CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

7x24 Run

She felt the glass first. It was cutting into her skin painfully. Tiny shards of glass prickling her skin - surrounding her. Then the pressure of the hard ground. She was lying face down on the pavement. The asphalt was uncomfortable against her cheek. It was disorienting how quiet everything was. It shouldn't be this quiet. It should be chaotic and loud. And then her hearing slowly began to fade back in. And then it was all too loud. Yelling and sirens and a distracting ringing in her ear.

"JJ?" a familiar voice said. Derek Morgan. But he was far away. Impossible to get to. Too far to reach for. She felt his hand on her back and it surprised her. He wasn't far away at all. He was right next to her. "JJ, are you alright? Are you okay?"

JJ nodded, but she was disoriented. Nothing was clear. Nothing, except one thing. Emily. That was the first coherent thought she had. Get to Emily.

"Where's Emily? Where is Emily? Did she get out of there?" She was spinning around, surveying the scene around her. It only made her more disoriented though. There was smoke and rubble and panic. She couldn't find Emily. She was searching her surroundings frantically but each passing second was making it worse. Before Morgan could stop her, JJ ran towards the entrance of the bank.

Things were even worse inside. JJ took the lead and Derek followed close behind. Before they knew it, they were in a secret escape tunnel and in a back alley. No sign of Emily. But JJ knew Emily. If she had a chance to apprehend a suspect she would, even if she'd just been shot. At least… that's what JJ hoped had happened. Because the alternative was that she was among the dead in the lobby - buried unceremoniously beneath the rubble that used to be the walls of the bank.

JJ sighed and then something caught her eye. She reached down and picked up a photo insert for a wallet. It was Emily's. JJ opened it and locked eyes with herself in the picture. She was smiling back. JJ remembered the morning that picture was taken. Emily always said it was her favorite picture of JJ. The adrenaline of the explosion was beginning to wear off a little and seeing the picture was filling her with heartache.

"Emily always said to leave bread crumbs, if you can," JJ mumbled grimly, showing Morgan what she had found.

"Okay, so she was clear-headed enough to leave us a clue."

"They shot her, Morgan. Why would they take her?" JJ asked emotionally. This didn't make any sense.

"JJ, I don't know, but we didn't see any blood down there, and she's not here. Both are good signs."

"Yeah, but they have her," JJ looked back down and flipped the insert.

On the other side was a picture of the two of them. Garcia had snapped the picture a couple weeks ago when they weren't watching. They were sitting on a couch together. JJ was throwing her head back laughing and Emily was looking at her with deep reverence. Looking at her like, of all the beautiful things in the world, JJ was the one she cherished most. She was determined not to cry. But this wasn't making it easy.

"God only knows where or why. How's that good?"

Before Derek could answer she was running away again.

JJ sat silently in the passenger's seat as Rossi sped down the city roads. She was avoiding his face - positioning herself away from him.

"Don't do that."

"What?" JJ asked shortly. She really wasn't in the mood for a motivational speech.

"Go all quiet."

"What am I supposed to do?" What did David want from her?

"Yell."

JJ felt tears in her eyes. She was losing her composure. "I can't."

"You can't blame yourself," He insisted.

"Wanna bet?" JJ laughed cynically. It was a joyless laugh and it faded quickly. "I should've gone with her."

"But you didn't - because you were at your desk, doing your job."

"I'm a federal agent -" JJ fought back. She was almost yelling. Was this what he wanted?

"Who had no possible way of knowing how this day would go."

JJ sighed. She still didn't look over at David, but she did feel a little better. But only a little.

It was Hotch that got to Emily first. Part of her was glad it was him. It would've been too hard to face Derek, or Rossi. And it would've been impossible to face JJ. Hotch removed the duct tape from her mouth and Emily let out a terrified breath.

"Hotch…"

"Bomb squad is three minutes out."

He looked down and saw the timer was counting down from two minutes and 30 seconds.

"Aaron, listen to me," Emily tried again. "You need to get out of here."

"I'm not leaving you."

"You have to. This is crazy. I need you to go. I'm asking you to go. For JJ… Hotch..."

But he wasn't listening. He was studying the keypad on the device. It occurred to Emily that of all people she could spend her last few minutes alive with, Aaron Hotchner was not a bad choice. Still, she'd rather he save himself. But miraculously, it was all over in two minutes. Emily let out an unsteady breath and Aaron sat back closing his eyes.

"Oh my god, how did you do that?" Emily asked desperately. Her chest was heaving. She felt like a fish out of water.

"I didn't overthink it," Hotch answered hoarsely.

Emily leaned her head back and closed her eyes. All she could do was focus on breathing.

"JJ's gonna kill me," Emily muttered through anxious, shallow breaths. Hotch glanced over at Emily with one of his rare smiles plastered on his face. Emily opened her eyes and smiled with him. He chuckled a little and Emily let out a nervous laugh.

Emily glanced out the window but it was too dark to see anything. The bright hospital lights made the window into a mirror. She felt like she had been in a haze for hours. Her brain was still trying to process what had just happened to her. And while most things seemed distorted, there was one thing that was absolutely crystal clear to her. She blinked and took her phone out of her pocket.

JJ leaned against the nurses' station counter. She let her eyes close briefly.

This day could've ended so differently. Emily could've died - again. And again she had survived. JJ didn't know how many more times she could take it. After she came out of the train station, JJ never let her out of her sight. At the hospital JJ sat silently as the doctor worked on Emily's shoulder. She felt a little dazed. Like her eyes couldn't really focus on any one thing. She felt Emily turn to look at her multiple times but she didn't meet her eyes. Emily didn't say anything either. JJ wrapped her arms around herself protectively and watched as the doctor situated a sling for Emily's arm. Once they were alone, JJ reached for Emily's good hand. If she focused hard, she could feel Emily's pulse against her skin. It was a small comfort.

JJ opened her eyes and looked down the hallway to the room Emily was occupying. She took a deep breath and began walking. The hospital was eerily quiet at that time of night. A nurse gave her a stiff, polite smile as she passed. Then, JJ heard Emily's voice. She was on the phone. JJ listened briefly behind the door, until it dawned on her who was on the other end of the call. She quickly opened the door, eyes wide.

"Thank you for the opportunity, but I'm going to decline the position. Yes, I'm sure. Thank you. Bye." Emily hung up the phone and turned to her girlfriend. Emily was sitting on the edge of the hospital bed and stood up as she put the phone back in her pocket.

"Was that Interpol? Call them back! What are you doing?" JJ demanded, approaching her. Emily smiled calmly. She walked over to her purse and collected a small velvet box from its hiding place. JJ's expression went from one of confusion to one of wistful passion.

"Emily, what are you doing?" She asked in a small voice. It broke a little at the end. The question may have been the same, but her composure was breaking. JJ knew exactly what she was doing. Emotion began to pool behind her eyes.

"I'm thinking about my future," Emily repeated Strauss' words from that morning. JJ was too shocked to say anything. Emily smiled softly. "Come here," she said, pulling JJ to her. Emily leaned back against the edge of the bed. At this angle, JJ had a couple of inches on her. JJ looked down at her as Emily ran her free hand on the side of JJ's arm affectionately.

"I don't want you to resent me," JJ confessed quietly. She needed Emily to hear her. She needed Emily to think about this. Because if JJ let her say the words - if JJ let her ask the question - she knew she wouldn't be able to stop herself. She would say yes. And the discussion would be over.

Emily shook her head, "I won't. That job is not my future. And I don't want it to be." Emily pulled at JJ's arm and brought her in close for what was meant to be a light, comforting kiss, but, as usual, JJ lured her in. JJ ran her hands through Emily's hair and the kiss deepened. Emily could feel her heartbeat increase. She was more sure than ever what she was doing was right.

"Marry me…" she breathed into her lips. JJ felt Emily's breath fall across her face. JJ pulled back a couple of inches to look at her, but Emily kept her eyes closed, holding JJ close to her.

A cautious smile was spreading across JJ's face. Emily took in a nervous breath and opened her eyes. A smile of her own was creeping onto her face. She opened the box and reached for JJ's hand, placing it in her palm. JJ stared down at it for a moment before looking back to Emily. In her eyes, love shone. "Marry me, Jennifer?"

JJ had an enchanted look about her. She nodded quietly and Emily had her answer. JJ's smile broke into a grin. Emily laughed and removed the ring from the box. It wasn't easy with only one arm, but Emily managed to take JJ's hand and slide the ring onto her finger.

"I'm really glad I didn't die today," Emily said sarcastically.

"Too soon," JJ replied with half-hearted exasperation. JJ leaned down to kiss Emily. This time the kiss was deeper - filled with devotion and passion. Emily stood and took off the sling the doctor had just positioned. Emily threw it aside to pull JJ flush against her. JJ smiled at her theatrics.

"I love you," JJ whispered, sincerely.

"You better clear your calendar because you and I have a date with the courthouse on Monday," Emily replied playfully. JJ raised her eyebrows a little in surprise. "I'm serious," Emily insisted with a smile. JJ smiled slowly.

"And you'd be okay with that? I mean - I'm assuming the Prentiss' don't do courthouse weddings."

"Are you going to be there?" JJ rolled her eyes lovingly. She nodded. "Then I'm okay with it," Emily said softly. "Besides, I don't want to let my mother turn our wedding into some political agenda."

JJ looked down at the ring on her finger. It was beautiful - and clearly antique. The style was reminiscent of another time. Emily gently reached for her hand.

"It was my grandmother's."

JJ's eyes quickly flashed back to Emily's. Something had clicked in her head. "You saw your mother?"

Emily winced a little at the question. "Yeah… I did," she said with a sigh.

"What happened?"

Emily swallowed and looked up at the ceiling. Part of her never wanted to tell JJ this part. "Oh… exactly what I expected was going to happen. I shouldn't be surprised."

"She doesn't approve…" JJ filled in the blanks.

"I don't even know what she really thinks -" JJ looked at her with confusion. "But she'll toe the party line anyway." JJ's heart broke for Emily. She couldn't imagine a mother valuing her political career over her own child. It killed her to see someone she loved so much treated like she was less than. "It's okay, Jay. It's better this way…"

Emily could see the anger in JJ's eyes. Emily smiled tightly and pulled her in for a hug. She knew JJ meant well, but she didn't want her anger. She didn't want her pity, either. Emily closed her eyes and leaned her head into JJ. This was supposed to be a happy moment - perhaps the happiest moment of her life.

"Whoa…" JJ said as she walked into their bedroom. "Em, you look… Am I dressed up enough?" JJ asked. She was staring, hypnotized by her fiancé's beauty. She was wearing a black floor-length gown that could easily be worn to a black tie event. JJ suddenly felt underdressed.

"You look perfect," Emily replied.

"Yeah, but you're supposed to think that. You're my fiancé - it's your job." Emily felt her heart sputter. Fiancé. She wasn't at all used to that. JJ opened her mouth to argue again but stopped at the look in Emily's eyes. Emily leaned in for a gentle kiss. It cleared JJ's head.

"You look perfect," Emily repeated in a breathy voice. JJ smiled.

Emily refused to wear the sling again. JJ shook her head and shoved it in her purse. This was the woman she was choosing to spend the rest of her life with - this frustratingly, hard-headed woman. JJ smiled at the mere thought of it.

As they got out of the car at Dave's house, Emily reached into the back seat and grabbed a blazer to hide the bandage on her shoulder from the gunshot wound. JJ walked around their car to join her. She wrapped an arm around Emily's uninjured arm and looked at her longingly.

"What?" Emily asked with a questioning laugh. JJ bit her lip. They began to walk up to the front door.

"Oh nothing," JJ said playfully. "But we might have to leave this party early..."

Emily gave JJ a devious look, as she rang the doorbell. "We are not leaving early…"

"Yeah, says the one who wore that dress," JJ replied.

"Believe me, you're not making it easy on me either," Emily whispered back. Spencer opened the door and welcomed them with a smile. JJ paused briefly at his attire. He was in a suit. With a tie. Apparently Emily wasn't the only one who wanted to dress up tonight.

David Rossi knew how to throw a party. All of his millions from his books were certainly not going to waste. There was an outdoor tent, hanging lights, large tables set up in the backyard, and even catered food. But it wasn't until JJ spotted her mother among the attendees that she got suspicious.

"Mom?" Her eyes flickered between her mother, Dave, and Emily. "Okay - what's going on?"

"Well, we couldn't get married without your mom," Emily explained gently. JJ was shocked, to say the least. She hadn't even known Emily and her mother had been in touch, much less planning a wedding.

"I might have overheard a little proposal yesterday," David confessed. "And I couldn't wait till Monday."

JJ was smiling, slightly embarrassed. "Okay, so this is why you're so dressed up, huh?" She said to Emily. Emily blushed a little and nodded.

"And you will be too," her mother said, gesturing to something in her arms. "I brought something borrowed."

"Mom, is that your dress?"

"Let's go see if it still fits." Sandy gave Emily a small nod and she let go of JJ's arm, allowing her to go with her mother back into the house. She turned to watch them. David moved to stand next to Emily.

"So… nervous?" David asked. Emily finally broke her eyes away from JJ and looked at David.

"Only if she doesn't come back down," Emily muttered flatly. David shot her a genuine smile and Emily broke out into a grin herself. "I'm getting married, Dave," she whispered.

When she looked back up at David he could see a shimmer in her eyes. He was humbled by the look. He had three ex wives, and yet he had never seen that look before. David suddenly felt a wave of sadness mix with his happiness. His three failed marriages were recognized by the law and this one wouldn't be. But he only let his sadness linger for a moment. This was a happy day.

JJ took in a deep breath as she stared at herself in the mirror. A bride stared back. JJ couldn't believe this was happening. Her mother appeared behind her and smiled.

"I didn't meet any of Emily's family," she mentioned casually.

"Yeah… Emily doesn't really have a lot of family. It's just her mom but she…"

JJ turned to look at her apprehensively. Here she stood in a wedding dress with her mother and she realized that Emily would never have this moment with her mother. Emily had told her she didn't want to invite her mother to their wedding. Sometimes, JJ felt like she understood where Emily was coming from, but at other times, she felt she didn't have the capacity. And if JJ couldn't understand it herself, how could she explain it to her mother?

"Mom?" Sandy locked eyes with her daughter. "I've never even introduced you to Emily… You barely even know her."

Sandy Jareau smiled knowingly. She could see the guilt in her daughter's eyes. "I know enough. I know that loving each other has probably made both of your lives harder. I know how difficult it is for you to give your love away after what happened to Rose…"

JJ broke eye contact with her mother, feeling the tears coming. "I miss her… Don't you?"

"Sweetheart," her mother said lovingly. She took a tissue and dabbed underneath her eyes to keep her makeup from running. "Of course, I miss her. She would've loved this…" She said wistfully. JJ nodded quietly and gave her mother a painful smile. JJ felt her composure breaking - her bottom lip trembling. Sandy cupped JJ's face gently. "Oh honey, you feel things so strongly... But sometimes it makes you see things in black and white. Emily doesn't. You need a spoonful of that. You need her."

JJ nodded in agreement. She had been wrong - her mother did know Emily. Perhaps in a way JJ couldn't. JJ never ceased to be amazed by her mother's way of understanding. She was right about all of it. JJ wondered if she would understand her children like that. She felt guilty for never formally introducing Emily to her mother. She had even met Will once. It wasn't that JJ didn't want to introduce them, it just seemed like for the entire course of their relationship, they never had a chance to breathe. That was one reason, but another was that a small part of her wondered if her family would accept it. While JJ would never apologize for loving Emily, her family's approval still mattered to her. She had only ever dated men in the past. She wouldn't have blamed them for being surprised.

"Mom? Thank you. I can't tell you how much this means to me."

"I know," she responded in a whisper. "You found a good one, Jenny."

JJ felt the tears coming again but fought them back. Her mother approved of Emily. Approved of all of this. That was all she wanted. Sandy stepped back to take in the full view of her daughter. JJ smiled under her mother's loving gaze.

"You make a beautiful bride."

The wedding was small. Only the team and JJ's mother were invited. No other guests. None were needed. Emily stood at the end of the aisle making small talk with the officiant. She looked around at the small group. It didn't feel like anyone was missing. Well, maybe one. Derek walked up to her smiling like an idiot. Emily could practically hear the thoughts in his head before he said them. He gave her a gentle hug.

"Emily Prentiss… I never thought I'd see the day." Emily rolled her eyes. "And it was our little Jennifer Jareau that made an honest woman out of you."

"Derek… I don't think it would be a good look for the bride to punch out a guest at her own wedding," Emily said in a playful and sarcastic tone.

"No," Derek agreed, grinning.

"Then I would stop talking," Emily replied, narrowing her eyes. Derek put his hands up and chuckled.

"Congratulations, Princess," he said and Emily raised her eyebrows in warning. "I mean it," Derek added sincerely. "I'm really happy for you guys." She smiled at her friend. He had been there for them since day one. Since before day one. She would be eternally grateful for that.

Then they heard the sound of the back door opening. Derek gave Emily one last smile before taking his seat next to Penelope. Emily saw a wisp of white out of the corner of her eye. She focused all of her attention on JJ. She was making her way towards her across the lawn. Emily had never really spent much time picturing what her wedding would look like - but she was humbled by life's surprises.

Emily got a feeling. She had those from time to time. Call it a profiler's intuition.

She had gotten a similar feeling the first week she worked at the BAU. She just knew. She knew that she'd be forever tied to JJ, whether she liked it or not. And while this had happened in the past, it was different with JJ - never that quick and never that strong. Those kinds of instant intuitions about people often left Emily heartbroken. She had closed herself off to feeling too much - learned not to show too much too soon. Kept people at a distance.

But at that moment, as she watched JJ walking towards her, the feeling she had was different. She couldn't quite put a label on it. What was the opposite of heartbreak? The opposite of distance?

Emily watched as JJ's mother kissed her daughter's cheek and placed her hands in Emily's. Sandy gave Emily a small nod which Emily returned. JJ rubbed a thumb across Emily's hand. She smiled softly.

It was a quick ceremony. JJ felt the certainty in Emily's hands as they held hers. Without hesitation. Without indecision. JJ slid the wedding band onto Emily's hand. The whole team had pitched in to buy their rings as a "wedding gift." The gravity of the situation hit JJ as she stared down at the ring on Emily's hand. She imagined that this was probably what gravity felt like… so encompassing, so natural, so easy, useless to fight. How could she not fall?

And then she leaned into her lips. Emily wrapped a tender hand around JJ's waist pulling her closer. JJ's hand went to Emily's cheek as they parted. JJ grinned at her then turned to look at the small crowd in front of them. Emily smiled sheepishly and leaned into JJ, kissing the side of her head softly.

Surprising no one, Penelope was the first to wrap them in a hug. She had tears streaming down her cheeks.

"I hope you two know that you will be getting more wedding gifts -" Emily opened her mouth to argue but Penelope cut her off, "It is not up for debate my loves, it is my duty as honorary life coach, and fairy godmother to your future children, to shower you with love, right now in the form of wedding gifts."

JJ raised her eyebrows at Garcia's passion and leaned into Emily's side, "Sounds good, Pen." Garcia began to walk away as JJ called after her, "Just don't go too overboard!"

"I'm pretty sure Garcia only has one speed," Emily joked.

"Did she say honorary life coach?" JJ asked, amused. Emily smiled back.

The evening passed quickly. The party was dying down a little and for the first time in the entire evening they were able to escape the center of attention. The music was slow and soft. They had found some privacy - swaying back and forth slowly on the edge of the dance floor.

"We're married," JJ said softly. Her hands were trailing across Emily's back under her blazer. JJ did her best to avoid her injured shoulder and bruised ribs.

"We are," Emily replied, as her fingernails glided up JJ's arm. It made her shiver. "I locked it down," Emily added dryly. JJ pulled back to shoot Emily an amused look. Emily smirked at her reaction. "Aren't you glad we didn't leave early now?"

JJ smiled and looked down, "Yes, I'm glad." Emily continued to sway back and forth as she pulled JJ in closer so that Emily's cheek was leaning against the side of her head. And then it hit her - Emily understood that feeling from earlier. What was the opposite of heartbreak? Joy. The opposite of distance? Where she was right now. Right where she was meant to be - pressed up against JJ, with no distance between them at all.