So, here's chapter eight. I don't really like it, but I'm kinda lost right now and I have no clue what to do with this story, so let me know if it's worth continuing. Thanks for reviewing.
JJ didn't sleep well that night. Upon waking up for the third time she thought, wow, how cliché, sleep next to a guy for one night and then you can't sleep by yourself again. Regardless, it was her case right now.
When five rolled around, JJ decided it was close enough to morning for her to get up. She showered, applied light makeup, dressed for work, fixed her hair and grabbed a large mug of coffee then was out the door about an hour later. The drive was short- traffic didn't really pick up for at least another hour- so she was in the office in thirty minutes. Thankfully, her spur of the moment trip had meant she neglected all of the paperwork resulting from closing the case, so she was able to keep busy with that for a while. Seeing as she hadn't heard anything from Hotch yet (she assumed they had yet to take another case), she began to work through the mountain of case files that had built up while they were gone. An hour later a knock on her door made her jump.
"Come in."
Hotch opened the door cautiously, regarding JJ incredulously. "What are you doing?"
"Working?"
"Yes, I gathered that, but why are you here so early? By the looks of that finished paper work, I'd guess you beat me in by nearly two hours."
JJ glanced at the clock- he was right, it was nearing eight thirty already. She lied, "It's only been about an hour," probably pointless, he was a profiler after all. "I just wanted to have this paper work finished by the time you got in." She handed him the files from their finished case.
He looked at her skeptically. "Thank you, but you know you didn't have to come in early for that, it could've waited until nine."
JJ just shrugged. "I usually would have done it before leaving Friday, didn't like having it unfinished."
She could tell that he didn't believe her, but he also didn't push. "Fine. We don't have a new case yet, so if you find any promising files drop them off on my desk. Otherwise, it looks like today's going to be paperwork for everyone."
"Yes sir."
Hotch nodded and left JJ to continue through her files.
It was only quiet for another half hour. As it grew closer to nine, team members began to trickle in. Of course Gideon was first after Hotch, going silently to his office. Reid was a customary ten minutes early, waving at JJ as he went to his desk. Next was Emily, still somewhat shy as the newest member of the team, politely greeting Reid and smiling up at JJ through her office window. Morgan and Penelope walked in together, chatting animatedly about their weekends and some movie. Of course Derek pulled Reid and Emily into the conversation as soon as he saw them. A few minutes into their weekend recap, Penelope stopped everyone.
"Wait- where's JJ?"
Emily nodded towards JJ's closed office. "She's been up there since I came in."
Morgan shook his head. "Yo blondie, get out here and be social!"
JJ cringed as she heard Derek call her out. She had really been hoping to just keep quietly to herself and avoid being questioned about her weekend, but clearly he had other plans. She's sighed as she stood from her chair and made her way out of her office, smiling tightly at them.
"Morning guys."
"Well, well, well- she finally emerges. And how was your weekend?"
JJ didn't hesitate- she knew that to trained profilers that'd be a dead giveaway. "Un eventful. Kinda nice after that crazy week."
"You didn't answer my message."
JJ had forgotten all about that ignored text. "Oh yeah, I heard my phone go off right as I was falling asleep... Must've forgotten about it. Sorry Pen."
Garcia just nodded.
"Well we're a pretty boring bunch. I thought at least maybe you'd have something to share JJ. Sure nothing else happened?"
JJ resisted Emily's attempt to get anything else out of her. "I wish."
After that the team took the spotlight off of her, settling back into a discussion on the value of franchise movies. A few minutes later, Hotch stepped out of his office to tell everyone that there was no current case, and that they all had plenty of paperwork to complete. From there the younger members of the team dispersed to follow their leaders orders, and JJ retreated back into her office.
The rest of the day went by slowly. JJ had to stop herself from bolting right at five. By six fifteen she was home, unlocking her apartment and dropping her stuff by the door. After changing into some lounge clothes, she rummaged through her pantry for a few minutes before finding a box of mac & cheese to fix for dinner. She really needed to go grocery shopping.
She forced herself not to watch the clock as she cooked her dinner. Finally, as she sat on her couch with her bowl, she pulled out her phone. The screen lit up to display 6:48. Perfect. Will got off work around five, so he should be getting home by now. JJ pulled up his number and dialed.
"Hey there cher."
JJ relaxed as she heard his voice. "Hey."
"How was your day?"
JJ swallowed a mouthful of mac & cheese. "Mm, fine I guess. Mondays. You know how it is."
"All too well darlin'... How'd you sleep?"
JJ smirked. "Not well actually."
Will chuckled. "Yeah, same here...hmm."
"Well how was your day?"
"Same as yours."
"Wow, we make a great pair."
"In more ways than just our mediocre days."
JJ giggled. "You just rhymed."
"I'm big into the romantic poetry honey."
"Oh really?"
"I'm a poet and you know it."
JJ laughed.
"Okay, that's all ya get tonight. My creative juices need to recuperate."
"Uh huh. Well, I'll be waiting."
"You can hold me to it. "
"I plan on it. So, if we have nothing going on in our days, what do we talk about?"
"Truth or dare?"
"You're joking, right?"
"Oh what, ya scared Ms. FBI?"
JJ rolled her eyes despite the fact that Will couldn't see it. "Never. Just wondering how you plan on doing dare when we're hours apart?"
"A valid- and disappointing- point. I guess it's just truth then?"
"Okay. What do you wanna know?"
"When was your last serious relationship."
JJ was a little taken aback. "Wow. Diving right in. Alright, define serious."
Will thought about it for a minute. "I'll just change my question. Ever lived with a boyfriend?"
"Nope. What about you- ever lived with a girlfriend?"
"Never. Got any tattoos?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?"
"Now hold on honey, that's against the rules. Ya gotta tell."
"Well you just never stop enforcing the law do you? Fine, I do have a tattoo."
"Really? I've never seen one."
"Exactly. And what about you? Tattoos?"
"Nah. I almost got one for my daddy, but he wouldn't of thought much of a tattoo, so I passed on it. Have any family?"
"My mom and sister still live in Pennsylvania... How have you been doing after your dad's case?"
"How come you changed the question?"
"Answer mine first."
"Okay, I've been... Dunno, ignorin' the feelings I guess. You've helped with that."
"Yeah, but that's not going to resolve anything, you know that, right?"
Will sighed. "Yeah, I know you gave me your number so I'd have someone to talk to about it, I just, I haven't stopped thinkin' about my daddy since the storm. That case has been driven' me crazy for almost two years. It's nice to forget about it for just awhile, ya know?"
"Yeah, I do. Just promise me you'll talk to me eventually? I've been there. Maybe not in the same way, but I know what it does to you when you bottle it all up..." JJ took a breath. "That being said, it wasn't my only motivation for giving you my number"
"Is that so? And what would the other reason be?"
"Mm, I guess it could've had something to do with the accent."
"Really? The accent is what sold it?"
"Yeah, I guess the southern drawl has it's charm."
Will made sure to lay his accent on especially thick now. "Well cher, I guess I owe the accent a thing or two then."
JJ laughed. "Not sure how you plan on repaying a favor to an accent, but you do that."
They were quiet for a moment.
"So, you think you'll get a case tomorrow?"
JJ shifted on the couch. "Yeah, we normally don't have more than one day between cases, so it's pretty likely we won't be in DC this time tomorrow."
"Alright, so, this is probably the only call I'll be gettin' from ya for a few days then?"
"Probably... It's hard to know when I'll have a minute by myself while we're gone. It doesn't always happen."
"That's fine, I'll just have to survive. Give me a call when you're back? Maybe I could see ya again?"
"I will. Maybe this time I'll pack."
Will laughed. "Alright cher, you do that."
"Go get some dinner, I doubt you've eaten yet. Goodnight Will."
"Yes ma'am. Night cher."
It wasn't late when they hung up, only seven, but JJ didn't want to keep him from whatever he usually did during his evenings. So, she did the chores she should've done this weekend- laundry, dishes, re-packing her go bag. When she finished that she grabbed another bag and put some weekend and lounge clothes into it. She set both by her door to stow in her car tomorrow. This time she would be prepared for when she rushed off to New Orleans.
By nine o'clock she had finished showering and getting ready for bed, but of course she wasn't tired. Rather than succumbing to her thoughts and letting herself second guess everything that had happened this past weekend, she opened up a bottle of red wind and poured herself a tall glass. She leaned against her counter as she drank it, letting the alcohol slow her thoughts and make her muscles heavy. She set the glass in her sink and pulled herself into bed, rolling over and falling into a deep slumber.