"It's not the size of the dog in the fight, It's the size of the fight in the dog."
-Mark Twain
"Its not my fault you got an infection." Garcia laughed hysterically as Morgan lifted his shirt and poked at the large infected blob. "You're the one who wanted a brand new belly button ring."
"Just to test out its safety." Morgan hissed, shooting his friend a glare as he placed his shirt back into position. "I was trying to do the noble thing."
"Nobel Shmobel." Garcia cackled with laughter as she jabbed at his stomach, "You got a girl piercing and its infected!"
"What's infected?" Emily asked, walking into the Tech's office after overhearing Garcia who was nearly doubled over with laughter.
"My hunk of burning love's naval has unfortunately developed an infection." Garcia managed to spit out through her giggles.
"Gross." Emily scoffed, raising her eyebrow questioningly. "How did that happen?" She asked quizzically, a small smirk playing on her lips.
"I got a piercing." Morgan mumbled. Garcia immediately sobered as she considered the threat to her best friend's situation. No matter how close she was with Emily, she wasn't about to let JJ's secret become exposed. She owed her blonde friend more than that.
"What was that?" Emily asked Morgan incredulously, evidently missing the awkward silence that had permeated the room.
"I got a piercing, okay?" He retorted defensively, missing Garcia's warning look.
"You? Pierced your naval? Why?" Emily chortled.
"I was trying to make sure it was safe for JJ." He admitted quickly, immediately wincing as he realized that he could very well have just exposed JJ's secret.
"Why would you need to make sure it was safe for JJ?" Emily pried. Her interest was astronomically piqued when both Garcia and Morgan suddenly fell silent.
"Ummm..." Garcia looked at Morgan frantically, "Yeah, Sugar, why would you need to make sure it was safe for JJ?"
"Make sure what was safe for me?" JJ asked. Overhearing her own name, she had a sickening feeling that this wasn't going to be good.
Two sets of eyes looked at her guiltily while Emily simply looked at her in confusion. "Morgan's piercing is infected." She revealed, hoping to uncover more of what was going on.
"Really?" JJ laughed conspiratorially. "After the fuss you made about me getting one, then yours got infected?" She scoffed.
"Wait, you got something pierced?" Emily asked JJ in surprise, her mouth dropping open slightly in surprise. "Why?"
"Why not?" JJ shrugged.
"I can think of a million reasons, the first being that you're not fourteen anymore." Emily observed. She had never met anyone in her life that was more afraid of needles than Jennifer Jareau. The idea that she would get a piercing for the fun of it was preposterous.
"So?" Morgan queried Emily angrily, earning shocked looks from the three women in Garcia's office.
Emily suddenly feeling as though the other three were turning on her, immediately attempted to retreat from whatever percieved wrong she had committed. "Woah, no big deal. Sorry, I was just curious."
JJ immediately felt sympathy for the friend who had been so supportive during her pregnancy with Henry. She knew that Emily often felt like an outsider, and no matter how dismal the situation, she didn't want to be the cause of that insecurity rearing its ugly head.
"Em, I need to tell you something."
"What?" Emily asked cautiously, unnerved by the serious tone the conversation had taken.
"I-" JJ struggled for the right words. Emily and she had grown very close throughout the past three years of working together. She wasn't sure how to break the news delicately. "I-"
Emily was obviously floored by JJ's sudden lack of articulate ability. "Jayje, whatever it is, you can tell me." She said, her voice full of compassion as she shot Garcia and Morgan a questioning glance.
"I know. It's just hard. I-" JJ stumbled over her own words and looked to Garcia for assistance.
Garcia, ever ready, was prepared for just a time as this. "JJ has cancer. And now we're compiling her list of things she's got to do." She smiled, as though the list and subsequent positive spin would overshadow the devastating news.
"Cancer?" Emily asked in shock, her eyes wide and uncomprehending.
JJ nodded simply, lifting down her shirt to show the small bulge on her chest where doctors had inserted the port that was delivering her chemo medication. "I started chemo last week."
"Last week?" Emily asked in horror. "And you're at work? Jayje, you should take care of yourself-"
"See, this is what I've been saying." Morgan said triumphantly, nodding along with Emily's words. "Can you believe it? They want to go bungee jumping next."
"You've got to be kidding me." Emily shook her head in immediate disagreement. "Jayje, you've got to protect yourself. I just think-"
"It's Breast Cancer Em." JJ smiled sadly, "I didn't lose my legs, nor did I break my back. Other than feeling like I've got a terrible case morning sickness, I'm fine."
"But it's cancer JJ. I don't think you've thought this through all the way." Emily disagreed.
"Not thought it through?" JJ took a deep breath as she could quickly feel the anger arising. "I think I've thought this through plenty. I'm dy-" She caught herself as Garcia shot her a mutinous glare, and restarted, "I'm sick. And I don't want to fight for a life that I never got to live." She concluded, censoring the defeated thoughts that had become commonplace since the doctor's revelation.
"Living a life doesn't mean trying to throw it away at every chance." Morgan scoffed quickly. "Life is just as good when you spend it on the couch. Reading a nice, safe book. Or even watching TV."
"Oh, hush you." Garcia retorted, slightly angered that Emily had immediately sided with Morgan-did she have no respect for the girl code?-unwilling to listen to any more of their argument, she knew she had to act. If this is what was going to happen, she was going to need someone else on her side. "Tell you what, we need to ask someone else."
"No." JJ responded as Morgan and Emily seemed to tentatively consider the option. "I am not putting my life up as something to be voted on by my meddling friends."
"Well meaning friends." Garcia corrected quickly. "Jayje, this is the only way to get them off your back." She added conspiratorially.
"No." JJ maintained her ground. No matter how good intentioned her friends were, she wasn't about to let them control her life.
"Jayje, if you don't then they win." Garcia countered in a hushed whisper.
"How?" JJ scoffed.
"Because they're block voters, I can tell." Garcia whispered conspiratorially.
"We're not voting." JJ responded incredulously.
"Think of it this way." Emily said reasonably, ignoring JJ's insistence, "You have to tell either Hotch or Rossi soon anyway. Neither of them can say anything because they're both our supervisors. So, no matter what, they are sworn to secrecy."
"And, they can help out with work versus treatments." Morgan agreed, knowing that Hotch and Rossi would both make sure that JJ was protected from Garcia's crazy plans.
JJ pondered that for a moment. She did need to tell someone that could help out with scheduling things around her treatments. But the last thing JJ wanted to become was the office gossip. This was far too important to her to allow herself to become the subject of conversation at the water cooler.
"Fine." JJ grumbled as her three colleagues smiled in triumph. "I'll tell Rossi."
"I think she should go bungee jumping." Rossi said to the group. JJ's revelation had saddened the season profiler, but after making sure that she was feeling alright and letting her know that he would do anything to help, Garcia had pounced on him with what was apparently now a group decision.
"WHAT?" Morgan nearly shouted while Emily's mouth dropped open in surprise.
"Life's too short." He explained, leaning back in the over sized chair in his office.
"Just the reason not to do stupid things-it makes life shorter." Morgan retorted immediately, infuriated that Rossi had chosen to side with Garcia.
"So? Bungee jumping is totally safe." Rossi said in an attempt to placate Morgan and Emily's surprise.
"I told you so." Garcia said in triumph as JJ huffed loudly.
"If you are all done, I actually have work to do." JJ rolled her eyes at her friends and left the room. It was sweet that they cared about her enough to want to protect her safety, but she was not a child. She had discussed the limitations she would have with her doctor. For right now, she wanted to get in everything that she could before she didn't have the energy to do anything. She had spent her whole life trying to play it safe, and karma had laughed in her face. Now it was time to get some revenge.
Once JJ had left the room, Emily turned on Dave quickly. "Oh really?" She snarled, "Bungee jumping is totally safe." She mimicked. "How would you know?"
"Because I've gone a couple of times." Rossi shrugged. "It's no big deal."
"No big deal?" Emily challenged.
"It's obviously safer than a piercing. Nobody's ever gotten an infection bungee jumping."
"The woman has cancer, and you say that jumping off a bridge is 'totally safe'?" Morgan said incredulously.
"The woman-our friend-has cancer and wants to go bungee jumping." Rossi replied, not understanding why this was such a big deal to the two profilers. "Garcia, if we don't have a case Saturday, I'll take you two to one of my favorite spots."
"I always knew I could count on you and your Italian connections!" Garcia exclaimed delightedly as she too stood to leave. "Let me know if I need to bring anything."
"What would you need to bring?" Dave asked quizzically. "It's bungee jumping, not a pot-luck."
"Well, I'll probably still bring my famous barbecue chicken, but other than that, who knows what crazy things we kids can do." She smiled happily as she left his office, intent on researching everything she could about bungee jumping.
Seeing Morgan and Emily still glaring at him from their seats on the couch in his office, Dave couldn't help but smirk. "Are you two done? I have some work to do."
Grumbling, Morgan left the office with Emily at his heels. Morgan stomped back to his desk, plotting how he could create a case over the weekend to dissuade the others from putting their lives in peril. Emily stopped at the door to Dave's office and turned to look at him coldly.
"This isn't over Rossi. Mark my words, this is not over."
"Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending."
-Maria Robinson