A/N #1: I have a bit, actually it's more like a BIG potty mouth and it's showcased on an semi-leet level here. My advice to you? Just get over it or get used to it because it's going to get worse. :)

JJ sat quietly in the driver's seat as she chauffeured Emily back to her car. The silence forced her mind to wander to the messages she'd read on Emily's laptop. The knowledge began to wear on her as she cycled through an hours' worth of unanswered questions that seemed to get more intense as the time ticked on. Why this way? Why would this smart, confident, undeniably sexy woman stoop to such junior high antics? God damnit, why would she even consider ruining the closeness that we've been building between us? Is this just some sort of a joke? She's never even appeared interested before, why now? Uh, yeah, so what the fuck Emily?

Emily noticed JJ's distraught appearance and inquired, "Hey you. Is everything okay?" Watching the blonde carefully for a handful of seconds, Emily noticed that it didn't appear that she'd even registered a question had even been posed. Because of this, she tried again; this time more forcefully, "JJ…? JJ!"

Still no response or even an acknowledgment of the existence of other life within the car, Emily leaned her head back and closed her eyes trying to piece together the events of the night previous. Unfortunately for her, beyond the messages sent from Google that she knew JJ hadn't and probably never would read, she couldn't remember much of anything. The troublesome thoughts, the unknowing, the extremely awkward silence made her assume that she'd in fact done something, probably everything, entirely wrong.

Five minutes later, a dejected Emily eased herself out of JJ's car and thanked her for the ride. Unsure she wanted to see the remnants of last night's fuck up reflected in JJ's eyes, she couldn't bare meeting them. Instead of peering inside to make eye contact with the blonde as she normally would, she closed the door and looked off into a neighbor's yard with peculiar interest, similar to a rubbernecker watching a car accident.

Emily's inability to be comfortable in her presence told JJ all that she really needed to know. The messages meant nothing because if they did, or were an accurate depiction of the brunette's feelings, she would at least make eye contact. In fact, if she cared at all, she wouldn't appear so disappointed and disinterested to be around her. All JJ really wanted was for Emily to look at her, just once, to see for herself the unmistakable and unavoidable love that was overflowing from her eyes in the form of pained tears.

Unwilling to draw attention to her face by wiping the tears away, she let them fall until Emily was out of sight. Once assured that Emily couldn't hear her, she shouted after her with a summation of her days' torment, "Fuck you Emily Prentiss! Fuck you. I love you so fucking much, but I want so badly to fucking hate you right now. Just… God damnit, just fuck you. Ugh."

An oblivious Emily entered her condo and dropped her keys upon the kitchen counter, not bothering to hang them on the key rack. She moved into the living room and closed all of her blinds, feeling much too exposed with them open. Finally she went to her room and changed her clothes into something more comfortable before falling into bed.

She woke the next morning, a Sunday, at 3:26 AM with the need to vomit. Arched over her toilet, she violently emptied the minimal contents of her stomach before resting a few moments on the floor. The cold tile floor and walls felt stellar on her sweat laced legs, arms and back. The disturbing remnants of bile in her mouth forced her to get up and brush her teeth. The taste still lingered after the first brushing so she tried to rid herself of it with mouthwash before brushing again.

Realizing that she'd probably just gotten a virus that'd need to run its course, she crawled back in bed and called her girlfriend Gwen. Hearing her voice always seemed to make her feel better and they talked until she couldn't stay awake any longer. 10 hours later, at nearly 4 pm, Emily awoke in a pool of her own sweat. Disturbed by the prospect of still being sick, Emily forced herself up and peeled off her damp clothing and sheets before tossing them into the washing machine. She pulled on a clean pair of shorts, t-shirt, and running shoes before heading out for a run. Her usual summertime approach to ridding herself of any unwelcome illness was to exercise vigorously and sweat it out so she did just that.

Back at home and a quick shower later, Emily climbed onto her sofa and waited for her sheets to finish drying. Before the cycle ended, she was asleep until her cell phone alarm went off at 5:45 AM on Monday morning. Still not feeling better, Emily checked her temperature. 100.9. An inaudible "Jesus fuck, not now!" escaped her lips into the quiet room before dialing Hotch to inform him that she was sick and wouldn't make it into work.

The following day she still wasn't feeling much better, but the team hadn't been called away on a case the previous day and the likelihood of that happening again was fairly slim. Emily walked quietly into the bullpen a few minutes before 8 am. She stopped by her desk long enough to drop off her purse before heading off to the break room for a cup of coffee.

Derek balled up a piece of paper and rifled it at Dr. Reid to get his attention. Reid turned around with a scowl to find Morgan pointing at Emily with his pencil, a silent question.

Unsure what the act of pencil-pointing meant, he inquired, "What?"

Derek exclaimed as Emily moved farther out of earshot, "Any idea what's with her?"

Speaking in a literal context, "She called in sick yesterday; she's probably sick." He nodded for reassurance.

"No, it's gotta be more than that. Prentiss doesn't get sick."

"Well, go ask JJ then. She's her best friend, I'm sure she knows."

Morgan smirked at the young genius, "Good thinking. I'll be right back."

As Derek went to interrogate JJ, Hotch entered the bullpen and looked around. Spencer looked up at him as he asked, "Is Emily in yet?"

Reid advised "Yeah, I think she's in the break room. Anything I can help with?"

"No, I just had a question about a file she submitted last week. Please send her into my office when you see her. Okay?"

Emily returned, looking livelier and feeling more upbeat after having had several sips of coffee between the break room and the bullpen. Reid announced upon seeing Emily re-enter his vision, "Oh hey Em. Hotch wants to see you. He said he has a question about something you submitted last week…?" He ended his statement in the form of a question.

Emily nodded her acknowledgment and headed toward Hotch's office, realizing on her way that she didn't submit any paperwork last week. Knocking lightly on the half open door, she pushed it open further, and voiced her confusion, "Reid told me that you had a question about something I submitted last week…?"

Hotch motioned for her to close the door and have a seat. Once she'd satisfied both requests, he asked simply, "Is everything okay with you Prentiss?"

Emily raised an eyebrow but confirmed, "Yeah. I'm just getting over a bit of a three-day flu bug."

Hotch asked in a disbelievingly pointed fashion, "Are you sure? You've missed three days of work this month."

"I know that, Sir. I have the time to cover all three days. And I was legitimately not feeling well. What exactly is it that you're accusing me of?" Emily defended.

Backpedaling slightly, "I'm not accusing you of anything. Before this month, you'd never missed a day; then you go and miss three non-consecutive days." He searched her face and softened his interrogation approach upon meeting her eyes, "That concerns me. Whatever is going on with you Prentiss, fix it."

Emily concluded, "I'm not quite sure that I understand what you mean, Sir."

Venturing into not-so-Hotch-like territory, he offered, "I know that I can seem at times, most times actually, like I don't have a heart, but I do have one. And I'm here as your friend, not your boss, if you want to or need to talk."

"Thank you for the offer, but I really don't think that anything is wrong."

A/N #2: So yeah, you should review or something since you know that you want to. And hell, even if you don't want to, I want you to! Even the haters. :)