or what, sir? |a. hotchner| ✔️

forty five

I sat at my desks with the team, it had been two weeks since Alaska. We just got back from a case, but instead of celebrating, we were waiting for the horrible news.

The news that JJ was leaving.

We'd all been a big mess, especially Spencer. I had been a complete wreck, but I didn't want them knowing how badly I was doing. Losing JJ on this team was losing a sister, I couldn't deal with her leaving.

She stepped out of the meeting room, her eyes filled with sadness as she held the same thing I had held three years prior. A exit transcript.

Tears began to well in my eyes, "No" I let out, and she nodded,

"No, wait a minute! I thought Hotch was supposed to--" She cut Morgan off,

"It's above his pay grade. Strauss', too" I tried as hard as I could to hide the water coming from my eyes.

"They can just take you away?" There was silence at Spencer's quiet words,

"So, we do nothing?" Morgan tried to hide his anger,

And JJ shook her head, "It's done" She reminded,

"It can't be that simple"

"It is" She so obviously didn't want to go, but she was trying to keep a strong act. I couldn't blame her, I did the same thing when I left.

"This job is hard enough, what are they trying to do, bury us?" Morgan looked directly at me, and I shook my head as if to say I didn't know.

"You're too good, that's the problem" Emily said through the tears, and JJ scoffed with a small smile.

"It's true, you're on everybody's wish list. Our loss is somebody else's gain" He was right, she was the glue of the team. She decided our cases, she was kind of... the caretaker. She was the mom, and I didn't know if I could do without her.

"They can't just take you away" Spencer's voice cracked, and that's when I let the tears stream down my cheeks. He was already crying, but he was trying so so hard to cover it up. JJ noticed and hugged him, which made him quickly wrap his arms around her as well.

This wasn't fair, this was fucking misery. I couldn't believe they were doing this to another member of this team, again. First me, now JJ? Who the hell was next, Aaron?

It was killing me, it was like every year they did this to another member of the team. They tried doing it to Aaron when Haley died, they tried doing it to Derek when Kate got killed in New York. Derek was right,

Maybe they did want to bury us.

000

I walked into Aaron's apartment, shutting the door quietly behind me to make sure I didn't wake up Jack. I put my bag down, but as soon as I sat down on the couch, I began to sob.

I was so heartbroken that she left, I could barely deal with it. It was absolutely painful, it was exactly how I felt when Elle left, it was exactly how I felt when I left.

I covered my sobs with my hands, trying not to be too loud. I didn't need either of them to see me like this, especially at midnight.

"Veronica?" I heard, and I glanced up behind me. There stood a worried Aaron, who's expression I could only see from the moonlight coming through the window. I shot him a fake smile, wiping my face.

"Yeah, what's up?"

He looked at me with a straight face, "Don't do that" He almost ordered, and he walked over to me, sitting down to my left. I glanced down, "Don't hide your feelings from me"