CHAPTER FORTY

10x21 Mr. Scratch

"JJ, I love you, but next time you're going with Morgan," Emily complained, gasping for air. She leaned over, resting her hands on her knees and staring at her feet.

"Endorphins are good," JJ responded. She started jogging in small circles around her wife. "Endorphins are mood elevators. This is supposed to make us feel better."

"Oh, god. Do you feel better?"

JJ stopped jogging and laughed happily. "Actually yeah, this is making me feel much better."

Emily laughed and shook her head. JJ walked over to her and reached for her arms, pulling her to stand up straight. JJ grinned and leaned in for a quick kiss. Emily was still breathing heavily.

"See, that made me feel better," Emily said playfully. JJ looked up at the sky.

"We should probably turn back anyway. Looks like the storm is coming early."

Two hours later, Morgan raised an eyebrow as Emily stumbled into the conference room. She was walking very stiffly. It took a little too long to sit down in her chair. Lightning flashed in the window.

"Prentiss - what happened to you?" Derek questioned, alarmed.

"My wife happened," Emily grumbled back.

"Okay!" Rossi said, "I do not need that much information."

Emily glared at him. "We went running this morning Dave. Seriously?"

David nodded, slightly embarrassed at his misunderstanding. Derek and Penelope started laughing. Spencer looked confused. JJ walked into the room casually. All heads turned towards her. It wasn't until she had taken a seat next to Emily that she noticed the eyes on her.

"What?" JJ turned to her.

Emily raised her eyebrows with an innocent smile, "Nothing."

"Let's get started," Hotch stated as he breezed into the room.

It wasn't until the third victim that the thought even crossed her mind. It wasn't until she looked into the eyes of the terrified young boy whose father had killed himself to protect him, that she remembered. Her eyes went a little wide and she excused herself. Dave gave her a questioning look but let her go. She went quickly over to her desk, grabbing her purse and heading down the hallway. She didn't want to raise her expectations, but her heart was already pounding in her chest. She felt the hope growing. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Emily and Derek looking through some evidence. She was thankful that neither of them seemed to notice her. She didn't want Emily to know. Not yet, anyway. Not until she was sure.

JJ was walking through the door and across the squadroom when the power went out. In the chaos, it seemed nobody even noticed she had left. They had a name now - Mr. Scratch. And whoever he was, he wasn't playing around. He wiped out the power to the whole building.

"Not exactly what I had in mind when I said I wanted a candle-lit night with you," Emily whispered so that only JJ could hear. JJ smiled and blushed a little as Emily handed her a candle. She felt a little flustered. Like Emily could tell she was keeping a secret. But how could she?

"I've never seen Hotch like that -"

"Emily, can we talk? Um - it's kinda important."

"I mean did you see the look on his face? Whatever Lewis did to him, it wasn't good."

"Em, I really can't think about that right now -"

"It's just so eerie to see Hotch like that, you know? The only time I've ever seen that look in his eyes was when Foyet killed Haley. I mean -"

"Emily!" Emily paused and turned to JJ.

"What?" She asked innocently. She seemed to finally be hearing the urgency in her voice. Emily looked at JJ, worried.

Now that Emily's full attention was on her, JJ started to feel nervous. She opened her mouth to speak but decided instead to walk over to her purse. Emily watched her, confused. She didn't say anything. JJ's back was to her. She had pulled something out of her purse and was holding it close to her body. Emily began to worry that something was wrong. She furrowed her brow with anxious intensity.

"I found out today," JJ said softly.

She turned around and revealed what was in her hand. Emily reached out to take what JJ was handing her. Her eyes went wide with shock and disbelief. JJ watched the look on her wife's face. This was the moment. JJ saw the emotion pooling in her eyes. Emily looked back up at her - JJ had never seen her smile like that. She looked awestruck. JJ smiled and nodded. In a split second Emily had her arms around her and lifted her up in a spinning hug. JJ laughed at her wife's reaction, holding on to her tightly until she placed her back on the ground. Emily leaned in and kissed her smiling wife. She squeezed JJ's arms gently, pulling back.

"I'm so in love with you," Emily whispered.

"I know," JJ quipped sarcastically. "It's kinda embarrassing," she added with a wicked smile. They both laughed. JJ's face grew serious. She brought a hand to Emily's cheek.

"I thought of it."

"Thought of what?"

JJ smiled bashfully. "The moment I knew I liked you." A smile was creeping onto Emily's face. She waited, inviting JJ to continue.

"It was one of your first cases at the BAU and we were in the breakroom getting coffee," JJ began. Her eyes were glazing over, flashing back to the memory. Emily smiled at her expectantly, she didn't know where this story was going. "And you walked over to me and you said, 'This is going to sound weird, and there's no reason why I should know this - but that creamer you're about to use is expired.'"

Emily stood there a little perplexed. She smiled cautiously and looked away from JJ's eyes, not knowing what to make of it. She paused momentarily before taking a quick breath in, "Can it be a different moment?"

JJ laughed happily, shaking her head, "No." JJ brought her arms to rest on Emily's shoulders as Emily's came to wrap around her waist. JJ leaned in to kiss her again. All thoughts about Hotch, and Mr. Scratch, and the horrors of the day had disappeared. Emily pulled JJ with her across their bedroom until the back of her knees hit their bed. She focused all of her attention on the soft warmth of her wife's lips and the exhilarating way her fingernails were dragging across her back.

There was never a time when Emily hadn't been attracted to her, but knowing that JJ was carrying their child somehow made Emily want her more.