Jennifer 'JJ' Jareau had been brought up to believe that if she did something wrong and she was punished for it, she deserved it. Her mother and her step-father were always very strict on her and her younger brother Jeremy. When JJ had been born and her biological father was still in the picture, they had decided that they would name their children with names that started with the letter 'J'. He left for a younger woman only months after Jeremy's birth and days before JJ's fourth birthday. A year later, a guy named Steve started coming over and staying in his mothers room for the nights to have 'grown-up sleepovers'. That was what he called them and JJ was never allowed out of bed after lights out and was especially never allowed in her mother's room when Steve was over. That rule had become permanent when he moved in and became her and Jeremy's unofficial step-father. Steve Rollins never adopted them because they weren't his. When JJ was nine, her mother had started passing out from all the drinking she was done since Steve moved in and he couldn't get any from her, he moved on to JJ in the middle of the night, saying it was their little secret. It had gone on for seven years and her mother had stopped drinking long enough to find out and then go back to the booze. He was soon forgiven and as soon as JJ graduated from her high school, had her own car, money and a scholarship to a solid college, she was out of there, never looking back. Of course she felt guilty for leaving her brother behind and not talking to him in years but she knew that Steve wouldn't hurt him. He was obsessed with JJ and only JJ.
Exactly ten years had passed since JJ had fled her hometown and gone on to bigger and way better things. Now she was a Communications Liaison for the FBI's Behavioural Analysis Unit and was in a steady relationship – she had been for the past year almost. Special Agent Jennifer Jareau was actually happy, until there was a message waiting on her answering machine when she arrived home after a very long hard case in Colorado involving children. She hated those cases. The entire team did because the kids were so innocent and any case could have some way of hitting home for any agent on their team. Every unsub they caught who hurt kids and claimed that those kids deserved it, so JJ had to hold back the bile that attempted to rise in her throat every time she heard those words. Setting her overnight bag on the floor next to her couch, she pushed the play button and went into the kitchen across from her living room for a glass of red wine.
'You have one new message,' said the tone of the machine.
'Jay? If this is you, you need to call me or come home or something. It's your brother. Steve got drunk and really bad. Mums in the hospital and he's on the run. You're an FBI agent, maybe you can help catch him. Call my cell when you get this. (Insert fake number here),' was what came from the machine. JJ had frozen in her spot when she heard who it was. How did Jeremy get her number? She wasn't even listed. He actually sounded quiet desperate and upset, possibly guilty.
She was fumbling with her cell phone in her hands, feet up on the wooden coffee table and shoes in two different places and her jacket was hanging over one of the dining table chairs with folders and a briefcase case sitting in the chair. The message was playing over and over in her mind, certain points sticking out from the rest of her brother's words. His cell number, Steve got drunk and Mum's in the hospital stood out majorly for the twenty-eight year old. Unexpectedly, it began to vibrate in her hands, shocking her slightly. Without even looking at the caller ID, JJ automatically responded, "Jareau."
"Hey," said a soft, warm voice on the other end.
"Hey, babe. What's up?" replied JJ, hearing the voice of her lover. Sure JJ loved the sound of the voice on the other end, but after her brother's message, she had been in serious thinking mode, debating on whether or not to call him, if she should go back to Pennsylvania to see her mother and maybe have a catch up with Steve.
"I'm about to get some Chinese from that all night place you like so much, then I'm going to be at your place in about twenty minutes to make sure eat something. All you've eaten this week is coffee, biscuits and junk. I know you're probably really exhausted but you gotta eat something," said Emily Prentiss. Special Agent of the FBI and colleague of JJ. They worked in the same team. Working for BAU had its perks. Because she was a profiler and was trained to study human behaviour, she could tell when something was wrong with her girlfriend. Even though their 'family' had all agreed not to profile each other, minus JJ and Garcia because they were the Communications Liaison and the Computer Geek, Emily could tell when her voice changed to fit her emotion. Right now she was sure that JJ was either confused about something, depressed or mentally reliving memories. "Sweetie, what's wrong?"
"Em," said JJ, trying to fight a losing battle and change the subject.
"Jayj," responded Emily her voice firm but gentle, as she climbed out of her car and walked into the Chinese take-out store.
"We'll just talk about it when you get here," said JJ, rubbing a hand over her tired face.
"Okay. I'll be there soon, hun. Relax a little and pull out the wine maybe a movie," suggested Emily, hanging up. She was next in line and had to give her full attention to the board full of choices. She had to make sure she got the right food because they messed up last time, even though she and JJ weren't complaining. They got double their order for free.
JJ phone snapped shut and her head slumped back against the overly squishy but comfortable dark grey leather couch. Thankfully, Hotch had ordered that they were to have no weekend cases because he wanted to spend as much time as he could with his son. A recent divorcee and it seemed to them team that he paid more attention to Jack and sometimes Haley, when she dropped the four year old off in his father's office, after the divorce than during their marriage.
The wait for her girlfriend was a short twenty minutes and JJ was bent over, leaning against the cool railing of her balcony with her glass of wine sitting on the small decking table next to her when she felt two hands land softly on her hips. She hadn't heard the door open or even the bags of food be put down on the bench. When she gave Emily a key to her apartment, it was because she wanted to prove the she loved the older woman and was committed to their relationship. They had had they own fair share of hard cases, which usually resulted in one of the women going off at the other. It worked and soon, JJ had Emily's key on her chain to use when she wanted. That was six months ago and only now had JJ realised was that when she felt Emily come up behind her out of nowhere, she didn't flinch like she used to in the early weeks of their almost year long relationship.
A cool breeze whipped calmly at their hair as Emily pulled JJ to her, holding her close and warmly in the autumn weather. She knew something was wrong, so she would have to play to her strengths to get it out of JJ – who could be extremely stubborn at times. "Hi," she whispered quietly against JJ's hair.
"Hi," replied JJ, not really wanting to get onto the topic of 'what was wrong' with her at the moment.
"I see you started wine without me," said Emily, trying to sound playfully offended.
"Well, you took too long," replied JJ, turning in the brunettes arms to smirk at her. She wasn't able to hold her smirk for long until she broke out into a bigger grin, never showing her teeth. That told Emily that something was definitely upsetting her.
Gently grasping the waistband of JJ's pants at her hips, Emily pushed the blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman against the railing before bracing her hands either side of the younger girl. "Tell me what's wrong? What's got you all quiet and upset, huh?" whispered Emily, invading the personal space, from which she never received any protests about.
"I, umm, I got phone call today. More like a message when I checked the machine," started JJ, sighing and pressing her eyes shut before finishing off her sentence. "From my brother."
"I didn't think that you had a brother," said Emily, keeping her voice quiet and encouraging, not really wanting JJ to spill whatever it was in an angry fight or not at all.
"Well, technically I do. I just don't really speak to him. I haven't spoken to him in about, ahh, ten years," answered JJ, looking into Emily's chocolate brown eyes.
"Okay, so what was said in the message from the brother you haven't spoken to in a decade, that's got you all quiet?" asked Emily, gently probing JJ for answers.
"I'm not listed so I don't how he got my number. My...step-father is on the run from the police. My mother is in the hospital. And to top it all off, I really do not want to go back there," sighed JJ. Emily's hands were now behind JJ's back on the railing, fingering the bottom of the white V neck shirt she had on.
The look the JJ was on the receiving end of was a warm, encouraging one, telling her explain why she doesn't wasn't to go home to Pennsylvania to visit her mother in the hospital when a mother might need their child the most.
"Bad childhood. I'm just glad I haven't turned out like an unsub, so far," JJ finished off.
"I think you turned out pretty alright," said Emily, choosing and speaking her words carefully.
"Just alright?" now JJ was teasing her lover, successfully changing the subject.
"How about pretty damn good?" tried Emily, pretending to be worried that she was on the right course but not there just yet.
JJ pulled a face at her and shook her head smiling. The young blonde woman was leaning in, making sure to stop just short of Emily's lips.
"Ok, I'm getting warmer though right?" asked Emily, her hand resting in the crook on JJ's neck, smoothly and lightly grazing her fingertips over the skin.
"Slowly," answered JJ. "Very slowly."
"Hmm, amazing?" Emily asked again, her face breaking out in a graceful smile.
"Nearly there," whispered JJ, getting even closer as her own arms wrapped around the five foot nine woman's waist, pulling her against JJ's body. Every move either one made was soft, smooth, playful and light, making sure not to rush anything, and ruin their little game.
"Ok, you got me there. What's better than amazing?" replied Emily, pulling back a semi-serious look on her face.
"You tell me," challenged JJ, slipping her arms from Emily's waist, to rest on the wooden banister of the railing and raised an eyebrow.
"Alright, alright, alright, I got this. You turned out sooo amazing, that you render me speechless," answered the brunette, with her hands on her hips and losing all contact she had with JJ.
"That'll have to do now, won't it?" said JJ, quickly pulling her girlfriend to her in one swift movement. One hand went to Emily's hip to push up under her clean, white button up work shirt and the other slipped into JJ's favourite place on Emily's neck. Leaning against the railing felt safe, it was strong, recent and was screwed into the main supports every meter along the balcony so Emily pushed the blonde against it, pressing her lips to JJ's in a bruising kiss. A long gentle moan escaped from JJ, as a hand found its way into her hair, removing the clip that held it up in its bun.
Emily didn't want to push her boundaries even though she had been testing those since she and JJ first got together. If she was upset about her mother, step-father, that her brother found her and having to decide whether or not to go home, she didn't want to upset her anymore or rush her into the bedroom. The Ambassadors daughter pulled back, smiling giddily at JJ who was mirroring her with their foreheads were touching. Emily ran her hands through JJ's dead straight blonde hair, smoothing it over from its slight messiness.
"How about we go and eat the probably now cold Chinese food I got, like, half an hour ago and then you can tell me later about your childhood. What do you say?" suggested Emily, slinging her arm over JJ's shoulders and pulling her close, basically walking her into her kitchen. The clock on the stainless steel, modern fridge displayed 12: 53 am. "If you're not too tired, that is."
"I'm not as tired as I was, especially after that kiss. I am hungry though. When I tell you, about what was so bad about my childhood, promise me you won't...push, or anything," JJ had suddenly gone serious and slightly hesitant.
"I promise," replied Emily, gently caressing JJ's cheek, the younger girl leaning into the touch.