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BITTERSWEET
::  lii. | stars in your eyes

It was jj's first day back to the BAU since she's returned to the states. She was the opposite of nervous, excited and eager. You have no idea how much she missed her team and walking through those glass doors ——- the feeling was surreal. And just when she thought she was going to have a brief moment to breathe . . . Penelope came rushing pass her.

"Hi, jj." Penelope stopped right in her tracks, slowly turning around, "Oh my god, you're back!"

Jj opened her arms, "Bring it in."

Penelope didn't hesitate going in for a hug. Just like everyone else, she missed one of her best friends. As the two hugged, the rest of the team came in view.

All of them were welcoming agent jareau back and soon enough, the mood changed. There was a case and just like all the others, this one was pretty gruesome. So the team debriefed in the conference room, then was on the jet twenty minutes later headed to Oklahoma.

It felt like a restart for jj, the first time when she came to the BAU but there was only one difference. She didn't need introductions, she already had people who love her and were happy to see her back. The cases will never be better, but it's helping the people in need that counts.

• • •

Vanessa was on her way out, she's been called in on her day off. She came out her room, rushing and heading to the door. She did scramble a bit to grab everything she needed which Cole watched quietly from the kitchen table.

As Vanessa made one more round about in the house, she eventually was making her way to the door. As she rushed through the kitchen, she gave Cole a kiss on the head and a . . .

"I need you to watch your brother tonight."

"Wait! I have plans tonight!" Cole reminded her.

Vanessa was opening the door, "Sorry! Thank you!"

And she was gone and so were Cole's plans. Cole got up from the table and went to Henry's room, finding him taking a nap in his crib. Her head titled a bit as she watched him sleep soundly and that's around the time, an idea sparked in her mind.

She whispered, "As long as you're sleep and in here, then I don't see why my plans have to shamble."

With that in mind, she exited his room and pulled out her phone. She called up her friends and invited them over. Mia was supposed to come as well, but she went away with her dads for a couple of days. Right after the call ended, Cole began to go around the apartment, cleaning it up a bit.

After another hour, Henry was awake watching tv in jj and Vanessa's room, while Cole sat on the couch waiting for her friends who were arriving any minute then. About ten minutes later, a knock was heard at the front door and at the same time, Henry started balling.

Coke rushed to the room and picked up Henry before heading to the door. With Henry on her side, she opened the door with her free hand and there stood Arlo and Ashton.

"And there's a baby." Ashton spoke, looking at Henry.

"Don't mind him." Cole let them in, "He's chill, trust." Cole then closed the door, then showed the living room before going to put Henry down with a little snack so he'll be quiet for a few. After doing so, she met her friends back in the living room.

"So we brought board games, weed." Arlo began, "Snacks and drinks."

"Pretty much everything that was at our place." Ashton just shrugged.

Cole sat on the carpet with them as they finished pulling somethings out.

As the first couple of hours went by, monopoly was being played, sodas and chips were being consumed as well as smoking weed. It was a cycle at this point and Cole couldn't remember ever hanging out with them with no weed. It was like a must have whenever they hung out.

Then eventually, the friendly game turned into a bit of a gamble. Tossing whatever dollars they had on them in the middle and whoever won took all or money rose. It was clear they didn't know what they were doing because of how high they were at this point.

• • •

Back with the team, they just finished wrapping up the case. The unsub was brought in and the victim was saved. A job well done if anyone asked. The team eventually headed back to the jet and flew back home to Virginia.

After collecting their thoughts once returned back, many were already out the door, including Jennifer. She was just heading home and she just listened to Vanessa's voicemail of her having to go into work and Cole was watching Henry.

So with that in mind, happy thoughts were all over. She was getting home early, got to see the kids, and having to figure out dinner if cole hadn't eaten yet. Soon enough, those twenty minutes were up. Jj was parking on the curb of the apartment complex. She got out the car and headed towards the entrance, using her key to get into the complex.

She rode the elevator up to the floor and then walked down a hall to the apartment number. Just when she approached the door, she saw a yellow envelope laying on the welcome mat. Curiously, she picked it up and then proceeded to head through the door. However, what she found was just an empty living room and the noise of her tv in her shared room.

"Cole!"

"Back here!" The teenager yelled from the back.

Jj walked to her bedroom and found Henry and Cole watching some kid's cartoon.

"Hey." She smiled at the two, "I was going to order if you're hungry? Mind putting Henry to bed?"

"Sure." Cole nodded.

It wasn't entirely a lie. Jennifer was going to order but she wanted to open that envelope first and she wanted to be in a safe space when she did so. So once Cole left the room with Henry, jj closed the door and that envelope was quickly opened.

She pulled out pictures, one by one and they were of her family. There was pictures of Cole, Vanessa, her, and some people that they associate with. Of course she thought it was odd but she couldn't help that maybe it was something from her away mission biting her in the ass because it wasn't smooth at all.

While she was gone, she made enemies but she never saw it as a possible problem till now. However, before jumping to conclusions, she had to make sure it was legit, so she reached out to the only other person who she was with down there . . .

Strauss.

a/n:
ohhh I'm sooo ready for this 😈