Author's Note: It's been a long wait guys. I'm sorry. And to top it all off, this chapter is nothing special. It's also kind of short. I just need to get the ball rolling.

After taking a writing class, I realize how far behind I am in terms of writing ability. There is a chance I may take down my stories to re-write them. If this happens, they will be back up. Just to make you guys aware.

Thank you for your patience if you continue to still read.

JJ was out of the car before Hotch had even had the chance to put it into park. He couldn't blame her. A part of him wanted to do the same but he had to force himself to be calm in order to put the car on the side of the road without incident.

At first the smoke was all that filled her view once she got out. While the flames were visible down the street, it was a bit more masked now. Then the bright glint of the flames made themselves known, and the house was being viciously attacked by the determined flames. This was a sight JJ had seen many times before, but never so close to home. And that was it. That place had felt like a home. It had her things, and Henry felt comfortable there. But it wasn't just that, she felt like she belonged there. Now this home was burning to the ground before her very eyes, and she didn't know where her son was.

"Henry! Jack!" Even from here, she could feel the heat from the flames, and the panic intensified as she took up a jog to look for them. She ignored the fireman that tried to stop her from pushing through, because right now, nothing else mattered. The familiar colours of red, yellow and orange over powered the air and if it hadn't been for her need to find her son, she'd have collapsed by now.

He didn't even need to read her thoughts, nor did he try. There was a more pressing matter. However, as they were running towards the house there was a sight before him that caused him to take in a huge sigh of relief. There was Garcia, sitting on the back of the fire truck with the boys on either side of her.

"Oh thank God," JJ said running forward to hug all three of them.

"I don't know what happened," Garcia immediately started attempting to explain. Oh goodness, I hope they don't think I did anything to cause this. "I got them out of there the second there was smoke. By the time I went back in to find the extinguisher, the flames were too overwhelming. Jack came in to try and grab something and I had to get him out of there. I'm so sorry." I really did try.

"Don't be sorry. You did what you could, and made sure they were safe," Hotch said, forcing a smile trying not to look at the chaos taking place.

"It's okay." JJ gave her a pat of reassurance. "I'm just glad everyone's okay." I don't know what I would have done if something had happened to Henry, or Jack and Garcia.

"Daddy!"

Hotch didn't hesitate, he reached forward to pick Jack up in his arms. "Hey buddy, I'm glad you're okay. Must have been pretty scary, huh?"

If Jack heard him, he didn't show it. "But, mommy…"

Aaron didn't need to read his thoughts, he knew what Jack was referring to. The video. The video he watched on nights he couldn't sleep or just needed to remember her voice. A rare moment in his life, as he was at a loss of what to say and all he could do was hold him tighter.

A quick look at the expression on JJ's face gave him a good idea of the variety of emotions she was feeling. But, currently, she was biting her lip and looking between the two. Poor Jack. He couldn't listen to anymore, and turned to talk to the firefighter that was observing the scene. It was important he got a good idea of what was happening, and whether Jack and Henry had inhaled any smoke. While he was worried about his son, the truth of the matter was he couldn't look at JJ's face right now.

It was no surprise that all the neighbours were watching the scene closely. People had a tendency to look at wrecks, fires or crime scenes. He'd seen it many times before, but this was his house. He saw Mrs. Harrison looking around, a worried expression on her face and he saw her relax when she caught sight of Jack safely in his arms. There were too many people. So many thoughts. He couldn't focus right now. Everything was spiralling out of control.

But then she was there, her hand touching his arm. The concerned expression on her face. What do I say? What can I say? I'll just make sure he knows I'm there for him.

In return, he gave her arm a quick squeeze, to let her know he appreciated it. Even without hearing her thoughts, they could still communicate without words. Maybe there was no need to cheat, not really. He wanted it to be real, sincere. He wanted to know what she was thinking without listening. That was how a relationship should work. And suddenly, he felt ashamed. Ashamed for all the times he'd listened to her thoughts to get to know her. And here she was, with no advantage and she knew exactly what he needed, and clearly had some idea of what he was thinking. She knew him. She knew him in the way she should.

"Can you take him?" Hotch asked, handing Jack over to JJ. "I need to go talk to the insurance company. We're going to have to stay somewhere tonight."

JJ nodded. "Of course," she replied, giving him a one armed hug as she took Jack.

"How's he doing?" Garcia asked the second JJ came back.

She watched after him carefully, observing his movements and she knew he was hurting. Everything that remained of Haley had been in that house. And JJ understood that she would always mean something to him, and that was okay. And it hurt her heart to think of how he was feeling right now, not to mention his obvious worry about Jack. "He's dealing in the best way he can."

The flames gradually began to lose their power as they grew smaller. JJ, Garcia and the boys waited by the truck for about forty five minutes before Hotch came back over. "It looks like faulty wiring according to the firefighters."

Even though she had known she wasn't at fault, there was no mistaking the general look of relief on Garcia's face.

"This means that insurance company will cover our stay in a hotel until we get things sorted, and they'll be reimbursing us. As far as I can tell, they intend to sue the electrical company we had in doing the work on the house so many years ago."

Hotch paused briefly to pinch the bridge of his nose as he tried to work through everything in his mind in an organized manner.

"The fire destroyed pretty much everything, and anything left is so damaged by smoke…"

He broke off, examining JJ's expression. What is she thinking? He stopped himself before he listened in and he attempted to block it out. "It'll be fine," he reassured her.

"We don't even have anything to pack for the hotel."

Garcia reached over to hug JJ, and it was no surprise to Hotch when he saw a few familiar vehicles pull up. The rest of the team immediately got their way through the crowd to them.

"Is everyone okay?" Emily asked, glancing around.

It took JJ a minute to register what had been said before she nodded in response.

"Well come on, let's get you guys out of here," Rossi said, shooting a glance at the remains of the once beautiful home.