Sunday morning JJ finishes packing her duffle bag. As she sets her helmet on top of it a flock of butterflies takes off in her stomach. A helicopter will take them to Nellis Air Force base in 20 minutes. Their flight leaves in two hours. She sits down on her bunk. And in just over 30 hours they would be in Kabul for 8 weeks.
She pulls out her phone and stares at the picture of Emily and Henry on the screen. Taking a deep breath she hits her speed dial, hoping her voice will sound steadier than she feels.
"Jen! Hi, baby," Emily greets her with forced happiness.
JJ grins. "You sound about as happy as feel."
Emily sighs. "Sorry, honey, I tried."
"I know you did, sweetheart. I appreciate it. We're heading out of here in 20 minutes. I just…wanted to speak with you before we go," she explains, her voice choked with tears.
"I'm glad," Emily replies, equally emotional. "I guess it will be a while before I hear from you again."
"Yeah. I'll text you when we get there but I don't know what they have planned for us once we get on site."
"I don't care what time, Jen, if you have a chance to call, call me. I'll…I'll need to hear your voice."
JJ smiles. "Likewise, Mrs. Prentiss."
"Jen, hold on a second," Emily asks. She holds the phone out to Henry. "Say hi to Mommy, Champ."
"MOMMY!" Henry says excitedly.
JJ smiles, wiping tears from her cheeks. "Hey, Little Man. You taking care of Mama for me?"
"Love Mama."
JJ chuckles. "Good boy. I love you, Henry. I miss you so much."
"Love Mommy. Ska love!"
JJ laughs. "I love Alaska, too. Bye, sweetheart."
"Bye!"
And just like that Henry has run off after his puppy. Emily brings the phone back to her ear.
"He's doing okay, Jen. He misses you and is getting cranky just listening to the CD of you telling him a story but he will be okay."
"I know," JJ says softly. "What about you?"
Emily chuckles. "Rocky and I are enjoying the extra room in the bed."
JJ laughs, her heart a little lighter for the joke. "Well, in that case I'm glad the brass picked me for this trip."
The brunette chuckles…then sighs, her voice sobering. "Honestly, Jen, I feel…a little lost. But it's only 8 more weeks. Military families go a hell of a lot longer and have more to worry about. I'm trying to remind myself of that any time I start to wallow in self-pity."
"Is it working?"
"I'll let you know when it does," Emily admits.
JJ glances at her watch. "God, Em, I hate to do this but I need to head out to the helipad."
Emily swallows. "Yeah…okay…I understand."
"I love you, Emily. Please take care of yourself. And don't hesitate to use Garcia's schedule if you need to."
Emily smiles. "I won't. Promise. I love you, too, Jen. Please, please stay safe. I miss you so much."
"I miss you, too. Give everyone my love."
"I will. Goodb—uh…talk to you soon, Jennifer."
JJ catches Emily's unwillingness to say goodbye and understands. "I'll text as soon as we land. I love you, baby."
"Love you, too."
JJ reluctantly disconnects. Taking a deep breath, she stands, lifts up her helmet, slings her duffle bag over her shoulder and leaves the barracks.
At the other end of the line, Emily stares at her phone, watching the readout blinking that her call had ended after 5 minutes and 32 seconds. She takes a deep breath and stands up. She finds Henry in the playroom rolling around with Alaska. She smiles at him.
"Come on, Champ. Let's get ready for church. We really need to make it today."
He smiles and stands, not understanding the urgency of going. Emily can't help but wish she could be as innocent; as unable to imagine the horrible "what ifs" her wife could face over the next few weeks.
Damn it's hot, JJ thinks to herself. And bright. Has it ever been this bright in the States? Is the sun planted here or what? Between the heat and the light JJ could almost believe she is on the sun. It should be against the law to have to wear so many clothes when it's this hot.
She glances at Morgan and sees he is already dripping, too. They had only gone from the plane to the hangar and already they were both soaked. She had thought the Nevada desert had prepared her. Turns out it had nothing on Kabul. She sighs.
"These two months are really going to suck," she states.
Morgan looks at her and grins. "You just picking up on that, Profiler?"
JJ just grins and walks with him to the man who will be in charge of their unit here in the war zone. The stocky man extends his hand.
"Agents, good to finally see you in person." He shakes the hands of all four. "I'm Peter Wodnizski and I'm in charge of the intelligence teams here in Kabul. I've read your files, seen the reports from your instructors and spoken to each of your bosses. I know you'll be great assets to us. I also know you're fast learners and want to get settled and get to work. There are two Humvees outside waiting to take you to where you'll be staying. Due to the nature of your mission here, you four will be sharing a small house here on base. You have 2 hours to get settled and grab a bite to eat." He looks to Morgan and Tony. "Then you two will need to get to the local police station to speak with a man who claims to have information on insurgent movements in Kandahar." He looks at the female agents. "I need you two to report to the command center for a conference call with the Pentagon. I know you just got here but act like you know what's going on."
JJ chuckles. "Sounds like most meetings I attend."
He grins. "Good attitude. Look, I know it seems like you've been tossed into a blender but every minute we waste is more Allied blood spilled."
Morgan nods. "Understood. We're here to work not get a tan."
"One question," Tony interjects. "How the hell do we know where to go?"
Wodnizski chuckles. "You'll find four GPS units at your house with several places already programmed in."
Tony nods. "Good. Not sure I'd trust the locals for directions just yet."
Wodnizski nods. "Keep that distrust. It will keep you alive."
The agents all nod in agreement. They head out to the Humvees. Wodnizski watches as the FBI agents take one and the NCIS agents the other. He chuckles, wondering how long until they forget they work for different alphabet agencies.
In their vehicle, Morgan watches as JJ takes out her phone and fires off a text message. As she hits send, she looks out the window at the barren landscape.
"You okay?" he asks.
She slowly rolls her head and gives him an "Are you joking" look. He laughs.
"Right. Dumb question. Well, I don't know about you but I'm glad we're getting right to work. Idle hands make for looooong days."
JJ nods. "True. I just wish—" her thoughts break off as her phone dings. She smiles as she sees a picture from Emily: her and Henry holding up a sign that says "We love you, Mommy! Miss you!" JJ hits a button and it becomes her new background image. Her phone dings again.
"Glad you made it, baby. We love and miss you. We're proud of you, Jen. Te amo."
Morgan just smiles as he sees something in JJ settle. Yes, it still sucked to be so far away but she would be okay.
Two nights later JJ is staring at the ceiling. Mack's snores are worse than anything JJ has ever had to deal with. Finally she gets up.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me," she mutters as she heads into the small living room area in the house. She drops down onto the couch. At least now if she couldn't sleep she wouldn't have to listen to Mack. She has almost fallen back asleep when the front door opens. She sits up quickly, giving a sigh of relief when Morgan and Tony walk in.
"Hey! You're back! We've been worried."
Morgan moans and drops down into the recliner. "You had reason to be."
JJ stares from him to Tony. She reaches over and turns on the lamp and her eyes get wide.
"Holy shit! What the hell happened?"
Morgan's face is swollen and bruised. Tony's left arm is bandaged from hand to elbow.
"IED exploded near us," Tony tells her. "Any closer and…" his voice just trails off.
JJ is stunned. "No one told us. Shit. Can I get you guys anything?"
"One-way ticket home?" Tony asks as he drops onto the end of the couch.
JJ smiles nervously. "I wish."
"Then how about a bottle of water so I can take another pain pill?"
"That I can do." She hurries into the kitchen and grabs a bottle for both men. As she hands it to them, she stares at Morgan. "Derek…anything other than the face?"
He slowly shakes his head. "No." He looks JJ in the eyes. "We got lucky. Too fucking lucky."
JJ nods. Seeing her friends bruised and bandaged it really hits her just how dangerous this whole mission could be. It fleetingly flashes through her mind that she could call Elizabeth and Gerald. But then she knows she would feel guilty forever for leaving Morgan and for sending another agent in her place. She pats his arm.
"I'm so glad you're okay. Mostly."
He nods wearily. "Me, too, Jayje. Me, too."
