CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN

15x07 Rusty

"Uh, Emily…? You buried the lead," JJ muttered, examining the flowers that were on her desk. "It appears I have some competition…?" JJ asked jokingly.

Emily's eyes went wide with embarrassment. She lunged forward in an effort to stop JJ from reaching for the card but she was too slow. She watched as JJ opened it and read the note out loud.

"'From, Andrew…'" Emily looked down at the floor, heat rising to her cheeks. She smiled sheepishly and nodded her head. She raised her hands, gesturing for JJ to speak. They were both holding back laughs.

JJ leaned in dramatically. Her hands were resting on Emily's desk as she opened her mouth and said, "I told you so."

"Ah, your favorite words," Emily responded with faux cheerfulness. She sat back down behind her desk. And JJ sat down in the chair opposite her. JJ chuckled and shook her head. She was grinning with a devilish smile when Garcia walked in.

"Hello, my pretties! Ooo flowers! I love flowers! Whose? Whose?" JJ pointed at Emily with a mischievous look. Emily opened her mouth to explain but Penelope cut her off. "That Jennifer Jareau is a keeper, huh?" She said, wagging her eyebrows at Emily.

"Yes, I am," JJ said quickly, "but I -" she leaned over in her chair and handed the letter to Penelope, "didn't send them."

Emily closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. JJ was enjoying this. Penelope read the card and began to laugh a little.

"I know, I know," Emily insisted, putting her hands up in front of her.

"Oh, Emily, put the poor man out of his misery," Penelope said jokingly. Emily snuck a glance at JJ who was sitting back in her chair, biting back a smile. She raised an eyebrow when Emily looked at her. Emily rolled her eyes.

"It's for a case guys…" Emily said quickly.

"Oh, right, yeah - a case," JJ said sarcastically.

"He called me this morning," Emily added. She could feel the heat in her cheeks. JJ raised her eyebrows at this and uncrossed her legs.

"Where are we going?" She asked, deciding to give Emily a break for the time being. The smile faded from JJ's face as she leaned forward with interest.

"Denver."

"So… the Mandela Effect or the Mendoza Effect? Who could keep it straight?" Penelope immediately winced at her own joke. JJ fought back a smile and rolled her eyes at Penelope.

"How long did you work on that one?"

"Not long enough…" Penelope responded, still seemingly perplexed by the poor quality of her own joke.

"Mm-mm," JJ said in agreement. "But it is kind of weird, right?"

"Yes! It's your territory and he's peeing all over it!" JJ scrunched her nose a little. "Again - sorry," Penelope added quickly. "What are you gonna do?"

"Pen, I'm not going to do anything. This isn't a turf war," JJ insisted. She sat down next to Penelope as casually as she could, but she brought a hand to her mouth and stared off into space. Penelope studied her and smiled briefly.

"Jay… You know I was just joking. I'm sorry. I should've have -"

JJ's eyes quickly zoned back in and she turned to smile at her friend. "Oh, Pen - I know, I know."

Penelope let out a relieved breath, but something still wasn't right. She gave JJ a questioning look before saying, "Emily Prentiss would never -"

"I know," JJ cut her off in a gentle whisper and a genuine smile. But it was also a pained smile.

She stood from her chair, and put a reassuring hand on her friend's shoulder. Penelope looked confused, but JJ couldn't bring herself to explain. She made her way across the room to the door. Penelope was right about Emily. And being jealous about something so trivial was ridiculous. But if she felt like this over something so insignificant, she couldn't imagine what Emily must've felt after what happened with Spencer. A wave of shame crashed over her.

Emily's eyes left the file she was reading when JJ walked in the room. The corners of Emily's mouth twitched up, eyes brightening, when she saw her. JJ smiled back. And Emily could see through it. Something was wrong. But they weren't alone. It was not the time and it was certainly not the place… JJ's eyes drifted to Andrew Mendoza who was writing on a white board on the far side of the room. He turned back to them.

"Ah, Agent Jareau, what did Gracia find?"

JJ relayed the information quickly. She watched as Andrew and Emily began connecting dots. She watched them quietly. It dawned on her how odd it felt to be a third wheel… When JJ left the conference room, Emily turned, hoping to make eye contact. She was already gone.

Emily glanced at Mendoza out of the corner of her eye. They were alone again, and she felt like she should say something. Emily slowly crossed the room and closed the door. He didn't notice - he was deep in thought staring at the white board in front of him.

"Do you want to have Alvez and Jareau recheck the house? I just have a hunch we're missing something…"

"Andrew -" Emily began. He turned and gave her his full attention. "Look, I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong impression…" He furrowed his brow. "...about the flowers…?" She clarified. Recognition relieved the confusion on his face.

Emily continued. "I'm - uh… I'm married." He looked down at the floor, smiled, then nodded his head slowly. Emily paused and furrowed her brow, "But you already knew that…" she inferred. Now it was her turn to be confused.

"That's not why I sent them, Prentiss."

She shook her head back and forth. "Then, why…?"

He looked out the glass window into the bullpen, then back down at her. Emily watched his expression - it was as if he knew an inside joke, but didn't want to tell her. "You think on it…" He smiled a little before saying, "It'll come to you."

It wasn't until they were walking to the elevator headed for the jet that it struck her. Emily was wrapping her scarf around her neck when JJ saw her eyes light up. She stopped walking and turned back towards the squad room.

"Uh - you guys go ahead, I'll be right there."

JJ gave her a quick smile and searched her eyes for any sort of clue as to what was happening. As the rest of them boarded the elevator, Emily walked back the way they'd come.

"27 minutes…" Emily said softly. Mendoza hadn't noticed her presence in his office doorway. He put the file he was holding down on the desk in front of him and smiled. Emily nodded her head knowingly.

"You saved my life," he said.

"Has it really been a year?"

Mendoza didn't answer aloud; he just nodded. With a sigh, he stood up and walked around to the front of his desk. "So… how much trouble did I get you in with Agent Jareau?" He was blushing, his eyes apologetic.

Emily laughed shortly and smiled, "No trouble. Really. But maybe just a text next year?"

Mendoza chuckled and nodded his head, "Got it."

JJ sat quietly on the plane ride home. She had picked a window seat so she could look out at the setting sun and dark night sky. Every once in a while, she glanced up at Emily, and smiled softly. She never noticed JJ's gaze. But JJ kind of liked to watch her in secret. She liked to watch the way the skin around her eyes crinkled when she laughed with their friends. She liked the way she crossed her right leg over her left. And she couldn't help but smile when Emily tucked her hair behind her ears after it had fallen into her eyes. JJ turned back towards the window.

To JJ's surprise, Emily didn't even go into her office when they got back to the BAU. She stood by JJ as she gathered her things to go home. The squad was making inconsequential small talk as they walked towards the elevator.

Hours later Emily found JJ on the couch in the living room mindlessly flipping through channels on the television. Emily came over to sit next to her. She sighed heavily, finally allowing herself to relax for the first time in over 24 hours.

"So, why did you have to talk to Mendoza?" JJ asked. Emily opened her eyes and looked over at her wife. JJ was still staring at the tv.

"Because I finally figured out why he sent me flowers," Emily answered.

"Oh, well I could've told you that," JJ responded jokingly.

Emily nodded and smiled bashfully. JJ just laughed, watching the blush come into her cheeks.

"So… why did he send them?" JJ asked as casually as she could. She was actually dying to know.

"I saved his life - a year ago today," Emily said. JJ's smile changed from one of humor to one of high regard. "It didn't hit me until we were walking out of the precinct…" She added.

"Well, it makes sense that he'd remember that…" JJ agreed. Emily took the remote out of her hand and muted the tv.

"You know what I remember about that day?" JJ shook her head. "It was the day you told me you wanted another baby."

JJ blinked in surprise. After thinking about it for a moment, she realized Emily was right. She had forgotten. But Emily hadn't. JJ let the moment linger, simply gazing into her wife's eyes before she leaned in and kissed Emily lightly. Just because she wanted to. Emily took in a deep breath and JJ's scent intoxicated her senses.

"Let's go upstairs…" Emily whispered.

JJ pulled back. Emily's face was serious, eyes were shining with gentle resolution. JJ asked her silently and Emily nodded faintly, staring into JJ's eyes. A rush of anticipation made JJ's heart beat fast and her stomach flutter. They were ready - they had everything they needed. They were just waiting for the right night. This was it.