A/N: I know, two updates in as many days :) But as I said, it's been way too long, and I knew exactly what I wanted to do for this chapter, so it made sense to take a little extra time to get it done.

And now you get fireworks, as promised.


Home.

Alex opened the door with a sigh, glad to be there. The afternoon sun was, amazingly, still shining behind her as she stepped inside, closing the door carefully behind her. All she wanted right now was a glass of wine. A glass of wine and a moment of rest, to just be herself and not worry about what anyone else thought.

She took her go bag upstairs, responsibly unpacking it and placing all the clothes in the laundry before repacking with new clothes.

Tired, she pulled her sweater over her head and wiggled out of her jeans. It was just going to be her tonight; she could put on her comfiest PJs and read a book, maybe turn on the TV if she felt so inclined.

She was reaching for her pajamas when she saw the nightie, all red and black, laying on top of the stack of clothes she'd removed from the go-bag.

Huh. So she hadn't worn it after all.

She carefully picked it up, relishing the way it slid over her fingers and hands. It was so soft.

Oh, what the hell.

She unsnapped her bra, casting it aside, and pulled the nightie on over her head. It fell in lovely folds, down to mid thigh.

She giggled as she looked at herself, and adjusted the top to better show off her cleavage. She looked good. She looked better than good.

She pulled her hair from the bun, letting it cascade around her shoulders, admiring herself in the mirror. Why didn't she do this more often? She and James hadn't slept together for three years now, but why had she let that stop her from making herself attractive, pretty?

She slipped her feet into her softest pair of slippers, which looked decidedly wrong with the nightie, and headed downstairs to the wine cupboard, pulling out her oldest and best bottle, pouring herself a very generous glass and taking a sip (well, a bit larger than a sip).

The flavors hit her mouth and she sighed, finally at ease, completely unstressed and relaxed for the first time in...in years, honestly. Since Amerithrax, her personal hell, she'd been angry, stressed, panicked for, well, ever. Never stopping, to be honest. She was determined to get a good job, to prove herself, and once she had proved herself at Georgetown...she had set her sights on the FBI.

One night, she'd just realized that it was possible, that she could go back...

Erin Strauss had overcome it. True, she'd overcome it by shoving everyone else involved underneath a very huge bus, but if she could do it...

Alex could too.

And now she had, but once she'd gotten the position, there was this underlying worry. She could tell that everyone was just comparing her, over and over, in ways they probably didn't even realize, to Emily Prentiss. That no matter what she'd always be some sort of second.

And then yesterday. This case. Garcia's loving friendship that turned Alex from humble and scared to proud and confident.

She belonged here. They liked her now. Hotch trusted her enough to go in on a sting mission, and he worried about her enough to blame himself when things went wrong.

She was part of this unit now, like it or not.

She smiled. She did like it. She loved it.

And then her doorbell rang.


JJ didn't want to be here, to be doing this. She already had a stomach ache, but by god, she was not letting this day end before confronting Alex about what she'd done. Reid's words stuck in her mind and she knew that the only way she'd ever be satisfied would be if she talked to Alex, heard from the woman herself how much she loved Garcia, how much their kiss had to have been...an accident. Aftereffects of the drug.

But what she'd said.

JJ's heart started to beat at triple time, remembering the words, the hope it had given JJ in that moment.

Oh god. Was this really happening? Was she standing outside of Alex's door, had she called Will to plead that he take Henry for one more night?

Yes, she had.

And the door was opening.

JJ's heart stopped.

Alex was there, looking...oh. God.

The nightie. Red and black, covering and yet revealing more than it covered. Lace.

JJ's blinked, openmouthed. Whatever she'd wanted to say, planned to say, practiced saying on the ride over, vanished from her mind. This. This was what she'd been missing all along. This was why she'd wanted to divorce her husband after only four months of marriage.

Because she didn't feel like this around him. Not anymore. Maybe once, when they first met, and he was just charming and sweet, and oh, that accent!

But then it had all gone away. Henry had come. She'd felt comfort with Will; he was the father of her child. Besides, now she could be normal. Everything could be easy. She had a man.

She pressed a hand against her heart, feeling it beat, and it was painful.

"JJ? Are you okay?" Alex said, stepping forward. "What are you doing here?"

"I need to know," JJ said, voice almost breaking from a surplus of emotions.

And then she stepped forward, pushed Alex up against her front door, and kissed her.


The wreath on her front door was digging into her back. That was the second thing that Alex noticed.

The first thing she noticed was that JJ was kissing her. JJ. Jennifer Jareau. Her colleague. Her crush.

The third she noticed was that JJ's arms were strong, firm, holding Alex in place as though she was afraid that Alex would try to get away.

She was dead wrong.

Alex wouldn't have tried to leave this embrace for the world.

JJ's lips were soft, and Alex couldn't help opening her mouth to the kiss, and the moan from JJ in return prompted a sigh from Alex's own mouth. She brought her hands up to JJ's face, feeling the blonde hair, the curve of JJ's neck, the delicate cheekbones.

And JJ was suddenly all over her, hands on waist, going up and down, exploring.

Alex couldn't breathe. She felt JJ playing with the straps on her nightie, and then it stopped. JJ stopped, pulling away.

"So," JJ said. "It's true."

"What's true?" Alex whispered.

"We do have chemistry," JJ said. "You are attracted to me."

"Yes, I am," Alex said. "But I never thought—"

"Bull! You kissed me, Alex," JJ said. "And you opened up this new world for me, but don't you feel that this is wrong?"

Alex opened her mouth to speak, unsure of what to say. "JJ, I understand not wanting to be gay..."

"No, I mean cheating!" JJ said. "You're cheating, Alex. This is hurting other people. It's more than you and me involved right now."

Just a tad relieved that JJ was comfortable with Alex's sexuality, since at least now she wouldn't have to talk JJ through that...that was never a talk she wanted to have. There was a reason that she'd never gotten very far with other women. But now...

"I mean, the only reason James and I haven't gotten divorced is because it's too much work," Alex said. "I know that he's had girlfriends, and I..." She shrugged. "I can't bring myself to be jealous or angry. We lost our spark, he took a job in another freaking country, we never even see each other anymore, and it just stopped mattering. It won't hurt him."

"I know that!" JJ cried. "Alex, how can you be so cruel? What about Penelope?"

Alex should have realized everything then and there, but she was too scared for her brain to properly process anything being said. All she knew was that JJ had kissed her but now JJ was angry at her.

"Hang on," Alex said, holding her hands up. "Just hold up a minute. First up, you kissed me. You walked in and kissed me, so I have no idea what you're talking about. Would I like to have been the one to kiss you? Yes. But the facts are the facts."

"But—" JJ began.

"Secondly, I have no idea what you think is going on between Garcia and I," Alex said. "What anyone on this team thinks. I was feeling down last week after that little boy called me a grandma, so I asked Garcia to help me update my wardrobe. She graciously agreed."

JJ, pacing like a caged tiger, suddenly froze as Alex continued to speak.

"There is nothing else going on between us, though," Alex said. "Penelope is a wonderful person, but if...if I was doing to impress someone and not just to give myself more confidence...god, JJ. It was you."

"What?" JJ whispered.

"It was always you!" Alex said. "From the moment we first met, with Hotch being professional and Reid and Rossi knowing me from before, but then there was you, JJ. You'd never met me before and I was taking the place of a very good friend, and I was terrified, but you were standing there, in that little black dress, and you stepped forward, and the smile on your face just killed me, JJ. When we shook hands...I was a goner."

JJ laughed, a wild sound, and she looked behind her for a chair to sink onto, legs giving out.

Alex stepped forward, crouching in front of her.

"I..." JJ shook her head. "I thought you and Garcia were dating. I...Emily told me to follow my heart. She knew that I didn't really want to marry Will, that it was just spur of the moment. She said something before she left about it never being too late. And I called a divorce attorney but my heart wasn't really in it. Will...he's a good guy. And then I walked into work the next day..." She shook her head, staring straight into Alex's eyes, peering down into her soul, it felt like. "And you were there. Tall and commanding, in a black pantsuit. You were so professional, Alex. So obviously just there to do the job, not caring if you made friends or foes along the way."

"I did care!" Alex said.

"It didn't seem like that," JJ told her, and suddenly reached out to take Alex's hand. "But I fell, Alex. So hard and terribly fast. We were on that first case, and you turned to me, and I don't remember what you said, but your eyes just pierced me, like a knife. And my heart just skipped a beat."

They both fell silent, just staring at each other. "I made an appointment with the attorney the day I got home. Before even Morgan and Garcia got back from London. I was ready."

JJ licked her lips, nervous, and Alex, shifting to be on her knees instead of her toes, leaned forward and kissed her. Again.

And again.

And...this was so good. She tasted like chocolate. JJ tasted like chocolate, and she smelled like lavender, and they were falling backwards onto the couch...

"Wait a minute," Alex said, coming up for air.

"What?" JJ asked, reaching up to again play with the straps of her nightie, and Alex tried to breathe.

"You said I kissed you first," Alex said. "I don't remember that."

She felt JJ's legs, muscular beneath hers, shift a little.

JJ propped herself up on her elbows. "You did," she said. "When Hotch and I came in, and Hotch took Craig away, you kissed me, Alex."

"I don't remember that," Alex admitted, feeling JJ's eyes on her. "But it sounds like something I'd do. Kiss you first, answer questions later."

Alex looked down at JJ, feeling the connection between them, feeling how much better making out was than just being friends and colleagues. How much better it was to know.

"I think I love you," Alex blurted.

JJ smiled, sinking back onto the couch, taking hold of Alex's nightie straps to pull the other woman down with her. "I love you, Alex Blake," she whispered, and Alex stopped being able to breathe.