Chapter ten
As JJ was making breakfast, she turned to Emily. "I never did get to ask you, and just assumed because you got rid of the phone, but did you get hold of Hotch?"
"Yeah. He said great job by the way." Emily smiled, as she sipped her coffee. "And I've got a new disposable cell, which Garcia has routed around the globe a thousand times already." JJ moved having sorted Henry out, and wrapped her arms around Emily's waist.
"So, what do we do now?"
"Please, don't take this the wrong way, I need to know are you going to manage now things have changed..." Emily's voice trailed off as she watched JJ's eyes lose their twinkle.
"You're regretting this aren't you." JJ said as she went to pull away.
"No!" Emily said firmly, putting her coffee down and pulling JJ back in, "This is the best thing that has ever happened to me. But it changes how we might be out in the field. We both know we are going in to potentially dangerous situations without major back up. The only person visiting us is Garcia, because it was too dangerous to get back stories on everyone that would hold up. It's one thing to have Hotch and the rest of the team at the end of a phone, but when it comes down to it, we are going in blind, no back up. I need to hear you say you can deal with it if something happened. Nothing can prepare you for that I admit, but you also need to be aware of it."
JJ rested her head in to Emily's shoulder. "Truthfully, I think I can, but how can I be totally sure? I can't, can I. As you've said nothing can really prepare you. But how I've felt about you then and now hasn't really changed, its just out and in the open, and I see that as being a good thing, because it means we can be more ourselves, and the more that happens, its surely less likely to arouse suspicion."
"Always there with the right answer." Emily smiled as she felt herself relaxing.
"So, what is our next move?"
Later in the day, Emily and JJ kissed before getting out of the truck, and JJ held Emily's hand as they walked to a door in a side alleyway. Once there, Emily knocked firmly.
"Good to see you again." Rebecca Dawson said as she opened the door.
"That remains to be seen." Emily replied as they walked in. "On what you have to offer us."
"Indeed, although as I'm sure you'll appreciate we have to take certain measures before further discussions take place. If I can please search you for weapons."
Without argument, Emily and JJ stood while they were patted down, and their firearms were placed in to a locked box on a counter to the side of them. Both noticed they were searched for wires as well.
JJ squeezed Emily's hand as Rebecca simply gestured for them to follow her, and for the first time, JJ and Emily noticed a doorway that was well concealed in the wall. Once through, they were lead down a dark narrow hallway, with a few doors leading off.
"If we feel satisfied, you will be given a better tour at a later date, until then our first stop is here." Rebecca turned the handle, and the door opened up in to a fully equipped indoor firing range.
"Ohhhh." JJ cooed as they walked in. Meanwhile Emily noticed the door was not only closed on them, but locked as well. Rebecca saw Emily's questioning expression on her face.
"So we are not disturbed and for sound proofing purposes." Rebecca said as way of explanation. Emily nodded to show she was happy with that.
"Please." Rebecca motioned for them to move towards the shooting booths, where ear guards, eye protection and pistols were already waiting.
JJ spun around, a sparkle in her eyes. "Magnum 44, or to be more accurate, the 430 calibre. A little large for our line of work though."
Rebecca nodded. "Yes, but also harder for the shooter to control, and so it gives us a better idea of a shooters capability. We also like to take people out of their comfort zones with their choice of weapons."
"Oh, Jude is comfortable whatever you give her." Emily said with a smirk. Without a word, JJ spun back, put all her safety gear on, looking and smiling at Emily when she was ready, as they moved in to position. Once they were given the all clear, they both began firing.
Then as the targets came toward them, Emily could see where her shots were tightly clustered, JJ, as always was so precise, the target was barely torn where the bullets had gone through, and seeing just how deadly accurate JJ was never ceased to amaze her. Slipping her ear defenders off so they hung around her neck, Emily looked across at Rebecca, who moved in and replaced the targets.
"Impressive." Rebecca said as she looked at the shots.
"You already know how good Jude is, so you shouldn't sound so surprised." Emily said quietly as she and JJ both removed their gear.
"Absolutely, but we have to be sure of these things." Rebecca answered calmly. "Now if you'd please follow me."
They moved back out in to the corridor and was shown a door immediately on their left. "If you would like to go in there, it is a locker room for you to change and a small gym off from that. We would like to see how good your hand to hand combat skills are. There are a selection of sweats in different sizes for you to choose from." Wordlessly, Emily and JJ walked through, and saw a rack with gym sweats immediately on their right.
"Well, this saves me having to have a work out later." Emily joked as they began to get changed. Just as she had shed her top, and was standing in her bra, a woman they didn't recognize walked in through from the other door in the room. The woman stopped, and stood there, not even trying to disguise that she was eyeing both Emily and JJ up. She then flicked her head in Emily's direction.
"Pretty impressive collection of scars you've got there, how did you get them?"
"Not that it's any of your business, but it was through work." Emily said dismissively, turning her back, silently saying some thanks that she had plastic surgery to minimise the clover leaf burn from Doyle, which would have otherwise stood out, and being so distinctive meant it was also traceable.
"What about you darlin'. You got anything to show me?"
Emily immediately bristled at the woman's tone and spun around. "That's my girl you're talking to." Emily growled, "show some respect."
JJ put her arm out to stop Emily moving forward, seeing Emily's ire bubbling just below the surface. "I can fight my own battles." she reminded Emily, who immediately backed down, and shot a look of apology JJ's way. JJ turned to the woman, who was smirking at them. "As for you, scuttle off back under whichever rock it was that you crawled out from." and to enforce the point, she then turned and kissed Emily. Out of the corner of her eye, JJ saw the woman move over to a far locker. Breaking away from the kiss, JJ placed her hands on Emily's hips. "As endearing as it is for you to show chivalry towards me in the presence of another woman, you don't need to!"
"I know." Emily sighed, "Sorry, I'm still adjusting to it all." She then whispered in JJ's ear as she lent in closer.
"I'll give you that one, and I have to admit, you are kinda cute when angry like that." JJ muttered, wishing that right at that moment, they were back at the apartment.
Pulling back away, Emily smiled. "So I'm not in your bad books then?"
"Nah," JJ smiled, "And as much as I would love to stay here and chat, we've got work to do."
"Remember what I told you." Emily said softly so she wasn't overheard, as she stood next to JJ, mats on the floor in front of them. JJ smiled in reply to show she'd understood what Emily was telling her, and that was to fight as if her life depended on it, even if it was Emily they decided to pair her against, which Emily said would be most likely, to test both of their emotional reaction. 'They want to know if you are a cold blooded killer underneath, and that means they want to see if you're able to attack someone you love.' Emily's words of warning reverberated around JJ's mind. JJ could see Emily repeatedly clenching her jaw, a sure sign she was stressed about what they were facing.
JJ and Emily squared up to each other and Emily mouthed 'I love you', both hoping they could deal with this scenario. It was the one each dreaded, but also knew it was going to be the one test that likely helped them the most. JJ watched as Emily's eyes changed, from loving and warm to cold, almost as if shutters had been pulled across her emotions. JJ tried to put herself in the same frame of mind, and they began to circle each other on the mat.
Emily swung a punch, and JJ bent backwards just in time, feeling the air whistle across her nose as she did, and because she was concentrating on moving away from the punch, Emily caught her out and took her feet from underneath her with a sliding kick to the ankles. She fell down on to the mat with a thud, and just rolled away in time as a kick from Emily came in. Twisting, JJ managed to get back up again, and she immediately hit Emily sideways on with a kick of her own, swinging her leg up high, catching Emily right across the ribs.
Emily felt winded by the contact, but managed to stay upright. She took a moment to size up the situation. She knew JJ was more limited in terms of being a fighter than she was, too disciplined at times, whereas Emily would use her own style, mixing it up as needed. For a while they just grappled with each other, landing blows not too damaging, but still energy sapping in their own right, enough to graze and bruise. Then JJ surprised Emily completely by charging at her, throwing her to the ground, and within seconds had caught her jaw with a fist, following in with her other hand, which also caught her right in the face. Emily knew she was stunned and had lost some momentum, but she got a block in from the next blow JJ landed, and hit out with the heel of her hand. She didn't even register that she had caught JJ right on the nose, causing it to bleed, as they both scrambled back up again. Emily pivoted and caught JJ squarely in the chest with a perfectly placed roundhouse kick, which put JJ back down on the mat. Dropping down, Emily caught JJ in a choke hold, and she automatically tightened her grip not even registering what she was doing. Just at that moment, Rebecca walked over, effectively stopping the fight. Emily fell back on to her back, catching her own breath, as she realized she was bleeding from a cut lip and what felt like a cut above her left eye. Turning her head, she saw JJ move to rest on an elbow, and that's when she noticed the bloody nose.
"Shit." Emily said, as she sat up, "Are you all right?" JJ nodded, trying to gather her thoughts, feeling dizzy from the short, but very brutal bout.
"We'll give you chance to get washed and dressed. There is a first aid kit by your lockers. I'll meet you back out in hallway and we'll then arrange for you to have your firearms back." and with that Rebecca turned and left.
"JJ, I'm so sorry." Emily knelt and reached to grasp her hand sounding absolutely appalled with herself.
"It's okay." JJ said, moving to sit up more. "We knew it could come to this."
"Dammit, no it's not okay." Emily said angrily. "I didn't mean to hurt you."
"But we had to do it. I've hurt you as well, and I'm not overly happy about it either." JJ replied. "Lets get dressed, and get the hell out of here as quickly as we can. I do not want to dwell on all of this."