You flick on all the lights. Reid groans, but you helpfully remind him that he can still have caffeine.

You call Hotch back and shove the phone between your face and shoulder while you rummage through your bag.

He gives you the address and tells you to get there as soon as you can. You've still got the keys to the SUV you took back to the hotel the previous night.

"Reid! We gotta go!" you remind him as you start to strip out of your pajamas. From the bed, he slides his glasses on and turns to look at you.

"Hey, look at that! Your linea nigra is showing. Technically, women always have them, but they become apparent during pregnancy due to increased melanin production."

"I appreciate the update, doc, but right now I need you to put a tie on so we can go look at some dead bodies." You desperately hope the sarcasm covers up how sweet you find it that he was checking on your bump. It wasn't quite as sweet that he wanted to talk about the dark line approaching your belly button, but still, it was a sweet interaction.

He finally does head to his room to get dressed while you finish getting ready. While you wait for him, you poke at the shitty coffee maker and manage to get him a cup made in the cheapest feeling to go cup you've ever held.

You drive and find the scene is already crawling with crime scene technicians. Hotch is standing off to the side, waiting for the two of you.

You process the scene and talk through it with Hotch, noting the items taken and the items left by the unsub.

"This isn't a copycat, is it?" you ask him quietly.

"No. It isn't." Hotch says in an equally quiet voice. Reid and Hotch stay on scene to oversee the transport of the victims to the examiner while you get directed back to the station.

Before they leave, Hotch pulls you aside again. "This unsub doesn't gain anything from killing anymore. He wants power over the investigation. We can't risk having you in the field this time. You're with JJ from here, alright?"

There's no room for argument, so you don't bother. When you make it to the station it's just shy of 7, so the rest of the team hasn't quite started their day. JJ texts you that she'll be at the station by 7:30, and that everybody else has been directed to various field locations.

The station is buzzing with activity, but nobody from the reaper case is still here, so you head to the conference room. You flip the lights off and slump down at the table to rest before JJ gets there.

The buzzing of fluorescents stirs you from your half-sleep state.

"Here." JJ slides a mug of what looks like herbal tea over to you.

"Has the news broke yet?"

"Last night's bodies? Not yet. I just spoke to local PD and they agreed to leave it up to us to announce it. I'm going to call a press conference after we get some info from the M.E."

You take a sip. It's peppermint.

"So what do we do now?"

She looks at you over her own mug.

"Now we wait until somebody needs something."

JJ drafts some possible press conferences, depending on how the examination goes, while you poke around at the leads from yesterday.

You call Garcia and ask her to send you any of the research she did yesterday, and she tells you it'll take her a little while to put it together while fielding calls from the rest of the team.

Which leaves you with nothing to do for now.

"Sorry we missed our lunch." you say, practically baiting her.

"We're spending a hell of a lot longer than a lunch break together now." she says absently, rearranging her notes on the table.

Huh. She didn't bite.

"Was there something specific you wanted to talk about?" you try to adopt a casual tone.

She looks up and stares at the wall in front of her for a moment.

"I thought you'd talk to me again before you went through with it." she admits.

"I didn't think we had anything else to talk about." you say honestly.

"I didn't have anything else to say about you having a baby, but I would have told you not to have one with Spence."

Cautiously, you tell her "Jayge, you already told me that."

"But I wanted you to listen. You didn't listen." her voice takes on a hard edge.

"I'd trust him with anything. My life, my child's life, anything. He's going to do everything he can to give this baby a good life. That's what I wanted from the father of my child."

"I'm not-I know you're going to be fine. But what about me?" her eyes are watery. Your chest starts to feel tight and your stomach sinks.

"JJ. I'm asking you this because I love you. Has Will done something to h-"

"No!" her voice breaks. "He's perfect. He's a perfect guy and a perfect father. He's never done anything but love me."

"So what are you worried about?"

She finally looks you in the eye. "I spent two years thinking I'd eventually settle down with Spence. And then you joined. And then I met Will and I thought, well I'll just see where this goes. But I kept thinking that, somewhere down the line, maybe we'd break up and-look, Spencer's never dated anybody in the time I've known him. So I thought well, if this doesn't work out, I could be happy with him. Then I found out I was pregnant, and I told Will, and he did everything right. He quit his job and moved here for me. The team loved him, and my family loved him, and he was so caring during the pregnancy, and then I gave birth and he's so good to me and Henry. He did everything right. He does everything right. And I still don't-When I'm with Will, I don't feel like I do when I'm with Spence. And Spencer's moving on."

You're overwhelmed. Garcia made analyzing JJ seem so easy, but now you feel like a deer in headlights.

"JJ. Just because he wasn't dating doesn't mean he was waiting for you all that time."

She rubs at the tears in her eyes. You continue.

"I don't know what to say about Will. But what goes on between the two of you, that has nothing to do with Spencer-or me. We're always going to love and support you. You don't have to be a love interest or something for Reid to care about you. He's not moving on from you or your friendship."

You sit down in the chair next to her. "I'm sorry we didn't get to talk about everything you wanted to before I got pregnant. I love you, and I want you to be a part of my daughter's life, JJ."

She opens her mouth to speak, but she's cut off by her phone ringing.

She clears her throat.

"Agent Jareau." You step out of the room to snag some tissues from a random desk and hand them to JJ to dry her eyes while she's on the call. You save one to dry your own.

"That was the medical examiner's office. They're gonna send over the initial reports."

"That's good." you comment.

She hesitates. "I didn't mean to get so upset." then, in a shakier voice, she adds "Thanks for listening to me."

You give her hand a squeeze. "Can I ask you something?"

She nods.

"What's your favorite memory with Will?"

She thinks for a minute. "Last summer, right before he moved here, I went down to visit him for the fourth of July. I couldn't drink obviously, and he wasn't going to without me, so we decided that instead of going to a party, we'd drive around and try to find a spot to watch the fireworks over the river. We missed half of the show and we could barely see them, but during the hour we spent looking for a spot we had the windows down, and I played him my favorite album while he pointed out all the places he had memories of. When we finally parked, we stood up through the sunroof and watched what we could." Her voice softens. "It was a really nice night."

"Sounds like it." you smile before standing up. "I'm gonna go grab the reports they sent over."

You took a deep breath once you left the room. JJ was going to have to come to terms with the fact that Reid isn't around to be her backup. There wasn't much you could do for her, but you hoped that getting her to talk a little about Will would stop her from catastrophizing their relationship. They had a connection, she just needed to be reminded of that. Now, all you could do was hope she comes around to the idea of your baby.

For now, though, you had a report to read.

A/N: here's your double update for today- it ain't much, but it's honest work

i know i said i was going to upload immediately but right after i posted ch 26, my brother called me and needed help w my niece lol

its almost friday!!!! take it easy, but take it

"Most of us resist changes we didn't spark. We feel victimized and so we try to hold tight to whatever we figure out as a way to survive. We spend too much time watching change happen with our jaws dropped, writing what the fuck over and over. It is time to learn Octavia Butler's lessons—both that "the only lasting truth is change," and that we can, and must, "shape change."" Adrienne Maree Brown