Title: Playing God
Author: and dark skies
Rating: PG - 13
Fandom/Claim: Criminal Minds/JJ/Reid.
Table: Nine.
Prompt: Haunted
Warnings: Not exactly Hotch friendly. Spoilers for Sex, Birth, Death. Not as good as I wanted. Disclaimer: Not mine.

***

"She's from Ohio," said JJ softly as he came to stand beside her.

He looked over at her and followed her eyes to the two middle age people talking in hushed tones to Hotch. "The girl?"

She nodded and then laughed bitterly. "I wonder if he's explaining to them why he wouldn't put the profile out and how maybe if she had known what she was looking for she would still be alive."

Reid looked over at her and frowned. "JJ, that's not fair. He was just..."

She looked over at him and for a moment he was taken aback by the look in her eyes. There was no sparkle in them, no joy, just a deep look of anger and sadness.

"Doing his job?" she asked softly "He's never had a problem with putting it out there. Do you know what was different this time? Where we are. Politics. Don't try and deny it, Reid. You know it's true. That girl died because Hotch didn't want to piss off the wrong people."

She turned and walked out of the bullpen with him following closely at her heels. She didn't stop until she got outside where she leaned against a wall and closed her eyes.

"What's really going on JJ?" he asked her softly.

She smiled sadly. "I'm just tired, I guess."

He touched her hand. "Is that all?"

"Are you profiling me?" she asked with a weak smile.

"Maybe...a little."

"I really am tired," she said softly "This case and...I have so many files I still have to go through, have to decide where we're going after this."

"Why don't you go home? Rest some?"

She shook her head. "I wish I could."

He wished that he could order her too, wished that he held some kind of place of authority just then. He knew how much she hated aspects of her job, particularly deciding which cases they were going to take on. He couldn't imagine how much it took to tell people that they wouldn't be coming, that there was someplace else that they were going. They all hunted Monsters but JJ saw more than anyone, she saw the ones they wouldn't catch.

She turned to look at him. "How are you?" she asked after a minute.

He shrugged. "I'm ok...I just...it's a little unsettling seeing so much of myself in someone in his situation."

She reached out and squeezed his hand gently. "You're a good man, Spence. I know that if he can be helped through this, it's going to be you that helps him."

"How do you know?"

She smiled sadly once more. "I've still got a little faith left."

***