The next morning, Emily and JJ are the last to join everyone for breakfast. They get a round of applause from the team, causing both ladies to blush brightly. Henry just laughs and claps with no idea why. Before she sits down, JJ looks at everyone at the table.
"Emily told me you were all involved in her various surprises for me. I…I just want to thank you all for…well, for everything," she finishes, her voice choked up.
Reid smiles at her. "We were happy to help."
JJ smiles and sits down beside her mother. She takes her hand.
"Thanks for keeping Henry last night, Mom, Dad. It really means a lot to me to have you here."
Sandy kisses her daughter's cheek. "We're happy to be here, Jenny. Of course I should probably point out…the wall between the rooms is pretty thin."
Everyone busts out laughing as JJ turns bright red. Emily takes her wife's hand, laughing. "Don't be embarrassed, baby. They probably figured out we have sex when you got me knocked up," she says with a wink.
Everyone laughs as JJ gets even redder. "Emily…do the words 'cut off for life' mean anything at all to you?"
After breakfast, the team allows Garcia to be their tour guide since Cheryl had been called back to Denali. Not that they really had a choice…Garcia had told them she would be their guide or she would do a "thing" and erase their existence. She had piled them into their two SUV's and led the way to an outfitter outside of town that could take them on an "Alaskan Safari" as she had dubbed it.
In the winter, the business took people out on trails using sleds and huskies. With the snow gone, the tours are done with the help of Jeeps. Emily sees one and looks at the guide.
"Umm…just how much bouncing will we be doing?"
He grins at her. "Well, ma'am, let's just say I don't recommend it for a pregnant woman."
Emily nods. "Ah, thanks. So, I'll stay here with Henry. If it's bad for me to bounce that much it's bad for his little brain to bounce that much."
Garcia pouts a bit about her Godson not going. But once JJ points out he would be too young to remember it anyway Garcia is a bit better. Just a bit.
Once the adventurers leave, Emily and Henry decide to walk around to where the sled dogs were kept. She finds one of the guides back there with them.
"Hi. I've heard that we shouldn't play with the sled dogs. Is that true?"
The man grins. "Yep, I'm afraid so. But we do socialize the puppies."
Emily's eyes widen happily. "Puppies?"
He chuckles. "Yep. Have two litters right now. I'm Jimmy."
She extends her hand. "Emily. And this is Henry."
He smiles. "Good to meet you. Come meet the latest sled dogs."
Emily smiles at Henry. "Want to go see the puppies, Champ?"
He claps with excitement. Jimmy leads them to a 10x20 kennel with 9 puppies inside.
"Their mothers are usually in there with them but every once in a while they need a break." He grins at her. "I'm sure you understand."
Emily chuckles. "Yep, I do." She kisses Henry. "No offense, Champ." He just giggles.
Emily sets Henry on the ground outside the kennel. She is looking up at Jimmy as he explains about the training the dogs go through. She is really impressed.
"MAMA!"
Emily turns and sees Henry standing outside another kennel. He points at the puppy inside. His face is sad as the puppy licks his fingers through the fence.
Emily walks over and squats down beside her son. She sees the mangled foot of the pup inside. She looks at Jimmy.
"What's wrong with this pup?"
"He got out and got hit by one of our four wheelers."
"Oh, poor baby." She smiles as Henry giggles at the happy puppy. "Will he be okay?"
Jimmy winces. "Sort of. The vet is on his way to put him down."
Emily's eyes widen. "What? But…but can't he be…be fixed somehow?"
Jimmy shrugs. "Maybe. But these are working dogs. His leg will never be strong enough to pull a sled. We just can't afford to raise one that won't earn his keep. We hate it. We all really hate it but we have no—"
"How much?" Emily interrupts.
"Uh…we hate it a lot," he answers in confusion.
"I mean, how much for me to buy him?" Emily explains.
"Uh, buy him? Why would you buy him?"
"Because my son loves him and because he deserves a chance at life."
Jimmy slowly smiles. "Emily, ma'am, thank you. I hated the thought of him dying."
Emily grins. "You might want to call the vet and let him know to bring bandages instead of euthanasia."
Jimmy nods happily. "Will do."
Three hours later the first Jeep returns with Morgan, Reid and Alan inside. They see Henry rolling around with a puppy and laugh.
"Looks like Henry made a friend," Alan says.
Emily grins. "Yep."
"Is that a future sled dog?" Reid asks.
"Well, it was supposed to be. But see how his leg is all bandaged?" The guys nod. "They were going to put him down because it would never be strong enough to pull a sled. So, um…I sort of bought him."
All three men look at her like she's lost her mind. Alan frowns.
"Emily…Jenny is terrified of big dogs."
Emily nods. "I know. But he's small now. Maybe she'll get used to him?" she says nervously.
Reid shakes his head. "Doubt it. Not after what happened at Hankel's farm."
Emily sighs. "I was worried you all would say this. But Henry loves him and…and I couldn't just let him be killed. Not when he's going to be okay. Just…just a little weak in that leg."
They all turn as the other Jeep is now approaching. Morgan shakes his head.
"Too bad you don't have your Kevlar, Em."
The three men wander away, leaving Emily and Henry to greet the women. JJ sees Henry playing with the puppy and smiles.
"Oh, that is too cute!"
Emily gets excited. "Really? It is?"
JJ nods. "Yes! So cute." She kneels down. "Who's your little friend, Henry?"
Henry grins at his Mommy as the puppy limps to her and licks her hand.
"He doesn't have a name yet," Emily says. "But, uh…he's ours."
JJ's face freezes as her body stiffens. She slowly turns and looks up at her wife.
"Say that again."
"He's ours."
Garcia and Sandy had been watching JJ and Henry with the puppy. But seeing the liaison's face they decide they should go join the men. Emily squats down beside her wife and son.
"See, because his leg was hurt they were going to put him down," Emily explains. "But the vet said he'd be okay as long as he wasn't a sled dog. Jen, Henry was playing with him and loving on him. And look how much the puppy loves Henry. I just…I just had to do something."
JJ stares at her wife. "Emily, he's going to be huge. We have a baby on the way. Our jobs take us on the road all the time. Sergio is going to hate you! Did any of those things cross your mind?" Her voice had gotten louder the more arguments she had come up with.
Emily winces. "Um…no. I just…couldn't let him die."
JJ stands and starts to pace. Henry can tell his Mommy is upset. And the puppy can tell his new buddy is upset. He walks over and cuddles up against Henry. Emily's heart soars as her spirit quakes at the anger in JJ's reaction.
"Mommy?" Henry asks nervously.
JJ turns and looks at her son. He sits on the ground, the puppy's head in his lap. She stares into his blue eyes…and the puppies matching blue eyes. She then looks into the nervous brown eyes of her wife.
"Geezus, Emily…" she mutters. "Some of your impulse ideas are great: dinner last night, my parents and Henry surprising me here. But this…do you not remember what happened to me in that fu-that barn?" she asks furiously. She turns away as the memory assails her.
JJ slowly enters the barn. "Reid?" she whispers anxiously. "Reid, where the fuck are you?" she thinks to herself.
As she steps further inside the unmistakable smell of blood hits her nose. She takes another step and her boot ends up in a puddle. She lifts her foot and looks down. Even in the dark she can tell it's a puddle of blood. She slowly flashes her light around the barn…ending on the mattress covered in blood.
"Oh, my God," she thinks.
Just then a low growl is heard. She spins around and sees the three dogs. Blue eyes widen in fear as they race at her. Two quick shots take out the lead two but the third makes it to her. She screams in pain as teeth sink into her arm, driving her to the ground. She rolls, trying to get the strong beast below her.
"Son. Of. A. BITCH!" she screams as she finally gets him below her. She brings her gun up and gets off one more shot.
As the animal finally stills, JJ feels herself shaking. Are there more? She hears a noise off in the corner of the barn. Where the hell is the flashlight? She yanks her arm out of the dogs mouth, ignoring the searing pain in her arm.
"REID!" She screams, though she now knows it is pointless. He is either dead or…or…something. He would have come if he could. He would have heard her.
"I'm alone," JJ murmurs, her body still shaking uncontrollably.
She looks around for a place to hide. She knows the team will come…eventually. Until then she just had to stay alive.
Her eyes stray back to the blood-soaked mattress, this time noticing the hair and other detritus that signaled a human was once upon it. She heads to the opposite side of the barn, sliding down between two stacks of hay bales.
Every sound she hears, to her mind, is one of the dogs coming for her. Every creak in the rafters is Hankel coming to finish what his dogs started. A small part of JJ's mind knows she is going into shock. But the rest of her, the part of her only concerned with the primal need to survive, says she needs to shoot anything and anyone that comes near her.
There are no friends here, only killers and their savage dogs.
"I nearly shot you and Morgan, Emily," JJ whispers, her body shaking at the memory.
Emily stands and moves to her wife. She turns her around and stares into her eyes. "I remember, Jen. I swear, I remember. But with all the senseless death we see in this job I finally had a chance to stop one senseless death. I just…just reacted. And look at him, Jen. He's just a puppy. Yes, he will grow but you will get to know him as he does. Surely you can see that if he is raised right he will be a good dog, not one of those killers that Hankel had."
JJ stares at her wife. She reluctantly looks back down at the puppy. He tilts his head at her as if to say, "why do I scare you?" She then looks at Henry, who's little hands are scratching the puppy. She slowly shakes her head.
"I just…don't know, Em. I guess…we can try it." She locks eyes with Emily. "But I don't know if I can do this and it's going to tear Henry up if I can't. This really wasn't fair of you to do to us. To any of us."
Emily nods. "I know. It was a crazy impulse and I know I should have talked to you first. I'm sorry, Jen. If…if we can't keep him I'll…I'll help Henry understand. I promise."
JJ sighs. Finally she nods. "Okay. On a trial basis he's ours."
Emily smiles hesitantly. "Thank you, Jen."
JJ shakes her head. "Don't thank me. I am still so pissed about this I don't even know where to go with it. I'm doing this for Henry, not you."
JJ steps around her wife and heads for the SUV's. Morgan walks over to Emily.
"So…sharing the dog house with the puppy I see."
Emily sighs. "Yeah, looks like. I screwed up, Morgan. She thinks I don't remember the barn."
He lays his hands on her shoulders. "None of us forget that barn. She just needs time to get over the shock of this, Em. And she will. She loves you."
Emily just nods, hoping her best friend is right. Morgan stoops down and scoops up Henry in one arm and the puppy in another. Henry smiles.
"Gan!"
Morgan's eyes get wide. "Did you just call me Morgan? Or something like that?"
Henry claps. "Gan!"
Emily smiles. "That's right, Henry. It's Uncle Morgan." Em smiles at her best friend. "Make sure you point this out to Jen. Maybe it will change her mood."
Morgan chuckles. "Once again I save your butt. I'm keeping tabs, just so you know."
Emily smiles and nods. "No problem."
Flashback references "The Big Game" and "Revelations"
