Disclaimer: I am not making any money from this writing exercise, blah blah blah. Please don't sue. As usual, reviews are welcome and encouraged.

Author Note: Again, thanks for the feedback. Sorry about the delay, but this was a rough chapter for me. It started off as a good idea and then just became an absolute toil. Hopefully this story will wrap up in a few more chapters, then we'll move onto the next story.

Special thanks again goes to my ever faithful beta reader, Tracy-Face.

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Forging Connections

By littlelights

Chapter Ten

LaMontagne: Where are you from?

JJ: Pennsylvania.

LaMontagne: I take it the folks are a little rigid about the rules up that way. Well, if it makes you feel better ... we'll play it Pennsylvania style tonight.

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She felt different.

Standing in front of the small bathroom mirror, JJ examined her body in the early morning light. Her skin was smooth, and the bags under her eyes were less pronounced. The laugh lines around the corners of her mouth weren't as distressing as they appeared last week. Rosy cheeks. Wide awake eyes. Experimentally, she smiled, and felt it spread throughout her face.

It was so different. Amazing even. She owned that smile.

If she were looking at herself from another person's perspective, she would have taken the grin, blossoming cheeks and lack of clothing and surmised that this was a woman who could do anything. And she had one hell of a love life.

Every little bit of her body hummed with tingles. From the bottom of her feet to the small hairs on her head. It was amazing, empowering and completely unique.

Happy.

That's what it was. She was happy. Honest to God happy.

The little voice in her head said it was chemicals from a powerful combination of sex and the delusion of biological nesting instinct, but she really didn't care. She felt freer, more at ease with the world around her. It was wonderful. And it also was nearly entirely at odds with the more serious aspects of her life.

She wasn't a Sex in the City girl, prone to sitting around stressing over shoes and the perfect bedmate. It was a misconception that she'd fought for the better part of her adult life.

Look serious if you want to be taken seriously. It had been primary lesson she learned from her mother. Clothing was important. As the public face of the FBI, JJ believed in the power of dressing for success. It was something she and her supervisor Aaron Hotchner had in common. The rest of their team might have a style all their own, but JJ and Hotch were the distinguishable authority figures. When they met with a local authority for the first time, everyone from the county sheriff to the federal marshals looked to both her and Hotch.

The steely resolve, which had won her so many soccer matches and helped her surpass all examinations, seemed to have grown unconsciously every day. It had squeezed a lot of other emotions out of her life, but she had managed to keep her sense of humor somewhat whole. Friendship, affection, kindness, compassion. These things were still at the core of her being.

But she was different from other women. And it wasn't solely based on her career with the bureau. She hadn't pinned her dreams on marriage and a family. She'd worked too hard, pushed beyond a lot of the traditional goals of what a woman of her generation desired, and pursued her ambitions almost relentlessly. That drive had always been there, reinforced by a motivation to never be found incompetent or wanting.

Even in the quiet moments, when she was alone in her apartment or unwinding from work, JJ let her mind stray to the idea of a solid relationship. It never lasted very long, and was often shut down as a fleeting fancy of time or circumstance. But now, she wasn't about to dismiss sharing her life with someone.

A really great someone.

She hadn't been looking for love because men usually turned out to be a distraction, or worse, gutless ass-biters. Trust was something JJ never surrendered gracefully, and the few times she had handed over a portion of her life to a man she usually walked away with bruised pride and brittle faith.

The rustling sound of slack bed sheets caused her to turn from the sink. JJ watched as the bed's occupant rolled over and shifted back into slumber. He was on the verge of wakefulness, which filled her stomach with a tingling sensation. It was sometimes astounding how many emotions he inspired within her. .

If only he knew how much he'd given her already.

Her mind made up, she moved and stood beside the bed, saying a little prayer to whatever gods were present, and grasped his open hand. If she was going to take a leap like this one, then it was worth her while to take out a little life insurance.

Silently willing his eyes to open, JJ watched as her boyfriend blinked his way back to consciousness. His mouth sloped upward in a sleepy smile, and pulled gently on their clasped hands. "What are you doing out of bed?" he asked.

That resolve welled up, but it was tempered by the love flowing through her body. Firmly, she pulled back on his hand. "I need you for a second."

He grinned a little more at that. "You can have me for more than a second. But before that, why don't we sleep for two more hours and have breakfast?"

"Breakfast can wait a little longer." She gave him the 'do not attempt to negotiate' look which usually was reserved for very stubborn sheriff's deputies, and without resistance, Bill followed the pull out of bed. He shivered a little in the cool morning air, and enfolded his arms around JJ's lithe body. As soon as he regained some sort of balance, he began kissing her eyelids with the softest movements.

She wanted to stand there and revel in his soft lips for hours, but that balled up determination wouldn't allow her to tarry much longer. JJ allowed herself one breath to own up her nerves. Confident, she opened her eyes and met his gaze with her own. "I need to tell you something…"

"Honey, let a man wake up first." The slight playfulness in his voice was quickly offset by a string of more kisses. "We're both sleep deprived and running on last night's bourbon. Here's a thought, give me another hour of sleep, and I'll take you out for breakfast."

Switching tactics, she met his kisses and quickly became lost in her own plan. Her actions were first neutral then became more aggressive. His hands dipped around her waist and under the smooth fabric of her cami tank.

This was exactly what she had been trying to avoid.

Her next move was going to be pivotal. She had to play this smart, or the damage control was going to be massive.

JJ pulled back from the embrace, ensuring enough space between them as to not be interpreted as a rejection. He looked slightly puzzled, searching her eyes for a sign of something which would relay her need to step away.

"I'm being serious. I need to return the favor." JJ continued, pushing aside the confusion and protest forming on his features. "I need to tell you that-…" The wall of tension in her chest was painful, and it threatened to pull down the last barrier between self preservation and her heart. "I love you." The words broke loose, and hung in the air like an imagined figure. "Before you told me yesterday, I wanted to tell you. I wanted to say I love you too."

The immensity of that statement took his breath away. Bill looked completely shocked. "Come 'ere," he said, puling JJ close to his body. "Jen, baby, what I said last night." He fought for words. "I didn't mean to pressure you into something you might not be ready for."

JJ's eyebrow raised slightly, implying a 1,000 meanings with one small calculated movement. "You think I don't know my own mind?"

He shook his head. "Christ, no. But you play your cards close to your chest. I didn't expect anything like this from you so soon."

"Then in that case, you should know I don't say something like that unless I mean it." The ferocity in her voice sounded unduly harsh to her own ears. His hands suddenly went as still as sculpted concrete on her skin. They didn't move, but they were locked in place. She took a deep breath and softened her tone. "And I do mean it, Bill. I'm in love with you, too. Before I leave, I wanted to let you know. This has been the best weekend that I can remember. I don't want this to end, or for us to just to have this and then our separate ways. I don't want to wake up another day without you in my life."

They continued staring at each other, the silence stretching on until it felt like the room was drowning. Then through the open window, the sounds of the outside world intruded. Street traffic, a tourist trolley, a funeral band leading a funeral procession. These things brought about a resurgence of time ticking by.

JJ grimaced slightly, shaking her head with mock disgust and gave an embarrassed titter. "That's the lamest, sappiest thing I've ever said."

"I promise, I won't tell anyone," Bill said with his own amused chuckle, and kissed her on the forehead.

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"And then what happened?"

Penelope Garcia adjusted her hands free ear bud, giving this conversation her full attention. Between the gentle hum of the laptop and the off-handed comments of the other coffee shop patrons, it was proving to be a more stimulating environment than she had anticipated, but after what she dealt with at the BAU, this was proving to be a cakewalk.

"We went to Café Du Monde for breakfast. God, Pen. You wouldn't believe the coffee there. It was amazing. By far the best I've ever had." JJ Jareau's voice radiated a relaxed and animated tone. But every few seconds, she seemed to be a bit wistful. That's how Penelope knew her girl was in deep with the New Orleans Police detective.

"Did you get me something?"

"A bag of coffee. Consider our espresso arrangement be officially at an end."

"That's something I need to tell you, sugar. You used up part of your retainer while you were away."

"This is really good stuff, Garcia. You'll love it, trust me. Besides, it was a holiday weekend. Everyone had holiday plans. I doubt anyone spared a second to think about me."

Penelope reluctantly took a hit from her grande Mocha Caramel. "Listen, babe. I'm just going to be honest with you about this, but Morgan is definitely sniffing the airborne love emanating from your direction."

"And that's unusual because?" JJ asked.

"Look, I don't want you to stress out, but our hunk has your number." Her friend replied. "Sealed, Fed Exed and signed. And since he's become aware of your little situation, Reid has pretty much drawn the same conclusion."

"Oh. Well, crap."

"And this is where our logic skills come into play. If Morgan has cracked that secret JJ code, well, you don't have to be Alan Turing to realize that Gideon and, God forbid, Hotch have managed to break that cipher the moment you left Thursday night."

There was a pause, before Penelope recovered her sense of speech. In her head she could envision JJ nibbling on her front lip thoughtfully. "I know. Its shudder worthy. So don't be surprised if your reception is a scene from a quiz show."

JJ seemed unfazed by her co-worker's revelation. "I can handle the questions. But the profiling, well, I guess it's unavoidable. I don't have to like it, and it's not any of their business, but that's life. Now that everyone seems to have worked out that I have a boyfriend, how long do you think I have before someone sets up a betting pool on who it is?"

"It's already in the works, babe." Garcia said in a precise manner. "So far, details are fuzzy. But when I know more, you'll know more, ok?"

"Thanks," JJ replied, somewhat relieved that someone was on her side. "By the way, how's the caseload piling up?"

"Not as bad as it could be, but have your bag packed and gun ready, because I think our team is going to hit the friendly skies again as early as tomorrow."

"What a great way to come back from vacation," JJ supplied. "See you tomorrow."

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