"Jen, wake up." Emily ran a hand along the blonde's back, gently shaking her awake. "Come on baby, open your eyes." JJ was crying, her sobs breaking Emily's heart.
JJ struggled to open her eyes, which were wet with tears. "Emily?" she whimpered, grabbing hold of the brunette's shirt.
Emily wrapped her strong arms around JJ, pulling the woman into her chest. "I'm right here, Jennifer. I'm right here." Soothingly, she massaged JJ's sore muscles until she relaxed in Emily's arms.
'I'm sorry." The blonde sniffled, trying to wipe her eyes. "I must look like a fool."
Emily smiled, "You could never look like a fool, Jen. And you don't need to apologize." She paused to kiss JJ's forehead. "Why don't you tell me about it? It might make you feel better."
JJ shook her head. "It's stupid."
"What, did a lima bean eat you again?" Emily joked.
Her face brightened. "Hey now, for your information that was a very scary dream!"
Laughing, Emily said, "Come on, talk to me."
JJ sighed. "It was about Will. I dreamt that he killed you down in that cellar."
Emily held JJ tighter, kissing the top of her head. "Jennifer Jareau, I am right here and I'm not going anywhere. You are stuck with me for the rest of your life, and I couldn't be happier."
"Yeah, but look at our job. Who's to say that you won't get killed tomorrow?"
"Well, considering I'm off for the next week to take care of you, I think it's a safe bet that I'll survive another day." Emily winked.
JJ nodded, "Okay, well what about next week then? I love my job, Emily… but I love you more. I want to grow old with you, but what happens if we're not given that chance?"
Emily just shook her head. "I love you too, JJ- which is why I'll be as careful as I can be in the field. But you know as well as I do that we can't quit. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, too. But there's thousands of people out there won't get their chance to grow old with someone if we don't keep doing what we do."
"I know. I'm just being silly. We wouldn't be the same people without the job." She smiled, lifting her head to graze Emily's lips. "Do you want to stay up? It's almost breakfast time."
Emily glanced at the clock. "Yeah, sure baby; whatever you want."
JJ struggled to sit up, wincing at the pain shooting through her body. By the time she managed to stand, her breath was heavy and hard to control. Emily stood, placing a hand gingerly around the blonde. "Just lean on me, Jen. I've got you." JJ rested for a moment before trying to take a step. Slowly, they made their way to the living room.
Garcia was already seated on the couch typing away on her computer. "Good morning, darlings. How did you sleep?"
JJ smiled. "As good as possible, I guess. It's hard to find a comfortable way to lay down."
Penelope returned the smile, reaching a hand out to her friend as she plopped down beside her. "I'm sorry, baby cakes. Hopefully you'll start feeling better in a few days."
"Hopefully. So what are you working on?" she asked, glancing at the computer.
"Just a case that Hotch emailed me. The team's about to head to New York. Apparently over the last five years, twelve people have been killed. They didn't link them together because of the distance between the murders, but I guess they just connected them somehow. Hotch thinks a diplomat might be behind it."
"Really? Why?" Emily asked, the term 'diplomat' catching her attention.
Garcia peered over the top of the screen. "Well each of the victims was heavily involved in politics, and they all had personal dealings with a handful of people in high places."
"But why would that make a diplomat a suspect?"
Garcia shook her head. "I'm not sure. Hotch literally just emailed me a few minutes ago. I don't have all the details yet. But I know that the last person killed was a senator named Chandler."
"Chandler?" Emily's eyes widened. "As in Michael Chandler?"
Penelope nodded. "The very one. Why, did you know him?"
"I spent half of my summers at his house in the Hamptons. He was a friend of my mother's. Well, actually he was more of a business associate- I don't think Elizabeth is capable of having friends." Emily frowned. "Do you know who some of the other victims were?"
Garcia typed madly for a moment before finding the list. "It looks like we have a Joseph Aitken, a Daniel Newport, a Marcus Watlington, a Jonathan Harrel, a Colton Morse…" Garcia stopped at the look on Emily's face. "Do you want me to keep going?"
Emily shook her head. "I knew those people, Pen. Half of them were more father figures to me than my own. I can't believe that. Do they have any suspects?"
"No, not yet." She said sadly. "I'm sorry, Emily."
JJ patted the brunette's arm. "Are you okay, Em?"
"Yeah, I just can't believe that. I wonder if Elizabeth knows."
JJ frowned. "Do you want to call Hotch before they leave and see if you can get on the case? I'm sure Garcia can help me out here if you go."
Emily smiled, "And waste a week off with you? No ma'am." She leaned in to kiss the blonde's head. "You're stuck with me Jareau, like it or not."
JJ pretended to pout, "I guess I'll just have to get over then."
Garcia laughed and called them both crazy. "Well I'll keep you updated, Emily. If they get a suspect, I'll let you know."
"Thanks, Pen. So what do you guys want to do today?"
JJ winced as she accidently moved her shoulder. "Alcohol?" she mumbled, only half joking.
Emily chuckled, "Do you want alcohol now or painkillers later? Because you know you can't have both."
"You're no fun." JJ stuck out her tongue.
Emily just smiled. "You're more fun alive, pretty girl."
Garcia turned to Emily, "Hey, does the name Bradley Beene mean anything to you?"
She thought for a second, replaying the names of the people she'd grown up with. "I think so. Wasn't he Thomas Avery's stepson?"
Penelope shook her head. "You guessed it. Apparently he had some sort of connection to the victims and he received a large sum of money around the time of each murder."
"Wow. I knew he always toed the line, but I wouldn't have guessed he could be violent."
"What line?" Garcia and JJ asked at the same time.
Emily laughed. "I'm not sure what he saw in her, but my mother had an affair with him for three years."
Penelope's jaw dropped, "But the file says he's your age!"
"Yeah, well Elizabeth liked them young." She grinned. "You should have seen the look on my father's face when he caught them."
JJ's forehead wrinkled. "Did anyone else know? I wonder if it has something to do with Elizabeth retiring." Her voice trailed off.
"I doubt it. Nothing could ever influence my mother's decisions except for my mother. But enough about her, why don't I make us breakfast?" Emily smiled, putting the issue far from her mind.
A/N: Thanks for the idea DiamondsNtheskY. :) Can anyone guess where this is going?
