A/N: Whoa, early posting today, but it technically is Dec. 8 already, even if it is the middle of the night. Hope you have fun reading the next chapter. Please drop a review and tell me what you think!
December 8
Secret Santa, pt. 3
The case was like most of their other cases: brutal and violent, and the team was barely able to breathe for the next two days. They worked late hours, focusing on catching the UnSub, who had killed three teenagers so far, as fast as possible before he could get another victim.
It was almost midnight on Tuesday, their second night in Portland, and the team had just arrived back at their hotel, still only having minor leads as to who and where the killer was. Walking past the reception, JJ suddenly heard the concierge calling after her. "Ms. Jareau! I've got a delivery here for you!" Surprised, JJ turned around, followed by the curious glances of her teammates.
"What is it?" She was handed a medium sized rectangular package.
"It was delivered this afternoon via Fed Ex from Quantico, Virginia."
"Oh, okay." JJ was at a loss for words. She had a feeling as to what it could be, and she truly hoped that she was right. She needed something nice tonight, after the past couple of days.
"Thank you," she told the concierge, and then turned back to her team again. They were all watching her expectantly. Morgan was the first one to ask. "What is it?"
"I don't know," she answered, debating with herself if she should tell them about her Secret Santa, and that she suspected it to be another present from him, or not. Deciding for the latter for now, she continued: "I'm going to open it upstairs." Seeing the disappointed faces of her colleagues, she quickly added: "I'm going to tell you tomorrow, okay?"
"What if there's something dangerous in there?" Reid suddenly asked. "Shouldn't you rather be opening it in front of us?"
JJ chuckled. "I don't think so, Spence. And if it is, it's probably better if only one of us gets blown up, isn't it? Now, can we please go to our rooms and get some sleep?"
They headed for the elevators and rode up in silence. Getting out on their floor, Prentiss asked: "But you do know who sent it, right? I saw that little smile on your face when the concierge gave it to you." JJ rolled her eyes. Working with profilers was extremely strenuous sometimes. Nevertheless, she said truthfully: "No, I actually don't know who sent it. But I'll promise to let you know as soon as I find out." Prentiss gave her a doubting look, but didn't say anything else. Quickly saying their good nights, everybody went to their respective room.
"Goodnight, JJ," Rossi, who had the room opposite to hers, said as they were both unlocking their doors. "Have fun with your delivery," he winked before he entered his room.
Once inside herself, JJ wasted no time and tore the cardboard box open, revealing two smaller and bigger gift wrapped boxes. This time, there was a little note attached, again typed and not handwritten.
Dear Jennifer,
I hope this helps you to relax if the case gets too rough.
Love, Santa
Unwrapping the two gifts, she found her favorite bath oil and a box of Vanilla scented candles.
"That's my favorite scent;" she whispered astoundingly. And even though she was beyond tired, she couldn't resist doing exactly what Rossi had told her before: having fun with her delivery.
Stepping into a hot, relaxing bath ten minutes later, with the candles placed around her, she immediately felt better.
"Thank you, whoever you are," she muttered gratefully.
Forcing herself not to think about the case, her mind wandered to her Secret Santa. This was the third gift, the fourth actually if you counted the rose, that exactly met her taste. Her chocolate, her perfume, her bath oil plus her favorite scented candles. This person really had to know her in and out. The only person currently in Quantico that knew her this well, and who came to her mind, was Garcia. But JJ couldn't bring herself to believe it was her. She was way too much engrossed in finding the perfect Christmas present for Kevin right now to even think about sending not only one, but a series of well thought-of personal gifts to her.
Her thoughts drifted off to Rossi again. Thinking about his last words outside, twenty minutes before, she got into contemplating. "Have fun with your delivery," he had said and had actually winked! But did he really send it? She shook her head momentarily. "No, he didn't." He couldn't have sent it, since he was as far from Quantico as she was. Or maybe he ordered someone to do it for him? Again, she thought, why would he do that? You never gave personal presents like these to someone you were not interested in apart from a professional, distanced coworker relation, which was the only interest he had shown towards her so far. "Besides, he never calls me 'Jennifer'," was the next reason that came to her mind. Still clueless, she relished in her bath for another fifteen minutes and then went to bed.
The next day finally brought the much awaited break in the case. After working hard all morning, they managed to locate the UnSub and bring him in without further victims and complications within a couple of hours in the afternoon. Wrapping up the case, they managed to fly back home in the early evening hours. JJ was amazed and delighted that the team had apparently forgotten about her package, and relaxed herself into her seat on the jet. But her joy didn't last long. Five minutes into the air, Prentiss came over to sit next to her.
"So?" She started.
"So what?" JJ decided to play dumb, even though she knew exactly what Emily was hinting at.
"So, who sent you the package?"
"I told you, I don't know."
"Ah, come on, Jayje. Like I'm going to believe that."
"It's true."
"And what was inside?"
JJ hesitated a moment before answering. "Bath oil and scented candles."
"Whoa. And I'm sure you didn't order them yourself."
She waited for an answer.
"You know I'm going to find out anyway, so you might as well just tell me," Emily said after a few moments of silence during which she had closely watched JJ. Sighing deeply, JJ gave in.
"Fine. I've been given these Secret Santa presents for a week now."
"Oh my God. You've got an admirer? Who is it?"
"Emily, I really don't know! But he seems to know me very well. He already got me my favorite chocolate, my perfume, and this bath oil and the candles, which also happen to have my favorite scent."
"And you really have no idea?"
"No, none at all. I've pretty much ruled out the whole team, and apart from them, there is no one at Quantico who knows me that well."
"Okay, I can totally get why you rule out Hotch, Morgan and Reid. But what about Rossi?"
"You gotta be kidding me."
"No, seriously. I know you have it hot for him."
JJ blushed. "What? Emily..."
"Don't even try to deny it, Jayje. I have eyes. I see the way you look at him when you think nobody's watching."
"Fine. I like him. But as you also might have recognized, he's absolutely not interested in me."
"Well, true, I admit. I haven't seen him look back. Yet."
They fell silent again for a moment.
"But didn't he send any clues?"
"No, nothing. Two notes, but they were not revealing at all. Or maybe I'm just too blind to see it. They weren't even handwritten."
"But that's a sign! You probably know him well enough to recognize his handwriting."
"Yes, Emily. I've already figured that out. But that's not really a clue now, is it?"
They discussed JJ's Secret Santa for another while until JJ told Emily that she was tired and wanted to get a little nap until they landed.
Back in Quantico, everyone immediately headed home without going back to the office again. The paperwork could wait until the next morning.
When JJ arrived at home, she quickly scanned through her mail. Most of it were just bills, or spam, but one envelope caught her attention. It was red, with a little Santa Claus sticker on it. Tearing it open, out came two tickets for a Redskins game in January, along with another short, typed, note.
"Dear Jennifer,
I hear you're a big Redskins fan. Hope you like the seats.
Love, Santa"
This couldn't be true. JJ literally felt like she was in a dream. Who was this guy? She couldn't wait to find out, but even after checking all of her presents again for some hidden clues, she didn't find a single one as to who the donor was.
And as if the past two gifts in two days weren't enough, she found the next one on her desk in her office the next morning. This time it was a framed picture of her and her team. The wooden frame looked like it was handmade, but even if it wasn't, it was a perfect pick. JJ felt tears forming in her eyes at the attentiveness that came along with all of those presents.
"God, I so hope this is not a dream," she whispered disbelieving. Examining the picture, she realized that it must have been taken at Rossi's birthday. He had invited them over to his secluded house at Little Creek, and they had taken a few pictures later that evening, after they'd already had some wine, through automatic release with Garcia's camera, and she had emailed them around later. Looking at the picture again, JJ had to smile. Everyone was making funny faces and she was sitting next to Rossi, who had laid his arm around her shoulder. She shivered at the memory of how good it had felt. They all looked genuinely happy, and JJ recalled that they really were. They'd had the greatest of fun in a long while, and it was clear that they were long since being more than just a team.
So it had to be someone from the team, it shot through her mind. Who else would have this photo?
