Disclaimer: same as every other chapter...

Summary: takes place sometime around season 3ish, Emily is still settling into her own life and life at the BAU after years of undercover work, but a case related to her past reminds her that she can never get too comfortable. Emily is super queer, Emily explored, past relationships explored. Polyamorous/open relationships described. LGBTQ Relationships described. Mostly it's a heavily Emily focused case fic.

The Protector Chapter 7

"Does she ever get less intimidating" JJ asks when they're alone. Emily shakes her head with a quiet smirk and accepts the go-bag being pushed into her lap.

"I wasn't sure what you'd want so I just grabbed some yoga pants and that nice camel sweater you like for both comfort and style, there's also a soft shift dress I found in your closet if that's more to your liking" the gesture brings the full blown smile back to Emily's face.

"Good" she flirts "cause I may be recovering from literal torture but I have a date tonight and it wouldn't do to look sloppy".

"Well then I have another surprise for you" JJ says with a mischievous glint in her eye. She checks her watch dramatically, only looking up when a nurse pushing a small tray of supplies pushes into the room. "Nurse Rosemary is here to give you the full DC General spa treatment" the blonde says with a flourish of her hands.

"Sponge bath" the nurse deadpans with a side-eye but the small red haired woman seems good natured about it. Emily sighs.

"I can shower" she protests, but her own suggestion sends a chill over her body as she remembers the endless pelting of freezing cold water over her back and shoulders. "Or bath" she offers lamely.

"Sorry dear" the nurse says "you're stuck with me" Emily nods in resignation as JJ moves to squeeze her hand and tell her she'll be back in a few hours.

Despite the indignity of the process, Emily appreciates the nurse's dry humour and no-nonsense manner, finding she's easy to talk to and even easier to question about the layout of the hospital she's in. When Emily's bruised body is wiped clean and her IV is removed she's allowed to stand, her legs wobbly with exhaustion and disuse. The bed is changed while she dresses, choosing the loose black shift that JJ packed and the stout woman even stays to help her work a dry shampoo through her dark hair after Emily realizes her shoulders scream in protest when she tries to hold them over her head. "Beautiful" the nurse flatters when they're finally done.

When the nurse leaves Emily is exhausted but she digs into her bag to find her phone. It's miraculously holding a small charge having no doubt been recovered from a crime scene then stored for nearly a week, and there are an overwhelming number of notifications. Ignoring the messages she sends a quick text to someone she wouldn't have thought she'd ask for this kind of help just over a week ago. Rossi's reply is instantaneous and undoubtedly positive. When she opens the bag further to find a charger, she finds that JJ also thought to pack the book from her bedside table. She wonders about what JJ might have been thinking or feeling snooping around her intimate spaces to find the items that would bring comfort and healing. She settles back onto the bed, flips the book open to a well worn page and begins to read, allowing the passion of verses and prose inspire her. Emily has a plan, and she is just able to wipe the resulting satisfied smirk from her face when JJ returns, holding two paper coffee cups from their favourite cafe.

"The nursing staff will be overjoyed to find they've freed me from my IV fluids just to have me throw back a piping hot diuretic" Emily snarks happily. JJ chuckles and mimes taking the cup back but ultimately they settle next to each other on the narrow bed sipping happily. JJ fills Emily in on the Quantico scuttlebut and Emily regales her friend with the juiciest medical drama she's gathered from eavesdropping on the nurses in the hall. All the while JJ's hand lazily traces the fingers of Emily's uninjured hand, sending a buzz of warmth throughout her body. The coffees are long finished and the sunlight flowing through the tiny window is casting a golden evening hue in a line across their outstretched legs when Emily leans across JJ to grab the book and set it gently in the blonde's lap.

"I didn't know you liked poetry" JJ smiles as she picks it up. Emily shrugs and tugs on the ribbon marking a specific page, drawing JJ's attention to a well worn page, margins full of Emily's delicate penciled handwriting. After a moment she begins to recite from the page JJ is looking at.

"If you were coming in the fall,

I 'd brush the summer by

With half a smile and half a spurn,

As housewives do a fly.

If I could see you in a year,

I 'd wind the months in balls,

And put them each in separate drawers,

Until their time befalls.

If only centuries delayed,

I 'd count them on my hand,

Subtracting till my fingers dropped

Into Van Diemen's land.

If certain, when this life was out,

That yours and mine should be,

I 'd toss it yonder like a rind,

And taste eternity.

But now, all ignorant of the length

Of time's uncertain wing,

It goads me, like the goblin bee,

That will not state its sting."

By the end of the last stanza, Emily is whispering the words directly into JJ's ear while her hands smooths absently over the blonde's knee and thigh. She grins when she feels JJ squirm but keeps her touch light and relatively innocent. "They say Dickinson wrote many of her most famous love poems about her first and greatest love, Sue Gilbert" Emily says. "This one isn't obviously attributed to her, but I like the line about dipping her fingers in Van Diemen's Land" she continues, trailing her fingers further up JJ's leg "because if you've ever looked at Tasmania on a map, it looks like..." Emily's hand stopped on her companion's inner thigh, just short of the warmth emanating from between quivering legs. "well, anyway, as well as being extremely sapphic, she was the daughter of a proper upper class politician and expected to play a role but she bravely refused in a lot of small and more obvious ways. I've always admired her" JJ hums her interest, leaning further into Emily's space with her eyes planted firmly on the profilers wide pouting lips. It's clear the liaison isn't listening so Emily pulls away suddenly. "Are you ready for date number two?" She asks, pulling herself just out of JJ's reach. Blue eyes heavy lidded with lust meet playful brown.

"Maybe we could stay in" JJ pouts, her voice thick with want.

"On the second date?" Emily teases "I'm not that easy" JJ rolls her eyes and allows Emily to pull her up off the hospital bed. "Come on, Jareau, I promised to put the moves on you and I am a woman who keeps my promises"

"You very much already have and they're really great moves" the younger woman argues, weakly. Emily leans heavily against the bed while she maneuvers herself into a pair of comfortable flats, then grasps the blonde's arm for support. They move slowly through the maze of the hospital but Emily keeps close track of their progress, subtly leading them to her real destination. JJ doesn't catch on until they each try to go opposite directions on the main floor. "I thought we were going to the cafeteria?" JJ says, gently pulling them toward the bustling eatery.

"Nope" Emily chides, pulling the younger woman into her arms "I did say no matter where we are, but I can do better than hospital food" when she finally coaxes JJ the other direction and into a small courtyard shaded by blooming magnolia the blonde nearly swoons. A small table set for two complete with a flickering lantern to ward off the growing dark and two covered plates.

"How on earth did you…" JJ asks in astonishment. She notices the way Emily smiles tiredly and quickly moves to pull a chair out for the injured woman. Before she moves to her own chair she takes a moment to press a kiss to Emily's bruised cheek and whisper "this is perfect".

They lift the covers to find plates overflowing with a colourful salad and carbonara and the plastic hospital jug between them is filled with deep red wine making Emily laugh so hard she can barely form the words to tell JJ about how she'd asked David Rossi to supply a proper romantic dinner and the Italian obviously wasn't willing to do so within hospital policy no matter what painkillers one of the diners is taking. When the main course is finished, Emily slyly reaches into the deep pockets of her dress to produce two cups of red jello for dessert. The conversation flows naturally complimented by periods of comfortable silence, all the while the women find they can't keep their hands to themselves. They clasp hands across the table through the main course, then JJ pulls her chair around so the women can snuggle together and feed each other the jello from plastic spoons. Emily cards the fingers of her uninjured hand through the hair at the base of JJ's neck, delighting in the soft sighs of pleasure that reward her movements.

"Are we crazy for doing this?" JJ asks as she buries her nose in dark waves of hair. "I've never met anyone like you, Emily, I'm head over heals, but we work together"

"Have you ever gotten involved with a coworker before?" Emily asks, her fingers continuing their comforting movements against the blonde's scalp. JJ shakes her head and asks the question back. "No, not really. Once I stayed back to hook up with a cop we worked a case with" she admits. "But nothing like this" they both know that 'this' means the connection they feel that is at once exciting and terrifying. Both acknowledge the importance of it. 'This' isn't a fling or an affair.

"Can I kiss you?" JJ asks to cut the silence that follows and Emily can't contain the husky giggle that escapes her.

"I thought you never would" she sighs, leaning closer.

"Is that a yes?" JJ teases, her lips just out of Emily's reach and their breath mingling together.

"Oh yes" their first kiss had been tentative and curious but this one is anything but, it's a slow but confident meeting, hot and thorough. They surface to breath only to smile wanly and change angles before meeting again. Lips easily part to searching tongues causing them both to moan. When they finally part they're panting and wanton, but Emily can't argue that she's also overdone it. "As amazing as this is, I think I need to get back to my hospital bed before I pass out" JJ instantly apologizes, springing from her seat to try and help but Emily stands and pulls her close to calm her. "It's ok, you just make me a little weak in the knees is all, and a bit faint" JJ groans at the joke but presses a chaste kiss to Emily's lips to show she's understood. With much more calm they gather themselves, Emily insisting David has already offered to clear away their date, and they set off at their slow shuffling pace back through the hospital.

Emily is barely awake when JJ dutifully guides her back into bed, making sure the brunette stays conscious long enough to swallow a dose of medication left by the evening nurse before finally letting her settle. The blonde is momentarily indecisive about her next move, it's late and the last thing she wants is for Emily to think she'd snuck off in the night so she settles into the chair by the bed with Emily's book. The truth is she's never been a reader the way Emily and Spencer and even Morgan are, and she certainly wasn't well versed in poetry, but with the profiler's low voice reciting in her head JJ decides she could be. The works of Emily Dickinson weren't always easy poetry, but as JJ makes her way through the pages she can see why her Emily Prentiss likes it enough to memorize and recite it. The centuries old woman is sensitive, courageous, and passionate.

JJ starts awake just an hour after nodding off, her neck protesting the bad angle and the book sliding off her lap as she leaps into action. Emily's cries are heart wrenching and JJ finds her thrashing on the bed, fighting the foe in her dreams. The younger woman calls to Emily in a low calm voice and tentatively offers soft touches on her arms and hands as a guide back to reality. Emily comes around panting, sweat beading across her skin and eyes embarrassed.

"I'm so sorry JJ, I didn't mean to scare you" she whimpers. JJ rolls her eyes that the woman would apologize over such a thing.

"Don't be sorry" she reassures "I'm happy I was here to help" at this Emily seems to notice for the first time that they're back in her hospital room and not in the flickering lantern light of the courtyard.

"You stayed?" Emily observes. JJ nods bashfully.

"I didn't want to sneak off, but you were pretty out of it. I must have fallen asleep in the chair" Emily motions for JJ to join her on the narrow bed and within minutes they're pressed together, arms wrapped around one another to keep from spilling off the edge. It's still dark and JJ starts to wonder if Emily will fall back to sleep or if she'll want to talk about the dream.

"You could have lay down with me from the start" Emily interrupts her musings. JJ smiles and snuggles closer.

"Well I'm here now, but before we fall asleep again can I change?" Emily wiggles out of the bed and produces a soft green sleep shirt and shorts from the go-bag. JJ awkwardly excuses herself to Emily's private bathroom. By the time she comes back, face washed and clothed in the cool pyjamas, Emily has turned on a lamp above the bed and is reading something JJ can't quite make out until she's crawling back into the narrow bed to join the brunette once again.

"The letter from Mac" JJ observes. Emily gives her a look she can't identify.

"Mac isn't his name it's…" her voice fades out and she looks torn. JJ takes her hand and strokes the back of it comfortingly with her thumb. "In the nightmare, my torturer found him" Emily explains, gesturing to the note with shaking hands. The paper has already started to soften and crinkle from the time Emily has spent clutching it, reading and re-reading it, and keeping it tucked in her hospital robe pocket. JJ sees this, thinks back to the note, and wonders just who this child could be if not…

"Is he yours?" JJ asks softly.

"No" Emily insists. But the technical truth feels like a lie on her tongue. She considers the blonde beside her. "I didn't give birth to him" she clarifies. As though that explains the fierce and complicated feelings she has for the child in her protection and he for her. "It would be better if we forgot each other but I'm too selfish" she murmurs to herself. JJ must have heard because she squeezes Emily's hand in a gesture of comfort.

"Tell me about him" the blonde urges. And though Emily knows she can't, she finds herself doing it anyways.

"I can't tell you how we met, or who his parents are" she has mind to preface "but he's under my protection and he must stay hidden. Every contact is a risk but he means everything to me" Emily sighs heavily and leans into JJ's embrace. "For nearly two years I was his mother in all but name. He obviously thinks so too, because 'Mac' is Irish Gaelic for son" she takes a moment to stem the tears that flood her eyes again and prepares for her next confession. "I wasn't protecting Sam when I refused to name the other man, I was protecting this sweet boy who loves soccer and penguins and is a 3rd grade math wizard. Not even Sam knows where he came from, only that Tom decided to adopt. But I couldn't risk him being found by our investigation or the media"

"Tom" JJ repeats, putting it all together "the man who was here when you woke?" Emily nods softly

"He got a call from the hospital as my next of kin, I was furious at him for turning up like that" she confirms then levels a fierce stare at JJ. "I hope you know that telling you this is a huge leap of faith. I want you to know that I trust you, JJ, and while there are secrets I must keep I want for you to be able to trust me too"

"I do" JJ smiles and pulls Emily down so they're laying tangled in the narrow bed. "I don't have to know everything to trust that I love you" the whisper is so painfully tender and makes Emily's heart skip in her chest.

"It's not even the third date" the profiler teases, but her body pulls the blonde closer to show that she's not pushing her away with the joke.

"Maybe I'm just saying it to get in your pants" JJ teases back, but there's a tremble in her voice that gives her away and Emily can't help the shaky breath that escapes her own throat in return.

"My pants are easy" Emily tells her "but my heart is yours"

"That was really cheesy" JJ groans into Emily's lips as she leans in to initiate a fiery kiss. When they part JJ reaches up to turn off the light and the women settle down together to sleep.

Fin