Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is owned by CBS. I own nothing but my imagination.
~This story was written for the July challenge in the 'Chit Chat on Author's Corner' forum.
~Sorry this is late, I know it was supposed to be posted by July 31, but I've had a crazy virus for the last couple of days and I could barely get out of bed much less write a coherent story!
"I can't believe you crashed into me, Cupcake!" Garcia exclaimed as she pushed open the door to the Ivory Bar. Leading JJ to a table, she signaled for a waitress, who took her time getting to their table.
"I know, and I am so sorry Penelope! I'll call my insurance company first thing in the morning and have it taken care of," JJ said as she slid into her side of the booth.
"Pfft, don't worry about that Sweetcheeks, it was barely a scratch on the bumper and I know you're good for it," Garcia told her, waving away her concerns. "I'm more worried about what had you so flustered that you peeled out of your parking space the way you did."
At that moment the waitress finally arrived to take their drink orders, "What can I get you ladies?" She asked.
"I'll have an amaretto sour with grenadine," Garcia told her.
"I'll have an iced tea please," JJ ordered.
"Make it a Long Island iced tea," Garcia clarified and JJ shook her head.
"I was already in one car accident tonight; I don't need to get into another. Just a regular iced tea," she instructed the waitress, who nodded and walked to the bar.
"So what gives Jayje? What had you leaving like a bat out of hell?"
The media liaison shook her head, "It was nothing Pen, just a bad day."
Garcia smiled as the waitress set their drinks down, "Sorry sweetie, you're going to have to do better than that…for God's sake JJ, you snarled at Hotch today, actually snarled! It was like Cujo had taken over your body!"
JJ sighed, "I know, and I'm going to apologize to him first thing tomorrow."
"Screw that, I was just shocked that someone other than Dave was able to intimidate him," Pen said, taking a sip of her fruity drink. "Come to think of it, I don't think even Rossi has scared Hotch like that."
"Great," JJ moaned, putting her hands over her face.
"Seriously JJ, what happened?" She asked, concerned.
JJ mulled over the question while she took a long drink of her tea. "You know what? Sometimes I really HATE working with profilers!"
Laughing, Garcia said, "Tell me something I don't know! What did they do now?"
"It wasn't one thing, it was a bunch of things," she said. "You know how tough this last case was, what with it being in a small town where the gossip and rumors didn't help, and it was even worse because it involved children. We just couldn't catch a break, we kept going over and over and over the same theories, but none of them panned out. I finally suggested that we check out the staff who rotate between the three elementary schools, and sure enough, the unsub was a reading specialist who split her time between the schools." JJ paused and took a drink, wishing she had ordered an alcoholic drink. "It was my idea Pen, not that I wanted heaps of praise and gratitude, but when the mayor showed up at the precinct to personally thank the team, Hotch shook his hand and told him it was a group effort. He then went on to say that if it hadn't been for the work of all the profilers, we never would have caught the unsub. The profilers! Again, it was my fucking idea and he didn't even acknowledge me!"
"Okay, but this isn't the first time that happened. I mean Hotch tries his hardest to remember us and the work we do, but-" Penelope said, but JJ interrupted her.
"But wait, there's more!" She said, sounding like an infomercial announcer. "So after the mayor's thanks to the vaunted profilers, the townsfolk all came in and showered them with praise while I packed everything up. While I was doing that, the mayor came over to me and thanked me for handling the press and he told me that he was sure my help was valuable in helping the team catch the bad guy. You should have heard him Pen, he was as condescending as I have ever heard and the worst part is that I know Morgan heard him, but he didn't come over to clarify things, he just stood there with the rest of them preening like a peacock." She finished her drink and slammed the empty glass down on the table.
"Yeah, but Jayje, we're the misfits of this group, we hardly ever get to share in the spotlight," Garcia pointed out.
"I know," she sighed, "but it just really got to me today. I would love to see any of them do what I do! I would love to see Emily keep her cool with one of the many reporters who have tried to play grab-ass with me over the years. I would love to see David Rossi try to give a statement without me there to help him answer press questions. I would love to see Reid have to moderate a press conference!" They both laughed at the last image, but then grew serious again. "It was a team effort Pen; we all helped! There's no way they would have gotten the job done half as fast or successfully without us! Hell, you and I see the same things as they do, yet they get paid more, they get the glory and they have the awesome job title. Do you know how many times women have fallen all over themselves after Derek tells them he's an FBI profiler?"
Garcia's face fell a little, "Too many times from what I've seen."
JJ winced, "Sorry Garcia," she said, knowing that was a sore spot for her friend.
"It's okay JJ, I know Derek and I will always be 'just friends,' and I've made my peace with that, just like I thought you had made your piece with not getting the accolades you deserve."
"I have made my piece with it Pen, it's just today got to be too much. You haven't even heard about the plane ride home." JJ told her.
"Oh crap," Garcia said. "What happened?"
"During the first half of the trip, Emily and Spence regaled me with stories of how their brilliant profiling technique caught this unsub and how it was similar to other cases. They expected me to listen like a newbie fresh out of the academy! Then, after I was able to get away from them, I was just about asleep when Dave bellowed for me to come to the galley. Once there, he proceeded to rip me a new one for not having his favorite vitamin water flavor stocked. Like it's my job to make sure his precious flavored water is stocked! He can fill out the fucking requisition form like the rest of us!"
Garcia snorted, "But then he would be on the same level as us mere mortals, and that sure as hell isn't going to fly in Rossi's world!"
JJ gave a bark of angry laughter, "No, it sure won't," she agreed and then paused. "What Hotch said was the straw that broke the camel's back though. He wanted me to stay late and finish some of the paperwork for the case. I pointed out that the paperwork he wanted me to work on was usually divvied up among the team, but he told me he wanted to let Dave, Emily, Reid and Morgan go home early because he knew the case had been hard on them."
Garcia looked shocked, "He didn't!"
JJ nodded, "He did! Like it wasn't hard on me? Or you? Like we weren't just as involved as they were? What the fuck do they think we do? Do they really think we're just glorified secretaries?"
Penelope shook her head, "I really don't think they understand that we work as hard, if not harder, than they do. They see their roles as the most important ones, but they don't realize that they couldn't do their jobs successfully without us."
"I know, and it usually doesn't bother me, but today it did. It was just a combination of everything that caused me to snap. I just need to go home, see Henry, kiss Will and take a hot bath," JJ said with another sigh.
"Well you go do that, girlfriend. I'm going to go get a little something-something from Kevin."
"Too much information, my friend." JJ said with a smile as she stood up.
Garcia also stood, "Look Jayje, as non-profilers you and I have to stick together so if it ever gets to be too much for you again, come find me…although if you could find another way to find me other than crashing into me, that would be great."
They both laughed, "I think I can manage that Pen, and thanks."
They exited through the front door and parted ways. They had both been so involved in their conversations that they hadn't seen Hotch slide into the booth behind theirs. He had heard about the minor accident and he wanted to make sure the two women were okay, so he had followed them to the bar. He had gone in with the intent to join them, but as he had approached their table, he had overheard the early part of their conversation. Knowing it was wrong, Hotch took the booth behind them and gained valuable insight into the two women.
As he took a sip of his beer, Hotch felt like an ass. He knew it didn't happen often, but today the team had really been full of themselves. Usually he acknowledged the entire team, but today had been the exception...he had screwed up. He also didn't realize JJ and Garcia felt like misfits and it bothered him that they believed he saw them as being less important than the profilers. He made a mental note to talk to each of them the next day. Then he picked up his phone, called the nearest florist and ordered flowers to be sent to both women's offices the next morning.
The End