Michigan-Sequel To Alaska(CM, Hotch/JJ)

[24Me]

This is the sequel to Alaska, my last story where JJ got sick at the end of a case. I thought it would be fun to write about JJ being half recovered and then re-exposed to illness on a new case rather than writing about her being sick at home. 
 

 

 

Their last case had been rough, to say the least. The team had been called to Alaska where their Unit Chief had come down with a cold that he had then passed onto JJ, who seemed to have gotten a more severe version than her boss. When they’d landed back in Quantico on Monday night JJ had been confident that she’d be back to work on Thursday, but Hotch had taken one look at her when she’d walked into the office and sent her home with orders not to come back until the following Monday, or later if she still wasn’t 100%. That was, at least, his original plan. Then they got a case involving children that was complex and he knew he’d need all hands, so he picked up his phone early Sunday morning and dialed her number. It rang four times before she answered, and he frowned-she normally answered on the first ring, second at the latest. 

 

“Jennifer Jareau.” That told him she hadn’t looked at the caller ID. Her voice was slightly hoarse and congested still, and he heard her pull the phone away and muffle a cough before bringing it back to her ear. His frown deepened-this was a mistake. 

 

“JJ, did I wake you?” 

 

“No, no, I was up. What’s going on?” He really didn’t like the sound of her voice. She didn’t sound as close to recovered as he had hoped she would. 

 

“Don’t worry about it. I’m sorry to have bothered-“

 

“We have a case, don’t we?” She said, and he heard covers rustle as she presumably started to get out of bed. He sighed. 

 

“We do, but you still don’t sound well at all.”

 

“I sound worse than I feel. I just can’t shake the congestion and my voice isn’t fully back yet. But I’m good to work Hotch.”

 

“We can handle this one JJ. You should stay home and rest.” 

 

“Hotch. All due respect, you wouldn’t have called me if you didn’t think you needed me. What time does the jet leave?” She had him there. At times he really hated how persistent she was and this was definitely one of those times. He took a deep breath before replying, hoping he wasn’t making the wrong decision. 

 

“Nine a.m.” 

 

“Okay. I’ll see you in an hour.” JJ hung up before he could answer and he was left with a sinking feeling in his stomach. 

 

Hotch was waiting for her at the foot of the stairs leading up to the jet, and to him, she did not look “good to work”. Her nostrils were still tinged pink, her face still pale, and the dark circles under her eyes still far too present. 

 

“Are you sure you’re up for this?” He asked again, noting the fatigue in her posture and the lines around her eyes that indicated a headache. JJ nodded and put on her best smile. 

 

“I’m fine Hotch.” The unit chief was torn. On one hand he knew he needed her along for the case. Though she was a media liaison, she offered incredible insight into the cases and helped with interviews, managing the media and coordinating with police. Her skills would be much needed on a case as difficult as this one. On the other hand, he knew if she was on the edge of ill, this case could be enough to tip her back over into being fully sick again, and he was worried about the mental load she’d have to carry. Not only did this case involve children, the children were boys the same age with the same general appearance as her son. One of the victims was named Henry as well. 

 

“Okay.” He finally said, taking her bag from her without a word and starting up the stairs, letting JJ follow behind him. 

 

The flight to Michigan was relatively short and spent discussing the case. All the victims were Caucasian males the same age as JJ’s son with blonde hair and blue eyes. They were only children and so far there was no apparent link between the families other than the fact that one or both parents had a past history of working in law enforcement, but had retired. 

 

JJ read the file in front of her and felt the world spin slightly. Those victims could have easily been Henry and those families could easily have been hers, aside from the fact that the family members were retired from their jobs. She forced herself to breathe and stay focused, knowing she was being scrutinized enough with her illness and knowing that this was probably a factor in that scrutiny as well. 

 

As soon as they landed and got to the precinct, JJ was sent to interview Tom and Edna Miller, parents of victim Henry Miller. It was luck of the draw that she’d been assigned to the victim with the same name as her son, and no one had time to stop and baby her by offering to switch interviews. She tapped her fingers on the steering wheel nervously on the drive over, hoping she’d be able to keep her composure and stay professional. She took a breath before knocking on the door. 

 

As soon as it opened she knew the parents were in a bad way. For a moment she thought that the swollen red eyes, pale skin, and bright red noses were just from crying, but a moment after she walked in Tom buried his head in the crook of his elbow with a hacking cough. Not a minute later, Edna grabbed a tissue and sneezed headily into it. 

 

“Apschoo! Gggschoo! Hhhgstcuh!” The grieving mother blew her nose with a painful sounding honk before throwing the tissue in the trash can at her feet and gesturing ruefully at her face. “I’b so sorry about this. Tom and I have the flu. Hedry had it too.” Her voice broke and her bottom lip quivered as tears streamed down her cheeks. JJ leaned over and passed her a tissue. 

 

“It’s okay. We’ll take the interview slowly. Let me know if you need a break at any time.” She was grateful the Millers didn’t know the sound of her usual voice-she didn’t need them to worry over her or to be distracted. 

 

The interview took hours to complete where it may have only taken one had the Millers been healthy. The constant sneezing, coughing, and nose blowing threw the parents off and distracted them, making it very difficult to get a straight answer out of them. JJ stayed patient and thanked whoever was out there that Reid and Prentiss hadn’t been assigned this interview-the two germaphobic profilers would have been crawling out of their skin. In the end, she wound up holding Edna’s hand to comfort the woman long enough to get the answers she needed and she’d been sprayed several times by a wet sneeze, not to mention exposed to the germs on her hand, as a result. Still, she knew it was worth it to have the necessary information to build connections to the other victims. 

 

“Please, call me if you need anything or think of anything else, and see a doctor if you don’t feel better by tomorrow.” JJ urged as she left. The Millers nodded and thanked her for her kindness, shutting the door behind her as she walked to the SUV. There was a missed call from Hotch on her phone and she called him on speaker as she was driving back to the precinct. 

 

“JJ, where have you been? It’s been hours.” Hotch’s voice was tight with concern and JJ was all but certain he was pacing as he spoke.

 

“The Millers had the flu. It took a while to get them focused enough to get answers.” She heard Hotch take a sharp breath before he spoke in an almost angry tone. 

 

“They had the flu, and you interviewed them?”

 

“I did.” JJ said slowly. “I wasn’t aware they were sick until I was at their house.”

 

On the other end of the line, Hotch pinched the bridge of his nose and took a breath. He couldn’t rightfully be angry at JJ for doing her job but he was angry at the situation. Her immune defenses were already lowered and now she’d been exposed to the flu-and if he knew JJ she hadn’t kept her distance from the parents. 

 

“Alright. When you get back here meet us in the main conference room. We’ll add your notes to the board and go from there.”

 

“Will do.” JJ said before she hung up.

 

Hotch stared at the phone in his hand for a moment before going back into the conference room. If they were lucky, JJ had two, maybe three days left, four tops, before the flu incapacitated her. He didn’t think they were going to get lucky. 

 

JJ met them in the conference room and got her notes up on the board in record time. Her head was throbbing but didn’t feel too bad yet, so she just pushed through it and tried to make sense of everything that was written down. There was an impossible amount of information to digest and the first question she asked, were any of the families of the victims or any of the victims themselves sick, was a hard no except for the Millers. She’d hoped maybe there would be a connection to a pediatrician or a family doctor, but she guessed that was out. Hotch could see the disappointment on her face and the way her eyes kept drifting to the images of the mutilated bodies hanging on the first whiteboard, and he realized he needed to keep an eye on all aspects of her health. 

 

They called it a night at 11. It had been a long day and they still needed to check into the hotel, and the unit chief didn’t want his profilers burning out when they were only on day one. So far they still had energy and could have worked longer, but he suspected this was going to be a long case. They took two cars back to the hotel-the germaphobes and Morgan in one, Hotch, Rossi and JJ in the other. Rossi was the first one to ask how JJ was feeling on the way back. He was not a subtle man or one afraid of holding back, and the blonde agent looked wiped. 

 

“How are you feeling JJ?” He asked, looking back at her over the seat. She gave him a hard look for a moment, then relented. 

 

“I’m alright. Tired, a bit of a headache, but I’m fine.” Rossi scoffed softly. “Fine” was a word used too often by the members of the BAU. 

 

Hotch stayed quiet, knowing that if she was admitting to being tired and having a bit of a headache, that she felt exhausted and her head must be pounding. He’d spend this case watching her back for her and silently worrying while trying to balance focusing on the case and the rest of his team as well, and he knew it would be a fine line to walk. 

 

JJ checked in after Rossi but before Hotch at his insistence, and started walking up to her room in the hopes of avoiding a conversation with her boss. Either she was moving more slowly than she thought or Hotch was a wizard at check ins, because he caught up to her on the third floor when she was almost to her room. 

 

“Can I have a word?” He asked quietly, ever respectful of others around who might be sleeping. She nodded, of course. “Are you really feeling alright? You look pale.”

 

“Hotch, really, I’m okay. Please don’t worry about me.” He looked just past her head for a moment before lowering his gaze and meeting her eyes once more. 

 

“The average incubation period for the flu is two to three days. Your immune system is already compromised.” JJ sighed. She knew the facts too, and was well aware that she’d probably wind up sick sooner rather than later. 

 

“I know Hotch. That’s why you’ve got to let me work until I absolutely can’t anymore. We need all hands for this one and I can push through a lot-I figure I won’t be down for the count until day three or four.” Her boss clenched his jaw and shook his head. 

 

“It’s not what’s best for your health.”

 

“But it’s what is best for the team, and for the case.” JJ reminded him. “The needs of the many over the few or the one.” Hotch looked amused at the quote and gave a reluctant nod.

 

“Get some sleep. We’ll evaluate day by day.” Knowing that was the best she would get, JJ gave a nod as well, said goodnight, and then headed into her room. It was a relief to take a Tylenol, change into pajamas, and crawl into bed. It took awhile to fall asleep as images of mangled, childsize corpses flashed in front of her eyes. 

 

She woke the next morning feeling no better than the day before, but also no worse. So far so good, she assumed. It didn’t take long to shower and dress before she headed downstairs to meet the team. As usual, Hotch was the first one in the lobby and she could feel him scrutinizing her as she approached.  

 

“I’m okay.” She reassured him, and his mouth twitched with a slight smile as she read his thoughts. He did notice that she sat down almost immediately rather than standing, which could have been normal fatigue but could also mean she felt unwell. He’d keep an eye on that. Reid and Prentiss came downstairs next and stood as far from JJ as possible, followed by Rossi and Morgan. Even though JJ was all but better, they wouldn’t trust that she wasn’t sick until her color returned to normal and her nose stopped being pink, which wasn’t going to happen until the congestion went away and she could stop blowing it. 

 

They split into the same groups to drive back to the station and JJ was grateful for that as the urge to sneeze overtook her. She pulled a tissue from her pocket and stifled the first two silently, but the last two broke through her defenses. 

 

“Hhapshiew! Hhhgtschiew!” Hotch glanced back in the rear view mirror in concern. 

 

“Bless you.” He kept his voice low and he hoped emotionless. Rossi spoke at the same time. 

 

“Salud, Bella.” JJ blushed and blew her nose as quietly as possible. 

 

“Thank you.” She said with a trace of congestion. Both men exchanged a glance but didn’t say a word. They arrived at the station and JJ was immediately cornered by the police chief. 

 

“Have you made any progress at all? What is happening with the case? Do you have a suspect?” JJ blinked and took a step backwards as the man towered over her. 

 

“Sir, we are in the preliminary stages of our work. We are still processing all the information but I assure you we will have more answers soon. I promise to keep you updated.” The man looked at her intently, staring her down. 

 

“Are you sick?” He asked suddenly. JJ furrowed her brow but answered honestly. 

 

“I’m getting over a cold, but I can do my job.”

 

“You better be able to.” The chief snarled before stalking away. JJ didn’t know it, but Hotch watched the interaction from the end of the hall, ready to intervene if necessary. Of course JJ handled herself like a pro and he ducked into the conference room before she could see him watching her. 

 

It was a slow and frustrating day. They were hardly making any progress, even with help from Garcia. Reid was struggling with the geographic profile and overall, tensions were running high. JJ could feel herself getting worse as the day went on-not by much, but enough that it was noticeable. Her throat was aching again, as were her muscles and joints. The pounding in her head was eased, but never quelled, by medication. Her appetite was gone and the urge to sneeze was ever present. 

 

“Hhestchiew! Hhhnschiew! Hhhtttschiew!” She sneezed, sniffling quietly afterwards as she reached for a tissue. Reid lifted his head. 

 

“That’s disgusting. You’re going to get the rest of us sick.” He snapped.

 

“Reid, that’s enough.” Hotch started to say, but JJ shook her head. 

 

“No, he’s right. I’m a contagion risk and a distraction. I’ll work in the other room.” She stood and collected her notes and files, heading into the smaller adjoining conference room. Hotch followed her, watching as she sat down and massaged her temples. She looked up and spoke when she saw him watching her. “I didn’t think about getting the rest of the team sick.” Her voice was starting to sound hoarse again and was rich with congestion. Hotch sighed. 

 

“I know. But we’ve all had our flu shots and boosters. You’re the one I’m worried about.” JJ shrugged and started back in on her notes, the light from her computer screen making her squint as it hurt her eyes. Hotch went back into the main conference room reluctantly and continued working there with the team. 

 

By the end of the day, JJ felt like she had a cold again. She was still functional, but she didn’t feel very well at all. There was still room to go down before she felt as bad as she had in Alaska though, which was a comfort because she’d worked through that and she was pretty sure she could work through worse. She let her eyes drift shut on the way back to the hotel, only opening them when Hotch parked the car. This time, once she crawled into bed, sleep came quickly. It was her dreams that were disturbing. 

 

She woke feeling as though she hadn’t slept at all, and definitely feeling sick. Her whole body hurt, an intense ache that made it uncomfortable to move, and her throat was starting to feel like she’d swallowed glass. Still, she forced herself out of bed and got ready for the day. She could still work and she was going to as long as she wasn’t benched. 

 

JJ headed downstairs early to grab a cup of coffee from the hotel cafe, hoping the caffeine might help the headache, or at least mitigate the intense fatigue, that she was feeling. Hotch came downstairs about 15 minutes later, took one look at her, and a concerned frown overtook his expression. 

 

“You don’t look as well as you did yesterday.” JJ shook her head. 

 

“I don’t feel as well as I did yesterday.” She grimaced slightly as she spoke and between that and the sound of her voice, Hotch could tell she had a sore throat. 

 

“Are you up for working today?” He asked seriously. JJ nodded. 

 

“I’m alright. Don’t worry about me.” She knew that would be impossible for him but it was worth a shot to say it. The rest of the team joined them shortly after and they made their way to the station. The drive there was uneventful aside from a dry coughing fit from JJ. It was a barking, hoarse sounding cough that wasn’t congested yet, but had that sound that all three agents in the car knew meant congestion in the chest was coming. Rossi shot her a sympathetic look. 

 

“You’re in for a rough time, aren’t you?” JJ shrugged. 

 

“I guess we’ll find out.” The fact that her voice cracked on the last word and led to another coughing fit only made Rossi’s point for him. 

 

At the station, JJ settled into her smaller conference room and focused on her job: trying to find a connection between all five families. It hit her how many victims there were so far and she felt slightly nauseated as she realized another body was likely to drop that day. She did her best to focus on the task at hand but her thoughts kept drifting, and she really wasn’t feeling well as the day went on. 

 

Sure enough, around noon, Hotch got the call that another body had been found. He went to the dump site to assess the scene while Prentiss went to interview the victims family. JJ went to grab coffee from the break room and ran into an extremely unhappy police chief. 

 

“What the hell are you people doing? Don’t you have fancy methods and equipment to find this sonofabitch?” JJ nodded calmly.

 

“We do, but this UNSUB was particularly careful and we’re still retracing his-or her-steps. I assure you we’re doing all we can.” 

 

“Well it’s not good enough! My team could be doing better!”

 

“Your team is welcome to help us in ways that we designate, but we need to stay in control of the investigation.” JJ said carefully, unsure of how to say that without being insulting. It was the truth, though-a poorly handled investigation could get them nowhere, cause the UNSUB to decompensate or accelerate their timeline, or a number of other disastrous outcomes. The chief drew himself up to his full height and JJ braced herself for what was to come. It was at that moment that Rossi strolled into the break room. 

 

“Is there a problem here?” He asked. JJ hated that that was what it took for the chief to deflate, but was grateful she didn’t have to continue fighting with the man as he shook his head and stormed off. The Italian then turned his attention to JJ. “You look drained. How are you feeling?”

 

“I’ve been better.” She admitted. “But I’m good to work.” Rossi didn’t fight her on that but he wondered how much of what she said was the truth. 

 

Hotch got back around 3pm, and Rossi filled him in about the interaction with the chief. The younger man immediately bristled and went off to find the police chief. He’d knew the man was stressed, but so was his team. He found the chief in his office. 

 

“I need a word.” 

 

“What about?” The tone the police chief took instantly irritated Hotch, and he put on his most stern and intense expression as he spoke.

 

“You need to stop hounding my team, particularly my media liaison.” 

 

“Who, the sick one? Is she too fragile to handle herself?” That pissed the unit chief off and he stood taller, crossing his arms and turning his gaze into an icy glare. 

 

“She can handle herself just fine, sick or well. Our last case she worked with a fever and still found the missing link that we needed to find the UNSUB, and she’s not a profiler. It’s your attitude that needs addressing. Stop harassing her. That’s an order.” 

 

The police chief looked vaguely frightened, as did most people under Hotch’s glare, and nodded. 

 

“Got it.” 

 

“Good.” Hotch said, before turning on his heel and walking away. He then went to check on JJ. She had a pre-sneeze expression written all over her face as she lifted a tissue to her mouth and nose, and he watched as she ducked forward with four painful sounding sneezes. 

 

“Hhhmfpshiew! Hhhschiew! Hhhhgtschiew! Hhhnschiew!” She blew her nose painfully, at least judging by the wince, before throwing the tissue out and sanitizing her hands. JJ didn’t seem to notice him standing there as she leaned forward and put her head in her hands, massaging her temples and forehead. 

 

“Headache?” Hotch asked quietly. JJ jumped and lifted her head with an almost fully suppressed wince. 

 

“Sorry Hotch, I didn’t see you there. I’m okay.” By the squint of her eyes, Hotch could tell she was lying. 

 

“I didn’t ask if you were okay, I asked if you had a headache.” He pushed gently. JJ sighed. 

 

“A bad one.” She admitted. “The meds aren’t touching it.” It took all his self control not to feel her forehead as she turned away and coughed hard into her elbow, sounding far worse than she had that morning. Hotch was all too aware of the fact that this was day two of exposure, if you didn’t count the first half day of the case JJ had actually been exposed. She seemed to read his mind. “I need to get back to work Hotch. Thanks for checking in.” 

 

They ended that day even more frustrated than the first, with no leads to go on still. That wasn’t entirely unusual for a complex case, but it certainly meant the case wouldn’t be cut and dry. Hotch stopped JJ in the hallway before she entered her room. 

 

“If you wake up and just don’t feel well enough to work tomorrow, there’s no judgement.”

 

“That’s not an option Hotch, but thank you. Good night.” JJ said. The unit chief watched her disappear into her room with a sense of admiration-she was tough and he appreciated her willingness to push for the benefit of the case and the team, though he wished she would put her health first. 

 

JJ woke the next morning feeling like she’d been hit by a train, and immediately knew if this wasn’t the full blown flu, it was something close to it. Every inch of her body hurt, including her skin. She was completely congested with runny discharge that she was already having to wipe away, but the main blockage in her sinuses wouldn’t move when she blew her nose. Additionally, when she coughed or inhaled, she could feel some congestion rattling in her chest-it had moved downward overnight into her lungs as well. Her throat was on fire and she was all but certain she had at least a low grade fever-it was going to be a long day. It took all her energy to get showered, dressed and drag herself downstairs to the lobby. She didn’t even bother putting on makeup as she knew nothing would conceal how sick she looked. 

 

She walked towards Hotch, coughing that rattling cough into her elbow, and held up a hand as he immediately started to get up from his chair with a very unhappy look on his face. 

 

“I’m okay.” She croaked, and realized her voice was giving out too. If she had one at all by the end of the day she’d be grateful. “It’s starting to hit me but I’m able to work.” Hotch did not look at all convinced as he took in her pale skin and the purple circles under her too-bright eyes. He stepped closer and let the back of his hand rest against her forehead, closing his eyes briefly as he realized she definitely had a fever. 

 

“You’re warm.” He said, concern and compassion and a hint of something else mixing together in his voice. JJ nodded. 

 

“I know. I’ll be okay.” 

 

She was okay, at least for the morning. By midafternoon she was fading, but determined to do her job. The police chief had taken one look at her and decided to leave her be, for which she was grateful. She felt disgusting and contagious and hid herself away in the privacy of the small conference room, blowing or wiping her nose near constantly and sneezing every fifteen minutes or so. JJ couldn’t decide what was more distracting-the constant dripping of her nostrils, the tickle deep in her sinuses that made her sneeze until her head spun, or the cough that made her throat feel like it was being torn apart and her ribs ache horribly. All in all, it was not easy to focus but she was doing her best. 

 

Hotch had set her up with her own whiteboard that had all the case notes and pictures of the children on it. Up until today, she’d been handling that well. Now she suspected it was the fever lowering her defenses, or maybe the intense fatigue, but whatever the cause, she was struggling to cope with the images. They made her feel overwhelmed and slightly panicked, and made her wonder if her own son was safe. 

 

Even with all that she was going through, JJ finally managed to find a connection between the victims and their families, and that was the only reason she entered the main conference room. 

 

“I found something.” She said as loudly as she could, straining her voice so she could be heard. That immediately sent her into a violent fit of coughing, but she got control fairly quickly and started talking again, ignoring Reid’s horrified look. Prentiss actually looked sympathetic. “All of our victims-“ JJ went on to explain the connection, feeling exhausted but accomplished as she spoke. 

 

The team finally had a lead to go on, and JJ gratefully returned to the privacy of the smaller conference room as the tickle in her nose became unbearable. She was unaware Hotch was watching her as she sat down, grabbing several tissues from the box on her desk and sneezing headily into them. Her entire upper body contracted and bent nearly in half with the force of each one, and she looked more than a little dazed when she finally lifted her head to blow her nose. 

 

“Hhhhhgschtiew! Hhhhnscghiew! Hhhhtschiew!…hhhhhetschiew! Hhhhnmmmpfshiew! Hhhhyyyyshiew!…hhhhschiew! Hhhhnscghiew!” 

 

It wasn’t until she’d blown her nose and sanitized her hands that she looked over to the doorway and saw Hotch standing there. A look of resignation flashed over her features before her expression settled into one of defeat and utter exhaustion. Hotch took in the high flush in her cheeks, the glazed look in her eyes, and the way she winced as she adjusted her position in the chair, and could tell she was definitely feeling worse for the wear.

 

“Bless you.” He said with some feeling, though he didn’t feel that covered the intensity of the painful fit he’d just witnessed. JJ nodded, lifting her elbow and doing her best to smother that familiar rattling cough into it. 

 

“Sorry.” She said in a strained tone when she finally got her breath back. Hotch shook his head, moving closer and sitting down across from her. 

 

“You don’t need to apologize. I can take you back to the hotel now. The team can handle chasing down the lead until I get back, and you need to get some rest.” He thought she’d be grateful for the out but JJ looked horrified. 

 

“Hotch, I can’t. I have to keep working. Who knows if I’ll be able to tomorrow?” 

 

“JJ. Your fever is clearly up, you look like a ghost, and you can’t go five minutes without coughing or sneezing. You’re miserable and you need to take care of yourself.” JJ gave him her fiercest look, which at the moment was pretty sickly looking and pathetic. 

 

“Hotch, you of all people cannot give me the ‘slow down and take care of you’ speech with a straight face.” He cracked a smile at that-she had him there. 

 

“As your boss, I have to put your health first.”

 

“Please just give me the rest of today.” JJ begged, and Hotch relented with a sinking feeling in his stomach. “Thank you. Now go before you catch this too.” 

 

By eight, JJ was starting to regret the decision to stay and work just slightly as the fever began to crawl through her bones. Hotch was checking in frequently and she did her best to hide how poorly she was feeling, but more often than not he was walking into her shivering, sneezing, or coughing when he came into the room to assess her condition. By ten, he had made a mental note to get her to a doctor the minute the case was over. When he finally went in at 11:45 to tell her they were going back to the hotel, she was just sitting in her chair and staring at the pictures of the boys on the board. He knew that was not a good sign. 

 

“JJ, it’s time to go.” Hotch said, his voice gentle but still authoritative. She shook her head. 

 

“There has to be another link.” The unit chief was not going down this path, and stepped in front of her to break her gaze. 

 

“There is, and we’ll find it tomorrow. Tonight we have to get you back to the hotel to rest. You’re in no shape to work.” JJ thought about that for a moment, then nodded. She stood, taking a moment to get her bearings, then shrugged into her coat and followed Hotch to the SUV. 

 

The drive back to the hotel was wordless but not quiet. JJ’s cough seemed to be triggered by the temperate change of warm to cold then warm again, and she spent a good portion of the car ride coughing and struggling to get her breathing under control. Hotch almost pulled over at one point, but she waved him off. 

 

“I’m alright.” She choked out. He reluctantly kept driving, hating the sound of her illness. It reminded him that he had brought her here instead of letting her recover. 

 

The walk up to her room felt like an eternity to JJ. Her legs aches, she felt off kilter and dizzy, the lights seemed too bright-she could tell she was definitely sick. Hotch stopped her at her door. 

 

“Why don’t you take tomorrow off?”

 

“I’ll see how I’m feeling. We have to close this case.” Clenching his jaw, Hotch looked away before nodding, not wanting to keep her on her feet by arguing. 

 

“We’ll assess in the morning. Get some rest. I’m a text away if you need anything.” 

[asapyams]

love this!!!

[stars123]

This is SO good!!! I love the idea to have JJ exposed to a new sickness. And Hotch worrying is perfection! I can’t wait to read more!!🫠

[sneezemeister]

I love this! This was really well done, characterization and everything!

[24Me]

On 12/11/2023 at 9:36 PM, asapyams said:

love this!!!

I’m sorry I’m just replying now, thank you so much! 

 

On 12/13/2023 at 12:10 AM, stars123 said:

This is SO good!!! I love the idea to have JJ exposed to a new sickness. And Hotch worrying is perfection! I can’t wait to read more!!🫠

I’m trying to get an update done, it’s super slow going I’m sorry! Thank you for the kind words! 

 

On 12/17/2023 at 9:05 AM, sneezemeister said:

I love this! This was really well done, characterization and everything!

Awww thank you so much! I’m hoping to have another part written soon!