Disclaimers: All original property is owned by CBS and The Mark Gordon Company, and we do not infer that any characters, creations or the concept of 'Criminal Minds' are our property and the following fan fiction has been written purely for entertainment purposes only.
Pairings: Emily/JJ
Timeframe: Not current season, Emily is not working for the BAU.
Rating: T
Kangaroo Pouch: Part One
By: BostonRainbow825
Morgan moved over to JJ's desk leaning on it gently, looking down to where the profiler was looking over the file she had been asked to give her opinion on, waiting till blue eyes looked up at him inquisitively as he knew they would.
"So do you want to know what I know that you don't?" The dark skinned agent asked, turning his back to the rest of the bullpen so that JJ had to look at him specifically as her focus.
"Sure." JJ decided to humour him, clearly his mirth about whatever it was he wanted to reveal to her showing it was something she might actually want to know. "What do you know that I don't know?"
"Prentiss has left Interpol." Morgan revealed smugly folding his arms across his chest.
"What?" The sheer shock that the news made wash over JJ made it feel as if the room had gotten very hot suddenly. "Why? Is she okay?"
"No idea, I just know that Hotch called London asking for Emily's input on the Harrison case, only to be told that they couldn't help them because they didn't know where Prentiss was. She terminated her employment with them about a month ago." Derek explained what he did know with a shrug. "From what Hotch said they didn't sound overly happy about it."
"And you haven't had any contact with her in that time?" JJ put her hands flat on the desk, feeling the walls start to close in around her a little. "What if she's in trouble Morgan?"
The other agent's smugness at his bit of gossip disappeared in an instant at JJ's alternative view of the news. Pushing off from his reclined and relaxed position he turned and instead leaned his hands flat on the desk leaning closer to the blonde.
"I didn't..." He looked down at the wood grain in front of him. "I thought she'd just blown them off, gone on a vacation, spent some of that trust fund at last..." He admitted his own rose coloured view of things.
"We have to check with Garcia." JJ pushed up and knowing that Morgan would be behind her she headed straight for the technical analyst's lair, knocking and then waiting until the buzzer told them the lock had been disengaged. "Pen, have you talked to Emily in the last month?" She didn't pull any punches or even start with any lead up.
The blonde turned on her chair, her brow creasing into a frown immediately at the manner in which they had both interrupted her and their direct questioning technique.
"No." She shook her head. "I've not talked to our European Princess in about seven weeks. No, longer than that..." She turned back to her keyboard, her fingers flying over the keys for a second, bringing up a list of notes and mails, she brought up a collection that it was clear from their address were from Emily. The last mail in the list dated seven weeks and two days ago. "Why?" She turned her head back to look at the agents.
"Morgan explain, I have a number I'm going to try." JJ stepped back out of the room and took her cell phone off her belt. She quickly dialed the 'emergency' number and allowed it to ring and ring, each repetition making her body tense and her blood go colder. "Pick up Emily, please." She whispered to the phone almost willing it to happen.
The phone entered its ninth ring when almost as an answer to JJ's silent prayer the came a soft click a sign that indeed the call had been answered, though no acknowledgment of such was made.
"Take these broken wings..." JJ said the four code words and waited unable to breath to see if the proper answer came back.
"All my life." The words came back to the blonde in a soft, though obviously tired voice.
"Emily, thank god, are you okay?" JJ leaned against the wall and let the wash of relief come over her.
"I'm okay." The confirmation came back immediately. "Are you? Has something happened?" A level of obvious worry filtered into the brunette's voice.
"Hotch tried to call you, no one's heard from you in over a month, not even Garcia." JJ filled in taking a few slow breaths. "What is going on? Why did you leave Interpol?"
"Why did Hotch try to call? What's going on?" Emily expertly avoided the personal questions as if JJ had expected anything different.
"He wanted to consult with you on a case and discovered you don't work for Interpol anymore." JJ filled in. "Emily, where are you? Can you at least tell me that please?|"
"My old apartment." The reply came in a soft whisper.
"I'll be there in fifteen." JJ was surprised by this fact but in even more ways relieved by the fact that the brunette was close and not a world away. She hung up the phone and moved to give Garcia and Morgan the good news, as well as get them to cover for her.
-x-
JJ knocked loudly on the door to Emily's apartment, the one she had been sure the brunette had sold years before but it was clear now she hadn't. She shifted her weight nervously back and forth from one foot to the other, her hands deep in the pockets of her heavy cotton dress coat as she felt the familiar anticipation of seeing Emily again.
The sound of the simple door lock slipping open resounded softly in the quiet of the upscale building and the door eased open.
The raven haired beauty stood back lit by the soft light from inside her apartment, her hair long, much longer than JJ had ever seen it, flowing unimpeded over her shoulders, covering down over the soft red silk button down she was wearing well over at least three quarters of her breasts. She wasn't wearing any make up and she looked tired, soft grey shadows underlining her deep brown eyes.
The most striking and obvious difference wasn't that however it was that Emily was obviously at least five months pregnant. The soft cotton black maternity pants she was wearing hanging loosely on every part of her body apart from her swollen stomach.
"Emily..." JJ stepped into the condo, her eyes staring from the brunette's face down to her stomach and then back up again. "Why didn't you tell me?" She moved over towards the brunette with a soft smile on her face.
Opening her arms to the blonde sending her the obvious message that if she wanted, a hug was on offer, she gave a wordless shrug.
"I'm so happy for you." JJ moved quickly forward and hugged Emily as tightly as she dared.
Emily closed her arms around the blonde and took a deep breath, holding on just as tightly.
"I was going to call you."
"That's okay I needed the mini panic." JJ gave a soft laugh continuing to hold her, for the moment not wanting to let go and indulge the chance to be close to the brunette. After all the last time she'd seen the other agent had been the brief celebration after they'd saved her from Hastings, and since then she had been left with an empty feeling that always accompanied the brunette's absence. "You're safe, that's all that matters."
"I am." It was Emily who eased the two of them apart and stepped away moving through the apartment to the front room easing down into a seat motioning to the couch. "Do you have the time to sit for a while?"
"I do, we're on paperwork today." JJ explained as she moved to sit down on the cushion next to her. "You know I have an endless list of questions right now." She introduced the idea that Emily needed to give her at least a brief explanation.
"I can imagine you do." The brunette nodded with a soft smile as she seemed to study the blonde for a moment, happy it appeared to just be in the same room as her. "I hope I have the answers." She added with a small rise of her eyebrow.
"How far along are you? Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?" JJ asked what to her were the two more important questions.
"Seven months, and she's a girl." Emily smoothed her hand over her stomach as she answered.
"And... who helped?" JJ asked the question tenderly reaching out to place her hand near Emily's over her round stomach.
"That's a little complicated." A frown danced on the brunette's features.
"I do complicated Em." JJ assured her and didn't ask anything further yet trying to avoid putting her foot in her mouth.
"Hardly, you are happily married to the father of your son." Emily shook her head, her frown melting as she smiled tenderly at her friend.
"How about a deal? We trade one complicated story for another." Instead of responding with her usual jovial emotions about Will, a soft frown pulled at her features.
"That sounds like a deal I could make." Emily nodded sliding her hand over the one JJ still had resting on her stomach. "Though have we both been keeping secrets?"
"Some things just don't translate well over the phone." JJ nodded gently. "So you first." She gave her a soft encouraging smile.
"Oh, we're doing it now? Don't you have to get back to work? I know you have file day but has Hotch really relaxed that much about paperwork?" Emily eyed her somewhat suspiciously.
"Tonight? I can come back, that way we have all the time we need to really talk." JJ accepted that sometimes 'time' didn't co-operate.
"I can do tonight." Emily nodded with a soft smile, gently she squeezed her hand over JJ's. "It's good to see you." She added tenderly.
"Not as good as it is to see you." JJ admitted flipping her hand to thread her fingers into Emily's and squeeze it back.
-x-
It was just after seven when JJ again arrived at Emily's door, but this time she was carrying a posh paper shopping bag, with pink tissue paper spilling out the top. She had changed after work, now dressed in much more relaxed black jeans and a tight white turtleneck, her heavy dress coat still in place as she had had it custom made for herself with hidden gun pouch and a place for extra clips that were suspended in a way no one could tell they were there unless they frisked her thoroughly.
She reached up with a breath and knocked on the door again, reaching up to run her fingers through her loose blonde hair.
The door was answered quickly to reveal that Emily had also changed, now dressed in a soft grey pair of lounge pants, with a baby pink scoop necked jersey, her long hair hung free in loose curls, her lips touched with a light coat of gloss and her long eyelashes coated with a layer of mascara that made her almost black eyes look even darker than usual.
"Hey." The brunette smiled brightly.
"Hi. For baby." JJ held out the present and was pleased when she saw the bright smile that came over the brunette's face. She followed Emily in and slipped off her coat, hanging it over one of the stools near the kitchen island inside the condo.
Emily carried the bag over to the coffee table and lifted the tissue paper out of the top, letting out a soft sigh and a louder 'awww' as she reached inside and lifted out the large white polar bear stuffed toy that was nestled inside the bag.
"JJ, it's beautiful." The brunette leaned back onto the couch setting the stuffed bear on her lap, squeezing it softly. "Thank you." She looked across at the blonde, her smile beatific. "Is this revenge for Steggie?" She asked, rubbing her finger on the soft black felt nose.
"Not revenge, but in honour of Steggie, you're going to know the joy of hunting for this bear every time she gets left behind, or lost behind the couch." JJ moved to sit down next to the brunette.
"You had to get something white didn't you." The brunette pointed out. "How much am I going to have to wash this?" She looked up from the bear to blue eyes, which she focused on as she smiled more.
"Not my problem." JJ beamed at her. "Besides girls are far cleaner than boys." She gave a soft laugh. "Or so I've heard."
"Well I guess I'll see." Emily laughed too. "Would you like something to drink?" The brunette settled the bear back into the bag gently obviously wanting to maintain its brilliant whiteness.
"Let me, I vividly remember how difficult up and down is at this point." JJ pressed up and moved towards the kitchen. "Sparkling water for you?" She guessed the brunette's usual favourite. "Oh and you can begin that explanation." She prompted with a soft smile.
"Thank you, it's in the door of the fridge, everything else is where it always used to be." Emily leaned back into the couch. "Before we get to that, what did Garcia say? I'm almost surprised you arrived alone."
"I didn't know if you wanted everyone to know yet." JJ answered honestly. "But I doubt you'll be able to keep her at bay long." She began to get the brunette some water as she put a coffee pod in the Tassimo for herself.
"I knew that when I decided to come back here." Emily admitted nodding softly as she watched the blonde in the kitchen from her place on the couch. "I'll take a trip into the bullpen when I'm ready."
"Give me a little notice, I want to get my earmuffs on to dampen her squeals." JJ smiled moving back over with the water and coffee, which Emily probably noticed she unusually took black. "So?" She prompted Emily gently.
"So." Emily took the water and watched as JJ took her seat but didn't immediately continue. "Are you sure you don't want to go first?"
"I'm sure I don't." JJ shook her head. "I know what my complicated is, I'm pretty sure I know what you'll say and it's a done deal." She sipped her coffee. "How you my dear came to be with child is a whole other story."
"Well hardly, I mean my whole thing is pretty much a done deal too considering I'm seven months pregnant wouldn't you say." Emily pointed out with a quirked eyebrow.
"I was careful how you phrased it, how you came to be with child, whole different story then just the fact that indeed you are." JJ grinned over her coffee cup.
"Sorry, yes you were." Emily conceded with a nod. "Well the short answer to your question is Grayson Fletcher." Emily twisted the top of her water and took a quick sip before replacing the top and putting the bottle back on the side table next to the couch. "And before you say anything, yes that Grayson, and yes we did break up over a year ago." The brunette countered the questions before JJ could ask them. "It wouldn't be complicated if it were as simple as we got back together and here I am now would it." She added with a simple shrug.
"I'm sorry it didn't work out, but we both know you Emily, you don't need a husband or a boyfriend to have this baby." JJ words came in a soft reassuring tone.
"Not one that doesn't stop when a woman says no." The brunette's jaw muscles flexed slightly.
"What?" JJ put down her coffee and slid closer on the couch. "Em, are you okay?" Her jaw flexed with barely controlled rage as her mind instantly flicked back to the basement with Hastings that fateful night.
"I'm Emily Prentiss, I'm fine." The brunette sat a little straighter in her place, using the cushions behind her as support.
"Don't put that mask on with me Em." JJ shook her head. "Why didn't you phone? I would have come immediately, I would have dealt with him." Her voice grew a bit darker.
"You couldn't come Jennifer, you have a world, a life that keeps you here." Emily shook her head, drawing in a breath. "What happened was mostly my fault..." She turned away from the blonde, looking down at the floor for a moment. "And I had to work it out."
"The moment you said no, nothing was your fault." JJ shook her head back firmly and then took a breath. "You nearly lost your job to come when I needed you, you thought I wouldn't drop everything for you?"
"That's not it JJ." Emily shook her head. "I wasn't kidnapped, taken hostage by a known terrorist, tortured for key codes to secret files." She shifted her eyes to look back into blue. "I... I led a guy on and paid the price." She flared her nostrils a little obviously recalling too much of the incident to be comfortable. "What could you have done?"
"I probably shouldn't answer that for fear it will incriminate me when it happens to him." JJ's voice didn't hold any hint that it was a joke. "But now that I know Em, promise me if he even sets foot this side of the ocean to cause a scene, you let me deal with him?"
"He doesn't know." Emily shook her head, moving her hand to rest on her stomach. "About Abby."
"Then it stays that way." JJ slid forward to put her hand over Emily's. "I promise you, I might not have done anything to help with this before now but I'm damn well not going to let him do anything to either of you every again."
"I'm not sure you heard me." Emily nodded as she curled her thumb over the back of JJ's hand. "Abigail and I are safe, I know that." She repeated the name of her unborn daughter softly.
"Abigail... as in..." JJ did indeed slow her reaction down as she saw the look on Emily's face and looked down at Emily's stomach. "Abigail?" She repeated the name knowing that the brunette was one of the few people who knew her middle name. "You are, you both are."
"When I first started calling her Abby, people at work thought it was me being my usual smart self, with Abby being an anagram of Baby, I didn't bother to correct them." Emily chuckled as she shook her head. "Oh I had a copy of this done for you way back when..." She turned and took an envelope off the small side table next to the couch as she spoke holding it in her free hand, visible on the front was JJ's full mailing address, the only thing missing was an international stamp. "But I knew I couldn't just send it to you, and I couldn't give you all the explanation it needed if I wasn't face to face with you." She offered it to the blonde.
JJ took the envelope and carefully opened it, taking out the glossy printed 3D sonogram photo, the visible curve of a beautiful cheek and nose clear in the HD scan.
"She's beautiful." JJ ran her fingertip over the slender nose, her eyes wide with wonder. "Really beautiful Emily." She looked at the brunette.
"I think she has my nose." Emily watched JJ more than looked at the photograph she already knew so well.
"She's a little mini you." JJ assured her comparing the two photos. "She's perfect."
"Then she can't be a mini me." Emily's face turned into a bright smile as she shook her head, her long dark curls swishing across her body with the move. "So that's my complicated." She added with a soft shrug. "The infallible, untouchable, unbreakable Agent Prentiss proved she was none of those things." Emily's smile faded and turned into a self depreciating frown. "But though I would change the how, now at least, I wouldn't change this."
"Which only proves you are even more the infallible, untouchable unbreakable Prentiss I know and love." The blonde underlined what she believed in her heart. "You turned the ugly horrible how into a beautiful, wondrous what will be." She put her hand over Emily's again. "I could never be as strong as you're being Em."
"We both know that's not true." Emily shook her head as she looked at the blonde. "You had Henry on your own, you were on your own with him for two years before Will got his shit together." The brunette reached out and gently smoothed her free hand over JJ's shoulder.
"He's gone Emily." JJ said the words with a soft resigned exhale of air.
"Just when I was about to be nice about the guy, I thought the ring missing was just because you were at work. I noticed it this evening but figured maybe you just forgot to put it back on in the excitement to get out of the door." The brunette kept her hand in place on the blonde's shoulder but dropped the timbre of her voice. "Why?" She asked the simple sounding question.
"The simple explanation, he gave me an ultimatum, give up the job, go back to being the woman he married or he was leaving." JJ looked at the photo in her hand a beat longer before turning her eyes to Emily. "I told him to get out."
"But Henry, he didn't take Henry." The tension in Emily's body visibly notched higher.
"He tried, it got ugly for a little while." JJ made the honest admission. "But in the end you know Will, he wouldn't take the boy from his Mama. I think he thought I would come to my senses more than anything, I can tell you the moment it finally sunk into him that I wasn't ever going to be that JJ again." She blew out another breath of air. "And the next day he moved back to New Orleans."
"Tell me." Emily blinked brown eyes at the blonde, sliding her hand down the blonde's arm to capture the one the blonde held on her stomach between both of hers.
"He decided to make this grand gesture, let himself into the house, I was in the shower... I pulled a gun on him Emily." JJ had to let out another slow breath. "I didn't know it was him, I just knew someone was there... I panicked I admit it."
"If you weren't expecting someone to be in the house and he wasn't supposed to have been there he should have no better than to sneak up on you." Emily shook her head at the idea that there was something 'wrong' with JJ being surprised by the situation. "JJ, you're an BAU agent who has been through significant things. He knows that, he's not stupid. He should have called out, that's all it takes." She pointed out clearly. "Relationships can survive without surprise grabs and tackle hugs, they are not the crux of true love."
"We both know that, he didn't get it." JJ shrugged softly. "Their were other things Em, after Hastings I withdrew, I know that. I started sleeping in the spare room because of the nightmares, he didn't understand how his presence made them worse when I should know he wouldn't hurt me. We stopped talking, stopped doing anything that didn't directly involve Henry."
"I'm hearing what you did wrong JJ, not what he did." Emily squeezed the blonde's hand softly. "You're being too hard on yourself." She said tenderly.
"I'm not Emily, I know it was my fault, I stopped caring." JJ made the brutally honest admission. "His sad looks, his disappointment, I didn't care about it anymore, I just tuned him out. I didn't try to explain, I didn't want to go over the same history that would never change no matter how much he wanted it too. I didn't want to explain to him that a shrink wasn't going to fix what happened in that room, what happened in Afghanistan, or what happened at work day to day. It was my life, it had to be the way it was, and since he couldn't understand, I stopped caring if he did."
"How long ago did he leave?" Emily didn't pursue the issue of blame or guilt, asking the specific question instead.
"The house about six months ago, the state about three." JJ gave a soft snort. "Henry still thinks he'll come back."
"Of course he does, he's six." Emily pointed out softly. "Henry think I lived with the Queen in London." She pointed out with a soft smile. "The team know?"
"They know he's gone, that the divorce is coming as soon as we meet the separation requirements, they don't know a lot of the details. Well no, I think Hotch understands, he's been there." JJ acknowledged. "But you know the team, they take the skeleton, enough to understand what they themselves can fill in and don't press for more out of respect."
"They always were the best for that." Emily nodded her agreement to the blonde's statement. "I'm sorry JJ. I wanted you to be happy, to have a family with Will, if it was the right thing for you." The brunette said earnestly.
"Thank you but it's okay, I know you couldn't stand him." JJ actually smiled at her.
"Well there's a compartment apparently I didn't do well with." Emily arched her eyebrow at her friend. "My impartiality needs work."
"No, blame Penn, in one of her emotional flaps about it she blurted out that you had been right from the start, he was bad news." JJ continued to smile at the brunette.
"Ah." Emily made the small noise of understanding. "In my defense I was only mildly tempted to let him get blown up by the vest bomb in the train station." She added with a smirk.
"You couldn't have handled the black mark on your bomb diffusing skill book." JJ gave a soft laugh. "You're staying though right? Here from now on? No more running to strange countries?"
"England isn't exactly strange." Emily pointed out with a smile but shook her head. "I want Abby to be born here." She made the point clearly. "I haven't really thought about what comes next." She admitted shaking her head.
"We'll figure that out as we go, I don't have a clue really either." JJ made the soft admission. "I missed you Emily." She added in a nearly silent whisper.
The dark haired older woman nodded in agreement.
"I missed you too." She agreed with the sentiment easily. "Interpol wasn't the BAU." She made the revelation with a shake of her head.
"How could it be? Your analyst didn't bake cupcakes every Monday did she?" JJ leaned into the couch beside Emily with a smile.
"WE didn't even have a media liaison officer." Emily breathed out a sigh of relaxation as she let the comfort of being with JJ soak into her being. "Let alone the prettiest one in the state."
"Flattery will get you everywhere." The blonde blushed a little massaging her hand a little against Emily's stomach.
"Hey you're a profiler now, you get paid the big bucks and carry the big gun." Emily teased knocking her knee gently into the blonde's. "Don't say things like that, Abby and I will expect presents." She laughed.
"Don't worry, they'll be presents." JJ assured her. "Do you still have a weak spot for doughnuts?"
"Do you know since about month three I can't eat them?" Emily rolled her eyes with a sigh. "I'm still addicted to the smell, but if I eat them..." She made a face and shook her head.
"So what does mini you crave then?" JJ prompted for ideas.
"She likes ice cream, fried bananas..." Emily began the odd list. "Oh, Belgian waffles." The named food was followed by a groan of pleasure from the brunette and an eye roll.
"So sugar, she likes sugar." JJ grinned. "I can get sugar presents."
"It is so good to see you." Emily literally stared at the blonde for a moment, at her expression of fun and happiness at hearing Emily's food craving preferences. "It makes me remember how a look used to be enough sometimes to get me through a tough day, or to pull my boot laces a little tighter and get the job done."
"Just meeting eyes for a minute during a hard debrief could make me focus on the fact we were trying to help not the fact that we'd already failed however many victims." JJ nodded her voice softening as she looked back at Emily.
"Is the team still good? Replacement me doing a good job at bridging that gap I left?" Emily asked the question gently.
"Kate is okay, she's good, a little rough at times but she does her job." JJ gave a soft nod, feeling the intensity of the look that had been passing between them slip away.
"JJ I know this is none of my business and you can tell me it's not and I won't push..." Emily's voice softened again as she looked at the blonde. "You're not isolating yourself are you? God suddenly I'm sounding like my mother or something..." The brunette smiled brightly suddenly and rolled her eyes. "Sex, I'm talking about sex Jennifer. You need an outlet and..."
"Do you know I've known you for about ten years and that is the first time you've ever asked me about my sex life?" JJ gave a bright laugh.
Emily laughed brightly, showing her bright white teeth as she tipped her head back and shook her long, long dark hair.
"It's the hormones." She blamed easily. "And hell when you were married I figured at least he had that covered."
"I..." JJ was about to give a answer that she knew would put the other woman at ease, was going to try to just wave off her need for anything of the sort but as she looked at Emily she just couldn't. "If you were anyone else I would lie to you right now." She said sadly.
"But you can't lie to a pregnant woman because it gives them gas." Emily replied with a completely straight face.
This made Jennifer give a loud laugh of her own.
"Threaten me with making you uncomfortable all night, that's not fair." She waggled a finger at the brunette. "Okay I didn't, for along time, I was with Will once after the kidnapping, trying to prove to myself something I guess but..."
"Jenn, it's okay. You could just say Prentiss keep your pregnant ass out of my sex life." Emily slipped her hand onto the blonde's knee and gave it a soft squeeze.
"No I can't, because you're Emily." JJ shook her head looking from the brunette's hand to her face. "This is something no one from the team knows but about a month ago we were working on a case in Dallas, a real mess, I guess I just can't break old habits and I finally gave in and scratched the itch." She gave a soft sigh. "And ever since when I feel the overwhelming need I do, but nothing complicated or emotional, just sex." She clarified.
"Careful sex." Emily checked, with the slightest quirk of her eyebrow.
"Em..." JJ hesitated for a beat. "You don't have to be that careful when they're all women."
"Checking their sperm count is easier, I agree." Emily tried hard to have a slick and easy response as she brought brown eyes up to look into blue. "Girls... is that.." She gave the briefest of pauses. "New for you?"
"Yes." JJ acknowledged the fact softly. "I mean... I've had girl crushes, hasn't everyone but this is the first time in my life I've ever acted on the motivation."
"I take it Dallas was a Cop, your reference to old habits." Emily put the pieces of the puzzle together.
"Yes, Ash was a detective on the case, her team was stonewalling us and it was pissing her off as much as it was us. I think she had more testosterone naturally then Will ever did." She gave a soft laugh.
Emily smiled too at the comment.
"Is she a long term possibility?" The brunette questioned gently.
"No." JJ's answer was definite. "It was one night, that's all, that's the pattern." She admitted. "Don't profile me." She pointed out with a laugh. "Even though I know you can't help it."
"I wasn't." Emily shook her head. "Okay maybe I was, I was just wondering maybe if she was the one who spurred your choice towards women, maybe she was more than a one nighter and you just didn't let it be." The brunette offered gently.
"No, she just asked at the right time I guess." The blonde gave a shrug. "I'm a little ashamed to admit it but it was probably more than a little bit because she thought I was the super agent for once."
"Hey..." Emily smirked and gave a shrug. "You probably rocked her world and her ego." The brunette winked at her friend shaking her head with a grin. "There is nothing wrong with that." She underlined clearly. "You will always be the super agent she slept with, do you know how awesome you are to her?"
"I forgot how great you were for my ego." JJ grinned at her. "But seriously, I know you understand Em, better than anyone... it's like things up here re-wired in that room."
"They maybe just got a little scrambled Jennifer." Emily shook her head softly. "What you need to stop doing is self analyzing so much and stop trying to push yourself to understand all the time. You are who and what you are." She said squeezing her hand on JJ's leg. "What you've been through shapes that yes, and I'm not saying your shouldn't talk to someone if you think its best or anything like that, what I'm saying is don't think just because you're not the person you were before it happened, that that means that this 'you' is somehow wrong, or bad." She looked at JJ tenderly. "The you that existed before the kidnapping doesn't exist anymore JJ, you can't be that woman again, be proud of who you are, a fighter, a winner."
"So can this new me tempt you and Abby into some of Washington's best waffles? I know a place that serves them 24 hours." JJ let one side of her mouth curl up into a smirk.
"I'm wearing sweats and my love me because I'm wearing baby pink sweater." Emily frowned.
"Mmmm Hmmmm perfect for the place I have in mind, you're usual business casual would probably scare them." JJ grinned. "Come on, you know you're drooling already."
-x-
"Okay so I think I've been patient and good." Garcia was waiting at JJ's desk the next morning when the blonde got in to work, a coffee and a muffin already on the desk for the blonde. "What's going on? I know you were at Emily's last night. Why did she leave London?"
"She left London because she wanted to come home." JJ gave the simple answer. "Garcia, she's going to come and see us, all will be explained."
"So she's home and staying?" The other blonde's eyes went wider still.
"Yes, she is." JJ couldn't keep the smile off her face.
"Is that a smile I see on your face?" The analyst grinned and gently hipped checked her friend.
"It's not that rare Garcia." JJ hip checked her back.
"No, but it's not that common either, not that smile." Penelope pointed out. "Do you think she will come back to the BAU?"
"I don't think that's immediately in the cards, I think she needs time to adjust." JJ corrected her growing idea. "One step at a time Garcia, she's back in town, isn't that enough."
"So we should go to her?" Garcia offered enthusiastically.
"No, she's going to come for a visit, she promised that already." JJ reminded her. "But I'll get her to phone you okay?"
"Okay, but she's okay right? I mean London didn't fire her or anything?" The bubbly blonde checked fretfully.
"She's okay and she left because it was what was best for her Pen." JJ knew in her heart that she would probably be the only one to know the true reason that Emily had gotten pregnant, the brunette wouldn't want history to shadow anyone's view of the little one and inside she felt even more privileged to be in the know.
"Okay, I'll wait for her call, impatiently." Garcia summed up, pushing away from the desk. "I bought you a coffee and a muffin, you're welcome."
"Thank you Garcia, you know I love you." JJ called after her smiling at the backwards wave she got.
-x-
"You should have known I couldn't wait, wouldn't wait." Garcia fussed with making them both tea now that Emily had gotten over the slight shock of the redhead just arriving at her door. "Not after JJ came in beaming this morning, beaming!" She underlined. "Now I know why." She giggled as she looked at Emily's stomach. "You're going to love it here Abby, I'm going to show you all the cool play centres and parks."
Emily smiled shaking her head slightly.
"Penn, stop for a moment would you." The brunette made the request gently.
"Okay, sorry, am I being too me-ish?" Garcia did stop and frowned softly.
"No, I just need another hug." Emily smiled more again opening her arms slightly.
"Hugs, I love pregnant you." Garcia skipped over almost and hugged her again. "You used to hate hugs, keep the hormones."
"Abby likes them." Prentiss replied as she eased back from the enthusiastic second embrace. "She..." The brunette stopped and then suddenly reached for Garcia's hand, pressing it to her stomach in time to feel the soft push of a hand or a foot from inside. "See."
"OH MY GOD! HI!" Garcia almost exploded with excitement when she did feel the press back against her hand. "I can't wait to meet you Abigail Prentiss, you're going to know me I'll probably be in a loud colour and have glasses."
"Abigail Loretta Prentiss." Emily clarified her baby's full name. "I couldn't forget you when naming her Penelope."
"You can never leave again!" Garcia reached to hug her again quickly. "Understand me? Never."
"I don't think I will be." Emily admitted shaking her head. "I missed you all so much." The brunette held on to the third hug even if Penelope had been going to pull quickly away. "I wanted Abby to be born into this, into my family." She admitted honestly.
"You're not listening, you won't be, not you don't think." Garcia continued to hold her tightly. "We all need you Emily, even if you never come back to the BAU, the family needs you."
"Are you hitting me up for palimony on Sergio?" Emily grinned brightly and tipped her head slightly to the side.
"You betcha, do you know that little gentleman of yours has taken to wanting to eat only organic cat food?" Garcia looked over her glasses. "And that stuff ain't cheap."
"How did he ever know that 'stuff' existed Garcia?" Emily questioned back logically.
"He saw the commercial, checked the ingredients on his old cat food, realized he didn't want to eat corn by product." Garcia continued to grin. "Blame Blue Buffalo."
"He was looking for his inner lynx huh?" Emily laughed brightly at the images going through her mind of Garcia panicking at the contents of Sergio's cat chow. "Thank god you've got his back."
"He really likes these freeze dried free range buffalo treaties I found him." Garcia giggled. "They're supposed to be for dogs but he doesn't know he's not a lynx."
"Abby and I had a TV dinner for lunch and my cat had free range buffalo, I think I eat more corn by product than my ex-pet." Emily rolled her eyes and shook her head.
"WHAT?" Garcia's eyes went wide. "You ate a TV dinner? Do you have any idea how much sodium is in one of those? How much chemicals they use to preserve it? Oh no no no, no more TV dinner's, what else evil is in this fridge?" She turned to begin inspecting for 'unacceptable items. "Spray cheese?" She pulled out the can. "If you tell me you've eaten this I'm going to faint."
"Look the fresh seal is still on it." Emily pointed to the can. "I just saw it and Abby was intrigued."
"And if Abby got intrigued with the idea of eating hand sanitizer, you're going to go with the crowd off that bridge too?" Garcia chastised her playfully.
"Oh God don't look in the freezer, you're not going to think pizza pockets, or microwave 'stuffers' are food." Emily shook her head with a wince.
"I am going shopping for you, nothing but organic fruits and veggies, hormone free meat and nothing and I mean nothing pre-frozen." Garcia put down the ultimatum.
"Are you moving into my spare room to cook all this wondrous organic fresh food for me, or does it come with it's own chef?" The brunette teased with a grin.
"I will cook if you like." Garcia grinned back. "Anything to keep you both healthy and here with us." She underlined and then seemed to calm a bit even for Penelope. "Really Emily, it's good you came home, especially for Abby but... do you have spidey sense or something even more while pregnant?"
"Are you talking about JJ?" Emily's voice softened too as the heavily pregnant woman leaned back slightly against the breakfast island.
"You've seen her, don't tell me you didn't notice how different she is." Garcia's voice was almost shy as if she was saying something secret, something she'd agreed with herself or someone like Morgan they wouldn't point out deliberately.
"She's lost a little weight, or at least turned it into muscle, trimmed up..." Emily listed the obvious physical differences that she had noticed. "But that's not what you're asking."
"Turn on your profiler brain Emily." Garcia urged her.
"We promised each other a long time ago Penn that we wouldn't do that." Emily shook her head. "Jenn's been through a lot in the last two years, did you think she could face that and be the same? Was I the same after Doyle?"
"That's what's worrying me Emily, what did you do after Doyle?" Garcia put forward her own evidence. "And it's not that I don't think everything will have effected her, but... did she tell you about Will?" She winced slightly.
"Yes." Emily nodded softly. "And I didn't have a choice about what happened after Doyle Garcia, I was shipped out and..." She stopped and refocused. "JJ isn't me, what happened to us wasn't the same and she would never leave you." She underlined the base fact she believed with all of her heart. "Now do I think she's in trouble, yes, yes I do, she's trying to face things about herself, what's happened, how she feels, and is getting no where because she doesn't have answers. Do I think it's serious..." The brunette paused. "I don't know enough to know the answer to that."
"Is it wrong that I feel a little better knowing your here now to look after her too?" Garcia made the soft admission.
"I would do anything for JJ, anything." Emily underlined softly. "You over anyone knows that Penn." The brunette's voice was softer still. "Somethings haven't changed."
"That's why you being here makes me feel better, I keep trying but she doesn't trust me like she does you." Garcia nodded that she did indeed understand the lengths that Emily would go through. "Today was the first day I've seen her smile for no reason, well smile mostly... in two weeks."
"How's Henry? Do you see him regularly?" Emily checked with the analyst.
"I do, he's okay, confused, but then again divorce is confusing to children." Garcia frowned. "JJ doesn't let him see any of the bad stuff she's going through, protects him like she always has. I babysit usually if we're not on case when she needs space."
"We'll get her through." Emily assured her friend with a soft smile. "It's what families do."
-x-