AN1: This story is based on characters from Criminal Minds. I do not make any claims to have created them but I do enjoy writing them. I'm planning on this being a rather long story that will continue even though JJ is now awake.

AN2: This is a special Tuesday edition of The Story of Us. The reasons are two-fold. a) in anticipation of the 5th Season Opener tomorrow and b) as a birthday present for my friend and fellow writer, eGoofy34. Happy Birthday girl!!

AN3: This chapter is rated a slight M…there's a little fooling around.

AN4: Thank you so much for the kind reviews and PMs. They are all appreciated.

Hope you enjoy. Please read and review.

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"Tell me what happened."

Emily stared at her wife and bit on her lip a little. She took a deep breath and started to tell JJ how she had ended up in the hospital.

"Okay but on two conditions."

"What are they?" JJ said lifting her mask

"You need to leave your mask in place," Emily said raising her eyebrow, "and try not to talk so much."

JJ nodded

"Do you remember flying to Minneapolis?" Emily asked. If JJ truly wanted to know, she was going to do her best to help fill in the blanks.

JJ nodded

"Do you remember the case?"

JJ nodded again.

"Do you remember the morning of the shooting? Having breakfast with the team? Discussing the press conference?"

JJ shook her head.

"Okay. So that morning you were giving a press conference to give the description of our unsub. Can you remember doing that?"

JJ shook her head again

"God JJ. I was watching you. You were so in command. You always seem so confidant up there. And, honestly, I was just staring at you. I never heard the shot. Nobody did. The guy must use a silencer on a high-powered rifle. You just stopped speaking and stared at me." Emily said lowering her head. It upset her to recount the sight of blood spreading across JJ's chest and the realization that the women she loved had been shot.

"I wasn't sure what had happened. But you looked scared and in pain. Then I saw red start to spread across your white shirt." Emily sobbed. "I've never been so scared in my life."

JJ started to cry and held Emily's hand tightly.

Once Emily had regained some semblance of composure, she continued. "They figured he was on the roof of a nearby building but he was gone before anyone could find any trace of him."

Emily brought JJ's hand to her lips and kissed the back of it

"We should have held it inside. We should have had someone else do it."

JJ pulled her hand away so she could lift her mask.

"This isn't anyone's fault but the unsub's," she whispered

"I know. Logically I know that but…" Emily trailed off as she started to cry again

Emily composed herself once again and continued.

"It was chaos, people running in all directions. I didn't think I'd ever make it to you. The world started to move in slow motion. Hotch helped you immediately. You should have seen him, Jayj. He took off his jacket and pressed it against your chest. He put himself between you and the direction that the shot came from in case another one was fired."

"Was I the only one shot?"

"Yes. He targeted you. We should have put a vest on you. We all know you fit his type."

"Emily, stop blaming yourself."

"I felt so helpless. I'll never forget the look on your face while you were lying there."

A few more tears fell from Emily's eyes.

"Your last word before you passed out was Henry."

Tears were now falling freely from JJ's eyes as well.

"Please don't cry, Jayj. It'll make it too hard for you to breathe. I can't have a repeat of last night." Emily said running her hand along JJ's head. Emily grabbed the box of tissues and dabbed JJ's eyes and then her own.

"We're quite the pair you know," Emily joked

Once she was able to continue Emily explained to JJ about the rush to emergency, her first surgery and then her second. She told her how frightened she had been during the whole ordeal.

They were interrupted when Dr. Harden came in. He wanted to remove JJ's drainage tube and he needed to kick Emily out to do it.

"You don't want to be here for it, Emily," he explained. "If you wait outside, I'll come get you when it's over."

"You okay with that, baby?" she asked JJ

JJ nodded her head

Emily went outside and stood by the nurse's station. She grabbed some more tissues to wipe away her tears. A short time later, Dr. Harden came back out.

"It's out. Your wife's is a hell of a trooper. Sedated or not, I know for a fact that hurts like hell and she didn't even flinch. She has a very high threshold for pain."

"Yeah she does. She's very strong. Too strong sometimes but try telling her that."

"She's should sleep. I need her to rest, Emily. My hope is to get her out of ICU later today or tomorrow - and on her feet. That's where you're going to have to find even more strength than you've already shown."

"Okay. I'm ready. I can take it."

"I know you can," he said patting her on the elbow as he turned to leave. "I'll be back to check on her later."

Emily walked back into JJ's room to find her lover asleep. Emily was happy to find that the tube and fluid reservoir were gone and that her mask had been replaced by a nasal cannula. Slowly but surely JJ was getting better and Emily was ready to help JJ every step of the way on her road to recovery. She meant it when she told Dr. Harden she could take it.

"I can take it," Emily repeated.

Emily laughed lightly. "I can take it," she said again.

That thought could only lead her to one place…Colorado.

************************************************************************

"I'm going to tell him I can't go," Emily said as she stopped packing her go bag.

"No you aren't," sang JJ's voice as she came out of their bathroom

"Jennifer,"

"Emily, you need to go to Colorado."

"You have a doctor's appointment this morning. I don't want to miss it."

Emily looked at JJ. Her wife was 20 weeks along and things were going well. JJ was radiant and she was thoroughly enjoying the whole pregnancy experience.

"Em, it's just a 20 week well-check. You aren't going to miss anything. You need to go to Colorado. There are kids there that might need our help. I'll take notes and I'll tell you everything when you get home. Deal?"

Emily knew that JJ was right. They had received a call from Colorado Child Services requesting the BAU's assistance in investigating allegations of child abuse at a small religious cult in La Plata County, Colorado. Hotch had decided to send Emily and Reid there to check out the situation before deciding if the entire team should be involved. Emily and Reid were going to go undercover as child victim interview experts and interview all the children at the ranch.

"You'll tell me everything?" Emily asked as she pulled her wife towards her.

"Yep. Everything." JJ said giving Emily as loving kiss. "I should be done with my appointment and in the office before you even step foot on the grounds of that compound."

Emily kissed JJ goodbye and scratched Ranger behind his ears,

"Take good care of them boy," she told their four-legged sentry.

XXXXX

So Emily left her pregnant wife and flew with Reid to Denver where they were met by Nancy Lund who drove them out to the Separatarian Ranch where Emily and Reid were introduced to the church leader, Benjamin Cyrus. Emily found Cyrus to be about her height, attractive. He was soft spoken and she could see the charisma in him that one needs to lead a group of followers.

Emily interviewed a young woman named Jessica and her mother regarding the allegations. Jessica was a fiery young girl who firmly believed what Cyrus was teaching…and she was his wife. Just had Emily learned that Jessie's mother had given consent for her 15-year-old daughter to marry this man, when all hell broke loose. Cyrus came into the emptied classroom where they were conducting the interviews with his men; who were all carrying assault rifles. Emily and Reid were patted down for weapons. Emily was relieved that they had left them secure in the car they had ridden out in.

They found out the ranch was going to be raided just seconds before the state police stormed the place. Emily could hear gunfire being exchanged between both parties as they were all herded into an underground bunker. Emily silently prayed to herself to keep them safe. She needed to get back home to her wife and unborn child. Emily took note of the arsenal that this allegedly peaceful group had at their disposal. They had enough to arm every man at least twice over and ammo for days. Despite Emily's efforts to stop her, Nancy stupidly left the security of the bunker to try to negotiate a cease-fire only to get shot and killed. After a while, the shooting finally stopped and the state police pulled back but both she and Reid knew they were now trapped inside.

"God, how long before JJ finds out," Emily thought to herself.

The bunker was hot and Cyrus' men kept Emily and Reid segregated from the rest of the congregation and under heavy guard.

"Thank god he doesn't know our true identities. That could get us killed," she thought.

Emily heart sank when she heard Cyrus tell his men to distribute the weapons and ammo; she knew that meant this was not going to end peaceably or without further bloodshed. She wished she knew what was going on outside of the bunker. Did the team know what was going on? Situations like this were almost always headline news so they had to know, right? Especially when there were already four people dead that she knew of just by listening to the conversation going on between Cyrus and his men.

If the team knew, JJ knew. The BAU often led hostage negotiations, was her team on the way? If the team was on the way, was JJ on the way too?

"God JJ for once in your life think of yourself first. Stay home," Emily prayed. She knew there was more likely to be a snowball in hell than for JJ to stay behind if the team was on the way but she still hoped for it.

They wouldn't let her talk to Reid while they were in the bunker. Emily kept going over the protocols in her head. She knew this wasn't going to end well. She knew that the team out there negotiating with the sect – whether BAU, local FBI, or local law enforcement – would follow the minimal loss scenario. Knowing that not everyone was going to be saved, they would save as many as they could. Emily needed to assure that she and Reid would be amongst those saved.

The night wore on. She could tell by her watch that it was well past midnight. She was tired yet she couldn't sleep. She was worried more about JJ than she was about herself. She could take care of herself; she hoped that JJ wouldn't worry herself too much. JJ was strong but she also had a passenger she needed to take care of too. She felt JJ was close but she had no way to confirm it. She hoped she was wrong but it was just a presence that she felt. Random thoughts preoccupied Emily's mind - the training manual, the team, what could happen, worst-case scenarios. Wanting to fill her head with better thoughts, she decided to think about baby names.

"Girls names, hmm, I like Anna. Lauren is nice, too. Olivia. Katherine is really nice but JJ's ex's name was Kate so she'll never go for that. Mother will want an old family name like Martha or Mildred…but no. I used to like Jessica until this case. Boys names…hmm. I suppose I should think about those too. JJ's convinced we're having a boy. JJ. Oh God, JJ you are here aren't you? I can feel you. I wish I could actually feel you right now."

Emily wasn't sure when it happened but she actually fell asleep.

Come morning, she and Reid were brought upstairs to the church with the rest of the sect members. Emily watched as David Rossi brought in supplies to Cyrus and, it was all the confirmation she needed to know JJ was near as well. She and Reid continued to observe the behaviors displayed in front of them to try and secure their safe exit from this situation. The FBI had trained them well in case they had ever fallen into enemy hands, it was now time to invoke that training.

Emily and Reid were back down in the bunker a couple hours later when Cyrus came to see them. Emily knew something wasn't right; Cyrus was agitated.

"Which one of you is it?" Cyrus asked calmly, looking first at Emily and then settling on Reid.

Emily and Reid looked at each other. Emily could see Reid swallow hard; both of them hoping he wasn't asking what they thought he was asking.

"Which one of you is the FBI agent?" Cyrus asked again as he pulled his pistol out of his waistband.

"Fuck!" Emily screamed in her head, looking at Reid and then at Cyrus.

"Why do you think one of us is an FBI agent?" Reid asked softly.

Emily was terrified. "This is a bad…really bad," she thought to herself.

"God will forgive me for what I must do," Cyrus said pointing his weapon at Reid head.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Reid said sounding like he was going to cry.

"One of you does. Who is it?" Cyrus demanded, still aiming his gun at Reid's head.

Emily knew she needed to think fast. Reid was never going to make it through another incident like he had gone through with Tobias Henkel. Beside that, Reid seemed like he had a good line of communication going on with Cyrus. So Emily did the unthinkable.

"Me," she told Cyrus. "It's me."

She met Cyrus' eyes and knew she was in trouble. Before she knew what was happening, Emily felt herself pulled by her hair and dragged across the floor and into another room. Cyrus released her hair and Emily tried to bring herself to her feet.

"I told you not to put me in this position," he said as he backhanded her across her face.

"God please help me," her head screamed

She tried to stand again only to get kicked in the ribs, knocking the breath out of her.

"Fuck almighty that hurt," she thought as she fought her instinct to fight back, that would have made it worse. That would get her killed.

"Get up," he said menacingly as he pulled her to her feet only to punch her in the face, sending her crashing into a mirror that was hanging on the wall.

Emily heard him cite scripture that she couldn't make out as he then threw her across the room making her careen into some shelving. Though it all happened so quickly, her head kept thinking the whole time. Emily knew if they team had ears on the compound they could hear the beating she was taking and would be tempted to swarm the place. That would not only jeopardize her life but the lives of every other innocent person, especially the children, that was trapped inside. Better she take the beating than risk the bloodshed she was sure would take place. She just prayed JJ wasn't listening to her getting her ass kicked. She needed to get a message to the team to let them know not to come in.

"I can take it," she said.

Cyrus, of course, thought she was talking to him.

"Oh you can take it, huh?" he asked, as he slapped her hard across the face yet again.

"I can take it," she repeated. "Please Hotch, Rossi someone understand what I'm saying," her head screamed.

"Pride comes before the fall," Cyrus said, punching her hard in the stomach and then throwing her to the ground.

Emily was left shaking on the ground. She hurt all over. She'd never experienced anything like that before. She knew it could have probably been a whole lot worse. He could have continued beating her. He could have really hurt her. He could have raped her. He could have killed her. But he stopped for now. She heard him tell someone to tie her up and take her upstairs. Now she was going to be separated from even Reid. No raid ever came so her message must have been loud and clear.

Lying there on a bed with her hands tied behind her back, her thoughts kept going back to JJ and Blip. What if she didn't make it to see their child come into this world? That thought frightened her more than any other. She needed to make it out alive; she needed to find that will within.

Kathy Evanson, Jessie's mother, tended to her wounds. Emily knew she was badly bruised and might have even had a cracked rib or two but she was still alive. She had to use every ounce of strength she had to make it back to JJ and her unborn child. Emily also realized that it was Kathy that had made the call that started this whole mess. She needed to figure out how to use that to her advantage.

Emily was dragged back to the church where she finally had a chance to speak with Reid again. He was concerned for her but there was work to do so she quickly told him she was all right. They knew they needed to separate the followers from the loyalists but how and, more importantly, when. They needed to know when the compound was going to be raided because she knew it was imminent.

Emily was taken back upstairs and thrown back down on the bed. Her shoulders were aching from her arms being tied behind her back for so long. The rest of her body ached from the beating but she didn't have time to dwell on her pain. She was alone. She knew there should be microphones trained on the compound. She needed to take advantage of her being alone to get a message to the team and to see if she could somehow find out when they were coming. She started to talk and lifted the blinds in the window with the heel of her boot to allow the signal to get through. She said the same message over and over hoping that someone would eventually hear her and be able to communicate vital information to her.

"If you can hear me, I know you're coming. I can try to get the women and children down to the tunnel but I need to know when you're coming," she repeated over and over and over again. And when she felt like stopping, she said it again until finally she saw a red laser beam from a rifle laser scope shine against the wall in the room where she was being kept.

"Okay, okay, I got you. What time? What time?" she asked. Emily was more hopeful than she'd been since this whole thing started.

The red beam flashed three times indicating to her 3AM was the raid time.

To be sure, she asked, "3AM?"

The red beam moved up and down indicating affirmative.

"Understood," she said, relieved. "Reid is on the first floor somewhere with Cyrus. And please remember there are children here."

The red beam moved up and down again.

Taking a chance, she asked "Morgan, is that you?"

The red beam moved up and down one more time. Emily somehow knew it was.

"Is JJ here?" she needed to know

The sighed when she saw the red beam move up and down again.

"Is she okay?"

Before she could get her answer, she heard someone headed towards her room.

"Damn it," she thought.

"Someone's coming," she told Morgan

Kathy entered her room. She admitted to Emily that she had indeed made the call that had brought the FBI to the Colorado compound. Emily knew she wasn't going to be able to get the innocents to the tunnel by herself, especially if she was tied up. She told Kathy about the 3AM raid. She had to trust someone, and Kathy was really the only one at her disposal. Kathy didn't seem to believe that she could break from Cyrus and she left abruptly. Emily feared she was going to advise Cyrus of the FBI's plan. Much to Emily's surprise, Kathy returned a short time later and untied her. There were only 15 minutes before the place was going to be raided. Kathy told her Cyrus was rigging the place to explode.

Emily needed to find Reid but she also had a responsibility to get the women and children out of harm's way.

Down in the tunnel she was relieved to find Rossi and Morgan already trying to get people out of the building. Morgan told her to get out of the building while he went to find Reid. Once she had made her way out with Kathy, the building exploded behind her.

She looked around for her team. Reid and Morgan were still in the building when the bomb went off. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw them make their way out the burning building and through the smoke. She hugged Reid. And she felt awful for Kathy when she realized the Jessie never made it out of the building. Kathy had lost her daughter, her child.

"What about my child?" Emily's thought, as her mind snapped to more important things.

She looked around for JJ. She hadn't seen her since she'd escaped the building. She found Hotch. He gave her a slight smile.

"You okay?" he asked

Ignoring the question, she said, "Where's JJ?"

"I sent her to a motel a couple miles away."

"She's alone?"

"No. There is a female deputy with her."

"Do you want to call her?" Hotch said offering his phone.

"No. I want to see her."

"Okay."

"Where?" Emily said heading towards their vehicles

"Emily wait. You don't know where you're going." Hotch said. He turned to a deputy and said, "Take Agent Prentiss to the motel where Agent Jareau was taken."

The motel was only two miles up the road but to Emily it seemed like two hundred. She found a squad car parked in front of one of the small units and assumed that was where her wife was. She got out of the car she was riding in and went to the deputy sitting in their cruiser.

"Is this Agent Jareau's room?"

"Yes ma'am," the deputy offered

She tried the door and found it open. JJ was asleep on the bed. From the look of her, JJ had been crying and Emily assumed she'd finally fallen asleep from exhaustion. She crept inside and sat on the bed. She pushed hair that had fallen onto JJ's face behind her ear and ran her finger down JJ's jaw line.

JJ's eyes fluttered open and she looked at Emily as she tried to focus.

"Emily?"

"Yeah, baby. It's me."

"Are you really here?" JJ asked as tears welled in her eyes. "Or am I dreaming?"

"I'm really here, my love."

JJ sat up, her eyes focused now. She noticed the bruises on Emily's face and ran her fingers lightly across them.

"Oh my god!" JJ said as she started to cry. "Are you okay?"

"I'm okay, sweetheart. I'm okay," Emily said pulling JJ into her arms. The adrenaline was wearing off and it was starting to hurt like hell but she wanted nothing more than to hold her wife in her arms. They kissed tenderly and held each other.

"Is Reid okay?" JJ finally asked when they broke apart.

"He's fine too." Emily said. "How are you?" she asked placing her hand on JJ's belly.

JJ placed her hand on top of Emily's and said, "We're fine. Now!"

Emily sat there with her hand entwined with JJ's for a long time, both relieved that the ordeal was over. JJ kissed her and Emily eagerly deepened it. There were times during her entire ordeal where she wasn't sure she'd ever get to kiss her wife again so she took her time, she was in no rush. The kiss was passionate and loving, breathless. Their tongues weren't seeking control of one another's but were rather moving as one. It made Emily feel alive, it made Emily realize exactly how much she had to lose inside that compound if things had ended up differently. But they hadn't ended differently. She was here and the woman she loved was holding her and seeking out the heat of the skin under the bloodied clothes she was wearing. Emily reluctantly broke away from the embrace and stood up.

"I need a shower. I haven't had one in three days. Can I borrow your toothbrush and something to sleep in?" she asked as she dragged her sore, aching body to the bathroom. Emily had no idea where her go bag was and she hadn't wanted to take the time to look for it. Last she had seen it was in the back of Nancy Lund's car.

She finished cleaning up and fully expected JJ to be asleep once she returned to the bedroom. JJ surprised her by still being up.

"Come here," JJ said, making room for Emily on the small bed. Emily sat down and JJ kissed her. JJ wanted to pick up where they had left off. The kiss started out soft but quickly escalated to equal the emotions of the last few days. JJ pulled Emily down on top of her. Emily braced herself above JJ with her arms not wanting to land on JJ's pregnant belly; pain tugged at her ribs.

"I don't want to hurt you or the baby," Emily said breathlessly as she kissed JJ's neck and moved her body so it rested along side JJ's.

"He's fine." JJ responded. "You're not going to hurt him."

Emily continued to kiss down her wife's collarbone and gently palmed a supple breast when she stopped and looked at JJ.

"He's fine?" Emily asked

JJ pushed the hair out of Emily's face.

"Yes. He's fine, honey." JJ said with tears forming in her eyes again. "We're going to have a son."

Emily watched as JJ bit her lip waiting for a reaction from her. The emotions of the beating she'd endured, being held hostage, and worrying about her family finally caught up with Emily. She broke down and cried. She was going to have a son. A little boy. A little prince. A little Prentiss.

Suddenly things didn't hurt so much anymore and Emily kissed JJ hard. She moved from JJ's mouth and down her neck again. She removed the pajama top JJ had been wearing to expose her wife's breasts. She licked around the nipple and then took one in her mouth. She could hear JJ start to moan.

JJ moved so she was on her side facing Emily. Emily let her hand explore her wife's body stroking, touching, and caressing along the way. Emily sat up to take off the shirt she had stolen from JJ's bag. Emily had seen the black and blue marks Cyrus had left her with in the mirror while she was in the bathroom. She saw JJ grimace at the bruises on her body.

"I'm okay, JJ. It doesn't hurt that much."

"But it hurts some right, Emily?"

"A little. But I so need this right now. I need to make love with you."

XXXXX

They fell asleep shortly after the sun rose, after making love to one another. Hotch called them around noon to see when they would be ready to leave. The team all left for the airstrip by 1PM for the trip home.

Emily sat next to JJ with her arm wrapped protectively around her. They rarely displayed any such affection while they were technically on duty but these were extenuating circumstances. They had made it through a very difficult situation. JJ fell asleep and Emily gently pulled herself away from the sleeping blonde. She wanted to speak with Reid.

He was quietly sitting by himself reading. Emily sat down across from him.

"Hey," she said as she sat down.

"Hey," Reid acknowledged, barely looking at her.

Emily removed the book from his hands.

"Hey. I need you to listen to me. What Cyrus did to me is not your fault," she began. "It was my decision and I would do it again. Do you hear me?"

Reid didn't answer her. Emily could tell he was struggling with the guilt he felt over Emily taking the beating instead of him. He reluctantly nodded his head.

"Thank you," she told him

He picked his book back up and smiled slightly at Emily.

All was going to be right with the world again. She just needed to get home.

She made her way to the galley of the plane to grab some coffee when Hotch stopped her. He motioned for her to take a seat in the soft leather chair across from him.

"You okay?" he asked concerned.

"I'm fine. Really," she replied

"I'd like you to get checked out by a doctor when we get back. Just to be sure."

"Really Hotch, I'm fine."

"Emily. That's not a request."

Emily laughed lightly. "You're worse than JJ."

"How is she?" he asked

"She's strong."

"Yes she is but that's not what I asked."

"She's tired but she's okay."

"Good."

She paused. "We're having a boy," she told him smiling

"Yeah?" he asked smiling back. "Congratulations."

"You know something? I thought I wanted a girl but I'm really excited to be having a boy. Is that weird?"

"No. I think you think you have an idea what you want. Then once you find out what you're actually having you realize all you want is what growing in you wife's womb. It doesn't really matter as long as the baby is healthy."

"I think you're absolutely right." Emily said smiling as she got up to get that cup of coffee.

She stopped and turned around.

"Hotch?"

"Yes."

"Thank you for getting her out of there. I was worried about her hearing what was going on in that room."

"She was worried about you."

"I was more worried about her."

"She didn't need to hear it. And I wasn't going to let her."

"Thank you. And thanks for getting her to the motel. She'll go till she drops, you know?"

"Oh I'm aware. She one of the hardest working people I know. I'm already concerned about her being away when she takes her maternity leave."

"I think we're going to be in trouble."

Emily got her coffee and made her way back to JJ. She sat down next to her wife and gently brought her sleeping form back to nestle against her.

XXXXX

Emily had never been so happy to arrive home as she had been when they got home from Colorado that evening. She went upstairs and took a long soak in the tub before putting herself to bed. When she woke up she was surprised to see the clock read 2AM; she'd been asleep much longer than she thought she had. What surprised her even more was the fact she was alone.

She looked around for JJ and found her asleep on the couch in their family room. Paint swatches and wallpaper samples were displayed beside her personal laptop on the coffee table in front of her. Ranger was sleeping in a corner nearby.

Emily gingerly sat down; she was still very sore and was convinced she had a couple of cracked ribs. She ran her fingers down the face of the beautiful woman beside her and placed her lips gently against JJ's, wincing as she bent at the waist. She watched as JJ's blue eyes opened. JJ pulled her down so her lips were upon hers again and they shared a long, deep kiss.

"You're up." JJ said

"Why are you on the couch?"

"I didn't want to wake you."

"Jennifer, I'd have preferred that to waking up alone."

Emily leaned down and kissed JJ one more time.

"I love you," she told JJ before sitting up again.

JJ ran her hand along the small of Emily's back. "I love you too, Em."

Emily looked at the decorating items strewn about the coffee table.

"When did you get these?" Emily asked

"While you were sleeping I ran over to the hardware store. Now that we know what we're having, maybe we should think about decorating the nursery."

"You mean…having the nursery decorated right?" Emily corrected

JJ rolled her eyes at her.

"What JJ? I'm not good at that stuff. I'm not 'Little Miss Handy' like you. I paid someone to decorate my apartment remember?"

"We painted a couple of rooms in this house. I can help you with the nursery."

"Not in your condition you can't"

JJ growled at her.

"Look, Jayj. You decorated this house a few months ago and you did a beautiful job but that was before you were pregnant. I only helped and did what you told me to do. We can bring someone in to decorate the nursery. You're not getting around paint and wallpaper paste."

"I give up," JJ replied

"Good…I like this JJ," Emily said, smiling. "The one that let's me get my way."

Emily kissed JJ's temple

Emily looked at the wallpaper. "I like this one," she said, picking up a swatch that covered an array of different sports - football, baseball, basketball, and soccer.

JJ smiled, "I'm surprised. You hate sports."

"Yeah, well, it looks like I'm going to have to get used to them. I'm married to you and we're having a boy."

"You okay with that?"

"Yes. I'm happy. I didn't think we could find out yet?" she asked. "What else did you find out that I should know about?"

"Well, first of all, I'm sorry. Dr. Schreiber kind of slipped. She did the ultrasound and she said 'and there's his winkie'."

Emily laughed, "It's okay."

"She apologized. She was just moving the wand around and pointing out his eyes and his fingers…and his winkie."

"We're having a boy."

"Yes we are, love," JJ said running her hand along her belly. "Hey, hand me my laptop."

Emily balanced the laptop on JJ's belly and JJ showed Emily her latest screen wallpaper. It was the latest ultrasound picture.

"You have a scan in your e-mail but I don't think you've had a chance to check it yet with everything that has been going on."

Tears filled Emily's eyes as she stared at pictures of her son. Their son.

"Everything else okay? With both of you," Emily asked

"Aces." JJ replied. "Weight is okay, I gained two pounds. Blood pressure was good. His heartbeat was strong. We're doing good, Em."

"Good. That makes me happy," she said kissing JJ lightly.

"JJ?"

"Yeah, Em."

"I'm glad Hotch got you out of there. I was worried about you."

"I'm fine now. Then…not so much. I was so afraid I was going to lose you."

"It would take more than Benjamin Cyrus to take me away from you…from both of you. You two kept me fighting. I needed to come back to you. I need you."

After placing the laptop back on the table, Emily kissed JJ and she felt JJ run her hand down her sides. Emily deepened the kiss and she felt JJ's hand move between her legs. The thin material of the pajama bottoms she had on allowed her to feel the pressure as JJ was rubbing her.

"God, JJ," Emily panted as she placed her head against JJ's. JJ's hand snaked its way under her waistband and into the wet, heated flesh. "God JJ, please don't stop. Please…don't…stop."

JJ's hand picked up speed and Emily could feel her orgasm just below the surface. She captured JJ's lips with her own, plunging her tongue deep inside. She screamed into JJ's mouth when she came.

"Surprise attack," Emily laughed when she finally began to compose herself. "That wasn't fair,"

"What? You said you needed me," JJ joked back

Emily stood up, pulling JJ up with her. Emily kissed JJ passionately causing JJ to groan as Ranger got to his feet. "I'm not hurting her boy," she said to JJ's ever-present, tail-wagging bodyguard.

"Let's take this upstairs, baby," Emily said leading JJ towards the stairs by her hand.

JJ turned to Ranger and told him to stay.

***************************************************************

"Emily?"

Emily stirred out of her thoughts when she heard JJ ask for her. She hadn't realized JJ was awake.

"What is it baby? You okay?"

"I'm thirsty."

Emily helped JJ with a little water and then to settle back down.

"How are you feeling?"

"Actually…a little better. Must be the drugs."

Emily chuckled.

"What were you talking about?" JJ asked once she was comfortable again.

"When?"

"Just now." JJ said. Her voice was still hoarse but was getting stronger.

"I didn't realize I had actually said something."

"You were talking about Colorado weren't you?"

Emily smiled slightly, "Yes."

"I can remember how scared I was. I can only imagine how hard this whole thing has been on you."

Emily looked down not wanting JJ to see how true that statement was. Their jobs often put them in danger, both of them, and it was never going to be easy on either one of them to watch and worry about the other. Emily shuddered when she thought about how close she had come to losing JJ.

"You've been here this whole time haven't you?" JJ asked

"Almost. If they let me, I've been here."

"I heard you."

"What?"

"Talking to me. I've heard you."

"You have?" Emily asked surprised

"Off and on. I could hear you. Talking about us. Telling our story."

"It's my favorite."

"Mine too."

"I wanted you to remember what was waiting for you." Emily said

"I could never forget but thank you." JJ whispered. "I love you, Emily. Please know that if I were to leave you it was not my choice. I will always do my damnedest to make it home to you."

Emily kissed JJ tenderly on her lips.

"So much easier without that damned mask." Emily said with a soft laugh.

JJ smiled. Emily felt her heart leap. It was JJ's smile…the one that made everything right in Emily's world. She'd missed it.

"Emily?"

"Yeah baby?"

"I want to see our son," JJ said.

Before Emily could answer, Dr. Harden walked into JJ's room.

"Well why don't we work on getting you out of ICU and so we can make that happen."

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Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review…

Again…Happy Birthday eGoofy34

And Happy Season 5 premier to everyone!!