After their eventful morning at home, Emily and JJ decided it was finally time to go to work. JJ offered to drive them to the office, instead of taking separate cars.
On the entire ride there, the two women had their hands interlocked over the center console. Emily's eyes drifted over towards JJ's direction as she began to trace the lines of her cheekbones, to her strong jawline, and further down to her neck. Her wife truly was a sculpture of beauty, and as time passed, Emily intended to study every detail of her, and she will never get tired of the task.
JJ glanced over her shoulder with a deep blush. It still amazed Emily that she was the only one who could make JJ get all shy. "What?"
"Nothing. I just want to take some time to admire how beautiful my wife is."
JJ raised an eyebrow. "Oh, this morning wasn't enough for you, Prentiss?"
"I mean, I did make a lifelong promise to love and to cherish my wife, so I believe I am obligated to think about how wonderful she is."
JJ nodded, agreeing with her. "Well, I guess since I am the wife in question, I have the right to allow and acknowledge it, too."
They laughed before falling quiet again, letting the muffled noises of traffic permeate their small bubble. Once the stoplight turned green, JJ lightly pressed on the gas and it didn't take a full second for the silence to be broken again, this time by Emily.
"JJ? I mean it, when I said I want to make it up to you. You're right. I should make more time for ourselves, for our marriage."
JJ shook her head, squeezing Emily's hand. "We can work it out together, we always do. This," JJ lifted their hands up for emphasis, "This is a team effort. We're going to be okay. I believe in us."
"You really think so?"
JJ nodded.
"Good."
They spent the rest of the ride taking in each other's company. That was all that mattered to them, even if it was just a simple trip to work.
Once JJ found a vacant spot in the parking garage, she put the car into park. Emily and JJ finally got out and walked to the elevator of the building. Then, Emily pushed the elevator button once they stopped.
"Do you have to meet with Bailey?" JJ asked.
"Nope, but Tara texted me this morning about meeting with us. She's bringing Rebecca Wilson in today."
"From DOJ? I wonder how she knows her."
Emily held back any more words, let alone have her face give anything away. She found out that Tara and Rebecca were dating for about a couple of months now, and she couldn't help but tease Tara about it after finding out. Anyway, Emily had already met Rebecca a couple of times in the past, so she was glad that Tara offered some assistance outside of the BAU.
The elevator doors opened and the couple stepped inside, waiting for the door to close. Looking at the numbers change, Emily raised a knowing brow at the woman beside her. JJ sensed that she was looking right at her, so she turned her head towards the other woman. Catching the little glint in her eyes, JJ didn't stop Emily from scooting and leaning in any closer.
Emily surged forward to hold her face in her hands to deepen the kiss. JJ's hands covered Emily's, in an attempt to savor their kiss with the 10 seconds before reality sets in.
Normally, due to their workplace environment, PDA was not shown so much. After years of handling the brass and other authority figures in the FBI, they had to learn to keep their hands to themselves. Still, stealing a few kisses and some occasional hand-holding never hurt anyone.
Once the elevator came to a stop, Emily pulled away, leaving her wife chasing after her. JJ huffed in frustration and crossed her arms. Responding with just a smile, Emily planted one more kiss on her cheek. She left first with a flustered JJ behind her, before they made their way inside the bullpen.
"I'll meet you in the roundtable room. I just have to clear some stuff in my office, and I'll be back."
JJ nodded and watched her go. After a couple more seconds, she followed the path Emily took, but made her way to the roundtable room instead, only to find Luke and Rossi chatting amongst themselves.
"Hello!" JJ greeted, breaking their conversation. "Dave, you're looking great, I see. You guys had a great morning?"
Once they stopped to look at JJ, they quickly took note of her presence this morning. A grin plastered on her face and eyes brightly lit, with more confidence in her stance than usual.
Luke howled with laughter, clapping his hands in amusement. "Clearly you did."
JJ tried rescuing herself with a shrug. "What?"
Luke grinned proudly at JJ, patting her shoulder as she took a seat next to him. "I'm guessing things between you and Emily are working out?"
"Guess you could say that," JJ blushed while tucking her hair behind her ears. "Speaking of, Emily said Rebecca Wilson's coming in. Something about Deputy Director Bailey?"
Luke nodded. "Yeah, Tara texted us about it this morning. They're on their way here."
Soon after he responded, Emily entered the room and automatically took a seat next to JJ. JJ felt her wife's hand squeeze her shoulder and smiled. As she made herself comfortable, Luke and Rossi watched her, the earlier innuendo from JJ's arrival still very much thick in the air.
Emily glanced in return. "Why are you two staring at me?"
"Nothing." Rossi shrugged before his mouth curved up to a smirk. "Just glad you made it on time."
Emily was about to ask JJ instead before she winced. "Oh god." She fully turned to JJ, attempting to avoid the men's stare. "Did you-"
"I didn't," JJ replied right away.
"Come on, nobody is this excited about coming to work. Even now," Luke said, satisfied that he got it out once he saw the married couple.
Emily groaned, somewhat finding herself giving into her defeat. "Just don't tell Tara about it. I have to work with her later, and I won't hear the end of it."
"I think she'll figure it out sooner or later," Rossi added.
JJ finally decided to intervene for her wife's flushed reaction. "Alright, guys. Let's give her some space," JJ said, shooting a look towards Emily. "Good enough?" The other woman silently thanked her.
Just a second later, Tara and Rebecca entered the room, with Tara stepping aside for her to enter and closing the door. She nodded to Luke to do the same. "Hey. Could you please close the door?"
"Thank you for meeting with me," Rebecca acknowledged with a nod across the room. "Before I tell you what I have, nothing goes outside of this room. This is strictly confidential. If it's out, I'll be fired."
Everyone nodded in agreement. Rossi gestured for her to continue. "Bailey knows how to search for the department's focus. That's why he stresses so much on governmental costs and resources. However, the issue here is that domestic terrorism is increasing in budget, and he wants to reorganize the unit, which means he could easily put the BAU under Domestic Terrorism."
"But why?" Emily asked.
"You are as of his last budget. Something about a shipping container."
"So, what happens if we can't prove we have a BAU case?"
Rebecca pointed to each person. "You three will be reassigned, Prentiss replaced, and Rossi retired."
Emily sighed. "Thank you, Rebecca. I need to speak with the team, please." Rebecca nodded in return before she left the room.
"So, that's it? If we can't do much more, it's over?" JJ spoke up, directing her question towards Emily.
"No. That won't happen." Emily immediately thought back to the items that led back to their bigger unsub, apparently yet notoriously referred to as Sicarius.
Upon observing inside the shipping container, she and Tara discovered that the container was nearly vacant for more than 15 years, and that this Sicarius person would have revisited the scene more recently. It was only a matter of filling in the gaps within that time frame.
"We found a kill kit from the Robert Harris case, right?" Emily pointed out. "And there are possible ties between the unsubs from those cases that created a network. If we could track down the other ones, we might be able to show Bailey that the team should handle this investigation, and we'll need the container to do it. Tara and I looked inside it, and we believe there's more traces of evidence inside, so we'll continue checking it out."
Rossi nodded. "Then, that means we might be able to get the help we need." Everyone looked at him. "I called Penelope and someone gave her the coordinates to those kits. We talked, and she agreed that she'll come back to help us find them."
"That's great. Thank you, everyone."
While everyone went their separate ways, JJ stayed in her seat. Emily figured this would be a good time to talk with her since she was almost livid at what Bailey was doing to the team.
"JJ, what's wrong?"
"It's just… Why are the higher-ups so obsessed with separating this team? We work well together, and we get the job done. Even if it's not perfect, we do our best."
Emily grabbed her hand to rub her knuckles, hoping to soothe her worries. "Look, Bailey's an ass. Let me worry about him."
"Emily, this team isn't the only thing on his radar. Your career is resting in our hands now," JJ stressed, hoping Emily saw her point. "He's testing your competence and responsibility as a leader. We can't afford to screw this up now. I don't want you to lose your job because of us."
Of course, she knew JJ was right. With Rossi missing monthly meetings with other unit chiefs and the team being downsized, Emily had more than she can chew. Even with just one decision, Bailey was bound to poke as many holes as he can in those theories like he had when she and Tara presented the shipping container.
"I can't say exactly what will happen, but we're going to take a shot at it."
There was a hint of confidence in her tone, and normally, JJ would agree with her, but she still hesitated. She took a deep breath, "Okay. Let's do it."
Two days after meeting with Rebecca, the team discussed the geographical locations of the kill kits with Penelope, and began their research on this developed "serial-killing network". Emily was doing her best to keep Bailey's hands off the BAU for the time being. However of course, it meant having to endure his smug comments about how he can throw the team under any other department to his content.
Emily wasn't going to lie. She sometimes considered doing an early retirement at some point since she moved up to section chief. It could be a good idea. She could spend more time with her family and raise the boys rather than babysit the two-faced, condescending man-child put in charge.
"Okay, Savannah's dropping off Michael and Hank to school, and Henry's at the bus stop," JJ said, seeing Emily on the couch. "What's up?"
"Nothing." She took JJ's hand to pull her in her lap. "Just wondering how many years I have until the FBI is done with me."
"Or you might end up like Rossi and stay there forever."
"Is that a good or bad thing?"
She chuckled and let JJ easily take the mug from her hand and move it to the coffee table to kiss her. Emily brought her in closer, prolonging their embrace. It had been a while since they snuck in a moment like this together, aside from a couple days ago that made them blush at work just thinking about it. Emily was certain that she received payback from Tara for teasing her about her girlfriend, when she was turning red and looking away whenever JJ was mentioned.
Without breaking the kiss, JJ deftly untied the belt of Emily's robe, opening it to kiss her bare shoulder. Emily tipped her head back once JJ's nose touched the side of her neck. JJ moved back to kiss her way down until she was on her knees.
She tugged on the sweatpants she knew Emily stole from her, before it reached to her ankles and Emily's legs spread apart. JJ's lips pressed against the inside of her thighs, slowly inching her way towards where Emily needed her the most.
Unfortunately, the universe had a change of plans for their peaceful morning. JJ's phone rang and they groaned. Emily surprisingly had enough willpower to stop what they were doing. "Answer it. It might be important."
JJ whined. "No… you're more important."
"Jennifer, come on."
Rolling her eyes at the offending noise, JJ finally took it and answered whoever wanted to torture her this early. "Jareau."
"Jayje, where are you?"
"Penelope?"
"Did you forget? We have breakfast this morning at approximately now."
"Shit. Sorry, I'll be there in a bit." She hung up with a sigh before getting up from the floor. "I might have to cut this short, but I will make it up to you after work. Promise."
"What is it?"
"I almost forgot. Penelope and I planned on doing breakfast today since she came back. Kind of a celebratory breakfast thing."
Emily nodded. "Ah, got it. I'll meet you at the office, then."
"You don't want to come with me? I could tell her…"
"No, it's okay. I have to see the Deputy Director soon anyway."
"I'll get you something for lunch and we could eat in your office?" JJ offered with an easy smile and a tilt of her head. "Perhaps sneak in a few donuts and an extra cup of coffee beforehand?"
Emily chuckled as she pulled the sweatpants back up, bringing JJ in her arms again. "Alright, you drive a hard bargain, Jareau. I'll take you up on it."
JJ leaned in to kiss her again. She tried to make it last longer, but Emily shoved her away with a laugh.
"Go, Garcia's already waiting for you!"
"Alright, I'm going!"
"Oh, you have no idea how much I've missed you," Penelope squealed. "Not the work, but I missed all of you."
"We missed you, too. It was a little dull without the wonderful Penelope Garcia in the office. But it wasn't my call at first, I figured you wanted your space away from that place."
Penelope hummed in agreement. "So I've heard. Well, not to discredit the three other people taking my place, I'm sure they did their best, but it's a joy working with you all and working my magic again."
JJ gave a smile before it turned apologetic. "Sorry about coming in late, though. I kind of forgot about this morning."
Penelope noticed the red on her cheeks and smirked. "Oh, I see. You and Emily were overdue for your breakfast. Wait, were you guys about to-"
"Nope!" JJ glanced around at their surroundings. "Nope, we're not talking about that." She didn't need any stranger listening to details of her intimate life.
"Why didn't you tell me? You know I would've let you and Emily make up for lost time. How long has it been?"
"Too long," JJ groaned.
Penelope made a 'tsk' noise, not letting it slide that easily. "You know what? You and Emily have me on speed dial. I'll take the boys while you have your own ladies' night."
JJ shook her head at the eager suggestion, huffing out a laugh. "Thanks, but-"
"Ah, ah! No buts," Penelope interjected. "You two need your alone time, and trust me when I say, you really need it."
"If we're lucky enough to have more time at home," JJ trailed off.
"It's worked out before, hasn't it?"
"Yeah, but our schedules changed. She has all these meetings with different unit chiefs, with the Deputy Director, and I switch between the office and home now with who knows how many cases each day. We barely have enough time for anything."
If they didn't have an huge active case like the network, then they would have had time for themselves. She almost cursed at the universe for bad timing, but if it meant seeing and working with Emily again, then she'll take that chance.
"What about during lockdown?"
"Yeah, well…" JJ let out a dry laugh. "It's hard to do that when you have two kids, one of them a growing teenager, in the house."
One of the benefits of lockdown, JJ thought, was that she and Emily would spend more time together. It did work in the first half of 2020, but as soon as Emily got promoted later at the end of 2020 and more changes were added by the following year, they started seeing each other a lot less.
They were working remotely at home, occasionally at the office, so she figured they would get away from the work for even just a fraction of the time to talk about anything but. She was even sure she calculated the boys' bedtime, and pull Emily away from their home office and into their bedroom.
Yet every time she did, they had barely begun their fun because either one of them or both were tired and already so drained from work, or Michael had a nightmare and slept in their bed instead.
"That's fair. Well, you know where to find me," Penelope winked. "Now, we don't talk about the gory details of the job, but I heard Emily is having a hard time with the Deputy Director?"
"Yeah. She told me not to worry about it, but you know me. He thinks Emily's going over her head about how much the BAU can do, and what we can't do. I said that's unbelievable, not to him, but he's putting a lot of pressure on her."
Penelope scoffed. "Emily knows the FBI like the back of her hand! He should know we work well as a team, even though, technically, I don't work there anymore."
JJ shrugged and sipped on her coffee. "That's what I'm saying. I'm going to try to keep my mind off of it right now. How are things on your end?"
"Oh, I love it! I am thriving with my own network at home with my tech lovelies. Plus, I've been learning a bit of self-care fairly recently. I tried meditation, started a baking club, and JJ, it's been working absolute wonders for me."
"That's great! I'm glad things have been working out since the BAU," JJ said genuinely. "And I love my boys, don't get me wrong, but it has been driving me crazy."
"Which is why you've been trying to jump Emily any chance you get?" she teased.
"Shut up, I don't do that!" JJ exclaimed but couldn't help but smile at her words. Penelope returned it and they raised their glasses in a small toast for their official reunion.