Walking into the BAU with a garment bag swung over her shoulder and two coffees in her hand, Emily barely made it to her desk before JJ was walking down the steps of her office and making her way over to the profiler.
Smirking to herself, Emily set down her own coffee and extended the other out towards the approaching blonde. "Coffee?" She asked, already knowing that it would be a resounding yes.
"Thanks," JJ responded appreciatively, taking an eager sip of the caffeinated beverage. When she was done savoring the taste, she turned her blue eyes towards Emily, a playful smile on her face, "Where'd you disappear to this morning? I got up and you were already gone." The question was said casually but Emily didn't need to be a profiler to see or hear the curiosity that tinged the words.
Emily did her best to keep her features schooled, only a mischievous smirk on display as she leaned against her desk. "I had to run a few errands and I didn't think you'd want to give up any of your precious sleep to get up and do them with me," the profiler teased, having been on the receiving end of a sleepless and grumpy Jennifer Jareau more times than she'd like to count. If JJ without her coffee was downright scary then JJ running on only a few hours of sleep or getting her sleep interrupted was only a slightly less frightening. Either way, the blonde was not someone who enjoyed having her coffee or sleep messed with so there was no way Emily was going to risk her livelihood by waking the media liaison any earlier than necessary.
"I would have gone with," JJ stated earnestly, looking like she was torn between being hurt that Emily hadn't brought her with and pleased that the profiler had been thoughtful enough to give her a few extra hours of sleep.
Emily chose not to dwell on the hurt look in JJ's eyes, knowing that it would have been a very different story if she had actually woken her. "Jen, the last time I woke you up before the alarm went off, you growled at me, said a few curse words that I hadn't even heard of and then gave me double my usual case load for the entire week." She looked at the blonde in amusement, remembering very clearly how long it had taken her to finish her work, not to mention the dirty looks she had received throughout the day in question.
"I wasn't that bad," JJ said quickly, thinking Emily was exaggerating the events a bit. Sure, she remembered being a little ticked off that she had been woken hours earlier than necessary and okay, she might have given Emily the evil eye throughout the day, but it wasn't like she stabbed her or anything. She just liked her sleep and Emily should have known better than to wake her for no good reason. "And you kind of deserved it since you woke me up for no reason," she added after a second, voicing her last thought aloud.
"I didn't do it on purpose," Emily defended, her arms crossing dramatically over her chest as she stared challengingly at the blonde. "I tripped over the mess in your guest room so it's your own fault." And 'mess' was a gross understatement of what that room looked like. It had taken Emily nearly ten minutes to make her way through the 'organized clutter' to the bed and even then, she was pretty sure she would have needed an exploration team to come in and find her the next morning.
"It's not that bad." JJ shook her head in disapproval, wondering why no one else understood that she navigated the organized chaos just fine. She had a system and it worked wonderfully for her, but it seemed that no matter how many times she tried to convince the others of that, they just looked at her like she was crazy. "You're just a klutz."
Emily's eyes widened at the accusation, her mouth dropping open slightly as she stared at the other woman, clearly affronted. "I am not a klutz." She denied fiercely, acting as though JJ had called her something much worse than simply being clumsy. "I'll have you know that I've been told I have a grace unlike any other," she responded haughtily, not even bothering to hide her slightly arrogant attitude.
Looking at the smug look on Emily's face, JJ couldn't help but laugh at her, trying to imagine a scenario where that compliment didn't sound corny. Unfortunately for Emily, she couldn't come up with one and that only served to make her laugh harder.
Wiping a tear from the corner of her eye, the media liaison let her laughter die down as she gingerly pat the other woman's shoulder, her tone mocking and sarcastic, "I'm sure they're right, your grace is just astounding."
Emily fought to keep the smile from her face at the comment combined with the dry tone accompanying it, choosing instead to narrow her eyes at the other woman, "You didn't seem to be complaining when we were dancing a few nights ago," she said lightly, easily brushing off JJ's hand and turning her attention towards the garment bag that lay forgotten on her chair.
Without waiting for a rebuttal from the blonde, she slung the bag over her shoulder again and made her way up to the media liaison's office.
Just remembering that night caused JJ's cheeks to turn pink, her eyes widening slightly and her stomach flip-flopping as she remembered exactly just how graceful Emily's moves had been. If she hadn't been a momentary state of delirium, JJ would have been annoyed and a little pissed that Emily could so easily reduce her to a sputtering and blushing mess with just a few simple words.
Sure, she had reduced Emily to a stuttering fool the day before with nothing more than a kiss, but with Emily, it seemed like it was an effortless action on her part. JJ supposed it was part of the elusive Prentiss charm that made profiler so swoon worthy at times.
Standing there, trying to reign in the traitorous blush that seemed to be spreading from her cheeks, to her ears and down her neck, she barely registered that Emily had returned and was now without the garment bag she had been holding just moments ago.
"Get your mind stuck in the gutter again, Jennifer?" Emily practically purred, the delight in seeing JJ come undone made startlingly clear as she grinned widely at the other woman.
JJ shook her head, shaking the lustful thoughts and memories from her mind, "My mind is never in the gutter," she stubbornly denied.
Emily's thumb stroked over her still heated cheek, a confident smile etched onto her face as she did so, finding it endlessly humorous and fun to rile the blonde up. For someone who seemed to be a free spirit most of the time, Emily was finding JJ to be increasingly adorable the way she blushed so easily and became flustered over what the profiler would consider to be fairly innocent remarks.
Making sure her eyes were smoldering and her voice huskier than usual, Emily's thumb swiped over the flushed cheek one last time before her smile transformed into its previous cocky grin, "That's a shame Jen," she muttered in disappointment, the gleeful and downright impish look flitting across her face completely contradicting her words, "because lately, my mind has been spending quite a bit of time in the gutter."
The false comment wouldn't have been nearly as rewarding had she not witnessed the tiniest of flutters from JJ's eyes or the way those crystal clear ocean blue eyes seemed to darken about five shades, that wasn't even mentioning the way her breath hitched and her grip on her coffee tightened just a fraction.
Honestly, Emily wasn't even sure JJ was trying anymore. Either the blonde was incredibly susceptible to her wiles or the profiler had more of an influence than she had originally thought, but either way, it didn't bode well for JJ.
Messing with her was just too much fun.
"You wh-what?" JJ stammered, her eyes wide in disbelief as she tried to discern whether or not she had heard the other woman correctly or not.
Emily brought her coffee to her lips and tried to use the object to hide her small chuckles, unable to completely hide her humor at the situation and flabbergasted media liaison. "I'm just kidding Jen," Emily teased before taking a sip of her drink.
The profiler waited until the blonde's shoulders relaxed and she let out a slow exhale of relief and just as JJ went to take a sip of her own coffee, Emily made a show of tilting her head in thought and quickly added, "My mind has always been in the gutter where you're concerned." The words fell from her lips rather easily, her brown eyes sparkling with mirth and appetency.
JJ, not expecting that comment and especially not expecting the look that was being directed towards her, quickly swallowed the coffee that she had just sipped, immediately falling into a coughing fit as the liquid went down the wrong pipe.
As she coughed and tried to regain her breath, Emily's hand found its way to her back and gave gentle pats in an attempts to clear her airways. "You okay?" The profiler asked as soon as the coughing had stopped, all signs of humor and, what JJ had briefly believed to be desire, gone from her brown eyes and replaced with nothing but genuine concern.
"Thanks," JJ croaked, "I'm fine."
Nodding slowly, Emily decided enough fun at JJ's expense had been had and quickly took a step back, giving the other woman some much needed space.
While it was fun to mess with JJ and throw a few innuendos towards her, it was best not to push too much or too hard, especially since it was clear JJ was still acclimating to things. That's not to say the media liaison hadn't been comfortable with a few displays of affection or attempting the odd kiss or two, but Emily could tell she was still just a bit skittish and figured it was best not to push her luck.
It was that little remainder of hesitancy that made her want to have their date this soon into the bet; she had hoped that if she got JJ to see how easy things were when they weren't really trying and just went with the flow of things, then the last vestiges of hesitancy would just fall away.
"So, I've got a stack of case files to do so I'll talk to you later," Emily said quickly, her smile easy and relaxed as she looked at the ruffled blonde.
"Uh, right— I'll just head up to my office," JJ responded, unnecessarily hiking her thumb towards her office before abruptly turning around and walking away.
Emily didn't offer a response, opting instead to focus her attention on her work, wanting to have it all finished by the time the day was over.
JJ walked towards her office on wobbly knees, finding herself becoming more and more affected by Emily's words and tone. It was odd to be fine with their banter and flirtatious jibes one second and then the next she was left feeling like a pining and lovesick teenager. One look from Emily, one genuine smile or even a laugh that brightened her dark brown eyes and suddenly her heart was beating in her chest faster than a hummingbird could flap its wings, her stomach flip-flopped and her whole body felt like it was lighter than air.
It was equal parts embarrassing and joyous to know that someone could illicit that kind of reaction from her, especially since it had been so long since she had felt that way. But she had agreed to go with the flow of things and since the feelings Emily evoked in her weren't a bad thing — just the opposite, actually — the blonde figured she would just stop thinking about it and let herself experience the refreshing emotions and sensations that occurred.
Of course that didn't mean that she wouldn't continue to blush in embarrassment or get riled up when Emily made a particularly bold comment, but that just meant she needed to step up her own game and make Emily just a nervous and anxious as the profiler made her feel. It seemed only fair.
As the day wore on, JJ seemed to keep herself holed up in her office, leaving Emily to field the many questions and inquiries about their budding relationship. It seemed Morgan and Garcia were growing more and more curious and Emily wasn't sure whether to find their nosiness entertaining or just plain sad.
It continued to give the profiler pause, wondering why the other couple wasn't more involved in their own relationship. Shouldn't they have been more focused on one another rather than her and JJ, especially considering they were still in the bet too?
"Shouldn't you guys be planning your own date instead of trying to suss out mine?" Emily asked after what had to be the fifteen question from Penelope. "And don't you have work to do? How is it that you can spend nearly eighty percent of your day by our desks and still get your work done on time?" The profiler added as an afterthought, staring curiously at the tech analyst who seemed to have absolutely nothing better to do.
"I work with computers all day, Sweetie," Garcia said slowly, as though she were talking to a child who couldn't quite grasp the concept of technology, "which means I can make a program that will do my work for me."
"You mean there's a program that can do all of this paperwork for me and you haven't told me about it sooner?" Morgan griped, tossing his pen dramatically onto his desk and directing his full attention towards his bubbly girlfriend.
"No, I didn't say that," Penelope responded quickly, "I said there was a program that could do my work, not yours. Profiling is too complex and has too many nuances for a computer program to accurately provide a profile." Then, as an afterthought, she pinched Morgan's cheek and smiled widely at him, "That's best left to the professionals."
"You know it Babygirl," Morgan responded cockily, clearly never growing tired of having his ego stroked or the endless string of compliments Garcia threw at him.
Emily couldn't help but be thankful she didn't end up with Penelope for this bet; not only was it hard to imagine being in a relationship with someone that carefree but she could only imagine the many ways Penelope could manipulate a person without them ever even knowing.
The thought alone made her shiver in fear.
"So, back to the topic at hand, what do you and our beautiful media liaison have planned for your big date tonight?" Garcia asked nosily, leaning forward from where she sat perched upon Derek's desk, leaning in as though she were about to hear one of the juiciest secrets.
"How did you even find out about that?" Emily asked, half her attention on Garcia and the other half focused on the case file before her.
"Please," Garcia responded breezily, as though the prospect of her getting information was as easy as breathing — which was technically true. The number of things Garcia could find on a person was both frightening and astounding.
Emily lifted her gaze from her work and simply raised her eyebrow in challenge before a small laugh tumbled from her lips and her attention was once again refocused on her work. "JJ told you," she stated more than asked, already knowing there were nothing those two didn't talk about or share.
"Yup," Penelope responded giddily, starting to bounce in excitement at getting details on their impending outing. "So, tell me what you have planned."
Emily didn't look at the other woman, her hand continued to scribble down notes as she mulled over the thought of divulging the details of their quickly approaching date. The profiler finished that particular case file, dropped her pen loudly on the desk and swiveled dramatically in her chair and faced the excited tech analyst. "Well…"
Penelope leaned forward just a fraction more, Derek also starting to lean closer. "Yeah?" Garcia asked with unrestrained interest, her eyes wide and her hands gripping the sides of the desk tightly in anticipation.
Emily made a show of looking around to check if JJ was around, a wide smile blossoming on her face as she scooted closer to the duo and tried to build the dramatic suspense she was creating. Slowly, she moved closer to Penelope and made to whisper in her ear, which Garcia quickly caught on to and leant her ear to the other woman.
"I'm not going to tell you, Penelope," the raven haired woman whispered before quickly pulling away, scooting back to her desk and opening up another case file.
"What'd she say?" Morgan asked, unaware of what Emily had whispered in Penelope's ear. "Is it something good? It's probably dinner at a fancy restaurant, right?"
Penelope huffed, not liking that she was out of the loop for once; she hated being out of the loop. "No," she said hastily to the man beside her, the furrow to her eyebrows a clear indicator that no more questions she be asked.
"And I wouldn't take JJ to a fancy restaurant for my one date," Emily added as she scrawled down her notes, only a little peeved that Morgan would expect such a blasé date idea.
"So I take it no dinner and a movie either?" Morgan asked cheekily, purposely taunting the other woman but also inconspicuously eliminating the possible dates Emily might have in store.
"Nope," Emily responded blandly, easily catching on to what Morgan was doing but not bothered enough to comment on it or call him on it.
"Are you going for romantic or fun?" Penelope asked, figuring she would ask as many questions as possible and take it from there.
"Wouldn't you like to know," Emily teased, finding it oddly entertaining how invested they were in this inquisition. "Why don't you go ask JJ if you're so interested."
Penelope, already having tried that, grumbled in frustration, tempted to throw her hands into the air in annoyance at her lack of progress. "Because I already did, and guess what? She had no idea where you're taking her or what you have planned!"
"Because it's a surprise," Emily said pointblank, taking a moment to stare at the bubbly blonde beside her, "and you have a tendency to gossip and spill secrets. So to keep my hard work from being ruined, I'm not telling you a single detail."
Garcia opened her mouth to say otherwise but Emily cut her off, "Maybe you should stop focusing on my date and worry about your own. Per the rules, each couple is required to have two dates and I'm thinking you and Morgan haven't even had one yet."
"She's got a point, Babygirl," Morgan said after a moment, looking at the other woman thoughtfully. "We can't win if we don't go out at least twice."
"Wait, you two really haven't been on a date yet?" Emily asked incredulously, having been taking a shot in the dark with her previous comment. With all the things Penelope insisted on telling her about their sex life, Emily had figured they had been on at least one date.
"Why would you think we had?" Morgan questioned, not quite sure why it was so surprising that him and Penelope hadn't been on an official date yet.
Emily shrugged casually, glancing slyly at the tech analyst before redirecting her gaze towards her fellow profiler. "I just figured with all the sex stories Penelope had tried to tell me about you two that you guys had at least gone on one date since the bet started. Granted, we're only on day five of the bet, but still."
Morgan's eyes widened, his shocked face turning towards his partner in crime and girlfriend, "You told her what?"
"What's the problem?" Garcia asked, oblivious to what the big deal was. "Did you not want me to tell her how flexible you are or how handy those muscles of yours come in?"
It was like watching a puppet master pulling the strings, watching Penelope twist the conversation this way and that. And it wasn't surprising to see Morgan's surprise quickly morph into pride as he smiled widely, his white teeth on full display as his leaned back smugly in his chair. "I am quite the Casanova," he preened, once again flexing his muscles.
"He is," Penelope nodded in agreement, her hand winding around his large bicep.
"You two are ridiculous," Emily said in disbelief, her head shaking slowly as her final bit of work was finished. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a date to get ready for."
With that, she grabbed her stack of files and paperwork and made her way towards JJ's office.
As she stood outside the media liaison's door, her knuckles rapped lightly on the wood, her smile confident and her happiness evident as she waited.
After only a few seconds the door swung open and JJ stood there with a surprised but pleased smile on her face as she registered who her visitor was. "Hey, Em, what's up?"
"I finished my files," the profiler commented casually, brushing past the blonde and depositing the stack of folders onto the desk. "And I needed to give you something before I left."
JJ stood staring at the other woman, a little shocked to see Emily's work done before the last minute, "You're leaving?"
Emily nodded, her back still turned to the other woman as she made her way to the door on the far side of the office. "Yeah, I have to go run a last minute errand and change," she threw over her shoulder as she rummaged around in the small closet within the office.
Just as JJ was about to ask another question, Emily emerged from the closet with the garment bag from earlier, an anxious look in her eyes as she approached JJ and handed it over. "I picked this up for you since you probably won't have much time to get home and get changed. Shoes are in the closet too."
JJ had no response, her tongue effectively tied as she stared blankly down at the black bag in her arms.
Emily glanced down at her watch, her smile falling just a smidge as she saw the time, "So, I've got to get going, otherwise — well, I just better get going." She placed a chaste kiss on JJ's cheek and made her way towards the door, "I'll be back at seven to come pick you up." The profiler stated, her eyes wandering over JJ's form as she tried to form a mental image of the blonde in the garment she had picked out, "but if you want to leave and go home to get ready instead, I'm taking a cab so your car will still be here."
"Do you think you'll be done by seven?" Emily asked as an afterthought, knowing that JJ tended to work late often didn't leave the office until well after nine.
JJ glanced at the stack of paperwork on her desk and then back to the bag in her hand, "Even if I'm not, it can wait until tomorrow," she said softly, feeling more than a little excited at the prospect of their date. She had a feeling it wasn't going to be anything close to what she had expected.
"Okay," Emily said happily, clapping her hands together as she offered the blonde one last smile, "see you at seven."
With that, the profiler left the office and made her way towards her next destination, hoping her idea for their first date didn't fail miserably.
As JJ watched her go, she slowly made her way towards the door and closed it before hanging the garment bag on the hook that rested on the door. Slowly, she pulled the zipper down and gazed in wonder at the blue dress that seemed to match her eyes perfectly.
Her fingers trembled slightly as they caressed the soft fabric, her smile growing wider as she gazed appreciatively at the fabric.
"Only two more hours," JJ murmured to herself as she zipped the bag back up, wanting those two hours to be over and done with so she could see what Emily had planned. She was also more than a little interested in what Emily was going to be wearing, because ifher own dress looked this good, she could only imagine what Emily's looked like.
Standing in the elevator with her hands nervously gliding over her red strapless dress, Emily couldn't seem to quell her nerves.
She had been on more dates than she could count and while some of them had made her feel butterflies in her stomach at no point had she ever felt like she did then. Her fingers refused to stop shaking, her stomach churned from the force of her anxiety, her heart refused to beat at a slow and normal pace, opting instead to pound rapidly and forcefully — all-in-all, she felt like a teenager again who was going on her very first date.
It was infuriating to say the least, but at the same time, completely freeing.
"You can do this, Emily," she whispered to herself, watching as the numbers glowed and indicated that she was getting closer and closer to the BAU floor. "You've been on plenty of dates before and this is nothing new."
The numbers continued to glow, the elevator moving upward past each floor, "Except you've never been on a date with another woman let alone your best friend, but whatever, those are just details. You can do this." She repeated again, her hands once again smoothing out the wrinkle free fabric before running through her curled hair.
With a sudden jerk, the elevator came to a stop and slowly the doors opened. Grabbing her things from the floor, Emily took a deep breath and strolled out of the elevator and towards JJ's office, ignoring the eyes on her and pointedly ignoring the obnoxious catcalls and whistling from Morgan.
Just as she reached JJ's office, the door swung open and there stood JJ in the dress she had given to her earlier.
The image left the profiler breathless and like someone had just knocked the air from her lungs and jabbed her heart with a syringe full of adrenaline.
"You look—" Emily's head shook, the word to describe just how fantastic the blonde looked suddenly escaping her, "wow," she finally muttered.
The blue dress simple in design, with only one blue strap of fabric extending from the bust and wrapped loosely around her left shoulder, the bottom coming just above the middle of her tanned thighs, and the fabric clinging perfectly to her slim and fit figure. But what made the dress that much better, what made it knock all coherent thoughts from Emily's head was the way it perfectly matched JJ's blue eyes and made them seem all that much brighter and deeper.
It had taken her more time than she'd like to admit to find that dress, but the moment she saw it, she knew it was perfect for JJ.
JJ, for her part, was left just as speechless as Emily was. The red dress that Emily wore was the perfect shade, making the pale and porcelain skin seem that much more vibrant; it showcased the amazing figure that was sometimes eclipsed by the outfits the profiler wore for work and it especially showed off what were some of Emily's best assets
"You look amazing," JJ breathed, her eyes continuing to roam over Emily's figure.
"Thanks," Emily said hoarsely before thrusting her hand out and offering the bouquet of flowers she had picked up earlier.
"These are gorgeous, Em," JJ said in wonder, staring at the assortment of bright flowers, most of which seemed to be more exotic than the usual arrangement sold.
Emily shrugged the compliment off, still finding her eyes glued to JJ's form, "I figured you might like something to liven up your office."
"They most certainly will," the media liaison said quietly, dropping the flowers into an empty vase and placing them on the corner of her desk.
After the flowers were safely on the desk and JJ had grabbed her purse, Emily moved to the door and held it open, "You ready?"
JJ nodded nervously, her smile wide and unrestrained as she let her emotions run rampant. "Definitely."
"Then let's get going," Emily said exuberantly, waiting until JJ was out the door before falling in step beside her and intertwining their fingers.
The car ride was fairly silent, only the sound of the soft music playing and the passing noises around them providing background noise. It wasn't awkward or tense, both women preferring to let the calm atmosphere and anticipation build as they made their way towards their destination.
As the car rolled to a stop and Emily parked it, JJ took the moment to glance around and try to figure out where they were and what they would be doing.
The street was primarily filled with abandoned warehouses and buildings, most of the street lights turned off or broken. It was the dim lighting and empty streets that made it seem more nefarious than JJ supposed it was meant to be; it was only Emily's presence that kept her from re-buckling her seatbelt and trying to get them to go somewhere safer and preferably more populated.
Emily knew the area didn't look all that great but it was good enough for what she needed so it would have to suffice; had she had more time to plan and didn't need to work around the unpredictable schedule of their jobs, the profiler was confident that her dinner idea would have been much better, but she was satisfied with what she had managed.
Romance wasn't something she excelled at but hopefully she could muster up enough of it to at least make the date memorable for JJ.
"Don't worry, we're not staying out here," Emily offered reassuringly as she opened the car door for JJ.
"And where exactly are we going?" The blonde asked as she slid out of her seat, automatically slipping her hand into Emily's as the car door closed and they made their way across the street and towards one of the empty warehouse buildings.
The profiler chuckled, her small smile widening as a look of fondness flitted across her face, "We are going to a place that I used to visit all the time when Mother and I used to come to D.C."
When JJ gave a skeptical sideways glance towards the profiler, Emily gave their joined hands a squeeze, "Trust me, you're going to love it."
Slowly, the two made their way into the empty building, Emily easily navigating through the maze of hallways and leading them towards what appeared to be a freight elevator.
As they stepped inside, Emily tugged the gates closed and pressed the button for the highest floor before stepping back against the wall and waiting for the elevator to begin its ascent.
While Emily seemed completely at ease in the questionably old compartment, JJ wasn't quite so relaxed. The elevator creaked and moaned as it moved from floor to floor, the floor of the box looking as though it were about to break with the lightest of touches, the gears sounding as though they were straining with every inch they gained in height. JJ wouldn't say it out loud, but she feared for her life as they made the torturously slow journey to the top floor.
Then, without warning, the elevator jerked to a stop, the small box rocking slightly from the force, before the doors slid open. Emily wasted no time pulling the gates apart and leading the blonde out, tugging her down the narrow hallway, up a small flight of stairs and up to a large red metal door.
"You ready?" Emily asked, her grin growing as her left hand rested lightly on the metal bar handle across the door.
Taking a steadying breath, JJ nodded resolutely, her own smile growing as it matched Emily's. "Absolutely."
With nothing else to say and no reason to continue to build up the moment, Emily pushed down on the handlebar and nudged the door open, revealing the wide open roof of the building.
The space was dark, only the faint light from full moon shining above them provided a vague outline of the area. "Wait right here," Emily muttered before pulling her hand from JJ's and disappearing from sight.
JJ's eyes followed Emily's shadowed figure until she was indistinguishable from the eerie shadows cast from the objects on the rooftop. When she redirected her focus towards the open area before her, a loud clinking echoed in the quiet space before the sound of metal clanking together sounded and then the entire area was illuminated.
Strung from the poles that stood in each corner of the rooftop, bright white twinkling lights stretched, adding an ambiance to the deserted area that JJ hadn't thought was achievable just moments before.
The way they shimmered in the otherwise dark area, JJ could almost believe that Emily had reached out and pulled a handful of stars from the night sky towards them and scattered them above the building.
"That's nothing," Emily's voice spoke up suddenly, causing JJ to jump in surprise. "Sorry," the profiler muttered quietly before grabbing onto the media liaison's hand again and gently pulling her further onto the rooftop.
Directly in the center of the building's roof, just under the blanket of twinkling lights, stood a rectangular table with a crisp white table cloth atop it, a pair of plates, silverware and glasses neatly arranged on either side.
"I had a ton of ideas for dates," Emily explained as she pulled out one of the seats for the blonde, "from a nice restaurant with rave reviews to a football game with great seats." Once JJ was seated, Emily once again disappeared before bringing out a bottle of wine and a covered platter of food. "At one point I was seriously considering going all out and chartering a private jet, but none of them seemed right."
JJ sat there and listened to the other woman, watching as she uncorked the bottle of wine and poured it into both of their glasses, a smile tugging at her lips as she witnessed a side of Emily that rarely ever surfaced.
"I get that this is just a bet and it's supposed to be fun and simple," the raven haired woman started to say, her head shaking in disbelief at the words that were tumbling unbidden from her lips. She had never been one to rely heavily on her emotions and because of that, she often found it incredibly hard to express them but it didn't feel right to not say what was on her mind at the moment. It was hard as hell to put her thoughts and feelings into words but she figured that JJ at least deserved that much from her date.
With her hand raking roughly through her hair, Emily placed her hands on the table and attempted to calm herself down and sort through her thoughts.
"I just figured that if we were going to do this right, then you deserved a date with a little substance." Her shoulders bobbed helplessly, "We see some of the most unforgettable things and see people's worst on a regular basis and I just thought that—" her lips pursed for a second, her eyes narrowing in thought, "we, especially you, deserved something lighthearted and, I don't know," Emily floundered as she tried to pick the right word, "thoughtful."
"It's great, Em," JJ responded immediately, her hand stretching across the table as it covered the profiler's. "This is beautiful," she whispered in awe, not only talking about the location but the thought that Emily had clearly put into it.
The blonde had been on a lot of dates and while a good handful of them had been pretty great, none of them had ever come close to involving this much thought or intimacy.
"If you don't mind me asking, why'd you pick this building? I'm sure there are plenty of other viable rooftops in D.C." JJ asked, nothing but sincere and genuine curiosity in her voice.
Emily's eyes skittered down towards their hands, not wanting to look at the blonde as she admitted to why she had chosen this place for their first date let alone its significance in her own life.
With her cheeks blushing ever so slightly, Emily bit down on her lower lip and contemplated her answer. It was going to sound incredibly cheesy and something that would probably be said in a romantic comedy, but she didn't exactly have another reason and no matter how embarrassing it was to admit, she figured she might as well.
"I don't know if it's because of how I viewed dating when I was younger or because I wanted this date to stand apart from all the others but I wanted it to mean something more than just a place where we ate," she mumbled, speaking loud enough to be heard but not louder than strictly necessary. She felt ridiculous and exposed for her reasoning behind picking this place but it was true. She didn't want to take JJ to some place that a hundred other people had gone just because a paper or critic deemed the food above par, she wanted it to at least have some heart in it.
"I completely understand," JJ said after a moment, her hand still covering Emily's, as she stared at the other woman with a mixture of interest and adoration. "A first date, especially between two people who basically know all there is to know about one another, should have some kind of meaning behind it. Anything else would have just felt like an empty gesture."
Emily nodded enthusiastically, glad she wasn't coming across as odd for her views on their first official date. "Exactly," she said immediately, her eyes lighting up as she watched the woman across from her.
JJ smiled at that, taking a moment to wonder if Garcia hadn't been right from the beginning. Maybe her and Emily were more compatible than Emily and Morgan, or Emily and anyone else for that matter. Granted, some friendships between two people — regardless of gender or orientation — were so tight knit that both people were in tuned with the other and could read one another's thoughts quite easily. It had been that way for JJ and Emily after all; both women gradually coming together through the shared difficulties of their job or the sheer need to decompress with someone who understood what the other was going through.
What started as a few small talks and comforting gestures evolved into deeper conversations until the awkwardness and boundaries faded to the background and they found themselves spending most of their free time around one another.
So it made sense, on at least that level, that JJ would be able to grasp what Emily had just been trying to say. But that didn't explain why everything, including their few intimate acts, seemed to be comfortable as well.
Kissing a friend was never an easy thing and it often went one of three ways; the two either realized that there was more between them after their fateful kiss and decided to pursue a relationship that ended up being the best decision they could have made. The second outcome was that the two would kiss and try to make a relationship work only to realize that they weren't nearly as romantically compatible as they had originally thought and any attempts at reverting back to a platonic friendship were quickly scrapped because of the baggage now residing between them. And finally, the third outcome was that after the kiss the two realized there was nothing between them and slowly but surely they reverted back to their close friendship, already cognizant of the fact that, while they were technically compatible on most if not all aspects of their life, romantically, they just weren't going to work.
But when JJ and Emily kissed, the blonde knew option three was a viable option, especially with the way Emily seemed to push past the most awkward of exchanges simply by brushing the whole thing off and pretending it never happened.
Option one and two, however, were the more likely outcomes. There was definitely something between them when they kissed, there was an underlying chemistry that had nothing to do with being close friends. But she could only guess whether pursuing something more would be beneficial or detrimental.
And with their jobs on the line, it made things even more complicated.
So JJ wasn't quite sure what she should be hoping for from their time together as a couple, but while it was happening she would take full advantage of it and try to figure out which outcome they were destined for.
Worst case scenario, at the end of the two weeks they called it quits, dealt with a few awkward weeks and then got back on track. Best case scenario, she ended up with a girlfriend and a shot at a relationship she had honestly never seen coming.
"Are you hungry?" Emily asked suddenly, shaking the blonde from her inner ramblings.
"Starving," JJ responded, "I don't think I even ate anything today." Her brow furrowed in thought as she tried to remember whether she had eaten anything or had worked straight through lunch.
"You can't remember whether or not you ate?" Emily asked in amusement, the corner of her lip curling upwards as she tried to fight the eye roll that always surfaced when JJ was particularly, well, JJ-ish.
"I'm sure you've worked through lunch and forgotten to eat before, too," JJ said pointedly, her expression challenging as she dared the other woman to say otherwise.
"No, you're right about that, I've worked through lunch more times than I can count," Emily agreed. "But I've never forgotten altogether whether or not I've eaten anything that day. That's just a Jennifer Jareau kind of thing."
"A Jennifer Jareau kind of thing?" JJ questioned, staring expectantly at the other woman for an explanation. "Do I even want to know how many more of these things there are?"
Laughing to herself, Emily shook her head, "It's just things that only you do. They're Jennifer Jareau things." The profiler offered as an explanation, not quite sure how else to explain it. "I'm sure there are things you've identified as Emily Prentiss kind of things too."
Thinking on it for a moment, the blonde reluctantly nodded. There were a handful of things that she had seen Emily do that no one else did and if they did do it, it was nowhere near as elegant or noteworthy as the way Emily had done it. "Okay, I see your point."
Emily's pleased expression quickly morphed into one of curiosity, "I would ask what you've deemed as 'Emily kind of things' but I get the feeling you won't tell me."
"And you would be right about that," the blonde stated positively, a coy smile accentuating her remark.
Pressing her lips together to stifle her smirk, Emily slowly bobbed her head up and down, "I'll get it out of you eventually, JJ." Her confidence was clear as day as she leaned forward and smiled mischievously at the other woman, "There are plenty of Emily things that you have yet to experience, and once you do, you'll be like putty in my hands," she said throatily, a slight edge of promise to her words as she stared right into JJ's eyes.
"But until then, I'll just have to use my cooking skills to convince you," Emily said after a beat, lifting the metal cover off of the glazed lamb and vegetables she had cooked. It wasn't nearly as hot as it had been when she had first brought it out but it was still warm and that would have to do for the moment. Had they not gotten lost in conversation and banter, they would have started eating long before it had started to cool.
"A romantic setting and a home cooked meal," JJ said in appreciation and pleasant surprise, "if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were really trying to woo me, Emily."
The profiler didn't comment right away, opting instead to cut a piece of lamb and serve it onto the blonde's plate before doing the same for herself. "Please, Jennifer," she said teasingly, "this is far from my best attempt at wooing. But don't worry, you'll know when you've been wooed, of that I have no doubt."
And JJ didn't doubt that either, especially since it obviously didn't take much action on Emily's part to have JJ swooning like a giddy schoolgirl. Honestly, Emily could end the date with this dinner and JJ would be in high spirits over its success.
But that didn't mean she wasn't anxious to see what else the profiler had in store for them.
About an hour and half into their date, after they had eaten their fill and had fallen back into comfortably and easygoing conversation, Emily's eyes started to move skyward more and more frequently.
"Are you expecting company from another planet or something?" JJ asked after what had to have been the twentieth glance towards the sky, her voice laced in pure amusement.
"No, I'm not waiting for aliens," Emily drawled sarcastically, her eyes rolling before she once again looked up. "Just shush and wait here a sec," the profiler said before walking towards the place she had gone when they had first arrived.
With a loud clang, the lights around them shut off and they were once again blanketed in darkness. However, this time, the area was completely pitch black, the light from the moon completely eclipsed by one of the few clouds in the night sky.
It was startling to see the stars that littered the darkened sky, the bright lights of the city usually eclipsing most if not all of them. Now that it had gotten darker out and the area Emily had taken her to no longer had any lights on, she could make out each and every star.
"I didn't even know D.C. had stars anymore," JJ whispered jokingly, her eyes still focused on the stars above her as she tried to make out some of the few constellations she knew.
Emily sidled up beside her, pulling the blonde from her seat and guiding her towards the darkest end of the rooftop. "I've been coming here since I was about—" the profiler stopped for a moment as she tried to remember the first time she had been brought to the city and discovered this great little place, "probably around sixteen or so."
"I thought you spent your childhood abroad, moving through Europe," JJ questioned, glancing at Emily for a brief second.
"I did," the other woman commented, "but every so often we would come back here to visit or for Mother's work obligations."
"And you've been coming here ever since? Just for the stars?" JJ asked, suddenly more interested in Emily that the beautiful sight just above her. It wasn't often she got to hear about Emily's childhood; sure, she knew it wasn't the best but it was something of a taboo topic and most knew to steer clear of it. But if Emily was willing to open up about it now, JJ was definitely going to listen.
"Well, it had started out as a hiding place. I hated coming here because I was either trotted around like a show pony at the events we had to attend or made to feel like I was made to feel like my best just wasn't good enough; usually it was a combination of the two." The profiler shook her head at the memories of her childhood, they weren't something she liked to remember or even think about.
"So when I was fed up with the constant build-ups and teardowns, I would just leave and explore the city. I'm not sure why I chose this building to wander into, but eventually I did and after exploring the place I found my way up here, to the rooftop."
"And your mother didn't care that you had just taken off like that?" JJ asked quizzically.
Emily let out a short bark of laughter, "No, she was usually too preoccupied with other things to notice my absence."
JJ nodded at that, not wanting to venture into the darker or more upsetting parts of Emily's life, choosing instead to focus on why this place was so special to Emily and why she thought JJ was worthy of seeing it.
"So, what makes this place so special other than its seclusion?" The blonde asked, steering the conversation towards, hopefully, a safer topic.
"When I first came here, I sat on this ledge for hours. I didn't have anywhere to be and I didn't have anything to do so I just sat here and looked at the buildings. I sat here so long I actually got to watch the sun set and the stars peek through. It was probably one of the best days of my life." Emily responded, a quiet reverence in her voice as she stared wonderingly at the ledge before them. "I don't know why, but being on this rooftop, sitting here and looking up at the stars, I felt like—" Her head shook as she once again tried and failed to find the right words to describe how that first night had made her feel.
"Like everything was manageable and would get better? Like there was more out there waiting for you?" JJ supplied, her blue eyes looking up towards the stars but her voice filled with knowing.
"Exactly," Emily responded softly.
"I used to get like that when I was younger." JJ said after they had fallen into a lull of silence, "I hated thinking my life was going to be spent in a middle of nowhere town, where my main goal was supposed to be getting married and having children. My mom made me feel crazy for wanting something more from my life and did everything in her power to try and keep me close."
There was no anger or resentment in her voice as she spoke, just a sad realization as she remembered just why her mother had insisted on keeping her in town. It had felt impossible to move on with their lives after her sister had died and it didn't surprise her that her mother would want to keep an eye on her. But even with the heartache of losing her only other sibling, JJ knew she couldn't stay there. She felt like she wasn't doing herself or her sister justice by settling for a life where she only existed to reproduce.
"When she was being particularly pushy, I would go outside to the soccer field and just lay on the grass; looking up at the sky and seeing all those stars, it made me feel like wanting more for my life wasn't such a bad thing."
Emily gnawed on her lip, debating whether or not to voice her next comment or to keep it to herself.
After only a second of indecision, she let out a quiet sigh, "I figured as much," she muttered lowly. "It's why I chose this spot for our first date, I figured we would both enjoy the view."
"How'd you know?" JJ asked, curious as the how Emily had known she would enjoy stargazing. While the blonde's childhood wasn't a taboo topic and if the conversation went that way, JJ wouldn't lie or avoid it, but it rarely ever came up. And only her parents had known she would spent nights just looking up at the sky and trying to spot the many constellations that littered it.
Emily shrugged, as though it was no big deal that she knew. "I've just heard you talk about stars and things every now and then. Whenever it came up, which wasn't often by the way, your face would kind of light up and you would get this excited twinkle in your eyes."
"You noticed that?" JJ asked in surprise, wondering just how many other things Emily had picked up on over the years.
"Of course," the other woman said easily, the sentimental mood broken by her suddenly smug look, "I'm a profiler, it's my job to notice things."
"You're about as humble as Morgan, you know that?" JJ asked jokingly as she nudged the other woman with her shoulder.
"I can't help being this great, Jen. It just comes naturally to me." Emily teased, nudging the blonde back. "Which is why I'm going to have to hide my embarrassment over the cheesy thing I'm about to say, and ask you for a dance." As if to punctuate the embarrassment level she was experiencing, Emily winced slightly and held her hand out to the blonde.
JJ, not having expected that, stared at the profiler in puzzlement. "But there isn't even any music playing," she said dumbly, trying to wrap her head around this new and strangely charming Emily that was standing before her.
Whipping out a remote control, Emily pressed down on a single button before a soft melody floated through the air. "When will you learn, Jen, that I'm always prepared?"
"Never," JJ jibed as she gladly grabbed the profiler's hand and tugged her towards the center of the roof, just a little ways from their dinner table. With the music playing softly in the background, JJ's arms easily wound around Emily's neck as she pressed comfortably against the taller woman.
Emily wasted no time placing her arms around the blonde's waist, a smile on her face as they swayed leisurely from side to side to the music.
It was a moment that seemed to stretch as they stood there wrapped in one another's arms, content to just sway to the music and enjoy the faint light cast upon them by the multitude of stars above them.
Emily couldn't hide her pleased smile at the success of her date. So far, it seemed to have been going as well as could be expected and hopefully it would continue to do so.
"I know this probably wasn't what you had in mind for our date," Emily said slowly, her grip on the blonde tightening and they slowly started to turn, "but I hope it's been an adequate first date, even if it is just for a bet."
JJ's smile was wide as she looked at the other woman, "It's better than I could have ever imagined," she muttered, "even it's just for a bet," she parroted softly. With sparkling eyes and a fluttering in her stomach, JJ gave herself over to the moment and tilted her head upwards, fully intending to show Emily just how much she appreciated the thought that had gone into their night together.
And just as their lips were tantalizingly close, hovering just millimeters apart, Emily's eyes glued to JJ's as the distance closed ever so slowly, a shrill ringing echoed through the area, easily audible over the smooth and dulcet tones in the background.
The bubble of anticipation that had been building between them snapped like an overstretched rubber band, both women freezing in place as the ringing continued.
"Somehow, I should have seen that coming," Emily muttered, already taking a step back from the blonde and looking towards where she knew JJ's phone was.
JJ grumbled in annoyance as the warmth from Emily's body left hers, "Of all the nights." In that moment, the media liaison had never hated her job more, especially since it had interrupted what she was sure would have been a very memorable kiss.
With one last glance over her shoulder, JJ made her way towards her purse and pulled out her phone. "Jareau," she barked into the device, her frustrations being taken out on the person on the other line.
Emily wanted to be annoyed, she really did, especially since their night wasn't nearly done yet but seeing JJ all frustrated and barking angrily at the person on the phone, she couldn't quite muster the negative feelings.
Plus, someone wouldn't have called unless it was important, and usually the only important calls they received pertained to their job, so again, it was hard to be annoyed.
With only a tinge of disappointment and already knowing their romantic time together was over, Emily gathered her things and waited for the blonde by the door. Their goodnight kiss would just have to wait until later, she supposed.
All-in-all though, she figured their first official date was something of a success and she was looking forward to what JJ had in store for their second date, hopefully it was one with no interruptions and an equally pleasant ending.
I apologize for the wait on this one, but I've been trying to wrap up my other story and haven't had much time to work on this one but hopefully the wait was worth it.
From how this is going, each chapter should represent each day of the bet, so right now this is day 5. Not sure if it'll keep up like that, but we'll see.