The Henry Trilogy: Part One: As A Fever
Author: TigerLily 28
Disclaimer: These characters are not mine. They belong to CBS, the writers who write them and the actors who portray them. I make no money off of them. It's all in fun.
Rating: PGish
Summary: Whenever Henry has trouble sleeping, he's found a special friend who helps him into dreamland, but has he found his own way to give his mom a gift of her own?
A/N: 1) This is unbeta'd. It just is. 2) I hate songfic, but this fic was, admittedly, inspired by a song that unexpectedly rolled across my IPod one day. The story worm wouldn't leave me alone. I promise there are NO song lyrics in the story.
The Henry Trilogy
Part One: As A Fever
There were three things JJ loved about Henry's daycare being in the same building where she worked. One: Less travel time to and from work. Two: She was available at a moment's notice if Henry needed something. Three: A roomful of babysitters if and when she needed to stay at work after daycare closed.
Such was the case this afternoon. Daycare wasn't closed at three o'clock in the afternoon, but poor Henry was running a fever. Daycares, even federally run daycares, refused to keep infants with fevers or they would have an epidemic on their hands. This is how JJ found herself in her office on a Thursday afternoon trying to soothe a very agitated baby while at the same time working on getting her paperwork cleared up so she could leave for the day.
JJ was aware that Henry's cries were disturbing her team, but was powerless to quiet her sick son. The faster she could get him out of there and home to some baby aspirin and a cold compress, the better. "Shhh, sweetie. Hush. We'll go home in just a minute. Mommy just has to lock up, okay? Almost time to go home." She lifted Henry from his car seat and tears sprung to her eyes when she felt his hot skin as he clung desperately to his mother, hoping for comfort.
The knock on her door startled her. "Come in." she called quietly, gently rocking her crying child.
Emily Prentiss stepped tentatively into the office, her hands in front of her, fingertips worrying together.
"Em," JJ started, somewhat ashamed that she couldn't keep Henry quiet. "I'm sorry. I'm getting him out of here; I just needed to finish up a couple of things. He's a pretty sick kid."
"No, don't worry about it." Emily cocked her head to the side so her hair fell softly over her shoulder. The slight movement made JJ sigh inaudibly and she smiled into the soft blonde head on her shoulder. "Can I help? I can hold him while you finish up."
"Oh, Em, that's OK. I don't want to put you out. I'm done, just need to put a couple of things away and lock up. He'll be OK for a few..." at that moment, Henry let out a heartbreaking scream.
Emily didn't wait for permission. She crossed the room in three steps and gently lifted Henry out of JJ's arms and onto her strong shoulder. While at her closest, Emily could smell the soft perfume, lavender. She shook off the sensations it caused and focused on her current task. "Go. Finish. I got him." She turned to sit in a chair across from JJ's desk, cooing softly at what she realized was a very feverish baby.
JJ shook her head and smiled. "Thanks," was all she was able to say as he returned to finishing up her daily tasks. What she missed in her flurry activity is the striking silence that had settled over the room. The child, who, three minutes ago, had been making his small presence very much known, was now utterly silent. When it occurred to her that it was far too quiet, JJ's head snapped up. "Henry?" she exclaimed, worry coating her voice.
"Shh. You'll wake him up." Emily said without looking away from the sleeping boy in the crook of her elbow.
JJ gasped. It was a breathtaking sight. Emily Prentiss had put her crying child to sleep and he was now snoring soundly, snuggled safely in the strong arms of the BAU's most stoic agent.
"How did you do that?" JJ inquired.
Emily shrugged. "Guess he was sleepy."
"No, Em. Babies with high fevers don't go from screaming bloody murder to sound asleep in three minutes. You must have a magic touch."
Emily blushed. "Nah. He just wore himself out."
"My hero." JJ teased as she leaned over the chair to lift Henry out of his cocoon.
Their eyes met, with only inches separating them. JJ's heart began to race. For an instant she considered thanking Emily with more than a simple melodramatic statement. But the thought was fleeting. Instead she dropped her eyes shyly and ducked out of the bubble of intensity which had settled over the pair.
"Thank you." The words caught in her throat as she settled Henry into his car seat and made a production of fastening the various safety harnesses in an effort to keep a modicum of distance from the woman still occupying her office.
Emily recognized the awkwardness of the situation. The momentary exchange with JJ had left all of her neurons misfiring. She took a few seconds to recover, during which her hands returned to their default position, constantly worrying at her fingertips.
"I hope Henry feels better," she stated when she found her voice again and stood up. "Please let me know if you need anything else." Her hand rested briefly on JJ's shoulder, a final attempt at contact with the bashful blonde, but slid quickly away.
"I will" JJ lifted the car seat and allowed Emily to hold the office door open for her. "Night Em."
"Good night." Emily let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding and watched her friend leave the BAU before returning to her desk.
"Nice goin' Prentiss," she whispered quietly to herself as she attempted to get her racing heart and blushing cheeks under control.
Meanwhile, as JJ fastened her seatbelt and started the car, she looked over at Henry. "Now, kiddo, why did you have to go and do a thing like that?"
Henry let out a soft snore, clenched his tiny fists and slept on.
