A/N: Next chapter, as promised. Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds.

Chapter 7: JJ/Emily:


Emily:

Emily placed her small overnight suitcase on her bed, opening it up. Opening one of her dresser drawers full of Ella Montgomery's clothes, she wondered briefly at what she should bring. And then she quickly grabbed a couple changes of clothes, her toiletry bag and an extra pair of shoes; she put it all messily into her suitcase.

She was going on an overnight trip to the city of Calgary. Calgary, about an hour and a half away from Red Deer, would be where she was to meet an old friend.

It had come as a surprise, and it was definitely on the short notice side. It was the middle of the week and Emily had had to speak with the Principal of her school to get the time off. Her excuse was she'd had a family emergency to attend to.

And it was a family emergency of sorts. JJ had left her a message on a cell phone that was under the alias name of Frank Stewart, another way to deter any potential Doyle problems. JJ had asked her to meet her in Calgary, tomorrow, to discuss an emergency.

Emily had no idea what the emergency was but she hoped it had something to do with her own issues and not any of her friends. She couldn't stand the idea of any of them being hurt without her being there to help.

She paused momentarily in her tracks and turned towards her bed. She kneeled down on the floor and stuck her hand between the box and mattress. Pulling her hand out, a framed photograph came out with it.

Emily knew how foolish it was to keep a memento of the past. But as she stared at the bright shining faces of each one of her friends she did not regret keeping the photo.

It was taken on a day long ago when they'd decided to go out to dinner. JJ had been very pregnant at the time. Reid's hair was long. She wondered briefly if he was growing it out again.

Her gaze settled on one team member in particular. Derek Morgan. God, she missed him. He was her partner on the team, the one person most like her in personality and work ethic. They shared many similarities: troubled childhoods, geek tendencies, and more recently the desire to show their human side by their want to take care of children affected by tragedy—her with Carrie, him with Ellie. He was, she realized, her best friend.

But the month before the Doyle incident her behaviour had become erratic, distant. And she knew that Derek knew that something was up. She knew he was becoming increasingly frustrated with her. She wondered, once again, how he felt about her now, now that he surely knew what she'd been willing to do for a job. It hurt her heart to think that he may respect her a little less for it.

She traced the outline of him in the picture, staring at him sadly. "Oh, Derek, I wish I could have explained…" she said wistfully. "Maybe someday…"

Sighing, she shoved the picture back into place and quickly finished packing. She'd ask JJ about him, she hadn't been able to when they met in Paris—there hadn't been time—but she'd ask this time.


JJ:

JJ let out a sigh as she waited for Emily to arrive. She had decided it would be safest for her to meet JJ in her hotel room. Emily was sure to have a reaction to the news about Derek. It would be better for there to be no witnesses to that reaction. It was definitely going to be hard for her to hear.

JJ got up and started to pace. This was going to be tough to pull off, especially since she was taking the lead coordinating the brief visit.

Initially, she'd thought involving Hotch would be a good idea. After all, they were the only two who knew Emily was alive and well. But, the thought of involving him had been foolish on two levels.

First, because if somehow Doyle did figure them out it would put him in danger. And he'd had his fair share of tragedy. She'd give anything to keep him from experiencing anymore. She really did care for him.

And the second reason was just because of that, she did care about him. And lately those feelings for him had intensified; case in point the kiss they'd shared. That should have never happened. And yet she yearned for it. She'd promised Will it would never happen again. Then what did she do the next time she saw Hotch? She kissed him!

No, she couldn't involve Hotch, if only to keep some distance between them.

A knock on the door interrupted her troubled thoughts. She got up, gun at the ready. Experience taught her you could never be too careful. She went straight for the peephole; JJ let out a sigh of relief when she recognized Emily standing there, all alone, despite the blonde wig she was wearing.

JJ quickly opened the door and Emily was quick to come inside, shutting the door behind them. They stood in front of each other for a moment, staring at each other and then a second later they shared a laugh and hugged each other.

Pulling back, Emily slid the wig off her head, letting her dark, long hair fall around her shoulders.

"You don't know how good it is to see you," Emily said happily.

JJ nodded, agreeing whole-heartedly. "We've missed you Emily."

They shared another quick hug and then JJ led them to the couch in her room. She wanted them to be both sitting down when she shared her news.

"Don't get me wrong, JJ," Emily began once they were settled. "I'm glad to see you. But isn't this risky…"

JJ nodded frowning. "It is risky. And what I have to ask of you is even riskier. But I'm hoping you'll believe it's worth it."

It was Emily's turn to frown. "What's going on, JJ?"

JJ let out a sigh. "It's um… its Morgan…"

JJ watched the color drain from her friend's face. She wanted to comfort her, tell her everything was all right, tell her no need to worry, he was only getting a promotion—she so wished that was the case. But she couldn't lie. She had no idea if anything would ever be all right with any of them.

"Is he… is he…" Emily started, visibly gulping down her fear.

JJ watched as her friend's eyes began to tear up. "No, no," JJ was quick to assure of that fact, at least. "He's in a coma, though…"

"What?" Emily exclaimed, voice shaking. "Tell me what happened!"

JJ took in a deep breath and began to explain everything she knew of that fateful day that had resulted in Morgan getting shot three times.

"What do the doctor's say?" Emily asked solemnly. "Is he… He's going to wake up, isn't he?"

"That's where you come in, I hope," JJ started; ready to give Emily her crazy plan.

"Me?"

"Emily, you care about Derek, don't you?" JJ started tentatively.

Emily blushed, answering with her reaction before actually answering. "I care about all of you…"

"No, I know that," JJ assured, patting her hand comfortingly. "That's not what I mean." She gave her a small, sad smile. "I mean, you care about Derek…"

She emphasized the word 'care,' elongating it, throwing meaning behind it.

"JJ," Emily started. "It's—"

"—complicated, I know," JJ assured. "But, I believe, no I know Derek really cares about you too."

Emily threw her a skeptical look, and JJ knew that she'd need to be convinced. She'd let Derek do that part, later, when he woke up and Doyle was put away for good.

"Ok," Emily scoffed. "But what do I have to do with getting Derek to wake up?"

"I want you to come back with me," JJ blurted.

To Emily's credit, she stayed silent, waiting to hear what else she had to say.

"I really think hearing your voice will help him to recover," JJ said a little more slowly. "He believes your dead, Emily. If he can believe in the miracle of you being alive, maybe he'll have a miracle of his own."

Emily shook her head slowly, staring at her dubiously. "JJ, I think—"

JJ cut her off. "I know it sounds farfetched. But I believe you've got to have faith. And I have faith in this plan."

Emily was quiet for a bit, and JJ let her have the time to process her request.

"I would do anything to save Derek," Emily began tentatively.

JJ sensed a 'but' coming on.

"But, if I come back from the dead, JJ, I could be risking all your lives, including Derek's, again… I don't think I can do that."

"No one needs to know other than you, me, Hotch and Derek," JJ answered. She'd have to tell Hotch about her go ahead with the plan, at least. She couldn't blindside him that way. "I've got a team of Marshall's on hold, ready to make sure you're guarded and protected 24/7. You can wear that disguise of yours… and once we're done we can relocate you to another town…"

"I don't know, JJ," Emily said unsurely.

JJ nodded. "It's a risk, I know. I wouldn't have posed it to you if I didn't feel strongly about all aspects of it."

"You really believe this could work?" Emily asked uncertainly.

"Emily, I'm not a profiler. I don't need to be one to see that Derek cared for you. It went beyond just friendship. And when you had to go, he was devastated. He needs you."

Another moment of pondering, and a second later she was nodding her head.

"All right," Emily said quietly. "When do we leave?"


Hope you enjoyed this one. Let me know what you think! Thanks!

Thanks to everyone who reviewed: vampiremuggle; spk; JJandHotch4ever96; angry penguin (writing a confused JJ is my specialty... hence the kissing him again); breverson (thanks!); freaak tonight (putting JJ into stinky positions, also one of my specialties); canny-bairn (that would be awesome, I would love to see some awkward funny moments between Will and Hotch); deeda (yeah I've noticed that too, there hasn't seemed to be a lot of the JJ/Hotch stories… hmm maybe I should start another one).

Thanks again!

Next chapter: Hotch finds out about JJ going ahead with her plan.

Should be up by next week!