Once JJ was cleared to enter the building, the two women made their way up to the 6th floor, where the BAU office was situated. She couldn't help but feel nervous, she had a visitors' badge, it wasn't like she was going to get in trouble when she was there with Emily, the brunette made sure of that. Emily gave her reassuring smile as they stepped off the elevator, she felt the warmth of the older womans hand settle on her lower back as they approached the glass doors.
"Prentiss! It's good to see you again, Rossi and Gideon are in with Strauss so I might give it a few minutes before you make yourself known. She's on a warpath again" the young brunette rolled her eyes.
"That bad huh. Sorry I took so long, we got held up." Emily shrugged.
"Hmm, girlfriend or student?" the woman spoke again, raising an eyebrow as she looked JJ up and down.
"Ha, student, and future BAU profiler, I hope. This is Jennifer Jareau. Jen, this is SSA Elle Greenaway." Emily waved her hand towards Elle.
"Nice to meet you." Elle held her hand out for JJ to shake, the blonde following quickly with the action.
"Nice to meet you too." JJ smiled warmly, trying incredibly hard to hide her nerves.
"Don't be nervous honey, we aren't gonna shoot you. Do you want me to make sure she's alright whilst you go to battle up there?" Elle joked, turning to look at Emily as she asked.
"I'm hoping it won't take long. I've been giving her lessons on profiling after classes so she has some case files she can read through, but a desk would be good if you have one spare. I'd say go easy on her, but I think she can hold her own." Emily was polite, with an air of pride as she told the young brunette about the extra sessions.
"I'd hate to see the other girl." Elle gestured to her own cheek, as to mention the cut on JJ's face. "Come on, you can have the desk next to mine, I'll make sure she's settled in." The three of them walked over to Elle's desk, JJ taking the seat next to her as they both sat down.
"Oh, it was a man, but I'll let her tell you about that." Emily chuckled before turning to JJ and leaning down towards her. She brought a hand up to cradle the injured side of the blonde's face. "That's starting to bruise badly already. Listen, I'll come and check on you in a bit, okay? If you need me, just get Elle to come and get me. If you have any questions about the files, I'm sure she'd be more than happy to help." Emily offered a warm smile, peering into blue eyes.
JJ nodded, "Good luck Emily, and thank you again." Emily sauntered away and up the steps towards an office, she heard her tap on the door before disappearing inside.
"So, Jennifer, you and Emily must be close for her to bring you here." Elle started.
"You can call me JJ, and she's just my professor, and a friend, I guess." JJ offered.
"JJ, I like it. A friend, you guess. So, there's nothing more going on between you two?"
"Well, no. She's my teacher, it wouldn't be professional if there was." JJ smiled awkwardly, she knew she was being profiled and she didn't like it one bit.
"Sure" she spun around in her desk chair; JJ couldn't help but wonder if all profilers were like this. "So, why criminal psychology?" Elle asked another question.
"I found it interesting, and I like helping people, hence why I'd like to join the BAU when I've finished college." JJ spoke confidently, if Elle was going to keep asking her questions, she was sure going to answer them as cocksure as she could.
"Well, that's good, we need more women in this field. Emily doesn't take special interest in just anyone, she must see something in you to even consider bringing you up here." JJ thought this was turning into an interrogation the way Elle was lining these questions up for her.
"You think? She offered me the one-to-one sessions because she thought I was a natural at profiling. She actually gave me the one where you apprehended the unsub, you shot him right?" JJ smirked, two could play at this game.
"Ahh yes, Lee. He deserved it, raping women and leaving the traumatised. No one should ever have to experience that, it was a moral duty to bring that bastard down, and I was happy to be the one who did it." she finished, her lips curling into a smile. JJ just raised an eyebrow at the reaction, thinking that Elle was a little unhinged.
"Well, I'm glad you helped rid the world of one more evil bastard." she agreed with Elle on that fact.
"Sure, so what happened with this guy? Did you break up with him or something?" Elle guessed, pointing to the cut on JJ's cheek again.
"Ha, he wishes. He's renowned for hooking up with vulnerable girls, he asked me out for a drink, and I said he wasn't my type because he doesn't have boobs. He then called me a dyke, so when I called him out on his faults, he threw a punch. Don't worry, I got my own back. He's probably in the ER right now getting his nose reset." JJ beamed proudly.
"Good girl. You know it's refreshing to have some younger blood around here, even if you're only visiting. I like you JJ, you're cool." Elle sounded just as proud as Emily did when she spoke earlier, JJ liked that. She felt welcomed at the BAU, and that just made her more excited to finish her education and hopefully end up here.
"I like you too Elle. I better get on with some of this work, I want to get it done before Emily is finished in there." She offered a warm smile to the brunette next to her, opening one of the files.
"I worked that one so if you need any help just ask. You want a coffee whilst you're reading?" Elle peered over at the file in JJ's hands.
"Sure, thank you Elle."
"No problem, JJ." the brunette disappeared into what JJ could only assume was their kitchen, quickly returning her focus to the case file.
Emily had been sat listening to the two men and their superior arguing for half an hour about whether the case was worth travelling for. She'd much rather be sat out there with JJ and Elle. She couldn't help but worry a little that Elle was interrogating the young blonde but knew that JJ was more than capable of standing up for herself and giving as good as she got.
"Prentiss, sorry we dragged you into this. We just wanted some fresh eyes to determine that it's necessary for us to consult." Rossi piped up, breaking her concentration.
"It's no trouble Dave, let me have a look." Emily held her hand out in request. Rossi passed her the file and she got reading. It didn't take her long to determine that they needed to be involved directly with the police department heading up the case.
"I'd go, it's serial and he doesn't show any signs of slowing down. They need your help obviously; you'd be stupid to leave it up to them when they've requested help." Emily finished, handing the file back over to the older man.
"We get several consults like these, and they all eventually catch the unsubs. They're only up to 4, we can find somewhere else we are needed more." Strauss butted in.
"Strauss, we are not discussing this any further. We go where we are most needed, and they need us there helping to build a profile. Emily thank you for your help, I appreciate you coming all the way down here." Gideon offered a hand for Emily to shake.
"Thank you, Sir. I hope you catch the guy. I'm only a phone call away if you need anything else." She shook his hand.
"Thank you." Dave nodded as she turned to leave the room.
Emily ducked out of the door quickly, wanting to get out of there before the shouting started again. She glanced over at the bright blonde hair, head down and too focused on her reading to notice that Emily had entered the bullpen again. She strode over to the desk she was sat at and placed a hand on her shoulder. JJ squeaked at the touch.
"Jesus, you scared the crap out of me! How did it go?" JJ breathed out.
"It's all good, just needed a 'fresh pair of eyes' on the case." Emily did the quotation marks with her fingers, making JJ laugh.
"We were wheels up on that case 3 days ago until Strauss came and shut it down. She's a bitch." Elle scoffed.
"Sorry, wheels up?" JJ looked confused, Emily and Elle stifling a laugh at the blonde's expression.
"The BAU have their own jet, because they get called out to consult all over the country. Hence the wheels up." Emily explained.
"Right, that's gotta be pretty cool." JJ shrugged.
"Yeah, if you discount the whole having to do it because people have been murdered or assaulted part it." Elle concluded.
"Obviously." JJ agreed.
"You ready to go Jennifer?" Emily inquired.
"Sure, just gotta put this away." JJ quickly busied herself with putting the case files back in her bag and making sure the desk was left tidy before looking up to Emily and nodding that she was ready.
"I'll see you soon Elle, try not to get injured yeah?" Emily winked jokingly at the young brunette.
"You're an asshole sometimes. See ya soon. Bye JJ." Elle scoured at Emily.
"Bye Elle, was nice to chat." JJ smiled.
They both walked out of the double doors, riding the elevator down in silence and handing JJ's badge back in at the front desk before walking out to Emily's car.
"I don't know about you, but I am starving." Emily stated, buckling up next to JJ.
"I could eat I guess."
"Good, we can grab something to take back with us. Is there anything you're particularly in the mood for Jen?"
You, JJ thought to herself, but quickly tried to rid that idea from her head. "I'm not sure, you can choose. I'll eat pretty much anything."
"Okay, I fancy Italian, so let's do that. I can order over the phone, and we can pick it up as we go past."
Emily flicked her finger over screen on the middle console, pulling up the phone number to the restaurant.
"Buonasera, posso fare un ordine da ritirare?" JJ had completely forgotten that Emily was fluent in Italian, her mouth dropping open in shock.
"Certo, cosa posso offrirti?" the voice on the phone spoke boldly back in the foreign language.
"Un raviolo di ricotta e spinaci, uno gnocchi, radicchio grigliato e salsa di salsiccia e qualche bruschetta." it rolled off Emily's tongue naturally.
"Meraviglioso, 30 minuti." the voice spoke again.
"Grazie." Emily quickly ended the call. She peered over at JJ, the look of shock on her face making her laugh. "Your face is a picture, Jennifer." She chuckled.
"I, uh I forgot you spoke Italian." JJ choked out, how was it that something as simple as hearing Emily order them food had turned her on.
"If I remember correctly, you said it was sexy." Emily smirked.
"I mean, it definitely is when some people speak it." JJ blushed.
"Oh right." It was Emily's turn to blush. "I'm going to eat mine back in the office if you want to join me. You don't have to if you want to get back." she asked hesitantly.
"Sure, it'll be nice to have some company." JJ beamed a great smile at the offer. She loved spending time with Emily, the two of them were getting closer and JJ truly felt comfortable and safe with the brunette. They sat in silence as they drove closer to the restaurant, Emily pulled up outside and made to move out of the car.
"Okay, I'm just going to run in and grab it. I won't be long, okay?" JJ nodded and Emily left. She pulled out her phone to update her friends on her whereabouts.
JJ: Heading back with Emily for food, I'll be home later. Hope you're all enjoying yourselves without me!
Stud: You're on a date with Prentiss?
Pen: No, she went to Quantico with Emily ; )
Stud: YOU WENT TO THE BAU?!
JJ: I did, it's amazing Derek. I mean I only met one agent, but she was awesome.
Stud: I'm jealous. You gotta tell me more when you back. Don't do anything I wouldn't do Blondie.
JJ: and that's just about anything Derek...
Stud: Exactly, have fun ; )
JJ couldn't help but laugh at her friend's message. As much as she would've loved that idea, she was determined to keep their friendship platonic for as long as she could put up with. Emily returned shortly, dropping the bags of food by JJ's feet and setting off towards the campus, luckily it was only 10 minutes away.
Emily had bought a bottle of Italian chardonnay to go with their dinner, she'd pulled it out of the paper bag and winked at JJ as the blonde laughed. They sat on the couch in Emily's office and ate their food and sipped on their mugs of wine, enjoying more talk about the BAU and Elle and some more embarrassing stories. Clearly Emily wanted to dig deeper into JJ's horrendous sex life, laughing at every story the blonde told her. By the time they'd finished, JJ was curled up on at the end nursing her 2nd glass, Emily mirroring JJ's position at the other end as they spoke.
"Thank you for today Emily. For the help and for taking me with you, and lunch and dinner. I really do appreciate it, but I owe you big time." JJ spoke softly, the alcohol helping her relax.
"Jennifer, you don't need to thank me. It should be me thanking you, for your company. I hate having to go to Quantico sometimes, it makes me so nervous. Having you there certainly helped that." Emily shrugged, smiling warmly at the blonde.
"I understand that, you know I'm a good listener if you ever want to talk about anything plaguing that great mind of yours."
"You're awfully sweet and caring, but I couldn't burden you with what goes through my mind some days." Emily spoke unassured, looking down into the almost empty glass.
"Hey, you don't need to worry about me. It kills me knowing that you've probably seen some of the most horrendous things, you should have someone to talk to about it. I just want to help." JJ scooted closer to Emily on the seat, so they were sat side by side. She wanted to give Emily a hug, but after the last time she didn't know if it were a good idea. She settled for resting her head on the brunette's shoulder to show her adoration and care for the woman, attempting to reassure her.
"I do appreciate it Jennifer, really. You know, you're turning out to be more than I expected." Emily pulled a hand away from her glass and placed it around the blonde's shoulders, pulling her closer for comfort.
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know, I guess I feel a kinship towards you. I don't connect this well with a lot of people, my lack of friends proves that." She sounded sad, and JJ felt a pang of guilt and sadness for the brunette.
"I feel it too Emily." JJ's voice was soft. The warmth from their bodies was comforting for both, feeling the tension dissipate as they inched closer to each other. JJ was flush against Emily's side as she felt her eyes getting heavier, the alcohol had made her sleepy. That's why she didn't typically drink wine, it always made her want to sleep. She knew she needed to go back to her room, but she didn't feel right leaving the brunette when she seemed to be so vulnerable. So, there she sat, until sleep finally took her.
Emily woke slightly startled, for one she didn't know where the hell she was, and two was the fact that there was a warm form pushing against her back. She calmed herself down, realising she'd fallen asleep on the couch in her office. She glanced back to see who was behind her, the beautiful blonde she'd spent the entire afternoon and evening with peacefully asleep, her arms wrapped protectively around her. She couldn't help but smile to herself, admitting that it was probably one of the best night's sleep she'd had in a long time, and the fact that JJ hadn't left through the night was incredibly sweet.
She felt the blonde begin to stir behind her, secretly hoping she'd fall back asleep because she was enjoying this too much. It was still early, the sun only just rising and peeking through the cracks of the venetian blinds that covered her office windows. She was grateful that she still kept a go bag in the back of her car, so she had a change of clothes, you never know when you're going to have to go somewhere after all. Her thoughts got distracted when the young woman behind her groaned, the arm thrown over her waist tightening and pulling her closer, her heart leaping with joy. She melted against JJ's body, what should have been an awkward situation was in fact the complete opposite, it felt so right to Emily.
Emily let the blonde wake up slowly, not wanting to scare her off by moving. That was until she felt JJ's body tense suddenly.
"Shit, I must've fallen asleep! Emily, I'm so sorry." JJ's voice was husky and low from just waking up.
"Why are you apologising?" Emily chuckled, not moving an inch to try and convey her comfort towards the blonde.
"I fell asleep on your couch, and I woke up cuddling you! That's hardly appropriate." JJ groaned.
"I don't have an issue with it, that was probably the best night sleep I've ever had." Emily spoke softly, trying to calm JJ down.
"I, uh – what? I should go, Pen is going to kill me..." JJ began to move her arm off the older woman when she felt her grasp on her wrist, stilling the movement completely.
"Jennifer, will you stop panicking, it's ruining the moment." Emily thought a joke would help the situation. JJ couldn't help but start laughing, feeling slightly more at ease.
"Oh, I didn't realise we were having a moment, Emily." JJ blushed; thankful the brunette was facing away from her.
"Sure we were. Can I admit something to you?" Emily bit her bottom lip between her teeth, holding it there as she waits for JJ to respond.
"Um, yeah of course." JJ thought her heart was going to beat out of her chest, Emily was bound to feel it against her back.
"I have nightmares, like really bad ones. I honestly don't remember the last time I slept through the night without one, and well, last night I didn't have one, I didn't even wake up once." she revealed.
"Oh, Emily I'm sorry. I meant what I said last night, I will always be here if you ever want to talk." JJ breathed out, not really knowing how to feel at that moment.
"Jen, can we just stay like this for a little bit longer?" Emily choked out, feeling the light sting of tears in her eyes. She felt so safe in the blonde's arms, yet she couldn't bear the thought of JJ seeing her so vulnerable.
"Okay Em. You know it's all going to be okay, right?" JJ pressed her mouth to the brunette hair, knowing it was crossing an unspoken boundary, but she knew Emily needed it right then.
"I'm not sure..." she breathed out.
"You're safe with me, always."
They stayed laying against each other for a little while longer, JJ ran a warm hand up and down Emily's arm in reassurance whilst Emily tried her hardest to calm herself. They both knew they had to get on with their morning or they were going to be late for classes, but the longer they stayed like, the less they wanted to move. Emily suddenly realised she didn't have anywhere to shower, cringing at the thought of asking JJ if she could possibly use her facilities in her room.
"Jen." she started.
"You need to shower?" JJ read her mind.
"Yes, I know it's not in the slightest bit professional, but could I trouble you in using yours?" Emily winced at the desperateness in her voice.
"Hah, yes that's fine. Penelope won't be there; she has an early class this morning." JJ smiled.
"Oh, thank god. I just need to grab my go bag out of the car and I'll be ready. I can't thank you enough Jennifer." Emily chuckled.
"You say sorry and thank you too much you know. It's what friends do for each other." JJ reassured her. JJ knew it was time to go when Emily started to sit up, beautiful brunette hair a little wild from sleeping on the couch, JJ had to suppress her giggles. Emily just raised an eyebrow before straightening both her hair and her dress. They quickly tidied away their discarded dinner from the night before and made their way over to JJ's building.
"JJ, how the hell do you turn this thing on?!" Emily shouted from the bathroom. JJ panicked, realising she was not going to be able to explain, there was a specific knack to that shower that she and Pen had figured out thanks to Spencer's help.
"Um, can you let me in, and I'll come and do it. It's a pain in the ass!" JJ returned.
She heard the clunk of the lock and the door swung open. Emily was stood there barely covered by the towel JJ had given her, hair in a messy bun on top of her head and face clean of makeup. JJ couldn't help but notice her natural beauty, she didn't dare let her eyes wander any further than the older woman's face in thought that her brain might implode at the sight.
"Sorry, there's a knack to it, I should've done it before you went in." JJ was flustered. She quickly did the trick and it shot out a hot stream of water.
"Don't worry, it's not like you haven't seen it all before. Thank you." Emily smirked; it wasn't everyday she was practically naked in front of a student, and such an attractive one at that. She felt her skin prickle with heat, for all the wrong reasons, but God they felt so right at the same time. Self-control woman, every heard of it, Emily thought to herself, offering the young blonde a warm smile in thanks before she watched JJ leave the bathroom with speed. She shut the door but left it unlocked this time. JJ flopped backwards onto her bed, exhaling heavily once she was sure Emily couldn't hear her. She lay there until she heard the shower turn off, at least the brunette had figured out how to do that. JJ lifted her head when she heard the door open, watching Emily waltz out in the short towel with damp wavy hair.
JJ's eyes went wide, a deep blush covering her face as she continued to watch the brunette walk over to her bag and grab what she needed out of it.
"Shall I get dressed in the bathroom or do you need to use it?" Emily cocked a head in question.
"I, uh, I'll go shower. Give you some privacy. There's a hairdryer on the side and there's makeup and whatever on the dresser, not that you need it." JJ breathed out quickly, grabbing a fresh towel from her closet and disappearing quickly into the bathroom, the door closing but not completely behind her. Emily couldn't help but laugh at the blonde's reaction, she hadn't ever seen her this flustered and she honestly thought it was cute.
Emily was halfway through getting her hair dried when JJ walked back out. JJ dropped whatever she was carrying, because right before her eyes stood Emily Prentiss, in a dark navy bra and matching thong with her head hanging down whilst she dried her curls. JJ went to turn around but went straight into the wall, catching her injured cheek.
"Ah fuck!" JJ shouted, a hand coming up to her face and wincing.
"Shit Jen are you okay?" Emily quickly switched off the hairdryer and abandoned the electrical item to move to JJ's side.
"I walked into the fucking wall! What the hell." JJ squeezed her eyes shut.
"You've opened your cut up again, come sit down. I need to get it cleaned and stuck back together." Emily voice sounded worried.
"First aid kits in the bathroom. Fuck, that really hurt."
"Well walking into a wall isn't supposed to be fun." Emily joked, returning quickly from the bathroom and perching next to JJ on her bed. She still had no clothes on, JJ wrapped in a small towel was not much better than Emily in that moment.
"You're so funny. I saw the bruise when I looked in the mirror, he got a good hit in..." JJ winced again as Emily cleaned the blood off her cheek.
"You broke his nose; I think you won there Jennifer. Okay, this is probably going to hurt more whilst I put the strips on." Emily warned her, JJ cursed a whole realm of words when she did so, making the brunette burst out laughing. "You're as good as new." Emily smiled.
"Emily?"
"Yes."
"Can you put some clothes on please..." JJ averted her eyes up to the ceiling.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." Emily fretted.
"You didn't, I just don't want to walk into another wall trying not to look." JJ joked.
"Oh..."
"Yeah..." JJ closed her eyes.
"Jennifer." Emily breathed out, raising a hand to the blonde's cheek. JJ's eyes shot open when she felt the touch, staring straight into almost black eyes.
"Emily." JJ returned, getting lost in the obvious swirling desire in the brunette's eyes.
"I-" there was a knock on the door, startling both women and JJ jumped backwards on the bed. She groaned inwardly, moving quickly over to the door and cracking it open.
"Derek, what do you want?" JJ shot at the tall guy on the other side.
"Hey blondie, I just wanted to check you were still alive. Pen said you didn't come back last night, and I wondered if you got caught up with Prentiss."
Emily raised an eyebrow when she heard the young man talk, stifling a laugh when she saw JJ throw her head back.
"Umh, I'll explain it later. I just got out the shower, can I come find you before class starts?" JJ proposed.
"Yeah sure, I'll see you outside in half an hour?"
"Yeah, see you then." JJ was quick to end the conversation and close the door behind her.
"Sorry about that, they love to snoop." JJ shrugged as she moved over to her dresser to dig out some underwear.
"My friends in college were the same. Especially when I disappeared for a night, but I wasn't usually found sleeping with my professor... wait th- that's not what I meant, shit." Emily grimaced.
"Emily, it's fine. I'm just going to finish getting ready in the bathroom and try not to injury myself even more." she joked.
"I'll be dressed I promise, I'm sorry you got hurt Jennifer." the brunette had a faint smile on her face, making JJ feel a little guilty. She quickly ducked back into the bathroom, making sure to lock the door behind her this time so she could regain some control whilst she gave herself a stern lecture.
When she returned, Emily was appropriately dressed, well if you can consider tight black suit trousers and a slightly revealing shirt appropriate, then that was it. JJ quickly repacked her bag, made herself and Emily a cup of coffee each and they both disappeared out of the door, going their separate ways as not to look suspicious to anyone else milling around in the halls.
"Sorry, you fell asleep with her on her office couch?" Derek looked confused.
"Yes, we had wine with our food, and I must've fallen asleep whilst I was comforting her. Next thing I knew, I woke up with my arm wrapped around her." JJ shrugged, not knowing how else to explain the situation she'd found herself in that morning.
"Wow, I don't even know what to say to that." Derek huffed.
"Neither do I dude, I mean it wasn't unpleasant in the slightest, was actually the best I've slept since we got here." JJ furrowed her brow; it confused her a little.
"Hmm, if you say so blondie." Derek finished. They walked the rest of the way to their class in a comfortable silence, they had Hotchner first and then Prentiss. JJ was looking forward to the distraction.