A/N: I do not own Criminal Minds! This is the last chapter before the Epilogue! That's crazy! Thank you guys for staying with this story!

Chapter 14

Normally, the amount of light in the morning would have blinded Emily into a silent rage. There's a reason why Morgan jokes around and calls her a vampire. Any amount of sunshine prevents her to snooze and she becomes very cranky. However this morning, in JJ's bed, she was all smiles and laughs.

They didn't have sex last night. No, they agreed that it was too soon. But that didn't prevent them to… explore.

The "No Sex Until Further Notice" rule was just one of their many new laws that they had been discussed throughout the night. Others include: "No sex on the job," "No flirting in front of the team," and "No telling parents until their relationships became serious." The only problem with that was that they were already kind of serious. They had to be. JJ was a mother and they had a job that didn't really support couples, especially not those of the same sex.

They didn't want the Bureau to know about their relationship (they weren't sure that they would be able to keep their jobs if they told anyone), but they did decide that they should tell Hotch. He was their boss and they agreed that he deserved to know. They hoped that he wouldn't separate them, but they knew it was a possibility. They decided that they were going to tell Hotch after the next case. Telling everyone else would have to come later.

Emily couldn't hide her grin when JJ kissed her neck. "Damn, woman. The things you do to me. You have no idea."

"Oh," JJ smirked in her sultry voice. "I think I do." She traced her fingers around Emily's body. Like Remi had once done, she memorized all the marks on the brunette's skin. "You never told me that you have tattoos."

"Quando finisce la partita il re ed il pedone finiscono nella stessa scatola," Emily recited in Italian. As JJ traced the quote on her waist, Emily explained, "The literal translation is 'When you finish the game, the king and pawn end up in the same box.' Which really is just a fancy term for saying that we all meet in the end. I got it when I was fifteen. In Rome."

JJ listened carefully. "Did you get it after your abortion?"

Emily surprised herself before by telling the woman what the quote had meant. She surprised herself even more by indulging her with more information. The type of information that she had held back with Remi and everyone else she had ever been with. "Yes. I wanted the pain of the tattoo, really. As punishment. I thought… I don't know. That maybe one day I could meet them. In heaven or wherever I go when we die."

The blonde kissed her gently, trying to comfort her after her admitting something so private. "That's beautiful, Em."

"I got my other tattoo undercover," Emily whispered, unsure if she said it too quietly. She knew that she was taking a chance with telling JJ so much, but she felt like for the first time like she could.

JJ blinked at her, not knowing whether to be surprised or underwhelmed. "I knew you were too good to be coming off of a desk job."

"I can't tell you about what I did. It's classified. But, I can tell you I definitely didn't have a desk job. I want to be able to tell you some of the things that I saw. I do. I want to be able to tell you about each one of my scars, but I'm not there yet. And I don't know if I ever will be."

The blonde nodded sympathetically. "That's okay. You don't have to tell me anything you aren't comfortable with. And I understand about it being classified. Just know that I won't judge you for what you had to do. And that I'm here for you."

Emily was in awe of the woman in bed with her. She shook her head in disbelief of her kindness and understanding. "Thank you."

JJ kissed her nose and told her, "You're welcome. Come on, Emmy. We should probably get up and get going. Though, I think I'd love to stay in bed with you forever."

"Me too," Emily said before groaning. She got up and started her normal routine in JJ's bathroom. It was ironic. Nothing about what they were doing was normal. But it was right.

Emily and JJ couldn't help but enter the Quantico building feeling a little flustered. Both felt a little paranoid walking into the bullpen, thinking that everyone could tell that they had spent the night with each other romantically.

"Emily!" Reid called out as he approached her excitedly. "I found The Lord of the Rings in Russian! I heard that it's better than in English. Do you want me to lend to you my copies when I'm done?"

"Sure!" Emily told him, trying to act as normally as possible. "So does that mean I'm going to get them in a few days?"

"Probably," Spencer agreed. He turned to JJ. "How'd you spend the night? Emily and I went to go see a movie."

JJ could feel the heat rise up her cheeks. She had kept her relationship with Will a secret from her team, but she had no idea how she could keep her relationship with Emily away from her friends for too long. Luckily, they weren't planning on keeping it a secret for a long time. "I spent some time with my son. He's getting so old. Want to see some pictures?"

Emily hid a smile. She was impressed by how easily JJ had deflected the conversation to her son, which everyone wanted to pay attention to. She felt so happy watching Henry's godfather grin at the pictures of his godson.

"Are you guys looking at pictures of the Jareau Prince without me?" Penelope asked as she approached them at Spencer's desk. "Not fair."

"Don't pout, I just got my phone out!" JJ told her as she hugged her friend happily. She tried to avoid eye contact with the tech analyst. More than anyone, she hated keeping the secret from Garcia. JJ showed Penelope a picture of Henry in his new pajamas to get the attention off herself.

"Awe! He's so handsome! Unlike his ungodly father," Penelope snarled.

JJ rolled her eyes. Will was the last person she wanted to talk about. "Pen. It's okay. I don't need that son of a bitch. And I'm happy."

While Spencer and Penelope oohed and ahhed at the pictures, JJ flashed a smile at Emily, letting her know that she was the reason why she felt so joyful. When the blonde turned back to her other friends, Emily noticed that Rossi was watching them. He winked at her all knowingly and then walked away.

Emily couldn't help but swell up with pride. At least she knew that she had one person on their side.

"Excuse me? What's going on around here? Is there a party, I, Derek Morgan, wasn't invited to?" Derek asked as he entered the bullpen and set his stuff down on his desk and approached the group.

"We purposefully didn't send you the invitations, Derek. You are just known for being the party pooper," Emily joked lightly, looking all smug.

Morgan pretended to gasp and look hurt. "Ouch, Princess. I'm offended. Really. So, what are you all looking at?"

As he walked up to them, Garcia started jumping up and down. "We're looking at pictures of my perfect godson."

Derek looked at the pictures on the phone. "He's going to be a player. I already know it. He's going to be just like his Uncle Derek."

"That's a frightening thought," Emily muttered, making everyone else laugh.

"Yeah," JJ agreed. "Instead he is going to be in healthy, loving, serious, relationships."

"Much more attractive than whatever you do," Emily told him, smiling wildly at her partner.

Morgan punched his good friend jokingly. "I'll have you know, most people find me a catch."

"I'm sure your mother does think that," Spencer joked, not realizing that his comeback was actually hilarious. He watched everyone's reactions and awed faces and grinned.

"Woah, pretty boy!" Morgan said, putting his hands up in defense. "What has gotten into you? Is it 'Everyone Picks On Derek Morgan' day?"

"Isn't it that every day?" Hotch said in a nonchalant voice from behind them.

The team held back their snickers as they all turned to their boss, waiting for him to tell them some directions.

"We have a case. We are heading to Boston. Wheels up in twenty."

"This is the worst time to tell him," Emily told JJ as they whispered in the bathroom back in Quantico after they returned to DC. "Foyet escaped. He's not going to be in a good mood to talk about our relationship."

JJ understood Emily's point. "I know. But I think that if we keep delaying it, we will continuously find reasons why we shouldn't tell him. No case is easy. He's never going to be in the right mood."

Emily wanted to argue with her. She wanted to tell JJ that she was wrong. But she knew that the liaison was right. She knew that she was really just being afraid. She lowered her voice and said, "I don't want this to end. I'm- I'm scared."

The blonde's face melted seeing Emily's vulnerability. She kissed the profiler's forehead and said, "I know. I am too. But I think that we are going to be okay. We just have to be honest with him."

"Okay," Emily agreed. "Let's go now. Before we lose our nerve."

They walked to his office and knocked on the door. Once they heard him say, "Come in," they entered the room and closed the door.

Hotch looked up at them and his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Is there something I could help you with?"

Emily and JJ sat down nervously. The blonde started the conversation, knowing that he was more comfortable with her.

"Hotch, we just wanted to let you know that we have recently begun a relationship. We are planning on having a serious and long relationship and thought that you should be aware of the situation."

Before Aaron could reply, Emily added, "We will make sure that our relationship won't get in the way of the job or our work ethic."

Hotch blinked at them several times, keeping a neutral face. He tried to process everything. "Thank you for letting me know. I presume that you want this information to stay away from higher positions?"

"We want this to stay between the team until we… become more serious. And then we can talk to Strauss and accept the consequences," JJ explained to their boss.

"We want to wait until we can prove to her that our work ethic hasn't changed since our relationship has begun," Emily added.

Hotch nodded, understanding that logic. "You both understand that couples do change the dynamic of the team, no matter how much you try not to?"

"Sir-" Emily said before stopping. She decided to wing it. She let go of her professional plan and became personal. "Aaron. JJ and I don't take this lightly. We wouldn't come to you if we didn't think that we could handle the job and the relationship. We both know our feelings for each other. The team would be more affected if we had unresolved tension between us. We don't want to hurt the team, but we also want to be happy. We want to be with each other."

JJ raised her eyebrows, surprised by how honest she had been with him. She also couldn't help but be very turned on by her girlfriend's passionate speech.

Hotch thought through Emily's argument and responded, "As your boss, I say that I can't promise you that this is going to be easy. If Strauss or anyone else finds out, I can't protect you. I can defend you, but I can't stop them from taking your job. But if you continue your good work, I don't care what you do in your personal time. However, as your friend, I want to tell you that I'm happy for you both. You truly deserve happiness and I'm glad that you find it with each other. The one thing I ask is that you both refrain from PDA on the job."

Emily and JJ nodded rapidly, happy that their boss was cool with what they were doing. They were thrilled, ecstatic even.

"Thank you, Sir," JJ told him as both she and Emily got up and left the room cheerfully.

As they walked down the ramp, they were met by Penelope, who squealed and wrapped her arms around her best friends.

"I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!" Garcia yelled out as she squeezed them tightly. "You guys are finally together."

"SHH!" JJ said as she pulled the tech analyst to the side. She whispered, "How the hell do you know?"

"Uh, I'm the Oracle of Quantico. Duh." She smiled at them and asked, "So how did you two dufus' finally get it on?"

JJ rolled her eyes. "We talked to each other, Pen. Don't think so dirty. We'll tell you more when we get out of here. Morgan's buying the first round, right?"

Penelope nodded and then squealed again. "Sorry! I'm just so happy for you guys! Finally, a romance in the office!"

"I need a drink," Emily said as she walked away from the two blondes. She walked away to her desk to get her bag. She was greeted by Rossi.

"For some reason, I feel a lot of pride about you two," He mentioned quietly so that Morgan and Reid couldn't hear him.

Emily smiled at him appreciatively. She felt a lot more comfortable talking about her relationship with him rather than the tech analyst. "Thank you, Dave. It's taken a while."

"It'll all be worth it. You both already have a better relationship than I had with any of my wives. I wish you both all the happiness in the world."

Emily felt like her heart doubled in size as she smiled at the wise man and somewhat of a father figure. She wanted to hug him, but she knew that it would look suspicious. She hoped that he knew how much what he told her meant to her.

"I don't know about you guys, but I need a beer and loud music," Morgan said as he and the genius approached the other two profilers.

"If you replace beer with scotch and loud music with silence, I'd agree with you," Rossi joked as he put his bag on his shoulder.

"I'm in the mood for some wine. And possibly vodka. How about you, Boy Wonder?" Emily asked Spencer.

"Club soda. The last time I had alcohol with you guys I woke up in Morgan's bathtub."

The team laughed in remembrance of the night of drunken fun.

After the team had yelled and complained about Foyet's escape from prison for the fifth time, Hotch left the bar in anger and Emily got up and muttered under her breath, "I need another drink."

The liaison watched her girlfriend walk to the bar and she noticed that the others had seen that she was staring at her. She tried to turn their attention away from herself so she said, "I hope that Emily's doing okay."

"I think she's doing just fine," Rossi mentioned as he took a sip of his scotch.

"I second that," Garcia said as she clinked her glass with the older profiler.

JJ ignored his comment, realizing that he knew about their relationship. She turned to the other boys and waited for them to change the subject.

"Even though Emily is attracted to women, does she purposefully continue to flirt with men?" Reid asked his friend, confused as he watched Emily talk to a charismatic man at the bar.

"What?" JJ choked on her drink and she turned to the direction that Reid was looking at. She felt her grip on her drink get stronger.

"She playfully flirts," Morgan answered as he watched the interaction. "She's just trying to get away from this guy. You could tell by her body language. She's annoyed with him."

JJ could tell that as well. She felt the anger rising up her throat. She wasn't mad that she was talking to him. She was mad that this guy couldn't tell that Emily wasn't interested.

They all watched as Emily tried to dodge him, but he stepped in front of her. They watched as Emily's eyes became daggers. They couldn't see this guy's face, but from Emily's, they could tell that whatever this guy was saying, it wasn't good.

"Do you think that I should go-" Morgan stopped talking when he was startled when JJ jumped up from the table and walked to her girlfriend.

Rossi chuckled and said, "I think she's got it." He took another sip and watched the scene as if it was a soap opera.

As JJ neared them, she heard Emily say, "Please, get out of my way. I don't want to hurt you, but I won't hesitate to."

"Yeah, sure. How can you say that you aren't interested in me? You think you're a lesbian, but you just haven't been with a real man before," The gross asshole said before JJ tapped his shoulder. He turned around and looked the blonde from top to bottom. "Hey, sexy. Wanna get with-"

He couldn't finish his sentence due to JJ's fist hitting his mouth.

"No means no, douchebag. She's my girlfriend. Not yours. Get out of here." JJ snarled at him as she took Emily's hand.

Emily was in awe of what had just occurred. She didn't even see it coming. She watched the blood drip from his mouth before he hurried away. She turned to JJ, who looked embarrassed of what she had done.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry. I know that you could have handled that. I know that I shouldn't have hit him. He just made me so angry. I didn't even know-" JJ was interrupted with a kiss.

Emily held onto her and whispered, "Thank you."

"They all know now," JJ muttered as she turned to look at their friends.

Garcia was clapping exuberantly, Rossi was giving them his thumbs up and a grin (again), Derek was whooping, and Reid looked like he was a deer caught in headlights.

"Yep," Emily agreed as she took her hand and led her back to their table.

Derek gave Emily a huge pat on the shoulder and said, "Damn, Princess. You got your knight in shining armor."

"Good punch," Rossi commented approvingly. "Though I might have wanted to take out some of his teeth."

Garcia squealed and wrapped her arms around her best friend's shoulders. "You guys are so cute!"

"Reid," Emily said, waiting for Spencer to close your mouth. "Are you trying to catch flies? Are you alright?"

"I thought that Remi left because you two were in two different places," Spencer declared unhappily. He got up from his chair and walked to the exit.

Emily followed him out the door and grabbed his coat. "Spencer, wait. Talk to me for a second. I want to explain."

"Explain what?!" The genius asked when they walked into the parking lot. He glared at her, trying to figure out how she could do such a thing. "You told me that Remi left because she wanted to leave the country. A few days after she leaves, you are kissing JJ? Did you leave her for JJ?"

"No!" Emily told him, her head shaking rapidly. "Oh, no. Spencer, I would have never done that. Listen to me for a second. I liked JJ. Long before I dated Remi. But when I was with Remi, I was a hundred percent with her. I didn't cheat on her. I loved her to the best of my ability. But we weren't meant to be."

"So what, now you go on to JJ like it is no big deal?" Reid asked, obviously hurt.

Her eyes softened. She knew that his problem wasn't with her relationship with JJ, it was with how Remi had left. "You know, you're right. I know that it is probably too soon. But JJ and I have been waiting so long. And you know how it is in this job. People die every day. I don't want to lose what I have with JJ just because I was with Remi before. Remi wouldn't want me to be unhappy."

Spencer's glare dissipated. "I know. It's just that… I miss her. There aren't too many people that I meet that like the same things just as much as me. Besides you."

"I get it. And I'm sure that she misses you. But I'm also sure that she would love to hear from you."

He nodded and replied, "I know. I'm sorry. If you and JJ are happy, I'm happy for you guys. I just- I don't know. I wish things were easier."

Emily wrapped her arm around his shoulder and said, "Don't I know it, pal. Adulting is hard."

"I've been an adult the second I was born," Spencer joked.

Emily snorted and laughed. She ruffled his long hair and told him, "Yeah, yeah, funny guy. Come on, let's go back inside. I'm sure I have many more embarrassing questions to answer from Garcia and Derek."

"I can't believe Hotch is okay with it. If it was you and me, Emily, he would have definitely been against it." Morgan argued as they shared a platter of fried pickles.

"Oh, for sure," Emily agreed. "But JJ has this magic touch with him."

JJ rolled her eyes and hit Emily's shoulder. "Oh, be quiet. It was you who gave the emotional speech."

"You did?!" Garcia asked, gaping at the brunette. "What did you say?"

Emily glared at her girlfriend. "Really, Jen? I still have to look like I have a mysterious personality. They can't know that I actually have feelings!"

"So who initiated the relationship?" Rossi asked the couple.

"I mean," JJ explained. "I was the one to tell her that I had feelings for her. But it was sort of both of us. We just admitted that we had feelings for each other. But technically it was me, I guess."

"When can I start planning for the wedding?" Garcia asked, jumping up and down.

Both Emily and JJ groaned and said, "Garcia…"

"I think that went well," JJ said when they entered the blonde's apartment. "We aren't losing our job so that's a win."

"Definitely," Emily grinned before kissing her girlfriend. She looked down at Henry that they picked up from the sitter on the way home. He was sleeping peacefully in her arms. "I think he's tired."

"So am I after the few couples of days that we have had. I'm sorry, Em. I want to stay up with you, but I am so damn tired."

"Don't apologize," Emily whispered to her sweetly. "Let's go to bed. I'm exhausted."

"Thanks for dropping me off," Emily said as she opened the door to her apartment building a few months later. "I feel like I've been living at your place for weeks."

"You basically have been doing that," JJ agreed as they stopped in front of the mailboxes. "Though I'm not complaining."

"I have no idea why you would," Emily noted as she opened her box and looked through her mail. She noticed a letter with familiar handwriting and smiled. "I got a letter from Remi."

"Ooh!" JJ said excitedly and walked over to look over her shoulder. "Let me see!"

Emily read the letter as it follows:

Dear Emily,

I have had a crazy few weeks. The flight was dreadful. Even though I had my headphones on, the person next to me thought that was still an invitation for her to talk to me. At least she was nice. Anyway, stepping off the plane just felt like coming home. Too bad that it wasn't India I was flying into. Dubai is beautiful. I planned on going to a new city per day, but I don't want to leave. Though, it isn't just the place that makes me want to stay.

Can you even believe that I ran into Jordan at the airport? She told me that I convinced her to start traveling. I'm still in awe that we somehow picked the same place to fly into. Jordan keeps saying that it's fate. Maybe I'm hoping that it is. We've been spending all of our time together. She even got a hotel room in the same hotel as me. I think that we are going to start traveling together. Though, I'm not sure if I'm ever going to want her to leave.

I hope that things are going well for you. How's Spencer doing? We've been emailing back and forth and he has been telling me all of the books he has been reading. But he hasn't told me anything about how he has been feeling.

I miss you like I miss my best friend. But I think we still made the best decisions. Have you talked to JJ? And please don't give me the whole "JJ is straight" spiel. I love you, Em, but you really are an idiot.

I would normally say that it would be weird about talking about S.O.'s to exes, but if I was too subtle before, Jordan and I are getting very close. She lets the light in.

Email me back (I don't know where I will be by the time you get this)!

Remi Ramirez

"Remi and Jordan, huh?" JJ asked, nodding as if she thought that it was surprising but a good idea.

"Yeah. I think they'll be really great for each other. I'm glad that Jordan is making her happy. They both deserve each other." Emily replied as she folded the letter grinned on the inside about the contents it. "I'm starting to think that everything is working out."

"Does that comfort or scare you?" JJ questioned, taking her hand as she looked at her girlfriend's face, trying to find out how she felt.

Emily didn't know to respond to that as they walked up the stairs and toward her apartment. "I'm not sure. I think I was scared, you know? For things to get serious. For things to get permanent. I spent so much time of my life going place to place so that I didn't have to get close to anything. So I didn't have to love anything. So that if I lost it, it wouldn't kill me. But now, I have two families that love me. The team and you and Henry. I have so much to lose. And yeah, that scares me. But it's also exciting. And it brings me joy. And I don't have to feel so alone. I may have something to lose, but that also means I have something to fight for. I have something to live for." Emily opened the door and looked at the empty space. She then turned and looked at JJ, who was smiling at her, comforting her.

"What did you need?" JJ asked her before kissing her forehead.

Emily held her girlfriend close to her and said, "The only thing I need is you."

"Wow," JJ chuckled warmly. "You are a cheesy dork."

"Shut up," Emily snorted as she brushed the blonde hair out of JJ's face. "This isn't home to me, Jen. This stuff, my stuff, it's me. But I don't feel like myself if I'm not with you. I don't want to be here unless I am with you."

"I know how you feel," JJ admitted as she and her girlfriend walked over and sat down on the couch. "Every time you sleep over here, I can't sleep. I just hate how you have to come back here and feed your cat, water your plants, and take clothes. Just take your stuff back home. Hell, just move in with me."

The brunette raised her eyebrows and stared at her girlfriend. "Are you serious? Do you really want me to move in with you? I mean, that's a big step. And Henry-"

"Henry will want you to be there," JJ argued as she laid her head on the brunette's muscular shoulder. "And I want you there. We've been together for months, Em. We basically have been married for years. You are basically Henry's other mom. Let's just do it. We can ask for the team to help you move in. Or we can find a new place. It doesn't really matter. Nothing is really home without you."

Emily turned her head slightly and kissed her girlfriend's forehead. "No, it isn't. You're my home. You and Henry. I want to move in with you."

They kissed just as passionately as their first one. It took them a while for them to get to this place. A place where they can be honest and healthy. But now that they were here, the wouldn't trade their relationship for anything in the world.

I know, I know. Super cheesy, right? They are so cute, I love them! Can I just say, I love my #1 supporter of Jemily, Mr. David Rossi. Thank you all for reading! The Epilogue will be coming out soon! Reviews are welcome and VERY appreciated! XX