AN/Sorry for the delay, and thanks to all of the readers. I hope this lives up to your expectations.
"We need the friendship of a man in great trials; of a woman in the affairs of everyday life."
-Anon
Morgan sighed as he drove home from the airstrip nearly a week later. The entire interaction with JJ before she took a week off left him feeling off, but he wasn't sure why. Having grown up in a home with two sisters, he was overly aware of how often he unintentionally made unforgivable mistakes. Pulling over at a small grocery store, he quickly purchased some Jello and the latest issue of People Magazine, knowing how much JJ loved to be kept up to date on her celebrity gossip.
It wasn't long before Morgan found himself on JJ's doorstep, knocking softly as to not awaken Henry. He knew JJ was home, her Explorer was in the drive way. He almost felt guilty for intruding, almost. But it was almost one thirty in the afternoon, so it wasn't as though he was disturbing anything.
"Morgan?" JJ asked in surprise as she opened the door. "What are you doing here?"
"You said you had surgery, and we just got back-I thought I could offer you a consolation prize." He smiled charmingly as he held up the jello and magazine.
"Thanks." She chuckled, allowing him in.
Derek Morgan could count on one hand the number of times he had visited JJ's home. Each time, her disastrous organizational scheme seemed to be teetering on the edge of oblivion. JJ was just an insanely busy person, and it reflected in her home. Entering her home this time, however, surprised Derek more than he thought it would. It seemed in pristine order, almost as though it could pose as a picture from 'Better Homes and Gardens.'
"Wow! This place looks amazing." He said with awe.
"Yeah, I kind of went on a cleaning spree." She confessed, "I-" Her explanation was cut off by the phone. Morgan was surprised at the worry he saw in her eyes that she quickly masked behind a veil of control. "Erm, just a second."
He stood awkwardly in the living room, deciding to plop down on the couch as he waited for her return. He didn't mean to listen in on her conversation, but he couldn't help eavesdropping while she stood in the next room and answered the phone.
"It is?" She said into the phone, the devestation in her voice unmistakable.
"So, what is the next step?" This time, the devestation seemed to take a back seat to worry and fear.
He thought back through his relationship with JJ as he tried to count how many times he had heard her worried or fearful. One: Reid being taken hostage by Dowd. Two: Reid's ordeal with Georgia. Three: Garcia getting shot.. Suddenly the short list ended as he realized that there were no other times he had heard her sound so terrified.
"Alright, so I should come in on Monday? Can come in early? I have to get into work." She said, resignedly. If he didn't know her so well, he would have thought it was just another phone call. Whatever this was, it was serious.
She walked back into the room, and if he hadn't heard for himself that something was definitely going on, he would have thought nothing of it.
"Everything okay?" He asked, initiating the conversation that she dredded.
"Yeah. It was my doctor. I just-" Her voice trailed off. Unable to make another excuse, she settled for failing to describe exactly what was happening.
"Something you'd like to talk about?" He encouraged.
"No." She smiled, almost jokingly. To any lesser profiler, he would have been easily distracted by her playful stance-interpreting it as carefree-and would have dropped the subject immediately.
But there was a reason Derek Morgan was in the BAU, among the best profilers in the world. "Jayje, it really does help to talk about it."
"It's a secret." She settled for, lamely.
"I had a secret for almost 23 years. It does help to talk about it. I would know." He said, alluding to the horrors of Carl Buford and his childhood. He saw immediately that she made the connection, but she quickly attempted to push his concerns aside.
"Can I get you something to drink?" She deflected, hoping to divert his attention.
"No. JJ, what's going on?"
JJ sighed as she collapsed on the couch next to him. "You're really not going to let this go, are you?"
"Not until you tell me what's going on." Morgan agreed.
"A couple of weeks ago, I was in the shower." She reluctantly started her devastating tale.
"Naked?" Morgan asked suggestively, lightening the mood.
JJ chuckled, but pressed onward. "Yes. Naked." She rolled her eyes and continued her story. "I found…I found a lump."
They sat in silence, the weight of her revelation hanging in midair. Derek sat still, unsure of how to encourage her to continue her story. "Lumps don't have to be-"
"They thought it was cancerous." She cut him off, after speaking with the doctor she was in no mood for comforting platitudes.
"So, the surgery?" He asked, a sickening feeling growing in his stomach.
"Was to remove the lump and determine how far the cancer has spread." She smiled grimly.
"And?" He asked, though he was certain he really didn't want to know.
JJ fought down her emotions, but all she could do in response was to nod. The cancer had spread. The call from the doctor delivered the worst possible news.
"Jayje, I don't even know what to say." He said after a moment of silence.
"You don't have to say anything." She said, momentarily regaining her composure. "It's enough that you're here."
"JJ, we're going to beat this. We will. It will just take time, but we'll-"
"We?" She teased slightly, trying in vain to lighten the mood.
"You really think I'd let you go through this all alone?" He asked, one eyebrow raised inquiringly.
"No." She smiled, touched that he would support her through the ordeal.
"Who else knows about it?" He asked, interrupting the silence once more.
"You. Garcia. Me. That's it." She admitted.
"You should probably tell-"
"I just don't want them to know yet." She reluctantly admitted.
"Okay." He agreed, deciding that he would allow her some semblance of a secret. "Do you want me to-" He indicated to the door, wondering if this was one of those times where JJ just needed to be alone.
She shook her head negatively, the last thing she wanted was to be alone right now, and added, "Garcia is just about to come over to help me clean this place up, we could use you for the heavy lifting. But if you have somewhere you need to be-" She allowed it to trail off, in typical JJ fashion, giving him some avenue of escape in case he really didn't want to help.
"My muscles are at your command." He chuckled, watching as JJ's mouth spread into a wide smile, grateful for the momentary release from her problems. It pained him to see her in so much inner turmoil and vowed that he would do his best to protect her from the terrifying disease.
"Don't let Garcia hear that, you have no idea what she would make me have you do." She teased, grateful for not the first time that she could claim that she had a friend like Derek Morgan.
"Do we want to keep this file dated in '05?" Garcia asked as they sorted through JJ's mess of a closet nearly an hour later.
"What's it for?" JJ asked negligently, throwing some gently used shoes in the giant box going to Goodwill.
"Your car payments." She answered, spraying some Lysol as she examined JJ's disaster. "Back when you had your Focus. Seriously, when was the last time you cleaned this out?"
"Honestly?" JJ chuckled guiltily. "I don't think I ever have."
"JJ." Morgan groaned teasingly. "You're a disaster, you know that, right?"
"I've been told a time or two." She smiled innocently, causing Garcia to swat her lightly. "That box goes to the dumpster." She said pointing to a mass pile of junk and old papers, some of which dating back to high school.
"Alright." Morgan said, bending easily and picking up the discarded items. He lifted it effortlessly, maneuvering his way around the piles of chaos. As he easily stepped out of the room.
"Watch out for the-" Garcia called only a moment too late before hearing a loud crash followed by a shouted string of curse words. "Shoes." She finished quietly, fighting a gloating chortle.
"Niether one of you two could bother to tell me you stacked the damn shoes by the door?" He called, standing on his feet and gingerly rubbing his back. "You so owe me for this JJ." He muttered as he reappeared through her bedroom door, his side aching slightly.
"Are you okay?" JJ asked, stifling a laugh.
"My pride's hurt worse than anything else." He admitted, glad to see a humorous glint in JJ's eyes.
"I tried to warn you my Main Dish Delish but you were just to gung ho to listen to good old Garcie." Penelope cackled.
"Well Baby Girl, you'll just have to make it up to me." Morgan informed suggestively.
"Whatever do you have in mind? Because if its rated NC-17; I am so there." She smiled, winking hotly at the man who continued to fill the room with bellowing laughter.
"Well, I was actually thinking you could pick all the stuff up, but after that, I'm game." He taunted back.
"Ewww." JJ moaned, fighting a giggle. "You two are worse than Hotch and Hailey used to be."
"What can we say?" Garcia retorted with a purr. "We know how to keep the passion alive."
"No divorce for us." Morgan agreed huskily, not missing JJ's disgusted look.
"Just keep the passion off my bed please." JJ said, getting up to the scene of the crime. She grabbed the tattered papers and stuffed them back in the box, within moments her partner in crime was by her side, sifting through the discarded papers.
"You had terrible handwriting years ago." Garcia mused. "Hell, I think Reid's is even better."
JJ shot her a mutinous glare before snatching the papers from her hand and shoving them into the trash. She didn't notice what caught Garcia's eye, but she continued to throw the neglected items away.
"What's this?" Garcia asked softly, showing off one particularly old paper to JJ.
"What Baby Girl?" Morgan asked, suddenly joining them. "What is that?"
"Let me see." JJ growled, taking the paper into her own hands and reading the top which was neatly labeled, Things I am going to do before I'm Forty. "Little did I know then that I probably wouldn't make it to that old." She muttered under her breath, a firm pang ringing at her heart.
"You're still alive now." Garcia countered, more to herself than JJ. "With a change of the title, and rewriting it because I can barely decipher it, it could do a whole lot more-"
"Huh?" JJ pressed as Morgan gave the normally loud woman a confused look. "Just throw it away, I made it when I was like, 15; its not like it matters now."
"Yes it does." Garcia smiled, snatching the paper back into her own clutches. "It does matter now. It matters now more than ever."
"Yeah, Jayje. It's a list of things you can do once you get better." Morgan pointed out, being the first to bring up the elephant in the room since they had started their cleaning frenzy.
"Why wait? We could add to the list, do everything now. Why not? What else do you have to do?" Garcia countered scanning the list. "Get a tattoo, Dive into a pool of Jello...Seriously? Jayje, this list needs some serious updating."
"Oh, it's stupid." JJ dismissed easily, discarding another stack of papers into the trash. "I mean, I was 15!"
"Like that matters." Garcia countered. "See, 'Number 21: Get something pierced other than my ears', we could do that one right now."
"We most certainly can not." Morgan looked at his friend in horror. "Maybe in a year or two, but now? No way."
"Why not?" Garcia defended. "Life is to be lived to the fullest, why should she have to wait?"
"Because she has cancer." Morgan said, looking at Garcia as if she had grown horns. "She needs to rest, and recuperate, and-"
"Excuse me." JJ interjected, "She is sitting right here, and doesn't appreciate being talked about in the third person."
"Sorry." Morgan and Garcia said in unison.
"Grab your purse, we have some serious living to do." Garcia informed happily, leaving no room for any argument.
"Garcia, she's sick-" Morgan tried to reason.
"She? You're doing it again." JJ interrupted, shooting him a sarcastic glare. "And seriously, a piercing? I'm thirty, I'm a mom, why would I want to get anything pierced." She said it skeptically, though a small part of her longed to agree with her blonde friend.
"Because this very well could be your last chance." Garcia countered. "Why wouldn't we do it?"
"Garcia-" JJ said softly.
"What's the point in living if you've never lived." Garcia whispered. "Come on, give me something to say in your eulogy."
"Fine." JJ smiled reluctantly, the resolve growing within her. If she was going to go out, she might as well go out in style...Maybe. "Lets do it."
"Oh man." Morgan muttered, following the two women out the front door.
"You're coming?" Garcia laughed.
"Someone has to make sure that JJ's being taken care of." He murmured obstinately. "I call shot gun."
"This place doesn't look very sanitary." JJ mused disgustedly, wrinkling her nose slightly.
"It'll be fine." Garcia waved off easily, ignoring her friend's plight. "A few germs never hurt anyone."
"Are you sure you want to do this JJ?" Morgan asked skeptically. "Because if you do, I won't stop you but-"
"I'm sure." JJ assured decisively. "Go big or go home, right?"
"Right my pumpkin pants." Garcia cheered exuberantly, grabbing her friend's hand in hers. "Lets do this."
As they walked through the door of the Piercing and Tattoo parlor, a big, burly man came to greet them. "What can I do for all of you today?"
"Getting a tat was on the list, should we do it now too?" Garcia whispered urgently.
"Well-" JJ began fairly, contemplating the options.
"Hell no." Morgan commanded threateningly. "I agreed to help her get pierced, I won't let JJ turn into a human pin cushion."
"Says the man that is all sorts of branded." Garcia retorted while rolling her eyes.
"She could get hepatitis!" Morgan insisted in horror.
"Morgan. Remember the whole "she" conversation we had." JJ reminded him. "You're doing it again."
"Sorry." He smirked, aware that his protective tendencies were likely going to drive JJ insane. But that didn't matter if he could keep her from doing something dangerous before she even had the chance to start getting better.
"I'm getting a tattoo and a piercing." JJ informed the burly man.
"The hell you are-" Morgan started, silenced by JJ holding up her hand.
"I want one too!" Garcia chirped happily.
"Absolutely not!" Morgan bellowed in agitation. "One thing at a time, its not like JJ can't do some of this when she's better. She has loads of time to do all of this, lets just take it one step at a time."
"Morgan-" JJ moaned, but to her dismay, Garcia did not join her.
"He's right." Garcia nodded. "You, my blonde Amazon, have plenty left to live for. Why conquer it all now?"
JJ sighed, almost telling Garcia that time for her might be hard to come by, but the hope in her best friend's eyes was too much to squelch. She wouldn't rob Garcia of this, she wouldn't spend her time left taking more hope she gave. "Fine."
"I'll go first." Morgan groaned. If anything, he could always make sure that the needles were cleaned and that everything was sterilized for JJ and Garcia's tattoos. If JJ got an infection, he was seriously going to have to put his foot down about this whole list fiasco. But if anything, he was glad that they could give her a momentary reprieve from worrying about her current state. There wasn't much she could do now, and if it got her mind off worrying, then maybe it was a good thing.
"What am I doing for you?" The burly man asked shortly, his face falling a little at piercing Morgan before he got to the lovely ladies.
"I want to pierce my navel." Morgan informed, causing Garcia to cackle madly.
"You're kidding me?" She uttered through fits of giggles. "You honestly have to be kidding me!" She began panting, hoping that she didn't pass out do to lack of air.
"Are you sure?" The man questioned skeptically, quirking his eyebrow at Morgan who nodded affirmatively.
"Oh dear heavens!" Garcia gasped, finally gaining control over her laughter. "Where the hell is my camera? Reid needs to see this one...and Rossi." She added, resuming her gut wrenching chortles.
"I am going to take it out right after." Morgan announced for the benefit of all those present. "I just need to make sure its safe for JJ." He informed softly, causing JJ to give him a grateful smile. "And if anyone finds out about this, I will maim you all." He said threateningly.
"Fine Man, mum's the word." The tattoo artist shrugged nervously, causing JJ to give him a scoffing smirk.
"Alright, then lets do this." Morgan said, sitting down in the chair. He had no idea what he was getting himself into.
"Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today."
-James Dean
AN2/ Okay, so now I am in desperate need for ideas from my readers. What should be on JJ's list? PM me or review with ideas. Thanks!