A/N: This chapter takes place at the beginning of Last Gasp. Hope you enjoy. Please review!
A couple weeks later, Emily got home from a particularly stupid day with her new unit and called Tara to come over to drink wine and complain about their awful new positions. She was missing everyone like crazy, but they were all so busy with their new assignments and new lives that she hadn't seen much of anyone since the night they'd been split up. Most notably, she hadn't seen JJ at all.
It wasn't that she didn't want to. There was no one in the world she wanted to see more than JJ, but as far as she knew, her best friend and lover still hadn't left her husband. The thought that they were so close and it still wasn't happening tore Emily's heart to pieces and she couldn't bear to see or talk to the woman she loved anymore until she could have her entire heart. The hoping and the waiting left her in agony.
Rossi, Reid, and Garcia would pick up on her pain and pry, knowing it was about more than the BAU. Luke and Matt would talk all about JJ and how she was doing as conditional Unit Chief, so she called Tara. She wanted company and Tara was the safest bet.
At least, that's what Emily thought. Halfway through a bottle of wine, she and Tara were standing on the balcony of her apartment.
"So how's JJ doing?" Tara asked.
"I don't know," Emily answered quickly. "You haven't talked to her?"
"Briefly, but I guess we've both been pretty busy with the new arrangement. I assumed you two would have talked every day, as usual."
"We haven't."
Tara stared at Emily's face for a moment, trying to read her. "Is something wrong?"
"No. Why would something be wrong?" Emily knew her defensive attitude was going to give her away, but sometimes she couldn't help the way she reacted when it came to JJ.
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because she's your best friend and you haven't spoken in over two weeks? You're practically attached at the hip the majority of the time, but then sometimes you get all weird about each other. It seems codependent, almost to the point it's unhealthy."
"You've been talking to her," Emily accused. Tara wouldn't have known how long it had been since they'd talked unless JJ had told her. "What did she tell you?"
"Does it matter?" Tara put her hand over Emily's on the balcony railing. "I'm not judging your situation. I'm just concerned, as your friend and hers. I swear these agents I'm mediating for remind me so much of you two."
Emily got nervous then. The agents in mediation with Tara were partners and best friends, but Tara was also pretty convinced they were lovers. Did that mean Tara thought...
"I'm not trying to imply anything, Emily, but we are all profilers. I notice the little things. The way she looks at you. The way you touch her protectively. Everyone notices when you show up to work at the same time and she's wearing your clothes. When we're away on a case and I've gone to her room early in the morning and she isn't there because she's already in yours." Tara squeezed Emily's hand and gave her a look that said she was supportive, but not approving.
"Do you think anyone else has noticed these same things?" Emily asked after a few minutes of silence.
"Like I said, we're all profilers. We are trained to notice."
"Have any of the others said anything?" Emily was starting to panic.
"Not to me and I haven't discussed it with anyone, I promise," Tara assured her. "I don't think Barnes knows or that it has anything to do with why she split us all up, if that's what you're thinking."
"I don't know what I'm thinking. Everything is so messed up right now and I don't know what to do." Emily was on the verge of tears. She missed JJ badly, but they couldn't keep doing what they were doing. It was unfair to everyone involved.
"You imagine losing her forever, in every way. Think about what that would do to you both, how much pain it would cause. Decide if she's worth fighting for and if that's a yes, and I'm pretty sure it is, then you do whatever it takes to make it right."
Emily thought about that for a moment and then nodded. "You're right, Tara. Thank you."
"You're welcome. Call her."
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Emily was staring at her phone, trying to decide whether to call JJ, when it started ringing and JJ's name came up on the screen. Emily didn't even consider not answering.
"Hi, Jayje," she answered, breathless.
"Hey!" JJ sounded surprised, probably that it hadn't gone to voicemail. "There's this case and I need your help."
"What do you need?" Emily might've given her anything she asked for, just to know she'd never have to go without hearing her voice that long ever again.
"Barnes won't let us work it, so we're going to do it anyway. The entire BAU. The way it should be. We can't do it without our fearless leader."
"I'm in. Text the group. Tell everyone to come here." Emily didn't have the time, nor the desire, to think of how many bad ideas she was agreeing to. All she could think was how badly she wanted her job back, her team back, her love back.