Afghanistan, 2010

Dani could see JJ was on edge. She couldn't blame her, though, she was too.

Strauss had talked to Secretary Jackson and after some back and forth between the two women, it was decided they would try Dani and JJ's plan, launching an extraction mission for Nadia's daughter so they could try to get the woman to cooperate a little more. It was a good plan, Dani knew, but it was a risky one and neither Askari or Hastings were too happy with it as they made sure to point out every once and again. Truth be told, Dani didn't think Cruz was all on board with the plan either, but the Secretary had allowed the mission, so he would try his very best to make it happen.

It took them almost two whole days to assemble a sizable group for the extraction mission and another day for them to even find the Mubari's old house. They did, however, and, as soon as the house was identified, they had sent word to Cruz who had then sent word of it to the rest of his team which was the reason why Dani and JJ found themselves now in their tents, rushing to pull their coats over their shoulders so they could rush together to the tent where the mission's intelligence was reunited.

"Dani?" JJ asked, as soon as she finished lacing up her boots, noticing how the brunette seemed to be ready already and only waiting for her to stand up from her bed.

"Yes, JJ?"

"Do you... Do you think this is gonna work?"

"I don't know." Dani admitted, with a shrug of her shoulders. "Honestly, a lot of things could go wrong. But if one thing goes right... It'll be worth it. Now, come on. Cruz is waiting for us."

JJ nodded then, a small smile on her lips as she took Dani's extended hand to her and allowed her to pull her up to her feet. JJ still wasn't sure how she felt about this whole extraction mission, but knowing Dani believed in it so much - believed in her so much -, it made the whole thing a little less scary.

The two women walked out of their shared tent then, their hands slipping away from one another's as soon as they were out in the camp and JJ almost frowned at the sudden loss of contact. She didn't, though, keeping her face as stern as possible as she walked through the camp, ignoring the looks she received from all the men around - during her short time there, JJ had learned to ignore them. Some men looked down at her, as if they thought they were better than her in any conceivable way. Some blatantly hated her and, possibly, her stay there. Some - those were the worst ones - looked at JJ as if she was some piece of meat, ready for the taking. She hated those looks and she had thought they happened because she was new around and not really in the army, but, considering Dani had been in this same camp for months now and she still received the same looks JJ did, she knew that wasn't the case.

"You learn to ignore it." Dani had told JJ once and, as much as she hated it, JJ realized that, in fact, she was starting to ignore it. "You're here to do a job, JJ. A job as important as the one any of those men have, so don't ever let them make you think you are less than anyone around."

It was hard, JJ had to admit, especially considering the way all heads turned to her and Dani as soon as they stepped inside the intelligence tent, but she had to push through this. There were some men around JJ never bothered learning the names of, but this was a mission she had commissioned along with Dani, so if they weavered now, in front of them all, any little respect they ever had around there would vanish in a split of a second. Dani turned to look at JJ then, sending her a nod of her head in encouragement before making her way through the tent toward the only person inside JJ knew. She followed her closely, admiring the way she blended so easily with everyone inside and wondering if she'd ever be able to do that too.

"Extraction team is on approach." Cruz told the two of them as soon as they moved to stand behind him to take a look at the computer monitors they had there. "They should have Nadia's daughter momentarily."

JJ nodded then, looking at the computers in front of her with a heavy heart. She could see the group of 10 men that Cruz had sent in that mission to rescue Nadia's daughter. She could see their uniforms and their helmets and their guns. She could see their very deliberate movements to try and get inside the house as discreetly as possible. She could see it all, even though the image wasn't the best, through the night-vision cameras of their uniforms. But JJ could see it all and she could practically feel the tension in the room.

"Helo's on the ground. Roger, team 3, we are picking up activity in sector 9." One of the soldiers said, his voice sounding weird through the microphones, but his words were clear. There was movement inside; they found Nadia's daughter. "Extraction's in place. Go, go, go!"

JJ watched as the soldiers pulled open the door and there was a moment of silence as the soldiers looked around the room. Beside her, JJ could almost feel Dani shaking in apprehension and, for a second, JJ felt the need to reach over and comfort her, but, before she could, one of the soldiers spoke up.

"We've got a family." He said. "Two adults, one child."

"Can you confirm their identities?" Dani asked and, after that, there was another moment of silence.

"It's the target." The soldier announced and JJ finally allowed herself to breathe again. "We have the girl."

"Proceed with extraction." Cruz said.

The soldiers moved then, ready to get inside, get the girl and leave. That was what was supposed to happen, but what really did was almost too fast for any of them to register it properly. Gunshots were heard left and right and then screams. JJ felt her stomach dropping when, one by one, the soldiers fell down and the cameras turned to static.

"We're taking fire!" One of the men yelled, his voice sounding now frantic and almost scared. "Take cover!"

"Pull out of there!" Cruz ordered, but the whole thing was so chaotic, JJ was sure no one was really listening to him. "Pull out of there now! Pull out!"

JJ gasped when all of the images from the cameras disappeared soundly, after a loud bang and, as much as it didn't take any expert to know what that meant, hearing Dani's shocked voice made JJ feel sick to her stomach.

"That was an explosion." She mumbled, her eyes glued to the now empty screen.

"All right, get them back on line." Cruz ordered, as some of the men around him started to move to try and reconnect with the soldiers from the mission. Cruz's voice sounded muffled to JJ, though, and, as she struggled to breath, any noise around her just seemed too dull compared to the beating of her own heart. "Get them back on the line. Team 3... Team 3. This is overwatch Alpha. Come in. Over. Team 3, report. Team 3, this is overwatch Alpha. Report."

JJ wasn't sure who was talking anymore. She wasn't sure when she had even left the tent, if she was being honest, but the cold air of the night felt nice against her skin. She wasn't sure how long she had stayed there, frozen in place with the images from earlier replaying in her head, but, soon enough, Dani appeared from beside her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"JJ? Do you hear me?" She asked and JJ had to shake her head and blink a few times to manage to focus on Dani again. "JJ? Are you okay?"

"I... I just... Sorry, I just..."

"It's okay." Dani assured with a nod of her head as she sighed. "Do you hear me now?"

"Yes." JJ nodded back at her.

"Good." Dani said, looking down at her boots for a second before lifting her brown eyes to meet JJ's blue ones again. "We've managed to contact Team 3 again."

"And?" JJ asked, sighing deeply when Dani shook her head and kicked a small rock on the ground.

"It didn't work." She said. "Nadia's daughter was caught in the cross-fire. We've lost her."

Dani's voice cracked a little when she spoke but that had been the only indicator of any emotion from her. JJ on the other hand felt as if her whole world was collapsing around her and she struggled not to break down in tears just then. She did sniffle quietly when Dani gathered her in her arms in a warm embrace and played gently with the ends of her ponytail, but she was quick to recover, knowing, right now, she couldn't be showing too much emotion.

"I'm going to go talk to Nadia." Dani said. "I'm bringing Hastings with me so you don't..."

"Yes, I do." JJ interrupted Dani, already knowing she would try and spare her breaking the news to Nadia.

But JJ had to. This had been her idea. She had to tell Nadia her daughter was dead. And JJ had done it before - breaking sad news like that to families, she did it all the time, working with the BAU, but never before it had felt so... Personal. But, in any case, JJ had to go.

"You don't have to come." Dani insisted, but JJ shook her head.

"Yes, I do." She said, before sighing quietly to herself. "This is gonna destroy her."

"It isn't your fault." Dani said, as JJ just scoffed.

"Like hell." She spat, causing Dani to frown at her sudden aggressiveness. "I was the one who said we should go get her daughter."

"And I was the one who insisted in the mission." She said. "None of it makes this our fault."

JJ stopped for a second then, pulling away from Dani's embrace to look at her instead. She sighed, feeling a little guilty for a moment when she noticed how Dani was also not happy with the situation at all while still choosing to neglect her feelings to deal with JJ's instead. She smiled a little at Dani, ready to apologize - or thank Dani, JJ wasn't sure which one just yet -, but stopping herself when Hastings and Cruz approached the two of them, saying they needed to head over to Nadia's compound to break the news for her.

The two women nodded, walking in front of them toward the small building Nadia was being kept in and pushing the door open as soon as they reached it.

"Nadia?" JJ called, frowning when there was no response. "Nadia?"

"Oh..." Dani mumbled, placing a hand over her hand when she saw it: Nadia's body - bloodied and beaten on the floor. "She's dead."

And, once again, JJ had already known that, but hearing someone else say it... She felt bile raising up her throat and, sparing Nadia one last look, JJ rushed out of the compound, doubling over herself as she vomited on the ground what little food she had managed to share with Dani earlier that day over dinner.

***

After their failed rescue mission, JJ had gone back to Washington for the month so Dani had been left alone for the next few weeks, still trying to figure out what to do now that Nadia was dead while trying to figure out who had murdered her in the first place. It was hard, though. Especially considering the fact that Dani was no profiler and she was trying to make sense of her theory with JJ of an inside man in their operations while Cruz, Hastings and Askari were all breathing down her neck every day after the fiasco of her rescue mission.

Those last few days had been hell, but, that morning, as soon as Dani woke up, her mood suddenly shifted. She looked over at the small table beside her bed and smiled upon seeing the date there. JJ would be coming back that day and, judging by the time, she should probably have arrived already.

Dani practically jumped off her bed as she put on her pants, boots and her typical white tank top before rushing out of her tent and into the camp. She met Cruz on her way to the main tent and asked him about JJ. He told her she had arrived, but had been sent over to the medical tent for a quick check-up.

"She wasn't feeling that well." Cruz had explained. "She said it was probably something she ate on the plane, but Strauss thought it would be better to have her checked out."

Dani thanked him for the information then, before walking as fast as she could to the medical tent and smiling as soon as she stepped inside. There JJ was, sitting at the edge of one of the beds, looking a little paler than usual, but just as pretty. Walking carefully over to her, Dani smiled when JJ lifted her head to meet her eyes and opened a small smile back at her too.

"Hi." She said, and Dani could swear she felt her whole body shiver, just at the tone of her voice.

"Hey. Welcome back." Dani said, causing JJ to nod. "How was your trip home? Did you see your son? Is he okay?"

"He's fine." JJ nodded again. "The trip was fine."

Dani frowned then, finding it strange the way JJ was acting now, after all, JJ was always warm and happy whenever she talk so why was she suddenly being so... Offish and distant? She brushed it off, though. JJ wasn't feeling well, after all, so maybe that was why.

"Cruz told me you were sick when you arrived?" Dani asked, just a little worried. "Is everything okay?"

And, at that, JJ let out a strangled laugh. Dani frowned - this was new. She had never seen JJ like this. She was always so open with her emotions, so in tune with them... Good or bad, Dani was always able to tell how JJ was feeling, but now... Now she couldn't. And the longer Dani watched her, the more she realized that, maybe, it was because JJ herself didn't know what she was feeling properly, she seemed... Confused.

"Nothing's wrong." JJ shook her head then, her eyes refusing to meet Dani's as she spoke her next words. "I mean, I... I don't think so. It's just... I'm pregnant."

Just like that, Dani felt her head spinning and she could swear the world around her was about to crash. But it wasn't, she knew. It wasn't because this was real. JJ was pregnant. And if she found out just then, it meant she had... While back in D.C. she had... But... But Dani thought she...

"Oh..." Dani mumbled, unsure of what else to say at the moment. "Oh, hum... Is that a good thing?"

"I... I don't know." JJ shook her head. "I... God, I love kids but... But this... This is not what I wanted. I mean, I'm not even with Will anymore, it was just... One night... I had a little too much to drink and he was there and I was there and we just... But we don't... I mean, we're not... Together."

"No?" Dani asked, causing JJ to shake her head again as she finally lifted her eyes to meet Dani's.

"No."

"Well, but you love kids, right? So... Congratulations, I guess." Dani smiled a little, pulling JJ in for a hug that was quickly reciprocated.

Neither of the women said anything for a while, just holding onto each other as they tried to process whatever was happening to them right now, but before JJ could even start diving again in her many questions about why she always felt so safe in Dani's arms, even if they only ever touched when emotions were high, a new voice broke the two of them from their moment and they hastily pulled away from each other.

"Jareau." Hastings said, as he walked into the tent and straight over to JJ. "There's a call for you from BAU. Some kind of emergency involving Emily?"

At the mention of the name, JJ's attention suddenly peaked and she was up in her feet in no time. Dani stepped back then, offering JJ some space and the blonde smiled gently at her, before walking out of the tent and out of the tent, some kind of flame in her eyes that Dani had never seen before. She wasn't sure what any of this was about - and she was sure she would not be finding out about it any time soon - but, whatever it was... It had JJ on the edge. And as Dani watched JJ leaving the camp yet again to fly back to D.C. in a hurry, there was only one question in her mind.

"Who's Emily?"