Hey everyone! Thank you SO much for all the reviews and story alerts. They seriously make my day. This chapter is some back story that's necessary for stuff in the future. There's fem-slash, so if you're not a fan, you're probably not going to like this chapter. I hope everyone is still on board with this story, cause things are gonna be getting pretty interesting pretty quick! Please continue to let me know what you think!
The next morning, Emily slowly woke up and stretched the sleep out of her muscles. Reaching out, her hand was met with cold sheets and the brunette sighed. Confirming what she already had figured out, JJ was gone and most likely had been for a while. Sitting up, Emily looked around the room and saw that not only was the blonde gone, but all traces of her being there were gone also. Running a frustrated hand through her hair, the profiler got up and threw on some sweats before making her way to the kitchen for her morning cup of coffee.
As soon as Emily had reached the stairs, she could smell coffee and bacon in the air.
"Derek Morgan, I swear on my photo-shopped pictures of you that if you do not stop stealing the bacon off that plate I will make sure that your credit score lives to regret it." Garcia shrieked from the kitchen and Emily could hear the unmistaken sound of a slap.
"Garcia, it's been shown that the threat of physical violence-"
"Reid, finish that sentence and your credit score will suffer too." Garcia interrupted the doctor as Emily rounded the corner.
"Good morning guys." Emily yawned and laughed at the looks of her kitchen. "May I ask what in the fuck is going on in here?"
Garcia was standing over the stove with Emily's "Kiss the Cook" apron on, Morgan was sitting on the counter next to her, and Reid was sitting at the barstool smiling at his friends. This would seem like a nice thing to wake up to, but Emily couldn't help but lean against the wall and just stare at her normally spotless kitchen. There was flour everywhere, eggshells tossed on the counter, two large bowls of what looked like pancake mix, and all the mixings for said pancake mix spread out where ever there was clean space.
"We're making breakfast!" Reid got up and poured a cup of coffee and handed to it Emily. "It's quite entertaining to watch Garcia and Morgan try to cook together."
"I can see that." Emily took a sip of her coffee and sat down on the bar-stool next to Reid's. "It smells delicious."
"Thank you." Garcia spun around to flash Emily a bright smile.
Emily choked back a laugh. "PG, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but you have flour on your face. And by that I mean all over."
Garcia narrowed her eyes and turned to Morgan, smacking him on the arm. "You could have TOLD me that I was a walking disaster."
Morgan grabbed Garcia's hand to stop the attack on his arm. "Baby girl." He began laughing. "I would have told you, but you look too damn adorable like that."
Garcia rolled her eyes and shook her head. "You're lucky you're gorgeous."
Morgan kissed Garcia's hand and looked at Emily. "Where's JJ?"
Emily tried to ignore the pang of hurt at the mention of the missing blonde. Shrugging, Emily tried to sound nonchalant. "I don't know. I figured you guys knew."
"Did she not stay with you last night?" Garcia wondered.
Emily cleared her throat. "She did. She wasn't there when I woke up." Sighing, the brunette walked over to the stove and stole a piece of bacon. Garcia gasped and made a move to hit the profiler with her spatula. Grabbing her hand mid-air, Emily grabbed another piece and gave Garcia a big smile. "You made a mess of my kitchen, the least you can do it let me steal some bacon."
Garcia threw her hands up. "We'll never actually sit down and have a normal breakfast if you people keep eating the food as its being cooked."
"Honey, look at us. We are so far from normal, it's not even funny." Morgan chuckled and hopped off the counter. Giving Garcia a kiss on the cheek, he reached for the rest of the pancake mix. "I'll help you cook so we can eat."
After the foursome had finally sat down together and finished their breakfast, Morgan and Reid had said their goodbyes, thanking Emily for letting them not only come over the night before, but for letting them crash at her place and make a mess of her kitchen. Garcia had stayed behind to help the brunette clean the disaster zone, stating it was only fair since she had done the most damage.
"So Cupcake, you going to tell Mama Bear what's going on between you and my other favorite girl, or am I going to have to tie you to a chair and inflict torture methods on you until you open up." Garcia wondered, breaking the comfortable silence that had befallen the two friends.
"I've been tortured by terrorists and never relinquished what they wanted to hear, PG. What makes you think it would work for you?" Emily asked with an amused grin.
"Because I doubt terrorists used tickling against you. You'd be amazed how well it works."
Emily quirked a brow. "I don't even want to know." She laughed. "Really though Garcia, there's nothing to tell."
Garcia glanced at the clock and made her way over to the bar. Noticing Emily's questioning look, Garcia waved her hand dismissively. "I know it's only 10 in the morning, but that only means it is prime time for a Bloody Mary. I have a feeling it will be much needed."
"Whatever you say." Emily smiled
After Garcia finished making their drinks, the women made their way to Emily's couch. "Now that we're settled, I'm going to need details."
Emily sighed and took a sip of her drink. "Penelope, please don't take this the wrong way, but don't you normally go to JJ for things like this?"
"Honey, let's be honest. When it comes to Jayje's personal life, that woman is a closed fucking book. I figured you'd freak out less talking about it."
"What do you want to know?" Emily couldn't keep the defeat out of her voice.
"Everything." Garcia stated simply.
Emily rolled her eyes at the analyst. "How about you tell me what you already know and I'll fill in the blanks."
"Deal." Garcia sat silently for a moment while processing her thoughts. "I know that there's always been a sexual tension between the two of you. I know that you're both so emotionally closed off to relationships that neither of you probably realized the other shared the same feelings. I know JJ is with Will but keeps him around for only God knows what reason. I know you two started sleeping together around 6 months ago. And I know that you try to act like it's just about sex for a release after a hard case, but I think that you really want to be with her and keep playing her game because you want to hold onto whatever you can with her."
Emily played with the condensation on her glass as she pondered Garcia's words. "You hang out with profilers too much." She muttered. "You pretty much nailed it, so what else is there to know." She added quietly.
"How about we start at the beginning." Garcia suggested.
"Well, about 5 years ago I started at the BAU-"
"Princess," Garcia interrupted the brunette. "I didn't mean the literal beginning. I meant the beginning of your scandalous sexual affair."
Emily winced. "You make it sound so dirty." Garcia only stared at her and Emily rolled her eyes. "It was 6 months ago on a case we had in Arizona."
*Flashback*
It had been three days since the BAU had landed in Tempe, Arizona. 72 hours since they had been there, and 55 of those had been spent at crime scenes, talking to the victims families and friends, examining bodies, and sprawled out in the room they had been provided at the local precinct trying to piece together a profile.
"This is ridiculous." Morgan growled after a silence had fallen the team, all of them blankly staring at the information spread out on the table and walls in front of them.
"Morgan-"
Morgan held a hand up to interrupt Hotch. "Hotch, man, we have 5 bodies, one person missing, and nothing to go on. What the hell are we supposed to do?"
Hotch looked around at his team, the defeated look in their eyes not unnoticed, and glanced at his watch. "It's 9. Morgan's right. There's nothing else we can do tonight. We're all running on no sleep, so let's take the rest of the night off and meet back here at 7 tomorrow morning."
Everyone silently started gathering their stuff and made their way to the SUVs.
"Is anyone hungry?" Reid asked before they split up into two separate vehicles. "There's a diner in front of the hotel that I was thinking about getting some dinner at when we got back."
Everyone shared a glance and realized they hadn't eaten since lunch that afternoon. Agreeing to all get some food together before turning in for the night, they made their way to the diner Reid mentioned.
"I didn't realize how hungry I was until I looked at the menu." JJ said, her stomach growling to back up her statement.
"Right there with you." Emily chuckled at the blonde.
After placing their orders, the profilers all began their own separate conversations amongst each other, trying to relax for the first time in 3 days.
"Why do you think he's targeting single parents?" Reid asked around a mouthful of burger once the food had arrived.
Emily groaned. "Come on Reid! Can we not have a normal dinner conversation together?"
"Prentiss, I don't even remember what a normal dinner conversation consists of." Morgan laughed.
JJ chuckled and stole a fry off of Emily's plate. "Maybe he's thinking that by killing single parents he's helping the child?"
Emily smacked JJ's hand away as she went for another fry. "You didn't order fries when you could have, so why in the hell do you keep stealing mine?" She narrowed her eyes at the blonde.
"Why would I order my own when I can steal yours?" JJ popped another fry in her mouth and smiled sweetly at the older woman.
"JJ, what did you mean by 'helping the child'?" Morgan raised a brow. "That hasn't been mentioned yet."
"You're right. That's an angle we haven't looked at." Rossi said, wonderment in his voice.
JJ shrugged. "I just mean that maybe the unsub thinks that by killing the one parent, the kid will be placed in the system and have a chance to land in a home with two parents."
Hotch furrowed his brows. "Why haven't we thought of that."
"It could be because we haven't had a chance to sit down outside of the precinct or crime scenes to discuss. A new environment clears your mind enough to allow new ideas to form." Reid took a sip of his soda.
Hotch's phone began to ring and he excused himself to answer it. While he was gone, the friendly playful banter started back up among the team.
"JJ, I swear to God if you try to sneak one more fry off my plate." Emily left the threat open as she glared at her best friend.
JJ stuck her tongue out at Emily and took a giant bite of her burger. "God this is amazing." She managed to get out around her mouthful of food, though it was muffled.
"That's disgusting." Emily crinkled her nose.
Morgan lazily reached onto Emily's plate and stole a fry. "These are good fries." He dipped it in the brunette's ketchup and smiled at her.
Emily threw her hands up and leaned back in her chair. "You people are impossible."
Rossi laughed. "I feel like a parent around you kids sometimes."
"Technically, Rossi, you are old enough-"
"Finish that sentence kid, and we're going to have some problems." Rossi interrupted Reid with a threatening look.
Hotch came back to the table and gave his team a weary look. "Looks like sleep will have to wait. They found another body."
A collective sigh was heard as the team threw down some money and made their way back to the SUVs, the defeat obvious in their postures.
Two long grueling days later, the team had finally caught their unsub. In the end, the lives of 7 people had been lost, the unsub included. JJ's hunch had been spot on. The unsub was raised by a single mother who had abused him and blamed him for her husband leaving. He had grown up stealing food to feed himself, watching his mother choose everyone and everything over him, and then when she had suddenly died of a drug overdose, he had been placed in foster care. He had been placed with a loving couple that had treated him like their own and gave him everything he wanted or needed. When they were killed in a car accident the past month, he had snapped.
"It's 11 at night. There's no point in heading home right now, especially since we're all exhausted. We're going to stay another night here so that we can all get some kind of sleep before we head back to Virginia." Hotch rubbed his hand over his face, not even trying to hide his exhaustion now that the case was over. "We'll meet tomorrow morning at 9."
Once the team had gotten back to the hotel, they had all gone their separate ways. Emily noticed JJ answer her phone as she was walking to her room, the frustration evident on the blonde's face.
"No Will, I'm not going to fucking make it back home tonight. It's fucking 11 at night here, and we haven't slept in days." JJ barked into her phone as she tried to insert the key-card in the door. "Fucking shit." She growled as the key-card fell out of her hand. "Look Will, I'll be home sometime tomorrow. It's not my fault that my job requires me to leave at a moment's notice. I'm tired of fighting about this. If you're going to come visit me, you have to realize this is going to happen." Pinching the bridge of her nose and leaning her forehead against the door, she started lightly banging her head against it. "Will, I'm exhausted, and all I care about right now is sleep. I'm not doing this." She ended the call, bent down to pick up her key, and finally managed to let herself into her room.
The door slamming made Emily wince, and she let herself into her own room. Throwing some sweats on, the brunette grabbed a couple bottles of liquor from the mini-fridge and made her way down the hallway. Knocking on the door, Emily rocked back and forth on her heels as she waited.
"What?" JJ snapped as she opened the door. "Oh, Em. Hey." She bit her bottom lip. "Sorry."
Emily offered JJ a smile. "It's ok. Can I come in?" She held up the mini bottles of liquor. "I was thinking between what was in my mini-fridge and what's in yours, we could get a nice little buzz to help us sleep."
JJ chuckled. "Sounds perfect." She walked back into her room and Emily followed her, shutting the door behind her. Emily couldn't help but look appreciatively at JJ's ass as she was bent over grabbing the liquor in her own fridge. "If we drink all this, we might get more than just a 'nice little buzz'." The blonde stated thoughtfully.
Emily snapped out of her trance and shrugged. "All I know is I need something to take the edge off. And judging from what I heard in the hallway, you probably could too." Emily made her way over to JJ's bed and sat down. "Want to talk about it?"
JJ made a face and plopped down next to Emily. "Maybe after this." She twisted the top off of a bottle of whiskey and held it up. "To finally catching the motherfucker that has prevented us from sleep for 5 days."
Emily followed JJ's lead and clinked her bottle against JJ's. "I'll drink to that."
After downing the bottle in one gulp, both women made a face as it burned their throats. "Ew." JJ scrunched her nose and made a disgusted face. "I hate whiskey." Leaning back so that she was propped against the headboard, she sighed. "Will came into town on a 'surprise trip' and realized that I was gone. Now he's pissed that I'm not coming back until tomorrow."
"Is he an idiot?" Emily wondered aloud.
"What?" JJ raised a brow at the profiler.
"I mean, he knows what our job entails. It's not rare that we leave at a moments notice to fly across the county. Why would he try to surprise you without making sure if you were in town or not?"
JJ shrugged. "I have no idea." Grabbing another bottle, she downed it. "I understand that he wants to be 'romantic' and shit, but sometimes he drives me crazy."
"Can I be honest?"
"Go for it." JJ waved her hand.
"Why are you with him?" Emily saw JJ tense up and she placed a hand on her arm. "I don't mean that in a bad way. It just seems like you've been frustrated with him a lot lately."
JJ shrugged. "Can we not talk about this. I know I'm going to have to deal with him tomorrow, and I really just want to try to unwind tonight."
Emily smiled. "Of course."
The two women continued to drink while they talked about lighthearted things. Laughing and joking, they both began to feel like their normal selves.
"You were amazing on this case." Emily suddenly said, bringing the reality of what they had been through the past few days back to light. "You nailed it."
JJ sighed. "I'm glad that we caught him, but I wish we could have figured it out earlier."
"That's how I feel on a lot of the cases that we lose another victim while we're trying to figure it out."
"Me too." JJ agreed quietly. Picking at the label on her last bottle, she glanced at the brunette. "You ever just feel so numb after a case like this?"
Emily nodded. "Yeah. It doesn't help when we don't get enough sleep to function properly."
JJ ran a hand through her hair. "True, but that's not what I mean." She scooted closer to the brunette and averted her eyes. "I mean do you ever feel like no one gets it? That no one else can understand that numbness and relate to the empty feeling you get when you're having to hunt down these monsters. Looking at the destruction that they leave in their wake. Trying to comfort the victim's families through the hardest time in their life."
Emily adjusted so that she was facing the blonde. "What are you getting at JJ?"
"We get inside these people's heads. To hunt them, we have to think like them. We have to reach into the darkness just to figure out their next move." Blue eyes looked up to meet brown. "Cases like this, I feel like I lose a piece of my humanity. I feel like I am one step closer to being one of them." Pausing, JJ bit her lip. "I don't want to feel like that anymore."
"Jayje, I know that this case was tough-"
"Make me feel something else." JJ interrupted.
"What do you-"
JJ turned to Emily and placed her hand on the back of her neck, crashing their lips together. Not waiting for a response from the brunette, JJ pushed her tongue into Emily's mouth and kissed her desperately. It only took a second for Emily to process what was happening, and she immediately returned the kiss. Tongues battled for dominance as the women moaned into each others mouths, hands pulling at hair, hands pulling each other closer. JJ moved to straddle Emily, breaking the kiss to bite the older woman's neck. Yanking Emily's hair to tilt her head to give her better access, the blonde ground herself into the brunette's lap.
"JJ." Emily breathed out. "JJ, stop." Pushing the younger woman so that they could look at each other, they both tried to catch their breath. "What are you doing?"
JJ scoffed. "I thought that was pretty clear."
"This can't happen." Emily stated bluntly.
JJ moved her hips to create friction between them, pulling a moan from Emily. "Can we not think about anything but right now. About forgetting. About living in this moment."
Emily searched JJ's eyes and felt herself get even more aroused at the lust and passion directed at her in the darkened blue orbs. Not bothering to respond with words, she pulled JJ's head to hers and kissed her again.
With clothes ripped and strewn about the room, with the blankets and sheets kicked onto the floor, with the mattress twisted on the box spring, with the scratch and bite marks on both their bodies, the two women laid in a heap of tangled limbs holding each other close as they tried to catch their breath. No other words were spoken that night as they both fell into a dreamless sleep.
*End Flashback*
Garcia stared at Emily as she finished her story. "Wow. That's…" She paused trying to find the right words. "Hot."
Emily rolled her eyes. "It helped. That's the first time after a hard case I didn't have nightmares about it."
"Is that how this kept happening? To feel something?"
Emily nodded. "Yes."
Garcia whistled. "When did feelings get involved for you?"
Emily shook her head. "No way. That's enough story telling for today." Glancing at her watch, Emily sighed. "I need to go have lunch with the Ambassador."
"That's no fun." Garcia pouted.
"There's really not much to say, Garcia. If I'm honest with myself, I've had feelings for JJ since I met her."
"If you want my opinion, keep telling her how you feel. I think in the back of her mind she knows that it's not just about sex anymore either."
Emily went wide-eyed. "Garcia, please tell me you didn't hear us last night."
Garcia smirked devilishly. "Honey, I'm all knowing." She winked.
Emily groaned as Garcia started cracking up. "Sometimes I really hate you." Emily shook a finger at the grinning woman.
"I love you too, Cupcake!"
Let me know what you thought! : )