CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT

13x16 Last Gasp

She could hear the scraping of a metal spoon on the inside of the coffee mug. The hallway was dark, but ahead of her, JJ could see a light on in the kitchen. The stirring stopped as soon as she turned the corner. Emily looked up at her, slightly surprised to see her.

"You're up early," Emily said.

"Right back at you."

JJ made her way over to where Emily was sitting and leaned a hip against the counter. They held eye contact for a moment before smiling softly at each other. JJ reached out and took Emily's hand. She raised her eyebrows a little - Emily smirked, smiling sheepishly and looking down at their clasped hands. JJ leaned further down, trying to catch Emily's gaze. She did - and Emily stared back at her impassively. JJ sighed a little. Emily was having a rough couple of weeks. They all were…

Emily smiled rigidly as she stood to get a refill of coffee. JJ followed close behind. When Emily was done pouring the hot coffee, JJ gently took the mug out of her hand and placed it down on the counter. She turned Emily to face her. JJ took Emily's arms and wrapped them around her own waist as she moved in, pressing her body up against Emily's. When JJ kissed her, Emily kissed her back - but not the way she normally did.

"Don't do that," Emily said trying to fight back a smile. JJ's eyes were shining deviously. Knowingly.

"Do what?" She asked in a whisper, running her hands over her waist.

"Make me happy - I'm mad," Emily responded halfheartedly. JJ grinned and laughed. It was a gorgeous sound.

"Sorry, didn't mean to make you happy," JJ responded sarcastically, rolling her eyes. She leaned in to kiss her again but Emily still didn't respond. "Emily," JJ grumbled.

Emily looked down at the necklace that hung around her wife's neck. It was catching the light of the dim kitchen lights. "I was thinking about Odenkirk. I swear I'm gonna punch that guy…" Emily said sarcastically. JJ nodded, pursing her lips, and looking to the side in fake contemplation.

"So, you were thinking about Odenkirk while I was kissing you?"

Emily, realizing what she'd just said, opened her mouth to speak but didn't say anything. JJ smirked a little at her flustered expression. Finally Emily just muttered, "No. Definitely wasn't."

"Yeah, that's what I thought." JJ replied, leaning towards her again. Emily focused on her wife. She could let herself be distracted. For a couple of minutes - it would be nice to be distracted… JJ hummed against Emily's lips and pulled back to rest her forehead on Emily's. "We're going to go to work. And it's probably going to suck. But -" JJ leaned back and opened her eyes, a small smile on her lips. "When we come home, and ask you how your day was, you can actually tell me, because I won't already know…" JJ whispered. She smiled and Emily smiled back half-heartedly. She nodded her head.

"You didn't have to kick it in," Emily said disapprovingly. She shook her head, eyeing the broken door before turning to glare at her new partner.

"What do you mean? I think that's pretty impressive for a man my age, don't you think?" He moved closer so that he was standing right in front of her.

"Ohh…" Emily scoffed, backing away from him and walking towards the car. "The manager gave us the key. So now we're gonna have to reimburse the motel for that damage."

"Relax, Prentiss. For a rogue agent, you're pretty uptight."

Emily turned around quickly. "Where did you hear that?"

"Might have been a little something I saw when I took a look in your file."

"You what?!"

"You must have really pissed off A.D. Barnes. To get busted from BAU chief all the way down to rank-and-file OPR. Rest of your team get the shaft, too?"

Emily didn't dignify that question with a response. She had barely gotten back to her desk when her phone rang. She smiled at the caller ID. Emily stood and walked into the empty break room.

"Hey," Emily breathed softly. But the woman she'd parted with that morning was gone - JJ's anger was evident even over the phone.

"The team is coming over to our house tonight," JJ said assertively. Emily furrowed her brow.

"The team?"

"Yeah, the BAU. I'll brief you on the details of the case when we get home tonight."

"Wait, JJ - what case? What are you talking about?"

"She's turning a blind eye on victims now. This has gone beyond a personal vendetta. It's not just unprofessional - it's negligence! I have never -"

"Jay!" Emily cut her off quickly. JJ stopped talking and a silence fell between them. Emily closed her eyes. She could hear JJ fuming on the other end of the call. "We…" Emily started but stopped again. She took a breath in and asked, "What's the case?"

"Thank you, all of you, for coming. I've missed this. Us. Before we do this, I need to be sure everyone understands what we're getting into. We have been told not to investigate this case. If we do, we are violating direct orders, and eventually Barnes will find out. So, if something goes wrong, or we don't catch this unsub, she will shut down the BAU and most likely fire all of us. No more reassignments."

"You know what? Even if everything does go right and we do catch our unsub, I mean, the same thing could happen," JJ added in.

"If anyone has doubts, no shame, no judgment…"

"The BAU started in a room just like this one," Dave said. "If this is how it goes out, so be it."

"We're all in?" Emily asked one last time, looking around. "Okay. Let's talk victimology."

JJ couldn't help the smile that spread across her face as she looked up at her wife. She couldn't pinpoint exactly when it happened - but in that moment she realized how highly she regarded her as a unit chief. During her brief stint as unit chief, she gained a new appreciation for everything that Hotch and Emily did for the team.

Emily snuck a quick glance at her wife. She smiled reservedly before quickly turning her attention back to the case file in her hands.

JJ walked shakily onto the elevator. She was still in shock over what had just happened. She needed to call Emily. JJ dialed her number and brought the phone slowly up to her ear. The elevator doors closed behind her.

"JJ, what have you got?" Emily asked eagerly.

"Emily, hey, um, so I talk to her," JJ started. She was choking on emotion. "She, uh, she knows I put the BAU on the case. And she fired me."

"JJ, I'm so sorry."

"No, Emily, I'm fine," she lied. JJ brought her hand to her mouth in an attempt to overcome the emotions threatening to overflow. She paced across the elevator. "I'm fine."

Emily knew better. Once the chaos died down and JJ actually allowed herself to acknowledge what had just happened - she was going to be destroyed. Emily knew she would. When JJ arrived back at their house, Emily opened the door, intent on checking to see if she was okay, but JJ breezed by her quickly. Emily closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, closing the door slowly. JJ was in denial.

Emily was smiling as she slid under the covers. She had been smiling all evening. After weeks of reassignment, the team was finally back together, Barnes was finally off their backs, and she was able to reinstate JJ. Emily watched JJ as she joined her in bed. Emily leaned over her, and kissed her softly. JJ placed a light hand on her cheek.

"So…" JJ whispered between the light kisses Emily was placing on her lips. "How was your day?"

Emily laughed a little and tightened her grip around JJ's waist. "Oh, I had a pretty good day…" Emily joked.

"Yeah?" JJ asked, leaning in to kiss her again. "So did I," she added, running her hand across Emily's cheek. JJ's eyes sparkled with infatuation. "I gotta say, I never fully appreciated what you do for the team until I had to do it."

"I felt the same way when I took over for Hotch," Emily replied. She leaned in for another chaste kiss. "You would be a great unit chief," Emily said softly.

JJ smiled appreciatively, but her smile dropped quickly. Now that all the chaos had died down, she was having the feeling again - that desire for more. It wasn't going away.