They were all standing by their desks, ready to wrap another day's work, when Hotch walked up to them and said...
"Hey, nice work everybody" before he made his way towards his office.
The three of them nodded and as soon as his boss was out of sight, Reid commented...
"Why does that not seem as rewarding as it sounds?"
"Because we all know what came out of it" Morgan replied, hanging his bag over his shoulder and making his way out the door. Reid looked almost dumbfounded, questioning if whatever they were doing was really making a difference.
Shaking his head, he followed Morgan's path out the door, leaving Emily still packing up her things. Seconds later, JJ approached to her, carrying about five or six files in her hands that meant that she was heading up to her office.
"Hey, did everyone leave already?" she asked Emily, seeing how she was the only one left.
"Yeah... it's kind of been a long day" Emily replied.
"Yeah, tell me about it" JJ responded, raising her eyebrows.
"So, what are you up to tonight?" Emily asked.
"What do you think... I have a very intimate evening planned with these files" JJ replied.
"Ooh, sounds like fun"
"You have no idea"
Emily chuckled and asked..."Want me to help you with those?"
"No, it's okay... you can go"
"You sure?" Emily insisted.
"Yeah, I'll be fine"
"All right... have a nice night"
"You too" JJ replied, smiling as she watched her co- worker heading away. JJ glanced over to Hotch's office, seeing he was on his phone. Taking one final look around, she took a deep breath before finally heading off to her office.
Once inside, she stomped herself onto her chair, staring blankly at the files in front of her. It really had been a long day and she was certainly not looking forward to reviewing any case files.
Minute after she had just opened the first file, she felt her phone vibrate and as soon as she checked the number, the sight of it brought her some kind of relief. It was Will...
'So, what are you up to tonight?'
She smiled to herself and leaned back to her chair, trying to figure out what to say next. They had exchanged numbers and there were also some calls and even text messages but, neither of them seemed to have a chance to take whatever was going on to the next level. Being miles apart from each other made her question if anything could really happened between them.
As soon as she was about to text him back, saying that she was going to be pretty busy that night, a slight knock caught her attention and she brought her head up to the door.
"Hey, you still here?" Hotch asked.
"Yep, got a load of case files that needs to be reviewed" she replied.
"Why don't you head home, leave them for Monday?" Hotch advised.
"Um, I think it's better if I'll get them out the way"
"JJ, it's been a long day for all of us. Go home, get some rest. They will still be here when you get back"
She hesitated to argue but, deep inside, she really wanted to leave the case files for the night. She smiled at Hotch as he made his way out her office again. As she sighed of relief, she glanced back to her phone. She leaned back to her chair and seconds later, she found herself typing a reply...
'Got off the hook... what did you have in mind?'
It didn't take long for her to head home and get ready and in an hour, she found herself on the next available flight to New Orleans. They had agreed to meet up at a local bar down from Will's apartment and as she waited for him by the bar, JJ examined her surroundings. It seemed pretty quiet, jazz music playing in the background. She took the liberty of ordering herself a drink while she listened to the music.
From across the room, JJ caught the eye of an admirer that seemed to keep staring at her. He was sitting in a booth, alone with his drink and as he tried to balance his head onto his hands, there was a drunken response to that reflex as his head quickly slipped down. He sat up, shook his head and cleared his throat. Grabbing the drink in his hand, he stood up from the booth, careful not to fall in his feet as he stumbled his way towards her. It was a clear sight that he was too drunk to even appear to be sober but he still approached to her and leaned his elbow onto the bar, next to her purse. In response, JJ kept her gaze away, trying not to acknowledge his presence beside her.
"You know, it's a real shame for a pretty lady like you to be all alone tonight" he slurred.
Trying to form some sort of smile on her face, JJ turn her head and politely responded...
"I'm actually waiting for someone"
"Well, why don't I keep you company until they come... get you a drink and we'll talk?" the man said, again with the slurring.
"Um, I'll be fine"
"Oh, come on.. it's just one drink"
"Thank you but, no thank you"
"Come on... I'm a real charmer"
"I'm sure you are but, like I said, I'll be fine"
"Oh, come on..." he repeated.
"I think she was pretty clear about that decline" a voice was heard from behind her. JJ turned her head and saw Will standing next to her, hands in his pocket.
"Hey, uh... why don't you get lost, buddy? We're talking here"
"I'm pretty sure you were doing all the talking, she was trying to ignore you"
"Oh, yeah... well, if you hadn't interrupted, maybe..."
"Maybe what?" Will said, lifting his shirt up a little for the guy to see his badge and gun more clearly.
As the black gun was flashed in front of him, the guy seemed to startle and he sat up straight, holding up his hands...
"Hey man... I don't want any trouble"
"Why don't get out of here and there would be no trouble?"
The man nodded rapidly and almost falling onto the ground, he quickly disappeared from their side. Once out of sight, JJ led out a sigh of relief.
"Thanks for the save..."
"You're welcome... you gotta watch out for these guys here"
"Good think you showed up when you did"
"I gotta hand it to you. I was counting for at least two more of those sneaking their way up to you" Will said as he took a seat next to her.
"Oh yeah?" she replied, grinning.
"I wouldn't have blamed them" he continued.
"And why's that?" JJ asked, really wanting to know what his response would be.
"You really want me to answer that question?"
JJ chuckled and looked down to her drink. Seconds later, she brought her gaze back up to him and smiled.
"So, you always keep that in handy?" she asked, pointing at his gun.
"Well, it really does come in handy. You never know when someone's gonna jump you"
"Or, for you to play it out as a hero" JJ commented.
"Or that, yes"
JJ chuckled and yet again looked down to her drink. As they let a few seconds go by, Will ordered a drink for himself and as soon as it came, he asked her...
"So, what did I saved you from tonight?"
"Well, let's just say that there are a lot of case files missing me tonight"
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah, I had to leave them off for a while"
"Well, hope it was worth it"
JJ stared at his eyes, the smile never leaving her face.
"Wanna go find us a booth?" Will asked. He was quite familiar with the place, even though it had been a long time since he had been able to go there.
As they took a seat across from each other, JJ chuckled lightly, catching Will's attention.
"What?"
"Nothing, nothing... it's just, I have really forgotten how to do this"
"What's so bad about it?" Will asked.
"I'm not saying that there's anything bad, I'm just saying that I haven't really gotten the time to do this anymore"
"Ooh, being a liaison seems to have taken a toll in your romantic life, I see..."
"You have no idea"
"So, I guess that I should rule off any indication that you would want to do this again"
"Well, that depends"
"On what?"
"On how this one ends"
"All right... I'll try to make it worth your time, then"
JJ smiled and took yet another sip from her drink. The dimples on Will's face appeared, making JJ's smile slightly bigger.
"So, Jennifer Jareau... how fabulous is it to work as an FBI agent"
"Wow, is this you making small talk?"
"Well, we have got to start somewhere, right?"
"Right... so, I'm taking the bait?"
"Well, I asked first"
JJ smiled and then continued...
"All right, fine... um, well the name itself it quite rewarding. Being and agent and all..."
"Is that suppose to be some kind of brag?"
"You asked"
"Okay, so... really, tell me about it"
"Okay, um... it's a little, over-tiring sometimes, I guess. You know, dealing with the cases, the families, watching the victims being tracked down. I don't know, it's just a bit too much sometimes"
"So, it's really not that fabulous after all"
"Well, it's rewarding at last so, some good comes after it but, the process to go through, waiting for at least two more bodies to be found before we catch the UnSubs, it's... frankly, sometimes, it doesn't feel worth it at all'
Will nodded and then sipped his drink...
"So, what about you, huh? What's it like being a detective?"
"Well, it's not glamorous as being and agent but... it sets a pace. You know, not to graffic, not too easy. it just works in the middle"
"So, it's comfortable?"
"You can say that"
"What's the worst cases you have dealt with so far?"
"Ooh, that one's a long shot"
"Were there that many?"
"Shouldn't I be the on to ask that?"
JJ chuckled, waiting for a response.
"Uh, let's see. There was this one time, a suspect held about eight or ten hostages at a local church and... there was no point of access that we could have gotten in from and, we tried to negotiate, maybe letting out some of them but, he wouldn't budge. Anyway, after about three hours, he lost it and started waving the gun around but, he didn't shoot until there was someone who tried to calm him down. It was an old lady that was always at both morning and evening services. I remember her even being at my daddy's service, too. By then, the snipers were searching for a clear shot. But, as soon as the lady even uttered the first word, he shot her to the chest and then, he was down too, one to the head"
"Wow..."
"I still remember the look in her eyes when we got to her. She held my hand. She had a firm grip. In her last moment, she started smiling and before she closed her eyes, she said 'it's time to go'... and there she went"
"That's so awful"
"Yeah... I didn't even know her name until she was sent to the morgue"
"Did she have any family?"
"No, she was a widow. Her husband had died a couple of year before and they had no children but, surprisingly... there was about half the town's population at her service. She was a very loveable woman"
JJ nodded and then looked down. Shaking his head, Will rewind the question back to her.
"So, it's your turn. Tell me your worst case"
"I don't know. It's a bit different for the ladies than with the guys"
"How come?"
"Well, for us, it can get very emotional on a different scale. For you, it's another story"
"So, you're saying that, just because you're a girl, there are some that are tougher than others, even if it contains the same thing?"
"Just because I'm a lady, not a girl" JJ corrected him.
Will chuckled and then asked.
"Come on, say the first one that comes to your head"
"I, uh... I don't know. I just think that every case has its own bad memories, I guess"
"But... let me see if I can get this right. It's basically the ones that concerns children"
"Those can be... top priority but, it's not always the same"
"You get a lot of those?"
"Oh, you'll be surprised. There a lot of psychos out there, ready to get to the surface"
"Good thing that they're you profilers that can sweep them off the streets, then"
JJ chuckled. Will smiled and then looked around.
"Hey, you wanna get out of here?" he asked.
JJ smiled before she nodded.
Walking their way around, Will hesitated to grab her hand and tried to keep his distance. He wanted her to know that he liked her but, was willing to keep back as long as she wanted to.
"You know... I have never done this before" Will mentioned.
"What?"
"Talk about my job on first dates. I never really feel comfortable because I never really relate to anyone else. But you... you're different"
Blushing, JJ looked down and commented...
"So, you're saying that I actually gave you an excuse to talk about your job?" JJ commented.
"Maybe"
"All right... why don't we change the subject?"
"What did you have in mind?" he asked.
"Ah, is that a trick question to talk about myself?"
"Well, it seems I'm the one giving you an excuse this time"
JJ chuckled slightly.
"So?" Will asked.
"What do you want me to say?"
"I don't know... everything. I want to know everything about you" he said, stopping and looking at her straight in the eyes.
JJ looked away for a second to take a deep breath.
"All right..." she said as she continued walking again.
And there it is... with a little cliffhanger. If I get enough reviews, maybe I'll figure out a way to continue this but for now, I'll leave like this. Thank you in advance if you're willing to read this and send your reviews :)