CHAPTER THIRTY

8x11 Perennials

"We have multiple crimes spread across three different states," Hotch stated. They were on the jet, discussing the details of the case. "We'll have to split up and work with local offices in each state. Morgan, you and Rossi will go to Gulfport. Prentiss, Reid to Citronelle. JJ and I will go to New Orleans."

Emily's eyes drifted cautiously towards her wife. JJ, who had been reading a case file, looked up quickly at Hotch.. They were both thinking the same thing. Emily watched as JJ unconsciously fidgeted with her wedding rings. It made Emily feel a little uncomfortable. This was all so juvenile. Emily shook her head at herself. Leave it to JJ to make her feel like a jealous 16-year-old.

JJ stopped spinning her ring as soon as she realized she was doing it. But it was too late. She glanced at Emily - she had clearly noticed already. JJ averted her eyes, instead choosing to look around at her team.

"Hey Reid?" Spencer looked over at Emily expectantly. "Do you remember which precinct we worked with last time we were in New Orleans?"

"Same one as this case. Precinct 17. It covers one of the most crime-ridden areas of the city. Statistically speaking - 17, 21, and 3 are the precincts most likely to have a case involving the FBI."

"Thanks, Spence," Emily answered, dejectedly. Spencer looked at her with a perplexed look.

"Why?" He asked in a small voice.

"Uh - no reason."

"Are you worried about JJ?" He asked quickly.

"No, of course not." She paused and turned to Spencer. If he had been anybody else, she would have stopped the conversation. But Spencer looked so innocent. Emily could tell he was beginning to worry about JJ himself. She felt she owed him some sort of explanation. "That's the precinct where Will works. That's all."

"LaMontagne?"

Emily's eyes flashed up to Spencer's and he had his answer. Spencer continued to look at her confused but Emily offered him nothing else. She sighed. Objectively, she knew she had nothing to worry about. She had complete faith in her wife. But this wasn't about logic. This was about that feeling she had all those years ago when JJ was dating Will. Back when she truly believed that JJ would never feel the same way for her. It was an agonizing powerlessness. And for whatever illogical reason, she was feeling that way again. It was actually a little embarrassing.

Still, Spencer had a way of making her feel better. She was glad that she told him.

The case brought the team to New Orleans. The BAU set up in the conference room of the 17th precinct.

"I'm going back to talk to him again," Will said to the group. "This time I'm not taking no for an answer." He walked out of the room, determined.

Hotch eyed him cautiously. "Prentiss, go with him," he said quickly.

Emily hesitated for a fraction of a second before following her boss' orders. She made quick eye contact with JJ before she broke out into a jog to catch up with Will. The car ride was silent. Will drove through the complicated streets of New Orleans like only a native could. Emily focused on the scenery. Anything but the uncomfortable silence that fell between the two.

"How do you want to play this?" Will asked as they got out of the car and walked into the front door of the building.

"You're asking me?"

"You do outrank me."

Emily glanced at him awkwardly. They boarded the elevator together. Will pressed the number 4 and stepped back. They never made it to the fourth floor.

"Damn it!" Will moaned.

"What happened?"

"Rolling blackouts. I can't believe I forgot." He pressed the emergency button but nothing happened. "Do you have any cell service?"

"No," Emily muttered. This was literally the last place she wanted to be. Alone, stuck in an elevator with her wife's ex-boyfriend.

After 20 minutes of trying to escape, Emily found herself sitting on the floor across from Will. They were going to have to wait this out. Emily was doing everything in her power to avoid his eye line. He too was staring in the opposite direction.

"Are we gonna keep dancing around this all day?" Will finally asked. He still wasn't looking at Emily. Instead, he appeared to be studying the buttons on the elevator dashboard.

Emily didn't respond for a long moment. Will finally turned his head and looked directly at her. Emily shook her head a little. "I guess not."

"Congratulations, by the way." Will said, gesturing to Emily's left hand.

"Thank you," Emily responded in a small voice.

"How long have you guys been married?"

"It'll be 6 months on Friday." Will nodded quietly. An awkward silence fell between them. "Will - I need you to know that nothing happened between us while you two were together."

"I know that," he said quickly. It surprised Emily how sure he sounded. It was like he was almost defending her. "You're too decent Prentiss," He added sincerely.

Emily smiled tightly. This was weird - and awkward - but she was also glad it was happening. It was sort of therapeutic for both of them.

She turned and came to face the barrel of a gun. Emily closed her eyes for a split second, realizing that her only way out of this was if she stayed calm. But she was scared. It never got less scary - standing on the wrong end of a gun.

"Drop your weapon. Now."

"Okay," she whispered and slowly bent her knees, dropping her gun on the floor. "Don't do this. I'm a federal agent. There will be no negotiating if you kill me."

"It's too late for negotiating," he said in a drawling voice. Emily was shaking. He was going to do it. He was going to pull the trigger. She'd spent long enough profiling men just like him to miss the warning signs. And then she heard the shots. Two shots. Her knees buckled and she flinched violently, but she didn't fall to the ground. The unsub did.

Emily willed herself to look in the direction the shots came from and she saw a stone-faced Will LaMontagne staring back. He was just lowering and re-holstering his weapon. He rushed over to her.

"You're alright. You're alright."

Emily stumbled backwards a little and braced herself against the wall. It wasn't until she saw the disturbed look on Will's face that she even noticed the blood. She smelled it first. But then she felt it. It was dripping down her face. She met his eyes briefly and nodded. Will swallowed, thickly and rushed over to the girl who was still tied down. Emily focused on breathing in and out.

Emily walked out of the building on shaky legs. Morgan was the first one that got to her. His eyes were wide with alarm as he took in her appearance. It must have been a grisly sight - the splatter of the unsub's blood drying on her face. Derek led her to an ambulance and sat her down.

"Where's -"

"She's back at the precinct," Derek answered quickly.

"Can you get this blood off of me? I don't want anyone else to see this."

Emily closed her eyes again. She was glad JJ wasn't here. She certainly wouldn't want to see JJ's face splattered with a murder's blood. Derek quickly brought a cloth to her face and began wiping the blood off. Emily watched his eyes. He was looking at her like she was going to break. It took a while, but between the two of them, they got almost all of the blood off.

As soon as they walked through the precinct doors Emily saw JJ erupt out of the conference room. Her eyes were wide darting around with wild intensity. She focused on Emily. She was trying to be professional but it was proving to be hard. She'd heard what happened. She heard what Will did. JJ rushed over to them.

"Hey," Emily said casually. Her eyes told a different story.

JJ breathed out in relief, "Hey. God - are you okay?"

"Yeah," Emily said, nodding her head. JJ rubbed Emily's arm and took in an unsteady breath.

Thirty minutes later, Emily pulled JJ into the stairwell at the end of a quiet hallway.

"So - which was worse - almost getting shot again or having to spend over an hour stuck in an elevator with Will?"

Emily's eyes went a little wide and smiled. JJ was staring back at her with a devious look. "I think my sense of humor may be rubbing off on you," Emily quipped. "You know he saved my life right?"

"I heard," JJ nodded, invading Emily's space. Emily leaned backwards against the wall. She watched the smile drop slowly from JJ's face as she inspected her. Emily had missed a little bit of blood right at her hairline. JJ shuttered.

"I was worried about you," She added seriously. "I don't think I'm ever going to get used to it."

She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. Emily smiled repentantly and reached for JJ's hand gently. It was a simple gesture but it was helping. JJ squeezed her hand leaning into her for a brief moment.

"Everything's alright…" Emily whispered soothingly into JJ's hair. She felt Emily's lips briefly on her head and pulled back slowly to look into her wife's eyes again.

Will brought his hands to his face, running them through his hair, messing it up. He didn't care anymore. He started to loosen his tie by turning his head back and forth a little. He was walking towards the back of the precinct. He wasn't taking the elevator after what he'd gone through earlier. Besides, he really wasn't in the mood to make small talk. Just as his hand was about to collide with the door handle, he stopped abruptly. Jennifer Jareau stood in the stairwell. He paused - she was leaning against Emily, holding her hand. Emily kissed her hair tenderly. JJ pulled back to stare lovingly into her eyes. She looked exhausted, and scared, but also happy. Unequivocally and fiercely happy. Even at this angle, Will could see the devotion in her eyes. He could see it in Emily Prentiss' eyes as well. Unexpectedly, the moment hit him like a punch to the gut. Will looked away. It suddenly occurred to him that this moment was not his to watch. He turned quickly and walked towards the elevator.

He was halfway to his car when he heard his name being called.

"Will!" JJ saw him walking towards his car, on the far end of the lot. His messenger bag was slung over his shoulder. Will turned at her call and waited. JJ jogged across the lot, stopping in front of him. Now that they were face to face, JJ felt like she didn't know what to say.

"I heard what you did for Emily," she started awkwardly. "I just wanted to say -" JJ paused. "Anyway - thank you."

"No need to thank me," he said softly.

But there was a glint in his eye. Like he knew an inside joke that JJ didn't. JJ looked at him, confusion written on her face. He broke eye contact, staring at his shoes, smiling - almost chuckling - to himself. This seemed like an odd reaction. She didn't know why he was laughing. A nervous smile crept onto JJ's face. She was unsure of what was so funny.

"What?" She asked slowly.

He shook his head a couple times, "No, no, it's just… Jennifer, I would never, ever do anything to intentionally hurt you in any way." He brought his eyes up to her. The humor was completely drained out of his face. He looked like he was in pain. Like he was struggling with something internally. JJ waited patiently.

"I mean, come on, JJ, you were the love of my life."

She had not expected that. Of all the things she thought Will LaMontagne would say to her on that warm New Orleans night, professing his love was certainly not on that list. Her shock made her silent for a couple of seconds. She had no idea how to respond to him without hurting him. That was not her intention at all. Not after everything he had done for Emily.

"Will - I don't know where this is coming from. We broke up years ago… I'm married."

"I know, I know that," he said quickly. "I mean look, JJ, we had some really good times together and there was a lot of love and mutual respect there but - the way you look at her - you never -"

He was stumbling over his words. His eyes were darting all over the place, flashing only momentarily to hers every few seconds.

"We never had that. I mean, you gotta admit to me, you were never going to profess your love to me - am I right?"

JJ swallowed hard. She wished he hadn't asked her that. Because she knew the answer… and the last thing she wanted to do was hurt him. But something told her he knew the answer too. And maybe this was his way of getting closure. If it was, she couldn't take that from him. She wouldn't.

"Yes, you are right."

He smiled knowingly. It wasn't really a sad smile, but it looked detached. Void of emotion. JJ stepped into his space and wrapped her arms around him. She didn't know why, but she felt like they both needed it. He returned her embrace and sighed. He pulled back and smiled again. JJ saw a brief sparkle in his eye this time. She saw the man she had met years ago. Will looked past her and focused on something. JJ turned to see what he was looking at. Emily had come out of the building and was lingering by the door, waiting for JJ. She smiled tightly when they looked over at her.

"Go."

JJ turned back to Will. She felt like she should say something more. Like she shouldn't leave him alone. He smiled again as if he was reading her mind.

"She's waiting for you. Go."

After another moment JJ smiled tightly and jogged over to her wife. Emily smiled at her as casually as she could after what she'd just witnessed. JJ grabbed her hand without a word. The smooth, cold metal of Emily's wedding ring comforted her.

JJ didn't look back.