"Is she really that attractive?" He questioned suspiciously. "Because I was really looking forward to watching the game at Rossi's."
JJ pouted making her sparkling blue eyes look absolutely pitiful. "Pleeaasse, Derek! She's so beautiful and I just need to know if she's interested! I just can't tell."
"That's because you have no gaydar!" Penelope kidded as she and Morgan high fived.
It was true, JJ had absolutely no perception of people's sexuality. She was able to profile any other aspect of a person successfully after so many years on the BAU, but this was the one thing she just had no insight on.
"Come Morgan! We need to deploy a mission to ascertain the disposition and intent of one Miss Emily Prentiss," Penelope pleaded, giving him matching sad eyes that JJ was still sporting. Derek finally agreed to go and they made plans to meet at the bar that evening.
JJ tore through her closet trying to find the right outfit for the occasion. She had met Emily two nights before, when she'd gone for a drink after work. The two had made small talk but JJ had gotten nervous and fled before really getting to know the mysterious brunette. She hadn't even thought to get Emily's number in her panic. All she knew was that Emily had mentioned she was going to be at the bar on Friday for karaoke night.
JJ finally settled on a little black dress, every woman's secret weapon. She drove to the bar, parking near the back of the building. She checked her appearance in the rear view mirror, applied some lipstick and headed in to meet the rest of her operation.
Derek and Penelope had already acquired a table near the end of the bar. They happily waved the blonde over as she entered. She loved that they had already ordered her a drink and she took a swig to calm her nerves.
"DAMN Jareau!" Derek exclaimed as he took JJ's hand and spun her in a circle to get the full view.
"I wasn't sure what to wear," JJ admitted, pulling at her dress uncomfortably.
"So, do you see her?" Penelope prodded as she glanced around the large space.
JJ looked around the crowd, scanning for her target. Her eyes rested on the raven haired beauty sitting alone near the door. She smiled, seeing Emily was also wearing a lethal LBD. JJ couldn't help but think Emily looked a lot better in hers.
JJ nodded toward the brunette to let her team know where their mark was sitting. Penelope and Morgan casually looked toward the older woman, attempting not to draw attention. To their surprise Emily was looking in their direction.
"Quick!" Morgan exclaimed. Receiving the signal, Penelope grabbed JJ and pulled her in for a kiss. JJ, shocked by the encounter pulled away quickly.
"What the hell, Pen!" JJ looked at her friend angrily. Penelope ignored her dismay and looked at Morgan for answers.
"I don't think she saw it," Morgan replied in defeat. "It was a good try, PG."
"No really, what the hell!" JJ looked at them both angrily. Morgan explained that if Emily saw two women kissing and smiled she was probably gay. If she had frowned or turned away, she was most likely unattainable. It was, at best, a weak plan but it had gone unnoticed leaving them still at square one.
"Okay," Penelope thought of their next plan of attack. "Jayje, think back to the night you met. What was she wearing? How was her hair? Are her nails manicured or natural?"
"What do her nails have to do with anything?" Morgan quipped. The two women giggled at his confusion and decided to leave him in the dark.
JJ frowned trying to focus on that night. She had trouble remembering since she had spent most of their encounter lost in Emily's soulful brown eyes and contagious smile.
"She was wearing a pant suit. Her hair was down, straightened. Minimal make up. And it looked like she chews her nails on a regular basis," JJ finally concluded.
"So she's some sort of professional. She cares about looking nice but not too worried about attracting attention," Morgan concluded with his inept profiling skills. "And her nails...again, why are they important?"
The women smiled and JJ simply raised two fingers, making a pumping motion. She winked at Morgan as he suddenly understood. His deep brown skin pinked a little in embarrassment.
"What's our next plan?" JJ asked while sipping her drink.
"Operation chocolate adonis, is go!" Garcia smiled widly.
"Alright, time to lay on the Derek Morgan charm," Derek smiled smugly.
"Just remember who you're going home with tonight, " Penelope reminded, twinkle in her eyes.
"Of course, you're my only baby girl," he replied genuinely. He smiled and kissed her on the cheek as he set off towards the bar.
He stopped near Emily's table and waved down the bartender. He asked what the brunette was drinking and ordered two. He paid, thanking the bartender for the intell and proceeded to Emily's table.
Penelope and JJ watched intently as Emily smiled and accepted the drink. Derek flashed his seductively perfect smile and they laughed at a joke the women couldn't hear. He shook her hand and motioned at the empty seat next to her. She said something to him and he nodded, turned and headed back to their base of operations.
JJ and Pen acted like they were deep in conversation, as to not look suspicious. Penelope watched over JJ's shoulder as Derek returned to his post.
"Well, she accepted the drink. She introduced herself but hesitated when I asked to join her," he reported. JJ smiled hopefully. He continued, "She said she was waiting fir her date." They all went silent for a minute. JJ haphazardly played with the stir stick in her empty glass. Morgan patted her arm in support. "It could be a friend, Jayje," he said trying to boost her spirits.
"Or she could have been lying!" Garcia added helpfully, thinking any woman that turned down Derek Morgan was either taken or gay.
"Yeah, I guess," JJ muttered.
Their mission was temporarily suspended as the DJ came over the microphone and opened up the karaoke queue. The three friends decided that karaoke could be the perfect tactic and devised a plan.
After a lot of convincing from her partners in crime, JJ approached the DJ and wrote her name down on a slip of paper with her chosen song. Then they waited.
Emily sat alone, seemingly enjoying the live entertainment. The time passed and she got a phone call. She stepped outside to answer and when she returned she seemed a little let down. JJ watched as Emily went to the bar and ordered another drink, indicating she would be sticking around a little longer.
After many painful rounds of drunk people singing the usual power ballads, JJ was called to the stage. She downed what was left of her third rum and coke and headed towards the microphone. Penelope brought out her phone to catch the legendary moment on camera. Derek whistled loudly in support as the music cued.
"This was never the way I planned,"JJ began with a shaky voice as everyone began to cheer her on. "Not my intention. I got so brave drink in hand, lost my discretion."
JJ looked across the bar directly at Emily and finished the lyric, " It's not what I'm used to, just wanna try you on. I'm curious for you, caught my attention.""
JJ watched hoping Emily would give some sort of sign that she understood the song was directed towards her. Unfortunately, Emily seemed to be distracted by her phone. JJ finished the rest of the song as the crowd went wild. When she stepped off the stage Penelope and Derek were laughing hysterically and patted her on the back for a job well done.
"Maybe Emily carries cherry chap stick," Derek joked. "I think you've earned yourself a round of shots, Jareau."
Trying to fend off her nervousness with alcohol, JJ accepted the offer willingly. She went to the bar with Derek to order and looked across to Emily's table, finding it empty. She felt her hope fizzle but decided to try and not let it ruin her night.
"Well, looks like she left," Penelope pointed out as the two friends arrived back at the table, drinks in hand. "I'm sorry we couldn't help you out Jayje."
"It's okay, you guys tried! And I got to make a total ass of myself in a room full of strangers!" JJ laughed, trying to hide her disappointment.
"You always talk to rooms full of strangers, that's actually your job," Derek reminded her as he threw his shot back and slammed the glass on the table.
"Okay, talking to a room of officers is a lot different than a grown woman singing Katy Perry!" JJ replied hastily, following his lead and taking her shot.
Derek laughed and began mimicking JJ's performance. Penelope joined in and JJ rolled her eyes. They were never going to let her live this down. She got tired of their antics and excused herself to the bathroom.
She pushed through the crowd and found her way to the back of the building. She was surprised to find the bathroom to be empty but took the time to give herself a little pep talk in the mirror.
"You tried, Jareau. Now chin up and go back out there and enjoy your evening with your friends," she whispered to her reflection. Suddenly a stall door opened, startling her half to death. She was overwhelmed with embarrassment that someone had been in the room and heard her little speech. She was completely mortified when she looked up and found that someone to be Emily.
"You know, you could have just asked me, " the brunette smiled softly, watching JJ blush.
"Excuse me?" JJ asked sheepishly, as she pretended to dry her hands in order to appear like she had actually been washing them instead of talking to herself.
"Jennifer, right?" Emily approached the sink, leaving only a foot between them. JJ nodded courtly, not being able to correct the mistake. No one called her Jennifer, except for her mother. Yet somehow it seemed right, rolling off the brunette's tongue. Emily smiled again and leaned in to close the distance between them. She kissed JJ on the lips gently, only lingering for a moment before pulling away.
"In case you were still wondering," Emily grinned, as she handed JJ a napkin with a phone number on it and walked out of the bathroom.
JJ stood in front of the mirror completely dumbfounded. She was well aware of the scarlet tint of her cheeks as she licked her lips finding traces of Emily. The bathroom door opened and Penelope came bounding in.
"JJ, are you okay?" she asked worriedly.
Again, JJ was at a loss for words so she simply nodded. Penelope smiled and entered one of the stalls, still talking to her friend. "Morgan is about ready to go, is that okay?"
"Yeah, I think I've had enough excitement for tonight," JJ stammered. She looked down at the napkin in her hand and grinned from ear to ear. Their attempt to be stealthy had obviously failed but in the end their overall mission turned out to still be a success.
"I'm sorry again, JJ," Derek said giving JJ a hug.
"It's okay Derek, something tells me tonight wasn't a total loss," JJ smiled back at him, keeping her secret to herself.
They said their goodbyes and JJ headed to her car. As soon as she was safely inside she pulled out her phone and typed in the number. She sat for a moment deciding what to say. She decided on a simple, Hello, beautiful.
She put the keys in the ignition and started the car. Before she could even put the car into gear her phone buzzed happily in her lap.
Who is this? the text read. JJ looked at it in disbelief. Emily had given her a fake number! As if her night hadn't been embarrassing enough, she had randomly text some stranger at 2:00 am. She cursed under her breath deciding whether or not to reply. Her phone buzzed again before she reached a verdict.
Just kidding. I'm glad you text me. - Emily
JJ sighed in relief. She set her phone aside and spent the entire ride home thinking of the prefect reply. It was only fair to make Emily wait after the joke she had pulled. JJ made it home and text back, Emily who?
Emily Prentiss, also known as the ambiguously gay woman from the bar. JJ laughed out loud and replied. They ended up texting each other back and forth until almost 4:00am, when JJ finally said goodnight. She could feel the butterflies in her stomach when she finally laid down to go to sleep. She smiled excitedly as she turned out the light and drifted off to pleasant dreams.
Monday morning rolled around a little too quickly for JJ's taste. After Friday night she had spent Saturday catching up on housework and Sunday with her parents, She didn't get a full weekend off too often but when she did they were never long enough. To add insult to injury, Hotch had called them all in early.
JJ greeted Penelope in the elevator on the way up to the BAU. Penelope handed her a cup off coffee, knowing JJ desperately needed caffeine anytime they were called in earlier than 9:00 am. JJ accepted it graciously and decided to share her good news with her best friend.
"So, I didn't tell you something about Friday night," JJ started, watching Penelope raise an eyebrow in interest.
"Oh?" Penelope asked quizzically.
"Umm, I ran into Emily...in the bathroom that night," JJ confessed quietly, as to not draw attention to their conversation. "She umm, well she kissed me."
"She what?!" Penelope exclaimed. The other people in the elevator turned to look at the two women, who were suddenly silent and very interested in their coffees.
The elevator reached their floor and Penelope pulled JJ aside to hear the full story. JJ told her about how Emily caught her talking to herself and gave JJ her phone number. Just then Derek walked up from behind them.
"Derek! You'll never believe what this sly little fox has been keeping from us!" Penelope told him.
JJ rolled her eyes and filled Derek in as well. Derek gave her a high five and replied, "Way to go! I guess SSA stands for seductive secret agent!"
JJ half walked, half skipped down the hallway. She was as giddy as a school girl and was not even trying to hide it. The team collected in the conference room and JJ went to fetch Hotch from his office. She knocked twice on the open door to announce her presence and entered without waiting for an answer. "Oh sorry..." she stated noticing Hotch had a visitor.
The brunette standing in front of Hotch's desk turned, meeting JJ's eyes. JJ froze abruptly staring back at Emily. Hotch didn't catch the awkward tension between the two women and looked at JJ waiting for her to finish her sentence.
"...we're, umm. We're about to get started," JJ stuttered as she and Emily exchanged perplexed glances.
"Thank you, I'll be right there," Hotch replied returning his attention to Emily.
JJ rushed to the conference room and pulled Derek aside frantically.
"Derek, she's here!" JJ reported. He looked at her perplexed but before she could explain Hotch and Emily entered the room. Derek realized what JJ had been trying to tell him as he stared at Emily in utter confusion.
"Everyone, this is Emily Prentiss. She has been transferred here and will be joining our team as of today," Hotch announced. He turned to the new agent and introduced her to the rest of the team.
"I feel like I already know you," she grinned as she winked at JJ and Derek.
Penelope came through the door hastily with files in one hand and coffee in the other. Her eyes met Emily's and her hand slipped, dropping her files all over the floor. She cursed as she rushed to pick them up. Emily knelt down to help, handing the papers back to the blonde. All the while, Penelope did everything in her power to avoid eye contact.
"Garcia, this is SSA Prentiss. She's joining the BAU," Hotch explained. "I want all of you to make her feel welcomed and provide her with anything she needs to get settled in."
"Can I provide her with you?" Derek murmured under his breath to JJ, who blushed instantly. JJ nudged him begrudgingly, fighting the urge to sass him back.
Emily caught the two whispering and beamed, "Thank you Agent Hotchner. I can already tell, I'm going to like it here."