Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds, never have and never will.
A/N: I wrote the majority of this during season 8, so that's when this is set. Watching "200" and seeing the amazing display of friendship between JJ and Emily is what actually pushed me to finish it. (Yes, I know the episode aired 10 months ago. Focus is not my strong suit.)
I can feel a few of you side-eying me. "What are you doing starting another story? You already have two WIPs you can't update in a timely manner." Okay, maybe none of you thought that, but I did. Worry not. This is going to be a relatively straightforward two-shot.
And with all that out of the way, on with the show...
JJ grimaced as she balanced a coffee tray in each hand.
It was a chilly Wednesday morning, which meant it was JJ's turn to get coffee for the team. Carefully backing into the door to push it open, she exited the coffee shop when a gust of wind caused the trays to wobble. JJ could feel an expletive forming in her mouth as one tray looked about to capsize.
Suddenly hands appeared from nowhere grabbing the offending tray and helping her steady the other. Turning to thank her good Samaritan, her eyes landed on a very familiar brunette.
"Hey, Jayje. Got a minute?"
"Emily!" JJ beamed at the welcome sight. "How are you? I'm just heading over to the BAU. Do you want to come along? Everyone would love to see you."
Despite how delightful the offer sounded, Prentiss had to decline. "I would, but I'm actually here for business, not pleasure."
JJ's face fell. "Oh, okay. I guess I should let you go then."
"Actually, it's you I need to talk to." Emily's hands twitched as if she was trying not to play with her nails, and JJ knew she wouldn't like what was coming next. "I need you to tell me everything you know about The Rottweiler."
At that JJ's face masked over. Looking around, the blonde then said, "This isn't the place for that conversation."
Before Prentiss could respond, screeching tires alerted them to a black SUV rounding the corner. Eyes widened as she saw guns pointed out of the lowering, blackened windows.
"Gun!" Prentiss yelled as she simultaneously pushed JJ out of the way and dropped to the ground.
The SUV sped off, and just like that, it was over as soon as it began. Prentiss sat up immediately, trying to catch the license plate numbers.
"Jayje, did you manage to get the license plate? I only got the first few numbers." When JJ didn't respond, Prentiss frantically looked around to her friend. "JJ? JJ!"
"Uggghhh... Where's JJ? I need my coffee," Morgan groaned as he slouched in JJ's chair.
"Worry not, my Chocolate Thunder," Garcia said as she rubbed his shoulders. "I have faith that our angelfish will arrive anon to deliver the goods."
"Late night, Morgan? At least tell me you remember her name this time," Reid joked as Blake looked on with amusement.
Despite having a sassy retort on the tip of his tongue, Morgan never got to respond.
"My team, conference room. Now," Hotch barked as he exited his office and headed for the round table room.
They barely had time to sit before Hotch started the briefing. He picked up the remote and pressed play. "A group of high school students were filming a class project when they captured this."
"Fml. We are totally gonna fail this project," a sandy-haired boy groaned.
Beside him a small red-headed girl encouraged, "You almost got it. Try again."
The boy sighed before acquiescing. "Y aquí es el se-ma-four-o."
Off-camera a voice - presumably the filmer's - said, "It's semáforo, not semafóro."
"Thank you, Hermione Granger," the sandy-haired teen muttered and rolled his eyes.
Before they could continue on to their next take, the sound of screeching tires filled the room.
"Gun!" they heard a familiar voice yell, and everyone sans Blake perked up in their seats. The camera tumbled to the ground as gunshots rang out. The next few seconds of sound were muffled but the next, panicked yell was unmistakable. "JJ!"
And with that, Hotch stopped the recording.
"Where are they?" Garcia asked as soon as the video cut out. "Are they okay? Are they at a hospital?"
"Unfortunately we don't know," Hotch gently interrupted her barrage of questions. "I'd like for you to check hospital records for any sign of them. The rest of us will head to the crime scene."
"We're clear," Emily said as she glanced at the rear-view mirror to confirm they weren't being tailed. "How're you doing?"
"It's not a through-and-through," JJ responded through gritted teeth. Her hands pressed Emily's jacket against her abdomen where a gunshot wound continued to leak blood.
"We're going to have to get it out." Prentiss winced apologetically.
"Yeah," JJ agreed, not at all looking forward to having the bullet extracted.
There was coffee and blood splattered everywhere. They had mixed together in a way that made it difficult to see where one ended and the other began. Reid observed the scene, his mind automatically meshing the video they'd seen with the scene in front of him.
"Local PD is canvassing the area for witnesses, and Rossi and Blake are checking to see if security cameras picked up anything else," Hotch said as he and Morgan approached. "What have you found?"
The young genius gestured at the storefront riddled with bullet holes. "There's a wide range of trajectories, so it's difficult to determine who the target was exactly." Following the blood trail, he led them to an empty parking spot. "And this is where presumably Emily got JJ into a car and drove off. We might be able to get the car's color, model, and license plate number from that security camera there."
Hotch surveyed the scene and nodded. The camera was at a wide angle, but it was worth a shot.
"We should also have the blood tested." Until they got the results, they wouldn't know for sure if Emily had been hit as well. At the very least, the amount of blood spread across the crime scene wasn't fatal. They could reassure themselves of that. "And we need to talk to Interpol about why Emily was in the States."
"It'd be nice if we could ask Emily," Morgan said.
"Any updates from Garcia?" Reid asked.
Morgan shook his head. "You know Emily. We won't find them unless they want to be found. They've probably gone somewhere they won't attract attention. Maybe a small, rundown motel?"
"JJ?" Emily shook JJ's shoulder.
The blonde had passed out at their last stop where Emily had extracted the bullet, but they had arrived at their final destination, and it was time to get settled.
When JJ didn't respond, Prentiss panicked. Fingers quickly making their way to JJ's neck, Prentiss was relieved to feel a weak but steady pulse.
"JJ," Emily repeated, this time jostling the smaller woman.
The movement had its desired effect, and JJ's eyes slowly fluttered open.
Looking out window to see where they were, she saw an expensive looking hotel. "Fancy."
"The manager owes me one," Emily explained as she eyed JJ worriedly. "I called him to settle the score after you passed out. We'll be hiding out here."
"Nice."
"I've got extra clothes in my go-bag, so we can change out of -" Prentiss gestured to their now coffee and blood-stained clothes. "We're going to sneak in through the back entrance and then take the service elevator up to our room. Think you can make it?"
With a wan smile, JJ asked, "Do I a choice?"
"Crime fighters, I need you back at the office pronto," Garcia's voice rang out through the car's speakers.
"What's up, baby girl?" Morgan asked, trying to keep his voice light.
"I've got an Interpol agent and a CIA operative awaiting your presence. They say it's about our girls."
Hotch slammed his foot down on the gas pedal.
"Let Rossi and Blake know. We'll be right there."
"I suppose you'll want to know what's going on," Emily said after she helped JJ settle into one of the room's twin-sized beds.
JJ groaned as she adjusted her position, and Emily handed her some painkillers.
"That would be nice."
Emily took in JJ's pale, drawn features and asked, "Are you sure you don't want to rest first?"
JJ shook her head.
"All right then. My office has been investigating The Rottweiler for a while now. He's been put on the backburner in the last few months, but recently your name popped up in connection with his. That's why I came to see you."
"Oh," JJ whispered, staring down at her hands.
Unsure if she'd lead The Rottweiler straight to her friend and feeling terribly guilty for JJ getting shot, Emily said, "I nearly got you killed, and I'm sorry."
"Emily," JJ looked at the brunette. "There's something I need to tell you."
After the five profilers had all arrived, Garcia began introductions.
"Crimefighters, this is Lesley Bullmore, Emily's second-in-command in Interpol, and this is Parker Jackson, a CIA agent that JJ used to work with. They say they already know who we are, so on we go."
"We're aware you've seen the video of what transpired at the coffee shop, and I can tell you we do have a person of interest," Jackson informed them.
"May I present The Rottweiler, originally Lee Richardson of Lancaster, England," Bullmore said, and a picture of a menacing man appeared on the screen. "We've been interested in his exploits for several years now. He started off at high priority - involved in a myriad of things, such as weapons trafficking, but that changed after his brother was killed by..." - another photo appeared on the screen - "I Cavalli Neri, an Italian cartel of sorts."
"The Black Horses," Rossi translated.
"Right," Jackson confirmed. "Once that happened, The Rottweiler's priorities shifted towards revenge on them and away from his previous pursuits. With that transition, pretty much every intelligence agency dropped him as a priority target. Bigger fish to fry and all that."
"Why would I Cavalli Neri kill The Rottweiler's brother?" Blake asked.
"We've never been able to figure out why," Bullmore replied. "As far as we can tell, The Rottweiler's brother was never involved in any of his illegal activities. In fact, there was no connection whatsoever between the Rottweiler and I Cavalli Neri before. This has baffled us for quite some time."
"Well then, Agent Prentiss will be in for a bit of a shock."
Heads swiveled around to Jackson.
"Jareau set that up."
Thanks for reading!
