Chapter 1:
"JJ, I'm having a hard time understanding you," Will all but yelled across the table, trying to take in the words his wife was saying, the noise at the restaurant making the communication difficult after she had suggested they go out to eat and have a short talk before he went in for his shift at the police department.
"I had to pick the night they decided to have a mariachi band here." JJ groaned to herself as she leaned in further, attempting to make her voice heard over the sound of the trumpet as the band seemed to enjoy lingering near their table. Giving up after Will's third "I can't understand you," she turned to glare at the cheerful group, seeing the musicians smiling broadly at the couple as they continued to strum their guitars, likely under the impression they were making the atmosphere more romantic, which to JJ was the last thing she needed. Even though the band members were not profilers they were able to decipher her glare pretty quickly and she was pleased when still smiling broadly they started drifting towards another area of the restaurant.
As the music finally faded towards background noise she was able to turn her focus back on Will, watching coolly for a moment as he clumsily tried to eat the hard shell taco crumbling in his hands. She felt a small pang of remorse for what she was about to do, but it wasn't enough to make her change her mind as she waited for him to finish swallowing, the last thing she needed to do was cause him to choke and delay this any further.
When she had his attention again she braced herself as she directly met his questioning gaze and calmly delivered the bomb she had been trying to drop for the last half hour. "I want a divorce." She said simply, watching the shock register on his face as he gaped like a stunned fish.
"What?" He finally choked out, having trouble comprehending the blow he had just been dealt.
"I'm sorry Will, but this isn't working. I'm tired of us fighting all the time and I want a divorce." She said again, maintaining her composure as she watched the news start to sink in.
"You invite me out to eat before my shift to ask for a divorce? What kind of stunt is that?" His eyes flashed angrily as the shock evolved to anger.
"I thought it would be better to do this in public." JJ responded diplomatically, having hoped that being in public would help avoid an unpleasant scene when she broke the news. "I don't hate you Will, I just don't want to be married any more. Neither of us are happy together. I want you to still be part of Henry's life and I'd really like to keep this amicable if we can. We got married right after you almost died. I was an emotional wreck after almost losing you and then the bank robbers got into our home and to Henry. It seemed right at the time after Rossi pulled it all together, but now I realize that it wasn't." She stopped, not wanting to overwhelm him with the many reasons she had come up with about why they should dissolve their marriage.
"So after all this time you suddenly decide that you don't want to be with me anymore?" His eyes snapped with cold fury. "Don't try to sell me on this whole "it was too soon" mess, who is he?" Will demanded as it was JJ's turn to gape.
"Wait, after all I said you immediately jump to the conclusion that there's another man?" JJ was incredulous at the leap he had just made after she had worked so hard to lay the groundwork.
"Yes, that's exactly it. Don't think I can't see through your attempt to make this something other than what it really is. You've started screwing someone on the team haven't you?" He all but hissed as he made the allegation.
"Will, I don't…" JJ paused, at a loss for words. "I can't believe.." She switched before finally stopping, letting the stunned silence speak for itself, though Will didn't let it linger much longer before he pursued the accusation.
"You don't have time to spend with anyone else so it has to be one of them. Cruz, Morgan, Reid, Hotch… Hell I'll even guess Rossi. You haven't been having sex with me for sure, so which one of them are you letting fuck you?" He watched her expression closely as he spat out the names, seeing if he could get any reaction. Disappointed when she showed none.
"Will I told you, this isn't about another man, this is about us." She rallied, trying to redirect his attention to the reasons she had listed. "We fight all the time, Henry is the only thing holding us together and he's going to be as miserable as we are if we keep this going. What's better for him, to have two parents who can at least be civil to each other or watch us fight day in and day out?" She tried to reason, hoping to bypass any further accusations and get back to the carefully crafted argument she had planned to present. "Trust Will to make it all about ego and assume there was someone else," she thought, glad that with her facial expression she was able to hide just how close to the mark he was.
"Yeah, maybe we fight all the time because you're always gone at the drop of a hat, leaving in the middle of the night to fly around with your precious team while you leave me to juggle Henry and my own job." Will's tone was bitter, the jealousy clearly showing.
"See, this is exactly what I mean. You clearly resent my job, which I am still not going to give up." She said, leaving no room for argument before he once again tried to convince her to leave the BAU and do something that would leave her with more regular hours.
"So you're choosing your job over our marriage?" He said darkly, jaw still clenched as he pushed his now forgotten plate of food towards the side of the table where a nervous waiter had appeared to take their dishes. The obvious tension in the air was enough to keep the waiter from being chatty or offering them any further items as the young man placed the ticket in the center of the table before he scurried away with the barely touched food.
"I'm choosing happiness Will. I enjoy my job and the work that I do. I'm sorry I can't be the traditional wife you've always wanted. I'm not happy in our marriage and I believe that once you have time to think this through you'll realize you're not happy either. We haven't been happy for a long time, which is why I think this will be the best move for both of us." JJ said bluntly as she started to rise, seeing him deflate even before she started to step away from the table.
"Ok, maybe some time apart to think would be a good idea. How about a separation while we give this some time to settle, see if we might try counseling or something?" Will conceded quick at her apparent determination to just get up and walk away. He glanced at the clock, seeing he had only a little time left before he had to report for duty and decided to placate her for the present until they had time to come back the problem. "I want to try to work with you on this JJ." He said, his eyes pleading as the anger temporarily abated as he tried to find a different angle to keep her from ending it once and for all.
JJ's sigh was longsuffering as she considered his offer. Her first instinct was to say no, in her heart she knew it was over and that no amount of therapy or reconciliation attempts would make a difference. Logically however she realized that if she wanted to continue to sound reasonable and wanted their divorce to be amicable then for Henry's sake then she needed to give Will the opportunity to come to the same conclusion she had.
"I've already got plans to take Henry and some of our things and move out." She announced, waiting to see the anger reappear at her announcement.
"Wait, look, I'll come home after work, pick up a few of my things. It will be easier for me to pack up a bag and crash on my partners couch for a few days then for you to try to move both you and Henry." He suggested, his tone still conciliatory as he was obviously trying to put his best foot forward now.
"Ok," she reluctantly conceded. "I'll be at work and will take Henry to the FBI daycare so you'll have the house to yourself in the morning."
"Great, we can work this out JJ." He said, his voice laced with optimism as he quickly kissed her on the cheek before heading out towards his squad car, seeming quite confident in his ability to win her back as opposed to a man who had essentially just been dumped.
"Damn it, how does he keep doing this?" JJ swore under her breath as she pulled out her phone and headed to her own vehicle. Like so many other times since their relationship had begun he had once again managed to undermine her resolve to end their relationship quickly and as painlessly as possible.
She had made progress this time, getting them to at least a separation, but still he persisted in trying to be the calm and reasonable one, putting her in the position of sounding like a shrew if she didn't go along.
With another deep sigh to steady herself JJ picked up her phone, now ready to confess her failure to the other party who had been privy to the plans she had made for tonight. "Yes, he has plans for us to try to work it out but at least agreed to a separation." *pause*. "Of course we both know that's not going to happen." *pause*. "I know, I love you to, Henry and I will be over in a little bit." She closed the conversation before tossing her phone back into the passenger seat, ignoring the pricks of her conscience that told her she was leading her husband on by letting him think there was a chance of reconciliation when she had already fallen in love with someone else.