(I forgot to note that JJ and Will are not together, and I rewrote it to be Jemily in an established relationship instead lol.)


I felt my hands reaching for the car door, attempting to open it. When I got it open, I carefully stepped out, closing my eyes tightly. Opening them again was probably a bad idea because I couldn't see anything clearly.

"JJ!" A voice called out. "JJ!"

"I- I can't see," I kept my eyes shut, and I assumed it was Luke checking up on me. I tried opening my left eye and Luke became blurry to me.

"Wait," he said, stopping in our tracks. "Alright, I see it, ok? I see it. You got some broken glass in your scalp, JJ." Shit.

"Just hold this," Luke carefully but quickly took the small piece of glass out. I winced a little and nodded to him, securing the small piece of glass in my hand. "Til the ambulance comes, alright?"

"Stephen!" I heard Penelope call out in worry. "Stephen!"

Luke left my side, but I wasn't offended. He was probably one of the only physically well survivors in this crash. He rushed towards the car window Garcia was peering through, and comforting her. I could barely make out their faces, but I could sense there was no sign of relief. What happened to Stephen?

I lightly groaned, my hand pressing against the blood gushing on my forehead. I shut my eyes as I tried to ignore the pain. About a minute later, I saw Garcia approaching me with a cautious hand. "Are you ok, JJ?"

"I- I think I'm fine. It kinda hurts a little," I answered, reaching out to her. Now, I realized there was something missing. Someone missing.

"Wait. Wait, where's Emily?" My voice started to shake as I panicked, turning my head around to see if I could find her. That was a bad idea as I felt a stinging on the right side of my face again. "Where's-"

"JJ! Jayje," Garcia said, putting her hands on my arms again.

"Garcia, where's Emily?" I asked in a calm tone. I didn't want to think of the worst, but it was hard not to.

Penelope frowned at me and rubbed a soothing hand on my right arm. "We- we don't know where she is. I'm so sorry, JJ."

My heart started racing and sinking down to my stomach, and my chest started rising and falling. No! No, she can't.

I quickly let my hand fall and ran toward the car doors on the right side of the SUV she was in. I didn't care about the sudden rush of pain running through my body again, I just needed to find her.

"Emily!" I tried yelling out, craning my neck to search for her. Her body was nowhere in sight. Panic started rising inside me as my hands shook against the car door. "Emily!"

Suddenly, I felt strong arms being wrapped around my waist and pulling me backwards. A deep voice was near my ear as I struggled to be put back on the ground. "She's gone, JJ! She's gone."

My body collapsed into Luke's and he tightened his grip on me, pulling me into an embrace. I began to sob into his chest, shaking my head. "I can't lose her, Luke."

"I know. I know," he murmured and rubbed a hand on my back.

Rossi was laid on the bed from his surgery and I decided to wait by his side. I had already called Will to tell him to watch the kids for a little longer. I couldn't determine how long that was going to be exactly.


Rossi slowly woke up and saw me. "Hey. Is Emily-"

I shook my head, "Nothing." I nervously laughed and wiped my hands on my pants. "I can't believe she's missing, Dave."

"She's strong, JJ," he reminded me. "You and I know that. We both know Emily is smart enough to dodge any trick Scratch tries to pull on her."

I let out a deep sigh. "I know." My eyes closed as I leaned back in my chair. "You know, we were supposed to get back home and have a nice romantic, candlelit dinner. Just she and I. Emily had no clue about it because I was… I was gonna propose to her. I bought a ring and everything, and…"

I ran a hand down my face in frustration. "This just had to be the perfect time, doesn't it?" I let out a humorless chuckle and gritted my teeth. "I plan a thought out proposal just for this son of a bitch to fucking ruin it?! The man who killed Stephen and decided to take the love of my life away from me and hold her hostage?! He should've gotten me instead!"

It might've been the heat of the moment, but I felt really guilty. I was already set to sit in the back where Stephen was, and Emily… I'd risk my life to save hers, too. She's already gone through so much. I can't let her die again.

Rossi only looked at me with wide eyes. All these years he's known me, he had never seen me have a total outburst over a case. I couldn't blame him though; I usually repress all of my emotions just to get the work done. I hated showing weakness and he knew that, everyone did. I've only cried to him a few times but it wasn't over something as huge as this.

"You really love her, don't you?" he asked, a little over a whisper.

My chest and throat started hurting a little, so I took a few deep breaths and closed my eyes to clear my negative thoughts for a moment. I glanced down at the linoleum floor, fidgeting with my fingers and the little blackbird on the silver bracelet Emily had given me on our one-year anniversary.

"Emily's the only person who really understood me the most, aside from Roslyn, of course. She always knew what I wanted and needed, and never complained about it." I sighed and scratched the back of my head. "She's, I guess, this… missing piece that I've been looking for in my life. Losing her means losing a part of myself."

I wouldn't know how to go on with the rest of my life, knowing she was actually dead. I remember the night Emily was sent to the hospital because of her getting staked by Doyle.

She never made it off the table.

Those words had stuck to me, even though I knew she was alive that night. Those words haunted me for a long time. I never want to say or hear those words ever again. I couldn't bear the thought of Emily dying or getting hurt.

Emily's safety was the most important. It was our priority at the moment. All I want, no, need, is for her to be safe. I don't want her to die for the second time.

"Well then, I say be brave for her, JJ," Rossi suggested. "Both of you have flown across the Atlantic for each other before all this, and those were times when you two needed the other the most. If she's staying strong in a situation like this, you can do the same for her. It's what Emily would want, right?"

Blinking and placing the side of my right index finger on my lips, I nodded. "I guess so."

"Then, do this for her."

He's right. I had a lot of trust in my girlfriend, and I know she's not going to back down from a fight. No, she's gonna win it. I know she is.


I had received a text from Luke, telling me that he and Stephen's wife, Monica, was coming inside the hospital. Sighing, I texted him back, "ok."

The automatic hospital doors opened and I saw Luke and Monica coming in. I raised my hands a little to offer a hug. "Monica-"

"Don't," she quietly said, stopping me as I awkwardly put my arms down. She gave me an apologetic look, "I can't."

I only nodded in understanding. All she wanted was to see if Stephen was ok. "Where's my husband?" I gestured towards the room near us, with Luke and I following closely behind.

We entered the dark room, Luke and I stood back as Monica slowly removed the top part of the sheet covering Stephen's body. As she pulled it back, Stephen's head and shoulders were revealed with bruises and blood on his face.

I began wringing my hands together as an attempt to comfort myself. My heart broke when I heard the gasp come out from Monica's mouth as she saw her now deceased husband.

"Oh, babe. What happened?" Monica whispered. Luke and I saw the pain in her posture, as she began to process what was in front of her. She shook her head as she looked on with confusion and grief.

"The kids are still asleep. How do I-" she realized before taking a sharp intake of breath. The team and I have met Maya and Eli, and they were lovely children. Sometimes, Emily and I would even talk with Stephen to arrange for our kids to go on playdates with each other.

Unfortunately, now this was going to be hard to break for them. I've already seen how Hotch was with Haley's death and raising Jack all by himself, with some help from Haley's sister, Jessica.

Focusing my attention back to Monica, she quickly let out an exhale. "I'll take care of it. Ok?" she nodded, making a promise to her husband. She lifted the sheet back over his head with a sniffle, "I'll see you."

Monica gave one last look over Stephen's body and turned back to us. As she was walking towards Luke and me, she collapsed into his arms and I instinctively raised a hand on her arm as a sob escaped her mouth.

My eyes started blinking fast enough to stop any oncoming tears from falling, but I couldn't help but cry with Monica. I lifted my other hand up to my mouth and tried my best to silence my cries. I rubbed a supporting hand on her arm and turned to Luke, and he nodded back.

Once we got out of the room, Luke continued to console Monica out in the hallway. I rubbed the back of my neck and sighed, sitting down on one of the chairs in the waiting area. I thought about the scene I had just witnessed a minute ago. Seeing Monica crying over her husband's dead body made me think about… if Emily was there instead of Stephen, and I was the one crying over her body.

My mind started wandering again. March 2011. Emily in the hospital room after surgery and me sitting beside her, holding her hand with my eyes all puffy and red from crying.

I shook my head at the cursed memory. My hands fell down on my lap and I clenched them into fists. No. No, she's not on that table. I need to stop thinking that. She's still alive and she's a fighter.


Spence, Luke, and Matt Simmons, along with Penelope, headed back to the hospital we were all in. The three guys had found Emily and taken down Scratch. Well, Luke let him plummet to his death, to be exact.

The doctor had walked out of Emily's hospital room and I poked my head inside to see my alive and well girlfriend sitting on the edge of the bed. She saw me and smiled, but I could tell it was a weak one. "Hey."

With no response, I decided to stride towards her. I grabbed her face and crashed my lips against hers in an instant, finally feeling at home. I wrapped my arms around her shoulders, with hers around my waist. My hands fell to the back of her neck to pull her closer. I wanted more of her. I needed to remind myself that she was really here with me.

"Mmm. Wow, I missed you, too," Emily murmured into the kiss with a light chuckle.

"Thank God, you're alive," I said peppering her lips and jaw with kisses before fully pulling her into an embrace.

"Come on, it's not the first time I've died, you know?" I could only imagine that stupid grin she had on her face as she said it. I rolled my eyes. Why was she like this?

I slapped a hand on the back of her shoulder and hugged her tighter. "Shut up. It's not funny." I mumbled into her shoulder, "I almost lost you. Again."

Emily took a deep breath and sighed. "I know. I'm really sorry, I shouldn't have joked about that."

One of my hands gently caressed her right side of her face as I pulled back, examining the bruise around her eye. "Oh…" I frowned, "what happened to you, baby?"

Emily softly whimpered and leaned into my palm. She doesn't like showing this vulnerable side of herself with everyone often, so I felt privileged to see this from her. "He gave me drugs to get information out of me," she answered, staring up at me. "I didn't give up. I wanted to keep fighting."

She kissed my palm and held it. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too."

Emily brushed my hair away from my forehead. "How's your head, honey?"

I shrugged. "Kinda hurts. I was too worried about you to care about my head. Guess we're both hard-headed, huh?"

"Maybe," she laughed and placed a kiss on my eyebrow.

I closed my eyes for a moment and sighed. "I didn't call it."

"Hmm?"

"I didn't call it," I said. "We agreed that if it got too scary, one of us could call it. But I- I didn't. I wanted to, but I didn't."

"Well, if I remember, we'd stay home with the boys and finally watch them grow up."

"Mhm," I chuckled. "And maybe we can finally have some time together alone and not worry about work. You also promised me we'd go up to your grandfather's cabin up in the French Alps."

"Yeah. We can take the kids up there, too." Emily gave me a quick kiss and softly smiled. "Thank you. I know you were scared about me this whole time. I was, too. You were all I could think about to keep myself grounded."

"Me too."

I pressed my forehead against hers and gently gave her a kiss before murmuring, "Marry me."

Emily furrowed her eyebrows and whispered, "What's that?"

I rapidly blinked my eyes and shook my head. "I, um…" I took a deep breath and stood back, looking at her soft brown eyes. "Listen, this job could be dangerous at times. We both know that. But I also know that I really, really love you. So much. I saw how Monica broke down once she saw Stephen's body. It got me thinking, that could've been you, Emily. Now, you could add some Dr. Reid bit in here and tell me I'm only doing it because of the adrenaline rush, but I'm not."

I took her hands in mine and planted a gentle kiss on her knuckles. "I can't even begin to count how many times we've nearly lost each other in our line of work. But we always found a way back. We've been together for almost three years now, but we knew and loved each other for even more than that. I love you so much, Emily. And I want this," I gestured between the two of us, "to be permanent for the rest of our lives. So, what do you say?"

She chuckled and gave me a small smile. "Ask me again."

I gained my confidence back right away, brushing the hair away from her face. "Emily Prentiss, will you marry me?"

Emily nodded and I saw tears in her eyes. "Yes. God, yes, I will marry you, Jennifer."

I laughed a little. "Really?"

"Yes, really."

"Ohh, thank goodness!" I sighed in relief and kissed her, wrapping my arms around her again.

"Keep it in your pants, you two. We're still in a hospital," I heard Rossi say before muttering in Italian. Emily turned her head and I followed, seeing him pass by the hallway and shaking his head.

"Ah, fuck you, Dave!" Emily responded behind his back in Italian.

My hand tilted her head back to face me, and I connected our lips again, feeling her melt in my touch. I love having that effect on Emily. I could easily make her feel like putty in my hands, even immediately after she has her tough demeanor on display.

I slightly pulled away and licked my lips. "Of course, I, uh- this isn't really the romantic setting for this, but-"

"I don't care, JJ," she shook her head and smiled. "No matter what, I'm gonna say yes to you."

I raised my eyebrows in amusement. "Oh really? You'll say yes to anything I say?"

"Ah! Don't twist my words, Jareau," she jokingly warned. "We both know you like using this as an advantage, and this is not the appropriate time for it."

My lips curled into a soft smile. "You mean, Mrs. Prentiss?"

"I-" Emily's face started turning a dark red as she blinked in confusion. God, she looks so cute. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know. I might've been spending too much time with Garcia, and I might've thought about taking your last name once we get married," I uttered the last part quietly, blushing along with her.

Emily laughed, "Oh my god, you're such a dork." I just shrugged at her, not caring about that statement.

"Seriously though, why would you want to take mine? Do you really want Prentiss as part of your last name? I even get tired of it." I know Emily hates her last name because it associates with her family's higher status, which she worked hard to get away from.

But I gently kissed her cheek, "Because I want everyone to know that I belong to you."

A slow smirk crept on Emily's face and she had a playful glint in her eyes. Oh no, I know that look. "You know, there are other ways I can let people know you're mine." She pulled me closer and I felt her breath tickling my collarbone.

I yelped and playfully shoved her head away. "Emily, we're in a hospital right now. I swear, you're like a teenage boy sometimes."

"But you love me."

"I do. And I'm never stopping."

"You know," Emily placed my hands on her shoulders. "I always thought I would be the one proposing, and you've beaten me to it."

"Aww, I'm sorry, baby," I playfully pouted at her. "But I couldn't let you take that spot. I was gonna ask you out on our first date, remember? But you ended up stealing it away from me, so who's being unfair now?"

Emily snorted, "Shut up, you dork."

"I'm your dork."

"Yeah, yeah."