"You two have matching tattoos?"
Frankie looked down and traced the outline with her finger, "We had fake IDs in high school and thought it would be a good idea. Emily made me go first to prove it wouldn't hurt. But the outside of the shoulder and the inner pelvis are two totally separate areas."
Frankie paused, realizing there was only one way JJ could possibly have known about Emily's tattoo. She had held her tongue when JJ had avoided her precious questions but this simple slip up confirmed what she had expected, JJ and Emily had been together. Frankie wasn't sure the full extent of the relationship but she knew that JJ was here in DC and Emily was half a world away so whatever had happened had long ended.
"Why didn't you just tell me?" Frankie asked.
"It was a long time ago," JJ sighed as she continued to play through those final days in her head. Emily had come back to DC when JJ had been in peril. When JJ had been abducted and tortured it had been Emily she had hallucinated in her darkest moments, it was Emily whom she had prayed would come to save her and she did. Emily had arrived just in the knick of time and so many words passed between them without a sound. When all had been said and done the team had gone out to the bar, JJ made an excuse to steal herself away from the group and go outside to catch her breath. Emily had followed suit.
"You're doing it again," Frankie smiled innocently. "You're getting lost in the past. Trust me, I know how dangerous that can be."
"Yeah, right," JJ whispered as she brushed away a single tear. "Are we going to do this?"
"I would like to, if you don't mind I think I'll just sit back and listen. I doubt she wants to talk to me after all this time but I just want to hear her voice," Frankie admitted.
"Ha. I doubt she wants to talk to me either but we can try." JJ took out her phone and thumbed through her contacts until she found Emily's information. She took a deep breath and let her thumb hover over the green send button for a moment before finally committing to the call. She placed the call on speaker phone and set her phone in the middle of the coffee table. JJ reached over and held Frankie's hand as the phone rang.
"Prentiss."
"Em?"
"Jennifer? What's wrong?" Emily asked flatly. Frankie covered her mouth as tears began streaming down her face at the sound of her sister's voice. She quickly had to leave the room as the emotion was too overwhelming for her to stay quiet. JJ nodded and pointed towards the hall bathroom as she picked up the phone and turned off speaker.
"Nothing, nothing is wrong. I just wanted to talk, if you have a minute."
"It's been a long time, Jennifer. Why now?"
"Emily, I'm sorry it's been so long," JJ confessed, somewhat embarrassed. "I didn't know what to say. I mean after what happened that night..."
"What happened that night was a mistake, you made that very clear. It's been a year and not so much as a text, yeah I think I got the message." Emily spat out the words as if she was disgusted that JJ would suddenly call her after such a long period of silence.
"You're right, you have every right to be upset. But I need to talk to you about something else, Emily. Something important," JJ tried to steer the conversation back on course but apparently Emily would have none of it.
"Jennifer, you kissed me. YOU kissed me! You said there would be no more lies and then you proceeded to kiss me. And just when I thought things couldn't get better you panicked. I don't know why I ever thought things could be different. I guess I just thought, maybe, just maybe you'd love me too."
"Emily, that's not fair."
"No, you know what wasn't fair? Me waiting for you at that terminal. Me standing at the airport waiting for you, when you pormised you would meet me there. When you said you'd run away and come back to London with me. Do you know how stupid I felt once I realized you weren't coming? Once I realized you got scared and you went back to Will, just like you had before I moved to London. He was and always will be your end game, Jennifer."
JJ choked back tears as she sobbed into the receiver, "Emily."
"No, I don't know why you called but you should have held your breath. It's too late, I don't want to hear it."
"Emily," JJ cried, finally finding her words again. "It's your sister. It's Frankie."
The phone went silent for a moment.
"Emily? Are you there?"
"How do you know...what do you know about Frankie?" Emily asked with urgency.
"Frankie is here. In DC. Emily, she thought you were dead," JJ whispered.
Again a moment of silence before JJ could hear some clamor in the background, "She's there?"
Frankie reentered the living room and JJ looked up into her tear stained face, she looked so much like Emily is was haunting. JJ motioned her back to the couch and patted the space next to her where Frankie sat down tentatively. JJ put the phone to her chest and lowered her voice.
"Do you want to speak to her?"
Frankie nodded her head slowly. JJ smiled and squeezed her hand encouragingly as she passed the phone over. Frankie listened to Emily's breathing on the other line for a moment before finally breaking the silence.
"Em?"
There was another pause and a shift in Emily's voice before she finally answered, "Frankie?"
"I thought you were dead, Em. I thought," Frankie couldn't make words and began to sob.
"Frankie, stay there. Stay there, okay? I'm on my way."
Without another word the line went silent and Frankie sat trembling on the edge of the couch. JJ slowly took the phone from Frankie and wrapped her arms around the stunned brunette. As soon as she had Frankie in a full embrace they both fell apart. Years of anguish tore them apart as they sobbed into each other's arms unabashedly.
"Are you going to tell me the truth? What happened between you two?" Frankie finally asked as she wiped her face for the umpteenth time that afternoon.
"I feel like I should be asking you the same thing," JJ snipped.
"Well I assume mine is far worse than anything you could have done. I tore our entire family apart and until today we haven't spoken since we were teens. I assume that's why you've never even heard she had a sister. I always wondered if she had forgiven me but it's obvious I have not been so lucky. We were young, so young but I did unforgivable damage and I have suffered for it. We all have," Frankie explained.
"Well, I'm sure after all of this time you two can make amends. You're sisters, after all," JJ sighed, it was her turn to talk about the rift she had caused between herself and Emily. "I managed to alienate her when she's could possibly be the only one who ever gave a damn about me. She has always been there for me and she offered me such a bright future and I fucked it up. Last year she had come to help on a case when someone from my past had abducted me. I swore I was done lying, I had all intentions of telling her the truth about how I really felt. She asked me to go to London, to run away with her like some sort of fairy tale. I came home that night with intentions of following through. But after two days of being tortured, nearly to death, my son collapsed in my lap. He wouldn't let me out of his sight and I knew I couldn't leave. I could never leave without him," JJ looked lovingly at Henry's picture on the wall.
"So why not bring him with you?"
"It just wasn't that simple. Long story short I fell asleep for two days and when I finally woke up, aware of the promise I had made, it was too late. Emily was gone. I missed my chance and now I fear that she'll never give me another. She has already waited so long for me, she won't wait forever," JJ sighed and looked at her coffee cup. "Well, I don't know about you but I could do with something a little bit stronger after all of this."
"I'm fine but I think I could do for some sleep before Emily arrives," Frankie yawned. She hadn't slept in nearly twenty four hours and it was beginning to take it's toll. She was physically and emotionally drained and knew she would need to rest before facing her sister.
"If you'd like you're more than welcome to sleep in my guest room. Or if you'd like company, you can join me upstairs," JJ offered the latter tentatively as to not imply any innuendo. Ever since her ordeal the previous year she had trouble sleeping alone. Especially since Will had moved out, she welcomed the opportunity at another warm body nearby.
Frankie understood completely as she too suffered from anxiety and she openly accepted JJ's offer. The two made their way upstairs and snuggled into bed. There was something so comforting about having another person wrapped around her as Frankie finally drifted off into the deepest sleep she had received in months.