Hi all, sorry for the delay in getting the next one shot up for you all, but to make it up to you this one is a rather longish one. Hope you enjoy. A shout out to USCutie15, who partially suggested part of this one shot in her review of chapter 5.
Thank you to everybody that is reading and reviewing these, please dont forget to let me know what you think and if you have any ideas/requests you would like me to try and work in at some point :).
One Shot Name: Right Hook.
Synopsis: JJ has a scare while on a night out that results in her going to one person she feels can make her feel safe again, while Emily ends up saying something she had been having trouble disclosing about herself in off the cuff conversation.
Rating: T.
Additional Information: This one shot is set roughly six weeks after the last one posted, Emily has still not told JJ that she likes both men and women.
Seven: Right Hook.
JJ sighed as she walked through the streets of Quantico quickly, running her hand through her hair in frustration, she didn't even know how she got herself into this situation.
Well yes she did actually, Morgan.
She was frustrated with herself for allowing the situation to get so out of hand.
She was frustrated with Morgan for not noticing how uncomfortable she had been.
It was Morgan who had begged her and begged her to go to the bar with him after work as everybody else was being 'lame' as he had said.
It was Morgan who sulked after she beat him at darts five times in a row.
It was Morgan who then proceeded to ditch her in the bar and walk out with some girl he had just met like a typical guy, completely forgetting about her in the process due to the alcohol he had drunk that night, leaving her alone with one of his friends he had introduced her to.
It was Morgan who had unbeknown to JJ had set her up with one of his friends that had a massive crush on her that she had absolutely no interest in.
To say it had been awkward was an understatement.
JJ had knocked the guys every advance back only for him to think she was playing hard to get and try harder, becoming more and more persistent with the increasing level of alcohol in his system.
After Morgan had left, seeing where this was going, JJ had also decided it was time for her to head home, only for Morgan's friend to not take the hint and try to follow her.
Which is why she now found herself walking quickly, almost running through the streets of Quantico with a bruised hand and a thumping heart.
The guy had followed her and pushed her up against an alleyway wall trying to kiss her as alcohol and testosterone took over.
JJ's fight or flight responses had both kicked in, she had kicked him in the groin and punched him in the face before getting away from him as quickly as possible.
She knew she should have just taken a taxi home and got off the streets as quickly as possible after that, he could be following her for all she knew, but she hadn't been thinking clearly.
What happened had brought back some painful unwanted memories from her teenage years that she would rather forget and truthfully she didn't want to be home on her own after what had happened.
It had scared her how quickly things had escalated, she was still shaken up by it.
There was only one place she wanted to be and one person she trusted enough to be with right now when her mind was overflowing in memories and fear.
It was that person she found herself unconsciously heading towards, as she all but ran into the apartment building and took the steps up to the top floor.
JJ paused for a moment when she reached the door, to collect her thoughts, trying to soothe out her clothes, before lifting her unbruised hand and knocking loudly on the door, hoping the owner was in right now.
She didn't have to wait long to find out, she heard grumbling on the other side of the door before it opened to reveal an annoyed and tired looking Emily.
"Jayje? Are you okay?" Emily asked concern suddenly flooding her features as she stepped aside to let the blonde agent through into her apartment.
It was late, she had no idea why JJ had just turned up on her door step, Emily could see from the way JJ shuffled into her apartment she was tense and nervous.
She could see it in the way her shoulders were drawn in close, the way her arms were practically hugging herself, the way she hadn't been able to look in her the eyes yet, the way she was breathing heavily as though she had been running.
"I'm sorry to bother you so late, I just panicked, I didn't want to be alone and you were the first person I thought of." JJ tried to explain her rambled thoughts, she scrunched her eyes up getting more frustrated with herself as she knew she wasn't making any sense.
She couldn't concentrate her mind was to overwhelmed right now with memories of her past and memories of what Morgan's friend had tried to do in that alleyway.
Emily frowned closing the door to her apartment, she didn't like the way her friend seemed so unsure of herself, JJ wasn't making any sense, she seemed even more nervous than she had when she first entered.
"I'm so sorry Emily, it's late I shouldn't have come. I shouldn't have bothered you. I should go, I'm fine don't worry about me. I'm sorry I just turned up like this. I – "
"Shhhhh. Calm down, it's okay. You're not a bother Jayje, you're not bothering me okay? It doesn't matter how late it is. You are obviously not fine, whatever has happened has clearly scared you and I'm not letting you leave like this. Just try and take some deep breaths and calm down for me, okay?" Emily said as she cut JJ off pulling the distressed woman into her arms holding her close to try and calm her down.
She did not like the tension she could feel as she ran her one hand up and down the blondes back trying to soothe her, she was worried that JJ was close to having a panic attack.
Part of Emily was so incredibly happy that JJ had chosen to come to her.
She loved being able to hold JJ closely in her arms like this now, sure they had hugged before but not in this way.
She just wished it was due to better circumstances though, she wished it wasn't due to the fact that JJ had shown up at her apartment at gone 12 at night scared and nervous.
She knew they were just friends, even though part of her wanted more still she knew that wouldn't happen, she was glad they had become the kind of friends that were close like this.
She was glad she could offer her friend comfort but hated to see her this way, she couldn't remember a time she had ever seen the blonde this worked up before.
Emily was relieved when she felt JJ lean her head against her shoulder, her arms coming up to wrap around Emily's back almost as though to secure her in place, as she started to breathe slowly and deeply in and out trying to calm down as Emily had told her.
"Can you tell me what happened to get you all worked up like this?" Emily asked after a few minutes of silence when she felt her friend relax against her in her arms, the tension now having left her body and her breathing back under control.
"It's stupid, I just got scared and I panicked is all." JJ replied trying to shrug off her earlier near panic attack, trying to forcefully push the memories back away inside of her head.
"If it scared you like this it isn't stupid." Emily said gently running her hand up and down JJ's back once more before pulling away from her to look into her eyes watching as JJ reluctantly let go of Emily and took a small step back looking to the ground before looking back up to meet her gaze.
"Some guy at the bar got a little bit pushy. He wouldn't take no for answer and it kinda freaked me out so I left, but he followed me." JJ explained as her one hand up came up to rub the back her neck nervously.
"I didn't know him, not really. He was one of Morgan's friends so we talked a little, I didn't want to be rude. I didn't like him like that though, I didn't mean to lead him on or anything. He got really mad when I told him I wasn't interested. He tried to kiss me and I just panicked and ran. It's my fault really I shouldn't have spoken to him, I probably led him on." She continued doubting herself looking to the floor again, she felt frustrated with herself that she let this happen, that she reacted to it the way she had.
"Stop right there." Emily insisted causing JJ's eyes to snap up to her quickly.
"Talking to a friend's friend is not leading someone on Jayje. You told him no, you told him you weren't interested. He should have accepted that. This isn't your fault, so don't go blaming yourself." Emily assured her friend rubbing her hand down JJ's arms gently, she could see the younger agent was still a little shaken.
She couldn't blame her really, with what they saw in these cases every day. It was events like this that turned other people into the victims and killers they profiled.
"You're okay though right? He didn't hurt you?" She continued concerned, looking JJ up and down for any injuries, if this guy had hurt her she would kill him.
Who is this guy anyway? Where the hell was Morgan when all this went down? Emily thought angrily.
Emily knew some of Morgan's friends could be pushy when drunk, she had had to rebuff them at times herself, Morgan knowing this would never leave her alone with them, his protective side coming out full force, why hadn't he protected JJ?
"I'm fine, I got away before he could do anything. I think my hand is going to bruise though." JJ replied rubbing the hand she spoke about, which did in fact look a little red, Emily seeing this raised a questioning eyebrow in her direction.
"I may have kicked him in the balls and punched him in the face before running away." JJ said at the confused and questioning look in Emily eyes smiling slightly as she saw Emily laugh lightly looking at her impressed.
"Come on. Let's get you some ice for that right hook." Emily said lightly as she placed a hand on the small on JJ's back and led her through into the kitchen.
She left JJ to get herself comfortable on one of the stools that were in front of a kitchen counter island in the middle of the kitchen as she bent down to open her freezer door and search a draw for some ice.
"Where was Morgan when all this went down anyway?" Emily asked, already knowing in her mind that she would be having words with him about this tomorrow.
"Probably getting busy with this girl he met." JJ replied, as she hopped up onto the stool.
"He was there one minute talking to her, the next thing I know I look around and they have both disappeared." She continued just as Emily closed the freezer door with a small bag of ice in her one hand.
"So let me get this straight." Emily said as she picked up a tea towel and wrapped the bag of ice in it.
"He convinced you to go out with him after work, introduced you to a friend of his, pretty much set you up with this guy in fact, and then basically ditched you." She continued as she walked up to the kitchen island and dropped down in the stool opposite JJ passing her the tea towel wrapped ice bag.
"Pretty much sums it up." JJ replied with a nod after thanking Emily for the ice and placing it on her hand sighing in content as the coolness numbed the heat she had felt in her hand beforehand.
"Morgan's friend won't be the only one that wins the prize of a kick to the balls and a punch to the face then." Emily said darkly, anger and protectiveness seeping in.
"In his defence, he was pretty drunk. He could have just forgotten I was there." JJ said as she shrugged trying to deter Emily's anger from Morgan, she was annoyed with him too, but she didn't want him to have to face Emily's wrath.
"That's no excuse Jayje, he shouldn't have just left you there. I'm not saying you can't take care of yourself because clearly you can, but things could have been so much worse. He should know by now that some of his friends are a bit over the top, they have been pushy with me in the past to the point I refused to go out with him till he stopped trying to set me up all the time and we had a massive argument about it." Emily said in frustration.
Morgan sometimes really annoyed her, he was a great guy, but he had to learn that he couldn't keep doing things like this, it made people really uncomfortable.
Plus it was dangerous, not all guys, or people for that matter, had the same moral compass as him.
Some people don't take no for an answer, and some people aren't as able to defend themselves as others, especially when alcohol is involved.
"Wait. He used to do this to you too?" JJ asked, thinking that might be why Emily hardly ever went out with him unless the whole team was present, why she always made sure she left before him.
"Yeah, until I basically told him it was pointless. I told him I would never be interested in any of his friends as they had the wrong anatomy and if he kept it up I would steal every date he tried to get for himself." Emily replied laughing as she remembered the look on his face when she had told him that, before realising what she had said to JJ causing her eyes to go wide while she watched her cautiously.
"The wrong anatomy?" JJ asked confused, clearly not understanding.
"Oh. Oh you mean. Oh. I get it. Fair enough." She continued after understanding what Emily had meant.
"Is that all you have to say?" Emily asked unsure, after a few moments of silence, she had been so nervous to tell JJ this, she couldn't believe she had just blurted it out like this.
JJ for her part just looked to her confused.
"I just blurted out to you that I prefer women to men." Emily said tensely.
"I've been trying to decide when and how to tell you for the last few weeks and I just randomly blurt it out and all you say is fair enough." She continued as though she could not believe it.
"What did you think I would say?" JJ asked gently, she could see how tense her friend was, this was obviously something that made her nervous.
"I didn't think you would say fair enough." Emily replied honestly.
"Did you think I would have a problem with it? With you liking women?" JJ asked, starting to see where her friend's nervousness could be coming from.
"I wasn't sure how I thought you would react. Most people are shocked. Usually they don't just accept it. Being an ambassador's daughter I grew up with a lot of people expecting big things from me, most people are angry when they find out. My mother didn't speak to me for two years after I told her. She's fine with it now, but I just always assume that people will react badly, and to be fair most people do." Emily explained, she could see JJ was hurt slightly by her expecting her to react badly, but she needed her to understand where that expectation came from.
"Tell them to go screw themselves." JJ said bluntly.
"What?" Emily asked shocked, she had never heard the blonde speak so bluntly before.
"You heard me. If people can't accept you for who you are, then they are not worth it." JJ said seriously looking Emily right in the eyes, her own fear and nervousness from earlier completely forgotten about.
Emily was nervous and unsure of herself, JJ had never seen her like this, and she didn't like seeing her like this.
She wanted Emily to know she was serious, people should accept her for who she is.
"So you seriously have no problem with me liking women?" Emily asked, still not able to believe that her friend had taken it so well, even Garcia had been a little awkward around Emily at first not really knowing how to act until Emily had made a joke about it.
"Nope." JJ said her lips poping the 'p' sound.
"Look, I may be from a small town, but I'm not small minded. So you like girls? Who cares! It doesn't change who you are. You're still Emily. You're still my friend, probably the best and most caring friend I have ever had. You're still the first person I thought of tonight when things got scary, you're still the person I trusted to make me feel safe again." JJ said simply.
"If anybody tells you differently, if they try to tell you that liking women changes who you are, you tell me. Apparently I have a really good right hook." JJ joked taking the ice off of her hand and lifting it up balling it into a fist making a punching action causing Emily to burst out laughing.
"I'm really glad you came here tonight Jayje." Emily said sincerely smiling at her friend.
"Me too." JJ replied smiling back.
AN: Please let me know what you thought, the next one shot will be another request I have had off of my lovely readers, I will tell you whose it is when I post the chapter. Hope you all enjoyed :).
