VIOLENT DELIGHTS, aaron hotchner

stolen lullabies

The team is off without Blake. While Juliette and Aaron were at least warned of her departure, the rest of the BAU didn't find out until her desk was cleaned out after the weekend. It affects everyone differently, but the mood in the week following shifted for the worse.

When Spencer returns to work, it seems that only him and JJ are still having trouble. Juliette tries to play more chess with him, but with one less agent, she finds herself helping Aaron in his office most days.

On a Wednesday morning, she leaves his office to round up the team with a case, but instead she finds JJ alone at her desk. She's staring across the room, seemingly at nothing, and her hand is bandaged as though she had just beaten someone up.

Juliette approaches her, leaning down and softly placing a hand on her shoulder, "Are you okay?"

JJ nods, but her eyes say otherwise. Still, Juliette has to find the rest of the team, "Uh... alright. We have a case, round table in five?"

The case is taking the team to Nevada, where a woman was found frozen in a lake with burns from being electrocuted, indicating someone was attempting to resuscitate her.

They're flying to Boulder City an hour later, and while Spencer's thrown himself into the case, JJ's spaced out and visibly anxious. Juliette tries to watch her carefully, but they're separated when Hotch sends JJ and Spencer to visit the ME.

Juliette works with the local detective, identifying the victim before Spencer and JJ return with a reason for her death: a cult.

They work through the afternoon trying to identify the cult, Juliette noticing JJ's tics and Spencer's worry increase. Finally, when JJ gone to the bathroom for longer than ten minutes, Spencer leans towards her, "Do you know what's going on with JJ?"

Juliette shakes her head, "I'll try talking to her."

Another ten minutes later, two breaks in the case split the team across the town, but Juliette shares a knowing glance with Aaron and stays behind with JJ.

She doesn't sit outside of the bathroom for more than a few minutes before JJ walks out, her eyes red with tears. "What's up?" She asks, feigning ignorance.

"Uh— there were a few leads, everyone else left." Juliette nods to an empty conference rooms down the hall, leading her into it and shutting the door. "What's going on?"

"I— I can't—" JJ leans against the door, closing her eyes before clenching her hands in her hair. "Askari— I think he's getting to me."

Juliette finally understands what's going on, the aftermath of months prior was too good to be true. JJ slides to the floor, so Juliette steps up next to her and drops to the ground as well.

"He was my partner, I really thought I could trust him." JJ leans her head into her knees. "If I had just— if I'd never gotten involved, Nadia and her daughter would still be alive. Henry— he could have a little..."

Knowing she can't finish that sentence, she dissolves into tears while Juliette tries to comfort her without making things worse. She carefully starts to place her hand on JJ's, who grips it with the force only expectant of a grieving mother.

With this invitation, Juliette wraps her arm around her back and slowly strokes her shoulder. When her breathing evens out, she starts, "Regret... is a powerful thing. You can spend your whole life going over the mistakes you've made, they can consume all of you other thoughts. Or, you could move forward and make sure they're never made again."

JJ looks up after a moment, "How do I— How does that help?"

"It's not instant, for me it didn't help right away." She pauses. "Have you talked to Will?"