The bird's opening - Criminal Minds - JJ

Control

Virginia, 2014

After JJ woke up, it took Cruz another two hours to get out of surgery and be cleared for visits. Dani left JJ alone with Henry and Will when they arrived, promising to come back in the morning. JJ made her promise she would go back home and take a shower and, as much as Dani had said, she would do just that, she didn't. Instead, she waited in the hospital for Cruz to wake up from his surgery before calling up Hotch as soon as he had, as she had promised she would.

It took Hotch all but fifteen minutes to come back to the hospital as soon as Dani had called him and even less time for him to walk with the agent inside Cruz's room once he had arrived.

"Agent Cruz?" Hotch asked, his voice gentle yet stern at the same time somehow.

"Agent Hotchner." Cruz called back, still a little out of it from the surgery. Dani watched as Cruz slowly opened his eyes and blinked his confusion away before smiling a little when his eyes fell on her. "Dani."

"Hi, Matt." She smiled back at him. "It's good to see you're alive."

"I told you I wasn't planning on dying, didn't I?" He smirked a little as Dani just chuckled. "How... How are you here? I thought... I thought you were transferred."

"I was." Dani nodded. "I was in Paris when I received the news. Hotch called me, Cruz. He told me you and JJ were missing."

"So you came back to help?" He asked.

"I did."

"Thank you." He smiled, as Dani just shrugged.

"No need to thank me, Matt." She shook her head. "You're my friend. Of course I would come to help you. And... I mean, we've grown to respect each other in our time in Afghanistan, didn't we?"

"We did." Cruz nodded, causing Dani to bite her lip quietly. Cruz frowned at her reaction, looking over at Hotch for a second, before returning his eyes back to Dani.

He knew her, of course he did. Not personally, of course, but they spent more than a year together in Afghanistan. They worked together in secrecy. They shared memories - good and bad ones - and they shared secrets. So, even if Cruz wasn't Dani's closest friend - not for a long shot -, he knew her enough to know she was uncomfortable right then. Cruz stopped for a second, wondering what it could possibly be bothering her, but suddenly, it hit him.

"Is JJ okay?" He asked, the lump in his throat suddenly feeling a little too tight.

"JJ is fine." Hotch answered honestly, watching as Cruz sighed in relief. "She woke up a few hours ago and she's already with her son."

"Oh, thank God..." Cruz mumbled, causing Dani to nod, her jaw feeling a little stiff.

"You can go see her soon, if you want." She offered, in spite of the horrible feeling she had in the pitch of her stomach at the way Cruz smiled at the mere mention of JJ's name. "But first, we need to talk."

"What happened?" Cruz asked, lifting himself up against his pillows when he noticed the serious and somber looks in Dani's and Hotch's faces. "What's wrong?"

"Agent Cruz..." Hotch started, making sure to use Matt's title so he knew that, at that moment, they weren't just friends, or co-workers. At that moment, Matt realized, he was being investigated and, as much as he knew he didn't have anything to hide, having two of the FBI's most renowned agents in front of him - two unit chiefs of the best units from the bureau - about to tear him open with questions was absolutely terrifying. "I'm sure you understand that, in order for us to find you and agent Jareau, we had to look into you. Your past and your files and your mission in Afghanistan and your journey in the bureau."