JJ Jareau was a woman with an embarrassing problem at this particular moment in time. She was having dreams about a certain co-worker, profiler extraordinaire David Rossi. Which wouldn't be too bad if the dreams weren't of the sexual variety, involving both of them doing things that JJ had not even let Will do to her. Therein lie the problem, because until now, the dreams had only occurred when they were on away trips, away from embarrassing questioning by her bedmate. Tonight was a not a good night in her books, for the first time she'd had one of these dreams while laying next to Will, and her moaning had woken him up, and he in turn had awakened her to find out what was the matter. Shook out of her dreamland, she'd been startled at Will's face above her, and had covered things up by having Will engage in some activities that she'd hoped would take her mind off the man she was dreaming about. That failed abysmally because all their love making resulted in was JJ wishing the man was Dave Rossi, and not the man she was with.
Morning came, and she'd quickly left the house, relieved to escape from Will. However, relief was short lived, as when she arrived at work, she'd arrived at the same time as Dave. They'd shared an elevator to the BAU, JJ concentrating on her feet the entire way, so she didn't look at him. She'd escaped the elevator and hid in her office as soon as she could. She realized she couldn't hide in there forever, but it was better than nothing. Besides, if she locked her door, she could keep him out physically. Short-tempered and frosty the rest of the day, the team had avoided going near JJ as much as possible. And just before noon, JJ got a call that sent the team flying to Washington, to consult on a case, and she knew she was in trouble again. She avoided Rossi on the plane, made sure she rode in the other SUV once they got there, and did everything within her power to never be alone with him. She'd even foregone the team get-together, staying in her room, so she didn't have any extra contact with him. All in all, it made for a very uncomfortable work relationship. She had to figure out how to make things better and fast.
Thinking that maybe she just had an itch to scratch, that if she allowed herself to be seduced by Rossi, that she'd stop dreaming about him, she thought about hitting him up. She didn't think that she'd be turned down, the man had a reputation after all. But she realized she wasn't the kind of girl who did that. Wanting and needing were two different things, and while she may have wanted him, she didn't necessarily need him. With that thought, her brain screeched to a halt. She'd admitted she wanted Rossi. Where the hell did that come from? She asked herself. Then her brain clicked into gear again, and she figured out admitting she wanted another man meant she didn't want the man she was with. She couldn't believe her train of thought. What the hell? She thought to herself. I love Will, don't I love him? We had a baby together, I must love him in some way. She needed to talk to her best friend in the world, Penelope Garcia. She wasn't sure if that would help, but she needed to talk to someone, talking to herself was getting her nowhere. So she quickly dialed her number and was pleased to get ahold of her immediately.
"Penelope, I have a slight problem. Are you there alone, so we can talk?" JJ asked with uncertainty in her voice.
"I'm alone, JJ, Kevin isn't coming tonight. I'm all on my lonesome here. Shoot away, your oracle awaits you!" Garcia replied in her joking tone.
"Pene, I'm serious. I really need to talk, this isn't a joke and I don't know if you can help me or not." JJ croaked into the phone.
"JJ, I'm here for you. I'm being totally serious right now."Garcia spoke, her curiousity on red alert, intrigued by what her best friend might have to tell her.
"Pene, I've got a problem. I've been having these dreams, dreams that would make even you blush. And they do not involve Will. And they've made me realize, I'm not sure I want to be with Will anymore. I don't know what to do about them. I've been having these dreams for over a month now, and last night was the first time I had one while I was in bed with Will. And when I made love with Will, I was wishing it were the other man. Tell me I'm completely insane and have lost it, because I can't do this anymore." JJ almost sobbed into the phone.
Taken aback by JJ's confession, and her curiousity piqued, she asked JJ "Well, who are you dreaming about? A movie star, an athlete, who, who, who? Who would make you question what you have with Will?"
Groaning into the phone, she didn't know if she should admit who her dreams were about. Deciding on a full confession, maybe to get it out of her system, she finally confessed to her best friend. "Dave Rossi."
Stunned into silence, Garcia didn't know what to say. Silence filled the phone lines,until finally JJ asked if she was still on the line.
"I'm here, JJ, I'm just absorbing that little piece of information. Why would you dream about Rossi? Isn't he a little old for you? Not to mention, he's your co-worker. Fraternization policies, you know."
Not exactly the reaction she was hoping for, JJ snapped back "Don't start with me about fraternization policies, little miss boning the other computer tech."
"Put your claws away, kitten, I'm just trying to get used to this. Do you love Will?" Garcia asked her. "Tell me honestly. Don't give me the crap about him being your baby daddy. Do you love him and want to spend the rest of your life with him?"
"I don't know, I don't know. That's just it. I'm so confused. I don't even know I really want Rossi, but I think my mind is telling me that Will is not the one. And I don't know how to tell him goodbye. He gave up everything for me to move to Washington. What am I going to do?"
"First off, you need to tell Will you need a break, time to think things through. If you go on playing Suzy Homemaker and ignoring your brain, you are going to resent him. And if there was ever a chance that you do love Will, it will die, because of that resentment." Garcia said practically.
"Secondly, give yourself some time and space from Rossi. If it's just an infatuation, it will die. If it's more, you will have to explore it in the future. But don't use him as the rebound guy, okay? I mean, sure, he's older, but the guy still has feelings. And you, JJ are not a user. We have the BAU to think about. Whatever you do, don't admit to feeling anything for him. You are just going to have to use your best acting skills and do your job. Do you hear me?" Garcia demanded.
"I hear you Pene, I hear you. But it still doesn't erase the fact that if I ever did get the man alone in a room, I think I'd jump him and have my way with him. Whatever this is, I've got it bad. It's like an itch I can't scratch, and I'm scared of ruining everything all around. Again, what the hell is wrong with me?"
Garcia laughed at that. "Nothing really is the matter with you JJ. I think that maybe your brain is finally up to speed on what your heart has been telling you for a long time. And the dreams are making you face the fact that Will is most likely not the man you want to spend the rest of your life with."
JJ sat there, stunned by what Garcia had told her, and unbelieving of what she'd admitted to her. Finally, she said to Garcia "I can't avoid Rossi all the time. I have a job to do. What do I do about that?"
"Act normal. He's a profiler, girl, get a grip. You show any weakness, anything that may bring attention to the fact you are uncomfortable around him, he's going to close in. And that's the last thing you want."
"You couldn't have told me that earlier? I've been avoiding him like the plague today. He's going to guess something's up!" Panic seeping through the phoneline to Garcia.
"You avoided supper with the gang tonight? Holed up in your room? Go down and act normal, they are more than likely still there. You don't want to give him anything to go on." Garcia practically shooed her off the phone and out the door, to find the gang.
Putting her phone away, she stepped towards the elevators, determined to give the acting job of her life. And hope that the dreams would not disturb her tonight. As it was, she knew she had the uncomfortable task of asking Will for a break once she got back off of this assignment. Things weren't looking pretty for Miss JJ Jareau, and she could blame it all on her dreams.