When Two Become One
Chapter Nine
A/N - Sorry this chapter has taken a while but I'm off for a week so I should be able to get the story moving a bit faster, well that's the theory but the amount of work I have to do may interfere with that plan. Don't worry the wedding is coming, the problems on the lead up are just as important for our couple. As always thank you for the lovely reviews, favourites and follows!
Thursday 1.22pm - Still 1 Day to go...
As the memories from the previous night came flooding back to her Emily's face began to crumble. She was always the strong one and barely got emotional but this was her friend and she'd been nasty to her for no particular reason "J.J. I am so sorry! I am horrible when I'm drunk I should never have been so cruel, you two are the best friends anyone could ask for..."
J.J. quickly leant over and hugged her close, her eyes full of tears "I'm sorry too, I said some awful things that I regret, about you and my life, you might be horrible when you're drunk but I seem to throw tantrums!"
Garcia shook her head at the two of them, "I'm glad I was able to sort you out, I thought I was looking at World War Three! But honestly J.J. you should listen to your tantrums, they speak truth, no matter how dedicated you are to the job and how much you love your family, you need to make time for yourself, whether that's going out for a couple of drinks with your friends or watching what you want on tv"
Her friend smiled briefly, "why is it you're sorting out out problems when we're suppose to be treating you?"
"Because mon chere I am more amazing than words can describe" she replied with a smile "anyway we still haven't reached the end of our story, let's think back to after World War Three..."
It was well into the early hours of the morning as the three women were dancing together in their fourth club of the night and they were considerably drunker than they were during their brawl earlier in the evening. They collapsed against the bar as the song changed, they were reluctant to leave but they knew in the backs of their minds that they had to get back to the hotel.
"I suppose we had better head back" Emily shouted over the music, J.J. was already beginning to fall asleep on Penelope's shoulder, she nodded in agreement and they both took one of their friend's arms and pulled her outside.
"I've had the best bachelorette party!" cried Penelope slurring her words as Emily began to ring the number of the taxi "and on Friday I'm marrying the sexiest man in the whole wide world!" she laughed still holding on to J.J. who was now snoring lightly.
As they waited the cool night air felt heavenly on their skin as they had felt so hot inside the club. They had strayed away from the main street and there were less people on the street, it was dark and only the echoey sound of the music from the club could be heard. Ten minutes later the headlights of the cab blinded the women as it drove towards them.
After driving for a while, no one knew what time exactly, Emily began to sober up slightly and realised they were on a country road.
"Where are we going?" she cried causing Penelope to wake up after her falling asleep beside J.J. exhausted from the night's drama.
The driver looked over his shoulder, "I need to make a quick detour, don't worry darling you'll be back at your hotel in no time"
At that moment J.J. awoke and placed her hand over her mouth "I'm going to be sick" she whispered.
He put the brakes on in response causing the car to slow to a stop, "you can't do it in here, company policy"
Unfortunately J.J. was sat between her two friends and unable to exit the car quick enough, incidentally she threw up in front of her as Penelope tried to soothe her by holding her hair back and rubbing her back.
The driver looked back in disgust, "God, this is why I hate taking drunkards! Get out!"
Emily's mouth was hanging open as she stumbled out of the car followed quickly by her friends, "but we're in the middle of nowhere" she shouted but he was already speeding into the darkness. "Bastard!" she spat as she turned on her heel and stumbled towards the woods at the side of the road. They couldn't remember how far they'd walked before they were so exhausted they couldn't go any further and collapsed in the middle of forest in the early hours of the morning.
After they had finished retelling the events of the previous night, the three women sat in silence playing it over in their minds.
"Why would he leave us?" Penelope asked dumbfounded at the man's stupidity and cruelty.
Emily shrugged, "just our luck to get the driver in the foulest mood last night"
J.J. stood up slowly "we need to keep going, we couldn't have come too much further off the road"
"But my feet!" Penelope whined glaring at her heels, J.J. pulled her to her feet and helped her put her shoes back on before they began walking again.
Garcia groaned as the sides of her shoes rubbed against her blisters "how am I supposed to walk down the aisle like this? I'll be waddling down like Donald Duck!"
"You better hurry up or you won't have an aisle to walk down!" Emily cried
This caused Garcia to stop in her tracks and grab her friends' arms "I'm getting married, tomorrow!" she declared her eyes wide with shock.
Emily looked at J.J. and raised her eyebrows, "well done Sherlock but like I said if you don't come on you won't be"
Reluctantly she carried on walking "but, it's just happened so fast and with all the rushing and organising I didn't really stop and think about it!"
"Are you having second thoughts?" J.J. asked with a concerned tone to her voice.
Garcia shook her head firmly, "no! I love Derek, I've always loved him, it just seems so surreal..."
Morgan stared bewilderedly as he saw his boss emerge wearily from the bathroom and sit on the bed, he was missing his tie and jacket and he looked rougher than either of the two men had seen him before.
"Hotch, you better know what the hell happened last night!" he cried pulled a chair to sit across from him.
Hotch looked up at him with bloodshot eyes "I need to call Strauss and explain why we're not at work and then call Beth, she's looking after Jack she'll be worried when I didn't come back last night"
"There'll be plenty of time for that in a minute, we've got bigger problems! One, we're in New York, two, Rossi is on the other side of the city somewhere and three, the girls are missing and don't have their phones on, so you better start giving us some answers so we can sort this!" he cried exasperatedly.
"I remember we were in a bar, I think it was about midnight, it was the last bar we were at in Quantico anyway. We were talking about our favourite places in the world, you said you'd always loved the excitement of cities such as Las Vegas and New York" Hotch paused as Reid groaned in response to the mention of his hometown "then Reid, you said no matter how many cases we'd had in New York you'd never been there as a tourist and enjoyed the sights so Dave said we should go and show you and come back early the next morning as it was only a train journey away. It was about five o'clock but we went to Times Square and the Empire State before coming here and Dave booked us a room, he said he would meet us here as he was going to pick up a 'fine cigar' from a 24 hour store to celebrate. Then wake up in a bathtub, fully clothed with Reid standing over me, I can't believe we were so reckless" he concluded, it was so out of character but at the time he had enjoyed doing something spontaneous instead of everything being so regimented.
Morgan frowned slightly as some images of walking around New York City earlier that morning came back to him "Lynch sent me Rossi's location through tracing his phone, we need to go him and get him"
"You called Lynch?" Reid asked surprised "you hate him"
"I wasn't left with much choice when I realise that my fiancé and friends have disappeared!" he snapped back.
Hotch sighed "calm down Morgan, I need to shower and make my phone calls, so find the quickest route to Dave from here on your phone and meet me in the lobby in about 20 minutes"
Both men nodded and left the room, Reid could see the distressed look on Morgan's face "it'll be ok you know" he said with a sympathetic smile.
He growled slightly in response "when I know where the hell my Baby Girl is, then it'll be ok!"
When Hotch emerged from the elevator he scanned the lobby for his teammates. Morgan had his phone to his ear, obviously trying to try and get in contact with the girls again whilst Reid was sat opposite flicking through the local newspaper and eating a taco. He walked over slowly, he had drunk that amount of alcohol in a long time and it was taking its toll, at least he was able to ring Beth and let her know he was safe and that he would be home after his surprise this evening. Frowning quizzically, he stood behind Reid's shoulder, feeling his presence, the young genius turned sharply and then looked down at his food "what? We didn't have breakfast, or lunch!"
His Unit Chief simply looked at him, his face expressionless, "still no luck?" he asked turning his attention to Morgan.
He shook his head miserably in response and sighed as Hotch put a hand on his shoulder "they'll be fine, they are some of the best agents I know, they can take care of themselves. Have you got the route?"
"Yeah, he seems to be staying put, unless he's not got his phone but we just need to take the subway and we'll be there in about 15 minutes" Morgan explained.
Reid was suddenly paying attention "the subway? Do we not remember the terrorist shootings that happened there? Hotch you were almost blown up!"
"Reid it'll be perfectly safe, thousands of people travel on the subway everyday" he replied simply as he checked his watch "let's go, Morgan lead the way"
After battling through crowds, being squashed against the sides of trains and changing lines five times, the men emerged from the correct subway station.
"Now I remember why I never visit New York for recreational purposes, I may like the city but give me a car over public transport any day" Morgan grumbled.
"Well be glad we're never doing this again, where now?" Hotch asked seriously.
Reid frowned "we're not doing this again? Aw but I had such a good time, I never go out"
"Reid, he didn't mean we'd never go out again, he meant we are never making a drunk decision in the early hours of the morning to come to New York" Morgan said placing his hand on his shoulder before glancing at the map on his phone, "it should just be here"
The men looked up at the shabby looking hotel that stood before them, a lifetime away from the sophisticated 5* establishments in the centre of Manhattan. Hotch led the others into the small dark room with peeling wallpaper and worn carpet, all that occupied the space was a reception desk and two armchairs which sat people reading broadsheet newspapers which concealed their bodies. The man behind the desk was tall and thin, with the look of a suspicious butler from a murder mystery novel, he peered at the new arrivals with a look of disgust, as if they had no place being in his hotel.
Hotch walked cautiously towards the man at the desk to ask if he had seen his friend.
"You took your time didn't you?" the voice of David Rossi called from the other side of the room, tilting his newspaper to reveal his face before closing it completely "I've been waiting all day for you to come and get me"
"What are you talking about? Why are you even here?" Morgan asked.
"After I checked you into that hotel, I went to find the old store I'd been to many times that sells the finest cigars to celebrate your last days as a single man. Never have I had to find the store at five in the morning roaring drunk so when I couldn't find it I tried to get back but I realised I had no idea where you were so checked myself into the nearest hotel, which was this one. When I woke up this morning I remembered what had happened and knew I didn't know where you were so I figured you'd get Garcia to track my phone so I sat here and waited for you to come, and you have."
"Why didn't you answer our calls?" Reid asked.
Rossi frowned, "it had locked me out! I don't know how, I don't know much about phones, but it wouldn't let me do anything on it so I just left it and hoped you'd come"
"At least we're all together now, we need to get to central station and back to Quantico as soon as we can" Hotch stated.
Rossi looked at his watch "Aaron it's already quarter to two, I don't know if we'll make it back in time"
"Actually if we leave right now and take the subway route we came on but changing at-"
"Reid! My head, get on with it" Morgan cried.
"-we should get back in time for the seven o'clock reservations" he smiled innocently.
"Well let's get going then!" Rossi said ushering then out of the door.
