12E02 - Sick Day

Beyond her bandaged burnt hand, Luke can tell that JJ is out of sorts because of the goings-on with their just completed last case. But it isn't until JJ arrives home in the middle of the night to find Will awake with the baby who has the croup that she is forced to talk about what has happened as Will will not let her go to bed before she gets the specifics of what is bothering her out in the open. That case, which took them to the Los Angeles area, began with the discovery of two teenagers, an older girl and younger boy, who were found burnt to death together in an abandoned building. The two, who were not related, were abducted in two separate incidents days apart in different parts of the city, both abducted in broad daylight, both middle class. This case mimics one in San Diego a few years ago, with a few differences, namely that those two victims were at risk runaways, and were discovered away from where they were burned. With this case, another teenaged girl, Francesca Morales, was abducted by the time the team landed in Los Angeles, meaning that they had to work fast to prevent who would be the younger boy being abducted and the two killed by fire. Although JJ admits that these types of cases have been more difficult when she became a mother, not only because children are involved but that she places herself in the place of the parents in dealing with them, it is a specific decision that she makes associated with this case which she attributes to her own personal family situation that she believes affected the outcome.