Reconnections and Recollections

A/N: Ok so, this is a whole new thing for me, co-writing a fan fic AND writing a multi-chapter Criminal Minds fic . I am so lucky to co-write with an awesome writer, the lovely, samanthamarquez (who has me addicted to JJ/Hotch).

We will both try to update as often as we can, even though we are writing from like opposite ends of the world (truly breaking barriers here!). Reviews are always awesome, but seriously, don't be shy to critique as well. We originally wrote this as if we were RPing and I tried to edit it so that it would make as much sense as possible. If it doesn't, please tell us. We won't be upset. :)

Disclaimer: Neither I, nor samanthamarquez, own anything related to Criminal Minds (though we both wish we did). We also do not own any material recognizable in this fic, including any Katy Perry songs or Bon Jovi songs. With that being said, please enjoy the first chapter! :D

Emily hated these little Charity Ball type things. She believed that they were only there in order to provide a sad excuse for people who barely knew each other and barely liked each other to get together and 'pretend' to get along. The only good thing about these little events was the fact that she, along with her fellow BAU workers were able to spend some time with their greatly missed former Media Liaison.

Emily tucked some hair behind her ear and strolled over to the bar in order to treat herself to a drink. She could see members of her team in every direction, scattered to and fro. She was thankful that the bar was an opened bar for the night, at least that would make things seem a little more enjoyable for her. It wasn't that Emily hated doing good things for charity. She did consider herself to be somewhat of a philanthropist, but the team had just gotten back from a long case in South Dakota barely even a day before and Strauss had basically bullied them all into attending this event. Hence they were there, trying to make the best of a crappy situation. Emily had already drank a couple of drinks in order to pass the time. It was probably not the smartest idea, considering her team needed to go into the office the next day in order to finish up their paper work. However, if she had to be forced to mingle with people she didn't exactly care for, she'd try to make the best out of it

JJ smiled as she stood with some of the people she now worked with, but she couldn't help smile seeing Emily at the bar. "Excuse me." She said politely and walked over to the bar, "Come here often?" She joked with one of her best friend.

A wide grin appeared on Emily's face as none other than JJ appeared at her side. "Hey you!" She exclaimed as she reached out for a hug. "Oh God! It's been far too long since we've seen you. How is everything?" Both of their busy schedules had caused the two women to cancel on plans far too many times. It wasn't anybody's fault, it was just the way their jobs worked.

With a grin JJ hugged her friend back, "I know we've not seen each other in a while, a long while. Things are ok... What about you?"

Emily smiled as her cosmo was passed to her. She turned back to JJ and nodded. "You know... Same old same old..."

JJ nodded. She was glad that something in her night was turning out well. "The team here?" She asked with a smile

Emily looked out towards the various members of the team just hanging about, each doing their own thing. "Yeah, as a matter of fact we're all here. Strauss deemed it necessary for all of us 'distinguished FBI employees' to be present at this event" Emily added a touch of mimicry to her statement in light humour.

JJ smiled at her friend, "Ohh I'm sure Spence and Hotch loved that... Well I'm glad you're all here. I was dying of boredom over there." She grinned and ordered a glass of champagne. JJ was so happy to see her friends

"They can't be all THAT bad... For your sake I mean." Emily added with a light chuckle. She looked over to the professionally dressed group of people that JJ had been talking to. They did not look too horrible, though Emily could not help but begin to analyse their movements. "The petite red head has feelings for the tall blond guy."

JJ raised an eyebrow and looked at her work colleagues after hearing Emily. "Now that's interesting. Helen and Finn." JJ looked around and saw various members of the BAU, not just her specific team, but some other agents here and there. "Strauss here?" She asked curiously.

Emily nodded towards the opposite side of the room where Strauss was chatting up a fellow section chief. "Of course. You can't have a family reunion without the evil great aunt."

JJ shifted her gaze to Strauss, who looked at the women before walking away. JJ waved politely. "That's a face I don't miss." She laughed.

Emily laughed along with her. She missed joking around with JJ. She missed having a fellow female companion to talk to during their cases. Yeah Garcia was amazing and the two had gotten relatively closer since JJ was transferred, but she didn't always travelled with them, and Emily found it tiring at times having to deal with four men for long periods of time. "Sadly, we're still under her evil control" Emily stated with a chuckle. "How is your new boss? He treating you well?"

"He's... Umm." JJ struggled, "He's okay I guess. We don't talk much. Well not like we all used to." She said with a shrug.

Emily frowned a little. JJ had a point, the BAU was special in terms of those interpersonal links. They all had to think like criminals, they all had to dive deep into the darkest recesses of the psyche. They all had that important link that made them function so well as a team. "We all miss you JJ..."

"I know you do. I just wish I got to see you all more." JJ told her. She missed the team, her friends, so much as JJ found it hard for her to trust new people. They'd been through a lot together. JJ then noticed the concerned look on Emily's face and quickly moved onto a lighter note. "But it's good being home with Henry so much." The blonde grinned, she loved her son, but she missed the team, so much. "Well when he's with me it's great and he misses his Aunt Emily."

The frown disappeared off of Emily's face as JJ mentioned Henry. Emily loved that little boy and was happy whenever she got to see him. "His Aunt Emily misses him to." JJ smiled on hearing Emily had missed Henry, it was like he and Jack were the BAU babies.

Her smile disappeared when Emily lightly touched JJ's hand. "How are things with you and Will?" she asked her. JJ's eyes shot to Emily's on mention of Will. "Umm..." She stuttered for the second time, "We split up. Turns out too much time together was a bad thing for us as a couple." She told her with a shrug.

Emily shook her head sadly. She briefly took notice of the sadness that brushed past JJ eyes and regretted mentioning Will. "JJ... I'm... I'm so sorry for mentioning it."

JJ shrugged at the mention of her now ex. She glanced to her finger, which was empty of the ring she used to wear. "It's ok Emily. You're all going to have to hear about it sooner or later. It happened last month, it's just not been working." She told her friend.

Emily shook her head and placed a comforting hand on JJ's shoulder. "Look JJ, if ever you need anything, anything at all. We're all here for you."

JJ smiled, thankful for her friend's concern. "Thanks Em. But really I'm ok. It's just been a bit lonely that's all."

Emily didn't want to cause JJ any more distress or negative thoughts. That wasn't what these nights were for anyway. She looked over to the dance floor and pointed out the tall, well built Agent Morgan dancing with the loveable and quirky Penelope Garcia. Emily had originally ridden with them, but form the looks of it, Lord only knew when they'd tire themselves out. "I think I may have to ride home with someone else if they keep going at it like that." Emily added with a light laugh. It was no secret that Derek Morgan and Penelope Garcia had some underlying feelings for each other. But, she was with Kevin Lynch at the moment and Morgan... Well Morgan was Morgan.

JJ smiled and watched them, "Ahh well those two have danced around it for years. Sometime the hardest thing to see is right in front of you."

Emily had to laugh at that as she finished off the last of her Cosmo. "That is so true when it comes to Garcia and Morgan. If anyone needs to get their act together, it's them."

JJ smiled at Morgan and Garcia. "At least she has someone to dance with..." She joked with Emily.

Emily nodded along to her. "Yeah, you're right, it could always be worse." She looked to some other members of the team. Hotch and Rossi were chatting it up as they always did on occasions like this. Morgan and Garcia, as previously stated were still dancing up a storm. As for the youngest member of their team, Reid was standing uncomfortably apart from the action, nursing a drink in hand.

JJ waved over to Spence, who now was talking to some older man. "Look how sharp our resident genius looks." JJ grinned and looked to the others as well.

At the mention of Reid, Emily looked over and could not help but smile as their genius looked so excited to see JJ before beginning a conversation with some older agents. He did look pretty good, dressed in a crisp, dark suit, with a dark shirt and a dark blue tie, which Emily had gotten for him for Christmas during the BAU gift exchange. "Yeah, it is a rarity to see Reid in a classy suit. We should enjoy it while it lasts." She said with a laugh.

JJ nodded in agreement with a laugh. "It is... Hotch however..." She side glanced to her old boss. He was in a suit as always, but it was a good suit, one very rarely seen at work. She hoped he was doing well. "It's not right when you see him without a suit on."

Emily followed JJ's gaze to the big boss in a deep conversation with Rossi. Both men were donned in rather nice looking suits. No doubt Rossi's was Hugo Boss or Armani. Hotch was also in a rather spiffy suit. Not that the man never dressed in a suit before. There had been a time where Emily wondered if that was all he wore. "I think Hotch coming into work in shorts and a t-shirt would be a sure sign of the Apocalypse". Emily chuckled.

JJ smiled to her friend as they finished their drinks. JJ had already decided it was a taxi home kind of night, "Another drink my dear?"

"My dear Jareau, you have read my mind."

JJ smirked, "You know, Hotch looks good in his suits." She shrugged and turned to order another round of the same drinks. JJ couldn't help the smile on her face as she thought of her statement, funny things always seem to come to you after a drink

Emily nodded along. "I can agree to that," she said as she took a sip of her new cosmo. "Actually, all of our men are looking rather good in their suits."

JJ smiled and glanced over again to Reid. "You think he needs us to get him out of there?"

Emily's eyes could not help but wander back to their youngest as he was looking about as comfortable as an unsub with Morgan. Emily smiled at JJ, "I think we need to get him out before he passes out, poor guy."

JJ smiled and walked over to the youngest member of the BAU. "Sorry... Can we a pain and steal him for a moment?" JJ smile politely at the man currently talking to Spencer.

Emily had to laugh to herself as JJ worked her magic on the older agents. She was so amazing with people and it made her think about how important she had been to the team.

The boy smiled and was happily hurried away. "JJ! It's so good to see you!" He gushed and hugged her. He'd not seen her in a long time and he'd missed her.

Emily smiled as they joined her once more. "You alright there, Reid? It looked like they were giving you a brutal time back there."

Spencer looked at Emily and nodded, "You have no idea. They wanted to talk to me about one of my papers that focused on our work, it was weird. No one EVER wants to talk to me about my papers!" He said in disbelief. "But I'm glad you interrupted." He smiled and looked at JJ, "We've missed you."

JJ smiled, "Missed you too Spence. You been looking out for Garcia and Emily for me?" she asked knowing he'd take the question to heart a little.

Spencer smiled a small unsure smile. "I try."

Emily smiled at the brief interaction between two dear friends. The team just was not the same anymore since JJ left. Emily believed that they all felt her loss and it impacted them each differently. Reid had taken it pretty bad when JJ left, as had Garcia, and Hotch. Emily herself had been affected, but she was never one to display her emotions. Her musings were interrupted as JJ asked Reid if he'd been taking care of the remaining BAU ladies. Emily smiled. "Don't worry JJ, we're all taking care of each other." She smiled a little to Reid.

JJ smiled, "Good because I worry." She laughed and sipped her drink. She wasn't prepared for Reid's next question.

Spencer watched his friend, "But who's taking care of you JJ?" The young man asked curiously causing the blonde to frown. She didn't have an answer.

JJ thought about it. She didn't have the support of the team anymore... They had each other. She didn't have Will anymore and Henry, he was smart for a 2 year old... But he was only that, a 2 year old. Her blue eyes looked to Emily and Spence. "I don't need someone Spence. I'm the mother." She replied with a shrug.

Emily shot a brief glare in Reid's direction. She then reached out and grabbed JJ's free hand again. "You don't have to go through it alone though JJ... We may not work together anymore, but we all still care for you very much"

JJ smiled, "I know... And some of the most unlikely ones are the best at it." She smirked and smiled over to Hotch and Rossi as Rossi went off to chase some girl.

Reid smiled, "Well we miss and think that you should let Garcia just bring you back." He pouted, "No one makes hot chocolate the way you do."

Emily turned over to Reid and lightly hit his arm "Now don't let Garcia hear you say that."

JJ smiled as the two seemed at ease with each other. She glanced to Hotch who was talking to some other agents.

Reid smiled his dorky little smirk. "Well as long as you don't tell her." He reached for three more drinks.

Emily accepted the new drink, though she began to wonder how many drinks she'd had already. She could feel her head getting slightly fuzzy. "Thanks and don't worry, your secret is safe with me" she added with a wink, before she could stop herself.

She then cleared her throat and followed JJ's gaze to Hotch as he was finishing up with some of the other agents. "You should go over and say hello before Garcia catches you and never lets you go".

JJ nodded and headed over to her former unit chief after saying goodbye to Emily and Reid.

As she watched JJ walk away, Emily could not help but smile. She was glad to have seen her again. It really had been far too long since they all hung out. She took a sip of her drink before turning back to Reid. "It was nice to see her again."

Reid smiled at Emily. "Yeah. We don't see her as much as I thought. With cases and her new work. It's like having a family member move." Reid sighed before sipping his beer. "We should make sure we see her more." He said before looking to Emily. "No date tonight?"

She scoffed as Reid asked about her lack of date. Emily did have a date lined up for the night, but the person had backed out at the last second. It didn't really bother her that much, she wasn't really into the guy in the first place. And besides, she was having a good time without a date attached to her elbow. "Sadly, I am alone tonight."

"Really? I thought you would." He shrugged and stuck one hand in his pocket before looking about

Emily smiled a little "Well it's flattering that you would think so, but no. I'm alone for tonight." She raised an eyebrow and glanced in Reid's direction, "What about you?"

"Me? No... I... Dating and I... Nah." He struggled. To be honest Reid was more than happy to go stag, plus everyone from the team was there too.

At his stammering, Emily could not help but giggle a little "Reid Reid Reid... Relax. I was asking a question." Emily looked around and saw the dance floor had already filled up pretty nicely. "Hey... Um why don't you join me for a dance?"

Spence looked at her with an uncertain stare, "Dance!" He said as if she'd suggested going a long rock climbing trek.

Emily laughed and grabbed his hand. Maybe it was the drinks that were making her act this way, but she figured why the hell not? Besides Reid needed to have fun once in a while. "Yes, dance! Come on, it'll be fun."

"Umm I'm not the best at it, but it looks easy enough." He shrugged and placed his drink down, "Why not?" Reid said feeling confident after his fifth drink of the night.

Emily tentatively pulled him towards the dance floor. "Don't worry so much about it. Just follow my lead." She said as she grabbed both his hands and tried to guide him through the music.

Reid let a low chuckle, "You lead... Something different then." He said in jest. Emily leading was a thing they all knew well. He stood with her as they moved to the music. It was a lot better than Spencer had thought, it was nice with Emily, just dancing slowly to the music.

Emily glared at Reid, but laughed a little and playfully hit his arm. "Oh? Would like to take the lead Smart Guy? Be my guest." She said as she let him take the lead. Coincidentally, the song had switched from a fast paced Katy Perry song, to a slower Bon Jovi love ballad. Emily chuckled to herself. She would never say, but this was actually one of her favourite songs. She just shut her mouth and let Reid take the lead.

Reid smiled as he indeed took the lead. Dancing wasn't one of Reid's better known talents... And definitely not his best, but he could hold his own. Spencer smiled to Emily as they danced near to their work mates, and friends. He glanced over trying to work out what was going on between them all. He found himself becoming more and more comfortable with dancing with Emily.

Emily was amazed at how well Reid was dancing. Ok, she had had better dance partners, but she had also had a whole lot of people who had been worse at dancing than her current partner. He seemed to know what he was doing and she felt comfortable dancing with him. Almost... dare she even think it... safe? But no, it was crazy and clearly the drinks she had consumed during the night were making her think this way. Emily diverted her eyes away from Reid's in order to look at Garcia and Morgan who seemed to be lost within each other. Emily could not help but just wish that they would just get together. Emily turned back to her dance partner and continued to dance slowly, small smile on her face.

Spencer was starting to get into the song and the dance now. He didn't really know the song but it was nice, fitting. He could feel the alcohol go through his system though as they danced and hoped he could keep up his standards of dancing. Reid raised an eyebrow as JJ and Hotch took to the floor too. Spencer looked at that so they could keep chatting. "JJ got Hotch to dance."

Emily's eyes moved to the new addition to the dance floor and felt her smile widen just a little bit. "You know, there isn't anything that JJ is unable to do. Wow... Getting Hotch to actually dance. Incredible." As she was dancing, she could feel a dull numbing that the alcohol was causing. The better part of Emily told her that she should probably sober up before one of the pervy older agents saw her like this. Emily looked at Reid with a smile on her face "You know. I should probably get home before the alcohol becomes too much for me." And as the song ended, Emily tried her best to walk off the dance floor without stumbling too much.

Spencer smiled and held onto her as they walked off. As unsure as the young genius was about people and life he knew a few things thanks to his work mates. "Want me to share a cab?" He asked her with a lopsided smile.

Emily offered a small, tired smile to her younger co-worker. To be honest, she would appreciate him sharing a cab with her, but she did not want to drag him away from the party because she was starting to feel a little woozy. "That's really nice of you... But you really don't have to." Emily held her head a little as she headed to the coat check area.

Spencer smiled and remembered what a drunken Rossi had told him. "I'd rather go Emily. Be a gentleman." He sniggered feeling the effects of the cold air mixing with the alcohol.

Emily had to chuckle a little as she fumbled to get her coat on. "Why do they make these coats so hard to assemble?" She mused to herself as she tried to button up. She then walked outside with Reid and waited for any kind of cab to come and pick them up. Emily soon found herself leaning onto Reid's tall lean frame and still laugh a little as he called himself a gentleman. Before she had the better sense to stop herself she said, "You're a pretty handsome gentleman."

Spencer blushed at her comment and looked at her as she leaned on him. "You are too... I mean pretty woman." He frowned at his stumbling before the cab pulled up. "Shall we?" He said and after the third attempt opened the door for her.

Emily nodded and smiled as she was lead into the cab. "Thanks, Reid... You really are a good guy." She laughed a little to herself. Was she really leaving the party with Spencer Reid? God no... That was crazy right? She laughed to herself. This was some funny dream she was having.