Hey guys, me again...don't get so excited about a new update, and PLEASE don't think I'm going to update so soon. I had two study periods during school today, so I was able to get this written, and just type it up at home. I'll update when I can, I promise :)
CBS owns Criminal Minds, my mind owns an image of a Thomas Gibson tummy roll...I should REALLY ask if we can swap...
Jennifer Jareau was rarely worried or flustered, but today was a rare exception. She had her bag, had kissed Henry and Will goodbye, and was on her way to the airport. But it didn't feel right to be driving herself to it, to not have Emily in the seat beside her. JJ couldn't pretend that she knew why Emily had left, but had two theories. The first was the most plausible, that her mother had told her that if she didn't settle down she'd reveal secrets about Emily. The fact that the team knew all this didn't matter, Emily was embarrassed and upset whenever her life before joining the BAU was brought up. The second, scarier idea was that Emily had told Hotch her feelings, and they weren't reciprocated. It didn't matter that Emily was gorgeous, and that everyone on the team except Hotch knew how they both felt.
JJ parked the car, and fell into step with Spencer.
"JJ...did you actually know nothing? This isn't typical Emily behaviour. She generally just pushes herself further and further until she's better than anyone. Why did she break now?"
"If I knew that, Reid, I'd be on my way to wherever she is now. I don't even know where she is." As JJ spoke, her cell phone vibrated, and she answered it, without looking at the display.
"Jareau."
"JJ, it's me. I can't stay long, I'm on a payphone. I did what I think is right. But I'm not coming back."
"Emily, where are you? What happened? Are you safe?"
"JJ, you're a smart women, have you not figured it out?"
"I have two theories. Either your mother told you to leave, or you told him."
Emily laughed, but it was bitter, sarcastic.
"It was a bit of both, but mostly number two. I told Hotch that I love him, and he told me not to be stupid, did I need a transfer."
"So you left?"
"I made a fool of myself, what do you expect? Mom was putting pressure on me to leave the bureau anyway. She got exactly what she wanted. I'll just have to deal."
At that moment, the jet's engines started, and Emily hung up as soon as she heard them.
"Shit!" JJ exclaimed, redialing the payphone, but there was no answer.
"That was her, wasn't it? Did she say why?" Spencer may have had a genius IQ, as well as his three PhD's, but when it came to emotions, he was stunted as a twelve year old child.
JJ was caught between a rock and a hard place. Should she tell Spencer the truth, and risk him telling the rest of the team, or should she say that Emily left because of her mother?
"Her mom's been pressuring Em to do something she doesn't want to do, so she's been forced to leave. Reid, I don't want to think about it, ok?" Reid looked upset, but left it at that.
JJ and Spencer were the last to get on the plane, and both were slightly suprised to find Garcia on board, surrounded by her cases of computer equipment. JJ sat down beside her, needing her friend to just be there, right now. They sat next to each other throughout the briefing, and were both surprised when Hotch ended up stopping talking about twenty minutes before they were due to land in Orlando. Garcia stood up, and pulled JJ off to the end of the plane, in the little kitchenette. Garcia put the coffee pot on, and then spun around to JJ.
"Kitten, spill. You were talking to Emily, weren't you?" She looked through JJ with such a stare that JJ thought she would be hurt if she didn't do anything.
"Garcia...she told Hotch in Wyoming." JJ's voice broke as she thought about the woman who was her best friend being hurt like that by a man she both respected and hated at this moment in time.
"What? But...no. She would have told us, right? I mean, we're her best friends. There's no way she would have told us, she nearly yelled at us when we told her to tell Hotch how she feels."
"I know, but she wouldn't have said anything to us when she said it. What was she like on the plane back from Wyoming? Was she upset or anything?"
"She was kind of quiet, but I didn't notice too much. I was too busy coping on trying not to let Hotch notice me too much. He was pissed on that flig-" JJ cut herself off, realising what she hadn't noticed...and they were supposed to be behavioural analysts. Emily was quiet, Hotch was pissed, and the only person who didn't get a berating was Emily.
"Please tell me that you've realised exactly when it happened. Please, for the love of whatever, tell me you know when it happened."
"Two days ago...Emily was shot at, but she was fine. Hotch called her into the office that had been designated for him, and she came out looking shaky, but wouldn't tell me anything. I let it go, she'd been through a hard day and I thought that she was just breaking down thanks to it."
JJ took the coffee cup that Garcia offered her, and took a gulp of the steaming hot liquid. As she was drinking, Morgan poked his head around the curtain separating the kitchenette and the rest of the plane.
"Baby Girl, Hot Mama, we're landing in a few minutes. We've got to sit down and buckle up, you know the drill."
The two women went and sat down, and as soon as they were able to get off the plane, they were off and into the terminal. They'd had to fly into the main airport in Orlando, which was packed full. Walking through the internal flights terminal, the crowd parted when they saw the group of people, moving confidently through the crowds and looking around almost all-knowingly. At least, until JJ stopped, after seeing a face she knew.
"EMILY!" She yelled. Emily Prentiss turned her head, saw who'd called, and ran.
