Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OCs.
We call that person who has lost his father, an orphan; and a widower that man who has lost his wife. But that man who has known the immense unhappiness of losing a friend, by what name do we call him? Here every language is silent and holds its peace in impotence. -Joseph Roux
"Welcome to Steve's." Jemma Cavanaugh greeted two men in her most chipper voice. "Dining room or lounge?"
"Lounge please." one of the men replied. He was dark skinned and extremely buff. He looked to be in his thirties, Jemma guessed.
The first man was the complete opposite of his friend, tall, lanky and slightly awkward looking. His shirt, tie and sweater vest did not match eachother in the slightest. His long, messy brown hair and deep brown eyes were kind of cute though, Jemma had to admit.
She lead them upstairs to the lounge and sat them at a booth and handed them menus.
"Can I get you anything to drink?" Jemma asked.
"Yeah, I'll have a coffee please." the geeky one asked.
"Alright, anything for you?" Jemma asked the other man.
"Water's fine."
Jemma went to pour the men's drinks, wondering why they had asked to sit in the lounge if they were not drinking alcohol. She observed them secretly from behind the counter, trying to catch a bit of their conversation.
"So, the unsub is most likely a sociopath." the tall brunette man said. "He showed absolutely no remorse."
"I know, but could we give it a rest, kid?" the black man asked, sounding rather annoyed. "I'd like to be able to eat without the images of that crime scene running through my head."
"Sorry." the other mumbled, clearly he lacked several basic social skills.
Wait- had they been talking about a crime scene? A particularly nasty crime scene? Jemma felt her heart stop beating for a moment, several tears sprang to her eyes. Her best friend Amelia and her entire had been murdered in their home two nights ago. These guys definitely were not the Morrow Springs PD though, Jemma had known Phil, Bobby and Tim, the only three cops in town all her life and she never would have served them as cordially as she was treating these men, not even if the old bastards were good tippers.
Jemma returned to the table with their drinks and took their orders.
"I'll have the hamburger steak, please." the buff guy said.
Jemma shook her head. "Oh, no you won't. That's garbage, I refuse to let you eat it."
"Alright, what do you suggest then?"
"Well, we catch our trout in Morrow Brook, which is actually more like a river, but they didn't want to confuse it with the Moreau River in Italy, so they called it Morrow Brook. Anyway, it's delicious and a helluva lot cheaper than in the city." Jemma said. "Georgia makes a mean club sandwich too."
"Two clubs it is then."
"Alright," Jemma smiled and jotted down the order on her notepad. "I'll be right back with those."
She disappeared down the stairs and into the kitchen where she gave Georgia, the rough looking middle aged cook the order. She hurried back up the stairs and joined her co-worker, Shawna behind the bar.
"Hey, Shawn, do you recognize those guys at table four?" Jemma whispered.
Shawna rolled her dark eyes. "We live in a town with a population of less than a thousand people. I'm sure I would remember if one of them looked that smokin' hot." She nodded toward the dark, handsome man.
Jemma let out a small laugh. Shawna had been called a lesbian all through high school for never dating, but the truth was, Shawna did not like white men. Maybe it was just to piss off her strict father, but nearly every weekend, Shawna drove to the city, with or without her friends and used her fake ID to go clubbing with what she claimed to be "Beautiful, sophisticated, classy men." instead of going mudding or to pit parties with the "Toothless, white bread imbeciles" who inhabited Morrow Springs.
"I think they're talking about Amelia." Jemma whispered.
Shawna looked away from the men and back at her tall, red-haired friend. "Really, what are they saying?"
"Well, all I heard was that the crime scene was enough to make someone lose their appetite." Jemma confided.
"Well, the funeral's closed casket, makes sense." Shawna reasoned.
Jemma began to tear up again. "I can't believe this. Who would do this to the Sawyers? They were such good people. They didn't deserve this."
Shawna simply shook her head. "I don't know, Jem, but don't cry about it now or Steve will send you home."
Their boss, Steve was known to be rather insensitive toward his employees and Jemma could not risk losing her job. She had to pay for college somehow.
"What do these guys have to do with the investigation though?" Jemma asked.
Shawna shrugged. "Ask them. You do have a right to know anyway, you were her best friend and they've got no living family."
Jemma nodded. The men's food appeared on the dumbwaiter and Jemma took it on a tray to their table. She set it down and told them to enjoy. She began to walk away, but then turned back to them.
"I'm sorry for eavesdropping," she said, getting kind of flustered. "But were you guys talking about the Sawyers' murders?"
The two men exchanged a glance. The awkward man let his more socially confident friend take the question.
"Yes, we were." he said. "The local police called us in to help with the investigation."
"So, what are you guys, the FBI?" Jemma laughed.
"Yes, actually we work for the FBI's BAU," the nerdy man said. "Which stands for Behaviour Analysis Unit. It was originally called-"
"I don't think she asked for a lecture, kid." the other man stopped him.
Jemma smiled politely. "Well, if I had more time, I would love to listen to the history of the Behaviour Analysis Unit. I miss lectures since school got out. Unfortunately though, I have a funeral to be at once my shift is over."
"You knew the Sawyers?" the geek asked.
Jemma nodded. "I was best friends with Amelia since I was three."
"We're sorry for your loss, ma'am." the hunk apologized.
"My name's Jemma, not ma'am." Jemma said.
"I'm Agent Morgan and this is Dr. Reid."
"It's nice to meet you guys, I just wish it could have been under better circumstances."
"It's uh.. it's nice to meet you too, Jemma," Dr. Reid stammered. "I mean, Mrs- I mean Miss..."
Jemma smiled. "It's Cavanaugh, but just call me Jem."
"It's nice to meet you, Jem." Dr. Reid said.
"Well, I've got work to do and I should let you boys enjoy your meal." Jemma said and walked away.
"It's nice to meet you, Jem." Agent Morgan teased Dr. Reid when he was sure that Jemma was out of ear-shot.
"Shut up, Morgan!" Dr. Reid blushed.
"Reid likes the waitress!" Morgan teased some more.
"No, I don't! Well, yes, I do, she's a nice girl, but I don't like like her!"
"Sure, kid, sure."
"Morgan, we're investigating her best friend's murder!"
Morgan shrugged. "So that means you can't get some?"
"Get some? She doesn't even look old enough for me to be thinking that."
"Are you thinking that?" Morgan asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No, you're thinking that." Dr. Reid said. "You're always thinking that."
Morgan grinned. "Well, you've got me there. You should show her one of your magic tricks though."
They finished their meal in silence and Jemma approached them a few moments later to give them their bills.
"Oh, wait!" she said, taking the bills back. "I forgot to add my discount on there."
"You don't need to-" Morgan attempted to say.
"Yes, yes I do need to." Jemma said. "You guys are going to catch the guy who killed my friends. It's not nearly thanks enough."
Jemma reached into the pocket of her apron for a pen, but was shocked at what she found instead. She pulled a purple lily from her pocket and stared at the two FBI agents in amazement.
"That's amazing!" she exclaimed, looking at Morgan. "How did you do that?"
Morgan shook his head and pointed at Reid.
"A good magician never reveals his secrets." Reid said.
Jemma blushed. "Well, thank you Magic Man, but how did you know purple lilies are my favourite?"
"Well, your perfume smells like lilies and your shoelaces, fingernails and necklace are purple." Reid said.
"And that's how you knew? Who even notices those things?" Jemma asked.
"We do." Reid replied. "It's our job to notice things and profile people. It's how we plan to catch your friend's killer."
"Well that's quite impressive." Jemma said, handing Reid and Morgan their bills. "I guess I'll be seeing you two again soon since this is the only restaurant in town. Let me know when you've got anything on this scuzzbag, OK?"
"Alright. See ya, Jemma." Morgan said.
"Goodbye, Jem."
"Bye boys." Jemma said, retreating behind the bar to talk to Shawna.
"Do you think she liked my magic trick?" Reid whispered to Morgan.
Morgan laughed. "Of course she did, kid. Look, she even did some magic of her own."
A puzzled look came across Reid's face. He looked where Morgan was pointing. Jemma Cavanaugh had written her phone number on Reid's bill.
A/N: Thank you for reading! Let me know if I should continue or not. Oh, if you were looking for my sequel to Threshold and were confused by this, that is because this is not the sequel to Threshold, it's a totally different story, inspired by a horrible nightmare I had last night and a part of my daily life, walking home from work in the dark. The sequel to Threshold is called The Truly Natural Things (or just Things as I am calling it)
Speaking of horrible nightmares, this story will get really frightening, despite the fluffy start. I will rate it T for now, but it will definitely change to M later. That is a promise. Not because of any kinky Reid/Jemma stuff, but for actual things that would give young'uns nightmares (i.e.; murder, rape, etc.).
Also, this is going to be a bit like a case-fic, just extended a little bit after the case (maybe more than a little bit, I have yet to plan that far ahead, I'd like to see how this goes first.) However, this case-fic-ish thing is going to be kind of like the episodes that focus mainly on the unsub with very little team involvement, except it will be victim focus instead of unsub.
Anyway, thank you for taking the time to read, please don't forget to review!