Author's Note: If you haven't noticed, everytime JJ seems to take a step forward, something happens that causes her to take a couple of steps back. Many of you said you loved the last chapter (which touched me deeply) but there has to be a couple of bumps in the road. I'll also have you know that I intended to make Emily fly off the handle a little bit more, but I just couldn't make her do it. And, while Emily has been amazing up until this point, everybody has their breaking point.
Thanks to the reviewers of the last chapter: zzz-zzz84; 1xadzy3dgftw1xLSNx3dg1xMGG; stefi; crazyobsession101; SparkleInTheSun; EmmaBerlin; Zolidify; Auayra-of-White; la paix grace; and Love-B .xo
Special thanks to littlegreenbottle and brynnifer!
Emily woke up later than usual several mornings later, groaning as the sunlight poked through the blinds of her bedroom and beamed in her eyes. Casting her eyes around her room, she sat up with a jolt as she saw the gun safe door in the corner of her room slightly ajar.
She always locked the safe—always.
Feeling a pit of dread in her stomach, she ran over to the safe, yanking the door open. She sighed with relief at the sight of her Glock. If anyone had tried to break in to her safe, they hadn't gotten very far. Her joy, however, was limited by the fact that her six boxes of ammunition were missing.
Quickly opening her closet to check for any intruders, Emily picked up her empty gun and darted down the hall to JJ's room, bursting through the door without a moment's hesitation.
Her worry only grew at the sight of the unmade bed and JJ's conspicuous absence from her familiar spot against the wall. Her heart dropped at not only the thought of an intruder, but even more at the worry that tugged that JJ had wandered off.
She knew she should have done something to make sure JJ couldn't wander off.
"JJ?" She called, fighting to remain calm. She would have known if an intruder had made it into her condo—she would have woken up.
There was no way that JJ could have been taken right out from under her nose.
Checking the bathroom first, she moved cautiously but quickly through the upstairs rooms of her condo. Satisfied that no one was upstairs, she slowly made her way down the steps leading to her living room.
At first, nothing looked disturbed, heightening her worry even more. Checking over each corner, she felt a flood of relief at the sight of JJ huddled behind the couch, stirring if she was just nearing consciousness.
Running over to the couch, she sighed with relief as she realized JJ was asleep. Though it was the first time she had found her there, JJ had no visible injuries to cause concern.
She was just asleep!
She was almost relieved enough to just let JJ continue to get her much needed rest, but something out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. The bulge of the couch cushion awkwardly sat, bubbling as if something large was placed underneath.
Pulling the cushion off quickly, her eyes widened at the mass collection of odd items—quarters and coins were pooled on top of a dirty blanket that Emily realized had come from the jet. Piles of papers were shoved into the crack of the couch, and a single round of ammunition was shoved between the back of the couch and the armrest.
A single round of ammunition.
JJ had opened her safe, her gun safe, and taken the boxed rounds.
Her lips pursed with concern at the sight of the round—silently forcing herself not to scream with anger.
Picking up the blanket with the hope that the rest of the rounds would be located inside, she winced as the smell of rotting stale food assaulted her nose.
How had she not noticed this before?
As she picked up the blanket by the corner, intent on dropping whatever filth it contained and placing the blanket in the washer, her heart dropped as two of her own belts, several crinkled up papers, coins, and fifteen to twenty various sized pills dropped quickly to the floor. Throwing the now forgotten blanket to the side, Emily picked up the pills and examined them easily in her hand.
Four of them appeared to be an aspirin.
At least eight she recognized as antibiotics JJ was taking.
But it was the group of pills that strangely resembled JJ's anti-anxiety medicine that caused anger and worry to well within her.
Because if JJ missed doses, no wonder some of her nightmares were so bad.
And if it was a few pills that were keeping her from more than four hours of sleep a night, she just might cry.
Seething, she picked up her phone and dialed the appropriate speed-dial without even looking. "Penelope, I need you here now." Emily barked, waiting only for Garcia's grumbled response before ending the call.
The sound stirred JJ who was on the vestiges of already waking. The blonde momentarily panicked before sighing with relief at the familiar surroundings. Catching her uncovered stash out of the corner of her eye, she backed into the wall and attempted to shrink away guiltily.
"JJ, what the hell?" Emily asked incredulously as she yanked the refrigerator door open to grab a meal replacement shake for JJ.
JJ curled her knees tightly against her chest and bit her fingernail nervously, ignoring Emily's rhetorical question.
Angrily approaching JJ's side with the can of instant breakfast, she flung the cup into JJ's hand, forcing herself not to yell. "Eat." She commanded, not bothering to see the way the other woman quickly began drinking the supplement without complaint in an attempt to stay Emily's anger.
Turning back to her condo, she winced at the expanse that seemed impossible to search.
But there were more rounds that were missing.
And if she found any more pills there would be hell to pay.
"Stay there." She commanded JJ angrily, taking a deep breath as she thought hard. She wasn't sure if she wanted to scream or cry, but right now only one thing mattered: she had to find the rest of her ammunition.
And the pills.
Damn!
How the hell had she missed this?
Throwing books off the shelf near the TV, she gasped as she found a small mound of pills next to small towers of pennies, nickels, dimes, and a few quarters. Scooping the coins and pills into her hand, she glared at JJ as she carried the items to her kitchen counter where she separated the pills from the coins. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" She groaned as she saw even more of JJ's anti-anxiety medicine combined with her antidepressants and the various pills from the antibiotics.
Turning to JJ who was eating her breakfast slowly, she bellowed angrily, "How long JJ? How long have you been hiding this from me?"
JJ winced, but eyed Emily cautiously as Emily flung the coins onto the counter carelessly. "Clindamycin …" Emily bit down her anger as she sorted the pills, "Klonipin…" The anger brewed intensely below the surface. "Remeron…What the hell JJ?"
JJ slowly inched away from the couch, as she eyed Emily closely, her eyes drawn to the now mess of coins strewn along the counter and on the floor.
"I said stay there!" Emily spat when she noticed JJ inching away from her spot.
JJ stopped immediately and hung her head, slightly abashed. But she chewed on her thumbnail nervously as Emily rummaged through the piles on the counter.
"Emily?" Garcia called through the door as she knocked quickly, "Are you there? It's me."
Glaring over at the blonde as if daring her to defy her, Emily ran to the front door and thrust it open. "Get in here."
"Wow! Who peed in your Cheerios?" Penelope asked, ignoring Emily's glare.
Emily spun around to find JJ standing at the counter in front of the pills, rounds, and coins "What are you doing?" She screeched.
"Em, calm down." Garcia tried to placate, seeing that JJ wasn't hovered over the pills like Emily had assumed but instead her fingers shaking as she tried to stack the coins into individual piles.
"I will not calm down!" Emily bellowed.
At Emily's tone, JJ's trembling increased causing her to knock over the coins repeatedly. While JJ scrambled to continue to stack the coins, Emily caught sight of a small bulge in the pockets of her sweat pants.
"No…" If Emily thought she couldn't get any angrier before, she was sorely mistaken as pure rage washed over her.
"JJ…tell me you don't have them in your pocket." Her voice fell softly as frustrated anger permeated her tone.
JJ spun around, her eyes wide and terrified that she had been discovered.
Having no escape, she ran—sprinted actually—with a speed that Emily hadn't seen in a long time as she threw down barstools and tables in an attempt to slow Emily down. Though Emily normally could easily outrun the frail blonde, JJ had the advantage of several feet coupled with the obstacles she had left in Emily's path.
Emily took the stairs three at a time, vaguely aware of Penelope at her heels.
Her bedroom door slammed shut in her face, the clicking lock and scuffling behind the door stopping her dead in her tracks. Though Emily before had felt her anger slipping out of her careful control, the sound of the locking door sent her fury off like an erupting volcano that had laid dormant for far too long.
"JJ, I'll give you to the count of three to OPEN THIS DOOR." She exploded, "Don't think I won't kick the door in."
"Emily-" Garcia begged.
"One. " She hesitated, trying to force herself to give JJ a chance to respond.
"You've got to calm down." Penelope tried to reason with her. Emily jiggled the handle once more, her anger bubbling as it boiled over.
"Two." She could feel her anger brewing at the situation. JJ had lied to her. After everything she had done for the younger woman, JJ had lied.
"She doesn't understand-"
"Three." Emily concluded. Not only had JJ lied, but she was hiding her pills.
"Em—" Garcia tried to interrupt, "You're going to scare her."
Jiggling the handle once more, she warned tightly, "JJ, this is your last chance." She warned, knowing that the tone of her voice conveyed alone the truth of her threat.
JJ had lied to her.
"Em, you are scaring her." Garcia insisted, biting her lip nervously. She had never seen Emily so angry and though she knew it was serious, part of her couldn't help but feel horrible at the idea of JJ hiding from Emily's rage.
"I'm coming in JJ, step away from the door." She commanded loudly.
Ignoring the Garcia's pleading look, Emily kicked the door forcefully, grimacing as her bedroom doorframe cracked under the force. Flinging the door open, she didn't hesitate despite JJ's cowering frame in the corner as the blonde fumbled with shoving something—presumably the rounds—into the gunsafe.
With gentleness that surprised her despite her fury, Emily tenderly pushed JJ's hands away from the safe and retrieved the rounds that JJ had attempted to replace.
Silently, Emily turned around, ignoring a sobbing JJ as she stepped out of the bedroom.
"Keep her here." Emily barked at Garcia, "Don't let her out of your sight."