Saturday

JJ sighed loudly as she sat on the edge of her bed. The movement caught her eye in the mirror across from her and she stared back at her reflection. She looked tired, but not as tired as she felt. It was Saturday night and her friends wanted to have a girls night out. She preferred to stay home, especially after having been out of town on a case for the past six days, but her friends had refused to take no for an answer. Now, she wasn't sure she even had the energy to get ready, let alone actually go out.

Her attention was drawn from the mirror as her phone beeped from the night stand behind her. She stared at the phone, making no movement to go towards it. The beep was a reminder that she had a voicemail that she had yet to retrieve. Knowing who the message was from was easy, since she had looked at her phone before ignoring the call the day before. What she wasn't sure of was why she was avoiding it.

A few weeks ago the team had been in New Orleans working a case. JJ had spent a considerable amount of the time with the lead detective, Will LaMontagne. His attraction towards her had been apparent immediately and, as the case progressed, the two had developed a playful and flirtatious banter. They even had exchanged numbers before the team departed for their return to Quantico.

As she thought about him, she knew that she liked him in some way. For starters, he was charming; a Southern gentleman in every sense of the word. She also genuinely enjoyed spending time with him. Their personalities blended well and they had had a few very interesting conversations during her stay in New Orleans.

But something wasn't right. JJ didn't know what that something was, or even if it truly existed, but she could feel it deep in her instincts that it was all wrong. And he certainly didn't fit the description Emily painted yesterday of the elusive "one". In part, that was why she was avoiding him, even if she couldn't articulate the exact reason. It was also why she looked so tired.

If JJ was being honest, her conversation with Emily on the plane had startled her, even made her uncomfortable. Emily had sounded so sure in what she was saying. JJ strangely had even felt jealous. Jealous of what, she wasn't sure, but she reasoned it was that Emily could be so sure of something that she herself barely could comprehend.

Inhaling and exhaling deeply, she willed herself to get up and finish getting ready.

Three hours later JJ mostly had forgotten about Will. It was due partially to the amount of alcohol she had consumed and partially to that the music in the bar was so loud that it was hard to think of anything. Her friends were still on the dance floor but she had stepped away for a minute to get a refill and cool down. She now stood with her back to the bar, sipping her drink, as she surveyed the crowd. She ignored the few glances she noticed had been cast in her direction. She knew she was attractive, especially in the dress she was wearing, and was used to the attention, but she wasn't interested and she made sure her body language reflected such.

JJ's gaze fell on a woman across the room.

The woman had her back to the blonde. She was wearing a fitted black button up shirt, tucked in and sleeves evenly rolled to the elbows, perfectly tailored dark denim pants, and heeled black boots. As the woman lifted her hand to tuck a few stray strands of her jet black hair behind her ear, the barlights caught her expensive looking watch and earrings. The slender build, the hair, the casual yet perfectly put together outfit took only seconds to compute in JJ's head. Emily. But what was she doing here? Emily was one of JJ's best friends and she knew her well enough to know this bar was not her scene.

JJ didn't have much time to ponder this point further as she noticed the brunette was moving towards the dance floor, presumably to cut across to the main bar on the other side. Without thinking, JJ quickly set her drink on the smaller bar behind her and took off after the woman. She had hoped to catch up to her before she got to the dance floor but she was unsuccessful, as the brunette had a bit of a head start on her.

As JJ entered the dance floor, she lost sight of the other woman. The area was quite crowded, forcing the blonde to weave her way through the throngs of dancers, politely yet firmly squeezing around those oblivious to her movements. The strobe lights, combined with the chemicals pushing through her bloodstream, made the blonde feel as if she was moving in slow motion towards her target, which she had just caught sight of ten feet and three people in front of her.

JJ took the last few steps towards the woman, outstretching her hand to tap her on the shoulder. "Emily?"

The brunette turned. But it wasn't Emily. "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were my friend Emily," JJ said quickly, embarrassed. The woman politely gave JJ a half-smile and a nod before continuing on towards the bar.

JJ stood on the dance floor a few moments, watching the woman go. The other patrons of the bar continued to move and dance around her, radiating heat. It was making her dizzy. She quickly turned and hurried back across the dance floor. She ordered a water and drank as much as she could to try and cool down and clear her head.

But it didn't work. Her head was filling with things JJ didn't understand. Why was she so disappointed the woman wasn't Emily?

As she slowly raised her eyes from looking at the glass of ice water in her hands, something in JJ suddenly clicked. It was all so clear now. She grabbed her purse and raced towards the exit.