A/N: This is my submission for the CCOAC Mix and Match Challenge. Characters were JJ/Emily and prompts were; San Francisco, taxi cab, long-forgotten photograph, warm bath. Enjoy and happy CM Day!
It had been a long couple of days. The team had just gotten back from a case in Texas involving a married couple that were drowning babies. It had taken them only a few days to catch up to their Unsubs but the emotional toll it left would take longer to fade away.
Strauss had been nice enough to allow them a couple days off and Emily had intended to make full use of that time. During her drive home all that she could think of was digging into the take out that was in the passenger seat beside her.
After she'd mowed down her egg rolls, fried rice and kung pao chicken she decided it was time to relax and then call it an early night. And after a week like she'd had there was only one way she could think of to relax.
Sitting in the warm bath, head back she enjoyed the scent of the bubbles she'd added and the faint sound of the music floating in from the living room. She could feel all her muscles relaxing and her mind beginning to wonder off to thoughts of happy times that is until she was abruptly pulled back to reality by the ringing of her cell phone on the floor beside her.
"Prentiss" she answered trying not to sound annoyed.
"Emily, its Will."
"Will, is everything ok?" She asked not only because she could hear tension in his voice but because he didn't usually call her. It's not that she wouldn't consider the two of them friends, because she did, it was just that her and Will didn't have that kind of friendship.
"Uh, I'm not sure. JJ's upset 'bout somethin' and was wonderin' if you could come by and talk to her." Will said in his slow southern drawl.
"Yeah of course." Emily answered without hesitation. "I'm on my way now."
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"Hey Will." Emily gave the man a small smile as she stood at the front door to his and JJ's home.
"Emily, thanks for comin'." He said moving aside to allow her entrance into the home.
"Of course it's not a problem, but I don't really understand what's going on. Is JJ alright?" She asked concern filling her voice.
"Yeah, I guess. I dunno." He motioned for her to take a seat on the couch. "Her Mama called last week, said she was cleaning up the house and wanted to send JJ some old keep sakes, photographs that kind of thing." Emily sat down and listened to Will's story still unsure what was going on. "Sandy sent the box out last week and it was here waitin' for her when she got home today. "
"Ok, so why does she want to see me?" Emily asked still not confident she understood what was going on. Why would a box of old photos and nic-nak's from JJ's past have her blonde friend asking to see her right away.
"Dunno," Will said shaking his head he was just as lost as Emily. "Was hopin' you could tell me."
"No. Not yet." Emily said looking toward the stairs. "She upstairs?"
"In our room." Will said motioning for Emily to proceed when she was ready.
As Emily made her way up the stairs she could see the door to the master bedroom was open and that her friend sat quietly on the far edge looking at something in her hand. "JJ?" Emily said softly as she trapped her knuckles gently against the door frame.
Getting no response from the younger Agent Emily moved further into the room and for the first time getting a good look at her friends face. Though she couldn't pin point the mixture of emotions that played across JJ's face she knew two things for sure. JJ had been crying and her body language said she was angry. "JJ?" She tried again.
JJ stood quickly dropping her hand to her side. She wasn't ready for Emily to see what she held just yet. "Have you ever been to San Francisco?" She asked her eyes staring directly into Emily's.
"Uh, yeah a couple times," Emily stumbled over her words unprepared for the question. "Not recently though. What's going on?"
"When?" JJ asked, her voice void of emotion but stern.
"Uh…" She looked to the ceiling trying to think. "8, maybe 9 years ago."
"And before that?"
"I don't really remember probably in my late teens." She answered and watched JJ's face for a reaction. When she didn't receive one she continued. "JJ?" she asked concerned about her friends behaviour. "JJ, do you want to tell me what this is about?" She tried again moving closer to the petit woman.
"Why didn't you tell me you knew her?" JJ asked this time her voice cracked slightly and tears began to form in her deep blue eyes.
"Knew who?" Emily asked feeling as though she has missed part of the conversation.
"Annie!" JJ said in a tone that suggested the answer should have been obvious to the brunette profiler.
"JJ I don't know…" Emily started but was cut off by the old photograph JJ had thrust in her face. Reaching out slowly Emily took the photo studying more closely as she slowly lowered herself to the bed where JJ had been sitting only mainutes ago. "Marie." Emily whispered to herself forgetting she wasn't alone.
"What?" JJ asked standing with her arms crossed.
"Where'd you get this?" Emily asked. If she had been confused before, she was utterly lost now. When she had arrived she couldn't figure out why JJ's box of photos and keep sakes had upset her friend. Now that she really wanted to know was why JJ had a picture of a much younger Emily and Marie, the girl that had changed her life.
"It's mine." JJ said furrowing her brow and snatching the old photo from Emily's fingers. "That's my sister." She said taking a couple of steps away and turning her back on Emily. Releasing an audible sigh she corrected her earlier statement; "Was my sister. Anne Marie Jareau."
"I…" Emily started but then stopped when she wasn't sure what to say any more. She'd known JJ's older sister had committed suicide when JJ was 11, she'd even known that her name had been Annie. But the girl in the phone with Emily was Marie not Annie.
"How did you know her?" JJ turned to face her friend tears now sliding freely down her rosy cheeks.
"I didn't." She paused. "Not really." She patted the bed beside her waiting for JJ to sit down before she continued her story. "I took a year off school. My mother was pushing me into politics but I knew that wasn't for me even if I wasn't sure what I wanted to do." Emily smiled slightly at the thought. "I was… 19 at the time. I thought San Francisco would be the perfect place to start my art career."
JJ had been listening intently up until the last part. "Art career?"
"Yeah," Emily laughed a little. "I was going to be an artist. I met Marie at a coffee shop that summer. She was a waitress there. We hung out a few times. That's was it."
"What do you mean that was it?" JJ questioned assuming there was more to the story.
"I never saw her again. I went back to the coffee shop the owner said she hadn't showed up for her shift for the last 3 days."
"But you said she changed your life." JJ said, it was now her turn to be confused.
"That's right." Emily said nodding in agreement as a crooked smile formed on her face. "May I?" She asked reaching for the photo in the blonde's hand. JJ blinked and handed the photo over.
"The day this was taken," Emily began her eyes never leaving the picture. "We spent the day together hanging out, chatting, ogling boys at the beach…" she gave a small laugh at that point. "Just being young and having fun. But later that day just before we went our separate ways for the night she told me something that I'll never forget."
"What?" JJ asked tears forming in her eyes once again.
"Life will take you where you need to go, you just need to be ready for it when you get there. For the first time I thought about what I wanted to do with my life. I mean really thought about it. And that was the night I decided I wanted to be an FBI Agent."
The two sat in silence of quite sometime after Emily had told her story before JJ finally broke the calm. "That was the summer she…" JJ said so quiet that had Emily not already known what she was saying she would have missed it.
"JJ," Emily was about to say she was sorry, to attempt to offer her friend some comfort but instead she wrapped her arms around her younger friend and allowed her to release her tears and the emotions she'd been holding in.
After what had seemed like only minutes but in reality had been more than a half an hour JJ pulled away from the brunette and offered a small smile as reassurance that she was ok. "Come on." JJ said as she stood placing the photo on the dresser and fixing her makeup in the mirror.
"Where?"
"Let's call Garcia and grab a cab and head down to Ralph's." JJ turned to see the look on Emily's face and couldn't help but crack her own smile. "What?"
"I'm not sure that's a good idea."
"Why not?"
"Hello, do you not remember what happened on our last girls' night out?" Emily said worriedly.
"No." JJ smiled. "And neither do you!" she barely got out before laugher over took both girls.
THE END