The air is a little crisper than she expected for the time of year, but it's not crisp enough to forego the black dress. After all, she can't wear the red one a second time.
She has a choice of shopping with Garcia or joining JJ on the coffee run. Is it even a choice, she muses, as she swipes JJ's hand away where it is poised to pay.
"Don't, JJ" she warns, but it is lighthearted, more lighthearted than she has been for weeks. Because she's a new woman, so far removed for the one who, just 8 hours ago, was crying in the BAU bathrooms like it was junior year and Rosie Watts had made fun of her pointy nose again. JJ rolls her eyes, but it's with affection.
"I'll get the next one" she says more sternly, and Emily hopes the next one will be later tonight.
As they drift back towards the shopping strip, Emily is acutely aware of how different the world is when JJ is beside her. The DC lights, which she's no stranger to, shine a little brighter than usual, the sounds of backed-up traffic don't bother her the same way they usually do. She's smiling for no reason because the night seems to hold some promise - even if promise is just a movie with friends.
Emily's not even mad when JJ brings up Rawson. Although, she cringes when JJ calls him hot. She doesn't want to speak to Rawson, and even less does she want JJ to think she wants to speak to Rawson. She makes up some bullshit about their work schedules to change the subject, but instantly regrets it.
"Will and I make it work"
Emily's heart pangs. There it is again; that anger. Irrational and un-Emily like. She has to shake it off when she sees Garcia struggling towards them under the weight of boutique bags.
When JJ gets the text, Emily's spirits lift a little. A weekend on a case means a weekend with JJ. Emily realises how pathetic that sounds. There's no denying that she's more excited about going to work than seeing a movie.
"Maybe I should get a cat"
It's almost six and they're descending into Anchorage.
Emily should be concentrating on the brief, but JJ is sitting diagonally across from her with the most adorable, sleepy eyes, and she can't breathe. For all the time they spend at work, all the late nights that turn into graveyard shifts, JJ is always so well put together. Emily doesn't want to pass up the rare treat that is a JJ with bed hair, baby blues squinting against morning light.
She hasn't had much sleep herself. She could almost blame having to sleep upright, except she has spent a good few hours watching nothing but JJ's shoulders rise and fall in the dark next to her, pretending to be asleep when she stirred. She's not a good sleeper anyway, her subconscious isn't kind to her, and the last thing she had wanted was for JJ to think any more of her as the fragile woman she'd seen in the hospital. If she had woken JJ with a nightmare, the chances of her being able to refuse the comfort that JJ would undoubtedly offer was slim.
She thinks, later on as the seaplane skims the surface of the water and she sees nothing but snow capped Alaskan mountains, that if it wasn't for the three dead bodies waiting for them, this could be a romantic weekend away.
"Em, it's cold" JJ is already into her flannelettes and pulling a throw off the couch to wrap herself in before Emily can even get the fire going. She can't believe her luck. Four rooms. Three double beds. Rossi and Hotch had taken the twin singles.
"It'll warm up soon, Jayje" she murmurs, pushing around the kindling, trying to act like there was nothing different - that that tiny double bed didn't have a giant ditch the size of both their bodies right in the middle. The fire comes to life, JJ climbs into bed and opens the file, and Emily disappears into the bathroom
"Why did he stab her with an arrow? Like a harpoon - it does seem like he's a hunter. Why not shoot her though? Why..." the sound of JJ's voice is replaced by water on tiles as Emily climbs into the shower.
Oh god, that's good. The late night that had turned into an early morning washes from Emily's aching neck. She leans against the steaming tiles and closes her eyes, reminding herself not to slip up, telling herself that this whole crazy, beautiful dream of sharing a bed with JJ would end just as quickly as it had begun.
When she emerges from the bathroom, clad in her own version of pyjamas (boy shorts and a Nationals jersey she stole from an old boyfriend), her breath catches. JJ is asleep. Not like on the plane, where she tossed and turned and tried to crack her back at regular intervals; JJ is properly asleep, and Emily can see nothing but a cold nose poking out from under a tuft of blonde hair. The file has slipped from her hands onto the floor.
"Oh, Jayje" she can't stop herself as she creeps over to pick up the folder. Emily's heart is swelling with something that feels horribly, terribly like love and for the second night in a row she tries not to sleep for fear of missing something as pure as JJ with her walls down.
At first she thinks the scream has come from the tiny blonde next to her.
"Will? Em? EMILY?" Emily has drifted off during the night, but when JJ calls out, she startles awake. Acutely aware that she is warmer than she should be, Emily realises that JJ is no longer on the other side of the bed. Instead she is pressed up against Emily's side, nails digging into bare forearms. Emily's first fleeting thought, as she breathes to still her pounding heart, is that JJ's action is nothing more than a subconscious response to the sub-zero temperatures. Her second, less-fleeting thought is that JJ has confused her with Will, after all, it wasn't Emily that she'd called for first. Either way, heart clenching with jealousy or not, Emily's instinct is the same: protect her.
"JJ, honey hey. It's... " She finds her gun and the light switch at the same time, clears the room mechanically and then throws open the ensuite "It's okay, you're okay"
"Em'ly, come back. I heard..." there's distress in JJ's tone because Emily has disappeared around the bathroom door. As she's checking the shower cubicle, JJ calls to her again
"Em, where are you? Please, I heard..." Emily reappears and there's visible relief.
"What did you hear, Jayje?"
"There was a scream... I..."
Just when Emily is about to tell her she's had a nightmare and she should stop reading case files right before bed, the next scream pierces the freezing Alaskan air. By now Emily's awake enough to discern two things: it's outside and it's not JJ, it's Garcia.
"Fuck. JJ, stay here, Jayje honey. Do not leave this room, okay? Emily is already searching for her jeans under a pile of discarded clothes. One boot on and she's moving towards the door, two boots on by the time she's down the hallway and she breaks into a run.
JJ hasn't stayed in the room but Emily can't be too mad because she's holding two steaming mugs. Of course, she looks immaculate and ready to work - grey sweater, black jeans, brushed hair - but Emily can't forget - doesn't want to forget - the image of JJ sitting up in bed trying to anchor herself to Emily's voice.
"Hey, thank you" She accepts the coffee gratefully and sinks down in front of the fire. JJ curls up next to her and Emily wonders if she even remembers, if she's even aware, of her overt display of vulnerability. She wonders if JJ realises how ready Emily was to hold her for the rest of the night. Emily knows too well that she'll get lost in her head if she keeps thinking, and so she speaks without turning away from the fire;
"How's Pen?"
"She wants to be alone. But she'll be okay" JJ's gentle voice warms her more than the coffee or the fire ever could. She doesn't want the simplicity in this moment to end. It's comfortable, and Emily is so rarely comfortable.
"Em, I thought it was you. The scream" JJ's next words make her look up. Flames are dancing off flushed cheeks. JJ looks so young and there's a shyness in her eyes. Emily has to look away first.
"S'okay. I thought it was you" Emily gives a half-laugh, even though trivialising the situation is the last thing she wants to do. JJ doesn't answer and so Emily takes a too big swig of coffee that scalds her throat and forces her into silence. She wishes it was scotch. The fire snaps and Rossi's muffled voice addressing Hotch drifts in from the landing. JJ downs her mug and rises.
"Emily. Thank you"
Emily wants to ask her what for. She wants to say that it's no problem. But JJ is gone by the time she looks up.