"You heard it though, right? You heard her calling?" Emily asked, pacing in a circle. It had been ten minutes since she last heard JJ's cry for help.
Rossi nodded. "Yes, I definitely heard it. You're not crazy, Emily, I promise."
Hotch didn't want the Prentiss to see how worried he truly was, so he turned away to text Garcia for backup. He needed search dogs and he needed them fast.
"Let's split up again. I know she's here somewhere, and we just keep missing her. Keep your eyes peeled." Rossi took up to the left, climbing through the brush. Repetitively, he called Jareau's name.
Emily went right. Come on, JJ. Just send me a sign, anything. Anything to tell me where you are. She pleaded.
There it was again- Emily's voice. JJ had been slipping in and out of consciousness, but was awakened by Emily calling her name.
"Em." Was all she could muster. To the blonde's relief, grass began to rustle nearby. "Emily!" She shouted, although her shout was more of a whisper.
Emily saw JJ's outstretched hand first, her broken body covered by branches and leaves. "Jen, oh my god."
She ran to her friend and dropped to her knees, uncovering JJ's body. JJ mumbled incoherently, but with a small smile on her face. Despite the fact her skin was trembling, JJ felt a rush of warmth as Emily pulled her into the brunette's lap.
"Oh, Jen. What happened to you?" Emily murmured, brushing the hair away from JJ's cobalt blue eyes. Her skin was covered in buddening bruises, her neck tinted with blue blemishes. A gash ran across JJ's forehead, crusted with blood.
Hotch and Rossi finally found them. Hotch needed a moment to gain his composure, comforted by Dave's steady hand being set on his shoulder.
"An ambulance is on its way." Rossi said, giving Emily the space to tend for JJ. "What do you need? What can we do?" He asked.
Emily shook her head. "She's too out of it to tell us what happened. But she's breathing okay," she whispered, feeling the rise and fall of JJ's chest against her arms. "So I think she's okay."
Hotch grimaced. "I just texted Morgan and told him to get on a plane. We're going to find out who did this, I promise. They will be held responsible."
Rossi glanced up. "How's the kid?" He asked, referring to Reid.
"Better. He's been cleared and is coming with Morgan. I was going to give him the rest of the week off, but things considering…" Hotch's voice trailed off.
Emily nodded, only half listening. She was savoring the feel of JJ's warm flesh against her own, and the knowledge that she was alive and breathing. She couldn't help but think that she had taken so many moments together for granted; Emily had wasted so many days of their lives, afraid to be rejected. But there she was, alive- and there in her arms.
Finally, the distant sound of an ambulance approached. Hotch gazed out past the tree line and mumbled, "I'd better go direct them towards us."
Rossi followed him to greet the officers escorting the bus.
JJ's eyes fluttered open. "Em?"
"I'm here, honey." The brunette tenderly replied. "I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere. You're going to be okay."
"Emily, I need to tell you something- something that might make you hate me." JJ struggled to talk, her head heavy. But it was now or never.
Aghast, Emily insisted, "Jen, I could never-"
"I love you. I don't know how long I've known it- recognized it, I mean. But I do. I'm in love with you, Emily." JJ was fully alert now, still laying in the brunette's lap. When Emily didn't respond, she pleaded, "Please… say something. Say you hate me, even. Just say something so I know."
Emily's lips turned to a smile. "Jennifer Jareau, I have waited my entire life to hear you say those words." Caressing JJ's bruised faced, she leaned down and kissed her. "I love you."
"Agent Jareau, I'm afraid that you have two bruised ribs and a fairly nasty concussion. But otherwise, I don't see anything else to be concerned about. You were lucky- you'll be just fine."
JJ laid in a hospital bed, connected to IV bags and beeping machines. "Can I go home, then?" She asked, clutching Emily's hand.
The doctor nodded. "So long as you have someone stay with you for 24 hours. With a concussion like that, you need to be checked on every hour on the dot. If anything worsens- you get dizzy, your headache becomes unbearable, you start getting confused or agitated- if anything happens, you come back right away. Understood?"
It was Emily's turn to nod. "I'll take care of her, sir. I promise."
"Come on, Aaron… just send them home. Reid and Morgan are here now, and they both look like hell. They could use a few days off, even if they argue."
Hotch agreed with Rossi, but wanted to keep JJ close in case she remembered something about the attack.
"You can always video chat." Rossi said, already knowing Hotch's argument. "She'll call if she remembers anything. But she's safer back at home, and you know it. We can't be watching out for her like she needs while trying to catch this guy- and the unsub, at that."
"You're right. Go ahead and tell them to pack their bags. They're formally relieved from the case."
"Good call." Morgan frowned, walking in without knocking. "I want JJ as far away from whatever creep-"
Rossi put up his hand. "Save the testosterone for after the jet leaves. Have you ever tried to get a woman like Jennifer to do something for her own protection? They do the opposite."
JJ nestled into Emily's shoulder as the flight got underway. The armrest in the middle had been lifted, so the two agents fit together like puzzle pieces perfectly aligned.
Once they landed, Emily drove the pair back to her apartment, using one arm to steer and ignoring the pain.
"Em?" JJ asked, lying her head against a balled-up jacket in the window.
"What is it, Jen?"
"Do you want to talk about it- about us?" She whispered, inwardly terrified that Emily would changeover mind.
Emily smiled softly. "If you want to talk tomorrow, we can. But right now, all I want to do is take my girlfriend home and relish in the fact that we're both okay and in love."
JJ turned her face into the makeshift pillow, beaming.
A/N: I promise, I'm leading somewhere with the attack... stay turned to find out where! Predictions? Suggestions? Please review! ;)