knows that, even us. And she did her level best to ensure that we remained together. Even after everything that happened to us, she still made certain that we were together. She fought to get me back from the State Department."

"No, she didn't."

"Actually, she did. And never bothered to tell me she had been doing the heavy lifting to get JJ back with our team. There is a lot of delicate political maneuvering that went into the negotiations, something I would never have been able to navigate, since politics aren't my strong suit. And just like each of us wear a mask to show the public, so does Erin. It's just that we can see behind those masks, since we've known each other for so long. JJ's seen behind Erin's, and in time, we might as well."

Emily just arched one eyebrow upwards as she looked between JJ and Hotch. "You can't force me to like her."

"I'm not asking that of you, Em. All I'm asking is that you give her a chance."

A resigned look came over her face before she nodded slowly. "For you, Jayje, I suppose that I could at least try," she finally said, and JJ knew that was as far as they were going to get at this point, and she was grateful for at least having that small start.