A/N: A massive thanks to everyone who reviewed! Here is the next chapter, I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 2

(JJ'S POV)

JJ sat at her desk, hunched over some files. To the average passer-by they would see a busy woman immersed in her work, but any of the profilers would have noticed that JJ was acting distracted. Her eyes weren't reading the words on the pages but were glazed over as she frowned in thought. The fingers of her left hand softly drummed on the table absentmindedly as she tried to block out the last night's events and concentrate on choosing the next case.

She had left Emily's not a second after pulling away, using the excuse of needing to see Henry as a viable exit. The entire time, as she'd gathered her stuff together, the confusion in Emily's eyes had not left - nevertheless, she knew they had arrived at a silent agreement to never speak of it again, and to continue on as friends. JJ knew that Emily understood she had betrayed her family, and as such neither of them would pursue the situation further when it was pointless. They'd both been in pain and in need of comfort. This wasn't a love thing.

Despite this conclusion, JJ still had a nagging feeling it was the wrong one. They'd been in pain before; had turned to each other for comfort before. What had changed?

It was a question that had not left her mind for the entire drive home, one that she'd struggled to push to the back of her mind as she'd finally arrived at her house. It was late, but of course Will had been awake to welcome her back, like usual. For the first time, JJ couldn't stand the love in his eyes as he embraced her in a hug and kissed her, when she knew full well that she had committed the worst kind of sin any wife could commit. This gentle, caring, honest man had been there for her and loved her more than anyone else in the world, and she had betrayed him by being unfaithful.

She'd pulled away quickly, stating that she was tired from work and needed to go to bed. She'd made her way to sleeping Henry's room to give him a kiss, and as she gazed down at him, she felt a mixture of overwhelming love and regret as she knew that her actions affected him too. She knew that she could have potentially ripped her entire family apart, a family that she had worked so hard to build and loved and treasured more than anything else in the world, all because of one tiny moment of weakness. Because Emily was her weakness.

JJ winced, then shook her head. There was no way that last bit was true.

Sighing, she picked up a file from the table. She hadn't been that thorough in combing through them to pick the most suitable one, her clouded mind unable to focus properly, but she supposed it didn't really matter. All the cases were bad enough. Entering the bullpen she composed herself into a neutral stance.

"New case," she said.

***
(EMILY'S POV)

Coffee is what she needed. She was on her third by the time JJ arrived to brief them for the next case, the caffeine barely keeping her awake after her restless night last night.

Emily felt terrible. Confused. Vulnerable - though she wouldn't admit it even to herself. She had gone from JJ's best friend to her destroyer. She'd known perfectly well that JJ had an idealistic family, that Will and Henry were two of JJ's greatest treasures, but she'd kissed her anyway.

From the instant their lips had met Emily had known it was over. That the only thing she could do now was compartmentalize it and move on with her life. That such a situation was forbidden to happen again - not that she'd been planning on it happening again. She and JJ would never mention it again. It would be as if it had never happened.

But Emily couldn't stop herself from wondering. Why had it happened?

More importantly, why did she feel as though she didn't want to forget?

She didn't dare look up at the media liasion as she entered in her usual graceful manner and greeted the team. She knew that if she did, she wouldn't be able to mask herself from the other agents. Much as she tried, it was too big to simply pack away into boxes. Her eyes stared at the file in front of her, the nasty images of the crimes in her direct sight, but for some reason the horror of the crimes didn't manage to detract her thoughts away from JJ.

Focus, Prentiss, she thought. It means nothing. Move on.

So spoke her conscious mind. Deep inside, she found her subconscious arguing that it didn't mean nothing; that it wouldn't be so easy to move on. That despite the reality of the situation, Emily would give anything for it to happen again.

But I don't like her like that.

It was too late for those thoughts. The seed had already been planted the night before, and now it was growing into a grim realization that nagged the back of her mind. She was missing something and couldn't place it. It wasn't until later, when they left for the airport, when Emily stood up and made to exit and her hand accidentally brushed that of the media liasion, that she figured out what the missing thing was.

It was like someone had turned on a bright light in a pitch black room: A blinding shock to the system; something that Emily had never thought twice about, but which had suddenly hit her hard like a jet of freezing cold water. And when it hit her, she found herself recoiling in fear and denial. It couldn't be true; not for her of all people, and not because of JJ of all people.

Emily Prentiss wasn't attracted to women.

No, she decided once she recovered from the shock. It wasn't true; there was just no way. What had happened with JJ had been a one-time thing, a thing she had already rationalized as being the product of two close friends in pain. It was nothing more and never would be.

***
(JJ'S POV)

They had arrived in Seattle, and JJ and Emily were set the task of speaking to the families of the victims. There were three so far - and JJ didn't hesitate to note the words 'so far' as an implication that there could be more. The victims were teenage females from Christian families. But this isn't what JJ was thinking about as they approached the first house.

Trying to act like Emily's co-worker was proving difficult when she thought back to the night before. The worst part was knowing that she knew exactly where she ought to stand, which contradicted the feeling that she didn't know where she stood at all - both with Emily, and with Will. Her mind insisted what her heart didn't care to admit - that Emily was her friend, and that she had a happy life with Will and Henry.

Now she found herself questioning that happiness as she realized the times she favoured most were always the times where it was just her and Emily.

"Amber Braxton?" said JJ as they greeted the first victim's mother. The woman nodded with a sad and puzzled look on her face. "I am SSA Jareau from the FBI and this is SSA Prentiss. We are very sorry for your loss, but we need to speak to you about your daughter, Valerie."

JJ knew that she should have been able to bear the formality of the introduction, because that was what Emily always had been, and what she always would be.

***
(EMILY'S POV)

Emily's arrival at the hotel room in Seattle came as something of a relief after a long, hard day's work. Although it hadn't been too physically draining, the emotions associated with speaking to the victims' families always hit her hard - more so than she cared to admit to the others.

What didn't help was the controversy surrounding these cases. She knew there were many factors that would be subject for debate, and many judgemental people to debate about them - sadly including her own team. Including herself. She knew it wasn't her place to form an opinion on these families but she couldn't help but ponder the parts of their lifestyle which hit close to home.

All of the families were practising Christians, same as Emily's family had been; same as she herself had been until she'd turned fifteen years old and her life had been changed by her pregnancy and abortion. Since that event, Emily was no longer certain about her religious beliefs. She'd spent a long time questioning whether God would have been disappointed with her making such a decision. However, her more reasonable side stated that God would have understood that she wasn't ready to consider the other option - the one which consisted of actually having the child.

This waver in her faith was one thing amongst many which had only served to deepen the rift between herself and her mother. Elizabeth Prentiss was a weekly Church-goer and bible-reader. She followed the Ten Commandments and repented for her sins. She didn't believe in sex before marriage, never mind pregnancy before marriage.

Mother-daughter rifts were the other things the families had in common. The daughters presented and eerie reminder of how Emily herself had been all those years ago - defiant, slightly rebellious, and determined to make her own way without the help of her parents. While the mothers imposed their faith upon their daughters, the daughters were trying anything to break free of the constraints of religion and live life the way the wanted to. Thus there had been tension between mother and daughter - one which the unsub seemed to have an issue with.

The third and final thing that the victims had in common was what Emily's mind focused on the most because it brought her attention back to what had happened with JJ last night. All of the victims were lesbians, and all were in a relationship with another girl, so as if Emily hadn't already put enough effort into forgetting the night before, now she had a case about the very thing she didn't want to consider: Her relationship with JJ.

The mothers of the victims had all admitted to not seeing eye to eye with their daughters. The first one, Amber Braxton, had stated that she was torn because she loved her daughter Valerie, but didn't see homosexuality as natural and hoped that one day Valerie would come to her senses. The second mother, Ingrid Davis, hadn't even known about Sarah's sexuality, let alone relationship, and had broken down upon hearing about it. The third, Polly Wings, had quoted a passage from Leviticus, and how homosexuality was just plain wrong.

This is why FBI agents were supposed to remain objective - because if they allowed themselves to become emotionally involved, Emily knew there would have been three more dead bodies as far as those mothers were concerned. She wasn't sure why she was so riled up about it - or maybe she was sure but wouldn't admit the reason to herself. But rather than trying to figure it out, she merely told herself that it was none of her business and proceeded to put it at the back of her mind and get ready for bed.

It was a double bed like usual, but tonight it felt too big; too spacious, even though it was exactly the same size as her own bed at home. For once she longed for something smaller, something that would take away the feeling of the need to fill up all the extra space. As she closed her eyes and allowed her thoughts to drift into a waking dream, she imagined that there might be someone there with her - the love of her life that she hadn't found yet, holding her and stroking her hair with those slim, pale hands, and kissing her with those rosy lips; lying next to her as she made love to that smooth skin and deliciously beautiful body.

She felt a wave of contentment, followed by a nagging sensation in the back of her mind as the walls of denial crept back in. Her subconscious was slowly being invaded by her conscious mind as they battled for dominance - her subconscious stating that this was what Emily really wanted; her conscious mind refusing to give into the reality. For a moment the denial seemed to dominate, but her innermost feelings were so strong that the fortress she'd constructed around her mind was beginning to burst at the seams, and finally it became so much that those feelings would no longer contain themselves - the dam broke, and everything came flooding out at once.

Her eyes snapped open and she found herself gasping in realization and confusion.

It cannot be that I'm in love with JJ.

A/N: Please R&R! Your review make my day. Any ideas/suggestions are also welcome.