JJ in Wonderland – Chapter 10
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"It's Will." JJ looked at Dave. "It might be Henry."
He nodded, "I'll step outside." He said quietly as he opened the sliding doors which opened to the balcony and sat down on a chair provided.
Damn Will! Dave frowned, why couldn't he just go away and stay that way!
He had his chance.
Dave sighed and looked out of the balcony but his mind was not of the scenery out there but inside the room.
It was about half an hour before JJ came out and joined him.
"Dave…."
He shook his head, "If you want to go back to him, I won't stop you. I mean you two still have Henry to think about."
JJ swallowed hard, "He asked me to consider again. He wants to try again."
"And what did you tell him?" He stared at her.
"I…I…told him I'll think about it." She said sadly.
"You still feel something for him." JJ noticed he didn't ask her but stated it.
"I don't know Dave." She felt so confused about her feelings at the moment and being with Dave while her mind was thinking of Will made it even worse.
He stood up and went to the sliding door, "Come on, I'll drive us to the airport, we should arrive back home by this evening, unless you want to fly to New Orleans?"
Dejectedly, she stood up and followed him, "Back to Virginia, Dave."
They did not speak the rest of the journey home.
Back in Quantico, he bade her good night and left, heading to his car in the garage.
JJ stepped into her old office, surprise to find it unoccupied and her files, surprisingly still where she'd left. "Some things never change." She mumbled. "And then some things did…what am I to do?"
"JJ?"
She turned around to find Garcia watching her. "Is everything all right?"
JJ tried to smile but failed, "Yeah…no…I don't know, Garcia." She dragged her hair with her hand. "I don't know," she repeated.
Walking into her office, Garcia sat down and watched her. "I'm no profiler but I'd venture to guess this is about our Italian agent?"
JJ, her head down, snapped her head up as she glared at her best friend, "How…How did you…know?"
Garcia smiled slightly, "I just know, Jayje. And I've been watching you two since you came back." She frowned as she leaned towards the desk and watched her, "Did you…oh my god! Jayje!"
"What?" JJ exclaimed.
"You've fallen in love with Dave!"
JJ gasped as she stood up and shook her head in protest, "No! No I'm not, Pen. I'm not…I can't be…"
Garcia gave her a sympathetic smile, "Sorry sweetness, the signs are all there. You've been bitten by the Rossi love bug."
"The Rossi love bug?" She repeated ominously as she plopped back on her chair. "The Rossi love bug…."
"You know his history with women here in the bureau?"
JJ nodded, "Oh yeah, I do and I don't want to be a statistic."
Garcia shook her head, her curls flying about her, "No…no! You won't be. Do you know since he joined us, which was five years ago. He has not chased any skirts."
JJ gave her skeptical.
Garcia tapped on the edge of the desk, "I know, the secretaries talked and if he's doing it with anyone in the bureau, they'd know and there's no talk about him."
"Penny, It's not Dave I'm worried about right now…it's me. What am I to do? I mean, if we gone ahead…and later we stopped getting along, what will happen then?"
"Jennifer Jareau!" Garcia frowned at her and said sternly, "I have never known you to not take the chance while you have it. I mean, come on, you won't know until it happened. What if he's the one that'll give you the happy ending? Will LaMontagne had his chance and he blew it, in my opinion."She added the last and grinned.
JJ nodded slowly, "You're right, Pen. I have to find my happiness and Will is not my Prince Charming…anymore." She faltered. "We did have lots of fun time," she smiled sadly.
"But?" Garcia prompted.
JJ smiled, "But, it's ran its course… We're more like regular friends now, I don't feel too romantic with him anymore." She sighed and continued. "We tried, we really tried. I thought when I transferred to the Pent, it'll improve our relationship because I'm not doing any field work. But the hours there was not any better than here." She rubbed her face in frustration. "We just stop talking."
"I'm sorry, Jayje. I really wanted you to have your happy ending. And I don't want to lose my godson."
"You're not losing Henry, just shorter visitation rights. I have one of those conditions."
"I see," Garcia fretted. "I mean, I do get to see him and maybe a play date over the weekend."
"Only after my play date with my little man." She said softly with a smile as she stared dreamily at the memories of her son.
"Fair enough but we're still at your crossroad."
"We? My crossroad? What are you talking about and when did it become 'we'?"
"Well, my lovely, I have a responsibility for you and we did encourage you to go to Will."
"Pen, you did not encourage anything, Will and I had a great time while it lasted. And I don't have any regret, especially Henry."
Garcia nodded unconvincingly. "But you and Will moved on."
JJ nodded her head, "Yes, exactly. He moved on because he wanted to go back to his old force…he missed them."
"What about Rossi?"
Her face reddened, JJ looked down, "What about him?"
"He likes you…he always like you." Garcia grinned. "Face it, my dear, so are you."
JJ shook her head at first and then stopped, "I…I…damn it, Pen!" Stop grinning like a fool! Wipe that face off. I'm not cheerful."
Ignoring her blonde friend, Garcia continued, "I think you should give him a chance."
"But what about Will?"
"Like I said, he had his chance, it's time to find someone else. And it so happens there is one whom I think might be the one."
"Okay…okay…" JJ stood up. "I'll think about it…I'm going home."
"JJ, what is there to think about?" Garcia also stood up. "Where is he now?"
"Dave? He went home after he dropped me off here."
"Then why are you here? Go to him!" She urged her.
"Pen! I'm not going after him as if I…I…"
"It's the new era now, it's okay if you approach him first."She smiled. "In fact, you should do the unexpected, it'll make things more exciting and interesting." She said meaningfully.
"Exciting? Interesting? You mean…he and I…do it?"
Garcia nodded enthusiastically, "What else would you and Dave be doing? Not talking, you can talk after you'd done the deed." She began to guffaw.
"Penelope! You …you…oh god! Please keep it to PG-13 level!"JJ waved her hands around her.
"What? Don't tell me you have not once lust after him? You know about the size of Italians…and I don't mean shoe size." Garcia smiled widely.
JJ was shaking her head, "Please Penelope…enough with his size. I'm not going to 'do it' just because he's really big, bigger than my hand."
"It is?" Garcia frowned, "Where did you hear that?"
JJ faltered as she looked at Garcia, "Uh…didn't you say something like that?" she turned red.
Garcia shrugged, "Don't know, I might have or someone else did." She gave JJ a strange look before she began to walk out of the door. "I'm gone, see ya tomorrow."
"Yeah, see you too in the morning." She watched her friend walked back to her office. "Why me?" JJ looked up and saw nothing but the fluorescent lights in the ceiling fixture. "I need to get out of here."
Sitting in her car, JJ was staring at her cell phone and taking a deep breath, she pressed a speed dial number. "We have to talk." She said.
…
Dave was sitting in his den, Mudgie by his feet.
He was nursing a neat Scotch that was 10 years old. But he was not enjoying his evening drink which was supposed to mellow his mood, instead he was feeling agitated and angry.
Standing up suddenly, startling his faithful companion for the last 11 years, Dave walked to the French window overlooking his back yard and the woods beyond. It was too dark to see out but he was not looking out but within himself.
He sighed as he took a drink, feeling the burn of the aged liquor slid down smoothly within him.
"Yeah, that's how I feel; bitter and burning." He muttered. "Son of a bitch! Why couldn't he go away and stay there! I…"
Mudgie raised his head and growled slightly; an indication there was an approaching vehicle. He stood up and ran towards the main hallway leading the main door.
"A visitor? Kind of late for that, Mudge." He said to his dog as he set the snifter down and grabbed his Glock, followed him to the door."
He opened the door before the visitor was able to ring the doorbell. "What are you doing here?"
…..
