Hey Guys!
So I am so sorry that this took so long! Life has just been getting in the way lately (working 3 jobs really sucks), so finding time to write has been difficult!
I would like to say sorry in advance because I know this chapter isn't going to go exactly the way that most of you hope, but rest assured I have a plan, and I promise it won't take long to get there! So please stick with me!
Also I'm struggling with writing about the cases, so this one is kind of rushed, but necessary for what I want to happen!
I hope that you'll enjoy this chapter, and I hope that you guys aren't too disappointed!
Thanks so much for reading!
-J
Chapter 13
The second that their lips met it was like everything else melted away, both women focused on nothing but the feeling of the other's lips. Emily let her hand tangle into blonde locks, pulling JJ impossibly closer, her other hand grabbing a fistful of the blonde's shirt. JJ's tongue swept across the brunette's bottom lip, seeking entrance that was immediately granted, their tongues meeting, exploring each other's mouths, as both women held each other together.
It was unclear whose throat the moan escaped from, but the sound broke the spell, snapping the women out of the trance they seemed to be in, both pulling away; Emily still clutching onto JJ's shirt tightly.
Both women were out of breath, looks of panic mirrored in their faces, both unsure of what had just come over them.
"Oh God, Em…" JJ began, eyes wide.
"I'm so sorry…" Emily interrupted, letting go of the blonde's shirt and standing up from the bed.
"No, it was…" JJ tried again.
"I didn't…I…oh God…" Emily panicked, bolting for the bathroom, quickly shutting the door behind her.
"Oh God," Emily whispered to herself, leaning up against the sink, unable to even look at herself in the mirror. "What the hell did I do?"
The brunette turned away from the mirror, slowly dragging herself down to sit on the floor, resting her forehead against her knees. What the hell were you thinking Emily? You basically jumped your best friend while you're working for God's sake. Now what? What am I going to do? I can't go back out there! Emily berated, willing herself not to cry.
A similar scene was also unfolding in the bedroom, where JJ was sitting on the bed, her head in her hands, her eyes blurry with unshed tears. Oh God what did I do? I just kissed my best friend! I just kissed my best friend, who's probably never going to speak to me again, JJ thought to herself, a few tears falling into her hands.
The pair continued to panic, neither moving from their places for the next 20 minutes, both too embarrassed to try talking to the other, unsure of what they were supposed to do considering they were currently sharing a room. Just as Emily began to consider sleeping on the bathroom floor and then sneaking out as early as possible, she heard her cell phone ringing from the other side of the door.
"Shit," Emily hissed, torn between not wanting to face JJ, and not wanting to miss the call in case it was Alex calling back.
Her concern for Alex winning out, the brunette came out of the bathroom, seeing JJ still sitting on the bed, unable to look up, afraid of what she would see written on the blonde's face.
"Prentiss," Emily answered, seeing from the called I.D that it was Morgan calling.
"Hey Princess," Morgan greeted. "Another body was just discovered. Hotch wants us to get over there before they move it."
"Alright," Emily replied, looking at the clock to see that it was just after 4 in the morning. "I'll meet you outside your room in ten minutes."
"Sure thing," Morgan replied before hanging up.
"What happened?" JJ asked, attempting to keep her emotions out of her voice.
"There's been another murder," Emily replied, moving to grab a change of clothes out of her go-bag. "I'm heading there with Morgan," she said before heading back into the bathroom to get dressed.
When the brunette came back into the room a few minutes later, she still wouldn't look up at JJ, once again heading straight for her bag, rummaging through it to find her jacket.
"Em…," JJ finally called out, unable to take the silence, her sadness evident in her voice.
"Please Jen, not now," Emily interrupted, finally looking up, her eyes pleading with the blonde. "Please."
"Okay," JJ relented, recognizing the fear in the brunette's eyes. "Be safe," she said sadly.
"I will," Emily whispered before quickly leaving the room.
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JJ spent the rest of the morning tossing and turning, unable to shut off her mind long enough to fall back asleep. Knowing that Hotch would probably want to hold a press conference soon, the blonde decided to just get up and begin getting ready for the day, figuring one of the other agents would probably be up soon to head to one of the victim's former gyms with her.
She got ready slowly, still thinking about Emily, something which was immensely frustrating, as the more she thought about it, the more she wanted to curl up in a ball and cry. JJ knew that there was no way Emily was going to talk to her about what happened. The brunette was famous for compartmentalizing and putting up walls, so JJ knew that it was going to take a lot of work to get Emily Prentiss to open up to her.
I've ruined the best friendship that I have, JJ thought to herself, tears once again filling her eyes.
Needing to talk to someone, the blonde quickly grabbed her cell phone, hitting speed dial 3, hoping she would get an answer despite the early hour.
"This better be important," Penelope answered sleepily after the fourth ring.
"It's only 5:30. Hotch said I didn't have to be in until 7:30," she continued, sounding barely awake. "I like sleep."
"I kissed Emily," JJ blurted out, jumping straight to it.
"Excuse me?" Garcia replied, suddenly sounding very much awake. "I'm sorry I'm going to need you to repeat that because I could have sworn you just said you kissed Emily."
"Penelope," JJ whined, not wanting to repeat herself.
"Oh my GOD!" The technical analyst squealed, forcing JJ to pull the phone away from her ear. "Oh my God! How was it? Was it amazing? I bet it was good, I mean Emily looks like she would be a good kisser; she's got such nice lips. What kind of kiss are we talking about anyways? I mean was it…"
"Penelope!" JJ shouted, cutting the blonde off. "I'm kind of freaking out here."
"What? Why?" Garcia replied sounding confused.
"Oh I don't know, maybe because I just stuck my tongue down my best friend's throat," JJ replied sarcastically.
"Oh so there was tongue?!"
"Pen," JJ whined again, trying to keep her friend focused on the problem at hand here.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Garcia replied. "I just don't see the problem here sunshine. I mean I've seen the way that woman looks at you. And the way you look at her. AND I'd have to be blind not to see all the flirty glances, and all the touching. I just don't see how this is a bad thing!"
"Because Pen, she's my best friend!"
"So!"
"So, she's my best friend and I kissed her and she looked at me all horrified and then ran off into the bathroom and could barely look at me when she came back out," JJ practically shouted, sadness laced in her voice. "She's probably never going to talk to me again."
"Oh Sugar, we're talking about Emily here," Garcia replied. "Of course she freaked out. But she was kissing you back right?"
"Well yeah,' JJ replied. "I mean it definitely wasn't one sided."
"So I'm sure she just panicked, kind of like you are now, and didn't know what to do," Garcia assured her friend. "So in typical Emily fashion she put up her walls to protect herself because she's afraid, just like you are."
"So what do I do?" JJ asked sadly.
"You need to talk to her Pumpkin," Garcia replied. "You need to fight your way past those Prentiss walls and tell her how you feel."
"What if I don't know how I feel?" The blonde asked honestly.
"Honey, I think you know how you feel," Garcia sighed. "I know you're scared, but you need to be honest with her."
"What if she doesn't feel the same way?"
"Oh Sugar, trust me, you have nothing to worry about," Garcia replied. "Anyone with eyes can see that woman is crazy about you, she's just too scared to admit it. She just needs a little push."
"I guess you're right," JJ relented, feeling nervous.
"Of course I'm right," Garcia replied. "Now tell me, how was it?"
"Garcia," JJ laughed, embarrassed.
"Aw come on Jayje," Garcia whined. "You can't call me before sunrise and not even tell me what kind of kisser our Princess is."
"Ugh fine!" JJ laughed. "It was amazing okay? Probably the best kiss I've ever had. Happy?"
"OH I KNEW IT!" Garcia replied happily. "Oh I am so happy for you!"
"I'm hanging up on you now," JJ replied, holding back her laughter at her friend's antics.
"Good luck!" Garcia called out before JJ ended the call, sighing as she thought about the conversation she needed to have with Emily.
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After spending some time at their newest crime scene Emily and Morgan made their way to the first victim's regular gym, talking with several of the workers there to ask them about the victim's regular routine. They also asked whether there was a frequenter who had spent time watching their victim, who may have been scrawny, or perhaps out of shape. One of the women who worked there explained that there was a man who comes in from time to time using a day pass, who they often catch watching some of the other members, often making them uncomfortable. The woman was able to give them nothing but a vague description, explaining that their cameras had been broken for quite some time now.
Hoping that the others would have some better luck, the pair made their way back to the SUV, deciding they would get some coffee before heading back to the station to meet the team.
"So are you going to tell me what's up?" Morgan asked when they got back in the car.
"What do you mean?" Emily asked sounding confused.
"Oh come on Emily you've been acting strange all morning," Morgan said. "You kept spacing out at the crime scene and you barely said two words in there. It just doesn't seem like your head is in it today."
"That's not true," Emily argued even though she knew Morgan had a point. Morgan simply raised his eyebrow in response, as Emily sighed, realizing that Morgan wasn't going to let this drop. "Alright something happened this morning before you called, and I guess I'm just a little distracted."
"This morning before I called?" Morgan asked, thinking about what could have possibly happened that early in the morning. "Something happened with JJ?" He asked.
"Well kind of," Emily asked, blushing, something which was uncharacteristic of the brunette.
"Ooooooh," Morgan smiled in understanding. "You finally kissed her didn't you?"
"What? How did you? Oh God," Emily stuttered, hiding her face in her hands.
"Oh come on Prentiss, it doesn't take a profiler to see how you feel about JJ," Morgan said, as he drove towards the coffee shop. "I've just been waiting for the two of you to figure it out. I take it, it didn't go well?"
"I completely panicked," Emily confessed, looking up. "I realized what was happening and I just bolted. And now I don't know what to do."
"You need to talk to her is what you need to do," Morgan replied. "JJ cares about you, Princess, and if you just talk to her I'm sure you two could have something great. But you can't push her away. You need to be open."
"But…but what if it ruins our friendship?" Emily asked. "She's my best friend. I don't want to lose that."
"Prentiss, trust me okay," Morgan replied. "You're not going to lose JJ. You just need to let her in."
Emily didn't reply, thinking about what Morgan said, her thoughts interrupted by the ringing of Derek's cell phone.
"Morgan," Derek answered, listening to the voice on the other end of the phone. "Alright will do," he replied, hanging up. "Sorry Princess, coffee's gonna have to wait. We need to meet the team, we've got something."
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When Morgan and Emily arrived at the station they found the team waiting for them in one of the conference rooms.
"What do we got?" Morgan asked, as Emily slipped into the room quietly, going to stand by Rossi, successfully avoiding JJ's gaze. The brunette may understand that she needs to talk to JJ but there was no way she was going to do it right now.
"Rossi and JJ talked to someone at the gym where Hayes and Jacobs worked out, describing our unsub and we have a video," Hotch explained, bringing up the video on the laptop in front of them.
"This man apparently visits the gym every couple weeks, always using a day pass," Rossi explained, as the video brought up a rather skinny looking man in his thirties. "We don't have a name, but we do have him visiting the gym on the weeks that both Jacobs and Hayes were killed."
"We have Garcia running facial recognition, and she's going through video from the third gym to see if the same guy comes up," Reid explained. "Did you two find anything?"
"Cameras were down at the gym, but one of the workers gave us a rather vague description that would fit the man in your video," Emily explained, being sure to include herself in the discussion so that none of the other profilers noticed her distraction the way Morgan did.
Just then Hotch's phone began to ring, the unit chief answering right away.
"What do you have Garcia?"
"I've got a name," Garcia answered quickly. "Marcus Shea. After combing through the video from the third gym, I found him there the same week our third victim was killed."
"Do we know anything about him?" JJ asked.
"Well based on his high school experience I would say this could definitely be your guy," Garcia replied. "Shea dropped out of high school in his Sophomore year after he was attacked in the gym locker room by a bunch of football players who then tossed him out into the hallway in his underwear. He was homeschooled after that."
"He's built up a lot of anger since then," Emily pointed out.
"And that would explain why he's stripping his victims," Reid added.
"Garcia do we have an address?" Hotch asked.
"Already sent it to your phones," Garcia replied.
"Alright we need to get over there," Hotch said. "Everyone needs vests, we should be prepared for him to resist."
The team began to file out of the room, JJ hanging back, grabbing Emily by the arm, wanting a chance to talk to the brunette.
"Jayje, please," Emily said as soon as the rest of the team was out of earshot.
"I know okay, I know," JJ replied. "I just need to know that we're okay. We're okay right?"
"Of course," Emily replied with a sigh, even though she didn't really feel like they were that fine. "I…I just can't do this right now."
"Okay, but when this is over?" The blonde asked with pleading eyes.
"When this is over," Emily replied with a nod, suddenly hoping this case would last just a little bit longer.
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The team gathered around Marcus Shea's house, Morgan, Emily and JJ at the front while Rossi, Hotch and Reid covered the back. Shea's car was in the driveway so they were expecting the man to be home, aware that if he was indeed their man, which they were sure he was, he likely wouldn't go down without a fight.
Morgan counted down silently, knowing Hotch was doing the same in the back.
"Marcus Shea, FBI," Morgan shouted, pounding heavily on the door. Giving it a few seconds, the agent then kicked the door in, entering the house and going left, while Emily went straight and JJ took the right.
Clearing the rooms on the main floor, Hotch made his way towards the basement; with Reid and Rossi following close behind while Morgan led the way upstairs, both women behind him. When they reached the top of the stairs, the agents found two doors closed, one on the left side of the hall and one of the right. Pointing at the women, Morgan then pointed to the door on the right, heading towards the door on the left himself.
Counting down, both doors were thrown open, Emily entering the room first, while JJ followed close behind, neither woman seeing anyone in their immediate sight. It wasn't until Emily turned to her left, while JJ looked to the right, that the brunette noticed the other presence in the room, a man coming out quickly from behind the wardrobe, a baseball bat in hand.
Before the profiler had a chance to even register what was happening, she felt rather than saw the baseball bat connecting with the side of her head. The last thing the brunette heard before she blacked out, being the sound of her blonde friend calling out her name.
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I'm sorry I just really love cliffhangers…well except maybe the cliffhanger from the last CM episode! That was just cruel!