AN: I only began watching Criminal Minds a month or so ago, but my love for the show - and specifically - for the character of JJ, grew very quickly. And, when I came to discover Will, I quickly fell in love with him, and his and JJ's relationship. I decided to write this fanfiction exploring their relationship from its beginning. I know there are a couple others out there that explore this, but seeing as the first year of their relationship was unseen, I figure it is open to a lot of different ideas and stories. This is my first CM fanfiction and I cannot make any promises as to how long it will go for or how quickly I will update. I will do my best to update soon, should people enjoy it. There is a lack of Will and JJ fanfiction, and I thought - seeing as I have eagerly read all that's out there - it was only fair for me to have a go at contributing myself! Thank you and I hope you like this first chapter! Oh, and the fanfic is named after a song by Bon Iver. x Mara

Flume

I.

'Change comes like a little wind that ruffles the curtains at dawn.'

John Steinbeck

She tugged up the still-warm covers and smoothed out the pillows, tucking her blonde hair behind her ears when it fell into her eyes and blocked her view. The bed was hardly perfectly made, but it would do. As a child, her mother had always nagged her about it. Her sister had always been the neat one - JJ's room a mess while her sister's was tidy and ordered; the books on her shelves systematically arranged, the jewelry by her dresser hung neatly from coloured pins on a pin board.

It was a cool morning, the air crisp and fresh. When she'd awoken, JJ had cracked open her bedroom window, letting in narrow gusts of fresh air. Now showered and dressed, but no longer under those warm covers, she felt the cold against her bare forearms. She pulled the window shut. A few traces of flaked cream-coloured paint were left on her hands. She brushed them off, reminding herself that the window frame really needed a repaint.

As she left the room, she pulled a grey blazer on over her blue shirt, pulling her hair out from where it had tucked under the collar. She was due at work in just under an hour, which left her time for a second cup of coffee. Perhaps half a cup. It was only eight AM, after all.

She went to the kitchen and poured the coffee, reluctantly stopping at roughly the halfway mark. As she took a sip of the hot liquid, almost burning her mouth, her cell phone rang. She picked it up off the kitchen table. The number showed on the screen. She didn't recognise it, neither did her phone, apparently.

'Agent Jereau,' she answered, her voice a little croaky as she spoke her first words of the day. That was the one thing she disliked about living alone - the relatively long periods of time that could go by without her speaking to anyone. The silence. At work, she spent her days talking - to agents, victims, families, reporters. One would assume the peace and quiet of home would be welcomed. Yet JJ often found herself calling her mother more often than necessary, or leaving the television on or - occasionally - singing alone to some rock song coming through her stereo.

There was a fleeting pause on the other end of the phone before the voice spoke. JJ held the phone tight against her ear, her hair falling over it. 'Hey,' the voice said. 'It's Detective LaMontagne. From New Orleans.'

'Oh!' she said, surprised but pleasantly so. She felt a schoolgirl nervousness that was so unfamiliar. Or perhaps just forgotten or suffocated in the sadness of unsolved stories that sat on her desk in sickly yellow folders. 'Detective,' she greeted.

'Oh? That all I get?' he teased, a smile in his voice.

'Sorry, I just-,' she stalled, a little embarrassed. 'I was surprised.' It wasn't the first time she'd said that to him, she realised. Which was saying something, considering the brief amount of time they had known each other. It had only been a week since they'd first met and this was their first communication since then. Not their first thoughts of each other, however.

JJ sat down on the sofa, her left leg folded beneath her. Her shoe heel dug somewhat uncomfortably into her thigh, but she didn't really notice. Her focus was on the voice at the other end of the phone.

'Waiting on a call from some other detective?' Will asked teasingly.

'Actually, kind of...' she said, pausing just to mess with him. 'It's not that rare for my day to start with some detective calling with a case or some update on the one we're working,' she clarified.

Will let out a breath. Perhaps one of relief. Not that he would admit that to himself.

'They call your cell?'

'If they're desperate,' she admitted. Sometimes, she found herself wishing that her business card did not have her cell number on it. It was necessary, however. After all, she barely spent any time in her office.

This, however, was not one of those times.

'Ah, I think you're selling yourself short there,' Will said playfully, deliberately misinterpreting her use of the word 'desperate.'

'Nice,' she teased with a laugh, drumming the fingers of her left hand against her warm coffee mug.

'Thanks,' he said.

'You know,' she began, slumping back into the sofa. 'This job has taught me to be suspicious of guys who are heavy on the whole charm and flirting thing.'

'Well lucky I'm a detective, then. You know I must be trustworthy.'

'Yeah, cause the good guys never go bad,' she said sarcastically.

'Wow, sarcasm and cynicism, that's a deadly combo,' he drawled cheekily.

'It's a culture thing,' she defended with a shrug he couldn't see.

He laughed and she knew he got the joke.

A silence fell over them as they both considered their next words. It was a little awkward, but not nearly as awkward as one would expect. She took a sip of her coffee.

'Hope you don't mind me callin' at this early hour,' he said, breaking the silence. 'Got in early to do some paperwork and got through it quick.'

'So you needed something to pass the time?' she suggested with faux offense.

'Somethin' like that,' he said with a small chuckle, a touch of mystery in his drawl. 'You in Quantico?'

'Yeah, but this morning I'm briefing the team on a suspected serial arsonist case out in San Francisco. So we'll probably be off there later today, if Hotch agrees.'

'No cases bringing you down south?'

There was clearly more to his question than simple curiosity.

'Not right now,' JJ said, drawing out the last word as if in thought. 'You southern folk are playing nice, apparently.'

'Well I've got a case of stolen farm machinery,' Will said. 'Think you could convince 'em a profile's needed?'

'Somehow, I don't think so,' she laughed and glanced at the watch around her pale left wrist. 'So, I should probably get going. I'm due at work soon.'

'Yeah, 'course,' he said.

'So uh,' she paused, unsure how to end the conversation. 'Thanks for calling, Detective.'

'Will, please.'

'Okay. In that case, call me JJ.'

'Your initials I take it?' he drawled.

'Wow, no wonder you're a detective,' she teased.

He laughed. Then paused. Then spoke. 'Nice talking to you, JJ.'

'Bye,' she said a little shyly.

As she ended the call, she felt a giddy flutter in her stomach. She took a breath and drank the final mouthful of her coffee. It did nothing to ease the feeling in her stomach. She was almost glad.

She set the mug down on her coaster-free wooden coffee table, bringing both hands to her cell phone and letting her left leg shift from it's position underneath her. With her feet flat on the floor she leant forward and rest her elbows on her knees, gripping the phone tightly. She navigated to its list of recent calls and saved Will's number to the contacts list. It wasn't until after she'd done it that she realised the implication-

There were more calls ahead of them.