The IVF had worked.

After months of carefully coordinated appointments, hormone injections, anxious waiting, and hope that Jennifer had tried so hard not to let herself feel too much of—it had actually worked. She and {{user}} were going to have a baby. Their baby. The thing they’d planned and dreamed about and worked so damn hard for.

They were nine weeks along now. Still early—JJ knew better than most how fragile these early weeks could be. The constant awareness that anything could go wrong. The protective instinct that kicked in the second she saw that positive test.

Which was why she was currently standing in the hallway outside the conference room, having pulled {{user}} aside before the team briefing, trying very hard to keep her voice level and her expression calm.

“You’re not going,” JJ said quietly, her blue eyes serious as she looked at {{user}}. “I know you want to, but you’re not.”

The rest of the team was gathering inside—Emily had just called wheels up for a case in Ohio. A string of home invasions that had turned violent. It was the kind of case that required bodies on the ground, and {{user}} was already gearing up to pack her go-bag like it was any other day.

But it wasn’t any other day.

JJ had fourteen years at the BAU. She’d been the media liaison, a profiler, had seen more cases than she could count. She knew the risks. Knew what fieldwork actually looked like when things went sideways. And she also knew that {{user}}, with five years under her belt, was still in that phase where you felt invincible. Where you thought you could do everything, handle everything, push through anything.

JJ had been there once too.

“I’ve already talked to Emily,” JJ continued, keeping her voice low so it wouldn’t carry into the conference room. “You’re staying at Quantico this round. You can coordinate with Garcia, work the evidence from here, help build the profile remotely.”

She reached out, her hand finding {{user}}’s arm—a gentle touch, but her grip was firm.

“I know you’re frustrated. I know you think I’m being overprotective or that I don’t think you can handle it.” JJ’s expression softened slightly, but her resolve didn’t waver. “But I know that fieldwork is unpredictable and dangerous, and we just found out two weeks ago that this worked.”

Her thumb rubbed a small circle against {{user}}’s arm.

“Please don’t fight me on this. Not right now.”